Janice's Recipe's

Chicken Tortellini Soup

2012-01-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from a family cookbook. Loved it! In fact, I was so preoccupied with eating the soup that I forgot to take a pictures of it! This makes a huge amount, so you are more than welcome to cut it in half. I would say the full recipe would feed 10 people. I did a little tweaking, but here is the recipe and I hope you like it as much as I did!

You'll Need:
-5 c. water
-3 cans chicken broth
-2 cans cream of chicken soup
-2 c. cooked chicken, cubed
-1 c. onion, chopped
-1 c. carrots, sliced
-2 cloves garlic, minced (I grate mine with a hand held grater, works great!)
-1/2 tsp. oregano
-1/2 tsp. basil
-1 pkg. tortellini (dry works best)
-1 pkg. frozen broccoli

Directions:
-In a large pot, combine, water, broth, soup, onions, carrots, garlic, chicken and spices.
-Bring to a boil.
-Simmer for 30 min.
-Add tortellini and broccoli.
-Simmer for 15 min. or until cooked!
-Devour!

Cheesy Potato Soup

2011-11-14T13:50:00.001-07:00

Found a great recipe on Our Best Bites today for a Baked Potato Soup recipe and I adapted it a little. Holy crap I can't wait til dinner! Of course I sample the dishes I make and lets just say my lunch comprised of this new soup and so will my dinner and I don't mind at ALL! Yum! You have to try this out. It's got an unexpected kick to it and is so smooth, creamy and comforting. I'm also making bread bowls to go along with this. Can't wait to sop up this delectable soup with some fresh bread. mmmm....my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I made a ginormous batch because I knew I would want to freeze this goodness and have it again at a later frosty date. So this recipe is for a huge batch. If you don't feel like doing a big batch, just cut everything in half.

You'll need:
-6 medium baked potatoes (I cooked mine in the microwave real quick and easy like)
-3 cloves of garlic, grated(use a small handheld grater, it makes it into a paste so you don't bite down on garlic bits.)
-6 tbs. butter
-5-6 medium carrots, shredded
-4 c. sharp cheddar cheese (I used a combo of what I had, med. cheddar and monterey jack)
-3 tsp. salt
-3 tsp. pepper
-9 c. milk (I used 6 c. of low fat milk and 3 c. of heavy whipping cream, cuz that's what I had and ran out of milk-tastes great!)
-1 large onion,chopped up small/minced
-1 c. flour
-2 cans of chicken stock/veggie stock (whichever one you have)
-1 1/2 c. sour cream
-8 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped up.
-chives

Directions:
-First put butter in a large stock pot. Melt and add your shredded carrots, minced onion and grated garlic. Let it saute till their all soft.
-Add half of your milk. Then slowly add your flour a little bit at a time, while constantly whisking so you have a smooth mixture and get all the lumps out. (If you can't get all the lumps out, put the soup in your blender and blend it up then put back into stock pot) Then add your cream and the rest of your milk & chicken stock.
-Let it simmer until it thickens.
-Cut your potatoes length wise and scrape out the flesh. Put the chunks of potato in a large bowl and mash up with a wooden spoon breaking up any large chunks. Then add it to the soup.
-Add your cheese and salt and pepper. Then stir till your cheese is melted.
-Take off heat and add sour cream and most of the bacon.
-Serve in bowls and garnish with bacon, sour cream and chives.
-Optional: this is great with bread of some sort.
It will knock your socks off!

Healthy & Delicious Fries

2011-09-27T14:40:00.004-06:00

Now no fry is exactly healthy for you, but these are "healthier" for you. You honestly can't go wrong with parmesan herb crusted homemade fries. Makes your mouth water huh? Just wait till you taste them. They are something I have to fight my kids over. And possibly may have stolen a few off their plates? oops! They're that good. Seriously give them a try, you won't leave the pan til their gone.

You'll need:
-6 medium potatoes, sliced into 8 wedges.
-1/4 c. low fat parmesan cheese
-1 tbs. season salt
-1 tsp. pepper
-1 tbs. oregano
-3 tbs. olive oil
-1 gallon ziplock bag

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Cut potatoes into wedges. I usually get 8 wedges out of each potato.
-In a gallon zip lock baggie, put your parmesan and spices. Zip it and shake them around to mix them.
-Put the potato wedges in the baggie. Then drizzle the olive oil over it.
-Close the baggie and hand it to your kids. They can shake it around to coat the wedges with the seasonings.
-Dump the coated potato wedges onto a cookie sheet lined with foil.
-Bake them for 15-20 min. Until golden brown and you can stick a fork in them and can tell they're soft on the inside, with a nice crust on the outside.
-Gobble them up as fast as you can!

Parmesan Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

2011-09-22T13:57:00.003-06:00

These were by FAR one of my all time favorite recipes! My kids licked-yes licked- their plates clean and my hubby ate 4 of them! I on the other won't tell you how many I ate. :) Remember I'm on a diet and I need to watch my portions? Well that flew out the window once I tasted these. Holy moly these were delish! And super simple to make which made it even more one of my favs. Okay seriously you have to try them. Plus it serves 8. Or if you're like my family, we ate them all and we were only 4. Ooops. :)

Here's what you need:
-4 med. zucchini
-1 lb. sausage (mine was sage flavored)
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1 c. bread crumbs, seasoned (mine were italian)
-1/2 c. + 2 tbs. parmesan cheese
-1 egg, beaten
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1/2 c. water

Directions:
-Cut zucchini lengthwise, and scoop the pulp out. Like so.

- Chop the pulp up.
-Brown the sausage, add the onion, garlic & the pulp. Saute it for 5 min. Then remove from the heat.
-Add the bread crumbs & 1/2 c. parmesan & the egg. Mix it well.
It should look like this at this point.

-Fill the zucchini boat shells. Then sprinkle the 2 tbs. of parmesan cheese over the filled zucchini boats. Put the shells in a baking sheet. And pour the 1/2 c. water into the bottom of the baking sheet. Like so.

-Bake it at 350 for 15 min. Uncover them and bake them another 15 min.
-Scarf them up as fast as possible before anyone else can get their hands on them! :)

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

2011-09-22T13:09:00.004-06:00

This was a snappy meal to fix and the kids loved how creamy it was and it had just enough kick for me and the hubs. I love it when the recipes don't call for that many ingredients! I also took the pic, before I topped it with the ingredients. My kids were starving so I had to hurry and snap the picture quick. Hopefully next time the picture will be much better!

You'll need:
-1 can cream of chicken soup $.88 (on sale at case lot)
-1/2 c. sour cream $.56
-1 c. pace picante salsa (I used my own bottled salsa) $free
-2 tsp. chili powder $.10
-2 c. cooked chicken, chopped (about 2 chicken breasts) $1.50
-1/2 c. monterey jack cheese $.50 (bought on sale for $1)
-6 flour tortillas, warmed $.60 (again bought on sale when pkgs were $1)
-1 tomato, chopped $free from garden
-1 green onion, chopped $free from garden
Total: $4.14

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Stir the soup, sour cream, picante & chili pwd. in a bowl with the cooked chicken. Spoon it into the tortillas, then top the mix with some cheese.
-Roll tortilla up and put in a 9x9 pan.
-Spoon remaining mixture on top of the rolled up tortillas. Then top that with cheese.
-Cover pan with tin foil.
-Bake for 40 min. Top with the chopped tomato and onion.
*I served this with fresh corn on the cob from the garden and some steamed squash and zucchini from the garden. We were stuffed!
*This should serve about 6 very hungry people.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

2011-09-16T20:53:00.004-06:00

This recipe is sinfully yummy and deceptively easy. I didn't have the choc. crust at home with me, so I had to improvise and make my own graham cracker crust. Still turned out great. And I can't wait to try it with the choc. crust! My kids gobbled this up and I may have had 2 pieces (okay 1/2 the pie-don't tell.) This is fun to take to a gathering with friends or maybe when you're craving choc. which is basically every min. of every day for me. ha!

You'll need:
-1 tub cool whip
-1/2 bag of reese's pb cups, or more if you choose.
-1 pudding mix
-1 c. milk
-1 choc. crust

Directions:
-Make pudding mix, but only with 1 c. milk instead of 2 c.
-Let it thicken for a few min. While pudding is thickening, cut up your reese's into chunks. Leave about 4 to cut up and decorate your top.
-Gently fold in the cool whip into the pudding mixture.
-Gently fold in the reese's to the mixture.
-Decorate the top.
-chill for 15 min. And chow down baby!

Easy Quiche

2011-09-16T20:41:00.004-06:00

Biscuits were on sale for $.99 this week at our grocery store. I thought this would make a really quick and yummy breakfast. My kids devoured them and so did me and the hubs. I can eat two of these and be full clear past lunch. These stuff you! And they are so tasty.

You'll need:
-1 can of biscuits (usually contains 8)
-4 eggs
-1/2 c. cheese (I liked the mozarella, but anything works)
-4 slices of deli meat (I used smoked turkey cuz that's what I had)
-1 tsp. basil
-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Get a muffin tin and spray it with non stick spray.
-Take biscuits out of can and press flat. (about 1/8" thick)
-Form flattened biscuit to the muffin tin cup.
-In a separate bowl, combine eggs, cheese, meat, basil & S&P. Mix well.
-Pour mixture into biscuits. Fill about 1/2-2/3 full. They will fluff up and run over so don't fill too full. (I filled the muffin cups closest to the center so if they did over flow, they just went into another muffin cup instead of on my oven.)
-Bake for 16-18 min.
-Serve hot. So delish!
*these would be great to bring to a brunch or something.

Rustic Veggie Pizza

2011-09-13T16:11:00.002-06:00

Found this recipe over at kraft. You know I'm a sucker for anything pizza! So yummy! And healthy! Low cal and I can still enjoy pizza. mmmm....

avg rating

(4)

total time

44 min

prep

15 min

servings

8 servings

What You Need

3 Tbsp. KRAFT Italian Vinaigrette Dressing made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

1 onion, cut into thin wedges

1 small yellow pepper, cut into strips

1 zucchini, cut in half, then sliced crosswise

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut lengthwise in half

1 can (11 oz.) refrigerated thin pizza crust

1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

1 pkg. (4 oz.) ATHENOS Traditional Crumbled Feta Cheese

1 cup baby arugula

Make It

HEAT oven to 425ºF.

HEAT 1 Tbsp. dressing in large skillet. Add onions; cook and stir on medium-high heat 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Add peppers and zucchini; cook and stir 5 min. or until onions are golden brown and peppers are crisp-tender. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes and olives.

