Poppy Seed Dressing and Candied Nuts Salad

To make this salad I like to do a combo of romaine lettuce and baby spinach.  Then I like to top it with fresh cut strawberries, raspberries, candied nuts and of course the dressing!

Poppy Seed Dressing

Recipe from: Susan Peterson

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. salt

1 small onion, quartered

1 1/2 c. canola oil

1 T. poppy seeds

Handful of raspberries (optional)

1. Put vinegar in blender.
2. Add ingredients one at a time.
3. Blend for 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate after using.

Candied nuts

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup pecans or slivered almonds

1. Put sugar in frying pan over 1 cup of desired nuts.
2. Cook on medium high heat.
3. Stir until sugar is melted. (Make sure to not let the sugar burn!)
4. Remove from stove and pan.
5. Cool on wax paper.
6. Break apart before serving.

Restaraunt Style Salsa

This recipe tastes just like the salsa they serve at a lot of Mexican restaraunts, its def yummy!

Salsa (Recipe from: Susan Peterson)

1 can of petite diced tomatoes (I use 28 oz size)

1 jalapeño

8-9 green onions (use the white and green part of the green onion; just not the sprouts)

1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 tsp. garlic salt

2 tsp. lime juice

1. Drain the juice from the can of tomatoes into a blender.
2. Scrape the seeds and pulp out of the jalapeño. (Do not touch eyes or any other sensitive parts of your body after handling the jalapeño it WILL burn!)
3. Add jalapeño to blender with tomato juice. Puree jalapeño and juice until the jalapeño is disintegrated.
4. Chop green onions and cilantro. Add to petite diced tomatoes.
5. Add jalapeño/tomato juice to the petite diced tomatoes.
6. Add garlic salt and lime juice. Mix well.

Fruit Soup

Fruit Soup over vanilla bean ice cream

Fruit Soup (Recipe from: Susan Peterson)

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

3 T. minute tapioca

6 oz. frozen OJ

2 1/2 cups water

2 bananas, sliced

2 oranges, sectioned and cut into smaller chunks

1 cup strawberries, sliced

2 peaches, cut into chunks

2 kiwis, cut into chunks

Blueberries

Raspberries

Optional: Serve with ice cream

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients and bring to a full boil.
2. Cook until tapioca turns clear.
3. Stir in frozen orange juice and water.
4. Stir for 3 minutes so tapioca doesn't clump together.
5. Add in fruit and stir.

Keep refrigerated.

This makes a lot!

Fruit Trifle

Sorry this is the best picture we got of it. We gobbled it up too fast :-)

Fruit Trifle (Recipe from: Susan Peterson)

1 Angel food cake, I make one from a mix

1 box Jello instant vanilla pudding, prepared

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

Fruit:

Raspberries

Strawberries

Kiwis

Bananas

Peaches

Blueberries

1. Cook angel food cake according to package directions
2. Make vanilla pudding according to package directions.
3. Cut fruit into small chunks.
4. Make whipping cream by blending whipping cream, vanilla and sugar until thick.
5. Add half of the whip cream to the pudding and mix well.
6. Layer trifle starting with cake, whip cream/pudding mixture and then fruit.
7. Top trifle off with remaining whip cream.

"Magic" Bars

This recipe is Garrett's FAVORITE dessert. His mom makes them all the time and everyone gobbles them all up! Usually we just "eyeball" the coconut, chocolate chips, and marshmallows but I listed the actual amounts below.

"Magic" Bars (Recipe from: Susan Peterson)

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 cups graham cracker, crumbs

2 cups coconut, shredded sweetened

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 cups marshmallows

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Melt butter and mix with crushed graham crackers.
3. Pat graham cracker into cookie sheet.
4. Sprinkle coconut, chocolate chips, nuts (optional), marshmallows in that order.
5. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown.

Hamburger Roll

When Garrett's mom came to visit she made us a bunch of these hamburger rolls and froze them for us to make later on. They may sound interesting but trust me they are dang good. It's kind of like a modified version of a beef roast. I know its kinda weird to pair beef with chicken flavored stuffing and cream of chicken soup but for some reason it turns out super yummy!

Hamburger Roll (Recipe from: Susan Peterson)

1 lb. hamburger

1 box stuffing mix, prepared (I usually use Chicken flavor)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Carrots

Potatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Pat hamburger out into a rectangle to about 1/2" thickness.
3. Spread prepared stuffing evenly on top and roll the hamburger up. If you wanted to freeze them you would do so at this point, just roll it up with saran wrap and foil. Completely thaw in refrigerator before cooking,
4. Place in 8 x 8 baking dish with chopped carrots and potatoes.
5. Mix cream of chicken soup with milk.
6. Pour over meat and vegetables.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste on top.
8. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 3 hours.

Lemon Tea Cake

I finally have updated my cooking blog since Tommy boy! To be honest I haven't cooked much since I had him, babies need a lot of attention :-) Enjoy!

Lemon Tea Cake (Recipe from: Susan Peterson)
5-6 Lemons (for juice & zest)

1/2 lb. butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup lemon zest

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

Craisins, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease (I use shortening) and flour 2 loaf pans, set aside.
2. Combine butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time and lemon zest.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.
5. Combine buttermilk, lemon juice and vanilla.
6. Add flour and buttermilk mixture, alternating into mixing bowl starting and ending with the flour. Add chopped craisins if desired and mix.
7. Divide the batter between the pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Poke holes in cake with a tooth pick. Drizzle both loaves with half of the sugar syrup (recipe follows). Then invert loaf pans onto a cooling rack over wax paper. Poke holes on the bottom of the loaves and drizzle the remaining half of the sugar syrup.

Sugar Syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1. Combine sugar and lemon juice in pan over low heat until sugar is compeletey dissolved.
2. Poke holes in cakes with a toothpick on both sides.
3. Slowly pour over both sides of the hot cakes.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

3 1/2 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice

*I added some of my remaining lemon zest about 1-2 T.

1. Whisk together sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
2. Pour over cooled cakes.