Favorite Fruit Dip

I've been making this fruit dip for years and it's always a guest favorite.  It comes from Kraft Foods. It can even be made lower in fat and calories by using low or no fat cream cheese and light or fat free cool whip.  I started making this dip in college when the dining halls served this amazing fruit dip and I started a quest to find my own favorite fruit dip!  This isn't anything like the one from college, but it's my go-to fruit dip recipe these days.  Instead of just serving a fruit salad at your next gathering, try this fruit dip with grapes, strawberries or apple slices.  I don't think your guests will be disappointed!

Favorite Fruit Dip
Makes: 2 cups

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup cranberry sauce
4 oz. cool whip (1/2 of a small tub)

Mix together the cream cheese and cranberry sauce with a mixer (standing or hand held) until blended thoroughly.  Don't worry if it looks lumpy at first, after a few minutes it will come together.  It's okay if there are a few lumps left in it.  Making sure the cream cheese is room temperature before mixing helps ensure it blends smoothly with the other ingredients. Once blended, fold in the cool whip.  Voila!  Serve with any type of fresh fruit. Enjoy!

xoxo Melissa

Summer Fruit Punch

Is there anything better than a cold drink, while enjoying the beautiful summer weather outdoors?  I don't think so! This is a super easy summer punch recipe, just perfect for a lazy summer evening or for having friends over for a get together.  This recipes has been adapted from one in Taste of the South magazine. It's quick to make and your friends will all want the recipe. Don't be embarrassed to share how easy it is, you're friends will only enjoy it more once knowing this!

Summer Fruit Punch
Serves: 4-6

3 cups pineapple juice
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice
orange slices for serving, optional
maraschino cherries for serving, optional

Pour all three juices into a large pitcher and stir together until combined. Chill for a few hours before serving.  Add orange slices and cherries right before serving.  Enjoy!

xoxo Melissa

Baked Cinnamon Apples

When I was little, I loved the restaurant Boston Market.  My family used to go there when we were on vacation in Florida and sometimes when we were on a special shopping trip in Columbus. Since we didn't have a Boston Market in my town, it always seemed like a treat when we got to go.  One of my favorite side dishes were their cinnamon apples.  I came across a copy-cat recipe in Top Secret Recipes Unlocked (by Todd Wilbur).  Since I haven't been to a Boston Market in years I thought I might give it a try.  Wow!  They are good and just like I remembered!  I literally could have drank the caramel sauce this recipe makes with the apples... good thing I had a little self restraint!  You could eat them on their own or add a scoop of ice cream, like I did, turning this side dish into dessert! 

Baked Cinnamon Apples
Serves: 5

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and each cut into 9 slices
3/4 cup water
1 Tbs flour
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Vanilla Ice Cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange sliced apples in an 8x8 inch or similar sized baking dish.

Whisk together the water, flour and cornstarch.  Then stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour sugar mixture evenly over the apples and stir to coat.  Cover dish with foil and bake for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  How easy was that!  Enjoy!

 

Clearly everyone loved it... no leftovers tonight!

xoxo Melissa

Product Review: Ben & Jerry's Frozen Greek Yogurt

 

 

To all of my friends who know me, I LOVE ice cream. I honestly used to have a scoop of Edy's slow churned ice cream on a daily basis.  I've since tried to become a little healthier and now refrain from this daily indulgence. However, I still feel a scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt every once in a while does a body good! 

 

A friend recently told me about this Ben & Jerry's greek frozen yogurt.  I always like to try new food products and thought I'd give this one a whirl.  I've so far tried three of their flavors: peanut butter & banana, strawberry shortbread and vanilla honey caramel.  The peanut butter & banana wins hands down, but then again, I am somewhat obsessed with anything peanut butter and banana!  The other two flavors I've tried were good runners-up.  The calories and fat content comes in somewhere between Edy's slow churned ice cream and Ben & Jerry's (full fat) ice cream flavors - between 180-210 calories and 5-8 grams fat per 1/2 cup serving.  The flavors have a slight yogurt "twang," similiar to some of the new yogurt shops popping up all over the place lately. The peanut butter and banana had a salty and crunchy peanut butter trail going through the banana yogurt and to me it was absolute heaven.  I've only been able to find that flavor at our local Target though.  The strawberry had decent sized strawberry chunks in a strawberry yogurt and small shortbread pieces running throughout.  The vanilla tasted a lot more like a traditional, fuller fat ice cream than the Edy's low fat version and had a  nice ribbon of caramel and honey running through it.  Vanilla might seem too plain to some, but I thought it had a really nice, clean vanilla flavor. 

 

Overall, for about $4.99/pint and a few hundred calories, I'd say this new product by Ben and Jerry's is a winner!  Considering this new greek yogurt and frozen yogurt trend, I think it'll be around for a while to come.  I know I'll be a repeat customer!

