My Ramblings

I've been wanting to expand my blog a little to accommodate the thoughts that come and go so quickly in my head, so I've created a new page called Ramblings. I hope you all enjoy it!

Summer Pesto Baguettes

Earlier this summer, I made pesto from the basil in my herb garden and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I remember my great-grandmother talking about something she had eaten once; pesto, tomato, and cheese on a baguette slice. It sounded wonderful to me, so I purchased two long, crunchy baguettes, took my fresh pesto from the fridge, picked a few red, ripe tomatoes from the garden, and set to work. It took me a few tries to perfect this little recipe, but I am quite pleased with it, and I hope you enjoy it too. This is more of "throw together" recipe, but I believe it can be replicated with great success.

 

 

Yields 10 servings 
Ingredients:
One long baguette
One or two large fresh tomatoes, cubed
1/2 C. Fresh pesto
1 C. Mozzarella cheese, cubed (use more or less cheese as desired)
Butter
Salt
Black Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your baguette into 3/4 in. slices and butter one side. Place the buttered side down on a parchment-covered pan. Lightly salt and pepper the top of the bread, and add a thin layer of pesto. Top the slice with three or four small tomato cubes; do the same with the mozzarella cheese cubes. Place the pan in the oven for about ten or fifteen minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Spicy Cheese Pretzel Sauce

Have you ever been making pretzels at home and wanted a nice cheese sauce to dip your pretzels into? After all, you've gone to the all the work of making tasty pretzels, and you want to enjoy them to the fullest! This cheese sauce is very quick and easy to make, and is yummy as well; it will taste great with both homemade and store-bought pretzels, but I've only used it with homemade pretzels.
This sauce has a distinct cheese flavor, but the chili powder gives it a nice edge. The sauce also thickens pretty quickly as it cools, so make sure to use it right after making it.

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder.

 Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns.

 

 After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Yields 7 servings
Ingredients:
8 slices of American Cheese
1/4 C. milk (I used skim because that's what I had on hand, but I recommend 2% milk)
1/4 t. salt
1 t. chili powder

 

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder. Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns. After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Heart of Italy Spaghetti Sauce

My great grandmother was Italian, and she had the best spaghetti sauce recipe in the world! It is rather sweet and popping with flavor! My grandma also used that family recipe, my mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, and I enjoy making it as well. For a recipe to have traveled four generations and still be going strong is proof of a good recipe!
Just to clarify, this is not my creation, but I thought since my family enjoyed it so much, I'd write it down for the world to use. This does take longer than just opening a jar of sauce and heating on the stove, but it's easy and well worth the extra bit of work!

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces.

 Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot.

Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined.

 

 Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

Yields enough to fill a seven quart crockpot
Ingredients:
4 lbs. thawed hamburger
1/2 and 1/8 C. garlic powder
1 6 lb. 9 oz. can tomato sauce
2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 C. sugar
1 C. parmesan cheese

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces. (I use a large fork and/or a Pampered Chef hamburger chopper.) Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot. (This recipe fills a seven quart crockpot, but I used an eight and a half quart crockpot.) Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined. Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

This spaghetti sauce is now ready to be served! You can serve it right out of the crockpot, or freeze it and use it another day. While it tastes fabulous fresh, I find that it tastes even better the longer it sits; it's one of those things that improves with time.

Pink Sherbert Slushy

This is the perfect summer treat: colorful, cold, and sweet with little sourness. This super easy slushy, has only three ingredients: pink sherbert, instant pink lemonade, and ice cubes. Just pop this components into your food blender and you'll have a summer snack or dessert that children and adults alike will love!

Combine the lemonade, sherbert, and ice cubes in your food blender. Turn the blender on for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the slushy is lump-free and well mixed. You may have to stop the blender once or twice and give the ingredients a stir yourself.

 

 Serve immediately for best tasting results.

 

 

Yields 3-5 servings
Ingredients:
1 1/8 C. instant pink lemonade, prepared
1 1/4 C. pink sherbert
25 ice cubes

Combine the lemonade, sherbert, and ice cubes in your food blender. Turn the blender on for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the slushy is lump-free and well mixed. You may have to stop the blender once or twice and give the ingredients a stir yourself. Serve immediately for best tasting results.

 

Fruity Smoothie Summer Drink

What could be better than a cold and refreshing fruit drink on a hot summer day? This peach and strawberry drink is creamy and sweet, the strawberries giving it the perfect hint of tartness. Just toss the ingredients into a mixer and you have your drink waiting for you!
I've only made this recipe with fresh fruit, but I'm sure you could use frozen fruit if that's all that you have on hand.

 

Cube the peaches and half the strawberries; drop them into your food blender. (I used a Vita-Mix). Add the sugar, milk, and ice cubes. Turn on the blender for 30 seconds to a minute, or until everything is smoothly ground and mixed together.

