Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle

It's FRIDAY!!!! :D Have you had a good week? Did you get everything done that you wanted? Do you have big plans to relax this weekend, or anything FUN!??! :D We're wrapping up our show this weekend - it seems our weekends are busier than most of our weekdays.... :D

Anyway! Today's recipe is yet another TASTE OF HOME recipe, this time for Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle. And for another recipe for basic crepes from allrecipes.com. That one's for my own idea, which you'll get for FREE! :D

First, let me say: when the original recipe says, "Colossal", that is what it means!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's made for church potlucks, and it would feed fifty people!

We got the ingredients to make the WHOLE thing, then I spent some time studying the recipe.

First modification: we didn't want to make it in a big trifle bowl - let alone a punch bowl! - because we need portion control around here. So I decided to make them in individual trifle bowls.

For the cake layers, I made a yellow cake in a jelly roll pan; when I was ready to assemble the trifle, I used one of the trifle dishes to cut out the cake circles, and then even cut them in half lengthwise - it was a lot of cake for those dishes! We used sugar-free pudding, and lower-sugar apple pie filling.

Because we were using the individual trifle dishes, I could only fit one layering of the trifle in. But that was enough!

This is not a light, fluffy dessert, people. It's very filling - and very good! And very, very sweet. I'm keeping this recipe, but in a "good recipe to have" file, not my favorites. I can't imagine making this for anything BUT a ptch-in again, and even then, I'd probably still half the original recipe. It's a LOT of trifle!

I had SO MUCH of the layering stuff left! I got struck with an idea, however: we do a make-your-own-crepe breakfast on Christmas Morning. (We make the crepes ahead, and just warm them up that morning.) Why not put the ingredients out, so we could make a crepe with the pudding and apples as filling?

So that's what I did - mostly so I could show you! :D I put a spoonful of the spiced pudding down on the crepe, then the apples. I didn't add the caramel, because apples already don't do nice things to my blood sugar, and I didn't need the extra problem! :) It was good - but again, VERY filling.

So, there you have it, people. I actually took the concept and created two new dishes. LOL!

Have a wonderful weekend! Try something new! And let me know you're reading this, because I'm feeling like I'm whistling in the dark. :D BE BLESSED!!!

Eggs Benedict Casserole

Good Monday Morning!

Did you have a good weekend? GOODNESS, yesterday was BUSY. I was wiped OUT when we finally got home, but I persevered and put this casserole in the fridge for today's breakfast.

And I'm glad I did. It's a definite YES, PLEASE!

It's Eggs Benedict Casserole, once again from the TASTE OF HOME website.

 I cut the recipe in half, and cooked it in a 7"x11" casserole dish; even if Mom and Dad decided to join us, that was six servings and plenty for us. Mom took a taste, but they decided to stick with their regular healthy breakfast. :D

Although, for me, this is about as healthy as it is good! One serving, according to the website's nutritional information, has only 16 grams of carbs - half of my maximum for breakfast! Hooray! :D

Putting the casserole together the night before makes this an easy, elegant breakfast - Kenn stirred the Hollandaise for me, so I didn't have to do everything. Add some fresh fruit, and this is a wonderful guest breakfast! I think it'll get served in Oregon if we have guests. :D

When I asked Kenn if he wanted me to freeze the rest - which it would, beautifully! - or leave it out, he said it was good and he'd eat some more tomorrow morning. :D It's definitely a winner! Hooray!!!!!

OK, I'm outta here. :D We're putting away Christmas stuff today, and I really, REALLY need to stamp. :D Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!

Pizza Crust

 Good Friday afternoon! Goodness, has it been BUSY! I'm trying to get used to the fact that it's NOT going to be any less so between now and 2013. AUGH! :D

Anyway. :D Today's recipe is for pizza crust, brought to you by 1001 Recipe.

First off, this recipe makes a lot of dough. I did it in my bread machine; I wanted to make a personal-sized pizza, so I formed five balls of dough out of the total. One, I pressed into the bottom of a pie plate, stretching it really thin. Wow, did it rise! I like to bake my crusts for a few minutes with no toppings, so it has a chance to get a little crunchy. I decided all I wanted was a "lovely cheese pizza", just for me. (Quick! What movie is that from??? :D ) So I put some bottled sauce and grated mozzarella with a tiny sprinkle of parmesan cheese on my partially-baked crust.

