Pudding Pie Dessert with Nut Crust

Graduation is just around the corner and if you have a grad, like I do, you’re probably planning a get-together with family and friends where food will be served. I thought this Pudding Pie Dessert with Nut Crust would be perfect to end the meal. I enjoyed this recipe at a family reunion a few years ago. Pistachio or chocolate puddings work well, or try your favorite! Congrats to all the graduates out there! Your hard work has paid off!

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 C. (one stick) butter, sliced in chunks
1 1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut butter and flour using two knives until butter chunks are the size of peas. Stir in walnuts or pecans. Mixture will be pretty dry. Pat into a 9x13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes and allow to cool.

Filling:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 C. powdered sugar
1 (3.9 oz.) pkg. instant pudding, your favorite flavor
3 C. milk
1 16 oz. frozen whipped topping optional
extra chopped walnuts or pecans to sprinkle on top of the dessert

Beat the cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. Use mixer to combine pudding and milk, mixing well. Spread over the cream cheese mixture. Spread remaining half-container of whipped topping over pudding and sprinkle with nuts if desired. Refrigerate until served – can refrigerate up to a day in advance (cover with plastic wrap). Serves about 15.

Angel’s tip: I can imagine this would also taste great with banana pudding – just before serving, banana slices could be added around the border with chopped nuts. A topping of strawberry slices could be great with vanilla or cheesecake pudding. Experiment!

No-Bake Chocolate Cookies

I love No-Bake Chocolate Cookies, not only for their chewy deliciousness, but for the speed at which I can have a finished product. The other day I had a limited amount of time to throw together a school snack for one of my sons and this recipe was the ticket – it all came together in less than 30 minutes, and that includes a few minutes to let the cookies set up. This recipe comes from Joelene Floyd of Canyon City – bless you Joelene! I've tried other recipes which have not been as reliable, and have sometimes left me with a dry, crumbly mess – that's no fun. I've used this recipe three times now and they've turned out perfectly scrumptious every time! Woo hoo!

Ingredients to start with:
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. milk (I used 1 percent milk)
1 3/4 C. sugar
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Melt butter most of the way over medium to medium-high heat, add milk, sugar and cocoa powder and mix with wire whisk until combined. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium low and simmer for – set your timer for this – 1 1/2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Add these ingredients:
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. peanut butter
3 C. oats

Stir with spoon to combine and drop by heaping small spoonfuls onto wax paper or foil. Allow to cool completely. The cookies set up as they cool. Makes about 2 dozen small cookies or 1 1/2 dozen larger cookies.

Angel's tip: Be sure to have your measuring spoons and cups ready and ingredients on the counter to quickly add them to the mix.

Greek Gyros

A craving for Greek Gyros (pronounced year-ohs) overcame me a while ago and I spent a Saturday afternoon making everything needed, down to homemade soft pita bread. Other than a couple pitas that got a little overdone I was totally pleased with the results. Gyros are traditionally made with lamb or pork – you'll notice from the picture that I used beef that day – but this recipe is for chicken.

My guess is that the nearest Greek restaurant is hundreds of miles away from John Day, Oregon – the last time I remember having a Gyro was at the county fair in Redmond last summer. So, rather than driving for hours to a city to find a Gyro, I decided to buckle down and make one myself.

In my opinion, each part to the recipe is important: the fresh soft pita bread, the tasty marinated chicken, using a grill or skillet, and the tzatziki sauce, so I’ll include instructions for making each component. If you don't like to make bread from scratch, see if there are any packages of soft pita bread or soft Indian Naan bread at your local store.

Of course, for Gryos, the pita is wrapped around the ingredients – chicken, lettuce, spinach, red onion slices and chopped tomatoes – and topped with the delicious tzatziki sauce! Definitely worth the effort!

Tasty chicken marinade:

1/2 C. olive oil
1/2 C. lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine marinade ingredients in a large Zip-Lock bag, reserve 1/4 C. marinade for basting, add chicken last, mixing around to coat. Marinate in refrigerator overnight or while at work. No Zip-Locks? Use a plastic container with tight fitting lid or casserole dish, making sure to coat the chicken well.

Prep grill before lighting by spraying rack with cooking oil or brushing with oil. Grill chicken over medium heat, closing lid, and turning after about 4 minutes or so. Brush with extra marinade and cook until chicken is no longer pink inside (170 degrees in the thickest part if using a meat thermometer).

If you don’t have a grill, then cook chicken in a skillet. Preheat the skillet at medium high. Add the chicken and marinade and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer then cover, cooking for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

When chicken is done shred it with two forks.

Tzatziki Sauce:

1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 tsp. dried dill
salt and pepper to taste
2 small containers of plain Greek yogurt

Mix first four ingredients in a food processor. In a small bowl, add yogurt, then add cucumber mixture and stir in salt and pepper to taste. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

Angel’s tip: The last time I made this I could not find small containers of plain Greek yogurt in my local store (only large-sized), so I took a chance and subbed with honey-flavored Chobani Greek yogurt. The honey taste was so mild, it worked just fine!

Wraparound Pita Bread:

3/4 Tbsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
4 C. flour
1-2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
warm water

Heat up oven for about 30 seconds at 150 degrees, then turn off (make sure it’s off!).
Combine yeast and sugar and stir in 1 C. warm water. Place mixture in the warmed oven and allow to ferment for 10 minutes.

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture in and stir. Mix and knead dough with hands gradually adding about half a cup of warm water. Mix until dough doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl or to fingers. On a flat surface, lightly floured, knead the dough about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic adding a drop of water if needed.

Now gradually add the oil, kneading the dough well. Place in bowl and cover with a cloth. Place in the oven that is turned to off. Let double in size, about one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C.). Knead dough again for about 2-3 minutes until smooth. Divide dough into six equal pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface in a circle about 1/4-inch thick.

Place two pitas at a time on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake on lower rack about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Pitas should be white and soft.

Wrap the baked pitas in a clean towel until cool and store in plastic bags.

Angel’s Tip: I recommend doubling the pita recipe if you have a family who loves bread, or you want to share this with friends! It was suggested that I place a pan of water in the oven on a higher rack as the gyros bake – I’ll try that next time.

Now assemble your gyros, wrap the pita around your ingredients: the chicken with your choice of lettuce, spinach, red onion slices and chopped tomato. Top with tzatziki sauce and enjoy all your hard work!