How to Roast a Chicken, The Tale of Two Ovens, and a Buffalo Chicken Salad

A new post? What?!? Is this an April Fool's Day prank?

True, my last post was in 2014. And then....silence. 16 months of silence. Although, to be honest, it was anything but silent in this household. Nothing exciting, just the day to day activities of my family and no time (or energy at the end of the day) left for me to sit down and document the happenings in my kitchen.

Luckily, all of the great recipes were here at my fingertips with the click of a keyboard or the touch of a screen. Back when I started writing this blog in 2008, I never imagined it would serve as my cooking journal and chronicle my experiences as I chopped, cooked, sauteed, and baked my way through over 700 recipes. Back then, I was just trying to provide my family and friends with access to my recipes without having to call me up every time they thought about Rotini Salad. That's right, CALL. Back then, I didn't even have a phone that would/could text. For real. And while my life right now is very full and blessed with all of the things that this busy stage of life entails, I've missed this space where I could share and critique and reflect. And so, I'm swinging my leg over the horse and climbing back on. YEEEEHAWWWW!

I'm starting back with 2 basics; a perfect roast chicken and a phenomenal salad made from the leftover chicken. If you've stopped by here before, you know I love to cook once and eat twice. I actually had the salad in mind when I prepared this chicken, and so I went with a spice rub that would go well with the flavors of the salad I had planned.

If you're in the market for additional tried-and-true roast chicken meals, check out these: Balsamic Roast Chicken with Red Onion Sauce, Rosemary Roasted Chicken and Potatoes, and Garlic Herb Roast Chicken.


Last night's dinner was no-fuss. I just grabbed a spice blend that I purchased from our corner store. They have the most delicious rotisserie chicken. One day I asked the girl at the deli counter about the spice blend and she offered to sell some to me. I paid $1.50 for the whole container. #winning

I'd estimate that I roast a whole chicken about once a month. I'm a fan because 1) it's pretty inexpensive- I snagged this bird at ALDI for $.95/lb and 2) my family will always eat it. Roast chicken falls into the same category as pizza and tacos in this household. It's a crowd-pleaser.

If you've never done it before, roasting a chicken isn't tricky. I'd recommend placing the chicken in your clean kitchen sink before removing the plastic, so that chicken "juice" doesn't run all over your countertop. Once the chicken is free from the packaging, remove the packet of "giblets" that is generally placed inside of the bird. You can either discard them or if you're feeling industrious, cook them up using your favorite method. Assuming you have a favorite giblet-cooking technique, of course. If not, there's always Pinterest. Or you could do what we did before Pinterest, and no, I don't mean "google it". Rather, call your grandma. I'm pretty sure the last time I ate a decent gizzard or any gizzard at all, it came out of my grandma's kitchen. Okay- enough on giblets, let's get back to the whole bird...

Next, give the chicken a rinse, checking for anything that would be unappetizing, such as say, pinfeathers. Promptly remove anything "yucky". Once your chicken is prepped, transfer it to a baking dish. I lined a glass baking pan with aluminum foil, which I placed next to the sink for an easy transfer from sink to pan. Plus, foil=easy clean up.

I rubbed the spices into this chicken under AND on top of the skin. To get under the skin, you can separate it from the meat using a wooden spoon. However, I just use my fingers. I like to put the chicken back into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours after it is seasoned to let the flavors "sink in". Ideally, you could rub the chicken the night before and then cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

Typically, the next step is to place the chicken in a 350 degree oven to bake. The rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound based on the weight of the chicken. The goal is an internal cooking temperature of 180 degrees, checked at the thickest part of the bird.

You will notice from the photograph of my bird that the thermometer is attached to the oven. And you're probably thinking, "Hmmm, I bet there's a story there." Or not. Ok, probably not. But I've been away for such a long time and this is sort of like a homecoming post...so indulge me. Or if you're just here about the chicken, scroll on down. I'm cool with that. It's a really LONG story. Here goes...