So, this is what it came out as. I'm a little undecided on whether I will make it again. As I've said before, I don't make bread dishes too often because of the spike in carbs. But I think I'll recommend it to you! :)

If I *do* make this again, I think I might add a bit of garlic powder, to give it a bit more taste. I like my crust to bring something to the party, too! :D

OK, I'm outta here. Life is CRAZY busy, as I said, but it's GOOD. God is so good to me! I love counting my blessings - I have so many. You're one of them! :)

Enjoy your weekend! Be BLESSED! And try something new. ;)

Pico de Gallo

Good Wednesday morning! Sorry I wasn't around Monday; between working too hard this weekend, and being sick, I just didn't feel like blogging. :D So!

With that being said, :D, here is Family Favorite Recipes' recipe for pico de gallo.

OK. I have to say this: this recipe is almost EXACTLY what I would use for a bruscetta topping - except the herb is cilantro, not basil, and it's got a jalapeno in it.

But it's GOOD. :) It's just amazing to me how similar Mexican and Italian can be sometimes. :) And it was part of a grander scheme of a recipe, so as an ingredient, it was good. We didn't eat it all, and I think it's because I was trying to squeeze in as much cooking as I could while my parents were gone. :D We ate WELL that week. LOL!

I'd say try it. I'd also say, if you're looking for a bruscetta topping, just change out the herb and don't worry about the jalapeno. :D So, it's going down in the history books as a YES, PLEASE. :D

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED - and try something new!

Beef Vegetable Soup

Welcome to Wednesday. :D Have you had a good week so far? I've got a doctor's appointment today. booooo, hisssssss. <sigh>

So, anyway. :D Today's recipe is for "steak soup" - aka vegetable beef :D - from Gimme Some Oven! :D I made this soup last Monday, when I opened up the stampin' studio for a free evening. The bread I shared on Monday was a nice accompaniment for this soup.

The soup got a definite YES, PLEASE! from everyone who tasted it. I used 4 cups of beef broth, then about 5 cups of water with a container of Knorr Homestyle Stock (it's condensed) and an envelope of Swanson Flavor Boost. The recipe includes Worchestershire sauce - a touch of brilliance, there. It's got so much "stuff" that I wouldn't think to add to the soup, and a little goes a long way to boosting the flavor and richness of the broth. As a matter of fact, when I made beef stew a couple of days later, I used some Worchestershire sauce in it, too. It was wonderful. :)

This soup was wonderfully hearty, and I have to admit I don't really like soups with tomatoes in them. I cut the amount of tomatoes I added in half from the recipe; I also used fire-roasted tomatoes, which I'd gotten as a freebie to try.  I thought, if you have to have tomatoes in the soup, they were pretty decent. :D And I ate two bowls of this soup. Unheard of for me. :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a BLESSED day! And do try this soup! :D

Healthy Life English Muffins

Happy Wednesday! :)  Are you having a good week?

I wanted to review these English muffins because, with some of the jams, jellies, conserves, preserves, and curds I'm making, there's just something about a toasted English muffin with those nooks and crannies filled with melted butter and fruit of some type. :) And THESE are great; I can have a whole muffin for a net carb total of only 15 - and still have carbs for the jelly or whatever. :)

So, these get a YES, PLEASE. They're relatively low in calories, if that matters to you. :) I don't like English muffin pizzas - never really have; there's something about the taste that I just don't like - but these would work well, if that's something your family likes.

OK, I'm outta here! :D So many reviews to write, so little time.... :D
Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED! And try something new!

Dreamsicle Pudding

Good Wednesday Morning!
I don't know about you, but I'm loving this fall weather. :) And there's so much to do, not enough time to do it in. :D Less than three months until Christmas, and I can't wait! LOL

Anyway. Today's review is another recipe, from Jo and Sue for Creamsicle Pudding.

Let me tell you a little about this. First of all, it's more like a mousse. Second, I used sugar-free vanilla pudding, to save on more carbs. So this recipe only has the carbs from the Cool Whip and the oranges.

