From The Heart of My Kitchen

Creamy Pesto Chicken & Pasta!

2010-10-10T08:36:00.004-04:00

I found this recipe on the back of a can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup. The original name is Creamy Pesto Chicken & Bow Ties but I used penne pasta so I changed the name.

This recipe is super easy but definitely has the "wow factor." The recipe below is from the Campbell's website with minor alterations. I thought the sauce was a little too thick so I reserved some of the cooking water from the pasta and thinned the sauce down a little bit. I think I used a little over a 1/4 of a cup. I think next time I'm going to sprinkle in some freshly diced tomatoes when I add the pasta to the sauce. It will not only add color but compliment the creaminess of the sauce. After I plated it, I sprinkled fresh shaved Parmesan and a little fresh parsley on top.

Creamy Pesto Chicken & Pasta

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup pesto sauce
1/2 cup milk
3 cups penne pasta, cooked and drained (reserve some of the pasta water)

1. Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned, stirring often.

2. Stir the soup, pesto sauce and milk in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the pasta and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling. If the sauce is too thick, use the reserved pasta water to thin it down until you feel it's the right consistency.

3. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Southern Banana Pudding!

2010-05-25T12:49:00.004-04:00

I saw this recipe on a blogging buddy's blog today and had forgotten all about it. I had it years ago at a picnic. It was so good that I told myself that I would make it someday. Well a ton of years later and thanks to Darlene for the reminder, today is the day! I dropped Allison off at school and went directly to the store for the ingredients.

It is so easy and the recipe is right on the large box of JELL-O Banana Cream Pudding!

I noticed that Darlene didn't put the Cool Whip on the pudding which is a great idea if you have some people that don't care for it. I'm not a big fan of it on pie but I'm okay with it in a dessert like this. I followed the directions on the box and knowing my family is fine with Cool Whip, I went ahead and put it on top.

Southern Banana Pudding

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cold milk
1 large pkg. (5.1 oz) of JELL-O banana cream instant pudding
30 vanilla wafers (I used generic and they were a little smaller so I ended up using more)
3 bananas, sliced
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip topping, thawed

Directions:
~Beat milk and pudding mix with whisk for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
~Arrange layer of wafers on bottom and up side of 2-quart bowl.
~Top with layers of 1/2 each of the bananas and pudding.
~Repeat layers.
~Cover with Cool Whip and refrigerate for 1 hour.

**I added some crushed up vanilla wafers on top for garnish. You could also decorate the top with sliced bananas dipped in lemon juice. The crushed wafers were easier and I like things easy peasy!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Garlic Herb Chicken!

2010-05-20T09:36:00.006-04:00

I made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit.

It's a variation of a recipe I saw on Cheryl a.k.a. Tidy Mom's blog and she changed a recipe she saw in a cookbook to get her recipe. I love being inspired by other bloggers!

Anyway. Hers was actually Breaded Pork Medallions but I used Chicken and they weren't medallions so I changed the name to what was comfortable for me.

Here's a link to her recipe. Mine is below.

Garlic Herb Chicken

Ingredients:
4 (4 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 triangles of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Spreadable Cheese
1 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs (I used Cheryl's measurement because I didn't measure mine. I just dumped it in the bowl.)

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 375°
~Rinse chicken breasts in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
~Place chicken on a large cutting board and cover with 3 layers of plastic wrap. Pound with a kitchen mallet until about 1/4" to 1/2" inch thick. This will allow for even cooking and also gives you a very tender product because it breaks up the meat a bit.
~Using a butter knife, spread one triangle of cheese on the top of each breast.
~Coat each side in the bread crumbs.
~Place on a sheet pan which has been sprayed with non-stick spray.
~Spray the top of each breast with more non-stick spray.
~Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is done.

I served mine with Parmesan parsley noodles and vegetables. Yummy!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Menu Plan Monday ~ Mar. 28th!

2010-03-29T08:07:00.006-04:00

It's Monday again so you know what that means!

Yes! Menu Plan Monday!

When you are done seeing what my family is having for dinner this week, click on the button below to see what others are cooking up this week!

Anything in Green letters is a link to the recipe!

Monday - Chicken Noodle Soup

Tuesday - Sloppy Joes with Homemade Fries (Allison's request) and Green Beans.

Wednesday - Mesquite Marinated Pork Chops, Scalloped Potatoes and Lima Beans.

Thursday - Pizza Pasta (didn't have this yesterday so I moved it to this week), Tossed Salad and Rolls.

Friday - It's Good Friday so we are heading to the Fish Fry at the local Fire Hall with my parents, sister and niece and nephew.

Saturday - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.

Sunday - Easter Dinners with my family around Noon and in the evening with Curtis's family.
I'll be taking Pistachio Pudding Cake with me!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Allison's Baked White Fish!

2010-03-23T05:14:00.000-04:00

Allison is quite the creative cook and this is one of her creations. I should say one of her best creations yet. It was really flavorful and yummy!

She created it because . . . well, SHE sat on a bag of potato chips and didn't want to eat broken chips.

Yes, that's right. I told her she was going to eat the crushed chips because she wasn't paying attention and sat on the bag. I told her didn't care if she had to eat them with a spoon but we weren't throwing them out. I know. . . it was one of my mean moments.

Well if you read my other blog and know anything about my daughter, she is a problem solver. Yes, that she is. I believe that when she grows up, she's going to make an amazing contribution to society. Hey! I'm her Mom. I'm allowed to dream about her future!

Okay, let's get to the recipe. I guess it's not really a recipe but more of a method so I'll just try my best to write it up.

Allison's Baked White Fish

Ingredients:
White fish fillets, Flounder, Haddock, Cod, Halibut, Orange Roughy, etc.
Potato chips, almost a full regular bag
1 egg
milk, just a little to loosen up the egg
pepper
Cajun seasoning
dried chopped parsley

Directions:
1. Place potato chips in a zippered bag and crush to crumbs with a rolling pin.
2. In a bowl, beat egg and add a little milk to loosen the egg. Season with pepper. There is enough salt in the potato chips so you won't need it.
3. Dip fish fillets into egg/milk mixture and then cover with potato chip crumbs.
4. Place on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil and sprayed lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Sprinkle desired amount of Cajun seasoning and a little parsley for color on top of fillets.
6. Bake in a 375 degree oven until done. This will depend on how thick your fillets are. I cooked them until they were almost done and then raised the oven to 400 degrees to crisp the breading.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Menu Plan Monday ~ Mar. 22nd!

2010-03-22T08:45:00.000-04:00

Hey Friends!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my cooking blog to see what we are having for dinner this week.

When you are finished here, you can click below and head on over to the Organizing Junkie's site to see what others are having for dinner this week too.

Remember, you can click on any of the dinner items in color and it will take you to the recipe.

Monday - Slow cooker Beef Stroganoff

Tuesday - Chicken Divan

Wednesday - Pierogi Skillet Dinner

Thursday - Pork Tenderloin, Baked Potatoes and Corn (This was moved from last week's menu since Curtis surprised us one night and took us out to dinner and this Mom didn't have to cook!)

Friday - Baked Lemon Pepper Fish, Buttered Parmesan Noodles and Green Beans

Saturday - Pizza Pasta with Tossed Salad and Fresh Baked Rolls

Sunday - Dinner at Grandma's

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff!

2010-03-21T18:30:00.001-04:00

Several weeks ago my blogging friend, Darlene of Darlene's Days tried a Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff recipe. Her family loved it and after reading her rave reviews on her blog, I decided to make it for dinner that night.

I didn't have any stew meat or the right canned soup so I made a few adjustments and incorporated some of Darlene's suggestions and it came out PERFECT!

You can click here for the original recipe and the recipe I am listing below is the one I've adjusted and will continue to use.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 pound of sirloin steak (2 steaks), fat trimmed off and cut into strips
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil or just enough to cover the bottom of the pan
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of sliced mushrooms
1 packed of French onion soup mix
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
4 oz. cream cheese
Sour cream for top, optional
egg noodles or white rice

Directions:
1. In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil on an almost high setting. When the oil is hot and rippling, add the steak and onions. Sear the steak on all sides to give it a dark brown color on the outside. Do not cook it through. You just want to seal in the juices.
2. After the meat and onions are seared, place them in a slow cooker and add the soup, mushrooms, package of soup mix, Worcestershire sauce and water. Stir well to combine.
3. Cook on low setting for 8 hours or high setting for 5 hours.
4. Stir in cream cheese just before serving.
5. Serve over cooked egg noodles or white rice.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Menu Plan Monday ~ March 15th!

2010-03-15T06:26:00.006-04:00

If you are a regular visitor to this blog, I'm starting a new feature this week. I'll be sharing my weekly menu every week by joining Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie! Click here to see what others are having for dinner this week!

If you usually follow my other blog, welcome to my cooking blog! I hope you take a look around and enjoy some of my recipes. I'll be adding more this week so be sure and become a follower so you won't miss them! Most of them are easy, quick with not a lot of ingredients but high on taste because this Mom doesn't have time to spend hours in the kitchen or doesn't want to get out 20 ingredients to make dinner!

You an click on any of the items in red to take you to the recipe.

Monday - Crock Pot Chili and dinner rolls (which I put together last night while I was cleaning up the dinner dishes! We eat late on Mondays since Allison goes to gymnastics and if she eats before, she is sluggish and not focused. So I try to do either a slow cooker recipe or a casserole so it cooks while we are there.)

Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas

Wednesday - Scalloped Potatoes & Ham with Green Beans

Thursday - Spaghetti & Meatballs with Salad and Italian Bread

Friday - Shrimp Kabobs, Rice Pilaf and Broccoli

Saturday - Pork Tenderloin, Baked Potatoes & Corn

Sunday - Dinner at Grandma's.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Braided Loaf!

2010-02-07T08:19:00.006-05:00

Oh my goodness!!! This is amazing. I saw it last week on Rhoda's Southern Hospitality Blog and KNEW I had to make it!

I made it yesterday and now I can't walk into the kitchen without wanting another piece! It is truly delicious!

If you don't like blueberries, don't sweat it. It would be just as good with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, canned drained peaches...well, you get the idea.

You can click on the link above in purple to see the recipe on Rhoda's blog. She made a couple of adjustments and the recipe below reflect those adjustments. This recipe is SUPER easy and I hope you try it!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Braided Loaf

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 large egg, separated
1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, divided
1 (11 oz.) refrigerated breadstick dough
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed, drained and dried
2 tsp. water
2 Tbsp. orange juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Beat cream cheese in a mixing bowl at med. speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg yolk and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar. Beat until well mixed. Set aside.
3. Remove breadstick dough from can. Unroll and separate dough into rectangle. Place dough horizontally on baking sheet. Press seams together to seal.
4. Spoon cream cheese mixture onto center third of dough.
5. Sprinkle blueberries over cream cheese mixture.
6. Separate dough at perforations up to cream-cheese mixture slightly stretching dough strips. Beginning at top edge of dough, braid strips to cover filling (this makes more sense as you are doing it). Tuck last 2 ends under at bottom of loaf.
7. In a small bowl, beat egg white and water with fork until blended to form an egg wash. Brush egg wash over braided loaf.
8. Bake until golden brown, approx. 20 minutes. Cool for at least 45 min.
9. In another small bowl, combine remaining 1 cup confectioners sugar and orange juice, whisking until smooth. Drizzle glaze over braided loaf before serving. Slice with bread knife.
10. Enjoy and try not to each too much!

Rhoda's braid was prettier than mine but you get the idea. Also, please don't comment on the condition of my baking sheet. I LOVE my old seasoned sheets! They work the best!

I know this looks a little brown but it's not that brown in real life. Just be sure to watch yours in the oven. My oven is a little hotter than it should be so I baked mine for 17 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Hash Brown Casserole!

2010-02-03T05:31:00.000-05:00

I've seen this recipe called everything from party potatoes to funeral potatoes but we call it Hash Brown Casserole here in Western Pennsylvania.

Of course, it's another easy recipe...just my style.

I generally use store brands for everything in this recipe and it works just fine. I've also mixed in ham cut up in cubes and added green beans on the side to make it a complete meal. I don't make it very often because it makes a lot for my little family. I usually save it for family get togethers. My favorite thing to serve this with is barbecued chicken and lima beans. I don't know why, all the flavors just blend for me.