UNROLL pizza crust on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray; pat into 14x10-1/2-inch rectangle. Fold over edges of dough to form 1/2-inch-wide rim. Bake 5 min. Brush with remaining dressing; top with vegetable mixture and cheeses.

BAKE 12 to 14 min. or until edges of crust are golden brown. Top with arugula.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Special Extra

Add 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper to vegetable mixture in skillet with tomatoes and olives.

Savory Garlic & Herb Stir Fry

2011-09-08T14:16:00.003-06:00

*I love the end of Summer because that means harvest time from the garden and in my house that means lots of stir fry! I love stir fry. So I tried the new cooking creme that philadelphia brand makes and it is so yummy! I will definitely be making this again very soon. It was so easy and quick and delish!

You'll need:
-a ton of veggies. I used, carrots, celery, onions, squash, peppers & zucchini.
-2 chicken breasts, cubed
-italian dressing
-1 c. noodles,cooked. I used the fettuccine ones I had on hand.
-1/4 c. savory garlic and herb cooking creme from philidelphia brand.
-2 tbs. olive oil

Directions:
-Chop all your veggies.
-Heat olive oil in a large skillet and start to cook veggies. Cook till tender crisp.
-while veggies are cooking, in another skillet heat up some of the italian dressing. cook your chicken in it until done.
-Cook noodles in a separate pan until al dente.
-Combine noodles and chicken in the large skillet with the veggies. Add in the cooking creme. Warm through and enjoy!

Sundried Tomato & Artichoke Pizza

2011-09-06T20:22:00.002-06:00

I had a can of artichoke hearts I wanted to use and had recently bought some sundried tomatoes. If any of you know me...I love all things pizza. Any kind, any time of day. I LOVE it! So I wanted to invent a new pizza recipe. This is what came from my experiment. Another pizza I LOVED!! Hope you like it as much as I did!

You'll Need:
-1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
-2 chicken breasts, cubed
-1/2 jar sun dried tomatoes
-1/2 jar pizza/spaghetti sauce
-pizza crust
-1 cup mozzarella cheese
-3 tbs. zesty italian dressing

DIRECTIONS:
-Make your pizza crust or buy one. Cook it 1/2 way. Then bring it back out.
-While crust is cooking cook your chicken in a skillet with the zesty italian dressing.
-Spread pizza sauce on crust.
-Top pizza with chicken, artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes. Then cheese.
-Bake for 10 min. or until cheese is melted and crust is finished cooking.
-Enjoy!
-

Home made Twinkies

2011-08-15T12:52:00.003-06:00

I had to make a dessert for my hubby's 10 year class reunion and I wanted to try these. I thought the kids there would like them. I had to scare the hubs off to be able to take enough to the party! He kept "sampling."

You'll Need:
-1 lemon cake mix
-1 white cake mix
-3/4 c. sugar
-1/3 c. karo
-1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
-2 egg whites
-1 tsp. vanilla
-2 tsp. water

Directions:
-Mix two cake mixes together in a bowl. Make cakes as directed. Put them in cupcake form.
-For the cream, mix the remaining ingredients together in a double boiler, and beat the mixture on high (with beaters) for 7 min. or until fluffy. This is done while the mixture is cooking on the stove in the double boiler.
-Let cupcakes cool.
-Put the cream mixture into a frosting baggy with a tip. Stick the tip down in the top of the cupcake and squirt the cream into the cupcake. Voila! Homemade twinkies!

*Hints: If you don't have a double boiler, get a pan and a metal bowl, then put the metal bowl on top of the pan of boiling water and it works the same way.
*Hints: If you don't have a frosting bag and a tip, then poke a hole down into the top of the cupcake and put the cream in a plastic baggy with the tip cut off. Then fill the cupcake with cream that way.

Either way....YUM!!

Yummy homemade Granola

2011-08-11T15:13:00.003-06:00

This granola is so good! And it's super healthy. My kids have not been able to get enough of it. And I don't feel bad giving them big amounts because it's good for them. :) This has sure helped with my notty choc./sweets cravings during this whole diet. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

You'll Need:
-6 cups oats
-1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
-1 1/2 cups cranberries
-1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
-1 1/2 cups coconut
-1/3 cup evoo
-1 cup honey

Directions:
-Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix.
-Spread out onto a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 30-35 min.
*To make it a little clumpier you can add a little bit more honey.

Cafe Rio Chicken Salad

2011-08-11T15:07:00.002-06:00

Okay, this is for the cafe rio chicken salads. It includes all the recipes for the chicken, the rice, the vinaigrette dressing and even the yummy pico de gallo! If you get confused along the way just let me know and I can answer your questions. If you make this into a small salad, (you know the half sized ones) it equals 497 calories. Not bad for a dinner! About what you want to aim for. And it's super filling. And to die for in taste!

Chicken:
-1 bottle zesty italian dressing
-1 tbs. chili powder
-1 tbs. cumin
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-5 lbs chicken breast (I used 6 large chicken breasts)
*Mix all ingredients and cook in crock pot for 4 hrs on high. Shred meat and cook one more hour on low.

Rice:
-1 c. water
-1 c. rice
-1 tsp. butter
-1 tsp. lime juice
-1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbs. lime juice (you will be using this one in a different place)
-2 tsp. sugar
-3 tbs. chopped cilantro
*in a saucepan combine, rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime juice, broth and water. Bring to boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 min.
*In a small bowl combine, 1 tbs. lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot rice, and mix as you fluff rice with a fork.

(didn't get a pic of this one, it got eaten too fast!

Pico de Gallo:
-3 tomatos, chopped
-1/2 white onion, chopped (almost minced, I like the bits really small)
-1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp. fresh lime juice
-salt and pepper to taste
* Mix all together. MMMM!!!

Vinaigrette:
-6 tbs. oil (1/2 olive & 1/2 vegetable)
-1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
-2 tbs. lime juice
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1 small hot pepper, finely chopped
-salt and pepper to taste
*Combine all ingredients in jar. Shake & set aside. This doesn't keep for very long in the fridge, I found it didn't taste as great after a week. So use it quickly! Still so yummy!

Okay, get a small fajita size tortilla, brown it a little, then put it in a bowl, layer the rice, some black beans, a ton of lettuce, the meat, some pico de gallo and your dressing. I opted out of the tortilla chips on top, the sour cream and the parmesan cheese to cut on fat. Instead I combined some fresh raspberries, and a tiny bit of chipotle spice to make the raspberry chipotle sauce that costa vida does, and it was delicious! Here is a pic of a salad back in the day I didn't cut out fat. I kinda forgot to get a pic of my new low fat salad...I was too excited to eat it! haha! next time!

Cajun Chicken Sandwiches

2011-04-20T14:44:00.003-06:00

I got this recipe from my SIL. It looked so yummy I had to try it. And it was so easy. Being in the last several weeks of pregnancy I haven't wanted to cook very much, and so I look for easy yet still very tasty meals. This one, is definitely going on my list of things to cook again! These were a little spicy, you can put less cajun seasoning in if you wish, but my kids scarfed this down. My 4 year old kept saying, "Mommy, my mouth is stinging, but I can't stop eating, it's good!" So adjust the "spiciness" to your liking. :)

You'll Need:
-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts $2.00
-3 tbs. olive oil $.15
-2 tbs. Cajun seasoning $.25
-1/4 c. mayo $.50
-2 tsp. dill $.10 (I didn't have dill, so I substituted with thyme and it was so yummy!)
-1 tsp. minced garlic $.05 (I grate mine so you don't bite on chunks of garlic, or you can use powder)
-4 slices provolone cheese $.50
-4 slices tomato $.25
-Lettuce $.10
-4 hamb. buns $1.00 (I used homemade rolls and made them sliders, so for me this part was about $.25)

total: $4.15 for me. and about $4.90 for you. Not bad!

DIRECTIONS
-Butterfly the chicken breasts and pound them out to be about 1/4" thick.
-In a bowl mix, the cajun seasoning and the olive oil.
-Baste it all over the chicken and then cook chicken on the grill or in a skillet. About 5 min. on each side or until done.
-While chicken is cooking, in another bowl mix, mayo, garlic and dill.
-Toast buns. Spread mayo mix on buns.
-Add chicken on buns, then put cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce on top. So yummy!
*I served this with homemade potato wedges and steamed broccoli.

White Enchiladas

2011-04-13T12:22:00.005-06:00

I was in an experimental mood and wanted something spicy and simple. So this is what I whipped up. Surprisingly my hubby couldn't get enough of it and the kids too! It probably took me about 40 min. to make it, from start to finish. This recipe makes a 9x9 pan. Just add a little extra of everything if you want to make a 9x13 pan.
p.s. Like my new hot pads underneath the pan? I made them! I'm obsessed now. :)

You'll need:
-1 can shredded chicken $1.66 (you can use cooked chicken breasts, but I was in a hurry)
-1 c. sour cream $.49 (bought 16 oz. on sale for $.99)
-1-8oz. pkg. cream cheese $.99 (bought on sale and frozen-this works great as long as you give it time to thaw ahead of when you need it. I buy it at Christmas time when it's on sale and just stock up like crazy)
-1 small can of diced chilies $.50
-2 c. mozzarella cheese $2.00 (bought 2-8oz. bags on sale for $.99 each)
-1 can of cream of mushroom soup $.69 (bought on sale at a case lot sale)
-5 or 6 flour tortillas (medium sized) $.90
-Salt and Pepper to taste

total: $7.23 (serves about 6 people-with normal portion sizes. Or 4 if you really like them. haha)

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Put cream cheese, sour cream, chicken, cream of mushroom soup, chilies & salt and pepper into a medium sauce pan. Heat it up till it makes a nice and smooth mixture.
-Spoon some of the mixture into the bottom of your 9x9 pan. Just enough to barely coat the bottom to keep the tortillas from sticking to the pan.
-Spoon a hefty amount of sauce into a tortilla. (Make sure you leave enough of the mixture to go on top of the enchiladas) Top it with cheese. Roll tortilla up "burrito style" and place in the pan. Repeat until your pan is full. I used about 5 or 6 tortillas.
-Spoon remaining mixture of the sauce onto the top of the enchiladas making sure it's covered. Then top it with cheese.
-Pop it in the oven and cook for about 15-20 min. or until cheese is melted and the sauce is nice and bubbly.
-Enjoy!
*I served this up with steamed broccoli and some leftover salad from the night before.