It's a YES, PLEASE! - even though I find it super sweet. I think, the next time I make it, I'll layer the extra Cool Whip and the mousse/pudding, to break up the sweetness a little. It's pretty, and refreshing, and the recipe is super-easy and makes seven FULL or eight big servings.

OK, I'm outta here! We're having our church picnic this evening, and I can't WAIT to hang out with my friends! :D Have a wonderful day! BE BLESSED!

Chicken Pad Thai

Good Monday Morning! Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new?

We didn't have a very good weekend. Please pray for my family as we walk through a devastating loss together. Thank you!

I *love* good pad Thai. It's so yummy - and Thai cooking is based on four things: sweet, savory, spicy, and salty. Of course, they are arranged in varying degrees in various dishes - and I am not over-the-top about ANY spice! :D (Well, if you consider cinnamon a spice, then I'm guilty, but....)

This recipe comes to us from none other than the Betty Crocker website!

Let's see. Did I tweak it much?

Silly me for even asking. LOL! I used noodles that are made from soy, so they're VERY low carb. They're also VERY expensive, so I don't get to eat them a LOT. I don't like scallions or bean sprouts, so I used  some carrot, a little mushroom, and a little celery. The sauce, I think I used too much lime juice - I used bottled, and just poured some in. :D I also used Splenda instead of sugar - I mean, I'm using those expensive noodles, I have to make the carb count actually COUNT! :D

I'm giving this a YES, PLEASE, although I like my sauce a little thicker than this was; next time, I may use a little slurry of arrowroot powder and water to thicken it a bit and make it stick to the noodles better. And I'm going to increase the red pepper flakes just a tiny bit, and perhaps add some Thai sweet chili sauce. :D (That's part of the fun in cooking for yourself! You can make it taste the way YOU want!!!)

OK, I'm outta here. Looks like I need to do some cooking to have something to talk about the rest of the week. :)

Be BLESSED. And tell your loved ones how much you love them. Life is too short.

Cream Puff Cake

 

Good Monday Morning! How are you today? Did you have a good weekend? We just got home yesterday; it feels good to be in our own room again, even though the time with my sister, BIL, and all their children was good. (I hope I'll get a chance to share decorating those cupcakes with you, eventually! :D )

Today's recipe comes to you courtesy of Lil' Luna, for Cream Puff Cake.  No way of putting off my rating on this. Oh. My. Goodness. YES, PLEASE!!!!!!!

If you've never done any kind of choux pastry, please know it's very easy - and this couldn't get much easier! The only suggestion I'd make is that you keep a mixer going in it while you add the eggs. (I put the cooked batter into my Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment.)

For the filling, I used sugar-free white chocolate pudding, with Hood® Calorie Countdown milk - I really love this stuff, because it's only got 3 grams of carbs per 8 ounces! The filling was a LITTLE loose, even though I used less milk. I'm not sure if it's because of the SF pudding or what, but it didn't keep its form as beautifully as the recipe's photos.

This was GONE in less than 24 hours. My husband LOVED it; he doesn't like a lot of sweet stuff - I think I've mentioned that - but he sure helped eat it! :)

OK, I'm off. Have a WONDERFUL day! Be sure to let me know if you try this - or anything else I've reviewed! :) Or if you find something you'd like me to try. But be warned: I may tweak it. :D

Thai Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Good Friday Morning!

Have you had a good week? I really hope so. :) It's been busy as usual around here; I've enjoyed having part of my family here. And it's only a month until my baby sister's firstborn is due! I can't WAIT! :)

Anyway. Today's recipe is brought to you by Food.com.

Let's see. Tweaks. :D I stir-fried some chicken to go in. I used fresh stir fry veggies instead of frozen, and that had broccoli, snow peas, and crinkle-sliced carrots in it. I still added the grated carrot as well. And we added a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top.

