Trying to be Betty Crocker

Cream cheese pancakes

2012-01-30T15:07:00.000-08:00

These are ah.maze.ing. We ate a batch and a half of them. So good and moist. Beware when you cook them they stay pretty gooey, they dont get "crispy" when they are done.

1-1/4 Cup Flour
3 teas. Baking powder
1 T. Sugar
dash salt
1 Egg, beaten
2 T. Vegetable oil
1 Cup milk
6oz cream cheese, cubed
1 cup mixed berries (or just blueberries)

In a bowl combine the wet ingredients and cream cheese. Beat with a mixer til the cream cheese is a cottage cheese like consistancy. Add dry ingredients and stir. Add berries.
Cook like normal. These do take a bit longer to cook, i think we left them on about 7-10 minutes.

Pizza Bites & Strawberry Cake

2012-01-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

First recipe- Strawberry Cake. It was good, but not amazing. My husband liked it but I personally thought the strawberries in the frosting was too much. Next time I will make the cake like the recipe but make the frosting just cream cheese frosting, not add the pureed strawberries. Here is where I got the original recipe from.

1 box white cake mix

3 TB. plain flour

1 (3 oz) box strawberry jello

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and chopped up

4 eggs

Combine cake mix, flour, Jello and water. Add oil and eggs, one at a time, beating well between. Add strawberries. Beat 2 minutes. Pour batter into well greased and floured 9×13 pan. Bake at 350* for about 45 minutes.

Icing: Strawberry Cream Cheese frosting

(adapted from Paula Deen online recipe)

1 stick butter, softened

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed & pureed

7 cups powdered sugar

(Like I said, next time I will make the cream cheese frosting but omit the strawberries. It was just too much. The strawberries made the frosting really runny and I had to add like a whole bag of powdered sugar to make it thick enough and then it was way too sweet. Also, the frosting makes a TON so if you decide to make it with the strawberries I would half the recipe.)

Next recipe- Pizza Bites
I got this recipe HERE originally . I made it just like the recipe. They were awesome! Defiantly a keeper.

2 cans refrigerated pizza dough
8 oz block mozzarella cheese
4 oz thin sliced pepperoni
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
pizza or marinara sauce

Cut block of mozzarella into 48 cubes. roll one dough out into a large rectangle and cut into 24 pieces. Repeat with 2nd pizza dough. In each dough piece place a couple pieces of pepperoni and a cube of cheese. Seal dough around meat and cheese and place in pie pan.Repeat, placing approximately 16 dough balls in each pie plate.Once assembled, combine oil and spices and brush over the dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.When ready to bake: bake at 400°F for 16-20 min. Serve with warm pizza or marinara sauce.

Roasted Cauliflower

2012-01-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

OH YUM. This was really good. I found several recipes on pinterest for this but didnt have all the ingredients for any recipe, so I made my own.

1 head cauliflower, cut into small pieces
2 T olive oil
2 T parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
sprinkle salt
sprinkle pepper

Wash cauliflower and toss in a bowl with olive oil. Spread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle spices and cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Reese's Banana Bread

2012-01-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe HERE and made it just like the recipe except I dont have a bread pan so I made them into muffins. This recipe made 10 regular size muffins. SOOO good!!!

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz bag of Reese’s Mini cups

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350
Grease your loaf pan (I used an 8 x 4 pan) with butter or shortening.
In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.
Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be lumpy.
Fold in your Reese’s Mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and remove from loaf pan, transferring bread to a cooling rack.

Ranch Hamburger & Onion Rings

2012-01-18T15:18:00.001-08:00

This Ranch Hamburger recipe I got from my sister. She got it from bettycrocker.com. I changed the recipe just a bit, the recipe called for ranch dressing and I was out so I just used ranch dressing mix powder.

Ranch Hamburgers
1# Hamburger
1 T. Ranch dressing mix
1 small slice onion, chopped
dash salt
dash pepper
dash parsley
Combine all ingredients and form into patties. Cook on a grill or on the stove top until no longer pink.

The onion rings were a recipe I just made up. Next time I will slice my onion a little thicker because they were almost too flimsy.

Oven Baked Onion Rings
1 onion- sliced into rings, divide into rings
1 egg-beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 Cup bread crumbs
Combine the egg and milk in a bowl and put the bread crumbs in another bowl. I used italian seasoned bread crumbs. And you dont want to put all the bread crumbs in at once. I did 1/2 cup and did a bunch of rings then did the other 1/2 cup. Otherwise if you put them all in the bowl they get wet from the rings and dont stick as well. Dip onion rings in the milk mixture then into the bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes on each side. Serve with Onion ring sauce.

Onion Ring sauce
1/2 Cup Mayo
2 T. Ketchup
2 T. Horseradish
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teas. paprika
1 teas. Oregano
1/2 teas. Cayenne pepper

Combine all together in a bowl. Let sit at least 20 minutes before using. I didnt have any cayenne pepper so I didnt add any but I think it needs it. It was almost too sweet tasting, it needed the cayenne spice to make it more zingy.

Healthy smoothies

2011-12-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

I know I have posted on here before about smoothie recipes but I decided it was worth another post. My 2 year old is really picky about her food and I struggle to get her to eat healthy. However,she will drink a "smooie" faster then you can make it. So here is my "recipes" to get some healthy food in her!

Spinach Fruit Smoothie
We all know spinach is a super veggie! It has tons of good nutrients and alot of Iron which I myself am low in right now being pregnant. You cant taste it at all in the smoothie!

In a blender add some juice of your choice. Usually about 1 cup worth is what I put in.
Then add a handful of washed fresh spinach
Then I always add 1 banana
Then add whatever fruit you want. I always keep frozen fruit on hand for smoothies. I usually use a handful of blueberries, handful of raspberries and handful of mango pieces. But you can use any really. Whatever you have on hand!

And thats mainly the base, mix it in the blender well and serve!
Sometimes I add yogurt if we have some, sometimes not.

Avacado Banana smoothie
1/2 avacado, cut into chunks, skin off
1 banana
1 spoonful chocolate cocoa powder or some chocolate syrup
1 cup Orange juice or Milk

In a blender mix together. I always use Orange juice because my daughter has a milk allergy but Im sure you could use milk. This smoothie taste like banana bread!
Avacado is another veggie that is full of nutrients. I hate the texture but in smoothies I dont know its there!

Sweet Potato Muffins

2011-11-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

Since I boiled up some sweet potatoes last night to make the sweet potato waffles I had some puree leftover. So I decided to see what I could use it for. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins and very good for you. I found this recipe for sweet potato bread on allrecipes.com and decided to make it into muffins. . .

1 cup Sugar (recipe called for 1-1/2 cups but I cut it back and they taste just fine)
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1-3/4 Cup Flour
1 teas. baking soda
1/4 teas. Salt
1/2 teas. cinnamon
1/2 teas. nutmeg
1/3 cup water
1 Cup sweet potato puree

Combine sugar and veggie oil, mix well. Add eggs and mix well again. In another bowl combine the baking soda, salt, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to the sugar mixture alternately with the water. Add Sweet potatoes. Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
These freeze well also!

Sweet Potato Waffles

2011-11-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

Sweet Potato Waffles

The original recipe is from here on allrecipes.com. I however changed a few things and here is my version. . .
1 cup sweet potato puree
3 egg yolks
1 cup milk (I used almond milk but you can use any kind)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup Whole wheat flour
3/4 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a bowl combine the milk, egg yolks and sweet potato puree. Add to the mixture the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices. Mix until combined. In another bowl beat the egg whites until fluffy. Slowly and gently mix in the egg whites and melted butter into the batter, alternating. Cook in waffle Iron.
These waffles do not get really crispy, they stay kind of soft but they are still good! I doubled that batch and am freezing some for after the baby is born.

Biscuit Donuts

2011-11-26T15:37:00.001-08:00

(Excuse the poor quality of the photo, I forgot to snap a photo and this is the only one my husband took with his phone)
1 tube Jumbo homestyle butter biscuits (8 biscuits) DO NOT use flaky style on this recipe.
1/2 stick butter
Cinnamon & sugar mixture

Open the Biscuit tube and flatten each biscuit. Using either a small round cookie cutter or a start cookie cutter or something small cut out the center of each biscuits .(i didnt have any of those so i used a Medicine cup that comes on liquid tylenol or cold medicine) Save the middles as donut holes. In a skillet heat oil. Drop biscuits in the hot oil and fry until browned. Flipping once. Lay on paper towel to cool. Once cool enough to touch dip each side of the donut in the melted butter then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over them. (You can make your own cinnamon sugar mixture based on what you like best. Some like more sugar then cinnamon, some like more cinnamon then sugar. . .Whatever you like best. ) Enjoy!!

Cinnabun Pancakes

2011-11-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

I had a cinnabun pancake thing at Ihop a while ago and always wanted to recreate it. Saturday morning my hubby wanted pancakes so I thought lets see what happens. . . These were really good. The Ihop version was really sweet so I cut back on the icing drizzle.

Make you favorite pancake mix or you can use my recipe-
1-1/4 Cup Flour
3 teas. Baking powder
1 T. Sugar
dash salt
1 Egg, beaten
2 T. Vegetable oil
1 Cup milk

Mix all together. Heat a skillet or griddle and spray with pam. Meanwhile, in another bowl mix together the cinnamon mixture.

1/2 stick Butter- melted
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon (can add more or less depending how you like it)
3 Tablespoons Brown sugar (again you can add more or less if you want)
Mix together well.

On the griddle pour out your pancake mix to form pancakes. I usually do 1/4 cup of pancake mix each pancake. Immediently take the cinnamon mixture and swirl it over each pancake to look like a target. DO NOT MIX. Let it swirly. Continue cooking pancakes like normal.

To serve- Mix together this Icing-
1/2 cup milk
2 T. melted butter
1/2 Cup or more Powdered sugar
dash vanilla
Mix all together til smooth and slightly runny. You can add more powdered sugar if its too runny for you. Heat in the microwave until warm.
Drizzle over pancakes. I also drizzles syrup on mine.
Enjoy!

Cracker Barrel Hashbrown casserole

2011-11-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

This is really good and taste just like cracker barrels! It was easy to mix together! Im thinking about trying to mix some up and freeze it before baking so we have some for when the baby comes. Maybe add some ham bits to it??

Hash Brown Casserole
like Cracker Barrel’s

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded cheese
½ cup melted butter
1 small onion
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 lb bag frozen shredded hash browns

Combine soup, cheese, butter, onion, salt, and pepper in mixing bowl. Add potatoes and mix. Pour mixture into 9 x 13 x 2 greased baking pan. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350o. Cr

Pumpkin Pie "Cake bars"

2011-10-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

These are super yummy and easy!! Its like pumpkin pie without all the crust work. .

Crust:

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 C butter, melted

1 egg

Filling:

1 29 ounce can pumpkin

1 1/2 C sugar

1 t salt

2 t cinnamon

1 t ginger

1/2 t cloves

4 eggs

2 12 ounce cans evaporated milk

Mix the cake mix, butter and egg. Place in a greased sheet pan (10x15) and press out into the pan.

Combine the filling ingredients together and mix. Pour gently over the crust. You may want to set the pan in the oven and pour it there because the pan will be FULL. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Serve with Cool whip.