Cheesy Chicken Rice Skillet

2011-03-30T18:19:00.003-06:00

This one came out of the Kraft foods recipes, but I made some adjustments because I either lacked the right ingredients, or I just thought it needed something else. This was a one pan dish which equals less dishes which equals a happy me! This was quick and still ever so yummy!
*and fyi, it tastes even better with more cheese! Can't ever go wrong with more cheese. :)

You'll Need:
-2 chicken breasts $1.50
-1/4 c. Zesty Italian salad dressing $.25
-1 1/2 c. instant rice $.75
-1 pkg. frozen broccoli $1.00
-1 can rotel (or 1 c. diced tomatoes) $.85
-1/4 c. roasted red peppers $.75
-1 can chicken broth $.50
-1/2 c. cheese $.50 (bought on sale for $1 for 1 c.)
-1/4 c. minced onions (or green onions) $free from garden
-Salt & pepper to taste

TOTAL= $6.10 (on the more expensive side, but still, can't beat that, still lots cheaper than eating out)

DIRECTIONS:
-Heat italian dressing in skillet. Add sliced chicken to the dressing. Saute for 3 min.
-Add rice and broth. Reduce heat to simmer, and let the rice cook for about 5 min. or until cooked through and chicken is done.
-Add in broccoli, onions, peppers, and salt and pepper.
-Saute another 5 min. until broccoli is tender crisp.
-Add cheese and serve!
-Enjoy!

Chicken Crescent Rolls

2011-03-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

You'll Need:

-3 small chicken breasts=$1.00

-1-8oz. cream cheese=$.99

-1 c. sour cream=$.91

-1 small onion=free from garden

-1 can olives=$.88

-3 cans pillsbury crescent rolls=$4.01 (bought with coupon & on sale)

-1 can cream of chicken soup=$1.00

-2 tbs. butter=$.02

-1 c. milk=$.10

-few saltine crackers

-Salt & Pepper
*You can also add mushrooms as well or whatever you want. But I'm not a mushroom fan so I nixed those. :)

*total=$8.91 (this is doubled because I freeze 1/2. So this is really $4.45 for 4 people)

DIRECTIONS:

-First boil you chicken in water till cooked through. Cube it. Set aside.

-Dice olives and onions (can add mushrooms too if you want). Set aside.

-In a saucepan melt, cream cheese & sour cream. Add olives, onion and chicken (mushrooms).

-Melt butter in a bowl in microwave.

-Open cans of crescent rolls and set out on cookie sheets.

-Spoon about a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling into an idividual crescent roll triangle.

-Fold the crescent roll around the filling so no filling leaks out.

-After filling all rolls, baste the tops with the melted butter.

-Sprinkle crushed saltine crackers on top of rolls.

-Bake at 350 for about 20 min or until golden brown.

-While rolls are baking, combine cream of chicken soup & milk in saucepan. Cook until heated through.

-Serve sauce on top of rolls.

*I served this with fresh garden green beans.

Taco Rice Casserole

2011-03-16T20:44:00.005-06:00

*This recipe would also be Gluten-Free.
This recipe is a fun, easy way to please all members of your family. Plus, it's quick, which you know by now is totally my style. :) And another bonus is, it makes a TON so you can freeze half and still have some leftover to put in your fridge as well after you're done eating. It literally feeds an army, and is cheap to make. All good things!

You'll Need:
-1 lb. hamburger $free-we did a beef last year, already paid for
-1/2 onion $free from garden, yes I still have onions, sweet!
-1 bottle or big can of stewed tomatoes $free from garden
-1 bag of frozen corn (defrost in microwave) $free from garden
-1 packet of taco seasoning $.50
-1 can of tomato soup $.60
-3 cups of cooked rice $.50
-1 cup shredded cheese, I like cheddar but you can use what you have $.99 (bought on sale)
-Salt and Pepper to taste

Total: $2.59 (this is for two meals, so really tonight's meal was $1.29-love it!)

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Brown hamburger with onion in a skillet.
-Add taco seasoning to hamburger once it's cooked.
-Add can of tomato soup into the hamburger.
-Add rice and cheese to hamburger mixture. Stir together well.
-Then add corn, and tomatoes.
-Stir everything really well then put it in a 9x13 pan. It will be filled clear to the top. (sometimes I mix everything in the 9x13 pan and it works out too.)
-Top with cheese and bake for 20-30 min. until everything is nice and bubbly.
-Serve up and enjoy. I usually just top it with some S&P for more taste. Total time to get this baby done is about 45 min. You can also make this the night before and then set your stove to come on 1/2 hr. before you come home and then your house will smell nice, or you can have it made the night before and leave it in your fridge, then pop it in, dinner in 30 min. Can't beat that!
*I've also brought this dish to funeral dinners when asked to bring something, it's been a big hit. Kids will even eat it. ;)

Pantry Stoup-One Pot

2011-02-26T15:41:00.003-07:00

Okay you're probably wondering what a "stoup" is, right? Well if any of you are fans of Rachael Ray then you'll know, but if not, it's a term she uses to describe a soup that is thinner than a stew, but thicker than a soup. Hence the term "Stoup." I love to make stoups because they are so hearty and filling and just the right texture and thickness.
It is bloody cold outside today and snowing like crazy. So I was feeling some soup. But not just any old regular soup...I decided to experiment. Plus I made rolls last night, so I wanted something yummy for that roll to sop up. :)
I went digging through my pantry, and my crisper/fridge. I found some Sage flavored sausage and some veggies I needed to use. So I went to work on creating this stoup. You can totally do this in a crock pot, but I didn't do it in enough time so I put it in a pot. It's a one pot meal. My kind of dish! Hope you like it!

*As always I double my soup recipes to freeze the leftovers for days that I really don't want to cook and just want to heat something up. This recipe is for the double version. If you don't want to double it, just cut everything in half and it will still feed 4-6 people.

You'll Need:
-1 pkg. Jimmy Dean Sage flavored sausage $2.45
-2 carrots, sliced $free from garden (yes I said from my garden, let me know if you want to know how to keep your garden carrots good all winter.)
-1 onion, diced $free from garden (yes this too, although carrots keep much better than onions)
-4 stalks of celery, sliced $.15
-1 quart of whole tomatoes $free (canned last year) if you don't have this, use a 15 oz. can of stewed or diced tomatoes. It's about $.70
-2 cans of Great Northern Beans $1
-1 can of beef broth $.59
-2 tbs. olive oil $.10
-Salt and Pepper
-1/2 tsp Ground or fresh Sage $.05
-1/2 tsp Oregano $.05
-1/2 tsp Parsley $.05

Total: $4.44 (this is my total if you used the onion and carrots & tomatoes it would be about $5.50 keep in mind this is for 2 meals. So it's really $2.22 per meal for me or $2.75 for you) win-win!

DIRECTIONS:
-Brown sausage in a big pot.
-While sausage is browning slice/dice all your carrots, celery & onions. Add your olive oil to the bottom of the pan(if you don't drain your meat, then omit the olive oil and use the drippings from the sausage to help brown your veggies)
-Let your veggies sweat out a little.
-Make sure to add your seasonings (S&P, sage, oregano & parsley) while your veggies are cooking. This flavors them so nice and you will have a very flavorful stoup. Not just a flavorful broth.
-Once veggies are to a crisp tender stage, add your beans and tomatoes with the juice still in them.
-Add beef broth.
-If doing it in a crock pot let cook on low for 4 hrs. If on the stove cook on simmer for 2 hrs. The longer you let it simmer the more flavorful it will be. FYI. :)

*I am serving this will fresh homemade rolls. And I can smell it as I'm typing. My stomach is growling already. Dinner can seriously not come fast enough!

Poor Man Stoup-updated

2011-02-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Poor man Stoup (updated)

**This is my updated version of this stoup. I have done experimenting and I really like this version even better! It's good either way you make it, you can leave the new stuff out, but it tastes so much better and adds more dimension to it! This stoup looks like puke, but tastes amazing! It has been nick-named "Puke Stoup" by none other than my "creative" hubby. Don't let the name scare you away though. Yummo!

Okay a stoup is from Rachael Ray (thicker than a soup but thinner than a stew-STOUP!)
I was in an experimental mood and wanted something yummy but easy, and easy clean up (one pot!!) the night I came up with this. Plus I had like nothing in my fridge! So this is what I came up with!! Let me know if you like it!

You'll need:
-1 lb. hamburger /sausage or chicken works good too ($1.50)
-Carrots (from the garden)
-Celery ($.20)
-Onions (from the garden)
-Beef stock (2 cans)/also works with chicken stock ($1.00 bought on sale for $.50 a can)
-1 to 1 1/2 cups of rice ($.25)
-Bay leaf, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper, terragon, sage ($.25)

-1 can of cream of mushroom/chicken ($1.00-unfortunately not on sale)

-dollop of sour cream ($.15)

-parmesan (if desired) ($.10)

TOTAL: $4.45
DIRECTIONS:
*Brown hamburger in a stock pot.
*Add grated carrots, chopped onions, and chopped celery and let them sweat out until tender.
*Add beef stock and bring to a boil.
*Add rice (not cooked); 1 bay leaf, couple shakes of thyme, parsley, terragon, sage and salt and pepper, then turn down heat to simmer and let it cook until dinner time.

*10 min. before you eat, add the cream of mushroom/chicken, and the sour cream and parmesan. Give it just enough time to heat through.

*Enjoy!!
***I usually do this around lunch time (noon)
~ Hint: You might have to occasionally add a little water here and there if it looks like it's getting too thick.
**enjoy cleaning only one pan!!

~Hint: This makes a TON of soup. We usually eat half, then I store the other half in the freezer for a day I don't want to cook! Easy cheesy!

The BEST Sloppy Joes

2011-02-12T16:02:00.002-07:00

Rita's Sloppy Joes

I posted this a while ago, and this week while I was on a "I don't know what to cook" kick, I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner and without any thought she yelled "sloppy joes!" So sloppy joes it was. Easy, quick, and oh so delicious.
I haven't found a better sloppy joe recipe than my mother-in-laws! It is great!! And I haven't found a single person who won't eat this either!!

You'll need:
-2 lbs ground beef=free (we did a beef last year) around $3.00
-1/4 cup chopped/minced onion=free from garden
-1 tsp. chili powder=$.05
-2 tbs. brown sugar=$.10
-1 tbs. vinegar=$.05
-2 tbs. mustard=$.10
-1/2 cup ketchup=$.30 (bought on sale for $1)
-1 tbs. worshetershire sauce=$.10
-1-8 oz. can tomato paste=$.28
-1 can cream of mushroom soup=$1.00
-2 tbs. barbeque sauce for "zing"=free (bought on sale for $1, used a $1/1 coupon!)

total=$1.98 ($4.98 with cost of beef)

DIRECTIONS:
*Brown hamburger in skillet with onions.
*Add all ingredients and cook till really hot, then serve on hamburger buns!!

