My Deviled Eggs – along with some great tips!

June 24, 2011 by · 4 Comments

When I want to surprise my family with a dinnertime treat on Sundays (and when we have lots of extra eggs in the fridge,) I make deviled eggs.  Mine are pretty traditional, but I really think they are the best this way. This is pretty much the way that my mom made them, too.  They are a little bit tangy, a little bit salty and a little bit creamy – I mean, what is there to improve on??  I have made these eggs enough times that I have developed  a few “best practices” over the years.  So, without further ado…here are my GREATTTT tips for making deviled eggs.

1.  Use the oldest eggs that you have in your fridge (FIFO for you accountants out there.)  They peel the easiest.

2.  Crack them all over and run water over the eggs while you are peeling them.  I feel like when the water gets under the shell and into the cracks they peel a whole lot easier.  Also peel them with the side of your thumb so you don’t break into the white.  You have more surface area with the side (vs. the tip) and therefore a wider area of shell gets peeled at once..

3.  Scoop the mixed up yolks into a ziploc bag, cut off a corner of the bag (maybe a half inch wide) and then you can pipe the yolk into the egg whites.  Makes for some very pretty eggs.

4.)  Martha Stewart has a great way to hard boil eggs.  You can find the directions here.  I always use this method and they turn out great every time.

5.) If you want to lighten up your eggs you can substitute plain greek yogurt for the mayo.  You can also use lighter mayo of course.   I will tell you they are still good, but you do notice the difference a bit.  I hate to say it, but there is just something about using good **cough**Hellmans’ mayo in these things.   There is a time and a place for Miracle Whip, but its not in eggs IMHO.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 hard boiled eggs

1/4 cup mayo

1 Tbs prepared mustard

1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/8 tsp kosher salt

a few splashes of hot sauce (optional)

Garnish options – Paprika, sliced green olives, dill, drumbled bacon

Directions

Split eggs in half and put yolks into a bowl

Add mayo, mustard, vingar, sugar, salt and hot sauce to yolks

Mash together with a fork until smooth

Divide mixture evenly amongst egg white halves

Sprinkle tops with garnishes of your choice.

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Strawberry Banana Delight – a great after school snack for kids!

June 20, 2011 by · 2 Comments


I don’t know about your kids, but mine are ravenous when they get home from school.  I am usually still working so its nice to have a snack prepared for them when they walk in the door.   My Kindergartener’s lunch starts before 11 and they are only supposed to bring one item for snack so its really no wonder that they are so hungry!  I also love to have snacks that I have prepared for them every once in a while, vs. them grabbing an apple or a bowl full of crackers (or yes, sometimes chips.)   I don’t know why, but I have these visions of them looking back when they are older and having fond memories of the snacks I made when they got home from school.    Some days that snack might be cookies or others a smoothie.  Hey, I can always hope, right?

I had some bananas that I needed to use up and some strawberries that were on their last leg so I thought this would be perfect!   You could probably mix up the gelatin flavor that you use and  swap out the whipped cream for yogurt and I don’t think the kids would complain too much.  Its definitely a nice easy treat that’s super refreshing on a hot 90+ degree North Carolina day…

Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Delight

Taste of Home

Strawberry Banana Delight – a great after school snack for kids!
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 package (.3 ounce) sugar-free strawberry gelatin
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 6 ice cubes
  • 2 medium ripe bananas, cut into chunks
  • 4 tablespoons whipped topping
  • 4 fresh strawberries

Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water; cool for 10 minutes. Add enough water to ice cubes to measure 1 cup. In a blender, combine gelatin and ice mixture; cover and process for 1 minute or until ice cubes are dissolved. Add bananas; process 1-2 minutes longer or until blended.
  2. Pour into four dessert dishes. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until set. Garnish each with 1 tablespoon whipped topping and a strawberry. Yield: 4 servings.

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Nutella Crescents

June 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Hazelnut Crescents

Hazelnut Crescents

What could sound more fun than that title?  Nutella and a Girls Night Out?  Going to see Katy Perry tonight at the RBC Center, can’t wait!  If you go to her site you should watch the video for “Last Friday Night.”  I am not sure if she is old enough to have grown up during the 80′s or not, but it was definitely funny for me to see Debbie Gibson, Corey Feldman and Kenny G (Uncle Kenny.)  Anyways, its going to be a fun concert!

