Crab-Filled Crescent Rolls

I found this tasty little recipe, and we bought imitation crab the very next day because this is just too good to read and not try. For the original recipe, please visit: http://cookingwithkrista.blogspot.com/2011/02/crab-filled-crescent-wontons.html

Do you like my fancy cookie sheet as the background? Just like the professionals, I tell you.

What changes did I make?

• We did not have cayenne pepper, so I substituted with Sewell's Seasoning. This stuff is the best! I use it to make guacamole. I use it on salmon, and now I use it in crab rolls. I used approximately 1 tsp.
• I also decided to make it more of a roll because we were having it for dinner. It was a hit with our children and family in general.

Little prep. time. 

4 Star rating from Team Parker

(My husband also thinks the crab mix works well in a tortilla. Can you tell we are in Texas?)

Annie's peaches & cream = Heaven

Annie has a peach tree, that she waters and helps maintain throughout the year. When the fruit is ready to be picked, she loads up bowl and we make many treats with these perfect peaches. This simple and sweet recipe is one from this summer.

Baked at 350 for 8 min. I didn't really measure for this. I put a little butter in the center and then sprinkled a half/half mixture of cinnamon and sugar. We topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

It may not be pretty, but it sure was yummy!

If you haven't heard of Pinterest yet, you might be living in a cave. I remember my friend, Wednesday, telling me to join and warning me that it is addicting. Well, she was right! At first I didn't get it. An online pin board? It didn't sound like something I really needed. Then I started thinking back to websites where I liked a certain photo and I wished I could find it again. That's when it hit me. I really did need the new addiction of Pinterest. For me it started with photography, and then it grew....and grew. I have found some great recipes on there as well. Which leads me to this beauty cake.

My son helped me bake this cake, and if you have ever made a dessert with a child you know that it needs to be ready ASAP. This cake has a lot of steps to it, which made it even more of an exercise of patience for Max. We rushed the cooling time a little and that probably had an impact on how this cake looks. My husband asked me what happened to it. Hee, Hee.

Here is the link to the recipe:

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate-covered-oreo-cookie-cake-90307.aspx

Now for a great laugh, compare their cake to our cake:

We did make some changes to the recipe by:

-using non fat items when available

-finely crushed Oreos thanks to my little helper

-melted icing out of a container due to the nastiness that occurred to the chocolate when melted with butter.

The Parker family would like to endorse this recipe by giving it ratings of (scale 1-10):

Ben= 10

Max= 5,000

Annie= 15,000 (she's a little competitive)

Enjoy~

Stuffed Eight Ball Zucchini

Not sure about you, but usually I think of cocaine when I hear the term "eight ball". Not sure if it is just the non profit industry I have worked in or too many crime investigation shows. I found these little eight ball zucchini's at our local farmer's market this past weekend. They were $1 each. This is what I used to make this meal:
2 zucchini's
2 tomatoes
1 Cup of Brown Rice
1 1/2 Cup of mozarella cheese
1 package of sausage
1 Tblsp of Italian seasoning
olive oil to saute the tomatoes and squash 

Core the zucchini and save for later. Steam the zucchini for approx. 20 min. While you are steaming your zucchini, you can start to boil your rice.

 Saute your zucchini guts (took out the seeds) and your tomatoes.

After you have sauteed your vegetables, add your sausage, and your cooked rice. Once everything has cooked, add your cheese and save a small amount for the top.

Once everything has cooked, stuff your zucchini with your mixture. Add some shredded cheese to the top. Bake at 425 degrees for approx. 25 minutes.

Voila! Enjoy. Our family ratings (1-10): Ben= 8.5, Annie= 100 (can you tell she is a people pleaser?), and Max= 5

Shrimp Salad Sandwich & Apple Pie

I saw this recipe pop up from Paula Deen on Facebook this morning, and I thought that it sounded great with it being so hot outside. Here is her recipe with ingredients for Shrimp Salad Sandwich.

1. You will need at least 1 lb. of peeled and deveined shrimp. I like to call them divine shrimp.

2. Take off the tail and put them in the blender.

3. What do you get? Mush! Shrimp Mush.

4. Add hard boil eggs to the mixture. I used 5 for our family.

5. Add minced celery.

6. Add 1/2 Cup of Mayo.

Shrimp Mush Awaits. I added a couple of tablespoons of Sewell's Seasoning, which I use to make the best guacamole ever. This was the only seasoning I added to this mush. I chilled ours while I prepared our side item and toasted our buns.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

I saw this recipe on busy mommy. com  and then went to our local farmer's market to find the most beautiful strawberries I have seen in a long time! Of course, I modified the recipe. So, I decided this would be my dessert for our Father's Day meal. 

What you need:

-Fresh strawberries (bought a basket at a farmer's market)

-4 Tbls. corn starch

-1 C. sugar

-Graham cracker crust

-Strawberry Jello (I used the large box)
-Whipping cream

Step 1: fill a saucepan with 4 cups water, 4 Tbls cornstarch and 1 cup sugar.  Cook on medium heat for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Add strawberry Jello mix.  Let cool.

Step 2: Fill the graham cracker crust with sliced strawberries.

Step 3: Pour mixture over strawberries once cooled. I refrigerated my pie overnight. Add whipping cream to the final product, and you are done. This was a hit!

