Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Peanut Butter Popcorn

from Kari

Combine equal parts peanut butter, corn syrup and sugar. Melt it together in a saucepan and then just pour it on top of popcorn.

Omelets in a Bag

from Stephanie

Get a ziploc sandwich bag (cheap ones work too) and label them with the names of the people eating. Put two eggs (one for smaller people). Add any fixin's like cheese, peppers, salt, pepper, mushrooms, onions, etc. Zip up the bag and let the kids smash the eggs together. On the stove, boil water in a large stock pot. Put the bags in the water (as many bags as will fit in your pot). Boil for 13 minutes. Open the bag and place the eggs on a plate.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Wild Rice Scrambled Eggs

from Stephanie

12 eggs (beat with 1/3 cup milk)
1 cup pre-cooked long-grain wild rice (follow cooking instructions on wild rice package)
6 large fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 small green pepper, diced
1/2 cup white onion, minced
1 large fresh tomato, diced
6 slices ham, diced, or two chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 cup shredded cheese

Season to taste
Parsley

Scramble eggs in large deep frying pan (coat with cooking spray) until "almost" done.

Take off burner and stir in wild rice, mushrooms, green pepper, onion, ham and seasonings. Mix well. Sprinkle cheese on top and garnish with diced tomatoes and parsley.

Put uncovered frying pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Eggs will finish cooking. Let sit for five minutes to set, then cut into six pie shaped portions and serve hot.

Note: If you are doubling the recipe transfer the mixture into a 9x13 sprayed cake pan, top with cheese & tomato, before putting into the oven. Cut into squares.

Serves 6

Wassail

from Stephanie

10 cups apple juice
2-3 cups orange juice
4 cinnamon sticks

Add these all together in a pot and let simmer for a couple of hours.

IHOP Pancakes

from Stephanie

Nonstick Spray
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cooking oil
pinch of salt

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Spray skillet with nonstick spray. Using a blender or mixer, combine all remaining ingredients until smooth. Ladle approximately 1/3 cup batter onto the hot skillet, forming 5-inch circles. When the edges appear to harden, after a minute or two, flip the pancakes. They should be golden brown. Cook pancakes on other side for the same amount of time. Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

from Stephanie

Dough

1 cup warm water—110F
2 pkts (or 4 ½ tsp.) active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup milk, warmed
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
8 cups all-purpose flour


*Note: This recipe uses about 5 sticks (2 1/2 c.) butter total.*
Mix warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar and set aside. Mix milk, 2/3 c sugar, butter, salt, and eggs; stir well and add to yeast mixture. Add half the flour and beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make dough slightly stiff. Dough will be sticky. Knead for 5-10 min. Place in well-greased glass or plastic bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place free of drafts for about 1 ½ hours or until doubled in bulk.


Rolls

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 T ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted


When dough has doubled, punch it down and let rest 5 minutes. Roll out on floured surface into a 15” x 20” rectangle. Spread dough with ½ c melted butter. Mix 1 ½ c sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, if desired. Roll up jelly-roll fashion (rolling lengthwise so final roll is 20” long) and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12-15 slices. Coat bottom of a 13”x9” pan and an 8” square pan with ½ c melted butter, then sprinkle with ¼ c sugar. Place rolls close together in pans and let rise again until dough is doubled in bulk, about 45 min. Bake at 350 F for 20-30 min or until rolls are browned. Cool slightly.


Frosting

2/3 cup melted butter
4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
6 T milk or water, warmed


(The frosting recipe may be halved.) Combine all ingredients until smooth and drizzle over warm rolls.

Cilantro Rice

from Stephanie

4 tsp. chicken bullion
4 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 tsp. cumin
1 can diced green chiles
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tbls. Butter
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups rice

Blend in blender then put in pan on stove. Add 3 cups water (sometimes I add more to make it more moist) and bring to a boil. Add three cups rice, simmer 30 minutes.

Beef Stroganoff

from Stephanie

1-2 lb. grass-fed round steak (cut in cubes or strips)
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1/2 C diced onions
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 T soy sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 C sour cream
8 oz. wide egg noodles

Melt oil and butter in pan. Add beef to pan. When beef is browned, remove it from the pan.

Add onions, garlic, mushrooms and sauté until onions are glazed and clear.

Add soups, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce while stirring to combine.

Add sour cream and stir. Add browned beef. Baked covered in 275 degree oven 2-3 hrs. or cook in crock pot on low.

Serve over wide cooked egg noodles.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Monkey Bread

from Melanie

24 frozen rolls
1 small package butterscotch cook n' serve pudding (NOT INSTANT)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cube butter
1 tsp cinnamon
4 oz. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Place half of the nuts, if using, into a greased bundt pan. Place frozen rolls in pan, then pour pudding powder evenly over the rolls. Melt butter and stir the brown sugar into the melted butter. Pour mixture evenly over rolls. Sprinkle with cinnamon and remaining nuts, if using. Cover with a towel and let rise for 8 hours or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, set pan out at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. If the top of the rolls start to burn before it is done cooking, cover the top with a piece of tin foil.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Cheesy Volcano Meatballs

from Melanie

1 lb. lean ground beef, pork, or turkey
6 Ritz Crackers, finely crushed
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup spaghetti sauce, divided
12 cheddar cheese cubes

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Mix meat, cracker crumbs, Parmesan and 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce. Shape into 12 meatballs, using about 2 Tbsp. meat mixture for each.

