Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hawaiian Dream Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 (8-oz) pkg. low-fat cream cheese
1 (20-oz) can crushed pineapple
2 small pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
3 cup milk
1 (12-oz) ctn. whipped topping
1 pkg. coconut flakes

Drain crushed pineapple and be sure to squeeze out all of the juice with paper towels and reserve juice for the cake mix. Bake the cake mix according to directions except use pineapple juice instead of water. Let it cool and set aside. Beat cream cheese with electric mixer for 2 minutes or until fluffy and then add pineapple. In seperate bowl, mix pudding with 3 cups of milk and then add to cream cheese mixture. Spread mixture on cool cake and then spread whipped topping on top. Sprinkle top with toasted coconut.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Ice Cream Crumb Dessert

2 cup Rice Krispies
1 cup coconut
1 cup copped walnuts or pecans
1 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 gal. vanilla ice cream

Melt butter and stir in brown sugar, Rice Krispies, coconut, and nuts; mix. Put 2/3 of mixture on bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread 1/2 gallon of softened vanilla ice cream and sprinkle remaining crumbs on top. Freeze. Cut into squares and serve.

Beef Taco Bake

1 lb ground beef
1 (10 3/4 oz) can tomato soup
1 c salsa
1/2 c milk
6 wheat tortillas (or 8 corn tortillas) cut into 1" pieces
1-1/2 c cheese, shredded

Brown ground beef. Add salsa, soup, milk, tortillas, and 1 cup of cheese to meat. Spoon into a greased baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 30 min. Top with sour cream.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Mexican Chicken and Beans

1 lb chicken breast strips for stir-fry
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 can black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn with red and green peppers, unstrained
¼ cup water
Tortillas, if desired
Cook chicken in skillet, stir in seasoning mix, beans, corn and water. Cook for 8-10 min stirring, until sauce is thickened.

Swiss Steak

3 pounds boneless chuck steak, about 1 1/2 inches thick
salt and pepper
all purpose flour
2 onions, sliced
1 large can (28 ounces) tomatoes

Heat a little oil in a heavy skillet. Brown onion in hot oil, remove, then brown steaks on both sides. Place onion on top of steak, add tomatoes then cover and bake at 350° until tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove steak and onions to hot serving platter.
Serve with gravy made by thickening skillet juices with a little flour blended with cold water to form a smooth paste. Serves 6.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Salsa

2 cans fiesta rotel (the kind with the cilantro and lime in it)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 C. white vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. crushed red pepper (if you like it spicier add more)

Put in the blender and blend until smooth. Tastes a lot like chili's salsa. It is even better a day later.

Mom's Granola

7 C. oats
1/2 C. flour
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. oil
1/2 C. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. coconut
2 C. walnuts
Cook sugar, oil, and water in saucepan. Pour over remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread thin on several baking sheets and bake at 300 for 15 minutes. Mix and respread and keep repeating until golden brown and crunchy.

Add raisins, chocolate chips, cranberries or whatever you want and eat with milk.

Cooked Vanilla Frosting

1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Flour
1 1/3 C. Milk
1 C. butter - room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla

Combine sugar and flour in saucepan. Add milk with a wisk. Cook on Medium high stirring constantly until thick and boiling. Turn to low heat and cook 2 mins stirring constantly. Let cool completely. Beat butter until light and fluffy set aside. Add cooked mixture to butter when cooled and beat together. Add vanilla and beat.

I love this frosting because it isn't super sweet. It is really good for cupcakes. It is actually the frosting mom uses for Red Velvet Cake.

Trio Cookies

This recipe was on the back of some Trio Hershey kisses that I bought for Valentine's Day and they are SOOOO worth cheating for. Eat them when they are warm and they are as good as Ben's Cookies!

Trio Cookies

1/2 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. Shortening (I used another stick of butter and it worked too)
1 C. Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. plus 2 Tbs. flour divided
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 Tbs. cocoa (the recipe calls for Hershey's special dark cocoa)
48 Hershey kisses (the cookies look cuter with the swirly kisses)

Instructions:
1. heat oven to 350
2. Beat butter, shortening and sugar until well blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir together 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually beat into butter mixture.
3. Divide dough mixture into halves. Add remaining 2 tablespoons flour to one half and coca to the other half, blending well. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. (Roll together a pinch of vanilla dough and a pinch of chocolate dough for marbled cookies.) Place balls on ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake 9-11 minutes or until cookie is set. Remove from oven to wire rack. Cool 1 minute. Press chocolate kiss into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.
Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

King Ranch Chicken

4 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 c chicken broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes
1 lb cheese, grated
1 (10oz) bag Doritos, crumbled

Mix all together. Reserve some cheese for the top. Bake for 30 min at 350 degrees.

Lemon Basil Pasta

8 oz linguine
2 T melted butter or margarine
2 T lemon juice
2 tsp basil leaves
3/4 tsp garlic salt or garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup grated parmasan cheese
2 cup cooked, cubed chicken

Cook pasta and set aside. In a small bowl combine butter, lemon juice, basil, garlic and pepper. Toss with cooked pasta, add chicken. Sprinkle cheese over pasta and serve.

Chicken Salad

4 cup cooked chicken, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
1 (20 oz) can pinapple, drained
1/2 cup seedless red or green grapes, cut in half
1 (6 oz) can mandarin oranges
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Combine chicken, celery, pineapple, oranges, and grapes in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl mix mayo, sugar and salt/pepper. Fold dressing into chicken mixture until well coated. Serve on croissants.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

5 eggs - beat
Add: 1-1/3 cup oil
1- 16oz can pumpkin
2 cup flour
2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp soda
2-3oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
Mix until creamy. Add chocolate chips

Bake 350 degrees for about 30-35 min. You just kind of have to watch and see when they turn golden brown on top.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

2 cup cooked chicken
2 cup ham, chopped
2 cup instant rice
2 cup sour cream
2 cup grated cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup
Crushed croutons on top
Stir all together
Bake 350 degrees for 30 min.

Oatmeal Pancakes and Creamy Cinnamon Syrup

2 cup oatmeal
1-1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
dash of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Syrup-
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Bring corn syrup, sugar, water and cinnamon to boil, 2-3 min. Cool for 5 min and stir in milk.

Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 cup plus 1 T butter
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 T olive or vegetable oil
3-1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
4 slices American cheese
1 cup shredded fontina cheese
1-1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2-1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup bread crumbs

preheat oven 375 degrees.
Cook macaroni and set aside. In a small saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter and sprinkle flour over butter. Wisk until mixture is bubbling and lightly brown. Add milk while wisking. Bring to a simmer 3-4 min until smooth and thickened.
Add American, fontina and 1 cup cheddar cheese to the mixture. Remove from heat and stir until cheese melts. Stir in mustard. Pour sauce over macaroni and mix to combine. Transfer macaroni to a 9x13 baking dish.
For the topping, mix the remaining 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and bread crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over macaroni and dot with remaining 1 T butter.
Bake for 20 min.

Potato Cheese Soup

Potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cup water
1/2 cup chopped or grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp chicken bouillon
Pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup half and half

Cook vegetables in water and bouillon, until tender. Place 1/4 square butter in pan and add 1/4 cup flour. Add 1/2 cup half and half to thicken. Add to ingredients. Add cheese. Do not boil.

Yum!!

This is absolutely wonderful! Thanks for starting it up. I love new recipes and my family will thank you all at dinner time too!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

getting started

Ok girls!  Share your yummy recipes!  Lets get chubby!!!