Sharing Recipes

Sarah's Week

2011-06-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

YEA it's my turn. This is my recipe plan for the week (though we all know that what we plan doesn't always happen... :) These are some family favorites, so I hope you guys try them, cause they're goooood.

Monday: Chicken'n'Cream
Tuesday: IKEA Meatballs
Wednesday: Chicken Taquitos
Thursday: Drip Beef Sandwiches
Friday: Pork Chops with Cornell Sauce

ps - I'm loving all the new recipes! Thanks all who are participating! I think all the weeks in July are still available, if some of you readers want to hop into the fun.

Pork Chops with Cornell BBQ Sauce

2011-06-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Cornell BBQ Sauce (yes, an original of Cornell, in Ithaca, NY)

2 eggs
1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 T. season all
1/2 t. pepper

Combine all ingredients. Let pork chops marinate in the mixture. Also good on chicken, though it was designed for pork chops. And yes, I know when you think of bbq sauce you think of a red sauce, but those hippies in Ithaca are weird (trust me on this one :) It's really good, even if it's not a red sauce. And it makes A LOT so I usually half it and still have more than enough.

Drip Beef Sandwiches

2011-06-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is the original of The Pioneer Woman. It's pretty delish. :)

1 chuck / pot roast (3-5 lbs)

1 can beef consume (similar to beef broth, but not technically the same thing)

1/2 Jar of Pepperoncinis, including juice

4 t. Italian Seasoning (she uses dry, I use dressing, like what you'd put on a salad)

Throw it all together in the oven at 275 degrees for 5-6 hours. Or cook everything in a crock pot for 5-6 hours on low (this is how I do it). Shred meat and remove Pepperoncinis (unless you want to eat them, as Cory does). Serve on rolls with melted swiss cheese (I cut my rolls in half and put on the swiss cheese, and broil them in my toaster oven till the cheese melts). Also makes for yummy leftover meat.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

2011-06-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

Again, yum.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/04/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos/

The directions and pictures are on their blog, so it would be easier for you to just click on the link. But here's what you'll need, ingredient-wise.

And no, I don't use sliced green onions. Ew.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
print recipe text only

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas (and actually, flour ones are really good as well)
kosher salt
cooking spray

IKEA Meatballs

2011-06-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, love these. *Love*

http://www.food.com/recipe/ikea-swedish-meatballs-294387

Meatballs:

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 egg
1/2 cup cream (half and half) or 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (or toasted panko, crushed)
2 small cold boiled yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
salt
white pepper
1 dash allspice (optional)

Cream Sauce:

1/2 cup half-and-half
1 cup low sodium beef broth
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon white flour
1 tablespoon butter
salt, to taste
white pepper

Directions:

1 For Meatballs:.

2 Fry the onion till golden in a couple of tablespoons of lightly browned butter.

3 Mash the potatoes

4 Mix all the ingredients until meatball consistency.

5 Flavour with salt, white pepper and (optional) a little finely crushed allspice.

6 Shape the mixture into relatively large, round balls and transfer to a floured cutting board.

7 Fry them slowly in plenty of butter.

8 Cream Sauce:.

9 Melt butter in pan and add flour, whisk till golden brown and flour is cooked.

10 Add Beef Stock and Cream until desired thickness.

11 Season well with salt and pepper.

12 Serve the meatballs with the sauce, freshly boiled yukon potatoes, and lingonberry jam.

*Ok, I never use white pepper, just regular ol' black pepper is fine. And I never put the potatoes in the meatballs, but serve with a side of mashed potatoes. Like I said - love! These are also fabulous to freeze. I usually make the whole batch, cook half, and freeze the other half. Then all I have to do is cook the meatballs and make the sauce. Quick and easy.

Chicken'n'Cream

2011-06-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is an old family favorite. My mom's made it ever since I can remember. There's not really a recipe, per se, but I'll do my best.

You'll need:
Cubed chicken
Garlic (or garlic powder, if you don't have fresh garlic)
A few bouillon cubes
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
Rice

Sauté garlic and cubed chicken. Cook until chicken is done (juices are clear). Add enough water to cover the chicken and chicken bouillon for flavor (I usually use about 3). Bring to boil. Add whipping cream and let cook for a few minutes. Thicken with cornstarch/water mixture (or flour/water mixture). Serve over cooked rice. Yum!

Makes good leftovers, too. When Spencer's in one of those "moods" (where all he wants to eat is cheese), this is the one thing he'll eat.

Sunday Roast

2011-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Not that this recipe is anything really special, but it does produce a very tender roast that falls apart with a fork.. Just the way I like it.

Sunday Roast
about 5 pound roast
1/4 c shortening
Lawry's season salt
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place roast in roasting pan with about 1/4 c shortening and season liberally with Lawry's and salt and pepper.

Brown roast at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. 15-20 minutes a side

Add water (2 cups, enough to keep it moist) and decrease to 200 degrees if cooking overnight or 250 degree if cooking for several hours.

I find it works best to cook at the 200 from first thing in the morning and it's nice and tender by the afternoon.

I love to serve with mashed potatoes, gravy and the crescent rolls that I posted earlier this week!!

Chicken Pozole Soup (Mexican soup)

2011-06-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

Okay I know that the weather is finally getting warm and soup isn't always the greatest idea, but if you have a cold day this is not hard to make and has refreshing garnish ideas.

Chicken Pozole Soup
3 chicken breasts

1 medium onion-diced

2 Tbsp diced garlic

2-3 Red chili peppers soaked in hot water

2 cans diced tomatoes w/oregano and basil

(or add some more of these spices to the soup)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1 large can hominy drained and lightly rinsed

3-4 c. chicken broth (I use hot water and bouillon)

garnish with cilantro, sour cream, avocado or guacamole

Serve with tortilla chips

Sorry I forgot a few items that are featured below. I am sometimes really lazy and don't want to dice up my own garlic and keep this jar of garlic in the fridge.

Dice up dried (I use fresh) chili’s and let soak in about 1 cup of hot water (warmed in the microwave).

Dice chicken and brown in large pot with a little bit of oil. Remove from pan and set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic until onion is soft.

Add cumin and oregano

Add chicken broth/water and bouillon (I usually do 3 c water and 4 tsp bouillon and add the other 1 c from the soaked red peppers), hominy, tomatoes, and heat until hot.

Add soaked red peppers, add more salt and pepper as need

Garnish with these items or anything else that sounds great.

And here's the end result!! So yummy!

Tin Foil Dinners in the oven

2011-06-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know about all of you..., but I love a good Tin Foil dinner. So I was excited when my brother and his family figured out about how long to cook them in the oven. But this is an improvise type of recipe. Sorry if you hate those type of things.

I'm also sorry I don't have pictures of this. Maybe when I do it next I'll take pictures, but I make these on a day when I don't have much time for prep work for dinner, cause it doesn't take very long on the prep, but cooks for about 1-1.5 hr depending on your size of dinner.

We usually make 3-4 dinners for the 3 of us that eat and have lots of left overs cause we love them so much.

Ingredients (which can be changed to your preference along with amounts)
Hot Dogs,1-2/meal
Hamburger patties,1-2/meal
Potatoes, thinly sliced,1-2 medium/meal
Carrots, thinly sliced, I use baby carrots, 1-2 handfuls/meal
Onions, thinly sliced, 1/4/meal
Can of Cream of chicken soup
Montreal Steak seasoning
Lawry's seasoning salt
Salt and Pepper
Tin foil
Cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place large sheet of Tin foil down, and I cut 2 hot dogs lengthwise and place them on the tinfoil and place my hamburger patty on top. (My dad calls this the burnt sacrifice when you cook them on a real fire...meaning that the hot dogs can get burnt and it saves your hamburger patty:) For my husband I do 2 hamburger patties, cause he doesn't like hot dogs. I don't mind hot dogs, and I love the flavor they add to the meal.
Then I season the meat with Montreal, Lawry's, salt, and pepper.
I cut all my potatoes, carrots, and onion in my Bosch food processor so they are evenly sliced. And it's easy that way too.
I then put what amount of vegetables each person likes on the meats.
Distribute a few dollops of cream of chicken soup on top (this creates a gravy of sorts). I use the entire can for 4 large dinners.
Then take the short ends of the tin foil and match them at center of the meal and then roll several times, then roll each edge of tin foil to close the meal and keep all the juices in!!
Cook for at least 1 hour-1 1/2 hrs depending on the size of the dinner. The 2 hamburger patty meal take 1 1/2 hrs. Maybe cause they are a little larger.
Sometimes I put my hubby's meal in first and then after 30 minutes I put in mine.
Check to see if the veggies are cooked to desired softness and usually the meat is done by then.

Sloppy Joes

2011-06-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sloppy Joes-All recipes.com with few slight changes

1 pound lean ground beef/turkey

1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped green or red bell pepper

1 cup ketchup

8 oz. tomato sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat and add ground
meat. Brown meat until it is cooked thoroughly. Carefully drain and discard fat. Transfer meat to a bowl.

To same pan, heat oil on medium heat; and add onions and peppers and cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. (If I'm in a hurry, or lazy, I'll just add them to the hamburger just before it is totally done and start them sauteing , just make sure the onion and green pepper are soft before you add the rest of the ingredients)

When vegetables are tender, return meat to pan and add remaining ingredients.

Stir frequently to cover meat with sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly.

Then serve up on favorite bun, or make your own using the potato refrigerator dough.

Some of the reviews on allrecipes.com stated that it was too sweet if you aren't a fan of the sweeter sloppy joes decrease the brown sugar. But I wouldn't say I like sloppy joes in general, but I did love this recipe and it's fast!!!

Sorry again no plated picture, we love to have corn on the cob when it comes in our Bountiful Basket or when it's in season. I can hardly wait!

Hope you enjoy!