My family loves the topping and the original recipe wasn't enough for them so I double it. The recipe below reflects that change.

Hash Brown Casserole

Ingredients:
2 lbs. frozen hash browns
16 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 sticks of melted butter (1 stick for base and 1 for topping so keep them separate)
4 cups corn flakes

Directions:
~Mix the first 4 ingredients and 1 stick of melted butter together well in a very big bowl.
~Add the hash browns to the mixture.
~Put the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.
~Crush the corn flakes in a Ziploc bag.
~Add 1 stick of melted butter to the crushed corn flakes.
~Put corn flake mixture on top of base.
~Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min.
~Let sit for 10 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Chilled French Apple Dessert!

2010-02-02T05:15:00.002-05:00

Since I've been posting all those calorie rich recipes lately, I thought it's time that I slim things down.

This recipe is a Weight Watchers dessert and has a POINTS® Value of 4 per serving.

I wasn't too sure about it but it was surprisingly delicious. Curtis and Allison both gave it a thumbs up.

Chilled French Apple Dessert

Ingredients:
27 average cinnamon graham crackers squares
2 1/2 cups canned sweetened chunky applesauce
6 oz. light artificially sweetened vanilla yogurt
1 cup lite whipped topping
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Instructions:
1. Line bottom of an 8-inch square pan with nine graham crackers.
2. In a small bowl, combine applesauce and yogurt.
3. Pour half of mixture onto graham crackers, layer with nine more crackers and repeat. Top with remaining nine squares.
4. Spread whipped topping over top and sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired. Chill 2 hours. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Calico Baked Beans!

2010-02-01T05:19:00.000-05:00

Don't you just love great baked beans? I know I do!

This recipe come from my BFF's Mom, Sandy. She's like my second Mom and graciously passed this recipe to me when I fell in love with it.

:::WARNING!::: This recipe makes a lot! Really! I mean it! So if you only have a few people in your family, you will be eating it for days or you can freeze half of it for another time. I always make it for a party because I'm afraid that if I have it for days at a time, I'll not like it anymore. You know. Too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing.

Calico Baked Beans

Ingredients:
1 lb. bacon
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 medium can of Campbell's Pork and Beans
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Lima Beans (drained)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Directions:
~Cook off 1 pound of bacon, drain and when cooled, crumble.
~Brown 1 pound of ground meat with chopped onion. Drain grease.
~Add all ingredients into a big bowl and mix together well.
~Bake at 350 degrees covered in oven safe cookware for 45 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Almond-Orange-Peach Crescents!

2010-01-31T05:06:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I saw Rachael Ray make Almond-Orange-Apricot Crescent Rolls on her 30 Minute Meals show. I liked the idea but I didn't have apricot or sesame seeds so I improvised and used what I had on hand.

These have now become a favorite with the Farmer's Breakfast Casserole in our family. See previous post for that recipe.

Almond-Orange-Peach Crescents

Ingredients:

1 package of Pillsbury crescent roll dough

3 Tbsp. orange marmalade

3 Tbsp. peach preserves

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

~Preheat oven to the instructions on your crescent roll package.

~Roll dough out on a cookie sheet and break apart triangles.

~Combine orange marmalade and peach preserves in a bowl and stir well with a teaspoon to break down the preserves to a spreadable consistency.

~Using the back of the teaspoon, spread a thin layer onto the crescent dough and roll it up per the package directions.

~Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg on top of the rolled crescent and sprinkle sliced almonds on top.

~Bake per package instructions until done or lightly golden. Serve warm.

Note:

~Substitute apricot, pineapple, cherry, red raspberry, strawberry or blueberry preserves for the peach. Yum! You are only limited by your imagination.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Farmer's Breakfast Casserole!

2010-01-30T05:05:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe online about 7 or so years ago. It's from the Strutton Inn Bed and Breakfast in Custer, South Dakota. I'm so glad I printed it out and didn't lose the recipe because the link I have bookmarked doesn't work anymore.

Anyway. I needed a way to make a quick breakfast on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings before we start our travels to my parents' and Curtis's parents' homes. Although I did make it the other night for dinner and everyone was so excited. I guess I need to make it more often instead of just on the holidays.

This recipe is perfect because I make it the night before and pop it in the oven in the morning before anyone gets up. It's easy to put together and there isn't any prep in the morning so there is less clean up too!

Farmer's Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup cooked ham or Canadian bacon, diced
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
4 eggs, beaten
1 12oz. can evaporated milk
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:
~Grease a 2 quart square baking dish. Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish.
~Sprinkle with cheese, ham, and green onion.
~In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, pepper and salt. Pour egg mixture over ingredients in the baking dish. (At this point, you can cover the dish and refrigerate over night or several hours.)
~Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until center appears set. ***If the casserole was made ahead and chilled, you will need to bake it for 55-60 minutes.
~Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Notes:
~Instead of ham, try with ground pork sausage that's already been browned and drained.
~Try substituting pepper jack cheese for the cheddar.
~Can substitute 1 cup frozen egg product for eggs.
~Can use evaporated skim milk instead of regular for a lighter recipe.

Stop back tomorrow and see what I serve with this casserole!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Shrimp Kabobs!

2010-01-29T05:17:00.000-05:00

My BFF, Susan, and I were chatting on the phone the other day about adding more fish and seafood to our meal plans. I love fish and seafood but don't cook a whole lot of it.

Coincidentally, I just happened to have Shrimp Kabobs on my menu this week to use up some I had in the freezer.

I usually make them the same way but this time I decided to check out some recipes on the web. I took the base of one and then put my own spin on it. I baked these in the oven because it's in the middle of winter and we are having a snow and wind storm but I can't wait to do them on the grill when it warms up outside.

Shrimp Kabobs

Ingredients:
1 lb. of shrimp (I used 31-40 deveined with tails off)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic (I use the minced garlic in a jar)
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. black pepper.

Directions:
~In a measuring cup mix together olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, paprika, parsley and black pepper.
~Rinse and drain shrimp.
~Place shrimp in a quart size zipper freezer bag and add marinade to the shrimp. Seal bag well and toss around to make sure all shrimp are coated well. Place in refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours.
~After two hours, take out of refrigerator and place shrimp on skewer. Discard marinade.
~Grill or bake at 350 degrees until shrimp turns pink. Mine only took 10 minutes. Grilling will probably take shorter. Just be sure not to overcook the shrimp or it will turn rubbery.

Notes:
~This is a marinade so be sure to prep this at least 2 hours before cooking.
~If you are using metal skewers, be sure to oil them before you add the shrimp to them.
~If you are using bamboo skewers like I do, you will need to soak them in water for a couple of hours. This will prevent them splintering and catching on fire in the oven or on the grill.

Before Cooking:

After Cooking:

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie!

2010-01-28T05:10:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed that 90% of the recipes I post on my blog are easy peasy lemon squeezy?

I love easy! I don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen every day! In fact, I don't know many wives and Mothers that do have the time. Anyway. I think it's pointless to do everything from scratch when there are so many great products out on the market these days.

In this recipe, I took advantage of one of those products...already prepared pie crusts that you find in the dairy section at the grocery store. Using them enables you to make this pot pie in minutes.

Another thing that I also pick up sometimes when they are on sale is the baked chickens that the grocery stores carry. I will bring it home, clean it and freeze the chicken so I can use it in recipes later. It cuts my cooking time tremendously!

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1 box of Prepared Pie Crusts, let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. of Chicken, cooked and diced
1 1/2 cups of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
1 can of Diced Potatoes, drained
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
Salt and Pepper, to taste

~Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
~In a large bowl, add prepared chicken, frozen vegetables, diced potatoes, soup, salt and pepper.
~In a pie plate (I use a glass one), line the bottom with one of the prepared pie crusts.
~Put the chicken, veggie and soup mixture in the pie plate on top of the first crust.
~Cover with the second pie crust. Fold the edges under the bottom edges and pinch the two together.
~Using a sharp knife, cut some air holes into the top crust so pie doesn't build up steam and explode.
~Cover the edges of the crust with foil so it doesn't burn before the whole pie cooks.
~Bake with the edges covered for 20 minutes.
~After the first 20 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
~Let sit for 10 minutes to set.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham!

2010-01-27T05:08:00.000-05:00

Yum! This is the ultimate comfort food!

I try not to make it too often because it's not that great for the hips or the arteries!

The recipe below is my got to scalloped potatoes & ham recipe. I have another one for the slow cooker but this one is way more delicious!

I do have to admit here that don't always follow the recipe exactly. I like mine saucy so I end up putting in more milk and cheese to the roux. The picture below is when it came out really saucy but it was perfect after I let it sit a while. Also, if your family likes onions, feel free to chop up a medium one and throw it in with the potatoes and ham.

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 cups milk
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
5 cups potatoes, washed & sliced
3 cups ham, cooked and diced

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~Put sliced potatoes and diced ham in a large bowl and set aside.
~In a large sauce pan, melt butter over low to medium heat. Then whisk the flour in and continue to whisk and cook for about 1-2 minutes. It will be dry but it's important for you to cook off the raw flour taste and allow the butter and starch granules to mix.
~Remove from the heat and slowly mix in the milk.
~Return the pan back to the heat and cook until it's a thick and bubbly white sauce.
~Remove from heat and add in the pepper and cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
~Add white/cheese sauce to potatoes and ham and mix well.
~Put into a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish and cover with foil.
~Bake covered for 30 minutes.
~Uncover and bake for 1 hour more.
~After you remove it from the oven, let it sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Taco Soup!

2010-01-26T05:20:00.000-05:00

This recipe is super easy! The best part is that it's a slow cooker recipe. I LOVE my slow cooker!

The most time consuming part of it is browning the ground beef. My trick to that is I usually already have browned ground beef in the freezer for recipes like this or to throw in pasta sauce. If you need step by step instructions with pictures, you can click here since I had posted this recipe on my other blog first.

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

a small onion, diced or 2 Tbsp.dried minced onions

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of whole kernel corn, drained

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce (I use 8 oz. because I like it thick.)

1 small can of diced green chiles

1 packet of your favorite taco seasoning mix

Directions:

~Place everything in a slow cooker and mix well.

~Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

We top it with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and green onions and serve it with tortilla chips on the side.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Blueberry Squares or Any Fruit Squares!

2010-01-25T07:13:00.004-05:00

This recipe came from my Aunt Carole over 25 years ago. She used to make "Cherry Squares" but I'm not a big fan of cherry pie filling...which is what you use in this recipe. My favorite fruit pies are blueberry or peach so that's what I make.

Let me take a moment here and share with you that this is an award winning recipe. Yes, that's right! I entered it into a local recipe contest when I was about 18 and won 1st runner up! Don't be too impressed, my prize was just a $50 savings bond but I was thrilled with it!

Blueberry Squares or Any Fruit Squares

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 can of blueberry pie filling (or any kind)

Directions:
~Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
~Add eggs, one at a time.
~Add flour and vanilla and beat well.
~Pour batter in a well greased 9 x 13 pan.
~Mark 20 squares.
~Pour one tablespoon of pie filling in each square.
~Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.
~Dust with powdered sugar. (Cinnamon & Sugar on Apple.)

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Simmered Cabbage!

2010-01-24T06:05:00.001-05:00

Over the next several weeks, I will be transferring some recipes from my main blog, "This is My Life." These were posted over there before I started this cooking blog and now I think it's time to get them all in one place.

I found this recipe on Recipe Zaar and fell in love with it! I love cabbage and this is a perfect low calorie but very flavorful side dish. Although, I could just eat a bowl of it for lunch and be perfectly happy!

The recipe below is the exact recipe as I found it on Recipe Zaar. The items in red are my comments for adjustments and if you want to see my step by step instructions in pictures, click here.

Simmered Cabbage

Ingredients:

1/2 head cabbage, chopped into approx 1 inch squares or pieces (I used 8 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth (I prefer it with the chicken) (Me too!)

3 tablespoons dry sherry (optional) (I didn't use this)

Directions

1. Heat oil and butter in large heavy and wide saucepan or saute pan; add cabbage, salt, pepper, and stir over low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Add broth (I usually add a bit of sherry, too )and bring to boil, cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, for about 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

3. Raise heat to medium, uncover and let juices reduce to about half (be careful not to let burn). 4. Taste and adjust seasoning, serve hot.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Chicken Divan!

