Jerk Chicken Salad

(Picture Pending)
This is so easy and DELICIOUS!  It's a regular for our dinner swap.  And all the kids love it!

Carribean Jerk Marinade (I like the Safeway brand)
1 lb Chicken tenders or thighs (b/s)
1 medium pineapple, chopped (canned is good but fresh is better!)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 green onions, sliced
2 heads romaine lettuce, torn in bite sizes
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
6 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

Marinade chicken 1-2 hrs.  Season with some salt and pepper.  Grill and shred.  Combine all ingrediants in a big bowl.  Mix dressing in a smaller bowl and serve!  (You can put the dressing on before hand or leave it off for those people or kids who prefer ranch.)

Dressing:
2 limes, juiced
1/3 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbls. pineapple/apricot perserves

Hope you love it too!  Michele

Grilled Pizza

If you like homemade pizza, you will LOVE grilled pizza!

Use your favorite crust recipe or ours

Let rise for 1/2 an hour. 

Turn grill on to medium heat.

Grill top side for 3 minutes.  Take inside and put on your *favorite toppings.  Then grill the bottom for 3 minutes.  DELICIOUS!  You'll love the flavor of the grill on this.

*Think outside the box on your toppings.  Try using Alfredo sauce (instead of your typical red pizza sauce), with mozzerella & parmesan cheese.  Then put grilled chicken, spinach, artichoke, olives, and sun-dried tomatos on top.  Mmmm, so tasty!

Buttermilk Syrup

We love this with either Banana Nut Waffles or Buttermilk Pancakes, but it's great on every kind!

1 cube butter                                    1 c. sugar

Boil for a couple of minutes (but don't burn), then add:

1/2 c. *buttermilk

Remove from heat and add:

1 tsp. baking soda                             1 tsp. vanilla

Stir.  It will foam up.  Serve hot for best taste!

*You can sour your own milk by adding half a tsp. of vinegar or lemon juice to your milk.  Do that first, and let sit while you melt your butter and sugar together.  However, it does taste better with the real stuff!

Michele

Buttermilk Pancakes

These are MY favorite pancakes.  I just love the cornmeal in them!

These go terrific with Buttermilk Syrup.

2 c. *buttermilk

1/2 c. cornmeal

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

6 Tbls. melted butter

Mix everything together except butter well;  add butter.  Cook!

This feeds my family of 6, so if your fam is smaller you may want to half it.

*You can sour your own milk by adding 2 tsp. of vinegar or lemon juice.  Just let it sit while you mix everything else together.  But I will tell you it's way better with the real stuff!

Michele



Custard Style Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Combine milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until bubbles form around the edges. In a medium bowl whisk egg yolks and sugar, stir until smooth and well combined. Slowly add the cream mixture to the egg mixture whisking constantly.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, cook over medium heat 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. (175 degrees) Pour through sieve into bowl, stir in the vanilla extract. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until completely chilled.

Once it's chilled, pour into the ice cream maker and run until softly frozen. Pour half into freezer safe container, fold in toppings of choice (oreos, cookie dough, etc...). Pour remaining ice cream into the container and fold again. Freeze.

This makes enough for 1 or 2 families. When I made it for the party, I doubled this recipe.

ENJOY!

Stephanie

Chicken Rolls

I know this picture makes it look kind of gross but its really good! (this is it cut in half)

Chicken Rolls

-4 oz cream cheese

-1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained. (I only use half)

-1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella plus more for sprinkling

-3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

-6 small boneless skinless chicken breasts

-1 egg, beaten

-10 Ritz crackers, crushed

-Optional 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the cream cheese, spinach, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

Pound the chicken to 1/4"

Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly onto each breast. Roll up the chicken and secure with a toothpick. *Be sure to remove the toothpicks after baking*

Dip the chicken rolls in the beaten egg then into the cracker crumbs.

Place on a greased 9X13 pan seam side down and bake for 30-35 minutes.

*Optional -Pour spaghetti sauce over rolls and sprinkle with cheese.

(we like it better with LOTS of cheese on the inside and without the spaghetti sauce. Paul also likes it without the crackers.)

This is one of our favorite dinners! ENJOY!

Stephanie

Texas Ranger Cookies

Makes 4 dozen
Special ingredient:  Lightning McQueen  (refer to my blog)

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. quick oats
1 c. coconut
2 c. rice crispies cereal
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional

Cream sugars & butter.  Add eggs & vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients.  Add oats, cereal, coconut, choc. chips, & nuts.  Add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet & bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

SpICy PUmpKin PanCAkes!

It is so the season for pumpkin, & what better way to start your day?

