"Frog Eye" Salad

Probably about 18 months ago I found out that I'm allergic to walnuts and pineapple--enough so that I have to carry an epi-pen. I'm okay not eating walnuts, but I was devastated about eliminating Pineapple from my diet. I'll be honest, it broke my heart a little. Pineapple is one of my very favorites. Hawaiian pizza, fresh cut pineapple, eating the core of the fresh cut pineapple (love it!!), fruit salads, and Frog Eye Salad. I love me some Frog Eye Salad. :)

At one point I tried a bit pineapple, hoping that the allergy wasn't actually an allergy and that it would magically go away. It didn't. I was at my sister's house and she got a little too excited at the thought of using my epi-pen on me. Fortunately, the epi-pen wasn't necessary because as soon as my mouth started to react I spit it out and rinsed my mouth out. After a few minutes I was fine. But I learned my lesson.

Of course, since I found out, I've been seriously craving Frog Eye Salad. I've been fine avoiding other favorite foods, but for some reason, I can't get over the salad. I miss it terribly. It's like manna from Heaven. True Story. I've never met anyone that didn't LOVE it.

Then today, I had an epiphany. What if I substituted the pineapple tidbits and juice out? I looked online for substituted recipes but couldn't find any. So I took a bit of a risk and made my own. It turned out pretty good. Not as divine, but still quite yummy.

Here is the original recipe with the substitutions in brackets next to it.

Frog Eye Salad

6 oz. Acini De Pepe Pasta [I used Ditali Pasta, but prefer the original]
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 cup Pineapple Juice, from tidbits [Orange Juice]
1 Egg, beaten
2 tsp. Lemon Juice
1 16 oz. can Pineapple Tidbits [Diced Peaches & Pears]
Mini Marshmallows
8 oz. Whipped Topping (Cool Whip)

Directions:
Boil Pasta in water for 10-12 minutes until done al-dente. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water.
Combine sugar, flour, and salt. Mix well. Add pineapple juice [orange juice] and beaten egg. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add lemon juice. Add sauce to pasta and mix together. Allow pasta and sauce to cool completely.
Add pineapple tidbits [diced peaches and pears] and marshmallows.
Fold in whipped topping and mix thoroughly. Chill.

Serves 6-10

***

Lessons I learned from my experimenting:

- The pasta I substituted with was alright, but not my favorite. I prefer the Acini de Pepe.
- I used OJ from concentrate, so I mixed up using 2.5 cans of water instead of 3 thinking that the flavor should be more concentrated. It tasted really orangey. I would have actually diluted it a bit with water. It was good, but a little strong. Lesson learned.
- I loved the pears in the salad--more like pineapple in texture, but not the peaches. I won't add peaches next time.
-There are other versions that add canned mandarin oranges (YUCKY!) and coconut (double yucky!) but I'm not a fan so I don't add those.
- I definitely prefer the original to the new, but the new is a pretty good substitute. :) I'll be making it again.

I consider this a success. YAY! for experimenting with food! :) Now, if they only made gluten free Acini de Pepe Pasta.

Sharing the Love

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I was trying to figure out what to do for my roommates. I wanted to just do a little something special.

Then I found a two pound basket of strawberries on sale. And I knew what I wanted for me, er, them. :)

Ta Da!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries. I did these last night and so my roommates are getting their treats a little early so the strawberries don't go bad. I also did a few marshmellows because I had extra chocolate. Turned out pretty good.

Yeah, I had to sample one. It was amazing. I may have also had one (or two) for breakfast. It's fruit, so it's good. Right?! :) And yes, I really, really need need to work on my white chocolate skills.

Here the strawberries are, all packaged up. They turned out pretty cute! I found the straws at Target. I had a different plan for my roommates, and that's why I bought them, but then I did this so they are randomly stuck in the packaging. :)

Cute and DELICIOUS! :)

Delicious Fat Free Dessert

It's really true! This dessert is fat free. And it's really delicious!! It does have a fair amount of sugar, but it's a dessert so that is expected. Oh, and it's super easy!

Angel Food Cake with Cream and Strawberries

Ingredients:
1 box Angel Food Cake Mix
    --water per the cake recipe
1 large box Vanilla Sugar Free/Fat Free Jello Pudding
2 3/4 cups Milk
1 small tub Fat Free Cool Whip
Strawberries, chopped up

Directions:
Make the cake per the directions on the back of the box.  I didn't have a bundt pan and so I used two loaf pans, it worked perfectly. If you do loaf pans, the cooking time is a bit shorter. I think it took about 30 minutes to cook. Once cooked, let the cake cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, mix up the Milk and Pudding mix. Add cool whip to taste. I used only half of the container, but should have mixed in more. :) Set in fridge to chill.

