Celebrate Mom

Mother's Day is big business in the restaurant world.  According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is the most popular day to eat out.  This is precisely why I don't want my family to take me out to eat on Mother's Day!  While I appreciate the sentiment, I'd rather go out to eat when it's not as crowded, prices aren't inflated and restaurants aren't in a hurry to turn the table and seat the next patron.  If, for one reason or another, your mom feels the same way, fix her a home cooked meal instead.  If that thought scares you because you're not a cook, check out the recipes below.  This baker's dozen includes recipes for the novice as well as the experienced cook and those in between.  Click on the words in bold to see the recipe.  If none of these are mom's cup of tea, check my blog for lots more recipes.  

Bright and Early:

Baked Omelet Roll:  Six ingredients, a blender, 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan and spatula are all you need to make this impressive looking dish.  You can add meat, vegetables or cheese as a filling, but make sure whatever you use is fully cooked.

French Toast Souffle:  Although the word "souffle" may sound intimidating, this recipe is really easy to prepare.  You don't even need a souffle dish! It's baked in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.  When baked, it makes a delicious sauce that can be spooned on top instead of using syrup.  It has to be assembled and refrigerated the night before it's baked.

Salads:

Chicken Tender Salad:  A bed of salad greens topped with chicken tenders, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, shredded cheese, croutons or potato sticks and some dressing would cost upwards of $8.00 in a restaurant.  This homemade version -- which can be made with a package of salad mix and a box of frozen chicken tenders -- tastes just as good and is a fraction of the cost.

Chicken Salad:  This is the best chicken salad I've ever eaten!  It takes time to make, but it's worth the effort.  It's best when made a day ahead of time so the flavors have time to blend.  Add some celery sticks, croissants and a congealed salad to round out the meal.  To impress mom, place scoops of chicken salad on a lettuce lined platter and top each scoop with a sprig of parsley.

Cherry Gelatin Fruit Salad:  This recipe only uses four ingredients and all of them are sugar-free!  It can be made using a decorative mold, individual molds or a 2-quart serving bowl.  It's a nice accompaniment to chicken salad.

The Main Event:

Easy Pork Chops and Apples:  There's no need to peel apples or brown pork chops with this recipe.  Spread canned apple pie filling in a baking dish, add the pork chops and top everything with packaged stuffing mix. Serve a vegetable or two on the side and you've got a meal that was easy to prepare.

Broccoli Quiche:  You don't have to make the pie crust, cook the broccoli or, if you don't mind spending a little extra, grate the cheese to make this quiche.  Add a green salad and some fresh fruit and you've got a meal mom will love.

Baked Ziti:  If you can boil water, you can make this pasta dish.  It's so tasty, mom will never guess it only costs .67 cents a serving!  Add a green salad and some garlic bread and you've got a filling meal.

On the Side:

Potatoes O'Brien:  This recipe uses frozen steak fries instead of fresh potatoes.  This makes the dish quick to prepare because you don't have to peel potatoes.  It also makes cooking time minimal.  This is delicious served with a baked omelet roll.

Macaroni and Cheese:  This side dish is tastier than anything you get from a box!  The hardest part of the recipe is boiling water.  You don't even have to cook the sauce on the stove; the ingredients are mixed up in a bowl.

Bread Basket:

Cinnamon Muffins:  This was the first Mother's Day recipe I ever posted on my blog.  These muffins start with a package of yellow or white cake mix and require more mixing than measuring!  The muffins can be made in a regular size muffin tin or miniature ones.

Sweet Endings:

Lemonade Pie:  You won't need any measuring cups or spoons to make this no bake pie.  You will, however, need a can opener and an electric mixer.  Unlike a lot of no bake pies, this pie gets it creaminess not from Cool Whip, but from cream cheese.  You need to allow four hours for it to firm up in the freezer before it's served.

Sour Cream Cherry Cheesecake:  Mom will never guess this cheesecake isn't made from scratch.  A package of no bake cheesecake mix is doctored up and the result is a cheesecake that tastes homemade.  If you don't like cherries, substitute your favorite flavor of pie filling instead.

© Margaret's Morsels

Treat Mom to Dinner

If you want to do something special for mom on Mother's Day, treat her to a dinner made especially for her.  You don't have to be an experienced cook to make the quiche recipe I'm sharing today.  You don't have to make the pie crust, cook the broccoli or, if you don't mind spending a little extra, grate the cheese.

The recipe starts with a deep-dish frozen pie crust.  Make sure it's a deep-dish crust or the filling will overflow.  If you don't want anyone to know you used a frozen pie crust, remove the crust from the foil pan while it's frozen and place it in a nicer pie plate.

Remove the crust from the freezer -- transfer to another pie plate or leave in the foil pan -- and thaw at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.

To keep the crust from getting soggy when the quiche filling is added, the pie crust needs to be partially baked which is known as blind baking.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to blind baking.  One suggests lining the pie crust with foil and adding uncooked dried beans, rice or pie weights to help the crust retain its shape.  The other way is how my mother taught me which is to "dock" the pie crust.  In baking, dock means to prick the pie crust -- including the sides -- with a fork.

These holes allow steam to escape which keeps the crust from bubbling.  Put the pie crust on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

While the pie crust is baking, make the filling by combining the eggs, milk and cream of broccoli soup.  Remove the pie crust from the oven and sprinkle Cheddar cheese on the bottom.

Leave the pie crust on the cookie sheet and add the filling.  The filling will completely fill the pie crust.

The quiche takes an hour to bake so you'll need to cover the edges of the pie crust with foil or, what I use, a pie crust shield.

The quiche is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove the quiche from the oven and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Return the quiche to the oven until the cheese melts, about 3 to 4 minutes. 

To round out the meal, serve a salad and some fresh fruit.  Add some flowers, a card -- maybe a present -- to make Mother's Day extra special for your mom.

Broccoli Quiche

6 to 8 Servings

1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie crust, partially baked
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

6 eggs

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of broccoli soup (undiluted)

2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400°.  Thaw pie crust at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.  Prick the pie crust -- including the sides -- with a fork.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350°.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over the bottom of the pie crust.  Combine the eggs, soup and milk in a large bowl; pour into pie crust.  Cover the edges with foil or use a pie crust shield.  Bake on a cookie sheet for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Return to oven and bake until cheese melts, 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

© Margaret's Morsels