Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

This morning we made some delicious, yet so easy donut holes as an addition to our otherwise healthy breakfast.  They were so simple and tasty, I had to share.

1 can of refrigerated biscuits

1/2 cup sugar

cinnamon

vegetable oil

Put sugar in a dish and add a few shakes of cinnamon until you reach desired ratio.  Pour oil into a medium saucepan, about 2 inches high.  Begin heating over medium heat.  Open biscuits and separate each into 4 pieces.  Roll into balls and roll into cinnamon sugar.  When oil is ready (a few drops of water should "dance" when sprinkled on top of oil, but should not "spit" too much; use caution to protect from burning yourself), use a tongs to drop balls into oil and cook just until golden brown.  Remove to paper towels to soak up excess oil and then immediately roll again in the cinnamon sugar.  Transfer to serving plate and enjoy!

Aunt Lisa's Mojito

*This post is intended for readers 21 years of age and older.*

My favorite summer-time, grown-up beverage is definitely the Mojito!  The Mojito is a cool, sweet, minty refreshment that I've enjoyed since first drink during a visit to my husband's Aunt Lisa's.  There are lots of recipes on the Internet for the Mojito, and I've tried a few, but this is definitely my favorite.  With warmer weather just around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to share.  This would be a great addition to your Memorial Day Celebrations!

For one 2QT pitcher of Aunt Lisa's Mojito, you will need:

A 2QT pitcher
Fresh Mint Leaves (at least 50)
Ice
White/Light Rum
Simple Syrup (dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1/2 cup boiling water, and chill prior to mixing)
Limes and/or Lime Juice
Seltzer or Lime Seltzer





Put a handful of mint leaves (around 40sih) in the bottom of your pitcher and muddle.  If you don't have a muddler, the end of a thick wooden spoon will work.  If you muddle to much, you will have a lot of floaters in your glass.  I provided a picture of before muddle, and after.  You are basically just mashing them a bit to extract the mint from the leaves.

 

  

Add ice to the the mint leaves, in your pitcher, to about 3/4 full.  Pour 1 cup of rum over ice.  Add 1/2 cup of lime juice (either fresh squeezed or bottled - I used bottled just because its easier) to your chilled simple syrup and add to ice mixture.  Top off the pitcher with Seltzer (I used Lime Seltzer -yum).  Stir with a long wooden spoon.  Pour over ice into tall glasses.  Garnish with mint and lime.  Now kick back and enjoy!

Remember to always drink responsibly!!

Sweet & Sour Sauce

I was experimenting with a recipe I had found online, but didn't have all the ingredients for, when I came up with this awesome sweet & sour sauce.  It is, hands down, the best I've tasted!  It is very easy and quick to make, and it makes a large batch.  You could freeze it or jar it in small portions if you want to use it as a dipping sauce.  We had it yesterday with diced boneless pork chops and rice.  I've also made it with chicken.  So delicious!

You will need:

1 can crushed pineapple (I believe it was 16oz) in its own juice (do not drain)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup of water
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2/3 cup of vinegar
2 TBS Soy sauce
3 TBS cornstarch

Set aside 3 TBS of the pineapple juice.  Add the rest of the pineapple and juice to a medium/large saucepan.  Add all of the remaining ingredients, except the cornstarch.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until bubbly.  Mix the set aside pineapple juice and cornstarch together in a small dish until smooth.  Add this to the sauce mixture, slowly, while still cooking and stirring over medium heat.  Continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes, until it has thickened a bit.  Pour over chicken, pork, rice, or use as a dipping sauce for egg rolls, won tons, etc.  Enjoy!

Cherry White Cheese Cake

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo for this one yet, but I promise to add it next time I or my grandma makes this.  This is my grandmas recipe and a family favorite for sure!  I wanted to post it in time for Easter, since many of us do some cooking/baking for the holidays.  Let me know how you like this one!

NOTE:  This recipe makes two 13x9 cakes.  If you only want one and don't want to waste the other half of the cake batter, try it in a slightly larger jelly roll pan.

1 package of white cake mix

2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened

4 cups of powdered sugar

1 16oz container of whipped topping, thawed

2 cans of cherry pie filling

**also good topped with strawberry or blueberry

Prepare and bake cake as directed on package, using only half the batter.  Cool.  Beat cream cheese & sugar until fluffy.  Fold in whipped topping.  Spread over cooled cake.  Top with pie filling.  Chill and keep chilled.

So yummy!

Easter Recipe Swap Meet

get the InLinkz code

Creamed Dried Beef Over Toast

One of my favorites, this is easy, cheap and delicious.

5 small packages of dried beef or one large package, chopped

1/2 can of sweet peas

4 cups of milk

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup of flour

dill weed

pepper

garlic powder

Worcestershire Sauce

In a dutch oven, large frying pan or a wok-like pan (this is what I use) melt the butter over medium heat.  Add flour and stir together until smooth.  Add milk all at once and stir with a whisk frequently until thick.  Don't let it scorch.  Add spices and Worcestershire to desired taste .  I usually eyeball it, probably about 1/4 tsp of each spice and a tablespoon of Worcestershire.  Stir in peas.  Serve over toast, mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes.  My favorite is over boiled potatoes, skin on!  Enjoy!

Cupcakes in a Cup

I was volunteered to make 2 dozen individually wrapped cupcakes for a bake sale at my husband's place of employment.  Hmmm...individually wrapped cupcakes??  How do I do that without either completely smashing up the whole cupcake, or making a sticky frosting mess?  After much consideration - this is what I came up with:

Pretty simple, once I narrowed down the options.  I envision it with much more flair, but I had to make do with my time frame and what I had on hand.  A wider, pretty ribbon to completely cover the twist tie would really fancy it up.  Another idea, to add some color, would be to put colored candies in a single layer under the cupcake.  You could also coordinate the ribbon with a cute cupcake liner.  The creative possibilities are endless.

All you need for the basics are plastic punch cups, fold and close sandwich bags (not zip bags), twist ties, cupcakes (of course), and ribbon.  Include any other embellishments you choose to fancy it up.  This was a great way to get the cupcakes individually wrapped and ready for transport.  I imagine you could use the same concept to package other goodies (small cookies, candies, etc). 

Try it out and I would love for you to send me pics of your final products to add to this post!

Chinese Pork Chops with Vegetable Fried Rice

Last night I pulled some boneless chops out of the freezer and studied them for a few minutes trying to decide what to do with them.  Chinese sounded yummy.  This is what I came up with and it turned out really good.  It was dubbed "make again" by the hubby.  You can get even more flavor into the chops if you use thin cut or pound them good with a meat mallet until they are pretty thin.  I tenderized mine only for a few minutes, as I wasn't looking to spend too much time in the kitchen. I imagine it would also be good with the pork cut into bite size pieces.  My recipe is below.  Let me know if you decide to try it!