Add a bit of sugar the chop strawberries and mix. Let this rest in the fridge till the cake is cool. This will create a bit of strawberry syrup. So yummy!

When the cake is cool, chop into squares.

Put a generous amount of pudding on top and sprinkle with strawberries and a little of the syrup.

Here's another variation, with slices of cake:



Eat and don't feel guilty about having a divine dessert! :)

Yummy Pumpkin Roll Recipe

So I was feeling a bit adventurous tonight and tried a new recipe. Libby's Pumpkin Roll. It is delicious.

I'd never made any kind of roll cake so this was a bit of an adventure for me.

Alright, here is the recipe. I got it from the wrapper of the can of pumpkin.

CAKE:
powdered sugar
3/4 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

FILLING:
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
6 tbsp. butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

For Cake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 15x10" jelly roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin cotton towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

For Filling: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

*
Alrighty, now for my steps (plus pictures!)

I followed the recipe almost to the T. Well at least as well as I could. Sometimes I didn't get it. :)

The powder sugar towel. A thinner towel would have been better, but I didn't have one.

The flour mixture and the pumpkin mixture.

The cake baking in the oven. I used parchment paper instead of wax paper and it worked well. Note: I should have cooked the cake a little longer than the15 minutes. It was slightly underdone when I flipped it.

When the cake was cooked, I rolled it up.

The frosting all whipped together. So yummy!

I smeared on the frosting and then began to roll. I had a little problem with the cake cracking and sticking to the towel. So one end turned out prettier and tighter than the other.



All rolled up. I tried to smear the frosting as evenly as possible. Yeah, that didn't work out as well as I thought it did. :)

So the cake turned out pretty good. I did use a bit more of the cloves than the recipe called for so they turned out a little stronger than I would have liked and masked the cinnamon. I tried to balance it out adding whip cream with cinnamon on top. That helped a bit. Over all it was tasty and I'm sure I'll make it again.

Oh, I should mention. The drink in the last picture is my Nana's homemade Egg Nog. So delicious. It has spoiled me from store bought egg nog forever. I think that store bought stuff is so gross. Anyway. Since I was making a holiday treat, I thought I needed a holiday drink to go with it. Hello Egg Nog! Basically it's just a thin pudding with a meringue topping. And Nutmeg. mmmm good!

Here's the recipe:

6 cups milk

1 pkg vanilla pudding (4 person serving size)

Vanilla extract to taste

2 eggs, separated

1/8 cup granulated sugar

Ground Nutmeg (or Cinnamon)

Mix milk, pudding, and vanilla together until well blended. Mix in egg yolks into milk*. In a small bowl, mix with mixer egg whites and sugar till really frothy and somewhat stiff.

Mix in egg whites into milk mixture really well (this makes it frothy and awesome). Sprinkle with Nutmeg (or cinnamon). Chill for at least one hour. Sprinkle more nutmeg (or cinnamon). Serve. Enjoy. Love.

(*Note: This is a little soapbox about raw eggs. Raw eggs are usually a only problem if you get your eggs from a chicken coop (as opposed to a store). Samonella comes from chicken poop. That is why you should always wash your eggs with soap and water before you use them, if you have your own chickens. When eggs come from a grocery store, they are bleached (that's why they're white) and the bleaching process removes bacteria. Now, the bacteria can be reintroduced and so it's still a good idea to wash your eggs, but as long as you do, you can eat raw eggs. The samonella comes from outside the shell not the inside. Otherwise little chickens wouldn't be able to survive. Make sense? Alright. :) End of Soapbox.) :)

***

Today I am thankful that I was taught how to cook by my awesome Nana. Thanks for teaching me how to read a recipe, Nana! And thanks for the Egg Nog. It makes me happy. :) Love you!

Yummy Cream Puffs

Tonight  I made homemade cream puffs using an old family recipe. I have no idea where my Nana got this recipe, but she made them for us almost weekly growing up. She even made hundreds and hundreds of mini cream puffs for my parents wedding. I learned to make them by myself in college--while on the phone with my Nana to guide me through the process. 

