Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Adapted from Allrecipes

I got a great deal on strawberries and was looking for yummy ways to use them! This is a great recipe! I love the combination of sweet and salty.

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels

4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup white sugar

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese

1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed

1 (6 oz.) package strawberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water

2 cups frozen strawberries, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pretzels, 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press firmly into bottom of a 9X13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerated until set, about 30 minutes. In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour. 

Caramel Dip

This is so yummy! Use it to dip apples or put over ice cream!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup Karo Syrup

1 cube butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of salt

Bring brown sugar, Karo syrup and butter to a boil, noting the temperature. When candy thermometer reaches 225 degrees, remove from heat and pour into a separate pan or bowl. Add sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and salt. Allow to cool before serving.

Best Ever Caramel Apple Crisp

Adapted from Tried and True Recipes

Recipe submitted by Chelsey Sanford

I don't always like cooked fruit so I choose my recipes that include cooked fruit very carefully. This recipe was sooo yummy. I made up some of my own caramel sauce to pour over it, or you can use caramel ice cream topping. We made some homemade vanilla ice cream to go along with it and it was amazing!

Ingredients:

Apple Filling:

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup water

Caramel Sauce (ice cream topping or your favorite caramel sauce recipe)

Crumble:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup quick oats

1 cup butter, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, toss apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, and water. Spread evenly in an 8X8 pan. Pour caramel sauce over the apple mix. In another bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, oats and butter. Cover caramel sauce with flour/sugar mix (crumble). Bake for 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Peach & Rice Salad

Adapted from Allrecipes

I was looking for a way to use the plethora of peaches that cam with my farmer's market co-op basket of locally grown fruit and veggies.  This turned out delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 Tbs honey
• 4 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt 2 cups cold cooked rice
• 2 peaches, peeled and diced
• ½ cup sliced celery
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the yogurt, honey, lemon juice and salt.  Stir in the rice, peaches and celery.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, stir in the walnuts.

Note:  I added green onions to this recipe.  I would not do it again; the onion taste was a bit overwhelming for this sweet dish.

Summer Peach and Tomato Salad

Adapted from Cooking Light

I LOVED this....I will admit that Tim didn't nearly as much.  So, it might be one of those hit or miss dishes depending on what is pleasing to your own personal palette.  But for me, the combo of peaches and cherry tomatoes with my favorite cheese--feta-- was stellar.  I was especially pleased with it because the dish made good use of the peaches in my fridge. 

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• ½ lb ripe peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
• ½ lb cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 ½ tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 Tbs parsley or basil leaves, torn

Directions:

• Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
• Combine vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Drizzle vinegar mixture over peach mixture; toss well to coat.  Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Fruit Pizza

Adapted from a recipe from Kaylee Coil

For the  4th of July, I decided to whip up a dessert that had a little red, white & blue in it.  Plus, Tim requested this yummy dessert.  I have to admit that I take major shortcuts with this recipe...mostly I use Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix.  I have never found a sugar cookie recipe that I like more than Betty Crocker.  I don't know if there is any other cookie mix I can say that about, but as far as sugar cookies go I stick with Ms. Betty.

Ingredients:

• 2 packages Betty Crocker sugar cookies mix + ingredients listed on back of package
• 1 (8 oz) package of reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 carton cool whip
• 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• Fruit! (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, mandarin oranges, raspberries, etc…)

Directions:

• Prepare sugar cookies according to package directions.  Spread onto greased baking sheet and cook for 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely.
• Beat together the cream cheese, cool whip and confectioner’s sugar until thoroughly combined.  Spread over sugar cookies.
• Peel, chop, slice fruit and sprinkle liberally over the cool whip frosting.  Enjoy!



Pear Feta Cheese Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Adapted from Allrecipes

I wanted a fun salad to serve with the butternut squash soup.  Besides being scrumptious the salad gave the meal a more summery, fresh feel.  The raspberry vinaigrette was a find.  A bunch of recipes I reviewed before settling on this one called for using raspberry vinegar, which is something I just don't have on hand and am reluctant to buy since I don't know what else I would use it for.  Anyway, the salad was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 can mandarin oranges
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbs raspberry jam
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 (10 oz) package of spring lettuce mix
• 1 pear, chopped
• ¼ cup  craisins
• ½ avocado, diced
• ½ cup feta cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

• Drain oranges, reserving ½ cup juice.  In a jar with tight-fitting lid, combine oil, jam, vinegar and reserved juice.  Shake well.
• In a large salad bowl, toss oranges, lettuce, pear, craisins, avocado, feta and pecans.  Serve with the dressing.

