Guest Post - Savory Meat Roll from Kids Are Grown

We're kind of big into junk food here. Have you ever seen the movie Mermaids, where they only eat finger foods? Yeah...that's us!





Melissa over at The Kids are Grown. Now What? has this recipe for a meat roll that looks kinda tasty. Her recipe is gluten free, too! We don't eat meat, so I'd make it vegetarian. I think it would still be good and would work well for sporting event gatherings. You know, like big ones that happen on Sundays.

Copy-Cat Olive Garden’s Tuscan Garlic Chicken

My new bloggy buddy Cathy at Sidetracked Mom has created this tasty looking dish that's a clone of Olive Garden's Tuscan Garlic Chicken.

Check it out, won't ya?

Mocktail and Cocktail Recipes with Trop50

Remember when I told you about Trop50 a couple weeks ago? It's a lower calorie, lower sugar juice blend that still has your recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C. Trop 50 also has no artificial sweeteners, using a stevia-based sweetener instead.

Because of the lower calorie, lower sugar makeup, Trop50 is fantastic for use as a mixer in Mocktails and Cocktails. A few fantastic ones:

Cranberry Jellies Candy Recipe

It’s after the holidays and you’re looking for something to have.  You’re trying to stick to your diet, but you’ve just gotta have some something sweet.  These Cranberry Jellies are a perfect solution. 

You will need:

2 cups Fruit Juice - I used Old Orchard’s Cranberry Naturals juice cocktail
½ cup Sugar
4 pkts gelatin
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
Non stick spray

Bestest Cookie Mix Base Recipe Ever! - Entertaining Guide

This is a fantastic cookie mix base that can be altered to make about a zillion different cookies.  This mix is perfect for cookie parties or exchanges, as you just need to make a couple additions and you'll end up with a wide variety!   This is a clone of the pouch mix that comes from your Aunt Betty C. 

You will need:

5 cups All Purpose Flour
5 3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
2 TBSP Baking Powder
2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 C + 2 TBSP Butter or Margarine (3 1/4 sticks)

Guotie Pot Stickers - A Recipe

 I love potstickers.  I've made them a few times, but I always felt they weren't quite right - like something was missing.  This recipe looks so easy that I'm gonna give it another go!

The word for “pot stickers” in Chinese is guotie, literally “pot-stick,” a name they have earned from their
cooking method. Chinese cooks first steam guotie in giant flat-bottomed iron pans. When all the water is
absorbed by the dumplings, they are left in the pan to get crispy and “stick” to the pan. We recommend
using a nonstick skillet when making these so that the dumplings don’t actually stick to the pan forever.
These Guotie Pot Stickers make amazing appetizers served with the dipping sauce. We like to make more
dumplings than we can eat and freeze the extra for later.

Makes about 36 dumplings

Dipping Sauce
1 cup Chinese black rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Dumplings
12 ounces ground beef or ground pork
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
3/4 cup minced green onions, green and white parts
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Pinch of salt
About 36 round Dumpling Wrappers
(purchased premade, or see page 258)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water

To make the dipping sauce, whisk together the black rice vinegar, ginger, sesame oil, cilantro, soy sauce,
and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

To make the dumplings, combine the meat, soy sauce, cornstarch, ginger, green onions, sugar, sesame oil,
and salt in a bowl and stir in one direction with a chopstick until just mixed. Fill a small bowl with some
water.  Hold a dumpling wrapper in the palm of your hand and place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling in the
center.  Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it around the edge to help make a good seal.  Lightly
fold the wrapper over on itself, but don’t touch the edges together. Starting at one end, use your fingers
to make a small pleat on the side of the wrapper closest to you, then press the pleat into the other side
and pinch together firmly.  Keep making pleats down the dumpling opening in this way until completely
sealed (see Dumpling Folding Tips on page 255).  Repeat this process with the remaining filling and
wrappers. Freeze any dumplings that you don’t intend to cook immediately (see Dumpling Freezing Tips
on page 256).

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place 12 dumplings
pleat side up in the pan so that they are just touching each other. Cover and cook for 1 minute. Decrease
the heat to medium-low, pour 1/4 cup of the water into the pan, and cook, covered, for 8 to 10 minutes,
until all the water is absorbed by the dumplings and their bottoms are crusty brown. Repeat this process 2
more times with the remaining dumplings, oil, and water. Serve the dumplings with a side of the dipping
sauce.

—From Feeding the Dragon: A Culinary Travelogue Through China with Recipes by Nate and Mary
Kate Tate/Andrews McMeel Publishing.  Published with permission.

Berry Crisp: Breakfast of Champions

I love Berry Crisp. I find it to be one of those foods that is good for dessert or for breakfast. It's gotta be better for you than sugary cereals, right? Or is that just a good excuse to have dessert for breakfast?

This is my recipe.

Ingredients

2 - 12 ounce bags frozen berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or a mix)
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

½ cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup flour
¾ cup rolled oats
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger

A couple of ingredient notes:

Yes, you can use fresh berries. They're gonna get cooked down, though, so I use frozen and save the fresh ones for a recipe where presentation matters.

This is a little more on the tart side. That's my preference and it sweetens up nicely with ice cream or whipped cream. However, you could add a couple tablespoons of sugar to the berries for a sweeter crumble.

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, combine the frozen berries, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stir to coat the berries in the cornstarch, and divide the berry mixture between 6 ramekins. Set on a cookie sheet.

Soften the butter in the microwave (or leave on a counter for a couple of hours). Put in a mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, flour, oats, and spices to the bowl.

Using a fork, break up the butter, and mash everything together. It should be crumbly; it can have little pea sized lumps for butter, but you want all of the ingredients incorporated. (I mash it so the butter squishes between the tines of the fork, giving it a little stir every so often. If you keep squishing and mashing, it will take about 2 or 3 minutes to mix the topping.)

When the topping is mixed, start spooning it over the berries, trying to distribute evenly over the tops, with a similar amount on each crisp.

Put your cookie sheet, with the individual crisps in the oven. Immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees. Bake for about 20 minutes until the berry filling is bubbly, and the tops are nicely browned. If the tops are getting too dark, cover them with foil, and turn the oven down to 325 degrees.

Remove from oven and let cool about 30 minutes. Great when served with ice cream, whipped cream, or even plain!

Optional - you can put the berries into an 8 inch pan, then cover with the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, till the center is bubbly.

Makes 6 servings