2010-01-23T05:55:00.000-05:00

The other day on Rachael Ray, she made a chicken divan noodle something or other dish. It made me think about a Chicken Divan recipe I used to make. I had copied it down years ago from Live with Regis & Kathie Lee. Do you all remember when Kathie Lee Gifford was his co-host? Oh come on...it's only been about 8 years!

Anyway. I dug out my recipe and quickly remembered what I didn't like about it. It makes a ton! The recipe calls for 4 boxes of 10 oz. weight broccoli. That's 40 ounces of broccoli! Way too much for my little family.

Yes, I could just cut the recipe in half but I decided to go to the web and see what other variations I could find. As always, I found a few and used a little bit of this one and a little bit of that one to come up with my own. I hope you like it!

Chicken Divan

Ingredients:

16 oz. chicken breast, boiled, cooled and cut into slices

2 (10 oz. ea.) packages of frozen broccoli

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 plain bread crumbs

1 tsp. chopped dried parsley

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pan, cook broccoli in boiling water until tender but still crisp..

2. In a greased casserole dish (mine was about 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches), layer broccoli in a single layer on the bottom.

3. Layer the prepared chicken evenly over the broccoli.

4. In a mixing bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice and curry powder. mix well and pour evenly over chicken layer. Using a spatula, push the mixture down into the chicken a little.

5. Sprinkle the casserole with cheddar cheese.

6. Mix butter and bread crumbs together. Sprinkle on top.

7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley for color.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 -40 minutes until heated through and lightly browned.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup!

2010-01-22T05:36:00.001-05:00

I had a big head of cauliflower and some broccoli in my veggie drawer that I needed to use but didn't know quite how I was going to do that.

I decided to check out The Pioneer Woman's website to see if she had any recipes for either of my veggie friends. She did! She has a recipe on her site for Cauliflower Soup. Well that solved half my problem...but she uses 1 1/3 heads of cauliflower...oops, I only had 1 head. So the obvious solution was to make Cauliflower AND Broccoli Soup! Problem solved!

Here is a link to Ree's recipe on her site, The Pioneer Woman. The recipe below is for what I made...Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup. It's her recipe but just with 1 head of cauliflower and to small head of broccoli.

Be warned...this makes a ton! I shared 5 pints with the neighbors and I still have about 4 pints left for us...plus the two bowls I had for lunch! YES! It was that good!

Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, divided
½ whole onion, finely diced
1 whole carrot, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 whole cauliflower head, roughly chopped

2 small broccoli heads, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh or dried parsley, chopped
2 quarts (64 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth or stock
6 Tbsp.all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half
2 tsp. to 4 tsp. salt, to taste
1 cup (heaping) sour cream, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown. Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower, broccoli and parsley and stir to combine. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly until a thick white sauce. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half-and-half. Add mixture to the simmering soup.

3. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.
4. Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

5. Serve immediately.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Steak Salad - Pittsburgh Style!

2010-01-21T08:12:00.004-05:00

What is a Steak Salad -Pittsburgh Style, you ask? WELL! Let me tell you that if you have never had one, you are missing out!

It may sound odd to those of you who have never been to Western Pennsylvania or specifically to the Pittsburgh region but please don't judge it until you try it. It is amazing! Actually, it's the number one item that I order from the menu when we go out to restaurants.

So without further ado, let me introduce you to my favorite dinner salad...The Steak Salad - Pittsburgh Style!

Ta Da!!!

Doesn't it look yummy??

I know you all are thinking that I've lost my mind.

French fries on a salad?

YES, french fries on a SALAD!

Jerry's Curb Service ,back in the county I grew up in, is credited with inventing this Steak Salad. You can read about how it came about by clicking here. Even though they invented it, it is now on EVERY menu of every restaurant you frequent in Pittsburgh region. You can also be sure that if a chain restaurant in this area has a steak salad on their menu that doesn't come with fries, the diner will most definitely add a side of fries to their order. It just isn't the same without fries!

Since there are many variations of the Steak Salad, it would be wrong of me to claim that the recipe I am posting is the correct one. In truth, there is no correct one. However, you do need 5 basic components to make up a steak salad in my opinion. They are lettuce, vegetables, cheese, steak and fries. The recipe below is the one I make at home...it's the one in the picture. Below it, is a list of other options for you. They all work, just make sure you don't forget the fries!

Oh! Dressing! I can't forget to talk about dressing! Some people will tell you that Ranch is the way to go. Others will argue that Italian is the best. I, of course, have my own opinion on that! Maybe it's just me being odd but honestly for me it depends on the combination in the salad! Certain restaurants I order it at, I like Ranch...at other places I like Italian or Bleu Cheese or Sweet & Sour or Country French or I've even been known to mix Italian & Bleu Cheese...I know it sounds gross but it's really not! When I was still in high school, I was a waitress. I use to wait on this lady and she would come in and order the steak salad with a cup of beef gravy on the side. She would pour it over the whole salad...lettuce and all! Now THAT is gross!

Cindi's Steak Salad - Pittsburgh Style

Ingredients:
Iceberg lettuce, washed, chopped and chilled
Carrots, shredded
Cucumbers, peeled and sliced
Tomatoes, chopped
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Olive oil
Steak, cut into bite sized pieces
Steak seasoning
French Fries, frozen or homemade oven fries
Dressing of choice

Directions:
1. Assemble lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and cheddar cheese on a dinner plate.
2. Season steak cubes with steak seasoning and fry in a little bit of olive oil until done.
3. Bake fries.
4. Add cooked steak on top of prepared salad.
5. Add fries on top of steak.
6. Cover in dressing.

Options:
~ Use your favorite greens...romaine, leaf, spring mix, etc.
~ Cook a whole steak on the grill or in the oven and cut into pieces after it's done. I like the stove top method because I can make mine medium rare and the others medium.
~ Other topping choices: sliced black olives, green peppers, onion slices, sliced or diced hard boiled eggs, pepperoncini peppers, hot banana pepper rings...as you can see the possibilities are endless.
~ Try different style of fries...shoestring, homemade oven baked, crinkle cut, steak, etc.
~ Use your favorite cheese...mozzarella, Swiss, Monteray jack...shredded or cubed or a combination of a couple.
~ Add a couple of breaded fried onion rings on the top.
~ Put the cheese over the top of the fries so it melts.
~ Another option is to try different proteins...grilled chicken, breaded baked chicken fingers and breaded baked fish...which is really good with 1000 Island dressing.

I hope you try it and come back and let me know what you think. And for those of you in the Beaver County/Pittsburgh area and already love this salad, let me know what restaurant out there has the best!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Homemade Pizza!

2010-01-20T05:00:00.001-05:00

Homemade Pizza. Is there anything better?

It has become our family tradition that we have pizza on Fridays. I try my best to make it homemade pizza too! It's a memory I want for Allison.

I'll be honest. It's not as hard as you may think. Well, not as long as you have a food processor to do the mixing of the dough...or you can do it by hand if you like. You know me though, I like it easy and the food processor makes it easy!

This recipe will make two 12" pizzas. I usually make one small one for Allison and with the rest of the dough, I make a 14" pizza or a rectangle cookie sheet pizza.

Homemade Pizza

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast or (1 .25 oz.) package

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup of warm water at 110 degrees

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for non-stick)

1 teaspoon salt

Pizza sauce

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Desired toppings (pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, black olives, green peppers, banana pepper rings, ham, sausage, etc.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

2. In a cereal sized bowl (make sure you bowl is big enough because it will grow to almost double in size), dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until the yeast has been activated and creamy, usually about 10 minutes.
3. In a food processor using your dough beater/blade, put in flour, salt & oil. Carefully add yeast mixture, beat until well blended and forms a ball. Remove dough and place in a lightly oiled bowl double the size of your dough. Cover with lightly oiled wax paper. Let rest for 10 minutes until it almost doubles in size.
3. Gently press the dough down with your lightly oiled hands. Split in half and place on lightly oiled pizza pans. Spread out dough to the edges with your fingers. Let rise again for about 10 minutes.

4. After dough has risen, spread dough with pizza sauce and place in preheated oven until the crust begins to get a very light brown color.

5. Take pizza out and cover with cheese and desired toppings either under or on top of the cheese. Place pizza back in oven until the cheese is gold and bubbly and crust is a darker brown color.
6. Let sit for a few minutes before cutting.

Tips:

~Your oldest, darkest, well-seasoned pans make the best crust. I bought a new one and hate it! It just doesn't get the pizza crust as crispy on the bottom as we like it. I need to season it a bit before I use it again.

~To lightly oil the bowl for the dough, wax paper and my hands, I use a non-stick spray.

~If the dough is springing back when you are trying to spread it out on the pan, place it in the heated oven for just a minute and try again. This usually works and makes it easier to work with.

~I use Ragu Pizza Sauce in the jar but sometimes I take a can of diced tomatoes and crush them then mix them in with the sauce.

~Sometimes I sprinkle olive oil on the crust under the sauce for added flavor...learned this from Allison's Grandma who makes the best homemade pizza.

~To make your pepperoni less greasy, layer it on a paper towel in the microwave and zap it for just a few seconds. Remove it from the oven and pat dry with more paper towels.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Pizzelles!

2010-01-19T11:00:00.005-05:00

When you mention pizzelles, you more than likely will get a favorable response. Everyone seems to love these traditional Italian cookies. Well, except me. Yes. I admit it. I do not like them. Don't you dare say I'm not a true Italian because I don't like them! I am just not an anise flavor lover!

My Dad, on the other hand, LOVES these so I make them for him. He did me a favor this morning and to show my appreciation, I made him a batch of his favorite cookies. Let me say that I don't particularly like making them. They are time consuming since you can only make two at a time and they make my house smell like anise...all day long! However, the look on my Dad's face when I told him they were for him, was well worth the time and smell.

The recipe below is for what I call a half batch of pizzelles. It makes about 5 dozen...which may seem like a lot but they go fast on a cookie tray at Christmas...so I double it at Christmas time.

Pizzelles

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

2 Tbsp. pure anise extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat your pizzelle iron according the the manufacturer's instructions.

2. Beat eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until they are fluffy. Add in the melted butter and anise extract.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.

4. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, a little at at time. The dough will be thick and sticky.

5.Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the heated iron. Close and cook for about 90 seconds until lightly browned, or until steam stops coming out of the pizzelle iron. Remove carefully from iron and set on paper towel to cool.

6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. They also freeze well.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Sausage Mushroom Dip!

2010-01-18T10:07:00.004-05:00

This recipe comes from fellow blogger, Sophia, from over at Sentiments from my Kitchen.

You've seen some of her recipes here before and you'll be sure to see some more! She has a great collection and our tastes seem very similar.

Of course, I made an adjustment to it to fit me better. Her recipe called for a half pound of the sausage but I put the whole pound in to make it chunkier. I did use just plain pork sausage but if you use the sage or hot and spicy variety, I would start with the half pound, taste test it and then add more if you want. Her recipe didn't say to chopped up the mushrooms but I went ahead and did that since some of them were big. I couldn't imagine trying to scoop it up with a chip!

Sausage Mushroom Dip

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened
1 small can of diced green chiles
3 green onions, chopped
1 can of mushrooms, drained and chopped
1 soup can of milk (or thin to the consistency you like) I used about 2/3 of the can
1 pound of roll sausage, browned well, crumbled and drained

1. In a large saucepan add the soup, cream cheese, chiles, green onions, mushrooms, cooked sausage and desired amount of milk. Mix well over medium heat until cream cheese melts and flavors are blend well.
2. Serve warm (a slow cooker works well) with tortilla chips or crackers.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Pizza Pasta!

2010-01-07T07:03:00.002-05:00

I literally threw this together for dinner the other night. I had planned on pasta but wanted something a little different so I started looking around the kitchen.

I had browned off a pound of Bob Evans's roll sausage to make my breakfast casserole for New Year's Day but only used half of it. I threw the other half in the freezer for later. Well. This was my later and the perfect time to use it up! Hmm, pasta, sauce, sausage...see where I was going with this? Yup! Pizza Pasta!

Here's the best I could do for writing a recipe. I didn't measure anything out because I didn't think I was going to post it. So these are all an approximation of what I used. It worked for my family of three with little leftovers. If you have a bigger family, you'll want to make more and just use the method and not the measurements. Use your judgement, it isn't brain surgery!

