Monday, May 23, 2011

Yummy Tips

Since I am now on summer break, I have had more time lately to cook and do a little experimentation. I just wanted to give y'all some little tips that I have found to be so simple and so good to give a little life to your everyday meals. 
A few nights ago, I got the urge to make breakfast for dinner. Breakfast is a great thing to cook when you don't have any meat thawed out. I made stone ground grits, scrambled eggs, chocolate croissants, bacon, and sliced some delicious fresh tomatoes. A little trick that I have recently discovered is to put a bit of Philadelphia cooking creme (I used garlic flavored) into eggs. I like to add a tablespoon or two and some cheddar cheese to my scrambled eggs to give them a unique flavor! I also tried making chocolate croissants for the first time. I simply used a store-bought package of refrigerated crescent dough. I placed two squares of a Hershey dark chocolate bar into each triangle of dough and rolled it up. I then bathed them with an egg wash (one egg and two tablespoons of water or milk), dusted them with refined sugar, and baked them according to the package's instructions. These were really a hit!
Last night, I decided to grill out. I wanted to try the Ranch burgers that are advertised on Hidden Valley commercials. I mixed one packet of dry Ranch dressing mix with one pound of hamburger meat. I then made patties in which I placed a small piece of cheddar cheese before grilling. These cheddar filled Ranch burgers were very good for an added kick to hamburgers!
Tonight, I made pudding parfaits for dessert. It was very simple but surprisingly delicious. I got this idea from Paula Deen, who made cheesecake parfaits. I did not have cheesecake pudding mix or Nilla Wafers, however, so I made up my own parfait recipe. I layered chocolate pudding, white chocolate pudding, whipped cream, chocolate Graham Cracker crumbs, and fresh raspberries. It was really very good, and relatively low fat because I used sugar free, fat free pudding mixes. 
I hope that you can use some of these simple meal tips to make an ordinary dinner just a bit more extraordinary :)