Rainbow Cake

2011-10-27T15:42:00.001-07:00

For my daughters birthday I decided to do a Rainbow cake for her. It was really actually fairly easy. Not as time consuming as I expected. For her cake I made 2- 12'' round pans and 2- 8'' round pans. I used 3 boxes of Duncan Hines Butter recipe yellow cake mix, it was a really moist cake! I highly recommend it.
I used 1 box divided between the 2 small rounds and 1 box in each large round pan.
Mix the cake mix according to the package and divide the batter into 5-7 bowls. Depending how many colors you want. I used 5 for the small pans and 7 for the large. Pour some food coloring into each bowl. I used blue, orange, green, yellow, red, pink, purple. To make the rainbow design- grease your cake pans and drop spoonfuls of the color you want for the outside in the center of the pan. Go to the next color and drop in the center of the last color. . .repeat. The batter will spread out. For the small cakes I swirled it with a toothpick, but for the large ones I just let it go. Bake as normal.

The finished product!

Fried Pickles

2011-10-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

These were ok. I still need to tweak it a bit , the breading needs a little something yet. It was good but needs either some more salt or some seasoned salt to give it a little spice. Its a great base recipe though!
(Recipe from allrecipes.com)

1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (32 ounce) jar sliced dill pickles, drained
1 quart vegetable oil for deep-frying

In a small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, 1 tablespoon of flour, and Worcestershire sauce. In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining flour, salt, and pepper.
Heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a deep-fryer or heavy deep skillet. Dip pickle slices into the milk mixture, then into the flour mixture. Repeat dipping.
Place the pickles carefully into the hot oil. Avoid over crowding by frying in several batches. Fry until pickles float to the surface, and are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.

Cinnamon toasted Almonds

2011-10-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

(Photo from Taste of Home.com )

These are really good. I love the ones you get at Trader Joes or Whole foods but they are expensive and well, we dont have either one of those close by. These are just as good as those are!! And easy to make!

2 egg whites
6 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups unblanched almonds
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy; beat in vanilla. Add almonds; stir gently to coat. Combine the sugars, salt and cinnamon; add to nut mixture and stir gently to coat.
Spread evenly into two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake at 300° for 25-30 minutes or until almonds are crisp, stirring once. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

Crockpot Chicken tacos

2011-09-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

This is a easy quick meal you can make tacos with it, serve it on chips . . .etc. .

In a crock pot place 6 chicken breast on the bottom. Pour 1/2 Can Salsa on the chicken. Cut up 1 pkg cream cheese into small cubes and place on the salsa. Dump 1 can black beans and 1 can corn in. Let it on low for 8 hours. Take chicken out and shred it and put it back in the crockpot before serving. The last hour I dumped about 1/2 cup instant rice in the crockpot to soak up some of the juice and to make it a thicker mix. We ate it on tortillas with shredded cheese like tacos.
Yum!!

Zucchini Fries

2011-08-20T16:39:00.001-07:00

These are the same idea as green bean fries. Yum!!

2 medium Zucchini, peeled and sliced into fry portions
1/2 sleeve Crackers, crushed into a powder (I used the blender)
1 T. Italian seasoning
2 T. Parmesan powder

In a bowl mix crushed crackers, italian seasoning and parmesan cheese together. Roll sliced zucchini in the cracker mixture and place in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. I put it on broil the last few minutes to crisp them up.
Serve with Wasabi sauce.

1/4 Cup Ranch dressing
1 teas. Wasabi powder or gel (I used a bit more but it just depends on your taste)

Pot Roast version #2

2011-07-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

1 Pot Roast
4 Potatoes, cut into fourths
1/4 bag baby carrots
1 pkg Ranch dressing mix

Place pot roast in the bottom of the crock pot. Place potatoes and carrots around the edge. Sprinkle everything with Ranch dressing mix. Place a couple pepperocini's on top and poke them with a fork or knife to let the juice run out. Cook for 8 hours on low.

Zucchini Boats

2011-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

I did a photo journey to making these which I normally dont do, mostly because when making supper I dont have alot of time to take photos because Im chasing my toddler around trying to beat the clock! Lol.

Zucchini Boats
2 Zucchini, I used medium sized ones
1# ground turkey meat
1 T. Oregano
1 T. Basil
1 T. Worchestershire sauce
1 Cup tomato sauce

Fry turkey meat with a little garlic and a little onion, cook until no longer pink. Drain. Meanwhile cut the zucchini down the middle lengthwise. Scoop out the center so you have a "boat" to put the meat in.
In a bowl combine the oregano, basil, worchestershire sauce, tomato sauce and meat. Stir together. Spoon into empty zucchini boats. Spoon some extra tomato sauce over the whole boat and sprinkle the boats good with some parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Make your own Creamer

2011-07-25T06:04:00.001-07:00

*Recipe adapted from "BACON IN MY POCKET" blog.

Another effort to not buy so much processed stuff. This was really easy too and probably cheaper in the long run.

1- 14oz can Sweet condensed milk
14oz milk, your choice of kind, I used skim
flavorings of your choice

I used a old creamer bottle to mix mine and store. Pour the can of sweet milk in the bottle, fill the can with milk and pour in. I did add about 1/4 of the can of milk again because the sweet condensed milk is really thick and I dont think it was any too much milk. Next add flavorings. We made Cinnamon bun flavored and added 1 tsp. Vanilla, 1 tsp. almond extract and 1 T Cinnamon. Shake well. Store in fridge. .

*I used pure almond, not imitation and the recipe I think was for imitation. So the almond flavor is a bit more then I like. Its ok, just next time when I use pure almond I will cut back a bit on the amount. *

You can use any flavor you want. .
Vanilla
Cocoa powder & Raspberry syrup
Cocoa powder & peppermint extract
Hazelnut syrup
Cinnamon

You can buy coffee flavor syrups in the coffee isle at walmart.

Oatmeal Mix

2011-07-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

In a effort to not buy so much processed foods I made my own oatmeal mix. Super easy. Hubby said its thicker then the instant packets.

In a blender blend 2 Cups oatmeal to a powder. In a large bowl combine the 2 cups blended oatmeal (make sure its quick oats) and add 6 more cups oats. (NOT blended) . Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup Cinnamon, 1/2 cup Sugar. Blend well. At this point you can bag it up and use or you can add mix ins. I added dried blueberries to some of mine. You can add cranberries, dried banana slices. . .etc. whatever!
Place in ziploc bags 1/4 cup of mix . Seal.Can store up to 1 month.

Lemon Shake up

2011-07-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

My pregnant lady version :-)

In a container that you can shake (I used a gatorade bottle) add the juice of 2 lemons, 2 lemon slices, 8 ice cubes, 5 Tablespoons sugar and 1 Cup water. Shake well. Taste. You can add more lemon, more water, more sugar at this point if its not to your taste.

Homemade Frappes!

2011-07-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

A few post back you remember the tip I posted about freezing leftover coffee from the bottom of the pot instead of throwing it away, freeze it in ice cube trays. . Well now here is what you can do with those!!

In a blender place 6 cubes of the Coffee. Add about 1 Cup milk and 1/4 Cup Creamer of your choice. We used french vanilla so I added 1 T. Caramel sauce for Ice cream in for flavor. Blend well. Pour into 2 glasses. . . This made 2- 8oz glasses almost full. SOOOO Good!
You can make them different flavors depending what flavor creamer you use or by adding anything to it such as cocoa for a mocha taste or raspberry syrup, peppermint extract. . ..

Kale Chips

2011-07-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

These are my new favorite snack!! I thought at first how can greens taste like chips?? but they really are very good!! And I dont feel so guilty about eating chips..ha ha. .

Tear kale leaves into small pieces and make sure you dont use the center stem. Wash and dry well. In a bowl place the leaves and drizzle with olive oil and some salt (make SURE you dont use too much salt. . I found out the hard way) shake to coat. Lay on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 12 minutes or until they are crispy. .
Cool. Yum!!

Bacon wrapped asparagus & Soy Honey Chicken

2011-07-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

My husband said both of these are definitely on his make again list. . Lol. The Soy honey chicken let me just tell you the marinade will smell really strong and I thought when I mixed it that oh this isnt going to come out well, but man it is the best chicken I have had!! Really good!

Soy Honey chicken
Equal parts of
Soy sauce
Honey
Olive oil
1 tsp. Garlic (i used diced garlic cloves)
Mix all together in a ziploc bag and knead til combined. Put your chicken breast in the bag and shake til covered. I let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to marinade then grilled it for 45 minutes. Seriously REALLY good!!

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
enough asparagus for how ever many servings you want. Like I did 3 stalks of asparagus per "clump" and did 3 clumps per person. So for Chadd and I, I made 6 clumps.
Divide asparagus into clumps of 3 in each. Wrap a piece of bacon around each clump. You may have to hold the bacon to the asparagus with toothpicks. I sprinkled pepper and salt on them then grilled them for 40 minutes. These were REALLY good too!

Food Tip of the day

2011-07-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

My cousin gave us this tip and I cant believe I never thought of it!!

*** When your done with your morning coffee and there is just a little coffee in the pot left dont throw it out, pour it into a ice try and freeze. Pop them out and store in ziploc bags in the freezer. When you want to make a iced coffee or frappe just put the ice in a blender with some milk and whatever else and you have a frappe!***

Crockpot Gulosh

2011-07-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

I appologize but I didnt take a photo, to be honest it didnt look appealing, lol. But this is really good and super simple. Even my daughter who is a very picky eater and wont eat meat ate this!!

4 Chicken breast
1/4 Pkg Frozen Peas
1/4 Pkg Frozen Green beans
1/4 Pkg Frozen Broccoli
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup Chicken broth
1 teas. Onion flakes

Place chicken breast on the bottom of crock pot and throw the veggies on top. You can add other veggies if you like, these are just what I had on hand. Mix together chicken soup and chicken broth and onion flakes. You may have to add a little water to make it runny. Pour over everything. Cook on low for 6 hours. The last hour I added instant brown rice to it and it was done by the time we were ready for supper and it helped soak up the extra liquid.

Grilled Fish

2011-07-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Im not a big fish eater but I try to have fish every so often because it really is a good meat for you and has lots of Omega vitamins which is awesome for pregnant women. This is the first time for this recipe and it was really good.

3 Fish fillets (I used tilapia because thats what I always use but the recipe called for halibut)
1/2 Cup melted butter
2 T. Lemon juice
1 T. Garlic Salt
1 teaspoon minced onion flakes
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teas Dill weed
1/4 teas pepper

Combine the butter and seasonings. Let sit 10 minutes. Brush the mixture on the fish and let sit for 20 minutes. Grill on low for 5 minutes then flip over and brush the butter mixture on the other side. Grill another 5 minutes. Repeat until the fish is flaky.

Crockpot Roast

2011-07-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

This is my version of "BEEF STEW". . . You could always add more veggies if you like.

1 Rump Roast or 1 package of beef stew meat (its already chunked)
1/2 package Baby carrots
5 Potatoes, cut into chunks
1 pkg. Onion soup mix
3/4 can Coke

Place roast on bottom of crockpot. Arrange carrots and potatoes around the roast or if you use the beef chunks you can mix them in with the chunks. Rub onion soup mix into the roast or sprinkle over everything. Pour the can of coke over everything. Cook 8 hours on low.
Its always REALLY tender and awesome flavor!
Like I said you could add more veggies like celery or even cabbage would be good!

Green Bean Fries Dip recipe

2011-05-31T12:27:00.001-07:00

This recipe goes with the Green bean fries recipe. Its really yummy and taste just like the dip you get at PF changs. .

1/2 Cup Ranch dressing
1 T. Horseradish
1 teaspoon White vinegar
1 T. Milk
1 or 2 Teaspoons Wasabi powder or sauce (I could only find a paste in a tube at the local grocery but it worked fine! Check in the Asian section)
1/4 teas. Salt (I didnt add it)
Combine together and let sit in the fridge for an hour or so to mix the flavors. You may have to add more wasabi if you like it spicy. But wait til after a bit to add more because it does become more spicy the longer it sits.

