Have you ever been unfortunate enough to find the refrigerator’s freezer door has been left ajar, not all the way, but just enough so that the things in the door started to thaw out?  That happened to me a few weeks ago.  Although the items deep inside the freezer were just fine, the door items got quite mushy.

We had peas for lunch, we thawed the popsicles out all the way and refroze them in ice cube trays, but I really didn’t want three pitchers of orange juice.  So, faced with partially thawed orange juice concentrate, I decided to make special drinks.

I made a couple beverages using pretty simple recipes.  For the first one, I just blended together a couple cups of milk, some vanilla ice cream (which was in the back of the freezer, still frozen), and threw in enough of the frozen orange juice concentrate, actually the slightly frozen orange juice concentrate, to make the mix nice and tangy and orange flavor.

Later on that day, I put together what we now call our Poolside Punch.  We put the thawed orange juice concentrate in a big bowl with lots of ice cubes, courtesy of our big freezer in the garage, and just poured some bubbly clear soda pop on top until everything got fizzy.  Everybody got a big cup and drank it right down.  Because we don’t normally keep a lot of soda pop in the house, this was a nice treat, and I liked serving up a little Vitamin C and not just sugar.

What have you used orange juice concentrate for, other than a pitcher of orange juice?  I managed to use mine up, but thought there might be some enterprising people who have great recipes that call for orange juice.  Perhaps a marinade or stir-fry?  I’d love to hear your ideas!

Making S’mores in our house is a favorite past time.  Whether we can build a campfire or not, the ingredients are always handy.  We’ll microwave them if we have to!  Needless to say, there are always graham cracker crumbs that could be scooped up and used for something.

One of the easiest recipes I’ve found to use crushed graham crackers in is also very kid friendly.  This is great fun for kids because they get to use their hands to smoosh everything up and it’s basically a no-frills, no-bake bar that’s ready almost instantly.

This is the recipe, if you can call it that!

Peanut Butter Bars In A Flash

• 1/3 cup crushed graham crackers
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1 rounded cup peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl using your hands.  Lightly spray with non-stick spray a small cake pan or other pan about 8 x 10 size.  Press mixed up ingredients into bottom of the pan to form crust.  Melt chocolate chips over warm water, then pour and spread over the top of the crust.  Cool in refrigerator until chocolate hardens.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

While the kids are busy smooshing the crust ingredients, you can be melting the chocolate.  It really does go very quickly.  Simple and delicious!

What kinds of treats have you made with crushed graham crackers?  I’d love to hear from you!

On a road trip our family took recently, I discovered the convenience of making wraps for the travels.  We used to make regular sandwiches all the time, but you know how sandwiches get to look after an hour or two in a cooler.  Not very appetizing.

I bought a supply of small and large corn tortillas so that we could experiment with a variety of wraps and roll-ups.  We found both to be quite a bit easier to eat on the road, as well as holding up better than sandwiches.  The experiment was a success, but now, of course, I have a couple packages of corn tortillas in the refrigerator, waiting for some inspiration to hit.

We do like making enchiladas and will certainly use some of the corn tortillas up that way.  My recipe is pretty basic.  I just mix up a batch of red sauce using tomato paste, tomato juice, ground beef, and lots of spices like garlic, onion, cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce.  Then I stuff the corn tortillas, roll them up in a baking pan, pour the rest of the sauce over, top them with shredded cheddar cheese, and bake them.  Pretty basic.

I’ve also run across a few recipes that use corn tortillas in layers forming casseroles, sort of like lasagna noodles, only using Mexican spices and ingredients.  Has anyone ever made a really good casserole with tortillas?  Any other ideas for wraps, or enchiladas, or any more unusual dish would certainly be appreciated.  I’d love to see what kind of ideas you come up with!

I know, eggs.  It may seem like a silly question, but not when you come home from vacation with a crate of eighteen eggs that really should be used up today.  We can fry up a couple, scramble up a couple, and hard boil a couple.  But, our egg saturation point is about exhausted after only a couple days.

Once more, I find myself digging through my really old recipes to see if there isn’t something that my Mother or Grandmother used to make.  There in my box of scribbled recipes, I found one very simple recipe that will be a little different.  Here it is if you’d like to try it, too.

Egg Dish (Even the name is simple.)

• 1 package croutons, cheddar cheese flavored preferred, but any flavored crouton is good
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese

Grease a 9×13 baking pan.  Lay croutons in.  Beat up the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper, then pour over the croutons in pan.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake in moderate oven, 350 degrees, until firm, check in 20 minutes with knife inserted in middle.  It should come out dry.  You might want to add some crisp, crumbled bacon, some onions, some mushrooms, or even fried sausage pieces.

Pretty simple, but pretty good, too.  I like that you can add other stuff to it, even use up some leftovers.  Does anyone have another recipe that uses a lot of eggs?  I’d love to see how you would cook up a big batch of eggs for your family.

Of all the Jell-O flavors, I believe lime is my least favorite flavor.  I just never know what to do with it.  However, a sale is a sale.  I found Jell-O in a big sale bin at my local Dollar Store and couldn’t resist.  The bin had been pretty picked over when I got there, although I did manage to find a few strawberry flavored, a couple orange flavored, and even a lemon flavored.  But, mostly there was lime flavored left.  I had to dig deep into my recipes to come up with something to make with lime Jell-O, but I did find one, even though it’s a bit strange.

Years and years ago, when I was very young, it was quite fashionable to make vegetable salads using Jell-O gelatin.  You don’t really see that anymore, but I had a very old recipe still stuck in an old cookbook.  This is an adventurous recipe to try on a family who has never seen Jell-O used like this before.  Here’s the recipe – see if you’re brave enough to serve it to your family.

