Coconut "Cream Pie" Pudding Parfait

We had the in-laws over for dinner last night. Just like my hubby, they are a family of picky eaters. I had to take this, the fact that my husband is on a low carb diet, and the fact that I didn't have many ingredients in the house into consideration when deciding what to make for a dessert. I checked the pantry and I had a box of Sugar Free Cook and Serve Vanilla Pudding. I had a half bag of coconut, cool whip and graham crackers....and viola...coconut "cream pie" pudding parfaits were born. They were SO delicious. The MIL brought over a cake from Publix and I tasted both and actually preferred the parfait.

Coconut "Cream Pie" Pudding Parfait

1 box cook and serve vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
1/2 bag of sweetened coconut flakes
3 graham crackers smashed into crumbs
Cool whip

1. Combine vanilla pudding and milk in saucepan and prepare per directions on the box
2. When finished heating, add coconut to pudding and stir to combine. Allow to cool
3. In dessert glasses (I used wine glasses, so any pretty glasses you have will be fine) layer ingredients....graham cracker crumbs then pudding, then cool whip, more graham cracker, pudding, cool whip and top with leftover coconut flakes.

Mahi Mahi Tacos

I love tacos and seafood. I have had some pretty good fish tacos at certain restaurants and some not so good ones at others. While I was at my mom's house watching my brothers I thought it would be perfect time to try to make them myself. My brothers love seafood and are not picky eaters at all (unlike my hubby), so I got to make some recipes that I don't usually make at home. These tacos turned out so good. I made a whole bag of Mahi Mahi (frozen from Sams Club) and the entire bag was gone (only 3 people eating). You could certainly substitute your favorite fish, but I prefer a firm white fish like Mahi (yum grouper would be great too). If you are on a low carb diet, you could also use low carb tortillas to make this fit.

Mahi Mahi Tacos

2 lbs Mahi Mahi
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
Tortillas
Shredded cabbage (you can use lettuce instead, the cabbage is a little crunchier)
Shredded cheese (we used cheddar)
Salsa (or you could use tomatoes)
Any other of your favorite taco toppings

1. Preheat oven to 350 (or go by directions on bag). Place Mahi Mahi on baking sheet.
2. Combine spices and olive oil in small bowl. Brush on Mahi Mahi filets
3. Bake Mahi Mahi filets until flaky. Use package instructions for timing.
4. Put Mahi Mahi in tortilla and top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Ice Cream Sundaes

We had some friends over this weekend for a barbeque. I was very short on time (last minute party) but wanted something yummy and easy for dessert. Our friends were bringing their 2 children so I also wanted something appealing to them. I decided to have ice cream sundaes.
I bought 2 different flavors of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate). In one of those divided chip and dip servers I put all different toppings. It was a hit! Everyone had so much fun putting whatever (and however much) toppings they wanted. Here are the toppings I used.

Maraschino cherries
Chocolate Chips
Crumbled oreo cookies
Sliced Strawberries
Toasted Coconut
Brown Sugar Pecans
Whipped cream
Chocolate syrup

I know there is no cooking involved here (I did make the brown sugar pecans, but didn't love the recipe as no brown sugar stuck to the pecans, so I won't bother you with it here), but since it was so easy and everyone loved it...I thought I would share the idea.

Popcorn treats

For the 4th of July festivities, we went to my parent's house for a bbq and some fireworks. We were going to do all of the cooking for the family because my parents had some plans during the day. I tore through my pantry (did I forget to mention it was a last minute party) and decided that I would try to make things with stuff I need to get rid of. I came across a box of popcorn and decided to throw it in the cooler. Next I found a half used jar of marshmallow fluff, a half bag of marshmallows, so I threw them in too. Then I found 1 bag of 100 calorie pack cookies and an almost empty bag of pretzels. When I got to my mom's she had a bag of chocolate chips and a half jar of peanut butter, I decided to put all these together and viola! Popcorn treats.

Popcorn treats

1 normal sized bag of popcorn (I used light butter)
1 bag of marshmallows (I used a half bag and half jar of fluff)
1 Tbsp of butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup pretzels
Whatever other creative yummy toppings you like (peanuts, more chocolate, M&Ms, cookie crumbs, etc)

1. Pop bag of popcorn according to directions on bag
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in saucepan over medium high heat. When melted, add in marshmallows and stir frequently while they all melt into a sauce.
3. Put popcorn in large bowl (REMEMBER to remove unpopped kernels), pour marshmallow sauce over. Add in desire toppings and stir all together.
4. Lay out mixture on greased baking sheet.
5. Melt peanut butter over medium heat. When melted, drizzle over popcorn mixture.
6. Melt chocolate (I melt mine in the microwave), and drizzle over popcorn mixture.
7. Break into pieces, enjoy!

