Strawberry Jell-O Salad {Potluck Sunday}

Good morning everyone and welcome to another edition of Potluck Sunday. Christmas is only 12 days away are you ready? I'm not but I am getting closer to finishing up my Christmas shopping and my holiday baking. Today I wanted to share a recipe for my favorite Strawberry Jell-O Salad.

Have you started on your Christmas Dinner Menu? I have and it includes this yummy Jell-O Salad. Down here in Texas the holidays just wouldn't be the same if you didn't have a jell-o salad on your Thanksgiving and Christmas table.

I got this recipe from my mother in law about 14 years ago and I have been making it ever since. Recently I have changed the recipe up just a bit to suit my kids taste. The original recipe called for shredded American cheese, but I chose to substitute with mini marshmallows. Now my kids gobble this up. I use anywhere between 1/2 to 3/4 cup marshmallows it all depends on how many you want.

I was also thinking that you could play around with the jell-o flavor for a whole different salad. Strawberry is still my all time favorite but lime, cranberry or even orange would be yummy. Maybe you're still looking for another salad or side dish at your Christmas table. If so I think you will love this as much as my family does.

So today I am bringing my favorite jell-o salad to our Sunday Potluck. Do you have a recipe you would like to bring to our the potluck? If so then link directly to your post not your homepage. Please include a link back to Mommy's Kitchen, so everyone can view all of the delicious recipes. In usual fashion I have included some step by step photos but the full recipe is at the end of this post.

Mix water, sugar and pineapple over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the dry jello and mix to combine. Allow the mixture to cool for about twenty to thirty minutes. Add the pecans and fold in the whipped whipping cream and the mini marshmallows.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This is always the hardest part for me. Patience is not one of my best qualities.

Strawberry Jell-O Salad
1 – 3 oz pkg strawberry jell-O
1 – 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 - cup granulated sugar
1/2 - cup water
1/2 - 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
1 - pint fresh whipping cream, whipped (not cool whip)
1/2 - cup pecan pieces

Mix water, sugar and pineapple over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the dry jello and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool for twenty to thirty minutes. While the mixture cools whip the whipping cream and place it in the refrigerator. When the jell-o mixture is cool add the pecans and fold in the whipped whipping cream. Add the mini marshmallows last. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

  http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2010/12/strawberry-jell-o-salad-potluck-sunday.html

Chicken Tagine with a Twist!

 

Some days I have to work a very long 12 hours. A 12 hours in a busy O.R. that wipes me out. A 12 hours that isn't as easy to recover from as it used to be. These are the days that cooking is the very last thing I want to do at the end of the day. Eating a hot, home-made dinner however, is just what I do need. Dilemma.

Crock Pot to the rescue! I keep most of these ingredients stocked in my pantry and only had to pick up some chicken thighs as we have been really limiting chicken lately for various reasons (read more about this life changing decision in my post/rant here). Also, I have been trying to not eat meat for dinner since IMO it isn't good for your body to be digesting meat while you sleep. Meat takes several hours of hard work for your GI system to digest and disrupts sleep.

Chicken Tagine is a classic Moroccan dish made several in several yummy variations but usually with the spices ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika and turmeric. Tajines are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. The best thing about Chicken Tagine is that you can throw in any combination of your favorite ingredients such as dried fruits, nuts, olives, veggies, preserved lemon, honey ect. and as long as you use the classic base of spices and tomatoes you've got yourself a Moroccan Delight!

I love my veggies and so I threw in some diced eggplant along with my olives, dried apricots and fresh cranberries. *On a side note, I don't think I will use fresh cranberries next time as they were pretty tart, or maybe I'll just use less to compliment the other flavors without over powering them.

A pretty Tagine pot is on the top of my wish list. I use a 'crock pot' for now ;)

Image from Emily Avila

The traditional tajine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving

Recently, European manufacturers have created tajines with heavy cast-iron bottoms that can be heated on a cooking stove to a high temperature. This permits the browning of meat and vegetables before cooking.



