A Mad Class Party

Friday, The Cisco Kids Class had a Mad Scientist Party. The teacher had four different kinds of experiments. She had Dry Ice and explained the Composition between solid and gas. She had what she called bleeding paper. The kids took a piece of wax and wrote what they wanted on the paper. She then came around and sprayed Windex on the paper and the paper bled revealing their text. The Cisco Kid's paper said "Stay Out Haunted House". She then had a trick where they cut a card in a special way to make a bracelet. Her last experiment was where each child made their own batch of silly putty. After all the experiments were over they saw a 1950's Halloween cartoon. Last but not least Pizza was served with a very large variety of fun deserts.

Stromboli

These Stromboli's can be served as an appetizer or a main course. Both could also be served with a side of tomato sauce.

Ingredients:
3-1 lb fresh or frozen dough. I use Bridgeford frozen Ready Douth.
2- 6 oz. package of sliced pepperoni
1 lb. of 98% fat free ham, sliced 1/4 inch in length
2 large green bell peppers, sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 cups Shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 egg scrambled
Your favorite Tomato Sauce for dipping

Directions:
Roll the dough to the size of  aproximatly 19 inches x 6 inches. That length will depend on if you like a thinner or thicker crust. If you like a thicker crust, roll the dough to 15 inches x 5 inches. I like a thin crust.  If the dough is to long for you to handle, just cut it in half and work with two smaller pieces.   That is what you see in the picture. I prefer to fill them with pepperoni, ham, green bell pepper and mozzarella cheese. You can fill them with anything you like. I do recommend that with any ingredients you may use, always include the Mozzarella cheese.
Scramble one egg and set aside. Once you have rolled out your dough, start layering all your ingredients down the center, starting with the pepperoni and ending with the Mozzarella. Now you can start to close the Stromboli by bringing both sides of the dough around and overlapping them. Then fold the two ends closed. If your dough will not stick together you can dip your fingers into the scrambled egg and run it along the seam.

Place the Stromboli on a greased or lined cookie sheet seam side down. Generously rub the scrambled egg all over the Stromboli’s.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or golden brown.

Serve with a side dish of tomato sauce for dipping.  Each one lb loaf of dough will complete a 20 inch long or two 10 inch long Stromboli's.

Serving the Stromboli as a main course
Cut Stromboli in half and serve with a side of tomato sauce. Serves 8

Serving the Stromboli as an appetizer
Cut into 2 inch pieces and place on a serving tray with tomato sauce. Approximately 80 pieces.

Hints: When cutting the bell pepper into your 1/4 inch slices, slice the two ends off where it curves. The curves have a tendency to puncture through the dough.

Thanks Kim from "Pair Slices"and Heather from Oswalds Cuties for participating in "What would your children say"? Wednesday.

Coconut Crusted Chicken

We eat chicken at least three times a week.  I make chicken parmajana, grilled tarayaki chicken, chicken maranated in italian dressing, chicken dry rubed in italian seasonings, BBQ chicken, cajin chicken, the list goes on and on.

Last week I defrosted some chicken not knowing what I was going to make for dinner, but I knew it was going to have chicken in it. When it came time to start cooking I was so tired of the same old chicken meals. I went into my pantry and stood there, just staring at everything. I stood there, and I stood there some more. Then I went to the fridge and looked at all the condiments. I just stared at them. Nothing jumped out at me. So I went back to the pantry and stood there looking for something, anything that I could use to make something different. Then, a beacon of WHITE! This was it! Coconut!  The Coconut Crusted Chicken was born. Crunchy outside, Sweet goodness taste through out, tender moist chicken inside. HAAAAAA!

This is what you will need to make this outstanding summer, super yummy coconut crusted chicken. 
4 chicken breasts
2 eggs scrambled
1/2 cup of oil

For the Coconut Crust
1-14 oz. bag of angel flake coconut sweetened
1-1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tea cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon salt

Put 1/2 of the bag of shredded coconut in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and pulse until the mixture looks like flour. Remove from food processor and put in a large bowl. Add the remaining coconut. Mix well. This will be more than you will need for 4 chicken breast. Take half of the amount, put in a plastic baggie and freeze. This keeps very well.

