Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Everybody welcome

Hey for any of you guys that have friends who would like to be a part of the recipes blog - everybody is welcome. If they have a gmail address, have them send it to: recipes26@gmail.com and then I can issue them an invite to become an author on the blog. The more, the merrier, so invite your friends!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Speaking of soup ...

I need more soup recipes. We have soup every Monday, and the six or seven I can make are getting old fast. Crock pot soups would be wonderful, but anything easy and yummy would be appreciated. Can anyone help me out?

Seven Can Soup

I wish I could take credit for this one, but it came from a friend. This meal takes only as long as it takes you to open and warm the contents of seven cans. It’s absolutely delicious. I recently served it at a family reunion and it was a hit.


Ingredients:

Can of chicken chunk (10 oz is about right)

Can of black beans (15 oz)

Can of corn (15 oz)

Can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (10 oz)

Two cans of chicken broth* (14-15 oz each)
*Last time I made it I used the new Winco brand of chicken broth – no good. It’s really strong and made the whole soup taste like chicken noodle. So I recommend the cheapest thing you can find that isn’t Hytop.)

Can of stewed tomatoes

You’ll notice I don’t have the stewed tomatoes in my photograph. That’s ‘cause my husband and I don’t like ‘em. But if you’re a fan of the stewed tomatoes, be my guest.

Drain the chicken chunk, the beans and the corn. Dump everything into a pot and heat it up. I let it simmer until I just can't stand it and I have to eat some. It's good with tortilla chips and sour cream.

While we love it just for our small family, this recipe is perfect for big groups -- family reunions, church socials, etc. Just add more cans of everything. I'd just say drop off a few cans of the broth if you make a really big batch. When I quadrupled the recipe for the family reunion this month, I should have used six or seven cans of broth, not the full eight. But it was still really good.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Chicken and Strawberry Salad (Or salad with chicken and strawberries)

This may seem simple, and when I think of chicken salad, I think of mayo, but that is not the case here. We eat this a lot during the summer because it is simple, fast, and low on the heating-up-the-kitchen scale.

For two people:
Two small chicken breasts (or one large), grilled. (we season with lemon pepper)
One pound or so strawberries, hulled
4 oz. cheese (your favorite variety - we use cheddar or swiss)
Romaine lettuce, enough to make two entree sized salads - add some spinach if you like it
Briannas Poppyseed dressing - this makes all the difference, but we have also used Briannas Honey Mustard dressing and it is almost equally yummy.

Cut up the chicken, strawberries and cheese into bite-sized pieces, distribute them over the two bowls of salad, and top with the dressing.
This is a meal in itself, but we have paired it with corn on the cob too - double yum.

I hope you like it as much as we do!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Summer Salad










Cut up:
Broccoli, Cauliflower, and carrots into SMALL pieces.
Add:
Italian Dressing over the top, mix well. Chill.

I love how this is healthy, EASY, and great for summer BBQ's.
*And a good way to get the kids to eat their veggies!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Orange Julius

This has been a family favorite for years and is a perfect summer treat.

In a blender add:

1/2 can orange juice concentrate, frozen
1 cup milk
1 cup cold water
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 or so ice cubes (depending on how thick you want it)

Blend in the blender until all ice chunks are gone.  Enjoy!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup Softened Butter or Margarine
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg
3 teaspoons Vanilla or Almond Flavoring
3 cups Flour
Icing:
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 (8oz.) package Cream Cheese
2 cups Whipped Topping
Topping:
5 Bananas, Sliced
3 cups Strawberries, Sliced
5 Kiwi, Sliced
1 can Pineapple, Sliced or Chunked

Instructions:
Mix and chill dough for crust about 1 hour. Press onto greased cookie sheet (covers about 2 thin cookie sheets). Bake at 425° for 5-7 minutes. Cool slightly. Stir powdered sugar with cream cheese. Add whipped cream. Mix lightly and spoon onto crust. Spread any desired toppings over pizzas. Keep refrigerated. Tastes great at baby or bridal showers too.

3 Bean Salad

It's a super fast and easy side dish when you don't want to cook anything.

1 can (15 oz) Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 can (15 0z) Garbanzo Beans (chick peas)
1 can (15 oz) Green Beans--any cut or variety. Can be fresh or frozen too.
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Combine beans in a bowl.
Add in remaining ingredients
Stir to combine
Refrigerate at least an hour until chilled (this is optional if you don't have time, but it tastes better cold in my opinion)

Sour cream pound cake

Okay so it's been a while since anyone posted anything ... and we're into a new month. So if you haven't posted anything for the month of July, get on it! :) Love you all; I'm so happy with the way this blog is turning out!! I've tried a lot of the recipes and they've been delicious and have definitely helped my boredom with making the same things over and over. Let's keep it up!

Now onto a very yummy cake that my cousin Allison made (and since you aren't posting it, Allison, I am going to). You guys who know me well know that I am not a "cake" person. But this one is yummy!

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites

3 cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 (8 oz.) container sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

Directions:
  1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Butter and flour 10 inch tube pan. Cut out wax paper to fit bottom of pan and slide into place (I never do the waxed paper part, and it always turns out fine.)
  2. In medium bowl, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until thoroughly blended, about 5 minutes. Beat in yolks.
  3. In large bowl, combine sifted flour, salt and baking soda, sift 2 more times. Mix the extracts into sour cream. Alternately add flour and sour cream mixtures a little at a time, beginning and ending w/flour.
  4. In large clean bowl w/clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry peaks. Stir 1/3 of whites into batter until well combined. Fold in remaining 2/3 of whites. Spoon into prepared pan.
  5. Bake at 300 for 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Mmmmm!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Crockpot BBQ Ribs

I haven't posted anything yet and since I'm already 2 days overdue with my baby I thought I'd better do it quick because I'll be out of commission for a while. This is probably the easiest crockpot recipe ever, but it is soooo yummy!

Boneless Country Ribs (as much as you need for your family)
1 Bottle of BBQ sauce-any flavor

Put in crockpot and cook 3-5 hours on high, (more or less depending on how much meat)
Serve on top of rice. I usually put it with a salad or green vegetable and some rolls.
It's a perfect Sunday dinner. Enjoy!

Green Chile Chicken

(4-6) Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
8 oz. Cream Cheese (Softened)
1 Packet Good Seasons Italian Mix
1 can Diced Green Chilies (we use the mild.)

Combine all ingredients and cook in crock pot all day on low or 3-4 hours on high. Serve on top of cooked rice.

A few things that I do are:

• Cube the chicken (I use 4 chicken breasts)
• If I double the recipe, I don’t add any more Italian dressing mix, I'm not too big on really salty stuff.
• We usually eat over rice with biscuits and a green salad.
• We have also tried this over spaghetti noodles and it was still pretty good.

We double the recipe to feed 4 adults and 2 kids. There is usually enough for lunch the next day.

This recipe is a hit at our house. Hopefully, at yours too.

-Stacey Taft

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 1/2 cup warm milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (You can substitute 1 ¾ cup white flour for wheat flour…it’s good!)
  • 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2 ½ Teaspoons)
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions

  1. Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle; press Start.
  2. When cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

(For those who don't have a bread maker either, here are the directions to use: pour water & milk into bowl, add sugar, stir to dissolve, add yeast, allow to proof for about 20 minutes until creamy foam appears, add butter, salt, mix, add slightly beaten egg and flour cup by cup stirring mixture. Allow to rise for 45mins in a warm area, covered with clean dish towel. Turn out and continue with step 2. These are very light, tasty rolls!!)