Holiday Cheer Potatoes...

or some of us call it Potato Casserole.....or Funeral Potatoes. Or I should actually tell you that it's the Potato Casserole recipe from the Lion House. Bon Apetite! (as Julia Childs would say).


5 large potatoes
3 Tablespoons butter (melted)
1 can cream of chicken
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
3 Tablespoons finely chopped green onion
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
3/4 cup corn flakes (crushed)
2 Tablespoons butter (melted)
3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and boil potatoes until tender. Drain and peel; shred coarsely. Place in a 2 or 3 quart casserole dish. Pour melted butter over potatoes. Mix together soup, sour cream, milk, green onions, and cheese. Pour evenly over potatoes. Do not mix. Toss crumbs with melted butter and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 8-10 servings.

I didn't "shred" the potatoes in my last batch, I just crushed them with a fork a bit and they still turned out well. I also peeled them BEFORE cooking them, which made it really easy.

Buttermilk Cornbread

One more...

Cornbread

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8 in square pan.

2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until tootpick comes out clean.

I made chili twice last month and this was the best cornbread recipe I came across. It is really, really good. It just might be the best cornbread ever!

Apple Crisp

I usually do not care for fruit type desserts, but this one is delicious. And perfect for this time of year.

Apple Crisp

10 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced (i prefer granny smith)
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water

Topping
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13" pan. Mix the sugar, 1 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over the apples. Pour water evenly over all.

3. Combine the topping ingredients together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

4. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

This is excellent by itself or with a scoop of vanilla icecream. Yum!

Fish Tacos

Katie asked for recipes a while back so here you go...

Fish Tacos

White Sauce
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayo
1 lime, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/2 tsp. groud cayenne pepper

1/2 medium cabbage, finely shredded
1-2 limes, cut into wedges
1 lb. any white fish or fish sticks
1 pkg. corn tortillas

I have made this with both fish sataued in a frying pan and fish sticks, both taste just fine. It's just whatever you prefer or is on sale at the time.

To make the white sauce, mix toether the yogurt and mayo. Gradually stir in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Season with jalapeno, oregano, cumin, dill, and cayenne. (this can get a bit hot, you may want to cut back on the jalapeno and cayenne for kiddos)

I usually heat the tortillas in the microwave or in a skillet on the stove top. Depending on how much time I have.

To serve, place fish in a tortilla, top with shredded cabbage, and white sauce. I like to squeeze a little extra lime juice on top. It is also really good with pico de gallo.

I've made this a couple of times and it's really good. I love fish tacos!

Artichoke & Garlic Pasta

I recently came across this recipe and it is really easy and tastes great.

4 ounces seashell pasta (use whatever shape you want)
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 Tbs. Butter
2 Cloves Garlic
1 sprig fresh basil, chopped (i just used dry)
1 8oz. can artichoke hearts, drained

1. Cook your pasta.
2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, basil, and artichoke hearts and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Make sure its all heated through. It's really good if the artichokes get a little bit browned. Toss with the pasta and serve.

Pot Roast Sandwiches

I saw this on tv the other day. I haven't tried it, but it's on the menu for next week.


1 4-5 lb beef brisket (or your favorite type of pot roast), all or most fat removed
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup (can be low sodium or lower fat)
1 package dry Onion Soup mix
2 tsp granulate Beef Bouillon or 2 Beef Bouillon cubes
Freshly ground black pepper

-Trim visible fat from pot roast and place in bottom of slow cooker. Season generously with pepper.
-In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Heat soup mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds just until warm and bouillon starts to melt. Whisk again and spoon on top of pot roast.
-Cover and cook on low 7 - 8 hours.
remove pot roast from slow cooker when cooking time is complete and place in a large mixing bowl. Using two forks, shred the roast apart. When completely shredded, add quite a bit of the cooking gravy and mix together. The mixture should be nice and moist.
-Place a nice healthy portion of pot roast on top of good bread or rolls and eat.

