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Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake

Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake
Everyday foods PBS

I used frozen blueberries, thawed them and rinsed them before I used them. This does not need a glaze it is DELICIOUS without but you could add one if you like.

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

For best results, coat the inside of the Bundt pan with cooking spray just before filling it with the batter to prevent it from pooling in the bottom.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.
3. In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.
4. Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired.

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Brown Bag Burritos

Brown Bag Burritos

I have no clue why they are called brown bag burritos hehe, they came from the
Tried and True Cooking Blog

BROWN BAG BURRITOS
1 lb. ground beef
1 can refried beans
2/3 c. enchilada sauce
1/4 c. water
1/3 c. minced onion
1/2 TBSP chili powder
1/2 TBSP garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 c. shredded colby/jack
10 flour tortillas

Brown and drain meat. Add all ingredients, but tortillas. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Fill tortillas and roll up. Serve with shredded lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.

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What to Make for Dinner When It’s Too Hot to Cook

What is worse than the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner mom”? In the summer, it’s the thought of turning on the stove or oven to make dinner. I thought it would be good to share some great summertime dinners, everyone in your family will love. Not only do they not require any cooking, but they are healthy and delicious as well.

In the summer many families enjoy some wonderful salads. Here are a few of favorites. Of course you can incorporate whatever ingredients your family prefers.

Not your traditional tossed salad: A traditional tossed salad is awesome and easy to make, but sometimes as a standalone meal, it may not fully satisfy those hungry appetites at dinner. To enhance a traditional tossed salad try adding some of the following ingredients for extra flavor and protein:

· Chunks of cubed cheddar cheese

· Slices of lunchmeat, like turkey, chicken breast or ham

· Leftover chicken breast

· Zucchini squash slices

· Yellow squash slices

· Crumble some leftover taco meat, tortilla chips and Catalina dressing for a taco salad

Chef’s salad: Basically a chef’s salad is an upgraded tossed salad. Just add hardboiled eggs, chunks of cheese and sliced ham, turkey, chicken breast and roast beef and voila, you have a chef’s salad. Hearty and yummy!

Spinach salad: Made with yummy spinach leaves or baby spinach leaves, a spinach salad is cool, refreshing and yummy! I like to add shredded cheese, slices of ham, turkey and roast beef, cucumbers, pickles, black olives and for added zest some jalapenos! I top mine with an Italian dressing or balsamic vinaigrette.

Sandwiches: Another great meal idea you can create without cooking is sandwiches. Yes, sandwiches for dinner. When it’s too hot to cook, some cool sandwiches are the ticket. Not only are they easy and heat free, but they are also less filling than a big huge dinner! Some great summer sandwiches are:

Chicken salad: I love chicken salad and love to have a batch made up for last minute, easy on the go meals. Serve some on a pita or flat bread, in a tortilla or in a croissant to change things up a bit.

Deli style sandwiches: I love to sink my teeth into a yummy, thick sandwich filled with all of the fixings of a deli. Pile on the meats, cheeses, and veggies! Some of my favorites are:

· Ham

· Turkey

· Roast Beef

· Chicken Breast

· Corned Beef

· Salami

· Pepperoni

· Bacon

· Alfalfa or Bean Sprouts

· Cucumbers

· Pickles

· Tomatoes

· Romaine or leaf lettuce

· Green Peppers

Serve on thick bread with brown mustard, if you like, and mayonnaise.

Dinner doesn’t always have to be a huge 3 or 4 course cooked or baked meal. A hearty salad or sandwich will satisfy your kids, hubby and guests, while keeping you cool at the same time.

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Five Cool Snack Ideas for Kids

Got kids? Got kids that get bored, hungry and hot in the summertime? If you do have kids you know all of those things go together whether we want them to or not, right? Do you get tired of hearing, “but I don’t like THAT mom” or other complaints when you offer them a quick snack? Are you looking for some healthy, delicious, “cool” (as in refreshing AND neat) treats to satisfy kids of all ages? Then look no further! Here are five treats your kids will love and ask for over and over. Not only will your kids love them but so will you because they are easy to make, delicious and healthy. Who could ask for anything more?

Fruit Pizza:

Delicious and oh so easy to make; fruit pizza will please every person in your household and it will help get your kids (and hubby) to eat more fruit.

The ingredients:

· 1 pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough mix

· 1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

· 1/3 cup granulated sugar

· 4 cups assorted fruits, sliced (strawberries, bananas, oranges, blueberries, etc.), you can throw these together in a bowl if you wish.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees Celsius). Roll cookie dough into a ball and place in the center of a pizza pan and spread evenly over pizza pan, into a 12 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mix the sugar and cream cheese together and spread over the cookie crust. Top with the fruit and then sprinkle the lemon juice over the fruit (this helps to keep it from turning brown). Refrigerate. Slice into 12 pizza wedges and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers. This is also a great treat to serve at a birthday party. Kids and adults love it!