PRINT THIS RECIPE

Ingredients


2 tablespoons olive oil

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large onions, thinly sliced

4 large carrots, thinly sliced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup green olives, sliced

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup water

1 cup couscous



Directions:
* Searing the chicken before adding it to the crock pot is important to lock in flavour.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken pieces and eggplant in the heated oil; stir and cook until the chicken is browned on all sides but not cooked through. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Place the browned chicken and eggplant on the bottom of a slow cooker. Layer the onion, carrots, cranberries, and apricots over the chicken.

Whisk together the chicken broth, tomato paste, lemon juice, flour, garlic salt, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and ground black pepper in a bowl. Pour the broth mixture into the slow cooker with the chicken and vegetables.

Cook on Low setting for 8 hours.

Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in couscous, and remove from heat. Cover, and let stand about 5 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

I'm sending this over to Potluck Fridays at eKats Kitchen!
  http://simplyhealthyfam.blogspot.com/2010/12/chicken-tagine-with-twist.html 

Запеканка с грибами

и еще один простой рецепт для ужина )



( Read more... )

Cottage pie

если Вы любите мясные запеканки, если являетесь поклонником картошки, то Cottage pie, он же Пай деревенский, - Ваш ужин!) сытное блюдо готовится относительно просто, при том вариантов пая я встречала великое множество. представляю Вашему вниманию рецепт, которым со мной поделилась моя подруга-англичанка.

( рецепт )

Творожная запеканка с мандаринами

Захотелось мне чего-нибудь вкусненького. Но так, чтобы не сильно в ущерб уже стройному телу))). По сусекам поскребла и на свет появилась эта запеканка :)

( запекаем ;) )

Grandanina couscous (Recipe: couscous with orange and dried fruit)

 

All this week, I'm updating posts from the very first month of The Perfect Pantry. New links, new photos, and some great recipes for summer.

When I first moved to Rhode Island, potluck ruled. It seemed like every weekend was another potluck occasion, and the pressure to come up with new dishes was intense (and entirely self-inflicted).
In our first full summer here, Ted and I offered to host a party for our local arts organization. We figured it would be a good way to meet people, so we sent out invitations and I started cooking for a huge buffet dinner that we planned to serve outside under the pear trees. The invitation asked everyone to bring a beverage to share -- and their favorite bug spray. No potluck. Well, this caused a stir in our little community! No potluck? Indeed!
A few years later I learned how to turn grandanina couscous into a perfect potluck dish, and now, though potluck dinners are infrequent, this couscous has found a permanent home in my pantry.

Grandanina is a medium-size coarse ground couscous with a nutty flavor, made of durum wheat. Couscous often is called pasta, as it's made from the same ingredients, and in many dishes like this one you can substitute orzo, a small torpedo-shaped pasta, or Israeli couscous, which is a slightly larger grain, the size of tapioca pearls.

I buy grandanina couscous at The Gourmet Outlet in New Bedford (Massachusetts), the retail arm of Sid Wainer & Son, wholesale purveyor of fine foods to restaurants, airlines, hotels and corporations all over the US; recently they've opened an online store.
Couscous originated in North Africa, and is prevalent throughout the cooking of Mediterranean cultures, often as a base for stews. So it's particularly appropriate that this recipe uses both apricots and orange, which also are cultivated throughout the hot climates of North Africa.
I've brought this dish to many a potluck, but I also use grandanina as a thickener in soups, a base for stews, and in hearty salads.


COUSCOUS WITH ORANGE AND DRIED FRUIT
This colorful and healthy recipe from chef John Verrier at Sid Wainer & Son serves 6 as an accompaniment to grilled chicken, fish or pork. One year for Thanksgiving, I bought a boneless turkey breast and stuffed it with this couscous, then glazed the outside of the turkey with pomegranate molasses. It looked like a giant football, but it tasted amazing. Recipe can be halved.
2 cups Grandanina pasta or Israeli couscous or fregula sarda
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 red onion, cut in half and sliced very thin
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 cup each dried apricots and dried cranberries, diced
8 oz orange juice
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
Zest of 1/2 lemon, or more to taste
In a medium stock pot, cook couscous in water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
While the couscous is cooking, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan. Saute the garlic, red onion and green pepper until the onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Put in a serving bowl. Add dried fruit. Add the cooked, drained couscous. Pour in the orange juice, and keep stirring until thoroughly mixed and the liquid is completely absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in lemon zest. Serve warm or room temperature.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]    http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2008/06/grandanina-past.html