Mango Salsa

Originally posted on My Pockets Full of Sunshine.

This is very yummy!

Celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/4 C. cilantro, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1/4 C. red onion chopped
1/2 C. mixed of red, yellow and green pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
Black pepper, freshly ground, to tastle
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 ripe mango, chopped
2 kiwi fruits, chopped

Blend celery, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, red onion and peppers. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and lime juice. Stir well. Add chopped tomatoes, mango, and kiwi; stir until blended. Refrigerated overnight. Serve with tortilla chips or use as a topping on fish or chicken. Makes 4 cups.

When I make this I use extra lime juice, extra kiwi's and more mango. I like MORE!!

Christmas Dinner 2009

Originally Posted on My Pockets Full of Sunshine :)

So we kept our Christmas dinner this year pretty simple, but still good. The menu was "Gorgonsola-and Mushroom-Stuffed Beef Tenderloin with Merlot Sauce", Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and a salad. For dessert it was pumpkin pie and a triple chocolate cake (my mom bought them both from Sam's Club). It was all so good. The beef tenderloin was GREAT and is a recipe worth keeping around....and pretty easy :)

Beef Tenderloin...

1 beef tenderloin (about 2 1/2 lb)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 oz)
1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 1 1/2 slices bread)
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or Roquefort cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea salt) or regular salt

Merlot Sauce...
1/2 cup currant jelly
1/2 cup Merlot, Zinfandel or nonalcoholic red wine
1/4 cup beef flavored broth

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1. Heat oven to 425°F. To cut beef so that it can be filled and rolled, cut horizontally down length of beef, about 1/2 inch from top of beef, to within 1/2 inch of opposite side; open flat. Turn beef. Repeat with other side of beef, cutting from the inside edge to within 1/2 inch of opposite edge; open flat.
2. In 10-inch skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid has evaporated. Cool 5 minutes. Add bread crumbs, cheese and parsley; toss to combine.
3. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over beef to within 1 inch of edges. Tightly roll up beef, beginning with long side. Turn small end of beef under about 6 inches so it cooks evenly. Tie beef with kitchen string at about 1 1/2-inch intervals. In shallow roasting pan, place beef, seam side down, on rack. Brush with oil; sprinkle with salt. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in center of thickest part of beef.
4. Bake uncovered 30 to 40 minutes or until thermometer reads at least 140°F. Cover beef loosely with foil and let stand about 15 minutes or until thermometer reads 145°F. (Temperature will continue to rise about 5°F, and beef will be easier to carve.)
5. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat all sauce ingredients to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly reduced and syrupy. Remove string from beef before carving. Serve beef with sauce.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.


Time-Saver...

Pick up a prepared sauce in a gourmet food store to save time.
Special Touch...
Use extra sprigs of parsley to garnish the beef.

Of course I made some changes...I used blue cheese inplace of gorgonzola and my beef tenderloin was almost 4 pounds and that fed my my family and my mom and step dad. Therefore, added a little bit more blue cheese and mushrooms and parsley when stuffing it cause my piece of meat was a little bit larger. It is such a great recipe :) ENJOY!!!

Vanilla Popcorn

This recipe was originally posted on My Pockets Full of Sunshine.

I got this recipe from my mom! Gotta love recipes like this :)

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Light Karo Syrup

Boil those 3 ingredients together for about 2 minutes until golden. Then remove from heat and add:

1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Then toss with popcorn. For a more sticky popcorn double the recipe, or use 1 bag of microwave popcorn. I use 2 bags and less stickyness. ENJOY!

Tonight we got invited to someone's home for dinner and Family Home Evening, so I was on Pinterest this morning looking for something yummy to take for a treat and seen that I had pinned this ONE, and figured this would be a great occasion for these :) 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough “Frosting” Recipe

Click on this picture to be redirected to the blog this recipe was posted on.

Ali's Recipe Yielded  24 cupcakes - HOWEVER...I may have over filled mine and got 20 :)

Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients:


1 (18.25 oz.) box Devil’s Food (or other chocolate variety) cake mix
1 cup buttermilk**(see note below)
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 eggs


Peanut Butter Cookie Dough “Frosting” Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

To Make Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat cake mix, buttermilk and oil with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds.  Add eggs one at a time, until the batter is well-mixed. Increase speed to high and beat until thick for about 2 minutes.

Pour or scoop the batter into the paper liners until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, top with the frosting recipe (listed below).

**I did not have buttermilk on hand so I did 1 cup of milk with about 2 + teaspoons of lemon juice. I let it set at least 10 minutes before using it.

To Make Peanut Butter Cookie Dough “Frosting”:

Use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugars together until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in peanut butter, vanilla and milk.  Stir in flour and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated.  Add in extra milk to thin, if needed.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Ali’s Tip:

It helps to have your chocolate chips refrigerated or frozen for this recipe.  Otherwise, the frosting has the potential to melt the chips once you have been mixing it for awhile.

I don't have a cute cupcake carrier, so the cupcake tin will have to do :)

Left over frosting...now what to do with this...(midnight snack ;)

WOW...I cannot believe I have not made a post since October. Time is just going by way too quickly. We recently relocated from Eagle Mountain, UT to Cape Girardeau, MO. But I am finally feeling somewhat settled so I think it is time to add some new recipes :) Stay tuned for more....

Raspberry-Topped Eggnog Cheesecake

Originally Posted on My Pockets Full of Sunshine.
Doesn't this just sound heavenly? MMMMM...Yumm! So, this recipe came from a Betty Crocker Thanksgiving book from 2005. Be sure to plan ahead for this one :) I made this last year (2010) for a Thanksgiving Dessert. Well worth every minute!!

CHEESECAKE
1-1/4 cups crushed shortbread cookies (21 cookies)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup eggnog
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

RASPBERRY SAUCE
1 package (10 oz.) frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed, undrained
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1-1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In small mixing bowl, mix crushed cookies and butter. In ungreased 9-inch springform pan, press cookie mixture over bottom. Wrap foil around outside of the pan to prevent drips. Bake crust about 10 minutes or until set.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, on low speed until combined. Beat in eggnog, rum extract and nutmeg just until blended (do not overmix).
3. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until set but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Cool 15 minutes; run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool in pan on wire rack 1 hour. Referigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
4. In food processor, place raspberries. Cover; process until smooth. If desired, strain to remove seeds. In 1-quart saucepan, mix pureed raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar and the cornstarch. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Referigerate sauce 30 minutes to cool. Stir fresh raspberries into sauce. Before cutting cheescake, carefully remove side of pan. Serve sauce over wedges of cheesecake. Store cheesecake covered in refrigerator. 16 servings.

Crock Pot Pizza

This recipe was originally posted at My Pockets Full of Sunshine!! Perfect for a fall day, and even better because the Crock Pot does most of the work (right up my ally these days)!

This recipe is a Taste of Home recipe but for some reason my links never work for thier recipes....so here it is -

Ingredients
1 package (16 ounces) wide egg noodles
1-1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 jar (26 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni, halved
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, mushrooms and Italian seasoning. Drain noodles.
In a 5-qt. slow cooker coated with cooking spray, spread a third of the meat sauce. Cover with a third of the noodles and pepperoni. Sprinkle with a third of the cheese. Repeat layers twice.
Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through and cheese is melted. Yield: 6-8 servings.

**I don't always use the egg noodles. Last night I used Wacky Mac, and in the past I have used penne and even maccaroni.