spring

Simple Angel food Spring Cake

A perfect recipe for a busy momstown mom to pull together quickly but it will taste and look like she slaved!

 

angel lush cake kraft

 

1 angel food cake
1 package of instant vanilla pudding
1 pint of whipping cream

1 can of crushed pineapple
Icing sugar to taste
Vanilla to taste

Mix pineapple with pudding mix until blended and starts to thicken. Then whip cream until soft peaks form. Add icing sugar and vanilla, continue beating until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding and pineapple mixture.

 

Cut cake in half horizontally. Put mixture in the middle and replace the top half. Then ice the entire cake. Refrigerate until time to use.

 

Enjoy! This recipe has been in my family for longer than my lifetime, so I have no idea where it may have come from.

 

Orginally this is a Kraft Canada recipe called "Angel Lush Cake". This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/15/2011 - 08:48
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Easter Pavlova

This is a perfect dessert for a special dinner and delightfully light and perfect for spring. There are several steps involved but it's worth the effort and will wow your guests. Our momstown taste testers loved this dessert!

 

easter pavlova

 

A friend at work made this dessert for a potluck lunch over 10 years ago and it remains one of THE best desserts that I have ever tasted . . . despite having NO chocolate in it ;) !!! She got the recipe from The Toronto Star food writer and recipe developer Jenny Koniuk.  She added her own "family recipe" for Lemon Curd.



Easter Pavlova with Lemon and Mixed Berries
4 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup good-quality lemon curd
1 cup whipping cream
3 cups mixed berries
Fresh mint for garnish

Preheat oven to 300F.

MERINGUE: Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Trace 8 inch circle on underside of parchment.

In clean bowl, beat egg white with electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.  Do not overbeat.   With mixer running, add sugar one large spoonful at a time, beating until mixture is glossy and stiff.

Scrape onto prepared circle.  With back of a spoon, form into circle with hollow in middle.  Make swirls around edge.

Bake 1 hour.   Turn off oven and leave to cool overnight. 

 

LEMON CURD:
4 lemons
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
5 beaten eggs

Peel lemon thinly. Squeeze lemon juice into double boiler with peel and add other ingredients. Cook until it thickens. Pour through strainer to remove peel.

 

Carefully remove parchment and place on flat cake plate.  An hour before dinner, using bowl and beaters from freezer, whip cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold into lemon curd.   Spoon into centre of meringue.  Just before serving garnish with berries and mint.

 

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring Recipe Contest.

 

 

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 22:45
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Shrimp & Spinach Toss

momstown tested this recipe for our contest and found it to be delicious, healthy and fast! You could add pasta with this easily to boost the kid-friendly element.

 

shrimp spinach


One of my family’s favourite Spring/Summer recipes is like no other I'm sure but it is bursting with all those good nutrients!


2 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 1/2 cup of white wine or chicken broth for kids:)
1 bag of washed spinach
1/4 cup of basil - chopped
1 pakage of grape tomatoes (halved)
30/40 thawed shrimp (tail and skins removed)
salt and pepper to taste

 

Stir-fry shrimp until pink and set it aside.

 

Saute up onion and garlic. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Add spinach and basil and cook until tender. During the last few minutes throw in the grape tomatoes (I always slice in half to get the juices) and shrimp to warm.

Viola!!! I usually serve with a crisp cucumber and tomato salad and baguette.

 

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 16:50
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Quinoa Tabouli Salad

With spring comes our momstown salad recipes! This healthy Greek inspired recipe would be incredible with Greek Turkey Burgers on the BBQ. In our test run, momstown found this an easy recipe to make and a terrific intro to the super food Quinoa. Kid friendly too!

 

quinoa salad


Cook 2 cups of quinoa in 4 cups of vegetable broth. Allow to cool. Fork to separate. Add the following:

4 cloves garlic – diced
4 green onions - diced
1/2 red onion - diced
6 diced baby cucumbers (can use 1 regular cucumber)
20 baby tomatoes quartered or 3 regular tomatoes diced
3 bell peppers yellow,red,green - diced
1 bunch curly parsley - chopped fine
8 mint leaves - chopped
lots of fresh ground pepper
1-2 tsp chili flakes if you like a bit of heat
generous pour of olive oil

 

Toss & enjoy on its own or with a bit of tzatziki! We love including this dish on summer picnics! Yum!!

 

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

 

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 15:07
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Fresh Spring Raspberry Delight

This dessert was heavenly and easily served 4 in individual dishes. momstown was amazed how much liquid came out of the yogurt - so start early enough in the day for this to drain.

