Meal of recipes

I haven’t been taking much time to cook lately… just stuff like open-faced pork chop sandwiches, ravioli and applesauce, stromboli, and tonight we had baked sweet potatoes and grilled ham and salad. No new recipes and no good ones that haven’t been already featured. I’m a very sporadic cook, so I’m going into my reserve of meals that I made in a cooking streak and didn’t have time to post. Here’s one of them…

Pigs in Blankets

There are different ways of making these, but here’s how I did it…

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
24 Li’l Smokies

Separate rolls and cut each roll into thirds (you can also cut them in half if you like more bread per weiner, then it would be 16 Li’l Smokies instead of 24).
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Starting at a wide edge, roll a Li’l Smokie up in it. Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes.
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Very good! Quick snack if company is coming. Children love ‘em, too!

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Broccoli Casserole

2 pkgs (16 oz each) frozen broccoli florets
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (6 oz) french-fried onions

Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain well. In a large saucepan, combine the soup, sour cream, 1 cup cheese, and 1 1/4 cup onions.
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Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Stir in the broccoli. Pour into a greased 2 qt baking dish.
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Bake, uncovered, at 325 for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and onions. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6-8 servings.
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I made a half batch for us. This stuff is SO good!!!! I went a little heavier on the french-fried onions and also used mozzerella and reg cheddar in place of the sharp cheddar (sharp cheese is NOT my thing!).

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Pudding Pumpkin Pie

1 egg white, beaten
1 reduced fat graham cracker crust (8 inches)
1 cup cold fat-free milk
1 pkg (1 1/2 oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups reduced fat whipped topping, divided

Brush egg white over crust. Bake at 375 for 5 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix. Stir in the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fold in 1 cup whipped topping. Pour into crust.
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Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Cut into slices; dollop with remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 8 servings. 1 piece = 180 calories.
mealpie2 (That color change is the difference between no flash and flash… it doesn’t change colors once it’s refrigerated! LOL) I couldn’t have told this was a diet pie. Could probably be made though with non-diet ingredients. It was really good! Nicely spiced. Will definitely make again!

Grandma’s Pie

Here is my dear Grandma…
grandma

…and here is her delicious pie recipe…

Brown Sugar Pie

1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
2 heaping Tbsp flour (Grandma says by heaping, it means to heap it so much that you have about another whole Tbsp on top!)
2 cups whole milk (Grandma says ‘whole’ is VERY important!)

Beat egg good. (That’s an understatement, one of Grandma’s tips is to beat it like crazy.)  Add sugar and flour and beat some more. Gradually add milk. Pour into 9″ unbaked pie crust. As you can see, it’s very thin batter.
brnsugpie1      Bake at 350 until set, about 45 min -1 hour. Middle will be shaky. Not kidding when it says shaky… we’re talking nearly making waves when you get it out! No, but I always think ‘This will never set up!’ and sometimes it never has .
brnsugpie3 Grandma’s brown sugar pies always seem so much better, just the fact that she made them and they came from her kitchen. This pie actually turned out pretty good though. It’s supposed to turn into 2 layers like you see in the piece below, that’s not a mistake! The top lighter layer melts in your mouth and the bottom darker layer is about the consistency of fudge.
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So delicious! I ate one piece, then within 10 minutes, I went back for another . You should really try this… it takes very common ingredients and doesn’t take long to make. You can add Whipped Cream if you want, but that’s actually against the rule… one time at a Graber get together, one of my aunts, I think it was, was putting whipped cream on pies and put some on a brown sugar pie and got alot of hassle for it! 

Adding an edit here: Someone asked in a comment about storing it in the fridge… yes, you do. Grandma usually bakes them the same day and they cool, then we eat them at room temp. I actually think it tastes better cold, so I put it in the fridge after it cools… but I have a room temperature piece first! Oh, and you may have caught on already, but this recipe is for one 9″ pie.

Anybody on a diet? This meal is for you!

