Cooking with KP: April 2014

Mississippi Roast

This is in no way my recipe. It has been all over the Internet and Pinterest for some time. In fact, my daughter Amanda found it on Pinterest and made it first. My husband Mike loves it, so it has become a staple around here.

4 pound chuck roast
1 stick butter/margarine
1 package ranch dry mix
1 package Au Ju dry mix
5-8 Pepperoncinis

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray. Place roast in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle ranch and Au Ju powders on top of roast. Dot with Pepperoncinis. Place stick of butter on top of roast. Put lid on crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.

Strawberry-Banana Pudding Delight

This is an easy and delicious summertime dessert. Great for potluck meals.

1 container Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 3.4 oz. box of French vanilla instant pudding
1 3.4 oz. box of banana crème instant pudding
3 cups milk
1 box of vanilla wafers
3 medium bananas, spliced
3 cups sliced strawberries (fresh only)

Allow Cool Whip to soften. Mix two packages of pudding with 3 cups of milk. Let sit 5 minutes to set. Cover the bottom of 9x13 baking dish with vanilla wafers. Top each wafer with a slice of banana and a layer of strawberries. Repeat layering. Mix sweetened condensed milk into pudding and pour on top of wafers and fruit. Let set 5 minutes. Stir Cool Whip and then spread on top of pudding. Make soft peaks with spatula. Crush about 8 vanilla wafers and sprinkle on top of Cool Whip. Decorate with whole strawberries, if desired. Chill for 2-3 hours prior to serving.

Spicy Sweet Chicken

Here is a recipe that I have altered from one I discovered online. It is amazing and so easy.

6 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 T. garlic powder
2 T. smoky paprika
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Mix all seasonings and sugar in a bowl. Rinse chicken breast with water. Place seasoning blend in a large ziplock bag. Add chicken and shake until chicken is coated. Let chicken set in bag 30 minutes in fridge. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray foil with non-stick cooking spray. Place coated breasts on sheet and bake 35-40 minutes until done. (180 degrees on meat thermometer).

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Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.