Here at Coffee Break we just LOVE our Cheater recipes.

So what’s a “Cheater” recipe?  It’s a way to end up with a delicious home cooked meal, side dish or dessert without spending lots of  time to get there.

This recipe was sent to us by Coffee Break reader, Susan Stephens. I (Kate) decided to give the Cheater Chicken Parmesan recipe a try this week to see if the family would like it.  I took some pics to show you just how yummy it looked.

Cheater Chicken Parmesan

28-oz. jar spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup red or white wine or water

4 to 6 Tyson fully cooked frozen breaded chicken patties

4 to 6 slices provolone cheese

2 to 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13×9 pan with cooking spray.  Spread the spaghetti sauce in the pan.  Pour the wine or water over the sauce and stir.  Arrange the frozen chicken patties on top.  Place a slice of provolone on top of each patty; sprinkle with the Parmesan.  Cover the pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Serve over cooked spaghetti.

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The Verdict: Everyone LOVED it!!!

A big Coffee Break thanks to reader, Susan Stephens, who submitted this great recipe. If you have a cheater recipe you’d like to share with us and our readers, please send it to lizandkate@live.com.

The big day is almost here. We have a Thanksgiving motto at my house…

Gobble ’til You Wobble!

A perfectly acceptable motto for one day of the year, don’t you think?  Well, maybe you could stretch that out to two days, if you have enough leftovers.  But three days?  Don’t try it unless you are expecting a gym membership for Christmas.

The star of every Thanksgiving feast is certainly the turkey.  And probably nothing strikes more fear into a cook than taking that heavy, slimy, pale blob of meat and bones, and turning it into the perfectly golden delicious main dish.  I myself have only cooked one turkey over the years, as that Thanksgiving tradition  has always been left to my mother and mother-in-law.  I’m sure my day is coming.

I  found an amazing website that will take all of the guess work out of preparing your Thanksgiving turkey…

SeriousEats.com

They have everything you could ever want to know about cooking a turkey.

Serious Eats’ Ten Turkey Tips You’ll Be Thankful For

• What Kind of Turkey to Buy
• What Size Turkey to Buy
• Thawing Time
• To Brine or Not to Brine?
• Calculating Cooking Time
• Roast Turkey Recipes
• Non-Roasted Turkey Recipes
• How to Carve a Turkey
• Still need help? Turkey Hotlines
• What to Do with Turkey Leftovers (Yay!)

So those of you attempting to tackle the big bird this year…be brave. With these tips, I’m sure your Turkey Day will be a grand success.

And here’s a little Turkey-day wishbone FYI for you, sure make you look like Mr. or Ms. Smarty-pants at the Thanksgiving dinner table discussion.

Apparently the origins of the Thanksgiving tradition of breaking the wishbone date back to 2,400 years ago with the Etruscans who lived on the Italian peninsula.

The Etruscans believed fowl were fortune tellers because the hen announced she would be laying an egg with a squawk and the rooster told of the coming of a new day with his early morning crowing. A circle was drawn in the dirt and divided into twenty wedges that represented the twenty letters in the Etruscan alphabet. A piece of grain would be placed in each wedge. A hen would then be allowed to peck at the grain. As she ate, a scribe would list the letters in order and those letters would be interpreted by the high priests to answer questions.

When one of these chickens was killed, its collarbone was considered sacred and left under the hot sun to dry. Anyone was permitted to stroke an unbroken bone and make a wish, thus, the name wishbone. The Romans took many of the Etruscan customs as their own and since everyone wanted good fortune, they fought over the bones, breaking them.

It is said that the phrases “I need a lucky break” or “I never get a break” come from being the loser in this tug of chicken bone contest.

The English heard of this superstition from the Romans and called their wishbones merrythoughts after the merry or happy wishes that most people desired. When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in the New World, they brought along the custom of breaking the wishbone. When they discovered the northeastern woods of North America were filled with turkeys, they changed their custom from the chicken bone to the turkey bone.

And remember…

Gobble ’til You Wobble!

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

I think that  hidden deep inside me there is a mean streak just itching to get out.  I say this because I derive ridiculous amounts pleasure from watching the faces of unsuspecting victims as they bite into disgusting looking, but delicious tasting treats like the ones I’m  sharing with you today…

Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs

Ingredients:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• Pinch of salt
• Green and red food coloring
• Sliced black olives
• Toothpicks

Directions:

Peel the cooled hard boiled eggs and slice them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and mash in a bowl. Mix in the mayonnaise, mustard, and salt. Stir in a few drops of green food coloring.

Spoon the mixture into the center of the egg halves. Place a slice of olive on top of each half. Dip a toothpick into red food coloring and then use it to draw lines on the eggs to give a bloodshot look.

Don’t they look disgustingly delicious?

