Newlywed Recipe Corner: "Angela's Raspberry Oat Delight Bars"

A new school year is here and this time of year always brings "sweet" memories back for me of my own school days when my Mom or Grandma Cleva picking me up from school and bringing me home to a special snack. For today's parents and grandparents, life often finds you on the go in every direction and it can be hard to find the time to bake a dessert or snack. I love my quick and easy recipe for a cookie bar that can easily be modified for healthier eating. You can try it with different flavors of fruit preserves for a fun variety.

"Angela's Raspberry Oat Delight Bars"

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup brown sugar (I use a healthy alternative: Splenda Brown Sugar for Baking)

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ sticks butter, sliced and softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (12 ounce) jar raspberry preserves (I use Smucker’s Red Raspberry Reduced Sugar Preserves)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13” x 9” baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In mixing bowl, combine oats, brown sugar and flour. Mix well. Add softened butter, cut into pieces and vanilla extract. Stir together until mixture forms a moist texture. Pour half of oat mixture into baking pan. Lightly press mixture into the bottom of the pan until it forms a layer of crust. Spoon 12-ounce jar of raspberry preserves over layer of oat crust. Gently spread over the mixture to form layer of preserves. Sprinkle remaining half of oat mixture over preserves and lightly pat with spatula. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely. Cut into 18 squares and serve. Store remaining bars in an airtight container. Enjoy!

My blogger friend Carolyn at "Cookin' for my Captain" made my whole week when she featured me and my peanut butter pie I shared here last week on her blog today! Her wonderful blog is the newest addition to my "I Do Declare" blog roll.

Newlywed Recipe Corner: "Angela’s Easy Peanut Butter Cup Pie"

This week I have a no-bake treat to share with you and there is a special reason I am sharing it with you this week. Besides this column, I enjoy having a food blog on the internet. My blog is called "The Southern Fried Bride". Recently a fellow food blogger's husband suddenly passed away. In the days following, she shared on her food blog her husband's favorite treat she made: peanut butter pie. She asked that those of us in the food blogging community, if we would possibly do it, make a peanut butter pie the next Friday to remember his life. On that Friday, I gladly made my recipe for peanut butter pie and shared it with my family here. Here is my recipe. I have always loved the tasty goodness in a peanut butter cup and I’m a firm believer in the time you can save with using a ready-made pie crust. Even better, this pie is made with ingredients for a lighter version. For variety, try changing up the flavor of a ready-made crust from the usual ready-made graham cracker crust to one of the different flavors available at the grocery store now, such as chocolate or vanilla wafer, according to your flavor of pie. I paired this week’s pie with a ready-made chocolate crust and it makes a peanut butter pie filling instantly into the classic candy treat.

"Angela’s Easy Peanut Butter Cup Pie"

1 quart vanilla reduced fat ice cream or frozen yogurt, softened

1 cup light frozen whipped topping, thawed

2/3 cup peanut butter, crunchy or creamy

1 (8 oz.) ready-made chocolate pie crust

Garnish: ¼ cup chocolate syrup

¼ cup peanuts, chopped

In large bowl, combine first three ingredients. Beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended. Spoon into crust. Cover pie and freeze at least 4 hours or until firm. When ready to serve, remove from freezer and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish, if desired, by drizzling chocolate syrup over pie and sprinkling with chopped peanuts. Enjoy!

Newlywed Recipe Corner: “Angela’s Crowd-Pleasin’ Lasagna”

During these hot summer months, there are only a few dishes I find worth turning on the oven for. This dish is one of them. I have long been a fan of lasagna and my recipe uses lean ground beef and reduced fat Mozzarella cheese, which makes a healthier version of lasagna with the same great flavor and is topped for a fun twist and taste, with American cheese.

“Angela’s Crowd-Pleasin’ Lasagna”

8 ounces lasagna noodles

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 jar (16 ounce) spaghetti sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pint part-skim ricotta cheese

1 package (8 ounce) shredded Mozzarella cheese (reduced fat Mozzarella works great)

1/2 cup shredded American cheese

Optional: 1 (8 ounce) can mushrooms, drained

Spray 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onion. Drain well. Return beef mixture to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add mushrooms, if desired. Stir in garlic powder, salt and Italian seasoning. In baking pan, layer 1/3 of lasagna noodles, 1/3 of meat sauce and 1/3 of ricotta cheese and 1/3 package of Monterey Jack cheese. Repeat layers twice. Bake lasagna for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with ½ cup American cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 8-10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

"Angela's Easy Southern Breeze Banana Pudding"

It is a great thrill to be a newlywed homemaker. I take heart in the many treasured cookbooks my Grandma Cleva collected through the years that she gave to me for my own kitchen. Some recipes can quickly become overwhelming with so many steps. I have found one such recipe to be banana pudding. certain recipes can quickly become an overwhelming thoughtThe traditional recipes I have seen almost require jumping through hoops with all kinds of contraptions to come out with a bowl of pudding. My recipe I have found to be a much easier way to prepare this pudding and at the same time, made a few healthier ingredient substitutions and of course, this young lady has put a Southern spin on my recipe.

