This is a quick and easy dessert that gives a better impression than plain old Jello. It is virtually the same recipe, you just use milk instead of water! A quick warning though, in case you decide to try this with another type of Jello . . . don’t try it with citrus flavors! I made the mistake of doing so without thinking and of course the milk curdled. Stick to other flavors instead.

Creamy Pineapple Jello
Makes 2 cups

1 package pineapple Jello
1 c. boiling water
1 c. milk with two Tblsp. powdered milk added

Dissolve the Jello in the hot water, stir in the milk and pour into molds. Chill until set and serve. The perfect cool dessert for a hot summer day.

This is a pretty classic stew, but instead of using just broth, I added beer as a base and it turned a good stew into something amazing! Seriously, I love cooking with beer, it just adds so much flavor to food. Plus, my husband is a big fan of beer so he will eat just about anything with it.

I figured this would be too hearty for my young boys, 4 and 3, but they surprised me by loving the barley (which they’d never tried before) and eating as much of the meat as their father . . . they even polished off several carrot chunks, so it was a big hit in our house.

While I made this in the crockpot, you can easy do it stovetop, as well, just stir it occasionally.

Beef Barley Stew
Serves 8

1.5 lb. beef, cut into 1″ cubes
3 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1.5 c. barley
2 c. beef broth (add more if needed)
1 bottle beer
3 leaves basil (or 1 tsp. dried)

Brown the beef in a pan. If you plan to cook stovetop you can do this right in the pot you’ll be using. Julia Child says to dry your beef before browning, which I didn’t do and you can see that it didn’t really get that brown, but it did jumpstart the cooking process.

In your crockpot, pour the broth and beer. Add remaining ingredients, including browned beef. Set to high and let cook for 5-6 hours.

Enjoy! On the stove it should take only an hour or so.

If you’re like most moms, you like to make a little extra of something basic like potatoes and then have leftovers. If you’re like most moms, you also have kids who turn their noses up at leftovers. Gourmet Mama to the rescue! Here are three cool recipes to use up your leftover potatoes in record time and no one will even notice that they are leftovers!

Hashbrowns

serves 4

4 c. boiled potatoes, chopped
oil
salt

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, preferably non-stick. Add the potatoes and let cook until they brown, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to flip. The trick to great hashbrowns is to avoid stirring too much so the potatoes won’t fall apart. This lets them form that crisp brown crust that makes these potatoes so darn tasty!

Breakfast Casserole

Serves 6

2 c. potatoes, mashed with a little milk
1 c. cheddar cheese, grated
1 c. breakfast sausage, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 slices bread, dipped in milk

Lay the bread on the bottom of a casserole dish (you could also use a 9X13 baking pan. top with the sausages and tomatoes, sprinkle with a little salt. Top with potatoes and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350° for 20 min. or until the cheese melts and bubbles.

Potato Patties

Serves 4

1 egg
2 c. mashed pototoes
1 onion, minced
pinch of chicken consomme
2-3 Tblsp. oil
flour

Mix potatoes and onions. Add consomme and then salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the egg. If the mixture is too liquid, you can add a little flour, one tablespoon at a time.

Heat the oil in a pan and drop spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, using your spatula to flatten them out a bit. Fry until crispy, then flip until both sides are golden brown. Drain and serve with ketchup.

I’m a huge fan of crepes, but wasn’t able to make them until recently, when I tried using non-stick spray. I swear by that stuff now, because it enabled me to turn out gorgeous crepes with NO sticking. Definitely a good tool to have on hand for any gourmet mama!

These crepes are chocolatey and rich, rolled around a center of Nutella and cream that is really to die for. This is certainly not diet food, but it is oh, so delicious and very easy to turn out. Try adding some fruit to the mix for extra flavor.

Chocolate Crepes

Makes about 8 8″ crepes

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 c. cocoa
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Nutella
Cream

Whisk milk, water and eggs together. Add flour and salt and mix. Add butter and whisk until smooth.

Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray and once hot, pour about 3 Tblsp. of batter onto the pan, then lift and tilt the pan to let the batter run all over the bottom, forming the thin crepe.

Cook until barely set and flip. Cook a few seconds on the other side and flip onto a plate.

Spread with Nutella, drizzle with cream and roll. Serve hot.

I’ve made lentil burgers before, but they were fairly heavy with flour. This lentil patty recipe uses no flour, only the lentils and a few other ingredients are necessary. The result? These are light and tasty, and packed with protein!

