Who knew Evaporated milk could be so much fun??

When I was first approached  to try Carnation Evaporated Milk, I immediately thought, ok, I can make a pie – easy right? Well, not so fast there missy…One of the requests was that you not only try one of the recipes provided by the company (I have made 2 more of them since – YUM!!!), but that you try one of your OWN recipes and use Carnation Evaporated Milk in place of the milk in YOUR recipe. Huh…I didn’t know you could do that! Turns out evaporated milk is just that. Not the sweetened condensed milk usually associated with baking, but regular whole milk that has been reduced to roughly half of it’s original volume, which means you can always have shelf-stable milk on hand in the off (ok, in my case MORE than off) chance you don’t have fresh milk on hand. Ok, so for the recipe I tried from Carnation, I made the creamy lemon raspberry pie.

Mine looks nowhere as pretty as theirs, but oh mylanta was this a tasty pie! I would have taken a picture of the inside once I had cut it, but it was so yummy I was in a haze…(um, yeah, there is supposed to be whipped cream on there, but it escaped my shopping list)

The next recipe was one of my own – well, from my IRL partner in crime Marnie. It has no official name, but we call it “Junk in the Trunk” because of what you would end up with if you ate this too often. It’s kind of a Shepard’s pie, but quick and adaptable to whatever you have on hand.

Junk in the Trunk

(serves 4 plus lots of leftovers)

• 1 pound of ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup (or mushroom, or celery, etc…)
• 1 can green beans (or any veggie you like)
• Mashed potatoes
• Cheese
• Milk

Cook your ground beef and drain – season well. Add in the cream soup, veggie, and Milk (I used about 1/2 a cup of Carnation Evaporated Milk in place of regular 2% milk). Stir til mixed and let reduce.

While your ground beef is cooking, prepare your mashed potatoes. I use instant for this recipe just for time’s sake. I prepare according to the directions on the box for 6-7 servings, and make in the microwave. I also substituted Carnation Evaporated Milk for the milk in the mashed potatoes as well. Once the potatoes are cooked, add a small handful of cheese.  Mix well.

Put the meat mixture in an 8×11 glass pan (any big casserole will work too), and spread the potaotes on top. Sprinkle with more cheese (optional) and bake in a 350* oven for about 15 minutes, or till bubbly. Let cool, serve with a salad or fruit.

I honestly didn’t think using evaporated milk would make that much of a difference – but I really noticed a richness and creaminess that made an already rich dish over the top – YUM O! I am definitely keeping a few cans on hand from now on when I want to add a bit of richness to casseroles and desserts…

Thanks to Carnation for providing the ingredients for this review – it was a lot of fun and I learned something I didn’t know about your product!