Berry Dumplings

My husband grew up with his Mom making dumplings in soups, desserts...etc. He was really happy when I told him that I found a recipe for a dumpling dessert.

The original recipe is called "Strawberry Dumplings", made by WendyMichelle at FamilyCorner.com.

I subbed mixed berries instead of using all strawberries. This was my first attempt at making any type of dumpling dessert so my dumplings weren't really pretty. Even so, the dessert was really good! The thought of dumplings cooked this way wasn't appealing to me at first but since I'm usually game for tasting everything that I make, I tried it. Boy was I surprised how much I liked it!


Here's my recipe with a couple of changes:

Berry Dumplings

4 eggs
4 Tbsp. melted butter
4 tsp. baking powder
4 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. flour - I had to add 4 more TBSP of flour to make the batter stiff enough to spoon into the pot.

Combine to make stiff batter to hold shape.

4 cups
strawberries
2 cups sugar - I would only use 1 - 1 /2 C. of sugar the next time.

Mash berries with sugar. Bring to boil in a large pot
with a tight
lid. Drop dumplings into hot liquid, reduce heat and
simmer, with lid on, for 15 minutes. Don't lift lid - don't peek!

Remove dumplings carefully to dessert dishes and spoon berries
over.

A quick and easy dessert for any night of the week!

Kids Cook - Tropical Strawberry Smoothies

My kids really enjoy helping out in the kitchen. A couple of months ago I decided that we would set up one day each weekend for a "Kids Cook" day.

We've been really busy this weekend but we did manage to make smoothies together. Our local WalMart was giving out samples of smoothies on Saturday. Both of my kids liked it so we decided to make more at home. I already had the ingredients at home to make smoothies so I didn't have to spend the extra money on buying the ingredients. (YAY!)

Tropical Strawberry Smoothies
1 C. vanilla yogurt
1 C. fresh strawberries, sliced
1 C. frozen tropical fruit
1/2 skim milk
1 small banana, peeled and sliced

Add all ingredients in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Meltaway Eggs

I made this recipe long before I started blogging and taking pictures of food. If you like peanut butter meltaways, these eggs are SO good! This recipe makes a lot of eggs but it can easily be cut in half.

Peanut Butter Meltaway Eggs

If you like peanut butter and chocolate you will want
to make a bunch of these meltaway eggs. They melt in your
mouth when you bite into them. For another taste treat,
try popping them into the freezer for a few minutes.
Yummy!

You need:

1 ½ lbs. white chocolate
2 oz. vegetable oil
1 lb. peanut butter
1 lb milk chocolate candy melts
plastic egg candy mold or
small, clean, plastic Easter eggs
drying rack or tin foil
fork or skewer for dipping eggs
candy sprinkles

Melt white chocolate in microwave, stopping every 30 seconds to stir. Stir in peanut butter until well mixed. Add oil and stir well for 2-3 minutes.

Pour peanut butter mixture into candy molds or fill each half of the plastic eggs. Set molds in freezer for 10 minutes or until mix is frozen solid.

Melt milk chocolate in the microwave. Using a fork or a skewer, dip the eggs into the chocolate then lay on a drying rack or tin foil to air dry. Sprinkle with candies while chocolate is still wet so that the candies will adhere to the egg.

Serve at room temperature for softer eggs. Can also be served frozen.


Optional: Peanut Butter Meltaway Bon Bons

To serve these delicious treats at times other than Easter, you can easily make them into bon bons.

Once you have mixed the peanut butter, chocolate and oil mixed together from the above recipe, pour the entire mixture into an 8x8 glass dish. Refrigerate until the mixture is solid—could take 2-3 hrs. Use a small ice cream scoop or melon ball scoop to scoop out the peanut butter mixture into ball shapes. Dip balls into melted milk chocolate and allow to dry on a baking rack. Sprinkle with candies if desired.

