Layered Jello

Since Jello salads are so popular in Utah....I thought it was time for me to learn how to make one.

ingredients:
1 3/4c boiling water (per packet)

8 - 3 oz. packets of various jello flavors and colors (raspberry, lime, pineapple, orange, mixed berry)

4 oz. sour cream

4 oz. cream cheese

about 8 oz. cool whip

Place 9×13 glass baking dish in refrigerator on level surface for at least 20 minutes or until completely chilled. Whip the sour cream and cream cheese together until well combined in a large bowl. Add in the cool whip, whisking until smooth. Set aside.

In another bowl combine one packet of jell-o with 1 cup boiling water, once the sugar has desolved, add 3/4 cups of cold water, let it cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Pour 1 cup of the jello into the chilled baking dish making sure it covers the entire bottom and place back in the refrigerator until when you touch it, it is mostly set. With the remaining 3/4 cup of jello whisk in 3 Tablespoons of the cheese/cool whip mixture until smooth. Pour the jello/whip mixture on top of the set jello layer. Repeat for each flavor of jello making sure each layer is set before adding another (about 15 minutes).

Tips:Make sure that each layer is set well enough (it’s pretty much solid to the touch) before adding on a new layer. Don’t forget to let the newly mixed jello & boiling water cool before you add the next layer on, if not it will melt the other layers and things will get all kooky with layers between, separated and to the sides of each other. Once you get into the rhythm of making the layers, it’s becomes quite easy. You’ll be setting one jello layer in the fridge, while the next flavor is cooling.

Just so you know - I only used 5 boxes because that's all I had on hand. I also thought it would be prettier in a triffle bowl. And I was right. ...it's beautiful! I made this twice...the first time I didn't have all the ingredients to do the cream cheese mixture so instead I just used plain old vanilla yogurt and it was delicious.

Peanut Butter Dip

This is one of those recipes that you almost always have the ingredients around for. And it's pretty delicious too!

1 Cup Vanilla Yogurt

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter (I added a little more)

Whisk together all the ingredients until smooth and serve!

It is great with fresh fruit, graham crackers, pretzels and marshmallows.

Sweet Potato Hash

Sweet Potato Hash with Bacon

found on Shazam in the Kitchen, adapted from Bon Appetit

1/2 pound bacon sliced in 1/2 inch strips
2 small onions chopped
1 large red pepper diced
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Transfer to paper towel lined plate to drain. Leave drippings in skillet. Add onion, bell pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are softened. Stir in potatoes and another shake of salt. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes. Remove cover and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally so that any excess liquid evaporates and potatoes start to brown. Stir in thyme and bacon.

Chicken Salad

Okay girls. Here is my way belated posting of that CHICKEN SALAD.

GOOD things come to those who wait :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. boneless, skinless CHICKEN breast
2 ribs of CELERY
1 small red ONION
1 cup GRAPES
1/2 cup PECANS
1/2 golden delicious APPLE
1 tsp. DILL WEED
1 oz. fresh parmesan CHEESE
1 clove GARLIC
1 cup Hellmann's light MAYO


DIRECTIONS:
Place chicken breast in a large pot of water. Add 1 tsp. of salt, pepper and season all. Boil for 30 minutes until cooked. Then drain and put in refrigerator to cool. I like to just run it under cold water to speed things up. Chop celery, pecans, onion and cooled chicken. Peel, core and chop apple. Add to a large bowl. I like to squeeze the juice from the celery, apple and especially the onion prior to adding them in the bowl to keep it from having too much liquid. Add grapes halved, dill weed, parmesan cheese, pressed garlic and mayo. Mix with a large spatula until blended.


SERVING OPTIONS:
For a MEAL, use chicken salad as stuffing for croissants.
For an APPETIZER, Place a bread bowl on a platter, line the bowl with green leafy lettuce and encircle with club crackers.