Cup Cakes

2011-05-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

We had a end of the year party at church with our class we teach the other night and they wanted cupcakes. So I thought they would enjoy this fun variation on regular white cake mix. Its super simple!

Mix together all the ingredients called for in the cake mix. After its all mixed together divide it into 4 bowls. In each bowl add food coloring. Mix until its the correct shade you want. I wanted mine bright and bold so I added alot of coloring. Drop cake mix in greased muffin pans by spoonful so you have a dollop of each color in each cupcake. Bake as normal.
The kids thought it was so cool to have colors in their cupcake!

Green Bean Fries

2011-04-27T08:58:00.001-07:00

The last post was about making asparagus fries, they were yummy but not as yummy as green bean fries are. The local Wings and Rings has them and serves a bistro sauce with them. Oh so good! I havent figured out how to make the sauce yet but here is the Green bean fries!!

1 bag Frozen Whole Green beans, placed in a strainer and cool water ran over them. Drain

In a bowl combine
1 egg
1/2 cup Milk

In another bowl put 1/2 cup flour

In yet another bowl put
2 Cups bread crumbs or make your own
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder

Place the flour in a ziploc bag is what I found works easiest. Add green beans and shake until all is coated. Next dip the green beans in the egg/milk mixture. Then into the bread crumb mixture. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Or you can Fry them in some oil. I found the last 5 minutes in the oven I had to turn the broil on to make them "crisp" up. When I fried the asparagus in the oil on the stove It only took about 3-5 minutes so I would guess you wouldnt want to fry the green beans any longer then that either.

Asparagus Fries

2011-04-21T08:17:00.003-07:00

These are SOOO good. If you have ever tried green bean fries at Wings and Rings or TGIfridays they are just like those . So good!

10 Asparagus spears, washed and the top trimmed off and cut into small stick pieces
2 Cups crushed crackers with 2 teas Garlic salt mixed in
2 Eggs, stirred

In a saucepan with water bring it to a boil and add the asparagus. Cook 3 minutes. Drain well. Dip asparagus in Eggs and then in crackers. I found that I only put a little crackers on the plate to roll asparagus in at a time. After a few pieces the egg made the crumbs really gooey and they didnt stick to the asparagust anymore. I wasted a bunch of crumbs.
Meanwhile in a skillet fill 1/2 way with oil. Whatever you normally use. I use 1/2 canola oil and 1/2 coconut oil, its less fattening. But whatever peels your banana is fine. :-)
Put the asparagus in the hot oil, your going to have to do it in batches. I didnt time how long I left them in but it wasnt long, maybe 3-4 minutes?? When the crumb batter turns brown take them off. Drain on a paper towel.
Serve with Ranch Dressing!

O'Henry Bars - Healthy edition

2011-03-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Even though Im on a bit of a health kick lately I still have my sweet cravings.I have always had a sweet tooth. It gets me in trouble sometimes!
Anyways, my mother in law gave me this recipe for O'henry bars and I gave them a little healthier twist.

1 Cup Light Corn syrup
1 Cup Sugar
Combine those two in a saucepan and stir, bring to a boil on the stove. Then add
1-1/4 cup Peanut Butter
Stir until combined and peanut butter is melted.
Add 1 Cup Fiber One honey clusters cereal, crushed
and 4 cups Oatmeal
(Now here is where I changed. My mother in laws recipe was for Corn flakes. I usually just add 5 cups oatmeal but tonight I decided to try something else. I think it would be even better to add 2 cups fiber one cereal and 3 cups oatmeal. Add some daily fiber! I only had 1 cups worth or else I would have added more)
Stir until all the cereal/oatmeal is covered. Pour into a greased 10X15 pan. Smooth out and press down into the pan. Let cool a few minutes.
Melt 1 Package of Chocolate chips in the microwave and spread on top of the bars. Let cool.

Favorite smoothie

2011-03-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite smoothie recipe!! Lots of vitamins!!

1 Handful of spinach
1/2 banana
1/4 cup POM pomegranate juice
1/4 Cup Orange pineapple juice
1/2 Cup blueberries
1/2 Cup Mango chunks

Combine all in a blender and blend. You can add more juice or some water if its too thick.

Smoothies

2011-03-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

Todays post is dedicated to smoothies! In a effort to get more veggies and fruit in my day I have started having a smoothie for my lunch. Its been quite effective. I mix veggies in so I get at least one serving of veggies. You cant taste them at all!! Its been good to get Kianna her veggies to because she hates veggies except for peas. I make my smoothie then whatever is left in the blender I mix half with water and put it in a sippy with a straw. That way its runny but she gets her veggies and fruit. Here is my favorite mixes so far. . . . .

Strawberry/Avocado
I hate avocado but i couldnt taste it at all in this! Avocado is a excellent vitamin filled veggie!!
This makes 2 glasses
1 Cup frozen strawberries
1 Avocado chunked
3/4 cup juice (i use mango orange but any will do)
1/3 banana
Combine all items in the blender. Add more water or juice if its too thick for you yet.

Cottage Cheese/berry
This one is yummy! The cottage cheese adds protein and it makes it taste kinda like cream cheese. So it was a berry cheesecake!
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 cup blueberries
1/2 banana
3/4 cup juice
handful spinach leaves
Mix all together in blender. Add more juice or water until its the right consistency for you.

Bread machine pizza crust

2011-02-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is another pizza crust recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. I was searching for a quick pizza crust for supper and found this one for breadmachine. It was super easy and really good. It made 1- 15'' round pizza pan.
I also added a few dashes of garlic powder, basil and oregano to the bread machine before it mixes.

Pizza Crust

7/8 cup warm water

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons white sugar

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

1.	Add ingredients in the order suggested by your manufacturer. Set bread-maker for dough setting and start machine. When the unit signals, remove dough.
2.	Pat dough into 12x15-inch jelly roll pan or greased 12-inch round pizza pan. Let stand 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Spread pizza sauce over dough. Sprinkle toppings over sauce. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Easy chicken salad sandwiches

2011-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

This is a quick recipe for fast lunches if you have cooked chicken meat in the fridge.
This recipe made 2 sandwiches.
1 chicken breast, cooked and cut into small chunks
8 Grapes, cut into 4ths
3 Tablespoons Ranch dressing
2 squirts lemon juice
1 T. Parsley flakes
Combine all ingredients. Serve on lightly toasted bread or crackers.

Veggie Soup with bite

2010-12-27T10:16:00.000-08:00

This is a new twist on Veggie soup. It has just enough zip to it. This recipe is for a 6 qt pot.

1/2 of the pot filled with water
6 Beef Bouillon cubes
1 Can Tomato sauce
1 Can Tomatoes & Green chili's
1/2 head of Cabbage , chopped
1 Bag Mixed vegetables, frozen
2 Celery stalks, chopped
Mix together in a pot the water, beef cubes, tomato sauce and celery. Bring to a boil and add tomatos and green chilis, cabbage and mixed veggies. Cook on medium for 1/2 hour at least. I let mine simmer for 2 hours. Oh yum!!!

Loaded potato soup

2010-12-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

I dont have any photos because lets face it I am a mom, to a toddler. When I have time to cook supper I dont have alot of extra time to take photos. But I assure you its yummy! I got the original recipe from my friend Casondra but I tweeked the recipe a bit to fit our taste. I love it!!

So here is the recipe, WITH my tweeks

2 LARGE potatoes, shredded or small bag of hashbrowns, cook until soft, drain.
3/4 small box Velvetta cheese
Onion flakes, few dashes
2 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 Sausage link, the long ones, cut into slices then into small chunks
4 oz Sour Cream
Mix all together in a Pot on the stove and add half milk and half water until everything is covered. Cook on medium until cheese is melted. Then add 1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese. Stir til melted.

Turkey Cranberry Wreath

2010-11-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite way to use up leftover turkey. Its fairly simple and packs alot of flavor. The cranberries add a unexpected tartness.

2 Cresent Roll tubes
2 Cups turkey, shredded or chopped
1/2 Cup Cranberries, chopped
1/4 Cup chopped Celery
1/2 Cup Mayo
2 Tablespoons Mustard
1 Cup Shredded cheese
2 Tablespoons Parsley
On a baking sheet lay out cresent rolls so that the tips are pointing out. Combine all the other ingredients together and spoon out onto the center of the cresent roll braid. Now over lap the tips of the cresent rolls over the filling so it makes a braid look. Brush with a egg white and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Cinnamon Pretzels

2010-11-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

My cousin Abby posted this recipe on facebook and I thought why not try it? It was shockingly good. A very different combination but very good. I tweeked the recipe a bit so its not exactly like the one she had linked to. I plan to use it for christmas gifts for our neighbors this year instead of making a ton of cookies.

1 16oz bag of pretzels
2/3 Cup Oil (I use canola oil but you can use any kind of veggie oil)
1/2 cup Sugar
2 T. Cinnamon
In a large bowl combine oil, sugar and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Pour whole bag of pretzels in the bowl. Stir until all the pretzels are covered. Place in a flat cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 15 minutes. Stir pretzels and bake another 15 minutes. Let cool and store in air tight containers.

Sweet potato fries & Fish

2010-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sweet Potatoes are so much healthier then regular potatoes and they actually make really good fries. The other night I also used them to make baked potatoes and they were yummy!!

Sweet potato Fries
2 medium size sweet potatoes, peeled
2 T. Olive oil
1 teaspoon Seasoning salt
few dashes salt
few dashes pepper

Cut the sweet potatoes into strips fry size. Put in a bowl, pour olive on, put lid on and shake to coat. Put the rest of the seasonings in and shake again. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Turning every 5-8 minutes.

Fish
2 Fish fillets- we used cod cause it was on sale but I usually use tilapia, I think it taste better
1/4 cup orange juice
1 T. Lemon juice
few dashes lemon pepper seasoning
1 garlic clove crushed or 1 teas. garlic powder
In a ziploc bag place fish fillets inside and add all the remaining ingredients. Shake bag to cover all fish pieces well. Place in fridge to marinate at least 30 minutes. We usually cook them on the grill. If you do them on the grill place some aluminum foil down first. Cook them about 15 minutes. Flipping them twice. If you do them in the oven pour fish and marinade in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Fall Menu!!!

2010-10-04T05:54:00.001-07:00

Its fall!!! And that means its time for soup and pumpkin!! The first recipe is for Chili soup. This is a new recipe I tried, its a knock off of Wendy's chili recipe. I liked it, its really spicy/zippy so if you dont like spicy I would suggest not adding a few things. . Ill mention them in the recipe
Chili
1/2 # Ground meat (I used ground turkey but you can use ground beef)
1 can Tomato sauce
1 can Green chilis (I would only use 1/2 can of these if you dont like spicy)
1 can Kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
1 teaspoon Chili powder
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 teaspoon Cumin

Brown meat in a skillet until cooked. Add 1/2 package of taco seasoning mix. In a saucepan combine all the other ingredients and add the meat. Cook on medium low for 2 hours or so. Serve with Shredded cheese.

Fall also means PUMPKIN!! I love pumpkin! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. Its called
Pumpkin Fluff Dip
8 oz Pumpkin
1/2 carton of Cool whip
1/2 box of vanilla instant pudding mix
Combine together and add some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or both. Chill a few hours. Serve with Graham crackers and apple slices.