*I served this with watermelon from our garden and some cooked trumpet squash also from the garden.

**This makes a TON; so we usually eat 1/2 then freeze the other 1/2 for another time, easy dinner prep! Just warm and serve!

4 Ingredient Crock Pot Chicken

2011-02-08T20:27:00.005-07:00

This was one of those days I looked through my pantry and saw a can of Rotel tomatoes and though, "Hm....what could I make with that?" So I grabbed some frozen chicken, and started tossing a few things together. I was a little unsure of how the chicken would turn out, but was extremely pleased once I tasted it. Wow. It's very different, but very satisfying. It kind of hits you with a little kick and then some sweetness comes later. It's very nice. :) Let me know what you think of it if you try it! It's quick, easy, cheap, and my kids devoured it. The best part!

You'll Need:
-4 frozen chicken breasts ($2)
-1 can Rotel ($.78)
-1/4 cup brown sugar (.$15)
-1 can chicken broth ($.50)
-1/2 c. cheddar cheese -would be great with a spicy mexican cheese too (.48)

Total: $3.91

DIRECTIONS:
-Pop the frozen chicken breasts down in your crock pot.
-Pour in the Rotel & broth.
-Sprinkle brown sugar on top.
-Let cook on low for 5-6 hrs. or on high for 3-4 hrs.
-Right as you take the chicken out to serve it, top it with some cheese. And some S&P to your liking. I found just a tad was great.

*I served this with a box of 4 cheese Rice a Roni, and some Bottled green beans from the garden. Making my meal total equal=$4.91
Not bad for a 4 person meal. I even had a little left over for lunch tomorrow.

Still up for anyone who wants to submit a recipe. I would love to get any you have!

Recipe Call....

2011-01-24T12:59:00.004-07:00

Hey ladies,
I'm looking for some fun new recipes! I would love to hear what some of your favorites are, maybe some of your "go-to" meals. Ones you are famous for making, healthy, low cost, fun meals! Even desserts, appetizers, etc....Please send some to me, I would love to try them out and then share them with all the readers!
You can email me at: janicetwitchell@hotmail.com
Can't wait to see whatchagot!

Tomato-Artichoke Pasta

2011-01-19T19:50:00.006-07:00

Photo credit to Our best bites, I didn't feel like uploading mine. Plus theirs is pretty. :)

Okay, for those of you who know me, I am a total sucker for anything Italian. I love it. So when I saw this recipe on Our Best Bites I had to try it. It looked so simple, and fast. And plus it's Italian, so it's totally my style. I'm so glad to be back. Please leave me some love and let me know what you thought of this recipe. I added just a few changes to it from the original, and I had enough leftovers for 2 MORE MEALS! Awesome! I also thought this would taste really good with some Italian herb crusted grilled chicken tossed in with it. What do you think?
p.s. My washing machine has been broken for almost 4 weeks. The repairman is finally coming tomorrow! I've never been more psyched in my life to do laundry! Just fyi, thought you should know. :)

Okay, YOU'LL NEED:
-4-5 garlic cloves(I grate these on a small hand held grater, so no big chunks of garlic to bite on) $.20
-1 can diced tomatoes(from garden=$free)
-3 oz. tomato paste (I used the full 8 oz. can-it would have gone bad and it just made my sauce a little thicker, which was yummy) $.38
-3 oz. chicken broth $.25 (you can also use cooking wine, which would give it a whole diff. flavor, but I have never purchased it, and saw this substitute, which I already had, so it worked nicely)
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/4 tsp. black pepper
-1/2 c. green onions, chopped (equals about 4 long stems) $.50
-6 or 7 oz. can of artichoke hearts $2.76
-1 pkg. of tortellini pasta (the recipe calls for buitoni, but I had schwan's and used 1/2 pkg.) $3.50
TOTAL: $7.59 (I had enough leftover sauce to last me for two more meals. I popped it into two different containers and froze it.
*this meal took me from start to finish like 20 min. to make. Such a quick and easy, but yummy fix!

DIRECTIONS:
-In a large sauce pan, heat up some olive oil. Put garlic, green onions and artichoke hearts in to saute. Do this until the garlic is really fragrant. Be careful not to burn it, or your house will smell like garlic for a couple days.
-Add tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, and S&P. Let it cook till it just starts to boil. Then toss it with the pasta. I actually just served the pasta in a bowl, then topped it with the sauce so I could freeze the rest and not have pasta pieces in the next batch I made. But you do what you want.
-I thought it needed something extra so you can't go wrong with some mozzarella cheese and some parsley flakes on top to bring out the flavor. Plus presentation is awesome!
-If it's not enough garlic taste for you, like me, then it goes nicely with some garlic bread. :)
-Watch your fam scarf it down.

I'm Back!!

2011-01-11T12:20:00.002-07:00

Okay, I'm feeling a little guilty that I haven't posted on here for a long time. I was thinking that my posting was in vain and no one was reading the recipes or trying them. Come to find out, I have had quite a few people tell me they look at this blog and actually cook my recipes! This is the best news to me and seriously makes me feel so loved!!
I will start posting recipes on here again, but who knows how often. That way you all can have something new to try, and not just the same ole same ole. Anyway, I live way out in the boonies, and have been cooking off my food storage for about 10 days. This gets to be a challenge and my next grocery store trip to the grand ole Wal-Mart will be on Thursday! Yay! Pretty sad when you look forward to a grocery store trip eh? Well when you live 90 miles away from the closest Wal-Mart, you get to be that way I guess. haha. After that wonderful, and pricey trip, I have so many new recipes that I have found, and want to try, and also tweek a little. So, be on the lookout for new ones to try!
What I want from you who actually do read my blog, is to let me know if there are any changes you would like me to make to the blog? Maybe in my posting? Do you like that there is a picture, the price breakdown, etc? What could be made better? Do you want me to add a subscription area so whenever I post, you will get an email saying I did? Let me know...I want to hear from you! Maybe are there some recipes that you've tried on here that you would like revamped or redone? Hopefully this makes sense. Talk to me and let me know. I can't wait for the next couple of posts!
Love ya peeps.

Sad News......

2010-08-16T08:37:00.003-06:00

I have sad news......I will be taking a break from the posting on this blog. I am SO busy and have a ton of irons in the fire right now. My life needs to slow down so I can focus more on my family and spending time with my kids. I will probably still post an occasional recipe here and there, because this blog is basically my recipe box, but I just feel that this is one thing that takes up my time that I don't need to spend on. So if you have any questions, or requests please email me at janicetwitchell at hotmail dot com. I will be happy to help you. Still check back every now and then but as for now, I'm taking a break. Thanks.

Sausage-tomato Rigatoni

2010-08-10T14:48:00.004-06:00

*This is a kraft recipe that I have loved for years. I made a full batch a while ago and decided it needed to be on here. This recipe is enough to make 2 meals for my family. So we usually eat half then I freeze the rest for a later day when I'm not in the mood to cook. :) lus it's cheap to make, my fav. part and also very yummy! This works out to be about 30 min. beginning to finish. Bonus!

YOU'LL NEED:

-1 box rigatoni pasta $.88

-1 small can of tomato paste $.50

-1/4 c. sun-dried tomato salad dressing $.25

-1 tbs. parsley $.05

-1 pkg. sausage (I use the sage flavored, but any kind will work) $2.30

-1/2 red onion, sliced free from garden

- 1/4 c. parmesan $.25

TOTAL=$4.23 (this is 2 meals for my family so it's really $2.11 per meal)

DIRECTIONS:

-Boil some water for your pasta.

-While water boils, cook your sausage. Once sausage is cooked add sliced onions.

-Drop your pasta and cook it according to package directions.

-let onions cook a little while with sausage. Then add your dressing & paste.

-let that cook for a while. then the last few min. add the parmesan and sprinkle with parsley.

-Toss pasta with sauce & enjoy!

BLT sliders

2010-06-29T10:02:00.004-06:00

This is like a BLT burger. How much better can that get?! Yum!! This was also on the Rachael Ray show, she is the queen of burgers and I have to agree when she says she can't get enough of them! You have to try them, they are awesome!

YOU'LL NEED:

-4 english muffins $1.00

-1 lb ground beef (free-we do our own beef) it would be about $1.50 if you bought it at a good price.

-8 slices of turkey bacon (you can use regular bacon-but I love turkey bacon!) $.75 (bought on sale with coupon for 1.00 for pkg!)

-4 slices of provolone or swiss cheese (whatever you have) $.50

-4 large leaves of lettuce (free from garden)

-4 large slices of tomato $.50

-chives,chopped (free from garden)

-1 tbs. worchestershire sauce $.10

TOTAL=$2.85 ($4.35 with beef included)

DIRECTIONS:

-In a pan heat some olive oil up. Or you can go grill these they are better that way. So go preheat your grill. :) But you need to heat up your pan for your bacon.

-Put ground beef in a bowl. Mix in worchestershire sauce and chives.

-Score the meat into 4 equal sections. This makes your burgers even sized. so one isn't tiny at the end of the batch, they are all the same size! Shape patties with the middle being a little thinner than the outside parts. This makes the whole patty even across so your toppings don't fall off.

-Cook your patties. Then add cheese about last minute of cooking.

-You can also toast your english muffins under the broiler. But watch them carefully or you will burn them or set them on fire, they cook really fast!

-Stack your BLT first with bottom muffin, burger, cheese, bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, muffin. Take a humungous bite and you're in heaven!

*I served this with homemade oven baked fries, and lemon zested fresh asparagus. Happy cooking!!

