Sour Cream Cherry Pie

This delicious pie is similar to cherry cheesecake, but is less sweet and less dense.  As you can see, it almost overfills the store-bought graham cracker crust.  It is delicious!

Sour Cream Cherry Pie

2 cups sour cream

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 T. flour

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 can cherry (or other fruit) pie filling

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a large bowl, mix together the sour cream, sugar, salt, and flour.  In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the vanilla.  Pour that mixture into the sour cream mixture and beat well.  Pour into the graham cracker crust.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until firm.  Take out of the oven and pour the pie filling on immediately.  Cool for a few minutes, then put on the plastic lid and put in the fridge and cool for several hours before serving.  

California Melts

This is a delicious, simple, healthy recipe for an open-faced sandwich.  Delicious served with a bowl of soup!  You won't even miss the meat.

 California Melt     This makes four open-faced sandwiches

4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted 

1 avocado, sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/3 cup sliced toasted almonds

1 tomato, sliced

4 slices Swiss cheese

 Mayonnaise, if desired

 Preheat the broiler.  Lay the four pieces of toast on a baking sheet.  Top each slice with 1/4 of the avocado, mushroom, almonds, and tomato.  Top with the cheese.  Put under the broiler until the cheese is well melted.  You can put mayonnaise on the bread first, if you would like.

Beet Superfood Salad

 Here is another delicious Jar Salad recipe.  Right now, this one and the Four "P" Salad (will post the recipe soon) are Shonna's favorites.  She says this one is so delicious and SO healthy.  She got it from a book called Inspiralized.  It is highly nutrient dense, truly full of superfoods, and gives your body an immunity boost and is a great one for those crazy, busy weeks when you need more energy.

Beet Superfood Salad

BL: 1/2 cup riced beets (peel, spiralize with blade C, then rice in the food processor OR, if you don't have a spiralizer, cut your beet into  1 inch chunks and then food process until it looks like rice)  You will need 3 medium sized beets to make 7 jar salads.

1L: 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (I cook 3/4 cup raw quinoa according to package directions, then divide it among the 7 jars)

2L:  1/4 cup cooked edamame beans (I buy a 12 oz. bag of frozen edamame, then cook them for the salads)

3L: 1/2 cup beet greens, washed, dried, and chopped (it helps to put them in a salad spinner to make them as dry as possible.)

4L: 1 1/2 cup spinach

5L: 1/2 cup arugula

Toppings:  small handful of almonds, 1/2 avocado, diced

Mint Dressing

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup + 1 T lime juice

3 T chopped fresh mint (I keep a live mint plant in my kitchen)

1/3 cup honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk ingredients and pour over salad right before eating it.

Source: Inspiralized cookbood by Ali Mafucci

Chili Con Queso

A friend brought us some of this delicious, versatile dip.  I had to get the recipe.  It is absolutely delicious.  You can serve it warm with tortilla chips, or make nachos, mix it with eggs and serve in a tortilla for a sausage burrito (it tastes very much like a McDonalds sausage burrito,) or as a sauce over chicken.  It is delicious spooned over cauliflower.  Or you can just drink it!   Just kidding- sort of.  It is a Pioneer Woman recipe.

Chili Con Queso

1 lb. sausage, she uses hot, we prefer the sweet

1 onion, chopped

1- 2lb. block Velveeta, cut in large cubes

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis

2 cans diced green chilis

1 jalepeno, diced- optional, or to taste

Cook the onion and broken up sausage together in a large skillet. Drain. When done, add the cheese.  When the cheese is melted, add the tomatoes, green chilis, and jalapeno.  Mix well.  There you have it!  It makes a big batch, but freezes well.  We like to freeze portions in small containers to be thawed and used as needed.

Honey Siracha Chicken Legs

 There are many versions of this recipe online.  They vary slightly in method and ingredients, but they are all similar Korean-flavored, sweet and sour, delicious chicken.  This recipe was easy and so delicious! You can use chicken legs or bone-in thighs.