Refrigerator Rolls/homemade buns

2011-06-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

2/3 c. oil

2 eggs

1 c. warm milk

1 c. mashed potato

½ c. sugar (double this for scones or spudnuts)

2 tsp salt

½ c water

1-2 T Yeast

5-6 c. flour

Mix all ingredients except for flour, let set for 20 minutes.

Add 2 c. of flour at a time & mix for 2 minutes. Each time, repeat until not sticky. Let raise in bowl.

Make into rolls-See below

350 degrees for 12-15 mintues

*Parker house roll-circle folded in half with margarine melted

*clover leaf rolls-3 marble sized ball in muffin tin-let rise

* crescent roll-roll in circle, cut like a pizza and then roll from outside of triangle to the center corner.

*scones or spudnuts- fry at 375 degrees until brown on each side.

*Cinnamon/Orange rolls

CAN be Refrigerate up to 1 week. Take out 3 hours to let it warm up.

Here's how I make crescent rolls:
Roll out to be about 1/4 inch thick
Cut into wedges

Then roll from the wide outside edge toward the pointy inner edge

Then bend slightly and put on greased pan.

Grilled Sweet Salmon

2011-06-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Grilled Sweet Salmon- Allrecipes.com
I really liked this, but when I do it again, I'll follow the recipe, but add more of the spices right before I grill. I also halved the following recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets

lemon pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

salt to taste

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and vegetable oil until sugar is dissolved.

Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat.

Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.
Preheat grill for medium heat.

Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade.

(I also put tin foil on my grill and keep the skin on the one side of the salmon and then when when I take it off the tin foil the skin stays on the tin foil.) Then I place on an oiled grill grate for the other side.

Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. I served with wild rice and carrots.

Sorry I realized I didn't get a picture of the final dish...We were in a hurry to eat. But it was pretty yummy for a new recipe!

Weekly Menu

2011-06-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

So this week I want to share a recipe that I'll use several times throughout the week...It's a potato refrigerator dough that can stay in the fridge for a week and be pulled out and baked for lots of different things. I'll share it with the Sloppy Joes so you can make homemade buns if you'd like!!

Tuesday:Grilled Salmon, Wild Rice, and Carrots
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes with homemade hamburger buns/rolls
Thursday: Tin Foil Dinners in the oven
Friday: Chicken Pozole Soup with Tortilla chips
Saturday/Sunday: Roast, Mash Potatoes, Gravy, and Crescent rolls

Thursday: Macaroni and Tomato Juice with Grilled Cheese

2011-06-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

So Thursday was one of those quick and easy meal days. We made one of my husband's favorite comfort food meals, which also happens to be our kid's favorite, as evidenced by the fact that they both ate 3 bowls! All I do is cook macaroni noodles, drain the water, and then add enough tomato juice to cover the pasta. Heat until it's slightly bubbly, then add salt, pepper, butter, Worcestershire sauce to taste. We like to eat it with grilled cheese sandwiches. Sorry I didn't get a picture of this one either but trust me it's yummy!

Wednesday: Asian Chicken and Lime-Cilantro-Rice

2011-06-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

My sister in law also made this dinner, but I forgot to take a picture of the chicken. She just found the recipe online, so here are the links:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/05/asian-bbq-chicken/

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/06/lime-cilantro-rice-with-pineapple/

Tuesday: Focaccia Sandwiches

2011-06-19T19:38:00.001-07:00

This week Neil's sister has been staying with us, and she made us some delicious dinners. After a long day at Seven Peaks, I came home to this waiting for me!

To make the focaccia bread, you mix 3 c water and 2 t salt. Mix and make a well in the center. Then add:

1 T sugar

2 1/4 t yeast

1 1/3 c warm water

Let it bubble up. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Knead until it forms a nice dough ball. Let rise in a warm oven for about an hour. Roll out on pan. Let rise 30n min. Cover with olive oil and spices (rosemary, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, basil, etc.) Bake @ 350 for about 20 min.

Once your bread is cooked, cut it into sandwich-size pieces. Add whatever you'd like to the center. We added pepperoni, cheese and spaghetti sauce, but you could also do ham and cheese, turkey, cheese and avacado, or whatever you like on sandwiches! Grill the sandwich in a sandwich maker or Foreman grill, and enjoy!

Monday: Flautas

2011-06-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Flautas is another one of my favorite meals, although it is not all that good for you....oh, well. To start off, here is the recipe:

3 T butter

1/4 c flour

1 t salt

1 c chicken broth

1 t grated onion

1 T parsley

1 T lemon juice

Dash paprika, nutmeg, pepper

3 chicken breasts

I start by boiling my chicken and dice or shred it when finished. In a saucepan, melt the butter and then add the flour and salt. Add chicken broth (I just use the water I boiled the chicken in) and stir until thickened. Add the rest of the ingredients, and then stir in the chicken. At this point, it should look like this: (sorry about the blurry foreground, I was using my close-up lens)

Spoon mixture into flour tortillas, roll and secure with a toothpick. Fry in oil until golden brown (that would be the unhealthy part). I heat my oil on the stove at about medium heat. Place on a plate covered with paper towels to help drain the oil.

I like to eat my flautas with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. I'm not very good at eating vegetables, hence the lack of them in all of my pictures, but I think we may have topped off the meal with strawberries from our garden...yum!

Sunday: French Dip Sandwiches

2011-06-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, this week has been busy, so sorry I'm late on these posts. I have been on top of things enough to take pictures of most of my meals, even though I'm just getting around to posting them. Anyway, I'm going to start with Sunday since it is one of my all-time favorite meals. It's a crock-pot meal so it's super easy, and it's absolutely delicious. Here are the ingredients:

1 Roast (about 3 lbs, somewhat fatty to enhance the flavor)

3 c water

3 c beef broth (I just use bullion)

2 pkg Au Jus sauce

2 pkg Italian Dressing

I usually start cooking the roast between 8-9 in the morning, since we have 9:00 church. I put a frozen roast in the crockpot, and add all of the ingredients at once. I let it cook on low all day, and we eat about 5. In the last hour, I shred the meat (it basically just falls apart at this point) so that it can soak up the juices.

This picture was taken after we had already eaten, but it gives you the idea....

When you're ready, serve it on rolls (I use Hoagie Rolls) with swiss cheese, and sauteed onions and green peppers if you wish. I also like to have a little bowl with some juice in it for dipping. Serve it with a side of fruit or veggies (or both) and presto! you have an awesome meal. :)

Gah!(aka where did the week go?)

2011-06-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

So when I signed up for this week of recipes, I thought - no biggie, we do meal planning lists every week. It'll be a breeze. Famous.last.words. Sorry for the lateness:

Monday: Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs
Tues: Fast Soup & Dumplings
Wed: Baked Chicken (Mom style)
Thurs: Sweetheart salad
Fri: Fried Rice

I have to go teach some undergrads now, but the rest of the posts will be up tonight. Cheers!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

2011-06-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no pics today, camera died.

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
3-4 chicken breasts

Combine in a quart-sized ziplock bag
Heat oven to 400 F
Cover baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray
Take tongs and add 1 piece of chicken at a time to the crumb mixture and shake to coat.
Remove from bag and place on baking sheet. Press remaining coating into chicken pieces.
Spray tops with cooking oil
Bake 12-15 minutes, or until cooked through

Serve with crusty rolls and salad or a veggie of your choice. We used broccoli tonight.

Veggie Noodle Mix

2011-06-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I'm not too great at measuring while cooking, unless it's a totally new recipe or I think it needs to be exact, so I don't know exactly how much I used, but I guessed here. You can do a lot of different things with it, adding different veggies depending on what you have.

This is what I did last night:
Approx. 1 cup sliced carrots
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped or sliced (The first time with this, I liked it. Usually I do 2 ribs sliced celery)
1 can Cream of Chicken or Cream of Celery soup
1/2 can water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 package egg noodles (or about 2 cups cooked rice)
(I didn't have this last night, but you can also add 1 cup chopped cooked chicken)

Heat sauce pan
Add the veggies and cook 2 minutes
Add the soup
Add 1/2 can water
Stir to combine.
Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is slightly thickened

Cook noodles (or rice)
Add to veggie/soup mixture and stir to combine

Serve immediately. Bowls tend to work best.

Tex Mex BBQ Turkey Wraps

2011-06-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

This recipe is another one that you can pretty much do whatever you want with.

Approx 2 cups shredded turkey
1 to 1 1/2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 cup rice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 tortillas

1. Combine turkey and BBQ sauce
Heat in skillet on medium for about 15 mins

2. Cook rice according to package directions.

3. Heat tortillas in microwave in 10 second intervals until warm to touch.

4. Build wraps by placing hot BBQ turkey on lower third of each tortilla, top with 2 Tbsp cheese and 1/4 cup rice. Roll bottom edge of tortilla over ingredients.

You can serve it with chips and salsa or corn.

Salsa:
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 to 1 jalepeno seeded and sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro

Combine in blender, puree for about 3-4 seconds.

Indian Chicken Sandwich

2011-06-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from the back of the Archer Farms naan package, so if you shop at Target, you have easy access to this too. I found them in the bakery section, not the bread aisle.

Serves about 4

2 pieces naan. These are whole wheat.
1/4 cup Indian spiced sauce, like Tikki Masala (note: Don't sweat it if you don't have this. We only had the spice Garam Masala and I added it to some yogurt because we don't do mayo. Plain yogurt is best, but I used vanilla.)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (like I said, didn't use)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin bite-sized strips
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oven to 400 F
Cut each piece of naan in half lengthwise. Place on baking sheet flat side down. (I put aluminum foil down first and spray with Pam)

2. Combine Indian sauce and mayo if you're using it. If not, combine about 1 Tbsp Indian spice with 1/4 cup yogurt. Spread evenly over naan. You can also brush each piece with olive oil like I did.