I've been craving them and it's been a long time since I made them. So I caved and made them. They turned out so yummy that I want to share the recipe. :)

Because it's a puff pasty shell, some people are scared of making them, but the great thing about these is that even if the pasty doesn't puff up all pretty, it will still taste delicious.

Another hard thing about these is that they are a bit time consuming. Each recipe makes 12-16 (depending on the size) cream puffs per batch. And you can't double a recipe. If you want more, you have to start over and make another batch. Sorry. 

One nice thing is that if you use sugar free/fat free pudding and cool whip, it's actually a *fairly* healthy-ish dessert. Unless you're counting calories. I bet there's a lot of those. But if you're not, you're as golden as the cream puffs!

Alright here is the list of ingredients:

Puff Pastry Shell:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Filing:
1 large box Vanilla Instant Pudding 
2 1/2 cups Milk
3 pkg. of Dream Whip or 1 tub of Cool whip or 1 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream (I used Whipping Cream this time because I had it on hand. I've decided that Dream Whip is my favorite, but I usually use Cool Whip (off brand) because it is cheapest and easiest.)
1 1/2 cups Milk (if using Dream Whip)

Toppings:
Chocolate Sauce
Sprinkles
Or Whatever You Want :)
***

Ok. Here's how to make the pastry shell. The first part went so fast that I didn't get any pictures, but here's what to do. 

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. (Very important--oven needs to be hot when the pastry goes in.)

2) Boil water, butter, and salt together until butter is melted. 

3) Add flour all at once (but be careful not to splatter the water/butter mixture--it burns--not that I would know from personal experience or anything...). Stir until mixture until it pulls away from the sides of the pan--Do not over mix--once it sticks together, stop mixing. Let it cool slightly.

4) Beat eggs in 1 at a time, beating vigorously--by hand--until smooth.  (CAUTION: Do not over mix it. Once it is smooth, stop mixing. If you do, it won't puff up and be as pretty.) 

Note that each egg will become progressively harder to mix it and it will take longer to mix. That is okay. Just keep mixing, but don't over mix!

What it looks like as you mix in the eggs. Just keep mixing.

All smooth and pretty! 

5) Drop onto an well oiled cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Lightly shape the lumps into more ball-like shapes. Try to not touch the dough too much at this point. 

It's totally cool if they are oddly shaped. :)

6) Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Even if it doesn't look like it's done, it's okay. 

7) Turn down the oven to 300 degrees F and leave the shells in the oven to cook for another 20-30 minutes or until dry. 

8) Cool completely. If I'm only making one batch, I usually just turn off the oven and let the pan just sit in oven until the oven is completely cool. This helps the pastries dry even more. Usually this is another 20-45 minutes depending on your oven. The longer the better. You want the pastry to dry out really well.

9) Once cool, split the shells in half and empty the middles--the soft part that is through out the middle of the pastry. Eat the middles--or save them to eat with the extra pudding mixture.

10) Mix up the pudding according to directions on the box, and let set (5 minutes in the fridge). Once the pudding is set, mix in the Cool whip/whipping cream/ dream whip completely. Spoon the filling into the middle of both sides of the shells and refrigerate until ready to serve.

11) Drizzle chocolate sauce and any other toppings.  Unfortunately I didn't have any chocolate sauce this time. Still delicious though!

12) Eat. Enjoy. Love. Crave more. Eat more. 

When eating, try eating each half separately. It makes it easier. Trust me, I know. :)

One of my favorite things growing up was that Nana would make WAY too much filling and then she would let us eat it for breakfast the next morning. Best breakfast EVER! :)

Heavenly. 

Be brave. Try the recipe. Love the creamy puffiness. Best of luck!

Corn Sausage Pie

Growing up, my Nana made dinner for us every day. And we had dinner together every day. And we ate whatever it was that she made. Most of the time I loved her recipes. I was looking through my recipe collection and came across "Corn Sausage Pie" and remembered it with fondness, though I've never tried to make it before. But I was asking my siblings and apparently they didn't love it. Weird. What's not to love? It's got corn, sausage, and biscuits! It's a pretty easy recipe, so I thought I would make it.

It was just as good as I remembered!

So I thought I would share it.

Corn Sausage Pie
Brown 1 lb link sausages (I used turkey sausage, and then because there wasn't any drippings, used just a little olive oil for the next step.)

Pour off all but 4 T. of the sausage drippings, and sautee in the drippings:

3 T. finely chopped green pepper
2 T. finely chopped onion (I used green onions because that is what I had on hand. Delicious!)

