Easy Strawberry Sherbet

This photo was taken in December of 2004.

 This is the "pink ice cream" that my boys grew up eating. Actually, I think my Mama made it for me when I was little! It's very easy to make, but like any frozen dessert, you have to start early to give it time to set up in the freezer. No need for an ice cream freezer, although I would imagine you could use one if you wanted.


                                Easy Strawberry Sherbet

1 large can evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk!)
1 large (6 oz.) box strawberry gelatin mix (I use Jello brand)
1 cup sugar


Pour milk into a bowl that can go in the freezer. Place in the freezer until ice crystals form around the edges. Whip with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Reduce mixer speed and gradually add gelatin mix and sugar. 
Freezer until firm. 

Chex Party Mix

Randy's favorite game-day snack is Chex Mix, but not the kind you buy already made and packaged. He insists that it's just not the same. His favorite day to watch is Saturday, because all the college teams are playing. His favorite, of course, is Texas A&M. (Gig 'Em!) He also likes to watch t.u. lose (sorry, Uncle Doug) and in general likes watching any good rivalry or evenly matched college game. Oh, and when watching NFL, he roots for the New Orleans Saints, since he was born there. It drives me crazy, but his favorite weekend is Bowl Weekend. So can I come over and watch a good movie at your house that weekend? Or any weekend between now and then? :)

Chex Party Mix


6 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp. seasoned salt
¾ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder
3 cups Corn Chex
3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Wheat Chex
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup pretzels
1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces


Heat oven to 250 degrees. Melt margarine in large roasting pan in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container. 12 cups snack.

Two favorites: No Bake Chocolate Cookies and Spiced Tea

Thyme Together has issued a challenge. Read the challenge here.

Hi i'm Joel.I know I said that I like No bake oatmeal cookies and Spice tea (which I do.) But my all-time favorite is candy!But you can't cook that.

Mom's Note: Joel's not a big football fan but goes along and plays with his brother and friends sometimes. But he does like to participate in some football day food-eating! Here are his recipes....

No Bake Oatmeal Fudge Cookies
3 cups raw oatmeal
1 cup coconut
1 cups pecans, chopped
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups sugar
½ cup milk
1 stick margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon butter flavor
½ cup peanut butter

Mix oatmeal, coconut, and pecans in large bowl. Mix cocoa, sugar, milk, margarine, vanilla, and butter flavors together in saucepan. Bring to a boil and let boil slowly for one minute. Remove from heat and add peanut butter until melted. Pour over dry mixture and stir. Drop by teaspoon on waxed paper and try to let cool before eating. Makes about 3 dozen.

Note: For non-nut lovers such as my boys, increase the oatmeal to 4 or 5 cups and leave out the coconut and pecans.

Spiced Tea

16 cups water
1 Tbsp. cloves
5 sticks cinnamon
6 tea bags
2 cups sugar
6 lemons (or frozen Minute Maid “juice of 7 lemons”)
Juice of one grapefruit (also include some chunks)
6-oz. can frozen orange juice

Boil 4 cups water with the cloves and cinnamon for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, steep tea bags in another 4 cups water (at least 5 minutes). Mix all together. Add sugar, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, orange juice, and remaining water. Stir, heat, and serve.

Note: It’s best to put spices in a tea ball and remove before storing.

Puppy Chow

Thyme Together has issued a challenge. Read the challenge here.

Hi I'm Matthew. I like to spend at least 6-9 hours watching football a weekend. I'm a huge fan of the sport, and enjoy watching Texas A&M (where my parents went college), any ranked SEC team (the strongest college football conference in the country), and both the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans (the 2 Texas NFL teams). And to make watching the greatest sport ever even greater is eating Puppy Chow, a snack almost as addicting as it is sweet. Here is the recipe:

Puppy Chow (aka Chex Muddy Buddies)
9 cups of your favorite Chex (Corn, Rice, and/or Wheat)
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Measure cereal into a large bowl and set aside.
Combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in 1-quart microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 1 ½ minutes or until smooth, stirring after 1 minute. Stir in vanilla.
Pour chocolate mixture over cereal, stirring until all pieces are evenly coated. Pour cereal mixture into large resealable plastic bag with powdered sugar. Seal securely. Shake until all pieces are well coated.
Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container.

