Greek Pork Skewers

Greek Pork Skewers

The inspiration for this dish comes from my pork pocket recipe. I placed my pork strips on skewers, then roasted them in the oven. I then served them on a bed of lemon and herb rice, with a side of warm pita bread, salad and cucumber dressing. It was delicious!!!

Here is the link for the Cucumber Dressing and Caesar pork.

Enjoy!

Pesto Chicken and Bowties

This is so delicious and easy to make. It's addicting so be careful!

Pesto Chicken and Bow Ties

• 3 cups uncooked bow toe pasta
• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup pesto sauce (sold on Italian isle near pizza bread and sauces)
• 1/2 cup milk

Cook pasta until tender, drain. Cook chicken until browned in butter or oil, stirring often. Add soup, pesto sauce and milk to chicken; bring to a boil and cook over low heat 5 minutes. Fold into pasta and serve right away. Top with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Pineapple Fritters

These are just scrumptious! Juicy pineapple on the inside and flaky layers of crisp buttermilk pancake on the outside, smothered in creamy whipped cream. Perfect for a cool summer night treat. I think they'd also be great dusted in toasted coconut with a cherry on top!

Pineapple Fritters

• 1 (20 oz) can pineapple slices, in juice
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup buttermilk pancake mix
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
• sweetened whipped cream

Drain pineapple. Heat oil in large frying pan over medium high heat until hot. Place the pancake mix in a shallow bowl. Coat both sides of pineapple slices, one at a time, with the dry pancake mix, shaking off excess. Fry pineapple slices in hot oil in batches until golden brown, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes total. With a slotted spoon, remove to a double thickness of paper towels to drain. Transfer fritters to dessert plates. Sift powdered sugar over top. Serve hot, topped with whipped cream.

Pork Pockets

This picture does not do this pocket the justice it deserves. It was so incredibly delicious and exploding with flavor!It's a great alternative to the traditional Greek gyro.  My family was very sad when they realized there wasn't enough for everyone to have seconds, so I recommend you make extra.

Pork Pockets

• 1 lb boneless single pork roast , thin cut julienne strips
• 1/2 cup Caesar dressing
• 4 pita breads
• 4 tablespoons cucumber dressing
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large tomato thinly sliced

Cucumber Dressing

• 1 cup Greek style yogurt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/2 cup, peeled, diced cucumber

Tip: Try pickling your tomatoes and onions in a mixture of1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp sugar. Refrigerate 2-4 hours ahead of time.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Toss together pork strips and Caesar dressing; place strips in a shallow pan and roast until pork is crisp and lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Mix cucumber dressing ingredients together. Cut pita bread in half to form pocket. Fill with pork, cucumber dressing, onions and tomatoes. Enjoy!

Cranberry Duchess Chicken

Mmmm this is good! Don't let the cranberries frighten you - they take on a whole new flavor in this dish. My kids can't get enough of it. The flavors are out of this world! This is the perfect crock pot Sunday dinner.

Cranberry Duchess Chicken

• 1(8 oz) Kraft Russian dressing
• 1 (16 oz) can of whole cranberry sauce
• 1 envelope Lipton dry onion soup mix
• 4-5 chicken breasts, thawed

Mix dressing, soup mix and cranberry sauce together. Pour over chicken breasts in a dish. (optional - let marinate for 1 hour). Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Or bake in the slow cooker on high for 3 hours.

Serve with salad and garlic bread, or serve over rice and veggies. Enjoy!

Pancake Sausage Bake

This was a creative fix to a spatzle recipe I created, gone wrong.  I needed a base to this delicious casserole dish and the first thought that came to my mind was "buttermilk pancake mix"!

In fact this turned out so yummy that I changed everything up and called it Pancake Sausage Bake. The warm and fluffy buttermilk pancake crust tastes like buttery biscuits smothered in sausage and creamy Alfredo and lot's of cheese. My family devoured this!

Pancake Sausage Bake

• 1 box buttermilk pancake mix
• 12 breakfast sausage links, sliced
• 4-6 green onions, sliced 
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Alfredo Sauce

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup flour, divided 
• 1 quart of whipping cream or (half &half)
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Sauce instructions - Melt butter in frying pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of flour, stirring quickly into butter (do not dump flour or it will create a blob of dough - instead sprinkle it around the pan each time).  Add 1/4 cup of whipping cream and stir into butter and flour to form a liquid paste. Continue this process until you have used all the flour. Slowly add remaining whipping cream. You can always add more flour (1 Tbsp at a time) to get the thickness you desire. If you run out of cream, add milk. Add garlic, salt and cheese. You can always add more salt if you desire.

