Guacamole Nachos

One of the foods I love most in this world is guacamole.  One of the foods Mr. Meat Eater hates most in this world is guacamole.  If I make guacamole nachos, I can also make nachos the way he likes them at the same time.  We are both happy!

This “recipe” is really a method I guess.  There isn’t much to it but it took me forever to hit on it so I thought that there may be others who haven’t thought of it yet.

My favorite tortilla chips are the new Tostito’s Thin and Crispy chips.  They taste just like the kind you get in Mexican restaurant.  Very, very good.  You will have to be careful with these chips since they break easy.  Use your favorite homemade guacamole recipe ~ here’s mine ~ Easy Guacamole.  However, I used Calvado Pico de Gallo Guacamole on these particular nachos.  Wholly Guacamole also makes really good guacamole.  I usually use taco cheese if I have it or sharp cheddar.

Guacamole Nachos

Tortilla chips
1 recipe guacamole ~ homemade or purchased
Taco or cheddar cheese, shredded
Sliced jalapenos, optional

Heat oven to 350º. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

Place chips on sheet. Place about a tbsp of guacamole on each chip. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and chips crisp.

Before servings, add a slice of jalapeno on the top.

Makes as many as you want.

Happy Cooking!

Vintage Recipes Series ~ Cream Cheese Squares

I have a collection of old handmade recipe albums, recipe card boxes and a box full of recipes that I have been collecting for several years.  If I see someone’s recipe card collection for sale, I just can’t pass it up.  I feel bad that someone’s hard work collecting these recipes is being sold so I buy them and put on my bookshelf.  I have recipes from the 20s through about 2005 or so.  Some are not vintage but I have no idea what to call them.

Some recipes are written on the backs of envelopes and some are typed out neatly on cards.  It’s really a treasure trove of someone’s life in the kitchen.  It’s fun to go through them.

I decided that a few times a month, I would pick a recipe, make it, and blog about it.   Many of these recipes have no attribution or even a publishing date and are handwritten.  If it does have any publishing info, I’ll post it.  Except for the box of recipes that I have collected, I have no idea who even belonged to these boxes/albums.

As you can see from the picture, the ingredient list in this recipe ~ Cream Cheese Squares ~ is a mess.  Luckily, there aren’t too many ingredients.  The recipe looks like it’s from the late 70s or early 80s from a column called Common Sense Cooking by Ruth McDaniel.  I did a bing search and it looks like Mrs. McDaniel has passed away.

These cream cheese squares are delicious!  They are cheesecake in bar form.  The recipe is easy however, saving 1 cup of the base to sprinkle on top is too much.  One-half cup would be plenty.

Cream Cheese Squares

1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts ~ I used pecans
1 (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsps milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º.

Cream butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add flour and chopped nuts and mix to make a crumb mixture. Reserve 1/2 cup and set aside. Press remainder in greased, 8-inch square pan. Bake 15 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool while you make the cream cheese mixture.

Blend sugar and cream cheese in a medium bowl with a mixer until smooth. Add egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat well until smooth. Pour over warm crust and sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool and cut into squares.

I keep them in the refrigerator because I like cheesecake cold but the recipe doesn’t say anything about keeping them there.

Makes 9 bars.

Happy Cooking!

Julie’s Ranch Pretzels

Julie has a great blog called Julie’s Eats and Treats.  I came across her blog’s page on Facebook and she had posted these delectable goodies.  I was looking for a snack for Easter weekend and decided these would be perfect.

I made them as Julie posted on her blog and while they were a bit salty, we could NOT stop eating them.  In fact, my daughter took what was left for her get-together on Sunday night.  They are highly addictive.

Somehow, I don’t think Virginia is the hotbed of pretzels since it took forever to find them.  Mr. Meat Eater found them eventually.  Don’t use the skinny little pretzel sticks,  Utz brand makes a bigger stick pretzel ~ plain and buttery.

Click on the link to Julie’s blog for the recipe ~ Julie’s Ranch Pretzels

Happy Cooking!

Strawberry Mousse

I love any flavor of mousse but so many of them use raw eggs that I don’t usually make them.  Yes, I know I can use pasteurized eggs but  for some reason, I don’t.  Anyway, this recipe doesn’t have any eggs at all.  It tasted like fresh strawberries which I loved.  I hate when I can’t taste the flavor.  It is also very easy to make.