3. Layer the remaining ingredients over 1/2 of the naan. Place other half on top.

4. Heat about 8 minutes until sandwich is heated through, pressing down part way through heating. Cut into smaller pieces.

You could eat it wish a cucumber and tomato salad or with Indian lentils.

Spinach and Berry Salad

2011-05-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day!
I'm going to try to post every night after dinner, but if I don't, then just know that by the end of the week, there will be 5.

And, since I'm not used to taking pictures of my food, I forgot. So, these are from elsewhere on the internet. This recipe has many variations, so feel free to do whatever you feel like.

In a large bowl add:
Approx. 6 cups fresh spinach (or however much you think you need.)

1 quart berries (strawberries or raspberries) sliced or halved

1-2 cooked chicken breasts cut into bite-sized chunks. ( I used one of the roasted chickens from the grocery store and just did 1 of the breasts and it was a lot.)

Dressing:
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I didn't have any, so I didn't add it)
1/2 Tbsp minced onion (that seemed like too much work too)

Combine all ingredients well. The recipe says to refrigerate it for an hour. I didn't read that well and added it to my salad immediately. It was just fine.

Toss and enjoy. You can also add slivered almonds, or chopped nuts, feta or gorgonzola cheese, or anything else you think would be yummy.

Serves approximately 4

Spaghetti biscuits

2011-05-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

These are kind of fun, and you can switch it up a million different ways.

First you make spaghetti sauce -- homemade, from a can, with or without meat. Whatever you do.

Meanwhile, take biscuit dough (Pillsbury, homemade, whatever) and smoosh it into some muffin tins.

Fill 'em (not too full) with the spaghetti sauce and top with cheese.

Bake them for 17-20 minutes or until the biscuit is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Then serve it up alongside spaghetti and green beans and you've got yourself a great meal.

I mean, if this smile doesn't make you run out and make these biscuits ...

Santa Fe Chicken

2011-05-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

A friend sent this to me as one of her "food storage" recipes -- something you eat when it's the end of the world and you don't have anything else more worthwhile to eat. But it's delicious, and (especially if the chicken is precooked) it's super fast.

In a large skillet, boil

2 cubed chicken breasts*
1 cup of salsa**
1 cup water
1 packet taco seasoning***

*I used precooked shredded chicken.
**I always throw my salsa in the blender and whirl it up. I don't like chunks and neither do some of my kids, but if it's blended we'll lap it right up on its own or in recipes.
***We use taco seasoning in several recipes, so instead of dropping 70 cents each time, we bought a big container of it from Costco for $3.50. If you do the same, you'll use about 2.5-3 Tbps of seasoning.

Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked (or warmed in my case). Stir in

1 can black beans
1 1/2 cups cooked rice

Heat through. If you have to cook the chicken, this whole thing can take maybe 20 minutes start-to-finish. But if your chicken and your rice are already cooked, you're looking at 5-10 minutes total.

You can top this with sour cream and cheese and eat with corn and tortilla chips, or you can throw these in a wrap like we did last night. Might I recommend getting super fancy and buying a pack of jalapeno cheddar burrito shells and garnishing with lettuce, cheese and sour cream. Amazing.

Macaroni and Cheese

2011-05-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

When the 3-year-old eats all of dinner, you know it was good. When she has seconds and thirds and tells you you're the best mommy ever? Well, that's a hit. And that's what happens every time I make my homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner.

This is the easiest recipe ever -- three ingredients. And one of 'em is macaroni noodles. The rest are these.

Boil 2 cups of elbow macaroni as directed on the package. Meanwhile in a saucepan warm up a can of tomato soup and add a handful or two of grated cheese.

Stir until it's all well blended.

Then add it to the cooked, drained noodles.

My favorite meal in the universe. YUM.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2011-05-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

If you've ever lived in Rexburg, this kind of reminds me of the Sweet and Sour sauce at Fongs. It's certainly closer to the Eastern Idaho take on Chinese food than the sauces I get here in northern Idaho.

For the sauce, boil

1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp ketchup
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1 can pineapple juice

At first the ketchup will look globby and gross like this.

But don't worry, when it boils it gets better.

Pour the sauce onto some precooked chicken, about three chicken breasts-worth. I like to use shredded chicken, since I always have cooked shredded chicken in my freezer. But you can cube and cook it over the stove or whatever you want. (You can also coat the chicken in an egg, flour, cornstarch and garlic salt concoction, but that's way too much work in my mind.)

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. In the meantime, make yourself some perfect rice in the microwave. Top the rice with the chicken and sauce and enjoy.

By the way, this also makes fantastic leftovers.

Potato Corn Chowder

2011-05-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

We have soup for dinner every Monday, and this particular soup is by far everyone's favorite.

I'm sure many of you wouldn't deem this a hard recipe -- definitely not complex enough to justify all the pictures. But for me it's pretty fancy.

First you dice up a bunch of potatoes. I usually do about 8 or so, but potatoes up here come really small. Cube them however you like -- my husband likes them pretty chunky, but I like them small because that makes this recipe all the more chowdery. (What, that's a word.)

Boil the potatoes. If you're weird and like extra work you can dice up some onions. Otherwise just sprinkle in a bunch of onion salt.

When the potatoes are soft, drain the water. You can either go for stick-a-fork-in-it done or you can let it get really mushy if you want it to be super chowdery. (Again, it's a word.) This particular batch got really soft ... I totally forgot it was boiling and started folding laundry. Turned out delicious.

Return the potatoes to the original pot and throw in a few tablespoons of butter or margarine. (Don't judge the starch all over my pot -- I told you, I forgot the potatoes were boiling.)

Then add a can or two of creamy corn. I always do two cans, but I always do a big batch for the leftovers. Did I mention this makes fantastic leftovers?

Add about 3 cups of milk (more or less depending on how many potatoes you cubed and how large of a batch you'd like to make) to the pot and put it back on the burner at a medium heat. Stir regularly while warming the milk.

When the milk is warm enough* add a handful or two of grated cheddar cheese to help thicken the soup. The official recipe calls for about a cup, but there is no wrong amount of cheese here. (*What is "warm enough"? You could wait until it bubbles, but I'm never patient enough. As soon as you think it'll actually melt the cheese, toss it in. It'll melt eventually.)

Once the cheese has melted, viola! You're ready to ladle the soup up.

Looks delicious, right? And this is the leftovers -- I made a pot large enough to feed a small army because we become eating machines for this meal.

This is great with bread or rolls. You can also toss in some bacon pieces of you're so inclined.

RECIPE:
8 medium potatoes, diced
onion salt to taste
3 Tbsp butter
1-2 cans cream style corn
3 cups milk
1 cup cheese, grated

Boil potatoes. Add onion salt. When potatoes are soft, drain. Add butter, corn and milk. Bring back to a light boil. Add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.

This week's recipes

2011-05-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

I tried to pick recipes that I haven't posted before ... and that I hadn't discovered on this blog. Hopefully I was successful and these are all new recipes.

Monday: Potato Corn Chowder

Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese

Thursday: Santa Fe Chicken and Rice

Friday: Spaghetti Biscuits

Pick a Week

2011-05-16T19:23:00.001-07:00

Sorry folks. I meant to post the weeks last week... but you know, life happened :) If you're game for "the experiment", then post in the comments which week you want. Remember, it's 5 recipes. I'm going to post the weeks as Monday-Saturday, so that gives you a night off (dinner out, with family, cold cereal. etc.

Dani's already taken last week/this week with 4 of her 5 recipes (thanks Dani!)

May 23 - 28

May 30 - June 4

June 6 - 11

June 13 - 18

June 20 - 25

June 27 - July 2

July 4 - 9

July 11 - 16

July 18 - 23

July 25 - 30

Let's start with these 10 weeks. Makes summer look really short, doesn't it?

Lemon Basil Chicken

2011-05-13T14:51:00.001-07:00

I made this in the crock pot, it was so easy and very good. My husband LOVES lemon, and that's an understatement. So if you don't want the lemon as strong only 1/2 it.

4 servings
Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/4 C. Water
1/2 C. Lemon juice
1t. Basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Put all ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours, or high 3-4. If the sauce seems to thin just add about 1T. corn starch. I shredded my chicken. If you want to leave the breasts whole you could, but you might need to add more.

Serving Suggestions:
Cous cous, rice & Asparagus, broccoli, Salad

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

2011-05-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

I made these tonight and all 3 ok my kids at a full pork chop. My kids are 5,4, & 2. And they are not always great eaters.
Sorry it's not the best picture, but believe me it's delicious!

We ate these without the pecans. And served french bread and corn on the cob on the side.

Servings: 4 Time: 30 min

Ingredients:
• 4 Boneless pork chops
• 2T. Vegetable oil
• 1/4 C. Brown sugar
• 1/4 t. Ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. Nutmeg
• 1/4 t. Salt
• 1/8 t. Pepper
• 2 Braeburn apples
• 4 T. Butter
• 1 C. Chicken broth
• 4 T. chopped pecans (optional)
Directions:
• Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and pork chops.
• Brown pork chops on each side, about 5-6 min. Remove from pan.
• In a small bowl add sugar and spices.
• Core apples and slice into 1/2 in. thick wedges.
• Melt butter in skillet, add sugar, apples and broth.
Cover and cook for 3-4 min.
• Add pork chops back in. Continue cooking until pork chops are done.
Approx. 10 min.
• Serve with pecans sprinkled on top.
*If the sauce seems to thin you can add a little corn starch to thicken it up

7 can soup

2011-05-05T13:47:00.001-07:00

We at this the other night for dinner.
http://greatfriendsgoodfood.blogspot.com/2008/07/seven-can-soup.html
It's great with corn bread, tortilla chips, sour cream & cheese.

