Devine Deviled Eggs

If you are looking for a way to use up extra eggs this is a great way.  Thank you for this excellent recipe Leta. The eggs turned out great according to my husband. I don't eat them, but the entire zoo crew thought they were perfect.

Ingredients:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half, lengthwise
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1.      Cut each boiled egg in half.

2.      Carefully remove the egg yolks.

3.      Mash with the back of a fork.

4.      Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt, white pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

5.      Stir until well blended.

6.      Fill the egg halves with the yolk mixture. (I put the mixture in a zip bag and piped it in the eggs)

7.      Keep refrigerated until served.

8.      Sprinkle with paprika for color if desired.

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Coke and Vino Ham

I found a recipe called Coke Au Vin Baked Ham I like the "idea" of the recipe and the ingredients, but not the directions. I never cook bone in hams don't ask me why, I just don't.

The original recipe was of no use to me other than the ingredients. This ham turned out AMAZING the flavor is wonderful. I can't forget to mention how tender it was. I cut the ham with a bread knife... Seriously!

This ham really reminded me of a honey baked ham without the crusty outsides. I didn't want the ham to be super sweet, but I wanted it to have a great flavor. I think everyone ate more ham than anything else when I made this for Easter. What a yummy recipe. 

By the way please ignore my scoring.... I am clearly not very good at it, but who cares the ham was amazing not pretty!

Ingredients:

• 1 (5-8 lb.) ham roll (I like Corn King)
• 3 cups Coca-Cola 
• 1 cup marsala wine
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

• Score ham about 1" deep covering the entire ham
• Place ham in a Jumbo 2 1/2 gallon zip bag
• In a bowl whisk together Coca-Cola, marsala wine, Dijon mustard, and the brown sugar
• Mix until the brown sugar dissolves
• Add liquid mixture to the zip bagged ham
• Marinate the ham for 6 hours in the refrigerator. Frequently turn the ham to evenly marinate.
• After the ham has had time to marinate add the ham to a 9x14 pan
• Pour the marinate over the ham
• Heat the oven to 325 degrees
• Add ham to the warm oven
• Baste every 15 minutes with the mixture in the pan
• Bake for 1 hour.

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Cheesy Bacon & Egg Brunch Casserole

This is a yummy quick recipe from the McCormicks website. It is a great Easter Brunch dish.

Ingredients:

• 8 slices bacon
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 loaf (8 ounces) Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (5 cups)
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Mustard, Ground
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Nutmeg, Ground
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Black Pepper, Ground

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Drain bacon on paper towels; crumble and set aside. Add onion to drippings in skillet; cook and stir 3 minutes or until softened. 
2. Spread 1/2 of the bread cubes in 13x9-inch baking dish. Layer with 1/2 each of the onion, bacon, Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Spread evenly with cottage cheese. Top with remaining bread cubes, onion, bacon, Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. 
3. Beat eggs in medium bowl until foamy. Add milk, mustard, nutmeg and pepper; beat until blended. Pour evenly over top. Press bread cubes lightly into egg mixture until completely covered. Let stand 10 minutes. 
4. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until center is set and top is golden brown.

Tips: Make Ahead: Casserole can be assembled 1 day ahead. Prepare as directed, increasing milk to 2 cups. Cover and store in refrigerator. Remove cover and bake as directed.

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Caramel Iced Coffee

I have become a slave to iced coffee. My addiction started at Starbucks. I try to get one every time I am around a Starbucks, but that really isn't as often as I would like, plus I hate having to pay the prices they charge. UGH! McDonalds has good iced coffee most of the time, but the last few times the person making them didn't seem too excited about doing so, and my iced coffee suffered for it. I ended up either taking it back or throwing it away. I am determined to find the perfect iced coffee recipe I can make at home for a fraction of the price. This just might be the recipe. The taste is fantastic, and so worth the prep time. I hope you enjoy it too. Thank you Annacia for sharing!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups strong hot brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce, plus a little extra for garnish
• 2-3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
• coffee ice cubes or regular will work too
• 1 1/2 cups cold milk or half-and-half
• whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
• ground cinnamon, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. While the coffee is still hot, pour it into your measuring cup and add the caramel sauce (Hint, you needn’t actually measure the sauce in a separate cup if you’re using a 2-cup measure for the coffee. Just pour in the sauce until the coffee rises to the 1 3/4 cup mark
2. Add the sugar, too, then stir until both the sugar and caramel sauce have dissolved. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until cold (You can hasten the process by using the freezer, but don’t let it freeze.)
3. When you’re ready to serve, divide the coffee between 2 tall chilled glasses filled with coffee ice cubes.
4. Add milk or half-and-half to each glass, to taste.
5. Top with whipped cream, if desired, then garnish with cinnamon if you’re using it. Finally, drizzle a little additional caramel sauce over the top as well.
6. Serve.

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Time for a little Spring Cleaning!!