Strawberry Mousse

1 cup fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup hot water
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup whipping cream

Place the strawberries and sugar in a blender and process until pureed. Let stand for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, soften the unflavored gelatin in cold water. Add the hot water and stir until the gelatin dissolves.

Add the gelatin mixture to the pureed strawberries and process in the blender to mix well. Add the whipping cream and whip for 5 minutes. The mixture will not whip up like whipping cream usually does.

Pour into 4 dessert dishes and chill for 2 to 3 hours or until set.

Makes 4 servings. I made 2 large servings instead of the 4.

Recipe adapted from Something’s Simmering

Happy Cooking!

Key Lime Meringue Pie

This pie was another key lime recipe I made for Mr. Meat Eater.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted it and had to have my own piece.  It was delicious and I’ll be making this pie again in the near future.

Now, the recipe for the filling called for 5 egg yolks and the meringue called for 4 egg whites.  I used 5 egg whites for the meringue ~ no sense in wasting that last egg white.  I also used Nellie and Joe’s key lime juice instead of fresh lime juice.  I also made my own graham cracker crust instead of using a bought one.  I just followed the directions on the box.  I always find the meringue on pies gets really sticky after the first day so it would be easier to cut the pie into slices before refrigerating for the night.

I’m sure I got this recipe from Pinterest and it is attributed to the Deen Brothers.

Key Lime Meringue Pie

Filling:
5 large egg yolks
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsps grated lime zest
1/2 cup key lime juice ~ I use Nellie and Joe’s
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 prepared graham cracker crumb crust

Meringue:
5 egg whites
6 tbsps sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325º.

In a medium bowl, mix together the yolks and condensed milk. Stir in the lime zest, lime juice, and cream. Pour into crust and bake for 20 minutes or until firm.

Increase oven temperature to 350º.

Meanwhile, using a mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the sugar mixture, a spoonful at a time, to the egg whites, beating between additions. Beat until sugar dissolves.

Spoon meringue over the hot pie filling. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the meringue is golden.

Serve pie warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Rum Cake

This was a favorite of ours years ago and I decided it was a good time to bring it back.  It’s very easy to make which is a plus!

This is the same Bacardi Rum recipe that was in every magazine in the 70′s and can now be found in almost every community cookbook published.  It’s a winner!

I just filled up the middle with fresh fruit but otherwise made exactly as the recipe states.

Rum Cake

Cake:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 pkg yellow cake mix ~ DO NOT add ingredients on the box
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum ~ I used spiced rum

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum ~ I used spiced rum

Grease a 10 inch tube pan or a bundt pan and sprinkle pecans over the bottom of the pan.

Mix together the cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil. and rum. Pour over the nuts in the prepared pan.

Bake at 325º for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Invert onto a serving dish. I did it a bit different. I inverted onto a cookie sheet until it was glazed and then I carefully moved it to my serving plate.

For the glaze: Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the rum.

Brush glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Allow cake to absorb the glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

Makes 10-12 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Key Lime Fudge

Mr. Meat Eater loves all things key lime.  I, on the other hand, could cheerfully live without it.  Since he’s such a nice guy, I make something key lime once in awhile.

I had seen a picture of key lime fudge on Pinterest but there was no recipe attached (that makes me crazy, btw) so I hunted around and found this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen.  We had a few friends over and I was tired of making chocolate fudge so I decided to try this fudge.  Much to my surprise, everyone loved it!  I took a bite and found it was not as sweet as I thought it would be and I would have liked more lime taste to it.  Everyone else thought it was perfect as is.

For the crust, I just followed the pie crust recipe on the box of graham cracker crumbs (just like Real Mom Kitchen did) so I am not going to write it out here but if anyone needs it, let me know.

Key Lime Fudge

Graham cracker crust following recipe on graham crumbs box
16 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp butter
1 lime, zested
3 tbsps key lime juice or lime juice ~ I use Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice

Preheat oven to 350º and line a 9×9 baking dish with aluminum foil. Butter the foil and set aside.

