Strawberry, banana, mango smoothie

5 medium to large ripe strawberries
1/2 large banana
1/2 mango (I like the Ataulfo variety, it comes in a six pack at Costco)
3 oz. light vanilla yogurt (I love the Lucern brand)
7 ice cubes

Blend and enjoy! It's delicious!

Cinnamon Rolls

You start by making a dry mix (Hot Roll Mix)



Hot Roll Mix

5 lbs. all-purpose flour (I prefer Pillsbury)

3/4 Cup sugar

2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk



Then in a small bowl combine the following:

1 Tablespoon of dry yeast

1 Tablespoon of sugar

1 1/2 cup of lukewarm water

Let this stand for about 5 minutes while putting the following in your mixer:

3 cups of hot roll mix

2 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup melted butter

Then put in yeast mixture and combine until smooth.

Gradually add 2 - 3 more cups of the Hot Roll Mix until batter is a little sticky but pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead until smooth. Place in butter bowl to rise and let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and knead again until smooth. Then roll out dough on a floured surface in an oblong shape to about 1/4 inch thick.



Cinnamon Sprinkle

2 Tablespoons of soft butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

raisins and nuts if desired



Spread cinnamon mixture on dough. Roll dough like a jelly roll and cut with a sharp knife into 1 inch slices. Place on lightly buttered flat baking sheet. Cover and let stand until rolls raise are double in size. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (don't over bake). Prepare glaze and drizzle over rolls while hot.



Glaze

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoon milk (add a little at a time until glaze is thin enough to drizzle)



Note: you may have some hot roll mix left. Bag and put in freezer for next time or store in dry cool place in sealed container.

Turkey Wraps

This is a favorite of ours when the weather is HOT HOT HOT. I got the recipe from a roommate in college that used to fix fabulous things for us all the time. It takes 5 minutes to come together and no cooking whatsoever. Just reading through the recipe, they don't sound too different or exciting, but they really taste great!! Even my kids gobble them. We often wrap them in tin foil and they travel great for packed lunches or picnics.

Ingredients:

flour tortillas

turkey lunch meat

provolone cheese slices, or your favorite cheese to go with turkey

cream cheese

baby spinach leaves

tomato, thinly sliced

salt/pepper, to taste

Spread cream cheese very lightly over the tortilla, then lay the rest of the ingredients down the center. Roll it up like a burrito and enjoy!

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Amy and I talked about buttercream recipes and she mentioned she didn't have a good one. Well, I have a great one--the kind I want to eat by the spoonful! Here you go, Amy, and anyone else who wants a good frosting recipe:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tbsp whipping cream

In a stand mixer, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Cold chicken salad sandwichs

Great for picnics, to have on hand with crackers and cheese, or anytime you want a quick snack.

Ingredients: (all these amounts are approximates since I never measure anything)

• 4 chicken breasts cooked (either boil them or buy a cooked chicken at the grocery and use the whole chicken instead of just breast meat). cut into cubes or slices when cool, then shred into large bowl. Add:
• 1/2 Cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 chopped fine red onion or green onion stems (optional for you onion haters)
• 1/2-1 Cup (depending on how creamy you want the salad) mayonaise or light mayo...can use fat free
• 1 or 2 tsp/s yellow mustard (to taste)
• Pepper and other spices (sometimes I add a little red pepper powder) to taste

Mix well until all ingredients are well incorporated. Refrigerate until served. I like to use wheat bread or potato rolls. Another good bread with this is the costco bakery "rosemary and olive oil" bread cut into slices...add the chicken salad and a slice of cheese (any kind), bake open faced in the oven until cheese melts, then put the sandwich back together and serve...very good!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

A frozen dessert that is perfect for Summer evenings.

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 cup Nutter Butter cookies, coarsely chopped
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
1 chocolate pie crust
1/2 cup chocolate syrup

Place large bowl in freezer for 10 minutes before starting. In a small bowl, stir together peanut butter and honey. In chilled bowl, combine ice cream, peanut butter mixture and cookies. Beat on low speed until combined. Spread half of ice cream mixture in crust. Drizzle with chocolate syrup, then freeze for 20-30 minutes. Carefully spread remaining ice cream mixture on top. Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before cutting. Garnish with cool whip if desired.

Costa Vida Sweet Pork

3 lb. (give or take) boneless pork roast
1/2 can of Dr. Pepper or Coke (NOT diet)
1 sm. can of green chilies
1 can (around 12 oz.) red enchilada sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and plop your thawed-out meat on top. Cook on HIGH for about 4 hours. At this point, take 2 forks and shred the meat into a million small pieces. Stir a little, and continue to cook on LOW for about 2 more hours.

We made ours into salads (my favorite thing to order at the restaurant) but you can put this on a bun and make a shredded pork sandwich, roll it up into a burrito, ANYTHING. In case you want, here's the tortilla recipe I made at the same time.

TORTILLAS:

3 cups flour
1/3 cup oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water

Stir/knead all ingredients until JUST combined. Let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 12 balls. Let rest for 20 minutes. Roll them out on a floured counter and cook on hot skillet until nicely browned on each side. (The secret is in the RESTING! The dough will not stretch properly if you don't wait the given amount of time. While it is resting, cover the bowl with a damp towel.)