Author: megsas87

Most of the time I am not a big dessert person (hence why you don’t see too many desserts on the blog). But occasionally I want something light and sweet and shortcake is just the thing for my cravings, especially when it is really hot out since this can be served room temp or even cold. I usually keep an assortment of berries on hand because I like to have them for breakfast and just because they are good! I had some blueberries left over from my Grandma’s Blueberry Pie and some strawberries too so one night I decided to whip up a quick mixed berry shortcake. This recipe is great because most of these ingredients you’ll have on hand and it doesn’t involve anything fancy – just pour the batter and bake.

Mixed Berry Shortcake

Ingredients

– 2 eggs
– 1 and 1/2 cup sugar, divided
– 1 cup flour
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 1/2 cup milk
– 1 tbsp butter
– 1 tsp vanilla extract
– fresh berries, tossed in sugar
– whipped cream

Directions

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs for a few minutes. Gradually add in 1 cup of sugar, beating for an additional few minutes. Add in flour, baking powder , and salt. Warm milk enough to melt butter and pour into egg/sugar/flour mixture and combine. Mix in vanilla extract and ensure there aren’t any lumps.

Pour batter into a greased 9×9 pan and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least 15 minutes before cutting. Just before serving, cut each piece in half and then layer with fresh mixed berries and cream.

Enjoy!

Much Love,
M

Recipe Originally published as Mom’s Strawberry Shortcake in Taste of Home August/September 1996, p35

Recently my baby sister was over to visit. When she stays with me she always asks that I make a few of her favorites for dinner. This means that I will be making some sort of pasta and something Asian. This time the Asian inspired dish was these lettuce wraps. We both love going to P.F. Changs and having their lettuce wraps, which is what this recipe is modeled after. I wouldn’t call it a copy cat recipe because I honestly haven’t be able to replicate them but this is a pretty good substitute. This recipe also makes a lot so instead of being an appetizer we turn this into a meal with some rice.

Just like at P.F. Changs there is a special sauce you top the lettuce wraps with in order to make the dish. You could always add this to the skillet but we like being able to control how much sauce we want on our wraps. You also can add more Sriracha or hot mustard if you are feeling extra spicy. Sometimes the sauce seems a little too sugary so I’ll cut it down. I also thought about cooking it down to make it thinner but time always runs out on me.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

– 1 lb ground chicken
– 1 can of mushrooms, drained and chopped
– 2 cans of whole water chestnuts, drained and chopped
– 1/2 onion, diced
– 1/4 cup brown sugar
– 1/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium preferred) plus 2 tablespoons
– 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
– 2 tablespoons ketchup
– 1 tablespoon lemon juice
– 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
– 1 tablespoon hot mustard
– 1 tablespoon Sriracha (garlic chili sauce)
– 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
– Iceberg or Bibb lettuce cut into cups

Directions

In a a large skillet brown the ground chicken. Once cooked add the onion, mushroom, and water chestnuts and cook until onions have softened. Stir in 2 tablespoons of both soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Cover and let simmer until sauce is thickened (about 5 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine remaining soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, sesame oil, hot mustard and Sriracha sauce. Set aside as a topping.

Serve the chicken/vegetable mixture in cold lettuce cups and top with sauce.

Much love,
M

When it is as hot outside as it has been here lately, I don’t like to do much cooking (or at least not major cooking anyways).  These Fancy Italian Sandwiches (or Sammies as my baby sister calls them) are so so easy and the perfect go to dinner on a busy and hot weeknight. You can use any variation of deli meats that you want to with this recipe. I usually just pick out the meat based on what is on sale. Sometimes I use just plain turkey while other times I go with the more traditional mix of ham, salami and pepperoni. It is also good with pastrami. You definitely want to go with a melty cheese like provolone or mozzarella but if you have other favorites, feel free to use those.

Fancy Italian Sandwiches

Ingredients

– loaf of flat focaccia bread
– 1 package of sliced soft white cheese (provolone or mozzarella preferred)
– 1 lb of deli meat (turkey, pastrami, ham, salami, pepperoni)
– 1/4 cup of pesto
– olive oil
– red wine vinegar
– Italian spices
– shredded lettuce
– sliced tomato
– thinly sliced red onion
– sliced black olives

Directions

Split the focaccia bread and lay it open faced on a baking sheet. Cover one side with pesto and the other with olive oil. Bake at 400º until warm but not too crunchy. Top the pesto side with the sliced cheese and lay the meat on the olive oil side. Place back in the oven to get warm and the melt the cheese. Top the warm sandwich with your favorite toppings such as shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, thin red onion slices, and black olives. Drizzle the toppings with oil and vinegar and sprinkle on some Italian spices. Close the sandwich and cut into pieces. Serve with your favorite chips!

