ThriftyFun Recipes - July 2, 2007

Thank you Chris, Robin, Kim, Liz, Coreenhart, Bonnie and ruthvalleygal for today's recipes!

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Recipe Requests:

• Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
• Safety Of Microwaving Potatoes In Plastic
• New Ideas for Meatloaf

Today's Recipes:

• Inside Out Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Grilled Pineapple
• Versatile and Yummy Fruit Dip
• Creamed Crab
• Low Carb Lasagna
• Blueberry Oat Muffins
• Parmesan Zucchini Strips
• Yogurt Dip
• Bargain Frozen Bananas
• Substitute for Cream of Mushroom Soup

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Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

First I want to say thank you to the person who had the recipe for homemade ice cream that uses 1/2 and 1/2 and whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk, wonderful, wonderful. LOVE THIS RECIPE. What I want to know is, how do I go about making it chocolate ice cream? This stuff gets hard like store bought, I gave a small amount to the owner of our grocery store, and she could not believe it got hard. She said she loved the flavor. So, what do I put in this to make it chocolate? So as I said before, thank you my lifesavers.

Jamish from Ransom

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Safety Of Microwaving Potatoes In Plastic

Microwaving potatoes in a plastic bag. How can this be safe?

I recently was told by a relative that she places a scrubbed and washed whole potato in a plastic grocery bag and ties it shut. She then sticks it in the microwave and the potatoes come out wonderfully moist, not wrinkled and dried up. Fine and dandy, but what about the chemicals leeching into the spud?

So, my concern is, how is that safe? Plastic grocery bags are not meant to be microwaved!

Does anybody have any comments or concerns like myself?

Twinsand2more from ND

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New Ideas for Meatloaf

Please help. My meatloaf recipe needs updating. Our family loves leftover meatloaf for sandwiches, but my recipe needs help. It falls apart and just isn't that tasty.

Maggie from Virginia

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Inside Out Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients

• 1 package Instant Chocolate Pudding
• 1 package Devils Food Cake Mix
• 1 package 12 oz Chocolate Chips
• 1 3/4 cups Milk
• 2 eggs

Directions

Combine pudding mix, cake mix, chips, milk and eggs in a bowl. Mix by hand until well blended, about two minutes. Pour into 12 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes. DO NOT over bake. Cool 15 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and cool.

By Chris from Latrobe, PA

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Grilled Pineapple

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted (no substitutes)
• 1 fresh pineapple
• 2 Tbsp. chopped macademia nuts or hazelnuts, toasted

Directions

Combine syrup and butter; set aside. Quarter the pineapple lengthwise, leaving top attached. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Turn; brush with maple butter. Grill 5-7 minutes longer or until heated through; brush with maple butter and sprinkle with nuts. Serve with the remaining maple butter.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Versatile and Yummy Fruit Dip

My sister suggested this recipe for my daughter's wedding reception. I've tried it tonight, and it's great!

Original recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme
• 8 tsp. Tang drink mix

Directions

Beat cream cheese till fluffy, add marshmallow creme and drink mix. Serve with your choice of fresh fruit.

So my daughter says, "Mom, can we use other drink mixes to go with my colors?" So I'll be hunting for peach and strawberry drink mix, and will watch the fruit dip disappear! :o) Kim

By Kim from Crawford, CO

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Creamed Crab

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 packet butter-flavored granules (like Butter Buds flavor Mix)
• 2 1/2 cups skim milk
• 3 Tbsp. reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 cans crabmeat, drained, flaked and cartilage removed or 2 cup imitation crabmeat
• 2 hard-cooked egg whites, chopped
• hot cooked rice

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the flour and butter-flavored granules. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, hot pepper sauce and pepper until smooth. Stir in the crab and cooked egg whites; heat through. Serve over rice.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Low Carb Lasagna

This recipe uses zucchini instead of noodles for a low carb diet. Just make a pasta sauce as follows:

Brown 1/2 lb. ground beef with 1/2 onion, chopped, 1/2 green pepper chopped. Add a large can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of tomato sauce, 2 Tbsp. catsup, 1 tsp. Mrs. Dash, 1 tsp. lemon pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Spray a 9x11 inch casserole dish with Pam. Peel 2 small zucchini and slice lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips. Layer them with the sauce and liberally sprinkle parmesan cheese between each layer, ending with cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree F oven for 1 hour. Remove foil, broil for about 5 minutes.

By ruthvalleygal from Harlingen, TX

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Blueberry Oat Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, beat egg whites, water and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fill paper-lined muffin cups or muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking spray three-fourths full. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Parmesan Zucchini Strips

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup nonfat Parmesan cheese topping
• 4 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
• 1/4 cup egg substitute

Directions

In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and cheese topping. Dip zucchini in egg substitute, then in crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and tender.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Yogurt Dip

Ingredients

• 2 cups yogurt
• 1 clove garlic, diced fine
• dried oregano and basil to taste

Directions

Let chill in fridge, serve with chips and raw veggies.

By Liz from Bisbee, AZ

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Bargain Frozen Bananas

What a treat! I found very ripe bananas for $1/5 pounds. Very few were soft, so I took a chance. I also bought some chocolate shell, because I remember frozen chocolate covered bananas from my days of working at Knott's Berry Farm. I peeled as many bananas as my large round plastic food container would hold, breaking each one in half. They got sprinkled with lemon juice to retain their color. Then they went into the freezer, carefully covered. The next day I poured chocolate shell over them, and it set up immediately. But there wasn't enough chocolate to cover them all, so I got on the net and found a recipe that is way cheaper than the $2.59 teeny weeny bottle.

You melt 3 tablespoons of butter and 2/3 cup of chocolate chips over low heat together. That's it. Pour it over ice cream of frozen bananas. That made enough to finish the batch. We have enjoyed frozen bananas since then, and there are enough for about 25 servings. That left a bunch of the ripest bananas. I mashed them up and made the equivalent of four loaves of banana bread. We had company for dinner on Sunday and ate some. I sent a loaf home with one of our guests. And the other half of the batch will be served tonight at our grandson's going-away bash. Since I had almost everything on hand, I spent only $1.10 for bananas and $2.59 for chocolate shell.

You don't have to use regular milk chocolate chips for the shell. Mine were the kind that are filled with peanut butter. I'll bet bittersweet would be really good. And it probably came out to a total of 65 servings of dessert. YUM! Now I'm watching for a sale on chocolate chips!

Coreenhart from Rupert, ID

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Substitute for Cream of Mushroom Soup

So many recipes call for cream of mushroom/celery/chicken, etc. soup and the soups are so high in sodium I don't want to use them in recipes. Does anyone know of a good healthy substitute for the creamed soups? Thanks a lot.

Bonnie from Tuckerton, NJ

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