The Sara Lee Pound Cake was on sale this week at Publix (along with the pineapple) so I knew I had to give this one a try. The weather was great for grillin'! I must say though, that these did not turn out quite as yummy as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, they were good, I just felt like they were missing something. So I added a little vanilla ice cream! I almost felt like the pound cake should have been soaked in something before I skewered them. I don't know what though. And if I soaked them, they might have even fallen apart. This is a great recipe to welcome Summer!
1 pineapple, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 frozen pound cake, slightly thawed, cut into 1-inch cubes
honey, for drizzling (optional)
vanilla ice cream (optional)
Soak 8 wooden skewers in water. Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Alternately thread 4 cubes each of pineapple and pound cake on each skewer. Grill, turning once, until lightly charred, about 1 minute per side (I got distracted with Emme so mine were on there a little longer!) Drizzle with honey or serve with vanilla ice cream...or both!
Enjoy!
(adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)
Yep. The title says it all. These ARE the best blueberry muffins. I changed it up a bit by adding some cranberries and using frozen blueberries. But this guarantees that these can be made year round. Keep the blueberries in the freezer and your Craisins stocked, and you've got wonderful blueberry muffins ready at all times! I've even made these with a pecan streusel topping before, but decided to leave that off this morning. My little family wasn't worthy of those "special" muffins this morning! Next time maybe. I'm going to take some to the office in the morning to share. This would make a great special treat for your child's teacher for Valentine's Day too. They all get tons of chocolate. Some fresh blueberry muffins would be great!
1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking sodea
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (this is the only salt I ever use)
1-1/2 cups frozen blueberries (NOT thawed)
1 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 muffins cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream and milk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries and cranberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed (keep the blueberries frozen until ready to use so they don't turn the batter purple any more than necessary).
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each about 2/3 full. Again, if you have not invested in the Large Scoop from Pampered Chef, you ought to. It is perfect for filling muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.
I love how you can really see the blueberries and cranberries on the bottom of the muffins!
Enjoy!
(adapted from Ina Garten on FoodNetwork.com)
Ella is starting to learn her letters and loves saying what name corresponds with each letter. So, needless to say, Alpha Bits is popular around here. This week Publix had them B1G1 along with the Yoplait Yo-plus yogurt. The Spice of Life columnist, Dawn Hoover, sent me this yogurt parfait recipe out of her Kermit the Frog Kids Cookbook. I thought it would be a great one to use for Ella's favorites. Yogurt and Alpha Bits! I made a similar Yogurt Parfait several months ago. This recipe is really a method, and you can add whatever kind of yogurt, fruit and cereal that your family enjoys. Let the kids jump in and make their own. They're more likely to eat it if they have a hand in the process! This morning we turned this into a Mommy-and-me breakfast and shared the cup with some fruit on the side.
For one cup:
1 4-oz. yogurt cup
1/4 cup cereal (we used Post Alpha Bits)
dried cranberries or raisins
berries (we used frozen blueberries)
Put half the yogurt in the bottom of a cup. Layer in half of the cereal and berries. Repeat: yogurt, cereal, berries.
Try out different fruits and cereals with this. We used strawberry yogurt this morning, but vanilla is really Ella's favorite. The original recipe called for yogurt with bananas and raisins. Use your child's favorites!
Enjoy!
(Thanks Dawn!)
Tonight I ate dessert before dinner. Shame on me! I have chicken pot pies in the oven (I have them from a freezer-cooking day), so while they're cooking I decided to go ahead and make these puffs. And eat them too! They were very quick and would be great for entertaining. Very light and refreshing. You could substitute Cool Whip for the whipped cream, but the homemade kind is SO good. Let's invite Spring to come early. I think this dessert will do the trick! This week Publix had nectarines $1.97 lb and I also saw a good price at my local farmer's market. I got the cream at Wal-mart for less than $1 and the puff pastry was a little over $3. A whole box would make 18 of these, so keep the rest in the freezer, and only pull out as much as you're going to use.
Makes 9:One 9-inch sheet puff pastry dough (2 come in a box)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
4 nectarines, pitted and thinly sliced
3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I forgot to add this)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay the pastry on a floured work surface and cut into 3 strips (its already folded in 3 sections). Cut each strip into 3 squares. Arrange the squares on a baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar on top. Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. Let cool.
In a bowl, sprinkle the nectarine slices with 1 tablespoon sugar; toss. Splenda could be substituted here to save some calories.
In another bowl, whip the cream, remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and vanilla until stiff (I used my stand mixer...much faster. Not to mention my arm is still intact).
Split each puff pastry square into 2 layers. Top the bottom half with the nectarine slices and a dollop of whipped cream (also could substitute reduced fat Cool Whip). Top with the "tops". I didn't do this, but I bet these would be great drizzled with a little bit of honey.