 

Pour into cups and serve immediately.

 

Yields 3-5 servings
Ingredients:
2 whole peaches
15 strawberries
1/4 and 1/8 C. sugar
3/4 C. 2% milk
40 ice cubes

Cube the peaches and half the strawberries; drop them into your food blender. (I used a Vita-Mix). Add the sugar, milk, and ice cubes. Turn on the blender for 30 seconds to a minute, or until everything is smoothly ground and mixed together. Pour into cups and serve immediately.

Cheesy Garlic Bread In-A-Pan

Melted cheese, garlic, warm, toasty bread...sounds like something wonderful to me! This cheesy garlic casserole-type dish is prefect thing to serve with spaghetti, lasagna, or to eat all by itself with a side of pizza sauce. The crunchy, seasoned bread supplemented with soft mozzarella cheese is perfect in all ways.

I made this recipe up for lunch with some leftovers I had on hand. I used Wal-Mart sub buns for my bread, but feel free to substitute French bread or other white bread if you don't have these buns on hand.

 

I used nine Wal-Mart sub buns (approx. 4x2 each)

 

Butter your buns, and sprinkle them with garlic salt. 

 

Cut your buns into cubes; you should get about sixteen cubes out of each full bun by putting two halves together and cutting them in half and then into quarters.

 

Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and toss the cubes and the cheese together. Dump the bowl's contents into the pan and spread the cubes evenly.

 

Cover the pan with albumin foil and place the pan in the oven for ten minutes. Remove the foil and baking for another five minutes, or until the top is getting golden brown.

 

Serve hot with a dish of heated pizza sauce.

 

Yields 8 servings

Ingredients:

9 Wal-Mart sub buns (approx. 4x2 each)

Softened butter

Garlic Salt

3 1/2 C. grated mozzarella cheese

 

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan. Set aside.

 

Butter your buns, and sprinkle them with garlic salt. Cut your buns into cubes; you should get about sixteen cubes out of each full bun by putting two halves together and cutting them in half and then into quarters. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and toss the cubes and the cheese together. Dump the bowl's contents into the pan and spread the cubes evenly.

 

Cover the pan with albumin foil and place the pan in the oven for ten minutes. Remove the foil and baking for another five minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Serve hot with a dish of heated pizza sauce.

Fried Dill Pickles

I found out recently that it is a unique American trait to love pickles; therefore, it wasn't super surprising when I started finding recipes for fried pickles. Never heard of fried pickles before? Don't feel bad; I didn't until recently, but they're pretty popular and very good!

I wanted to try making fried pickles, but I couldn't really find a recipe that I liked. I went through a few recipes and picked a few elements from them, combining into my own creation. I hope you enjoy these Fried Dill Pickles!!!

 

Mix together the flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt, black pepper, and milk in a bowl to make your batter.

 

Dip a pickle slice into the batter,

 

Coat the pickle with crumbs

 

Put the pickle into the oil. The pickle should become golden brown within 30 seconds to a minute

 

 

 

Yields 10 servings

Ingredients:

 

3 C. sliced sandwich dill pickles

1 1/4 C. Italian bread crumbs

1 C. milk

1 C. flour

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. paprika

1 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

3 C. vegetable oil (for frying; this is the amount I used; amount may vary depending on the size of your pot/fryer)

 

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.

 

Heat your oil on the stove top or in a fryer to about 375 degrees. If heating your oil on the stovetop, set the pot on medium-high heat. This process doesn't take long, so keep an eye on it.

 

Drain your pickles and mix together the flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt, black pepper, and milk in a bowl to make your batter. Place the drained pickles in one bowl and the Italian bread crumbs in another.

 

To test the oil, dip a single pickle slice into the batter, coat it with bread crumbs, and put it into the oil. If the pickle becomes golden brown within 30 seconds to a minute, the oil is ready to use.

 

To make the fried pickles, drop about five or six pickle slices into the batter. Coat them well, and make sure to shake any extra batter from them before moving them to the crumb bowl. Cover the pickles with crumbs, and then drop them carefully into the hot oil. The pickles won't take long, only about 30-40 seconds to a minute, so make sure to watch them.

 

When the pickles have reached a nice and crispy golden brown, take them out of the pot and put them on an absorbent towel to soak up a little of the extra oil before sticking them into the oven to keep warm.

 

Continue the steps above until you have finished frying all your pickles. These are best served warm. Feel free to eat these as they are or with ranch dressing. 

Caramel Peanut Fudge

I love fudge; it's one of the first things that I ever made as a kid, and I still enjoy making it today. Fudge is delicious, creamy, and rich, and it's very versatile. You can make mint chocolate fudge, cookies and cream fudge, butterscotch fudge, and so on. My variation on fudge, Caramel Peanut Fudge, is scrumptious and looks quite impressive. No one will know that it took you just a little time to throw it together!

