I had a cocktail party this weekend, and boy was it fun.  I made this interesting Sangria that went over really well.  Recipe adapted from Bethenny Frankel.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 peaches, pitted and sliced
• 2 plums, pitted and sliced
• 1 c. green grapes, cut in half
• 2 bottles Prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine–I used a pink variety)
• 8 oz. Fresca
• 8 oz. club soda

Directions:

1. Mix together and chill for at least 1 hour.
2. Pour into glass and ladle fruit into glass.

Sangria:

These cupcakes are so decadently delicious!  The recipe comes from Taste of Home Cake Mix Treats, and if you love chocolate and peanut butter you’ll love these cupcakes!!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 package chocolate cake mix
• 1 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 24 miniature peanut butter cups

Frosting:

• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
• 2/3 c. peanut butter
• Additional peanut butter cups, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, peanut butter, oil, and eggs; beat on low speed for 30 seconds.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until smooth.
2. Fill paper lined muffin cups half full.  Place peanut butter cup in the center of each cupcake.  Cover each with 1 TBSP batter.
3. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
4. Place chocolate in a small bowl.  In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil.  Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth.  Stir in peanut butter.  Cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature or until ganache reaches a spreading consistency, about 10 minutes.
5. Spread over cupcakes; immediately sprinkle with additional peanut butter cups.  Let stand until set.

****Don’t use reduced fat or generic brands of peanut butter.

 Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes:

This dish is fantastic!  Definitely tastes like something you would get at a restaurant.  The best part…it’s quick and easy.  Certainly company worthy.

Recipe is adapted from a recipe in the June 2010 issue of Cooking Light.

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp. olive oil
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chile powder (1 dried chipotle, ground)
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 lb. flank steak or flat-iron steak
• 1 (18oz) tube of polenta, cut into 8 to 10 slices
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 c. crumbled queso fresco
• 2 c. pico de gallo (simply mix grape tomatoes, chopped jalapeno, chopped cilantro, garlic, salt and lime juice together)
• Limes, quartered

Directions:

1. Combine 2 tsp. olive oil, salt, cumin chile powder, and pepper; rub evenly over steak.
2. Heat grill; grill steak until done.
3. Brush polenta with 1 tsp. olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt.  Place a piece of foil on the grill and add the polenta; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
4. Arrange sliced polenta on a plate; add steak, top with pico, queso fresco, and avocado; then squirt with lime.

Grilled Polenta with Spicy Steak:

This sauce recipe is awesome!  It tastes like something you would get in a restaurant.  The original recipe calls for cooking the sauce for 4 minutes, but I like the flavors when the sauce is simmered for a longer period of time…it’s richer and bolder.  But if time is short, you can certainly cook the sauce for a short time and it still will be delicious.

I added zucchini to the sauce and it was delicious.  It was a great way to get more veggies, and it gave the sauce great body and flavor.
The other thing I like about this recipe is how the cook the sausage.  It’s broiled, which is brilliant, because it’s a very low fat no fuss way to prepare sausage.

Adapted from a recipe in the April 2010 issue of Cooking Light.
Ingredients:

• 1 package of sweet Italian turkey sausage links
• 1 box of spaghetti
• 2 small to medium size zucchini
• 2 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes, undrained
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 10 garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press or minced
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. torn fresh basil
• Parmesan or Pecorino Romano Cheese

Directions:

1. Place zucchini in a food processor; process until roughly chopped.  Add tomatoes to the zucchini and process until almost smooth.
2. Heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add crushed red pepper and pressed garlic; saute for 1 minute.  Stir in zucchini and tomato mixture, sugar, and salt; cook 4 minutes.  If you can cook the sauce longer you won’t regret it.  It gets thick and rich…I let mine simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile preheat broiler.  Arrange sausage on a baking sheet.  Spray with cooking spray.  Broil sausage for 5 minutes on each side or until done.  Remove and slice in 1/4 inch thick slices.
4. Cook pasta according to directions.
5. Place pasta in a large bowl; toss with sauce and sausage; add basil and peccorino.

Pasta Arabiata with Sausage:

This chowder is quite tasty.  It’s vegetarian, which is nice.  Most chowder recipes have bacon or ham hock in it for flavor, so it was nice to find a recipe without those ingredients.  This chowder had lots of flavor too.

This recipe comes from The New Vegetarian Grill cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 c. water or more to cover potatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 6 ears of corn, husks and silks removed
• 1 red pepper, halved
• 1 green pepper, halved
• 2 green chiles (2 poblanos or 1 poblano and 1 jalapeno or 1 poblano and 1 anaheim)
• 2 c. whole milk
• 1 TBSP cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper to test

Directions:

1. Prepare grill
2. Combine potatoes and water in a medium size saucepan.  Bring to a boil and boil until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside; do not drain.
3. Combine garlic, cumin, and oil in a small bowl. Brush the mixture on the corn, bell peppers, and chiles.
4. Grill the corn, bell peppers, and chiles, turning occasionally, until tender and grill marked about 10 minutes.
5. Scrape the corn from the cobs and add to the pot with potatoes.  Remove the outer skins from all peppers and dice, then add to potatoes.  Stir in the milk and cilantro.  Simmer over medium heat until the flavors have blended, at least 15 minutes; do not allow the soup to boil.
6. Use an immersion blender and puree.  Season with salt and add more cilantro if desired.  Simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Tex-Mex Chowder:

Oh man do these meatballs remind me of dinners at Grandma Clark’s!  Good memories!!  I call these meatballs sweet and sour, because that’s what it reminds me of.  There isn’t a huge amount of sauce with this recipe, so if you like more sauce, I suggest you double the sauce portion of the recipe.