2 c. flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. brown sugar

1/2 c. pumpkin puree

1 3/4 c. milk

1 egg

2 Tbs. oil

Mix dry stuff.  Mix wet stuff.  Mix together.  Make pancakes.  Eat.

(Yep, those are the exact instructions in my cookbook!)
Michele

P.S.  Marie?  Tiffany?  It's been awhile!

Strawberry Fruit Roll Ups

This is before I started it. It will be darker when its finished.

Supplies:

Strawberries

Sugar

Applesauce

Blender

Food Dehydrator and liners

Cooking spray

Cut the tops off of the strawberries and wash them. Turn your blender on and drop the strawberries into the hole one at a time. Using the measuring cup on your blender, stop adding strawberries when you have 5 cups. Pour the blended strawberries into a big bowl. Add 1 cup of applesauce and 1 cup of sugar; stir. Spray your dehydrator liners with cooking spray and pour 1 cup of strawberry mixture onto each liner, shaking it to evenly distribute the fruit. Plug in the dehydrator and dehydrate for 8 hours.

*For every 5 cups of fruit, add 1 cup of applesauce and 1 cup of sugar. If you have multiple dehydrators, you can double accordingly. If you have a dehydrator that is different than mine, it may take less or more fruit per tray. I tear each layer in half and call that one fruit roll up, so this makes about 12 fruit roll ups. I used about 1 1/2 baskets of strawberries, or about 1 1/2 pounds. Wrap in plastic wrap to keep soft until needed. Enjoy.

Stephanie

Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

Oh, it's almost the season for all the yummy pumpkin things!!  I just saw this recipe, and I wanted to save it because I want to make it sometime.  So, sorry I haven't actually made it yet, but when I do I will I'll let you know what we think of it.  Or if you beat me to it . . .!!!

Luxcious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

::Cherry-Chip Chocolate-Chip Cookies::

In highschool, these were a favorite for our friends.  They're super-easy and way yummy!

1 box Cherry-Chip Cake Mix

1/2 cup Oil

2 Eggs

1/2 bag of Chocolate Chips (mini are fun to use!)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix first three ingredients well.  Add choc. chips.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown on bottom.  See how easy those are?  Enjoy!

Michele

P.S.  You can use any kind of cake mix and different kinds of chips too.  Be creative!

Star-Spangled Fruit Tart

1 tube (18 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened (you can use homemade cookie dough, like I did, but why make it harder than it has to be?)
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh strawberries, halved
1 cup fresh raspberries (optional)

Press cookie dough onto an ungreased pizza pan or for a thicker crust use a pie pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (until a golden brown.)  Let cool.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, & vanilla until smooth.  Spread over cooled crust.  In center of tart, arrange berries in the shape of a star.  Add a berry border.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Yields: 16 servings.

Happy 4th!  Michele

::Summer Squash & Chicken::

Have TONS of squash & need a new recipe?  That's what this one's for! 
P.S.  I'm not a photographer, so just be grateful you have a picture & don't judge me! :)

2 Summer Squash, sliced

3 chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 Tbls. oil

1 can chopped tomatoes

oregano

cumin

salt

pepper

garlic powder

whatever other seasonings happen to be your favorite!

cheese

I made this up, so just season to taste.  The more the better, right? 

Saute chicken in oil until no longer pink.  Add canned tomatos, squash, and seasonings.  Simmer 10-15 minutes, until squash is tender.  Sprinkle top with cheese.  Serve over rice.  Pretty easy and pretty tasty!
Yields: 4 servings

Michele

{A twist on Mashed Potatos!}

So, let me just say that when I'm pregnant I come up with weird things that sound good to me!  But Andy has been complaining about my mashed potatos, saying they lack flavor.  So, last night I did it different!

3 potatos - peeled & sliced

2 carrots - peeled & sliced

1/3 onion - sliced

Boil those together until soft.  Drain the water and add:

1/2 cube butter

2 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix with beaters until all blended.  Serve!  Everyone liked them.  They weren't sure about the color from the carrots, but the onion gave them good flavor.  I think next time I may add a garlic clove too.  Hmmm . . . :)

Michele

Yummy Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Cream Cheese Frosting

It's a miracle! I actually made something yummy! I have tried several new recipe's lately and not one of them has turned out, so I was pretty excited when I tried these. They are absolutely delicious!

Carrot Cake

(I halved the recipe and made about 11 cupcakes)

4 eggs

1 1/4 c vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

2 t vanilla

2 c flour

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 t ginger

1/2 t nutmeg

3 c grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350. grease muffin pan or use liners.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and 2 t vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 17-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

2 (8 oz. packages) cream cheese. Softened.

1/2 c butter. Softened.

2 c powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

In medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

breakfast

I don't know what to call this so if someone knows the name please change the title :)

Biscuits and gravy plus eggs and ham ???