Pizza Pasta

Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 cups rotini pasta (corkscrews)
1 jar (1 lb. 10 oz.)pasta sauce with mushrooms
1/2 roll sausage, browned and drained
12 slices pepperoni, cut into 4
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
dried or fresh chopped parsley

Other optional add-ins: sliced mushrooms, diced green peppers, diced onions, sliced black olives or any other toppings you like on your pizza would be good too.

Directions:
1. Cook rotini in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well.
2. In a sauce pan, heat pasta sauce over medium heat. Add in sausage, pepperoni and any other optional ingredients.
3. After pasta is cooked and sauce is heated through, combine together and put in an appropriate sized baking dish.
4. Top evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese then sprinkle lightly with grated Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with chopped parsley for color.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until heated through and cheese is golden and bubbly.
6. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Fresh Cranberry Salsa!

2009-12-15T05:59:00.000-05:00

Curtis called from work the other day and asked if we had anything in the house I could make for his work party that night. Being the wonderful person that I am, :) I told him that I would take care of it.

I knew I didn't want to make one of my old tried and trues and also I knew just where I wanted to go to find something new....to Sophia's cooking blog. I've tried several of her recipes before and have never been disappointed. I was entirely comfortable trying something new for that evening if it was from her.

I came across this recipe for Fresh Cranberry Salsa on her blog last year and printed it out. I never got the chance to make it so when I saw it again, I knew this was it. After I dropped Allison off at school, I ran to the store and picked up the couple items that I didn't have. One of the things that really appealed to me was she said it only took 5 minutes to put together. Now that's my kind of recipe! Oh, and did I mention it's so yummy too! Thanks Sophia!

Just one note before you read the recipe. Sophia's recipe calls for a whole bunch of green onions. When I bought the bunch, it was unusually large. I think there were about 12 onions in the bunch. I figured I would start with 3 and then add more if needed. Three ended up being perfect for me but if you want more, have at it!

Fresh Cranberry Salsa

Ingredients:

1 bag fresh cranberries
3 green onions, chopped down to an inch from the end
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded then chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (about 1/4 of a bunch is what I used)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cumin (can add more up to 1 tsp.)
16 ounces of cream cheese (2 blocks)

Instructions:

1. Put the cranberries, greens onions, jalapeno pepper and cilantro into a food processor and chop finely.
2. Next add the sugar and cumin and mix well.
3. Spread 16 ounces of cream cheese, softened, into platter or serving dish.
4. Spread salsa on top of cream cheese.
5. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
6. Serve with crackers or chips.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Green Beans with Bacon!

2009-12-14T05:16:00.006-05:00

I wanted to make another vegetable on Thanksgiving for those who didn't like the Scalloped Corn . This recipe ended up being perfect. Seriously, who doesn't love bacon? It's a really easy recipe but just adds a little something extra to regular old green beans.

This recipe is the one I used on Thanksgiving so the quantities are for a crowd. It can easily be cut to down to accommodate your family size. Actually, you really only need to use the method. The quantities really don't matter all that much. Just make it fit you.

One more thing before you read this recipe. If you are a regular reader of this cooking blog, you know I like recipes that are yummy and tasty but do not require a lot of time in the kitchen. Okay. Having said that....I used canned green beans! GASP! Did she say canned? Yes! I did! Fresh would have been nice but I decided that the green beans were not going to be what was taking center stage on Thanksgiving so I used canned! I saved myself the time of trimming and snapping them into smaller pieces. No one had any complaints!

Green Beans with Bacon

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bacon

2-3 Tablespoons butter

4 cans of cut green beans, drained

black pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Cut the 1/2 pound of bacon into thin strips.
2. In a large skillet over medium to medium high heat, fry bacon strips. Remove strips from skillet and set aside.
3. Discard all but 1-2 Tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet leaving the reserved bacon grease in the skillet.
4. Add butter to skillet and melt over medium high heat.
5. Add drained green beans to skillet and stir well making sure all green beans are heated.
6. Stir back in cooked bacon strips.
7. Season to taste with black pepper.

Note: I made this the day ahead but did not heat the green beans all the way through in step 5. I stirred them enough to cover them all with the grease/butter mixture. I put them all in a covered casserole dish and reheated them on Thanksgiving in the microwave.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Cranberry Salad!

2009-12-13T05:24:00.000-05:00

I like cranberry sauce. I do not like raw celery. It's something about the strings. I know. I'm odd.

Last year, one of my co-workers, Dawn, brought in this cranberry salad to work and forced (yes, forced) me to try it. Oh. My. Word! It was so yummy and I learned that I DO like raw celery! It just has to be cut up really small so the strings are not noticeable! Wow...the things you learn about me by reading my blogs!

Anyway. The recipe below is the recipe she gave me cut in half. It makes a little over 3 cups. If your family loves cranberry sauce, then double the recipe below. My Curtis and Allison love the cranberry jelly right out of the can so I serve both.

Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
1 can (14 oz.) whole cranberry sauce, mashed
1 small can (approx. 8 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
1 small box (3 oz.) raspberry Jello
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup water, hot
1/2 cup chopped pecans, (optional...I don't add this)

Instructions:
1. Dissolve jello in a sauce pan of hot water.
2. Add whole cranberry sauce, crushed pineapple, celery and nuts to jello mixture. Stir well.
3. Pour into a pretty serving dish and refrigerate until firm.

Note: This recipe is great for doing the day before!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Scalloped Corn a.k.a Corn Crap!

2009-12-12T05:40:00.002-05:00

This recipe comes from a good friend of mine. Actually, it's not Nancy's recipe but her Mom's recipe.

Before I post this recipe, let me explain what "Corn Crap" in the title means. Somewhere along the way, this dish was labeled "Corn Crap" by, I think, Nancy's husband because he couldn't remember the name. It wasn't meant to be a bad thing because we all LOVE it so much! In fact, it should probably be named "Corn Crack" because you can't just have one helping of it.

Anyway. Fast forward to a visit to Nancy's home town of Bellefontaine, Ohio. Nancy took me and another friend of ours, Carolyn, to visit where she grew up. Well. Nancy's Mom, Sis, cooked for us and she made this scalloped corn. When Carolyn saw it she called it "Corn Crap" and Nancy's Mother's eyes just about popped out of her head and she said "Nothing I make is CRAP!" Sis didn't realize that it was a term of endearment for the casserole and we thought Carolyn was about to cry! Too funny! I'm sure it's a story we'll remember forever!

Scalloped Corn

Ingredients:

2 cans creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl.

2. Put into greased casserole or baking dish.

3. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until brown. Approximately 40-50 minutes.

Notes:
1. You can prep this dish the day before and cook it the day of your dinner. If you do this, be sure to take it out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours prior to baking to bring it to room temperature.
2. You can also prep and bake this the day before too and reheat it in the oven the day of your dinner.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Aunt Jan's Sweet Potatoes!

2009-12-11T05:28:00.004-05:00

I like sweet potatoes...especially on Thanksgiving. I, however, do not like sweet potatoes with marshmallows on them. Sorry. I know a lot of you do but it's just not my thing!

This recipe is for a mashed sweet potato casserole. It's delish! Actually, it's Curtis's favorite thing on the Thanksgiving table. I found the recipe on Heather D. White's blog. It's her Aunt Jan's recipe...obviously!

If you click on this link, you will find the original recipe. I make mine a little different...of course. Aunt Jan's recipe calls for walnuts. I can't do walnuts. My body tells me I can't do them by giving me horrible heartburn. So I substitute pecans. I also do my topping a little different. I used softened butter and make a sort of a crumb topping to add on top. It seems to cover the top more evenly. The recipe below includes my adjustments. Give them a try! If you like sweet potatoes, you'll love these.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked sweet potatoes, mashed (approx. 2 large potatoes)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, divided (1/4 c. for potatoes & 3/4 cup for topping)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup butter, divided (1/2 c. melted for potatoes & 1/2 c. softened for topping)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup flour

Directions:
1.Combine cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, 1/4 c. of the brown sugar, salt, eggs, 1/2 c. of melted butter, milk and vanilla.
2. Place in buttered 2 quart casserole or baking dish.
3. Combine 1/2 cup softened butter, remaining 3/4 c. of brown sugar, pecans and flour together to make a crumb topping. Sprinkle over sweet potatoes.
4. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Notes:
1. Heather usually does this recipe 1 1/2 times and fills a 9" x 13" baking dish.
2. You can prep this recipe the day before but not bake it. If you choose to do this, take the prepped dish out of the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to bring to room temperature prior to baking.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

P.W.'s Creamy Mashed Potatoes!

2009-12-10T05:15:00.001-05:00

Today's recipe is for mashed potatoes. I know mashed potatoes are very basic and most people know how to make them. I thought that too...until I made these! They are creamy, smooth and velvety. I could just curl up with them on sofa and be perfectly happy!

Seriously. I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's site. WHAT? You don't know who The Pioneer Woman is??? Well then. You better get on over there and see what she's all about! She my girl crush! Yes. I admit it! I have a girl crush! Ree Drummond is my girl crush! There. I've said it and I'm not embarrassed. Really...go check her out! While you are there, check out her cookbook that just came out last month. Yes. Of course I bought it! In fact, I just sent it out to her on Monday so she could sign it. What? She said she would do it for anyone and gave us all an address where to send them!

This is the recipe I used for our Thanksgiving mashed potatoes and I will never make them any other way ever again!!!! The recipe below is her recipe exactly and here is a link to her post on it so you can see all the wonderful steps in pictures. The picture above is mine but make sure you go and see hers. She has a much nicer camera and better photography skills than I do. She says you can make these ahead of time which is PERFECT for preparing the Thanksgiving meal! Mashed potatoes take so much time on the actual day so why not make it easier on yourself. I did and they were perfect! The only thing I did differently than she did was I did not bake them in the oven. I pulled them out of the refrigerator in the early morning for about 2 hours. I then put them into a buttered slow cooker (my BFF suggested that...Thanks Susan!) with a few more pats of butter on top. I turned the slow cooker on high to get it started and then turned it on low once it got going. I stirred them up every once in a while to make sure they were heating evenly. Do it quickly though because you don't want all the heat to escape. You can also flip the switch back to high if you need. I hope you try these because they are TO DIE FOR! If you are uneasy about the cream cheese, don't be...you don't taste it at all! It just adds that velvety creaminess to the potatoes!

Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
¾ cups Butter
1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions:

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Bread Stuffing!

2009-12-09T06:14:00.005-05:00

I have never made homemade stuffing before but since I was making the Thanksgiving meal, I thought I better find a recipe. I started searching the Internet. When I search there, I always look at the ratings or reviews and comments. You can really learn a lot from them and this one had almost perfect reviews.

So. The starting point for my bread stuffing came from Betty Crocker. You can find their original recipe by clicking here. I like a moist but not wet stuffing so of course I made some changes. My adjusted recipe is below and this will be the one I'll use for years to come. It received great reviews and even I liked it ... and I'm not a stuffing person!

Bread Stuffing
(makes 12 servings)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
11 cups semi-soft bread cubes (20 slices)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth

To Prepare Bread Cubes:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees or your oven's lowest setting. Lay out slices of bread on a cookie sheets or jelly roll pans. Place trays in oven and keep checking back on them until they are semi-dried out or semi-soft. Remove them from the oven and after they have cooled, cut them into small 1/2" cubes.

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Cook celery and onion in butter 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove pan from the heat.
2. In a large bowl, using a spoon gently toss celery mixture and remaining ingredients except chicken broth, until bread cubes are evenly coated.
3. Starting with 1/2 cup of chicken broth, add to stuffing mixture and toss well. Keep adding more broth, if necessary, a little at a time until the mixture is moist but not wet.
4. Grease a casserole or baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Place stuffing in casserole or baking dish. Cover with lid or aluminum foil and bake at 325°F for 30 minutes. If it's too moist for your liking, you can uncover it and bake it a little longer.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Thanksgiving Turkey!

2009-12-08T08:00:00.007-05:00

This year I cooked my family's Thanksgiving meal. Last year I saw it had gotten too much for my Mom. So. This year I told her that I'm taking the turkey baster off of her and Thanksgiving dinner was now mine! It wasn't the first time I cooked a turkey but it was the first time I did the whole meal.