Favorite Fall Recipes?

Does anyone have some favorite fall recipes? Soups? Breads? Pumpkin recipes? PLEASE share them!!

I dare you...

...to post something on this blog. Anything. Who's up to the challenge??! :)

Toffee Bars

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Combine flour and salt and add to butter mixture. Mix together.

Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 25-30 min at 350.

Sprinkle the top of baked bars with chocolate chips. Wait about 5 minutes then spread over the top.

Turkey Loco Burgers w/ Guacamole

1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp ground cumin
Chopped fresh oregano - handful of leaves (or a tsp of Italian Seasoning)
1/4 onion, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
A few shakes of hot pepper sauce (Red Hot or Tabasco)
Salt and pepper to taste

Chunky Guacamole
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
1/4 meduim spanish onion, grated
1 jalepeno or serrano pepper, minced
Salt to taste
1 small tomato, diced

Combine turkey with next 6 ingredients. Form into 4 patties and grill over medium-high for 6 minutes on each side.

While the burgers are cooking, mash the avocados with onion, pepper, salt and tomato -- leave it chunky.

Place each burger on a bun and pile it high with guac and a piece of romaine (if you want).

This is a Rachael Ray recipe - I kinda improvised. I just used ground red pepper in place of the Tabasco and jalepeno pepper. And, I didn't have fresh oregano, so I used Italian Seasoning. I also went a little less on the onion. It just seemed like a lot to me.

recipes that are not mine

I just got onto one of my friends blog and noticed a little widget (who made up that word?) on the sidebar that said picky palate. I added it to my blog because the few recipes I looked at looked delicious. So here I am sharing it with my fam.

The link is http://www.picky-palate.com or like I mentioned I added the widget to my sidebar on my blog as well.

Grilling Recipes?

Hey, we just got a grill and I need to get some grilling recipes. Marinades, tips, whatever. Please share!!

Decadent Chocolate Dessert Pizza

The girl that hosted our April book club made this and it was wonderful!!! I had to get the recipe and share it!

18 oz. package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1/3 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
14 strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 large banana, sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape cookie dough into a ball and place in center of large cookie sheet. Using a lightly floured roller, roll dough to a 12 inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake 12-15 min. or until edges are set (cookie will be soft. Do not over bake.) Remove from oven; cool 10 min. Carefully loosen cookie from pan; cool completely on pan.

2 - Place chocolate morsels in microwave bowl, uncovered on high for 30-60 seconds, stirring after each 20 second interval. Add cream cheese; whisk until well blended. Spread chocolate mixture over cookie to within 1/2 inch of edge.

3 - Reserve one strawberry for garnish. Hull remaining strawberries and slice. Slice banana. Arrange strawberries around the edge of pizza; arrange banana slices in center of pizza. Chop almonds and sprinkle over banana slice. Create a strawberry fan with the reserved strawberry. Garnish pizza with the strawberry fan. Cut pizza into wedges using a pizza cutter; serve with a spatula. Yields: 16 servings

Tortilla Pie with Chicken

Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 12 corn tortillas (6-inch), toasted
• 2 cups cooked, shredded dark-meat chicken
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles
• 1 1/2 cups green or red salsa
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (6 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking dish, layer 4 tortillas, 1 cup chicken, cup chiles, 1/2 cup salsa, 1/3 cup sour cream, and 1/2 cup cheese; repeat once. Top with remaining tortillas, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Bake until top is browned and bubbling, 30 to 40 minutes.

modifications and/or additions
I have made this 2 times now and both times it turned out GREAT, if I do say so myself. The chicken I cooked with "mexican food" type spices, oregano, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. For the size of pan you use, you really only need 9 tortillas, 3 for each layer (breaking one of them in half). You don't HAVE to have green chiles, I made it last night without it and it was fine. I have used both cheddar and mozzarella cheese and it turned out great either way.
ADDING Guacamole makes it even better, but only on top AFTER it is cooked.

