Lemonade Pie - Susanna Winston

1 can frozen lemonade
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large carton thawed Cool Whip
1 graham cracker crust pie shell

In a bowl, mash lemonade with a fork.  Add condensed milk and Cool Whip.
Mix well and pour into the pie shell.  Garnish with more graham cracker crumbs, or with a sprig of mint and a thin slice of lemon.  Refrigerate.

A to Z Pasta Salad (vegan)

A to Z Pasta Salad

Susan D'Andrea

Ingredients

·       1 clove garlic, slightly crushed

·       1 pound penne or spiral pasta

·       1 cup asparagus or green beans, cut in 1" pieces 

·       2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices

·       1 red, yellow, or green pepper, chopped

·       8 ounces grape tomatoes

·       2 tsp. each:  basil, oregano, and parsley

·       your favorite fat-free or light Italian salad dressing, to taste

·       salt and fresh pepper, to taste

·       optional: sliced black olives, added just before serving

Instructions

1.    Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (Add a small amount of salt, if you want.) Once it boils, drop the asparagus or green beans and zucchini pieces into it and blanch for exactly 1 1/2 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon into a bowl filled with cold ice water.

Use the same pot of boiling water to cook the pasta according to package directions. Once it reaches the 
al dente stage, drain it in a colander and rinse it with cold water. Drain it well and add it to the vegetables. Add the chopped pepper, tomatoes, and herbs and toss with enough salad dressing to coat but not drown the pasta. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste, and serve chilled or warm.   

8 servings

Use any fresh vegetables you like:  broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, yellow squash, mushrooms, and artichokes. Try to use only fresh herbs, if you can get them, and use a salad dressing that you know you like.  The one unbreakable rule is to use only fresh vegetables and blanch them to soften slightly.

Deep Fried Pickles (seriously)

This must be a southern thing, but my oh my, if you've ever had a deep fried pickle have I got the recipe for you. They come out perfectly crisp on the outside and well, pickly on the inside. My dear friend, Amanda, ordered these at Alamo Drafthouse Theater and offered me one. It was hard to stay focused on the movie after that because I could smell the yummy goodness wafting from her basket.  Needless to say, I ordered myself a basket the next time I went and talked myself into parting with one for my cute little 7-year-old (who is the only pickle-lover in our home besides me).  He didn't love it and I cursed myself for wasting such savory goodness on an unappreciative soul. But, I digress.

I was making fried green tomatoes the other day (since my tomato plant suddenly decided to give birth to multiples just in time for the first hard frost) and I had lots of extra breading. So, I decided to fry up some dill pickles and hope for the best. I wasn't disappointed and you won't be either!

6-7 dill pickle spears or a bunch of sliced dill pickles

1 egg

1/4 cup milk (or soy or rice milk)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 quart canola oil for frying

Directions

1. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip pickles into flour to coat. Then dip pickles into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
2. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place pickles into the frying pan in batches of 2 or 3, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the pickles, they should not touch each other. When the pickles are golden, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels. Serve with ranch dressing, for pete's sake!

White chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies

These. Are. Amazing.  But there's something else I should tell you. They're healthy, too. I know, strange combination, but true.  My kids tend to pick the cranberries out, but that's the beauty of this recipe. You can keep what you like, and get rid of what you don't (for the most part).

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

3 c. old fashioned cooking oats, finely blended in food processor
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. walnuts, finely chopped in food processor
1 c. white chocolate chips

1 c. craisins

1 tsp. salt
1/2 baking soda

Mix above ingredients together, then in a separate bowl mix:

1 c. canola oil (or 1 cup applesauce for even healthier version)
1 c. maple syrup
4 T. water
4 tsp. vanilla

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until blended. Drop spoonfuls on baking sheet and bake 350 for 8-10 minutes. YUM!

Healthy Pumpkin Cobbler and Sweet Potato Casserole

Thanksgiving is just two days away and my mouth is watering. Two of my favorite fall dishes are Pumpkin Cobbler and Sweet Potato Casserole, but I have to admit that they both have A TON of sugar. In fact, the last time I ate the cobbler I got a major sugar rush, so I decided to tweak it a bit to make it healthy. Don't worry, it still tastes great! A friend of mine figured you could do the same thing to the Sweet Potato Casserole and it would turn out pretty tasty, too.

Pumpkin Cobbler (Healthy remake)

                           29 oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)                     

¾  c. agave nectar or evaporated cane juice (sweeter) or 1 cup pure maple syrup (less sweet)

2 t. ground cinnamon   

1 egg or egg substitute

¼ t. ground cloves

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. salt

2/3 c. almond or soy milk

Mix all ingredients together and place in a greased 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350.

