Stay cool with summer sweets from Lucky Leaf

Yummy treats and Mason Jars, I mean, is there anything better than that combo???


Lucky Leaf has easy summer treats that are guaranteed to make a splash.

So summer is upon us and that means being outside, enjoying the fresh air and staying away from hot kitchens. With that in mind, Lucky Leaf has compiled a few recipes to make your summer cooler.

Let me tell you that I love Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings, but I'm sure you know that because I'm always talking about them and use them quite a lot in my desserts....but when I got the package in the mail and looked through the recipes included, my eyes immediately stopped on the one I'm sharing with you today.

Not only does it look adorable in the mason jars, but it features one of my husbands favorite flavors, Lemon.

I had NO clue that it was going to be so good, and I mean delicious make you sigh and groan in happiness good. It's like a lemon pie in a jar but with blueberries floating around. Oh goodness.

No Bake Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Trifles

Source: Lucky Leaf

1 frozen pound cake (10.75 ounce), thawed slightly and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
18 ounces fresh blueberries
1 recipe graham cracker streusel (see below)
1 recipe no-bake lemon cheesecake (see below)

Graham cracker streusel:

9 cinnamon graham crackers, crushed to crumbs in a food processor
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
Generous pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

No-bake lemon cheesecake filling:

24 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 1/2 cup Lucky Leaf Premium Lemon Pie Filling

To make the graham cracker streusel, toss all ingredients in a medium bowl until the butter is evenly distributed.

To make the cheesecake mixture, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Gently fold in the frozen whipped topping and pie filling until evenly combined.

Layer the graham cracker streusel, blueberries, lemon cheesecake mixture, and pound cake cubes in a medium mason jar until filled. Repeat with remaining jars.

You have to try this dessert, and whether you're using it in mason jars, or making a big trifle, either one will be the hit of the party, especially if you have lemon loving friends and family.

Thank you Lucky Leaf for providing me with the mason jars, the recipes and the delicious pie filling.

Chicken Thighs with Onion sauce

The past few weeks while I've been moving, my cooking has been very basic and I haven't followed any recipes, it's been more of a "see what is in the fridge" and make something with it.

Let me tell you that it bothers me immensely.  LOL  Really!!

I am a menu plan kinda gal and cooking out of thin air is NOT for me, but during the move and the transition I've had to adapt and make do with no cooking utensils, or no fridge, or just buying a few meats/poultry to keep in the freezer and then figuring out what to make with it when dinner rolls around......which is usually when I'm in the middle of unpacking boxes or setting up a house.

Thankfully, today is the last day of cooking this way and it couldn't come any sooner, I'm ready to get back to my menu planning and my routine.

This chicken dish is another one of those that I just threw together and the family really enjoyed it.

Chicken Thighs with Onion Sauce

1 pound chicken thighs
1 small onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic powder

1 packet onion soup
water

In a large skillet, add about two tablespoons of olive oil and the chicken thighs. Season with salt and pepper and garlic powder and fry until brown.

Add the onion slices, packet of onion soup and about half a cup of water and simmer on medium heat until onion is tender.  Keep checking and stirring and if need be add a little bit more water.

When onion is cooked through, if you find the sauce is too watery, just thicken it.  I usually thicken with cornstarch, I take a spoon and scoop out some of the gravy from the skillet into a bowl, add a tablespoon or a little more if needed of cornstarch and stir well, then pour it back into the skillet while stirring constantly until thickened.

Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler

I love a good cobbler and usually I make the Blueberry which is my daughter's favorite, but sometimes I just want a good Peach Cobbler.  Yum!

This recipe is based on the Blueberry Cobbler recipe that you can find here on the blog, but it's been adapted slightly, the reason being that I was wanting to make cobbler one afternoon and didn't have the exact ingredients on hand, so I switched it up a little and the result was another delicious dessert.

Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler

1/2 cup butter
1 c all purpose flour
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 c milk
1 can of Lucky Leaf Peach Pie Filling
Cinnamon


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the butter in a 13" X 9" pan, you can cut it into pieces to melt faster if you wish. Place the pan into the oven and let the butter melt, it won't take very long at all.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, 3/4 cups of the sugar, milk, baking powder and salt.