I used Dreamfields pasta for the linguine. It's treated so that one cup has five usable carbs, so that lowers the carb count to something I can eat. :D

These noodles got a YES, PLEASE! from everyone here. They weren't very spicy at all, so don't let the name stop you from eating them. I would actually up the heat index the next time I make them, with a little more Thai chili sauce or even a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes. I like heat with peanut sauce! :)

Do you have plans to try something new this weekend? I hope so - and that you'll share with me what you made! :) Heck, these were easy - you could do this one! :)

Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Good Monday Morning! :)

How are you doing today? Did you have a good weekend? Try anything new? Y'all are SO quiet out there! I'd love to have a comment.... :D

This is a no-bake cheesecake from Eat Good 4 Life. Go ahead, check it out. I'll wait. :D

First, let me say: I love cheesecake. I could eat it all day, every day. :)

Now, cheesecake in itself is relatively low in carbohydrates; usually where it runs into problems with carbs is in the crust and add-ins. So, I did the crust with only peanuts, no cereal or oats. Because both of those can be pretty carb-heavy, even though whole grains are supposed to be good for you. But I digress. :D

For the cheesecake itself, all I changed was using full-fat cream cheese instead of the lower-fat; the substitutions for lower fat items usually increases the carb count.

I'm afraid this one is getting a NO, THANKS from me. It was OK, but didn't knock me out. It was nice to have in the fridge for when I had to have something sweet. :) But I won't make it again. There are too many other things out there to try, and too many cheesecakes that beat this one. :)

OK, I'm out of here - my aunt from Missouri is visiting us this week. :) Lots to do, lots to make, lots to procrastinate about. :D

Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED, my friends! And let me know when you try something!

Chickpea and Tomato Salad

It's Wednesday! How's your week going? It's supposed to be getting warmer here; today's recipe is a no-cook recipe.

It comes via Green Lite Bites. It's created to be an entree all in its own; I used it as a side dish, but it's full of nutrition and freshness!

Believe it or not, I didn't change a THING on this recipe. :) It's a LOT of garlic; I used bottled minced, instead of doing it myself. I think it was probably a bit milder - which was good, because raw garlic tends to make me nauseous if it's too strong. Go figure. :D

I've made it twice; once for Kenn and me, and one for the infamous barbecue for Kenn's discipleship group. :D I let it sit longer when I made it for the party; the tomatoes were especially tasty! I can't say that chickpeas - AKA garbanzo beans - are my favorite legume, but they're OK. I like hummus, but I think it's because of all the other stuff you add in. :D

So, this is obviously a YES, PLEASE! recipe. It's now safely pinned to my "Favorite Recipes" board! :D Let me know what you think - or if there's something you'd like me to try and review for you. :) Have a WONDERFUL day! Be blessed!

Ham n Egg Cups

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

So, to proclaim some independence from breakfast - as a diabetic, I *have* to eat breakfast, and I HATE it. <sigh> - I bring you this recipe from Just a Pinch - it's a great recipe community. HOPEFULLY, I'll have gotten to go to the get-together Tuesday. (I'm pre-posting, so you're sure to get a post today! :D)

These got a YES, PLEASE! from both Kenn and I. I have to tell you: they're SALTY. The first time, I added a little more salt. The second, none - and the ham was salty! Kenn says it concentrates the salt, and I guess that's probable. The only tweak I did was to use a few fresh spinach leaves instead of frozen; we try to keep fresh spinach around, to use in place of lettuce on sandwiches, etc.

Well, OK, I fibbed. :D I just went and looked at the original recipe again. I used COOKED ham, not SMOKED. We don't like smoked meats much. And I also used 1/4 piece of an American cheese slice instead of shredded cheese. It's still cheese, right? :D I threw in a piece of high-fiber, lower carb toast, and it was a really nice meal!

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day - and try something NEW! :)

Spring Rolls

Good Monday morning! I'm on my way to a doctor's appointment today - nothing I'm looking forward to, I assure you - but let me share, so someone is able to enjoy this morning! :D

Today's recipe is from allrecipes.com; I use their recipes quite often, so when I wanted to try making my husband some spring rolls, why not choose their recipe when it came up in my search? :)

I found the rice paper wrappers *somewhere*; I can't remember where, but knew I needed to get them. Kenn LOVES spring rolls, and always orders them at Thai restaurants. Since rice is very high in carbs, I know rice wrappers are, so I don't eat them. <sigh>

These were really easy to make. Of course, I had to modify the filling a bit. :D I did have to purchase a HUGE bag of rice vermicelli, to get the noodles for filling, but I'm hoping they'll get used. :D I have more rice wrappers, after all.... I also didn't use all the ingredients suggested in the recipe for filling; Kenn's tastes are a little more adventuresome. :D So, I used shrimp, fake crab, English cucumber, carrots, regular basil, and cilantro - along with the aforementioned rice vermicelli. I left the dipping sauce recipe alone. :D

This was the first one, so it's a little sloppy on the end; I learned I need to wrap a little tighter. I really like the way the shrimp showed through the wrapper!