Frying
Put the oil in a frying pan and heat on medium/high. Let the oil get hot before putting the chicken in.
Dip the chicken in the scrambled egg. Then put the chicken in the coconut mixture and coat well. Press the mixture on very tight. Do not coat the chicken and set it aside until you get the oil ready. The coconut mixture will not stay on tightly. Fry the chicken fully before turning and be gentle. This will insure your coating will all stay on and look beautiful.

Pineapple pecan chutney
2 cups of fresh pineapple cut in small cubs
2 tablespoons of splenda brown sugar
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of pecans
1/2 cup of water
1/2 tea cayenne pepper
1 tea cinnamon
1/4 tea salt

Add all the above ingredients in a small pot and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or until everything is very tender.

The completed meal. Sliced strawberries on the side are optional.

All ingredients needed for this recipe.
1 bag of angel flake coconut sweetened
1-1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tea cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 large strawberries (optional)
2 eggs
4 chicken breasts cleaned and dried

For the pineapple pecan chutney
2 cups of fresh pineapple cut in small cubs
2 tablespoons of splenda brown sugar
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of pecans
1/2 cup of water
1/2 tea cayenne pepper
1 tea cinnamon
1/4 tea salt

Cream of mushroom soup

This cream of mushroom soup is so easy and full of flavor.  

1 lb of fresh mushrooms cleaned, diced and sautéed

2 cloves of garlic, Remove skin and leave them whole

½ gallon of whole milk

32 oz. Vegetable broth

1 small onion diced

2 tablespoons of butter

1/8 cup of olive oil

4 tablespoons of flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

First make a roux.  A roux gives lots of flavor to the soup and thickens it. 

To make a roux you add 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and melt.  Then add 4 tablespoons of flour and cook on low heat for approximately three minutes.

 Add ½ cup of milk to the roux mixture and blend, making sure there are no lumps.   

In a separate shallow pan add 1/8 cup of olive oil.  Once olive oil is hot add 1 small diced onion and cook until tender.   Then add 1 lb. of clean, fresh sliced mushrooms and cook until tender.     

Take all the ingredient and add them to a large soup pot including whole garlic cloves.   Simmer for 45 minutes, string occasionally.  Before serving remove the garlic and throw away.   

This is the best Cream of Mushroom soup.  

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped potatoes are one of my favorite side dishes. You can prepare them a couple of days in advance and just pop them in the oven 1-1/2 hours prior to dinner.
You will need an 8 x 11 baking dish at least three inches deep. Peel and cut your potatoes into 1/8 inch slices. Put some milk and a table spoon of butter on the bottom of the baking dish.  
Now you can start layering all your ingredients. Lay down a layer of potatoes then sprinkle with flour, add a small amount of pepper and salt. Then sprinkle a layer of cheese. Every other layer spread one tablespoon of butter.  Repeat this process ½ inch from the top of the baking dish.  Once all the ingredients are layered put ½ cup of chopped fresh parsley on top and full with milk. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours.  

Ingredients: 

5 lb. bag of potatoes peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
Flour
2 cups colby jack shredded cheese
Milk
3 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup chopped fresh parsley

 

Cranberry walnut bread pudding with vanilla custard sauce

For Easter Sunday I made a Bread Pudding that turned out very delicious. I have come across many bread pudding recipes and they all use Italian bread. I thought it would be a better tasting bread pudding if the bread itself was full of flavor. I went to Publix and they sell a Cranberry walnut loaf that is very delicious.

Start with a 3 QT. baking dish and cut the loaf of bread into one inch cubes and put them in the baking dish. Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Set aside.

In a separate bowl scramble four eggs with 2 cup of cream and 2 cups of milk. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and one cup of splenda brown sugar or if you are not sugar conscience use one cup of regular light brown sugar. Beat the ingredients together well. Pour the liquid mixture over the top of the bread and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to bake the bread pudding preheat the oven on 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, depending on how dry you like your bread pudding.

 Ingredients:

One loaf of Publix cranberry walnut loaf.
2 cup's of cream
2 cups of milk
4 eggs scrambled
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of splenda brown sugar or one cup of light brown sugar
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of cranberries

Vanella custard sauce:

1/2 c. splenda brown sugar or light brown sugar

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

dash of nutmeg

1 large egg

2 tbsp. butter

1 1/4 c. whipping cream

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

if you would like to make this a rum sauce just add 1/8 cup of rum.

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until thickened.