This is the first roast chicken that my NEW oven has produced. I was super excited because my oven features a digital meat thermometer and I’ve looked forward to testing it out. According to the product description: 

“The digital meat thermometer automatically monitors the internal temperature of food, then alerts you and shuts off the oven when food is fully cooked, so you never have to guess at the doneness of your meal.”

Since it seems that every time I need a meat thermometer, I rifle through my gadget drawer to turn up 2 bi-metallic stemmed dinosaurs that need calibrated and 1 digital model with batteries that keep popping out, this option appealed to me. On the day I made this meal, I simply stuck the provided probe into my chicken and plugged it into the stove, then “told” my oven the desired internal cooking temperature, set the oven heat, and headed out the door to take the kiddos to the park. I had planned to come back a little before the chicken should be ready, just in case I had screwed something up or the feature did not work as I hoped it would.

We met friends at the park, and as often happens when everyone is having fun, time got away from us. When I realized that it was probably past time to check on the chicken, I hustled my group out of the park. We arrived home to the wonderful smell of dinner. The oven had turned off and the screen read “oven cooling” and the chicken was cooked perfectly! I almost got a little misty. I love this oven SO much!

Before you get oven envy and all, “It must be nice.” Let me detail the 3 years of OVEN HELL that brought me to this joyous moment.  This post is about to reveal two of my (sometimes undesirable) personality traits. #1-I am frugal (to a fault…which will become apparent after reading the following account) and #2-I can be stubborn.  You know what, I better make a #3- I have a tendency to tell really long stories.

When we purchased our home a little over 5 years ago, we knew that the appliances were old. They had been updated with a kitchen remodel approximately 15 years before (our home is about 85 years old), but still, we were aware that the appliances had a limited life. Aside from some uneven heating issues, the oven seemed to be ok.

We settled in, and before long,  I was big and pregnant with our 3^rd child, working a full-time teaching position, and keeping up with 2 busy school-aged children when suddenly our oven started TORCHING everything and the control panel starting sounding angry warnings and flashing obscure codes like “F4”. I kind of panicked. NOOOOOO! Not now! The baby was coming any day, we were about to have all kinds of baby bills, summer day camp and swim lesson fees, we had just replaced the central air-conditioner, and I was preparing to take a 12-week maternity leave, half of which was unpaid. A new wall oven was not in the budget.

So, I called an appliance repair guy. After checking everything out, repair “dude” told me that he could fix it…IF he could find the part. If not, I had better start shopping. GAH!  Within a day or two, a part was located somewhere in Pennsylvania (Apparently the only one left in the world!) and I was feeling pretty happy that I had just saved us “all this money”. For about $300, the oven was fixed and everything was good…..for 2 whole weeks. And then the broiler quit and more over-heating, censor issues happened and I was on the phone with the repair guy again.  I assumed that his repair had failed and he would just fix it right up. NOT SO. It turned out that another part had gone bad and needed to be ordered.

Since we had already sunk $300 into the oven, I hated to scrap it and buy a new oven, and so I agreed to the repair. STUPID. In my defense, I was sleep-deprived, with a new baby cradled in my arms, milk dripping from my body, and there seemed to be like, 20 kids  (my munchkins and their buddies) all running through my house on summer break. I kind of wanted to cry. Instead, I made a decision. We all know that sleep-deprived new mommies are notoriously even-tempered, un-emotional, and excellent decision-makers. Right? Turns out that this repair cost about the same amount as the first. Grrrr.  I could’ve bought an inexpensive, NEW, single wall oven for about $300 more than the $600 I had now thrown at that sinking ship. I sure I am glad that I saved us from spending all of that money on a new wall oven.

But at least the oven was fixed, right? WRONG. There were future oven mishaps on the horizon. You see, that bundle of joy who had snuggled in my arms in the previous chapter of this story turned into a Herculean force of nature within a few short months. He surprised us by walking in his 9^th month. And before he walked, he pulled up on everything in sight, including the wall oven door. And once he mastered pulling up, he figured out that he could also open that oven door and (BONUS!) stand on it. Visions of Hansel and Gretel danced in my head. To avoid baking the baby, we pushed heavy chairs in front of the oven (which Herculean baby used to climb up and onto the kitchen counter), then we wired the door shut (totally inconvenient when trying to cook and re-wire) and finally we purchased a baby-proof oven lock (which quickly broke).

