Caramel Coconut Cream Pull Apart Biscuits and Is Coconut Milk Good for You

It is a Saturday morning and I want to prepare some goodies for my husband to accompany his breakfast.  He loved the monkey bread I prepared several weeks ago using the Pillsbury biscuit recipe online.  I wanted something healthier without butter as much as possible.  I happened to eye this Caramel Pull Apart Biscuits recipe on the sidebar of the Monkey Bread recipe on the Pillsbury website and clicked on it.  Wow! Was I surprise.  Just what I wanted.  No butter is needed but instead heavy cream.  Still not my idea of a healthier alternative to butter.  I then thought of coconut milk which I had. Coconut milk has 17-24 % coconut fat.  It is reported in this publication that this fat is healthier having the so called middle length chain saturated fatty acid which undergoes a different metabolic pathway than the long chain counterparts found in animal fat and also plant oils.  It is directly converted to energy and not stored as fat. On this subject of whether coconut oil is good for you etc read this and this for other opinions on this controversial topic.  

The recipe called for two 12 oz can of refrigerated biscuits.  I instead opted to use one can of biscuits and half the recipe of the rest of the ingredients. I substituted coconut milk instead of the heavy cream in the recipe.  I also used coconut palm brown sugar instead of plain brown sugar but that is an optional choice for you.  I used the usual length of time of thirty minutes to bake the Pull Apart Biscuits.  It was delicious and better for you in moderation of course.  I do not detect a strong coconut taste that some of your family members might not be a fan of.  

Caramel Coconut Cream Pull Apart Biscuits

(Inspired by this recipe)

• 1- 12-16 oz can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (the generic one I used was 16 oz)
• 1/2 packed brown sugar (I used coconut palm brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup coconut milk (preferably the cream on upper part of unshaken or refrigerated can)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

2.  Separate the biscuit dough into 8-10 biscuits it came in.  Cut each biscuit into fourths.  Layer them in the pan.

3.  Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the biscuits.

4.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately turn pan upside down onto a glass or heatproof plate.  Serve warm.

Slow Cooker Mu Shu Pork Ribs

Four Ingredients. Slow cooker. You have all you need for an easy stick on your ribs pork dish.  I never thought I would like the addition of ground cinnamon to hoisin sauce but they are made for each other.  The spice gives the resulting sauce a smoky flavor but different from what cumin or coriander imparts.  Your family might remark "what is that" and might guess it.  My husband though find it is out there but I did not and I can be picky too.  It is pleasantly delightful to the palate.

I adapted this recipe from this website where they used the ingredients for their Mu Shu Beef Apple Wraps. I serve this over rice but you can certainly follow the example of this website and use it for Mu Shu Pork Wrap.  This is an easy comforting dish to prepare to warm your tummy and heart these fall days.

Slow Cooker Mu Shu Pork Ribs

• 3 lbs boneless pork ribs (or any other cut of pork)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp honey

Combine the ground cinnamon, black pepper, hoisin sauce and honey in the slow cooker bowl and mix. Add the pork ribs and coat with the mixture.  

Slow cook on high for 4 hours or on low setting for 8 hours.  I cooked mine in an Aroma Brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

Serve over rice and your choice of steamed or stir fried vegetables. 

Easy Microwave Macaroons (gluten free)

I had macaroons in a recent meeting and my love for them was revived. I had been playing with a microwave cookie recipe using bananas and coconut and a light bulb lit to use the same approach to make the macaroons.  I actually found out I only needed three ingredients.  I just needed to determine how best to do it in the microwave.  I was lazy and I wanted my macaroons right then so microwaving suits my impatient personality,

You can add raisins, nuts or chocolate chips but I found the sweetness of the banana that was ripened by the microwaving mixed with the coconut together was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. Warning this is addictive.

Easy Microwaved Macaroons (gluten free)

• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 1 tsp baking powder

Mash the banana in a small bowl with a fork. Add the coconut and baking powder and mix with the banana with a fork. 

Microwave the mixture in a bowl for 2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and form the mushy mixture into small balls. About 8 small balls.

Place the balls in a dinner plate along the edge of the plate in a circle leaving space in between and in the middle of plate 

Microwave for 2 more minutes till the macaroons have body but still pillowy. Too long amd they get tough. I used a 1100 watt microwave.You might have to play around a few seconds at a time if still too soft.  

Slow Cooker Beer Chipotle Green Chilies Pulled Pork

This was a hit with the end users shown below.  I visited my friend Seville and Bob and I brought this dish to their house.  They and their guest Rosie who was staying with them like me for the APAMS 2016 meeting gave the dish two thumbs up.

I just placed all the ingredients in a crock pot the day before I drove to my friends' house. I then froze it and brought it frozen in the car during the four hour drive.  I  placed it again in the freezer until the next day when I thawed it in the fridge and heated it on the stove for our dinner.

Note the number of ingredients!  Just five of them and they are all pantry items you can pack with you in case you prefer to cook this at your destination.  You can bring along frozen pork butt or buy it when you get to the place you are staying.  You can then place it in the slow cooker and forget it as you go about talking to your friends or sightseeing.

I prefer this on crusty bread that has been spread with mayonnaise and lined with roasted red pepper from a jar. You can also eat this over rice. This is delicious with that hint of spiciness as you bite into the dish either on rice or on a crusty bread.  Try it.  It is so easy to prepare.

Bob is entertaining us with his stories.  I wish he would get to the point.  ha ha ha.

Seville came later to savor the dish.

Rosie looks so full, doesn't she?

