Deli-Style Cucumber Salad

I signed up to be a recipe tester for American's Test Kitchen and they sent me this recipe as my first to try out. I decided it would be perfect for a BBQ and to test it on my family. Colton helped me make it and I loved how easy it was to put together. Everyone loved how this tasted! I thought it tasted like I was eating pickles. I will definitely use this recipe again, especially during the summer.

DELI-STYLE CUCUMBER SALAD

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar

3/4 cup cold water

2 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

1 garlic clove, minced

Pinch cayenne pepper

2 cucumbers, sliced thin

1 onion, halved and sliced thin (I used a Vidalia)

Whisk vinegar, water, sugar, salt, dill, garlic, and cayenne together in a large bowl until salt is dissolved. Stir in cucumbers and onion. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. Serve chilled. 

Orange Broccoli and Carrots

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com when I was looking for a way to use up a bunch of broccoli and carrots that I had on hand. The recipe doesn't call for carrots, but I threw them in anyways and they were a great addition! This was really easy and quick to throw together, so I'm sure I'll use this recipe a lot.

ORANGE BROCCOLI AND CARROTS

•  2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 head broccoli, cut into small pieces with stalks peeled
• 12 baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add the orange zest and red pepper flakes and allow to heat briefly, about 1 minute. Stir the broccoli and carrots into the mixture; season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking about 5 minutes more; transfer to a serving bowl. Pour the orange juice over the broccoli and carrots and toss to coat. Serve hot. 

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

This recipe got emailed to me from AllRecipes.com and looked easy and like a perfect summer side dish. I also loved that it had basil in it. YUM! I made it tonight for a bbq and everyone loved it! I think I had like three servings of it. =)

ORZO WITH PARMESAN AND BASIL

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.  

Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes. 

Mix in Parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to shallow bowl. Garnish with basil sprigs.   

Chili Lime Corn on the Cob

This is a wonderful summer dish that I plan on making often. I love the taste of grilled corn on the cob over boiling it, plus the flavors of the butter mixture are amazing! Guy Fieri made this on The View last week and it's from his new cookbook, Guy Fieri's Food. I'm quite tempted to buy this cookbook!

CHILI LIME CORN ON THE COB

• 4 ears of corn, in husk
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked

In a small bowl, combine butter, zest, chili powder, salt and pepper and set aside.
1. Carefully peel back husk from ear, without detaching from the bottom, remove silk from corn, fold the husk back around the ears and soak in water for 30 - 45 minutes. Make sure to weigh down the ears so that they are fully submerged.
2. Preheat a BBQ to medium, indirect heat. Remove ears from water, drain, open husk, dry ear with paper towel and spread butter mixture evenly on corn. Fold husk back over corn and grill for 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sourdough Bread Stuffing

Ever since I saw this recipe air on Foodnetwork, I've been making it for Thanksgiving (I think it's been 5 or so years). My family didn't know that you could make stuffing from scratch, it was just always assumed that it came in a box. =) This stuffing tastes wonderful and is really easy to make. If you're looking for a new Thanksgiving recipe, give this one a try!!

SOURDOUGH BREAD STUFFING

• 1-pound sourdough bread loaf
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• Salt and pepper
• 2-4 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• About 10 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped from the stem
• 10-12 sage leaves, chopped
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish.

Tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and spread out onto 2 baking sheets. Toast the bread in the oven for about 20 minutes and then transfer to a mixing bowl.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and add the mushrooms; saute for about 6 minutes. Then add 2 more tablespoons of butter and the celery, onion and thyme. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the sage and 4 more tablespoons of butter. Add the broth and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour this mixture over the toasted bread and mix. Pour this mixture into the baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Mushroom and Spinach Biscuits

I bought a huge container of mushrooms recently so I've been experimenting with different mushroom recipes that I'm finding. Have you ever checked out Tastespotting? If not, you need to right now. You can submit pictures of your wonderful food creations and then people like me peruse through the beautiful pictures and find recipes to make. I saw the picture of these biscuits which led me to this blog where they were posted. I made them to go with my baked ham last night and they were DELICIOUS! They weren't hard to make at all and they tasted like something you'd eat at a fancy restaurant. Even Colton liked these, so they made be a good way for moms to sneak some veggies into a meal. I made some slight changes to the recipe and here's my version:

MUSHROOM AND SPINACH BISCUITS

• About 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms (I used baby portobellos), chopped
  
• 1/2 cup finely-grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
  
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup butter
  
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
  
• 3/4 cup milk

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or coat with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Saute mushrooms and onion in olive oil on medium heat. Once mushrooms are cooked, add spinach on top. Fold in spinach and saute until wilted. Allow to cool and then mix in Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, white pepper and thyme in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pasty cutter or two forks until the mixture forms fine crumbs. Stir in milk, then stir in cooled mushroom/spinach mixture. Don't stir too much, just until dough will form a ball. Then knead ball lightly on a floured surface (it will be sticky!).

Roll dough out to 3/4-inch thick on a floured surface. Cut into circles using a biscuit cutter or a glass cup. If you use a biscuit cutter you'll get 6 biscuits and you'll want to bake them for 15 minutes. If you use a glass cup to cut out your biscuits, you'll get 8-9 and you'll only want to bake them for 12 minutes. Cool the biscuits before eating.

Sauteed Mushrooms

I absolutely love mushrooms. Luckily so does my husband and son, which I have to say I'm quite shocked that Colton loves them as much as he does. What 2 year old likes mushrooms? Anyways, these are an easy and delicious way to serve up some mushrooms that are a perfect side dish for any meal. I got them from my Taste of Home cookbook and you can also find them online here.

SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (make sure it's the low-sodium kind otherwise it's too salty)

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add the mushrooms, lemon juice and soy sauce. Saute for 6-8 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

My friend Cassie posted this recipe on her blog and it looked too tasty not to try. I love hard-boiled eggs and liked the idea of it being in a pasta salad. Joe, Colton and I all loved it and thought it was the perfect summer meal. Next picnic I go on I'm taking this with me! Oh and I didn't take a picture of it so check out Cassie's cute picture of the salad here.

DEVILED EGG PASTA SALAD

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 cups of Miracle Whip or mayo
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup pickle relish - depending on your liking (I just chopped a few dill pickles up)
• Paprika

Cook pasta al dente; drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again.

Mix together the Miracle Whip (or mayo), mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Gently fold the pasta, eggs, and pickle relish into the Miracle Whip mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and refrigerate until served.

Sweet Grape Salad

My friend Cassie posted this recipe on her blog and I just had to try it! We're big fans of grapes around here....plus all the other ingredients in this salad. I served it to my family last night and it was a hit with everyone. My sister told me that it's her new favorite side dish that I make! Definitely try it this summer!!

SWEET GRAPE SALAD

• 2 pounds red seedless grapes
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• 1 8-ounce container sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pecans

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, white sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Gently fold in the grapes. Sprinkle the brown sugar and pecans on top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled. YUM!

Creamy Berry Salad

This is a delicious berry salad that we all loved....especially Colton. I'm pretty sure it will be a staple this summer at our house.

CREAMY BERRY SALAD

• 3 cups boiling water
• 1 small package of raspberry Jell-o (I used the sugar free kind)
• 1 small package of tapioca pudding
• 1 large package of vanilla pudding (I used sugar free again)
• 1 tub of Cool Whip (try and get the kind that doesn't have hydrogenated oils and other yucky stuff in it. I think it's called Tru Whip.)
• 1 package of frozen berries

Bring water to a boil. Add the Jell-o and puddings and bring to a boil. Remove from heat once it's boiling and pour it into a heat-safe bowl. Cool until thick; chill for 90 minutes. Add the Cool Whip and berries and chill for 2 hours.

Noodle Kugel

I can't even remember how I ran across this recipe on AllRecipes.com but I saw and knew I had to make it for Christmas Eve. I like to celebrate other cultures around Christmas, primarily in food form. I've made a Kwanzaa Coconut Cake, popular dishes eaten in European countries on Christmas, etc. So I made this classic Jewish dish (you can read about it's origins here) and it was super easy to make. I was a little hesitant about how it was going to taste but the whole family loved it! My sister said it tastes like an apple struedel in noodle form. I highly encourage everyone to try it.