So these little crescents  are from  one of my favorite recipe magazines, Simple and Delicious.  I never add the toffee bits because I don’t always have them and quite honestly I don’t really think they are needed.  I mean, does Nutella need any help – honestly?  But you can add them if you like – I bet they would be really good.  These are great for the kids to help put together and they are best right out of the oven!

Nutella Crescents
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
  • ½ cup chocolate hazelnut spread, warmed
  • ⅓ cup chocolate-covered English toffee bits
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Instructions
  1. Unroll crescent roll dough; separate into triangles. Spread each with 1 tablespoon hazelnut spread; sprinkle with toffee bits. Roll up from the wide end and place pointed side down 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents.
  2. Bake at 375° for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Yield: 8 servings.

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Roasted Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes – and One Hot Weekend….

June 14, 2011 by · 2 Comments

So, our AC  completely died on us this weekend!  Just so you know, we live in North Carolina and its June so we are full force into summer.  The temps outside were in the 90′s and to say that our house was warm would be…well…the understatement of the year!  Ugh…it was hot hot hot!!

Much to our surprise, we did make it through the weekend in tact, so I thought I would share a couple of tips we learned to deal with the oppressive heat  without going completely crazy (although I did something today that makes me think I had lost my mind after all……)

1.  Wrap a wet towel around your neck and run cold water over your wrists.  Putting some cold on the right spots definitely counteracts the heat.

2.  Face some fans blowing out on opposite ends of the house.  This sucks the heat out of the house and creates a nice breeze (the AC guy recommended doing this so you know it works!)

3.  Ask your neighbors for extra fans as you will probably need them..you might also get some invites to sleep in their “AC’d” house if you have great neighbors like we do!

4.  Don’t think about it…We decided that a lot of dealing with the heat is mind over matter so just try not to obsess and it will be much easier to get through…I think this also helped the kiddos since Mommy and Daddy weren’t complaining:-)

5.  Find lots of things to do outside of the house during the afternoon.  We postponed our typical morning trip to the gym and the pool until after lunch.

6.  Cook  your meals in the AM when it is still cool and bearable.  You won’t want to turn your stove on when its 90 degrees in your house in the afternoon.

All in all, what seemed like it would be a miserable weekend turned out to be a bit of an adventure and a fun family weekend that we survived together!  (Not that I would want to do it again:-)

During one of our outings we stopped at a great little farm stand here in Apex,  DJ’s Berry Patch.  They had zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and green beans.  The beans looked great so we picked some up.    At one point while we were there we couldn’t find Taylor.  After looking for a minute or two, we finally found her sitting outside the stand with a little dump truck  digging in the dirt.  I told her she could dig at home, but she let me know we didn’t have as good of dirt.  Gotta love little kids on the farm!

I had some cherry tomatoes in the fridge that I hadn’t used so I thought I would try to find a recipe with fresh green beans and tomatoes.  I love roasting vegetables – I think it brings out the sweetness and flavor in veggies (just don’t over-roast them.)  I found this recipe and loved the simplicity and use of just a few ingredients that I have on hand.  The sweetness of the tomatoes mixed with the meatiness of the roasted beans is great.

Roasted Green Beans and Tomatoes

From Food Network – Rachael Ray

Ingredients

  • 1 pound trimmed green beans
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oven to 450 degrees F with an empty baking sheet on an upper rack.

Coat beans and tomatoes with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Pour the beans and tomatoes on the hot baking sheet and roast 22 to 25 minutes until caramelized. Serve as a side.

I’m off to bed to read my book  …Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice….bought it this weekend at our neighborhood garage sale from the school librarian so I figured it would be a good read…so far its worth the money!

Roasted Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes – and One Hot Weekend….
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 pound trimmed green beans
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F with an empty baking sheet on an upper rack.
  2. Coat beans and tomatoes with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Pour the beans and tomatoes on the hot baking sheet and roast 22 to 25 minutes until caramelized. Serve as a side.

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