Holiday Blog-A-Thon - Part 1

Thanks to my friend April, here are two great recipies!

Sweet Potatoes w/Praline Topping

Yield
8 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup stick margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and halved (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg white
1 (5-ounce) can fat-free evaporated milk
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring to form a streusel. Set aside.

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until very tender. Drain well; mash in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup streusel, granulated sugar, vanilla, egg white, and milk. Spoon into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray; top with remaining streusel. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.


McFaddyen Zucchini Casserole

INGREDIENTS
6 cups diced or sliced zucchini
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded carrots
1 (6 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix
2 cubes butter (one for sauteeing, one to be melted)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, sautee zucchini and onions in 1 cube butter until soft. Remove from heat and add carrots. Stir in the sour cream and soup.

In a small bowl, mix together stuffing and the second cube of melted butter. Spread half of the stuffing mixture in the bottom of the casserole dish, add a layer of the zucchini mixture, and top with remaining stuffing mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown.

April's Tip for Easy Entertaining:

Here's a really interesting tip I read somewhere and put into practice last year... the microwave is insulated and will serve as a warmer if you only have 1 oven (like me). I kept a few dishes warm for about an hour in my microwave and it worked GREAT! Given my education and background with food (smile), I'm always a little excitable about food safety and keeping hot foods hot, cold foods cold. My hot foods definitely stayed hot!

Holiday Blog-A-Thon

The holidays are quickly approaching, and it is one of the most popular entertaining times of the year! I just love hosting and cooking for holiday parties! Ever since I was a kid, I would help my mom, aunt, grandmother, or whoever prepare delicious meals and desserts for our family gatherings. I have such fond memories of those times!

My first time to host my own holiday party was my senior year of college. Since we had a big rivalry football game that day, I stayed at school on Thanksgiving to prepare a meal for my family who would visit that evening. I made everything homemade from the baked turkey, to cornbread dressing, to apple pie. That first Thanksgiving challenge took all day, but it was totally worth it in the end.

In the spirit of the holidays, I want to host a holiday blog-a-thon. EMAIL ME your favorite holiday recipes, tips, and decorating ideas. Don't feel limited to just one idea. Keep them coming!

Over the next several weeks I will post my favorite holiday recipes and ideas. Feel free to pass this site along to friends so we can get more ideas!

Happy holidays, and happy cooking!

Baby...it's cold outside....

So, when I woke up, it was 41 degrees in N.TX. Mmmmm....soup weather! I had a nice bowl of roasted tomato from Central Market yesterday, and it was good!

Well, I am hosting dinner for friends tommorrow with a menu of homemade veggie soup, grilled cheese, and either pumpkin cobbler or apple pie (I am craving that now that April mentioned it on her "get to know you" post.)

Below are my recipes for my yummy veggie soup and famous apple pie.

Vegetable Soup

14 oz. chicken broth
11 oz. V-8 juice
1 cup water
14.5 oz. diced tomatoes
(with green chilies is good!!!!)
Frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas,
green beans, whatever you like)
Stew beef (optional)
Potatoes (frozen is fine)

Directions:
Brown optional stew beef in oil.
Mix together all ingredients.
Bring to boil, cover, stir occasionally.
Simmer for 30-40 minutes.
Serve with corn bread or grilled cheese!!!!

Dutch Apple Pie

1 cup sugar
½ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 unbaked pie crusts
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 Granny Smith apples

Directions:
Mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon. In pie shell, place layers of apples (peeled and sliced). Alternate layers of apples and flour mix. Mix melted butter and brown sugar. Dot on tip of pie. Use other crust as top. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Cilantro lime tilapia

I am really not good at “writing” recipes, but here’s a go at a yummy fish dish I cooked last night.

Ingredients:
Tilapia fillets (fresh or frozen)
Lemon and lime juice
Cilantro (either dried or fresh)
Salt
Cajun seasoning
butter


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thaw frozen tilapia fillets in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes. Cover bottom glass baking dish with cooking spray. (I use olive oil cooking spray.) Place thawed fish in baking dish and lightly coat with butter. Garnish with salt, Cajun seasoning, and cilantro. Squirt generous amount lemon and lime juice over fish (more lime than lemon – probably about 2 tablespoons per fillet, and a little less lemon). Bake at 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until meat is flakey.

Suggested Sides: Wild rice, salad, corn, green beans, or whatever you like!

VERY tasty!

Calling all bakers...

I am going to enter my first cooking contest! YEAH! Our local paper is sponsoring their 5th annual cookie baking contest. I only have one entry in a choice of 5 categoris, so I need to think carefully about what to enter. I might go with a pumpkin cookie recipe. You know...its fall...spices are in! Winners take home a gift certificate from Williams-Sonoma, which would be awesome!!!

Anyway...wish me luck! You can enter too, if you want. Just visit the contest site here. I'll be sure to post my cookie recipe and pictures of the finished product when I am done!

Happy baking!

The best dessert ever!!!

From Home Sweet Apartment

So...one night during the Olympics I started craving ice cream and bananas. I convinced one of my friends to grab some vanilla bean on the way over, and we made ice cream sundaes. Now I can't stop thinking about them! So...during the Cowboys' game last night, I re-created my new favorite treat. Yum-OH!

Ingredients:
Fave ice cream of choice (I like light vanilla bean.)
1 banana, sliced
Chocolate syrup
Caramel syrup
graham cracker crumbs
toasted coconut (sprinkle coconut flakes on baking sheet and toast in oven at 35o degrees for about 5-7 minutes, stirring halfway through.)

Directions:
Slice banana in bottom of bowl. Scoop on 2-4 scoops of ice cream. Lightly drizzle chocolate and caramel syrup. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Top with toasted coconut. Eat and be merry!

Yaco Taco!

I love shrimp and I love tacos! So...I combined the two and had to eat it twice last week. Super easy and super fast!

Ingredients:
7-8 individual shrimp per person, per taco (yes, I counted them out...and I bought frozen, but already cooked shrimp that were peeled and deveined.)
salad in a bag or chopped lettuce
sour cream
salsa
chopped tomatoes (if desired)
tortilla shells (I use the low-carb ones.)
shredded cheese
ground cumin
chili powder
cajun seasoning (if desired)
4 tablespoons margarine or butter

Directions:
Thaw shrimp in warm water for about 10-15 mintues. Remove tails (if they are on). Throw in skillet with butter. Toss and melt. Season with cumin and chili powder to taste. Saute shrimp for about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and fix tacos to your hearts desire!

Side suggestions: Chips and salsa, refried beans, mexican rice. (I just had chips.)