Note:  Peach juice may be used as a substitute for the mandarin orange juices. 

Fruity Curry Chicken Salad

Adapted from Allrecipes

The great thing about this recipe is the flexibility of the ingredients.  It calls for a lot of different kinds of fruit in the salad, but if you don't have some of them on hand it's not a huge deal; just add more of the other kinds of fruit.  This time making the recipe, I used pineapple tidbits, pear and craisins for the fruit.  The addition of curry to the typical chicken salad recipe is fantastic, but you really need to let it sit to let the curry flavor set in.  Serve on your favorite bread, over lettuce for a salad or in a wrap!

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 Golden Delicious apple, diced
• 1 pear, diced
• 1/3 cup craisins
• 1/3 cup seedless green grapes, halved
• 1/3 cup canned pineapple chunks, cut small
• ½ cup toasted pecans or almonds
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• ½ tsp curry powder
• ¼ cup light Miracle Whip
• ½ cup light mayo
• 1 Tbs vinegar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, mix well.  Allow to sit overnight for flavors to bend.  Serve!

Grape Salad

Adapted from Kraftfoods.com

This recipe was one we had with our St. Pattie's Day meal. It's a favorite of ours and tastes great with any type of grapes.

Ingredients:

2 pounds seedless grapes

4 oz. cream cheese

4 oz. sour cream

1/8 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Brown sugar

Walnuts, if desired

Wash and dry grapes. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla. Beat with hand mixer until combined. Combine grapes and cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with walnuts and brown sugar, if desired.

Coconut Mango Rice Salad with Curried Shrimp

Adapted from Cooking Through The Seasons Cookbook

My friend raves about this cook book.  I want to buy it now that I've tried this recipe that she suggested.  The flavors are so fresh; I love the combination of the mango, coconut and lime juice.  Plus it feels so heavy.  {I'm sick of the heavier Winter meals and am ready for the fruits and veggies of Spring!}  I think you could substitute the shrimp for salmon or chicken, if you are not a shrimp fan.  Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs minced fresh garlic
• 1 Tbs ginger
• 1 Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
• 4 tsp curry powder
• 1/8 tsp ground red pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5 lbs medium shrimp
• 2 cups water
• 1 can lite coconut milk
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 ¼ cup shredded carrot
• 1 cup diced peeled mango (about 1 mango)
• 1.5 cup  diced red bell pepper
• ½ cup sliced green onion
• 1 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbs fresh lime juice
• ½ tsp salt

Directions:

• Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add shrimp; toss to coat.  Cover and chill at least one hour.
• Bring water and coconut to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.  Add carrot and next 7 ingredients; toss gently to combine.
• Prepare grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
• Thread shrimp onto skewers.  Place skewers on grill rack or grill pan coated until shrimp are done.  Serve kebabs over salad and garnish with extra cilantro if desired.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

These are absolutely mouth watering and so easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 pound strawberries

1 bag Ghirardelli Chocolate (I like milk chocolate)

Wash strawberries and allow them to dry. Place chips in double boiler over simmering water. Stir chips constantly until melted. Holding stem, dip one strawberry at a time in chocolate until berry is covered. Place on wax paper. Refrigerate.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Adapted from Home Cooking the Costco Way

This was so yummy! We had it eaten in one night! I would probably double the recipe next time so we can have some leftover :)

Fruit Salsa:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of your favorite jam
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 apple, diced
• 6 oz. frozen dark sweet cherries, pitted, thawed and diced
• 6 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed
• 6 oz. frozen strawberries, thawed and diced
• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced

Chips:

• cinnamon sugar mixture
• approximately 6 uncooked tortillas
• cooking spray

For the salsa, combine the sugars and lemon juice in a large bowl, then add the jam and mix. Add remaining salsa ingredients and stir to blend. Add more sugar if desired. Cover and chill for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 35o. For the chips, place cinnamon sugar mixture in a large resealable bag. Coat both sides of a tortilla with cooking spray. Cut into wedges. Place wedges in bag and shake until coated. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Bake 15 minutes turning the wedges over halfway through baking. The chips should be slightly crispy; they will crisp more as they cool. Let cool for about 15 minutes.

Notes: Try adding other fruits next time: peaches, mango, pineapple, blueberries and/or blackberries would be tasty! Try using whole wheat tortillas for the cinnamon chips.