Much Love,
M

When I say my Great Grandma Carmen made the best pies I am not lying to you friends! Literally every weekend she would make a pie along with 5 loaves of homemade bread to give to all her neighbors and friends. But she would always keep a slice for herself because that woman had one heck of a sweet tooth. My grandma was also a very economical woman. She lived through the great depression and the lessons she learned then stuck with her for her entire life. She loved fresh fruit but would never buy it out of season simply due to cost. So come blueberry season she would start making this pie as soon as she got her hands on some fresh blueberries. She also would buy as many pints as she could afford that week or month and put them away in the freezer for when she had a hankering for a blueberry pie out of season.

When I tell you that I don’t make pie crusts from scratch I don’t feel bad. Why? Because Grandma Carmen told me so! She had made many a pie crusts in her day but she said there is nothing wrong with saving a little time and elbow grease on the store bought ones because they tasted pretty good and they would occasionally be on sale and she always had a coupon. I’d like to think I make her proud when I make this and other pie recipes of hers.

I’m telling you this pie is amazing. You just HAVE to use fresh blueberries. You can use frozen if you want but make sure the frozen berries are fresh berries you froze yourself. Otherwise the pie will be watery and not have a much flavor. Also the apple sauce is a must. It sounds weird but it is one of my grandma’s best baking secrets! It is in almost every recipe of hers. Trust my grandma – she knew best! Also, serve this with ice cream OK? Because all of grandma’s pies come a la mode!

Grandma Carmen’s Fresh Blueberry Pie

Ingredients

– 2 pie crust shells, unbaked
– 3 pints of blueberries
– 1 and 3/4 cup granulated sugar
– 1/4 cup flour
– 4 tbsp corn starch
– zest of 1 lemon
– juice of 1/2 lemon
– 1/4 or 1/3 cup of apple sauce (1 single serving of the applesauce cups)
– 2 tablespoons of butter, cubed

Directions

In a mixing bowl combine the blueberries with the sugar, flour, corn starch, lemon zest, lemon juice and apple sauce. Pour into a pie dish lined with 1 of the pie shells. Top the blueberry mixture with the cubes of butter and lay the top pie crust on top. Seal and crimp the edges and cut some vent holes in the top. Cover the edges with a pie shield and bake at 350º for approximately 1 hour or until the pie is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. *Place the pie dish on a baking sheet while baking because it will bubble and run over.

Much Love,
M & GGC

 

I had never even heard of a Chicken Philly until recently. I had one once at a restaurant and as it turns our, they are pretty good! And much better for you than the traditional beef sandwiches. As much I love a quick and easy dinner, I knew I’d need to come up with a recipe to make them at home. You could even put them in a wrap or turn them into a quesadilla. These are super easy, really light, and very tasty!

Chicken Philly Sandwiches

Ingredients

Sandwich rolls
Chicken breasts sliced into thin strips
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
provolone cheese
garlic powder
salt and pepper
mayo, lettuce, tomato, etc. for topping

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken, peppers, and onions with garlic power and salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and drizzle the vegetable oil. Saute the chicken, peppers, and onions until chicken is cooked and peppers and onions are tender.

Warm or toast the sandwich buns in the oven. Pile the cooked chicken, onions, and peppers mixture on the bottom half of the bun on top with a slice of cheese. Put the sandwich back in the oven to melt the cheese. Top with lettuce, tomato, mayo etc.

Enjoy with some baked fries for a whole lighted up dinner!

Much love,
M

What is better than having a bowl of hot soup on a cold rainy day? I really can’t think of much! A few weekends back, the weather was super cheesy so I decided to have a low-key weekend indoors and made a pot of soup!

This soup is actually my mom’s recipe. Its a great go-to soup because usually I have most of not all of the ingredients on hand (but if not, they aren’t very expensive to get) and the soup itself is very easy to make and comes together pretty quick. The only variation I have made to my mom’s recipe is that I add in a splash, albeit a heavy one, of cream to the soup. I think it makes it perfectly creamy without being too rich.

Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup

Ingredients

– 1 5-lb bag of white potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped- 1 large onion, diced
– 5 or so ribs of celery, diced
– 1 large bag of frozen broccoli (florets preferred)
– 1/2 stick of butter
– 2 boxes of low sodium chicken stock (can use vegetable as well)
– 2-3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
– skim milk (or whatever milk you have)
– 1/2 cup of light cream or half & half
– salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large soup pot, combine onion and celery with the butter and cook until slightly soft and translucent. Add in the diced potatoes and season heavily with salt and pepper, cover with chicken broth and cook over medium-high heat.

