Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

The quick and easy way!

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1 Can Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
Orange Jell-o
Seedless Orange
Orange Juice
Orange Zest

In a saucepan, add the entire can of whole-berry cranberry sauce. Slice the orange, and use only the pulp sections of the orange. (peel away any white flesh.) Chop up and add to the cranberry sauce. Cut up the orange peel and run it in your food processor to make zest. Add 1 – 2 tbs to saucepan. Add approximately 1/8 – 1/4 cup of orange juice. Add one packet of sugar-free orange jello gelatin to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, and then pour into a serving dish. Cover and chill.

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Maribeth’s Meatloaf!

Maribeth’s Marvelous Meatloaf

(This is my favorite meatloaf recipe. I know it looks complicated, but really, it is not! Best of all, the sandwiches the next day are fabulous!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Ingredients:

  1. 1 lb hamburger
  2. 1 lb ground pork
  3. 1 egg
  4. 1 tbs olive oil
  5. ½ onion finely diced
  6. ¼ cup finely diced green pepper
  7. ¼ cup finely diced red pepper.
  8. 2 tsp Cumin
  9. 2 tbs spicy mustard
  10. 3 sliced Italian bread
  11. water
  12. ½ cup dry Italian bread crumbs. (you may need slightly more)
  13. 3 slices of bacon
  • First, take the 3 slices of Italian bread and place them in a large bowl.
  • Add as much water as it takes to cover them.
  • Meanwhile, in saute-pan using 1 tbs olive oil, saute onions, and peppers until the onions are translucent. Set aside to cool.
  • In a separate bowl, beat egg, Cumin, and mustard until well mixed. Set aside.
  • Take Italian bread and squeeze out all the water and pour all the water out of the large mixing bowl.
  • Add ground beef and ground pork.
  • Add soggy bread that you have mashed up.
  • Add the egg mixture
  • Add cooled onion and pepper mixture.
  • Mix thoroughly with your hands. Add the dry bread crumbs and mix well.
  • You may need slightly more or less. Make sure the mixture is well mixed and evenly mixed.
  • Place in large loaf pan sprayed with PAM.
  • Place bacon over the top lengthwise. Tuck edges down the side of the meatloaf.
  • Place in a 375-degree oven and bake for 1 hour.
  • Turn heat up to 400 degrees and cook for 15 more minutes.
  • Remove from stove. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
  • Carefully place on platter. Slice into potion size as needed.
  • Serve with a salad, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Makes great sandwiches the next day!

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The Friday Five ~ April 23rd

Friday Five 1Well, another week has sped by. I believe we have seen a return to much colder temperatures, which resulted in icy rain, hail, and snow. Nothing really amounted to much, but we did get a lot of much-needed rain. So as the week closes, here are the five things on my mind.

        1. Getting my second Covid Vaccine was about the high light of my week. Since I’d reacted so strongly to the first one, I planned all this quiet time, and then I did not need it! I have one more week before the full effect will take place, but I plan to do all that I do now to stay healthy, and a mask and excessive handwashing are at the top of my list.
        2. I did go to my Ladies Meeting on Wednesday. This is the first time I’ve seen everyone in person since November! My gals are all vaccinated, and we sit outside, in our folding chairs, and share our journey in life. How lucky our little group is to have each other.
        3. Our trees are starting to get buds which in a month will open and give us full-looking trees. No more skeleton trees! Spring is on the way, I just know!
        4. And now for my newest recipe of the week. Banana Bread! Just 2 points per mini loaf!
          Banana Bread
          For those following WW, this cute little mini loaf has just 2 points! Yay
        5. And here are two pictures of my mini loaf. One is taken as it looks after coming out of the pan,
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          and the second one is after I’ve been nibbling on it for my breakfast!


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          Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

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Bacon, Onion & Brussel Sprouts

  • 1 pound of Brussel sprouts
  • 3-4 slices of bacon
  • 1 tbs. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 1 small onion chopped
  1. In a saucepan boil, Brussel Sprouts for about 5-8 minutes or until sprouts are tender but still crisp.
  2. Drain and set aside to cool.
  3. In nonstick skillet cook bacon until crisp.
  4. Remove and set on a paper towel to cool.
  5. In the frying pan add onion and cook until the onion is cooked.
  6. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
  7. Stir well.
  8. Add Brussel sprouts and cook until the Brussel sprouts brown.
  9. Place in a serving bowl and crumble bacon over the top.
  10. Serve hot! Enjoy!

This is one of our favorite recipes. One way to cook and really enjoy Brussel Sprouts!

Maribeth Dackel

Lime Gelatin Salad

The Lime Gelatin Salad is easy.

  • Take a box of Lime Gelatin, and prepare.
  • Drain a can of pear halves, get out some maraschino cherries.
  • Put Pear half in the small ramekin dish.
  • Put a cherry in the center, and fill the dish with Lime Gelatin.
  • Put in fridge until it sets.
  • Serve with Cool Whip or Mayonnaise.
  • I like Cool Whip and Jack likes Mayonnaise. You choose.
  • We also use sugar-free gelatin, and pears packed in their own juice.