Slow Cooker Beer Chipotle Green Chilies Pulled Pork

• 2.5 lb pork butt
• 2 pieces of bottled chipotle 
• 1-10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup beer (I used Samuel Adams)

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker.  Cook at high for 4 hours or at low for 8 hours.  I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 3 hours at slow cooker setting.

You can skim off the fat if you prefer after cooling.  

You can serve this over rice or as a pulled pork sandwich using a baguette spread with mayonnaise and lined with roasted red pepper from a jar.  

Easy Four Ingredient Hamburger Patties

Some like their hamburgers just seasoned with salt and pepper.  That is tasty especially if you have excellent beef to begin with.  But I like mine with a bit more oomph to it.  I tasted this hamburger at my daughter's place as their leftover from a picnic during the US open at Oakmont, PA where they live.  I brought it home and my husband fell in love with it.

When I asked my daughter the recipe she told me she got it from the George Foreman Grill recipe book.  It called for Lipton Onion soup mix and bread crumbs. I did not like using this soup mix since it has some additives in it. When a recipe calls for it I rely on my dry onion flakes and dry garlic flakes and the combination is a good substitute.  I used it in this recipe and it gave successful results.

Try this recipe next time you have a barbecue.  It is an easy crowd pleaser.

Easy Four Ingredient Hamburger Patties

• 2.5 lb ground beef (Note 1)
  
• 1/4 cup dry onion flakes
• 1/4 cup dry garlic flakes
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  If you are using lean beef (90% or higher for example) you might need to add a tbsp of water or more so you can shape them into patties.  

Place oil in a saute pan and heat to medium heat.  Place the patties in the heated pan.  Let the patties sear and then add 1 tbsp water and cover the pan.  Flip the burger when one side gets brown and allow the other side to brown.

Notes:

1.  75-85% lean beef is best.  If one uses 90% lean and above you would needed to add water in order to shape the meat into patties.

Slow Cooker Jalapeno Chicken Adobo

Once you are used to eating dishes with jalapeno, you will be adding it to even those you had in childhood that you would never dream adding it to.  I was eating the chicken adobo, an iconic Filipino dish, without the jalapeno slices and my tongue wanted something to spice it up.  So I reached for the bottle of jalapenos and dumped 2 tbsp of it to the dish.  In this recipe I instructed it to be added at the beginning.

However, if you have Chicken Adobo purists in your family, use the jalapeno as a side.  Or just don't tell them it is adobo. They will just wonder to themselves or aloud, "This tastes familiar.." while eating with gusto and you just smile.

Slow Cooker Jalapeno Chicken Adobo

• 3 lb chicken legs or thighs 
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp jalapeno slices from a bottle or more

Place all the ingredients in a crock pot. Cook at low for 6 hours or at high for 3 hours.  I cooked mine in an Aroma Brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 3 hours at slow cooker setting.

Note:

I did not add water at all.  The chicken gives off enough juice so that all the chicken pieces will eventually be in the broth.

Simple Easy Braised Fish Fillet

In case you are wracking your brain as to what to do with the frozen fish fillets you have, here is a simple recipe with four ingredients.  Though salt is not usually counted I did in this case since I used seasoned salt.

The seasoned salt removes the guesswork as to what flavoring to use to enhance the taste of the fish. The garlic and onion flakes give that extra zing to this dish without any tedious peeling and chopping involved. This combo of seasoning flakes upon being cooked also serves as an attractive and delicious topping to the dish.

A quick and easy dinner. A potential reliable crowd pleaser.  How do I know that? My picky taster, my husband, gave it two thumbs up.  If he likes something then a crowd would.

This was what I served my husband for our anniversary dinner last night with mac and cheese and steamed mixed vegetables. I figured after having steak at Applebees the day before he would want something lighter but good.  This dinner did not fail. Sssh. This is also a healthy dinner. No deep frying. No pan frying either. Yes just embrace braising. No pun intended.

Simple Easy Braised Fish Fillet

• 2 pieces fish fillet (used frozen swai)
• water
• seasoned salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tbsp dry onion flakes
• 1/2 tbsp dry garlic flakes

In a saute pan, place the fish and add just enough water to reach below the surface of the fish. Sprinkle the seasoned salt and pepper to the surface of the fish.

Allow to boil and then add the dry onions and garlic. Let it simmer till fish is half done, then flip the fish and season this other side with seasoned salt and black pepper.

Continue to cook the fish, allowing most of the liquid to evaporate leaving a bit on the pan as sauce. Delicious!

Easy Meatball Sandwich

Are you expecting a crowd and you need an easy dish that will appeal to everyone? This is the recipe for you.  You just stick the two ingredients, meatballs and pasta sauce in the crock pot overnight at the Keep Warm setting and you have the filling for your meatball sandwich.  You can also cook it at low for 2-3 hours. The two main ingredients are available in all grocery stores.  No sweat and No fail recipe.

I did not believe my exercise teacher, Bonnie, when she said she cooked it at the Keep Warm setting in her crockpot. I am pleased to say it works at the Keep Warm setting.  This is not surprising since the frozen meatballs are already cooked as well as the pasta sauce.  She prepared it the night before and her mother brought it to the Silver Sneakers Christmas party at Webbs Gym in Penn Hills for the luncheon buffet the next day. Easy and so delicious.  Here are some of the pictures from this party.

Easy Meatball Sandwich

• 5-6 lb bag frozen cooked Italian beef meatballs
• 1- 48 oz Ragu Original Pasta Sauce (or your favorite brand)
• sausage buns
• provolone cheese

Place the frozen meatballs and pasta sauce in a crock pot.  Cook overnight using the Stay Warm setting or at low setting for 2 -3 hours. 

Serve on a sausage bun with a piece of provolone cheese.  Enjoy.