Lime Meringue Pie

Have you heard of lime meringue pie before? I have made lemon meringue pies many times, but I had never heard of lime meringue. When I saw the recipe for this it got my attention. Mike likes anything citrus flavored when it comes to baking.  So I showed the recipe to him and asked him if he would like me to make it for him.

I guess since I am posting about lime meringue pie you know what his answer was. I have eaten key lime pie only once in my life and it has been a number of years ago. So I was wondering if this pie would be like a key lime pie, since I have never made I looked at a recipe for a key lime pie and noticed that the two are similar on how they are made.

The recipe called for four limes, but I didn't look at the recipe as closely as I should have before grocery shopping. I was thinking of my lemon meringue pie that I make that uses one lemon, so I took it for granted that the lime would be similar. There was a good sale on limes that day so I did happen to buy three limes, so that is what I used. After Mike ate some of the pie he said that he thought that I should have had the fourth lime, so next time I make it I will be sure to have the fourth lime.

The pie did turn out creamy and I thought it was delicious with the three limes. So if you like citrus flavored baked goods, I think that you will like this recipe.

Lime Meringue Pie (Inspired by: The Best Ever American Cookbook by Frances Cleary)
Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk
Finely grated rinds and juice of 4 limes
7 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crust:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
2-3 tablespoons ice water

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
2. For the crust, sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing lightly with a fork until the dough will form a ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough. Use it to line a 9 inch pie pan, easing in the dough and being careful not to stretch it. With your thumbs, make a flute edge.
4. Using a fork, prick the bottom and sides of the pie shell all over. Bake until lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Let cool, in the pan, on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees 375 F
5. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat the yolks and condensed milk. Stir in the lime rind and juice.
6. In another clean bowl, beat 3 of the egg whites until stiff. Fold into lime mixture.
7. Spread the lime filling in the pie crust. Bake 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, beat the remaining egg whites and the salt and lemon juice until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla.
9. Remove the pie from the oven. Using a metal spatula, spread the meringue over the lime filling, making a swirled design and covering the surface completely.
10. Bake until the meringue is lightly browned, about 12 minutes longer. Let cool, in the pan, on the rack.

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Popover Pizza

The first time that I ate popover pizza was at my sister's house. I really loved it and I had asked for the recipe, but for some reason she never gave me the recipe. I am not sure if she forgot to give it to me or if I forgot to remind her. So when I found the recipe in the cookbook that I have borrowed from Krista's boyfriend's mom, I was excited and could not wait to make it.

Friday in our house is frozen pizza night. I know frozen pizza is pretty sad for someone who writes a cooking blog, but after a hard week of work Mike and I settle for something that is easy and quick. This last Friday night our two daughters were going to be at home for supper; and since I had all the ingredients for this popover pizza I thought it would be a great time to make it.

The nice thing about popover pizza besides that it is easy and fast to make, like pizza you can add the ingredients that your family loves on pizza. The popover pizza that I made for us was a simple one that included Italian sausage, pepperoni, a little green pepper, and cheese. For myself I would have added everything but the kitchen sink, but then I would have not pleased everybody.

You may wonder why it is called popover pizza. Mike was wondering the same thing until we sat down to eat. You see the batter that you make is poured over the top of your meat, cheese, and sauce to make sort of a crust when it bakes and then when you serve it you popover or flip over the crust so that it is on the bottom. Wallah, this is how you get the name popover pizza. So if you want a family pleasing easy dish to make I hope you try this popover pizza, I don't think you will be sorry.

Popover Pizza (Recipes from Home A Collection of Favorites Compiled by Ruth J Steinfeldt)
1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage (I used sausage)
Enough pepperoni to make one layer over sausage
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 cups of spaghetti or pizza sauce
16 ounces of mozzarella cheese
2eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef or sausage (if you add onion add to the meat while browning). Add spaghetti or pizza sauce and mix well. Place mixture in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over meat mixture. Combine eggs, milk, oil, and flour and mix to well blended. Pour batter over the mozzarella cheese layer. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares. "Flip over" or "Pop over" when serving so meat and cheese are on top.

Note: The options are endless to what combinations of ingredients you can use for the this popover pizza, so use your imagination and go wild.

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Baked Lemon Herb Tilapia

I love fish, it doesn't matter what kind. I guess it could be said that I haven't eaten a fish that I didn't like. Usually the fish I eat are made on the George Foreman grill or pan fried. While Mike was away on a business trip a while back ago I decided to experiment with baked fish.