 

Combine the chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and peanuts in an oven-safe bowl. Mix the ingredients together and place the bowl in the oven to melt. Keep a close eye on it, mixing it every few minutes until all the chocolate is melted. This process will take about 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop a few extra peanuts for a garnish, and cut up your caramel. I used Kraft Caramels, and I cut each caramel square into quarters. Cut up three extra caramels especially fine for a garnish.

Once the chocolate has melted, toss in the vanilla, butter, and chopped caramel. Mix the ingredients together, and stick the bowl back into the oven for about thirty seconds.

Retrieve the bowl from the oven and move the contents into the prepared pan with a spatula. Sprinkle the extra chopped peanuts and caramels on top, and then stick the pan into the fridge. Let the fudge sit at least one hour before serving it.

Yields 10-12 servings

Ingredients:

1 C. sweetened condensed milk

1 12 oz. bag white chocolate chips

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 butter

1/2 C. chopped peanuts, plus a little more for garnish

1/2 C. chopped caramel, plus a little more for garnish

 

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.

 

Combine the chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and the peanuts in an oven-safe bowl. Mix the ingredients together and place the bowl in the oven to melt. Keep a close eye on it, mixing it every few minutes until all the chocolate is melted. This process will take about 5-10 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, chop a few extra peanuts for a garnish, and cut up your caramel. I used Kraft Caramels, and I cut each caramel square into quarters. Cut up three extra caramels especially fine for a garnish.

 

Once the chocolate has melted, toss in the vanilla, butter, and chopped caramel. Mix the ingredients together, and stick the bowl back into the oven for about thirty seconds. Retrieve the bowl from the oven and move the contents into the prepared pan with a spatula. Sprinkle the extra chopped peanuts and caramels on top, and then stick the pan into the fridge. Let the fudge sit at least one hour before serving it.

 

Andrew's Pebble Bars

I was out of ideas for recipes, so I asked one of my little brothers, Andrew, if he had any ideas for me. He promptly said that I should make rice crispy treats with Fruit Pebbles. The idea grabbed me, and I spent a day or so creating the recipe in my head. It didn't take long to put together, and after one failed effort, I made Andrew's Pebble Bars. They were a great success! I have many younger siblings, and they all loved them. My bars were requested twice for birthday desserts, and I was asked to make them again. Too bad I didn't have more marshmallows!

 

Put a pot on the stovetop on low heat. Add the butter.

 

 

 

Once the butter has melted, add the marshmallows and stir continually until they have melted completely, about 3-5 minutes.

 

Take the pot off of the heat, and immediately incorporate the Fruity Rice. Give the pot a two or three quick stirs, combining the ingredients, and dump the pot's contents into the greased pan. Spread the cereal, using a buttered spatula or clean, buttered hands. Work quickly, because the mixture will begin to firm up almost at once.

 

Reusing the pot that you have just used, it on the stovetop on low heat. Add the butter. Once it has melted, add the marshmallows and stir continually until they have melted completely, about 3-5 minutes.

 

 Take the pot off of the heat, and immediately incorporate the Crispy Rice and Fruity Rice. Give the pot a two or three quick stirs, combining the ingredients.

 

Dump the pot's contents into the greased pan. Quickly spread the cereal, using a buttered spatula or clean, buttered hands. Work quickly, because the mixture will begin to firm up almost at once.

 

 

Yields 12 servings 

 

Ingredients:

 

First Layer

3 C. Millville Fruity Rice

5 oz. regular marshmallows (half of a regular sized bag)

1 T. butter

 

Second Layer

2 3/4 C. Millville Crispy Rice

5 oz. regular marshmallows

1 T. butter

 

Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.

 

Layer 1:

Put a pot on the stovetop on low heat. Add the butter. Once it has melted, add the marshmallows and stir continually until they have melted completely, about 3-5 minutes. Take the pot off of the heat, and immediately incorporate the Fruity Rice. Give the pot a two or three quick stirs, combining the ingredients, and dump the pot's contents into the greased pan. Spread the cereal, using a buttered spatula or clean, buttered hands. Work quickly, because the mixture will begin to firm up almost at once.

 

Layer 2:

Reusing the pot that you have just used, it on the stovetop on low heat. Add the butter. Once it has melted, add the marshmallows and stir continually until they have melted completely, about 3-5 minutes. Take the pot off of the heat, and immediately incorporate the Crispy Rice and Fruity Rice. Give the pot a two or three quick stirs, combining the ingredients, and dump the pot's contents on top of the first layer. Spread the cereal, using a buttered spatula or clean, buttered hands. Work quickly, because the mixture will begin to firm up almost at once.