**I divided this recipe in thirds. I only made 3. I used the other puff pastry for my chicken pot pies! :)
Enjoy!
(adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)
I found this recipe tucked in my binder, clipped from Rachael Ray Magazine. I've seen different versions of this floating around. I liked this one because it used Mountain Dew- which I stocked up on last week at CVS. I couldn't wait to tell my husband the secret ingredient in this! I am not a fan of Mountain Dew, but oh does it do wonderful stuff to this dessert! Don't forget to take the foil off the second half of baking like I did! Because of that, mine took a little longer in the oven, but it was worth the wait. The apples were tender and sweet. This is a quick ode to apple pie. Perfect for company because it looks fancy, especially with a side of ice cream, and its a cinch to make!
Flour for dusting
1 8-oz. can crescent rolls
1 Granny Smith apple- peeled and wedged (I used Gala)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup Mountain Dew
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a surface dusted with flour, unfold the rolls. Place an apple wedge on the wide edge of each "triangle" and roll up (I used the Big and Buttery crescents so mine made 6. I also used two smaller Gala apples, so I rolled two wedges each). Place the dumplings in an 8-inch square baking dish.
In a saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar and cinnamon over medium heat; stir in the Mountain Dew. Pour the mixture over the dumplings. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes; Remove the foil and bake 15 minutes longer, or until golden brown on top. Serve with vanilla ice cream. YUMMY!
Enjoy!
(adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine)
The first time I had this dip was several years ago at a baby shower one of my friends threw. I was hooked from the beginning. I have made it several times since then, and have even found a way to make it a little bit quicker. It is great with fruit, especially pineapple and strawberries. Both of those happen to be on sale this week at Publix. I also love it with Nilla Wafers, which are B1G1 this week at Winn Dixie. Even the Cool Whip and cream cheese are on sale! This is so yummy. I could just eat it with a spoon. Shhh, I won't tell you if I actually have or not!
1 8-oz. block cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8-oz. tub Cool Whip
Pinapple juice (a couple of tablespoons)
Fruit to serve with (pineapple, strawberries, grapes, melon, etc.)
Nilla Wafers (optional)
Soften cream cheese and then whip with the powdered sugar. Combine with the Cool Whip and add just enough pineapple juice to get the desired consistency. (I just used the juice in the tub with the fresh cored pineapple). Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Serve with fruit and Nilla Wafers.
Enjoy!
(adpated from Paula Deen on FoodNetwork.com)
I was trying come up with an idea to use all of this cookie dough that's been on sale. I found this recipe, which is great, because it uses the apples that are on sale this week at Publix, too (Braeburns $.99 lb) Little did I know, the sugar cookie dough is not part of the Nestle dough that was on sale. But, I wanted to try this, so I splurged. But you could probably use the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie dough in the pouch that was on sale. Its up to you. This was really good. It would have been great with ice cream or Cool Whip, but my Cool Whip was still frozen!
6 cup sliced peeled apples
1 cup packed brown sugar (or less)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (divided)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (or less)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, mix apples, brown sugar, flour, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and lemon juice; toss to coat apples well. Spoon into ungreased deep-dish baking dish.
Spoon cookie dough, by teaspoons, evenly over apples. In small bowl, mix granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over cookie dough.
Bake 35-45 minutes or until top is golden brown and apples are tender.
**I probably put a little more than 1 cup brown sugar, because I had a little left in the bag, so I dumped it in. It was probably too much! It was delicious, but a little on the sweet side. It would have been great with the vanilla ice cream to tone it down. Let it set for a few minutes on the stove to set up after removing it from the oven. Let the juices thicken a bit.
My family really enjoyed this. My Mom brought pizza over, so I contributed with the dessert. I have just enough to take for a snack tomorrow at work!
Enjoy!
(adapted from Pillsbury.com)
Yogurt and fruit is such a great way to start your day. Or just a snack for that matter! The one great thing about doing this blog is getting to eat all of the great food that I make. And, let me tell you...these went quick today! Some type of yogurt is usually on sale at the grocery stores. This week Publix has some Fiber One yogurt B1G1. The cereal can be interchangeable. I used Honey Bunches of Oats because Publix has it B1G1. My Mom likes to use Raisin Bran Crunch. I think the best is Kashi Go Lean Crunch. So, grab whatever is on sale and try this wonderful snack!
For one parfait:
1- 4 oz. vanilla yogurt cup
1/4 cup granola or cluster cereal
Mixed berries
Put half of the yogurt in the bottom of a cup or bowl. Layer in 1/2 of the cereal and berries. Repeat the layers: yogurt, cereal, berries.
This is quick, easy, and healthy. The frozen berries are the most convenient this time of year. Thaw what you need, and leave the rest in the freezer for later. When we get back into summer, the fresh berries will be great...and probably on sale!
Enjoy!