Even though Thanksgiving is now over, I am going to take the next few days to post all of the recipes I used. Any of the items would be great for your Christmas or Holiday meals or you could tuck them away for use next year.

Before I post the first recipe, let me say that I prepped everything the day before. Yes, everything...even the mashed potatoes! Doing this enabled me to have a stress free, relaxing Thanksgiving. I'll share more about how I prepped ahead with each recipe that I post. It really worked out beautifully. Even though I cooked for 12 people, I had time to sit in the kitchen with my Mom while the turkey was cooking and visit.

The first recipe I am going to share is for the turkey. As I have said, I have cooked turkeys before but this year I wanted to try something new. Yes, trying something new on the day of Thanksgiving is taking somewhat of a chance but I threw caution to the wind and went for it. If it didn't work, we had a lot of side dishes we could fill up on!

So. A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving I saw in the Parade Magazine (that comes in the Sunday's paper) the article "The Best Chefs Create Your Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner." Bobby Flay did the turkey and after reading over it, I decided this was the recipe I was going to use. Even though his cooking usually is more elaborate and has a wonderful flair to it, his recipe for turkey seemed more traditional and perfect for me. The main thing I liked about it, was that he said you could cook a 17 pound turkey in 2 hours plus 20-40 minutes resting time after you take it out of the oven. Seriously friends, it worked and was the most tastiest, juiciest turkey I have EVER put in my mouth! Since I live about an hour away from my parents' and I was cooking there, I didn't want to drag Allison out of bed at 5 in the morning to get there to put the turkey in the oven so we could eat around 12:30. I will never cook a turkey the long way ever again!

Here is his recipe with my adjustments in red. (I know, I know...I couldn't help myself...I had to do things a little different but you'll see they weren't in the cooking. I followed his instructions exactly.

Turkey by Bobby Flay

Ingredients:

1 whole fresh turkey (17 lbs.), rinsed and patted dry (I used 16 lbs.)

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (I used salted)

2 Tbsp each finely chopped fresh sage, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme leaves, and fresh flat-leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 large celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large onions, quartered

8 cups warm homemade chicken stock

Instructions:

1. Remove turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.

2. Mix butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in a food processor until smooth; season with salt and pepper. (I didn't use the food processor. I let the butter come to room temperature and finely chopped the sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley by hand. Then I mixed them together in a small bowl with the back of a spoon.)

3. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill with half the carrots, celery, and onions. Rub entire turkey with herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper. (I also lifted the skin and rubbed the mixture directly on the meat under the skin.)

4. Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium-size saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

5. Place remaining vegetables and stock on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven, and roast for 45 minutes or until lightly golden brown. (I covered the turkey for this part of the cooking) Reduce heat to 350ºF and continue to roast (I did this part uncovered), basting with warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, about 1 1/4 hours longer. (An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh should register 160ºF.) Remove turkey from the oven, transfer to a baking sheet, and tent loosely with foil (I left the turkey in the pan and tightly covered it with foil and then put a double folded bath towel on top of the foil). Let rest 20 minutes before slicing (I let it rest for 40 minutes and it was still hot).

Per 4-oz. serving: 240 calories, no carbs, 32g protein, 95mg cholesterol, and 11g fat.

Bobby Flay's Turkey Tips

Fresh vs. Frozen
Both are good, but frozen turkeys have to be defrosted, which can take several days and occupy valuable room in your refrigerator.

Fresh Herbs vs. Dried
Dried herbs can be substituted for fresh herbs at a ratio of 1 to 3. But fresh herbs have purer flavors that stand out on Thanksgiving Day.

Resting
It’s imperative to let the turkey rest before slicing so the juices recirculate. Wait at least 20 minutes for a small bird, 40 minutes for a larger one.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Dirt!

2009-09-29T14:23:00.007-04:00

Here's a super fun dessert for kids! They serve it where I used to work and the kids love it!

I know there are several recipes out there for dirt that uses whipped cream folded in and such, but this is so easy and pleases the little ones! In fact, it's so easy you can make it minutes. You can't go wrong!

Kid Dirt

Ingredients:
Chocolate pudding, instant or prepared
Oreo Cookies
Gummy Worms

Directions:
~Prepare pudding to package directions and either spoon into individual serving cups or a larger serving bowl.
~Place two worms into pudding cups or several in larger serving bowl.
~Crush several Oreos in a zipper bag until they resemble "dirt" and spoon on top of pudding and around the worms to cover all visible pudding.
~Put dirt in refrigerator until pudding sets up.
~Enjoy!

*Note - I just made these for Allison's Homework Party at school and I bought a big 7+ pound can of chocolate pudding at Sam's Club for $3.98. It worked out to be less expensive than having to buy 6 boxes of pudding mix and a gallon of milk...not to mention having to make the pudding.

(I knew I would find a use for these Princess cups that Allison has had since she was a toddler and will NOT let me to get rid of!)

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Better Than S** Cake!

2009-09-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

If you are a reader of my other personal blog, you've seen this recipe a couple of years ago. I'm trying to move all of my recipes over to here so they are in one convenient place.

This cake is so yummy and so not good for your hips. It is one of those cakes that when you take it somewhere, you will be asked for the recipe so make sure you have it with you.

Yes. This is the name of the cake but I call it "Better Than Love Cake" because I really don't want to teach my 8 year old about the birds and the bees just yet!

Enjoy!

"Better Than S** Cake"

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix (I use Devil's Food)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar of caramel ice cream topping
1 small container of Cool Whip
Heath candy bars (I use one pack of 6) or Butterfinger candy bars

Directions:
~Bake cake as package directions in a 9 x 13 pan.
~As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use the handle from a wooden spoon and poke holes all over the cake.
~Pour the can of condensed milk and the caramel ice cream topping over the cake. The cake will absorb both.
~Cover with foil and put in the refrigerator overnight. It must sit at least for 4 hours.
~When ready to serve, frost the cake with cool whip and chop the candy bars into small pieces and sprinkle over the top of the cake.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Lemon-Butter Red Potatoes!

2009-09-26T06:00:00.003-04:00

I found this recipe on scrapbooker, Heather D. White's blog a couple of years ago. She was kind enough to let me repost it here. I'm glad she did because this recipe is just too good not to share!

I make this recipe Christmas Eve to go with the rack of pork that I make every year. The potatoes are a light, fresh flavor and works well with the heaviness of the roast.

Lemon-Butter Red Potatoes

Ingredients:
10-15 red potatoes, quartered
1/3 cup butter (no substitutes)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 Tbsp. fresh chives, minced (or 1 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:
~Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
~In a small saucepan, heat butter over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned (the browning give it the flavor). Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
~Drain potatoes and toss with lemon butter.
~Serve and enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by my kitchen!

Amish Peanut Butter!

2009-09-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm back as promised with the recipe to smear on your cornbread.

We know it as Dutch Butter (see previous post) but the real name for it is Amish Peanut Butter. There are dozens of recipes out there but this one is like the one they serve at the Das Dutch Haus.

This recipe makes quite a bit. It doesn't quite fill up 2 pint canning jars. Don't worry though. You will find more uses for this than just cornbread. It would be awesome over ice cream. I'm not a fan of chocolate ice cream but I think I could do it with this ladled over the top. Heck. I even smeared it on graham crackers with a piece of a Hershey bar in between...like a s'more without the marshmallow. I posted an ice cream cake recipe a while back. This would be good in place of the caramel with chopped up peanut butter cups instead of the toffee bits. Yum. You could even put it on your morning toast. Oooh! I just thought of one more thing. Apples. It would be good on apples. The possibilities are endless!

Amish Peanut Butter

Ingredients:
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup marshmallow creme

Directions:
~In a bowl, mix corn syrup, peanut butter and marshmallow creme together with a wire whisk until smooth.
~Store in an airtight container.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

The Moistest Cornbread!

2009-09-24T06:00:00.002-04:00

The one thing I don't like about cornbread is that it crumbles! I don't know about you but I don't want it falling apart in my hand when I'm trying to butter it.

After several tries trying different cornbread recipes, I think I found one that's a keeper. I made it to go with our meal for Allison's birthday this year. My Dad even liked it and he doesn't throw compliments out very often. I told him that I have a secret ingredient but wouldn't tell him what it was. Well...it's cottage cheese! Yes. It melts and makes it very moist. I didn't tell him because although I love cottage cheese, my parents, sister and brother don't care for it. Some things are better left unsaid. ;)

I have to laugh though. One day Allison and I were watching Paula Deen and she was making cornbread. Guess what she put in hers? Yup! Cottage cheese! Well. Allison flipped out and screamed "Mom, Paula Deen stole your secret ingredient!" Too funny!

The Moistest Cornbread

Ingredients:
2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 (12 ounce) package of frozen corn, thawed (I use the baby corn)
1 medium, onion, diced fine (I use a very small onion)
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1 pinch of sugar

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 375 degrees
~Combine all ingredients and mix well. The batter will be very thick.
~Pour into a buttered 9" X 13" casserole dish.
~Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
~Let it cool for 10 minutes to let the flavor develop. It's also good at room temperature.

Variation: You could add one or more of the following. A can of chopped green chiles, drained or 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese or 1 cup of shredded pepper jack cheese.

One a side note...I also took this cornbread to my best friend's campsite this Summer. She said that all it needed was Dutch Butter. You see there is a restaurant not far from where we grew up that's called the Das Dutch Haus. Well. They make the most delectable homemade food and people stand in line forever just to eat there. They also serve this gooey, peanut buttery spread for their cornbread. Well after Susan mentioned it, I went on a search and finally found it. Come back tomorrow and I'll share with you what to smear on your cornbread so your tummy thanks you over and over again.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup!

2009-09-22T14:18:00.004-04:00

Since today is the first day of Fall, it's time for some warm comfort food.

There was a request on Facebook for a potato soup recipe and it got me to thinking that it's the perfect recipe to share on the cool first day of Fall.

First let me say that I'm very picky about my potato soup. I like it creamy and rich and cheesy. I developed this recipe after trying many versions. I hope you like it.

Cindi's Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped (6 cups)
2 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup chopped onion
10 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 stick butter
1 12-ounce can (1 1/2 cups) evaporated milk
6-8 slices of American cheese

Directions:

1. In a 3 1/2 or 4 qt crockery cooker, combine potatoes, water, onion, bouillon and pepper. Slice butter into tabs and layer it on top of previous mixture. Cover, cook on low-heat setting for 7 ½ - 8 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

2. Stir milk into soup and add 6-8 slices of American cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Cover, cook on low-heat setting for 1 hour more or high-heat setting for 30 minutes more. Mash potatoes slightly with a potato masher. Makes 6-8 side dish servings.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese and bacon bits.

**If it’s too thick for you, you can thin it out with any milk you have in your refrigerator.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

***Edited to link up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace and Tuesdays At The Table at All the Small Stuff.

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake!

2009-09-03T10:35:00.005-04:00

I found this recipe as I was surfing through blogs one day. I do not remember where I found it and now I can't find it again. If this is your recipe, please let me know and I'll give you proper credit.

This is another one of those recipes that is perfect for me. It's easy but packs a big "WOW" amongst your family and friends.

Allison loved it so much, she requested it as her birthday cake this year. And with Labor Day just around the corner, it would be the perfect end of summer dessert. But then, isn't ice cream good all year round?

Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:
19 Ice Cream Sandwiches (I use the store brand)
1 Bag of Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits or Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits
1 Jar of Caramel Ice Cream Topping (I use Smuckers)
1 16 oz. (Big Tub) of Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:
~In a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, place 9 1/2 ice cream sandwiches on the bottom. 2 rows of 4 and 1.5 to finish the end.
~Sprinkle about 1/3 bag of the toffee bits over the sandwiches.
~Next drizzle almost 1/2 the jar of caramel over the sandwiches and bits.
~Next spread 1/2 the tub of Cool Whip over the the first layer.
~Repeat the previous steps to create another layer saving some of the bits and caramel to garnish the top layer.
~Drizzle the remaining caramel in a decorative pattern and then sprinkle with the remaining bits.
~Place uncovered in freezer for at least two hours to set up.

Other variations: Chocolate sauce with peanut butter chips, or mint chocolate chips or Butterfingers candy bars crushed up on top. With all the toppings and chips out there, your possibilities are endless!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

My Antipasto Pasta Salad!

