Chocolate Cupcake

½ cup cocoa
1 cup hot water
1 2/3 cups Flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
1tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup soft shortening
2 eggs

Heat oven to 400. Line 24 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups. Mix cocoa and water until smooth. Cool. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Add shortening and cocoa mixture. Beat 2 min. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl add eggs and beat 2 more min., Pour int baking cups (1/2 full
Bake 15 to 20 min. Makes 24 Cupcakes.

Sour-cream Biscuits

This is a twist on Baking powder Biscuits that you will want to try. They are so good you will want to make them every day.
Biscuits and gravy are one of my husbands favorite breakfast and these make it so much better.


Preheat oven to 450.
2 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup dairy sour cream

Sift all dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Cut in shortening with a fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Add sour cream stirring only until mixture is moistened
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface knead about 10 minutes to farm a smooth dough
Gently roll out dough from center to ¾ inch thickness.
With floured 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter (I sometimes use a glass dipped in flour), cut straight down int0 dough being careful not to twist cutter
Place on ungreased cookie sheet bake 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot

Streusel Coffeecake

Ok this is the coffeecake that I use to make for my family when I felt like something sweet for breakfast. A nice tall glass of ice cold milk and this hits the spot. Enjoy

Ingredients
Batter:
1 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine (melted
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup sugar

Streusel layer:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease an 8x8x2 inch pan
Make streusel layer in a small bowl: combine all ingredients; mix with a fork until crumbly.
Make batter. Add all dry ingredients, set aside. In medium bowl with beater beat egg sugar and butter together until well combined. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time while mixing on low speed.
Pour half of the batter into pan then put half of the streusel in evenly on top add other half of batter then the rest of the streusel layer.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool partially, in pan, on wire rack. Serve warm

Tarrogon Pork Chops

Tarragon Pork Chops
OK my mother use to make these pork chops that were so, so good, we would lick the plate clean and the pan and the utensils and anything else that had the gravy on it. They were just that good. That said, I finally asked her for the recipe and this is what she gave me. So have fun with this one.
Pork chops (enough to feed everyone )
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbls Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Tarragon
1½ Tablespoon Butter
1 can ChickenBroth
8oz. whipping cream
Corn starch
After you cook the pork shops in the butter for awhile you add the rest of the ingredients. She said to add it to your taste and the desired thickness of the gravy. So there you have it the trade mark of a true cook is one that does not know the exact measurements to any of the recipes they make.

Homemade Pizza Crust!

No pictures for this one either...I'm a slacker!

HOMEMADE PIZZA CRUST

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 c. flour

2/3 c. warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast

Preparation:

• Mix 1 c. flour with all ingredients
• Gradually add 2nd cup of flour until it forms a ball.
• knead dough
• Let dough rise 10-15 minutes
• Bake at about 450 for 15-20 minutes

This makes about a 14" pizza. We had to make 2 for the 5 of us and Boston.

This is also a good recipe to splurge on...get some really good specialty cheese and meat from Harmons (or Cari...I guess wherever you can find them.) and have fun with it! We made it with some delicious mozzerella, asiago, and parmesan rigiano foud at the cheese island by the deli in Harmons and we topped it with some Boar's Head pepporoni! YUMMY!

Pei Wei Mongolian Beef!

Sorry I totally forgot to take a picture...

PEI WEI MONGOLIAN BEEF

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. ginger, minced

1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. water

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

1 lb. flank steak

1/4 c. cornstarch

2 large green onions

Preparation:

• Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp. of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat. Don't let the oil get too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.
• Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/8" thick slices. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that hte cornstarch sticks.
• As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you can also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need to thoroughly cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
• After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet. Put pan back over the heat, dump the meat back in and let it simmer for about a minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. Cook for one more minute.

Serve over rice or noodles..Makes enough to feed 4-5 people. (depending on how much everyone eats...)

I added zuccini, snow peas, and celery to mine and it was DELICIOUS! Seriously it was so good!

Chicken Wings

My girls use to love to put the sauce over rice. I have also made it with drumsticks and it taste just as good.