You can serve these meatballs over rice or egg noodles.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. lean ground meat
• 1 c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 envelope of dry onion soup
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. dried celery flakes
• 1/2 c. vinegar
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. ketchup
• 1/2 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 c. raisins
• Hot rice or egg noodles

Directions:

1. Meat: Mix meat through celery flakes together.
2. Sauce: Combine vinegar through raisins in a large pot.
3. Roll meat mixture into walnut sized meatballs and place them in the pot.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour in the sauce.
4. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Grandma’s Sweet and Sour Meatballs:

This hamentashen recipe is so easy.  I’ve got a family recipe that calls for the dough to be refrigerated overnight, and whenever I look at that recipe I just want to make these cookies right now!  So this easy recipe is perfect and tasty too!

This recipe is from allrecipes.com.
Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz.) package moist yellow cake mix
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBSP water
• 1 c. fruit preserves, any flavor

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or use parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and flour. Stir in the eggs and water to form a stiff dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch round circles and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Place a teaspoon of filling into the center of each cookie and pinch the sides to form three corners. Moisten with water if necessary.
3. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Easy Peasy Hamentashen:

This crock pot dinner is really tasty, and the leftovers were delicious too.  The recipe comes from the March 2009 issue of Cooking Light. I thought the original recipe called for way too much salt, so I didn’t add the salt, other than to season the beef prior to searing it, and boy am I glad that I omitted the rest of the salt, because the dish was plenty salty.  My advice is to use the salt sparingly, because you can always add more after the dish is finished crocking.

The recipe calls for beef short ribs, but I used just a boneless chuck roast, and it worked just fine.  If your meat cut doesn’t have a bone, then I’d reduce the cooking time.

Ingredients:

• 2  tsp. canola oil
• 2  lbs. short ribs or boneless chuck roast, trimmed
• salt and pepper
• 1/3  c. minced shallots
• 3  TBSP minced garlic
• 3  TBSP minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4  c.  water
• 2  TBSP red curry paste
• 1 can of light coconut milk
• 1  TBSP sugar
• 1  TBSP fish sauce
• 1  TBSP grated lime rind
• 1  TBSP  fresh lime juice
• Hot rice

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle ribs with salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add half of ribs to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place ribs in an electric slow cooker. Repeat procedure with remaining ribs.
2. Add shallots, garlic, and ginger to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup water and curry paste; cook 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Add coconut milk mixture to cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours.  If using boneless chuck roast cover and cook on LOW 4-5 hours.
3. Remove ribs from cooker; keep warm. Pour cooking liquid into a zip-top plastic bag and place bag inside a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Pour cooking liquid; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings into a small bowl, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Stir in lime rind and juice, taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Shred rib meat with 2 forks; discard bones. Serve sauce over ribs and rice.

Curried Beef:

This chili is so delicious.  It can be made completely on the stove or once assembled it can be simmered away in the crock pot.  I used my crock pot, and this chili is awesome.  It is thick and hearty and delicious.  I used ground turkey, but you could certainly use ground chicken or beef.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 TBSP   vegetable oil
• 4  garlic cloves, chopped
• 1  lb.  ground turkey
• 2  TBSP chili powder (I used 1 TBSP chili powder and 1 TBSP ancho chili powder
• 2  tsp. ground cumin
• 3  TBSP  tomato paste
• 3  (14-oz.) cans of chili ready tomatoes diced tomatoes
• 1  (16-oz.) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 c. water
• Top with shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Sauté chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender; add garlic, and sauté 1 minute.
2. Add turkey, stirring often, 8 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in chili powder and cumin, and then add the tomato paste, and cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans and water, stir to combine.
3. Stove top recipe: Bring mixture to a boil and cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Top with shredded cheese.
4. Crock pot recipe: add everything to your crock pot.  Cook on high for 2 hours (more time won’t hurt it) or on low for 4 hours (more time won’t hurt it). Top with shredded cheese.

Crock Pot Turkey Chili:

Here’s a great recipe for leftover chicken or turkey or use a rotisserie chicken. The leftovers are great too!

The recipe is adapted from the November 2009 issue of Southern Living.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP vegetable oil, divided
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 c. diced onion
• 1/2 c. diced red bell pepper
• 1 c. cooked chicken, cut up
• 1 1/2 c. frozen mixed vegetables, partially cooked
• 3 c. cooked rice
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. Asian chili-garlic sauce

Directions:

1. Heat 1 TBSP oil in large skillet over medium high heat; add eggs, and gently stir 1 minute or until softly scrambled.  Remove eggs from skillet and chop.
2. Heat remaining 2 TBSP oil in skillet; add onion and bell pepper, and stir-fry 3 minutes.  Add cooked chicken and mixed vegetables; stir fry 2 minutes.  Add rice, soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce; stir fry 5 minutes or until throughly heated.  Stir in eggs.

Fried Rice: