Rainbow Jello

St. Patrick's Day is this week, and I've been trying to work up a green menu plan for my family. I have a hard time adding green food coloring to all the food. It seriously grosses me out. I know much of the food I buy at the store is full of food coloring, but somehow it's different than green scrambled eggs or green milk. Corned beef and cabbage would never fly at my house, so I've been trying to come up with some ideas of more naturally green food.

This year, we're going to go easy on breakfast with some Lucky Charms. My kids have never had them, so I think they'll be a hit. I'm still working on some fun ideas for lunch. I'd love to hear any ideas you've got to share.

For dinner, I've got some spinach pasta from the grocery store, which is already green! I'm going to make some fresh pesto sauce to go on top. Get out your green table cloth, and serve it up with a green vegetable and some of this rainbow jello and voila! You're family will be so impressed. You could even serve some of this low calorie key lime pie for dessert.

This jello will take a while to make, but most of it is down time while you wait for the next layer to set up in the fridge. It's a piece of cake if you are working on other projects around the house. Just take a break from folding laundry and add your next layer before moving your load of whites over to the dryer. I'm going to make mine the day before St. Patrick's day so it's ready to go and I don't have to worry about it the day of.

Now, this is important. Unless you fridge is more level than mine, it won't look very cool if your layers aren't level. I usually have to fold up a piece of paper and shove it under one side to compensate.

Check out more St. Patrick's ideas at the below, and remember to share your green ideas with me in the comments!

Other St. Patrick's Day Ideas:

Veggies: broccoli, green beans, spinach, cucumbers, green salad

Fruit: green grapes, honey dew melon, kiwi, green apples dipped in a pot of gold (peanut butter or caramel)

Treats: goldfish crackers, gold mini Reeses peanut butter cups, Skittles, M&M cookies with green M&Ms or Andes mints

Lunch: green juice boxes, green jello cups, pickles, green fruit leather

Recipes:
Broccoli and Bowtie Pasta
Green Zucchini Soup with peasant bread
Key Lime Pie
Green smoothies via my sister-in-law Jen
Other St. Patrick's ideas from Jen

My St. Patrick's Day Pinterest Board

Rainbow Jello

Use a 9 x 13 dish.

You will need small boxes of jello (in this order):
lime
lemon
orange
strawberry
cherry
black cherry (purple)
1 1/2 lb. sour cream

Combine one box of jello with 1 1/4 cups boiling water. Divide this mixture in half.

First half, add 1/3 c. sour cream and stir until smooth. Use wire whisk to add sour cream. Mix it gently, being careful no to make it too foamy. Pour your sour cream jello layer into your glass dish and pop any bubbles before putting it into the fridge. Refrigerate 1/2 hour.

For the second half of the jello, add 3 Tbl. of cold water. Carefully spoon onto first layer. Chill 1/2 hour. You will end up repeating this process twelve times--two layers each of six colors of jello. Be careful as you pour on each layer. Remember to check that the dish is level before leaving it to set up.

Top with cool whip and serve to all those little leprechauns at your house!

Oven Steak Fries

Here is another recipe success at our house from Our Best Bites. Our Best Bites had a couple different seasoning options, so go there for other ideas. We made the garlic salt option.

 

These were really good, and made an easy, tasty, healthful side dish. I just ate them plain because the seasonings were perfect. My husband firmly believes that all fries should be eaten with ketchup. And my kids love anything, even potatoes with the skins left on dipped in ketchup.

4 medium Russet potatoes, washed

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

2 1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. parsley

Preheat oven to 400. Mix desired spices in a medium bowl. Add olive oil and combine well.

Cut potatoes into 8 wedges each. Add potato wedges to seasonings and toss to coat.

Lightly crumple some aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and then arrange potato wedges on foil. This ensures even cooking and makes cleanup a cinch.

Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes.

Quick and Easy Black Beans

I've made these a few times now and they are a hit at my house. Last time we had them with Mushroom-Smothered Salisbury Steak (recipe coming soon), and the flavors complimented each other perfectly. Or you could just eat them with some corn chips. They are that good.

The best part is that I can make an amazing side dish in about 15 minutes (they would go great with these enchiladas). I always make a double batch so there's enough for leftovers.

This recipe comes from Our Best Bites.