½ tsp salt
¼ Cup Soy Sauce
6oz can frozen orange juice concentrate
2 Tbls sugar
2 tsp ginger
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 ½ lb wings (I sometimes use breasts and cut them up)

Mix the first 7 ingredients together and pour over chicken that has been placed in a 9x13 cake pan.
Bake @ 350 for 1 hour.

Chocolate Gnache and Airhead Roses.

Chocolate Gnache

8 oz. Heavy Cream
9 oz. chocolate (1 1/2 c.)
Heat the heavy cream on med-high until right before simmer.
Take off heat and add chocolate.
Set aside and cover for about 5 minutes.
Whisk until smooth.
...and you're done! How easy is that?

Airhead Roses! These are SO much fun to make and they look really impressive when you're done. One airhead makes one rose.

Low-Fat Delicious Salad

I don't have a picture - my salad was nearly completely consumed when I decided to share this "recipe" with you all. I know we're all trying to lose weight right now so I thought I'd throw this out there.

I estimate it to be around 200 calories - but that depends on how much cheese you put on it *winky*

• 2-3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts* (about 120 calories per serving)
• 1 can Mexican-flavored diced tomatoes (about 30 calories per serving)
• Hearts of romaine (15 calories per serving)
  
• 1 can of sliced olives (25 calories per serving)
• Cheese - your favorite kind, and however much you feel you need. (calories vary)
  

*I buy the individually frozen chicken breasts at Winco and plop them into the ol'crockpot while they're still frozen. They cook up beautifully.

Place the chicken breasts and the tomatoes into a crockpot and cook on low for about 4 hours (at least that's how long it took in my crockpot). Using two forks, shred the chicken and then let it cook for about another 1/2 hour to soak back in all the juices.

Place a handful or two of your chopped romaine lettuce onto a plate, give it a big, heaping spoonful of the shredded chicken, about a spoonful (or more) of olives, and top with some cheese.

This salad was SO GOOD. And with all the juice from the tomatoes/chicken, you don't even need any fatty dressing.

You could cook up some shredded chicken and keep it in your refrigerator and have this salad for lunch every day of the week. I think that's what I'll do.

Taco-Joe's

Here's a simple family meal for ya. I got the recipe from a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. We have made it several times and it's delicious. I can almost guarantee you'll have all the ingredients on hand too! SO SIMPLE!

Taco Joe's:

1 Can tomato soup
1 Cup salsa
1 lb hamburger

Directions:
Crumble and brown the hamburger in a large skillet. When it is fully cooked, drain the grease. Add in the can of soup and the cup of salsa. Stir it all in and serve it on a bun.

Yep. It really is that easy! And tasty too! We have also tried it with peach/mango salsa. Yum. And we have served it on rice instead of buns. That's really good too.

Meaty Stuffed Shells

The first time I made this was when I was living with Rachel & Mark just after they got married. They got this recipe with a gift for their wedding (do you remember that, Rachey?). Well, I cooked it for them and the recipe has stuck in my head all these years and I've made it several times. Personally, I love the stuff - and it's one of Jason's favorite meals.

(Please excuse the messy picture. Jason plated for me and the picture was an afterthought - I was just excited to dig in!)

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 green pepper
1/2 lb Mozzarella cheese (or more if you like it super cheesy *yum*)
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1 box manicotti shells

Directions:

Cook shells as directed on package. Brown the hamburger and drain. Dice the green pepper and Mozzarella cheese (yes, I said dice the cheese - not shred) and combine in a large bowl with the hamburger. Using a spoon, fill the shells with the meat/pepper/cheese mixture. Spread a small amount of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan. Line the stuffed shells up in the pan. Cover shells with the remaining sauce. I usually have meat mixture left over so I just dump that on top too. Cover with cheese and cook at 350 until heated thru (about 15-20 minutes).

