Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse and I go way back. I remember the first time I had chocolate mousse was on my yearly birthday date with my dad. We went to a place called The Pickle Barrel in Willis, MI for fish and chips most years. One of my favorite things about that place was the deep fried dill pickles that you could dip in ranch! It was a great tradition. The first year we went to The Pickle Barrel the waitress said that I would get a free chocolate mousse for my birthday as dessert. Upon hearing that, I immediately thought we would be having chocolate covered moose meat and freaked out a bit about it. To my delight, the waitress came with the light and chocolaty dessert. I was an instant fan and and still am.
After having chocolate mousse at a restaurant recently I figured I would give it a shot. I would say it turned out very well, including the fanned strawberry garnish. One important lesson that I learned is that it is possible to over beat whipped cream, as I did with both the mousse and the whipped cream topping. Even with the over beating, this dessert was one for the recipe box and I look forward to making it again for a great dessert on a nice hot summer day.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

• 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1/2 cup water, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter (no substitutes)
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped

Directions

1. In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5-10 minutes. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Yields 6 servings.
   

Southwestern Summer Salad

My favorite part of summer (well, I have a lot of favorites!) is the fresh produce. Catherine and I got some amazing deals this week at Meijer, including yellow, orange, and red bell peppers for one dollar! With a fridge full of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, and peppers, I decided to put together a fun salad. Why need the lettuce? I added some corn and black beans and it was a healthy, colorful side to our grilled chicken!

Southwestern Summer Salad
1 can black beans, drained
1 can (or frozen bag) of corn, drained
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
3 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. balsalmic vinegar
ground cumin
chilli powder
salt and pepper

Chop the veggies into large cubes. Add the corn and black beans. Mix the olive oil and vinegar in a jar, shake, and stir in. Add a few dashes of ground cumin, chilli powder, salt, and pepper, to taste. It should take less than 10 minutes! Enjoy immediately!

Pizza Pie

This perfect comfort food recipe comes from Mom and Grandma Snyder. If you have a craving for pizza, this hearty one dish meal will fulfill it! It is a quick meal to make, and I usually have these ingredients already in the house. It goes well with salad and even tastes great as leftovers (I think Matt and I have had this 3 meals in a row once)!

Pizza Pie (taken from Jeanne and Millie Snyder)
1 pkg Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 jar pizza sauce
1-8 oz pkg shredded mozzerella cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 small can of corn, optional

Fit crescent rolls to make pie crust in 9" pie pan. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (I don't always do this). Brown and drain ground beef. Add pizza sauce (or pasta sauce).

Spread half of mixture in crust. Add corn if desired. Sprinkle with half of the package of mozzerella cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Top with a sprinkle of oregano.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Let set 5 minutes before cutting. Cut like pie.

Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna is one of those staples for almost every family. My mom had always made lasagna from scratch and it was one of my sister, Libbey's, favorite meals so we had it fairly often. I had never really thought about the work that goes into lasagna until I made my first one with Jenn. Lasagna is one labor intensive meal and takes an army to eat.

The problem with lasagna is how in the world can just two people eat a whole pan of lasagna. Solution......LASAGNA ROLLS! Lasagna rolls are great for both making smaller portions of lasagna or substituting them for stuffed shells in a recipe when you don't have the shells on hand. Since I had a large amount of spinach in my freezer I decided to make vegetarian lasagna rolls instead of the traditional meat and cheese variety. I found a recipe on Kraft Foods for Savory Feta-Filled Shells and decided to adapt a recipe from that for my lasagna rolls. With that recipe I ended up have two 9x9 pans of lasagna rolls. We had one pan for dinner than night and lunches the next day and stuck the other pan in the freezer.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

what you need
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 pkg. (4 oz.) feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 C mozzerella
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 pkg. lasagna noodles
1 jar marinara sauce
Make It

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix spinach, ricotta cheese, most of the feta cheese and mozzarella cheese and the garlic powder.


Spread mixture over lasagna noodles, roll up; place in 10x6-inch baking dish.




Top evenly with the sauce and remaining feta cheese and mozzarella.



BAKE 20 min. or until heated through.

The other tip I have is for making homemade garlic bread. Often time I have some leftover buns sitting around that make for great garlic bread. Just spread a thin layer of butter or margarine on the bun, sprinkle with garlic powder, and top with mozzarella or parmesan cheese. Put the buns on a pan and toast in the over until golden brown and cheese is melted.



Here you have the finished product!

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

I give all of the credit to this post to one of my favorite chefs, Nigella Lawson. Her shows are unique in that they are calming and inspiring . Her poetic voice turns cooking into an art, yet she is incredibly real and creates recipes that make me say, "I could make that!"

One if the first recipes I tried from her cookbook is "Butterflied Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary." It is a classic Nigella recipe. Simple ingredients come together to make an elegant dish, with less than 10 minutes of prep work. I have made this twice now, and am sure it will repeat again in the near future.

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken (adapted from Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson)

6 Chicken Thighs, skin removed (or one butterflied chicken)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (dried works as well)
Juice and shell of 1 lemon
1 onion, cut into wedges
4-5 peeled cloves of garlic
5 tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and ground pepper

In the morning, or the night before, combine all ingredients in a large zip-lock bag. Keep in the refrigerator, turning every so often to mix the marinade.

Later, preheat the oven to 425 F and place everything from the bag on a baking sheet lined with foil. Cook for about 45 minutes until the chicken is crisp. Arrange on a plate with the onion and garlic bits and any juice from the pan (fresh lemon optional). Enjoy!

Pineapple Chicken Salad

I just made this salad for the second time in a week, and I thought that this was definitely a must to share! I credit this recipe to Matt's mom and family! It is a light and sweet pasta salad with chicken, celery, pineapple, and toasted almonds. It is a perfect one dish meal on a summer day, and with our family, it doesn't last for long!

At first, I wasn't crazy about this salad because of the Miracle Whip, but it has grown on me so much that now I love it. This isn't the salad for those who don't like Mayo or Miracle Whip (like Cat's husband!) but for the rest of us, I recommend giving it a try!

Pineapple Chicken Salad
2-3 cooked and diced chicken breasts (no seasoning necessary, maybe a dash of S&P)
1 cup diced celery
1 can drained pineapple chunks
half a box of cooked shell macaroni

Mix and add to above:
1 cup light Miracle Whip
1 container light Cool Whip

Sprinkle on 1/2 cup slivered almonds (I buy them in bulk and toast them dry in a pan before I cook the chicken).

Refrigerate and enjoy! It is easy to double the recipe if you are making it for a large group.

Homemade Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

I come from a family of cake lovers. My dad would always get a cake for any occasion that would came up so I grew up eating a lot of cake. Since I have always loved baking, I want to try making more cakes. One cake that I have always liked at restaurants but have never tried making is carrot cake so I figured it was about time I give it a shot.

I once again went to allrecipes.com to find the best carrot cake with cream cheese frosting recipe that I could find and altered it to my taste. It was a big hit and make a good amount. I ended up making 12 cupcakes and a 9x9 cake. I brought the cake over to Jenn and Matt's and we were all able to enjoy it.


Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
(adapted from the Carrot Cake III recipe on allrecipes.com)
Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.