Next, blend in:

3 T. flour
1 t. salt
dash of pepper

Remove from heat.

Gradually mix in:

3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups cream-style corn

Return to heat and stir constantly until mixture is heated through. Pour into greased casserole (8 1/2" diameter and 1 3/4" deep).

Arrange on top of the mixture the browned link sausages. I sprinkled more green onions on top.

Cover with biscuits. I just bought Pillsbury biscuits that come in the cans. It worked perfectly! I tore mine apart to make them fit better.

Bake 20 minutes in 425 degree oven (hot oven) or until biscuits are cooked throughly. Serve hot. Makes six servings.

So yummy!! Hope you enjoy!

New Treat

Recently, a new shop opened up. One that could be a problem. ;) This is their product:

We got free cupcakes from Icing on the Cupcake-a local cupcake bakery today. YUMMY! This was after we had sampled each of the cupcakes. Top: Neopolitain and Red Velvet. Bottom: Vanilla/Vanilla (we ate it all) and Mint Chocolate. Heavenly!

Neopolitian Cupcake. Yellow Cake, Chocolate Pudding Filling, with Strawberry Frosting.

Yep. This could be a problem. :)

PARTY TIME!

Today was the big day. Well, for my sister, Caitlin and her husband Nick anyway. They were sealed in the Temple!! (If you don't know what that means, click here--suffice it to say that now they will be still married to each other even after they die. It's very special and exciting!!) 

So it was a busy and special day for them! Mom has pictures, but I don't yet so I'll post them once I get them.

As I explained yesterday, to celebrate, I volunteered to throw a party for them. Cait didn't want it to be a party for them, but an Easter party. So I compromised and said it was for both. She wasn't having it, so I said it was an Easter party. But in my heart, it was for them. And in everyone's hearts too.

Everyone said that the sealing was wonderful and that Nick was hilarious. Apparently when the sealer told him to look at Caitlin, not him, Nick said, "Not a problem." And then when the sealer had them stand in front of the Eternity mirrors, the sealer said, "Nick, who do you see more of?" Nick said, "Caitlin." The sealer said, "Is there a lesson in that?" Nick's response: "Indeed." Considering that Nick is generally a man of few words, it was really funny.

My mom said that everyone in the sealing room was crying. Everyone, but Caitlin. Of course. She says that she was born without tear ducts. Or that they malfunctioned when she was a kid or something. I think she is right. :)

So on to the party and the food. Apparently, I didn't really care that there were people there because I only got pictures of the food. My bad.

The Fruit Pizzas. They were so pretty! And even more delicious! Alyssa made the one on the left. She was quite proud of it. She doesn't really cook so this was a big deal. She even made the glaze that went on top all by her self!

About half of the spread. The food was all so yummy, if I do say so myself.
And that's my cousin Cresta-Lynn in the background.

It was really fun too, because my Aunt Liz (my dad's sister) drove down with Mom and Nana to come to the sealing. (She lives a couple of miles away from them in Nampa). She stayed with her sister, my Aunt Becky, in Reno, but came down for the day. It was so fun to see and spend a little time with them.

After the festivities started to die down a little, I convinced my mom to come out and admire my beautiful new car that she still hadn't seen. My aunties  came out to admire too. And Cait, always wanting to be the center of attention (not really) decided that at that very moment she wanted to make sure that the emergency handle in the back of my trunk worked. So we opened it up and she climbed in. And lucky for her (and her husband) it did.

Here she is saying, "Ta Da!" like it was some magic trick or something. :)

And the family watched "Tangled" twice during the party. The second time I actually sat down and watched the first 15 minutes, but then my Aunties showed up so I didn't see the rest. So I still haven't seen it. Boo. That's okay though, I finally saw Harry Potter tonight at the "After Party" at Cait's. Awesome movie!!

So it was a very busy day and everyone but Steven was exhausted by the end (actually by the middle, but we survived till the end). Exhausting, but super fun and AWESOME! Like, totally.

I Heart Food!

In the week till Valentine's Day, I thought I would write about things I heart.

Today I heart Pluto's (the resturant, though I suppose the former planet, {sob}, deserves some lovin' too). Its in the Galleria Mall in Roseville (the resturant, not the former planet--that would be really awkward).

I ate there for the first time today. Cait showed up randomly at my office at noon and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was working (duh!). Then we decided to skip out for lunch. YEAH!