Cashew Chicken

**CASHEW CHICKEN**

1 Tbsp. oil
1/4 c. or more cashews
1 chicken breast half, cut in chunks
1/2 c. chicken broth
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 lb. Chinese snow peas
1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. celery, sliced or chopped
1/2 c. carrots, sliced or chopped
2 green onions, sliced

1. In large nonstick pan, heat oil and stir-fry cashews on medium heat until lightly toasted. Remove cashews from pan with slotted spoon.
2. In same pan, stir-fry chicken until tender and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken from pan with slotted spoon. Remove pan from heat.
3. In a small bowl, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar. Set aside. Return pan to heat.
4. Place snow peas, mushrooms, celery and carrots in pan and stir-fry 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in soy sauce mixture.
5. Add green onions and cook until well blended and thickened and add chicken.
6. Add cashews just before serving.

Makes 4 cups (serves about 1 person)

I made this for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I had to quadruple the recipe to feed everyone, but it worked out nicely. (If you are feeding 2 people double it, 3 people triple it, and so forth.) We left out the mushrooms. But other than that we followed the recipe spot on and it was SUPER easy! I was intimidated by the name of the meal "Cashew Chicken" sounds pretty fancy shmancy...but it was so easy and SO good! We put ours over noodles but everyone agreed it would have been better with rice. Anyway, this is a MUST TRY recipe!

CREAM PUFFS

3/4 C WATER

1/3 C BUTTER OR MARGARINE

3/4 C FLOUR

1/8 tsp SALT

3 EGGS

PRE HEAT OVEN 400 DEGREES

MAKES 6 (YOU CAN DOUBLE RECIPE)

In a small sauce pan bring water and butter to boil over medium heat. Remove from heat beat in flour and salt, all at once. Over low heat stir mixture until it leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from heat add eggs all at once. Beat until smooth and satiny looking. Place dough by large spoon fulls on ungreased cookie sheet. They will puff up so don't make them too big. Bake at 400 for 35-40 min without opening the door. Remove from oven and cool in draft free place. When cool cut tops push down inside of puff. Fill with your favorite pudding or ice cream. Put tops back on and frost with favorite frosting.

ENJOY!!!!

Red, White and Green Jell-o

I know all of you will remember this yummy desert that Mom use to make. This time of year you could substitute green jello for blue jello.

1 - 3oz pkg Lemon flavored Jell-O
1 - 3oz pkg Cherry, Raspberry, or Strawberry Jell-O
1 - 3oz pkg of Lime Jell-O
3 C. boiling Water
1 - 8oz pkg Cream Cheese, softened
1 - 8-1/4oz Crushed Pineapple with the syrup
1 C. Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 C. Mayonnaise
1-1/2 C/ Cold water

Dissolve each flavor of gelatin separately in 1 cup of boiling water. Gradually blend lemon gelatin mixture into softened cream cheese beating until smooth. Add pineapple and syrup and chill until slightly thickened. Blend in whipped topping and mayonnaise and chill until very thick.
Meanwhile, add 3/4 cup cold water to the red jello, pour into 9-inch square pan and chill until set but not firm. Add remaining cold water to the lime jello, chill until slightly thickened. Spoon lemon gelatin mixture over the red jello. Chill until set but not firm, top with lime jello. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight. Unmold and garnish with cut-up pineapple slices and maraschino cherries, if desired. Makes about 16 servings.

Orange Tapioca Jello Salad

An old family favorite. I made this for Easter. We took a big bowl to Grandma's party on Saturday and another big bowl to dinner at Jason's aunts house on Sunday. I love this stuff! It should be re-named: Orangie-Heaven in a bowl.

Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 sm pkg Orange Jell-O
1 sm pkg Cook'n Serve Vanilla Pudding
1 sm pkg Cook'n Serve Tapioca
1 can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 8oz container Cool Whip

Directions:
In medium saucepan stir together the first four ingredients. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool. Add the mandarin oranges and Cool Whip and stir thoroughly. Chill for several hours before serving.

I've heard rumors that this recipe has been tried with different flavors. Although I've never tried it myself, I bet raspberry would be phenomenal!

