Thanksgiving Casserole

I was so pleased with the way this turned out! If you like a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, you’re likely to like this as well.

1 lb. ground turkey
1 pkg. (6-oz.) dry stuffing mix, any variety
1 lb. frozen green beans
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. dried minced onion

Cook stuffing according to package directions. Steam green beans until done. Brown turkey with onion and poultry seasoning, then drain. In large bowl, stir together stuffing, green beans, and turkey. Sprinkle
with sage and mix well. Add cranberries and stir again. Serve!

Pink Dessert

This is the simplest, yummiest summer dessert ever. My mother-in-law used to make it for her children when my husband was growing up. It’s our favorite!

1 half-gallon vanilla ice cream
1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 whole angel food cake

Tear angel food cake into small chunks. Cover the bottom of a 13×9 glass baking dish with the cake chunks. Let the ice cream and lemonade sit out and soften for an hour or so, then combine in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to combine the ice cream and lemonade until smooth. Pour the ice cream/lemonade mixture over the angel food cake. Smooth the top. Freeze for at least 2 hours, then serve.

Chicken Tarragon with Pasta

This is probably my favorite dinner. Simple, but so delicious!

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 c. lemon juice
2 tbsp. dried tarragon
12 oz. spaghetti or linguine
4 tomatoes

Put the chicken in a glass baking dish. Pour the lemon juice over the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the dried tarragon. Cover the dish with foil- bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta. Toss hot pasta with butter and salt to taste. Remove chicken from oven and transfer to serving plate- discard lemon juice. Serve chicken with buttered pasta and cold sliced tomatoes.

Lemon Potato Salad

This is my favorite potato salad- nice light lemony flavor, and no heavy mayonnaise taste thanks to the addition of sour cream. This is great to take to any summer gathering.

5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon peel
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 c. light mayonnaise
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. sour cream
5 large celery stalks, chopped
1/2 c. chopped green onions

In a large pot, heat potatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and enough water to cover to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 to 12 minutes until potatoes are tender.

In large bowl, whisk together lemon peel, lemon juice, oil, sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

Drain potatoes. Add hot potatoes to lemon dressing. With rubber spatula, stir gently to coat. Let potatoes cool at room temperature 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In small bowl, stir mayonnaise, milk, sour cream, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth. Add mayonnaise mixture, celery, and chopped chives to potatoes; stir gently to coat well. If not serving right away, cover and refrigerate.

Lemon Chicken Tacos

WOW- these are sooo good! Mexican with a twist- the meat for these tacos is chicken marinated in lemon juice.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes
2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. lemon juice, divided
1 large onion, sliced
4 green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive or canola oil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. cilantro or parsley
2 tomatoes, chopped
8 flour tortillas (8″), warmed

Sour cream
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Salsa
Shredded lettuce

Place chicken in large resealable bag; add 2 tbsp. lemon juice. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 1-2 hours. In a nonstick skillet, sauté the onions and garlic in oil until tender. Add the chicken, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir for 4 minutes or until juices run clear. Remove from heat; stir in the tomatoes, cilantro, and remaining lemon juice. Spoon onto tortillas, and serve with shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Serves 2-3.

S’mores Fudge

This is SOOOO good- and low in fat! It’s rich, so a just a few pieces are satisfying. It’s a great gift, or take it to a potluck.

1-1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 c. fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/3 c. miniature marshmallows
2 whole graham crackers, broken into bite-sized pieces

Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and coat with cooking spray; set aside. In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk, stirring until smooth. (I’ve also done the melting in a bowl in the microwave.) Remove from heat and cool 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Fold in marshmallows and graham crackers. Pour into prepared pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Lift out of pan and remove foil; cut into small chunks.

Raspberry Lemon Cream Cake

This cake is sooo good, and so light and summery. I made it for my daughter’s birthday one year, and everyone loved it. It may seem like a lot of steps, but I promise, it goes together really easily- YUM!

2 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 frozen all-butter pound cake (10 3/4 oz.), thawed
1/2 cup prepared lemon curd
2 cups raspberries
3 tablespoons seedless red-raspberry jam

Prepare frosting- in large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add cream and vanilla- increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate frosting while assembling cake.

Assemble cake- cut pound cake HORIZONTALLY into 3 even slices. Place bottom slice on platter and spread with half of lemon curd. Reserve 1/2 cup raspberries for garnish. Arrange half of remaining raspberries over lemon curd. Spread one side of each remaining pound cake slice with jam. Place 1 pound cake slice, jam side down, over raspberry-topped cake. Repeat with remaining lemon curd, raspberries, and pound cake. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Cover cake loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Garnish with raspberries before serving.

Key Lime Pie (No-Bake!)

Here’s a piece of trivia- I’m not a huge cake fan, so when we got married, we had a key lime pie- we just sat the cake topper on there, and we cut it just like we would have a wedding cake. Our guests ate key lime tarts with gorgeous fresh fruit on top. This is a yummy, nice and tart, key lime pie- and the best part is, NO BAKING INVOLVED!

1 prepared 9″ graham cracker crust
1 can (14-oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. key lime juice
1 tsp. grated lime peel
2 c. frozen whipped topping, thawed

Beat sweetened condensed milk and lime juice in small bowl until combined. Stir in lime peel. Pour into crust. Spread with whipped topping. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Serves 8.

Summer Salsa with Sweet Tortilla Chips

This recipe is so much fun- salsa and chips, except the salsa is sweet summer fruit and the chips are cinnamon & sugar dusted. Mmmm- great for a snack, a dessert, or to take to a gathering.

Chips

4 (8″) flour tortillas
1 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Salsa

1 lime
1 tbsp. sugar
1 large ripe peach, unpeeled and chopped
1 large ripe red or purple plum, unpeeled and chopped
1 large ripe apricot, unpeeled and chopped
1/2 c. dark sweet cherries, stems removed, pitted, and chopped
1/2 c. seedless green grapes, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush tortillas with butter. In cup, combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle one side of each tortilla with cinnamon-sugar. Stack tortillas and cut into 6 wedges, making 24 wedges in total. Arrange wedges, sugar side up, in single layer on 2 large cookie sheets. Place cookie sheets on 2 oven racks and bake chips 10-12 minutes or until golden, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower racks halfway through baking. Cool chips on cookie sheets on wire racks. Store chips in tightly covered container.

Just before serving, prepare salsa. From lime, grate 1/4 tsp. peel and squeeze 1 tbsp. juice. In medium bowl, stir lime peel, lime juice, sugar, and chopped fruit until combined. Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

Mocha Pie

This is easy and sooo good! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

1 package (18-oz.) refrigerated chocolate chunk cookie bar dough
1 pint coffee ice cream
1 container (8-oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 c. hot fudge sauce, warmed
2 tbsp. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9″ springform pan. Press cookie dough onto bottom of prepared springform pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until edge is set and center is still slightly soft. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Spread ice cream over top of cookie. Spread whipped topping over ice cream. Freeze at least 2 hours. Before serving, thaw for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove side of springform pan. Top with hot fudge and nuts.