Monkey Bread

Perfect Christmas breakfast! You throw it all together the night before and then cook it in the morning - easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! I found this recipe on another recipe blog.

18 frozen dinner rolls (like Rhodes)

½ C. brown sugar
1 small pkg. regular butterscotch pudding mix (cook 'n serve - NOT instant)
½ C. melted margarine

Place frozen rolls in greased bundt pan. Sprinkle on dry ingredients. Pour melted margarine over all. Cover with foil, then a dishcloth. Let stand on counter overnight. In the morning, bake at 325º for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes then invert onto plate. Best when served warm.

(Just a warning! When I made these it didn't look like 18 rolls was going to be enough so I added about 10 more - by the time it was done rising and cooking, I had rolls popping out all over the place, and the center was doughy...so believe them when they say 18 rolls!)

Potatoe Casserole

5 large potatoes or two bags of frozen shredded potatoes

3tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1 can (10 1/2 ounces) cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

 

Topping

3/4 cup cornflake crumbs or dry bread crumbs,mixed with 

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese


     Boil unpared potatoes until tender. Drain and peel. Shred coarsely.

Place in 2- or 3-quart casserole. Pour melted butter over potatoes. 

Mix together soup,sour cream, milk, onions and cheese. Pour evenly 

over potatoes. Do not mix! Cover with topping. Bake 30 minutes at 

325 degrees F. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Chex Muddy Buddies

These are one of my favorite treats. They are so delicious!!

9 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Nutmeg Logs

This is by far my favorite Christmas cookie. They are little bites of eggnoggie heaven!

Cookie:
1 C butter
3/4 C sugar
1 1/4 t nutmeg
1 egg
2 t rum extract
2 t vanilla
3 C flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add nutmeg, egg and extracts. Mix thoroughly. Sift flour and measure into cream mixture. Shape into 1/2" X 3" logs.

Bake at 350 for 15 mins.

Frosting:
1/4 C soft butter
3 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t rum extract
2 T milk

Mix together. Spread on cookie logs. Run a fork thru the frosting to resemble bark. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Psst...I cheat and buy Pilsbury frosting (since it's dairy-free) and add the rum. Also, this time I used my cake decorating tool to frost them - it made it so quick and easy...and pretty.

English Toffee

(Picture added by carizolli - Jenalyn and I made a delicious batch 12/13/08.)

This is for all of those who love toffee. It is so easy that you will want to make it all the time. But when you make it everyone will want some so make enough to satisfy you and your friends.

1 Cup Sugar
3 T. Water
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Margarine
2/3 Cup Chocolate Chips

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan.
Heat slowly over medium heat and stir mixture until dissolved.
Bring to a boil until the color of a brown paper sack.
Stir often (15-20 minutes keep it boiling). Butter an 8x8 inch square pan.
Pour the mixture in the pan and place chocolate chips on top.
When chips are melted, spread evenly over entire surface.
Sprinkle chopped nuts on top, if desired.
Let cool and brake into pieces.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 Eggs

1 C. Milk

1/2 C. Cooked Pumpkin

1 3/4 C. Bisquick

1 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Chocolate Chips (Optional)

Mix all ingredients well, and cook on hot griddle until golden brown.

I love to top it with just whip cream. They are good enough that you don't need syrup. Although some people like to put syrup on them.

Pasta Caraba

Notes: I got this (kinda) from Rendy.   I hope that we can get him to add some of his recipes to this site

Fry some bacon in a large skillet until crisp (Take out of pan when done)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups sliced mushroom
3 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 8 oz chicken breast or thighs, grilled and cut into strips
1 pound penne
pasta
Fresh Rosemary to taste
Fresh Basli to taste
2 cups grated Romano cheese
salt to taste
pepper to taste


1. In the bacon grease in the large skillet, add garlic and sauté for a few seconds , add mushrooms, sauté for 3 minutes over a medium flame.

2. Cook Penne in salted boiling water until al dente (13 minutes).

3. Add heavy cream, chicken and Rosemary to sauce. Bring to a boil. Drain pasta and add to sauce, along with the crumbled up bacon, and toss pasta and bacon with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese and Fresh basil evenly over pasta and toss until sauce is a creamy consistency.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Nut Chewys

This was originally called Nut Noels but when it's not Christmas and you get hungry for them you have to change the name.

1 Cup finely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
½ Cup Flour
1/8 t Salt
1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 eggs
2 T Butter
1 t Vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Pour into a 8X8 pan that has parchment paper on the bottom and has been greased and floured and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Cool and cut into squares and roll in powdered sugar.

Crock Pot French Dips

So I follow a LOT of different recipe blogs because I love trying new recipes. I found this recipe and just had to try it! Now that I'm working full time twice a week, my crock pot is my best friend.