We went to Pluto's and it was soooo delicious!!!! I got a huge salad (I'm drooling thinking about it). And Cait got the tri-tip sandwhich (I had to swallow because there was so much drool in my mouth). Even Cait liked it--and it had lettuce on it!! (Mom, you would be so proud--& yes, Cait told me to tell you.) :)

Here is what was left of my salad that was so big I munched on it all afternoon.

Heaven in a box. Favorite part: the almonds--they added just the right delicious crunch!

{mmmmmm good}

Ode to Fruity Pebbles

Oh Fruity Pebbles, you are so yummy
I love you because you are so tasty and crunchy!

Fruity goodness in my mouth,
Do people enjoy these in the South?

I am so glad you are gluten free,
That makes it okay for you to be in my tummy!

Even to the milk's last drop,
You make my mouth sing and dance a little hip-hop!!

The End.

Seriously?

I don't get it. I really don't. When someone sends you a letter that CLEARLY explains how to fill a form out correctly--why is it so hard to fill it out correctly?!?! And then to do it incorrectly twice? Even after a couple of phone calls explaining it? Really? (I keep thinking of SNL's "Really" segment when they do their news.) You would think that someone would try a little harder when the form is going to give them money--lots of money.

I think reading comprehension doesn't exist anymore. Or people just don't try or care. Most likely its the latter. Which is really sad.

Why is it so hard?

***

In other news, I had a ridiculously delicious lunch today. I'm drooling thinking about it. :) I heart Togo's.

Yes, that is a #30 with Avo, and Pringles.
mmmmm!!!!....I think I would have been a prime subject for Pavlov's experiment.

Cake Pops!

Today, Bekah was introduced to Cake Pops. We decided to make them tonight.

Here they are.

First we made regular cake recipe--following the box instructions. And we cooked it.

The uncooked batter.

Then once it was cooked and cooled, we crumbled it all up. Once the crumbs were crumbled, Bekah mixed in a can vanilla frosting.

 Once the frosting and crumbs were mixed completely, We made little balls with the dough. It wasn't very solid. But they held the shape fairly well.

 Because they weren't solid enough to dip in chocolate, we put them in the freezer till they were.

 Once they were frozen, we dipped them in melted chocolate. We added white chocolate chips for a bit of flourish.

We froze them again.

Then we added the skewers.

Cheers!

Then we ate them! :) MMMMM good! Soooo good! Definitely sweet! And that is what I did with my Sunday night. :)

Delicious!

This was my first foray into the world of Homemade Onion Rings. Um, pretty sure they were delicious and I'm going to do it again. :) Maybe sooner, rather than later.

Best part was that it was just a packet mix (tempura style). So yummy. And easy. And quick. :)

And that is the end of this post.

Some of My Favorite Things...(Food Edition).

So I already struggled today to figure out what I was going to post. Then I started thinking about what I wanted to eat as my dinner tomorrow night. Then I thought of making creamy enchiladas. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!! My mouth is drooling thinking about it. :) So I thought I could post something about some of my favorite foods.

So here are a few of my favorites:

- Chicken Pillows (Crescent rolls stuffed with chicken, cream cheese, and diced green chilies)
- Mom's Lasagna (You don't even have to pre-cook the noodles!)
- Creamy Enchiladas
- French Toast with Nana's homemade bread!
- Crepes! (Fav combo: strawberries and nutella!)
and
- Homemade Oreos.

I made oreos tonight, and I thought I'd share the recipe. Here goes!

Homemade Oreos (courtesy of Nicole Esau)

Cookie:
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup shortening


Frosting (Wilton's Buttercream Icing):

1 cup solid vegetable shortening 

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

1 teaspoon clear butter flavoring

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

2 tablespoons water (sometimes more to thin it out) 

Makes: About 3 cups of icing. (I usually make a half recipe for 1 box of cake)

Optional: Replace butter flavoring with peppermint, cut down on vanilla flavoring. Flavor to taste. I like a lot. Tint with green food coloring.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the cookie ingredients all together until well blended. Then roll into approximately 1 inch balls.

Bake for 8 minutes. Do not cook longer. Otherwise they dry out too much.

They look like this when they are done. mmmmmm!!!

Cool the cookies completely. Once cool, put icing in between two cookies, and enjoy!!

I usually get 2 dozen cookies.

This is the finished result. With mint frosting. SO YUMMY!! Enjoy!

Now I am going to eat one. YEAH ME!