Garden Jello Salad

• 1 package lime Jello
• 1 package lemon Jello
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 cup mayonnaise

In a large glass bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients, stir until gelatin dissolves, then stir in the vegetables, then the vinegar, and the mayonnaise last.  This makes a big bowl of salad.

That’s the recipe, as strange as it may seem.  Now, I must admit, I haven’t tried it yet.  I’m going to give it a try this weekend.  My family won’t know what hit ‘em!

If anyone is brave enough to try this recipe and report back here, I’d love to hear what you have to say.  Good luck everyone!

If you’ve ever had a sick child at home, you know how you try to jump through hoops to make them feel better, or at least be happy.  Pudding always does the trick in my house, so we have a little stash of vanilla pudding mix just in case somebody gets a bit sick.  Some kids like orange Kool-Aid, some kids like vanilla pudding… I like to keep a bit of both on hand.

Digging through my pantry, I came across a couple boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix that I don’t remember buying.  I thought it would be a good idea to use it up before I go and buy a couple new boxes.  Rather than just make it and eat it, mostly because that just reminds me of sad little ones, I thought I’d use it in something yummy.

Fruit salad is a favorite of ours in the summertime.  We don’t just save it for special occasions. We  believe that anytime you can have a big bowl of fruit salad it is already a special occasion!  I found a simple recipe for a fruit salad dressing and thought I’d give it a try.  I’ll share it with you here.

Sweet Whipped Fruit Salad Dressing

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 pint whipping cream, whipped

Mix together the milk and pudding following the directions on the package.  In super cold metal bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold the whipped cream into the pudding mix.  Toss assorted fruit with dressing and serve immediately.  Chill any leftovers.

That dressing is just about as simple and sweet as you can get.  I can’t think of a much better use for vanilla pudding mix.  If you can think of something else to use vanilla pudding mix in, I’d really appreciate hearing from you!

If you’ve ever bought a jar of maraschino cherries to make something fancy, like topping cupcakes or ice cream sundaes, you’ve probably still got half a jar sitting in your refrigerator, like I do.  I’ve been searching all around trying to find something to make with these super-sweet treats, but aside from more sweeter-than-sweet desserts, I can’t seem to come up with anything.

Mostly what I find when I search for recipes that use maraschino cherries are not recipes to use them, but to make them.  Apparently, there are maraschino cherry aficionados who swear by the homemade variety.  When you read the ingredients on a jar of store bought maraschino cherries I can see why you might not want to ingest too many of them.  But, I am not an aficionado, I just want to use up my jar.

I saw a picture of a cake that looked like it had a layer of maraschino cherries in the cake itself, not in the frosting.  I didn’t get a recipe, but then I thought it might be just another too-sweet dessert.  I’ve seen them served in cocktails, but I’m not much of a cocktail drinker, especially sweet cocktails.

So, my dilemma is what can I make with maraschino cherries that is not a dessert or cocktail?  Has anyone ever used them as a part of a dish of some sort?  If you’re making a sweet and sour stir-fry, one that would have pineapple in it, could you throw in some maraschino cherries, or would the taste overpower everything else?

This is a puzzle.  I hope someone has a suggestion or two about what to make with maraschino cherries, because I’m stumped.  I’d love to hear from you if you do!

If you’ve ever been to a good potluck, you’ve probably tried some fabulously yummy things you don’t normally make at home.  I found myself devouring a cheesy green chili dish that I knew I had to find a recipe for.

Well, I got as far as buying the canned green chilies and the Monterey Jack cheese, but couldn’t identify the rest of the ingredients, except eggs.  That didn’t stop me, though, because I had a supply of green chilies that I was bound and determined to use.  So, here is the result of my experiment and I must say it came out very close to the potluck version.

Green Chilies ‘n’ Jack Bake

• 3 pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
• 3 cans green chilies, chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1 can evaporated milk

In a 9×13 pan, lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, form layers, first cheese, chilies, cheese, chilies, until they’re used up.  Beat together the eggs and evaporated milk and pour over the layers in the pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 to 45 minutes.  This makes a heaping pan full, so you’ll have enough left to make a second smaller square 8×8 pan.  Let it cool for a minute before cutting to be sure the eggs set up.

Like I said, this is a big batch, quite suitable for a potluck, or a big family meal.  You could cut it back, it’s just that I didn’t want to use a partial can of evaporated milk, so I kept adding more and more cheese and chilies.

What have you made with green chilies?  I’d love to see your recipes!

Okay, this may seem a bit simple, but what I’m really trying to say is, how can I make fish that’s a bit different?  My family got a nice supply of freshly caught fish this weekend.  We froze quite a few fillets and now I’m just wondering how I’m going to fix it so it’s not all the same.

I do love pan fried fish now that I found the secret!  I’ll share it with you here.  The secret for keeping the coating on the fish as it fries, instead of having it all flake off in the fry pan is, you use the Dry-Wet-Dry method of coating the fish.  Start with dipping the fish in dry, whether you use flour with a bit of salt and pepper, or cornmeal… it doesn’t matter.  Next, dip in your wet mixture, usually a little egg and milk beaten together, then finally dip again in your dry mixture.

Then, here’s the real trick – lay out your fish on a rack, like a cookie cooling rack, on top of a cookie sheet and stick it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  I don’t know if it’s the Dry-Wet-Dry coating or the refrigerator time, or maybe a combination of the two.  But, whatever it is, it works.  I can now pan fry fish fillets without losing any of the coating!

Does anyone else have some tried and true tricks or recipes for fresh fish?  I’d love to hear from you!