Turkey Parmesan Sliders

2010-06-29T09:15:00.005-06:00

So earlier this Summer I went through a "slider phase." I made TONS of different kinds of sliders. And I have been so busy that my free time has been almost non-existent. So....this blog gets put on the back burner. haha! no pun intended. ;)
Anyway, here is one slider I saw on the Rachael Ray show while folding a massive heap of laundry and just had to try it! (with a little of my tweaking) it's a spin off of chicken parmesan made into a burger!! I mean yum! You have to try it! Please let me know if you enjoyed it as much as I did. Oh p.s.! I have never tried ground turkey before, let me just say....Y.U.M.M.O!! It is so good and plus it's 99% fat free so you can't feel bad about eating a few of these little buggers either. Just thought I'd throw that in there. :)
**Sidenote: Make a ton of little slider burgers and freeze them for when you don't feel like cooking. Heat them up, slap them on some rolls with a few fixins and you'll have a dinner ready in about 10 min! (I'm all about saving time, and preparing ahead. haha)

YOU'LL NEED:
-1 small pkg of ground turkey $2.00 (kind of expensive, but remember this is for more than 1 meal.
-1 jar spaghetti sauce $1.72
-1/4 c. bread crumbs $.05
-1 tsp. italian seasoning $.01
-2 tbs. parmesan cheese $.15
-4 slices provolone cheese (or whatever you have) $.50
-1/2 c. spinach leaves $.50
-4 rolls $.25 (I bought a huge bag of costco rolls, they are cheap & oh so yummy! you can make your own if you want)
TOTAL=$5.18
*This makes about 10 sliders (the meat does) depending on how thick you make your sliders. So for my family this would be good for two meals.

DIRECTIONS:
-Mix your italian seaoning & parmesan with your bread crumbs on a small plate or bowl. Set aside.
-In a skillet drizzle about 1 tbs. olive oil and turn on med. high heat. Heat pan till oil is really hot, then turn heat down to med heat.
-While the pan and oil are heating up take your ground turkey and form into small patties (making the centers a little thinner than the outside of the patty. This will ensure even cooking of the patty, so your patty is flat and not heaped up in the middle).
-Roll your patties all around in the bread crumb mixture. Then set in the hot pan. This is when you'll turn the heat back to med. heat.
-Cover and let them cook.
-While patties are cooking, turn your broiler in your oven on. Split your rolls and and butter them, then sprinkle a little garlic salt on them. (This is totally optional but adds some pizazz to your sliders) Put these about 6 inches away from your broiler...they will cook extremely fast so watch these with your life, or you will burn them or worse set them on fire and set off the fire alarms (like I did) and then you have to start all over. :)
-Take buns out, and then flip your sliders to cook on the other side.
-This is a good time to figure out what you're serving as your side and get it going while your sliders are finishing off. (if you've never cooked ground turkey before, it doesn't brown like regular hamburger does. It just turns white and then barely browns. So as long as it's not pink and is all white, you're safe. Kind of like when you cook chicken and the "juices run clear" sort of thing. *p.s. I served green beans from the garden with this meal, just an idea for a side.
-While the other side of the sliders are cooking put a small dollop of spaghetti sauce on the top side of the slider, then put a slice of cheese on it. cover and let cheese melt.
-Serve sliders on garlic toasted rolls with a little more sauce on top and a few spinach leaves.
*It will knock your socks off! Love them!
Happy cooking ya'll!

Juicy, tender, Fall of the bone bbq chicken

2010-05-06T10:56:00.005-06:00

*I have to give the bro-in-law credit for this recipe. He was telling me how to do it on Sunday and my mouth just started to water. I just HAD to try it. If you know me, then you know that I LOVE grill food. There is nothing quite like it. There will be a ton of grill recipes this summer! This turned out so great! We were gobbling it up like crazy! I am on a weight loss challenge so I had one drumstick with the skin removed. And believe me that I was definitely wanting more, but I didn't give in and I'm quite proud. =) This will go into my favorite recipe category in my recipe box. So good!! And so easy!!

You'll need:

-6 drumsticks=$.12 (I got 12 drumsticks on sale for $1 killer deal! & had a coupon for $.75 off any one chicken pkg. so I got 12 drumsticks for $.25!! um...I was proud!!)

-1/2 c. bbq sauce=$.25

-1 tbs. italian seasoning=$.05

-1 tbs. garlic powder=$.05

total=$.47 (this will probably end up costing you about $3.00 if you get your chicken on sale. Still a way cheapo meal)

DIRECTIONS:

-Thaw your chicken. Sprinkle with 1/2 garlic powder and 1/2 italian seasoning.

-Heat grill up on med. heat, then turn down to low heat when you put chicken on.

-In a small bowl combine, bbq sauce and rest of garlic powder and italian seasoning.

-Put seasoned chicken side down on hot grill. Turn heat down to low. Baste chicken heavily with bbq sauce mix. Let cook for 10 min. on one side.

-Flip chicken over, baste other side heavily. Let cook for another 10 min. Then baste both sides again and let chicken cook about another 2 minutes or until juices run clear.

*I served this with mashed potatoes and baked broccoli (drizzle olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, bake. Yum!)

This was a way easy recipe and the chicken was so flavorful and juicy. Yum!!

$5 Sweet & Sour Chicken

2010-04-22T09:37:00.006-06:00

*This meal seriously took 30 min. from beginning to end! Such a great "go-to" meal. And is so cheap! This also would be so awesome as a stir-fry with all your fresh garden veggies. Plus it's way healthy, so you don't feel guilty having seconds! :)

You'll Need:

-2 chicken breasts, diced (2.06)

-2 tbs. olive oil (.10)

-1/2 c. green bell peppers, diced (free from garden, I froze a ton!)

-1 clove garlic, minced or grated (.05)

-1 tbs. corn starch (.05)

-1/4 c. soy sauce (.25-this could be a gluten free meal if the soy sauce is gluten free)

-1 (8 oz.) can of pineapple chunks, with juice (.79)

-1 tbs. brown sugar (.05)

-1 tbs. vinegar (.05)

-1/2 tsp. ground ginger (.05)

-1 c. rice (.20)

-1 (12 oz.) bag frozen corn, or 1 big can (free from garden, I froze a ton)

total: $3.65

DIRECTIONS:

*In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown chicken pieces in oil.

*While that is browning, start your rice. Use 2 cups of water, bring to boil, and then add your rice, turn heat to simmer and let simmer for 20 min. There should be holes in the rice and you'll know it's done. Fluff with fork & set set aside till ready to serve. Should get finished around same time as chicken mixture so it won't be waiting long if anything at all.

*Add green bell peppers and garlic and stir-fry for 1-2 min.

*In small bowl, whisk together corn starch & soy sauce, then pour mixture into skillet along with pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, vinegar, brown sugar and ginger. Stir together & bring just to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer 5-10 min. or until sauce reaches desired consistency/thickness.

*Cook frozen corn as directed on bag. Or basically bring to a boil.

*Serve sweet & sour chicken over the rice with corn on the side. Yum!!

Calzones, Breadsticks & Straw-Cran Creamy Poppyseed Salad

2010-04-22T08:29:00.001-06:00

*Okay, so yummy. You know my schpill, I have to have recipes that are delish and easy peasy. Well this is one of them! The salad is my ultimate fav. and so mouth watering and fulfilling. Love!

We'll do 3 seperate recipes, and start with......

Calzones:

You'll Need:

-4 c. flour (.50)

-1 1/2 c. warm water

-1 tbs. yeast (.25)

-1tbs. honey (.20)

-1tsp. salt (.02)

-1 c. cheese (.99-bought on sale and then froze)

-1/2 c. pizza or spaghetti sauce (.43)

-your fav. pizza toppings (I used pepperoni, about 15 slices(.50)

Total: $2.91

DIRECTIONS:

*First combine water, and yeast. Let sit 10 min. Then add in this order, salt, then honey, then flour. Mix till smooth. It will be a little sticky.

*Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Grab dough in small amounts. Roll out on a little flour into a circle. Transfer to pan. Top with sauce, pizza toppings and cheese, on one half of the circle of dough. Then fold other half over leaving about an inch around the edges to fold over and make a seal (so your schtuff doesn't fall out).

*make a few cuts on top of the calzone with a knife so the air can escape while cooking. (Plus it makes it look fancier. :)

*Let sit for about 10 min. to raise a little. Then bake at 350 for 12 min. or until golden brown.

Breadsticks

You'll Need:

-Leftover dough from calzones. Enough to make about 8 long breadsticks. (if that's not enough make a double batch of dough)

-non-stick spray (.05)

-1 tbs. garlic salt (.05)

Total: $.10

DIRECTIONS:

-Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

-Spread out dough onto sheet making it about 1/2 inch thick.

-Spray the top with non-stick spray (I use olive oil sray, low fat and it gives it good flavor, plus you don't have to mess with melting fattening butter)

-Sprinkle with garlic salt.

-Take a pizza cutter and cut breadsticks about 1 inch wide.

-Let sit about 10 min. to raise, then bake at 425 or 350 for 12-15 min.

Straw-Cran Creamy Poppyseed Salad

You'll Need:

-1 head of iceberg lettuce (.92)

-1/2 c. fresh spinach (.25)

-1 carrot, sliced (.10)

-2 stalks celery, sliced (.10)

-1 tomato, diced (.30)

-1/2 c. fresh strawberries (.34-bought on sale for $1.39)

-1/4 c. craisins (.50)

-1/4 c. almonds, sliced in 1/2 (.50)

-1/2 c. creamy poppyseed dressing (1.00)

Total: $4.01

Meal total: $7.02 (Think of how cheap the salad would be this summer with all your fresh veggies from the garden! This meal would cost alittle over $4 if you grew all the veggies.)

DIRECTIONS:

*Throw all the veggies together and mix. Top with creamy poppyseed dressing.

Spanish Rice

2010-03-23T08:56:00.005-06:00

*So easy to throw together. Spring cleaning has taken over my house this week and this meal was so easy to throw in the crock pot and let sit while I cleaned instead of slaving over a hot stove ;) after being tired from cleaning all day. Plus it was pretty good. I had about 1/2 of it left over after all three of us had heaping servings. So I froze it. Another easy meal for later. :)

You'll Need:

-1 lb. ground hamburger=free for me= $2.00 (around there)

-28 oz. stewed tomatoes/2 bottles bottled tomatoes=free from garden

-1 green pepper, diced=free from garden

-1 onion, diced=$.50

-1-8oz. can tomatoe sauce=$.35

-2 tsp. worchestershire sauce=$.10

-2 tsp. chili powder=$.05

-1 tsp. salt

-1 1/2 cups rice=$.75

TOTAL=$1.75 ($3.75 including beef)

DIRECTIONS:

-Brown hamburger.

-Throw rest of ingredients into crockpot.

-Stir.

-Let sit on low for 6-8 hrs. or 4-6 on high.

-Walah! You're ready to eat!!

