Tropical fruit salad

Grapes, halfed
Apples, diced
1 Orange segmented (rind, outer skin removed)
1/2 c. Sugar
Pineapple juice
Zest lime
3 T. Flour
1. T. Ground fresh ginger
Juice of 1 lime


Mix all together.

Pearl Israeli Couscous with veggies

I have tried it warm and cold and it is good both ways. Couscous is high in calories due to its high carbohydrates content so I chose not to use too much. Pearl Couscous is low in fat and has 0 cholesterol. 1/3 cup has about 170 calories. If you are not so worried about calories, this salad is good with crumbled feta, just add it to your plate at the end so it doesn't get soggy.

Sliced carrots
1/4  onion, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 pepper, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
Grape tomato, halfed
1/3 cup Israeli Couscous
1/4 to 1/2 lemon, juiced
Fresh Basil, sliced

Fry veggies with olive oil with salt and pepper over medium heat.  Add garlic towards the end so it doesn't burn.  Soak couscous with 1/2 cup hot water and salt, until soft.  Add lemon juice and basil at the end. Add couscous to veggie mixture. 

Lemon Ice Cream

3 eggs
1 1/2 c. Sugar
Zest lemon
1 c. Lemon juice
1 1/2 c. Half and half
 1/4 c. Buttermilk (or milk)
1/2 t. Vanilla

Beat zest, eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow. Add the rest. Put into ice cream maker. Ice cream is strong but creamy amd will stay soft. It is not too sweet. The kids love it.

Orange Cake with Orange Frosting

3 c. Sugar
1c. Butter, softened, unsalted
6 egg whites
1 Tablespoon vanilla
Zest of  1 orange
2c. Buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 c. Cake flour

Cream butter, sugar. Add vanilla, rind. Add 1 cup buttermilk,  baking powderand soda, salt. Add 2 cups cake flour. Add the rest of the buttermilk and flour. Whip egg whites. Gentily fold in egg whites. Prepare three 9" round cake pans by buttering and lining with parchment or wax paper. Bake 350 for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake 25 minutes. Let COOL. 

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Juice of about 1/2 orange
Cool whip or a little whipping cream

Mix all except the juice. Slowly add the juice. Do not make it too thin, you can add more powdered sugar and butter, if it becomes too thin. Frost and serve.

Mock Taco Bell Chicken Quesadillas

My son loves Chicken Quesadillas. They are easy to make at home. It tastes pretty close to the original.

Cook the chicken, slice and shred. I use pre-cooked/sliced Tyson frozen chicken.

Sauce:
If you have leftover packets from Taco Bell, use 1 packet (hot or fire or whatever you have)
3 T. Mayo
About 1 T. Hot sauce to taste

Mix (sauce should turn light pink).

Over medium heat, heat up a frying pan with veggie or canola oil. Take one tortilla and spread the sauce on it. Spread it on thick. Place tortilla with sauce on the pan, and top with shredded cheddar cheese and chicken. Top with the second tortilla. After a couple of minutes or when the bottom starts to brown, flip and cook on the other side.

Serve with salsa or sour cream.

Corn fritters

Makes about 30 fritters. This is great for using  leftover corn.

3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 T. Baking powder
1 1/4 t. Salt
1t. Sugar
Paprika
Garlic powder
Pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 T. Butter, melted
Corn from 2 ears of corn or about 1/2 cup
Oil (canola, veggie oil)

Mix the dry ingredients, add the egg, buttermilk snd butter. In a pan, heat up a pan of oil over medium heat. Once hot. Use a small cookie scoop or teaspoon to scoop the batter and gently place it in the pan. Cook until botter is golden brown about 2-3 minutes per side.

Peep Krispies

We took 5-10 different color peeps to make a rainbow peep rice Krispies. 

Butter the pan that you intend to store your peeps in. 

On the stove over medium low heat, Melt 1 T. Butter with 5 colored peeps. Once melted, add 1 1/4 cup of krispies cereal, you can double this if you want.   Clean pan after each small batch/color. Place each color next to each other in the pan. Let cool and serve. 

Back ribs

For 2 full rib backs

9 t. Cumin
9 t. Paprika
Salt
Pepper
3 dashes chili, mustard powder, chipoltle, cloves, cinnamon
3-4 t. Brown sugar

Start on the back side (shiny white side), cut the membrane out by cutting and lifting it out from one side to the other. Dry rub for 1 hour in refrigerator, then add wet (add soy, balsamic, garlic. ) Bake low and slow.
225 for 2 hours until tender. Add your favorite sauce last 10-15 minutes.

Pasta Carbonara

4-5 slices of bacon diced or 1/4 lb. of diced prosciutto works too
1 stick butter (1/4lb)
1 cup milk
3 T.  Balsamic vinegar
1 lb of your favorite pasta (I like penne)
2 eggs
1/4 cup Grated cheese like Romano, Parmesan or Asiago
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Peas optional

Start the pasta water. To a small pot, Add butter and bacon, cook on medium low for a few minutes until the butter melts and the bacon turns pale. Add the vinegar and milk. Meanwhile cook the pasta. Drain the pasta and return to pot. Quickly add the eggs and stir and then add the sauce, salt, pepper and cheese. Stir and add the peas.

Pesto Sauce

2 cups fresh basil leaves, stems removed
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cups pine nuts
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup parmasan cheese

I usually make this in the blender but using the food processor produced a better result.

Add all ingredients except the cheese in the food processor. Add cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
Add to cooked chicken, or your favorite pasta, in a sandwich.

Salad Olivier - chicken, potato and egg salad

5 large potatoes, cooked, diced
5 eggs, boiled, diced
1 large carrot, boiled, diced
1 chicken breast
Pickles, diced  and some juice from the pickles
1 t. Mustard
1 t. Cumin (not traditional but tasty)
1/4 t. Powdered Turmeric
1 t. Paprika
5-6'T. Mayo
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional peas, thin pepper-red green or yellow, olives for decoration, and sliced egg for decoration.

Boil eggs, peeled and cut potaoes and carrot with salt for 23-25 minutes. Let cool. Cook the chicken about 10 minutes per side. You may want to save 1 egg for decoration. Dice the potatoes, carrot, eggs, chicken, pickles. Add enough mayo to cover. Add the pickle juice, mustard, spices with salt and pepper to taste. Form into ball mound. Cover the outside with more mayo and decorate with peas, and olives amd peppers. Enjoy alone or with toast.