Month: June 2015


Jun
2015

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing

categories: Salads
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Several years ago a parent (at a school I worked at) brought an amazing salad for a staff luncheon during Teacher Appreciation Week. I fell in love with the Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing it had on it. Soooo good!Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
I asked the Mom who brought the salad if she would “pretty please” give me her recipe… and she did! Well, that was well over 10 years ago, and I’ve been making this salad ever since. It is absolutely one of my all-time favorite salads!

I still have the piece of yellow legal paper she wrote the recipe down on… by now it is quite stained, but still going strong! I am so grateful she was gracious enough to share her “recipe” with me!

This salad is totally easy to prepare… the homemade creamy lemon dressing is what makes the salad go from great to spectacular!

First you need to dry toast some pecans (may substitute walnuts). Do this by putting the pecans in a totally dry skillet, and cook them on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to prevent burning. When done, remove from pan; set aside to cool.

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Mix together the salad dressing, then refrigerate it for awhile, so the flavors have a chance to “marry”. To make the salad dressing, place equal portions of fresh lemon juice, oil,  real maple syrup, and a couple dashes of finely ground black pepper in a medium sized bowl.

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Stir with a fork or whisk to combine.

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Add mayonnaise to mixture.

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Whisk the ingredients together until smooth.

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Put the dressing in a container with a lid (you will need to thoroughly shake it before serving), and refrigerate until cold, to allow flavors to really come together (the longer, the better!)

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!
When ready to prepare the salad for serving, place spinach, red leaf lettuce and mixed greens (gourmet greens at the market) onto a serving platter or into a serving bowl. Top with dried cranberries, chopped, toasted pecans, and crumbled feta (or gorgonzola) cheese.

Drizzle with creamy lemon dressing, toss, and serve! You can also mix the salad greens with the salad dressing, then top with cranberries, pecans and feta. (For these pictures, I dressed the salad AFTER).

Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!This truly is an amazing tasting salad… just perfect for a hot summer night! It is packed with flavor and texture… and the dressing is off the charts! Sure hope you will give salad a try… I KNOW you will LOVE it!

Interested In More Recipes?

Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so.  If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.

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Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!Recipe source: Vickie Spracklen

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Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
0 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 
This is a perfect summer salad, bursting with the flavors and textures of cranberries, feta, toasted pecans, enhanced by an amazing creamy lemon dressing!
Category: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: mixed greens salad
Servings: 4 servings
Calories Per Serving: 425 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
For the salad:
  • 1 bunch baby spinach
  • 1/2 head red leaf lettuce
  • 1/2 bag of "fancy" gourmet lettuce
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup toasted , chopped pecans (or walnuts)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (or gorgonzola)
For the creamy lemon dressing:
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup real maple syrup
  • 2 dashes finely ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup real mayonnaise
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Make the salad dressing (as much ahead of time as possible):
  1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, maple syrup and a couple dashes of finely ground black pepper. Mix well to combine.
  2. Add mayonnaise to salad dressing. Whisk well until smooth. Place in covered container and refrigerate (as long as possible) or until ready to serve. Right before serving, give the container a good shake to re-mix ingredients in dressing.
  3. Toast the pecans, by cooking them over medium heat in a dry skillet for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Set aside to cool.

  4. Arrange chilled, mixed salad greens in bowl or on serving plate. Evenly distribute cranberries, feta, and toasted pecans over the top of salad. Pour salad dressing over top (as little or as much as you like). Mix and serve. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Prep time does not include time for salad dressing to refrigerate. It can be served right when you make it, but it definitely is better after having been refrigerated for awhile, so the flavors can co-mingle.

Nutrition Facts
Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing
Amount Per Serving (1 (1/4 of total))
Calories 425 Calories from Fat 297
% Daily Value*
Fat 33g51%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 14mg5%
Sodium 445mg19%
Potassium 742mg21%
Carbohydrates 28g9%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 20g22%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 15100IU302%
Vitamin C 36.5mg44%
Calcium 188mg19%
Iron 3.5mg19%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Mixed Greens, Cranberries, Feta & Pecans with a Creamy Lemon Dressing / The Grateful Girl Cooks!

 

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Jun
2015

Strawberry Cobbler

categories: Cobblers and Crisps, Desserts
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Delicious strawberry cobbler (in individual servings), featuring fresh strawberries and a buttery crumb topping, will be a family dessert favorite!Delicious strawberry cobbler (in individual servings), featuring fresh strawberries and a buttery crumb topping, will be a family dessert favorite!
My husband surprised me with a flat of fresh picked Hood strawberries this past weekend, locally grown in the Pacific Northwest. Absolutely the best strawberry there is! These little gems are perfect for making Strawberry Cobbler, if you ask me!