Another recipe I tried this week was this Pumpkin cake for my moms birthday.
Its a really easy recipe and it taste very good.
Pumpkin Spice Cake
1 box Spice cake mix
12 oz. Pumpkin
3 eggs
Mix together and pour into a greased cake pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

And last but not least-
Pumpkin Pie Latte
In a saucepan on the stove add 1/2 cup milk,1 T sugar, few drops vanilla and 1 T pumpkin pie spice. Cook on low until it gets steamy. Meanwhile make 1 very strong cup of coffee using your favorite coffee. When the milk mixture is steaming pour it into a blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Pour coffee into the bottom of a coffee mug and pour blended milk on top. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Enjoy!

Baby Food

2010-08-31T11:17:00.001-07:00

I have been making Kianna's baby food for a while now and Thought I would share a few recipes/combos I use. The main concept to making baby food is to blend the foods to a puree. If they are harder foods like apples, pears, carrots you steam them for a few minutes until they are soft. Chicken is also cooked before blending of course.

BananaCado
1 Banana, cut into 3 chunks
1 Avacado, cut into chunks
Enough water to blend
Blend together til smooth. Freeze in Ice cube trays until solid. Place in freezer safe containers.Freeze.

Kiwi Strawberry
2 Kiwi- Peeled and chunked
6 Strawberries
Enough water to blend.
Blend until smooth. Freeze in Ice cube trays until solid.

Pumpkin Pie
1 Can Pumpkin (I use homemade canned pumpkin but a store bought works too)
1 Cup Vanilla yogurt
Dash or 2 of Cinnamon
Blend together in blender. Freeze in Ice cube trays.

Chicken Applesauce
1 Cup Cooked Chicken
3/4 Cup Applesauce
Blend in Blender with enough water to blend. Freeze.

Pear Raspberry
2 pears, cut into quarters and steamed until soft.
1/2 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen
Blend together with enough water to blend. Freeze

Sweet Potato Greenbeans
2 Small Sweet potatoes, chunked and cooked until tender
1 Cup Green beans, Cooked
Blend together with water until smooth. Freeze.

Peach Mango
2 Peaches, chunked
1 Mango, Chunked
Blend both together with water til smooth. Freeze.

Pear Peach
2 Pears, Chunked and cooked until tender
2 Peaches, Chunked
Blend together with water until smooth. Freeze.

Strawberry Banana
1 banana, chunked
6 Strawberries
Blend together with a little yogurt and some water. Freeze.

Plum Applesauce
1 Cup Applesauce
2 Plums, cut into chunks
Blend together. Freeze.

Chicken Pumpkin and Carrots
1 Can Pumpkin
6 Baby Carrots, cooked until tender
1/2 Cup Cooked Chicken
Blend together until smooth. Freeze.

Pot Roast
1/2 Cup cooked Roast meat
2 Potatoes, cooked and cubed
8 Baby Carrots, cooked
Blend together with water until smooth. Freeze.

You can also add cleaned Uncooked Spinach to any of these blends while blending it to add extra nutrients to them. You cant taste the spinach at all.

Apple Pancake Fluff

2010-08-31T11:12:00.001-07:00

The original recipe for this calls for apples but this time I decided to mix it up a bit and do apples and blueberries. It was amazing!

First Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in a 9X13 baking pan in a oven at 350. Once melted place 3 medium sizes apples that have been diced up in the pan.(add blueberries here too if you choose to) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar over apples.
In a blender mix together
6 Eggs
1-1/2 Cups milk
1 Cup flour
1 T. Vanilla
Sprinkle Cinnamon
1/4 Cup sugar

Blend together until smooth. Pour over apples. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Serve with Maple Syrup.

Pizza Crust

2010-08-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

I got this pizza crust recipe from a friend at church and its so easy. You can find her original post here but Ill post the recipe on here also for you. I didnt take photos because I didnt bake mine yet. I made a double batch and made them into 3 small pizza's and will freeze them to bake later for a easy meal. This dough freezes well, I have done it a few times now and it always bakes up nice.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 c. warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 pkg. (I Tbsp.) dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Combine 1/4 c. of the water with the yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, and let stand until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Put the flour, oil and salt into the bowl and process about 5 seconds with a steel blade. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and process about 10 seconds, or until blended. Turn on the processor and drizzle just enough of the remaining water(I had to use almost 1 cup of water here for each batch) through the feed tube so the dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl. Process so the ball turns around about 25 times. Put the dough ball onto a 14-inch greased pizza pan or lg. cookie sheet (we use a pizza stone, so we just put the dough ball in a greased mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap). Let stand 10 minutes. Pat dough out so that it covers the pan, leaving a ridge on the edges. Spread with sauce and add toppings.
(I also add basil and garlic powder in when I am mixing in the processor and it adds some flavor to the crust)

Ham loaf

2010-08-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

I love this! Its my go to recipe. I always double it and make 3 medium sized loaves and freeze the other 2 for later easy meals. (I freeze before baking it)

1/2# Sausage- I use Jimmy dean mild but I guess if you like a little spice you can use hot sausage or italian sausage
1/2 # Shredded cooked ham
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Cracker crumbs
1/2 teas Salt
1/4 teas Pepper
Mix together all ingredients. Divide into the size loaves you would like.(Here is where you would freeze it, then when you take it out let it thaw in the fridge 8 hours or you can bake it right away if your short on time, just allow more baking time. ) Cover with this sauce:
1/8 Cup vinegar
1/4 Cup Brown sugar
1 T. Mustard
mix together and pour over ham loaf in a greased pan. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350.

Homemade Graham Crackers

2010-08-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I added a few shakes of Cinnamon to give them a little flavor. I cut them into long sticks because Kianna is the primary one that eats them in our house and this way its easier for her to hold. But you can cut them into square, use cookie cutters, whatever!
1/2 cup shortening 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 Cup All purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup milk

	In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough until firm.
	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles. Place 1/2 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
	Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Zucchini Chips

2010-07-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

These are sooooo good!!! I made them last night. A much healthier alternative to Potato chips for this salt junky!

2 Medium size Zucchinis, sliced into chips
2 pieces of bread, toasted and made into crumbs, very fine
1 T. Garlic Salt
1 T. Seasoned salt
1 Egg white
Put egg white in a bowl and combine all the other ingredients in another bowl. Dunk zucchini chips into egg white and then into the crumb mixture. Lay on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 10 minutes, flipping them every few minutes and checking them.

Granola Bars Perfected

2010-07-23T15:14:00.001-07:00

I think I posted a recipe for granola bars on here before but this is the perfected version.

4-1/2 Cups Quick oats
1 Cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick + 1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/4 Cup Brown sugar

Mix all together and add whatever you would like to it. This batch I added chocolate chips and almonds. Next batch Im going to try adding peanuts and peanut butter chips. You can add raisins and add some cinnamon, or craisins, dried bluberries, raisins. . .etc.

Now the SECRET is to mash down everything into a greased 9X13'' pan and pressed down hard! Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Then as soon as you pull it out of the oven mash it down again with the bottom of a glass. Otherwise you will just have granola, they wont stay in a bar shape.
When totally cool, cut into bars.

Steak Rub

2010-07-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

I made this last night and man was it good!! But I forgot to take a photo!! Sigh, I know. I got to start taking photos of the food!!

I got the original recipe at Pioneer Woman Recipes. Its really good! Pioneer lady always has a lot of great photos too!!

I didnt pan cook mine though. I mixed together the rub mixture and rubbed it on the steaks and let them sit in the fridge for a few minutes til the grill was heated. Then Just grilled them on low heat for about 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients

2 pieces (about 8 Oz. Each) Ribeye Steak
1 Tablespoon Lawry's Seasoning Salt
3 Tablespoons Lemon And Pepper Seasoning
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter

Preparation Instructions

Mix the seasonings all together in a small bowl to create a rub and massage into your steaks.

Bring a skillet to a medium heat and add olive oil and butter. Get these two nice and hot until the butter is beginning to brown. With tongs, set the steak right onto the sizzling butter/oil mixture.

Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side and then flip and turn the heat down to a medium-low to finish off the cooking. Cooking it for about 2 ½ minutes on the second side will result in a medium-rare piece of meat. Alter your cooking time a little to achieve a steak that is a little less pink in the center. Let steak rest for a couple minutes before digging in.

Mayo Chicken

2010-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, sounds gross, but dont knock it til you try it!! Even if you dont like mayo you will like this! You cant taste the mayo at all.

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/8 Cup Soy sauce
2 Chicken breast or 4 chicken strips

Combine mayo and soy sauce in a bowl. In a ziploc bag place chicken breast in it and pour mayo & soy sauce mix over. Zip bag closed and shake bag to coat chicken. Let marinate for 4-6 hours. Place on grill and grill for 10 minutes on each side. I sprinkled the chicken with some garlic salt and I think it needed it! Grill until no longer pink inside.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

2010-04-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from 365 days of Slow cooking. Its SOOO good!!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (divided. this is important, don't just start dumping, read on!)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water

Use a 4-quart slow cooker coated well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder.In the microwave, melt peanut butter for about 30 seconds, and then add to the mix along with milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir really well to combine.Spread this mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker.

In a separate bowl, mix together cocoa powder, the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 cup boiling water (be careful!) Pour this evenly over the peanut butter batter in your cooker.
Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours, or until the top has set and an inserted toothpick (into the cake--underneath the cake is molten chocolate) comes out clean. Let the cake sit uncovered in an unplugged crockpot for about 20 minutes, then serve warm in dessert bowls.

I have a 6 qt crockpot so I set a glass over safe 4 qt dish inside my crockpot. It worked well.

Baby Food Recipes

2010-04-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

I decided to make my own baby food for Ki instead of buying it since its 1) not healthy in the cans with all kinds of yucky stuff added 2) expensive .
So I read up and started making my own. . . . The basic concept is to cook the foods that need to be cooked until they are tender and then stick in a blender with some water/liquid. Blend til smooth but not too watery. Then pour into a Ice cube tray and freeze. When froze pop out and store in ziploc bags or tupperware containers. I usually use 2 or 3 cubes per meal for Ki. Each cube is about 1 oz of food.
So far I have done Pears, Apples, Green beans, Peas, Sweet potatoes. She HATES peas so I wont be doing those anymore but her favorites are pears and sweet potatoes.
She likes banana but its hard to blend that and freeze cause it turns brown. I usually just mash it as she eats it.
Another thing you can try is mashed avocado. No need to cook it, just cut it up and ,mash it/blend it and serve. Its another one that turns brown so its not great to save. BUT i have read that if you pour a bit of lemon juice in it its better OR you can slice the avocado and freeze it in slices then just pull out one slice and mash it to use. Be careful if you decide to mash it and add lemon juice to preserve it because citrus is sometimes hard for babies to digest. Ki doesnt like avocado either so I havent tried any of this.

Grilled Asparagus

2010-04-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

I have never had asparagus before but while grocery shopping yesterday i found it is pretty cheap for a bunch so I got some. I placed some in a plastic ziploc bag and poured in a little olive oil. Not too much just enough to coat. Then sprinkle it with salt and garlic powder. Shake to coat. I let it sit in the fridge for about 1 hour then stuck it on the grill with our steaks for lunch.
I think they grilled about 15-20 minutes, I turned them about every 5-7 minutes. They were really yummy!! Dont go too heavy on the salt though, I thought mine was a bit salty.

7up Chicken

2010-04-12T14:11:00.001-07:00

REALLY GOOD grilled but can be cook on the stovetop too.

2 Chicken Breast or 4 Chicken breast strips
1 Can 7up
1 T. Garlic Salt
2 T. Soy sauce

In a ziploc bag place chicken in it and pour in 1/2 can 7up and soy sauce. Sprinkle garlic salt in and shake it to coat. Place in fridge and marinate for at least 6 hours. Place chicken on grill. Mix up the rest of the 7up and 1 teas soy sauce in a baster or a small bowl and sprinkle/brush over chicken every 10 minutes. Cook until no longer pink or however you prefer your chicken.
To cook on stovetop Place thawed chicken in skillet and pour sprite and soy sauce in pan. sprinkle chicken with garlic salt. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes on each side.

