Made With Carnation…

I have always loved to cook, but my sister is much more proficient in the kitchen than I am. When we both still lived at home, my job was the house and her job was the kitchen. We had a pretty good thing going on. At least our Mom was happy! Ha!

Whenever there’s something that I don’t know how to do, I always call either Mom or Kelly and they can always help me out. Prince Charming is the most amazingly, un-picky eater ever! He’s happy with whatever I make — except for blue cheese and raw squash.

Recently, I posted the recipe for this a-maz-ing Pumpkin-Ginger Pie with Gingersnap Strudel. I was quite proud of myself for making a successful dessert even if the pie crust was store-bought. I was pretty convinced at the time (and I still am) that the secret ingredient for this pie was…

Evaporated Milk — The Cooking Milk

For the last several years around the holidays, I have made Fantasy Fudge which also uses Carnation Evaporated Milk. We all know that fudge is creamy! Yum!

I was unaware of how evaporated milk is “made” and the qualities that it has until the One2One Network contacted me about reviewing Carnation Evaporated Milk. Basically, evaporated milk is fresh milk that is carefully heated to remove half of the water which makes the milk concentrated and quite creamy. Because the milk is concentrated, qualities such as protein and calcium are in higher quantities as well. Pretty cool, huh?

During my Baking Days last week, I prepared this Ham & Swiss Hash Brown Bake. Since Prince Charming was out of town at the time, I took this dish to my parents for dinner. It got rave reviews! In two words…”Comfort Food!” I loved how fast and easy this recipe went together. I will definitely be making it again soon!

Ham & Swiss Hash Brown Bake

1 bag (16 oz) or 4 1/2 c. frozen, shredded hash brown potatoes
2 cups (8 oz) cooked ham, cut into 1/2″ pieces (I used turkey ham)
1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 T Dijon or yellow mustard
1/2 to 1 t. ground black pepper
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of moisture
1 c (4 oz) shredded Swiss cheese (I added more…love cheese!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 2 1/2 – 3 quart casserole dish.

Combine potatoes, ham, evaporated milk, soup, mustard and pepper in a large bowl. Pour half of potato mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with spinach and top with remaining potato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes before serving! Enjoy!!

I wasn’t going to post another recipe, but I decided to make these wings for company tonight. I got amazing rave reviews! I’m convinced that the peanut butter and Carnation Evaporated Milk totally “makes” this recipe. I’ve never made wings before, so I am very happy with they way that they turned out!

Thai-Peanut Ginger Wings

1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 cup cream peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce, divided
1/4 cup chopped green onions (I forgot these and just used red onion.)
2 1/2 t. ground ginger
2 t. rice vinegar
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (I used ground red pepper.)
5 lbs. frozen chicken wings, thawed

Place evaporated milk, peanut butter, 3 T. soy sauce, onions, ginger, vinegar and pepper in blender. Cover. (Ha! Of course you cover it!) Blend until smooth. Combine 1/2 c. peanut sauce, remaining 5 T soy sauce and wings in a large bowl, cover. Marinate chicken in refrigerator for 1 hour. Refrigerate remaining peanut sauce.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Foil-line and grease 2 baking sheets with sides.

Place chicken on prepared baking sheets. Discard any remaining marinade.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, turning once (or twice) or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from baking sheets to serving platter. (I put mine in a crockpot to keep warm.) Stir remaining peanut sauce and spoon some over wings. If desired, serve remaining sauce with wings and assorted cut-up vegetables. Enjoy!

If you would like to try these delicious recipes and browse others that use Carnation Evaporated Milk, be sure to check out Carnation’s Holiday Recipe Guide (pdf style!)

Be sure to check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday for more fabulous recipes!

Disclosure: One2One Network provided me with two coupons for free evaporated milk and a gift card to cover the ingredients needed to prepare these recipes. However, all opinions stated in this review are fully and completely mine.