The best RED, WHITE & BLUE dessert!

Who doesn't love the 4th of July? We not only love to celebrate by wearing our country's colors, but we love to make all sorts of desserts with them, too! This Fruit Pizza has a few variations from the one I originally make. First, get a tube of cookie dough from the refrigerated section in the grocery store!! Yes, this is a VERY semi-homemade dessert!!

Press it out into a 9 inch cake pan...the WHOLE tube!! Bake at 350 for about 20-25 min, til the top is golden brown and it is set.

Let cool before you spread this goodness on! Here's the variation: instead of cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice & sour cream...I simply spread on pineapple flavored Greek yogurt!! It was the perfect texture and the chunks of pineapple gave it the flavor that the lemon juice would have provided.

Then pile on your favorite fruits with the colors red & blue! Even blackberries would have been a wonderful alternative! I cute up strawberries into bite size pieces, then layered blueberries and raspberries!

Dig in and enjoy! this one I could eat for every meal and not feel so bad.

Pot Stickers & Yakisoba

I am a lover of sushi. There. I said it. We ate at one of our neighbor sushi joints the other night and it inspired me to break out my Japanese cooking skills! This right here is making me hungry for more!

These three ingredients I ALWAYS have on hand...and you can make anything Asian-style!

• Pure Sesame Oil

• Soy Sauce 

• Rice Vinegar

GOYZA

Ingredients:

·         1/3 cup chopped cabbage (boiled)

·         2 tbsps chopped green onion

·         1/2 pound ground pork

·         1 tsp sesame oil

·         1 tsp sugar

·         2 tsps soysauce

·         1/2 tsp garlic salt

·         1 tsp grated fresh ginger

·         20 gyoza wrappers

·         1 tbsp vegetable oil

*Makes 4 servings  (I ALWAYS double it because they are a hit at our house)

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients other than oil in a bowl and mix well by hands.

2. Place a teaspoonful of filling in a gyoza wrapper and put water along the edge of the wrapper by fingers.

3. Make a triangle, gathering the front side of the wrapper and sealing the top down to the edges. 

4.Heat oil in a frying pan. Put gyoza in the pan and fry on high heat until the bottoms become brown.

5. Turn down the heat to low. Add 1/4 cup water in the pan. 

6. Cover the pan and steam the gyoza on low heat until the water is gone.

You can't have goyza without a dipping sauce! It just wouldn't be right!  

Spicy Gyoza Sauce

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together the rice vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, green onions, and sesame oil in a bowl; allow to sit 15 minutes before serving. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

I usually serve Yakisoba with the Pot Stickers. Yakisoba was a personal staple in my diet while I lived in Japan. I was thrilled to find it in the local grocery store when I came back home. Since I've introduced this to my hubby & kids, well, its been love at first taste.  (And YES, it is WAY better than chow mein noodles!)

To find Yakisoba in your local grocery store, go to the Asian section (usually where tofu is sold) or ask for help. Cooking instructions are on the package. Add your favorite vegetables. The usual vegis I put in vary; but aren't exclusive to: chopped cabbage, 1 sweet onion (halved & sliced), minced ginger, sliced celery, carrots, japanese eggplant, mushrooms, bean sprouts, scallions (for garnish), or anything else that may satisfy you.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

New Mexican Enchiladas de Pollo en Cacerola (Chicken Enchilada Casserole)
My family liked this dish! With a bubbly layer of cheese on top and creamy corn tortilla & chicken on the insides, how can your kids not want to eat at dinner time??? I don't know about you but I always love that top crispy layer of cheese...Y-U-M-M-Y!  Since the weather has been pleasant, even for June, we have been enjoying our meals on the patio, which helps keep the crumbs outside for the birds to clean up after us! (yay for no mess in MY kitchen!!)

A little Spanish-style rice and some broccoli were complimentary sides to this scrumptious dish!

Baking Time: 30-40 minutes thawed
Temperature: 350°F

Ingredients:
2 cans (10 ounces) cream of mushroom soup

1 small can of chopped green chili **
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped onion (optional) **
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken* (a rotisserie chicken tastes best!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

⅓ can Green Chili Enchilada Sauce (28 oz) **
12 corn tortillas
Shortening
cheese

Directions:
1. Combine mushroom soup, green chili, milk, onion, chicken, salt & garlic salt, 1 cup cheese and enchilada sauce
2. Heat 1/2 inch of shortening in a heavy pan at medium-high heat.
3. Quickly dip each tortilla into the shortening to fry and soften. Drain on
absorbent towels.
4. Grease pan with Pam and then layer with 6 tortillas. Put half of the sauce mix on the first layer of tortillas and then fry and layer the other six followed by the rest of the sauce mix.

5. Top with a cup of cheese.
6. Cover casserole dish and bake in a 350°F oven for 30-40 minutes or until sauce bubbles and cheese is melted.

* Twelve ounces of canned, drained chicken may be substituted.

** Varied amounts may be used.  Recipe Courtesy Danielle Fleming

Freezer Meal Guidelines

Welcome to Freezer Meals 101. We all have busy days, and with out planning ahead, well, dinner goes by the way side. So, get yourself a group of ladies together, whom you trust as friends AND as chefs (c'mon, who wants to get food poisoning from one of your best friends...cause she's not in the kitchen a whole lot?) Go over these rules, you can change them to your group's needs and....Viola! Dinner is served!

