Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day! It was a VERY cold day (54 degrees!!), but we ate outside anyway (here's pictures of us with our winter coats on!). Here was our very yummy meal:

Raw veggies w/ ranch dressing to munch on
Strawberry Spinach Salad*
Parmesan-Herb Cornish Hens
Baked Potatoes*
Broccoli
Dinner Rolls*
Strawberry Angel Trifle

(the items that were starred were to be made by my mom & dad, the other items were made by us). I brought over the split cornish hens that we received from our Angel Food order, but there were only 3 halves in the bag (weird!!) so after searching around town without any luck, I bought two game hens and split them in half. It was so easy to grill them that way, that I think I will buy them more often. My mom found Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar - yummm!!
 

Spinach & Strawberry Salad Recipe


Preparation time: 15 minutes. Serves 8.

Ingredients:
One 9 ounce package of baby spinach leaves (no stems)
1 1/2 cups of strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup almonds, toasted (we used the Honey Roasted Almond Slices)
3-4 green onions, sliced
Olive oil
White Balsamic vinegar (or Strawberry Balsamic vinegar)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper Instructions:

• Toast the almonds on a pan in the oven at 300 degrees F for a few minutes (they brown quickly) or place the almonds in a small skillet over medium heat until toasted (shake the skillet a few times while over the heat to toast evenly)
• Make sure to remove any stems from the spinach and place the leaves in a salad bowl with the green onions
• Drizzle with a little olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the spinach)

To serve: 

•  Rinse the strawberries just before tossing the salad, dry them and slice them 
• Add the toasted almonds and sliced strawberries to the salad bowl and sprinkle with white balsamic vinaigrette to taste  
• Add a little salt and fresh ground pepper and toss the salad and then plate

Parmesan-Herb Cornish Hens

4 Tyson® Cornish Game Hen Without Giblets, thawed (I split mine in half for ease of grilling - worked GREAT!)

1/4 cup  Parmesan cheese, grated

2 tablespoons  seasoned dry breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon  Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon  garlic pepper seasoning

1/2 teaspoon  onion powder

1 teaspoon  butter, melted

Cooking Instructions..........................................................

1. Set up grill for indirect cooking: For gas grill, preheat all burners on high. Turn one burner off; place food over “off” burner. Reset remaining burner(s) to medium. Close lid. For charcoal grill, arrange hot coals around outer edge of grill; place disposable pan in open space; place food over open area. Close lid. Heat to medium.
2. Wash hands. Rinse hens and pat dry. Lightly salt and pepper inside of hens. Secure wings to hens and tie legs together with string, if desired. Set aside.
3. Blend Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, seasonings and onion powder in a small bowl. Rub hens with butter; sprinkle with Parmesan mixture, pressing lightly.
4. Place hens (not touching) over indirect heat on grill. Wash hands. Grill hens, covered, 50 to 60 minutes or until done (internal temp 180ºF). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with grill-baked potatoes and a green salad. Refrigerate leftovers.

       On the grill, left.

On our plate, right. OMG!! It was delish!! Definetly going to do this recipe again!!

 

Strawberry Angel Trifle Recipe 

12-16 Servings Prep: 30 min. + chilling Bake: 35 min.

Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounces) angel food cake mix (I used a ready made one)
2 packages (3 ounces each) strawberry gelatin
3/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar , divided
2 cups boiling water
5 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries, thawed and drained
2 cups heavy whipping cream (I used Cool Whip)

Directions

• Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions; cool completely. 
• In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin and 3/4 cup sugar in boiling water . Mash half of the strawberries; add to gelatin mixture. Refrigerate until slightly thickened, about 1 hour . 
• Slice remaining strawberries; stir into the gelatin.
• Cut cake into 1-in. cubes. Place half in a 3-qt. trifle or glass bowl. Top with half of the gelatin mixture. Repeat. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.
• In a bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spoon over gelatin. 

Yield: 12-16 servings 

                                                                                                                               

This was sooooo good!! Every adult loved it (the kids were like, whatever). I have a single serving left and I can't wait to eat it!! Will be making this again! And since I had to buy this trifle bowl just for this recipe, I'll have to make some other trifle recipes that I saw on that site!