Condensed Mushroom Soup recipe

2010-03-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a great recipe to make your own condensed cream of mushroom soup. I just made some and I made the recipe x4 and made 4 "can" size. (a can is 1-1/2 cups) So I now have 4 "cans" of soup in the freezer to use in recipes instead of buying cans! I froze them in bowls and popped them out and stuck them all in a ziploc bag in the freezer.
It cost around $.40 per "can size" to make this if you use real milk. I used powdered milk and mixed it with water simply because I am out of milk and didnt realize it til I had already started. Lol. So it would be even less im sure if you use powdered milk.

1 tbsp. butter

3 tbsp. flour

1/2 cup any broth (I used a beef bouillon cube to make mine)

1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)

mushrooms, chopped and sauteed (how ever much you desire)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Melt butter in a saucepan over Med-Low heat.

Stir in flour a little at a time until smooth, then remove from heat.

Add broth and milk a little at a time, stirring to keep mixture smooth. Then, stir in mushrooms.

Return to heat and bring sauce to a gentle boil; stir constantly until sauce thickens.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

My go to chicken recipe & Special Grilled cheese

2010-03-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has a "go to recipe" that they default back to if they cant think of anything else to make. Well, here is mine. Its fairly simple and really good.

Lemon Garlic Chicken
4 Chicken breast
1 cup Chicken broth (or 1 cup water & 2 bullion cubes)
1/4 cup Lemon juice
3 T Parsley flakes
1 T. Lemon pepper seasoning
1 T. Minced garlic or 1 garlic clove minced

In a skillet mix together broth, lemon juice, parsley, lemon pepper and garlic. Stir to mix. Place chicken in the skillet. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes then flip chicken and cook another 10 minutes. Poke chicken with a fork or cut a piece in half with a knife to make sure its cooked through. Serve with Rice.

Also, I like to make my grilled chicken a bit special so its not so blah.
So when I butter my bread before frying them I sprinkle a little garlic powder and italian seasoning on the buttered side of each piece of bread. Fry like normal.

Warm Delights Rave

2010-03-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

These are amazing.. which shocked me since they are packaged. BUT they arent pre made and in the cups already. They are actually little packages of brownie mix and you add water and mix, then pour the included package of caramel on top, microwave for 30 sec and let sit for 2 minutes. AHHH So good. Honestly it doesnt taste like its from a box at all.
Not the best for you Im sure but when you NEED chocolate cake these work wonders. .

Hot Chicken/Rice Salad

2010-03-01T17:44:00.001-08:00

This is yum yum yum!! And its hot as in temp wise, not spicy hot. Its so yummy served with Peas and Applesauce.

2 Cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 Cups Rice, Cooked
1/2 Cup chopped celery
1/4 Cup Slivered almonds
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 T. Lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together and stir until combined. Dump into a greased baking dish.(I used a 9'' pie dish) Crush about 1/2 tube of crackers and melt 1/4 stick of butter and pour butter over crushed crackers. Combine with your fingers until just moistened. Sprinkle crumbs over casserole. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until bubbly.
I used more like 1/2 cup of almonds cause I love them and I like crunch in my casserole. And the time to bake it isnt long enough to make the celery soft, they are still nice an crunchy too. If you dont like crunchy celery you may want to bake it a bit longer then.

Here is a good recipe to make your own Cream of Chicken soup instead of buying the canned. Its healthier for you too Im sure. . Although I dont very often make it, I confess I buy it cause I just dont have time to make my own most of the time.

Chicken soup

2010-01-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

This is such a good soup! I made it yesterday and its so easy really and really yummy!! Go here to
Pioneer Woman
to see photos of it and the full recipe instructions.
*tip* The recipe below is Pioneer womans. When I made it I didnt use the pimentos or the food coloring. And I used a red pepper instead of a green pepper and I added chopped carrots to it also.

Ingredients

1 cup (before Cooking) White Rice
2 whole Chicken Breasts
8 pieces (to 10) Chicken Bouillon Cubes
2 quarts (plus 2 Cups) Water
¼ cups Onion
¼ cups Green Bell Pepper
¼ cups Pimento (drained)
¼ cups Celery
6 Tablespoons Butter
4 Tablespoons Flour
Yellow Food Coloring

Preparation Instructions

Cook up some rice. Wash two whole chicken breasts (skin, bones and all) and place them in a pot; cover with 2 quarts of water. Add 8-10 bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook until chicken is done, about twenty minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool for a few minutes. Cut all the meat from the bones and chop into bite-sized pieces.Drain the can of pimentos. Finely dice the vegetables. In a skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. When it is all melted, make a roux by adding 4 tablespoons of flour. Stir until thickened and then add it to the pot of chicken broth. Stir well.In a skillet, melt another few tablespoons of butter and throw in all of the diced veggies. Stir, then add the chicken. Sprinkle with a dash or two of salt. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the chicken mixture to the broth.Add in the cooked rice. (You can vary the amount of rice based on your preferences). Add in 2 to 3 drops of yellow food coloring.Ladle into a bowl. Enjoy!

Spanish Rice

2010-01-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

Brown #1 hamburger with 1/2 cup chopped onion. (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup chopped Green peppers too but I didnt have any). Also, Boil 2 cups worth of minute rice in a separate pan.
While those are cooking combine in a bowl
1 can Kidney beans, UNDRAINED
1 can Cream of mushroom soup
1 can Tomato soup
1/2 pkg Taco seasoning mix

Drain hamburger and rice and add to mixture.

Stir well and place in a oven safe dish or 8X10 pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes or so. (i actually only stir it at the 1/2 hour mark then again right before the timer goes off. )
Serve with Shredded cheese, salsa, Sour cream & Chips.

Rave

2010-01-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

These are AMAZING. A bit expensive at $3.75 a bag at CVS but oh so yummy! Really good with spinach dip or just plain.

Chick-fil-A sandwich

2010-01-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

(recipe from Recipezaar.com)
(photo from chickfila.com)

3 cups oil
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon salt
2 boneless chicken breasts, halved

In a small bowl, beat egg and stir in milk.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar, pepper and salt.
Dip each piece of chicken in milk mixture until moistened.
Roll chicken in flour mix until completely coated.
Fry in oil until chicken is golden brown.
Serve with grilled buttered buns and pickles.
Make 4 sandwiches.
You can cut chicken into bite size pieces and make chicken nuggets. They are great too!

WHAT I DID:
I didnt have whole chicken breast, just strips so i made 4 strips which was equal to 2 whole breast. I think it was even better that way cause they were more like chicken fingers and we dipped them in honey mustard sauce.
And one thing i did as people on the recipe site said to do was marinate the chicken in dill pickle juice before coating with the flour and stuff. I let my frozen breast strips thaw in the fridge a few hours then placed them in a ziploc bag with 1/4 cup pickle juice. Shake bag to make sure its all soaked. Let sit for 30 minutes. I turned the bag every few minutes to make sure it was all covered. Then dump out and proceed with instructions. TOTALLY makes the taste!!!

Pioneer woman cookbook

2010-01-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

Pioneer Woman Cookbook ON SALE FOR $11.50 on amazon !!!!
Check it out.

Green living part 1- Uses for vinegar

2009-12-30T14:06:00.000-08:00

Vinegar for personal care
Vinegar in the bath. Add one-half cup of vinegar or so to warm bath water when bathing and get double benefits: softer skin and a cleaner bathtub with less work!
Hair conditioner. Vinegar makes a simple, inexpensive conditioner for your hair and helps remove the sticky stuff shampoo can leave behind. About a tablespoon will do it.
Dandruff treatment. Simply pour a few tablespoons of vinegar on your hair and massage into your scalp. Wait a few minutes, then rinse and wash hair like normal. Try this for a few days until you see results.
Weight loss. Vinegar naturally helps to remove fat from the body. Apple cider vinegar is especially good for this. Drink some in a glass of water a few times a day. Add a little lemon or honey for a nicer flavor. This will also help reduce your appetite.
Dry skin repair. Smooth a little vinegar on cracked, dried skin to help it heal.
Clean dentures. Soak dentures overnight in Heinz White Vinegar, then brush away tartar with a toothbrush.
Facial spritzer. Mix apple cider vinegar and water in a 1:1 ratio in a spray bottle. Refreshing!
Hair cleanser. Use one cup of vinegar in some warm water to rinse your hair after you shampoo. Vinegar adds highlights to brunette hair, restores the acid mantle and removes soap film and sebum oil.

Vinegar for cleaning
Glass cleaner. Mixed with water or simply sprayed full strength on glass and mirrors, vinegar does a great job quickly and easily. Spray on and wipe windows dry with crumpled-up newspapers, and watch your windows sparkle.
Bathroom cleaner. dilute 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. put in spray bottle and spray bathtub, sink, toilet..etc.
Car cleaner. Use vinegar full strength to polish car chrome with a cloth, and see it shine! Use it on your car’s windshield and windows, too.
Clean drinking glasses. Soak cloudy drinking glasses in warmed white vinegar for a few hours to remove the film. Simply wipe clean, rinse and dry.
Clean the washer. Periodically run a gallon of distilled vinegar through your washing machine to clean it thoroughly, get rid of soap scum and clear out the hoses. Run the machine through the warm water wash cycle empty and then add the vinegar during the rinse cycle.
Furniture polish. Make your own furniture polish with one part vinegar and three parts lemon oil or olive oil.
Remove price tags or stickers. Paint stickers with several coats of vinegar and let it soak in. Depending what you are removing them off, most will slide off easily but some may require a little heavier rubbing.
Clean the iron. Pour vinegar into your iron’s water compartment and let the iron steam itself clean. Remember to flush it with water when you are done.
Clean paintbrushes. Simmer paint brushes in pure vinegar, then wash in hot soapy water.
Wash walls. Wipe down your walls with a vinegar-water mixture, which helps absorb odors and clean surfaces.
Remove spots from glass. Use a vinegar-soaked cloth to remove spots from glassware or crystal.
Unclog drains. Pour boiling white vinegar down clogged drains to remove the clog.
Clean jars. Remove odors and stains from jars by cleaning them out with vinegar.
Clean old lunchboxes. Soak a piece of bread in vinegar and let it sit in the lunchbox overnight.
Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal. Make vinegar ice cubes and feed them down the disposal. After grinding, run cold water.
Clean the tea pot. Boil a mixture of water and vinegar in the teapot. Wipe away the grime.
Clean the dishwasher. Run a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build-up on the inner mechanisms and on glassware.
Clean the microwave. Boil a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. This mixture will loosen splattered-on food and deodorize the microwave.
Remove smoke smells from clothing. Add a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.
Clean eyeglasses. Wipe each lens with a drop of vinegar.
Remove stains from furniture and upholstery. Remove stubborn stains from furniture upholstery and clothes. Apply Heinz White Vinegar directly to the stain, then wash as directed by the manufacturer’s instructions.
Natural air deodorizer. Heinz Vinegar is a natural air freshener when sprayed in a room.
Remove rust. Soak the rusted tool, bolt or spigot overnight in undiluted Heinz White Vinegar.
Clean the toilet bowl. Pour in one cup of Heinz White Vinegar, let stand for five minutes and flush.
Brighten fabrics. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Natural cleaning wipes. A cloth soaked with vinegar sanitizes kitchen counters, stove and bathroom surfaces. This is just as effective as antibacterial products and does not promote resistant strains of bacteria like commercial products can. This is also a cheaper and greener way to protect your loved ones.
Remove lint from laundry. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Remove grease from suede. Dip a toothbrush in vinegar and gently brush over grease spot.
Remove perspiration stains from clothing. Apply one part vinegar to four parts water, then rinse.
Clean coffee or tea stains from china. A mixture of salt and vinegar will clean coffee and tea stains from chinaware.
Clean coffeepots and coffee makers. Vinegar can help to dissolve mineral deposits that collect in automatic drip coffee makers. Fill the reservoir with vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle. Rinse thoroughly with water when the cycle is finished.
Longer-lasting pantyhose. Add one tablespoon of vinegar to the rinse water when washing, and your pantyhose will last longer.

