Butter Tarts

This is a really quick easy recipe for very yummy butter tarts.. nice and gooey!

24 frozen tart shells
1 can low fat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 egg, well beaten
Pinch of cinnamon
2/3 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Arrange tart shells on baking sheets and let thaw for 10 minutes.

Whisk together all ingredients aside from raisins and pour into tart shells. Drop raisins into the butter tart mixture in each tart shell (I do it this way because the raisins seem to sink to the bottom and don't pour as evenly if you stir them right into the batter).

Bake for 18 minutes or until middle is set and pastry is golden.

Enjoy!!



Source: Adapted from Eagle Brand Foods

Presto! It's Pesto!!

First of all, I have to say my husband would like to take credit for the title of this blog post! Haha!

I got a food processor for Christmas which I was VERY excited about. So I promptly whipped up this easy pesto recipe! I swapped out the traditional pine nuts for hazelnuts (I was feeling Christmassy) and it turned out great! You can use any type of nut you like though.

2 cups of fresh basil leaves (packed)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup hazelnuts
3 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper

|*If you're using a larger nut like I did with the hazelnuts, you'll want to put the nuts in first and pulse a few times to get them into a bit smaller pieces before adding in your basil leaves.

Start by combining the nuts and basil leaves in the food processor and pulse a few times. Add in the garlic and pulse again.

Run the food processor on low, while slowly adding in the olive oil in a constant stream. Add in the parmesan cheese and pulse until blended. Add in a bit of salt and pepper for taste, pulse a few times more and ta-da! You are done!!!

Coat a pasta noodle of your choice with your pesto or add it to pizza or chicken or bread, etc. Get creative and enjoy!!

Prosciutto and Provolone Wrapped Asparagus

We had some prosciutto wrapped asparagus this summer at a friends house when we went over there for dinner and it was delicious! We were browsing at the Italian market and I decided to make this dish, but added a twist of my own, provolone cheese!!

This turned out amazing.. it was a great little appetizer, perfect prelude to a nice pasta dinner! If you've had prosciutto before you know it can be very salty. I've included a bit of salt to the coating I gave my asparagus, but I love salt, so if you don't like it as salty just eliminate it from the asparagus coating.

12 Asparagus stalks
12 pieces of thinly sliced provolone cheese
12 pieces of thinly sliced prosciutto
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
A dash of salt
A dash of oregano

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Start by putting the asparagus into a large bowl and drizzle it with EVOO. Add in a dash of oregano and a dash of salt (since prosciutto is already very salty, you can eliminate this salt if you don't like it that salty). Make sure the asparagus is very well coated.

Wrap each stalk of asparagus with one piece of provolone cheese, then wrap a piece of prosciutto around the asparagus and provolone.

Lay on a baking sheet side by side and bake for about 15 minutes in the oven. Let sit for a minute or 2 before transferring to a tray and serving.

Enjoy!!

Taco Pierogies

Ever have leftover taco meat that you don't know what to do with? I'd always find after a taco night we'd always have leftover taco meat but no more shells.

I decided to use some of our leftover taco meat with pierogies one night and it turned out fantastic!! It was super quick and easy to make.

This recipe only makes 2 servings. If you want it to feed more, you'll have to make more taco meat instead of using leftovers like I do.

Taco meat (about 1 cup)
12 cheese and potato pierogies
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup guacamole

Boil the pierogies as per normal cooking instructions and drain.

Heat up the taco meat in a skillet over medium heat. Add in the sour cream and pierogies, stir together and let the mixture heat up for a couple minutes.

Serve up 6 pierogies in each serving and top with 1/4 cup of salsa and a 1/4 cup of guacamole.

Enjoy!

Pulled Pork on a Bun with Slaw

I really like to make pulled pork for events and parties, it's easy and always a crowd pleaser. This is my recipe that I like to use. You'll need a crockpot. The recipe below would be great for pulled pork sliders at a party, but for larger buns and a big crowd you may want to double it.

