Ginger Lime Sorbet

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If you are looking for a refreshing kick in the mouth this is the sorbet for you ha.  It really is quite delicious and perfect for a hot summer day.  Don't let the ginger part scare you.  You can leave it out if you really want and you'll still be left with a yummy lime sorbet, but I think the ginger is a nice little flavor to have and isn't overwhelming at all.  It's a really simple recipe and not that difficult to make at all - the hardest part is juicing the limes.  The only downside is that if you don't have an ice cream maker, you'll have to be home the majority of the day so you can scrape the pan (more on that later).

Recipe
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Water
1 Tbs. Lime zest
1/2 - 1 tsp. Freshly grated ginger
1 Cup Fresh lime juice

Put the sugar, water, lime zest and freshly grated ginger into a saucepan (use a microplane for your zest and grated ginger so the pieces are nice and fine).

Boil until the sugar is completely dissolved.

It will look like this when the sugar is dissolved - nice and clear.

Pour the simple syrup into a glass cake pan.  Now for the hardest part of the whole recipe - juice limes until you get 1 cup of fresh lime juice.  A trick with limes is pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before you juice them, it will help you get a lot more juice from each lime.  Once you get 1 cup of lime juice, straight out the pulp and pour that into the cake pan, stir until everything is combined.  Place the dish in your refrigerator for 1 hour so it will get a little chilled.

 If you have an ice cream maker, after the hour of chilling in the fridge, you'd put the mixture in your maker and in no time you'd have a lovely sorbet.  If you don't have an ice cream maker, place the pan in your freezer.  Come back every hour or so and scrape/stir with a fork.

 Continue to do this for several hours, until your sorbet is nice and frozen and the consistency you're wanting.  If you have some big chunks, you can always pop in in the blender to get it smooth again.

 Make sure to serve it right out of the freezer.  It tends to melt quickly.  And honestly, since it's so flavorful, you really only need one big scoop.

If you want to store it for a few days, I'd store it in a container with an airtight lid.  It won't store for more than a week or so because it will get really hard and frostbitten.

Brownie Fruit Pizza

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For Mother's Day I wanted to make my mom a special dessert.  I thought a fruit pizza would be delicious, and then I was told that they had fruit pizza two weeks ago.  So it was back to the drawing board.  I wanted to do something with fresh fruit and possibly chocolate.  I considered doing molten chocolate cakes, but changed my mind because we wouldn't really want a warm dessert on a warm day.  Then it came to me.....fruit pizza with a brownie crust rather than the cookie dough crust.  Let's just say it was deliciously decedent yet refreshing.  Here's what I did.

I baked 2 packages of Ghiradelli chocolate chunk brownies on a well greased cookie sheet.  You can use any type of brownie mix you want.  You may or may not need to use two packages depending on the amount of brownie mix comes in your box.  You want your cookie sheet filled about 1/2 way or higher, I wouldn't really go thinner than that.  It took 1 hour at 325 for my brownies to bake.

I then spread my cream cheese frosting layer on the cooled brownies.  And layered it with strawberries, raspberries and black berries.

 I warmed up some seedless raspberry jam and drizzled it over the fruit pizza (I put it in a zip lock bag and cut the corner a tad in order to drizzle it because it wasn't thin enough to just use a spoon.

 I then drizzled semi-sweet and white chocolate over the top.  I then put it in the refrigerator until we were ready to serve the dessert.

Here's the recipe - Enjoy!

Brownie Crust

- 2 packages ghirdelli brownie mix (from the Costco box) - You can use whichever type of brownie mix you want.

- Eggs, oil and water that your brownie mix calls for

Cream Cheese Layer

- 2, 8 ounce packages reduced fat cream cheese, softened

- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

- 1 tsp. Vanilla

Toppings

- Strawberries

- Raspberries

- Blackberries

- Seedless Raspberry Jam

- Semi-sweet chocolate

- White chocolate

Thumbprint Cookies

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I had a recipe exchange party last night.  I tried out a new recipe, and people seemed to like it, so I thought I'd share it with you!  The one nice thing about them is that they aren't a super sweet cookie, though that could also be a negative because you can trick yourself into eating too many of them haha.


Ingredients (will make about 12 - 18 cookies)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg, separated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

2/3 cup any flavor fruit jam

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Separate egg, reserving egg white. Cream butter or margarine, sugar, and egg yolk. Add vanilla, flour and salt, mix well. Shape dough into balls. Roll in slightly whipped (I whipped them for about 30 seconds with a fork) egg white, then walnuts. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. With thumb or spoon, dent each cookie. Put jelly or preserves in each thumbprint. Bake for another 10-12 minutes.

Copycat Jamba Juice Caribbean Passion Recipe

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Sorry I haven't been so great about posting lately.  I've been busy with photography, being a mom, traveling and getting wrapped up in the holidays.  BUT I hope this recipe will make up for my lack of posts.

I found a recipe for a copycat Caribbean Passion Jamba Juice.  I've been on the lookout for this recipe for some time now because it's my absolute favorite flavor. 

1 Cup Passion fruit mango juice blend

1 Cup Frozen strawberries

1/2 Cup Frozen peaches

1/2 Cup Orange sherbet

1/2 Cup ice

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until it's "smoothie" consistency.

SO easy right?  I will admit, I couldn't find the right fruit juice so I ended up using Doles Orange Peach Mango juice and it was simply delicious!  I had to add a little more juice to get it to the right consistency.  You should definitely try this recipe out!

Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken

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I found a recipe for "Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken" on Pinterest a while back and have made it two times now.  It really is delicious and I highly recommend you try it out!  The biggest pain is frying up the chicken just cause it takes so long.