Pulled Chicken Sliders

2010-03-22T09:03:00.000-06:00

-Got this recipe from 5dollardinners and it couldn't have been any easier to make. I think I would have added some honey or more brown sugar, it seemed just a tiny bit acidic, but it was still really good and made for some awesome leftovers! You can't beat a crockpot meal, easy to make, easy to clean up and you don't have to slave over a hot stove for an hour! Plus this meal is SO CHEAP!! And since we are a family of 3 we had tons of leftovers too!

YOU'LL NEED:

3 chicken breasts ($2.53) About 1.3 lbs, bought on sale for $1.89/lb.
1/2 onion, chopped ($.15)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
6 oz. can tomato paste ($.35)
1 Tbsp cider vinegar ($.05)
3 Tbsp prepared mustard ($.10)
3 Tbsp brown sugar ($.10)
Bread ($.60) I used rolls

TOTAL= $3.98

Directions:
-Combine all in crockpot cook for 4 hours on low or 2 on high. Shred chicken, put back in sauce.
-Let chicken sit for about 15 min. or you can serve right away if you need to, it is just more juicy if you wait.
-Put on top of rolls.
-Yum!!

Fun giveaway

2010-03-01T10:57:00.002-07:00

Hey all, there is a great giveaway going on it will end tonight so get in on the action! This one is some super cute paintings from a very talented lady. Her site is called pickled pumpkins and her paintings would go perfect in a baby's nursery or in a kitchen or just about anywhere in your house. They are fun and creative. Go give her a look and enter the giveaway HERE

Homemade Chili

2010-01-22T20:57:00.004-07:00

*This is a simple chili. I don't like those ones that have tons of stuff in there. So this is "my" chili. It is great with cinnamon rolls, or cornbread. My favorite is to use it on Navajo tacos.

You'll Need:
-1 lb. hamburger=$free from in laws
-1/2 onion=$free from garden
-2 cups pinto beans=$1.50
-2 quarts of whole tomatoes (or 2 large cans of diced tomatoes)=free from garden (bottled)
-cumin (palmful-about 2 tbs.-I like it spicier)=$.10
-chili powder (large palmful-about 4 tbs)=$.20
-Salt and pepper to taste

TOTAL=$1.70

DIRECTIONS:
-Soak beans overnight in water in crockpot. Or pressure cook them for 20-25 min. in pressure cooker if in a hurry (or like me you forgot to soak your beans!)
-Brown hamburger in skillet with onions and some seasoning salt.
-Add hamburger to beans in crockpot. Turn on high and cook for 4 hours, or till beans are completely tender.
-Add tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.
-Let sit for at least 2 hours. The longer you let it sit, the better the flavors will come together and the chili will taste so much better. This is basically a 1 1/2 day project, but oh SO worth it!! And pretty simple because it's all in the crock pot.
*This makes a HUGE batch. I fed my family and then put the rest in a gallon back to freeze. That bag is completely full! I usually make navajo tacos the next day and use the leftover chili.
*let me know how you like it!!

Rachael Ray's Charred Chili Rellenos

2010-01-21T11:15:00.005-07:00

*This is a healthy version to chili rellenos and it's good! But you better like spicy things. They are spicy. But you can tone it down by not adding the spicy seasoning and just doing green peppers instead of jalepenos. Believe me, you will like it!

*You'll Need:

-4 c. chicken stock, divided=$1.54 (bought on sale for .77 a can)

-1 bay leaf

-2 c. rice=$.79

-4 larg poblano peppers (I used anaheim, they work just as good)=free from garden

-3 c. frozen corn kernels=free from garden

-1 red onion, chopped=free from garden

-1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped=free from garden (frozen)

-1 can fire-roasted diced tomatos, well drained(28 oz.)=I used regular diced tomatoes=$.87

-1/2 tsp. cumin

-1 tsp. oregano

-Salt and pepper

-1 sack baby spinach=$1.00

-4 scallions, chopped=$.24

-1 lime (I used 1 tbs. lime juice)=$.10

-1 c. monterey jack cheese=$1.00 (again on sale-frozen)

-1 clove garlic=$.02

-1/4 bunch cilantro=$.10

TOTAL=$5.66 (again this makes tons-i used more peppers than asked because i had tons of filling leftover so i just made more.)

DIRECTIONS:

-Put broiler on high. Put whole peppers on a cookie sheet. Place under broiler. Char on all sides, about 15 min.

-Cook rice in 3 1/2 c. stock, and bay leaf till done. (as per directions on rice box)

-With oil, char corn, onions and jalepenos in skillet on high for 4-5 min. until the edges of the veggies are black and tender. Turn down to medium heat.

-Add garlic (I grated some in for flavor), tomatoes, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Then turn off.

-Put cilantro, spinach, scallions, lime zest, 1/2 cup chicken stock and 1 tbs. oil (evoo) into food processor (or blender) and blend until it makes a green paste. Stir this into the rice when ready to serve.

-Squeeze lime juice over corn mixture.

-Take peppers out of oven and split them, not completely, you'll want to almost "butterfly" them. De-seed peppers (get ALL seeds or your mouth be literally be on fire). Stuff peppers with a heaping spoonful of corn mixture and top with cheese.

-Put stuffed peppers back under broiler and let set about 5 more min. until cheese is charred.

-Serve with green pasted rice.

* also served this with other half of spaghetti squash.

*I like things spicy and I added extra jalepenos to this and some extra cumin. Shouldn't have done that! next time I'm just following the recipe. It was spicy, but oh so delish!

Cacciatore-Style Chicken Bake

2010-01-19T08:13:00.004-07:00

*The hubs scarfed this last night and packed the rest of the casserole dish (1/2 of the pan!) for lunch today. So I think he liked it. :)

YOU'LL NEED:

-1 2/3 c. hot water

-1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing mix=$.78 (bought on sale during thanksgiving)

-2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces=$1.00

-1 small each red & green pepper, chopped=free from garden (froze them)

-1 small onion, chopped=free from garden

-1 jar (14 oz.) spaghetti sauce=$1.72

TOTAL=$3.50

DIRECTIONS:

-Preaheat oven to 425 degrees. Add hot water to stuffing mix; stir just until moistened and set aside.

-Place chicken, peppers and onions in 9x9 baking dish; mix lightly. Pour spaghetti sauce over chicken mixture.

-Top it with the stuffing mix.

-Bake for 30-45 min. or until chicken is cooked.

-Makes about 4-6 servings.

*I served this with a side of cooked spaghetti squash from the garden.

Cafe Rio Sweet Barbacoa Pork Salads

2010-01-14T20:59:00.005-07:00

*This pork tastes just like the real deal! No lie. I am lovin' it! It was easy. The only thing is, is this is sort of an expensive meal for me. But the hubs loved it and that's what counts right? :)

Seriously let me know if yours turns out as yummy as mine did. Maybe it was beginners luck though, who knows? Happy cooking!

You'll Need:

-4 lbs. Pork tenderloin=$10.80 (sheesh pork is expensive!)

-1-16 oz. bottle of El Pato spicy mexican tomato sauce. (I used salsa verde.)=$2.64

-4-8 oz. cans tomato sauce=$1.28

-2 cups brown sugar=$.43

total=$15.15 (this makes a HUGE amount. You will have TONS leftover to freeze for another day. I on the other hand fed 4 extra people besides my 3 in my family and still had some leftover.) Well worth your money. Yum!

DIRECTIONS:

-Mix salsa verde, tomato sauce and brown sugar together in bowl.

-Put pork in crock pot and pour sauce mixture over pork.

-Set on low for 8-10 hours. (can stay on warm for several hours as well)

-Serve on top of black beans, cafe rio rice, lettuce with pico de gallo on top as well as romano cheese, cilantro and some sliced corn tortilla chips. And cafe rio's ranch dressing. Yum!!

PICO DE GALLO:

-3 tomatoes, chopped

-1/2 white onion, minced

-1/4 bunch of fresh cilantro

-2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

-1 tsp. fresh lime juice

-salt and pepper to taste

*mix all together

CAFE RIO RICE:

-4 tsp. chicken boullion

-4 tsp. garlic (i used powder)

-1/2 bunch cilantro

-3/4 tsp. salt

-1 tbs. butter

-2 cups rice

-4 cups water

-juice of 2 limes (about 2 tbs. if you don't use fresh limes)

*Blend all ingredients in blender then put in pan. Add water-bring to boil. Add rice and simmer for 30 min. (quicker if you use minute rice-if in hurry)

HOUSE DRESSING:

-1 buttermilk ranch packet (make as per directions)

-3 tomatillos

-1 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 tsp. cayenne pepper

*Mix in blender and Chill.

VINAIGRETTE:

-6 tbs. oil (1/2 olive & 1/2 vegetable)

-1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

-2 tbs. lime juice

-1 clove garlic, minced

-1 small hot pepper, finely chopped (or to taste)

-salt and pepper to taste.

*combine all ingredients in jar shake and set aside.

Chicken Teriyaki Take Out

2010-01-11T17:08:00.004-07:00

*This came out of the Kraft magazine. Followed the recipe to a "t" but now I know exactly what I'm going to do to change it next time I make it (to make it even better)! My 2 year old scarfed this up and even the hubs liked it. This was a super fast meal to fix and it didn't cost too much either!

You'll Need:
-1 1/3 c. water
-1 tsp. garlic powder=$.03

-1/4 c. Zesty Italian Dressing=$.22 (bottle bought on sale for $1.78=about 2 cups in bottle)

-3 tbs. teriyaki sauce=$.50

-2 cups Minute rice=$1.00

-2 cups frozen broccoli=$.33

-2 chicken breasts (cut in strips)=$1.00

TOTAL=$3.08

DIRECTIONS:

-In skillet, pour zesty italian dressing and heat. Then add strips of chicken breast. Cook until done.

- While chicken is cooking. Mix garlic powder, water, & teriyaki sauce together in saucepan, bring to boil, then add minute rice and frozen broccoli. Turn heat to low, cover rice and cook for 5 min. Then turn off heat and let stand another 5 minutes.

-Serve chicken on top of rice.

*I used the extra italian dressing left in the skillet and I sauteed some sliced carrots and onions. They were SOOO yummy!!

4 step Chicken

2009-12-02T12:46:00.003-07:00

*This recipe was taken from Melissa D'Arabian. She is the newest Food Network star and I just love her work. This is so simple to make and so flavorful! Plus it's an elegant looking and tasting meal that only takes about 30 min. to make (start to finish!). It's a must try! (the hubs requested this one for his b-day dinner-so you know it's good. :)

You'll Need:

-4 chicken breasts=$1.00 (bought on sale with coupon)

-1 large red onion=free from garden

-3 tbs. lemon juice=$.10

-2 tbs. butter=$.02

-2 tsp. thyme (I used dried)=$.25

-Salt & pepper

-touch of flour for dredging

-olive oil to saute chicken breasts in

total=$1.37

DIRECTIONS:

-Butterfly chicken breasts. Season chicken with salt and pepper, & thyme.