Place, 2 inches apart, in shallow baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Press 1 cheese cube deeply into center of each meatball.

Bake 14 min. or until meatballs are done (160ºF). Serve with spaghetti.

Fruity Chicken Salad

from Melanie

6 cups lettuce
6-8 oz. chopped grilled chicken
1/2 lb. chopped fresh strawberries
1 can mandarin oranges, well drained
Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Toss first four ingredients. Top individual servings with dressing.

Asian Chicken and Noodles

from Melanie

8 oz. spaghetti or chinese noodles
3 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup red pepper strips
1/2 cup Catalina Dressing
1 lb. chicken (or well-trimmed boneless beef sirloin steak), cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts, optional

Cook spaghetti or noodles as directed on package, adding snap peas and red pepper to the cooking water for the last 2 min. of the spaghetti cooking time.

Meanwhile, heat dressing in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add meat; stir-fry 3 min. or until meat is barely pink in center. Add peanut butter and soy sauce; stir-fry 1 min. or until sauce thickens.

Drain spaghetti and vegetables. Add to skillet; toss with meat mixture. Stir in green onions; sprinkle with peanuts if desired.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Beef Stir-fry with Noodles

from Mom

12 ounces boneless beef sirloin steak, trimmed of fat
2 cups fresh pea pods
3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
4 ounces Oriental-style noodles (chukka soba) or linguine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
6 green onions cut on bias about ½ inch
2 tsp cooking oil

Partially freeze meat about 30 minutes. Thinly slice meat across the grain into bite-size pieces. Set aside. Remove ends from pea pods; halve pea pods diagonally. For sauce, in a small mixing bowl stir together soy sauce and rice vinegar and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Drain and set aside.

Spray an unheated, large skillet with nonstick coating. Preheat over medium-high heat. Stir-fry garlic in skillet for 15 seconds. Add pea pods, carrots, and green onions. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until tender-crisp. Remove vegetables from pan.

Pour oil into hot pan. If necessary, add more oil during cooking. Add beef to pan and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until desired doneness. Push beef from center of pan. Add sauce to center of pan. Add vegetables and cooked noodles. Cook and stir until heated through and coated with sauce immediately.

Raspberry Glazed Chicken Breasts

from Mom

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro – optional
1/2 tsp pepper

Place chicken in shallow glass dish. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour, turning chicken once.

Heat grill. Remove chicken from marinade; reserve marinade. Cover and grill chicken 4-6 inches from medium heat for 15-20 minutes, brushing with marinade and turning occasionally, until juice of chicken is no longer pink when center of thickest parts are cut.

Heat remaining marinade to boiling; boil 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Serve with chicken.

Variation: Substitute apricot jam and balsamic vinegar.

Creamed Chicken over Rice

from Mom

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package dry onion soup mix

Place chicken breasts in crock pot and top with cream of chicken soup (undiluted) and sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cook on high for about six hours. The chicken is really tender and you can take a spoon and break it up in pieces. Serve over rice or noodles or even mashed potatoes.

Barbeque Cobb Salad

from Mom

1-16 ounce package salad mix
1 large cucumber
1/2 small red onion
1 avocado, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, seeded
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 pound chicken breasts
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup ranch dressing

Lay salad mix on large plate. Top with sliced cucumber, onion, avocado, tomatoes, and cheese in diagonal rows, leaving a row down the center. Refrigerate. Grill chicken breasts, brushing with barbeque sauce. Arrange chicken down center of salad and top with bacon. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss gently.

Light Summer Salad

from Mom

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp parsley
8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
6 ounces tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp basil

To prepare vinaigrette, combine vinegar, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix well. Chill until ready to serve. When ready to serve, combine cooked pasta, tomatoes, basil, and parsley. Pour vinaigrette over pasta mixture until well coated.

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

from Mom

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 1/2 to 2 cups BBQ sauce
1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
4-6 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 onion, finely chopped
6 ciabatta rolls

Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in a heavy pot with the onion, garlic and just enough water to cover (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups). Add the BBQ sauce and vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through (about 15 minutes) Remove the chicken and shred with forks. Boil the sauce until reduced by half (about 15 minutes). Add the shredded chicken and heat through. Spoon the mixture onto the rolls and top with the cheese.

Baked Ziti

from Mom

1 pound ziti, cooked according to package
1-24 ounce jar marinara sauce
6 garlic chicken sausages, cooked and browned in skillet
2 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 TBS Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl toss cooked pasta with marinara sauce. Cut each sausage into fourths and add to pasta and sauce along with 1 cup cheese and seasoning. Mix well. Pour into a 2 1/2 to 3 quart casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Top with remaining cheese. Return to oven until cheese melts.

Apple-Pecan Tenderloin Medallions

from Mom

1 pound pork tenderloin
2 Tbsp butter
1-16 ounce can sliced apples, drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Cut pork into 1/2 inch slices. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it sizzles. Reduce heat to medium. Arrange pork slices in skillet. Cook for 2 minutes; turn slices. Spoon apples over pork. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans. Cover and cook for 4-6 minutes more.