2009-07-27T15:15:00.002-04:00

Pasta salad is popular dish this time of year. It's cool, refreshing and a perfect addition to any get together with family and friends.

There are many recipes out there for pasta salad. I happen to like a little heartier pasta salad with meat and cheeses. It's probably the Italian in me. As you have probably picked up from reading this blog, I cook for my family's taste buds. So having said that, you will not find the usual sliced olives, onions or green peppers in this recipe. Feel free to make this recipe your own and add what you and your family like.

A note before I post the recipe...I do not have exact measurements for the ingredients. I kind of throw things together. I'll do my best to give amounts but if you feel it needs more or less of anything, go for it. The recipe below is the amount I make for a party as a side dish so it makes a lot.

Cindi's Antipasto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 box (12 oz. or 16 oz.)of bite sized pasta. I usually use tri-color rotini but this time I used farfalle (bow-ties). Both work well.

1 1/2 - 2 cups of broccoli florets, raw

1 1/2 - 2 cups of cauliflower florets, raw

1 medium cucumber, seeded and diced into large pieces

15 (approx.) grape tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 - 3/4 cup pepperoni, sliced thick and then cut into squares. Although this time I found "Hormel Pepperoni Minis" that was perfect for this dish. (You could also do 1/2 pepperoni and 1/2 hard salami if you like)

8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, cut into bite sized cubes

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into bite sized cubes

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1-2 bottles (16 oz.) of Wishbone Robusto Italian Dressing

Directions:

Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and rinse immediately under cold water to stop the cooking process.

In a large bowl, add the pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, pepperoni and cubed cheese and one bottle of dressing and mix well.

Sprinkle in the grated Parmesan cheese a little at a time to prevent clumping and mix in. The cheese will absorb some of the dressing so if you feel you need to add more dressing at this time, go ahead and a little more. It should be wetter than you think because the pasta will absorb quite a bit of the dressing as it marinates.

Lastly add the tomatoes and gently mix them so they can keep their form.

Refrigerate the salad for several hours or overnight to blend the flavors.

Before serving, stir well and if it seems too dry, add more dressing.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Beef & Bean Skillet Casserole!

2009-05-14T14:22:00.005-04:00

Okay friends! I came up with this because I had a pound of thawed ground beef that I needed to use. It was also right before my grocery shopping trip so I had a limited amount of supplies in my pantry which forced me to get creative. Curtis loved it and had a big second helping. Allison picked the beans out of it and ate the whole thing. It was voted a "repeat" in my home so I thought I would share it with all of you.

I only used one skillet and one pot (to boil the noodles) so clean-up was easy. The skillet I used is a Cooks Essentials from QVC. It is one of their hard coat enamel skillets and is oven safe up to 350 degrees so I put it right in the oven to melt the cheese on top and finish off the casserole.

Beef & Bean Skillet Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground beef
1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup milk
1 t. soy sauce (I use low salt)
1/2 t. black pepper
1 can of green beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups of dry egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~Brown ground beef in skillet and drain grease.
~Next add Cream of Mushroom Soup, milk, soy sauce and black pepper. Mix until well blended over medium heat.
~Turn heat off and stir in cooked egg noodles and green beans.
~Fold in Parmesan cheese.
~Top with shredded cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of more Parmesan cheese.
~Place in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
~After taking it out of the oven, let it set for 10 minutes before serving.

Thank you for visiting my kitchen!

Pistachio Pudding Cake!

2009-04-12T21:14:00.007-04:00

I make this every Easter to take to Curtis' Mom and Dad's for dinner.

I usually like to try new recipes every year but this is a big hit with his Mom and brother so it's become a tradition for Easter dinner.

Pistachio Pudding Cake

Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package Jello pistachio pudding
1 1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
7 drops of green food color

Directions:
~Grease and flour bundt pan. I use Pam for Baking spray.
~Mix ingredients in order listed.
~Pour into bundt pan.
~Bake for 50-55 minutes in 350 degree oven.
~Drizzle with confectioner's sugar glaze (powdered sugar & a little milk)
~Decorate. I sprinkled green sugar crystals on this one but an Easter sprinkle mix or Spring sprinkle mix would be great too.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Broccoli Salad!

2009-04-11T17:03:00.006-04:00

This is a common salad that someone usually brings to summer cook outs. I always double this recipe when I take it somewhere because when I bring this, I am sure to bring home an empty bowl.

There are many variations of this recipe but this is the one that I prefer. I've also changed this up a bit too and used half broccoli and half cauliflower. It's just as tasty!

Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:

1 large head of fresh broccoli, cut into small bits or flowers

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 lb. bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

1 small red onion, finely diced (I don't even use the whole onion)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

Directions:

~In a large bowl mix the broccoli, cheese, bacon and onion together well.

~In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar until well blended.

~Add the dressing to the broccoli mixture and mix well.

~Let stand overnight or for at least 5 hours.

Thank you for stopping by my kitchen!

Orange Fluff!

2009-04-11T16:47:00.003-04:00

This recipe comes from my friend, Marsha. It is a super easy yummy recipe and works great for a get together because it makes a lot...an no one even knows there is cottage cheese in it!

I've changed the recipe up and used lime jello for Christmas and substituted a can of fruit cocktail for the oranges. It turned out a pretty festive green color. You could even do cherry jello for the Fourth of July!

Orange Fluff

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
1 (24 oz.) cottage cheese, small curd
1 Large box of orange Jello
1 (20 oz.) can of crushed pineapple, drained
2 (11 oz.) cans of mandarin oranges, drained

Directions:
~In a large bowl mix Cool Whip and cottage cheese together.
~Then add the box of orange jello and mix well.
~Then add the drained fruit and mix well.
~Transfer to a serving bowl and chill for at least 2 hours.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Smoked Sausage, Potatoes, Peppers & Onions!

2009-01-03T08:55:00.004-05:00

Here in this area, it's good luck to have pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day.

Curtis and Allison don't like sauerkraut. I love it but as I get older it's not my friend if you know what I mean.

So instead of making something that my family won't eat and I can't eat, I decided we could still have the "pork" of the good luck tradition.

I don't really have a name for this dish. It's something my friend, Nancy, used to make when I lived across the street from her. I'm not sure if it's really the recipe she used but it's what I kind of remembered. I loved it when she invited me to dinner. She's a good cook!

Smoked Sausage, Potatoes, Peppers & Onions

Ingredients:
1 lb. smoked sausage (you can use kielbasa but we like the sausage better)
6-8 medium to large potatoes (we like potatoes so I always do more)
1 large red pepper (or green if you like)
1 large onion
3/4 stick of butter
Frank's Hot Sauce

Directions:
~ Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
~ In a large roaster sprayed with non-stick spray, layer the following in order:
~Potatoes, cut into large cubes. We like the skins on but you can peel them if you like.
~Smoked sausage, sliced on the diagonal into 1/2 inch "coins".
~Onions, peeled and sliced into thin slices then cut the slices in half.
~Peppers, cleaned and cut it into large cubes.
~ Shake hot sauce all over the top of the layers. Start with a little as you can add more half way through cooking.
~ Layer the top with sliced pats of butter.
~ Bake covered for 30 minutes.
~After 30 minutes, remove lid and stir well to mix everything together. You can taste a potato at this time to see if you would like more hot sauce. If needed, add more and stir well again.
~Put back into the oven uncovered for 15-20 minutes more.

A couple of notes:
~I wouldn't make this in a Crock Pot. It wouldn't give it the crispness that cooking it with the lid off gives you.
~You can make this ahead of time and then keep it warm in a Crock Pot for a party. This does work well and it's a big hit for the men at a party.
~Great idea for a Superbowl Party!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Chicken Spread Ball!

2009-01-01T05:11:00.008-05:00

Long time no post! If you read my other blog, you know I've been busy and to keep my sanity I had to easy up on a few things. Blogging was one of them. I hope you are still out there because I am back with more recipes.

This one is from my best friend's Mother, Sandy or as Allison calls her...Grandma Sandy. On New Year's Eve I make several dinner plate size platters of appetizers for the three of us. It's nothing fancy. We just spread them out on the coffee table and treat ourselves to our little New Year's Eve celebration.

This particular recipe is one of my very favorite appetizers. I've taken it with me to several places and some one is always sure to ask for the recipe. It is so simple. I hope you love it as much as I do! My favorite cracker to have it on is Wheat Thins. Triscuits is a close second and I think Sandy serves it with Chicken in a Biscuit crackers. To tell the truth, I don't think you could go wrong with any cracker so pick your favorite!

Chicken Spread Ball

Ingredients:

1 can Underwood chicken spread

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. chopped onion (I may be bad but I use the minced dried onions)

1 tsp. mayo

Directions:

~Mix all together and roll in chopped parsley. (I use dried parsley and I don't even roll it. I just put it in a bowl and generously sprinkle it on top.)

~Serve with crackers.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Italian Wedding Soup!

2008-11-22T18:10:00.004-05:00

I've had Italian Wedding Soup many times but never thought about making it. That is until my best friend, Susan, asked if I had a recipe for it and put the idea into my head. I researched it online, read many recipes from many sites but hadn't decided on one that I wanted to try. I figured that I would end up combining a few of them until I came up with one that my family and I would like. Well as luck would have it, one of the guys brought some into work for all of us girls to try. It was just what I was looking for....almost. He graciously shared his family recipe as long as I promised not to tell his Mother. No problem. My lips are sealed. However, as always, I need to change things up a little bit. It was really good but there wasn't something quite right about his meatballs. When I told a friend at work that I had made it, she immediately said she wasn't fond of the meatballs....so I guess it wasn't just me. So of course, I have modified his family recipe to better fit my tastes and make this recipe my own.

Before I post the recipe, I should tell you that I like a heartier soup. As I've said before, Rachael Ray would call it a "stoup" and that pretty much describes it. So if you like it to be more "brothy," you can add more broth or cut down the amount of the pasta. Also, some people do not like a lot of garlic so I put on the recipe "to taste" so you decide if you want a little or a lot. It's your choice. Make it how you like it and be sure to share with your family, friends and neighbors. This recipe makes a lot and they will love you for it!

Cindi's Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients for Meatballs:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 grated Parmesan cheese

2 T. dried parsley

1 large egg

garlic powder, to taste

1/2 t. salt

pepper, to taste

Remaining Ingredients:

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 20 ounces)

8 cans of College Inn chicken broth

3 chicken bouillon cubes

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3 large eggs

3 T. grated Parmesan cheese

8 oz. of "Acini Di Pepe" pasta

3 "shakes" of Paprika

Directions:

1. Boil chicken in water in a large pot until thoroughly cooked. Cool and shred into bite sized pieces.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the meatball ingredients until well blended. Form into 1/2 inch sized meatballs and set aside.

3. Rinse the chopped spinach in a colander until the water runs clear. Drain as much of the water out of the spinach as possible.

4. To make the soup, bring all 8 cans of chicken broth, chicken bouillon cubes and beef bouillon cubes to a boil. Add the meatballs to the pot and simmer until meatballs are cooked through.

5. Add the prepped chicken, chopped spinach and paprika to the pot.

6. Whisk the 3 eggs until it gets foamy. Add 3T grated Parmesan cheese to the eggs. Stir the soup in a circular motion. While the soup is circling the pot, drizzle the egg/cheese mixture in a steady stream being careful not to add it all at once.

7. Add the Acini Di Pepe pasta to the pot, stir and simmer until the pasta done.

Garnish with more grated Parmesan cheese and serve with Italian bread.

One more thing before I go...Allison asked me why it's called Wedding Soup. I told her I don't know...maybe because they serve it at Italian weddings? She replied and said she thinks "it's because the flavors are united together." Well, I looked it up and she was basically right. How did she get so smart?!?!?!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

***Edited to link up to: Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace and Tuesdays at the Talble with All the Small Stuff.

Philly Cheesecake Brownies!

2008-11-09T07:32:00.006-05:00

If you haven't ever had or made Philly Cheesecake Brownies, you have to try these. They are so easy and offer up the "Wow" factor. I found this recipe years ago on a box of brownie mix and cut it out. I love cream cheese so I knew this was a must try. I don't know why but I kept it in my recipe box for years before making it. I now regret that decision. I can't believe I deprived myself of these yummy brownies for all those years! Anyway, the recipe is below and as you can see in the picture, I also sprinkle chocolate chips on it if I have them in my cupboard. You could probably stir them in if you like but I like picking them off the top when I eat the little square of deliciousness!

