Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

I made these cookies for the Volunteer Dinner at my library and everybody loved them.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze


Cookies:
2 1/2 Cups of flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (I used low fat)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest from one lemon

with a mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until well mixed. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix thoroughly and add dry ingredients. Spoon the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges. Let the cookies cool and frost with glaze.


Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
zest from one lemon

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest, stir until smooth. frost each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon glaze,

Pumpkin Recipes

As soon as the height of the summer heat passes and the days turn cooler, I start craving pumpkin foods! Here are some of my favorite pumpkin recipes.


Pumpkin Pancakes


2 cups flour
2 T sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs--separated
1/4 cup melted butter

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine milk, egg yolks, vanilla, butter and pumpkin puree. Stir into dry ingredients until just blended. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour onto hot, oiled griddle about 1/3 cup at a time. Cook until tops bubble and turn and cook other side. (Note: sometimes I don't bother to separate the eggs and the pancakes still turn out great!)

These taste great with syrup, but my kids favorite way to eat them is to sprinkle mini chocolate chips on the warm pancakes, let them melt a little bit and then top with a dollop of whip cream. YUM!


Pumpkin Dump
(It tastes better than the name sounds, I promise! It is kind of like a pumpkin cobbler.)




1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves)
1/2 tsp salt1 pkg cake mix (I like vanilla, but the original recipe calls for yellow or spice)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices. Stir in the milk, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Sprinkle cake mix over the pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle on the pecans. Drizzle melted butter over all. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool.

4. Serve with whip cream, refrigerate leftovers.

I have found that when I drizzle the butter, I sometimes get areas of dry cake mix in the end result, so what I do is take the butter (cold) and slice it thinly and cover the cake mix with the thin slices. It takes a little longer, but I think it is worth it.



Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
(OK, so technically this isn't a pumpkin recipe, but it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, so I am including it anyway)

1 40 oz can sweet potatoes
¼ cup orange juice
¾ cup all –purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
½ cup butter or margarine
1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place sweet potatoes in a 8x8 inch shallow baking dish and pour orange juice over.

3. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt; mix well and then cut in margarine. Sprinkle over sweet potatoes.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with marshmallows and broil until browned.

Even people who are not sweet potato fans love this recipe (how could they not---let's face it, by the time you add all the extra stuff on top, they can hardly be considered a vegetable!) If you have extra time, I think it tastes better to use "real" sweet potatoes rather than canned. Just peel and slice 2.5 lbs of sweet potatoes, then boil until soft.

Chili-Lime Mango Chicken Skewers

I got this recipe from Our Best Bites. I tested it out on Kevin, Sylvia, Victoria and Ken. They all said it was Yummy!! Caution this recipe makes A LOT.


6T olive oil
¼ cup fresh lime juice
Zest of 1 lime
1 t chili powder
¼ t cayenne pepper (I used double and I still didn't think it was spicy at all)
½ t salt
1 T sugar
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 ripe but firm mangoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

(I watched this video to learn how to cut a mango and it worked out perfectly!)

Directions:
If you're using wooden/bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them in water for 20-30 minutes before you use them. Otherwise they'll fire right up on the grill!

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, chili powder, cayenne, salt and sugar. Place in a zip-lock bag and add the chicken and mangoes, stirring gently to coat with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Prepare grill (or indoor grill pan)

Remove the chicken and mangoes from the marinade and thread onto skewers, alternating the pieces and dividing them evenly.

*When you're making any type of skewer, make sure not to smash everything together tightly. In order for the food to cook thoroughly and evenly, it needs room! The pieces threaded on should just barely touch each other, or not touch at all.

Arrange the skewers on the grill and cook, turning until the chicken is nicely charred and cooked through, 6-10 minutes.

I like to serve these with Jasmine rice. I bet they would taste great with cilantro rice too.

Sloppy Joes Aunt Linda style

Samantha posted this recipe on her blog today and I thought to myself, this family recipe needs to be on Wok The Dog too and so here it is. Thanks Aunt Linda for many years of good Joes, these are super easy and super tasty.

Sloppy Joe Sliders

1 lb ground beef {I use 90/10}

1 medium onion chopped finely

1 stalk celery chopped finely

Brown above ingredients in a skillet until beef is done and onions and celery are translucent. Then add:

1 can Campbell’s chicken gumbo soup ( yep you read it right and yes this is the secret ingredient)

3 Tbsp ketchup

1 tsp yellow mustard

2 Tbsp brown sugar

Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Serve on “slider buns {smaller, pictured above} or regular hamburger buns.