Chicken, Avocado, Bacon Quesadillas

I was inspired by the website Kevin and Amanda to make these quesadillas. I made some modifications to their recipe. The whole family loved these for lunch!

What you need to get started:
-Ripe avocado
-Chicken fajita meat
-Shredded cheese
-Cilantro
-Tortillas
-Bacon (I used thick cut)

Step 1: Bake the bacon in the oven. (Used a dripping pan.) Baked at 400 degrees for 15 min, flipped over, and continued to bake for 15 min.

Step 2: Saute the chicken and cilantro in butter. Add your bacon once it is cooked and chopped.

Step 3: Once you have your avocado peeled and cut, you are ready to heat your skillet with butter. Wait until your butter starts to look frothy on the skillet. Place your tortilla down, add chicken, bacon, avocado, and cheese. Fold over half way and flip after the cheese starts to melt.

Yummy, hope you enjoy~

Lemon Sugar Scrub

I saw this project on The Craft Project site and thought it looked like a great project with the children for their teachers. Each child just made one jar and it took less than 10 minutes to make! Great project~

I made some modifications to the recipe. We used:

1 8oz. canning jar

1 C Sugar

1/4 c. Grapeseed oil *this was recommended at an infant massage training I attended.

Lemon Zest

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Lemon Essential Oil *use as much or little as you want. We also used Lemon Eucalyptus 

Mix  ingredients together~  

For the labels, you can find them free at: Mean Mommy Academy

I think for the next scrub I will try a rosemary mint. Hope you enjoy this simple activity!

Italian Chicken, Cheese, & Herb Casserole

I was inspired to create a meal when I saw the Philadelphia Cream Cheese flavoring in the grocery store. For this meal, I used the Italian Cheese & Herb (hence the made up title).


For more great flavors, please check Philadelphia Cream Cheese. They have great recipes! 


What I used for our meal:
-1lb. chicken
-1 package of frozen veggies (thought I would use two, but ran out of room in the skillet)
-1 package of penne noodles (I used gluten free, b/c I am willing to try anything to reduce hyperactivity)
-Philadelphia Cream Cheese- Italian Cheese & Herb
-Parmesan Cheese
-Panko bread crumbs (which I added at the last minute, b/c that's the kind of chef I am, ha...)



Step 1: Cook your chicken. While you are cooking your chicken, boil your noodles. (I decided not to take an exciting picture of boiling noodles, you can thank me later)

Step 2: Add your frozen vegetables, while continuing to turn over your chicken. I lowered the heat and used the lid to help the vegetables cook w/o burning the chicken.

Step 3: Combine your noodles, vegetables & chicken into your baking dish.

Step 4: Add your cream cheese and mix throughout.

Step 5: Add your Parmesan cheese. I used approx. 3/4 cup-1 cup. Really just used the remainder in the bag.
 








Step 6: Once you have mixed all of your ingredients together, you sprinkle your Panko bread crumbs over the top of your casserole and bake at 350 for approx. 20 min.

Hope you enjoy. Max rated this a 10, so it must be good, right???

Sopapilla Cheesecake

I had this magnificent dessert the other day at work. It is great warm or cold. Either way, you will enjoy every bite!

For the printable version of this recipe, check out: AllRecipes.com

What do you need: sugar, 2 cans of crescent rolls, butter, 3 packages of cream cheese, vanilla, and cinnamon. Can you tell I am a big fan of Target?

Step 1: mix the sugar, vanilla and cream cheese together. This is probably the most difficult process of this recipe. I thought I was going to blow out the motor to my 1960's Good Will hand-mixer.

Step 2: Spread one can of crescents on the bottom of your pan. The recipe states to roll it out, but let's get real. It's really not necessary. Spread your cream cheese mixture on top of the crescents.






 
Step 3: Add your top level of crescents. Pour the melted butter on top.









Step 4: Mix your remaining sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the crescents.












Step 5: So...I am thinking it stayed in 5 minutes a little too long. But, it does not taste burnt. It was a hit with my children. Max gave it an 11 on a scale of 1-10. I always have each member of the family rate the new item. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (or a little less). 

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. Again, for the exact amounts of the ingredients needed, please check out the website above.

Crock Pot Potatoes & Sausage

This may not be the healthiest meal, but it is a family favorite in this house. I like to add a salad to it, which makes me feel better. We were recently snowed/iced in for 4 days and we made a lot of projects and food as a family to pass the time. I started to feel like I was turning into the Pioneer Woman (who inspires me daily).

This is what you need:

One of the best purchases at the grocery store is the Reynold's Crock Pot Liners. It makes using a crock pot easy to clean, which means I use it more. Thank you Reynolds for thinking like a mom.


Next step- cut the potatoes and sausage into small slices or cubes.. 

 You are going to layer in this order:
1. Potatoes
2. Salt & Pepper *your preference as to how much
3. Butter *you can change out for margarine, fat free, or whatever your prefer. I like to cut into thin slivers so it can be spread over many potatoes. This helps them soften during the cooking process.
4. Sausage 
**Repeat 1-2 times**

Cover and cook. If you cook on high, it should be done in approx. 4 hours. It depends on how big your potato pieces are. Feel free to do a taste test. It's best when the potatoes are soft and the sausage has cooked over them. 


You can also make this in the oven. Hope you enjoy as much as we do!!