This dip reminded me of Sunday afternoons when mom would put a roast in the oven to cook while we were at church and when we got home from church she would dip a slice a bread in the juice and give it to us as a little pre-dinner snack. Ahh...fond memories! I love you, mom!

French Dip Meat

Pot roast (about 2-4 lbs)

1 can beef broth + about 1/2 can of water (depending on the size of your roast)

1 pkg. dry Au Jus seasoning

1 pkg. dry Zesty Italian dressing

Stick it all in your crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-5 hours...or until tender. Shred or slice beef (our's was too tender to slice). Serve the meat on rolls with mozzarella cheese. Ladle the juice into a small dish for dipping. We also sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. It was SO good!

Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients:
CAKE
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup Libby' pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

FILLING
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration

Directions:
FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar. COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts. BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack. (cool 45-60 min max.)
It's easier to un roll and re-roll.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Un roll cake gently spread filling re roll cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hr. Enjoy!

Candied Apple Pie Cheesecake

I get the Kraft Foods magazine and I saw this recipe. I think it looks so good. I haven't tried it yet but it sure looks delicious and I wanted to share it.

1 cup crushed Ginger Snaps
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 eggs
1 cup apple pie filling, divided
1/2 cup Walnut Pieces, divided (I don't personally like walnuts so I would probably make mine without it)
1/2 cup toffee bits, divided

HEAT oven to 325°F. Mix crumbs, butter and 2 Tbsp. sugar; press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate.

BEAT cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each. Stir in 1/2 each pie filling, nuts and toffee. Pour into crust.

BAKE 35 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with remaining pie filling, nuts and toffee before serving.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. This is a really quick and easy recipe. It makes a ton. Usually we will make one batch and hand them out to quite a few neighbors during the holidays.



Ingredients:

1 (15oz) can Libby's canned pumpkin
1 box Spice cake mix
1 (12ox) package chocolate chips



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together cake mix and pumpkin until well combined. Add chocolate chips to mix.
Drop cookies on greased baking sheet or ungreased stone.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Eggnog Rice Pudding

I made rice the other night for dinner but Jason decided he wanted Quiznos so we ate out instead *lol* So, based on my current eggnog obsession, I looked up a recipe for eggnog rice pudding. I really like recipes with few ingredients - so this one looked perfect! And it tasted incredible!

Eggnog Rice Pudding:

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups eggnog
• 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red and green candied cherries (I didn't use these - NOT a fan of candied cherries!)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (woops...did it call for salt?)
  

Directions:

Place 2 cups eggnog in a heavy saucepan. Combine cornstarch and remaining eggnog until smooth; add to pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in rice, cherries, vanilla and salt. Spoon into dishes. Chill 2-3 hours. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Recipe from: Taste of Home. (thanks Google)

Breadstick Recipe

(Picture added by Cari - the breadsticks were a HIT at Heidi's birthday dinner. Thanks again for the recipe, Jen!)

¼ cup of Water
½ a cup of Milk
1 Egg
¼ cup of Butter (Melted)
1 teaspoon of Sugar
½ a teaspoon of Salt
2 ½ cups of Flour
3 teaspoons of Instant Yeast

If you have a breadmaker, you can just add the ingredients in the order they are in, however, if you are like me and you break your breadmaker as soon as you get one, then dissolve the yeast in the water and then add the rest of the ingredients. This way you have to beat it down once after it has risen to double and then let raise until double again. Then beat the dough down again and separate into even amounts for as many breadsticks as you like, smaller if you like a lot, and larger if you don't need too many. (I always make the recipe x4 for the whole family). Take your sections of dough and roll them between your hands to make the breadsticks. Place them on a cookie sheet, touching.

Once you have completed the above steps, cover the breadsticks and let rise until double again. Next preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the breadsticks in the oven for about 18 to 23 minutes. Then turn on the broiler and brush the breadsticks with butter, parmesan cheese, or garlic butter or all three. Now broil the breadsticks until the breadsticks begin to turn golden brown in color.


There you go Care Bear! I love you!

Huli Chicken

The pictures do not do it justice ;o)

This is the best marinade I have come across yet!

