Baked Eggplant with Red Peppers, Onions and Feta

I'm not usually a fan of eggplant, but I do like this recipe.  It makes a delicious meatless meal.

Baked Eggplant with Red Peppers, Onions and Feta

1 eggplant, cut in 1/2-inch slices
1 large sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 or 2 large red bell peppers, cut in thin strips and halved
1  6oz. package of reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup bread crumbs
salt
pepper
oregano (optional)
vegetable cooking spray
vegetable or olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Heat skillet and spray both sides of each eggplant slice with a little cooking spray before placing in the skillet.  Brown a little on each side; set slices aside.  In same skillet, add about 1 tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil.  Cook onion slices until softened; remove from skillet and set aside.  In the same skillet, saute red bell pepper strips.

Spray square baking dish with cooking spray.  Add a layer of half of the eggplant slices and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, and oregano (if desired).  Add half of the onions, red peppers, and crumbled feta cheese. Repeat the layers with the remaining vegetables and cheese.  Sprinkle the top with the bread crumbs.

Bake for about 30 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Birthday Cake Batter Popcorn

This is something different and fun.  My batch is still hardening on the baking sheet...although it doesn't seem like it's really going to harden (too much cake mix?). Well, that doesn't matter to me tonight because I've been eating it ever since I mixed it up!  

When I make this again (and I will make this again), I will make less of the coating and use less cake mix in the coating.  I added more popcorn this time because the coating, for me, was a bit thick for the amount of popcorn in the recipe. 

I used the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.



Birthday Cake Batter Popcorn


1-1/2 cup melted almond bark or white chocolate (I used white chocolate chips)

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1-1/2 cup white or yellow cake mix (I will reduce this amount next time)

6 cups popped popcorn

1/4 cup sprinkles (didn't measure mine - I just sprinkled until it looked colorful enought for me)


Melt bark/chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth.  Add shortening to thin and stir. (Put in microwave a few more seconds if needed to melt down the shortening).  Stir in cake mix.  Pour over popcorn in large bowl and toss to coat.  Spread popcorn out onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with choice of decorative cake sprinkles. Let harden on baking sheet.

Blue Cheese Potato Salad

Here's an alternative to traditional potato salad that includes my favorite dressing. If you like, add crumbled bacon for an additional layer of flavor.

Blue Cheese Potato Salad

5-6 large red skin potatoes unpeeled, sliced in 1/4" slices and then halved

4 scallions, chopped including green tops

5 large radishes, thinly sliced

1 cup blue cheese dressing (I use Marzetti Light Chunky Blue Cheese)

salt and pepper to taste

cooked, crumbled bacon (optional)


Wash potatoes and slice as directed. Boil potato slices in large pot with a pinch of salt until fork tender. Drain and cool.  Add all other ingredients and coat the potatoes. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours. 6 servings.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Squares

You won't believe how easy this is to make!

A sopapilla is a fried dough pastry that is often covered with sugar and cinnamon and drizzled with honey.  This dessert is believed to have originated in New Mexico.  When I saw this quick and easy recipe for a cheesecake based on the sopapilla, I decided it was something new I had to try.  Your family and friends will think you spent a lot of time making this delicious and different treat.

It's a very sweet dessert, and I reduced the amount of sugar (slightly) from the recipe I found.  (Honestly, for my taste, I could reduce the sugar a bit more from what I have written below).  The dessert is sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar and drizzled with the optional honey, so that's a lot of sweetness. The recipe I followed didn't specify the amount of cinnamon-sugar, so I included a suggested amount.  Honey was not in the original recipe I had, but the honey adds a nice plating presentation and really makes it like a sopapilla.

I adapted this recipe from Chef in Training. 


Sopapilla Cheesecake Squares

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. sugar
honey (optional)

Preheat of to 350.  Spray 13x9 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix together softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Set aside.  On parchment or wax paper, unroll one can of roll dough, lightly pressing dough and making sure pieces are together.  Flip the dough into the pan.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over dough.  Follow same above instructions for the second can of dough and place on top of cream cheese layer.

Brush top dough layer with melted butter.  Mix cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle on top of melted butter.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes.  Cool and cut into squares. Drizzle individual squares with honey if desired. Store in refigerator.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

These pancakes have no sugar, flour, or egg yolks.  The recipe only calls for mixing cottage cheese, oatmeal, egg whites, and vanilla in a blender.  Cook and serve.  Simple and tasty.  I found this recipe at Food.com.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 tsp vanilla

4 egg whites

Mix ingredients in blender.  Spray griddle or pan with cooking spray.  Cook a few small pancakes at a time.  Serve with your favorite pancake topping. 

Try them with a little orange or lemon zest added to the batter.

Cornbread Salad

"Cornbread Salad?  That's...um...interesting."  That's the first reaction when I first take this layered salad into a dinner party.  "Can I have the recipe?" is the question I get several times by the end of the event. 

When I make this salad, I change the ingredients a little.  I omit the bacon, beans, and tomatoes and add two cans of chopped green chilies.  So, you can certainly add or omit ingredients to suit your taste.

This recipe was adapted from All Recipes.  My changes are noted.


Cornbread Salad

 1 (16 oz) or 2 (8.5 oz) corn bread mix

 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (I omit)

 1 (1 oz) package ranch dressing mix

 1 1/2 cups sour cream (I use lite)

 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise (I use lite)

 2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained (I omit)

 3 tomatoes, chopped (I omit)

 6 chopped green onions

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

2 (4.25 oz) cans diced green chilies (my addition)

1 cup chopped green bell pepper (I like two bell peppers -one green and one red)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Prepare corn bread according to package directions. Cool, crumble, and set aside.

Mix together the dressing mix, sour cream, and mayonnaise.

Crumble half the corn bread in the bottom of a large serving dish. Top with half of each ingredient: the beans, tomatoes, green onions, corn, green chilies, bacon, and cheese.  Spread with half of the salad dressing mixture. Repeat the layers.

Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

10 to 12 servings

Easy Coconut Cake

This cake is one of my sister's crowd-pleasers.  Whenever she takes it to an event, she gets raves and requests for the recipe.  The original recipe calls for frosting the cake with whipped topping, but my sister always makes it without the whipped topping.  Cream of coconut can be found in the grocery either with sweetened condensed milk or near the mixed drinks in the wine and spirits section.  This recipe was adapted from Mommy's Kitchen.

Easy Coconut Cake

1   white or yellow cake mix

 

1   (8 oz) tub whipped topping (optional)

1   (8 oz) package sweetened coconut

1   (15 oz) cream of coconut

1   (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Bake the cake as directed on the box using a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  Mix together one can of sweetened condensed milk and one can of cream of coconut and set aside.  Poke holes in hot cake with a fork or skewer, and pour the milk on top a little at a time, letting some soak in before pouring more on top.  Cool completely. Frost with whipped topping if desired. Sprinkle coconut over the top.  Store in the refrigerator.