Tuesday, August 30, 2016

I'm Deep Into The Black Forest

This is one of my favorite, fast and delicious recipes for when I need a dessert in a hurry.  The hubby likes this too, he calls it his "cheese pie".  I usually make it plain with a graham cracker crust, that's the way he likes it, BORING!  So I made it a little different this time, dressed it up a bit.  I used a pre-made Oreo crust and topped it with cherry pie filling, for a Black Forest Cheese Pie.  I scored points for this one, he loved it!
Recipe below.
To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.
To view photos in a larger format, click on them.

Simple ingredients make this super easy dessert. Oh, and save that plastic insert on the crust, that's your lid for the pie.
 Whip the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer.
 Make it smooth, just like that in the bowl.  Then add a container of whipped topping, I used light.
 Fold the topping in half at a time, by gently turning the bowl and lifting from the bottom as you fold it in.  Be careful, you don't want to deflate the fluffiness of the topping.
 All topping is folded in.
 Time to fill the crust.
 Load it all in there and spread it out.  I used a small pallet knife to finish off the top.....
 ...so it looks pretty.  Refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
 Slice and serve, delightful and so easy to make!
Black Forest Cheese Pie

Ingredients
2 - 8 oz. pkgs. of cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 - 8 oz. container of whipped topping
1 pre-made Oreo crumb crust
1 can cherry pie filling

Directions
In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese with the sugar, until light and fluffy with no lumps. With a spatula, fold in the whipped topping half at time, by gently turning the bowl and lifting from the bottom as you fold it in, be gentle, you don't want to deflate the topping.  When all is incorporated, spread the mixture evenly in the crust, and smooth out the top.  Cover with the lid, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours so it sets up.  Slice and serve and top with cherry topping.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Sweet & Spicy Garlic Shrimp

Cooking for two is getting easier these days, I've become better at fast homemade cuisine for the hubby and I.  The house is just about empty of kids all the time now, so no more big meal cooking for me.  I am happy and sad about that, but I knew this time would come.

Shrimp was on the menu for dinner and I didn't want to make the old standbys - shrimp with pasta, fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, so I stepped out of the box and made Sweet and Spicy Garlic Shrimp.  It was so good and the aroma in the house was wonderful! 
 Recipe Below.
To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.
To view recipe in a larger format, click on it.
Sweet and Spicy Garlic Shrimp for Two

Ingredients
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce, could also use teriyaki sauce
2 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, more if you like heat
1 lb uncooked jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 servings of uncooked white rice, I used sticky rice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup water
Chives or green onion for garnish

Directions
To make the marinade/sauce, whisk together honey, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.  After cleaning the shrimp, place them in a resealable plastic food bag.  Pour 1/2 of the marinade/sauce mixture over the shrimp.  Seal the bag and massage it lightly, flatten the bag, put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes of marinating, flip the bag over so both sides marinate evenly. Reserve other half of marinade/sauce in the fridge. While the shrimp is marinating cook the rice. When rice is done cover with a lid to keep it warm.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over high heat.  Place the shrimp in the skillet and discard any used marinade. Cook shrimp until they are pink on both sides, about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, stirring as they are cooking. Reduce heat to medium, pour remaining marinade over the shrimp and cook until all is heated through.  To thicken the sauce, thoroughly mix the cornstarch and water to make a slurry.  Stir the mixture quickly into the shrimp to thicken.

To serve - In a bowl, mound rice on the bottom, shrimp and sauce on top, and sprinkle the top with either snipped chives or green onion tops.  Makes 2 servings 
















Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Labels, Labels Everywhere!

UGH! I don't like removing labels on any kind of reusable bottle.  These bottles had salad dressing in them and I thought once I washed them out, I could reuse them for my homemade dressings.  They had an adhesive label on them that was easily removed, but the stamped label was still on the bottle.  I was going to try and scrub it off with a steel wool pad, but thought it would scratch the bottle.  Right next to the steel wool pads in my cabinet were my Magic Erasers, hmmmm I'll try those first.  Wet it. wring it out, wipe the bottle and boom baby, clean as a whistle!