It turns out that oven doors aren’t actually designed to support a lot of weight, and soon, our oven door would no longer close all the way, which resulted in more wiring shut. If I had to pick a moment in time when the universe told us that it was time to “let go”, I would say that “rock-bottom” occurred on December 31^st of 2014. As is our tradition, all of the neighbors were over for a New Year’s Eve party. The event was in full-swing.  I had just placed 2 sheets of my famous bacon-wrapped water chestnuts in the oven and all of the adults at the party were visiting and laughing when…. BOOM! The entire door of the oven fell off and crashed onto our ceramic tile, in plain view of all of the guests. A hush fell over the crowd.  Oooops. We wiggled the door back on and propped a chair in front, but still, it was just a little embarrassing, even though we all had a good laugh.

The next day, my husband ordered new hinges and we decided that we could do the repair on our own. While the door was off, I decided to take the opportunity to “deep-clean” the oven. As I scrubbed at the “gunk” in the back of the oven with a baking soda-laden tooth brush, I realized that “the gunk” was actually rust. After it was scrubbed away, I noticed that the corrosion had left small holes along the back seam of the oven. In denial, I stuffed them with aluminum foil and helped my husband with the hinge replacement of our now super-clean geriatric oven.

Except, the new hinges didn’t totally fix the problem. Sure, they held the door on just fine, but it seems that the inside door tracks had been bent by “giant baby” and the door still wouldn’t close properly. At this point we did start shopping for a new oven. However, not aggressively.  We’d wait for a sale and then mull over the choices, debate doing a kitchen remodel instead, discuss possibilities…and then inevitably, get busy with life until the next time I hit “pre-heat”.  I realize that if you have read this far, that I sound absolutely crazy right now. Just get a new oven already, lady!

My mom and sisters began harassing me about getting a new oven, but hey, as long as I could prop a chair in front of it, and the thing still worked, I wasn’t rushing. Then last fall, my sweet grandma came for a visit. It’s fair to say, as a fellow baker, she was downright appalled that my oven door didn’t close properly.  Over the next few weeks, Grandma “stayed on my case” about the downfall of my kitchen. Which is how, eventually, I ended up with this fabulous, digital thermometer, wall oven as my Christmas/birthday gift.

So…if your oven stinks…I promise, I’ve been there.

I have to say all of that adversity makes me totally grateful for my new, awesome oven. You should see how evenly this thing bakes! (Maybe you will, as I’m working up future posts soon.) But this chicken…seriously….cake walk! So easy. 

While some folks like to rub the chicken with butter or brush with oil, I just basted it with the cooking juice when it came out of the oven. The skin was already perfectly browned and the meat was nice and juicy!

Notice the potatoes around the chicken? I just lined a baking sheet with foil, brushed it with olive oil and tossed 4-5 cut up potatoes with garlic, salt, and Parmesan. Use whatever flavor combination you like. Seasoning salt and rosemary are also good when baking potatoes this way. I just put the potatoes in the oven on the rack below the chicken and left them there the entire time. They turned out a little on the crispy side, but they must've have been good enough, because we didn't have any leftovers.

And now for that salad that I've been bragging about....

I had exactly one chicken breast half left from the roast chicken. While cleaning up after dinner, I shredded and bagged it and put it into the fridge for later. When lunchtime rolled around the next day, I gathered my ingredients. The chicken, garlic, and hot sauce for the "Buffalo Chicken", lettuce, tomatoes, celery, green onion, black beans, corn, and the makings of a low-fat ranch dressing.

Apparently I have a phobia about running out of hot sauce, because this is what I found when I searched our refrigerator. Does anyone else have hoarding tendencies focused on a particular ingredient? Or maybe my cooking is just that bad and my family is covering my flavor creations with hot sauce? This would also explain the abundance of Ranch, BBQ Sauce, and ketchup in our fridge. Hmmm.....

