Caramel Apple Trifle

Caramel Apple Triffle*

2 sm. packages vanilla pudding

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

1 1/2 cup cold milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 c. Sugar

1 teas. Vanilla

Salted Caramel Sauce (home made or from the store...Trader Joes has the best)

Toffee Chips

2 Sara Lee pound cakes, cut in 1" cubes

6 to 8 apples cored and diced**

1/2 cup sugar

2 teas. cinnamon

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Toss apples with cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice and set aside.

Beat heavy cream until whipped.  Add sugar and vanilla.  Beat in milk, yogurt, and pudding mixes.

Heat caramel to easily spreadable consistency.

In a trifle dish layer pound cake, pudding mixture, apples, caramel and toffee.  The caramel layer can be thin. Continue with another round of layers.  Finish off by mounding pound cake in the center of the trifle and piping remaining pudding on  top. Decorate with apples, caramel, and toffee.

*i have a really bad cold while writing this recipe up so please excuse vagueness for now.  I will come back when I am feeling better and add more detail!!

**If you are feeling lazy you could by a couple cans of good quality apple pie filling to substitute for the fresh apple layer.  

Mini Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

I LOVE FALL!!  The breeze is so cool, the sun is so warm and low in the sky.  Second to none, however, is fall food.  We made our first batch of chili a week ago...it was delicious!!  Last year I made these little gems quite a bit (see here), but with a different caramel frosting recipe.  The frosting wasn't my favorite...it would get hard and crumby after a couple hours. Bummer. So this year I took it upon myself to figure out a yummier way to make a caramel frosting...better yet, a SALTED caramel frosting.  My inspiration came from a recipe I found on pinterest, however, they had you MAKE the salted caramel before you added it to the frosting.  Now, I am all for making caramels!  I make and wrap at least 200 each Christmas season, but making the caramel from scratch in this case defeats the ease of making the cupcakes (note the ingredients list for the cupcakes below)!  Luckily I have a trusty little friend up my short-cut sleeve and his name is Joe.  (He is a trader of some sort...haven't figured that one out yet.)  He carries a wonderful little jar of salted caramel sauce that did the trick!  When the substitution was made and a little more tweaking was done the result is sweet and salty perfection!  Go ahead...take a lick...wait for it...wait for it...BAM!  That rich, salty caramel sneaks up on you huh?!  Do you want another?

Cupcakes:

1 box spice cake
1 small can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the two together and fill mini cupcake (or mini muffin) pans. Bake for about 15 minutes. This will make about 40 mini cupcakes.

Frosting:

8 oz. salted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-3 tbsp. heavy cream or whole milk
4-5 cups powdered sugar
10 oz. jar Trader Joes Salted Caramel Sauce

Mix the butter and cream cheese together.  Alternate adding 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tbsp. of cream until desired consistency.  Add the whole jar of caramel sauce and mix until incorporated.  Spread on cupcakes and enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Muffin Trifle

      Brunch with lady friends calls for something special. Since I am on a huge trifle kick I decided to figure out how to make a breakfast worthy trifle...not too sweet and hopefully with some granola for crunch!  After looking around on the trusty internet for ideas I came up with this beautiful concoction of brunch-worthiness...the Lemon Blueberry Muffin trifle!

You will need:
1/4 c. room temperature butter
3/4 c. lemon cake mix
2/3 c. oatmeal
1 c. plain granola
one dozen mini blueberry muffins*
three large blueberry muffins*
1-32 oz. container Greek vanilla flavored yogurt
1-16 oz. container Greek vanilla flavored yogurt
2-10.5 oz jars lemon curd (reserve about 2 tbsp. to drizzle on top)
zest of one lemon
1 lb. blueberries

              Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, cut the butter into the lemon cake mix until crumbly.  Lightly toss in the oatmeal and granola.  Spread on a cookie sheet and place in oven for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is brown and cake mix crumbles are firm.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on counter (make sure it is totally cool before adding it to the trifle). Cut the tops off of the three large muffins and save for later.  Cut the bottoms of large muffins and the mini muffins into bite size pieces and set aside. Mix both yogurts, the unreserved lemon curd and the lemon zest in a large bowl.
            Now you can layer!  Muffins, yogurt mixture, blueberries, crumb topping.  It depends on how big your trifle is as to how many layers you can do.  My second to last layer was the yogurt and then I arranged the muffin tops for the final layer.  I filled in the cracks between the muffins with blueberries and crumb mixture and then drizzled the reserved lemon curd on top of it all! 

*I bought mine from Target...Archer Farms brand.  Very much approved of by my boys! If you do buy them just make sure the large muffins have pretty tops!

Just a quick note.  I had one friend who couldn't attend so I made her a mini trifle in a small wide mouth mason jar!  I had a fourth muffin top I used for the "lid".  It was so cute!  I wish I would have taken a picture!!