20190429_175131We love this and eat it very often!

WW Banana Pancakes

Banana Pancakes, Yum!

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Ingredients:

  • 2 TBS: Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Protein-packed whole-grain buttermilk flapjack and waffle mix
  • 1/4 cup: Egg white(s)
  • 1 packet: Splenda No calorie sweetener packets
  • 1 TSP: Vanilla extract
  • 1: Banana(s)
    Mix everything together, mashing the banana up well. Use the batter to make 4-6 little pancakes or one big one! Top with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and Sugar-Free Maple syrup!

Seafood Lasagna

I’ve decided that this is what I am making for our Christmas meal. It is actually fairly easy, and so very delicious!

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Seafood Lasagna

 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb shrimp
1/2 lb crab
1/2 lb scallops
2 garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 T butter
2 cups béchamel * (recipe below)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup Swiss Cheese  Mozzarella cheese mixed, shredded
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8 lasagna sheets, cooked ‘al dente’
salt and white pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  • In a saucepan, melt 1 Tbs of the butter,
  • sauté the garlic until transparent – do not brown or burn.
  • Add the shrimp, scallops, and crab. Toss over high heat for 1-2 minutes.
  •  Add onions, stir and continue cooking till shrimp lose their transparency.
  • Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Prepare the béchamel.*
  • When béchamel is ready, stir in the cream, wine, and salt and pepper to taste, blend thoroughly and remove the sauce from the heat.
  • Spread about a third of the sauce over the bottom of an 8 x 10 or round pie pan.
  • Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese mixture over the sauce.
  • Scatter about half the shellfish evenly over the cheese.
  • Cover with half the lasagna sheets. Repeat the layers finishing with the last sheets of lasagna.
  • Cover with the remaining sauce and Parmesan.
The layers, from the bottom:
Sauce
Lasagna
Sauce
Cheese
Seafood
Lasagna
Sauce
Cheese
Seafood
Lasagna
Sauce
Parmesan
  • BAKE for 30-40 minutes or until the topping is golden brown (keep an eye on it, you don’t want the top to burn).
  • Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

*Bechamel Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk, heated**
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

  • When béchamel is ready, stir in the cream, wine, and salt and pepper to taste, blend thoroughly and remove the sauce from the heat.
** Use 1 cup of milk for the sauce in the seafood lasagna because heavy cream and wine will thin the sauce. This will result in the sauce being thicker than usual, but that’s ok!
  • Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
  • Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown — about 2 minutes.
  • Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens.
  • Bring it to a boil.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more.
  • Remove from the heat.
  • To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.
  • Makes about 1 cup.

PS. I ALWAYS use more cheese than a recipe calls for. It’s always your call to use more or less…

More & More Peaches!

After swearing I would not make a batch of Heavenly Peach Jam, I broke down the other day and made a batch. Oh my goodness, I think, perhaps, that this is the very best batch of the Peach Jam that I have ever made.

Peach Jam

This morning, I had some on my toast and it was amazing! So, this afternoon when I returned from having my hair done, I noticed our patio table was full of delicious perfectly ripe peaches!

20200915_173711Somehow I knew that my Jam making wasn’t over. So Tomorrow I will get the oranges, maraschino cherries, and get ready to do one more batch of Heavenly Jam.

The peaches will be peeled and mashed, the rest of the ingredients put into my great Jam Kettle, and then on Thursday I will cook it down and can it for use at a later date

The Peaches are so beautiful on the trees too. I think, although this is a season with a small crop, the peaches are the tastiest we have raised.

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The end result is so worth all the work!

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Peach Season

Over the weekend I was able to get quite a few things done. I’d gone outside in the yard and picked a fresh peach. Oh my goodness! It was fabulous! So much so that I decided to make one batch of my Heavenly Peach Jam.

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It’s a bit of work to peel the peached, chop the skin of one orange and dice the cherries, but it is well worth it.

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I got all the things done for day one, and tomorrow I will cook up the Jam and can it.

The Peaches were so good that I ended up eating three more of them. And each Peach was seemingly better than the last.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow when I can cook it down and then can it! That is so much fun!

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Air Frying

My new Pampered Chef Air Fryer arrived the other day. I immediately wanted to try roasted air-fried potatoes. I read what I could, threw caution to the wind, and just did it.

Cooking fail!

Then I made French Fries for Jack and those came out quite well. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Win, win!

Tonight I made baked potatoes and crispy cod. It was easy to do, and the flavor was fine, but I would cook the fish two minutes longer.

An almost total win.

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I have ordered two cookbooks on Air Frying. One filled with recipes and the other is a book with some recipes, but mostly it is “How to use your Air-Fryer, for Dummies!”

You see, I want to learn to use this well. Cooking time is so much faster and lately, I have not felt like cooking at all. So this “learn to use the Air-Fryer” is a good thing to help motivate me.