I heated a skillet and added garlic and hot sauce, bringing it to a simmer.

Then, I stirred in 10 oz. of chicken and heated it through while it soaked up the spicy goodness of knock-off Franks Red Hot.

While the chicken cooked, I rinsed and drained the beans and corn, chopped all of the veggies, and divided them into two bowls. My husband works from his home office when he isn't travelling for work, and I knew that he would love this flavor-packed, healthy salad. I also added a couple of tablespoons of cheese to each bowl. It wasn't originally on my ingredient list, but that's how I roll...

Livin' on the edge, Baby!

Next, I mixed 1/4 cup of light sour cream with ranch dressing mix and a couple of tablespoons of skim milk in a plastic container with a lid, then I shook it up to combine. You might need to add a little more milk to thin the dressing to the consistency you desire. Divide the dressing between both salads and then use 2 utensils to gently mix everything together.

Finally, top it all off with that delicious Buffalo-style shredded chicken.

And there you have it, a wonderful, healthy lunch for 2.

Wait, make that 3. We still have one cutie at home during the day. He's not picky and he eats his weight in food daily. Probably so that he can maintain his strength and eventually destroy the rest of our appliances.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Serves:2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

10 oz. chicken breast, cooked and shredded

2 t. minced garlic

1/3 cup hot sauce

3-4 cups lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup canned sweet corn, drained

2 stalks celery, diced

4 green onions, sliced

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, made with 2% milk

1-2 tablespoons ranch dressing mix

1/4 cup light sour cream

2-4 T. skim milk

Pre-heat skillet. Add garlic and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer. Stir in chicken and heat through. Turn off heat and set aside.

Divide the next 7 ingredients evenly into two large bowls.

Combine ranch dressing mix, sour cream, and milk in a container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake to mix thoroughly. Add additional milk (if needed) to desired consistency.

Pour dressing over the salads and use two utensils to toss salads and evenly distribute dressing. Top each salad with equal portions of the heated chicken.

Based on the nutrition app on my phone, 1 serving=325 calories

Happy cooking!

Love, Krista

Sesame Green Bean Salad

This simple, easy to prepare, green bean salad has been my new craving lately! I still have an abundance of green beans growing in my garden, so when I found this recipe in the June/July 2006 edition of Light & Tasty magazine I thought it was a great, fresh way to prepare green beans. I love green beans, but I've got to mix it up a bit sometimes. I have since made 3 batches of this tasty salad! Not only has it accompanied our dinners as a side dish this week, at only 65 calories per serving, it has become my favorite healthy, yet flavorful late night snack.

I began this recipe by cleaning and snapping a pound of green beans.

Then I dropped them into salted water, brought it to a boil, and cooked them to a crisp-tender state. The recipe recommends boiling them for 8-10 minutes. I cooked mine for closer to 12 minutes. I didn't want them mushy, but at the same time, I preferred them a little more on the tender side.

Then I rinsed them under cold water to stop the cooking process and cool the beans down.

While the beans cooked, I gathered the dressing ingredients: canola oil, soy sauce, cider vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and a little salt.

I poured all of the ingredients into a container with a lid and shook them up until combined.

After transferring the green beans to a serving dish, I poured the dressing over the top and tossed them lightly to coat.

To top it all off, I toasted some sesame seeds in a skillet on the stovetop until fragrant and golden brown.

Then I sprinkled them over the top of the salad. The recipe instructs to serve this salad at room temperature, but it's good cold too. In my opinion, it was even better on the second day- straight outta the fridge!

Last night, I served the salad alongside some pork loin chops that I had marinated in teriyaki all day. Mmmmm. My husband forgot to light the coals in our grill before he began cutting the grass, so I fired up my Pampered Chef grill pan. The chops, which soaked up the dressing from the green beans served beside them, were perfection! It was a lovely pairing.

If you're in the market for a grill pan and press, The Pampered Chef has them on special for just one more day! Click HERE to see the deal.