Philly Cheese Steak

2011-05-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

servings:4 Time: 45 min (approx.)
Ingredients:
1 lb. Sirloin steak thinly sliced
1T. Flour
1/4t. Ground nutmeg
1/4t. salt
1/4t. pepper
1T. Oil
1 1/2 C. Beef broth
2T. Barbecue sauce
2t. Molasses
1/4t. dried rosemary
1/4t. dried thyme
1/2C. green peppers, sliced (or red, or both)
1/4c. onion, sliced
4 slices Swiss cheese (or whatever kind you like. We also like Provolone.)
4 Hoagie buns

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set aside a baking sheet.
Place steak in medium mixing bowl. Add flour, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
Put oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add steak and cook until no longer pink. Add beef broth, barbecue sauce, molasses, rosemary and thyme. Stir well. Cover and simmer for 15 min.
Add peppers and onions. Simmer for an additional 10 min. stirring occasionally.
Place buns open on baking sheet. Divide meat evenly onto 4 hoagie buns, place 1 slice of cheese on each. Place in the oven until cheese is melted.

We ate fruit on the side, or Salad is a good option too.

"The Experiment"

2011-05-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I should come up with something better than "the experiment"... but I don't know what to call this. People's comments pretty much confirmed what I suspected. People still check this blog, whenever it's updated, and people are using (some) of the recipes. Believe me, I know what it's like to get stuck in a rut... you make the same 15 things over and over, right? That was the whole point of starting this blog, to get new ideas. Anyways, onto my idea...

Each person who wants to participate takes one week and posts what they ate that week (dinner only). You can do it one of 3 ways: plan ahead and post what you are planning to eat; post as you go along; or wait till the end of the week, and post then. If it's something that seems fairly obvious, like lasagna, then just write what you had, no need for a recipe. Is this making sense?

So, for example, say I had last week. I'd post the list of what we ate (below) and then post all the recipes (one per post).

Monday- lasagna

Tuesday - chicken enchiladas (something I've already posted)

Wednesday - sloppy joes

Thursday - poppyseed chicken

Friday - pizza

(I'm just making this up, so I'm not posting the actual recipes)

If it's something you've already posted, make it a link. If it's a new recipe, then make it into a new post. You'll be responsible for posting 5 recipes for that one week. So when you're all done, you should have at least 6 posts.

I don't know, I'm hoping this works. It would give us all some new ideas, and see what other people are making for dinner. If possible, write what you served with it (rice, salad, rolls, veggies, etc.)

Does this all make sense? If yes, I'll post weeks and people can pick which one they want.

Questions? Comments?

Who's In... ?

2011-04-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have an idea that I thought we could do on this blog. But first I want to know... who regularly checks this blog? Not nearly as many people contribute compared to those who read it (I think). So what I'm wondering is this:

Do you check the blog?

Would you be willing to participate in a little experiment?

7-Up Chicken-Dutchoven turned oven recipe.

2011-04-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Got this awesome recipe from my Aunt Verla years ago and my Mom figured out how to do it in the oven. Easily a family favorite, Home style meal.

Makes a lot, so you may want to half it. Serves 8-10 depending on how much chicken you want.

Basic ingredients:

1/2-1 pound bacon

little flour

8 chicken breast or 12 thighs

Lawry's seasoning salt

Garlic powder

pepper

Carrots

potatoes

onions

1 can of 7-UP

Butter/margarine

Fry up bacon. I cut mine before with my kitchen shears to make it easier.

Then place your bacon in the roasting pan. Save the bacon grease to brown your chicken.

Flour your chicken breast and then pan fry them in the bacon grease. Add more oil if needed.

Then placed browned chicken breasts in roasting pan. Season LIBERALLY with Lawry's seasoning salt, garlic powder, and pepper. This is where it gets most of the flavor. I do it over board and then do some more. You can always add it later in your cooking if it isn't flavorful enough for you.

I just use baby carrots so I don't have to cut them. (I go for easy) And then I quarter a large onion when I'm making a half batch, but quantities all depend on your own preference of vegetables.

Then I peel the potatoes and throw them through my Bosch food processor french fry cutter (Love my Bosch) A whole post in itself I'm telling you!!

Add 1 cube of butter/margarine, 1 cup of water, a can of 7-up and into the oven at 350 degrees. Now depending on the size of your potatoes it can take between almost 1.5-2.5 hours . With my potatoes cut like this 1.5 hours is usually sufficient. If you are still in a dutch oven, it cooks over hot coals for about 45 minutes -1 hour.

NOTE: this is not a meal that freezes well for later,unless you removed some for freezing before all the vegetables are done. Otherwise you loose all the texture once you freeze it. I suggest just halving and eating leftovers for a small family.

Spudnuts

2011-04-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

For the Saturday night LDS General Priesthood session, my family's tradition is to get together after the session, make homemade spudnuts, and talk about what the boys learned. This is one of my favorite traditions and I look forward to it, twice a year. I love it partly cause we get to eat donuts (yum!) but I love the family together time. So I'm posting our family recipe for homemade spudnuts. Even Cory (who doesn't love donuts) thinks these are delicious.

It makes A LOT, which is why we usually only do half a batch.

Full Recipe ½ Recipe

1 cup shortening ½ cup

2 yeast cakes 1 yeast cake

5 eggs 3 small eggs

1 cup sugar ½ cup

2 cup mashed potatoes 1 cup

4 cup lukewarm milk 2 cups

1 T. salt 1 ½ t.

10 – 12 cups flour 5 – 6 cups

Scald milk with shortening, sugar and salt. Pour into big mixing bowl and let cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and let soften. Add beaten eggs and enough flour to make a thin batter. Add mashed potatoes and enough flour to make a soft dough. Let rise till double in size. Roll out and cut, then rise again before frying. Fry in hot grease and dip in glaze.

Glaze

Full Recipe ½ Recipe

1 (2#) package powdered sugar ½ (2# bag) powdered sugar

1 cube butter ½ cube butter

4 T. vanilla 2 T. vanilla

Enough hot water to make thin Enough water to make thin

Island Pork Tenderloin with Coconut Rice

2011-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

This was taken from my sister's blog: ldssuperchef.blogspot.com. She's an amazing cook and this is one of my favorite recipe's that she makes!!

Island Port Tenderloin

2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2-2.5 pounds)
2 TBSP olive oil
1 cup packed dark brown sugar (this is different than regular brown sugar)
2 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 Tbsp tobasco sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make spice rub with first 5 ingredients.
Rub all over pork (you dont need to trim the pork). Heat oil in a pan (I use a deep pot). Then barely brown the pork (just the outside part...the pork will still be raw).
Put sugar, garlic, and tobasco in bowl then pat into pork. Rub it all over.
Place in a baking dish and place it in the oven for 30 minutes or until pork is not pink in the middle. When done slice the meat and pour juices over the cut meat.

Coconut Rice

1 cup jasmine rice (uncooked)
1 can coconut milk (should be in ethnic isle of grocery store)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk

Rinse rice with cold water until water runs clear.
Add all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then turn down heat to low. Cover and cook 25-30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes--do not let it over boil or you will end up with a sticky mess all over your stove. Serve warm along with the pork tenderloin.

Sloppy Chicken

2011-02-17T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is much like many chicken crockpot dishes out there. But somehow this was so stinking easy (I made it while on bed rest) and really, REALLY yummy.

Into the crockpot, toss:

2 chicken breasts (I threw mine in frozen 'cause I hadn't planned ahead)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Cook on low for 5-6 hours, stirring once in a while (I think I remembered once, maybe twice). We pulled the chicken into lots of pieces (basically shredded it) and served all of it over rice.

I had low expectations for the Ritz -- I thought they would turn into gross mush. But they dissolved entirely into the mixture -- you wouldn't even know they were there. Yet I swear they did something for the overall texture and taste. Delicious.

Strawberry cream muffins (or raspberry)

2011-01-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

Strawberry Cream Muffins (or Raspberry)-

Taste of Home cupcakes and Muffin magazine

submitted by Stephanie Moon-Nampa ID.

This recipe is awesome, just a slight change that we did, but they were so tasty. The best from scratch muffin I've ever had. So delicious that they almost could pass for a cupcake!!

1c. fresh raspberries (we used strawberries diced small)

¾ c sugar (we used 1 c.)

¼ c. butter softened

1 egg

½ tsp almond extract

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ c flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 c. half and half

1 c. finely chopped vanilla or white choc chips

Streusel

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp sugar

In a small bowl toss raspberries/ diced strawberries with ¼ c. (we did a ½c. from looking at other fruit muffin recipes) sugar; set aside.

In large mixing bowl cream butter and other ½ c sugar. Beat in egg and extracts.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt: or just add to cream mixture alternately with cream. Stir in chips (we put them in my little chopper so they were very small) and reserved fruit.

This is after I had 12 muffin in tins.

Fill greased or paper filled muffin tins ¾ full-full. Combine the brown sugar and remaining sugar and sprinkle on top for the streusel.

Bake 375 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and then remove to wire rack. Make 12-16 muffins.

Can't wait to make these again!

Drip Beef Sandwiches

2011-01-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

We did a family recipe book for Christmas... so now I've got quite a few recipes typed up... which makes them very easy to share :-)

This is one of the easiest things to make, and so tasty!

1 chuck / pot roast (4-5 ish lbs.)

1 can beef consume (or beef broth)*

1/2 Jar of Pepperoncinis, including juice

4 t. Italian Seasoning Dressing

Throw it all together in the oven at 275 degrees for 5-6 hours. Or cook everything in a crock pot for 5-6 hours on low. Shred meat and remove Pepperoncinis (unless you want to eat them). Serve on rolls/hoagies with melted swiss cheese.

* I never add the beef broth, since cooking my roast in the crock pot always seems to produce enough liquid.

Apple Pork Loin

2010-12-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went to this holiday cooking class and learned how to make this. It is really good, and low in calories.