I was in the middle of several HUGE projects (pressure washing deck and patio, painting deck, refinishing a garden bench/staining it), etc. My brain went into overtime, because I had to figure out what to do with all those strawberries, before they went bad.

Because I was determined, I finished my projects, and into the kitchen I went. The first thing I made was homemade strawberry ice cream (my hubby’s request), then some strawberry jam, and this absolutely delicious STRAWBERRY COBBLER!

I found the recipe on Pinterest (thank you Joan, at “Chocolate Chocolate And More”), and it sounded really good. I’ve made many cobblers before, but never a STRAWBERRY cobbler. Yum. The recipe is VERY easy, and before I knew it, we had 4 ramekins of delicious cobbler, bursting with the flavor of fresh strawberries! Here’s how to make this great dessert!

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

How To Make Individual Sized Strawberry Cobbler In Ramekins

Place quartered strawberries and sugar into a saucepan. (Note: I mashed them just a bit with a potato masher – not too much… just enough to get the strawberry juice flowing-this step is optional).

Let the strawberries and sugar hang out together for about 20 minutes. Because I mashed the ripe strawberries way too much, there was a lot of juice. Try NOT to mash them too much, for more intact strawberries.

Cooking mashed strawberries in saucepan for strawberry cobbler filling.
Heat the strawberry mixture for about 5 minutes on medium heat. While they are heating, mix up a slurry of cornstarch and cold water, and then add it to the heated strawberry mixture. This will act as the thickening agent for the fruit in the strawberry cobbler.

Mixing cornstarch and water in metal bowl, to thicken cobbler filling cobblerPouring cornstarch slurry into pan with strawberry cobbler filling.
Filling the Ramekins

Stir the strawberry mixture together and continue to cook, stirring often, until the strawberries come to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, then evenly divide the strawberry mixture into 4 ramekins. Place the filled ramekins on a foil-lined baking sheet. TIP: The aluminum foil will catch any drips if the cobbler bubbles over the top, and will make your cleanup a LOT easier!

Although this picture below doesn’t quite capture it, there really are a LOT of strawberry chunks in there!

Strawberry filling divided into 4 white ramekins for cobbler
Make The Crumb Topping For Strawberry Cobbler

Place the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl. Mix up the ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks, and blend until the crumbs are about the size of peas.

Mixing brown sugar, butter, and flour for cobbler toppingCrumble topping in bowl for top of cobbler
Evenly distribute the crumb topping over the tops of the strawberry cobbler in all 4 ramekins.

Crumb topping on top of strawberry cobbler ramekins.
Time To Bake

Once all the ramekins all have crumb topping, put the foil-lined baking sheet with the ramekins into a preheated 350° F. oven, and bake for 25 minutes. When done, carefully remove the strawberry cobbler from the oven. Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to finish cooling. The cobblers will look something like the photo below, and will smell GOOD!

Four baked cobblers cooling on wire rackServing The Strawberry Cobbler

Let the strawberry cobbler cool down for a few minutes, and then add a small scoop of homemade or store bought vanilla ice cream to each dessert. You can also garnish each cobbler with a sprig of mint, for presentation. This is optional, but adds color and fancies up the dessert a bit!

Strawberry cobbler, served with vanilla ice cream and mint sprig

The only thing left to do at this point is to grab a spoon, and take a big ol’ bite of this delicious strawberry cobbler. It’s soooo good!

Spoonful of fruit cobbler, with ice cream
Sure hope you’ll give this easy recipe for strawberry cobbler in individual servings a try! I think you will be glad you did! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day, and come back soon.

Looking For More COBBLER Recipes?

You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. I have quite a few cobbler recipes, including:

Interested In More Recipes?

Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so.  If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.

You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:

Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks

Author's signatureRecipe Source: http://chocolatechocolateandmore.com/fresh-strawberry-cobbler/

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Strawberry Cobbler
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
6 mins
Total Time
26 mins
 

Delicious strawberry cobbler (in individual servings), featuring fresh strawberries and a buttery crumb topping, will be a family dessert favorite!

Category: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: strawberry cobbler
Servings: 4 servings
Calories Per Serving: 383 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
  • 4-5 cups strawberries (fresh), cut into quarters
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 4 teaspoons cold water
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter , softened
  • Vanilla Ice Cream (for topping cobbler- optional, but recommended!)
  • Mint sprigs (for garnish-optional)
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Clean, de-stem and hull strawberries. Slice into quarters. Place strawberries and granulated sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Stir to combine, then let sit for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, place pan on stove and heat strawberries on medium heat for 5 minutes.