Kenn really, really liked these - even the dipping sauce, which he's never a big fan of. :) Two of these made a great meal for him. So, these are a YES, PLEASE! I pinned this recipe originally, and pinned another with different ingredients earlier today. These won't be the last I make, for sure!

OK, I'm outta here. :) Pray that my doctor's appointment goes well! <sigh> Have a wonderful day! Let me know when YOU try something new, or if there's anything you want me to try!

Peach Strawberry Jam

Good Friday morning! :) I hope you're doing well today! Have you had a good week? Eaten or tried anything new lately? :)

Today's recipe review is from Jen's Happy Spot. We tried this first last year, and then I couldn't find the blog I'd copied-and-pasted from. When we made more jam this week, I had to search for it so I could share with you! :D

 Obviously, if we've made it twice, it gets a YES, PLEASE! from us. :D It's a wonderful jam, full of fruit and summer flavor. It's also a beautiful jam!

Mom did the fruit prep this year; the peaches weren't quite ripe, so they didn't break down as far this time. So the fruit chunks in the jam are quite large. Never a *really* bad thing, in my opinion. :D

It makes a beautiful gift, too! The jars are just out of the processor, cooling before going on the shelf. This is one of those jams that I love to have around in the dark or winter; just one taste, and it's like being in summer again. What could be better than fresh peach and strawberries?

We used regular peaches, not white ones. We also used all-natural pectin, purchased from an Amish store in Indiana. I WILL tell you that this jam is super-sweet, but it doesn't take much to get a jam taste. :) I use maybe 1/2 teaspoon on toast or PB&J! (That's because I'm being super careful of my carbs, NOT because I don't want more! :D )

You can also use strawberries you've put into the freezer! Now's a great time for strawberries; peaches really don't hit their peak for another three weeks. Get the berries now, and freeze them in measured amounts. If you like more peach than strawberry, then make sure your fruit mix has more of them. :D

OK, I'm off! Enjoy your weekend, try to stay cool, and try something new! If you try something I've reviewed, please let me know what you thought!!!! Hey, anyone made any of the meatball bubbles? I'm taking some to a family next week. :D

Be blessed!

Papa Murphy's Pizza!

Hi, y'all! I'm setting up all of the reviews ahead of time; yesterday was my birthday, and I'm being whisked away by my husband. :D So! I've got a bunch of stuff set back, but I need to keep SOMETHING in reserve! :D

Today, I bring you a review of Papa Murphy's Pizza!

Before we got married, I had never heard of PMP. There weren't any in the areas in which I'd lived - but when we moved to Florence, Oregon, we lived right next door to one!

What makes them unique is that they bake nothing in-house. They make pizzas (and now cookies, and breads, and salads!) that you take home and bake. You get fresh, hot pizza in a fraction of the time it would take you to put everything together yourself, on FRESH crust.

Can you tell this gets a YES, PLEASE! from me?!? :D If you go to the website, you can also print coupons - this large pizza (if you click this link, it will take you right to the description!) was only $8.

Talk about a happy camper. :D Fresh veggies, melted cheese, and a super-thin crust, so I don't have to worry *too* much about the carbs. I LOVE pizza, but Kenn's not much of a fan. However, he really like this one - it was his idea to get it! :D

Maybe someday PMP will want me to review another kind, so I'll get to do so. ;D In the meantime, I'm quite happy with this. (The pizza in the picture on their site looks like it's got a lot more toppings than this one....)

Dang, now I want a piece! :D Let me know if there are Papa Murphy's around you - and if you have a favorite kind, what it is!

