White Chili

I apologize if anyone has posted something like this - I made it for dinner last night and it was a huge success! While I was typing up my version of the recipe to print for keeping, I thought I would share it here, too.

White Chili

1 medium onion, chopped 1 jalapeno pepper (optional) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 4 cups chicken broth 2 (15.5 ounce) cans great northern beans

2 tablespoons dried parsley 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/4 cup cold water 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

In a medium to large saucepan, boil the chicken in the broth until cooked through. In a large saucepan, cook onion, jalapeno if desired and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in beans (with liquid), parsley, lime juice and cumin, and broth from chicken; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chop chicken into small pieces. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into chili. Add chicken. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

German Cheese Bars

This is a fast and easy treat that tastes sooooo good!

2 packages refrigerator crescent rolls
1 8oz package cream cheese softened
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
cinnamon and sugar

Press 1 package crescent rolls into bottom of 9x12 pan. Mix cream cheese and sugar together and spread over dough. Place remaining crescent rolls on top of cream cheese mixture. Melt butter and pour over dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.
Enjoy!

Another Easy Treat

This is pretty similar to what Allison recently posted, but my kids and I make these each Christmas. They are super easy and the kids (ages 4 & 2) can practically do it themselves!

HOLIDAY PRETZEL TREATS

Ingredients:
*Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (such as Snyder’s Snaps)
*Hershey’s Kiss or Hershey’s Hug
*M&M’s candy

1. Heat the oven to 170º. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.

2. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon (or your finger!). Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.

3. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes.


We've used several different flavors of kisses and M&Ms. The candy cane kisses are yummy! Make a big batch so you'll have plenty to snack on and still give some to your neighbors! Merry Christmas!

In need

Does anyone have a recipe that calls for Ham? I have a ton of ham leftover from a dinner, but I'm not sure what to do with it. If anyone could help I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.

Christmas Treats - easy

Sarah, thanks for the invitation to contribute. I thought I would share 2 easy, peasy, lemon squeezy ideas for Christmas Treats - Allison (Sarah's cousin from NJ)

Rolo Turtles -
Rolos
Pretzels (I like to use the square ones for this)
Pecans

Spread pretzels in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment (or not, but the parchment makes it easier). Place 1 rolo on each pretzel. Put in a low heat 200 -250 degree oven until the rolo starts to look a little melty (about 5-7 minutes) Remove from oven, immediately squish a pecan onto the top of the rolos. I like to make sure that I get the ridges of the rolo completely smushed so it looks like melted chocolate over caramel - and not a rolo.

Minty chocolate cookies
Make your favorite chocolate cookie. As soon as they come out of the oven, place an Andes mint on each cookie, wait 3-5 minutes. Spread the melted mint around on top of the cookie, cool. Someone from church brought these to a baby shower a couple of weeks ago and they are so yummy. I don't have a great chocolate cookie recipe, otherwise I would share. We also tried the Peppermint flavored Andes mints and they didn't work as well - the white/red chocolate didn't melt very well.

Butterscotch Haystacks/ Chocolate Pretzels

Butterscotch Haystacks





1 bag of Hershey's Butterscotch Chips


1 can La Choy Chow Mein Noodles





In a microwaveable bowl, melt the butterscotch chips. Stir until smooth. Add chow mein noodles. Mix until well coated. Spoon on a cookie sheet. Let stand for 5 mins. Enjoy!











Chocolate Pretzels





1 bag of Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips


1 bag of Pretzels





In a microwaveable bowl, melt chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Dip pretzels with however much chocolate you want. Lay on cookie sheet. Let stand for 5 mins. Enjoy!

This is a really good treat for neighbor gifts. Plus my kids loved helping out.

PS...Sorry the picture is so blurry.

Mexican Chicken Bake

I kind of just made this up so none of the spices were measured. Just do to taste.
This is one of my husbands Favorites.

1 C. Rice
1 chicken breast per person
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/4 C. Sour Cream
1/2 C. Milk
1 Can black beans
1/2 jar Salsa
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Onion powder
Cheese

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9 pan.
Cook Rice, spread into bottom of pan.
Cube and cook chicken with spices
place over rice
Mix together soup, sour cream, milk and beans. Spread over top chicken
Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake in oven for 20 min.

-Like I said, I kind of made this up. You can use whatever beans you like. The chicken can be seasoned with taco seasoning, or fajita seasoning if you'd prefer. I added some lemon juice because my husband loves it.
If you wanted to you could leave the chicken breasts whole and then just add about 1/2-1 C. of water and cook it all in the oven for about 1 hr.

The rules

What an intimidating title! Don't be afraid :) For those of you who have been posting on the blog regularly, feel free to ignore the rest of this post.

For those of you posting slackers (you know who you are :) and those of you who are new to our recipe exchange blog, the rules are thus: everyone is supposed to do one post per month, and it's not supposed to be something terribly elaborate. The idea is to share ideas for dinner that are easy to make, using everyday ingredients. Of course, desserts, appetizers and side dishes are always welcome! So far, I think things are going splendidly! I'm so happy that everyone is participating. I've enjoyed many a tasty dish thanks to you guys.

And the blog is open to everyone - so if you're reading this and thinking that you have a friend with mad cooking skills, tell her (or him) to send an email to recipes26@gmail.com and I'll invite them to be an author on the blog.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Texas Sheet cake brownies

So I stole this recipe from the Better Home's and Garden's cookbook, but I made it last night for a potluck, changed it a bit, and it turned out nicely. Hope you enjoy.

Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min

Cool time 1 hour

Combine these in a medium sized bowl until mixed:

2c. flour

2c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

1tsp ground cinnamon

In medium saucepan combine and bring to boil (stirring constantly)the following:

1c. butter

1/3c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1c. water

Add boiled mixture to the dry ingredients and mixon medium speed

until thoroughly mixed. Then add:
2 eggs

1/2 c milk

1/2 Tbsp Lemon juice OR vinegar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Pour in greased cookie sheet (15X10X1inch) and bake at 350 for 25 minutes

While baking make frosting by heating to a boil:

1/2c butter

6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

3 tbsp milk

after bringing to boil, mix in by electric hand mixer:

4 1/2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pour warm frosting over warm cake and spread and let cool 1 hour.

You can add almonds, walnuts, or pecans if desired.

Tostada

These are basically flat tacos.

Tostata shells- you can buy a back of 24 for around $2.00
1 can Refried beans
1/4 C. Water
1 lb. Ground beef
1 envelope Taco seasoning
Shredded lettuce
Sour Cream
Salsa
Cheese
Other taco topping favorites.

Cook ground been with 1/2- all of taco seasoning. Drain fat.
Cook refired beans & Water, mix well.
Place in order on Tostata shell: Beans, Hamburger, additional toppings.

These are so simple, and very tasty! Enjoy!!!

Intro

I just wanted to say Hi! I'm Jade Stellmon's sister-in-law. I'm new to this blog, but have been folowing it a while. I am so excited! I'm always looking for something new for dinner. My Husband enjoys the food I make, so hopefully you'll all enjoy my shared recipes!
Happy Eating!!!

Baked Potato Corn Chowder

This BARELY counts as a recipe, but it's something we started doing on accident and loved so much we have it at least once a month.

Instead of worrying about a lot of different, time-consuming toppings for baked potatoes, we pop open a can of creamy corn.

So you have a baked potato.
Put some butter on it (if that's your taste).
Sprinkle with cheese.
Add a little sour cream.
Top with warmed creamy corn.

It's like potato corn chowder, but it's ready in just a few minutes.

Capellini with Shrimp and Creamy Tomato Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound peeled large shrimp ( I use frozen shrimp, but make sure it is thawed and not too wet)
3 large garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup apple juice (or apple juice concentrate for more flavor)
1 (14- to 15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 pound capellini (or spaghetti)

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook shrimp and garlic with oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, turning once, until golden, about 2 minutes total. Stir in vermouth and tomatoes, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream and briskly simmer until sauce has thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in lemon juice.

Meanwhile, cook capellini in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.

Serve immediately, topped with shrimp and sauce. Thin sauce with some of reserved water if necessary.

This is so delicious and so fast!

Cheesy Saucy Manicotti Noodles

Cheesy Saucy Manicotti Noodles - NaDell Ransom
My friend made these for us more than a year ago, but she did it the hard way by boiling the noodles before filling them and didn't put sauce on them. By spreading sauce on the bottom of the pan and also on top of the noodles, they cook perfectly.
(My picture is extra saucy and they are cut in half to show how they look. )


























Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 teaspoons Parsley
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Minced Onion
1 teaspoon Garlic
1 cup Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 can/jar Spaghetti Sauce (I use Hunt's Four Cheese, but whatever kind you like is fine.)
14 Manicotti Noodles (sometimes there's one or two leftover noodles)

Instructions:
No need to boil noodles and have them break on you!
I don't always measure the spices or cheese. You can use whatever you have on hand. This also works with the huge shell pasta, but I did have to boil those for a few minutes for them to open up a little.
Mix the Ricotta cheese in a bowl with the egg. Add Parmesan cheese and mix it in. Add spices and mix. Add the rest of the cheeses and mix again.
Spray 9x13 pan. Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce on bottom of pan. Open box of noodles. Using a knife, fill each noodle with cheese mixture and then line them up in the pan 6 on each side and 2 in the middle. Cover with remaining sauce and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes until bubbling and hot. Can remain in oven on warm longer to let set. These are great! Enjoy!

Caramel Fondue

1 stick butter

20 Lg. Marshmallows

1 bag kraft caramels (I would use kraft, the off brand is hard to un-wrap)

1/2 C whipping cream or canned milk

Melt butter in fondue pot, then add mellows, caramels, and milk. Stir until melted. Enjoy!

I know it is simple, but we love this! We recently took it to a party and it got rave reviews. We have a party and I am going to take this as an appetizer with apples. If you don't have a fondue pot just do it on the stove top it will work just as well.

Easy Cheesy Crock Pot Chicken

3-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
1-2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
1-2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1-2 cans Condensed Cheese Soup
1-2 cups Sour Cream (opt.)
Shredded Cheese (opt.)

Place chicken breasts in crock pot and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the soups, covering the chicken. (The original recipe calls for one can of each soup, but I like to have it more saucy to serve with things, so I double the soups.) Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-5 hours. Stir in optional sour cream and shredded cheese when it's finished.

We've eaten this as whole pieces of chicken with cheesy sauce, but I usually shred it with a fork and then we have it over rice, noodles, or potatoes. Enjoy!