Ingredients:
3 lb. pork tenderloin
Salt to taste
2 Cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Directions:
Poke holes in roast with fork. Season pork with salt. Marinate the pork in apple juice overnight. Put in crock pot on low all day or high for 4-5 hours. Mix the remaining ingredients together to make a paste and spread over pork the last 45 minutes.

Cherry Chip Cheesecake

2010-11-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have the same cake for my birthday every year -- it's been Cherry Chip since I can remember, possibly since my first birthday. I love that stuff. It's so good.

But I hate frosting cake. For one, I always accidentally buy the vanilla frosting (ick!) instead of the cream cheese. And I never remember to make the cake the night before so it's cooled in time to frost, meaning I frost it too early and it gets all crumbly and gross looking. Plus, smearing a bunch of frosting on top always makes me feel inadequate 'cause I know everyone else is doing the whole fondant thing and making Cake Boss-worthy creations. Blech.

Well, this year was a milestone birthday so I decided to take advantage of the occasion and switch things up. I stole this recipe from the Betty Crocker Web site and made DELICIOUS Cherry Chip Cheesecake Bars. (That's not what the site calls 'em, but I'm too lazy to look up the real name.)

I couldn't believe how easy it was.

You need:

1 box Cherry Chip cake mix
1/2 cup butter softened (not melted)
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 container cherry frosting
3 eggs

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat the cake mix and butter with an electric mixer on low until crumbly. (I thought for sure this part wasn't going to work, because it was still basically all cake mix powder when I was done. Trust me, though, it turns out. It's amazing.) Reserve 1 cup, and press the rest in an ungreased 13x9 pan.

In the SAME BOWL (so efficient!) beat cream cheese and frosting with the SAME ELECTRIC MIXER on medium until smooth. Add eggs and beat until blended. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with reserve crumbly mixture.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set. Cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

The end result was delicious. My husband has never raved so much. My 3-year-old helped make the whole thing, it was that easy. And in the end I just had to clean one bowl, one spoon and two beater thingies.

We're planning to experiment later with different kinds of cake and frosting, but this one will now be my official birthday celebration cake.

Cilantro Lime Rice

2010-10-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is yummy all by itself, but I serve it with the Cafe Rio Pork. It's a tasty addition.

1 cup white rice

2 cups chicken stock

2 T. butter

1 T. lime juice

3 T. cilantro

1 T. sugar

Cook rice in chicken stock, according to package directions. When rice is done, add butter, lime juice, cilantro and sugar.

Cilantro Lime Ranch

2010-10-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Serve this on Cafe Rio Pork ... or as a different dressing to spice up a salad. It's good.

1 package Hidden Valley Dips Seasoning (NOT the dressing mix, you have to use the Dips mix)

16 oz. sour cream

1 cup buttermilk*

Salsa Verde (how much depends on your preference)

(looks like this)

Combine all ingredients and shake until throughly mixed.

K, this is what I do. I make the ranch dressing in a shaker, without the salsa verde. Then I pour some of it into my Magic Bullet, and add some salsa verde, and blend it together. It's good, promise. I only use it for Cafe Rio Pork and then I still have the regular ranch to use. That's just my personal preference, obviously.

*I never have buttermilk, so I make my own. Use 1 T. lemon juice, and add enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Cafe Rio Pork

2010-10-09T13:31:00.001-07:00

All I can say is YUMMY. This is just like the sweet pork at Cafe Rio. I've had a few other versions of this pork (made with Coke or Dr. Pepper or some sort of pop) and I think this one is the best.

1 pork roast (3-3.5 lbs)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup worcestershire sauce

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. salt

1 t. chili powder

1 t. garlic powder

2 T. dehydrated minced onions

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, then place roast on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (depends on how hot your crockpot cooks-- mine is fast). Flip the roast once, about halfway through cooking. One hour before serving, shred the pork, remove any bones (if there are any) and stir in 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup red enchilada sauce (I always throw in the whole can). Allow to cook for remaining time and serve warm. Serve with black beans, cilantro lime rice, cilantro lime ranch, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, olives... pretty much whatever you want on there. Can be served on a salad, or in a burrito.

YUM!

Busy Day Pork Chops

2010-09-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

4-8 pork chops
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Cup Ketchup
2 Cans Chicken Gumbo Soup
1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

Put uncooked chops in roasting pan (I use a 9x13). In a bowl mix soup, ketchup and worcestershire sauce together to make a rich sauce. Pour over chops and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

* Serve over rice or with a baked potato.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2010-09-23T13:36:00.001-07:00

I know this blog is supposed to be for dinner ideas... but these are the best cookies in the entire world. Trust me, they're tasty. Unless you don't like peanut butter... then I guess these aren't for you...

You'll need:
Mini muffin tin
1 bag mini peanut butter cups

For the cookie dough:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 T. milk
1 t. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. baking soda

Make the cookie dough. Put a spoonful into the mini muffin tin -- like so:

Spread out so you can put in the (unwrapped) Reeces cups.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. They'll look a little doughy when you take them out, but they need a minute to cool before you can get them out of the pan, and they'll keep cooking while they're cooling. Trust me, they're divine. Enjoy!

Yumbo Gumbo

2010-09-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

PER SERVING (1/5th of recipe, about 1 cup): 133 calories, 1.25g fat, 710mg sodium, 14g carbs, 2.5g fiber, 7g sugars, 17g protein -- POINTS® value 2*
This soup is packed with shellfish and tons of tasty items -- but no rice. Trust us, you won't miss it for a SECOND...
Ingredients:
One 14.5-oz. can stewed tomatoes (not drained)
8 oz. peeled and deveined raw medium shrimp with tails removed
8 oz. white crab meat (about two 6-oz. cans drained)
1 cup Spicy Hot V8 vegetable juice
1 cup frozen cut okra
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. Cajun seasoning, or more to taste
1 tsp. Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, or more to taste
black pepper, to taste
Directions: Bring a large pot sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Add bell peppers and onion. Stirring occasionally, cook for about 3 minutes, until tender. Add tomatoes, V8 juice, and cornstarch. Stir well, making sure cornstarch dissolves completely. Cook until mixture begins to bubble. Add okra, Cajun seasoning, and Frank's RedHot. Stir and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add shrimp, and continue to simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add crab meat and 3/4 cup water. Raise heat to medium, and return to a boil. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let thicken for 5 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. If you like, add a little more Cajun seasoning and Frank's RedHot. Enjoy! MAKES 5 SERVINGS

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

2010-08-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

Man, people are really slacking on posting on this blog (and by "people", I mean me!) Here's a really easy and delicious recipe for bbq chicken sandwiches.

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
2 T mustard
2 t lemon juice
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t chili powder
1/8 t cayenne pepper

Place chicken breasts into the bottom of a slow cooker. In seperate bowl, stir together remaining ingredients (*I always forget to do this-- I just throw everything into the crock pot*) Pour the sauce over the chicken, set cooker to low and cook for 6 hours. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and cook for 30 more minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.

Grandma Roy's Creamy Chicken Soup

2010-07-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

2 chicken breasts
3 carrots diced
2 onions, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cup celery, chopped
water to cover
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour

In large kettle, place chicken, carrots, onions, parsley and celery. Add water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 45-50 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and vegetables and boil liquid until you have 3 cups* remaining. Stir in milk. In a bowl, cream butter and flour into a paste. Stir into water and milk. Simmer and stir over low heat until soup bubbles and thickens. Dice or shred the cooled chicken and return it and vegetables to the soup.

*Before adding the milk, flour and butter, you can freeze half of the soup to use next time. If so, half the milk to 1 1/2 cups, the butter to 1/4 cup and the flour to 1/4 cup. With the frozen half, just thaw and warm then add milk, butter and flour.

Raspberry Pretzel Salad

2010-06-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is soo good enjoy!

Bottom Layer:

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar
1 cube (1/2 cup) butter, melted

Mix and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Put into the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let this cool off completely.

Middle Layer:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. cool whip

Mix together. Spread this over the pretzels. Refrigerate until cool.

Top Layer:

6 oz. raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
1 bag unsweetened raspberries

Dissolve jello in the water and then add the raspberries. Pour over the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until set.

*You can use strawberries instead of raspberries. This is great for bbq's, Thanksgiving, special events, etc.

Morning protein shake

2010-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

I know Sarah posted a request forever ago about smoothie recipes. Well, I'm just starting to enter the breakfast club ... aka for the first time in my life I'm really making an effort to eat breakfast every day. I'm also following a suggestion from Sarah's wise, wise, wise husband to add some whey protein to my diet. Enter the morning razzmatazz.

Clearly I start with the blender.

I toss in some drinkable yogurt (yes, I know all yogurt is drinkable) -- I go for the raspberry. Blend with orange juice (pulp-free for me, please), frozen fruit (raspberries and peaches) and a scoop of whey protein. And then, the secret ingredient -- a couple of Oreos to mask the whey protein taste. (Hey, three Oreos has 10 percent of my daily allowance of iron, which is something I'm always low on. I count it as healthy.)

Blend it all on up and gulp away. When I have some avocado handy I toss that in, too, but that's another story for another day ...

Delicious Sunday Roast!

2010-03-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

This is a different but delicious Sunday Roast.

2 lbs beef roast (mine was 3.4 lbs and worked just fine)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1pkg dry onion soup
2 cups beef broth (I used 2 bouillon powder packets dissolved into 3/4 cup hot water each)
1 1/2 tbls Worcestershire sauce
Garlic powder to taste
Any other seasonings to taste ( I use Montreal steak spice)
1 Bay leaf
2 tbls Chopped fresh parsley

Spray crock pot with cooking spray.
I put Montreal steak spice on bottom of crock pot before I put in the roast. Sprinkle Montreal steak spice on top of roast also. (or whatever seasonings you like).
Mix remaining ingredients except for parsley and bay leaf. Pour over top of roast; sprinkle parsley over top and throw bay leaf in.
Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Makes its own gravy!!!!!!!