-Dredge in flour (lightly coat).

-Get EVOO screaming hot in skillet and saute chicken until done. About 10 min.

-Take chicken out and place on a plate, with tin foil on top. Make sure the foil is sort of like a tent so your chicken doesn't get soggy.

-In the same pan place sliced red onions and some thyme. Cook until aromatic. Your nose will tell you when they are ready, promise. (you will want to lick them out of the pan!)

-When onions are ready, add lemon juice, turn heat up to high and let it cook down. (the mixture will become a little thicker-not too much though).

-When mixture is cooked down, whisk in butter and deglaze the pan while whisking.

-Serve onions over chicken.

*I served my chicken and onions on top of my cafe rio rice. Yum! Along with some spaghetti squash from the garden. Melissa's recipe calls for cooked spinach under the chicken, but I didn't have any so I improvised. Hope you enjoy!

Southern Biscuits & Gravy

2009-11-15T17:27:00.004-07:00

*This recipe comes from my old bishop. One of his kids is a great friend of mine and we used to hang out at his house all the time. This was one of the recipes that I loved getting at his house. So fast and easy!

You'll Need:

-2 1/2 c. flour

-1/4 c. sugar

-1 1/2 tbs. baking powder

-3/4 c. cold margarine

-1 c. cold milk

DIRECTIONS:

-*Cut the top three ingredients in with a pastry cutter (I don't have one, a potatoe masher works great too, or you can do it the old fashioned way and use two knifes) with 3/4 c. of cold margarine. Do this until the margarine is the size of peas.

-Add 1 c. cold milk.

-Hand stir till just mixed.

-Grease a muffin pan will and fill cups till 3/4 full.

-Bake 15-20 min at 400 degrees.

**I used some frozen gravy I had from the "farmhouse chicken dinner" a while back.

Goulash

2009-11-14T21:04:00.006-07:00

*This recipe came to my mind when I saw snow outside!! I'm not ready for snow!! This isn't the traditional goulash you usually see. It's super simple and some people call is "tomato-mac" I grew up calling it goulash, so I'm sticking to it! :) It warms you to the bone on those chilly days and is super easy and cheap to make!

You'll Need:
-1/2 lb. hamburger=$free (sort of/not really, paid for a whole cow last year, using the last of it now-so I guess it could go under "pre-paid meat")

-1 small onion=$free from garden

-1 bottle of bottled tomato juice (or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes-whatever you like)= $free from garden

-1/2 box of elbow noodles=$.50 (bought box on sale for $1)

-Salt and Pepper to taste.

total=$.50 (still if you had to pay for meat and tomatoes, this meal is well under $5 for 4 servings)

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook hamburger in skillet with onion and seasoning salt. (I usually cook a full lb. of meat and then save 1/2 for the next nights meal-easy prep!)

-Cook noodles according to directions on box.

-Drain noodles, and combine with meat and tomato sauce.

-Season with salt and pepper.

*my hubby likes to melt cheese on the top. It's pretty good. I like to dunk a huge hunk of bread into it. but that's just me. :)

more giveaways

2009-11-09T21:21:00.002-07:00

Today's Giveaway is doing a ton of really awesome give aways right now! Like those diaper cases and wipe cases. Also vinyl lettering! You have to go check it out! go to the button on the sidebar.

Also Mommy loves giveaways is doing an old spice giveaway. enter to win something for your hubs! Also button on the sidebar.

Sausage-tomato pasta

2009-10-30T20:54:00.005-06:00

You'll Need:

-1 bottle of spaghetti sauce=$1.72 (I combined 2 different sauces, a garden combination and sauteed onion and garlic-great flavor!)

-1/2 box of pasta=$.50 (bought on sale for $1)

-1/2 tube of 1 lb. sausage(I used sage flavored)=$.93

-1/4 cup mozarella cheese=$.24

total:$3.39 (I doubled this recipe and froze an extra pan for another night. So my acutal total was $6.78--not bad for two meals, including leftovers from both!)

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook sausage.

-Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

-Combine meat, pasta and sauce into a casserole dish (I used a bread pan-either works).

-Sprinkle cheese on top.

-Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

*if you want, sprinkle some parmesan on top the last couple min. of baking. It adds great flavor!

*I served this with a fresh garden salad (my lettuce is still growing, can you believe it?!) and garlic bread.

**This serves 4 adults. Pretty hefty portions too.

mommy loves giveaways

2009-10-28T15:14:00.003-06:00

There is an apron giveaway by flirty aprons on http://mommylovesgiveaways.blogspot.com/ check it out! they are so cute!
Also another giveaway on the same site for boogie wipes!!

There is another giveaway for some cute dresses on devsfavoritegiveaways.blogspot.com

todays giveaway

2009-10-28T11:00:00.001-06:00

This awesome site today's giveaway is doing a giveaway on the cutest nursing covers ever!! go check it out and enter to win!!
http://todaysgiveaway.net

Tomato-Basil Meatballs

2009-10-23T22:07:00.008-06:00

*Saw this recipe in the new Kraft foods magazine. 7 people were fed with this recipe, with leftovers! Not one person complained and I received endless compliments on how tasty it was! This recipe is fool proof! You'll love it! (sorry, I forgot to take a pic and the beginning so you get a leftover pic until I fix this again.) :)

You'll Need:

-2 lbs. ground beef=$3.98 (on sale for 1.99/lb)

-1 box of stove top stuffing for chicken=$1.25

-1 jar spaghetti sauce=$1.72

-1-8 oz. cream cheese=$.99 (bought on sale)

-2 eggs=$.12

-2 tbs. basil

-1/4 cup parmesan=$.26

-1 small box spaghetti noodles=$1.00

total=$9.32 (that's $1.33 a serving!!)

DIRECTIONS:

-Combine meat, stuffing, eggs and 1 1/4 cups water into a bowl.

-Mush all together and roll into meatballs. I used an icecream scoop. It's about 1/4 cup per meatball. (makes about 36 meatballs)

-Line two cookie sheets with foil. Spray with a non stick spray. And put meatballs on cookie sheets. Cook on 400 degrees for about 16 minutes, or until done.

-Meanwhile, cook spaghetti

-Also while meatballs are cooking, combine spaghetti sauce, cream cheese & basil. Let cook until cheese is melted.

-Combine sauce and meatballs together, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

**I served this with some breadsticks and fresh garden green beans. Delish!

Sara's Fingerlickin' Breadsticks

2009-10-23T21:28:00.000-06:00

*This recipe is from a good friend- Sara. She makes the best breadsticks ever! They are so light, fluffy and flavorful! Thanks Sara!

You'll Need:

-2 tbs. yeast

-1 1/2 cups water

-1 tbs. honey

-1 tsp. salt

-4- 4 1/2 cups flour

DIRECTIONS:

-First combine warm water and yeast in mixing bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

-Then add salt and honey.

-Then add flour. Dough should be a little sticky, not too much though.

-Put in cookie sheet and press down to all sides. Slice however you like to eat your breadsticks. I do sticks about 1 inch wide.

-Spread butter on breadsticks(I use olive oil spray-it works great and cuts out a lot of fat)

-Sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese

-Let dough raise for 15-30 min.

-Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 min.

Rita's Sloppy Joes

2009-10-16T20:51:00.000-06:00

I haven't found a better sloppy joe recipe than my mother-in-laws! It is great!! And I haven't found a single person who won't eat this either!!

You'll need:
-2 lbs ground beef=free (we did a beef last year) around $3.00
-1/4 cup chopped/minced onion=free from garden
-1 tsp. chili powder=$.05
-2 tbs. brown sugar=$.10
-1 tbs. vinegar=$.05
-2 tbs. mustard=$.10
-1/2 cup ketchup=$.30 (bought on sale for $1)
-1 tbs. worshetershire sauce=$.10
-1-8 oz. can tomato paste=$.28
-1 can cream of mushroom soup=$1.00
-2 tbs. barbeque sauce for "zing"=free (bought on sale for $1, used a $1/1 coupon!)

total=$1.98 ($4.98 with cost of beef)

DIRECTIONS:
*Brown hamburger in skillet with onions.
*Add all ingredients and cook till really hot, then serve on hamburger buns!!

*I served this with watermelon from our garden and some cooked trumpet squash also from the garden.

**This makes a TON; so we usually eat 1/2 then freeze the other 1/2 for another time, easy dinner prep! Just warm and serve!

Quick Pigs in a Blanket

2009-10-16T14:28:00.003-06:00

*These are so fast it's not even funny. This is for when you really don't want to cook or don't have time for an impressive meal on a busy night. Plus what kid doesn't love pigs in a blanket? This also works with lil' smokies! Great appetizer at a football game!

You'll Need:
-1 can Pillsbury Cresent rolls-$.76 (bought on sale with $.50 off coupon)
-1 package of hotdogs (8)-$1.00

total=$1.76

DIRECTIONS:

-Wrap one hotdog in on crescent roll triangle. You should end up with 8 pigs in a blanket.

-Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 min. or until rolls are golden brown.

*If you want more breading on each hotdog, use two crescent triangles to each hotdog.

*I served this with garden fresh veggies.

$5 Chicken Divan

2009-10-13T21:32:00.004-06:00

*This meal was dang easy and I got it off of another blog that you should check out here every meal is $5 or less! This is super tasty! My 2 1/2 year old had 3 servings! I know right?! Plus it's pretty healthy for you too. I wanna know how it goes for you guys!

You'll Need:

-2 chicken breasts-free (I used 2 extra that I had marinated from sunday's dinner-so it was included in that meals price)

-2 cups rice-$.50 (I used 1 cup of leftover rice from Sunday's dinner)

-2 cups of homemade whitesauce-free (used leftover sauce from Sunday's dinner)

-1 cup broccoli(or more if you want)-$.50

-1/4 cup bread crumbs-$.20

total=$1.20

DIRECTIONS:

-cut chicken up in cubes and cook in olive oil.

-while chicken is cooking prepare rice according to package instructions.

-also while rice and chicken are cooking, prepare your white sauce. If you don't know how, just combine about 2 tbs of butter with 2 tbs flour in a skillet. Let cook and combine while whisking together. When it is clumpy, add milk until it's the consistency you like it. It will be runny at first and thicken later so wait for it to thicken before you add more milk. Then add a little at a time.