NOODLE KUGEL

• 1 (16 ounce) package egg noodle
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Cinnamon, for dusting

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the egg noodles, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.

Place noodles in a large bowl. Mix margarine into the noodles until melted. Stir in the eggs, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Pour noodle mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan, then sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover the kugel and bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.

Twice-Baked Sweet Potato

A few weeks ago I bought a 10-pound box of sweet potatoes thinking I'd use them up quick because of Thanksgiving and I have found myself with a TON of sweet potatoes leftover. I'm trying out new recipes and I found one that I'm really liking. This recipe for twice-baked sweet potatoes is awesome because it is so versatile. You can follow the recipe (it's really good) or add your favorite toppings - coconut, marshmallows, orange zest, etc. And I also love it because you're not committing yourself to a huge casserole that you'll be eating for leftovers all week. You can just make one per person and also make them to each persons liking! Love it!

I got this recipe from the Kraft website and you can find it here.

TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Heat the oven to 425. Cut the potatoes in half length-wise; place cut-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until tender.

Scoop out the centers of the sweet potatoes, leaving 1/4-inch thick shells. Add cream cheese, milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon to the potatoes; mash until blended.

Fill the shells with the potato mixture; top with nuts. Bake another 8 minutes, or until heated through and the nuts are toasted.

Oat-Topped Sweet Potato Crisp

I got this recipe from the Kraft website and decided to test it out on family as a possible contender for Thanksgiving. It was easy to put together and we all loved it! The only problem was deciding if it was a side dish or a dessert. If you are looking for a new sweet potato dish to try out for Thanksgiving, use this one!

OAT-TOPPED SWEET POTATO CRISP

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 can (40 oz.) cut sweet potatoes, drained
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
• 2/3 cup chopped cranberries
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
• 1/3 cup cold butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup chopped Pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and cinnamon with mixer until well blended. Spoon into 1.5 qt casserole dish; top with apples and cranberries.

Mix flour, oats, and remaining sugar in a medium bowl; cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over the fruit layer in casserole dish.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until heated through.

Baked Butternut Squash

In the past when I've gotten butternut squash I always made soup with it. That's very delicious and all but I wanted to try something new. I decided to try this recipe and loved it! It's the perfect side dish for the fall and it was easy to make.

BAKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, combine the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add squash and toss to coat.

Transfer to an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until squash is just tender.

Creamy Carrot Gelatin Salad

Ok, so the the title of this sounds a little gross, but don't judge this recipe by its name! I have a lot of carrots that are going to go bad soon so I searched the internet for some new dishes that I could experiment with. Colton LOVES Jell-o with fruit in it, so I wanted to make a Jell-o dish with carrots in it and see if he likes that too. This dish is so delicious, you can't even tell there's carrot in it! I served it to my family and they all asked if coconut was in it. Ha! Here's the link for the salad.

CREAMY CARROT GELATIN SALAD

• 1 can (8 ounce) of crushed pineapple
• 24 marshmallows (I used the small kind)
• 1 jar (5 ounces) cream cheese with pineapple (I just used regular cream cheese)
• 1 package lemon Jell-o (I used Jell-O's Tropical flavor - it has pineapple, orange, and cherry flavors)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cup grated carrots

Drain pineapple; reserve juice. Heat reserved pineapple juice in a small saucepan over low heat; add marshmallows, stirring until melted. Add cream cheese, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Dissolve Jello in boiling water; cool. combine marshmallow mixture with gelatin; chill until jelled to the consistency of unbeaten egg white. Stir in crushed pineapple and grated carrot; pour into an 8-inch square pan; cut carrot salad in squares to serve.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Salad

I receive the newsletter GOOP written by Gwyneth Paltrow every week. She has a lot of great tips and last week she included 5 easy recipes that her family likes to eat. I had just recently bought a big bag of lentils so I could make some baby food for Colton with it and thought I'd try this recipe. It was so delicious and because lentils are packed with protein and fiber, it made us full really fast! This is a very healthy recipe and wasn't hard to make at all.

