Dessert Archives - Page 18 of 18

Steak with Lemon Tomato Sauce / Busy Mom's Helper

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Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen: Best Simple Recipes

I wanted to make something special for my hubby the other day, since he was coming all the way home from work for lunch. The kids were at grandma’s swimming, and I was in a major cooking mood, so decided to go all out. And what’s the point of going all out if you can’t ‘romance’ it up a bit, huh? The problem was, we don’t really have a romantic home set-up. Our kitchen table was completely covered in coloring supplies, and the floor was scattered with toys. What’s a girl to do? I transformed our kids play picnic table into a romantic setting, with pillows as chairs since it was so short! Here’s the table pre-transformation:

Now, ta-da! A romantic lunch for two!

Now, we’ve lived in our home for almost 5 years now (literally, next month), and I have only braved our cellar one time. The entrance is outside, the stairs are steep, and it’s yucky and dusty. Spiderwebs, sometimes mice I’m sure. It’s just not somewhere I ever choose to go…until today! I decided our lunch needed a little ‘bubbly’, so I gathered all the courage I could and went down into that gross, dingy cellar and grabbed a Sparkling Cider. Yup, I’m an awesome wife!

I made an amazing new dish for lunch: Steaks with Lemon Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Steaks (about 10-12 ounces each), 1 inch thick

Salt and pepper

3 tbsp. Olive oil

2 pints Cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tsp. Sugar

¼ tsp. Red pepper flakes

2 Garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup Chopped parsley

2 tsp. grated Lemon zest

1 tbsp. Lemon juice

Put 1 tbsp. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add steaks, seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook until done as desired (we like medium).

In empty (or clean) skillet, cook tomatoes, sugar and pepper flakes until tomatoes are softened; about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute; when begins to be fragrant. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice steaks and cover with tomato mixture. Serve!

For dessert, since I was throwing all of this together so quickly, I made a Vanilla Pudding Freeze Pie. It’s chilled just enough to make a creamy and satisfying treat.

Ingredients:
1 small Vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup Milk
2 cups Whipped cream
3-4 Small pie crusts (I had a pack of 6 small ones)
Topping of choice (I used raspberries), optional

Mix pudding mix, milk and whipped cream together until well blended.
Scoop into pie crusts until just slightly higher than the edge of the crust.

Top with your topping of choice.

Put in the freezer for about 10 minutes, or just while you’re eating your main course.

Notes: Feel free to use other flavors of pudding. This is just the one I had on-hand.

If you’re wondering about the glasses and the centerpiece: those are actually from our wedding! The centerpiece was from our cake, and the glasses we used for toasting. Thought it would make it a more special lunch!

Have you ever done a surprise romantic meal for your hubby at the last minute? What did you pull together to make it even more special?

More Dinner Date Recipes…

I’m going to share with you one of our go-to summer dessert recipes: Creamy Orange Dream Pie! I think my dad would say it’s his favorite dessert I’ve made – he had seconds! And thirds, and I think fourths….but you get the idea 🙂

Creamy Orange Dream Cake / Busy Mom's Helper

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Adapted from Kraft Foods Busy Family Recipes

I’m not sure about you, but we’re DEFINITELY feeling the summer heat here in Texas so far. Still not the scorching temperatures we’ll be hitting in the later months, but hot and muggy just the same. Other than hitting the pool (and wearing out the kids…bonus!), cooling off with a delicious cold treat it just what the doctor ordered!

This Creamy Orange Dream Pie is full of creamy, refreshing flavor. Another great thing? It’s SUPER easy to make! Whip a few things together, refrigerate a bit, and then you’re enjoying the perfect dessert!

Ingredients

80 Wafer cookies (like Nilla wafers), finely crushed
½ stick Butter, melted
2 cups Milk
2 pkg. (small) Vanilla instant pudding mix
8 oz. Whipped cream, thawed
2 cups Orange sherbet, softened

Directions

In a 13×9 pan, line foil with the ends extending over the sides of the pan.
Mix wafer crumbs and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of pan.
In medium bowl, mix pudding mixes and milk until well blended. Stir in half of the whipped cream. Spoon evenly over the crust. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Mix sherbet and remaining whipped cream until well blended. Spoon over pudding layer after done in the fridge.
Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours. Use the foil ends to remove the dessert from the pan before cutting to serve.

I bet this recipe could be altered for pretty much any flavor; it just depends on the ice cream. I’m eager to try it with chocolate or mixed berry. What would you try, and if you do try something, let us know how it turns out!

More Dinner Date Recipes…

Ingredients

Directions

Other Summertime Recipes…