  3. While strawberries are heating, combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl. Whisk well to fully combine (and dissolve the cornstarch...no lumps!) Pour cornstarch mixture into the strawberries. Stir. Continue heating (and stirring) the strawberries until mixture begins to boil. Remove pan from the heat. Divide strawberry mixture into 4 ramekins. Set aside.

  4. To make the crumb topping, place brown sugar, oats, flour and butter in s small bowl. Cut ingredients together with a pastry blender (or two forks), until it becomes small crumbles. Evenly distribute crumb topping over the top of all 4 strawberry-filled ramekins (cover the tops completely). Put ramekins on a baking sheet that is covered with parchment paper, a silicone mat, or aluminum foil. This helps catch any drips that may or may not occur (depending on how full the ramekins are).

  5. Bake cobbler at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. When done, topping should be golden brown, and bubbly around the edges. Remove from oven. Let cobbler cool 5-10 minutes before serving. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, garnish with a sprig of mint, dig in... and ENJOY!!!

Recipe Notes

You do not need to lightly mash the strawberries as I did (to extract more juice). Just omit that step and add the quartered strawberries to the saucepan with the granulated sugar. It's all good.

Nutrition Facts
Strawberry Cobbler
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 383 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 30mg10%
Sodium 111mg5%
Potassium 303mg9%
Carbohydrates 67g22%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 46g51%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 370IU7%
Vitamin C 84.6mg103%
Calcium 54mg5%
Iron 1.7mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Delicious strawberry cobbler (in individual servings), featuring fresh strawberries and a buttery crumb topping, will be a family dessert favorite!

 

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Jun
2015

Bacon-Wrapped Grilled Hot Dogs

categories: Bacon, For The BBQ Grill, Main Dishes
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Make your BBQ dinner go from ordinary to special with these yummy, easy bacon-wrapped grilled hot dogs! Remember, everything’s better with bacon!Make your BBQ dinner go from ordinary to special with these yummy, easy bacon-wrapped grilled hot dogs! Remember, everything's better with bacon!
Last night we grilled hamburgers for dinner. Right before we put the burgers on the grill, I decided to also throw on a few hot dogs, but hot dogs with a slight twist!

Oh my goodness… I took one taste of a bacon-wrapped grilled hot dog and knew it was a good decision to cook them this way! Bacon makes everything better… it even “classed up” an ordinary hot dog!

The smoky bacon flavor really adds to the grilled hot dog flavor. My husband raved about them! They were so very simple to make… here’s what I did, using 4 hot dogs and 4 pieces of bacon. Adjust the quantity to however many hot dogs you will be making.

How To Make Bacon-Wrapped Grilled Hot Dogs

Fasten one end of the bacon into the end of a hot dog with a toothpick like this (shown below).

Wrapping a hot dog weiner with raw bacon
Tightly roll bacon around hot dog, covering the hot dog as much as possible.

Wrapping hot dog weiner with tightly wound raw bacon strip
Attach the bacon to the hot dog using another toothpick. Repeat for each hot dog.

Four all beef weiners wrapped with bacon strip and secured with toothpicks
Cook the hot dogs on a really HOT side of the grill.

Four hot dogs wrapped in bacon cooking over hot coals.
How Long Do They Take To Cook?

Turn the hot dogs every couple of minutes (and spread ’em out a bit), to ensure that ALL the bacon has cooked. It will take about 25 minutes to cook the bacon completely through.

Four hot dogs grilled with bacon wrap.
When done, remove from heat, and serve. Put them in a hot dog bun, or just eat them as they are, fresh off the grill. They taste wonderful!

Four bacon-wrapped grilled hot dogs on plate, ready to eat.
That’s it! See how easy that was? My only tip is… REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS FROM THE HOT DOGS BEFORE SERVING!  Nobody wants to eat a big ol’ toothpick, right?

Hope you enjoy these. They would be good on toasted hot dog buns, but my husband just cut one up with a knife and fork and ate it that way, and said it was DELICIOUS, without the bun. I guess bacon really does make everything tastes better… even hot dogs!

If you enjoy hot dogs, be sure to check out my recipe for yummy coney dogs! They’re absolutely delicious and are another simple meal to prepare! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I invite you to come back soon for more family-friendly recipes. Take care, and have a great day!

Interested In More Recipes?

Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so.  If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.

You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:

Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks

Author's signature

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Make your BBQ dinner go from ordinary to special with these yummy, easy bacon-wrapped grilled hot dogs! Remember, everything's better with bacon!

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