Fruit Sorbet

While on our trip to Denver, Sylvia decided (and I agreed) that we needed to try out some of the sorbet recipes in her ice cream cookbook. They were pretty easy to make and turned out really yummy. We thought they had a better consistency when put in the freezer for a few hours, rather than eaten right out of the ice cream maker. My personal favorite was the Mango.


Raspberry Sorbet

1 cup sugar
½ cup water
1 heaping quart fresh raspberries, about 1 lb
Juice of ½ lime

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

Place the raspberries in a blender with the cool syrup and lime juice. Blend until completely smooth, about 1 minute. For a smooth sorbet, pour the puree through a strainer to remove the seeds, otherwise freeze immediately in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

Note: Frozen raspberries can be used--be sure to get the kind without added syrup.

Makes about 1 quart. Each 1/2 cup serving contains 125 calories.


Lime Sorbet

1 ¼ cups sugar
2 cups water
1 large egg white
2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 6-7 large limes)

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Raise the heat and boil the syrup 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg white with a whisk or an electric beater until foamy, about 10 seconds. Slowly beat in the hot sugar syrup. Continue to beat until the meringue cools down slightly. Add the lime juice. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight. The mixture will have foam on top, but will incorporate into the sorbet when it freezes.

Stir the chilled mixture, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freeer safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

Makes about 3 cups. Each ½ cup serving contains 180 calories and 0 g fat.
　
　
Mango Sorbet

1 cup sugar
¾ cup water
2 ripe mangos about ½ lb each
¼ cup orange juice concentrate
Juice of 1 lime

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup is clear. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Peel the mangoes and cut as much of the fruit as you can away from the large pits. Place mango and orange juice concentrate in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the cooled syrup and lime juice and lend until completely smooth, about 30 seconds. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled mixture, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

Makes about one quart. Each 1/2 cup serving contains 150 calories.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

The production people left three full cartons of strawberry ice cream in our freezer when they left. I was having the missionaries over for dinner, so I decided to invent a way to use some of the ice cream up. I generally think that all desserts should involve chocolate, so I created this "chocolate covered strawberries" cake. It actually turned out really yummy, and I am going to do a variation of it for the quints birthday this week.

1 box Devils Food Cake Mix
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (divided)
1 1/4 cups Water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cartons strawberry ice cream
1 tub Cool Whip
3 Strawberries for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely chop 1 cup of the chocolate chips and set aside. Combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then for 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping bowl as needed. Stir in chopped up chocolate chips. Pour into two 8-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 31-35 minutes.

Remove pans from oven. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. When cakes are cool, use a large knife to slice off any peaks that formed when cooking. Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and freeze.

Once cakes are frozen, remove from freezer and slice each cake in half to form a total of four circular layers. Re-wrap and freeze each layer. Build the cake by working on one layer at a time. Soften 1/3 of the ice cream (1/2 of a container) in a large bowl. When softened, use spoon to mix it up a little so that there are no hard lumps. Remove one layer of cake from the freezer. Spread ice cream over cake layer and return immediately to the freezer. Repeat with the next 2 layers, adding them to the top of the previous layer when finished. Top with the remaining cake layer. Freeze until solid.

Remove frozen cake from freezer. Using a rubber spatula, evenly spread cool whip on cake. Cut strawberries with a V to remove stems, then in half lengthwise to make a total of six "heart" shaped halves. Place strawberries in a circle on top of the cake. Place the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips in a Ziploc bag. Microwave in 20 second intervals at 50% power until chips are melted. Knead bag with fingers to mix, then snip a small corner of the bag. Drizzle chocolate over the top of the cake. Return cake to freezer.

Freeze until hard. When ready to serve, run a large knife under hot water and dry it off for easier slicing. Enjoy!

Bananna-Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Muffins
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 medium ) mashed ripe bannanas
1/4 cup milk (or sour cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

Streusal Topping
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablesoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 18 muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. In large bowl, combine 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add bananas, milk, vanilla and eggs; blend well

2. Add 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; gently stir in 1 cup blueberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full

3. In small bowl, combine 3 Tablespoonss flour, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon; mix well. With pastry blender or fork, cut in 2 Tablespoons brown sugar until mixture is crumbly. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over batter.

4. Bake at 374 degrees for 18-23 minutes (unless your using Megan's oven, than it's anybodys guess) or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool three minutes remove from pan and ENJOY!