Just another chicken salad recipe

I have been making chicken salad in the spring/summer since...well, forever.  After making it for the moms at Jasper's birthday party and receiving rave reviews, I thought I would add it to my blog.  I have to warn you, however, this recipe is one of those "make it up as I go" ones.  If you need precise measurements, I am sorry to disappoint!  I have many variations on the basic recipe so keep reading for further chicken salad enlightenment.

2 medium whole chickens*
salt and pepper
3-4 stalks of celery finely diced
1 red onion finely diced
Mayonnaise (I use Hellmans Light)
Ranch Dressing (I use Litehouse Ranch found in the produce section...it is peppery loveliness)
Salt, Pepper and Garlic seasoning to taste

Salt and pepper raw chickens. Place in roaster breast side down to keep breast moist and cover with foil.  Roast according to directions (usually 350 degrees for up to 2 hours) basting as needed and removing foil for last half hour.  Reserve any pan juices.

Allow chicken to cool completely (place in refrigerator overnight).  Shred chicken removing skin, bones, and all other yucky stuff.  Place in large mixing bowl with a little bit of the reserved pan juices to re-moisten chicken if dry.  Add about 2-3 large spoonfuls of mayo and 1-2 large spoonfuls of ranch dressing.  Start small because you can always add more.  Add celery and onion as desired (again, start small because you can always add more).  Salt, pepper and garlic to taste. 

*the key to good chicken salad is a mix of light and dark meat...it will not taste as good if you use only chicken breasts or canned chicken.  Use rotisserie chickens if you are short of time or afraid to roast a chicken

Okay, here is your enlightenment:

Balsamic Rosemary Chicken Salad
Omit ranch dressing (add more mayo)
Add 1-2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar to mayonnaise before mixing in with chicken.
Add crushed rosemary to your seasoning.
Serve on croissant with Swiss cheese and tomato (toast if desired)

Curried Chicken Salad with Grapes
Omit ranch dressing, celery, and red onion
Add curry powder to taste along more mayo than you would normally use to accommodate for the noodles and cashews.
Slice about one cup of green grapes in half
Finely chop 3-4 green onions
Just before serving add about one cup of La Choy fried noodles and 1/2 cup rough chopped cashews

Craisin Wild Rice Chicken Salad
Omit ranch dressing
Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cooked wild rice and increase mayo to accommodate for the rice
Add 1/2 to 1 cup of Craisin (Trader Joes's has the best sweetened, dried cranberries.  Use them if you can get your hands on them)
Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans just before serving
Add crushed rosemary with the salt, pepper, and garlic
Serve on croissant with provolone cheese (toast if desired)

Chicken Salad on a cracker
Make as above
spread on large crackers (pictured is Wheat Thins Tuscan Herb Flatbread)

 

Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend Makeover

 

1 package of Harvest Grain Blend from Trader Joes

Earth Balance Original Spread

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup pine nuts

Olive oil

1 zucchini

salt and pepper to taste

Cook whole package of Harvest Grain Blend according to package directions (using Earth Balance spread in place of butter). Saute onion, garlic and pine nuts in 1 teas. olive oil for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add to grains. Salt and Pepper to taste. Saute zucchini in olive oil until just cooked (don't over cook). Salt and pepper to taste. Serve grains in a bowl making a well in top to hold zuchinni.

Soupa Ranchero

After we had our second son our friend Jessica brought this soup to us.  Nine years later and I am still making a vegan version** of this yummy soup regularly!  This "Mexican rancher's soup" is chock full of veggies, protein and flavor!

1 med. onion, diced
2 cloves worth of minced garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil
8 cups vegetable broth
6 small red potatoes, skin on, diced
1/4 cup quinoa
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small summer squash, diced
1 cup corn (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes (or fresh)
2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (aka chick peas)
1 teas. cumin
2 teas. oregano
1/2 teas. salt (or more if needed)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges for garnish

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onion is clear. Add vegetable broth, potatoes and quinoa. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are soft. Turn down to simmer and add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes or until everything is heated through. Serve limes and your favorite tortilla chips. Enjoy!

**This version is vegan but you can make it with chicken and chicken broth if you prefer. Serve it with cheese and sour cream!!

Pasta Primavegan

 2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 large white onion, diced
2 teas. minced garlic
1 can diced Italian seasoned tomatoes with juice
10 stalks asparagus cut into bite sized pieces, tough end removed (or zucchini or broccoli or carrots...basically whatever veggies you have in your fridge)
1 c. mushrooms
3/4 c. pine nuts
1 tbsp. oregano
drizzle with olive
sea salt
whole wheat or quinoa fettuccine

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in iron skillet until onions are clear. Add diced tomatoes and allow to simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Scoot tomatoes to open center of pan the sides to saute asparagus and mushrooms until tender. Mix all together and add pine nuts and oregano. Prepare fettuccine according to package directions. Add a little vegan margarine (such as Earth Balance) to the pasta if desired. Just before serving drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Please be kind and don't over cook you veggies.  If you are adding zucchini or summer squash, put it into the pan after your harder veggies are just soften and basically just warm them up.  Veggies just taste better with a little crunch!