Here's the recipe:

Sesame Green Bean Salad from Light & Tasty Magazine
5 Servings Prep/Total Time: 20 min.

Ingredients
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
Directions
•Place beans in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a
boil. Cook, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain
and rinse in cold water; pat dry. Place in a serving bowl.

•In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, canola oil, sugar, vinegar,
sesame oil and salt. Pour over beans and toss to coat. Sprinkle with
sesame seeds; toss again. Serve at room temperature. Yield: 5
servings.

Nutrition Facts: 3/4 cup equals 65 calories, 3 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 238 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 1 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1/2 fat.

My New Favorite Pasta Salad

A couple of weeks ago my husband's sister came to visit with her husband and our adorable 10-month-old niece. Of course, it is my nature to plan meals for company. On the night of their arrival, we planned for a low-key cookout. However, I wanted to provide some out-of-this-world side dishes to accompany the burgers and brats we prepared on the grill. I already know that they are fans of my go-to Rotini Salad, but I was on the lookout for something new. Enter Elizabeth's Edible Experience. Elizabeth always posts recipes on her blog that make my mouth water. This recipe for Tomato Feta Pasta Salad, which she adapted from an Ina Garten recipe for her book club, was no exception. In the way that recipes often evolve, I tweaked this recipe a bit to my own tastes. The result was amazing. I still love my rotini salad, but this new recipe "takes the cake" since I was in the mood for something a little different.

I began this recipe by adding cooked rotini pasta to a big serving bowl with tomatoes and chopped cucumber that I had picked from my garden. Also in there are sun-dried tomatoes. Elizabeth's recipe called for sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil. I buy mine in bulk from the produce section of a local family-owned market. They are not packed in oil, therefore so much cheaper than the ones in jars! I just snipped them into pieces with kitchen scissors, added them to the bottom of the bowl and drizzled a little olive oil over them while the pasta boiled.

Since I was missing some of the components of this salad, I went ahead and made the dressing before heading to the store to gather those last few ingredients. I combined the ingredients for the dressing: more sun-dried tomatoes, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and flat-leaf parsley in the blending cup for my immersion blender.

My Cuisinart CSB-76BC SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, Brushed Chromemade super quick work of combining the dressing ingredients. Of course, if you don't have an immersion blender, you could just blend this in a regular blender or use a whisk for a chunkier dressing.

The resulting dressing was super thick and oh-so-flavorful!

I poured the dressing over the salad and stirred it in.

Then later, (after a trip to the store) I added in the feta, Parmesan, and sliced black olives.

Here it is, all mixed together in the bowl.

This salad was super yummy! However, once I added in all of that cheese it really soaked up the dressing. I think that the next time I make this I will increase the dressing amount by 1-1/2 to 2 X's. I like my pasta salad just a little more on the creamy side. And like I said, the dressing is delicious. You can't possibly go wrong by adding more.

I love how the cheese and dressing cling to the pasta and find their way in between each little spiral. Plus packed with all of those other lovely ingredients, this pasta salad ROCKED!

Tomato Feta Pasta Salad from Elizabeth's Edible Experience adapted from Ina Garten and adapted again by me

Ingredients
1 pound fusilli (spirals) pasta
Kosher salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 ripe roma tomatoes, medium-diced
2 firm cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 small can of sliced black olives
10 oz. pound good feta cheese
6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

For the Dressing:

5 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
12 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup packed flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Stir in:

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, feta and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper with a whisk, blender, or immersion blender. Pour the dressing over the salad. Sprinkle with the parmesan and toss well.

Notes: Next time I will increase the dressing amount by 1-1/2 to 2 X's.

We called this salad a big GPS. Translation: Big. Greek. Pasta. Salad. With the flavors of the feta, cucumber, and olives, this salad boasts a decidedly Greek flavor.

Looking ahead to your Labor Day cookout menu...this would be an excellent addition to the line-up! Enjoy!