Philly Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

1 pkg of brownie mix (I used the basic Betty Crocker mix.)
1 pkg (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Prepare brownie mix as directed on package. Pour into greased 13 x 9 in baking pan.
2. Beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, mixing until well blended. Ad egg and vanilla and also mix until well blended.
3. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie mixture; cut through batter with knife several times for marbled effect.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until cream cheese mixture is lightly browned.

Cool and cut into squares. Makes 24.

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My Crock Pot Chili Recipe!

2008-10-23T15:10:00.004-04:00

Although I love chili, I haven't made it in years. Allison wouldn't eat it and since I don't believe in cooking separate meals for the family, I would only order it out in a restaurant. Last week when we had dinner out, Allison tried it and LOVED it! She ate her whole bowl! I was so excited because that was my sign that I can make chili at home again. So last night I asked her if she would like chili for dinner tonight and she gave me a big smile and said "YES!" and then she said she can almost taste it now. How funny is she?

Cindi’s Crock Pot Chili

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
2 - 15.5 oz. cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 – 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes in juice
2 – 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
½ green pepper, chopped fine
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped fine
3-4 Tablespoons chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
~Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl.
~Put mixture in a Crock Pot sprayed with non-stick cooking spray for easy clean up.
~Cook for 8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.

We like ours with soda crackers, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

I'll Be Back Soon!

2008-10-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

I promise! I'll be back soon. I've just gotten off track. I'll be back with some comfort food to share with you soon!

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

Chicken Noodle Soup!

2008-10-05T06:55:00.006-04:00

I'm sure everyone has a their own recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup and here is mine. This is how my Mother makes it and I saw no need to change it so I make it the same way. This is one of those recipes that there really isn't any measurements for the ingredients. You just sort of throw it in the pot as you go for the size of your family. I must think I'm feeding the Osmond's because I always seem to make a huge batch. That's okay, we always seem to eat it all...even if I have to share it with the neighbors.

Here are the participants: chicken, chicken broth, chicken bouillon, egg noodles, potatoes, carrots, parsley, black pepper and just imagine there is a can of green beans there. I forgot them until all the pictures were taken and the cooking was done.

First, put a big stock pot on the stove of water and get it boiling.
Once it's boiling, put your chicken in the hot bath. I use two boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Market Day. I also throw some other chicken in later but we'll get to that. You can turn down the heat once it starts to boil again.
While the chicken is cooking, I peel and dice the potatoes and slice the carrots. I use baby carrots because that's all I ever have in the refrigerator but you use what you like.
The chicken in the hot bath is probably done by now. Take it out, cool it and shred or dice it into bite sized pieces and set aside. Here's the other chicken I was talking about. I pulled this from my freezer. We love those rotisserie chickens from Sam's Club and the grocery store but there is always chicken left over. I clean the chicken off of the bones and use my "Seal a Meal" a.k.a. my "suck & seal" to save them for later use. I use the chicken for soup, pot pie, casseroles and anything else I need. The seasonings add such a special flavor to soup and pot pie, I like using it for them best.
I strain the chicken water and discard some of it. The chicken breasts don't really add a lot of flavor so that's where the broth comes in. I add it to the pot to get the desired liquid level in my pot. This is where I also add some chicken bouillon cubes. This is sort of a taste and see kind of thing. Be careful you don't add too many. You can always add more at the very end if you feel it needs it. Now you can add the potatoes and carrots to the broth. Cook these until they are a little al dente. They will cook more by the end of the recipe. You don't want them to be mush by the end.
Now it's time to add the chicken back into the pot.

And a hand full of parsley, some black pepper to taste and a can of drained green beans.
Bring the pot back to a boil.
Next it's the egg noodles turn to jump into the pot. I add about 3 cups of big egg noodles to my pot because we like a lot of noodles. After I add the noodles, I turn the pot off and cover it with a lid. Let it sit until the noodles are done.. The noodles will cook perfectly and the soup will not be boiling hot for dinner.
Yum! Doesn't that look good. Just imagine the green beans are in there! I know potatoes aren't usually in chicken noodle soup but we like it....especially Curtis. They break down a little and make the broth a little thicker. Also, as with most soups, it's better the second day!

As I stated earlier, this recipe is hard to write out since it all depends on how much you want to make or what you have on hand. I'm speaking of the chicken since I use both raw and cooked. You can also cook whole pieces and use that. My advice would be to use the above instructions as a guide when making your soup. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Cindi's Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Chicken

Chicken Broth

Chicken Bouillon cubes

Potatoes, peeled and diced

Carrots, sliced

Can Green Beans, drained

Dried Parsley

Black Pepper

Egg Noodles

Directions:

~Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add chicken and cook chicken until it's done. Remove from water to drain. When cooled, shred or dice and set aside.

~Strain water and discard part of it. Add chicken broth and bouillon cubes as needed.

~Cook potatoes and carrots until almost done.

~Add chicken back to pot.

~Add parsley, black pepper to taste and green beans.

~Bring pot back to boil and add egg noodles. Turn the heat off and cover until the egg noodles are done.

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Outrageous Cookie Bars!

2008-09-29T05:30:00.002-04:00

One of the girls at work brought these in a few years ago. They were so good that I knew I had to get the recipe. They even have coconut in them and as a general rule, I avoid coconut. I actually like the flavor of coconut but I don't like the texture. I don't like the sound it makes when you bite it and I definitately don't like how you can't seem to bite through it. I know. I'm odd. I've never denied it and now you have proof.

Many of you probably already have this recipe. It seems to be a holiday favorite on cookie trays. I guess I never noticed it before since I usually avoid all cookies with coconut in them. After these cool, I cut them into squares and put them in decorative cupcake papers. It just adds a special touch to the cookie tray.

I made these a couple of weeks ago for one of Curtis's bosses at work as a thank you for letting us park at his house for Allison's Open House at school. There is seriously not enough parking at the school. We are told to park down the road at a grocery store and they shuttle us back and forth. Fortunately his boss lives several houses down from the school so he lets us park there. I wanted to make sure he knows we appreciate our own private parking space and what better way to do that but with home baked goodies?

Outrageous Cookie Bars

Makes 48 bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed Milk
1 (14-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Melt butter in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan in the oven. Remove the pan from oven and sprinkle with the graham cracker crumbs over butter. Stir the two together well and press it onto bottom of the pan.
3. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the crumbs evenly
4. Next sprinkle with the crust with the chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown.
6.Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

The picture below shows you how I packaged them up for delivery. I had purchased some take-out containers from work a couple of years ago for a bake sale I did. I still had some in my stash and it worked perfectly for 2 layers of 9. I matched the ribbon to the holiday papers and ended up with a festive thank you. As you can see, it doesn't take a lot of money to show someone they are appreciated.

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

Crock Pot Swiss Steak!

2008-09-28T06:28:00.008-04:00

I tried a new recipe for Swiss Steak in the Crock Pot or slow cooker. Although Curtis liked the recipe I used previously, I thought the tomato flavor overpowered the dish. This new recipe is just perfect for me. I put it in the Crock Pot on Thursday because I wasn't sure how long I was working that day. I wanted to have dinner ready for them just in case. Good thing I did too because I didn't get home until after 7:00. Part of my new healthier eating is not to eat after 7 pm so I had something little for dinner earlier. However, when I got home the house smelled so good from the Swiss steak cooking all day that I had to have a little. This picture is of my little. I must have said "Mmmm" ten times while I was eating this. Curtis had 2 1/2 helpings and Allison loved it too. Next time I'm going to try fat free gravy in it. I wanted to this time but the store didn't have any. The only change I made in their recipe was to dredge the steaks in seasoned flour before browing in the skillet.

Crock Pot Swiss Steak
(adapted from Betty Crocker)

Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds beef boneless round steak
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon peppered seasoned salt
6 to 8 new potatoes, cut into fourths
1 1/2 cups baby-cut carrots
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups petite diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1 jar (12 ounces) beef gravy
Chopped fresh parsley, if desired
Directions:
1. Mix flour and seasoned salt together.
2 Cut beef into 6 serving pieces. Dredge through flour mixture. Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook in skillet 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until brown.
3. Layer potatoes, carrots, beef and onion in 4- to 5-quart Crock Pot or slow cooker. Mix tomatoes and gravy; spoon over mixture in slow cooker.
4. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 8 hours

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Cucumber and Tomato Salad!

2008-09-22T05:56:00.000-04:00

This recipe is unbelievably simple to put together but packs the big "WOW" factor. I made it yesterday for our Parish Picnic. Afterwards I brought home the big bowl with six lonely cucumber slices floating in the bath of leftover dressing and one serving spoon that sunk to the bottom. I'll be returning that to the church kitchen this Sunday after Mass. Mind you, I used 6 large cucumbers and 10 medium vine rip tomatoes in it. There was so much food there and so much left over. It made my heart happy that my bowl, the sweets table and a few other casserole dishes were the only ones empty. After all, isn't that one of the reasons us cooks cook? We love it when others love our food!

Although I can take the credit for the parishioners loving this dish, I can't take credit for this recipe. It came from a lovely lady in Utah named Sophia. I've been reading her personal blog for well over two years. In addition to being a great Mom, she has some great recipes with this being one of them. She, like me, has recently started a cooking blog to share her recipes with all of us. Here is the link to this recipe. While you are there, look around and see what other goodness she cooks up!

Here is her recipe directly from her site with her permission. Thanks Sophia!

Cucumber & Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
cucumbers and tomatoes, chopped (I use at least 3 or 4 of each)
1 sliced and slightly chopped onion
1 cup sugar (I add an extra 1/4 cup)
1 cup cider vinegar
4 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbs. salt
pepper to taste (I use lots!)

Directions:
Mix the dressing and pour over the chopped veggies.
Chill and serve!

Okay, you know I usually don't make a recipe as it but this one I did. I will tell you that I used red/purple onion because it's my favorite onion and added a touch of pretty to the cucumbers and tomatoes. I also didn't add the extra 1/4 cup of sugar and it was yummy anyway. I would suggest you start with the cup and then if you want it sweeter, then add more. Remember, you can always add but can't take away from a recipe once you've dumped it in.

Also. Since there are only three of us in my family, I've made it with 1 cucumber, 1 tomato and a cubanelle pepper from my Dad's garden. I cut the recipe by 4 when I did this or we would have been drinking the dressing. When I did this, I also substituted 4 packets of Splenda sweetener instead of the sugar to fit into my healthier eating habits these days. Although it wasn't as good as the sugar one, it was still good an we had no trouble eating the whole bowl!

Thank you for visiting my kitchen!

Banana Foster French Toast!

2008-09-21T10:52:00.003-04:00

There is a local restaurant chain around here called Eat'n Park. They have Bananas Foster French Toast. My Curtis LOVES it! I thought that I could probably figure it out. How hard could it be? Well. It wasn't. At all! Curtis claims that I hit the mark. Allison had it for the first time yesterday. She now claims she wants it for her birthday breakfast from now on too. Oh, it was Curtis' birthday yesterday. That's why I made it for him. He usually gets it on Father's Day and his birthday. If he wants it any other time, he needs to request it or bring a bunch of bananas home.

It's hard to tell in the picture but there is french toast under all those bananas. Curtis likes the bananas so I don't hold back. The syrup/sauce is also dark. This is because I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown. It's what I had on hand from sending him to the store one time and not specifying light. It works fine too. It's just a little darker, more flavorful and richer since it has more molasses in it.

I make the French toast as I normally would except I substitute a speciality bread. My favorite is Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread. The cinnamon and raisins would be good too. So that's it for the French toast part of it. What makes this dish special is what happens in a sauce pan.

Banana Foster French Toast

Ingredients
1 stick of butter
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
bananas (I use 1 for the sauce and 2 for on top of the french toast.)

Directions
~Make French toast as normal using a specialty bread such as a cinnamon swirl.
~In a small sauce pan on low melt the butter and add the brown sugar until the sugar crystals melt.
~Add the vanilla and cinnamon and stir occasionally to avoid burning.
~About three minutes before you are ready to serve, slice in one to two bananas into the sauce. They don't need to cook but just warm through.
~Place French toast on individual plates and slice more bananas on top. (As many as you like.)
~Drizzle with banana foster sauce. Use this sparingly as it is very sweet.
~Canned whipped cream would also be excellent on top!

