Ambrosia

Ambrosia

1 ½ cups drained mandarin orange chunks
2 apples – chopped
2 bananas – sliced
1 tub sour cream
1 pkg. Mini-marshmallows
½ cup coconut
½ cup pecans
1 ½ cups drained pineapple chunks

Mix together all ingredients and refrigerate.

Slow-Cooker Baked Beans

Slow-Cooker Baked Beans

3 cans pinto beans, drained, rinsed (Any beans can be used if wanted)
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 slices of bacon - chopped
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 small onion - chopped

Place all ingredients in slow cooker; mix well. Cover with lid. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3 hours.

Chicken Chalupa

Chicken Chalupa

12 – 8 inch soft flour tortillas
1 ½ cups cooked chicken, cut up
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
6 tbsp. salsa
16 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 can green chile – optional

Mix sour cream, soup, salsa and ¼ of the cheese with ½ cup of water. Set aside ¾ of this sauce. To the rest add the chopped chicken. You can add a small can of green chilies to this if wanted. Fill tortillas with 3 tablespoons of mixture, roll up and place in an oblong pan. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Spread the mixture over all the rolled up tortillas, then top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes. Can be frozen.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars

Crust & Topping:
2 cups Oats
½ cup nuts (optional)
1 ¾ cups flour
¾ tsp. Salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ tsp. Baking soda

Combine and beat on low speed until well blended. You can add up to 2 tsp. Water if mixture is too dry. Reserve 2 loose cups for topping and press the rest into the bottom of a greased 9x13 cake pan.

Filling:
1 (8 oz) pkg. Cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. Water
1 cup chocolate chips or M&M’s

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and water together until blended smooth. Spread over the bottom crust and sprinkle with the chocolate chips, M&M or chocolate candy of your choice.

Topping:
Sprinkle the reserved 2 cups over the pan while crumbling with your fingers as needed. There will be cream cheese and chocolate pieces “peeking through”.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before cutting and removing from the pan.

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup Cooking Oil
4 Eggs
3 1/3 Cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

In a very large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well; set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternately add flour mixture and water to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 55 to 65 minutes. Makes: 2 Loaves (32 servings)

Pumpkin Spice Bars

Pumpkin Spice Bars

4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup raisins (I don’t add these)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350°. Grease jelly roll pan, 15½ x 10½ x 1 inch. Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cloves. Mix in raisins (if using). Pour batter into pan. Bake until light brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool; frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle with nuts*. Cut into bars. About 2 x 1½ inches. Refrigerate any remaining bars. The nuts can be toasted before sprinkled on the cake. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese - softened
1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 box powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy then add vanilla beat until well blended. Add powdered and beat until soft and fluffy.

Baking-Powder Biscuits

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening or soft butter
2/3-3/4 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Cut in shortening or butter until it forms coarse crumb-like mixture. Add milk all at once and stir until dough forms. Add enough milk that the dough holds together but isn't too sticky. Knead on floured surface about 10-12 strokes. Roll out to be about 1/2 inch thick and cut with cookie cutter, biscuit cutter or just use the lip of a cup.

Bake on ungreased baking sheet

Blackberry Brownies

Such a yummy use for blackberries, and its like those annoying seeds just melted away! Fabulous dessert!

3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted and divided in half (I just melted 1/3 cup twice)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
approx. 2 pints blackberries (raspberries would probably be just as tasty)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9X13-inch baking pan.

Stir together cocoa and baking soda in mixing bowl; add 1/3 cup butter, mixing well. Add all the boiling water and stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup butter. Add flour, vanilla, and salt. Blend completely. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Gently place blackberries on top of batter. Cover berries with the remaining batter.

Bake 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out without goop about 2 in. from edge of pan. Good warm, even better cooled.

Chicken Roll-Ups

Chicken Roll-Ups

1 pkg. Crescent rolls
2 cans Hormel Chicken – drained
¼ cup melted margarine
1 small pkg cream cheese, softened
2 jars chicken gravy
½ tsp. Lemon pepper seasoning

Mix chicken, cream cheese, lemon pepper and little of the melted margarine together. Put a large spoonful of chicken mixture into a crescent roll and roll normally. Seal ends, brush with remaining margarine and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, serve with mashed potatoes and the gravy.

Corn Chowder

This has become one of my very favorite soups. Especially in cold winter months.

