Appetizer Ideas

Hey girls,
Been awhile....It was wonderful to see everyone on Saturday (Erin, we missed you!)!

Okay, so Laura's graduation party is on Sunday and I wanted to make some fun appetizers for her. Problem: she doesn't like anything that's white. Yeah, and some people think my onion aversion is annoying. So, no sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, ranch dressing, or anything like that. Any ideas? The only thing I've come up with so far are sausage balls (technically she doesn't like sausage, but she did try these one time and liked them...). All ideas are welcome, but I am in a bit of a time crunch. I'm leaving to stay up at the cabin tomorrow night (G's going out of town this weekend to O-town with work) and may not have internet. Let me know. Thanks girls!

Minted Melon Grilled Chicken

One of my friends here just had surgery and I took her family a meal. She asked for meals that were light, low-fat & with chicken. Hmmmm... I was going to have to search online. I found this one on Better Recipes (betterrecipes.com). It was a hit at her house & here in ours too! We really thought it was a great summer recipe because it was really refreshing with the relish. Hope you enjoy too!

Minted Melon Grilled Chicken
(by roxiechan submitted on Betterrecipes.com)

• Rub:
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 pound total
• Glaze:
• 1/4 cup mint jelly, melted
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• Melon Relish:
• 1 cup small dice cantalope melon
• 1 cup small dice honeydew melon
• 2 Tbsp minced red onion
• 2 Tbsp snipped mint leaves
• 2 Tbsp minced crystallized ginger
• 1 small stalk celery, finely diced
• 1/2 tsp grated lime peel
• garnish- mint sprigs

Method

Combine the ingredients for the rub and coat the chicken. Combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl. Put 1 Tbsp of the glaze into a medium bowl along with the ingredients for the relish. Mix well and place on a serving platter. Place the chicken breasts on an oiled grill rack over medium high heat 4-6 inches from the heat source. Cook 5-7 minutes per side or till the chicken tests done (165 degrees). During the last 2 minutes of cooking brush each side of the breasts with glaze and cook 1 more minute per side. Arrange the glazed chicken on top of the relish. Garnish wit mint sprigs.

Notes:

Number of servings: Serves 4

Leftover Goodies

I just had a fabulous lunch with some leftovers just now. And it was something that hadn't occured to me before, so I thought I'd pass it along in case you all need some new quick ideas!

We had taco salad for supper two nights ago, complete with meat, black beans, corn, and all the regular veggies. After supper I combined the leftover corn and beans and stirred in some store-bought salsa and taco sauce. Today for lunch I heated it up with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top. It was SO good. It was easy, and pretty healthy too! (although I'm sure it'd be fabulous with chips too- like a good corn & black bean salsa). So simple-I just wish I'd thought of this before!

shrimp on sale

Last night on my way home from work, I stopped by BiLo to pick up something to make for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised to find that bags of shrimp were on sale for $5.25 each. The sign said 2 for $10.49, and my receipt said they were each marked down $7.00 each! So I bought two and cooked them both last night (yes, two lbs of shrimp for dinner--as you can imagine, my man was in heaven). One bag just isn't enough for his liking, and two leaves some for him for leftovers since I won't be home tonight. Anyway, I just thought I'd share the tip that they're on sale in case anyone else is interested.

Oh, and I'm planning to post the recipe I used to fix them. They were so good! If you have The Joy of Cooking cookbook, it's in there. It's called something like "Becker's Barbeque Shrimp"--if you know me, you know I don't like barbeque, but this wasn't your typical barbeque. It's a bunch of spices all ground up together, some butter (I used low-fat), and some beer. I'll post the whole thing soon--just wanted to give you a little taste of what's to come. : )

starter question

Ok, I think I messed up! Yesterday on day 10, I was all ready to make my bread, and in keeping with how I usually do things, I sat down to print out the recipe and realized I didn't have the pudding! So, my question is, can I still make the bread on day 11? Or do I have to toss it out?

Brown Sugar Meatloaf ... dee-lish!

I got this recipe from the Easy Recipe link (thanks to who ever put that link on!) and made it tonight for dinner. Yummy! Josh really liked it ... he is a meatloaf lover. It has simple ingredients but a great taste.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf:

1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C ketchup
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 C milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt (it was a little salty so I think next time I'll use only 1 tsp)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 C finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs (about 10-15 crackers)

Preheat oven to 350.
Lightly grease a 5 x 9 loaf pan.
Press the brown sugar into the bottom of pan and spread with ketchup.
In a mixing bowl thoroughly mix all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf.
Place loaf on top of ketchup.
Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hr or until juices run clear.

Question

How do you all freeze bread? Since I have my little "starter," I want to freeze one of the loaves, but I'm not sure about the best way to do that - wrap it in plastic and foil? or a zip-lock bag? Then, how do you thaw it - in the fridge or just on the counter? Thanks guys!

New recipes ...

I finally posted a new menu ... truly I did cook in the month of March! ... the menu making just didn't really come together very well and I had nothing to post. But it's the beginning of April and I feel like I have a fresh start on this springy Monday morning!

I plan to make a couple new recipes I found ... after this week I'll let you know how they were and if they're worth posting.

Website for amish bread directions

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,194,159178-231205,00.html