Adams peanut butter cup ripple cheesecake

This is a picture of the first layer you will add another layer of cheesecake and toppings again and bake! I would of taken a picture of the finished product... but it's gone! It is SO yummy!!!

Adams peanut butter cup ripple cheesecake

For the Crust:4 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies1/2 cup melted butter

For the Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate fudge topping, divided
6 peanut butter cups, cut into small wedges
6 butterfinger, chopped

Crush Oreos in a food processor. Add melted butter and mix well. Press onto bottom and up 1" sides of a 10" springform pan. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and sour cream until smooth. Add eggs and beat on low speed till combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour half of cream cheese batter over crust. Microwave half of the hot fudge topping till pourable, but not hot. Drizzle this over the cheesecake batter. Sprinkle with half of your peanut butter cups and butterfinger. Pour the rest of your cheesecake batter over the peanut butter cups and butterfinger. Then top with remaining peanut butter cups and butterfinger, pressing down on them a little.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen but do not remove sides. Cool 1 hour longer on wire rack. Microwave remaining fudge topping and drizzle over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with more peanut butter cups if desired.

This is sooo good! Add as much hot fudge, and peanut butter cups and butterfinger as you think looks good. I think I added more of each of these ingredients. Enjoy!

Rustic Plum Tart

For the crust:
1 cup flour,plus a little more for the work surface
1/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
(I didn't have unsalted butter so I used regular butter and omitted the 1/2 teas. salt)

For the filling:
1 1/2 lbs of plums, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of water (egg wash)

Make the crust: In a food processor , pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. (If needed, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Do not over mix.
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; knead once or twice. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Flour a large (about 16 inches long) piece of parchment paper. Place dough on paper. Using your knuckles, press edges of dough so it doesn't crack during rolling. Lightly flour top of dough to prevent sticking; roll out to a 14-inch round. Transfer dough (still on parchment) to prepared baking sheet.
Make the filling and bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together plums, sugar, and flour. Mound plum mixture in center of prepared crust, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold border over fruit in a pleated pattern. Brush dough with egg wash. (I then sprinkled a little more sugar on the crust to make it extra yummy)
Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling (see note), about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a rack; let cool 20 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

FYI - I don't have a food processor so I just used a pastry blender. It worked perfectly!

Note:Filling often bubbles out through small openings in the edge of the crust during baking, so don't worry if a little juice ends up on the baking sheet; line it with foil for easy cleanup.

Orange Julius

1 can (6oz) frozen orange juice concentrate (or less)
1 c. milk
1 c. water
1/3 c. sugar (or less)
2-3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
about 9 ice cubes

In a blender, blend all ingredients except ice. Slowly add ice cubes one at a time until it reaches a "smoothie" consistency. Serve immediately.
(*If you are adding frozen fruit, add a little at a time BEFORE adding ice cubes. If using fresh fruit, add at the very beginning when you are blending everything else.)

Sugar Baked Beans

1/2 lb bacon diced
4 onions diced
1/4 c mustard
1/8 tsp garlic
1/2 c vinegar
1 c brown sugar
Simmer above ingredients for 20 mins then pour over beans mixture

Beans:
1 can kidney beans
1 can butter beans
1 can lima beans
drain above cans then add
1 can tomato sauce
2 medium cans pork and beans (undrained)

Bake 1 hour at 350 or crock pot on high for 4 hours

Spinach Strawberry Salad

This is one of my favorite salads (as you can tell by the half empty salad dressing bottle). It's quick and easy AND my husband even likes it which is an added bonus because it's healthy too! Here is what you need:

Spinach

Strawberries

Chicken

Poppy seeds (I add them to my salad dressing but if you don't have them it doesn't make that big of a difference.)

Balsamic Vinaigrette (I found a really good one at Costco by the fancy cheeses it's made by "Cindy Kitchen"). Or if you want to make your own here is a recipe I found on the allrecipes.com:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Enjoy!!!

