I don't normally buy coconut because I don't like the texture. I love the taste, I love the smell, but not the texture. My friend Kimberly gave me an extra bag of it to cook with and it's been sitting in my fridge for awhile, just waiting for inspiration to occur. Lucky for us, it occurred last week in the form of a dessert recipe. Growing up, my neighbor Cathy used to make us a dessert called dump cake. This is a very easy pie/cobbler dessert where you just dump everything into a cake pan and bake. I took that idea and used the coconut to make a cherry cream cobbler. It is delicious and very simple to make. It is a perfect summer dessert: fast, easy, and unforgetable :)
Cherry Cream Cobbler
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 Cup Almond Flour
1 and 1/2 Cups Pecan Meal
1 Cup Coconut
1 Stick of Butter
For the Filling:
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Can Cherry Pie Filling
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 11" deep dish baking pan.
2. Take out 2 bowls. In one, mix together almond flour, pecan meal, and coconut. In the other, mix together milk and cherry pie filling.
3. Spray pie pan. Pour milk and cherry pie mixture on batter. Spread out evenly. Pour flour and coconut mixture on top.
4. Melt butter. Drizzle over the top of the cobbler. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Top will be golden brown when finished. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
I love Peeps. I like to eat them stale. I know that sounds funny, but I leave the package open for a couple of days and then eat them with chocolate. Yum! I think it's great that they now make Peeps for more holidays than just Easter. My favorite thing to do with Peeps is make Peep Treats. These are Rice Krispy Treats made out of Peeps. They are so fun, because they end up being the color of the peeps. We just had pink Peep Treats for Celia's birthday. Peep Treats are a fun treat to make with your kids because they are easy to make and the peeps look funny when you warm them up in the microwave.
Peep Treats
Ingredients:
1/2 Package of Large Marshmallows (I used pink strawberry ones)
1 Package of Peeps (Use the Pack with 3 trays)
3 TBSP Butter or Margarine
6 Cups Rice Krispy Cereal
1. Spray a large, rectangular baking pan
2. Put Marshmallows, Peeps and Butter in a large, microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes in 30 second increments. Peeps will expand, you want to make sure they don't explode.
3. Mix Rice Krispies into melted
Marshmallows. Pour into your baking pan. Let sit for a few hours.
For some people, the crockpot or slow cooker is a winter time cooking tool. For me, it is useful all year long. You can cook other things besides soups and stews in them, they are easy to use and they require very little energy. On Monday, we grilled pork steaks at my brother Mike's. We had a large pack and at the end was a small roast. It seemed like the butcher got tired of cutting the steaks. It wasn't a problem because I knew I'd be able to make a What's for Leftovers recipe with it. So after we were finished grilling all of the pork steaks, we threw the little roast on the bbq and let it cook while we ate. On Tuesday, when I was planning our dinner, I realized I still had a carton of white rice left from Chinese takeout over the weekend. Presto, Apple Butter Pork and Rice was born.
Apple Butter Pork and Rice
Ingredients:
1 to 2 Lbs of Cooked Pork*
1/4 Cup White Wine
4 Packs Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Apple Butter
1 Cup Apple Juice
1 TBSP Garlic
2 Packs Sweet n' Sour Sauce
1 TBSP BBQ Sauce
1 1/2 Cups White Rice, Cooked or 1 Small Take-Out Carton
*You can use any kind of pork. I used the little pork butt roast and a pork steak. Feel free to use roast, steaks, or chops; whatever you have leftover.
1. Cut pork into thin slices and place on the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. In a separate bowl combine wine, soy sauce, apple butter, apple juice, garlic, sweet n' sour sauce, and bbq sauce. Pour over pork.
3. Cook on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionaly
4. Pour rice into slow cooker, mixing into liquid. Cook on low for another 20 to 30 minutes. It's finished when your rice is completely heated.