Doug's Cheese Ball

 We have a challenge going on! Did you see it? If not, go HERE! We're waiting to see what you guys can come up with!

Doug did his graduate work at the University of Texas and he is a really big fan!! He is heading to a game as I write this! He likes for me to have a cheese ball in the refrigerator for him to munch on during football season. Read the recipe by clicking on "read more".

Snap Crackle Popcorn

Thyme Together has issued a challenge.  Read the challenge here.

My response to the challenge:
Although I was never big on watching football games myself I was very much into supporting the team if I knew someone on the team or knew who I should be cheering on.
But mostly, I loved the thrill of the game.  When the kids were in high school we attended games for halftime so we could see our kids march.
Lee went to Abilene Christian College (at that time now University) and I had all of my children in school before I  attended college so I went locally to University of Texas at San Antonio which did not have a football team at the time.  Three out of four of our children attended Texas A&M and one stayed a year there, returning home to University of Texas at San Antonio.

So our allegiance is divided or united, however you look at it.  I can wear any color.

The snack food we loved to make and eat was most definitely Popcorn Candy

It is simple to make and makes a ton.
 Go here to see the recipe.

Call for submissions

The competition is now on!

Football is in full swing

and that means snacks for tailgating parties 

or

televised football parties

or 

just a relaxed day in the recliner watching your favorite team.

No matter how you do it what is a game without snacks 

So here is our family challenge.

A call for submissions:

Football party Snacks!

Tell who you are cheering on and why and submit your favorite snack recipe. 

Linda's Chicken Tamales

Here is my chicken tamale recipe. Doug loves these. They are about half the calories as regular tamales, but are really delicious! There is nothing difficult about making these, but it is easier with two people so one can spread the masa on the corn shuck and one can put in the filling and roll the tamale. A third person would be nice, as they could stack them in the big pot for steaming. I usually make them all by myself, though. :o(   Oh, well, it's worth it!

Linda's Chicken Tamales

Filling:
About 4 lbs. chicken breast tenderloins, boiled, chopped or shredded)
2 cans (7 oz. each) Herdez brand salsa verde
Mix the chopped, cooked chicken with the salsa verde.  You can let it marinate for an hour or so, or overnight, but you don't have to.

Masa:
6 cups Maseca Corn Masa Mix
6 cups chicken broth (I use fat free or make my own)
1 cup corn oil
2 1/2 tsp. salt
optional: I add about 2 tablespoons ground cumin
 Mix well.

Soak 1 bag of corn husks in hot water until soft. Drain well. Rinse. I leave mine in the water until I use them, but I rinse them off and dry them on a clean dish towel before spreading the masa on.

To assemble:

It is very hard to see the masa on the husk in the photo since they are the same color. You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it.

Lay a husk down with the cupped side up. Spread the masa in about a 2" x 4" square at one corner (use the wide side of the husk).

Put about 1 1/2 tablespoons chicken mixture across the center of the masa.

Bring the edge of the husk to the edge of the masa.

Continue rolling.

Fold the end up.  When you  place in the steamer, place the open end up.


Place the tamales in a steamer (or a big pot with foil wadded up in the bottom to hold them out of the water). Pour water in the bottom of the pot to provide steam. (You will NOT be filling the pot with water!) I usually place a big wad of aluminum foil or a large canning jar in the center of the pot if I don't have enough tamales to fill it completely. You don't want the tamales to fall over. Keep the open end upright.
Steam about an hour. It could take a little longer if the masa or filling is very wet. Test doneness by taking out a tamale and cooling slightly. If it will release easily from the husk, it is done. 
Serve with a little more of the Salsa Verde. These freeze well. This recipe makes about 5 dozen tamales. 

Black Bean Cakes

Doug and I ate in a great little restaurant in the Hill Country a couple of months ago. On the menu that day was a "Black Bean Cake". Now, I am not nearly as adventurous as Doug, but I gave it a try and LOVED it! It came with pico de gallo on top and was drizzled with sour cream. I came home and found a similar recipe and we now have bean cakes about once a week! Since I was making them for dinner tonight, I decided to photograph one and give you the recipe. I didn't have pico de gallo or sour cream, but it was delicious with chopped cherry tomatoes (the really sweet kind) and minced onion. Doug ate his plain. Give it a try! I serve it as a side to the main dish, but sometimes I have one by itself for lunch.
Click on Read more to get recipe.