Carmel Popcorn

13 Big Marshmellows
1/2 C. Margarine
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1 Bg of Popped Popcorn

Pop your popcorn and set aside. In a bowl add your marshmellows, margarine, brown sugar. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir. Microwave for another 1 min. Add baking soda and microwave for 4 seconds. Pour over the popcorn.

Cafe Rio Burritos

3 chicken Breasts cooked
12 Flour Toritillas
1 Can Green Enchilada Sauce
Cheese
1 box Zatarans Rice and Beans Mix

Cook your Zatarans Rice and Beans according to the directions on the box. While that is cooking cook your chicken and shred. Mix your chicken and rice and beans together. Divide mixture into 12 Flour Toritillas with seam side down. Pour your Green Enchiliada Sauce over the top and add cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Savory Stuffed Mushrooms

For our enrichment last night we were challenged to bring a recipe that was made with five items or less. That was a little bit harder than I thought it would be. Anyway, I found this.

Ingredients:

12 large mushrooms or about 20 smaller ones
6 oz. mild sausage
3 Tbs. seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 teas. dried parsley


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet. Remove and chop mushroom stems, reserving caps.
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat; add sausage. Cook until browned and crumbly, about 5 minutes; drain. Stir in chopped mushroom stems, bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup mozzarella into skillet. Remove from heat. Spoon sausage mixture into mushroom caps. Arrange stuffed mushrooms on prepared baking sheet. Top mushrooms with remaining mozzarella. Bake about 15 minutes. Place on a serving platter and garnish with parsley.

* For extra cheese flavor, add 3 Tbs. grated parmesan cheese to the filling. I didn't do this because then it would be 6 ingredients and that is unacceptable! =)

Tropical Fruit Salad

This is the sauce that I used on the fruit at bunco. However, I didn't follow the recipe when it came to the amount of fruit or which fruit to use.

2 bananas, sliced
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
2 oranges, peeled and chunked
2 medium apples, chopped
1 cup sliced strawberries

½ cup thawed frozen limeade concentrate
½ cup honey
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds or papaya seeds

Combine all fruit in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together limeade, honey and oil until well blended. Stir in seeds. Pour over fruit salad and gently mix together. Serve immediately. You can also add ½ cup slivered almonds for an added crunch just before serving.

Grilled Pineapple Up-side Down Cake

This recipe was so super easy and fast and delicious!

The sauce caramelizes on the BBQ...yummy!

Ingredients:

1 small pineapple cut into wedges (canned pineapple is okay too)
32 maraschino cherries
3/4 c. butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1 pound cake (10.75 oz) cut into 8 slices (Wayne found individual pound cakes near wal-marts bakery)
whipped cream
16 skewers


*Make sauce in small saucepan - butter, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and simmer until slightly thickened (about 5 minutes)
*Brush both sides of cake slices with sauce and grill for 1-2 minutes, until grill marked and warmed.
* Grill fruit on skewers for 2 minutes or until warm and grill marked
* Top cake with 2 skewers and drizzle with more sauce and a dollop of whipped cream

Note to self - if I ever take a photo of anything on the BBQ again.....let out the smoke before taking the photo so it doesn't fog up the camera lens =)

Italian Sodas

1 bottle of Torani flavored syrup (usually in coffee/tea aisle)
2 liter bottle of Sprite (any brand works)
Quart of Half & Half

Pour half & half into a pitcher about 2/3-3/4 full. Pour in Torani and Sprite to taste. If you need more flavor, add more syrup and/or sprite, if you want it creamier add more half & half.
Good syrup flavor combinations: peach & vanilla or raspberry & vanilla, it tastes like peaches and cream, or raspberry cream. Or you can do flavors by themselves. Just play around with it. You can also make them individually in a tall glass if you are offering different flavor options. I get the Torani from Albertsons or Harmons. So far WalMart doesn't carry this brand. I haven't tried it with other brands.