I like my biscuits homemade so I'll share my recipe. Or you can use any store bought biscuits

BISCUITS

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup milk

Combine first 3 ingredients then cut in butter. Add milk all at once and mix to form dough. Turn out onto floured surface and kneed until no longer sticky. Roll to about 1/2" thickness and cut with biscuit cutter, or cup. Place on well greased baking sheet and bake at 425 for 15 to 20 mins.

makes 8 -10 biscuits

GRAVY

I just used a biscuit or country gravy packet

EGGS

Hard boil them. I would recommend starting these first and making the biscuits while they are boiling since you have to start with cold water it takes a while. Make about 1 egg per person or 2 eggs for hungry people AKA the men :) Boil 8 mins then run under cool water for a few mins then crack and peel. Slice or dice them. (I'm sure you all know how to hard boil eggs :) )

HAM

I just used the sandwich meat that we had in the fridge. Dice it up.

EAT!

Split open the biscuit and place in the bowl or on plate, top with the eggs and ham and ladle the gravy over the top. This is also good for lunch or dinner!

steph

Chocolate Cream Crunch

2 graham cracker crusts

8 oz pkg cream cheese

1 small tub of whip topping

1 large box instant chocolate pudding

1 large box instant vanilla pudding

1 cup milk

Mix cream cheese and 1/2 cup of whip topping until fluffy. Pour half into each crust and chill. Pour 1/2 cup milk and vanilla pudding into bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour over cream cheese layer. Chill. Pour 1/2 cup milk and chocolate pudding into bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour over vanilla layer. Chill. Spread the remaining whip topping on top of each pie and chill once again. Cut into slices and ENJOY!

-Stephanie

Chicken Noodle Soup

I don't have a picture because my brother ate all the leftovers while we were out of town :)

Water

2 to 3 chicken bouillon cubes

2 or so carrots

2 or so celery stalks

2 to 3 chicken breasts

1 package egg noodles

1 medium onion

salt and pepper

season salt

1. Fill your pot halfway with water (I use my biggest pot) and bring to a boil

2. Chop all veggies and chicken

3. Add bouillon cubes and dissolve

4. Add veggies and chicken

5. Add spices

6. When the veggies are soft add the noodles and continue to boil until the noodles are Al Dente.

7. Ladle into bowls and serve with rolls or crackers or whatever you like.

I don't ever measure anything when making this so sorry if you need exact measurements. You can add more water as you go if there isn't enough broth.

-stephanie

Homemade Pizza

So, this is the second time I've made this for dinner this week.  It was a huge hit Wednesday and requested again for tonight.  It's pretty easy, just with all dough things, rising takes sometime (unless you like thin crust!) 

You can do three pizzas, 2 pizzas and breadsticks, or 1/2 the recipe for one pizza and 6 breadsticks.  Be creative with the toppings, we used hamburger, olives, onion, and bell pepper on this one. 

Something fun we like to do is divide the dough into enough small balls for everyone to have their own pizza.  Then everyone "decorates" their own.  The kids love that!

Crust                                              

4 1/2 -5 cups whole wheat flour                                   
2 tsp. salt                                                                     
5 tsp. yeast                                                                   
6 tbsp. olive oil                                                             
2 cups very warm water                                                
5 tps. gluten (optional -                                                
   helps the w.w. flour to rise better)
                           
For the dough:  Mix four cups of flour and all the rest of the ingredients in your mixer.  Add enough flour so that the dough pulls away from bowl.  Mix on high 3 minutes.  Let rest for 20 minutes.  Divide into three balls and roll onto pizza pans or cookie sheets.  For thick crust, let rise another 30-60 minutes.  For thin crust, let rise 10 minutes. 

Use one pan for breadsticks.  Cut  that dough into 12  rectangles with pizza slicer.   brush with a mixture of melted butter, garlic salt, & italian seasonings.  Let rise 30-45 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Partially bake pizzas for 15 minutes each.  (Do them first, then cook the breadsticks.)  Bake the breadsticks for 20 minutes (while you put the toppings on the pizza.)  Brush the breadsticks with more butter when they're done.

After partially baking pizzas, spoon desired amount of sauce on, leaving a 1-inch crust on edges.  Sprinkle on cheese and other desired toppings.  Bake for another 20 minutes.   Yum!

Toppings
Spaghetti Sauce
Cheese
Hamburger, cooked
Sausage, cooked
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Olives
Onions
Bell Peppers
Tomatos
Broccoli
Anchovies
Or whatever you want or have!

Michele

A Money-Saving Tip

Make your sliced or diced fruits or vegetables go farther by slicing & dicing them thin. I used one bell pepper in four meals this week by doing that! It's amazing how far you can strech them. :)