Fruit Juice Spritzer

Do your kids like soda, but you hate for them to have it all the time? One of my favorite beverages any time of the year is a fruit juice spritzer. It’s refreshing, cool and tasty. Plus it has the added benefit of fruit juice so you can count is as a fruit serving for the day! I prefer using 100% Juicy Juice, being that it’s, well, 100% all natural juice. But you can use any juice you prefer. You’re kids will love it and it’s a cool, easy to serve beverage made of ingredients you probably already have. It’s also healthier than letting them have a full glass of soda.

It’s so easy. All you do is pour about 1/2 a glass of juice in a cup over ice and fill the rest of the glass with 7UP or Sprite. Voila! You have a Fruit Juice Spritzer. It’s better than a full glass of soda and your kids get the fruit serving they need. You can vary the amounts of course; a little more juice or a little less, depending on your taste, but don’t defeat the purpose of cutting down on the soda.

For an added treat you could blend the juice with some ice in the blender and make “slushies.” Just fill the glass with the slushie mix and pour the soda over the icy juice.

Homemade Juice or Kool-Aid popsicles

One of my kid’s favorite treats growing up was homemade popsicles. They loved helping make them and of course eating them. Plus they are super easy to make and oh so handy when your kids need a quick snack to tide them over until dinner.

Ingredients:

· Pitcher of Kool-Aid or other drink mix, prepared. You can also make juicy pops using your favorite fruit juice, but mix with water first, 5 parts water to 1 part juice.

· Freezer pop molds. If you don’t have them, just use ice cube trays.

Pour the prepared drink mix or Kool-Aid into freezer molds or ice cube trays and freeze. If you want to put a popsicle stick into the ice cubed pops, freeze slightly first, and then insert in the middle of the ice cube pop so it will stand up.

Voila! Easy, handy, yummy and cool! You’re kids will think you’re the best mom ever.

Ice Cream Float

Who doesn’t love ice cream? What better summertime treats than a delicious ice cream float? It’s so quick, easy and refreshing. Here’s a neat twist on the traditional float:

Using your choice of ice cream put two scoops in a dessert or tall glass. Break up your favorite candy bar into pieces and place in glass. Fill with your favorite soda, like root beer or cola.

Yogurt and Fruit Lollies

When I was a kid I loved having something I could grab and go outside with my friends. (Where have those days gone?) Better yet, I loved having a treat I could share with my friends. These yummy yogurt and fruit lollies are the perfect summertime treat. They are cool, refreshing, healthy and easy to take on the go.

What you need:

· Popsicle molds with sticks, preferably the flat molds

· A container of flavored yogurt, preferably a fruit flavor

· Sliced fruit

How you make it:

Fill the molds with the yogurt, insert stick and place fruit on the top. Freeze. Place mold in warm water to remove the lolly when ready to eat.

Healthy, delicious, and handy all wrapped up into one! Every mother’s dream and every kid’s treat. Making kids happy and keeping them healthy doesn’t have to be a huge chore, nor does it have to taste bad. Using these simple ideas will serve both purposes, quick, easily and efficiently. Your kids will thank you for it.

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Chocolaty Toasted Almond Ice Cream

What You Need:

6 T of cold water

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

3 C of milk

3 C of sugar

1/4 t of salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

7 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

4 C of heavy whipping cream

2 t vanilla

1 C slivered almonds, toasted

How to Make It:

Pour the cold water into a small mixing bowl.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let stand for at least 2 minutes.

Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan and place over medium heat.

When the milk reaches 170 degrees whisk in the sugar and salt.

Stirring continuously, cook the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Place the eggs into a small mixing bowl.

Pour 1/4 C of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk until well combined.

Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the hot milk, whisking as you pour.

Place the heat on low and stirring constantly cook the custard about 5 minutes or until it coats the back of a metal spoon.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the gelatin mixture until completely dissolved.

Blend in the melted chocolate.

Quickly cool the custard in an ice water bath for 5 minutes.

Stir in the whipping cream and vanilla until well blended.

Press plastic wrap onto the custard surface and chill the custard overnight.

Fill the ice cream maker cylinder 2/3 full of mixture and freeze according to manufacture’s directions.

Stir in the toasted almonds and allow the ice cream to ripen at least 2 hours.

Makes 2 quarts

When adding nuts to homemade ice cream be sure to always follow the directions on the recipe. If nuts or fruit are added to soon they become hard and loose their flavor.

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Taco Joes

Thank you Heidi from the Tried and True cooking blog

TACO JOES
1 pound ground beef
1 can (16 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sugar
6 hamburger buns, split and toasted
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded lettuce

(we used tomato on top too also sour cream YUMMY)

Cook beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink; drain fat. Add tomatoes, Worcestershire and seasonings. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until thickened. Spoon onto buns and top with cheese and lettuce. Serve immediately.

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Freezer Cooking Made Simple eBook Review

Description: This eBook is filled with all the information necessary to learn how to freeze foods and make those dollars stretch. With information such as how to get started, what items you need, what foods freeze well and foods that don’t quite cut it when it comes to freezing, this eBook tells it all. Worksheets, printable labels and even a few quick and easy recipes are included to get you started with healthier meals when living on a tighter budget.

