Toffee Dip with Fruit

My friend made a simply delicious fruit dip for our Super Bowl party tonight.

Ingredients:
1 block of cream cheese (light is okay but not fat free)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 bag toffee pieces (you can find them by the chocolate chips)

Fresh fruit (in slices or chunks)

Directions:
Mix together and serve with sliced fruit.  She served it with apple slices, strawberries, and pineapple chunks.  When we ran out of fruit I put out some graham crackers with it and that was yummy too.

It is addictive so watch out.

Sugar Cookies (from Melissa Lee)

My friend, Melissa Lee, gave me this recipe and said this is the recipe she uses when she doesn't want the cookies to change their shapes and rise.

Cream
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Add
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract

Sift & add
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tartar

Cover the dough and chill for a couple of hours.  Roll the dough out on a floured counter 1/4 inch thick.  Cut cookies and bake 8-10 minutes at 375.  Everyone's oven is different so watch them.

Tips:
-Cream the butter and sugar REALLY well.  And then a little more!
-I took out the baking soda so that the cookies will keep their shape.
-It seems to work fine, but you have to remember not to roll the dough out too thin because it won't puff up when it cooks.  You don't want them super thick though either.

Layered Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch Spinach
1 head of romaine, torn
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 large cucumber, sliced and diced
2 tomatoes, sliced and diced
1 can sliced olives (I used a big can of olives & sliced them)
1 handful sunflower seeds
2 big handfuls frozen peas
1 bunch green onions
1/2 red onion
grated cheese (I used grated mozzarella)

Other items to consider adding in could be hard-boiled eggs, diced ham, shredded or sliced carrots, bacon bits, avocado chunks, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, small pasta, corn, etc.

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup mayo (I used the mayo with olive oil as ingredient)
1/2 cup milk
1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons lime juice)
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (ignore directions on packet)
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 cup green salsa (I used Herdez brand)

For dressing, combine mayo, milk, lime juice and ranch packet in a blender and mix.  Add in cilantro and green salsa and blend thoroughly.  Put in fridge so it can thicken up a bit.

For salad, layer ingredients in a trifle type glass bowl.  If you don't like certain ingredients (or don't have them on-hand), then leave them out.  Pour dressing over top of the salad so that it is completely covered.  I didn't use all of the dressing so I saved some in a tupperware for later use.  Cover with plastic wrap and put the salad in the fridge until ready to serve.

P.S.  The salad picture is just a stock photo, not an actual picture of my salad.  But it give you the idea of what a layered salad should look like.

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:
1 cup mayo (I used the healthier mayo with olive oil as ingredient)
1/2 cup milk (I used non-fat)
1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons lime juice)
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (ignore directions on packet)
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro (remove the stems)
1/4 cup green salsa (I used Herdez brand)

Put mayo, milk, lime juice and ranch packet in blender and mix.  Add cilantro, garlic and salsa and blend more.  Refrigerate for a while before serving so that it thickens.  Not sure how long this dressing will last because it disappears quickly in our house!  This is a knock off of a dressing they use at Cafe Rio and is delicious on a Mexican salad or a Layered Salad (or any salad really!).

(Recipe from "Our Best Bites" cookbook)

Chocolate Waffles with Berry Sauce

I got this recipe from "Our Best Bites" and quadrupled it for my family. The quadrupled recipe made about 14-15 large waffles.  I will freeze all the leftovers for the boys to eat another day.  Next time I may try using wheat flour but it might wreck the light, fluffy texture. We'll see.

Here's the original recipe which would make 3-4 waffles.

2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (I left that out)
1 cup milk (I used nonfat)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (I used real vanilla like always)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I left those out because I didn't want chocolate overload)

Berry Sauce and Topping
1/4 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
2 tablespoons hot water (I just used warm tap water)
3 cups berries,any combination, fresh or frozen
Powdered sugar to taste (I didn't add any)

To make the berry sauce...
In a saucepan I just combined jam (or was it jelly that I had on-hand?), water and some sliced strawberries that I had bought fresh a week or two ago and that were in the freezer. I warmed the mixture up on low while preparing the waffles.

To make the waffles...
Preheat the waffle iron. Whisk together all dry ingredients in one bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Let sit til the wet ingredients get a little frothy. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture and don't overmix. Add chocolate chips if desired. Batter will be thin. The recipe said not to grease the waffle iron but my first waffle stuck so I sprayed waffle iron with Pam before each waffle and it worked better. Use a ladle to put batter into the iron. Do not overfill or it will leak and you'll have a huge mess to clean up like I just did! Bake according to your waffle iron's instructions.

Serve with berry sauce on top and whipped cream if desired. My husband also tried putting peanut butter on his waffle which was also yummy. These waffles could also be used as a dessert if served with ice cream.

Huge hit with the kiddos!  Even my picky eater complimented the chef :)

Cinnamon Swirl Cake

My friend Tanya made this for us and it was delicious!

Cake Mixture:
1 Yellow Cake Mix (or white)
4 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
1/4 cup of water
8 oz. container of sour cream (1 cup)
1 small package of instant vanilla pudding (not made up)

Cinnamon Mixture:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 to 2 tsp cinnamon

Mix well. Grease and flour bunt pan. Pour half of cake mixture in. Take half of cinnamon mixture and sprinkle it over the layer of cake. Pour other half of cake mix in and then top with cinnamon mixture again. Take a knife and go almost all the way down and swirl it around so cinnamon mixes in (zig zag). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool for around 10 minutes and then flip over on plate and serve warm with ice cream if desired. Tastes great the next day cold.

Chevy's Sweet Corn Tomalito

Ever eaten at Chevy's and had that yummy corn cake mushy scoop on the side of your order? It is called Sweet Corn Tomalito and I just made it! This side dish goes well with Mexican dishes or BBQ.

Ingredients:
4 cups frozen corn, thawed
1/3 cup butter, softened (about 2/3 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup masa harina (corn flour like they use to make tamales)
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use salted butter so I didn't add the salt)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer. Add milk and masa and mix well.
3) Use a blender to puree 2 cups of corn until smooth. Add pureed corn to butter/masa mixture and mix well. Add corn meal, baking power, salt and remaining corn and mix until combined. I didn't have masa harina so I just ground up popcorn kernels to make corn flour and it worked great.
4) Pour mixture into an ungreased 8x8 glass baking pan (I used a 7x10 pan because that is all I had). Cover with tin foil and place the pan into a 9x13 baking pan. Add hot water to the big pan until it is about 2/3 full.
5) Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes or until cake is firm in the center and not gooey. Remove from oven and let it sit on the counter covered for 10 minutes before serving. To serve, scoop out 1/2 cup portions with a large spoon. Makes about 8 large servings.