Place the mixed graham crust ingredients and spread in the pan evenly and press down slightly when even.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Place in a saucepan, the chopped white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and 1 tbsp butter. Cook on low heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in zest and lime juice.

Carefully pour this mixture over the crumb crust and even out carefully with a spatula.

Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.

Before cutting, sprinkle a few graham crumbs from the box if desired.

Using the foil, remove the fudge from the pan and cut into small squares. Discard foil.

Makes about 24 pieces of fudge depending on how large you cut the squares.

Happy Cooking!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I found this recipe on Skinnytaste and it is so good you won’t know you’re eating a skinny version of cajun chicken pasta.  The only thing I did differently was to use regular linguine instead of Dreamfields.  I just cannot get used to Dreamfields so I’ll stick to the regular.  I think whole wheat pasta would work, too, but whole grains bother my gout so I just stick to regular.

If you haven’t been to Skinnytaste ~ take a look!

Lighter Cajun Chicken Pasta

8 ozs uncooked linguine
1 lb chicken tenderloins
1 to 2 tsps Cajun seasoning ~ use more or less if you like
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup fat free, low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tbsp flour
3 tbsps light cream cheese
fresh cracked black pepper
2 scallions, chopped
salt to taste
Cooking spray

In a small blender, mix mix milk, flour, and cream cheese and set aside. Make sure all veggies are prepped. Season chicken tenderloins with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt.

Prepare pasta in salted water according to the package.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; spray with cooking spray and add half of the chicken. Cook until no pink remains and set aside on a plate. Repeat with the other half of chicken. Set all chicken aside.

Add olive oil to the skillet and reduce to medium; add bell pepper, onion, garlic to skillet and saute for 3-4 minutes.

Add mushrooms and tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes or until all veggies are tender. Season with 1/ tsp salt, garlic powder, and fresh black pepper.

Reduce the heat and add the chicken broth and pour in the cream cheese,flour/milk slurry and stir for about 2 minutes.

Place the chicken back in the skillet, adjust salt and Cajun seasoning if needed.

Add the linguine and toss to coat the linguine.

Sprinkle the green onions over the top and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Red, White and Blue Trifle

This trifle is another recipe that I’m reblogging since it’s perfect for July 4th.

It’s very easy to make and looks very patriotic.  You can make it with all sugar-free products like I do or use the regular products ~ it’s great with either.  This recipe uses help from prepared products, but you can always make yours from scratch.  I always use more fruit than necessary and I never use the banana since I’m not much of a banana fan.

Red, White, and Blue Trifle

1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 (4 ounce pkg.) cheesecake flavor instant pudding
1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
16 ounce frozen pound cake, thawed
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced banana

Mix together the milk and pudding mix and beat with a wire whisk for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in the thawed Cool Whip.

In a trifle bowl or large glass bowl, layer half the cake cubes, half the fruit, and half of the pudding/Cool Whip mixture. Repeat layers, ending with pudding/Cool Whip mixture.

Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes 12 servings

Happy Cooking!

Cinnamon Roll Casserole

I forgot to mention in my last post that the picture of my daughter was taken by my friend, Ann, who I think missed her calling as a photographer. She took some great pictures!

I also wanted to mention that my picture of Zippy seen here can also be seen on Touch of Home Petsitting Blog!  That picture always makes me laugh.

I found the recipe for this breakfast casserole on Pinterest and it’s from The Dishy Decorator and we loved it.  It’s really more like a cinnamon roll French toast.  It’ perfect by itself but adding bacon or sausage and fruit would round it out.  It also couldn’t be easier to make.

Cinnamon Roll Casserole

1 tbsps melted butter
2 cans Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing (8 in a can)
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsps cinnamon
2 tsps vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup real maple syrup

Heat oven to 375º and pour melted butter into a 13×9 glass baking dish.

Separate rolls from the cans and cut each roll into 8 pieces and place in dish over melted butter.

In a small bowl, mix eggs, heavy cream, cinnamon, and vanilla until well blended and pour over the top of the rolls in the dish. Sprinkle with pecan pieces and drizzle with the 1/4 cup syrup. I did not use the pecans and I just eyeballed the syrup and it worked out fine.

Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove metal tops from the icing and heat in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds at 50% power or until the icing is pourable.

Drizzle over the top of the cooled rolls.

Happy Cooking!