We made garlic mashed potatoes to go with this roast.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (recipe courtesy of Paula Dean)

3 med. potatoes chopped
4 tbls butter
1/4 cup sour cream( I didn't have enough sour cream, so I used cream cheese instead)
1 tsp finely minced garlic(again, I didn't have, so I just sprinkled some garlic powder)
1 tbls whole milk
Salt and Pepper

This recipe serves 2 to 3 servings. I had to more than double for my Sunday dinner, so just do what is best for your family.

Cook Potatoes; Mash with ingredients. Add more milk to get desired consistency.

Enjoy!!!!!

White Chili

2010-02-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

White Chili

3-4 15 oz. cans of white chili beans

2-3 cups uncooked cubes of chicken

1 t. cumin powder

1 t. chili powder

1 t. garlic salt

1 cup white onion, cut up

2 T. butter

6 cup chicken soup stock, or prepared bouillon

1 c. salsa

Sauté onions and chicken in butter, add to rest of ingredients. Cook until hot.

*I made mine in the crock pot and it worked great. I had uncooked white chili beans (not canned), so I let them cook in the crock pot for a while before adding the rest of the ingredients. I didn’t measure exactly some of the ingredients; just go by taste. It was super yummy and made for good leftovers*

Easy Enchiladas

2010-02-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Whenever we make enchiladas, we make chicken ones, since that's what we both prefer. But we've got lots of frozen hamburger that needs to be eaten before we move in 2 months... so I went searching for an easy beef enchilada recipe and here's what I found. From cooks.com. It was pretty tasty... and so easy!

EASY ENCHILADAS

Flour or wheat tortillas
1 lb. ground beef or chicken
1 can green or red enchilada sauce
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 pkg. shredded cheese

Melt cream cheese in microwave until very soft. Add half of can of enchilada sauce to cream cheese, reserve remainder.

Cook beef or chicken and add to mixture.

Heat tortillas in microwave for about 20 seconds or until warm. Place mixture in tortillas and wrap.

Place enchiladas in baking dish.

Pour shredded cheese and remaining sauce over top.

Bake 20 minutes or until hot at 325˚.*

*We're almost at sea level, so I had to cook mine at a hotter oven temp*

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

2010-02-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

This, my dear friends, is brilliant. It is well-worth watching.

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure Video on TED.com

The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmigiana

2010-02-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

I made this tasty recipe for my anniversary and my husband thought (and still thinks I am) a gourmet cook. If you want to see her step by step directions with pictures click here. Mine looked like this:

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 6

Ingredients
4 whole (up To 6) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat
½ cups All-purpose Flour
Salt And Pepper, to taste
½ cups Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
¾ cups Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)(I used Chicken Broth instead)
3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Sugar
¼ cubes Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pound Thin Linguine

Preparation Instructions

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.
Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.
At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.

Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.

Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.

Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies...Heavenly

2010-02-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

For Sarah...I actually posted. :) Miracles happen.

These are worth every calorie. They are the closest cookie to a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. I love them. Yum. (I have no clue how to change the underline. Sorry.)
Doesn't get much better than Chocolate and Peanut Butter! I found this recipe on my friends blog. You have to try these...they are worth every calorie. We made these yesterday since everything was closed down for 2 inches of snow...seriously. Church was even canceled. Crazy. Anyway, these were blissful. Yum! The name says it all. Now I better go work out. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magic in the Middle Cookies
from My Kitchen Cafe Blog via King Arthur Flour Blog

Chocolate Dough
1 1/2 cups (6 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar (plus extra for dredging)
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ) brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

Peanut butter filling
3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth, your choice
3/4 cup (3 ounces) confectioners' sugar

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
2. To make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
3. In another medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla and the egg, beating to combine, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.
5. To make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.
6. With floured hands or a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 26 one-inch balls.
7. To shape the cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough (a lump about the size of a walnut), make an indentation in the center with your finger and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation.
8. Bring the cookie dough up and over the filling, pressing the edges together cover the center; roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
9. Roll each rounded cookie in granulated sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.
10. Grease the bottom of a drinking glass, and use it to flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thick.
11. Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.

HELP!

2010-01-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

I am trying really hard to cut down on our grocery bill. Am I the only one shopping for 5 people that spends close to $500.00 a month? I loved Jade's idea for "food storage" meals. But I was wondering if anyone had some good Vegetarian/meat free meals. I'm not a veggie lover, but I'd like to cut down on our meat intake. If you can help I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

2010-01-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: 6

1 package (6 ounces) long-grain and wild rice mix, prepared according to package directions
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 (about 8 oz. total) boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped (OR USE ½ ROTISSERIE CHICKEN INSTEAD)
2 cups (8 ounces) sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed (I left it out the first time, still good)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Sliced green onions (optional)
Toasted slivered almonds (optional)

HEAT vegetable oil in large saucepan. Add chicken, mushrooms, chopped onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink.

ADD rice, broth, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine small amount of evaporated milk and cornstarch in small bowl; stir until smooth. Add to saucepan with remaining evaporated milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until soup is thickened. Garnish with green onions and almonds.

FOR FREEZE AHEAD:
PREPARE as above; do not top with green onions and almonds. Cool soup completely. Place in airtight container; freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator.
HEAT in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with green onions and almonds.

Easy Baked Ziti

2010-01-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

1 package Ziti noodles (or Rotini or Penne) (1 lb.)
1-2 jars pasta sauce (depending on how saucy you like it)
1 package sliced provolone cheese (not the processed kind)
Ground beef (desired amount- 1 lb. or more)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried parsley
Cottage cheese (about 8 ounces)

Parmesan cheese

Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat, drain then add the garlic and parsley and sauté a minute or two longer. Cook the pasta, drain then add half the noodles to a dish smeared with pasta sauce. Spread a small amount of cottage cheese on the noodles, then layer with ½ of the ground beef, one jar of sauce and a layer of sliced provolone. Repeat the layer with the remaining ingredients. Top with the remaining cheese slices, sprinkle with parmesan and parsley. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is lightly brown.

Mashed Potato Casserole

2010-01-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

Mashed Potato Casserole

2-3 pounds potatoes
4 oz. cream cheese
1 t. garlic salt
¼ t. pepper
½ cup sour cream
2 T. butter
Paprika

Make mashed potatoes however you usually make them – you can use instant, if you want to. Beat into mashed potatoes the cream cheese, sour cream, garlic salt and pepper (use some sort of blender to get out the lumps). Pour into baking dish, dot with small pieces of butter and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 400° for about 15-20 minutes (until top is golden brown).

* Yummy, yummy. I always serve as a side dish to porcupine meatballs, along with a salad *

Porcupine Meatballs

2010-01-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Porcupine Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1/3 cup uncooked white rice
¼ cup chopped onion (if I don’t have an onion, I’ll use dehydrated onion, found in the spice isle)
¼ cup water
1 t. salt
Dash of pepper

Combine beef, rice, onion, water, salt and pepper. Shape into small balls (1 – 1.5 inches in diameter).

1 can condensed tomato soup (can use store brand, doesn’t taste any different than Campbell’s)
½ t. chili powder
½ cup water

Blend soup, chili powder and water into a saucepan. Add meatballs. Bring to boil, then cover and turn down heat to simmer. Takes about 45 minutes or so (depends on how hot your stove is). When meatballs are cooked through, you’ll know it’s done.

Homemade Pancakes

2010-01-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

1 ½ cup flour
3 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 T. sugar
1 – 1 ¼ cup milk
1 egg
3 T. canola or vegetable oil

Beat together until smooth. Sometimes I cut the sugar in half and do half white flour and half whole
wheat flour. I’m too lazy to measure the milk; I add enough ‘til I get the consistency I want.

Chicken Won Ton Salad

2010-01-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

This is an easy to throw together salad that we use as a main dish or a side dish. You can eat a ton of it, so get plenty of lettuce. All the amounts are personal preference. Hope you enjoy!

Lettuce (green leaf/Romaine with iceberg)

Chicken breasts diced and sautéed

Sesame seeds-toasted with little oil

Won ton wrappers lightly fried

Tear lettuce to bite-sized pieces, top with sautéed chicken, and toasted sesame seeds. Top with dressing and slightly crushed fried won tons.

Dressing-

½ c sugar

1/2 c white vinegar

2 Tbsp salt

Combine the ingredient in a pan and bring to boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Let cool, then add:

½ tsp pepper

½ c vegetable oil

Fresh-free ingredients

2010-01-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

We recently had a week-long family reunion where we based all our meals off food storage -- meaning, rather than having to go buy tons of stuff to feed all 17 solid-food-eating people (the three babies were easy), we chose recipes for which the ingredients were already stocked up in our pantries. We ate great food, and we only spent about $200, which included all the food for an extended-family feast on Christmas Eve (which was not food-storage themed).

Aside from saving money, it was great to not have our fridge overloaded with stuff. During past reunions, the fridge has been overloaded with all sorts of things that we needed for each meal, leaving little room for the real important things of life, like leftover pie.

Sooooo ... this whole thing has me itching for more recipes that don't require fresh ingredients. I'm itching so much, in fact, that I'm interested in putting together a little cookbook full of fresh-free recipes.

By fresh free I mean any recipe that you can store all the ingredients, unrefrigerated, in your pantry or closet or whatever. That doesn't mean it has to be meat free -- canned chicken is easy enough to come by, and I know you can personally can just about anything. Instead of milk you can use dry milk, instead of butter ... um, churned dried milk?

If you have any recipes you can share, PLEASE post them or e-mail me at stellmonquarterly AT gmail DOT com.