Make enough batter for 12-16 pancakes. Pour into the bottom of a 13 X 9 greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes (until fluffy in center).
Remove from oven. Fry sliced sausage links together with mushrooms until golden brown. Sprinkle over pancake crust. Pour Alfredo sauce over the top. Sprinkle green onions over and lastly, top with shredded cheese. Bake for another 10-12 minutes or until cheese begins to bubble.

Serve with a green salad. Enjoy!

Easy Monte Cristo Sandwich

I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks and the recipe submitter suggested serving it with maple syrup and powdered sugar. I thought that quite interesting since it's a fried ham and cheese french toast sandwich. You know me, there isn't anything I won't try. I made this and it was very delicious! My kids loved it. It tastes like everything you would want in your traditional breakfast all packed into one. I'd love to make this again!

Easy Monte Cristo Sandwich

• 3 slices of bread
• 2 Tbsp butter, divided
• 2 slices Gouda cheese (or American)
• 2 slices thick cut ham
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Spread bread slices with 1 Tbsp butter. Top two slices of bread with a slice of cheese and ham. Stack slices on top of one another until third slice of bread.  Tie a piece of string "package style" around the sandwich to hold it together. Dip both sides of sandwich into beaten egg. Brown each side in a frying pan on medium high with remaining Tbsp of butter. Avoid burning but cook long enought o allow cheese to melt.

Don't forget to remove the strings before you eat. If you don't want to try the maple syrup, try topping with hollandaise sauce or fresh salsa and sour cream. I think it would also be yummy to layer jalapenos in the sandwich. Enjoy!

Lindsey's Swedish Meatballs

Oh how I love these! Maybe it's because my ancestors are from Sweden. I just love to serve these with cranberry sauce. The traditional way is to serve them with lingonberries. If you have time to drive to IKEA and purchase a jar, then I recommend it. Otherwise cranberry sauce works just fine. Something about the tartness of the berries mixed with the creamy flavors of the meatballs just does wonders on the pallet!

The traditional method uses a sauce made of beef stock, flour, butter, milk and sometimes sour cream. Sometimes people add the lingonberries into the sauce. I kept them out in this recipe and served on the side. Here is my variation of this grand traditional dish! (If you don't like cream of mushroom soup, replace it with cream, minced onions and a dash of salt.)

Tip: If you can make homemade meatballs I recommend it for much better flavor, otherwise frozen meatballs work fine.

Lindsey's Swedish Meatballs

• 1 bag frozen meatballs
  
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 8 oz cream cheese (I use Neufcahtel cheese)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• cracked pepper

Heat up meatballs in a skillet on medium high. Add Worcestershire sauce and continue to brown. Stir in cheese and cream of mushroom soup. Stir until you get a nice sauce that coats the meatballs. Add nutmeg and cracked pepper. Serve with berries and greens.

Apple Pie Muffins

I combined a couple of recipes from my Pillsbury cookbook to create these crowd pleasers. They are so yummy and perfect for brunch or breakfast!

Apple Pie Muffins

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 cup finely chopped apples
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
  

Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of 12 muffin cups. In medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt - mix well. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, juice, oil and egg. Blend well. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until you get a thick batter. Add chopped apples. (I like to add dried cranberries or frozen blueberries as well). Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes. In a small dish melt butter. In a separate small dish combine sugar and cinnamon. Loosen muffins with a knife and pop out of pan. Dip in melted butter and then in sugar mixture. Place on serving dish and serve warm.

Heart Healthy Tip: Replace oil with applesauce and buttermilk with fat free milk

Corn Pop Confetti Cups

This is such a fun snack idea for sports games or birthday parties. You can change up the colors for any holiday. Recces Pieces for Halloween, pastel M&Ms for Easter. Pink or blue M&Ms for baby showers and red and green M&Ms for Christmas. Try blue and yellow for Blue and Gold boy scouts banquets.

I created these for a fundraiser concession stand. They sold for $.50 a cup and were a hit! Because they are cereal and come in a cup with a spoon I can only imagine how much kids would love to pour milk in it and eat it as a cereal. Enjoy!



Corn Pop Confetti Cups

• 1 1/3 c. sugar
• ½ c. karo syrup
• 1 1/4 c. butter (not margarine)
• Bag of Corn Pops Cereal (use Barrel O’ Fun brand to get the large size shown above)
  
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, karo syrup and butter together in a pan and cook over low heat to the softball stage. The softball stage is when you take a spoon full and drop it into cold water. If it instantly forms a soft ball then it has reached the softball stage. Add baking soda and vanilla & stir constantly, will be fluffy & frothy. Place corn 1/2 of corn pops in a large bowl or pan. Pour 1/2 mixture over 1/2 of corn pops, then pour onto waxed paper to cool, repeat.

After corn pops have cooled sprinkle M&Ms or candy onto corn pops. Scoop into plastic cups and place in cellophane bags. Tie ribbon around the tops and tape a spoon on the side. Enjoy!