The first night of my experiments I was ready with a lime and olive oil and I was pondering which herbs I would try. I won't go too much into detail with the lime version of my baked fish experiment, because it didn't turn out the way I hoped it would. I know I added too much lime which made the fish way too sharp tasting for my taste buds.

The second night I decided to try a little lemon instead of the lime, hoping for better results. I decided to keep it simple, which is sometimes the best. I went with olive oil, lemon, basil, onion, and a little garlic. Yum, it was much tastier and pleasing to me than the lime was. I had decided to make a couple of pieces of fish for my daughter Krista even though she was at work that evening. She decided to take it with her the following day for her lunch and she said that she enjoyed it as much as I did.

So with Lent starting this week, for those of  you that are looking for a meatless dish I hope you will try this fish. I think that you will find it simple and pleasing to your palate. I am sure that you could use several different kinds of fish if you don't care for the tilapia, but remember the baking time may change with the size of the fish. I hope you enjoy!

Baked Lemon Herb Tilapia (recipe by Dawn)


Ingredients:
4 Fillets of Tilapia
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon
1 1/2 basil
1 tablespoon thinly sliced onion
2 small cloves of garlic minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Mix all ingredients except for the fish and mix well. Line a shallow baking dish with tin foil and stray with cooking oil of choice. Place fish on tin foil and drizzle half of the olive oil mixture over the fish. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. Take baking dish out of oven and flip fish, drizzle the remain olive oil mixture over fish and continue baking for 5 more minutes or until fish is done.

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Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake

I know that I just got done with the chocolate cake challenge, but I wanted to make a chocolate cake for an early Valentine's Day treat for my mom. Mike and I usually go to visit her on Sunday night's to visit and play cards.  Some of my siblings usually stop in also and we have a great time together. So I wanted to have something special for everybody to enjoy. And how can you celebrate Valentine's Day and not have a little chocolate.

My cake was a big success, everybody enjoyed it. By the time that everyone had a piece there wasn't much left. I did leave an extra piece for my mom to enjoy for the next day. I love being able to surprise her with something she enjoys, she has done so much for my siblings and me. I feel it is my time to give back to her.

This cake was a luscious chocolaty cake, with a very chocolaty frosting. I used the whipped cream filling that I used in the cake challenge, but with a little twist, I added a few drops of mint extract to give it a minty flavor. We loved the chocolate and mint; it is such a great combination.

Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake (Adapted from About.com American Food)


Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
A few drops of mint extract

Chocolate Frosting:
3 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream (This was not enough cream the frosting was very dry, I used about 1/2 cup).
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cocoa and boiling water until blended and smooth.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs on at a time and beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
4. Stir the baking soda into the buttermilk. Alternately add the butter milk and flour to the batter, beating well after each addition until all is blended. Beat in the cocoa mixture until blended. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 3 minutes. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and spread evenly.
5. Bake until the cakes pulls away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Set the pans on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Take cakes out of pans and cool to room temperature.
6. Make filling: Beat cream with sugar add mint extract and put in refrigerate to chill.
7. Make frosting: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa until blended. In a medium bowl, sing and electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the 1 cup of the cocoa mixture and 1 tablespoon of the cream until blended. Repeat adding the cocoa mixture and cream until all is combined, and frosting is smooth and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and additional cream if necessary for desired consistency.
7. Assemble the cake and enjoy!!

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Caramel Apple French Toast and an Award

I have fallen in love! Yes, I have fallen in love with baked French toast! The first time I baked one of these yummy recipes was on Christmas morning. It was the post for the baked French toast with the peaches, it was delicious, but I love this one even more.

I found this recipe in a cookbook that was borrowed to me by my daughter's boyfriend's mom. Joe had told his mom that I had started a blog; and she thought I might enjoy looking for some recipes in this cookbook that I would like to post about. I thought that was so nice of her and I have actually found several yummy recipes that I can't wait to make. When I saw this French toast bake I knew that it would be the first one that I would try.

The caramel apple French toast is actually assembled the night before and chilled in the refrigerator over night. The caramel is not too heavy, but quite delicious and blends in with the apples for a wonderful flavor. The French toast part of this dish gets a little crunchy over the top, but the bottom is tender. The caramel, apples, and the French toast roll into one delicious breakfast. It is so easy and quick to make and it is nice to be able to get up in the morning and slide it in the oven. The aroma of it baking will get those late sleepers hopping out of bed to see what smells so good.