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Toads in a Blanket

Ingredients:

• baby dill pickles
• cream cheese
• sliced salami
• toothpicks

Directions:

Cut the pickles into fourths lengthwise, so the pickles are slightly larger than the salami slices.  Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a slice of salami, wrap around a pickle slice and secure with a toothpick.

Be sure to check out these other Liz and Kate Halloween Ideas:

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Witches Hats & Breadstick Broomsticks
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

*Enter a comment at the bottom of this or any other post, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway!

Disgusting Worm Salad

by Whitney Hancock

These edible worms are a BIG hit for our Halloween Dinner. The first time I served these up the kids really freaked out. My daughter couldn’t even look at them at first, but after some coaxing and a little good natured teasing, she ate one. Then much too her surprise, she liked them.

Hooray for Halloween!

I love Halloween. Today for you Coffee Break readers, I  have two fun Halloween recipe ideas using refrigerated crescent roll dough  and refrigerated breadstick dough.  Couldn’t be simpler. And oh so cute!  Impress your family with these simple and fun ideas.

If you missed last week’s recipe for  Creepy Eyeball Treats, check them out.

Witches Hats

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Separate dough.  Shape each piece into a long triangle.Place 1 salami stick piece along base of each dough triangle.  Partially roll up dough to cover salami and create brim of hat.
3. Place 4 pepperoni halves on top part of each hat.
4. Place on ungreased nonstick baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown at edges.
5. Warm sauce in microwave.  Serve witches hats with warm sauce for dipping.

Breadstick Broomsticks

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough and divide along perforations. For each broomstick, shape breadstick into 8X1-1/2-inch strip; twist one end for handle. Cut 5 or 6 slits (2 inches long) into opposite end; separate dough at slits for straw.
2. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Be sure to check out these other Liz and Kate Halloween ideas:

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs & Toads in a Blanket
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

*Enter a comment at the bottom of this or any other post, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway!

Nothing says summer like a delicious bowl of  homemade ice cream. At our house we usually stick with strawberry or some variation of vanilla with a mix-in. Last week we decided to be adventurous and lighten things up with Pomegranate  Sherbet. It was super delicious and super easy.

Ingredients: (makes 6 cups)

• 3 cups pomegranate juice (I used Old Orchard Pomegranate Cherry)
• pinch salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• juice of 2 limes

Directions:

Mix pomegranate juice, cream, salt, and lime juice.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to your manufactures instructions. When your ice maker shuts off the sherbert will soft and fluffy and not quite frozen. Just put it in the freezer to firm completely.

That’s it! Easy peasy pomegranate freezy.

~Kate

Enjoy your yummy treat!

Related articles

• Reader Recipe: Mango Mint Sorbet (fitsugar.com)
• Pomegranates (babyccinokids.com)
• Pineapple Coconut Milk Ice Cream (mowenackie.wordpress.com)
• Nice and New: Michael Aram Pomegranate Menorah (casasugar.com)
• Easy Summer Fruit Sherbet (orlandogustilo.wordpress.com)
• ICE CREAM – A Very Cold History (visitamuseum.org)
• The best ice cream makers (telegraph.co.uk)

This week’s recipe is inspired by my daughter’s favorite IHOP breakfast, Cinnamon Roll French Toast. I figured there must be some easy and yummy way to duplicate it and voila…here it is!

Easy Cinnamon Roll French Toast

Ingredients:

1 tube jumbo size cinnamon rolls

(Bake according to package directions – don’t frost)

3 large eggs

2 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Slice baked and cooled cinnamon rolls in half lengthwise; set aside.

Crack eggs into a large bowl and add milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well.

Dip both sides of each cinnamon roll half in the egg batter.

Spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray; place over medium-high heat. Brown the cinnamon roll halves in the skillet, turning once.

Serve with maple syrup, jam or powdered sugar.

Makes 5 servings.

Enjoy! If you like this recipe, then check out out new cookbook…

In the Kitchen with Liz and Kate: Practically Painless Recipes

Celebrate Independence!

With the 4th of July just around the corner, it’s time to start planning for the big day of celebration. There are parades to attend, fireworks to watch, picnics to plan, desserts to make. Here’s one that’s easy to make, looks and tastes delicious, and uses some of my favorite summer fruits – fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Here’s my recipe for a strawberry and blueberry trifle, made  in individual serving dishes for that extra cuteness factor.

Patriotic Dessert

Ingredients:

• store bought angel food cake
• fresh strawberries
• fresh blueberries
• 1 can strawberry pie filling
• 1 can blueberry pie filling
• 2 small boxes of vanilla instant pudding
• 4 cups of milk
• whipped topping

Mix pudding according to directions and  refrigerate for 5 min.  Cut angel food into bite-sized pieces.  Layer the pudding, fruit and cake pieces into each cup. Add whipped topping and and fresh fruit to top you’re all set to go with a delicious, easy and pretty dessert.