Siracha Honey Chicken Legs

2 lbs. or so chicken legs (or you can use any bone-in chicken parts)

2 T. olive oil

1 1/2 tsps. thyme

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

3 T. honey

3 T. butter

1-2 T. Siracha sauce

2 T. soy sauce

Sometime during the day, Mix together in a gallon ziplock the thyme garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.  Add the chicken pieces, then pour olive oil over the chicken.  Close the bag and shake well.  Put in the fridge to marinate for an hour or so.  Longer is fine.  

Preheat the oven to 350

Line a baking tray with foil and put the chicken on the tray.  Bake for an hour or until a thermometer reads near 165 

Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan.  When the butter is melted and the sauce is smooth, take out the chicken and pour or paint with a pastry brush about half of the sauce.  Turn the oven up to 400 and put the chicken back in.  Roast until chicken is at least 165 (that's what the recipe said, but we prefer chicken to be cooked to a higher temperature- to be "fall off the bone" done.) Take out the chicken and put on a plate.  Pour some of the sauce over and serve the chicken with the rest of the sauce. We like to pour some of the sauce on the rice.)

Jared's Smoked Brisket

 Kristen's husband, Jared, is an expert at meats: grilling, smoking, cooking meats.  He recently tutored Ken on doing a smoked brisket.  Oh. my. goodness.  It was absolutely tender, melt-in-your mouth delicious.  The leftovers made the best French Dip Sandwiches ever.

Ken with the brisket ready to go in the smoker.

Smoking the meat

Smoked Brisket

The type of wood you use to smoke the brisket makes a big difference.  Jared uses 1 part hickory to 2 parts apple.

Meat

1 brisket point, about 4 lbs. We bought one at Costco

Rub

2 T. beef base (Better than Bouillon) 

2 T. garlic salt

2 T. fresh ground pepper

2 T. chili powder, opt.

1 T. brown sugar

1 T. smoked paprika

Wrap Sauce- The Texas Crutch

2 T. brown sugar

2 T. Apple juice

Glaze (this is optional)

3/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

2 T. brown sugar

1 T. apple cider vinegar

Remove the fat cap (the very fatty area) and score the meat on both sides, so it can absorb the rub.  Dry the meat with a paper towel.

Rub the beef base into the brisket on all sides.

Combine the rub ingredients and generously rub onto the meat.  Put the meat back on the styrofoam tray and wrap tightly in cellophane.  Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat smoker to 225

Put the brisket on the smoker and let smoke for about 5 hours or until the internal temperature  reaches 170.  (These are the instructions given to us by Jared.  But, our smoker was not functioning properly.  So we only smoked it about 30 minutes.  It was a happy mistake.  It was plenty smoky, but so very tender and juicy, with lots of au jus developing in with it in the foil pouch)

Mix the Texas Crutch ingredients.  Lay out the heavy duty foil (double layer) and put the meat in.  Cover the meat with the mixture.)  Fold the meat into a foil packet and put it on a baking sheet.  Put in oven at 225 for about 2 hours.  (we had it in for 5-6 hours since it had not cooked in the smoker)  The internal temperature should be at least 190.  That is the temperature that fat fully renders.

Optional:  Unwrap the brisket and put on the glaze.  Put the meat back on the grill and cook for about 20 minutes.

Let the meat sit for 10-15 minutes.  Slice and serve.

We served it with broccoli, mac and cheese, and coleslaw

Cheesy Pasta

 Sauce:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 - 1 t salt (to taste, we like a full teaspoon)

pepper

2 cups milk

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix-ins:

1/2 onion, chopped finely

1 bag frozen peas, cooked in the microwave

ham, I usually just cut 10 or so slices of deli ham into squares because that is what we have on hand

Pasta, we love small shells

Instructions:

Start water boiling in large pot for pasta. Add pasta and cook to al dente according to package directions.

Get the onions sautéing in a little olive oil or butter while starting the sauce in another pan.

Make the sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour, salt and pepper and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add milk all at once and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Turn off heat and add cheese.

Once onions are sautéed, set aside in a little bowl, and sauté the ham bits in the same pan until a little caramelized.

When pasta is done, mix in the sauce, cooked peas, and the sauteed ham and onions.

Enjoy.

This is many of my children's favorite meal. It is also the first I tasted of Jared's cooking skills. He had made a big pot one evening and offered some to me soon after we had first met. I was impressed with this homemade version of cheesy pasta.