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (this is important, I overlooked it the first time I made them and they were too runny)
1/2 Tbl. olive oil
2/3 c. diced onion
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
2/3 c. chicken broth
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lime

In a saucepan on the stove, heat the olive oil to medium high heat. Saute onions for about 3 minutes or until they just start to become translucent. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds more. Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When they are done cooking, remove from heat and add in a few squeezes of fresh lime juice. Then use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to smoosh (yes that is a technical culinary term) some of the beans. You don't want to pulverize them, but you want to take a bunch of good smooshes so that some of the beans are smashed, which will thicken the sauce. They will thicken more upon standing. If you want a more soupy consistency, add a little more broth.

Orange Jello Salad

Why do I love this jello salad so much? I guess because I just tracked down the recipe, so I've never had it very much. I know it's an old standby. I would never think to mix these ingredients together, but it's just so good.

1 container Cool Whip, 8 oz. (I used Cool Whip Light)
1 container small curd cottage cheese, 16 oz.
1 small box orange jello (I used sugar free)
1 large can crushed pineapple, (20 oz.) well drained
1-2 can mandarin oranges, well drained (to taste)

Gently combine cool whip, cottage cheese, drained pineapple, and dry jello powder in a large bowl. Gently stir in mandarin oranges, reserving some for garnishing if desired.

Garnish with mandarin oranges. Chill well before serving.

Broccoli Bow Tie Pasta Salad

I love this summery salad. The lemon and salt and pepper flavor with the broccoli is delicious. It's light and filling, and the pine nuts and parmesan cheese are the perfect finishing touches. This recipe comes from the Food Network--Paula Deen's show I think--but it's not posted on their website anymore.

Salt
8 cups broccoli florets (4 heads)
1/2 pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 lemon, zested
1/2 teaspoon freshy ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1/4 cup toated pignoli (pine) nuts
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

I buy the big bag of fresh broccoli florets from Costco, then chop them up into bite sized pieces. Cook the broccoli for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water. Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon or sieve. Place in a large bowl and set aside.

In the same water, cook the bow-tie pasta according to the package directions, about 12 minutes. Drain well and add to the broccoli.

To toast pignolis, place them in a dry saute pan over medium-low heat and cook, tossing often, for about 5 minutes, until light brown. I like to do this first, then use the same pan for the butter and oil.

Heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Off the heat, add 2 teaspoons salt, the pepper, and lemon juice and pour this over the broccoli and pasta. Toss well. Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese, toss once more, and serve.

Strawberry Lemon Jello

I love this jello, it is the perfect blend of flavors and I love the pudding consistency. It's so easy. The hardest part is thinking ahead to let it set overnight before serving.
1 large box lemon pudding (the cook kind)
1 large box strawberry jello
whipped topping

Make Jello according to package directions (4 c. water total). Set aside.

Make pudding according to package directions. Pour jello into pudding slowly, mixing well to avoid lumps. Stir well with whisk until jello and pudding are uniform consistency.

Pour into 9 x 13 glass pan. Cool until set (I have to let mine set overnight).

Top with whipped topping.

Thanksgiving Edition: Mashed Potatoes

I'm realizing I don't have pictures of all the dishes for Thanksgiving dinner. I'll post the recipes for now. Those that don't have pictures? Rest assured they will after Thanksgiving Day.

Here's how we make our mashed potatoes. My favorite.

Peel your potatoes. I like the large baking potatoes from Costco. They are so big they are a cinch to peel.

Cut the potatoes into similar sized chunks, about 1 to 2 inches wide. Often we'll get the potatoes ready to this point and then keep them in a bowl or pot with water covering them potatoes until we're ready. For our Thanksgiving dinner, it just helps to do the prep earlier.

Boil them in a large pot with water just covering the potatoes. Simmer, covered, until soft when poked with a fork. (about 15 to 20 minutes)

Drain off the water, and transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Add butter, cream or milk, and salt to taste. This will of course depend on how many potatoes you make. For my sake, make them creamy.

I love gravy on my mashed potatoes. That recipe, of course, is for another day.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Another recipe from Kaye. My dad says this whole wheat bread tastes better than the stuff from Great Harvest. My mom and I felt like real pioneer women after making this bread for the first time. Kevin says this makes the best toast.

Kaye makes 4 loaves at a time in her Bosch. My Kitchen Aid will only fit the dough for 2 loaves, which is about the right amount for my family anyway.

Learning to make bread has been a process for me. It has always tasted good, but I had a hard time making it look pretty. I finally got a loaf I'm not embarrassed to post a picture of. I've decided the key for me is to not let it rise too long in the bread pan. I fold the dough before I put it in the pan, and then I have to tuck and roll under a little bit more to get the top nice and tight.