Lentil Patties

Makes about 10

2 c. lentils, mashed
1 egg
1 onion, minced
1/4 c. breadcrumbs

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 5 minutes. Heat a frying pan with a little oil in it. Drop the lentil mixture by the spoonful and gently pat it out into patties. Cook about 2 minutes, then flip.

Serve with ketchup.

I recently borrowed a very old Weight Watcher’s book out of the library and this recipe was in it. Though the original called for using a sugar substitute, I used sugar and it came out wonderfully, though with considerably more calories, I’d assume!

Almond Jelly is NOT what you’d expect. It’s smooth, creamy and the extract gives it a special touch that is just so darn good. It’s the perfect dessert to make for guests because it’s super simple, but is so delicious. Try garnishing with a few slivers of almond on top.

Almond Jelly

Makes 4 servings

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 c. water, divided into 1/2 c. and 1 1/2 c.
2/3 c. powdered milk
8 tsp. sugar (or equivelent in artificial sweetener)
1 Tblsp. almond extract

Sprinkle the gelatin over the 1/2 c. of water in a small pot. Heat, stirring, until the gelatin dissolves. Add remaining ingredients, stir well and pour into 1/2 c. molds. Chill until set and unmold to serve.

Lentils are wonderful food for you, but in my house, no one likes to eat just plain lentils except me. Which means I have to come up with a lot of interesting ways to prepare them . . . including this very tasty lentil salad.

The lentils and sesame seeds add protein to the dish, while the tomatoes give you the veggie serving for the meal, along with the lettuce. Plus, it’s totally delicious! Serve as a side dish or as the main meal . . . just keep in mind that you’ll need to double the recipe to give four people a main course.

Lentil Tomato Salad

Serves 4

2 tomatoes, chopped
1 c. cooked lentils (I cooked mine with a teaspoon of chicken consomme for flavor)
1 Tblsp. sesame seeds
Juice of one lime (about 1 Tblsp.)
Lettuce
Salt

Toss the lentils and tomatoes together with the lime juice. Add salt to taste, if desired.

Serve atop a lettuce leaf and garnish with plenty of sesame seeds.

Deviled ham is a great sandwich spread and it makes a package of lunch meat go a long ways. You can also serve it as a dip for crackers or just eat it like a salad! Any way you go, it’s delicious. Here’s how to make this versatile, tasty dish.

Ultimate Deviled Ham

Makes 1.5 cups

1 package ham lunch meat, minced
1 tsp. mustard
4 Tblsp. mayonnaise
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. lettuce, shredded, then minced

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Spread on bread for sandwiches or serve on a lettuce leaf for individual salad portions.

For me (and I suspect many of my readers), lettuce has always been a raw food. However, I’ve seen recipes for lettuce soup in several cookbooks now and they’ve made me curious, so for lunch one day, I made lettuce soup. To my surprise, it was quite delicious. The only thing I would change from this very simple recipe is to perhaps add some crumbled bacon to the top . . . it would go so very well with this recipe!

Creamy Lettuce Soup

Serves 4

3 c. beef broth
3 c. lettuce, shredded
1 Tblsp. onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c. milk
paprika

Bring the broth to a boil. Add lettuce, onion, and garlic. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add milk and remove from the heat. Sprinkle each serving with a pinch of paprika for color.

I’m rather obsessed with limes, I’m afraid. I have at least a dozen in my fridge at any given time and since it’s impossible to find lemons in Guatemala, I use limes in everything.

While on a mad baking spree the other evening, I decided to make cupcakes. But not just any cupcake would do, no, it had to be something special. So, of course, I thought of limes. What could be better than a lime cupcake? The blend of sweet and sour in a cake . . . perfect! I’ve turned lemon loaf into cupcakes before but I wanted these to be light and fluffy and, well, zingy. And they were.

We ate these suckers up without any icing, but I imagine a light lemon or lime glaze would only improve them. Or perhaps a little sprinkle of sugar on top. Mine were gone entirely too fast to think about garnishes, though, I was lucky to get this photo of the final three in the morning when the light was good again!

Orange-Lime Cupcakes

Makes 12

2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
2 tsp. orange extract (if you can’t find it, use orange juice instead)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour
1/2 c. lime or lemon juice
3/4 c. water

Preheat the oven to 350°. Put muffin cups in the tins.

Blend the sugar and margarine together and beat in the eggs and extract. Add the water and lime juice and mix well, then incorporate the dry ingredients.

Mix until smooth and fill muffin tins. Bake for 30 min. or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake!