Recipe #7 Sweet Potato Rice Pudding

This recipe is inspired by plain 'ole Rice Pudding.  But plain rice pudding can be a bit boring.  And with all of the fall decorations going up in stores, I was thinking about fall desserts like pumpkin and sweet potato pie.  So, why not combine them?  This rice pudding is not too difficult to make and has the same flavor profile as sweet potato pie.  Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and this may be one dessert that goes on my Thanksgiving table.

Difficulty Level: Medium

Ingredients:
3/4 cup uncooked white, long-grain rice
2 1/2 cups milk, divided
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweet potato puree (see note at end of recipe)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
In a small saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Add rice and stir.  Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to cook for 20 minutes.  In another saucepan, combine 2 cups milk, sugar, salt, sweet potato, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice.  Add cooked rice to milk mixture and cook over medium heat until thick and creamy (about 15-20 minutes).  Do not allow milk to boil.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup milk to the beaten egg and stir into hot rice mixture.  Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly.  Serve warm or cold.

Note:  To make sweet potato puree, I used a 15 oz. can of cut sweet potatoes (yams) in syrup.  I drained about half of the liquid out of the can, then used a stick blender to puree the potatoes.  If you don't have a stick blender you can use a food processor or regular blender.  You can also use canned pumpkin that is already pureed for you.

Things I learned from this recipe:
-Pumpkin and sweet potatoes can almost be used interchangeably.  I originally wanted to use pumpkin in this recipe, but none of my local grocery stores would be carrying it until late October or early November.  Apparently there was a pumpkin shortage last year and they are not putting canned pumpkin out until late in the year to have enough stock for the Thanksgiving season.
-I originally wanted to make this a one-step cook, but the first time I tried it, it got really thick and the rice wasn't cooked all the way through.  So, I went with the pre-cooked rice method, and it worked beautifully.
-Also, just a reminder:  Do not allow the milk to boil.  It will make your pudding have a grainy texture.

Do you have a favorite snack or dessert that could be changed to a Fall inspired dish?

Recipe #6 Cheesecake Whip Parfait

This recipe is one I've been doing for a while and I just kind of spruced it up into this parfait.  The Cheesecake Whip is basically a whipped cream with cream cheese in it.  I find it tastes a lot like cheese cake because of the sugar and the vanilla that is added to the cream.  There is no actual baking done in this recipe unless you want to make homemade granola instead of buying it at the store.  That's what I did and it was wonderful. I guess you could say this dish was slightly inspired by a very large fast food chain's yogurt parfait with fruit.  But it's very different in taste.

Difficulty Level:  Easy

Ingredients for Cheesecake Whip:
1 Quart of Heavy Whipping Cream (or Heavy Cream)
8 oz. Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 Tbsps vanilla

Ingredients for Parfait:
Cheesecake Whip
Pie Filling - any variety (tart fruits work best - cherry, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry)
Granola - store bought or homemade (about 4 cups)

Directions for Cheesecake Whip:
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl with a hand held mixer at medium to medium-high speed, beat cream cheese at room temperature until no lumps are visible.  Add in cream and whip until cream is thickened.  While continuing to beat cream, add in sugar slowly.  When all sugar is added in, pour in vanilla.  Continue to beat until stiff peaks are formed ( until the points stay up when you remove your beater from the whipped cream).

Directions for assembling parfait:
In a trifle dish or tall glass, layer granola, then whip, then pie filling.  Repeat until glass is full or trifle dish is full or until all of your ingredients are used up.  I used individual trifle bowls for the picture above, I only did one layer of each and used about 3 tablespoons of granola, 1/2 cup of whip and 2-3 tablespoons of pie filling.


What I learned from this recipe:
-You don't have to make everything from scratch.  Use the convenience ingredients at your grocery store to create really good and really simple dishes.  I made the granola, just to be able to say that I made homemade granola, but you can buy granola in the health food department or in the cereal aisle in your grocery store.  And you can also use fresh fruit to decorate the parfait, but the pie filling is an easy substitute if fresh fruits are out of season or out of your price range.
-Also, you don't have to have special dishes for these types of desserts.  You can make them in any drinking glass or just layer it in cereal or soup bowls you have around the house.  However, if you would like to invest in a trifle bowl, you can usually find them for a decent price at superstores like Wal-Mart and Target.

