While some days I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, other days I love quick and easy. Right now is time for quick and easy.
Corn and Black Bean Relish is a family favorite. It goes great as a side to quesadillas, as an appetizer, or as party food. And with five ingredients you can’t go wrong.
Have you ever seen a recipe, and thought “NO WAY”. Well, today I would like to share one of those type recipes. Growing up, my mom made a green gelatin salad every year for Christmas. Thankfully as a kid I did not realize what was in it, or I may not have eaten it. Cottage cheese and lime jello, are not a combination I would have tried.
We called it “green stuff”. When my mom gave me the recipe before I got married the recipe card said “green stuff”. I guess it is because my sister and I could not pronounce the word congealed or gelatin, who knows. But to help you I will call Green Gelatin Salad.
I’m not sure why we only had it at Christmas, I think it goes great for St. Patrick’s Day. I have found that green deserts are a little hard to find.
Living in Florida and having wonderful neighbors means more oranges than I can use. It seems that every couple of days they show up with another bag of oranges. While it has helped my grocery budget because I am not buying as much fruit, the kids are getting tired of them. The solution – Ambrosia.
What is ambrosia you ask… According to Wikipedia it is a food of the Greek god’s that confers immortality to whoever eats it. While by no means will I claim that it gives immortality, I know it is loaded with Vitamin C.
Ambrosia has been a family favorite at Christmas time at my house for many years. My mother even had a special bowl we always put the ambrosia in. While I am not held to tradition, we have eaten several large bowls of ambrosia lately. It is a quick fruit salad to put together. Continue reading “Ambrosia”
We associate fall with autumn colors, pumpkins and apples. Apples are the perfect fall food. They are crisp and full of flavor. While apples are available all year they are best in the fall when they are fresh. Apples can be used in so many recipes that you cannot go wrong with an apple recipe.
One of my kids favorites is apple chips. They are easy to make, they just take a little time to get them crispy.
Peel and slice apples extra thin with a mandolin. Spread in a single layer on a large cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 225 for 90 minutes. Flip apple slices and sprinkle with more cinnamon and sugar. Bake another 90 minutes. Then turn oven off and leave the door shut and allow the apple piece to cool.
I use granny smith apples because they are firm and a little tart. Other variety of apples will work. I find that 2 apples fit well on my large (12×16) cookie sheet. As always feel print the recipe card (Apple chips) and add it to your collection.
Sitting in my potato bin are a few too many potatoes! As I stare at them, I am determined to find something different to do with them. Then it hit me – use cream cheese instead of butter!
Cream Cheese and Garlic Mashed Potatoes*
2 Really large baking potatoes (about 2 pounds)
4 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of dried parsley
about 1/2 cup of milk
salt and pepper
Peel and cube potatoes. But into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook 5-10 minutes until a fork can easily be inserted (time depends on the size of the potato pieces). Drain and place in a mixing bowl. Add cream cheese and stir until in melts into the potatoes. Add garlic and parsley and a small about of milk. Cream using an electric mixture. Keep adding milk until they are smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Tip:
Top serving bowl with extra parsley flakes.
*the picture above is not of the full dish but the left-overs with a little fresh parsley
Updated on 7/15/2013: here is a printable recipe card Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