Review: As a mother, wife and just all around caretaker of my home I needed to find something that would take less time and save me money in the kitchen. I went looking for ideas and found many that seemed to be the answer. Most of them I found to be more time consuming than anything. Then, I came upon this eBook.

Freezing foods makes sense in all aspects. It’s amazing how in just one afternoon you can have a freezer full of healthy foods to feed your family for a month. This eBook will show you how. It’s easy to understand, has all the facts you need to know and will give you the answers to any questions you may have.

Freezer Cooking Made Simple is set up so that even the newly married can find what she needs. It explains why freezing foods can save you money and time. It talks about what you need in the way of equipment, how to shop for foods and how to cook these foods.

There is a section that explains how to safely store your freezer meals including labels to help you remember exactly what you have and how to reheat it. Susanne has included a printable shopping list along with a worksheet to help plan your meals on a weekly and monthly basis. Best of all – there are even a few recipes added to get you started.

If you’re looking for a way to save money and time in the kitchen, I strongly urge you to take a look at Freezer Cooking Made Simple. Once you read through it, put it into motion immediately. You will see that this is a very simple and easy way to make those hours in the kitchen count. Shopping, cooking and freezing foods aren’t as hard as many of us believe. Give it a chance and you will find the answer you’ve been looking for all along. Click here to orders today!

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Two Night Dinners

With the cost of everything skyrocketing, it’s hard to keep food on the table without spending a lot of money at the grocery store. Dinner is an especially hard meal to finance because there are so many choices and our families are picky. Save money by turning one dinner into a second meal a couple of days later.

Some people don’t like leftovers. No matter how you good the food was the first time, they won’t eat it again to save their lives. This can eat into a family food budget when a portion of that food ends up in the trashcan.

You have two choices: fix less or make that meal go farther. The former can be tricky or near impossible with a family of hungry picky eaters, large or small. Let’s go for option two and see if we can surprise those finicky folks.

If your family won’t eat leftovers, maybe they will go for another fabulous creation from your kitchen. We are calling these “two night dinners.” The two nights in question don’t have to be consecutive. In fact, it is probably better that they are not so you can surprise your family.

We start with the basic meat. Purchasing a whole pork shoulder, chicken, or piece of beef is economical. Have the butcher cut it up for you for free in the grocery store or meat market. You’ll have several cuts to choose from for dinner.

Let’s try a chicken dish. Everyone loves the yard bird don’t they? For the first night, the family enjoys an herb rubbed roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots. No one will eat the entire chicken. What do you do with the rest?

Pick as much meat off of the chicken as you can and store it cooled in a Ziploc bag or reusable container. As for the carcass and essence, boil it down to create chicken stock. When cooled, pour it into Mason jars or plastic containers.

The leftover chicken can be used in a variety of ways. Mix it with rice to create a casserole dish. Stir fry it with frozen vegetables and pasta. Make chicken salad for a light dinner on a busy night.

Other meats are just as versatile as chicken. Leftover beef roast can be used for stews and soups. Combine with egg noodles and sauce to create beef stroganoff. Slice thin and stir fry with vegetables for beef fajitas.

You get the basic idea. You have several dinner ideas just waiting to be born right in your refrigerator. We suggest two night dinners because leftovers don’t keep for long. After the fourth day in the fridge, it’s best to toss it out. With the ideas you are sure to come up with, there shouldn’t be anything left by day four.

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Pizza Sammies

Ingredients

1 – 12 Count Package Frozen Dinner Rolls (thawed)
1 – 12 oz Jar or Bottle of Pizza Sauce
1 – 8 – 12oz package Mozzarella Cheese
Pizza Toppings of your choice,
(pepperoni, hamburger, sausage, black olives, onions, green peppers or just cheese)

Directions

Get a package of the frozen dinner rolls that you thaw out to rise. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Coat the bottom of your cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray (a must here). Lay out as many thawed rolls as you want leaving at least 3 inches apart. Once the oven is preheated to 200 degrees shut it off. Put the cookie sheet inside, let the rolls sit for 30 minutes exactly. After the thirty minutes are up, remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Using your hands flatten the rolls into mini-circles. Put about a tablespoon or two of pizza sauce on each circle. Top with whatever pizza toppings you want. Turn the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 12- 15 minutes or until the pizzas are done and the bottom is golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet cool and serve.

* For step by step directions and photos of this recipe click on the link below or copy and paste the link into your browser.

http://tinamommyx3.blogspot.com/2008/07/pizza-sammies-kid-sized-mini-pizzas.html

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Strawberry Dream Salad

What You Need:

1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling

1 (21 oz) can strawberry pie filling

2 C crushed pineapple, drained

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed

3/4 C pecans, chopped

How to Make It:

Place the both cans of pie filling into a large mixing bowl.

Fold in the crushed pineapple until well combined.

Pour the milk into the mixture and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated together well.

Fold the whipped topping into the mixture until the topping is smooth.

Sprinkle in the pecans and stir until well combined.

Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours being sure the salad is chilled completely through before serving.

Serves: 8

This salad is easy to make and delicious to eat. Spice it up with some seedless grapes cut in half and a few colored mini marshmallows. Fresh fruit can be substituted for the pie filling if you prefer.

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