What is your favorite convenience food to use?  Do you use pie filling in other dishes that call for fresh fruit?  Or do you make savory dishes using pre-made ingredients, like biscuits in your chicken and dumpling soup?

Recipe #5 Black Forest Dump Cake

As the name implies, this recipe is very easy because all you do is dump in the ingredients.  This recipe was inspired by a recipe my mother used to make all of the time.  My mother's favorite room in the house is NOT the kitchen, so this recipe was perfect for her to make and take to parties or pot lucks.  I'm not sure where she got the recipe, but I know it's not one that she made up.  So, for this inspired by recipe, I changed the yellow cake mix in the original recipe to a chocolate cake mix, removed the crushed pineapple and changed it to sweet cherries in syrup, as well as taking off the coconut and pecans that topped the original dish. All of the removed or changed ingredients are what makes me able to call this a Black Forest Cake.  The picture below doesn't do the dish justice because this is a spoon served dessert and does not cut perfectly.  But when it's this good, who cares about a perfectly square piece of cake?  All I worry about is a second serving!

Difficulty Level:  Easy

Ingredients:
2 (21 oz) cans cherry pie filling
1 (15 oz) can pitted, dark, sweet cherries in heavy syrup (do not drain)
1 box German chocolate cake mix
2 sticks butter, sliced (about 1/4 inch thick)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a 9 x 13 inch cake pan, empty entire contents of both cans of cherry pie filling.  Spread evenly over bottom of pan.  Pour entire contents of can of cherries in syrup over pie filling.  Spread as evenly as possible over pie filling. Do not mix into pie filling!  Layer dry cake mix evenly over cherries and juice.  Do not mix into cherries!  Lay out all butter slices on top of dry cake mix.  The slices will be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart.  Place pan in preheated oven and bake for 1 hour.  Serve warm with whipped cream or with ice cream.

What I learned from this recipe:
-The original recipe had an entire 8 oz can of crushed pineapple in it.  The juice from the pineapple is what made the dry cake mix moist, along with the butter.  To take out the pineapple, I had to replace that liquid.  I wasn't sure how much liquid was in a can of sweet cherries in syrup, so I drained out the liquid and measured it.  It turned out to be about 6 oz.  I'm sure a can of crushed pineapple only has about 3-4 oz. of liquid, but I used the entire can of cherries with syrup and the cake came out fine.

Recipe #4 Rocky Road Fluff

Rocky Road Fluff is basically pudding with whipped topping folded in.  The recipe was inspired by a recipe for Watergate Salad which is made of pistachio pudding, whipped topping, pineapple, marshmallows and nuts.  I wanted to make a more decadent version of this salad, and with marshmallows and nuts already in the original recipe, it wasn't a huge leap to change it to chocolate.  I just took out the pineapple and what was left were the makings of a Rocky Road flavored treat.  This is a perfect after school treat for kids or an indulgent treat for adults.  To kick it up another level you can drizzle it with chocolate syrup.

Difficulty Level:  Easy

Ingredients:
2 (3.8 oz) boxes Instant Devil's Food flavored pudding (or chocolate)
3 cups milk
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups mini marshmallows
8 oz. whipped topping

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combing pudding, milk and walnuts.  Stir until well mixed and thickened.  Fold in marshmallows and whipped topping.  Serve cold.

What I learned from this recipe:
-A recipe that starts out fruity doesn't always have to be fruity.  You can change it to creamy and chocolaty just by changing one ingredient.
-Some recipes can be transformed into a lower fat and lower sugar version by getting light or sugar free varieties of the same ingredient.  In this recipe you can get sugar free pudding, fat free or low fat milk as well as light or fat free whipped topping.