Vinegar for food and cooking
Cheese storage. Cheese will last longer if you store it in a vinegar-soaked cloth.
Whiter cauliflower. Add a teaspoon or so of white vinegar to your cooking water while cooking cauliflower. It will retain a whiter color.
Stretch ketchup. Only have a little ketchup left in the bottle? Add a bit of vinegar and give it a good shake — you’ll have a bit more!
Boiling eggs. Add a bit of white vinegar to the water you’re boiling your eggs in, and the shells won’t crack.
Cooking cabbage. Add a bit of vinegar to the water you’re cooking your cabbage in to remove that stinky cabbage smell.
Fluffier meringues. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar for every three egg whites, and you’ll have fluffier meringues.
Tenderize meat. Soak in vinegar overnight.
Unsticky rice. To cook rice without sticking, add a spoonful of vinegar.
Remove onion odors. Eliminate onion odor on your skin by rubbing vinegar on your fingers before and after slicing.
Disinfect and clean cutting boards. Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards by wiping with full-strength vinegar.
Make buttermilk. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk and let it stand five minutes to thicken.

Vinegar for gardening and yard care
Clean clay pots. Remove white salt buildup on old clay pots by soaking them in full-strength vinegar.
Kill grass. Undiluted vinegar kills grass between bricks and sidewalk cracks.
Kill weeds. Spray full strength on weeds, but be careful not to spray it on the surrounding grass because it will kill that, too.
Deter ants. Spray vinegar around doors, appliances and along other areas where ants are known to gather.
Keep cats away. Sprinkle vinegar in areas you don’t want the cat walking, sleeping or scratching.
Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.

Vinegar for health care
Soothe sore throats. Suffering from a sore throat? Mix a teaspoon of vinegar with a glass of water. Gargle with the mixture and then swallow.
Remove calluses. Try soaking your feet in a combination of white vinegar and warm water nightly, and watch your feet soften noticeably.
Sunburn and bee stings. Soak a washcloth in vinegar and gently apply it to sunburned skin for cool relief. Reapply as needed as it evaporates. Besides sunburn, vinegar also soothes the itch and irritation of bee stings.
Arthritis tonic. Take two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water several times a day.
Jellyfish stings. Dot the irritation with vinegar to relieve itching.
Sinus infections and head colds. Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer.
Wart removal. Mix one part Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar to one part glycerin into a lotion, and apply daily to warts until they dissolve.
Soothe an upset stomach. Drink two teaspoons of Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar in one cup of water to soothe an upset stomach.
Mosquito bites. Use a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with Heinz Vinegar straight from the bottle.

Vinegar for pets and animals
Pet drinking water. Add a teaspoon of vinegar to your pet’s drinking water to encourage a shinier coat and reduce odor.
Remove skunk odor. Use vinegar straight to remove skunk odor from your pet’s fur.
Stop your cat’s scratching furniture. Sprinkle or spray vinegar on areas you don’t want the cat scratching.
Fish bowl cleaner. Eliminate that ugly deposit in the gold fish tank by rubbing it with a cloth dipped in vinegar and rinsing well.
Remove pet stains from carpets. Blot up urine with a soft cloth, flush several times with lukewarm water, and then apply a mixture of equal parts vinegar and cool water. Blot up, rinse and let dry.

Red velvet cake balls

2009-12-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

I didnt get a chance to take photos the day I made these because I was hurrying to try to get them done before Kianna woke up from her nap. But if you go here she has great photos of how she made them.
Red velvet cake balls
(although they can be made with any flavor of cake mix)
1 box red velvet cake mix
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 pkg. almond bark chocolate to melt

Mix and bake red velvet cake mix according to box. Let cake cool completely then tear apart into a mixing bowl. Mix in a can of cream cheese frosting. I had to use my hands to get it all mixed together good. Shape into balls either by hand or you can use a cookie scoop. Place each ball on wax paper in a cookie sheet. I froze them for a 1/2 hour or so to make them more solid. Then remove from freezer. Melt chocolate and drop balls into it a few at a time. Make sure they are coated. Remove from chocolate with a fork or slotted spoon so access chocolate drains off. Place on wax paper and let sit 5 minutes or until hardened. Store in fridge for 1 week.

TIPS ON MELTING CHOCOLATE:
I used white almond bark chocolate. I melted 3 of the blocks at a time and did it in the microwave for 1 minute at a time on 20% power. I think it took me 5 times @ 1 minute to get them melted. I found that melting a small amount like 3 blocks instead of the whole package at a time was easier and I didnt waste any chocolate by it getting hard before dipping all the balls.

Sweet'n sour Chicken

2009-12-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

This is so easy and fast to prepare, I love my crockpot especially since i have a baby and not alot of time to cook.....

Sweet and Sour Chicken
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-8 oz. bottle Catalina salad dressing
1 envelope dry mix onion soup
10 oz jar apricot preserves

Place chicken breasts in your slow cooker. Pour remaining ingredients on top of chicken. No need to mix. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low.

Oyster Crackers

2009-12-11T18:54:00.001-08:00

These are really good. I been eating them all evening. . .Yes, i tell ya the after baby weight is not coming off very fast this way!! What I did/would do different from the recipe is I used 2 packages of oyster crackers that were 10 oz each, used 1 cup of oil and the rest I did exactly like the recipe. It was perfect. I would think 3/4 cup of oil for 1 bag of crackers would be too much oil but thats just me thinking.

Ranch Oyster Crackers

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (12 ounce) package oyster crackers

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).In a mixing bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, ranch-style dressing mix, dill weed, lemon pepper and garlic powder. Pour this spice mixture over the crackers in a medium bowl, and stir until the crackers are coated. Arrange the crackers on a large baking sheet.Bake in the preheated 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes

Coming up next week sometime. . . . Red Velvet Cake Truffles

Party Mix

2009-12-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is so good, I have used this recipe for years! I add different items to it each year depending on what I want at the time. . .

Seasoning Mix:
1 Cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup butter
2 T. Worchestershire sauce
1 teas. Garlic salt
1 teas. seasoning salt
1/2 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
mix together and pour over the party mix. Divide into cookie sheets and bake at 250 for 2 hours stirring every 15 minutes.

Now you can add just about anything you want....The original recipe calls for
1 box cheerios
1 box chex
1 bag pretzels
1 small can nuts or peanuts
1 box cheezits or cheese nips
1 box honeycomb cereal

I vary it all the time though. I have added a bag of oyster crackers, or a bag of cheetos, or a box of bugles in place of something . OR if you like one item alot you could do 2 bags or box of something instead of something else.

SHrimp & Rice Casserole

2009-12-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

This is really good! I got the recipe from kellys recipe blog and my dear husband made it last night and oh man!! LOVE IT.

Paula Deen Shrimp & Rice casserole

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) package wild rice
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (10 3/4-ounce can) condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
Salt and pepper

Directions

Cook the rice according to package directions minus 1/4 cup water. Drain and cool.

Bring 2 cups water and 1/2 tablespoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook the shrimp for 1 minute. Drain immediately and set aside.

Heat the butter in saucepan and saute the pepper and onion until soft, about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the rice, soup, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, shrimp and vegetables. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well. Spray a 9-inch square aluminum cake pan or an 11 by 7-inch glass casserole dish with vegetable spray. Place the mixture in the pan and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-10-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today I made some cinnamon rolls from This Cooking site. She has some great recipes and everything I have made from her turns out great.
The only thing I did differently was I made my own cresent roll recipe instead of using store bought. They turned out really good. I made them small like her's and I have to say they baked much better than my recipe did. Mine I always make regular size rolls and they never bake right. They are always too done or too gooey. These baked much more even I think because of the size.

Sausage Gravy

2009-10-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

I made biscuits and Sausage gravy tonight for supper. Now most recipes are the same, just a few changes here and there but for the most part sausage gravy is sausage gravy. . .
So I took 1# ground sausage and fried it. DONT Drain the grease. Once its all cooked add 3 or 4 T. Flour. Stir together and let boil for a few minutes. Add Milk a cup at a time stirring it so you can kinda see the consistency. I just dumped! Lol. Then add Season salt, salt & pepper. These all depend on your taste. Just add some and taste. Keep it to a medium low heat so its bubbly and keep stirring until its thickened.
Now for the hint on good gravy! I just learned this the other day from my mom. Add 1 T. Ketchup to the gravy and stir it in. Yes, KETCHUP. It adds some spice to it and you dont taste the ketchup. I was a bit skeptical but I tried it tonight and its really good!

Garlic Cheese Flatbread

2009-10-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

I made a big pot of Chicken soup today in my crockpot so I decided to try and make some cheese bread to go with it. I took 2 different recipes, one from my mother in law and one from allrecipes.com and combined them. It was good but I would personally add more Garlic powder or a little garlic salt plus the garlic powder cause it didnt have any garlic taste.

1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil

I made the dough in my bread machine. If you use your bread machine pour in the water & olive oil first. Then add the flour, salt, sugar and the yeast last. Set your machine to the dough setting and let it go! I had to add a bit of water to the dough after the first few minutes in the machine because it was really dry so just check it after a few minutes.
If you dont have a machine here is the instructions to make the dough by hand:

In a cup or small bowl, sprinkle yeast over the surface of the lukewarm water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to dissolve.In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and sugar. Pour in the yeast mixture along with the olive oil. Beat with a sturdy spoon until dough is stiff enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Cover, and set aside until doubled in size, about 35 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead briefly on a floured surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness or to the size of your baking sheet.

Once the dough is rolled out onto your baking sheet. I used a round pizza stone. Spread a generous amount of softened butter with your fingers or a spoon whichever is easier for you onto the dough. Then sprinkle the dough with
2 T. Garlic Powder
1 T. Oregano
Generous sprinkling of Grated parmesan cheese
2 cups Shredded cheddar cheese
Like I said earlier it didnt have much garlic flavor so I would add more garlic powder next time or add the 2 T. garlic powder it calls for and then add some garlic salt also.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. I left mine in a little longer until it was golden brown on the edges but I like mine crispy.

Blueberry Muffins

2009-09-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

These are incredibly yummy! I made them and froze some for after baby comes. I used fresh blueberries one batch and frozen another and couldnt really tell a difference. So you could use either!
Blueberry Streusel Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, diced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F . Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Remember, fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar ,and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. These muffins freeze really well, and re-heat in the microwave successfully. Hope you enjoy!!

Vegetable soup

2009-09-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and changed a few things to suit our taste. You can change the veggies out to suit your families taste.

Veggie Soup
1# Ground hamburger
1 46 oz. can Tomato juice
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 head Cabbage, chopped
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
2 large or 4 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 can green beans
1 can whole kernel corn

Fry hamburger until browned. Drain. Set aside. In a big pot pour in tomato juice and then take the empty can and fill with water. Add to tomato juice so its diluted. I did 1-1/2 cans of water because I thought it looked too thick yet . Add chopped veggies. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add hamburger. Simmer another 10-20 minutes.