If you think this may be too sweet for breakfast, another idea is to cut French toast into cubes. Place cubes and sliced bananas over vanilla ice cream, cover with warm sauce and top with whipped cream for warm fall dessert.

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

Pierogi Skillet Dinner!

2008-09-19T06:39:00.006-04:00

This recipe is quick, quick, quick! You can have it on the table in 15 minutes. It also can be served out of the skillet but I put it in a bowl so I could take a pretty picture for all of you.

I found this recipe a few years ago in a Woman's Day magazine. Of course, I had to change it a little to fit my family. It actually called for frozen peas but the other humans in my family don't eat peas by themselves. I know. They are odd. It also called for 1 chopped medium onion. I've never used it because it slows down "the dinner on the table in 15 minutes thing" which is why I like this recipe. I really don't think it needs it. It has lots of flavor without adding the onion. If you try the recipe and put the onion in it, let me know how it turns out!

Make sure you read the directions through before you start. It may look long but is actually really easy. The clean-up is a breeze too. Any questions, please let me know!

Pierogi Skillet Dinner
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. smoked sausage (I use lite. The WD recipe called for kielbasa)
1 box of mini pierogies (I use the potato and cheese but use what ever your family likes)
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables.

Directions:
~Cut the smoked sausage diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.
~Put a large pot of water on high to start it boiling. Once boiling add the frozen vegetables. Stir to prevent sticking. Make sure you don't over cook the vegetables. You will be adding them to the skillet and they will continue to cook there. You'll want to bring the water back to a boil so you can add the pierogies into the same water with the vegetables.
~Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.
~Add smoked sausage to oil and cook until browned.
~While the sausage is browning, it should be time to add the pierogies to the vegetables and water. Be careful...these cook quick.
~As soon as the pierogies float, strain the vegetables and pierogies.
~Add the vegetables and pierogies to the skillet and continue to cook until the pierogies brown a little.

This recipe serves 4. I do not add salt or pepper to this recipe. I think it's salty enough with the smoked sausage and I put a pepper shaker on the table for those who want it.

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Banana Brownies!

2008-09-18T13:23:00.007-04:00

Okay, I had a complete recipe typed up and ready to go and then it went bye-bye! So since I don't have the time to redo the entire entry today, I thought I would share a sweet treat with all of you today. I got this recipe from Stacy Julian's blog. I thought it was sounded interesting so I thought what the heck! I'll try it. Oh. My. Goodness! They are so moist and so delish! You'll have to try them when you have some mega ripe bananas sitting on your counter!

Banana Brownies

3/4 cup butter (soft)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas (mashed)
2 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
chocolate chips (I use about 1 cup?)

~Mix everything together, spread into a 9"x13" pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
~Let cool and enjoy (don't over bake -- they look a bit "undone" sometimes, but will firm up.)

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My Ba Ba's Halupki a.k.a. Stuffed Cabbage

2008-09-14T06:16:00.019-04:00

If you are a reader to my first blog, I know you have already seen this recipe. Please bear with me because when I was deciding what recipe to share to post on my new blog first, this immediately came to mind. First, because it's my favorite food and I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Second, because with the weather getting warmer and it's definitely comfort food. And lastly, it tops the list of most searched items on my other blog. So it was a no brainer to share this. Now before you look at this recipe, some of the pictures are blurry. I am not a photographer, but I am working on that. So in the meantime, I'm sorry. I also will probably not be sharing step by step pictures of all my recipes. I will do it if I feel it's necessary to help you in the cooking process or if the mood strikes me. Who knows. You'll just have to stay tuned to find out. Now...onto the recipe!

This recipe if from my Ba Ba (my Polish/Slovak Grandmother) and the entire recipe is printed below but I'll start at the beginning here.

The participants: 1 large head of cabbage or 2 small, 2 lbs. of ground beef, 3 cans of tomato soup, ketchup, 2 eggs, minced dried onions, rice (not instant), salt and pepper.

Take a big stock pot out of your cupboard and fill it 2/3 full with water. Place it on a big burner and turn it on high.

While that's boiling, grab your head of cabbage or cabbages. Take off those ugly dirty outside leaves. If you take off some of the dark green ones too, that's okay. They tend to be a little bitter.

Now go and grab a sharp knife. BE CAREFUL...don't cut yourself! I grabbed one of my new Chicago Cutlery that I received for my 15th anniversary at work last year. See, it's all shiny and new looking! Anyway, you'll need to cut out the core. Just keep putting your knife in and out until you make it all the way around.

See this is what it looks like. You want to do this so it makes it easy to peel off the leaves. They won't be attached to anything and will fall right off.

Now place the cabbage in the water. Wait! Do it carefully! That water is getting hot! I turn the head around to get some water in the hole that you cut out.

Now let's go and get started on the insides of the Halupki. Grab your favorite big bowl. I picked my Ba Ba's Pyrex one...it's my favorite. Break both pounds of ground beef up and place it in the bottom of the bowl.

Next let's throw in some minced dried onions. I put 2-3 tablespoons in the written recipe but as you can see, I use the palm of my hand and just throw them in. I'm sure some of you are thinking that fresh onions would be better here and if you want to use those, have at it. I know the juice of the onion is probably the best part but I personally like the hint of onion that dried onions offer. I don't want my Halupki being overpowered by fresh onions. Anyway, this is easier and this is how my Mom did it so that's how I'm doing it!

Don't forget to check on the cabbage! When it comes to a boil, turn it down so it barely keeps boiling. Mine came to a rolling boil because I was too busy trying to be a photographer!

Add your two eggs. Are you wondering how I took this picture? I used my chin to press the button. No really, I can not tell a lie! I used Curtis...he's my sweetie.

I know this is blurry but can you see that I added the salt and the pepper? I know, I'm bad. I don't measure those either. I can tell you this. I add more pepper than salt. I barely use salt in anything I cook.
Now throw in that cup of rice. I did measure this as you can see. I usually mound my cup but this time I threw in a little more than a mounded cup. There was about an 1/8 of a cup left in the container and I figured what was the point of letting them sit in the container all by themselves.
Check your cabbage. Can you peel any of the outer leaves off yet? You might only be able to get a couple but that's okay. Just put them in a colander in the sink to drain and cool.
Ya baby! Come to Ma Ma!
Let's get back to the mix. Add 1 can of tomato soup. I only ever use Campbell's but be brave and go for whatever brand you want. I'm a chicken when it comes to my tomato soups so I'll stick to Campbell's, thank you!

Again, you'll see me using no measuring device here. I know, I know, I'm a naughty girl. Throw caution to the wind and just squirt! But be sure you are using Heinz ketchup! Hey, what did you expect from me? I'm a Pittsburgh girl! There is NO other ketchup!
Now mix everything together really well.
Oh heck! It's my dinner! I'm using the best utensils God gave me...my hands! Don't worry, I washed them before touching the raw meat...and BELIEVE ME...I washed them well afterwards with anti-bacterial soap. You should too!
Here it is. The finished mix. It's going to be a little wet than you probably expected but that's good. If it was a dry mixture, you would have hard little meat/rice balls inside. You need the moisture because the rice will suck it all up.
Hey! Wait! What is this? We are making Halupki...not Stuffed Peppers!
Okay, okay, I confess! I'm making them for Curtis. He's not really as crazy about Halupki as I am. He's crazy over stuffed peppers so I thought I would be nice and make him his favorite.
I'm taking a side road here. When you make stuffed peppers, just take the pepper and cut the top off. Take the insides out and wash the pepper inside and out. Fill it with the mix and voila! You've got stuffed peppers!
Let's get back on track here. It's hard to see in the picture but the leaves have this big thick vein where it was attached to the core. You will need to thin it out or it's very tough. Just grab a sharp knife and BE CAREFUL! Can you tell I'm afraid of people getting cut here?
See how easy this is? Don't cut the vein out altogether or you won't be able to assemble the Halupki. Oh, please ignore the fact that I'm cutting towards myself. You know you are not supposed to do that, right? Also did you know that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife? Yup, it is. When you use a dull knife, you need force behind the knife to cut through something and a sharp knife will glide through the item you are cutting. There. That's the extent of my culinary knowledge for the day! Are you impressed?
By the way, this would be a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
My little pile of veins. I don't know why I took a picture of this. I guess I'm just odd.
Now it's time to get assembling, baby! Open a leaf and set it down on the counter/plate/cutting board...whatever your little heart desires...with the vein part towards you. Place a little bit of the mixture on the end over the vein. Next fold the right and left sides in towards the center and....
.....ROLL! ROLL! ROLL!
After you roll them, place them in a roaster with the seam side down. I guess you could use a covered casserole or something else that's big. This recipe will make a good amount and you also want space for the sauce/juice. He he he. Look what I did with the stuffed peppers. I make a little square pan thingy with triple layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. I didn't want that yucky stuffed pepper juice dancing with my yummy Halupki juice.
Next cover the little pretties with 2 cans of tomato soup. Now let's get that ketchup bottle again and squirt some more over the top. Please don't ask me how much...I don't know. I just kind of squirt in a zig-zag fashion. Technical isn't it? Oh, and here is where you want to pour about 3/4 of a can of water over the whole thing. I toss the water back and forth between the three empty cans of soup so I can rinse out all the goodness still left in the can that scraping didn't get.
Now cover the roaster and put it in your preheated 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.
Oh my! Looky what we have here! Yum! I need to make these more often!

Cindi's Family's Halupki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls) Recipe

1 large head of white cabbage or 2 small (I like two small because the cabbage is more tender)

2 lbs. ground meat

1 c. white rice (not instant)

3 cans tomato soup

2 eggs

salt & pepper (a few shakes of each)

2-3 T. dry minced onion

ketchup

~Cut core out of cabbage head and cover with boiling water in large stock pot. Boil cabbage until leaves begin to fall off the head with a little help from you. I stand at the stove and peel one leaf off at a time. Drain leaves. With a sharp knife thin out veins along the spine of each cabbage leaf. Do not cut the vein out.

~Mix together ground beef, rice, 1 can of tomato soup, eggs, minced onions, salt, pepper and not quite a 1/4 cup ketchup.

~Assemble cabbage rolls. Lay the leaf with the vein part towards you, put a little of the mixture on top of the vein, fold in the sides and then roll. There is no set amount to put in each leaf because the size of the leaves vary. Place in roaster with the seam side down. I place the larger ones around the outside of the roaster. I also cut up the remaining cabbage in approx. 1 inch squares and place on top.

~Pour the remaining tomato soup (2 cans) over the top of the cabbage rolls. There is no measurement to this but squirt ketchup over the rolls in a sporadic fashion. Not too much...don't cover the entire top...kind of like if you were putting chocolate syrup over a sundae. But make sure you put enough on it because it adds the "tang" to the tomato soup. Next pour a little more than 3/4 of a can of water over the entire mixture.

~Cover and cook for 1-1/2 hours at 350 degrees. If you make more than 2 pounds of ground meat, you'll need to cook it longer.

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

Wow!

2008-09-13T16:17:00.006-04:00

I can't believe I'm starting another blog! I enjoy blogging so much that it didn't take much time for me to think about starting this one when it was suggested to me. Thank you to whoever you were that emailed me and suggested this. I wanted to give you a proper thank you but I accidentally deleted your email. Oops!

I am sure you can tell by the title that this blog is going to be different from my first and main one. My other blog is about "My Life" which includes everything in my life...my family, friends, hobbies and whatever else that pops into my mind that I want to document. This one will mostly be about cooking and baking. However, if it has to do with the kitchen, you'll find it here. I'll be throwing in anything from recipes to menu planning to couponing to kitchen organization and everything in between. I am also going to transfer the recipes I've shared on my other blog over to here. So if you are a reader of my "This is My Life..." blog, you may see some repeats. Let me say that I am not a professional cook and I have no formal training. Everything you'll see here is tried and true and comes from my heart. I am not sure how often I'll post. I can promise you that it will not be every day. I imagine it will be several times a week. If you have a question or comment, please feel free to leave it or email me if you prefer. You can find my email over in the sidebar with all the other stuff. Don't be shy. I would love to hear from you!

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