Lemon Pesto Chicken

2009-11-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

Super easy recipe. Here's what the original recipe calls for:

1 T. oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup uncooked rice
2 cans chicken broth
1 T. lemon peel
1/2 T. pesto
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute chicken and garlic in oil. Stir in rice, broth, lemon, pesto & pepper. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes, or liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese just before serving.

K, now my variations:
I never have chicken broth, so I used water and bouillon cubes and made my own. I also never use a real lemon, I use lemon juice instead (still about a tablespoon, maybe a little more, depends on how lemon-y you want it). I also never use pesto, I just sprinkle some Italian Seasoning over the whole thing instead. I usually use real garlic, but I discovered I didn't have any this time, so I used garlic salt. This is really easy to make and it makes a TON. Cory and I both had generous helpings, and we've got enough leftovers for at least 3 more servings.

Shrimp and Tomato

2009-11-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Shrimp and Tomato

3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 Pound Shrimp
2-3 Garlic Cloves
1/4 Teaspoon Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 ( 14 to 15 ounce) can of Diced Tomato, 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, salt, and peper, turning once, until golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in Tomato. Add Cream and briskly simmer until sauce has thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in Lemon Juice.
Meanwhile cook Noodles until done. Drain.
Serve immediately, topped with Shrimp and sauce.

Tomato Bacon Pomodoro

2009-11-18T16:56:00.001-08:00

From Taste of Home Cooking School 50^th Anniversary Cookbook

(This recipe tasted great and was really pretty fast. See the changes I made at the end.)

1 package (19 to 25 ounces) frozen ravioli or tortellini

½ pound bacon, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

½ medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes

5 tablespoons tomato paste

2/3 cup chicken broth

¼ teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon until almost crisp. Add onion and garlic; cook until onions are tender. Stir in the tomatoes, paste, broth, basil, oregano, and parsley; simmer for 3 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over cooked pasta. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Changes:

I used rotini pasta instead of tortellini because that was all I had – 12 ounces of rotini was enough.

Next time I will skip the olive oil, but don’t drain the bacon (needed for flavor).

I used a can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning – didn’t have crushed in that size. I think the added seasoning helped.

I used a 3 ounce package of tomato paste instead of measuring tablespoons.

Used dried parsley instead of fresh.

Didn’t need any salt or pepper.

4.5 out of 5 stars. Would probably have been better with tortellini, but it was really good. The amount of oil and grease seemed excessive, but it didn’t look it in the finished product.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

2009-11-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

I adjusted a recipe from Parents magazine and made this last night. I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed ...

3 potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups frozen broccoli
2 cans vegetable broth (or about 3 cups)
dash of onion salt
3 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

In medium saucepan, bring potatoes, broccoli, vegetable broth and onion salt to a boil. Drop heat to medium and simmer about 10 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Left cool about 5-10 minutes.

Blend soup with the cheese. I put about 1/3 of the mix in blender with 1/3 of the cheese and then kept layering until my blender was about 2/3 full, then I pureed. Add a little more mixture little by little until all is blended. (I mixed the last portion in unblended because I like some chunks.)

I didn't think my family would eat it because it looked like green glump, but my 2-year-old downed three bowls. We'll be making it again.

Yummy Cinnamon Rolls!!!

2009-11-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Cinnamon rolls. I've always had trouble making them, but I made this recipe for breakfast this morning, and they turned out perfect!
This makes 1 dozen cinnamon rolls, and it can be doubled very easily.

1/2 C. Milk
1/4 C. Butter
1/2 C. Water
1 1/2 t. Active dry yeast
1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1 Egg
1-2 t. Vanilla
3-4 C. Flour

Filling:
1 t. Cinnamon
1 C. Brown sugar
1/4 C. Butter softened

Frosting:
1 C. Powder sugar
4 oz. (1/2 pack) Cream cheese
1 1/2 t. Butter
1/2 t. Vanilla
1 1/2 T. Milk

1- Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, remove from heat. Mix in butter, stir until melted. Add water and cool to lukewarm.
2- In large bowl, combine milk mixture, with remaining ingredients, except flour. Stir in Flour 1/2 C. at a time. Dough will be slightly sticky. place on floured surface and kneed until smooth and elastic. About 8 minutes. (If you have a kitchen aid mixer you can skip this part.)
3- Roll dough into a 12x9 in. rectangle. In a bowl stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Butter dough, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up down. (To seal the seam you can use a little bit of water.)
4- Cut into 12 slices (Dental floss works the best.) Place rolls into a greased 13x9 in. pan. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5- Bake in oven about 20 min. or until golden brown on the tops.
6- Mix together ingredients for frosting, spread over warm cinnamon rolls and serve!

If you want to make these ahead you can place them in the fridge before letting them rise. Then when you are ready to cook them just let them sit and rise 60-90 min. before baking.

Chili

2009-10-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

I love soup and now that fall is setting in we're eating one kind of soup or stew weekly if not more often.
Here is my Chili recipe. I kind of made it up so I don't have exact measurements and I didn't write it down so I'm hoping that my horrible memory will remember it...

1 lb. Ground beef cooked and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced green chilies
2 cans of beans (I used black and white kidney, any work.)
1 T. Chili powder
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 t. Cumin
1 t. Onion powder
1 t. Salt
1 t. Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a pot and heat through. This is great served with corn bread.
The spices are not exact measurements. I just guessed, so you'll have to do it all to taste.
You can also add about 2 T. liquid smoke to your chili if you want a smokey taste. It's found with the condiments.
You can use any meat you want, ground Turkey, chicken, beef chunks, whatever your preference.
Like I said I used a couple of different beans in my chili, but you can use any kind you like.
Enjoy!

Autumn Pork Chops

2009-10-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

1 TBS vegetable oil
4-5 pork chops ( cut 3/4" thick)
1 CAN of cream of celery soup
1/2 CUP apple juice or water (I use apple juice)
2 TBS spicy brown mustard
1 TBS honey
generous DASH of pepper

1. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add chops and cook 10 minutes or until browned. Set aside, pour off fat.

2. Add soup, juice, mustard, honey and pepper. Bring to a boil and return the chops to the pan. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 10-15 minutes or until chops are no longer pink.

We serve this over rice with some kind of veggie and salad on the side. Super good!

Gravy

2009-09-28T13:37:00.001-07:00

I'm sure everyone in the world knows how to make gravy ... except for me. But in the odd chance someone else might also benefit from gravy recipes/instructions, if you are skilled in this area will you post something? THANKS!

Almond Chicken

2009-09-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

I love this recipe. It is my husband's favorite and whenever we make it for anyone, they always ask for the recipe. Its much better than restaurant chinese food.

Almond Chicken

1. Cut chicken breast into bite size pieces (one big chicken breast will easily feed two people) and coat pieces in egg and then cornstarch mixed with a little garlic salt.

2. Pan fry in a small amount of vegetable oil until barely brown. Put pieces in casserole dish.

3. Mix the following sauce and put in the casserole dish with chicken. This amount of sauce will work for one chicken breast. You will likely have to double it for two.

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c chicken broth (I generally put 1/4 c water and a bullion cube undissolved and it will dissolve as it cooks)

1/2 c vinegar

4 Tbs Ketchup

1 Tbs Soy Sauce

4. Cover with sliced almonds.

5. Cover casserole dish with lid or aluminum foil. Cook in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Serve over rice.

Peach Custard Pie

2009-08-31T13:33:00.001-07:00

This is a very yummy pie if you like fruit, and custard.(sorry this isn't the best picture. But I promise that it tastes really good.)

1 unbaked Pie crust

3/4 c. White sugar
2 T. flour
1/3 t. Salt
1 c. Sour cream
1 Egg
1 t. Vanilla
2 c. Sliced Peaches (I haven't tried it, but I'm sure that any fruit could work.)
-Topping-
1/3 c. Flour
1/3 c. Brown sugar
1 t. Cinnamon
1/4 c. Butter softened

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Prepare pie crust in pie dish, set aside.
-Whisk together sugar flour and salt. Beat in sour cream, eggs and vanilla
-Stir in peach/fruit mix together and pour into pie dish.
-Bake pie for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, continue baking until filling is set, approx. 30 minutes.
- Mix together ingredients for crumb topping until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over pie.
- Return oven temperate to 400 degrees. Place pie back in oven and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
-Remove and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Grammy's Chocolate Chip Cookies!

2009-08-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is my grandmother's cookie recipe. She is much better at making them then I, but they are the best in the world.
This recipe makes I don't know how many cookies, around 5 dozen or so.
2 c. Shortening
2 C. Brown sugar
1 C. Sugar
4 Eggs
1 T. Vanilla
1 T. Milk
1 t. Baking soda
1 t. Salt
5 C. Flour
1 12 oz. Bag Chocolate Chips

Cream together shortening and sugars. Mix in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and milk. Mix dry ingredients together, then add gradually to sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake in oven @ 350 degrees for 8 min.

Spaghetti Salad

2009-08-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

1 lb. thin spaghetti
2 lg. tomatoes, diced
2 lg. cucumbers, diced
1 can black pitted olives, sliced
1 (18 oz.) bottle Italian dressing
1 jar McCormick salad supreme seasoning (do not substitute this seasoning)

Cook spaghetti; drain well and rinse with cold water. Mix spaghetti and vegetables. Add olives and salad dressing.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken

2009-07-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T. mustard
1 T. honey
1 t. apple cider vinegar
2 green onions, chopped
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:
Mix mayonnaise, mustard, honey, vinegar and onions. Grill chicken breasts and brush with mixture.

My variation:
I used low-fat mayonnaise and it tasted fine. I also left out the green onions cause I don't like them. Some of the mixture kept falling of the chicken and making a mess on the grill... so next time we make this, I'm going to grill the chicken a little bit then brush on the mixture so it sticks better. Still, this was very, very tasty -- and very simple. I served it with brown rice and some veggies. It also tastes good warmed up, as leftovers.