When potatoes are almost cooked through, add in the frozen broccoli and cook until broccoli is soft and potatoes are done.

Reduce heat to medium-low and use a potato masher to mash broccoli and potatoes roughly.

Pour milk over smashed veggies until your desired consistency (more milk = thinner soup). Once milk is warm, add in the cheese and more salt and pepper to taste.

Use the potato masher to finish mashing the soup or use an immersion blender if you want a more smoother consistency.

Let soup heat through but do not scald the milk. Right before serving, splash in the cream.

Enjoy with a piece of crusty bread!

Much Love,
M

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I made these Ruben sandwiches. Even though the Ruben isn’t really Irish, technically neither is St. Patrick’s Day but who really cares – its just fun and part of our tradition growing up. My mom would always make her own corned beef and it was so good but if there is one thing I’m short of these days its time so I took some short cuts that still made this just as tasty! The deli section of the grocery store almost always has corned beef on sale around St. Patty’s day. I usually put about 1/4 pound of corned beef on each sandwich because I don’t enjoy the sandwiches that are so full of corned beef that you can’t taste the other ingredients. Also, I prefer baby swiss cheese on my Rubens because I enjoy the more mild flavor. All together this meal is pretty inexpensive and very easy! I should make them more than once a year! Note: this recipe makes 4 sandwiches

Easy Weeknight Rubens

Ingredients
– rye bread
– 1 lb sliced corned beef
– 8 slices of baby swiss cheese
– good quality sauerkraut (refrigerated is best)
– quality thousand island dressing
– butter

Directions

Butter one side of 8 slices of bread. In a cast iron skillet heated to medium heat, lay 2 slices butter-side down. Top each with 1 slice of cheese, ~1/4 lb corned beef, 1-2 tablespoons of sauerkraut, and a second slice of swiss cheese. On the inside of the top buttered slice of bread, smear on some thousand island dressing and place on top of the meat and cheese. Continue cooking like a regular grilled cheese – until the insides are hot and each side is golden brown. Repeat for the last 2 sandwiches.

Enjoy with some sort of cabbage, potato, and a Guinness or just by themselves!!

Much Love,
M

In case you don’t know, BBQ is a pretty big deal in the south, especially in NC. NC is famous for its battle of the Qs and the state is literally divided over eastern style (vinegar based sauce) and western style (tomato based sauce). My house is an eastern style house but my parents have slowly been converted to western style – My dad is fully on the dark side but I think my mom still has her senses. We keep the peace pretty well but I am still a little surprised the state hasn’t broken out in a BBQ civil war over the issue. But the one thing everyone can agree on is that the meat is pork! NC is hog country after all!

When I see a pork butt (or shoulder to you non-southern folks) on sale at the grocery store, I have to get it! Unfortunately I don’t have a pit (or smoker) so I have to use the next best thing to cook my Q and that’s a crock-pot! The key to cooking good BBQ is low and slow! But the most important thing is the sauce! I typically grab a bottle or two of eastern style sauce whenever we go to our favorite BBQ joint to eat but if you can’t readily get your hands on some from a good BBQ joint, check your grocery store. If you are one of those unfortunate souls who live outside of Eastern NC, you can either buy some from the internet like this kind here or you can make your own (see below).

Crock-Pot Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ

Ingredients

– 1 pork butt/shoulder (approximately 5 lbs boneless)
– 1 bottle of eastern carolina bbq sauce or homemade sauce
– a dash or two of liquid smoke, if desired

Homemade Eastern-Style BBQ Sauce:
– 3 cups of apple cider vinegar
– 1/4 cup of brown sugar
– 1/4 cup of hot sauce (Texas Pete preferred)
– 1 heaping tablespoon of salt
– 3 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
– 3 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
– several dashes of Worcestershire sauce
– black pepper to taste

Directions

In a crock pot on low, place the pork butt fat side up. Pour a bottle of sauce or 1 batch of homemade sauce over the pork butt and cook on low for 8-10 hours until the meat is tender and falls apart. Remove any bones and fat. Shred the remaining meat.

Serve on a bun with some coleslaw or on a plate with collards and fried okra!

Enjoy! – And don’t forget the hushpuppies!

Much Love,
M

Cajun chicken pasta is something I don’t make too often because of how rich and loaded with calories it is, but when we do have it, boy is it good! I originally posted my twist on the Chili’s copycat version but since then I’ve made it several times and have really revamped the recipe. I now use whole wheat pasta – not only because it is better for you but I like the texture better than regular pasta. I also added peppers and peas to the recipe to bulk it up and to add some nutritional value and texture. When making the sauce I now exclusively use fat free cream or half and half – never full fat/calorie cream as it is just too rich!