This is normally where I do all of my work. Couponing, blogging, or recipes you name it my dining room table is where it all begins. I hate sitting in the office away from everyone else so I tend to sit at the table to do all of my work. I walked into the dining room today and realized my "job" was taking over the table. I had coupons all over the place, mail in rebates, my coupon binder, Blackberry, Laptop, you name it... it was on the table. Ugh! How can it be that no matter how hard I try to keep everything neat and tidy it seems to look like this by the end of the day. I have to figure out how to stay organized, keep tidy, and still be able to pull off everything I do. Today was the first day of the rest of the year for my table. It's going to get the SPRING CLEANED no matter what. Is it just me? OR do you have the same problem I have. It starts out looking great and somehow turns into this cesspool of a disaster. Hey it's April 1st why not take this day to organize at least one room, section, or even drawer of your home. You and your house will thank you for it.

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Homemade Easter Egg Dye

This is a great alternative to your store bought egg dye. Not only is less expensive, but typically it produces much more vibrant Easter eggs. Thank you MommyMakes for the great recipe.

Ingredients:

• 10 drops food coloring (per color)
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar  (per color)
• 1/2 cup boiling water  (per color)

Directions:

1. For each dye bath combine 1/2 cup boiling water with 1 tsp vinegar and 10 drops of food coloring in a bowl. Start with 5 drops red and 5 drops yellow, for orange for example, or 6 drops blue and 4 drops green for turquoise.
2. Dip hard-cooked eggs in dye bath for 3-5 minutes, extend time for richer color. Try using tongs to dip only half an egg in one color, then dip other half in a different color.
3. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove eggs and place on wax paper to dry, blot any excess with a paper towel.
4. If you plan to eat your Easter eggs, never leave them unrefrigerated at any point for more than 2 hours.

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Spinach Artichoke Dip

This recipe is divine! I made half a recipe because I didn't want to take a chance that the recipe wouldn't be good, and for fear it would go to waste. I should have made the entire recipe. This is soooo good. It reminds me of Applebee's recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip. The recipe below is the full recipe.

A big thank you goes out to one of our readers Angela for sending us this great recipes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated parmesan cheese (fresh or out of a can)
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen finely chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 2/3 cup sour cream (room temperature)
• 1 cup cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (room temperature)
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix together Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.
3. Combine remaining ingredients and mix with spinach mixture.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
5. Serve with crackers, chips or toasted bread.

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Free Homemade Chicken Broth

After reading My Vintage Kitchen's post Tutorial: Make Your Own Veggie Broth in the Crock-Pot I had an apifany! For all these years I have been throwing out all my veggy scraps when I could have been savings them, recycling them, and making free stuff out of them. FREE? OH I love free!! It only took me a week to have a zip bag full of veggy scraps in my freezer. You name it I had it in the bag.. a ton of garlic and onion skins and some pieces. Asparagus and bell pepper pieces, oh yeah and green onion ends too. The bag was just full of veggy "trash!" A few nights ago we had a roasted chicken for dinner, and I knew it was time to make my chicken broth.

I had a large chicken so I knew it was never going to fit in my crockpot.I ended up cooking my broth in a large stock pot instead. I decided to add some flavor by sauteing the vegetables pieces first. The pot looked like something I would normally be putting down the garbage disposal.

Once they were a nice dark color I added the chicken and filled the pot with water leaving about 2 inches from the top of the pot. 

I brought the water to a boil, then dropped my temperature down to medium/low. I put the lid on the pot and let it simmer for around 8 hours, then it was ready.

I ended up with 28 cups of broth that I split up into 14 bags (2 cups each) that are now residing in my freezer. That's 14 cans of broth for free!! I only had to pay for the freezer bags which cost $1.99

I figure I saved a minium of $12.

Please visit My Vintage Kitchen you will be so happy you did. I know I am!!

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Perfect Easy-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

I got this "recipe" maybe I should say technique from Kittencal. I do not like eggs, but what I dislike more than eggs is having to peel them. It never peels correctly for me! I end up with a big mess and half my egg ends up in the sink. Here Kittencal gives us the perfect way to cook an easy peel egg just in time for Easter!! Thanks Kitten!!

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs (or you may increase)
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 pinch salt
• water, to cover
• 3 cups ice cubes (or use as much as desired)

Directions

1. Place the eggs in a saucepan.
2. Cover the eggs with lukewarm water.
3. Add in vinegar and pinch salt.
4. Bring to a full boil over medium heat; boil for 2 minutes (start timing after the water reaches a full boil).
5. Remove from heat cover with a tight lid.
6. Allow the eggs to stand for 11 minutes.
7. Drain the eggs a couple times under very cold water.
8. Cover the eggs with cold water then add in some ice.
9. Allow the eggs to sit in ice water for about 3 minutes.
10. Drain and peel.

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Shrimp Creole

This is a Paula Deen Recipe. It's very easy and the crockpot does most of the work. My family really liked it. As for myself I thought it needed a little more wow, but that is the Cajun blood coming out in me. You could probably add a little fire with a little cayenne pepper or Tabasco.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
• green onions for garnish
• cooked rice

Directions:
 

1. Preheat crock pot on high.
2. In fry pan, heat olive oil. Add peppers, onions and celery. Cook until softened.
3. Add chili powder and saute until caramelized. Remove from heat and pour into crock pot.
4. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire, white sugar, salt and pepper.
5. Cook for 3 hours.
6. Add shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes.
7. Serve over rice. Top with chopped green onions.

Servings: 8 servings
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 3 hours 10 min
Difficulty: Easy

For more of my recipes visit my virtual recipe book: http://www.coliesrecipes.info/

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