Cranberry Pineapple Mini

Cranberry Pineapple Mini
1 can crushed pineapple in juice
2 pkg. (3 ounce) Rasberry Jello
1 16 ounce can of whole berry cranberry sauce
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 Apple chopped

Directions:  Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough water to juice to measure 2 1/2 cups, pour into saucepan. bring to boil. Pour over gelatin mixes in large bowl stir 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Stir in pineapple, cranberry sauce, walnuts and apple.Spoon into 24 paper lined muffin cups. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Modifications:
-I used pecans instead of walnuts.

I forgot to take a picture of what you will need but just look at the recipe.

Drain the pineapple juice into a bowl and add enough water to make 2 1/2 cups of liquid.  Put it on to boil.

Open the gelatin packet and pour the hot liquid over it.  Stir until the gelatin completely dissolves.

Add the cranberry, crushed pineapple, diced apple and walnuts.

Pour into muffin cups and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Here's what you'll get:

Our Thoughts:
A few weeks ago I put out a request on Facebook for my friends' favorite holiday dishes.  My friend, Kendra sent this recipe to me.

I didn't think that I would really like this dish because I am not a jello fan at all but, boy, was I wrong!  This dish was great and a huge hit at our Thanksgiving table.

The combination of the pineapple, apple, and nuts gave it the texture that I definitely need.  It was sweet and tart and went perfectly with my cranberry glazed turkey.

I ended up taking all of the little muffin bowls and just putting them in to one bowl so that we could each dip out as much as we wanted.

This is definitely a dish that I will start making year after year.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Summer Bean Salad

Summer Bean Salad from The Real Mom Kitchen
1 (15.5 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.5 oz) can of cennelllini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.5 oz) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 (4 oz) can of green chilies
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
3 Tbsps, cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cumin

Directions:  Combine dressing ingredients in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.  While dressing cools, prepare the rest of the ingredients and place in a large bowl.  Pour cooled dressing over bean mixture and toss to coat.  Makes 6-8 servings.

Modifications:
-I did not have the green chilies
-I forgot to boil the dressing.
-I left out the celery
-I finely chopped up 1 jalapeno and added it.

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I drained and rinsed the beans.

#2 Cut up red onion, green pepper and red pepper and add them to the beans.

#3 Finely chop the cilantro and add to the beans.

#4 Whisk together the rice vinegar, olive oil, sugar, garlic powder and cumin.  You are supposed to boil it but I forgot this step.

#5 Pour it over the beans.

The Finished Product:

Review:

I loved the combination of the different beans, peppers and onions.  The dressing was a sweeter dressing but with the kick of the red onion and jalapeno it wasn't overpowering.  I think, though, that next time I will cut back the sugar to maybe just 1 1/2T since it is already being made with rice wine vinegar.

Low Fat Mock-a-Mole

Low Fat Mock-A-Mole by Bethenny Frankel
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 cup cooked green peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Directions:  Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips, whole grain crackers, and raw vegetables.

Variations:
Use any of these variations, or mix and match them according to your tastes
•Variation 1: Instead of cooked peas, try an additional avocado.
•Variation 2: Instead of tomato, try chopped pear, grape, or cherry tomatoes.
•Variation 3: Instead of cilantro, try doubling the amount of parsley.
•Variation 4: Instead of red onion, try: Any other onion -- scallions, white parts and some of green -- chives.
•Variation 5: Instead of fresh parsley, try adding 1 extra tablespoon fresh cilantro.
•Variation 6: Instead of fresh lime juice, try other citrus juice.
•Variation 7: Instead of Worcestershire sauce, try soy sauce (including tamari or shoyu).
•Variation 8: Instead of garlic salt, try: 1 clove garlic, minced, plus ¾ teaspoon regular or seasoned salt.
•Variation 9: Instead of Tabasco sauce, try: any other hot sauce -- 1 dash cayenne pepper -- 1 pinch red pepper flakes

Modifications:
-I used 3 avocados
-I used 1/2 of a tomato
-I did not use cooked green peas
-I added a garlic clove

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I cut up 3 avocados.

#2 1/2 of tomato

#3 1/4 of a red onion

#4 1 garlic clove

#5 some finely chopped cilantro

#6 finely chopped parsley

#7 2 squeezed limes

#8 some Tabasco

#9 Worcestershire sauce

The Finished Product:

Review:

What's to say?  Loved it!  I put a little extra Tabasco in to give it a extra kick.  Quick and easy to make.  I made this today for a playdate and we gobbled it up.  I finished it off with some kosher salt.

Guacamole

Guacamole from The Sister's Cafe
4 ripe Haas avocados
3 Tbs squeezed lemon juice
8 dashes Tabasco sauce
½ cup small-diced red onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 to 1½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 medium tomato, seeded, and small-diced (or more)

Directions:  In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, Tabasco, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and toss well. Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out of the shells. Dice the avocados into pieces and add into the bowl. Add the tomatoes. Mix well and taste for salt and pepper. I usually add a bit more salt.

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I squeezed the lemon juice into a bowl and added the hot sauce.

#2 I minced up a large garlic clove and threw it in the bowl.

#3 The onions came next.

#4 I cut and de-cored the avocados and put the meat of them into the bowl.

#5 Finally, I added the tomatoes and stirred it all up.

The Finished Product:

Review:

I follow a food blog called The Sister's Cafe.  A couple of weeks ago I saw this guacamole recipe and I could not wait to try it.  It did not disappoint.  This guacamole was so good, garlicky and salty.

The only thing that I would do differently next time is to mash up the guacamole before I add it with the rest of the ingredients because it was kind of hard to mash the chunks with the onions and tomatoes in there, too.  Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.

Hope you enjoy!

April