Monster Cookie

2009-08-11T10:02:00.001-07:00

Monster Cookie Recipe
5 Cups Oatmeal
3 Eggs
1 Stick Butter, melted
3/4# Peanut butter
2 teas. Baking Soda
1-1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1/4# M&M's
3 oz. Chocolate chips
Mix all together. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

I made these and made a bunch of it into balls the size of cookies and froze them on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Freeze them 1 hour (UNBAKED) and then take out and place into ziploc bags. Freeze them until ready to use. When ready to bake take out as many or as few balls as you want and place them straight in the oven. Bake about 12-15 minutes.

Feeding the Freezer

2009-08-05T12:25:00.001-07:00

Well since there is going to be a upcoming event in the next 10 weeks or so, the arrival of our new little one. I have decided to start stocking my freezer so my dear husband doesnt have to cook constantly.
Yesterday I started with a bang. I made chocolate chip cookie dough then scooped it out on a cookie sheet with wax paper on it like i was going to bake them and then froze them before baking them. I froze them on the cookie sheet for 1 hour then took them out and put them in a ziploc bag. Now they wont freeze together and whenever we want cookies after the baby is born we just have to pull out as many or as few cookies as we want and bake those. You dont even have to thaw them, just add a few minutes to your baking time then what it normally takes you to bake your cookies.
I also made some banana muffins with some bananas that had been in the freezer for some time now waiting to be used for bread or muffins. They have been baked and are also in the freezer waiting to be microwaved and used for breakfast.
I hope to get some blueberry muffins made yet.
Today I made a huge pot of chicken soup and am going to freeze it in ziploc bags ready to be reheated. I was going to add noodles to it but everywhere i read says that they turn squishy when you thaw them after they have been froze and cooked so I just decided to add those before we eat the soup later.
So now- in the next few weeks i hope to stock my freezer with these. . . .
Baked Spaghetti
16 Oz. Spaghetti noodles, cooked
2 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 Cup parmesan cheese
3 Eggs, beaten
1 T. vegetable oil
2 teas. Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
Combine all items and mix well. Press into greased pan. (This makes 1- 9X13 but I am going to divide it into 9'' pans so that it will be just right for chadd and I. So one recipe will make 2 if you do it in smaller pans)
Pour 1 pint of Spaghetti sauce over. Cover with foil and freeze. On the outside of container make sure to label it that it needs to bake at 350 for 20 minutes. (probably could say 30 minutes since you want to take it straight from the freezer and bake. ) Also make a note on the container to add 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese at the end of the baking time and allow to melt before serving.

Chicken Pot Pie
2 Cup cooked chicken, in bit size chunks
20 oz. Frozen vegetables (your choice, I usually use mixed veggies)
1 Can Cream of Chicken soup
1 Cup Chicken broth
Combine all items together and press into a greased dish. (again this is for a 9X13 pan and I am going to divide it into 2-9'' pans) Cover with foil and label it that you need to make biscuits to put on top before baking. . . )
Biscuit Recipe
1/2 Cup margarine, melted
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup self rising flour
Combine all together spoon over pot pie.
Once this is on the frozen pot pie bake at 375 for 50 minutes (30 or so for smaller pan).

Sloppy Joes
These arent hard. Just brown hamburger in skillet and add a can of Manwich Sauce from the store. Allow to cool and then divide into ziploc bags for the serving amount you want. Label and freeze. You can microwave it to thaw it.

Lasagna Roll ups
Take 1 package of Lasagna noodles and cook them like you would to make lasagna. Allow to cool a bit. Meanwhile combine 1# hamburger, already cooked, 1 pint jar spahetti sauce and oregano.
In a seperate bowl combine 1 small container cottage cheese, 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Lay noodles out and place a thin layer of the hamburger mixture followed by another layer of the cottage cheese mixture. Roll up. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze them until firm. Place in ziploc bags. Label it bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so. Also dont forget to spread some more spaghetti sauce over them before baking.

Im also going to make some pizza's up and freeze them complete with toppings on them already just not baked. That way all we have to do it pull them out and bake them like the frozen ones from the store. I think Im going to make them small though so its more individual size.

Easy Pasta Bake

2009-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe off of Real Mom Kitchen. You can find the actual recipe & photo here . It only has 4 ingredients so I thought what can go wrong? It came out amazing. The recipe makes a LOT though. I made it in a 12 cup muffin tin so they are individual sized and it filled all 12 cups and also the bottom of a small casserole dish. Thats ok, I put some of the muffin size ones in the freezer for quick lunch sometime. They were really good!

Fruit Salad

2009-07-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make a fruit salad for monday when we had a "mini" reunion with my husbands grandparents. I dont usually get too fancy with fruit salads, but I wanted to try something different this time so I searched allrecipes.com until I found several different recipes that i liked and combined them. Here is the ending result:

2 Green Apples (granny smith), sliced and cut into bite size chunks
1 pint Strawberries, sliced
1 small cluster of grapes (your choice), I sliced them in half but you dont have to
1 pint Blueberries
2 Kiwi, peeled, sliced & cut into bite size pieces
1 Can pineapple chunks (or fresh pineapple cut into chunks if you want)
1 Can Peach Pie filling

Mix all together in a bowl and pour peach pie filling over it all. I added about 1/4 cup pineapple juice from the pineapple chunk can but I wouldnt do it again. I think it made it a little watery.
Stir it together well and chill for a few hours before serving.

This recipe is so easy and you can change the fruit out to suit your taste or what fruit is in season. I used up the last of the salad this morning to make a fruit smoothie but now I pitched what was left. It was getting pretty soggy. So I would say the salad lasted 3 days pretty well.

Grilled dinner

2009-06-25T13:06:00.001-07:00

Tonight supper is all on the grill!! We are having Fish, Sweet potatoes & zucchini. We havent made it yet so Ill have to post later if it was good or not.
For the fish- Rub with butter and sprinkle with dill weed & I used Citrus & basil rub from Pampered chef but you can use lemon pepper seasoning instead. I went ahead and put the seasoning on the fish now and its sitting in the fridge. We will see if its any better since it will sit for a bit before grilling.
For the Sweet potatoes- Peel sweet potatoes & slice it so they are little circles or you can slice it down the middle and make it more like wedges. Brush olive oil on it and sprinkle with salt & pepper.
For the Zucchini- Peel zucchini & you can slice it into circles or you can slice it lengthwise in thin slices and grill it like that. Either way. Spray some pam spray on each side and sprinkle with seasoning salt (Lawrys).

***Ok the Fish I would add more butter to it next time, it was good but needed some liquid to it.
The Sweet potatoes werent that great. This is the 2nd time i have tried them on the grill and the outside burns before the inside gets done so its crunchy in the center and not very good.
The zucchini were amazing!!!

Granola Bars

2009-06-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

This recipe I found on allrecipes.com. They are really good! The first batch I made I didnt add enough butter so it didnt stick together like bars. It was more like chunky granola cereal. Which it tasted good but just wasnt in a bar form. So this time I made sure to add the exact amount of butter the recipe calls for. They turned out great!!

4 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x13 inch pan. In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla, butter or margarine, honey and brown sugar. Stir in the 2 cups assorted chocolate chips, raisins, nuts etc. Lightly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.

I added regular chocolate chips instead of mini because I didnt have any mini and they worked just fine. I also added sliced almonds to it. They are really yummy!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

2009-05-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Recipe from My Kitchen Cafe
This was really good. I sauted some veggies to go with it and made some white rice. My Dear husband just ate the leftovers and said its almost better reheated then it was the first time!

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Bisquick Shake and Pour

2009-05-11T09:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is a quick "sales pitch" for Bisquick Shake and Pour pancake mix. Now I hormally make homemade pancake mix when I make pancakes at home but over the weekend we went camping and convenince reigns over "homemade" when your camping. I bought a bottle of this stuff and all I had to do was add water and shake. SOOO easy, and no dirty containers either, just throw the bottle away when your done. The pancakes were really yummy too, I couldnt tell much difference between my homemade pancakes and these.
That was my product recommendation for the day for all you busy moms!!

Cube steak & Dill Carrots

2009-05-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

(Photo from ALL RECIPES)

Comforting Cube Steak

4 (4 ounce) cube steaks

1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle lemon-lime

flavored carbonated beverage

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of

mushroom soup

1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.Season the steaks on both sides with Cajun seasoning and black pepper. Place the steaks into the prepared baking dish. Pour the lemon-lime beverage over them. Combine the cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix, and pour over the steaks.Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour, or until meat reaches desired doneness. Do not open the oven door during the first hour of cooking. Serve steaks with gravy spooned over.

The recipe says to use lemon lime beverage but I didnt have any in the house so I just used lemon juice and lime juice.

As a vegetable side dish tonight we are having with the cube steak:

Simmered Dill Carrots

8 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch

pieces

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dill seed

In a medium-sized heavy saucepan, combine carrots, water, butter, sugar, salt and dill seed. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

I am also making mashed potatoes to but Im sure everyone knows how to do that already!! If not then its time you learn! Seriously though on a side note- those instant potato packets you buy at walmart are pretty good in a pinch. Especially the garlic butter one. I have used them a time or two and they arent bad at all! I think they are either Lipton brand or Walmart brand.

Peanut Butter & Jelly

2009-03-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last week on one of my favorite food blogs to read http://kitchenscrapbook.com/ she posted that she made Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches then fried them like Grilled Cheese sandwiches. I thought it weird at first but today for lunch decided to try it. They were yummy! The peanut butter was all gooey and warm.
Its real simple, just put peanut butter and jelly on the inside of your sandwich like you normally do then on the outside put butter like you would to do grilled cheese. Then grill on the stove like grilled cheese. Enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal

2009-03-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

I know, its been a while. Honestly I havent cooked in 5 weeks! My husband has been surviving on pizza and sandwiches and take out since I got pregnant. I am 9 weeks now so hopefully I will be back in the kitchen soon!
This is a recipe that my mom used to make at home. I love it! I usually add a can of apple pie filling (chop the apples up before adding to the batter) or if your real healthy you can just add chopped apples but the pie filling has the "gel" which adds some moisture and flavor to the oatmeal.

1/3 c. oil

1/2 c. sugar or 1/4 c. honey

1 lg. egg, beaten

3/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. quick oats

1 1/2 tsp. baking pwd.

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together oil, sugar (or honey) and egg. Add rest of ingredients. Mix.Add Apples or Pie filling now. Bake in a 9" greased pie plate at 350 or 25 -30 minutes. Serves 4 - 6.

NOTE: Mom always made this in a 9X13 so a whole can of apple pie filling will be too much for the 9 inch pie pan probably. I would use 1/2 the can.

Blondie Brownie

2009-02-05T13:20:00.001-08:00

This is just like Applebees Blondie dessert. Its soooo yummy. Make sure you serve it with Vanilla Ice cream. Makes it even better!
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Maple Butter Sauce

3/4 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º.Sift flour, add baking powder, baking soda, and salt; sift again.Add chopped nuts; mix well and set aside.Melt unsalted butter; add brown sugar and mix well.Add egg and vanilla; blend well.Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.Stir in white chocolate chips.Spread in a 9x9x2-inch pan.Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with slightly fudgy-looking crumbs.Serve with vanilla ice cream and maple butter sauce. ---To Make the Maple Unsalted butter Sauce--- Combine syrup and butter, cook over low heat until butter is melted.Stir in brown sugar until dissolved.Add walnuts, if desired.

Herbed Roasted Chicken

2009-01-30T09:46:00.001-08:00

I use my Pampered chef Bundt Pan to bake this. You simply sit the whole chicken "butt" over the center of the bundt pan. (See photos below. ) the chicken will be sitting upright.