 

raspberry delight dessert

1 1/2 cups vanilla nonfat yogurt
1 (10 oz) package frozen raspberries,thawed
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream (chilled)
4 ladyfinger cookies


Drain yogurt in fridge for minimum 4 hours. (easiest method: put paper towel in a strainer). Discard the liquid and set the thickened yogurt aside.

 

Puree half the raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Strain into a large bowl, pressing the liquid out with spatula. Discard the seeds. Whisk in the sugar. Stir in remaining raspberries.

 

In a chilled small bowl whip the cream until stiff peaks are formed. Gently fold in the yogurt. Fold in the (strained) raspberry mixture. Spoon into cocktail glasses and chill, covered, for at least 1 hour. Serve with ladyfinger cookies. 

 

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 15:03
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Greek Style Turkey Burgers

turkey burgers

 

Don't these sound like flavourful burgers? momstown tested them and found them easy to make, full of flavour and a great alternative to beef burgers. A suggestion would be to add some feta into the patty itself for variety.

 

Burgers:
1 lb ground turkey (chicken works too!)
1 pkg Greek marinade mix (club house or similar)
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs (or enough to get right consistency)

Mix above ingredients together and then divide into 4 balls, flatten into patties. Grill until cooked through.

Toppings: 4 thin style buns (or you can use pitas), sliced tomato, sliced red onion, crumbled feta cheese, tzatziki sauce, sliced black olives. Serve burgers with any combination of the above ingredients.

Try this Greek inspired Quinoa Tabouli salad on the side with these burgers – great kid-friendly and healthy BBQ dinner!

 

recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 14:59
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BBQ Chicken with Peach Kabobs and Bacon

Let's kick off BBQ season with this recipe! This has bacon in it and we all know... bacon makes everything taste better! momstown tested this member submitted recipe and loved it, only downfall is the sliced peaches slipped off easily, next time we might BBQ them in halves straight on the grill. Stil delicious though!

 

BBQ chicken peach bacon recipe

1/4 cup BBQ Sauce
1 lb. (450 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 16 pieces
2 peaches, peeled, each cut into 8 pieces (or you can used canned peaches to save time)
8 slices bacon, cut crosswise in half
1-2 Peppers cut into Chunks 1 Red onion cut into Chunks

HEAT barbecue to medium-high heat.
Reserve 2 Tablespoons of BBQ Sauce for later.
Cut chicken and place into a bowl with the BBQ Sauce and mix so chicken is covered with the sauce.
Wrap each chicken piece with 1 bacon piece, (I usually alternate so there isn't so much bacon but its up to you). Repeat with remaining chicken and bacon. Thread alternately with peach, peppers and pieces onto skewers.

GRILL 12 to 14 min. or until chicken is done, brushing with reserved sauce the last 2 min.

It’s so yummy and I usually serve with a spinach strawberry salad. I have used a Kraft Recipe but made some modifications to work for our family.

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 14:56
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Easter Bunny's Carrot Cake

Do you think CARROT is the Easter Bunny’s favourite cake??? This would be a delicious dessert to make over Easter. It's a very moist cake and yummy (we tested it in a round pan instead of a rectangle as suggested and increased the cooking time to compensate for the thickness).

 

carrot cake easter

 

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup drained, crushed pineapple
3 whole eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla

3 cups grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

 

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pineapple, eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Stir in grated carrots. Add flour mixture to carrot mixture and stir until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Set pan on a wire rack and cool cake completely. When cake is cool, spread cream cheese icing evenly over top. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator.

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 14:52
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Chicken with Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomatoes

There's something about Goat Cheese that feels like spring to me - with grilled fruit or in a salad is delicious. Here it's stuffed into chicken breasts and baked - yum!!

 

chicken goat cheese

 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 ounces soft goat cheese
8 sun dried tomatoes in oil, finely chopped
2 tablespoons reserved oil from sun dried tomatoes or olive oil
6 basil leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, pound chicken breasts (one at a time) to 1/4" thickness. Season both sides with salt and pepper, set aside.

In a small bowl, stir goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, oil, basil, salt, and pepper. Scoop goat cheese mixture onto wide end of the flattened chicken breasts. Roll the chicken up and tie with butcher's twine.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set rolled chicken breasts on the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through.

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 04/12/2011 - 14:49
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Strawberry Spinach Salad

We eat this salad at least twice a week and always have requests to serve it to guests!!

Strawberry Spinach Salad:
 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds.

Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

 

This recipe was submitted by a momstown member for our Spring recipe contest.

Posted by momstown mama on 03/30/2011 - 23:23
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