Crockpot Chicken Italiano

What a whirlwind weekend we've had! We've been looking for a house to move to that is bigger than our little apartment. On a whim, on Friday, we took a drive through a neighborhood that we hadn't considered before. We ended up finding a nice house. It's an old house with lots of charm. The owners have taken really good care of the house and have made the necessary updates along the way. We will be in a neighborhood with good schools - in fact, my son is so excited because their middle school is new! We are tired, but it looks like things might just have worked out for us. Time to pack and get ready to move! We are moving at the end of this month.

We had a lot of running around to do today so I threw dinner into the crockpot at 2:00 this afternoon. It's nice to know that at the end of a busy day that you have a hearty meal to sit down to.

I made my version of Crockpot Chicken Italiano:

1 - 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
1 lg. can of italian tomatoes with Italian seasonings
3 TBSP minced garlic
1 lg. can of plum tomatoes
1 can of Rotel tomatoes, medium spice OR you can use spicy if you like it hot
3-4 frozen chicken breasts
1 can of corn, drained
2 cans of green beans, drained

Into a 5 qt. crockpot , stir together the first 5 ingredients. Drop in frozen chicken breast and stir well to cover the chicken. Cover with the lid and cook for 3 1/2 hrs. on high.

At this time stir in corn and green beans. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes to 1 hr. - depending on the size of the chicken breasts. The ones that I used weren't that big and were fully cooked at 4 hrs.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove the breasts to a plate and shred the meat using two forks. Stir the shredded chicken back into the crockpot.

This can be served alone, with fresh Parmesan cheese shredded on top, or over pasta or rice.


For dessert there's chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. lol! We're having brownies (mix) and chocolate ice cream.

Thrifty Thursday Tip: Drink More Water!

No, I don't mean drink more of the so-called fancy, shmansy bottled water! (which is usually not that fancy after all) I mean plain ol' tap water. That's right...stick a glass under the kitchen faucet and turn on the water. Now, if you just can't stand the taste of the tap water in your house, buy a water filter for the faucet. In the long run, you will be saving a lot more money than if you were to keep buying bottled water and you will keep the plastic bottles out of the landfills.

Now, I will admit it...I don't drink nearly as much water as I should. I drink 3 or 4 -8 oz. glasses a day. I'm aiming for more yet again.

Besides saving money, drinking water is great for your health.

Here are 10 reasons why you should drink more water:

• Get Healthy Skin
• Flush Toxins
• Reduce Your Risk Of Heart Attack
• Cushion And Lube Your Joints And Muscles
• Get Energized And Be Alert
• Stay Regular
• Reduce Your Risk Of Disease And Infection
• Regulate Your Body Temperature
• Burn More Fat And Build More Muscle
• Get Well

To keep yourself motivated, go out and make 2 purchases -

1. a sporty or unusual, well-made water bottle. Look for one that is made out of a material that won't break if it is dropped or knocked over. Big or small, bright colored or weird shaped...whatever catches your eye and makes you want to carry it.

2. a fun glass or cup for each season or holiday - hit the dollar stores, Target or Walmart to look for their selection of fun summer drink ware. Buy something that's a little zany, something that makes you smile when you look at it. You are more apt to use it this way! Make a promise to yourself to only drink water out of it. It's much more fun to drink water out of a hot pink flamingo cup than it is to drink out of a plain old boring white plastic cup.

Here is a handy gadget to help you remember how much water you've had to drink. It's more clever than my hairbands-around-the-water bottle-system that I use now--albeit, not as thrifty! **I wrapped 10 hairbands around my (free) water bottle. I start off in the morning with all of the hairbands at the top of the bottle. Every time I drink 1 cup of water, I move a band to the bottom of the bottom.

If you don't like the taste of plain water, add a couple of slices of fresh lemon or orange to the glass. MMM!! Make pretty ice cubes by adding fresh raspberries or blueberries to the tray before filling it.

Won't you join me in a tall glass of water now?


Look here to see more Thrifty Thursday tips at Amanda's Cookin.