Angela’s Healthy Cooking Tip: By substituting traditional banana pudding recipe ingredients of whole milk, 4 egg yolks and twice as much heavy cream with the ingredients in this recipe, you can save in each serving, nearly 250 calories, 20 grams of fat and 100 milligrams of cholesterol. Here’s to healthy choices!

“Angela’s Easy Southern Breeze Banana Pudding”

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 pinch salt

3 cups low-fat milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon banana extract

40 reduced-fat vanilla wafers (half of one 11oz. box)

2 medium ripe bananas, chopped

Topping: 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Garnish: ¼ cup chopped walnuts

1 banana, chopped

In 4-quart saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar with cornstarch and salt. Whisk in milk; heat to boiling on medium, stirring frequently. Gradually add eggs, beating vigorously. Cook 1 minute, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in banana extract. In 2-quart casserole or serving dish, place 20 vanilla wafers. Pour 1 1/4 cups pudding over wafers, covering wafers completely. Top with one chopped bananas. Repeat layering once. Top with remaining pudding, making sure to completely cover chopped banana layer. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Before serving, prepare whipped cream topping in medium bowl by adding cream and 1 tablespoon sugar. Beat with mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream over pudding. Garnish, if desired, with chopped walnuts and chopped banana. Enjoy!

Congratulations to the 4 winners of my wedding countdown follower giveaway: Kestrel, Heather, Nancy and Kara!

Newlywed Recipe Corner: "Craig's Blueberry Heaven"

I have been hearing from many of you with compliments about my recent no-heating-up-the-oven-needed recipes I have been sharing with you during this scorching hot summer. Here is another recipe perfect for preparing in this heatwave. I love blueberry season and blueberry patches abound here in New York just as they do in Oklahoma. My husband Craig has been picking blueberries for me on Saturdays! I have been having the best time creating new recipes and preparing blueberry dessert dishes this summer. The one I am sharing with you this week is one I made recently, so new when I served it that I hadn't even named it yet. It was a huge hit with my husband and I decided to let him name it. This recipe can easily be halved for a smaller portion. I hope you find this dish "berry" good!

"Craig's Blueberry Heaven"

1 16 oz. tub whipped topping, thawed

1 8 oz. package berry blue gelatin

3/4 cup blueberries

1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

Spoon thawed whipped topping into large bowl. Mix in entire envelope of gelatin. Fold in blueberries, marshmallows and pineapple. Transfer mixture into serving bowl. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8-10. Enjoy!

Newlywed Recipe Corner: "Angela's Delightfully Mallow Lemon Ice Box Pie"

 With the hot weather here in northern New York this week and the searing 100-plus temps I am hearing about from loved ones back home in Oklahoma, this week I am sharing one of my favorite warm weather, no-bake recipes. I have long been a fan of lemon ice box pie but the extraordinary amount of sugar and calories in just one slice sent me on a mission to create a light, easy and lower sugar version of this lemony delight I have enjoyed since childhood. I hope you will find this pie to be a cool treat on a summer day!


“Angela’s Delightfully Mallow Lemon Ice Box Pie”

1 1/2 cups skim milk

1 (4-serving size) package Jell-O sugar free instant lemon pudding

1 8 oz. tub sugar free Cool-Whip, thawed

3/4 cup miniature marshmallows

1 (8 oz.) reduced fat graham cracker pie crust


In large mixing bowl, combine milk and pudding mix. Stir with wire whisk at least 1 minute or until pudding consistency. Add whipped topping to mixture, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add marshmallows and stir well. Pour mixture into pie crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Yield: 6 slices. Enjoy!

Marriage, Moving and Marvelous Mayhem

Well my fine friends, The Southern Fried Bride is now officially a bride! I packed up my pink and green suitcase, travel bags and my Vera Bradley in "Pink Cupcakes" and drove cross country with my new husband, The Southern Fried Mister, after our wedding to our honeymoon in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and then we made our way up the East Coast to our new home in New York. I am back in the blog world after a break for the wedding, honeymoon and move to New York. All the rehearsal, wedding and honeymoon details will be forthcoming. I am excited to be back in my little pink and green and always Southern fried corner of the internet sharing my life and inspirations with you. The winners from my 100 follower contest have been notified and will be announced later this week. I'm now looking forward to welcoming my 200th follower with a special surprise!