I like to use pork tenderloin because I find it less fatty than other cuts that are normally used for pulled pork and the meat is just better quality in my opinion. I also like to use the Kraft brown sugar BBQ sauce, but you can use whatever kind of BBQ sauce you like. I find the sweetness of the brown sugar sauce is great for pulled pork.

Tenderloin Recipe
About 3 lbs of pork tenderloin (I like to use 2 of the small pork tenderloins from Costco, they usually come in a package of 5).
1 bottle of Dr. Pepper (600 ml)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp brown sugar
a couple sprinkles of salt
1 bottle of Kraft Brown Sugar BBQ sauce
10 - 12 buns of your choice (I like crusty buns or Cobbs chia buns)

Mix together the cinnamon, garlic salt, cumin and brown sugar.

Poke holes in the pork tenderloin with a fork down the length of each side. Then roll the pork tenderloins in the spice/sugar mixture coating all sides of each. Place the tenderloins in your crockpot and pour the bottle of Dr.Pepper overtop.

Cook the tenderloins on low for about 5 - 6 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 77 C.

Remove the tenderloins from your crockpot and place on a large cutting board. Drain the pop from the crockpot.

Shred your pork using 2 forks and then transfer the shredded meat back into the crockpot. Pour the BBQ sauce over the meat and mix thoroughly until meat is well coated. Set the crockpot to warm and cover.

Slaw Recipe
1 bag of slaw mix
3/4 cup of mayo
1/3 cup sugar
A sprinkle of salt
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp honey dijon mustard
1/4 tsp celery seed

Mix together all the ingredients (aside from the slaw mix). Once thoroughly mixed, pour over the slaw and mix until the slaw is well coated.

Serve up the pulled pork on a bun topped with slaw and enjoy!!

Oreo Truffles

For part of my Christmas baking this year I decided to do some oreo truffles, I had a couple boxes of oreos and this recipe looked to good to pass up!

These were really quick and simple to make.

1 1/2 boxes of double stuff oreos
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 cups white chocolate dipping wafers
1 tbsp shortening (optional)

Using a food processor pulse the oreo cookies until they are crumbs. Set aside about 2 tbsp of crumbs for garnish.

In your mixer, mix together the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth.

Combine the oreo crumbs and cream cheese mixture using your hands until the crumbs are thoroughly mixed with the cream cheese.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and roll the mixture into 1 inch balls, place on the cookie sheet and refridgerate for about 20 minutes.

While the dough is firming up, melt the white chocolate dipping wafers in a glass bowl overtop of a pot of gently boiling water (over medium heat). I just sit my glass bowl right into the pot making sure it's not touching the water. Add in the tbsp of shortening to keep the mixture smooth.

Using a fork dip each ball into the mixture and cover completely with white chocolate, put back onto the cookie sheet and sprinkle with oreo crumbs that you previously set aside.

Pop them back into the fridge for about 10 minutes to let the white chocolate set.

Enjoy!!

Cake Batter Truffles

I was looking for an easy, quick yummy dessert to whip up for my girlfriends Bridal Shower this past weekend and I came across this recipe for cake batter truffles.. who doesn't love cake batter?!

These didn't take long to make at all and everyone seemed to love them (I know my hubby and I did!).

Recipe adapted from this blog.

Truffles: 
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup yellow cake mix
1/2 cup margarine or butter softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
3 - 4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp sprinkles

Truffle Coating: 
1 to 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate melting wafers
sprinkles

Beat together the butter and sugar using an electric or hand-mixer until combined. Add in cake mix, flour, salt and vanilla and mix together well. Add in 3 tbsp of milk gradually until mixture reaches a doughy consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand (I literally used my hands for this).

Roll dough into 1 inch balls ans place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Chill in the fridge for about 15 - 20 mins until firm and ready for dipping.

Melt the white chocolate wafers using a glass bowl placed over a saucepan filled with water set on medium-high heat (make sure the bowl is a tight fit so the lip of it sits on the edge of the pan and is not actually submerged in the water). Using a fork dip the truffles into the melted chocolate one at a time. Once you're done dipping one row of truffles sprinkle them with sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.

Set in the fridge for about a half hour to harden and then enjoy!! Store uneaten truffles in the fridge.