My guac recipe:

2 ripe avocado's
lime juice
lemon juice
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic power
a dash or two of hot sauce (I like Chalula).

add ingredients a little at a time for you tastbud liking.

wheat muffins

We grew-up eating these muffins for breakfasts/snacks, etc. It's another way to use that wheat from your food storage. I'm pretty sure that they're not that healthy with the cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter, but hey, not everything in this life can be healthy! They're really yummy right out of the oven, buttered with raspberry jam (homemade freezer jam preferably). But they're also really good cooled, eaten plain. My kids will eat them this way for an after school snack. So give them a try, see what you think.

Wheat Muffins

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk.

~~Homemade Girl Scout Samoa Bars~~

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Samoas Bars
In Recipes, Cookies - Bar Cookies and Brownies, Chocolate
I love the look of the original Samoas Girl Scout Cookies, but making them from scratch can be a little bit time consuming. This is largely because the dough must be rolled out, cut out and then each of the cookies has to be handled individually for topping. The results are well worth it, in my opinion, but we don’t always have time to make a labor-intensive recipe - no matter how bad a craving for Girl Scout cookies gets.
Bar cookies are the perfect solution.
This is basically a shortcut recipe that still delivers all the great samoas flavor without some of the more tedious parts of cooking making. These bars have a buttery shortbread base that is topped with the caramel-coconut samoas topping and chocolate. It is made in three stages. First, the shortbread is baked and cooled. Then, the coconut topping is applied. Put the coconut on while it is hot, so it will be fairly easy to push it around. It’s a thick mixture, but a spatula is all you need to press it into an even layer. The bars should be cut after the topping has been applied, and even though the shortbread has a melt-in-your mouth quality to it, the topping holds the bars together well. I recommend using a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice up the bars easily and neatly; small knives don’t work quite as well.
The final step is to dip these in chocolate once the topping has set. Since samoas have chocolate on the bottom and a chocolate drizzle on top, I kept that same look for my bar cookies. If you want something a bit simpler, just dip half that bars in chocolate - or skip the dipping in favor of a drizzle. The important thing is that all the flavors get into the batch. And that you have some friends to share these with, because they can be quite addictive.
Homemade Samoas BarsCookie Base:1/2 cup sugar3/4 cup butter, softened1 large egg1/2 tsp vanilla extract2 cups all purpose flour1/4 tsp salt
First, make the crust.Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.
Topping3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)12-oz good-quality chewy caramels1/4 tsp salt3 tbsp milk10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 30 bar cookies.
Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.
Article printed from Baking Bites: http://bakingbites.com
URL to article: http://bakingbites.com/2009/02/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas-bars/

CRANBERRY CHICKEN

3-4 chicken breasts
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. butter
2 T. lemon juice
2 tsp. oregano
2 cloves garlic
1 can whole cranberry sauce.

Put all ingredients in crock pot. If chicken is frozen, on high for about an hour then on low until chicken is tender. If thawed, on low til chicken is tender.

Serve over rice.

sorry, no picture, just know that it is easy and good!!!!!

Homemade Tamales?

Have any of you tried to make homemade tamales? I have this idea that I want to try it, but I've also heard it's a lot of work. I'm not sure how much effort I want to put into it. Any feedback on this?

Bread

This is the bread recipe I've been using lately. It is pretty good and I haven't had a bad batch yet.

Wheat Bread

1 3/4 cup cold water (some ice)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 Tbsp salt
2 1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup gluten flour

Mix these ingredients together. Meanwhile, prepare the yeast mixture and allow it to rise.

1/2 cup warm water (on the hot side)
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar

Add risen yeast. Mix. Then add:

2 - 2 1/2 cup white bread flour

Mix until the dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead about 10-15 minutes. Let rise until it doubles (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours) and punch down. Put into 2-3 loaf pans and let rise again to the top of the pan. Brush with 1 beaten egg. Bake at 375 uncovered for 5 minutes. Then cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and allow to cool for 4-5 hours.