1/2 cup chopped onion (I use dried onion and add a little water while it's cooking)
1/2 cup green bell pepper
1 Tb cooking oil

Cook onion and bell pepper in hot oil until onion is tender but not brown.

1 can chicken broth (I use chicken bouillon and water)
1 cup cubed, peeled potato

Stir in chicken broth and potato. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 cups frozen corn (I've also used drained canned corn)

Stir in corn. Cook, uncovered, about 10 minutes more or till potato and corn are tender. Stir occasionally.

1 cup milk
1 Tb salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Combine in a small bowl, then stir into the corn mixture.

2 slices bacon

Crisp-cook, drain and crumble bacon. Add to soup, and stir.

1 cup of soup has: 180 calories, 6 grams fat, and 4 grams of fiber

Options:

• before adding the corn, blenderize half of it to make a thicker soup.
  
• add 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese with the bacon.
• add several slices of cut-up ham instead of, or in addition to, the bacon. It makes it a heartier, and more filling meal.
  

Cran-Raspberry Butter

Cran-Raspberry Butter

1 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
½ cup raspberry preserves
2 cups softened butter
1 tbsp powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, beat for 5 minutes. Mixture should be creamy. Spoon into a dish; cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Make 3 half cups.

Honey Butter

Honey Butter

½ cup softened butter
¼ tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 cup honey

Whip butter, vanilla, and egg yolk. Gradually whip in honey until light and fluffy.

Dinner Rolls

Lion House Dinner Rolls

2 tbsp yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening or butter – soft
2/3 cup non-fat dry milk
5 – 6 cups flour

In a large bowl mix yeast and water and let stand for 5 minutes. Then add sugar, shortening, salt, dry milk, egg and 2 cups flour. Beat together until smooth. Gradually add remaining flour until soft dough is formed. Place on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and let it rise until dough doubles in bulk. Then punch it down and divide into thirds. Roll out on third into a circle; cut into 12 pie-shaped pieces. Starting at the wide end, roll up each piece into a crescent. Place on a greased cookie sheet with the point on the bottom. Garnish the tops with butter (melted). Let the rise again. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 3 dozen.

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes (2 ¾ pounds)
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
¾ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. White pepper or ½ tsp. Black pepper
6 cups Milk
1 cup Sour Cream
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
10 bacon strips crumbled
1 cup shredded cheese

Bake potatoes until tender, cool completely. Peel and cube potatoes. In a large saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk into pan. Bring to a boil, cook and stir 2 minutes until thick. Remove from heat, whisk in sour cream. Add potatoes, green onions, bacon and cheese.

Coming soon...

Keep posted on the blog, I'm going to start posting quite a bit. I recently did a cook book for my ward and I wanted to post a couple of recipes that I put in it that sounded delish' to me!

And as always, anyone who wants to join just leave your email address and how you found the blog and I'll add you to be a "cook"!

Chewy Ginger Cookies

I figured this blog hadn't been posted on in a while so it's about to post something new. I was invited to a Cookie Party during the holidays which was fun and very helpful. Depending on how many people can depends on how many cookies you make. Example, say you invite 10 people to your party, everyone invited would make 12 dozen cookies. Now, you're thinking what I was thinking, "Wow! That's a lot of cookies!" But hear me out, you make a dozen cookies for each person (10 people plus you as the host) and then a dozen to share at the party, that way everyone gets to try your cookie before you go home. Then you switch cookies, that way you go home with 11 dozen cookies. That's still a lot of cookies but it takes out the work for Christmas cookie plates, you have a variety and you didn't have to cook all of them! My point, I picked up some good recipes from the party (you bring copies of your recipe to share), and here is my favorite!:

Chewy Ginger Cookies

2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup dark molasses
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°. Whisk first 7 ingredients together, set aside. Beat shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, molasses, and vanilla to shortening mixture and mix until just combined. Mix dry ingredients into wet, one cup at a time. Form dough into 1 inch balls and coat in sugar. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Golden and cracked is a good sign. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pumkpin Cookies

This was also one of my favorites from the cookie party!:

Chocolate Chip Pumkpin Cookies

½ cup Shortening
½ cup Butter
1 cup White Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 can of Pumpkin
4 cups Flour
1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
1 ½ tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 ½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 cup Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortenings and both sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a separate bowl; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips.
3. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 mintues until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few mintues on the baking sheets before removing to write racks to cool completely. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.