Skillet Ravioli "Pizza" courtesy of Publix

My husband and I are huge fans of pasta and pizza. He is a very picky eater (as I may have mentioned in numerous other posts), so when he asked me to make this, I was surprised. He has tasted it at Publix when they do their Aprons recipe samples. I made it at home and it was delicious!

Skillet Ravioli Pizza

1 1/2 cups water
2 (7-ounce) packages refrigerated cheese mini-ravioli
1 tablespoon butter
1 3/4 cups refrigerated marinara sauce (15 ounces)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
20 pepperoni slices

1. Combine water, ravioli, and butter in large saucepan. Cover and bring to boil on high.
2. Remove lid when boiling; reduce to medium-high. Cook 5–6 minutes, stirring often (to avoid pasta sticking), or until most of liquid is absorbed.
3. Stir marinara sauce into ravioli; reduce to low. Cook 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until pasta is hot and tender.
4. Spread ravioli evenly into single layer. Sprinkle with cheese and arrange pepperoni slices over top. Cover and cook 3–4 minutes or until cheese melts.

CALORIES (per 1/6 recipe) 368kcal; FAT 16g; CHOL 50mg; SODIUM 888mg; CARB 38g; FIBER 3g; PROTEIN 19g; VIT A 17%; VIT C 0%; CALC 30%; IRON 8%

My husband loved it. He even went back for a third helping! Thanks Publix!

Chicken Pot Pie....from scratch

I bought a whole raw chicken last week. Well they also had the Publix Mediterranean rotiserrie chickens on sale which we decided to try. YUM! Well after that meal, I was not in the mood to eat another roasted chicken. I talked to my mom who suggested I use the chicken to make broth, then shred the chicken up for a recipe. So I made chicken pot pie. Here is the recipe.



Chicken Pot Pie



Broth

1 whole raw chicken
3-4 carrots
3-4 stalks of celery
1 onion
3 whole cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Water



1. Place all ingredients into large pot. Use enough water to cover chicken. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for 45 min to 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Remove chicken and shred.
3. Strain broth to remove veggies. At this point, I try to skim off some of the fat that will float to the top.

Crust

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp butter
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup milk



1. Cut cold butter into small cubes
2. Put all ingredients into bowl and mix until forms into dough
3. Refrigerate dough

Pie filling

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth
Canned/frozen/fresh veggies of your choice
Shredded cooked chicken

1. Melt butter over medium high heat
2. Add flour to butter and cook for 1 min
3. Add milk and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Mine was very runny and didn't thicken well, so at this point, I had to add some cornstarch. You could also possibly add a can of cream of chicken to make it more creamy
4. Add in veggies and cook through
5. Add in chicken and remove from heat

Putting it all together
Preheat oven to 400 F
1. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out. I chose to only use a top crust and to make it into a lattice pattern.
2. Put pie filling into oven safe baking dish. I used individual sized bowls, but you could make one large one.
3. Cover pie filling with dough.
4. Bake at 400 F until dough is brown and filling is warmed through

This recipe was very time consuming, but it turned out very delicious. I would recommed anothe method to make the sauce creamy, because mine was more soupy.

Swedish Meatballs

A few weeks ago, we went to the new IKEA to check it out. While we were there we had to try the Swedish meatballs that everyone raves about. They were so tasty (and a steal at 4.99 per plate with a large serving!). So I decided to try to make them at home. They came out quite good. I will post the way I made it, but I would definitley advise making more gravy!

Swedish Meatballs

Meatballs
1 lb ground sirloin (you could use ground chuck...if you do, don't add the butter below)
1 egg
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Prehead oven to 350F
2. Combine above ingredients until well mixed
3. Make into any sized meatballs you prefer
4. Heat pan, add meatballs and brown on all sides
5. When meatballs have browned, remove from pan and transfer to oven safe baking sheet (reserve grease)
6. Bake meatballs to finish cooking (cooking time varies depending on size of meatballs)

Gravy
Pan drippings
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup milk

1. If you used ground chuck skip this step. Melt butter in pan with grease.
2. Add flour and cook for 1 minute
3. Add broth and simmer for at least 1 min (to allow thickening)
4. Add milk to desired consistency
5. Add cooked meatballs to gravy and serve

As I said, I would make more gravy next time. I served mine over egg noodles, but they would be great with mashed potatoes or even rice.