Caramel Apple French Toast (Adapted for Recipes from Home - A Collection Favorites compiled by Ruth J Steinfeldt)

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon milk

3 apples, peeled and sliced (I used one apple, but could have used more apples)

cinnamon

1 loaf French bread

1 1/2 cup milk

6 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and milk. Bring to a full boil. Pour in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Lay apple slices in rows on top of cooled caramel. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Slice French bread in 1 1/2 inch thick pieces. Lay over apple layer. Beat milk, eggs, and vanilla well. Pour over bread layer. Cover and chill overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until light brown and crispy.

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And now for the award. Adele from the The Dutch Door Kitchen has been kind enough to give me the 

Liebster  award. Adele is somewhat one of  the newer bloggers in the blogger world, but her blog is filled with wonderful desserts and dishes you won't want to miss. She has beautiful pictures to go along with all of her posts. So I hope you visit her blog, you won't be disappointed. Thank you, Adele for the award and your thoughtfulness.

A Liebster Blog Award is given to talented and loved bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

There are a few rules that go with accepting the award;

-Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

-Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.

-Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

-Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserves to be noticed.

-Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.

Here are the 5 blogs that I have chosen to give the award to. 

Ellie's Place In The World
A Duck In Her Pond
The Cooking Lady's Affordable Cooking Tips
Nummy Kitchen
Dulce Dough

They are all awesome blogs that I am sure you will enjoy. If any of these bloggers do not want to participate in the award feel free to say no thank you, I will not be offended.

Oven Baked Chicken Strips

We eat a lot of chicken in our house, mostly chicken breast. So when I find a recipe that looks good to everyone I like to try it. I found this recipe while I was paging through a local grocery store flier. Our local Hy-Vee Store will list healthy recipes once in a while; this was the first time that I tried one of their recipes.

This recipe uses quick oats to coat the chicken. I had never thought of using oatmeal as a coating for chicken,  my interest was peeked and so I thought I would give it a try and see how it was. Along with the oats you use Parmesan cheese, dill weed, salt and pepper. We all like the breading although it could have maybe had a little more flavor. I could see adding some Italian seasoning to this or maybe some Rosemary, I think you get the idea, there is an endless amount of possibilities.

I like the idea of serving these chicken strips instead of the fried ones, it is always good to go a little healthier. We served these with Dijon mustard; which added a nice flavor to these chicken strips. The other suggestions would be honey mustard or barbecue sauce.

Oven-Baked Chicken Tenders
Ingredients:
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 pound chicken breast cut into chicken strips

What to do:
1 Process oats, Parmesan, dill weed, pepper, and salt in a food processor until a coarse powder is formed, about 1 minute. Pour onto a large plate or wide shallow dish.
2. Whisk together egg and milk in another wide shallow dish.
3. Dip each chicken strip into the egg mixture allowing excess to drip off. Place in oat mixture and coat each chicken strip making sure all sides are covered.
4. Place chicken tenders on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Broil on high for 4 minutes, turn chicken strips and broil for another 4 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Serve with favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!!
Note: I doubled the recipe.

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Perfect Chocolate Cake

This is the first month that I am participating  in the Crazy Cooking Challenge sponsored by Tina from Mom's Crazy Kitchen. I thought it would be fun to try one of these challenges, but I didn't realize how much work it really would be. This month's challenge was to find a chocolate cake on another person's blog, bake the cake, and post about it.

I looked at a quite a few blogs before I found the cake that I wanted to make. Finally I  found the cake at One Perfect Bite. If you are a chocolate lover then this cake is a must for you to try. The cake is rich and very chocolaty, it has this whipped cream filling that I think goes wonderfully with the cake, and then there is the frosting. The frosting is almost like eating ice cream with this cake, YUM. I have to say it one more time if you love chocolate you must try this cake... you will love it.


The cake is not only two layers it is three layers, now I have never made a three layer cake and so I found it a little tricky assembling the cake. So when you look at my pictures the cake may not look perfect, but that was okay since it tasted lovely. Anyway I think the taste out weighs the way it looks.


So please visit Mary's blog at One Perfect Bite, you won't be sorry. The name of her blog says it all, she has wonderful recipes and beautiful pictures.

