Apple Glazed Pork

4 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
6 boneless pork chops

Place apples, pineapple and juice, vinegar, sugar, mustard, water, honey, garlic, cayenne pepper, and onion powder in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then puree in a blender until smooth. Place the pork chops into a resealable plastic bag, and pour the apple puree overtop. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grate. Remove pork chops from marinade, and shake off excess. Discard remaining marinade.

Cook on preheated grill until the chops are no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes per side depending on the thickness.

[http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-glazed-pork/detail.aspx]

Garlic Pork Chops

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 boneless pork chops, 3/4-inch thick
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (10.75 ounce) canCampbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or 25% Less Sodium)
1/2 cup milk
4 cups hot cooked couscous or regular long-grain white rice

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chops and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until the chops are well browned on both sides. Remove the chops and set aside.
Stir the soup and milk into the skillet. Heat to a boil. Return the chops to the skillet and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chops are slightly pink in the center*. Serve with couscous or rice.

[http://allrecipes.com/recipe/2-step-garlic-pork-chops/detail.aspx]

Picnic Potato Salad (without Mayonnaise)

2 pounds small new potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with lightly salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, 10 to 15 minutes; drain.

Whisk vinegar, olive oil, mustard, basil, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl; add the potatoes and onion. Toss gently to coat. Let stand until cool, about 30 minutes.

Fold blue cheese and chives into potato salad until blended.

[http://allrecipes.com/recipe/picnic-potato-salad-with-no-mayonnaise/detail.aspx]

Spinach Ricotta Shells

4 tablespoons salted butter
2 shallots, chopped
5 cups packed fresh baby spinach
1 large egg
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
500 grams conchiglie or large pasta shells
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Melt butter in a large frying pan and add shallots. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until shallots are soft.

Add all the spinach to the pan, salt lightly, and cover with a lid for 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil pasta in salted water for 8-9 minutes or recommended cooking time.

In a large serving bowl, whisk together egg and ricotta. Set aside.

Using a pair of cooking tongs, turn spinach in the pan until it is wilted, but not completely cooked. 

Remove from heat.

Drain pasta and add to ricotta mixture. Toss well to coat. Add spinach to the pasta and combine well.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper as needed and serve at once.

[http://www.simplebites.net/spotlight-ingredient-spinach-recipe-spinach-ricotta-shells/]

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

1 12-oz box pasta
1 tsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts (packed in water), drained and chopped
10 oz chopped, frozen spinach, thawed, with as much excess water squeezed out as possible
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Additional Parmesan for serving

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Slowly stir in milk, then add sour cream, lemon juice, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir in artichoke hearts, spinach, and parmesan cheese.

Drain pasta and add to artichoke mix. Toss and season to taste with salt and additional lemon juice as needed. Serve with additional shredded Parmesan.

[http://alifeoflavor.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/spinach-artichoke-pasta/]

Pasta With Broccoli

1 head broccoli, broken into bite-size pieces
3/4 lb fettuccine
1 pint half-and-half cream
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons minced garlic
5 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 dash nutmeg
white pepper
salt and black pepper
1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms, drained

Boil pasta for 5 minutes; drain. Reserve 1 cup liquid. Add all ingredients except parmesan cheese. Cook about 10 minutes until broccoli is tender. Add liquid until you see it coming up through pasta. Add cheese to thicken.

[http://www.food.com/recipe/pasta-con-broccoli-80704]

Chicken and Spinach Bake

8 to 12 ounces fresh chopped or baby spinach, cleaned
salt and pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 chicken breast halves, boneless, pounded slightly to even thickness
Creole or Cajun seasoning blend or other blend
salt and pepper
1 large tomato, diced
4 green onions, with green, sliced

Heat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or spray with cooking spray. Put spinach in the baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth. Sprinkle chicken with seasoning blend, salt, and pepper; arrange over the spinach. Sprinkle with the diced tomato and green onion. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until chicken is cooked through.
Serves 4.

[http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickenbreastrecipes/r/bl60812a.htm]

Caramel Brownies

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup 2% milk
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts, divided
14 ounces caramels
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs and milk. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/2 cup walnuts.

Spoon two-thirds of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the caramels and condensed milk over low heat until caramels are melted. Pour over baked brownie layer. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

Drop remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over caramel layer; carefully swirl brownie batter with a knife.
Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 2 dozen.

[http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Caramel-Brownies]

Soicy Bean Salad

1 can of black beans
1 can of white navy beans
1 diced red onion
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 diced avocado
1 diced jalapeno
1/4 cup of chili-infused olive oil or plain olive oil
2 tsp coriander
1 tbsp of ground cumin
2 tsp of hot paprika or chili powder
Juice of 1 lime
Salt

Start with a can of black beans and a can of white navy beans and wash them really well . Add a chopped red onion, a chopped bell pepper, a diced jalapeno pepper, and a diced avocado to a big bowl.

For the dressing I used 1/4 cup of chili-infused olive oil (but if you don't have that and still want the heat you can add a second jalapeno to the ingredients list).

Whisk in red wine vinegar, lime juice and add in the spices.

Once the dressing is all mixed together toss it with the chopped ingredients and the beans — make sure to mix it well so that cumin gets into every bite.

If you'd like to cool it down you can replace the jalapeno's with a sweet pepper and replace the paprika with fresh cilantro.

Salt to taste.

Lemon Crinkle Cookes

½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

[http://www.laurenslatest.com/lemon-crinkle-cookies/]

Chocolate Eclair Cake

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
5.1 oz. vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
8 oz. whipped cream
chocolate sauce

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9″x13″ glass baking pan.

Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won’t be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. You may want to check it occasionally-you don’t want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don’t touch or push bubbles down).

Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of whip cream however thick you want it and serve with chocolate sauce.

New Recipes + Giveaway

Hearty Helpings just posted a long list of new/updated recipes. I'm most interested in trying: Baked Eggplant Parmesan, Caribbean Black Beans with Mango Salsa, Green Studded Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder and Sweet Potato Vegetable Lasagna.

But they're also hosting a giveaway that I want to win!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler

1 stick ( 1/2 cup) butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 quarts whole strawberries, capped and washed
4 ounces cream cheese, cut in small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour directly over the butter in the baking dish, but do not stir.

Add the strawberries, arranging in a single layer as much as possible. Sprinkle cream cheese pieces over strawberries. Place in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown and edges are bubbling. (Crust rises up and around the fruit, but fruit will still peek out of top.)

[unattributed, on Facebook]

Mini German Pancakes

1 cup milk
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Blend first five ingredients in a blender. Be sure to smooth out any flour lumps.
-Blend in butter a little at a time.
-Grease muffin tins well and fill slightly less than half-full.
-Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top. The crater will form on its own.
-Add your favorite toppings. And a dusting of powdered sugar.

[www.realmomkitchen.com]