My most recent batch, the loaf I thought was going to look the best when I put them into the oven rose a little too much over the top of the pan, so that when it came out of the oven it was hanging over the edge just a little bit. This loaf I took a picture of didn't look as good when I put it in the pan. In fact, it didn't even fill the ends of the pan. But it filled out as it rose and baked and ended up looking the prettiest. I'd love to have you post your bread making tips and tricks in the comments.

Warning: Before you start making this bread, set out a stick of butter so it will be soft when the bread comes out of the oven. Because there's nothing better than some soft butter spread on a slice of bread hot out of the oven and you will be sad if you don't have any.

Into the Kitchen Aid (with the dough hook attachment):

2 3/4 c. warm water
2 Tbl. yeast
1/8 c. sugar (about - depending on your sweet tooth!)

Add:

1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. honey
1/4 loosely packed brown sugar
1 Tbl. salt
1 1/2 Tbl. lecithin (optional - powdered or liquid)
3 to 3 1/2 c. red wheat flour (2 c. wheat into the wheat grinder yields me 3 c. wheat flour)
3 c. white flour (or until the sides of the bowl are clean)

I use 7 - 7 1/2 c. of flour total.

Remove bowl and let rise 1 hour. Scrape down the sides and turn onto oiled counter.

Cut dough in half with sharp knife. Form into loaves and place in greased pans. Allow dough to rise 1 inch above bread pan.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Originally posted 1/15/07 without picture

Salad Supreme Potatoes

Poke holes in potatoes with a fork and microwave. (I washed 10 red potatoes and microwaved them, oh I don't remember, between 10 and 20 minutes.)

When the potatoes are cooked all the way through, cube into bit size pieces and transfer to a cookie sheet sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

Brush olive oil onto each potatoes. Or, if you are lazy like me, spray them with Pam. (aka canola oil)

Sprinkle with salt first, then the Salad Supreme Seasoning.

Bake or broil until toasted.

Olive Garden Salad

2 lb. bag of lettuce
1 can olives - whole
purple onion slices - thin
tomatoes
1 Box croutons - use big croutons; small ones go soggy

Dressing:

Wishbone Italian Dressing (small bottle)
1/2 whipped egg
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 Tbl. basil
1/2 Tbl. oregano

Originally posted 3/30/07 without picture

How to Make Your Kids Think You Are Cool

They will worship you. Beg you to make it again. Smiles and laughter will abound.

What is this magic? Rainbow jello, my friends. Rainbow Jello.

Easy Garlic Bread

I found this stuff at Costco that makes awesome garlic bread. It's basically garlic and parmesan cheese.


You mix it into a softened stick of butter, spread the garlic butter on the bread, toast under the broiler or bake at 350 for 10 minutes, and it turns out heavenly.


Just watch it closely so it doesn't burn if you put it under the broiler like me.

I keep my leftover garlic butter in an old margarine tub in the fridge.

Fruit Dip

I haven't had this for awhile, and I forgot how good it is. Even my 5 year old said "Mmm mmm mmm!" when I set it in front of him. Hey, if this stuff gets my kids to eat fruit, that's success in my book.

Large jar marshmallow cream (13 oz.)
8 oz. cream cheese - room temperature (low fat won't work)
1 Tbl. lemon juice

Mix together with whisk attachment, and serve with fruit: apples, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, etc.

Originally posted 1/13/06 without picture

Broccoli Cheese Fettuccine Sauce

So this wasn't my fave, but it wasn't bad. My family ate it. It's all a part of the "try new recipes" kick I have been on this last week. The recipe called it Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce, but the overall flavor was Broccoli Cheese so I changed it. It may just have been different from what I was expecting. Here's to mixing it up with new food at the dinner table.

1 can Broccoli Cheese soup
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. basil
3 fresh plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
3 cups hot cooked fettuccine

In saucepan mix soup, milk, basil, tomatoes, and cheese. Over medium heat, heat to a boil cook over low heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss with fettuccine.

Fajita Quesadillas

This is our own creation, perfected over many trials before Kevin entered it into the cooking contest at work.

1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
olive oil

Cook the onions and peppers in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. This mixture will make 4 quesadillas.

1/2 package bacon, cooked till crispy and drained - this will also make you 4 quesadillas

We would cook the peppers and bacon ahead of time, save the leftovers to make them more quickly next time.

Then, per quesadilla:
about 3 grilled chicken strips, or 1 smoked mesquite chicken breasts (from Costco - these are small), depending on what flavor you want
1 1/2 c. shredded colby jack cheese
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 uncooked tortillas

Cook 1 side of each tortilla on a griddle. When you flip them over to cook the second side, cover each tortilla with 3/4 c. colby jack cheese and 1/2 c. mozzarella, spreading the cheese all the way up to the edges of the tortilla.

