Watermelon Popsicles

After I made the fruit salad below I didn't want to waste the scrap watermelon that wasn't in a balls so I made Popsicles for the kiddos but the adults were in love with them too.

I put 2 cups of the watermelon in my blender.

Then I mixed 2-3 Tbs of sugar in.

I added about 1/4 cup of water just enough to cover the melon. Then blended it until smooth.

Pour into the molds.

Freeze and then you have some super yummy watermelon Popsicles.

Fruit Salad

I made fruit salad for a BBQ but I didn't have any large bowls left after all the other food I made so I made a watermelon bowl.  First I drew the lined on the watermelon with a marker and then cut on the line with the knife. Now the important part is to cut the part you are taking off into several pieces it is much easier to keep the melon from cracking that way.

after you have removed the top I used a melon baller to get all the watermelon out.

then I scrapped the inside to get every last bit of watermelon out I did make stuff out of the scraps that weren't balls that I will post soon.

Then fill it with your favorite fruits. I used watermelon (of course), cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries.

Flag Pie

So we had a family BBQ for Fathers Day. I made potato salad, coleslaw, beans, smoked ribs, beer can chicken, and pulled pork and I made this pie which I wanted to try before the 4th of July to make sure I don't screw it up. 

I used store bought pie crust (I know not my thing but I had enough cooking to do) I put the crust in the bottom of the pie pan and then used my "pie saver" that you can get at walmart and most retail stores (it is normally used after you cut the pie to keep the sides from getting hard) but you don't need one it just made it easier to get the filling where I wanted it.

then I filled in the big section with cherry pie filling.

and then I used fresh blueberries and add a little sugar to them for the blue.

Now you roll out the second pie crust and with a pizza cutter make some stripes. I made some for around the blueberries too. Then I cut out 2 stars from the rest of the crust.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 40 min and you have an awesome flag pie.

Port Wine Chicken

Well its been awhile since I posted some tasty things because it is summer and that mean pool and grilling in this house.  I did manage to spend a minute in my kitchen a few days ago and I made Port wine Chicken that is yet another Pinterest recipe. (I am really loving trying all these new thing from pinterest). The original recipe can be found here. This recipe is super easy and very yummy!!! Everyone love it even the kids after they got past the fact that the chicken was red.

First I bought chicken Leg Quarters because it was cheaper then buying the thighs and leg separate and then I just cut them apart myself.

season them with salt and pepper and then brown them in a pan with alittle hot olive oil. Then remove them them from pan

then add one chopped onion and some chopped parsley to the pan and cook til onions begin to caramelize. Then add mushrooms I just used 16 oz of mushrooms I had in my fridge.

cook the mushrooms for about 3 minutes then place the chicken back in the pan and add a Port Wine.

then cover and simmer for about 30 min. Remove chicken and add a stick a butter to the wine to make the sauce.  Now I know it isn't pretty but trust me it is so yummy and the chicken is super tender

Strawberry Short cake donuts

Well I woke up and had several trays of fresh picked strawberries from the garden so I figured I needed to find a way to  use them in breakfast.  So this is what I came up with and they were delish.

First I got a box of Yellow cake mix from the pantry. I used a No Sugar added mix because my hubby is a diabetic but any yellow cake mix will work.

I mixed it according to the box directions and then started to cut up strawberries into pieces the size of small blue berries and threw them in.

then I put the batter in my baby cakes mini donut maker but you could also use a donut pan in a 375 degree oven regular donuts for 15 min or mini donuts for 8 min.

after they are fluffy and slightly brown I put them on a plate to cool. While they cool I made a frosting/ glaze mine was more of a glaze but if you add more powdered sugar to make is a frosting would be yummy too.

Glaze

1/4 C softened butter
4 Tbs milk
1 tsp almond extract
3 strawberry finely chopped
3-4 C powdered sugar

beat the butter, extract and milk together and then slowly add the powdered sugar until it is glaze or frosting consistency depending on your preference. Add the strawberries and beat about 1 min longer to allow the strawberries to break down alittle.

Now it is time to either frost your donut or dip them in the glaze.

Enjoy!!!!

Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread

Another Pinterest recipe that I decided to give a try that was super yummy was the Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread foundhere.

I made it almost exactly to the recipe but instead of store bought pizza dough I used this recipe

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour.

 Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.


Then you cook the 3 chicken breast cubed in olive oil and add 1/4 C Frank's wing sauce

roll out the dough into a rectangle.

then spread 1/4 C wing sauce onto the dough and the recipe says 1/2 C of Ranch but I used 3/4 C cause my kids don't like things to spicy.

then top that with the chicken and 8 oz mozzarella and the recipe says 4 oz of cheddar but we like cheese so I used 8 oz of cheddar as well.

then start at one end and roll it up till it looks like a giant burrito or as I told my kids it was a giant South African Caterpillar I had sent here (which actually to my surprise made them really excited for dinner)

bake at 435 for 25 min and enjoy!!!

Iowa Chops

This is one of my kids favorites for dinner even if it doesn't look so yummy! Usually I but Iowa Chops at my local butcher for these but any pork chops will work. This time I used 4 thick cut chops and 2 butterfly chops because I was cleaning out my freezer.

First I put about 3/4 C of Ketchup in a bowl

and then I mix a can of cream of mushroom soup with the ketchup but I was out of cream of mushroom, so I used cream of chicken this time. (as you can tell I don't measure very often and I love to substitute instead of buying new stuff all the time)

put chops in a 9x13 pan and cover in the ketchup sauce and place sliced onions on top.

cover with foil and bake for 60 min in s 375 degree oven.