~Kate

Related articles

• How-To: Homemade Blueberry Pie Ice Cream (craftzine.com)
• Eclaire Cake ~ Tasty Tuesday (planetpookie.com)
• Overnight Banana Cherry Pudding (blogher.com)
• Microwaved strawberry sponge pudding (inpursuitoffood.wordpress.com)
• Tutorial: Patriotic Poke Cake (frugalupstate.com)
• Some Fourth of July fun (made really easy) – Liz’s rave (coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com)

I’m not sure how this happened, but apparently there’s a cool new shopping trend out here in Utah (and 14 other states) that seems to be all the rage, and I knew nothing about it!

NOTHING!

Not one thing!

Nada!

Thanks a lot, guys. I thought you were supposed to be taking care of me, you know, keeping me in the loop of all amazing new trends and finds.

This cool new thing is called Bountiful Baskets . It’s a food co-op which uses it’s collective purchasing power to get fresh fruits and vegetables (and other assorted yummies) at great low prices, with the discounts being passed on to the co-op members (me…and soon hopefully you, too).

I tried it out for my very first time this past Saturday morning in front of the Spanish Fork Wiggy Wash. It took me a whole 6 minutes to get my goodies, from the time I parked until the time I had my car loaded up and was headed back home.

My cost at Bountiful Baskets for all of this fresh produce was $15. Just for fun I went to my local grocery store to do a little price comparison. My total cost at the store would have been a little under $30, so basically I got my food for about half price.

I will admit I was a little leery before my visit because the whole food co-op thing seems a little like…oh, I don’t know…like a hippie food cult.  It was not a hippie food cult. It was awesome! All of the fruits and vegetables were fresh and crisp, the price was good, and I was in and out of there quick as a flash. Also, this is either a plus or a minus depending on  your personality type, you never know exactly what you’ll be getting because every week the baskets will contain different produce based on what’s available.

Here’s how it works.

1. Go to the Bountiful Baskets website and see if it’s offered in your area  – LOCATIONS
2. Read about how it works to see if you are interested - INFORMATION
3. Register by filling out a simple quick FREE registration form – REGISTRATION
4. Log in on every Monday to place and pay for your order online – LOGIN
5. Show up at the assigned time on the assigned day and pick up your order.
6. When you get there all you have to do is tell them your name and have your own baskets to transfer the food into.
7. Enjoy your bounty.

The cost to participate is $15 per basket, plus $1.50 processing fee, (and there is a $3 fee the FIRST time that you order.)   There are also lots of extra products that are available according to availability. (This week when I placed my order they were also offering some 4th of July Cookie Packs, cases of peaches and apples, loaves of bread, and  a make your own chips and dips pack.)

This is the 7:30 am line up of cars in front of the Bountiful Basket pick up at Wiggy Wash on Saturday.

Bountiful Baskets is run completely by volunteers. These ladies were very organized, friendly and helpful, especially when I told them this was my first visit.

The fruits and veggies were already separated into baskets and ready to be transferred to my own baskets.

Along with my regular basket, I also ordered a Mexican Pack for $7.50. I can’t honestly name all of the kinds of peppers, but there were a bunch, along with cilantro, two kinds of onions, garlic, limes, tomatillos and some squash.

I made a huge bowl of fresh salsa and still had lots of veggies left over.

I also bought a box of mangos for $4.75. They were delicious and would have cost about $12 at the store.

You can check out Bountiful Baskets on Facebook.

Have you tried out Bountiful Baskets? What did you think? Do share.

~Kate

Related articles

• Don’t Let the Limes Go Bad! (smileandblogwithme.wordpress.com)
• 3 Easy Ways to Make the Most of Summer’s Bounty of Fruits and Vegetables (couponshoebox.com)
• Food Co-ops Can Save You Big Bucks (riffsandraffs.wordpress.com)

Today’s recipe is the perfect combination of a refreshing glass of lemonade mixed with a creamy cold slice of pie: Frozen Lemonade Pie! Four ingredients, five minutes of prep, some freezer time and you’ve got a delicious dessert.

Frozen Lemonade Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust (I used the shortbread kind, but the graham kind would be yummy as well.)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can (6 oz.) frozen lemonade (I could only find a 12 oz. can so I used half of it and made the rest into lemonade.)
• 8 oz. whipped topping

Directions:

Mix everything together, put it into the pie crust and freeze for several hours. That’s it! Gotta love that. Easy peasy lemon pie-easy!

~Kate

Related articles

• This week’s recipe – Easy Peasy Lemon Freezy Pops (coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com)
• Good Thing I Like Lemonade (essenceofkate.com)
• Key Lime Pie – for Breakfast? (explodingpotatoes.wordpress.com)
• TOP RECIPE: Rhubarb Lemonade (goingkosher.wordpress.com)
• Low Cal Strawberry-Lemonade-Margaritas (tequilashotsandcupcakes.wordpress.com)