As the cheese melts, cover 1 tortilla with bacon, chicken, then the pepper mixture. When your cheese is completely melted, put the other tortilla on top of it all off and let it melt together a little bit before serving.

Twice Baked Potatoes/Potato Boats

My kids call these potato boats.

Bake potatoes in the microwave. (Poke each potato several times with a fork, cook 10 minutes on high. Flip over, cook another 10 minutes. Let sit in the microwave and they will keep cooking.)

Cut each potato in half length wise, so that it will make a nice little "boat" to hold you filling. Carefully scoop out the soft inside, leaving the empty skins (it's okay to leave a little bit of potato in there to help hold the skin together).

Mix up your mashed potatoes however you like them. You can add butter, milk, salt, a little dry ranch dressing mix, whatever. Just make them creamy.

Put some bacon bits or bacon pieces in the bottom of the skins, along with some grated cheese. Spoon the mashed potato mix back into the skins.

Top with more cheese, bacon, green onions, whatever you like. Bake them at 350 for a little while until they are warm, or if you are in a hurry, just put them under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Lite Lion House Rolls

I had these at a friend's house and can't get enough of them. This recipe is from the Lion House Recipes Lite cookbook.

1 Tbl. yeast
2 c. warm water
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. light margarine
2/3 c. instant nonfat dry milk
5-6 c. flour
2 egg whites
1 Tbl. olive oil

Use electric mixer. Combine yeast and water, let stand 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, margarine, dry milk, 2 c. flour, and egg whites. Beat together until smooth after each addition. Add about 1 more cup flour, 1/2 c. at a time (in your mixer if it will take it, or by hand), until it is well mixed in. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and kned until it is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes.

Gather dough into a ball. Scrape bowl clean and spra it with nonstick cooking spray. Return dough to bowl. Let dough rise in a warm (not hot) place away from drafts until about triple in bulk. (In a cool oven with a pan of hot water on a rack under it is a good place.)

Use the last of the flour as needed on the board for rolling and shaping the dough. (Don't use it all unless you need it.) Turn dough out onto floured board and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to manage as you roll it. Roll or cut into desired shapes. Place on baking sheets sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Brush surface of rolls with olive oil. Let rise in warm place until double in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.

Make 3 dozen rolls.

And here's the best part:
Per roll:
101 calories
1 g fat
151 sodium

Yummy Mummies

Made these for the first time Halloween 2007. A great addition to dinner in a pumpkin, and definitely a new Halloween tradition. Very easy (near impossible to mess up) and tastes good too. The hardest part was making the mustard eyes small enough.

Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold (thaw about 1 hour)

Hot dogs

Mustard

For each Mummy Dog cut one dinner roll in half. Roll each half into 22 to 24 inch rope. Wrap one rope around hot dog from bottom up 4 1/2 inches. Cut a 1 1/2 inch piece off the second rope and set aside.

Wrap the second rope around the hot dog from the bottom up 4 1/2 inches going the opposite way. Wrap the 1 1/2 inch piece around the top of the hot dog. Place Mummy Dogs on a sprayed baking sheet and bake at 350 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, cool slightly and add mustard eyes.

Serve warm with ketchup and mustard.

Chex Mix

This is the OLD Chex Mix recipe that used to be on the side of the Chex box. They have since changed it, and it's not as good. Also tastes much better than the store bought Chex Mix. We always took this on family car trips growing up and we still have this at the family Campout every year. I think my mom sends it with all of the kids when they have to travel for sporting events.

Use a big bowl (sorry I'm unclear on the size) and fill with equal parts Cheerios, Crispix, Rice Chex, Corn Chex, and Wheat Chex.

Melt:

1 square margarine

3 Tbl. worchestershire sauce

2 1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

Pour evenly over cereal, stirring to coat evenly. Microwave for 6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.

Barbara's Potato Casserole/Ham and Potatoes

I think most people call these "funeral potatoes." We always have them on Easter Sunday with ham.

1 can cream of chicken

1 c. sour cream

1 c. milk

1 Tbl. dried onion

1 c. shredded cheese

3 Tbl. melted butter

Spray 9 x 13 pan. Fill pan with frozen hash browns. Mix rest of ingredients. Pour over potatoes but do not stir. Sprinkle with corn flake crumbs (what I do) or the following topping.

Topping:

1/2 c. cornflake crumbs

3 Tbl. melted butter

3 Tbl. parmesan cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 min. to make crispy.