Lightened up Salmon Patties

 I have to say I have been eating these for years! My stepmother, Joyce, made them all the time when I lived at home and we always fought over the last one. I still love them and thought how can I lighten these up a bit without loosing flavor? So as for lightening them up I'm not sure how many calories we saved but they really turned out well!

3 6oz cans of boneless skinless salmon in water lightly drained but not pressed dry.

2 green onions sliced thin

5 basil leaves torn into small pieces

2 sprigs of Thyme (pinch of all the little leaves and leave the stem)

1/4  cup of light sour cream

2 Tbs of light mayo

2 Tbs of lemon juice

2 eggs

little salt and pepper

2 cups of oyster crackers (put them through the food processor and make crumbs)

2 cups of panko bread crumbs on a plate ( you may need more)

1 egg plus a little milk mixed into a wash to roll your patties in.

Place everything except the panko crumbs in a large bowl and stir till  its all mixed well. make small patties in your hand and then roll in your egg wash and then in  panko crumbs. I press my crumbs in kinda tight. Then place in a pan that doesn't have high sides and don't let the edges touch. I tend to use a cookie sheet. Do this till you run out of  pattie mix. then once they are all made and in the pan , I sprinkled a little salt, pepper and dill on top. I also sprinkle a tad of the left over crumbs on top just for extra crispies!  Then lightly spray the tops of each with olive oil. I have one of those pump oil misters (found it at tj maxx for 7 bucks and totally worth it!) But if you don't have one of these, first i recommend you get one and secondly then you could try to spray a little Pam on them. You really need a little something there because it helps the  crumbs do their magic. Bake them at 375 for about 25- 30 min. just till they begin to brown. Pull them from the oven and serve them up!

Richest cake....from a cake mix

Guess what? Some times I cheat....shocker, I know. But its true. I am sharing with you my little idea so I don't feel so guilty about it. So soak it up and be grateful. Up until this point I have tried boxed Red Velvet Cake mix and a Devil's Food Cake mix. My theory is that I would work with any cake mix but the turn out is a rich cake that taste made from scratch and super moist. I can't describe it. You really should just try it.
Here's the plan:
1 box of cake mix
3/4 c of greek yogurt ( I like Fage 2%)
1/4 c of real sour cream ( i like Dairy Fresh )
4 eggs room temp
1 stick of butter melted and cooled
and enough milk mixed in to make that cake batter consistency. I'd say start with 1/2 cup and add more if its too thick.

You drop all of this into one big bowl and mix it up till all the lumps are gone. Then pour in a pan / muffin cups and bake as directed. I have gotten so many complements and to many people's surprise I have to confess that I just jazzed up a boxed  cake mix! So all the inquiring minds out there.....here is how I cheated!

An Italian Lovers Dream

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This Italian dish satisfied all my cravings at one time! Give it try and invite some friends over cause it makes one big dish!!

1 package of frozen cheese ravioli (target brand are fantastic)

1/2 package of cut leaf defrosted spinach squeezed dry

1 jar of Bertolli's garlic Alfredo sauce

1/2 can artichokes

8 sun dried tomato halves chopped

1/2 c of half and half

1-16oz container of ricotta cheese

1 lb of lean ground round

1 jar of Bertolli Tomato basil pasta sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes

1/2 c of Parmesan cheese

1 8oz block of real mozzarella cheese cut into cubes

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Get out your 9x13 baking dish and spray with a little Pam. Now line it with the frozen ravioli and pour over your jar of Alfredo sauce and add your spinach, artichokes, half and half and sun dried tomato and stir this all up well and then spread it out in a nice layer in the bottom of the pan. sit this in the oven and let it start the baking process. Now let fry up the meat in a pan and when its all brown and done add your tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and let sit and get hot together. Pull back out your ravioli from the oven and take your ricotta cheese and make table spoon dollops across the pan all over the place and then take a spatula and spread it the best you can. Layer on top of all of this your meat mixture and spread it out evenly. Now you take those cubes of  mozzarella cheese and you poke it in stratigiclly all through your layered dish. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 min. After 45 min. you can uncover it and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for another 15 minutes.  When you remove it from the oven let sit of 5 min. and get you some salad and garlic bread ready to go! this stuff is super rich and fabulous! Hope you enjoy it!!!

Dessert Popsicles (Cheesecake, Coffee, and Chocolate)

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It is sweet summer time and what is summer with out the homemade Popsicle. There are millions of Popsicle recipes out there. Trust me I look for them every year. But this one I invented myself! It came from the thought of how much I love dessert and coffee!

1 package of sugar free instant cheesecake pudding mix

1 small (5oz. i think) can of evaporated milk (your going to use a little here in the cheesecake pudding and the rest in the chocolate)

1/2 c of half and half

1 1/4 c of whole milk

 1 package of devils food chocolate pudding mix ( i used half of the package so i didn't waste more pudding)

1/2 c of left over coffee from this morning

rest of the can of evaporated milk from the cheese cake pudding mix

mini semisweet chocolate chips

Popsicle molds

Okay so in the bottom of your Popsicle molds you sprinkle about a tablespoon of  you mini chocolate chips. Then we mix up the cheesecake pudding mix. I made the whole package because I already have to wait on the Popsicle to freeze so I might as well have a snack while I wait. To make the cheesecake pudding mix you will need a large mixing bowl to pour all the ingredients into and a whisk. Pour in your pudding mix and in a liquid measuring cup pour in your milk and half and half and then add in the evaporated milk till you almost hit the two cup line. Whisk this in with your pudding mix and when all the lumps are gone pour till about the half way line in your Popsicle molds and  then tap the mold against the counter hard to make sure the pudding is covering your chocolate chips really well. Put extra cheesecake pudding the fridge to set up. Now lets mix up the chocolate/coffee mixture.  In a bowl, pour your 1/2 a pouch of pudding mix and add the coffee and start whisking them together then slowly pour in your evaporated milk and keep on whisking. if its too think you can add a little milk till you get a soupy consistency. Pour this on top of the cheesecake pudding in your Popsicle molds and again tap this out against the counter. Make sure your pops are just about completely full but leave enough room to slide in your sticks!

Place in the freezer for 6 hours or overnight!! 

To release them simply ...run under cool water for about 30 sec. then pull em out!!