Perfect Cake Cake (Source One Perfect Bite)
Ingredients:
Cake
1 cup  unsifted unsweetened cocoa
2 cups boiling water
2 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter or regular margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Filling:
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup unsifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
1 package (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup butter or regular margarine
2 1/2 cups unsifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1. To make the cake: In medium bowl, combine cocoa with boiling water, mixing with wire whisk until smooth. Cool completely. Sift flour with soda, salt, and baking powder. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease three 9 by 1 1/2 inch layer cake pans. Grease and lightly flour pans. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer  at high speed beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, scraping bowl occasionally, until light,. about 5 minutes. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths), alternately with cocoa mixture (in thirds), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Do not over beat. Divide evenly into pans smooth the top. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip. Cool in pans 10 minute. Carefully loosen sides with spatula; remove from pans; cool on racks.
2. To make filling: Whip cream with sugar and vanilla; refrigerate.
3. To make frosting: In medium saucepan, combine chocolate pieces, cream, butter; stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from heat. With whisk, blend in 2 1/2 cups confectioners, sugar. In bowl set over ice, beat until it holds shape.
4. To assemble and frost cake: On plate, place a layer, top side down; spread with half of whipped cream. Place second layer, top side down; spread with rest of cream. Place third layer, top side up. With spatula, frost sides, first, covering whipped cream; use rest of frosting on top, swirling decoratively. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. To cut, us a thin edged sharp knife; slice with a sawing motion.

Note The  cake should e refrigerated, but to prevent the frosting from cracking when cut, let the cake sit a room temperature for about 30 minutes before slicing.

Sloppy Joes

Do you like sloppy joes? It is one of the favorite foods for the men in our house. When our daughter's were growing up they wouldn't touch a sloppy joe and they still don't care for them all that much. When I was a kid my mother called them barbecues. Then when I met Mike he called them sloppy joes. It doesn't really matter what they are called, I enjoy them.

In the past I have usually bought a can of sloppy joe sauce, which I think makes a great tasting sandwich. Also there are several different kinds to choose from, but I have been wanting to make them from scratch. I thought maybe they would be a little healthier than the canned sauce, which is always a good thing.

I found a recipe for sloppy joes that I thought Mike and would like on allrecipes.com. I did change a few things around, but it turned out delicious. Mike said they were the best sloppy joes he had ever eaten. There was just the right amount of spiciness to these sandwiches, which I think came from salsa, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce.

If you have a craving for some great sloppy joes I hope you try these. They are really fast, easy, and delicious. It can't get much better than that.

Sloppy Joes (Adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup ketchup
1 cup chunky salsa
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
6 rolls
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in the ground beef. Cook and stir until the beef is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease.
2. Stir in ketchup, salsa, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, white vinegar, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat 20 to 30 minutes. Serve on rolls and enjoy!

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Vegetarian Chili

Anyone that has been reading my blog the past couple of weeks has seen a lot of soup recipes. I have been making a new kind of soup each week. It has been a lot of fun and I have been enjoying all the different kinds of soups that I have experimented with. It is a great lunch to take with me to work; it is comforting and great to warm me on these cold days in winter.

This week I did change it up just a little bit, I made chili. Not just any kind of chili, but vegetarian chili. This is my first time making a vegetarian chili and it was a hit with the family. With a chili that is so full of flavor; who really needs to have meat. Once again I found this recipe in the cookbook that I checked out of my public library Better Homes and Gardens soup & stews Cooking For Today. This book has so many wonderful soup recipes in, but I am sad to say that this book has to go back to library this weekend. I am sure that I will check it out again; there are still so many recipes in this book that I would like to try.

I did adapt the chili some though. The recipe did not call for any peppers in the chili and for me chili just has to have peppers. The recipe called for zucchini and I did leave that ingredient out, I was not sure about zucchini in chili, plus the fact that I didn't have zucchini in the house helped with that decision. Plus the recipe called for beer, which I decided to add, I am glad I did, it added a unique flavor.

I think that this chili would be a great addition to any menu for the big game this weekend. It is spicy and full of flavor and one of the best things your family and friends will be eating a super healthy chili and they won't even know it.

Vegetarian Chili (Adapted  from Better Homes and Gardens soups & stews Cooking For Today)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic; minced
1 large onion chopped
1/2 large green pepper chopped
1 large red pepper chopped
1-14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1-12 ounce bottle beer (I used a light beer)
48 ounces of tomato juice
2-15 ounce cans kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1-15 ounce can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1-15 ounce can chili beans
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 1/2 ground cumin
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
1 teaspoon pepper
Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce
1 cup fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
Directions:
In a Dutch oven cook garlic, onion, and green and red peppers in hot oil for about  30 seconds. Stir in the undrained tomatoes, beer tomato juice, chili powder, mustard, oregano, cumin, pepper, crushed red peppers, and hot pepper sauce. Stir the beans into this mixture. Bring the mixture to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
Stir in corn and simmer, covered, about 10 minute or until vegetables are tender. If you like you can top with shredded cheese.

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