One other thing to note about this recipe is to not be afraid of seasonings! When seasoning the chicken before blackening it, you really need it covered in spices – not caked on by any means but don’t just sprinkle a little dusting, just properly season the thing! My favorite cajun seasoning, as I’ve said many times is Gullah Luv Seasoning. For the chicken to be cooked evenly you first need to pound the chicken breast’s thicker half so that the breast is all the same even thickness. The best way to do this is putting them on a cutting board, covering them with plastic wrap and pounding them with a rolling pin. This is also a great stress reliever – just make sure you don’t get too carried away and wind up with chicken mush. 😉 Oh and you absolutely have to use a cast iron pan for this. If you don’t have one, you need to get one – you’ll thank me later.

Best Ever Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients
– 1 box of whole wheat penne pasta
– 1 lb (4 regular size) boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded even
– 1 quart of fat-free or reduce-fat cream or half-and-half
– 2 tbsp butter plus more for cooking chicken (about 1 stick total)
– 1 large yellow pepper, cut into thin pieces roughly the size of the penne noodles
– 1 bag of frozen peas
– 4 roma tomatoes, diced
– 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
– sliced scallions (also for garnish)
– 1 tbsp of cajun seasoning, plus more for seasoning chicken
– 1/2 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
– 1 tsp black pepper
– salt to taste

Directions

In a large cast iron skillet heated to medium-high heat, add 2-3 tablespoons of butter. Once melted, cook the chicken breasts two at a time. Do not flip the chicken for several minutes until you see white creeping up the sides. Do not worry when the chicken appears black, that’s a good thing – its flavor baby! Once the chicken is cooked to temp, set it on a plate to rest and cook the remaining two breasts, making sure to add more butter to keep the chicken from sticking. Once all cooked and on the plate to rest, cover with foil to keep warm. Right before serving, slice the chicken.

While chicken is cooking, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta. At the same time, in a large non-stick skillet, heat the cream, 2 tablespoons of butter, and seasonings.

Once the chicken is removed from the skillet, reduce to heat to medium-low and add in the sliced bell peppers. Once they start to get a little color, add in the bag of frozen peas and cook until no longer frozen.

As the sauce is heating, whisk it as often as you can. When it starts bubbling, continue whisking until it is nice and thick. Stir in the peas and peppers as well as the Parmesan cheese.

Serve in a bowl topped with sliced chicken, diced tomatoes, scallions and Parmesan cheese.

Much love,
M

In case you haven’t heard, spaghetti squash is the new pasta. Don’t worry, I was skeptical at first and but I was pleasantly surprised. Don’t get me wrong, there still is a major difference between the squash and pasta, but it really is a good carb-free, healthier, yet tasty alternative to pasta.

I normally love any kind of pasta primavera so I decided that my first attempt at spaghetti squash would be a spin on a dish I already was a fan of. I saw on one of my favorite blogs a similar version from Skinnytaste and knew I had to give it a try. One thing I made sure to get a brand of marinara sauce that I knew I really liked and that was more flavorful – aka spicy! You can always make your own marinara sauce but there are some jarred sauces that are really good, especially the heart healthy, organic kinds! The other key to this recipe is fresh mozzarella cheese! I got the larger ball from the deli section and used my box grater to “grate” it. I say “grate” because what really ends up happening is the cheese starts to crumble into shreds but it all works just fine. One final note – make sure not to over cook the veggies! You want to have a little crunch left in your veggies otherwise this dish ends up being baby food primavera. Not really, but really.

Spaghetti Squash Primavera

Ingredients
– 1 large spaghetti squash
– 1 large onion, chopped into larger chunks
– 1 tablespoon of minced garlic or garlic paste
– 1 heaping cup of sliced carrots
– 1 large or two small zucchini
– 2 small yellow squash
– 2 medium crowns of broccoli
– 1 and 1/2 jars of marinara sauce (about 3 cups)
– fresh mozzarella cheese, grated
– salt and pepper
– olive oil

Directions

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle the insides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt a pepper. Place squash cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast in the oven at 450° for 30-45 minutes or until squash is tender. Once cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrape out the “spaghetti-like” strands of squash into a bowl.

In a large skillet, saute the onions with the carrots and garlic in a little drizzle of olive oil. Once the carrots have mostly softened, add in the zucchini, yellow squash and broccoli and saute until they start to soften. Stir in the cooked spaghetti squash and season with salt and pepper. Add in the marinara sauce and cook until hot and bubbly, making sure the vegetables do not too soft.

Pour into a greased 9×13 casserole dish and top with the grated mozzarella cheese. Put the casserole in the oven under a lo broil until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

Serve with some crusty garlic bread and enjoy!

Much Love,
M