 

xoxo Melissa



 

Summertime Pasta Salad

This is my husband's favorite quick summertime potluck dish.  It's easy to put together, everyone loves it and works great for left-over work lunches.   Funny pasta salad story - We went down to my parents for a cookout last summer and my mom was serving a pasta salad as one of the side dishes.  I really enjoyed it, but there were these little "crunch" pieces in it that I wasn't sure what they were. When I asked her what was in the pasta salad, she got a funny smile on her face and said "oh, just some spices."  When I inquired further, she fessed up to using a box pasta salad mix! Mom!  When pasta salad is so easy to make, no one should be using a box mix!  She now likes to make this pasta salad in place of her former box mix and we always kid her when we ask what is in a certain dish... spices??  I hope you and your family enjoy this pasta salad as much as ours does.

Summertime Pasta Salad
Makes 6-8 servings

1 (16 oz) box spiral pasta
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 Broccoli head, cut into small florets
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, diced
1/2 cup Pepperoni, cut in half (feel free to subsitute turkey pepperoni)
1/2 cup Wishbone Italian Dressing

*feel free to add any other veggies you might like: olives, artichoke hearts, red onion, etc.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.  While the pasta is cooking, cut up the veggies, cheese and pepperoni.  Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and run under cold water.  Toss the pasta, veggies, cheese and pepperoni in a large bowl.  Pour dressing on top and mix until everything is coated.  I like to chill the salad for at least and hour in the refrigerator before serving.  Enjoy!

xoxo Melissa

Homemade Sloppy Joes

When I think of sloppy joes, I think of golf.  Golf?!? you might ask?  Yes, golf.  When I was growing up my mom would often make sloppy joes for dinner on Sunday.  Of course, to my dad who is a huge golf fan, Sunday at dinner time meant the finale of that weekends golf tournament.  My mom, dad, sister and I would often spend Sunday dinner seated around the TV watching the end of the weekends golf tournament.  For some reason, although my mom is a good cook and made many different things for Sunday supper, sloppy joes just tend to stick out.  It's been many years since I've bought that iconic can of Manwich, but I've found many recipes for homemade manwich, which have been just as good, if not better!  This recipe might take a little longer to make than by using the can, but I don't mind.  This one is adapted from The Pioneer Woman and since I enjoy her so much, it has become one of my favorites and one I make most frequently.

Sloppy Joes
Makes: 5 Servings

1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 1/4 lb ground chicken
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp Hot sauce
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
5 hamburger buns

Pour olive oil a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add ground chicken and cook, breaking apart, until it's no longer pink. Add the onion, green pepper and garlic. Saute until vegetables get soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the ketchup, water, brown sugar, chili powder, mustard powder and red pepper flakes. Stir to incorporate throughout chicken and veggie mixture.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.  Then add the tomato paste, worcester sauce and hot sauce.  Taste it and add salt and pepper as needed.  Put a good heaping on each hamburger bun and it's as easy as that!

 

xoxo Melissa

Strawberry Sauce

After having such good luck with my blueberry sauce, I thought I would try out America's Test Kitchen strawberry sauce.  Here's my adaptation of their recipe below.  This sauce would be great on regular oatmeal or baked oatmeal, as I initially intended it to be for.  However, just like the blueberry sauce, I think it'd be great on a number of different foods like ice cream, pound cake, yogurt, pudding, etc. The options are really endless! It's so quick and easy to whip up, I'm sure you'll be finding all type of reasons to make it! 

Strawberry Sauce
Makes about 1 cup

2 cups strawberries, hulled and diced
2 Tbs sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice

Put 1 cup of strawberries, the sugar and salt in a bowl and stir until combined.  Let mixture sit for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After 30 minutes, transfer strawberries and juices to a small saucepan.  Add additional cup of diced strawberries.  Stir mixture for about 6 minutes, until sauce has thickened.  Add lemon juice and stir.  Pour sauce into a serving bowl and let cool for about an hour before serving.  Enjoy!

xoxo Melissa

Blueberry Sauce

Shortly after discovering my new favorite baked oatmeal, I came across this blueberry topping recipe.  Although it was supposed to be a topping for waffles, I thought it sounded like the perfect pairing for baked oatmeal.*  This recipe is so simple and I cannot even explain how well it turned out. I could literally drink it, no joke!  While tasting the sweet sauce, which has a bit of tang from the lemon juice, I started imaging all of the things this could top - ice cream, bread pudding, cupcakes, pound cake, angel food cake, you get the idea.  This sauce definitely goes in the "keeper" file and will be used many more times in the years to come.  Make it, you won't regret it and your friends and family will think you're a genius in the kitchen.

*Recipe modified from America's Test Kitchen.

Blueberry Sauce
Makes: about 2 cups

Ingredients
4 cups blueberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs lemon juice

Put 2 cups of the blueberries in a bowl and mash with a potato masher.  Add sugar and remaining 2 cups of blueberries.  Stir to combine.  Let sit for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, pour blueberry mixture, including all accumulated juices into a small sauce pan, over medium heat.  Stir frequently for about 6 minutes, or until sauce slightly thickens.  Remove from stove and let cool for 1 hour.  Serve!

*When using as an oatmeal topping, I modified my baked oatmeal recipe by removing the 1/3 cup brown sugar, apples and walnuts.

xoxo Melissa