Cookie dough ice cream

2009-07-14T14:59:00.001-07:00

OK, this probably doesn't actually count as a recipe. Lately we've been addicted to cookie dough ice cream (especially the new Frosty's with cookie dough from Wendy's), but the budget doesn't allow for the frequent consumption we've been craving. The solution ... we make our own.

We tried just mixing actual cookie dough into ice cream, but the secret we've found is baking the cookies for half the time you're supposed to. This melts the chocolate chips into a deliciously gooey state and leaves you with ideal doughy cookies to break into pieces and mix into your ice cream.

We're whipping up new kinds of cookie dough every few days for this indulgence. Yummy.

OOPS

2009-06-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry all about the ingredient amounts being cut off on the Coconut Cupcake recipe. I thought I had fixed and then I realized..It didn't work. So I think it will now!!

Jessica

Blackbottom Strawberry Pie

2009-06-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

1 cooked deep dish pie crust

2/3 c. hot fudge topping

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1 C. powdered sugar

3-4 C. Strawberries (quartered)

1/2 C. Strawberry pie glaze (i use the danish dessert mix)

1. Make crust as directed on box. Cool completely, about 15 min.

2. Spread fudge topping along the bottom of the crust and refrigerate for ONE HOUR.

3. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar. Medium speed until smooth. Carefully spread over fudge.

4.In a medium bowl, gently mix strawberries and glaze. Spoon over cream cheese and refrigerate until firm. (about 1 hour)

Optional- Top with Whipped Cream

This pie is DELICIOUS!

Coconut Cupcakes

2009-06-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

So I've really been a slacker on posting anything, but I got this recipe on the web from a friend and they are amazing cupcakes. I don't really like coconut, but I loved these moist cupcakes!! They are anything but fat free, but hope you enjoy. Jessica C.

Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 extra-large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk

14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

1 pound cream cheese at room temperature

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

2009-06-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

Dressing:
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 t dried mustard
1 t salt
1 1/2 T dried minced onion
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 t. poppy seed

Mix ingredients. Let sit for 30 minutes, then shake well. Serve with baby spinach, sliced strawberries, thinly sliced red onions* and sliced almonds.

*I never add the onions cause I don't like them.

This dressing makes a good amount, but keeps well in the fridge. Just make sure to shake before drizzling over your salad. Yum!

Caesar Pasta Salad

2009-06-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorites and it is so versatile.

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and cubed or shredded
1/2 bag cooked pasta of choice. Bow tie works great
1/2 bottle caesar dressing
shredded lettuce of choice
Other vegetables of choice. We like shredded carrots, olives, corn, black beans...

Cook chicken & noodles. let cool. Once cool, place all ingredients in a bowl, including dressing, toss & enjoy. So easy and oh so good!

Salad recipes?

2009-06-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm looking for help. We've changed Monday Soup Night to Monday Salad Night for the warm summer months. So far we've enjoyed normal old lettuce with stuff on it salad. But does anyone have any killer salad recipes to share?

Whoops!

2009-05-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Haha DaniBB, here I thought I was doing you a favor, and then I saw you posted a very similar recipe very recently. Sorry ladies!

Cafe Rio Pork

2009-05-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

I had this at friend's house a few months ago and called her for the recipe this past week. I've never lived in Utah, so I've escaped the "have to" of eating at Cafe Rio...and though I can't compare it to the real McCoy, I do know that this pork is delicious. We ate it in soft tacos with black beans, guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and sour cream, then had some in quesadillas, and then some with salads before I froze the rest. And DaniBB, it freezes really well! Also, we don't eat very many spicy things, but this is certainly not spicy at all. If anything, it could only be described as sweet. You could easily add more chili powder to spice things up. Here's the recipe:

CAFE RIO PORK

1 pork roast (the one I used was about 3 lbs.)
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp. dehydrated, minced onions

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, then place roast on top. Cook on "low" for 6-8 hours, flipping the roast once, about halfway through cooking. One hour before serving, shred the pork, remove any bones, and stir in 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup red enchilada sauce. Allow to cook for remaining time, and serve warm.

Mexican Casserole

2009-05-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

My son was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease so my cooking world has been turned upside down as I learn how to cook without wheat. Here is a recipe I've used a few times and it's always been a hit. It's great because you can substitute ingredients for whatever you have on hand and it still tastes great!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 lb. ground beef (or turkey)
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans drained (or whatever beans on hand)
1 can corn drained
1 packet Taco seasoning
2 cups cheddar cheese
10-12 white corn tortillas cut into strips
Sour Cream
Olives
Lettuce

Brown beef and add onions and pepper, cook until soft. Add seasoning and stir well. Add tomatoes, beans, and corn, let simmer for 5 minutes.

Cover bottom of 9X12 casserole dish with 1/2 of tortilla strips. Spoon half of hamburger mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle half of shredded cheese over top and repeat layers.

Cook 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Serve with chopped olives, lettuce and sour cream.

Chicken Potato Casserole

2009-05-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

This super simple and delicious recipe is perfect to freeze ahead of time, then thaw and bake on nights when you just can't face the kitchen.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:
10 oz. can condensed reduced fat and sodium cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1-1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
3-1/2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1-1/2 cups frozen peppers and onions, thawed
1-1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups crushed potato chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine soup, sour cream, milk, chicken and 1-1/4 cups cheese. Spread three-quarters of this mixture in a greased 2-quart baking dish.
Sprinkle hash browns and peppers and onions over the top of the casserole and press down lightly, then top vegetables with remaining soup mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and potato chips.
Bake casserole, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving. 8 servings
To freeze, assemble casserole as directed, except do not thaw potatoes, peppers, or onions and do not sprinkle with potato chips. Wrap casserole in freezer wrap or heavy duty foil and freeze. Reserve potato chips in pantry. To thaw and bake, let thaw overnight in refrigerator. Uncover and bake at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes until bubbly. Then top with crushed potato chips and bake 5-10 minutes longer.

Recipes Needed... HELP!

2009-05-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I am due with a baby in 3 weeks. I was wondering if you guys have ideas for meal I can make and freeze. Preferably things that done have excecss tomatoes, onions, garlic or brocoli. Thanks!- Dani

Sweet Pork & Rice

2009-05-13T11:37:00.001-07:00

,If you've ever been to Cafe Rio you'll love this. It's Soooooo easy!
6-8 servings

Sweet Pork:
1-2 lb. Pork tenderloin (you could use chicken or beef as well.)
1 C. Brown sugar
2 C. Salsa

Mix sugar & Salsa, pour over pork. Cook in crock pot for 8 hrs. on low. Remove pork, shred, and return to salsa. Serve with tortillas.
I don't have a crock pot, and I'm cheap when it comes to meat. I cooked pork chops, by boiling them in water until done. Then I shredded them. I mixed the salsa & sugar together, then I boiled it. I added the shredded pork and then let it simmer, covered for about 1 hr. It still turned out great.

Green Chile Rice:
1 C. Rice
2 C. Chicken broth
4 oz. diced green chiles
1/2 C. diced onion
1 t. Oregano
1/2 t. Salt
1-2 t. Cumin
Mix together and cook as usual.

I made these into burritos, layering rice, black beans and pork. Then I melted cheese ontop. They were so good.

Chocolate Oatmeal-Crispy No Bake Cookies

2009-05-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
1 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Margarine
3 Tablespoons Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon Salt
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup Crispy Rice Cereal

Instructions:
1. Mix oatmeal and crispy rice cereal together in a bowl.
2. In a saucepan, bring sugar, margarine, cocoa, salt, and milk to a boil. Add vanilla and stir.
3. Add chocolate mixture to oatmeal mixture. Stir.
4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet or wax paper. For less crumbly cookies, smash the cookie mixture against the side of the pan or bowl, or your hand (if cool enough to handle).
5. You can make balls with your hands (if cool). Let cool.

Makes about 90-100 small teaspoon sized cookies.
Note: Add a little more milk if it gets too crumbly and warm up for a small amount of time.

Oatmeal Cake

2009-05-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Boiled Water
1 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup Margarine or Butter
2 Eggs
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/3 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
Frosting:
1 cup Chopped Pecans
1 cup Coconut
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Milk (can be evaporated milk)
1/4 cup Margarine or Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Instructions:
Pour water over oats. Add margarine. Beat eggs and then add to oats. Add sugars. Mix. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Mix together.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
For frosting, heat all ingredients together in saucepan on stove. Pour over cake and broil in oven for a few minutes. Watch carefully.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2009-05-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

This cookie recipe came from the Kraft Foods website. It is SO good!

Prep Time:

15 min

Total Time:

28 min

Makes:

About 2-1/2 doz. or 30 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup flour

1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Make It

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat butter, sugars and peanut butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until well blended after each addition. Stir in chocolate.

DROP heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE 10 to 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 1 min.; remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Substitute

Substitute 1 cup BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks for the chopped chocolate squares.

Monster Cookies

2009-05-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Monster Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup Butter
1 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
3/4 teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 teaspoon Corn Syrup
1 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
4 1/2 cup Oatmeal
2 cup Flour
1/2 cup each kind of chip (butterscotch, chocolate, white)

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together. Drop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.

Poor Man's Cookies

2009-05-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

These are called poor man’s cookies because they contain no eggs, nuts, or milk. They are rich in taste though. They also taste better with a cup of chocolate chips or whatever else you'd like to add.

Ingredients:
2 cups Oatmeal
1 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 cup Hot Water
1/2 cup Shortening, melted
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Water

Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, combine oatmeal, brown sugar, sugar, flour, and salt. Combine baking soda and water and stir in oatmeal mixture. Stir well. Add shortening and vanilla. Add 2 Tablespoons water to help them stick together (a few Tablespoons more if needed) when you roll into walnut-sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes or until golden-brown. Makes about 36 cookies.