Pineapple Upside Down Cake

IGREDIENTS

1/4	cup butter or margarine
2/3	cup packed brown sugar
9	slices canned pineapple in juice , drained
9	maraschino cherries without stems, if desired
1 1/3	cups all purpose flour
1	cup granulated sugar
1/3	cup shortening
1 1/2	teaspoons baking powder
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup milk
1	egg

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.

2. 2 In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

3. 3 Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

Tropical Fruit Combo

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon hot water

1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice

2 Cups Sliced Strawberries

1 Fresh pineapple

1 Kiwifruit

4 Teaspoons flaked Coconut

Slice the pineapple in ½ or ¼ to form a bowl. Remove the pineapple leaving the shell for a bowl.

Combine sugar, water, juice. Stir in water until sugar is dissolved. Puree with ½ cup strawberries. Slice the fruit that you want to use (I use whatever kind of fruit I have at home at the time). Mix the puree with your cut up fruit. Just before serving put in the pineapple shell.

Tastes great and likes very festive.

Aunt Caroles' Famous Potato Cassarole

Ingredients:

12 Medium Potatoes (Do not Peel or Cut!)

1 1/2 Cups of Butter, Melted and divided

1 (4oz) Jar of chopped Pimentos, drained

1 Cup chopped Green Pepper

2 Cups Evaporated Milk

1 Tsp Salt

1 1/2 Cups of shredded Cheddar Cheese

48 Saltine Crackers, crushed

Directions;

1. In a large pot with water, boil whole potatoes until a fork can be inserted easily.

2. Remove Skins. Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces.

3. In a large bowl (Or if the pot you used is big enough) combine potatoes, 3/4 C of butter, Pimentos, Green Pepper, Milk, Salt, and Cheese. Mix Thoroughly (Do not mash potatoes!)

4. Place mixture in a large 13x9 pan. Sprinkle with crackers and then pour remaining butter on top.

5. Bake at 350, for 45 minutes

Gluten Free Strawberry Cake

Ingredients                

• 2 Cups of Strawberrys
• 1 2/3 cups sugar Divided
• 3 sticks of butter soften 
• 2 cups Brown Rice Flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Tsp Xanthum Gum
• 6 large egg whites (See Note for non-wasting eggs)
• 1/2 cup Coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 (9-inch) diameter by 1 1/2-inch deep layer pans or 1 (13 by 9 by 2-inch) pan, buttered and bottoms lined with parchment or waxed paper 

 For Cake Filling:

• 2 Cups of Frozen Strawberrys
• 1 Cup of Sugar (Use less for sweeter berrys)
• 1 Envelope of Unflavored Geletan           

  Buttercream Frosting is the perfect compliment to this cake!

Directions           

1. Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. 
2. In a small saucepan add strawberrys and 1 cup of sugar on medium heat. Bring to a boil so that sugar dissolves. Remove from stove top. Set Aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until thoroughly beated. Add sugar and continue to beat for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt & Xanthum Gum. Set aside.
5. Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract.
6. With a flour sifter add the flour  and milk mixture alternatly to the butter mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. 
7. Add somewhat cooled strawberry mixture to batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.
9. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

For Cake Filling:

1. Put strawberrys in blender until smooth. Using 1/4 cup of strawberry blend, put in a bowl and add gelitan and stir so that it is mixed thouroughly. Set aside. 
2. In a small saucepan add berry mix and sugar. Heat over medium until boiling. Remove from heat and whisk in the geletan strawberry mixture. Let set and cool. The geletan will set in more as it cools to a jam consistency. 
3. If put in-between cake layers, to keep filling from coming out create a 'dam' around the edge of the cake by using your frosting. Then fill it in with the berry mix and it shouldn't squeeze out from the pressure of the top layer

Note* Geletan needs to be mixed into cold liquids to work properly before being added into hot mixtures, So if your berrys where not frozen before being blended then place the 1/4 of a cup in a bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before adding geletan.
       
Variation:
       
CLASSIC YELLOW CAKE: Substitute 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk for all of the egg whites above.

Very Berry Pie

Blackberry

4 Cups blackberries

1 Cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

*****OR*******

Raspberry

6 Cups Raspberries divided

1 Cup sugar

½ Cup water

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

Filling

1 Cup light whipped topping

1 package 8 ounces fat free cream cheese softened

1 Cup powdered sugar

1 reduced fat graham cracker crust

Mash about 2 cups fruit, place in sauce pan add sugar, cornstarch, and water bring to a boil stirring constantly : cook for 2 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile for filling beat whipped topping, powdered sugar and cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Spread into crust. Top with remaining berries. Poor cooled sauce over the top. Refrigerate until set about 3 hours. Store in the refrigerator. Makes 8 about servings. At around 350 calories per serving

** I like to reduce the amount of sugar. When reducing sugar you need to add more cornstarch for it to set up.

Savory Shredded Chicken

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Oil

1 onion chopped
3 diced tomatoes
2 Whole cooked chicken breasts shredded
1 Tbsp Salt
3 Cups Broth, fat skimmed off top

Directions
1. Place dutch oven on medium-high heat on your stovetop. Add oil to pan, let oil get hot. 
2. Add onions, cook until clear. The onion will finish cooking in this process and will also become fragrant. 
3. Add tomato and shredded chicken. Stir. Add salt, and then broth. Stir. 
4. Place lid on top, and simmer for 15 min.  Do not take lid off and stir, because you need the steam in there. When timer goes off, let sit for 10 minutes, keeping lid on. 


You can eat this in burritos, Sandwiches, on top of tostadas, or anything else you can think of! =)

Cooking Chicken 101

Need to know how to cook a raw chicken? Well here is a lesson in cooking chicken so you can use it for other recipes that call for pre-cooked poultry.


Ingredients:

Clean and skin the raw chicken(s). You can leave whole or cut into pieces (e,g. Legs, Wings, Thighs, ect...)

Stove Top:
Place Chicken(s) in Dutch oven pot with all the ingredients above, bring to a boil on high heat and then lower temperature down to a low heat and let simmer with lid on top. Cook for 1 hour, then remove from heat. Chicken should be thoroughly cooked through.

Crock Pot:
Place Chickens and all ingredients in a crock pot. Place temperature on low heat and cook for 6 hours, chicken should be cooked thoroughly.

Note: Water does not have to cover chicken, it just needs to be enough so that the chicken is moist and can create steam.

Remove Clove of Garlic after cooking