Trapped... So We Cook!

Clover among the clover.

So, I have this moose that has been a frequent visitor, since this summer. Her mother was hit and she showed up in our yard and stayed for almost a month. She ate a lot of clover (which is what my son Connor named her) and slept right out by our porch. We worried, when we left for a month, if she would survive, because she was so little. When we got back, we didn't see her for a while, but then here she came, ADOPTED! Another female was allowing her to tag along, which we were told was a regular occurrence.

 

A visit last summer.

Clover and her adoptive mother.

Fast forward to this morning. It's been snowing a lot! Here comes Clover looking for a pumpkin (which she ate during her last visit). Finding no pumpkin, she did something I never would have thought a moose would do. She got into one of my garbage cans and spread it just like a darn dog would do! Arg! Okay, so I like having her around, but not like this. I opened my door, took a step out onto the porch (where my trash cans are) and said, "Naughty moose! You go away!" and you know what she did? She bellowed at me! Yikes! I quickly got back inside and had to rethink how to get her away from the mess so I could clean up and secure the trash better. After a bit of trial and error, the neighbor helped lure her away, and I popped an umbrella at her a few times to keep her at bay while I took care of the mess. I also found out that at least this moose, doesn't appreciate the smell of Listerine sprayed on the snow around the trash cans. Whew!

Naughty Clover!

She is still out there. I threw some prunes out another door, hoping to lure her away long enough to finish cleaning, and she is now sleeping in front of the back yard porch. I sure hope those prunes don't give her the poops! Oh well.

Connor saying hello to Clover

So, we are trapped! The kids are home from school for parent/teacher conferences and going stir crazy because the moose makes it unsafe to go outside and play. She comes up to the windows and nuzzles the window. Sure seems like she could be a big sweetie, but moose are very territorial, especially around food this time of year. So, with the kids doing crafts, I brainstormed dinner. I figured one out from various items I had on hand and hope you find this one as yummy as I know it will be! Enjoy!

Creamy Crockpot Italian Chicken

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• bacon drippings (what I had) or 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green onion chive diced
• 1 (0.7-ounce) package Italian dressing mix
• 1/2 cup pork broth (or chicken, but I had pork left over)
• 1 (10-ounce) container refrigerated four cheese Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

Brown chicken thighs in bacon drippings (or olive oil if no drippings handy) until browned. Place in crock pot. 

In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, cream cheese, garlic, chives, Italian dressing mix, broth, Alfredo sauce, Italian seasoning, and pepper and stir until blended. Pour over chicken in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Stir well, then serve over hot cooked pasta or rice.
You could easily add vegetables to this recipe to make it a one-dish meal. A package of slightly cooked baby carrots, or a cup of chopped sauteed onion should be placed under the chicken and cooked for the full time. Add sliced mushrooms to the crock pot in the last 2 hours. And add sliced bell peppers or zucchini during the last hour of cooking. Serves 4-6

Cheesecake Cravings

I don't care who you are, there are moments when you just HAVE to have something creamy and rich, but with a little crispness. There are various pies that can fill that order, but I stand by a classic no-bake cheesecake. I've searched far and wide, and made many and settled on one that is absolutely perfect. The little zing of the lemon that cuts through the richness is so nice and then it is a perfect platform for any sort of topping from chocolate to berries (nagoon or cloud berries being top of my list!). So, here it is. Take note that I list both the sugared version and low sugar (that can be fully sugar free with a little tweaking).

Luscious Cheesecake

Ingredients For Original:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 C sour cream
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 2 tsps lemon juice
• 8 oz Cool Whip
• 1 9-inch graham cracker crust

Ingredients For Low Sugar:

• 8 oz cream cheese
•  3/4 C Splenda
• 1 C sour cream
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 2 tsps lemon juice
  
• 8 oz Sugar Free Cool Whip (or make your own w/whipping cream, Splenda and vanilla)
• 1 9-inch graham cracker crust (can be made, but this is a tough one to get to set up w/out sugar, though only 3Tbsps)

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.
2. Add sour cream and vanilla.
3. CAREFULLY beat in cool whip (if you aren't careful, you may end up decorating your kitchen with the filling!).
4. Pour into crust and invert top plastic cover of crust.
5. Chill 3-4 hours OR freeze 15-30 minutes depending on your freezer.