Lemonade Cheesecake

• 1 Pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/2 C. frozen Lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 1 tub (8 oz.) Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 1 Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
• 1-1/2 cups sliced Strawberries
• 2 Tbsp Sugar

Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the Lemonade concentrate gradually and stirring thoroughly in between additions. Lastly add 2 cups of the whipped topping (I only had 2 cups in the 8 oz. tub so if you want some for the top, as seen in the picture, you may want to by a bigger tub).
Spoon the mixture into the pie crust and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.
Mix the sliced berries with the sugar and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

I used the lite cool whip and light cream cheese to make if lower in fat. It tasted delicious. I will be making it for Easter dinner with the Fife's. Enjoy everyone!!

My New Favorite Muffin

Jenalyn wanted to make banana muffins so I went searching online for a good recipe. As always, I searched on Recipezaar first and I found the mother of all banana muffin recipes!

Delicious - check.
Moist - check.
Healthy - check.
Chocolate - check.

What else matters?

So here you go...

(Why yes, those are Lightening McQueen cupcake liners. They were left over from Corbin's birthday.)

Low-Fat Banana Oatmeal Chocolate-chip Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 large bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup flour (you can use whole wheat for a change if you like)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (instant is fine)
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Add sugar to mashed bananas and mix.
2. Add beaten egg and mix.
3. In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix well.
5. Mix in applesauce.
6. Add chocolate chips and Stir.
7. Spoon into medium size muffin tin (I use paper muffin cups so they won't stick) and fill 3/4's full.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.

I used whole wheat flour and Grandma Sprague's home-canned applesauce. I tagged this recipe as Breakfast and Dessert because they really were that good.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchilads

Cheryl told me about these on Saturday at the Chile Verde class. I found the recipe on Good Thing Utah's website. I tried it out and they were so delicious I thought I would share.

1/3 C. Honey
1/4 C. Lime Juice

2 tsp to 1 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 large cloves of Garlic, finely minced or 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 large Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
12 Corn Tortillas or Flour Tortillas
2 C. of Mexican Cheese Blend, shredded
1 14-oz can of Green Enchilada Sauce
1/2 - 3/4 C. of Heavy Cream
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1 Tbsp of chopped Cilantro, to garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cooked and shredded chicken in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate while you prepare the tortillas, 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, in the refrigerator.

Heat a large griddle till a drop of water skitters across (about 350 degrees F). Spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray or a oil it with a little bit of canola oil in between each round of tortillas. Heat tortillas about 20 seconds on each side till warm and flexible and some golden brown spots have appeared. Remove the tortillas from the griddle and keep them between a couple of paper towels until ready to use.

Spray the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Add a large spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada - it will be more of an over lap on the seam side that rolled tightly. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish starting at one end with the long edge parallel to the longest side of the pan so that you end up with two columns of six enchiladas each.

Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada sauce and cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top. Serve with sour cream, black beans, and rice or a green salad for a great meal.

Lettuce Wraps

We had these at a friend's house on Saturday night. So delicious and low fat.

3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp chopped onions
1 tsp Garlic, minced
4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce
1 lb ground turkey

Special Sauce:
1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Water
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
2 Tbsp Ketchup
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/8 tsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Hot Mustard
2 tsp Water
1-2 tsp garlic and red chile sauce

Stir-Fry Sauce:
2 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Rice Vinegar

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.

Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.

Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.

Bring oil to high heat in a work or large frying pan. Brown ground turkey. Add garlic.

Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together.

Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple of minutes then serve in lettuce wraps with the special sauce either ladled over the top of the meat mixture or a small bowl for dipping the lettuce wrap.

We also took some of the special sauce and made stir fry noodles as well. You can saute your favorite vegetables while you cook rice noodles. Then add the rice noodles to the vegetables and add a couple ladles of the sauce and bring warm.

Avon Sugar Cookies

Avon Sugar Cookies

1 cup softened butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Blend in flour and baking soda. Cover; chill 2-3 hours.

Heat oven to 375. Divide dough in half. Roll each half 1/4 inch thick onlightly floured clothcovered board. Cut into desired shapes. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes or until light brown on edge. Yeidls approx. 4 dozen 2 -2 1/2 inch cookies. * If using self-rising flour; omit soda

Special Icing

1# confectioner's sugar

1 large egg white water

Beat confectioer's sugar into egg white, adding 1 tablespoon water or enough to produce a fairly thick frosting.