I Want To Be a Pampered Chef

I hosted my very first Pampered Chef party yesterday and now I want to be Pampered 24/7. No, I'm not talking about becoming a sales consultant (at least not now anyway, but it does sound like an intriguing way to be able to stay home with our kids in the future!). I'm talking about wanting one of just about every cool kitchen gadget and beautiful bamboo serving platters from the catalog. My show was only the second Pampered Chef party I've attended and I'm in love. I ordered the food chopper and a cake decorator from the first show I went to and have been hooked since. My wishlist is long, but I'll be able to cut it down quite a bit after receiving the rewards for hosting my own show (yay!).

My party was luau themed and so we made two tropical themed Pampered Chef recipes and both were delicious. I made Pineapple Salsa (so we could demo the pineapple slicer) that got gobbled up before I could even take a picture. The colors of the salsa were beautiful together. The main demo recipe was called Paradise Dessert Pizza and there wasn't a scrap of it leftover. Check out these yummy recipes below:

The Pampered Chef ®Fresh Pineapple Salsa Recipe
2 plum tomatoes
1/2 small red onion
1 4-in. piece seedless cucumber
1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
1 jalapeño pepper (I omitted this because I don't do spicy.)
1 medium pineapple
1 lime
1/2 tsp salt

1. Hull and remove seeds from tomatoes. Dice tomatoes, onion and cucumber. Chop cilantro. Combine tomatoes, onion, cucumber and cilantro in bowl. Cut jalapeño in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Finely chop jalapeño; add to bowl.
2. Dice 1/2 fresh pineapple (at the party my host demonstrated the Pampered Chef pineapple slicer which was so cool!). Juice lime to measure about 2 tbsp juice. Add pineapple, lime juice and salt to batter bowl. Mix thoroughly until combined.

Yield: 16 servings (3 cups)
Nutrients per serving: Light (3 tbsp): Calories 20, Total Fat 0 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Carbohydrate 5 g, Protein 0 g, Sodium 75 mg, Fiber 1 g

Paradise Dessert Pizza

1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 container (8 ounces) vanilla, strawberry or banana low-fat yogurt (I chose vanilla)
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice, well drained (we used 1/2 of fresh pineapple)
1/4 cup flaked coconut (optional)
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup red grapes, cut in half
1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments, well drained
2 tablespoons whole, unblanched almonds, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Form dough into a ball and place in center of Classic Round Stone. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Bake 16-18 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from Baking Stone; cool completely.
2. Combine yogurt, pineapple and coconut; spread mixture evenly over top of cookie. Slice kiwis and cut grapes in half using Paring Knife. Arrange mandarin oranges, kiwi slices and grapes in a circle over yogurt mixture.
3. Chop almonds with Food Chopper; sprinkle over fruit. Slice and serve.

Yield: 16 servings Nutrients per serving: Calories 160, Total Fat 6 g, Saturated Fat 1.5 g, Cholesterol less than 5 mg, Carbohydrate 26 g, Protein 2 g, Sodium 135 mg, Fiber less than 1 g