Guidelines:

·         Make and Freeze 10 Meals to exchange with our group. (or how ever many are in your group)

·         Try to spend around or below $80-$100 for all costs. If you shop sales, you may be able to spend substantially less.

·         Your meal should feed 6 adults. Please measure out AT LEAST 8-9 CUPS of food when dividing it into the ziplock bags, 9x13 pan, or whatever container you are placing your food in. This will ensure equal distribution and help keep the meals fair and equal. I know some recipes will be difficult because certain meals require a different type of assembling food. But we all want to make sure we are keeping it fair, and that we can enjoy some leftovers if our hearts desire it.  For example: If you have a main chicken dish, please use 6 breasts in each entree.

·         You will need to package your meal in either freezer bags or disposable aluminum pans.

(If your item is in a pan, please use a 9x13 disposable pan.)

·         Write on your package with permanent marker what the meal is, the basic instructions, and the date. Most meals will need to be pulled out of the freezer ahead of time so that it can thaw. Write the cook time that should be used once the meal is thawed.

Example ·         Name of your Recipe ·         Page # (if it’s in “girlfriends on the go”) ·         Cooking Temp ·         Cooking Time ·         Raw Ingredients enclosed (if there are) ·         Prepared by:_________, on (02/15/2010) ·         Serving Suggestions (side dishes or complimentary items)

·         Please only make meals that you and your family have tried and enjoyed.

DO NOT experiment on the group! Recipes in the “Girlfriends on the Go!” Are fine to use, they have been tried and proven.

·         ALLERGIES in our GROUP: NO Nuts. NO Fish or Seafood.

·         PLEASE Practice Proper Hygiene / Kitchen etiquette while preparing these meals, Clean Kitchen=Happy Tummies!! Keep Children and Pets away while preparing your meals, Clorox Wipes are good for Raw Meat spills and drips, wash hands consistently during your cooking time, keep hair pulled back if possible, etc….

·         If you are stumped about what to cook and what freezes well, consult “Girlfriends on the Go” Cookbook, there are MANY tips and tricks.

·         If you are making a Family Favorite (not from the book) Please type up your recipes on a full sheet of paper as well as suggestions for what vegetables or side dishes to serve with the meal, and your name on the recipe. We will be placing it in our binder.

·         We want everyone to have fun. Obviously your family is not going to love every meal, but hopefully they will enjoy the majority and that will make it all worthwhile. The most important thing is to take some stress out of your day so that you can spend more time with your family doing fun things, not cooking and cleaning!

·         Please bring your meals ALREADY FROZEN. Plan Ahead!! If you cannot make it to the exchange, please drop off the meals in a cooler (with ice) prior to the exchange. If you are not prepared, each person will keep their meal until you deliver your meal and pick up theirs from each group member. When we exchange we will tell about our dish. It shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes.

Good Luck on your freezer meal success. Now you can start enjoying your family more, get out of the kitchen, stop buying fast food for every meal, and heck, your bank account will thank you.

Jerk Chicken

This month for our Freezer Meal Group, I decided to do something on the grill! But for this dish, the grill is only for the smoke flavor, adding wood chips to give it that "um, um, good", "finger-lickin", "lip-smackin" kick! I found the chicken on sale (rather, my hubby found the chicken on sale...he is MUCH more dedicated and better at couponing and finding deals than I am!) As I determine what to do for my meals each month, I ask my hubby whats on sale and then we decide what would be best to cook! So, chicken sales=chicken meals!! I SHOULD have gotten a picture while it was on the weber, but it had the lid on....and I forgot!

Jerk Marinade:

• 2 teaspoons allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 onion
• 8 cloves garlic or 1 whole head
• 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, sliced
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 3 limes, juiced
• Splash low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 serano pepper, halved (only use half)
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 whole free-range chicken (about 5 pounds), cut into 10 pieces
• Limes, for garnish
• Parsley, for garnish
• Smoking chips, soaked in water for 15 minutes
• * Liquid smoke (if you don't have a grill, you can certainly skip the grilling part with the smoke chips, add a touch of liquid smoke, a little goes a long way, and go straight to the oven!)

Directions

Begin by making the jerk marinade. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and process until you have a smooth puree. **FREEZER MEAL TIP: I doubled the recipe each time so I only had to make the marinade 5 times to end up with  10 meals.

Add chicken pieces into a large resealable plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Put the bag into a baking dish and let marinate in the refrigerator overnight. **FREEZER MEAL TIP:  Pour half the marinade from the blender in, squeeze the air out, lay flat, label it and stick the other 9 meals in the freezer! How's that for swimming in the yummy jerk marinade?

When you are ready to cook, and your jerk chicken is completely thawed:

Preheat grill to high.

Prepare a table-top smoker or take a roasting tray, line it with foil and add some soaked wood chips to the bottom. Place a wire rack over the top, upside down, and lay chicken pieces over the chips on the rack. Cover with foil and grill over high heat. Smoke for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a baking sheet and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Bake in the oven "low and slow" until chicken is tender, about 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the baking sheet to a serving platter and garnish with limes and parsley before serving. Since it was just my little family, I skipped the serving platter to save on dishes! And yes, we ate this on paper plates...hey, anything is better than doing dishes after dinner!

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