St. Patrick's Day Key Lime Pie

Now I know this is not a reduced fat/calorie recipe, but I figured since it was a holiday it would be ok!

I got this recipe from a cookbook I have called "The Great American Cookbook" featuring recipes from all over the U.S. such as: southern fried chicken, oysters rockefeller, boston beans, mississippi mud pie, and my feature for today, key lime pie!

The other day when I was at the store I saw what I thought was Key Limes (they come in a bag of green netting) which was what inspired me to make this dessert today.....but when I went back I found they were not Key Limes, but organic limes instead. So I just used the ones I found, and it tastes great anyways!

Crumb Crust:
6 oz. graham crackers or gingersnap cookies
2 tbsp. super fine sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:
1 3/4 cups canned sweetened condensed milk (about a can and a half)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
finely grated rind of 3 limes
4 large egg yolks

freshly whipped cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate.

For crumb crust: put the graham crackers, sugar, and cinnamon into a food processor and process until fine crumbs form-do not overprocess to a powder. Add the melted butter and process again until moistened.

Tip the crumb mixture into the pie plate and press over the bottom and up the sides. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the condensed milk, lime juice, lime rind, and egg yolks together until well blended.

Remove crumb crust from the oven, pour in the filling, and spread to the edges. Return to the oven for and additional 15 minutes or until the filling is set around the edges but still wobbly in the center. Let cool completely on a cooling rack, then cover and let chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

We're back!

Well we had a great time, and are back home now!
I have to confess that I DID NOT do a very good job on my diet over the weekend. Me: "man, my stomach hurts bad, and I didn't have any candy today...well except for the m&m's in my trail mix, oh and the 4 chocolate chip cookies I ate after lunch." Oops.
However, I did do lots of exercise consisting of:

1. The wheeler push; my brother got stuck in the sand, so I got off my 4 wheeler to push his out..very tiring.
2. The vending machine dash; the coke machine near our campsite had a little problem...each can of soda was supposed to be a dollar, but if you put a dollar in and pushed as many buttons as you could while it was "thinking" then you got all of those drinks from the buttons you pushed...spent lots of time running back and forth from there, because sometimes pushing a button randomly would result in a free drink as well..
3. The 2-year-old scramble; included running after said child (children if you include my 2 year old niece as well as my 2 year old daughter) saving them from the fire, from oncoming 4 wheeler traffic, from eating sand, eating too many marshmallows, from trying to drive the scooter by themselves (that's you olivia), etc. etc. etc.

It was a great trip!

see ya next week!

I will be out of town until next week, don't miss me too much!

South Seas Kebabs

I got this recipe from a cookbook that was printed in England- the ingredients have funny names (like aubergines for eggplant and courgette for zucchini) and the amounts are measured metrically. So being the nice and helpful person I am, converted everything into a language that us here a'mercan folks can read.

1 pound rump steak, cut in 3/4 inch pieces (or any lean cut of beef)
1 ripe papaya, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes (use mango or pineapple if you want)
1 red or green pepper, cubed

Honey ginger glaze:
6 ounces chicken stock
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbs honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 Tbs cornstarch mixed with
1 Tbs water

Puree one third of the papaya in a blender. Set the remaining cubes aside. Mix the beef and papaya puree in a shallow dish. Cover the dish and marinate the beef in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

For the glaze, combine the stock, onion, garlic, ginger, honey, salt, and pepper in a small pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch/water mixture and continue cooking and stirring until it thickens- 1-2 minutes. Remove the glaze from heat and set it aside.

To assemble kebabs thread cubes of beef, papaya, and pepper onto four 12 inch skewers.

On a pre-heated grill, cook the kebabs for 3 minutes. Turn them and cook for 3 minutes more. Brush with glaze and cook them for 1 minute. Turn the kebabs once more, brush them with glaze and cook for another minute. Transfer the kebabs to a platter and brush with remaining glaze. Serve immediately.

Serve on it's own for an appetizer, or with {brown}rice and green salad for a yummy dinner.