The sauce is super easy and really yummy!  If I were you, I'd double the sauce.  I'm a sauce kinda gal.   The first time I made it was was left wanting more.

Just so you know, 3 chicken breasts was enough to feed 6 people and we still had left overs.  So the chicken goes a loooong way when you fry it up.

Also, when frying my chicken I used about 5-6 eggs, a whole box of panko and probably 2 - 2 1/2 cups of cornstarch.  So make sure you have extra of those ingredients.

Orange Chicken (adapted from Blogchef.net) serves 6

Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-1/2” cubes
• 1 ½ cups corn starch
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce

• 1 ½ cups water
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ginger root, minced
• ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

Combine corn starch, salt, and pepper.  Prepare a bowl with beaten eggs, another with panko bread crumbs and another with corn starch. Dip chicken in egg mixture, dredge in cornstarch, then again in the eggs and finally in the panko bread crumbs, set aside.  Heat pan with vegetable oil to 375 degrees, fry chicken in batches until completely cooked.

In a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired garnish with green onions.

Chicken Pot Puffs

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 I have a recipe that we call "Chicken Puffs" in our house.  It's one of my grandma's recipes and has been one of my all time favorite foods since I was a kid.  I decided to do a spin off that recipe and do a chicken pot pieish filling.  I'd love for you to try them out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients
Filling
-  1 Large Chicken Breast
-  1/2 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
-  4 Oz Cream Cheese, slightly softened  
-  1 Large Carrot, or several baby carrots, chopped/sliced  
-  1/4 Cup Frozen Peas
-  Salt
-  Pepper 

Outside
-  1 - 2 Packages Crescent Roll Dough
-  1 Stick Butter, melted
-  1 1/2 Cups Italian Breadcrumbs

Sauce
- 1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 2 - 4 Oz. Cream Cheese
- 1 Can Chicken Broth
 

Directions 

Boil your chicken breast until cooked through.  Chop or shred your chicken breast, set aside.  Par boil your carrot slices for about 5 minutes, so they start to get soft, but aren't completely cooked through.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cream of chicken soup and cream cheese.  Then add in the chicken, carrots, peas, salt and pepper.  Stir together with a spoon until well combined.

Take your crescent roll dough triangles.  They them out and gently push them outwards to make them a bit wider.  Put a dollop of your filling in the center of each triangle.  You will be able to get 8-12 crescent rolls filled depending on how much filling you put inside.  Wrap the dough around the filling and make sure all the sides are closed up (this takes a bit of practice, and in reality if you have a couple of holes it's not the end of the world, your filling will just seep a bit when you bake them).  

Dip your dough in melted butter and then in seasoned breadcrumbs until it's covered everywhere.  Place on a non-greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

To make the sauce simply put the cream of chicken soup, cream cheese and chicken broth in a medium sauce pan.  Bring it to a simmer.  Stir or whisk until all of the chunks are gone.  Let it reduce until it's a good sauce consistency, not runny like it starts out.

I hope you enjoy this little twist on a chicken pot pie!

Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup

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Well it's starting to be that time of year where you look outside and just want to stay in and eat some nice warm soup.  This is one of my favorite soups.  This recipe makes a fair amount of soup, but it makes for good leftovers. It is pretty easy to half. I had a recipe that is similar, but I revamped it to my liking and added potatoes enjoy!

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 Pinches nutmeg
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves – or 1/4 - 1/3 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 cups chicken broth (or 6 cups of water with 3 bouillon cubes)
• 1 - 2, 12 oz packages frozen broccoli, thawed
• 3 medium potatoes quartered then sliced - boiled until tender
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese – grated

Directions 

In a medium pot, melt the 6 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme cook, stirring, until fragrant, for 20 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring until the mixture is well blended and smells fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the broths, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to thicken. Add one package of broccoli and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.  

Remove the pot from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender or normal blender. 

Add the cream and bring to a simmer add the remaining ½ - 1 package of broccoli depending on how chunky you want your soup and simmer for 7 minutes (if you don't want chunks of broccoli, don't add the extra package, it is still very delicious!). Add cooked potatoes and once the broccoli is tender, add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted.

Serve and top with grated cheese.

Snicker Doodles

Pin It Yesterday I was browsing some of my favorite craft blogs and came across a delicious looking post about snicker doodle cookies on Make It Do.  I love snicker doodles and just HAD to try their recipe.  I highly recommend it!  They are so delicious and soft mmmm!  Here is their recipe.

Snicker Doodle Cookies

         

1 cup butter

1 – 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 cups flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

 

  For rolling

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together sugar and butter.  Add eggs and blend well.  In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  Slowly mix into the sugar mixture until incorporated.

Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Pin It Last night I did a taste testing session with my husband and sister-in-law to try and figure out the best chicken salad sandwich recipe.  This is the recipe we came up with.

- 1/4 Cup Mayo
- 1/2 tsp (or a bit less) Curry Powder
- 1 Tbs or so lemon juice

Whisk together  those ingredients.  Then add:

- 12.5 ounces of canned chicken - break up into small pieces
- halved red grapes
- handful of craisins
- 1 granny smith apple chopped up
- Cashews
- Salt & Pepper to taste

You should try it out and let me know what you think.  Obviously if you used freshly cooked chicken breasts, it'd probably be even better.   Oh and don't forget to have it on a delicious croissant :)

I refrigerated the mayo mixture with the chicken, grapes and craisins so it would get cold and then just before serving I added the apples and cashews so they would stay crunchy.

This makes 3-4 sandwiches.