  445 calories… including dessert! Not bad!

diet meal

Garlic Chicken Kiev
Chewy Pizza Bread
Cauliflower and Broccoli
Strawberry Pie

These recipes (except the caul and broc, that’s just cooked frozen veggies) all come from Betty Crocker’s Eat and Lose Weight Cookbook . After each recipe is a chart with as much info on it as you’d find on a nutrition label. I’ll just list the calories, carbs, and protein. If you want more info than that, let me know.

Garlic Chicken Kiev

3 Tbsp reduced calorie spead, softened (I used low-fat butter, half the calories of reg butter)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives or parsley (I used 1/2 Tbsp of each)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lbs)
2 cups cornflakes, crushed (about 1 cup)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk or skim milk

Mix spread, chives, and garlic powder, shape into rectangle, 3 x 2 inches. Cover and freeze about 30 min or until firm.     Trim fat from chicken. Flatten each chicken breast half to 1/4-inch thickness between wax paper or plastic wrap.     Heat oven to 425. Spray square pan, 9 x 9 x 2 inches, with non-stick cooking spray. Cut chives mixture crosswise into 6 pieces. Place one piece on center of each chicken breast half.
diet chic1   Fold long sides of chicken over chives mixture; fold up ends and secure with toothpick.
diet chic2   …yeah, as simple as that! Ha! It took me a long time to make these things and I used up to 4 toothpicks per piece! In a perfect world, chicken breast halves would all be shaped the same and be 4 ounces each!      Mix cornflakes, parsley, and paprika. Dip chicken into milk, then lightly and evenly coat with cornflake mixture.
diet chic3   Place chicken, seam sides down, in pan. Bake uncovered about 35 min or until chicken is no longer pink in center. 
diet chic4    6 servings. Per serving: 190 calories; Carbohydrates, 9g; Protein, 25g        These tasted great! Nice and moist chicken! The fresh spices (or is it herbs?) give it lots of flavor! I’ll know more what I’m doing next time and hopefully the whole folding thing will go smoother and faster!!! Will definitely make again! 

Chewy Pizza Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup regular or non-alcoholic beer (Since I didn’t have beer on hand, I used Diet Coke)
1/2 cup speghetti sauce
1/3 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
Chopped fresh basil leaves, if desired (I didn’t do that)

Heat oven to 425. Spray round pan, 9 x 1 1/2 inches, with non-stick cooking spray. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in beer just until flour is moistened.    Spread dough in pan. Spread speghetti sauce over dough. Sprinkle with cheese.
diet bread1   Bake 15-20 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with basil. Serve warm.
diet bread2     6 servings. Per serving: 145 calories; Carbohydrates, 29g; Protein, 4g      If you keep in mind that this is a diet dish, it’s actually very good! The problem was that there was too little cheese, but that’s diet for ya! I guess we’re just too used to stuff loaded with cheese… refer to previous post! I was surprised about this bread. I thought it would be biscuity, but it was actually more like regular raised bread, only more dense. It’s very filling, too. By the way, the Diet Coke seemed to work great as a substitute!

Strawberry Pie with Meringue Crust

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg (1.1 oz) vanilla fat-free sugar-free instant pudding and pie filling
1 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups frozen (thawed) reduced-fat whipped topping
1 pint strawberries (2 cups), sliced

Heat oven to 275. Spray pie plate, 9 x 1 1/4 inches, with non-stick cooking spray. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Spread mixture evenly on bottom and halfway up side of pie plate. I put it to the top of the pie plate instead of halfway up.
diet pie1   Bake 40 min. Turn oven off; leave meringue in oven with door closed 1 hour. Finish cooling meringue at room temperature. 
diet pie2      Beat pudding and pie filling with milk about 45 seconds, using wire whisk. Fold in one cup of the whipped topping. Layer half of the pudding mixture and half of the strawberries in crust; repeat.    Cover loosely and refrigerate till firm, at least one hour, but no longer than 8 hours. Run knife around edge to loosen crust. Top each serving with some of the remaining1/2 cup whipped topping. I put the 1/2 cup Cool Whip on top right away and garnished it with a strawberry so that it would look more attractive sitting on the table during supper.  Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.
diet pie3   8 servings. Per serving: 85 calories; Carbohydrate, 16g; Protein, 2g       This is just tops (for a low-cal dessert). The crust is great (meringue goes good with this pie), but it’s not too sturdy when you try to get pieces out of the pan. It kind of crumples up with the pie server sliding under it, so you don’t really end up with a picture-perfect piece. But the taste with fresh strawberries makes up for it! Yum!

