Orange Parfait Jello

This is a jello recipe you can whip together in a jiffy.

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

1 11 oz (or larger) can of mandarin oranges, drained

1 small box orange jello

1 cup greek yogurt (or cottage cheese)

2 cups whipped topping

Pour the pineapple and mandarin oranges in a medium sized bowl. Add jello, stir until blended. Add Yogurt. Stir until smooth. Add whipped topping and serve or refrigerate until needed.

I used to use cottage cheese for this recipe. The other day I didn't have any, so I tried the Greek Yogurt. My family thought I made a whole new recipe! The yogurt makes it really smooth and creamy. The great part is, it doesn't add any fat, and you are getting a decent serving of protein. (Just pretend the whipped topping and Jello are good for you) ;)

Penne Bake

TERRI'S PENNE PASTA BAKE- Easy, fast comfort food!

I'll make this for dinner and take a picture that I'll post later :)

This is one of our family favorites. It looks and tastes like you lovingly spent hours making it. I keep everything on hand to make it quickly for those days I have a lot going on!

ingredients:
1 -16 oz. bag of penne pasta
1 small jar of alfredo sauce - or make your own with the recipe here:
milk
thinly sliced deli ham or Prosciutto ( found in the deli section)
1/2 lb. of asparagus or 1/2 bag frozen peas
1-2 cups parmesan cheese

First heat up your water for your pasta. While you wait for it to boil, cut up the deli meat or prociutto into ribbons, and cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces.

Cook the pasta according the the directions on the package. 3 minutes before its done cooking add the asparagus or peas. Cook al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a small saucepan warm up the alfredo sauce. I fill up the jar 1/2 way with milk and swish it around to get the sauce out and add to the saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan to the mixture. This will make the sauce not only go farther, but make it taste more homemade! You can add some minced garlic as well.

Put your oven on broil.

Once the pasta is finished, drain (never rinse pasta!) and put into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the ham or Prosciutto over the pasta. Pour the alfredo mixture over the pasta. Stir gently to spread the ingredients around. Next sprinkle the remaining cup of Parmesan on top of everything. Do not stir! Put it under the broiler until the cheese is a light golden brown (5-10 minutes) Watch carefully! If you don't want to broil it put it in at 425 for about 15 minutes.

You can change this up by adding chicken and broccoli, ( I love to use the rotissere chicken from Costco for this) Or anything else that sounds good to you and your family!

Just a tip: You'll notice I use a lot of Parmesan cheese. I buy the large bag of it at Costco and freeze it. It lasts for a long time in the freezer.

Tip Of The Day

Vinegar is a staple in my kitchen by the gallon. You probably already saw the post here on foggy glasses. My tip today is to spray anything with hard water stains on it with vinegar and let it sit. Scrub the area with a toothbrush or rag, or whatever is appropriate for the surface. Vinegar is safe for most surfaces.

Nut Encrusted Mahi Mahi

Even if you're not a fish lover, you've got to give this a try! I've converted a few souls over to the delightful, flaky, subtle flavor of Mahi-Mahi. How can you go wrong when you add a little mango and basil sauce (sounds over the top maybe, but it's not!)?

NUT ENCRUSTED MAHI MAHI

You could use any white fleshed mild fish. Use whatever is the economically convenient! Best prices I've found are at Costco or Winco.

4- 6 mahi mahi fillets (tilapia a good choice also)

1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes

1 1/2 cups finely chopped macadamia, almond, walnuts, or pecans

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 egg with a splash of milk

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for pan

1. In a shallow dish mix the corn flakes, nuts, cayenne, salt and pepper.

2. In a different shallow dish beat the egg and milk.

3. Pat each fillet dry with a paper towel. Dip in egg mixture, then roll in nut mixture until well coated.

4. Heat skillet on Medium heat, add 2-3 tsp. oil, and place fillets in pan. Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes (depends on how thick your fillets are and temp of pan) on each side. Do not overcook.

2 different sauces you can enjoy: Which one sounds good to you?

Honey Soy Glaze:

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 tsp. dry mustard or garlic powder (pick one)

Heat in small saucepan. Boil for about 5 minutes or so to reduce.

Mango Basil Sauce

1 medium ripe mango (or 1/2 cup frozen mango, thawed- easy!) Cutting a mango can be a bugger.

2-4 tbsp. fresh basil

1 tbsp lemon juice

put all ingredients into food processor and blend thoroughly. I don't have a food processor, I use my magic bullet or my submersible hand blender in a quart sized jar.

Pour your favorite sauce over your fish and enjoy.

Tip: I made this for company and since the rest of my meal wasn't ready, I kept these in the oven on 170 until we were good to go. It didn't seem to take away from the moisture in the fish.

GUACAMOLE

This is one of those recipes where I dump a little of this, sprinkle a little of that, and then cross my fingers that it turned out as good as the last time! It would be pretty hard to mess this up, so just go for it!

FIESTA GUACAMOLE

2 -4 ripe avocados

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 of a medium onion finely diced

1/4 of an anaheim) pepper (family friendly)or spice it up with Jalepeno

1-2 fresh limes, juiced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, stems removed

2 tsp. garlic powder or garlic salt

1 roma tomato, finely diced

salt and pepper to taste

Crush the avocados with a potato smasher, tart pusher, fork or whatever you have around. Some small chunks are desirable. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir until well blended. Taste to see if you need more lime or salt. Enjoy!

Our favorite chips are Jaunita's

Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is like an old friend. I snuggle up next the fire in the morning while everyone else is asleep and enjoy a cup. I don't like how much sugar (and other inert ingredients, what is that stuff?) they put in store bought mix, and gourmet mix is too fattening (I enjoyed an entire canister of a specialty store's gourmet cocoa in one month. 5 lbs later, trust me I know). So, I came up with my own recipe.

HEAVENLY HOT COCOA

In a pint jar mix equal parts: (I started with equal parts, but now I cut back on the sugar a bit)

cocoa powder -Baker's is my favorite

sugar- I like to use evaporated cane sugar but white sugar is fine too

pinch of salt

Stir ingredients thoroughly with a fork to blend. Store in a cool dark place.

Heat milk in a mug. (99 seconds in my microwave) Add one gently heaping spoonful and stir. It is much stronger than store bought so take it easy until you figure out how much you like. I figure there are less than 50 calories per serving, plus your milk. That's what I call guilt free!

Mom's BBQ MeatBalls

When I say 'Mom's BBQ Meatballs' I literally mean my own Mother's meatballs. This was put in our church cookbook waaaaay back in the 70's I think. The first few pages of my much loved cookbook are missing, so I'm not positive. But it must be older than me. ;) This is a family favorite. Not only the family I came from, but my kids absolutely love these meatballs.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (or ground turkey for a leaner, healthier option)

3/4 C. oatmeal

1 C. milk

1/4 of an onion, minced

2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 tsp pepper (or to taste)

3 tsp. olive oil for pan

Combine all ingredients except for oil and form into 1- 2" balls. Brown in olive oil. Add sauce and simmer for approx. 30 minutes.

Sauce:

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 C. Ketchup

1/2 cup water

5 Tbsp vinegar

6 Tbsp freshly minced onion

YUM!