Monday, April 30, 2018

Garlic Cream Cheese Spread...


That's not just any old piece of bread sitting on the side of that dish.  No way!!  That's bread covered in Garlic Cream Cheese Spread!!!

We have been making this DEEEEELICIOUS cream cheese spread for at least 15 years, if not more!!! It's perfect on bagels, spread on sandwiches instead of mayonnaise, and even as a dip for veggies!!!  But our FAVORITE way to eat it is slathered on French bread.  OOOOOOOOH MY STARS!!  Sure you can use butter or even garlic butter on top of your bread, BUT Y'ALL!!  This takes bread to a whole new level of tasty!!!  Be sure and try it soon and let me know how you and your family like it.



Garlic Cream Cheese Spread

1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese, softened
2-3 cloves of freshly minced garlic
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (I use the green can)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 T parsley

In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, garlic, parmesan, and mayonnaise until thoroughly combined.  Stir in Italian seasoning and parsley and mix well.  This tastes great right away, but it's best after it's been chilled in the refrigerator about 4 hours.  



So don't just stand there, get mixing!!  Y'all will SOOOOO enjoy this!!



Monday, April 23, 2018

Make Ahead Pancakes for an Easy Morning...




PANCAKES!!!  Who doesn't love 'em???  I love all flavors and always think I can eat about 20 of them. Then I start eating and by the middle of number 2, I am pretty sure I'll never make it to 20.  Does anyone else do that, too?

My favorite memory of pancakes will always, always be my dad making them for our family each Sunday morning as we were growing up.  Yep, we were THAT family- the family that always smelled like syrup in the middle of the sermon.  But what a scrumptious way to start a Sunday morning!! 

While I DO love eating pancakes, I DO NOT enjoy cooking them for just one meal.  I much prefer tripling or quadrupling a pancake recipe and freezing all the extras!!  It SURELY makes for easier mornings when all you have to do is put one or two on a plate and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes and then drown them in maple syrup (and butter if you like!!).  Oh yum!!!

In the top picture above, you can see I was in the middle of making up a bunch of pancakes.  I have my assembly line all set up- batter, griddle, cookie sheet to cool finished pancakes on AND to freeze them on.


Here's the pancakes all piled up and ready for the freezer.  I put the cookie sheet with the pancakes stacked up like this right in the freezer.  In a few hours, they're frozen solid. Then I'll separate them and store in a huge zip loc bag.  




And that's it!!  This saves us so much time in the mornings!!  Happy homemaking, y'all!!!

Monday, April 16, 2018

Penne With Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes With Balsamic Vinaigrette




This yummy recipe is from an older issue of Southern Living magazine. This was quick and tasty! Even Mr. U loved this!!





Penne With Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes With Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 (14.5-ounce) box BARILLA PLUS Penne
1 pound skinned and boned chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups (3 ounces) firmly packed fresh spinach, chopped
2 1/2 cups seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper

1. Sauté chicken in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil in a medium skillet 5 to 6 minutes or until done.
2. Whisk together vinegar and mustard in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in 6 tablespoons olive oil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Spread pasta in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Let cool 10 minutes.
4. Toss together pasta, chicken, vinegar mixture, spinach, and remaining 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or, if desired, cover and chill 1 hour before serving.

Makes 6 servings


Southern Living Cooking School, AUGUST 2008

Monday, April 09, 2018

Strawberry Shortcake...






HOOORAY!!!! Strawberry season is here!!! And it's time to share a wonderful Strawberry Shortcake recipe that I recently made.

I'm sure lots of y'all follow Rhoda at Southern Hospitality.  She's gorgeous. She can make a home BEAUTIFUL.  She's just seems like such a sweetheart!!!  I love her blog but I LOVE her instagram!!  She shares of lots instastories and my favorites BY FAR are when she shares her weekly meals with her adorable parents.  Her dad seems like such gentleman. And her mom!! Oh the food that she puts on the table each week!!!

This recipe comes from Rhoda's mother!!!  She found it in Parade magazine from April 19, 2009.  Y'all, it is GOOD!!  The PERFECT cake for Strawberry Shortcake- tastes like a simple pound cake!!!!  The link is for the original recipe, but I listed below the way I made it.





Simple Loaf Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flavorless oil (I used light olive oil)

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and oil.  Gently measure out on top of that the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk together until it is smooth.  Pour into a prepared loaf pan (8x4x2). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out on cooling rack to cool.



Once you're ready to serve....




Strawberry Shortcake

Prepared Loaf Cake (see above)
3 pints strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
Cool Whip, Redi Whip, or homemade sweetened whipped cream

In a small bowl, place strawberries and toss with sugar.  Let sit for an hour in the fridge.  

When ready to serve, slice the cake, top with strawberries, and a dollop of your choice of whipped cream.  So SO good!!


Monday, April 02, 2018

How to Use Leftover Ham...






This time of year, Easter time, lots of grocery stores have had hams on sale and lots of people enjoy ham on their Easter table.  That's wonderful and all, but any one else have the issue of always having leftover ham?  You can only eat so many ham sandwiches before tiring of it- am I right?  You can go to the search bar here on my blog and search "ham" and find lots of recipes I've shared here using ham, but this one... this one is MY FAVE!!!!  

The recipe is super simple and one you've had a million times, just with ham added. Macaroni and Cheese with chopped up pieces of ham.  SO SO good!!  I remember my mom doing that a few times for us growing up and I LOVED IT (thanks, Mom!!!!).  This is how Mr. U and the girls now prefer their mac and cheese- with ham.  

So here's how I make ours. Oh, and the sauce is based on another recipe I shared before using cauliflower.  This recipe would SOOOOO work with cauliflower, too!!!!




Mac and Cheese with Ham


-1 pound of pasta (choose the shape of pasta your family loves)
-1 1/2 cups milk
-4 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
-3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
-4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (I use extra sharp cheddar, white cheddar, Monterrey Jack, and Parmesan)
-Leftover ham, chopped into bite size pieces



Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain. Set aside.  While pasta is cooking, add milk to a large pot (I used my 6 qt stock pot) and heat just until it starts bubbling around the edge of the pan.  Then add the cream cheese and whisk until it is all melted and dissolved.  Then whisk in the dijon mustard, pepper, and garlic.  Then add in the cheese and slowly stir until it is all melted and combined.  Finally add the cooked pasta and chopped ham to the pot and mix it all together.  Pour into a prepared 9x13 and bake at 375 degrees 20 minutes.  






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