Ingredients:Boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 C Water
1 C Soy Sauce
1 C packed brown sugar
¼ C Dried Sesame Seeds
Small fresh Ginger root
Fresh Garlic
Green Onions

Directions:
Mix water ,soy sauce and brown sugar in mixing bowl ( I use large zip lock bags)
Peel and chop garlic and ginger ( use equal amounts )
Dice green onions and remaining ingredients to liquid mixture. Add sesame seeds
Rinse chicken and add to Marinade. Refrigerate 1-2 days (the longer the better)

**I usually double the recipe. If your soy sauce is on the salty side you can add ½-1 C extra water. Also you can add pineapple juice to sweeten it up a bit in place of the extra water.***

Cooking:When you are ready to cook I recommend the BBQ but you can bake it as well. Remove Chicken from Marinade, set sauce a side. If you are BBQ you can glaze the chicken after you turn it the first time. If you choose to bake it pour glaze over chicken in baking dish cover and bake @ 350 until cooked ( 25-30 min)

Optional glaze:
I slowly boil the marinade for a couple of minutes then thicken and use as a glaze after the chicken is cooked. Make sure it comes to a full boil to ensure that it has cooked off the chicken juices.(Yes it is safe if you boil it long enough)

Great with any side dish of your choice. Enjoy!!

The Best Lemon Cookies in the World

My favorite visiting teacher always brings me a treat. These are my favorites. Very soft and so delicious. I usually eat the whole plate of cookies by myself.

Lemon Cake Mix
8oz. Cream Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 stick of Butter 0r Margarine
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients together and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll into 1" balls and roll in powdered sugar.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes
You will see them slightly crack and have a light brown tint.

Quick and Easy Mini Navajo Tacos

Rodes Rolls (however many your family will eat...make a few extra for dessert :))
Chili (really good with Cari's taco soup recipe)
cheese
lettuce
tomatoes
salsa
sour cream (to me this is the key ingredient for making it super good!)

Thaw out the rolls...smash 'em flat...and deep fry them to make scones.

Make the chili...whether its homemade or from a can. I actually have taken canned chili, added tomato sauce, taco seasoning, onion flakes, and chili powder...its an easier alternative to making canned chili taste a little more homemade.

top the scones with your favorite taco toppings! Its DE-licious!

Single Serving Chocolate Cake...from the mikey...?

I found this recipe just now and thought...hmmm...you mean to tell me that I can make myself chocolate cake...in the microwave...in just 3 minutes...only dirtying ONE dish?!?!? Are you kidding me? I'm am sooo trying this!

...but not tonight because I went to Olive Garden for dinner and finished it up with a piece of Pumpkin Cheesecake *yum*

Microwave Mug Cake:
4 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp. oil
3 tbsp. chocolate chips (optional, but not really. Add them!)
Small splash vanilla

• Measure flour, sugar, and cocoa in a large mug. Mix well.
• Add egg and mix well.
• Add milk and oil and mix well.
• Add chocolate chips and vanilla and mix well.
  

"Microwave for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise up over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed."

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

(Picture posted by carizolli - this recipe was DELICIOUS! The leftovers didn't last long either!)

I have this recipe for Chicken Enchiladas and thought I would try it out in the casserole form like Mom use to make. It turned out really good. I took a picture but there is not a card in my camera and I don't have a cord to plug it in to my computer so I will have to figure out how to get it posted. Sorry all!!

2 cans Cream of Chicken or Cream of Celery Soup
1 C. Sour Cream
4 Tbsp. Butter
1 C. chopped Onion
2 tsp Chili Powder
4 C. diced cooked Chicken
2 cans chopped Green Chillies (4oz. cans)
Flour Tortillas cut in 4ths
1 can Enchilada Sauce
Shredded Montery Jack or Cheddar cheese

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In a small bowl, stir together the soup and sour cream until smoot, set aside.
• In fry pan, melt butter and add Chili powder. Saute onion and chilies until onion is tender, stirring often. Stir in chicken, chilies and 4 Tbsp of the soup mixture, remove from heat.
• Layer some of the flour tortillas in the bottom of a cake size glass dish. Add a enough of the chicken mixture to cover the tortillas, some of the soup mixture, drizzle enchilada sauce and then sprinkle cheese. Continue layers until the chicken mixture is gone. On the top stop with the enchilada sauce and cover with foil. Cook 15mins and then take foil off and sprinkle more cheese on top. Cook 5-8 more minutes or until cheese melts.

Cream of Zucchini Soup

3 Cups sliced zucchini
1 Cup water
1tlbs. Season All Salt
½ tsp. Parsley Flakes
1tsp Chicken seasoned stock base
1tlbs. instant minced Onions

In a pan combined all the ingredients, and cook until the zucchini is 

tender.

 Blend in a blender.

In a Pan combine the next ingredients until butter is melted..
2Tabls. Butter
2Tlbs. Flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. Bon Appetit’
1tsp Chicken seasoned stock base

Gradually add in 
½ Cup Light Cream
1Cup Milk
Simmer until thickened. Stir in zucchini. Mix well.
Eat with crackers.