Cookout Companions: BLT Macaroni Salad and Banana Split Cake

I know that I promised to continue my "Posts from the Farm" series while I'm visiting my family this week. But before I get into my adventures in the Indiana countryside over the new few days, I wanted show you what I cooked up before I left home (or I may never remember to post these recipes).

One of my uncles and my cousin came to stay with us for a couple of days last week. I'd decided that we would cook burgers and brats on the grill for dinner on one of the evenings of their visit. It was the perfect meal with which to try out a new pasta salad recipe. This BLT Pasta Salad was an excellent accompaniment to our dinner.

The recipe called for macaroni, but I used shell-shaped pasta due to a macaroni shortage in my pantry. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain and pour it into a large serving bowl.

You'll notice from the picture below that I stirred some bacon into the pasta. I started adding ingredients BEFORE carefully reading the recipe. According to the recipe, I was supposed to add the bacon just before serving. Ooops. Actually, I caught my mistake before I added all of the bacon, so I only added about half and stirred in the rest just before serving.  No biggie, though. I think that you could do it either way and the salad will turn out just fine. The bacon didn't get all gross and soggy or chewy and I think it was nice to put it in ahead of time so that the flavors could all blend together.

Now that I've beaten the topic of the bacon in this salad to death now, let's move on.

The dressing for the salad is super simple. Just stir together mayonnaise, vinegar, and some salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing over the pasta.

Add in tomatoes, celery, and chopped green onion. Stir it all together and let the salad chill for at least two hours. (I made mine a day in advance).

Stir in one pound of crumbled, crispy bacon before serving.

YUM! I really liked this salad. I'd definitely make it again. If you're a fan of BLT's you'll like this one.

BLT Macaroni Salad from Taste of Home

Ingredients
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
5 green onions, finely chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1-1/4 cups diced celery
1-1/4 cups mayonnaise
5 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
Directions
Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. In a large bowl, combine the macaroni, green onions, tomato and celery. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over macaroni mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, add bacon. Yield: 12 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 3/4 cup equals 290 calories, 25 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 19 mg cholesterol, 387 mg sodium, 11 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 6 g protein.

And now for dessert!

I based this Banana Split Dessert on a recipe I found in an old copy of Kraft Food and Family magazine. I spruced it up a bit, adding in chocolate and strawberries and garnishing with cherries on top. The result was a big hit with my family and our guests.

Here's the how-to:

Begin by mixing graham cracker crumbs with a little butter and sugar.

Then press the crumbs into the bottom of a 9X13 in. dish. Pop the dish into the freezer for 10 minutes.

While the crust chills, combine cream cheese and sugar.

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the graham cracker crust.

Then squeeze on some chocolate syrup.

Top with sliced strawberries.

And crushed pineapple.

And of course, bananas.

Then mix up some instant vanilla pudding.

Fold a cup of whipped topping into the pudding.

Spread the pudding mixture over the top of the bananas.

Top with more whipped topping.

Garnish with heated hot fudge or more chocolate syrup and maraschino cherries just before serving.

Make sure you do it JUST before serving....it doesn't look very pretty the next day.

Although, I can assure you that it tasted just fine the next day...and the next!

Banana Split Dessert

Honey Grahams, crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
Chocolate Syrup
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, drained
2 cups sliced strawberries
4 bananas, sliced
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each)Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups cold milk
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
Maraschino cherries (for garnish)

Make It
MIX crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Freeze 10 min.

BEAT cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer until well blended. Spread carefully over crust; top with chocolate sauce, then strawberries, then pineapple. Slice bananas; arrange over pineapple.

BEAT pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min. until well blended. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP; spread over banana layer in pan. Top with remaining COOL WHIP. Refrigerate 5 hours. Drizzle with chocolate syrup or heated fudge just before serving; arrange over dessert. Top with cherries to garnish.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my first "Post from the Farm" this summer. I have some exciting footage to share of the biggest caterpillar I've ever seen!

Oh, and don't forget to enter the contest to win 6 recipe booklets from GOYA foods. I've only gotten 3 entries, so the odds are good!