Then Rub the chicken with lemon juice either from a lemon or just the lemon juice you buy in a jar. Just rub a little over the whole chicken. Then sprinkle with your choice of seasonings. I used Lemon pepper seasoning, Chopped and minced a clove of garlic and rubbed it on, Salt, Pepper.
You might have to lift up the wings of the chicken and rub some seasoning underneath.
Bake at 350 for at least an hour. I think I had mine in for 1-1/2 hours. Whenever it looks golden brown and poke it with a fork and see if the meat is done.
Really yummy. I then used the bones of the chicken and cooked it for a while in water and used it to make chicken soup.

Low Carb

2009-01-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well DH and I started a Low carb diet and for the first 2 weeks we cant have any carbs or sugar or fruit. SO there isnt much interesting cooking going on right now. Ill probably be absent for another week. I just finished my first week and DH just started his first week. So far I have lost 3 pounds and DH has lost 2. So until were back to cooking here is a recipe that I am going to try sometime as soon as we are allowed a few carbs again.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

--1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
--4 oz cream cheese
--1/4 cup sour cream
--chopped walnuts, optional

I use my Little Dipper crock pot---these measurements are perfect for a little dipper. If you don't have one, you can put an oven-safe dish inside of your large crockpot.
Add the cream cheese to the Little Dipper. Top with sour cream, then pour in the pumpkin pie filling.Cover and cook for about an hour, then stir well. If the cream cheese isn't fully melted, cook a bit longer. The Little Dipper doesn't have temperature settings, you just plug it in. If you are going to use a big crockpot with an oven-safe dish inside, cook on high for about an hour, or 2 on low.
Garnish with chopped walnuts, if desired

My favorite Chicken Salad

2009-01-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite Chicken Salad to make for sandwiches. I was recently diagnosed with PCOS and with that diagnosis comes Low carb diet to try to level it out. So For the first 2 weeks on this diet I am not allowed any grains, breads, pasta, crackers, chips, etc. . . or fruit. So i am relying alot on meats and veggies.
I didnt take a picture of it since I cant eat it on bread so it looks pretty gross just sitting on my plate. . But trust me , its yummy!

2 Chicken Breast, Cooked and shredded
2 medium sized Dill pickles, shredded
1 Celery Stick, Shredded
4 T. Mayo
1 T. Lemon Juice
1 T. Parsley Flakes
1 T. Mustard
I used a little chopped to chop my chicken, pickles and celery. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Serve cold.
There is alot of variations of this recipe. I never make it the same way. Like today I didnt have any celery so I used a slice of onion and diced it instead and added vinegar instead of lemon juice. Sometimes I chop Carrots up and stick in it too instead of celery.

Soft Pretzels

2009-01-12T06:21:00.000-08:00

Friday night Chadd and I got the wild urge to make soft pretzels. Well, I used a recipe I had here and lets just say they didnt work out so hot. So Saturday we decided to try again. I got online and found a recipe that says its supposed to taste just like Auntie Ann's pretzels. I have never had one so I dont know for sure if these taste just like it but they were pretty good pretzels!
(No the photo of the pretzel is not mine, its a Auntie Ann pretzel. Mine were a little funny looking so you dont get a photo of mine :-)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

Directions:
Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

* The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be.

This made about 6 pretzels but I didnt roll my dough ropes really thin so you could probably get 8 or more if you tried. I also melted butter and dipped all the pretzels in it right after they came out of the oven and 1/2 of them I sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and the other 1/2 I sprinkled with salt. They were both good.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2009-01-08T07:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry but I didnt take any pictures of it! I made it last night and we had to be at church early so I didnt have that much time to snap pictures. It was really good and Chadd said it was better than pizza hut!!
I used the same crust recipe that I posted in the last post and I have to say I really love the way it turns out. I've made it twice now and it has turned out amazing both times!

Make pizza dough according to the recipe in the previous post or use refrigerated pizza dough. Roll out on a 15 inch round pizza pan. Meanwhile cook 2 chicken breast on the stove. Let cool then cut into small pieces. Toss Chicken pieces with BBQ sauce I use Sweet Baby Rays. Its my favorite
Cut 1/4 of a smaller size onion into small pieces. You can leave these in bigger chunks if you like onions but we both suffer from Heartburn so onions are not so much our friend.
Spread about 1/4 cup BBQ sauce on the pizza dough. Spread the chicken mix on next and sprinkle the onion pieces on. Sprinkle the pizza with 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.

**FYI** If you have never made brownie mix in a pampered chef stone pan I dare you to try it. They are the best brownies I ever had and I used a STORE MIX!!

Fajita Pizza

2009-01-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

Today for lunch I made some Fajita pizza. I didnt have any refridgerated pizza dough so I Googled pizza dough recipe. The one I used claims to be Pizza Huts recipe. I dont know if it really is but it was really good. We both liked it. .

Pizza Dough
1-1/3 Cup Water
1/4 Cup dry milk
1/2 teas. Salt
4 Cups flour
1 T. Sugar
1 Pkg. Yeast (or 2 teas.)
2 T. Vegetable oil
Combine yeast, sugar, salt and dry milk in a bowl. Add water and mix well. Let sit for 2 minutes. Add oil and stir. Then Add flour and stir. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
Roll out dough and place on pizza pan. Let rise 3o minutes.
I made half of this recipe and it was plenty for my 15'' pizza stone round pan. I would say if you make a full recipe it would make about a 9X13 or larger.

Fajita Pizza
2 Chicken Breast
1/2 pkg. Frozen Fajita veggies (green,yellow, red peppers and onions) OR 1 Green, 1 Red and 1 Yellow pepper and 1/2 a onion sliced.
Couple dashes of Fajita seasoning (my recipe says you can substitute a little chili powder and some cumin powder for fajita seasoning)
1/4 Cup Salsa
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese,Shredded
Saute the chicken breast in a little oil and sprinkle some fajita seasoning on the chicken. Once its cooked through remove chicken from pan and cut into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile in the same pan saute the Fajita veggies with more fajita seasoning. Stiring every few minutes. Add Chicken back into the skillet with the veggies and add the salsa.
On Pizza dough sprinkle 1 cup Cheese. Spread the chicken and veggies mixture on next. Top with rest of the cheese. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

COMING UP NEXT. . . . . . .BBQ Chicken Pizza

Salad

2008-12-29T10:26:00.000-08:00

This Salad I made for one of our christmas parties we went to last week. Its very simple and very yummy!!

Floret Salad
1 Head of Cauliflower
1 bunch of Broccoli
1 bag of baby carrots
1 bottle of Italian dressing
1 pkg. Italian dressing mix (powder form)
1 container of Crumbled Feta Cheese
Recipe says you can add grape tomatoes too but I didnt since they are out of season and I couldnt find any.

Cut up into bite size pieces the cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and tomatoes if you use them.
Place in a bowl and mix together italian dressing and dressing mix. Pour over the vegetables. Let sit over night in refrigerator. Before serving add the crumbled feta cheese and stir.

Broccoli Cheese soup

2008-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

This soup is supposedly supposed to taste like the soup from Panera Bread. I have never ate there so I cant say if it is or not. It is really good and easy too!

1 bunch of Broccoli
6 Cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1/2 Cup flour
3 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
Steam broccoli for 6 minutes. Take out and chop up into small pieces. Meanwhile in a pot combine the chicken broth and 1/2 and 1/2 and then slowly add the flour, stirring with a whisk. Cook for 5 minutes on medium or until it comes to a slight boil. Add Broccoli. Cook another 10 minutes. Add shredded cheese and stir/cook until cheese is melted.

Raspberry Truffles

2008-12-03T09:35:00.001-08:00

Ok, so melting chocolate and I do NOT get along. I struggled so bad last year melting chocolate to dip pretzels in that we had to go buy more chocolate to melt cause I ruined like 4 bowls full. Well this year was the same. I ruined 2 bowls full of chocolate before I melted it right. Sigh. . . . So now you all know one of my cooking flaws. Lol
I was going to melt some white chocolate to drizzle over the truffles to make em look fancy but considering my luck this morning I decided not to waste the chocolate. .

Raspberry Truffle
1-1/3 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 T Butter
2 T Heavy Whipping cream
Melt these 3 together in a pot on the stove on medium heat. Keep stirring constantly towards the end. Stir it until it looks pretty smooth. Remove from the heat and add
2 T Raspberry Jelly make sure you get the jelly that says SEEDLESS cause otherwise your chocolate are gonna have raspberry seeds in them and that isnt pleasant.
Stir jelly into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Cover pot with saran wrap and set in freezer for 20 minutes or until it sets up a little.
I actually had it in the freezer for 40 minutes. It wont set up completely but after 40 minutes its pretty good.
Remove from freezer and scoop out in spoonfuls onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Set cookie sheets in freezer for another 10-15 minutes or until the mounds of chocolate "dough" are pretty hard. Then take each mound and roll between your hands into a ball shape. Put on another clean sheet of wax paper and freeze another 5 minutes or so. Dip Balls in melted milk chocolate and lay on wax paper to dry. You can let air dry or freeze them for a few minutes.
I dipped the dough balls once in chocolate then let is dry then dipped them again. It makes them stay together better.

Now Im not gonna share how to melt the chocolate for dipping them in . . Lol. But I would suggest using chocolate melting wafers from walmart. I didnt use them this time and I think it would have been easier. They are back in the crafts part with the cake decorating stuff. They are in bags. They are actually for making mints and stuff in those molds so I think they would melt easier and dip better.

Coming next week - - - Chocolate Mint cookies & Peanut Butter blossoms

Pumpkin Cookies

2008-12-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

So instead of cleaning my bathroom like I should be doing, I procrastinated and made cookies. These are THE BEST cookies I have had in a while. They are amazing, seriously you have to try them. They are so moist and oh so yummy! I didnt have my camera here, my husband had to take it to work so there is no photo. I saw this recipe on another cooking blog and had to try them . . .. .

Pumpkin Cookies

Recipe from:

http://kitchenscrapbook.com/

1 cup Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream shortening and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Spread caramel frosting on top.

Caramel Frosting
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Combine brown sugar, butter and milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm, then gradually beat in the powdered sugar until frosting reaches spreading consistency.

Christmas Cookies Post #1

2008-11-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

I got a head start on Christmas cookies this year. I always make 5 or 6 different kinds and make plates of cookies to take to our neighbors as a christmas gift.
Last week I made Monster Cookies and O Henry Bars.

Monster Cookies
10 Cups Oatmeal
1/2 Dozen Eggs
1/2# Butter
1-1/2 # Peanut Butter
4 t. Baking Soda
1# Brown Sugar
2 Cup Sugar
M & M's I didnt measure how much, I used the mini M&M's used for baking and just poured in. About 1/4 bag for 1/2 recipe. You can add more if you want more or less if you would rather not have as many.
Chocolate Chips I use mini Chocolate chips. And again I didnt measure. Just poured. I probably used about 1/4 bag of these too for 1/2 recipe.
Mix all together and drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
This makes a HUGE batch so I only made half of a batch and had about 4 dozen cookies.

O'Henry Bars (No picture for these)
4 Cups Oatmeal
1 Cup butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Peanut Butter
Mix Oatmeal, Butter and sugars together and pat into a greased 10X15 pan. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Melt Chocolate Chips and Peanut butter together in a microwave safe bowl. Pour over hot bars. Let set til cooled completely. Makes about 24 bars or more.

Coming in the month of December
-Chocolate Raspberry Truffles
-Chocolate Mint Cookies
-White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
-Peanut Butter Blossoms