Dinner Tonight: Crockpot ribs and Veggie Rice

Tonight I made some yummy, moist and tender ribs in the crockpot and Veggie Rice as a side.  It's super hot here now, so the crockpot is very handy for keeping the kitchen cool.  Plus I throw dinner in in the morning and can concentrate on school and the kids for the rest of the day!  Here are the recipes.

Polynesian Spareribs

3 to 4 pounds pork spareribs
5 tbs sugar
3 tbs honey
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs ketchup
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 cup chicken broth

Place ribs in slow cooker.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over ribs.  Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours.  This comes from my favorite slow cooker cookbook, Home Folk's Old Fashioned Slow Cooker Recipes.  Every recipe in this book is simple but so delicious.

Veggie Rice

1 cup rice
2 1/4 cups water
2 tbs onion soup mix (my family doesn't like this, so I just add a chicken bouillon cube.)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups frozen corn, peas, or mixed veggies (or any combo that adds up to 2 cups...our fave is corn and peas or peas and carrots.)

In a saucepan, combine the rice, water, soup mix (or bouillon cube) and salt (which I omit if using the bouillon.)  Bring to a boil.  Add the veggies and return to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until veggies are tender.  This comes from the very first issue of Quick Cooking magazine.  My kiddos eat this up!  A great way to get the veggies in there.

I was cleaning out my pantry in preparation for the big grocery shopping tomorrow, and found a can of apple pie filling.  On the back was this recipe for Apple Crisp.  We had all the ingredients, so I impressed my kiddos by whipping up a dessert as well lol!

Apple Crisp

1 can apple pie filling
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp salt

Place pie filling in a 8x8 baking dish.  Mix corn syrup and water, and pour over pie filling.  Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle over top.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Yum!

Bodacious Birthday Cake

This one is delicious! I have been making it for years now, and made it most recently for a bday celebration for my ds and his cousin, who both have July bdays. It's sweet, but light like an angel food cake. And the frosting is yummy. It comes from the March/April 2000 issue of Quick Cooking.

White Birthday Cake (this is what I call it, the original name is White Chocolate Fudge Cake.)

Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
1-1/4 cups water
3 egg whites
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, melted
FILLING:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
FROSTING:
1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
3 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen Cool Whip® whipped topping, thawed
Directions: In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, water, egg whites, oil and vanilla. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in white chocolate. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a microwave, melt chocolate chips and butter; stir until smooth. Carefully spread over warm cake. Cool completely. In a small mixing bowl, beat frosting until fluffy; beat in white chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped topping; frost cake. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 16

Easy Summer Menu

My oldest graduated high school last week. The ceremony was scheduled for 7 p.m. Ds needed to leave by 5:30 and we needed to be there by 6. We had family coming from "out of town" (really only 30 min to 2 hours away) and knew we would need to feed them before we all headed out. I needed an easy but impressive meal to serve that could sit out for a while. We decided on fried chicken from the deli and make ahead side dishes.

First my husband made up his creamy and delicious potato salad. I found recipes for an easy coleslaw, a fruit salad, and a yummy cool dessert. All of these we made the night before so all we had to do on the big day was concentrate on family and friends. It turned out great. Here are the recipes.

Potato Salad (an old recipe adapted from a Betty Crocker cookbook)

2 pounds potatoes
1 1/2 cups mayo
1 tbs vinegar
1 tbs mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 tbs sweet pickle relish
paprika

Prepare and boil potatoes. Cool slightly and cube. Mix mayo, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add potatoes. Mix in relish. Top with eggs. Sprinkle with paprika. Refrigerate before serving. Dh usually adds some chopped egg into the salad, and saves some sliced eggs for topping.

Mustard Coleslaw This comes from the current issue of Taste of Home magazine.

3/4 cup prepared mustard
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 medium heads cabbage (about 4 pounds), shredded
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, shredded
1 celery rib, finely chopped


Directions: For dressing, in a bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, sour cream, ketchup, mayonnaise, salt and cayenne. Stir in the sugar. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, onion, green pepper, carrot and celery. Add desired amount of dressing and toss until well coated. Refrigerate until serving. Refrigerate any leftover dressing. Serve with a slotted spoon. Yield: 24 servings. This makes a lot of dressing, you may want to cut down the proportions. I bought pre-packaged coleslaw mix to save time. This is really good!

Fruit Salad (From Allrecipes)

4 cups fresh strawberries, halved
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
2 bananas, sliced
2 cups seedless grapes, halved
1 (8 ounce) container plain or vanilla yogurt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS
In a large salad bowl, combine strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, bananas and grapes. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, sugar and vanilla; mix well. Serve with fruit.
I cut up all the fruit except the bananas and made the dressing the night before. Right before I set this out to serve I cut up the bananas and added the dressing. Yum.

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake (From current issue of Kraft Food & Family)

12 HONEY MAID Honey Grahams, finely crushed (about 2 cups crumbs)
6 Tbsp. margarine, melted
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping, thawed

MIX graham crumbs, margarine and 1/4 cup of the sugar; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
BEAT Neufchatel cheese and 3/4 cup of the sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add preserves; mix well. Place strawberries and remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar in small bowl; mash with fork. Stir strawberry mixture and whipped topping into cheese mixture. Spoon over crust; cover.
REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until firm. Store in refrigerator.

This was delicious! Everyone wanted seconds for this. It's a keeper for sure!

I hope you enjoy this quick and easy summer menu.

Layered Lemon Pie

To go with our delicious dinner of Burgundy Beef in the crockpot, I'm whipping up a quick and light dessert. Layered Lemon Pie comes from Quick Cooking magazine, Jan/Feb 2006 issue. I've been making this regularly since I came across the recipe. My original notes say this is "a cross between cheesecake and lemon pie." I still agree with that lol! It doesn't last long in my home.

Layered Lemon Pie

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 can lemon pie filling
8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed
1 graham cracker pie crust

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in half of pie filling. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Spread with remaining pie filling. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes or until serving. Enjoy!