By the way, one serving of the veggies was 25 calories . Not sure of the other specs on it.

Totally “off the wall” recipes (sorry to those of you who don’t like puns… I couldn’t help myself)

Blueberry Muffins
Farmer’s Market Soup
Chicken Pot Pie
Apple Pie
If you remember my cookie baking/candy making post, the kitchen that we were at had the neatest wallpaper!!!!
recipe wall    It was in the kitchen at Sandra’s (xsenergyo5) church. Sandra, have you guys ever tried them? The wallpaper has 4 recipes repeated on it. So, I took pictures of each recipe and made them. I hope you can read them ok… I’ll see how it looks after it’s uploaded and if I can’t read them, I’ll type them out. *Edit*…I just checked to see if I could read them and it’s a little hard, but if you click on the picture, it opens a new window that it’s bigger and more readable in.

Blueberry Muffins

recipe muffins

Some notes: I didn’t know what double-acting baking powder was, but my baking powder in my cupboard said ‘double-acting’ on it, so maybe all baking powder is?????    I also just used my regular nutmeg from my spices instead of getting a nutmeg and grating it for ‘freshly grated’. I used frozen blueberries, not fresh, but I think fresh would be better and not as juicy, so I want to make it sometime with fresh. The batter was more of a cookie dough consistency, which kind of surprised me, but the muffins were great!!! Some of the best I’ve had! They were moist and dense, which I like! We loved them!!! I will definitely make these again!!! Now for the pictures…
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Farmer’s Market Soup

recipe soup

Some notes: I used baby carrots and figured 9 would equal one big one. I’ve never in my life peeled a tomato before! What a juicy mess! I put just enough water in to come up to the level of the veggies, they weren’t totally covered… that way it wouldn’t make alot of broth.  Um, now for what we thought of it… I thought it was good in a but-I’d-never-make-it-again way. I made a half batch and was glad I did because I had the whole thing to myself! It sure is healthy though!!!! It took a long time to cut up all those veggies!

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Chicken Pot Pie

recipe potpie  

Some notes: After it simmered for 20 minutes, I thought the broth didn’t seem thick enough, so I put in an extra tablespoon of flour. I missed a picture of the chicken/veggie part of the pot pie before putting the dough on top. For the biscuit dough, I used a recipe that was very good, but it ended up sort of limp and sticky and hard to work with, so the pot pie ended up looking pretty messy. I used all but about 5 biscuit’s worth of the dough (the recipe took 2 cups of flour to give you an idea of the size batch it was), so then I just baked those biscuits and served them with the meal. We really liked this! It was good and flavorful. Not sure if I’d make it again, just simply because it took awhile to make and we don’t do much in the way of casserole-type dishes. But I would definitely recommend it!!!!

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potpie4    

Apple Pie

recipe pie  

Some notes: Too many apples! I used a 9″ deep dish pie plate and as you will see, it was piled high! I cut up 8 and used probably 6 apples, and they were medium sized, not huge. I used Golden Delicious mainly because that’s the only kind I recognized (and I used to live on an apple orchard! ). I used brown sugar. Before the height of this pie scares you off, it’s not actually that huge. The crust stays up and the apples settle, as you can see in the last picture after we took a couple pieces out. This pie was absolutely tops! The winner of all the “wall” recipes! I will definitely make it again. Great flavor and so perfect warm with a serving of ice cream!!!

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pie5    

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