LENTIL AND SWEET POTATO SALAD

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 2 pinches red chili powder
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 cups of lentils, washed and picked through
• 2 tablespoons torn parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Toss the sweet potatoes with 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil, the maple syrup and one pinch of chili. Roast, stirring, until caramelized and a paring knife slips easily through a piece, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the additional two tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the remaining pinch of chili, onion, carrot, garlic, oregano, pepper and thyme. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are a bit softened and just beginning to brown. Add the lentils and four cups of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, turn down to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

Let the lentils cool to room temperature. Fold the lentils together with the sweet potatoes. Drizzle with your good olive oil, sprinkle with salt and parsley, and serve.

Bleu Cheese Biscuits

For Easter dinner I wanted to do something different than the normal rolls that are always served. I was looking through Pioneer Woman's recipes and found this one. I was a bit hesitant to try the recipe because I'm not a fan of bleu cheese, but I know everyone else in my family likes it...so why not go for it.

Everyone, including me, absolutely loved it!! The bleu cheese-ness of it wasn't too strong, so it was perfect. I definitely recommend everyone to try this.

BLEU CHEESE BISCUITS

• 1 can flaky biscuits
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2-3 ounces bleu cheese

Crumble the bleu cheese. Next, place the butter on a baking sheet and throw the cheese on top of it. Place into a 350 degree oven for a couple of minutes, until the butter and cheese have melted.

Take the biscuits out of the tube and cut them in quarters. Pull the pan out of the oven and spread the cheese and butter around so it evenly distributed. Dump the quartered biscuits into the pan and toss them around to get coated.

Stick the pan in the oven for 8-12 minutes, until the biscuits are cooked and browned. Using a brush, coat the leftover cheese and butter mixture onto the biscuits.

Heavenly Barbecue Sauce

This is my last "Best of the Best" cookbook! I have a lot of recipe marked off to try in this one. Also, if you are into dutch oven cooking, there are a lot of recipes in this cookbook for that.

I have a roast in my freezer that needed to be cooked soon so when I ran across this recipe, I decided to try it out with the roast and to slow cook the two together. This turned out to be one of the best barbecued roasts I've ever made! We absolutely love this sauce and will make it the one we use every time.

HEAVENLY BARBECUE SAUCE

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon horseradish
• 1 tablespoon grated onion (I use dehydrated onion flakes)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Ac'cent (I omitted this since it's MSG....bad stuff)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano (I used fresh since I had it on hand)
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

Mix all ingredients together ahead of time so that spices are able to blend well. When doubling the recipe, do not fully increase the horseradish, salt, Tabasco, and cayenne, or sauce will be too hot.

Rice-Green Chilies Casserole

For 15 years of my life I lived in various parts of Texas although I call Dallas my home. I try to go back once a year and would love to move back there! This cookbook is full of great Texan recipes, it's a keeper.

Joe and I really liked this rice casserole. It was easy to make and not spicy like I thought it would be. Next time I might add some cayenne pepper or something to create some heat to it.

RICE-GREEN CHILIES CASSEROLE

• 1 cup raw rice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  
• 1 can chopped green chilies

Cook rice according to package directions; add butter and set aside. Fold sour cream and chilies together. In buttered casserole dish place a layer of rice and a layer of chilies-sour cream mixture. Cover with half of cheese. Repeat layers, topping with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato and Apple Bake

Joe moved from Colorado to Atlanta, Georgia when he was 12 years old; that is where he spent the remainder of his teenage years. Atlanta is such a beautiful and fun place to visit! I wish airline tickets were cheaper because I'd be flying there non-stop.

This is a delicious side dish to eat when it's cold outside. The taste is so warm and homey, and would taste very good with ham.

SWEET POTATO AND APPLE BAKE

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2)
• 1 1/2 pounds cooking apples (about 2)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup apple cider or juice
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger

Cook potatoes in boiling water. Cool and peel. Cut into quarters. Core and peel apples; cut into thin slices. Place quartered sweet potatoes and apples in greased 2-quart casserole. Boil brown sugar, butter, cider, syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger. Pour over sweet potatoes and apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.