Topping

3/4 c. rolled oats                                   ¼ t. nutmeg

½ c. chopped walnuts                           ½ t. cinnamon

1/2 cup whole wheat flour                      2-3 T. agave nectar

Mix all ingredients well and sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Bake 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Obviously, if you are making the Sweet Potato Casserole just substitute 2-3 cups mashed sweet potatoes for the pumpkin. I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Halloween favorites! Soup, cookies and a craft.

Halloween is my favorite holiday, next to Christmas. I prepare for it months in advance and just can't stop myself from making my kids' costumes every year (or piecing them together from thrift store finds). So, I'm a little disappointed in myself for not posting something for this spook-a-licious holiday.

If you are a soup connoisseur like I fancy myself to be, you'll love this recipe. I found it in a children's newspaper my kids brought home and tweaked it to my liking.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash
1/4 stick butter
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 T. olive oil
4 c. chicken broth or vegetable broth
4 cloves garlic
3 green onions
1/2 t. each of nutmeg, cinnamon, sea salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper (just a pinch)
1-2 c. plain soymilk, rice milk or milk (to desired consistency)

2 splashes Frank's Redhot (hotsauce)

Cut squash in half and spread most of the butter across the top, then sprinkle with brown sugar.  Place the two halves of the squash on a cookie sheet and bake for one hour or until you can stick a for in it and it is tender.  Allow the squash to cool. Scoop out into a medium sized bowl and discard the seeds and skin. Set aside.  Slice green onions and peel and press the three cloves of garlic.  Place olive oil into a small to medium sized saute pan over medium heat. After warming the oil, place onions and garlic into the pan and stir them until slightly gold.  Add broth and simmer 10 minutes.  Transfer it carefully into a blender along with the squash. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, sea salt and cayenne pepper into the blender or use a hand held blender. Add the milk and blend until pureed. Transfer back to a  medium sized pot and reheat.  I usually taste it here and add more spices!

My kids know that October and December are the only months I make sugar cookies and this recipe is my absolute favorite. One of my dearest neighbors made these every Christmas and we were lucky enough to be on the receiving end. We love to make witches, pumpkins and this year, modified ghosts! (I should have  taken a picture, but everyone loves a good sugar cookie).

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter or margarine

2 heaping c. powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 (8 oz. sour cream)

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. baking soda

1.2 t. salt

4 t. baking powder

4 1/2 c. flour

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add remaining ingredients. Mix and chill for at least 1 hour. Roll dough out and cut into shapes. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 or until golden brown (I take them out before they get golden so they're not crispy, but that's just me).

Frosting:

1 to 2 t. vanilla

1 bag powdered sugar

1 cube margarine or butter

canned milk (just enough to make spreading consistency)

And last, but not least, I had to add a craft. This year I have failed in engaging my kids in any creative activities, but I found these cute Halloween Pals while I was drumming up ideas for my son's Halloween activity at school. The original post where I thought I saw them seems to have disappeared, but there are a ton of cute ideas at http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/frankenstein-craft.html  

Basically, take a toilet paper roll (or cut a paper towel roll in half if you are a germ-a-phobe) and allow your child to paint it with craft paint (washable is a good idea here). Let it dry completely and add googly eyes,  bat wings, mummy wrappings, spider legs (with pipe cleaners) or a pumpkin stem with tissue paper, etc. Your kids have great imaginations so let them be creative. Here's what we came up with!

Apple-Pear salad with lemon-poppyseed dressing

  Being over-stocked with pears last week, I put some effort into finding some recipes to use them up before they spoiled. I ran across this salad recipe I ripped out of a Southern Living Magazine several years ago, but never made.  It was so good, it's a shame I didn't make it sooner! I tweaked it using the ingredients I had on hand, which I put in parentheses.

1 (16 oz.) package romaine lettuce, thoroughly washed (I used baby spinach)

1 (16 oz.) block swiss cheese, shaved (I omitted the cheese)

1 cup roasted, salted cashews

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 large apple, thinly sliced (I used 2)

1 large pear, thinly sliced (I used 2)

Lemon-poppyseed dressing

2/3 cup light olive oil

1/2 cup sugar (I used evaporated cane juice, but you could use honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

2 tsp. finely chopped onion

1 tsp. Dijon mustard (I used honey-mustard)

pinch salt

Process 2/3 cup light olive oil and remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to one week; serve at room temperature.