When the butter is melted, take the pan out of the oven, pour the batter in but do not stir it into the butter. Pour the pie filling over the batter, again DO NOT stir.

Bake for 40-45 mins or until golden brown. Eat warm or let it cool.

Pasteis de Massa Tenra - Meat Pastries

I think there are certain meals that will always take you back to a place in time in your life.

These transport me to my childhood kitchen where I would watch my grandmother making them at the kitchen table, rolling the dough out, cutting it, adding the filling, using the fork to seal them and then popping them into a skillet of hot oil and watching them sizzling.

It brings back so many good memories.  It was one of her favorite things to make, and it was one of my favorite things to eat.

As I sit here in my new house after moving across country, leaving the military life behind and beginning a new chapter, I was feeling quite nostalgic and homesick.  I wanted something for dinner that would comfort my soul and my tummy, and these immediately came to mind.

My kids love them, my husband loves them so much that he starts eating them as I pull them out of the skillet....and even the pugs enjoy one as a treat.

The recipe I use is the one I got from my grandmother, so I make it the way she used to, and therefore, all the ingredients are in grams...but I'll give you the equivalents too.

Pasteis de Massa Tenra - Meat Pastries

250 grams of flour (about 1 cups)
225 ml of water (little less than a cup), lukewarm
35 grams of butter (3 and half tablespoons), melted
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift the flour into a bowl, add the salt and the melted butter, the olive oil and the lukewarm water.  Beat the mixture rapidly and well.

Dump the dough onto a floured bowl, then cover the bowl with a warm bowl (just take a bowl bigger than the one you're using for the dough, run it under boiling water, quickly wipe down and place it over the dough as quickly as possible).

Let the dough rest for an hour and a half.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface, cut with a biscuit cutter or a glass into circles. 

Add the meat filling (little more than a teaspoon), fold the dough over and seal the edges using a fork.  Place the pastries on a floured surface.

Fry in hot oil until golden brown and then transfer onto paper towels to absorb oil.  Serve immediately.

For the meat filling, I make a very basic one.

Meat Filling

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely diced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
bay leaf
paprika
nutmeg
white sauce (bechamel)
parsley

In a skillet, add the butter, the onion and the garlic.  Cook over medium heat until onion is transparent, don't let the garlic burn.

Add the ground beef and continue cooking until browned.  Season with salt and pepper, bay leaf, paprika and a dash of nutmeg.  Stir well and simmer for a minute or two.

For the white sauce, I just make a simple bechamel, this recipe makes about a cup.


White Sauce (Bechamel)

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk, heated
Salt and pepper


Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, don't let it brown — about 2 minutes. Add the milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, usually I add nutmeg, but since I've already added some in the meat filling I'm omitting it from here.

Cook for a minute more, then remove from heat.

Crazy Cakes - Chocolate and Spice

I think the name fits my life at the moment.

Oh folks, I miss cooking so much.  I feel like I've been living on easy peasy boring meals for the past month and I'm just ready to move, get settled into the new house and start cooking again.

Once in a while I try to bake a cake or something sweet for my kiddos, and this one is so easy to make.  It's great for those who can't eat eggs because this wacky crazy cake does not have eggs, milk or butter and just like the other yummy Mix in a Pan Cake, you mix it all right in your baking pan.

The recipe comes from Sweet Little Blue Bird and she has quite a few flavor combinations, my kids couldn't decide on what they wanted, the boy wanted chocolate, and the girl wanted spice, so I made both since they're small cakes baked in an 8x8 inch pan.

I'm giving you the recipes to the chocolate and the spice, but there is also a vanilla and a lemon variation.  Yum!

Crazy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups flour (all-purpose)
3 Tbsp. cocoa (unsweetened)
1 Cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Cup water

Directions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8" square baking pan.

Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients - two small, one larger. Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression.

Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool. Top with your favorite frosting. Enjoy!

Tip - You can double this recipe, just use a 9x13 baking pan.

Spiced Crazy Cake

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups flour + 2 Tablespoons (all-purpose)
1 Tbsp. Pumpkin Spice
1 Cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt


1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Cup water


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8" square baking pan. Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients - two small, one larger. Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression. Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.


Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool. Top with your favorite frosting (I use vanilla). Enjoy!


Tip - You can double this recipe, just use a 9x13 baking pan.