Red Curry, Shrimp and Green Beans

I love Thai food and this came from ingredients I had on the counter when it was time to make dinner

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1T dumpling sauce (pour over the raw shrimp before cooking)
1 red pepper, cored, seeded and sliced in strips
2 cups string beans, cut into one inch pieces, on the diagonal
1/2 sweet onion chopped into course chunks
1T Thai red curry paste
1 14.5 oz can of coconut milk
1T grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic chopped fine (or dried garlic)
1 T olive oil

Cook rice.
Use Jasmine rice (2 scoops in a rice cooker) with 1/3 the above can of coconut milk plus necessary water for cooking.

Make the shrimp and other stuff....
Add olive oil to the pan, start to saute the garlic and add the peppers and onions. Add in the green beans, and the curry paste. Saute until tender crisp. Grate the ginger and add the shrimp. Saute the shrimp until almost cooked. Add in the coconut milk and simmer until everything is done.

Serve over the jasmine rice and enjoy!

Brownie wonder bars

1 package Giradelli Chocolate brownie mix
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1C coconut
1 stick butter (melted)
2c crushed chocolate graham crackers
1c chocolate chips
1 c mini marshmellows

Make brownies according to package directions, set aside

Melt butter and pour into a 9 x 13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Add crushed graham crackers and mix with the butter to form an even base.
Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly. Drop the brownie batter by spoonfuls to cover, spread with a spatula if necessary. Sprinkle coconut, sprinkle marshmellows and drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over all.

Place in 325 oven for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting. These were great with vanilla and/or chocolate icecream on top for a decadent dessert!

Strawberries and Cream Trifle

This trifle uses the following layers:
Lady finger cookies soaked in heavy cream for 2 minutes (! used about 8 oz of cookies and 1 cup of heavy cream for soaking)
Whipped cream (2c with 2t vanilla and 1T powdered sugar)
Frozen or fresh strawberries and raspberries
Vanilla pudding (I made one from scratch, recipe below, otherwise use 2 package of the dry mix)
Chocolate drizzle (I used Baker's dipping chocolate drizzled with a spoon)

Make the pudding, and then make the whipped cream.

To assemble, use a clear trifle bowl or clear mixing bowl so you can see the layers. Start with the ladyfingers, add a layer of berries, half of the pudding, and half of the whipped cream. Drizzle with some of the chocolate. Repeat. Use some whole berries for garnish on the top. Invite a hungry group of friends to help you devour this!

Vanilla Pudding
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups 2% milk
4 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.
Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolk; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla.
Cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside

Scallops and Grapefruit over spinach saute

What to make when you have these two ingredients....

Yesterday, I purchased scallops and when I got back to our shore house, I looked around and realized I had about 8 grapefruits. Sounded like an interesting citrus sauce.

first, start the spinach.
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 sweet onion sliced
1T olive oil, and chopped garlic to taste ( I use at least 1 clove)

Saute the above ingredients in the heated oil until cooked. Add a large package of fresh baby spinach leaves in the saute pan, remove from heat and cover. Toss occasionally to wilt all the spinach.

Now make the scallops

1 pink grapefruit (need about 1 teaspoon of zest and 1/2 cup of strained juice)
3/4 lb of sea scallops patted dry
1T olive oil
1T butter
1 clove garlic chopped

Heat the butter and the olive oil until the butter starts to brown and add the scallops. Cook about 2 minutes a side until you have a brown sear on the outside (it might take a minute or two longer if the scallops are huge.) Flip and cook the other side. Remove from pan to a plate. Add the grapefruit juice and zest to the pan and scrape up all those brown bits. Cook until the sauce has reduced by half.

Put the spinach on a plate, arrange the scallops, drizzle the sauce over and that makes a quick and yummy meal!

Broccoli Velveeta Casserole

This is a much requested item at our church

use disposable 1/2 sheet pan

7 packages of frozen broccoli, defrosted and well drained
1 2 lb package of velveeta processed cheese spread
1 stick butter or margarine, melted

Topping
2 sleeves of ritz crackers, smashed in a ziploc bag (more if you like lots of topping)
1 stick butter or margarine, melted


Defrost the frozen broccoli and spread in the bottom of the sheet pan. Chop the velveeta into 1/2 inch cubes and mix in the broccoli. Drizzle the 1 stick of melted butter over the vegetable.

Crush the Ritz crackers in a ziploc bag, add the melted butter and shake to mix.
Spread the cracker top over the broccoli and cheese (dare I call it that?)

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is browned

Shredded Beef Roast

One beef roast, can use chuck or some tougher cuts
1 onion chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 package onion soup mix
2 Cinnamon sticks

Put the onions, onion soup mix and Cinnamon sticks into the bottom of a crockpot. Put your beef roast on top. Cook on high for 5 hours and low for another 3 hours until the roast is fork tender and can be shredded with two forks.

The roast will make it's own juice and mingle well with the onion soup and the Cinnamon. Shred in the crock pot so that the juices become incorporated with the meat. You can use this on a sandwich with BBQ sauce, in a burrito, in a casserole or any other way you can think of. Use this in the enchilada casserole recipe in this blog for a tasty treat

Rita's Sausage Bread

This is a favorite at our church coffee hours and a frequent family request

1 package of pizza dough in the can that you smash on the counter to open.
1/2 pound of bulk italian sausage sauteed and broken into small pieces
1 cup of mozerella cheese shredded
sprinkle of oregano or basil (your choice)
jared spaghetti sauce for dipping
Cooking spray

Heat your oven to 350
spray cooking spray on a cookie sheet (I use one with sides)
Spread out pizza dough on pan making sure all cracks are sealed
sprinkle on cooked sausage, sprinkle over mozerella cheese and seasoning
Roll the dough into a log stretching it into a "u". Make sure the seam side is down.
Optional (brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese)

Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust looks browned.
Remove from oven, cut into 1/2 slices and dip in warmed spaghetti sauce
Yum Yum