Have a BLESSED day! Go try something new! :D

Oreo Poke Cake

Good morning! Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new? :D

Today's recipe review is an Oreo® poke cake I found at The Country Cook. Now, remember when I promised that I'd tell you when I made substitutions? I had to do that with this one - but just the pudding.

Even though this cake was for a Stampin' Up!® event, I *knew* it would be around the house for a while. :D I mean, unless a whole lot more people showed up for my open house than I thought were going to! :D So, I decided to save the carbs and calories wherever I could. I did use milk for the pudding; I've been known to use almond milk and another low-carb milk, but didn't want to bother anyone's taste buds or tummies. :D

So, instead of the Oreo® pudding which *only* comes in fully-loaded sugar, I used sugar-free cheesecake pudding. Now, we make poke cakes all the time around here; a Jell-o® poke cake has been known to be my birthday cake. :D I have to tell you, this pudding set up faster than any I've done a poke cake with before, and I'm not sure WHY. As you can see, it didn't go all the way down into the channels I poked into the cake, but there was LOTS on top. :D

Because my pudding wasn't Oreo®, I decided to go ahead with the optional cookies on top. I only used about 10-12, and they were regular, so it wasn't a WHOLE lot more carbs. :D

Overall, I give this recipe a YES, PLEASE! It was yummy, and several people at the event commented on it - calling it "great" and "refreshing". :) Things that are GOOD to hear about your cake!

Try making this for some event where chocolate will score you points! :D Because it's made in two steps, you can bake off the cake one day and do the topping(s) the next. Let me know if you try this one! Have a wonderful, BLESSED day!

Zucchini Chips

Hi! So glad you've come back! :)

These are zucchini chips; I got the recipe from Vittles & Bits.

It's a super-easy recipe, especially if you use a mandolin to slice your zucchini, which I did.

However, I found that, for me and my oven, there was an incredibly thin line between "crunchy" and "burnt-tasting". They take a really long time to dry, and I thought about using our dehydrator to do them instead.

I still might do that in the future, but Maggie's original recipe says, " These are best eaten within a couple hours of removing from the oven, as they start to get chewy if left out." I *might* try it if someone blesses us with a lot of zucchini, but to me, these chips were a lot of effort for little pleasure. My chips were either chewy or half-crisp or too-crisp (read: burnt). They might be healthy, but they use a lot of resource for little pleasure.

So, I'm going to have to rate these a NO, THANKS. But let me know if you try the recipe, and what you think - and how you did them! :)

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!

Welcome to my new blog!

I'm so glad you found me! :) My name is Lori, and I love to try new things - whether it's a new recipe, a new restaurant, or a new gadget. My hope is to try lots of things, and give you my opinions on them. That way, you have someone's viewpoint about things other than the creator's opinions! :) I'll be doing lots of recipes that I find on Pinterest; some of the photos look soooo good, but then they turn out kind of...odd? :D

Today, I'm reviewing the Strawberry Chocolate Nachos that can be found at Our Best Bites. I did tweak it a bit - and that's something you'll find out about me. I rarely use a recipe exactly as written. :D Anyway. Here's *my* picture of my strawberry chocolate nachos!

This recipe gets my YES, PLEASE! rating! Let me tell you my tweaks, and then I'll tell you why I enjoyed it so much - although LOOK AT IT. :D

First, I'm a diabetic. Whenever possible, I'm going to lower the carb count or sugar content - but I will never compromise on taste, so if it's going to be REAL something, I'll tell you. If I change it, I'll tell you. :)

With that said: I used lower-carb tortillas (probably a review coming up on them! :D). I used real butter to brush on the tortillas; I used baking Splenda and cinnamon to sprinkle on them. Fresh strawberries, semi-sweet chocolate chips and vegetable oil (surprisingly, a few chocolate chips have a pretty low carb count!), and real whipped cream.

Oh, GOODNESS. Was this ever YUMMY! It doesn't take too many chips to satisfy, either; six chips topped with two diced strawberries, a scant tablespoon of melted chocolate, and a dollop of whipped cream on each was a great breakfast one day, a cooling, satisfying dessert the next.

Let me know if you try this out! :) I think you're going to LOVE it - and so will anyone you decide to share your nachos with. :)