Hopeful Homemaker

Raspberry Pretzel Dessert

January 11, 2010 jennifer Desserts, Sides and Salads

This dish is yummy as a refreshing dessert, and occasionally I serve it as a side dish at a holiday dinner. It’s one of those recipes that most everyone has, but this one has some little changes to make it a bit lower in fat.

It’s not difficult to make, but you have to make it in advance.

Put 2 cups crushed pretzels in a bowl and add 3 Tablespoons sugar. Melt 3/4 cup margarine and pour it over the pretzels and sugar. Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool completely. When the crust is cooled, mix 8 oz. cream cheese (1/3 less fat kind) with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup sugar substitute (like Splenda, or of course you can just use 1 cup sugar if you’d like). Then carefully fold in 8 ounces fat free whipped topping.

Gently spread over pretzel crust and refrigerate to cool.

Drain the juice from a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple and add water to the juice to equal 1 cup.

Pour the pineapple juice into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, place the contents of 2 packages (.3 ounces each) of sugar free raspberry jello into a bowl. Pour boiling pineapple juice over jello and stir to dissolve.

Now you can add 1.5 cups cold water to the jello and then wait for it to partially set. Or, if you’re like me and you’re pretty sure that the timing will get messed up because you’ll get busy doing other things, you can put 1 cup of ice cubes in a measuring cup and then add water until it measures 1.5 cups. Then pour it into the jello mixture and mix until the ice cubes melt.

When the jello is thickening a little bit, add the can of crushed pineapple and 12 ounces thawed frozen raspberries. Stir well.

Refrigerate this for a few minutes until it’s thick enough to spoon over the cream cheese layer without running.

Continue until you’ve used all the jello.

Now refrigerate for a few hours before serving. So yummy!

This dessert is also delicious with strawberries and strawberry jello. Enjoy.

Raspberry Pretzel Dessert Crust:
2 cups crushed pretzels 3/4 cup margarine, melted 3 Tb. sugar Combine pretzels, margarine and 3 Tb. sugar. Press onto bottom of 9×13 pan. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until set.

Filling:
8 oz softened cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat kind) 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup sugar substitute 8 oz fat free whipped topping Combine cream cheese, sugar and sugar substitute. Mix well. Fold in whipped topping. Carefully spread over cooled crust. Refrigerate.

Jello layer:
1 can (20 oz) unsweetened crushed pineapple 2 pkg (.3 oz each) sugar free raspberry jello 12 oz frozen raspberries, thawed Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add water to juice to equal 1 cup of liquid. Place juice in saucepan and bring to boil. Pour into bowl and add jello, stirring to dissolve. Add 1 1/2 cups water to jello and refrigerate until partially set. Stir in crushed pineapple and raspberries. Carefully spoon over whipped topping. Cover and refrigerate 2-4 hours or until set. Enjoy!

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One Step Report #1

January 10, 2010 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty, One Step

Well, it’s day #10 of the year 2010, and I’m happy to report that it’s been a great ten days.

Never before have I so completely turned the tables on my critical, perfectionist self. I haven’t made a single list of things to do all week, but instead have listed all the things that were done. So far I’ve taken 50 small steps to improve life. That’s an average of 5 per day, and I feel good about that. To celebrate, I’m sharing another photo of my toddler’s feet. This is her new life, standing on tippy toes to get into things.

It’s been very healthy to record my small victories or tasks, and I’ve also been writing which category it falls under next to every entry. This is helping me to see where I need to plan more consciously for improvement.

I want to share a couple of highlights.

So far, my three daughters (ages 7, 5, and 2) have managed (with my help and prodding) to keep their room clean for a full week. I should have taken a before picture, but if you’ve been to my home and we trust you enough to let you go upstairs, you’ve probably seen a room that was completely covered with clothing. Now it has looked like this for 9 days.

The other morning I walked past their door while they were gone at school and the simple beauty and soft light made me pause in wonder that such an unexpected pleasure was right there, in my own home, and in THAT room! I’d forgotten how much I love the old grandmother’s flower garden quilts that lay at the foot of their beds.

I had also forgotten how beautiful and peaceful my bedroom is, because I’d let it become the clean laundry pile room. I managed to stay completely caught up on laundry this week, without letting any of it pile up. Unexpected benefit: I have my bedroom back!

These things are small, indeed, but they help us all feel more relaxed in our home. And if it takes 30 days to form new habits, then I figure we’re 25% of the way there. Organization is a wonderful thing, and I’m convinced that 75% of it is self-discipline.

I think that perhaps the most important steps have been taken this week in relationships and responses to people. I’m not proud of this, but a week ago I discovered that my little girls had been breaking jewelry for no good reason. My 5 year old had asked for a treasure box full of jewels for Christmas. I put a lot of time and effort into gathering these materials, and to find them broken just for the sake of breaking them was upsetting. I’m ashamed to say it, but I yelled at my two little daughters for it. And then, after yelling, I took a good look at them and saw quivering lips and eyes welling up with tears. I thought to myself, “Here I am, seeking to have LOVE be the guiding force behind our growth, and I just broke the hearts of my sweet, innocent daughters over a broken necklace. A broken heart over a broken THING.” I was disgusted with myself. I gathered them into my arms, asked for their forgiveness, and then spent some time alone in my room praying, asking forgiveness from my Heavenly Father for treating his little ones so harshly.

That necklace has sat on my desk ever since, my reminder to myself of what really matters. It is not ok to be destructive, but I can teach that principle with love instead of anger.

Fast forward to two days ago when my son decided to move some furniture around in our family room. My coffee table that looked like this:

now looks like this:

I confess that I did ask him why that particular 1/4 inch piece of wood looked like a sturdy handle, but I didn’t yell, and I didn’t get angry. I remembered the necklace. I put my arm around him, told him I was disappointed but that my disappointment wasn’t a reflection of my love for him or my approval of him. I think it worked out. (I still need to fix the table, but at least I don’t need to fix my son’s heart.)

And so, I feel content with my One Step progress so far. I’m excited for what the next week holds!

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Chicken Rollups

January 10, 2010 jennifer Main Dishes

My mom used to make these sometimes when I was growing up.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it requires only 3 ingredients; five if you wish to add salt and pepper. The list consists of: chicken tenders, sour cream and Corn Flakes Crumbs.

I guess it’s not much of a recipe in some ways, as you just use what you need of the 3 ingredients, so no real measurements are involved. I prefer to make these roll-ups with chicken tenders, as they are smaller, cook faster, and don’t seem to dry out much. So, figure out how many chicken tenders your family needs, and flatten each of them by placing the chicken inside a ziploc bag and pounding on the chicken with a mallet until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Now, get a shallow cereal bowl and pour about 1 cup of Corn Flakes Crumbs into it. (You can crush your own corn flakes if you’d like, but I prefer to just keep a box of the crumbs on hand so my kids don’t eat my ingredients without realizing.) Lay a flattened piece of chicken in the bowl.

Now take a spoon and scoop some sour cream into another small bowl. This is because you don’t want the spoon that touches the raw meat to go in and out of your sour cream container. Take about a tablespoon of sour cream and spread it over the top of the chicken.

If you want to, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the sour cream.

Now start at the widest end of the piece of chicken and roll it up, securing it with a toothpick.

Place your roll-up on a baking sheet and repeat with your remaining chicken until all the pieces are prepared.

Now bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, then check for doneness. This isn’t something you want to overcook.

TaDa! Simple, pretty and actually quite yummy. My kids like these a lot, and people are always surprised that it’s only sour cream rolled up inside the chicken. It’s one of those deceptively simple recipes.

Enjoy!

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