Finally, toppings. You can top with fruit, or drizzle with chocolate (or coat it). It is an empty canvas for you to paint on w/sweet things to please your palate. Enjoy!

Sweet & Salty, Creamy & Crunchy

Tonight I made a delicious homemade lasagna that was out of this world (will post at a later date)! I tried to do dinner and dessert at the same time, since I had to juggle my time in the oven. I think I did pretty good, but will have to plan on starting earlier or prepping to some extent because we didn't have dinner until 7:30pm. While everyone was starting to chant, "When is dinner gonna be done?" I must say, the pay off is that there is near silence during dinner since everyone is shoveling food into their faces to ravenously to speak. Also, everyone raves about what you just made. Following dinner was a dessert that I was at first skeptical of. The crust is unconventional, but WOW! It makes the whole dessert as far as I'm concerned. It is low sugar, but if you want to go for it, it is easy to convert to all sugar as everything is one to one. So, without further ado, here is:

Creamy Peach/Strawberry Crunch Dessert

Ingredients

2 C crushed pretzels 3/4 C butter, melted 3 Tbsp sugar Mix crushed pretzels, butter and 3 sugar together and press into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes. Cool.

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, room temp 1/2 C sugar 1/2 C Splenda 1 (8oz) frozen cool whip (sugar free if you can find it), thawed Mix softened cream cheese and sugar. Fold the 2 cups thawed whipping topping into cream cheese mixture and spread over cooled pretzel crust.

1 lrg pkg sugar free strawberry gelatin 2 C boiling water 8 oz frozen strawberries 8 oz frozen peaches, chopped Dissolve strawberry gelatin in boiling water and add frozen strawberries and peaches. Chill until soft set, then pour over the cream cheese layer and refrigerate. Cut into squares and garnish with whipped topping. Enjoy!

The saltiness of the pretzel is perfect with the sweetness of the strawberries and creamy cream cheese. A total hit in my house.

Mother Lovin' Meatballs!

So, in my post entitled "Love Is In The Meatloaf", I gave the basic recipe for the meat mixture to make meatloaf, that called for reserving one pound to make meatballs. You cannot argue with any warm blooded, proud countryman, that homemade meatballs are sacred and that every homemaker worth his or her salt, should know how to make proficiently. There is something about the savory caramelized crust from the browning of the meat, to the satisfying garlic and herb taste that lingers on the tongue that just cannot be copied in a frozen counterpart. So, without further ado, please take some time to master this dish, even make it your own by adding, subtracting, varying the seasonings and tackle this dish with all your heart! Here is the recipe!

Homemade Meatballs

refer to the recipe in "Love Is In The Meatloaf"

Form the meatballs into golf ball size balls. Place on a cookie sheet and cover with foil and freeze until firm. Transfer meatballs to freezer bags and into freezer until you are ready to make spaghetti or meatballs subs with marinara sauce... or, you could try making my Garlic Zucchini Cream Sauce with thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta. Mama Mia!

• 2 Tblsp butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°

Heat oil and butter in crock pot over medium heat until butter is melted. Add single layer of meatballs and cook each side until dark brown (caramelized). Cover and place in oven at 350° for 20-30 min. You can split one ball and make sure center is no longer pink. Then, you can add whatever spaghetti sauce you want and continue to heat until the sauce is bubbly, finally serving over noodles. Or, you can do this:

Garlic Zucchini Cream Sauce

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 small zucchini finely diced
• 3 heaping Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 C. milk
• 1/2 C. heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp flour or use Wondra
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter over medium heat and add garlic. Saute until garlic just starts to golden. Add zucchini and saute until tender. Add milk and cream and continue to stir until heat comes back up and it just starts to bubble. Lower heat and add flour or Wondra and cook until it starts to thicken. Add more milk if too thick. Salt and pepper if needed. Add noodles, and fold in. Next, add your meatballs and enjoy with garlic toast. YUM!