I usually make 2 loaves with this recipe in my kitchenaid. The girl that I got the recipe from doubles it and makes 5 loaves in her bosch. We don't eat a ton of bread so one batch lasts about 3-4 weeks for us. It freezes really well too.

Doughnuts

These are super good. Give them a try...

Doughnuts

1 cup water
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
pinch of mace (optional - you can't really taste it anyway)
1/4 cup dry milk
1 egg
2-3 cups bread flour (i always end up using 3 cups)

1. Dissolve yeast in water. In mixer add shortening, salt, sugar, mace, dry milk, and egg.
2. Add yeast water and the flour on top of water.
3. Use hook attachment and mix on low for 3 minutes until it is completely combined.
4. On medium speed mix for about 8 minutes or until a window pane is achieved.
5. Place in a greased bowl for about an hour or until double.
6. Roll out to 1 inch thickness and cut with round cookie cutter and cut out hole.
7. Lay cut doughnuts on parchment squares and cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double.
8. In 350 degree oil drop doughnuts in one at a time. Cook about 30 seconds to a minute on each side or until light golden brown.
9. Place on paper towels or drip rack. Roll in cinnamon sugar while still hot or let cool and frost.

These take a bit of time but are well worth it for an occasional treat!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

1/2 C warm water
2 pkgs. dry yeast
2 T sugar
3 1/2 oz. pkg instant vanilla pudding
1/2 C butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
6 C flour
butter, softened (for spreading)
2 C brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon


Combine water, yeast, and sugar. Stir until dissolved, set aside. In a large bowl, prepare pudding mix according to the package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt, mix well. Add yeast mixture, blending well. Gradually add flour. Knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rise again. Roll out on a large floured board to 34 x21" rectangle. Spread surface with soft butter. Mix together the 2 C brown sugar annd 4 tsp cinnamon and spread over buttered dough. Roll up tightly and cut into 2" slices. Place on greased cookie sheet 2" apart. Lightly press each roll down, cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until they start to brown. (DO NOT OVERBAKE)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1/2 C butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 C powdered sugar
1 T milk
Preparation: Mix all ingredients until smooth. Frost over warm rolls.

**I haven't made these yet, but I am hoping to this weekend. I read a discrepancy on the flour. This little old lady made these on "Good Things Utah" and said 3 cups of flour, but the recipe they posted said 6 cups of flour. Just so you know...

6 can Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can Rotel tomatoes with cilantro and lime
1 can chicken, drained
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder

Mix it all together in a large pot until warm. Serve with crushed tortilla chips and cheese.

I made this last night and it was pretty good. The actual recipe calls for 2 cans of chicken broth and no cream of chicken, but from all the reviews on said it was better this way. It does make it a gross gray color, though. The Rotel makes it spicy, so just be aware. I used a rotisserie chicken, but canned chicken probably works too.

Bean Recipes

Tara has a surplus of beans. We did too at one point, so here are some recipes we used a lot to use them. The chili recipe makes enough for 3 adults. I made that recipe up, so I am the first to admit it sounds odd.

Taco Soup
1 lb ground meat
3 15 oz cans of beans (kidney, black, garbanzo, pinto - you can mix it up)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1/4 chopped onion
1 cup corn
1 lg can tomato juice
1 can stewed tomatoes

In a large pot, brown meat. Drain if needed. Add the remaining ingredients until warm. Serve with cheese and tortilla chips.



Chili
1/2 lb ground meat
1/2 pkg taco seasoning
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp lime juice
2 cans beans (I like kidney and black, but whatever suites your fancy)
salt and pepper to taste


Brown meat - add taco seasoning while browning meat. Drain if needed. Stir in tomato soup and can of water. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for 20-30 min.