-Combine, rice, frozen broccoli, cooked chicken and white sauce in a 9x9 casserole dish.

-top with bread crumbs.

-bake for 30 min. or until bubbly in the center and at sides. Enjoy!

*I served this with fresh garden tomatoes, and frozen corn from the garden.

Farmhouse Chicken Dinner

2009-10-12T10:41:00.005-06:00

*This dinner also came from the food and family Kraft magazine. It was a BIG HIT with the family as I used it for Sunday dinner. This was also super easy to make and it requires ingredients you already have so you can make it when you're running low on groceries. The chicken is underneath all the veggies in this picture-I did extra because we really love cooked onions and carrots. I hadn't spooned the sauce over it. This meal is really flavorful. Loved it! I'm definitely serving this again soon! Let me know how it works out for you.

You'll Need:

-1/4 cup flour-$.05

-1/2 tsp. pepper

-4 small chicken breasts-$2.66

-1/4 cup kraft light done right! Zesty italian reduced fat dressing-$.50

-2 cups baby carrots-free from garden

-1 medium onion, cut into wedges-free from garden

-1 can fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided-$.58

-2 cups minute brown rice-$1.00

-4 oz. (1/2 8-oz. pkg.) fat free cream cheese-$.62

-2 tbs. parsley

total=$5.41

DIRECTIONS:

-mix flour & pepper in shallow dish. Coat both sides of chicken with flour mixture evenly.

-Heat dressing in a large non-stick skillet on medium heat.

-Add chicken; cook 5 to 6 min. or until golden brown. Turn chicken over.

-Add carrots, onions & 1 cup of the chicken broth. Cover and reduce heat to meduim-low; let simmer for 20 min. or until veggies are tender and chicken is done.

-Meanwhile...prepare rice as directed on package. Spoon onto serving platter. Use a slotted spoon to remove chicken and veggies from the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Place them over the rice and cover to keep warm.

-Add cream cheese & remaining chicken broth to the liquid in the bottom of the skillet. Increase the heat to high. Cook until cheese is melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 3-5 min. or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spoon over chicken and veggies. Sprinke with parsley.

-Eat up!

*makes 4 servings.

Marinated Steak & Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

2009-10-12T09:55:00.004-06:00

*I found the cheesy mashed potatoes in my food & family Kraft magazine. It looked super simple & way yummy so I had to try them. Plus they're pretty healthy too! I thought steak would pair very nicely with it. Enjoy!

You'll Need:

-any kind of steak (I used filet mignon from last years beef we did) free

-1 tbs A1 sauce-$.10

-1 lb. potatoes (about 3 small ones) cut into chunks- free from garden

-1 cup bite-sized cauliflower florets- free from garden

- 1/4 cup sour cream (I used light to cut down fat) $.30

-1 cup cheddar cheese-$.75

-green beans-free from garden

total= $1.15

DIRECTIONS:

-Poke steak with fork then marinate steak in A1 sauce for at least 30 min. I like to use a ziploc baggie and pop it in the fridge.

-Place cubed potatoes and cauliflower in a large saucepan. Add enough water to cover them.

-Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 20 min. or until they are tender. Drain; return to pan.

-Start cooking your steaks while potatoes are boiling.

-Add sour cream to potatoe/cauliflower mixture. mash until light and fluffy. Stir in the cheese and enjoy!!

*I served the steak and potatoes with green beans. The potatoes make 6- 1/2 cup servings.

October Meal Plan

2009-10-01T12:07:00.005-06:00

So I have been doing meal plans for a while, and I love it. It's so much easier for me to get dinner ready when it's already planned rather than staring into my fridge and pantry thinking, "what am I going to make tonight?" Plus I've been able to make extra's so that I can freeze some meals for later on down the road for when I don't feel like cooking! but I thought I would start posting them on here as a motivation to post more recipes. I will try to post each night after I have made a new recipe. Do you do meal plans? How do they work for you? If you have any wonderful fun recipes that you would like to share, or if you want a certain recipe before I post it just email me and I can share it with you that way as well! I will try and post the cost of the meals too. I have found from another blog $5dollardinners that it is awesome to know how much your meal costs! And it's even more fun to try and see if you can make it for a really cheap amount! Check her out, she's awesome!

Here's this month's meal plans:
1 soft tacos
2 tinfoil dinner cookout
3 chili & cinnamon rolls
4 MIL's house (every other Sunday my MIL & I switch off cooking for the fam-it's fabulous!)
5 easy chicken parmesan
6 easy casserole
7 leftovers
8 steak and cheesy mashed potatoes
9 soup and sandwiches
10 7 layer dip
11 farmhouse chicken dinner
12 cheater chicken divan (make extra and freeze for later)
13 poor man stoup & homemade rolls (frozen from last months meals)
14 4 step chicken
15 pigs in a blanket
16 sloppy joes
17 chicken crescent rolls
18 MIL's house
19 cacciatore chicken bake
20 chile rellenos
21 egg sandwiches
22 chicken cordon bleu
23 tomato-basil meatballs
24 cheesy chicken broccoli
25 crockpot roast, potatoes and carrots
26 leftovers
27 homemade chicken noodle soup & homemade rolls
28 hamburgers, homemade baked fries
29 crockpot teriyaki chicken
30 au jus
31 pizza

if you do a weekly or monthly meal plan, please share; i always love new recipes and everyone else does too. we'll post them on here so you can share your amazing cooking talents! (don't worry proper credit will be given) :)

Poor man Stoup (updated)

2009-09-19T14:07:00.002-06:00

-1 can of cream of mushroom/chicken ($1.00-unfortunately not on sale)

-dollop of sour cream ($.15)

-parmesan (if desired) ($.10)

*10 min. before you eat, add the cream of mushroom/chicken, and the sour cream and parmesan. Give it just enough time to heat through.

~Hint: This makes a TON of soup. We usually eat half, then I store the other half in the freezer for a day I don't want to cook! Easy cheesy!

Hawaiian Hamburgers

2009-09-17T13:12:00.003-06:00

You'll Need:
-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
-2/3 cup of canned milk
-2/3 cup saltine crackers (crushed)
-1/2 cup minced onions
-1 tsp. salt
-1 can pineapple tidbits/chunks
-2 tbs. cornstarch
-1/4 cup vinegar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-2 tbs. soy sauce
-1- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice

DIRECTIONS:
-In a bowl mix: ground hamburger, canned milk,onions, crackers, and some salt and pepper.
-Form into hamburgers.
-Cook on med-low heat until cooked through.
-Cook rice.

Sauce:
-Drain juice from pineapple tidbits/chunks into a measuring cup. (should equal exactly 1 cup.)
-Set pineapple aside.
-Combine pineapple juice, cornstarch, vinegar, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Cook until thickened. Only takes a few minutes.
-Add pineapple tidbits/chunks.
**Serve hamburgers and sauce on top of cooked rice.
**I also served this with fresh garden veggies on the side. Yum!
**You don't have to feel so bad about eating seconds at this meal because it's healthy!

Easy Freezer Peach Jam

2009-09-16T15:51:00.004-06:00

You'll Need:
-2 3/4 cups of peaches (make sure it's exact-the set of the jam will be nasty if you don't-same goes with the sugar!)
-6 1/2 cups sugar
-1/3 cup lemon juice
-2 pouches of fruit pectin (I used the Certo Sure Jell pectin)

DIRECTIONS:
-Peel the peaches and take the pits out.
-Mash the peaches with a potato masher (or food processor-just don't puree the peaches, there are supposed to be chunks of fruit in your jam-again set up won't work if you puree)
-In a seperate bowl, measure out the sugar and add it to the fruit. Stir in sugar until well mixed.
-Let the fruit and sugar mixture set for 10 min. Occasionally stirring.
-In another seperate bowl mix together the lemon juice and the pectin until well mixed.
-Add pectin mixture to fruit mixture. Stir continuously until there are no more sugar crystals left (a few may be left) this is about 3 minutes.
-Pour jam into the bottles, or freezer containers. Leaving 1/2 inch at the top for freezer expansion.
-Let jam sit for 24 hours to set up.
-Freeze and enjoy!
-jam is good for up to a year, about 4 weeks in the fridge.

Homemade TWIX Bars

2009-09-04T13:29:00.003-06:00

*A friend gave this recipe to me and I hadn't tried it yet. Thought it sounded good so I took a whack at it last night. Sorry the picture is only of half of it. I took it to a Relief Society dinner and apparently it was a big hit. It's a little too rich for my taste, but good if you only nibble at it. Let me know what you think of it.

You'll Need:

-1 lb. butter

-1 1/2 cups sugar

-2 cups flour

-4 tbs. karo syrup

-1 cup sweetened condensed milk

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-1 package choco chips

DIRECTIONS:

-Cream together 1/2 lb. butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar.

-Add 2 cups flour. Knead.

-Pat into a 9x13 pan. Or a cookie sheet. Depending on how thin you want it.

-Bake for 15-20 min.

-For the filling. Combine, 1/2 lb. butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, and 4 tbs. Karo.

-Bring to a boil-let it cook to a light brown coffee color.

-Cool mixture slightly, pour over the crust. And put on 1 package of choco chips. (This was too much chocolate for me, I would probably do about half of that.) Let them melt and then spread. Enjoy!

Dinner & Dessert

2009-07-15T20:43:00.004-06:00

*This is a classic easy cheesy meal but it's cheap-o....PLUS you get DESSERT!! Today it was really hot outside. I was feeling really fat, and wanted something easy, fast, and healthy. So......

we had Chef Salad!

You'll Need:

-1/2 head lettuce ($.50)

-1 tomato-diced ($.15)

-1 stalk celery-slices ($.05)

-1 large carrot-sliced ($.05)

-3 slices of ham-cubed (or your choice of meat) ($.30)

-1/2 cup shredded cheese (your choice) ($.50)

-3 boiled eggs-sliced ($.24) on sale for $.99 a dozen this week!

-1/2 cup ranch dressing ($1.00)

-4 Schwan's low fat root beer float popsicles ($1.50) or whatever popsicle or dessert you want

total: $4.29

DIRECTIONS:

-Toss all ingredients together and enjoy! (except the popsicles.... silly) :o)

*Easy I know, but so yummy! I love having salad in the summer! (or anytime :o)

Cheater Beef Stroganoff

2009-06-03T19:03:00.004-06:00

*This is my easy "cheater" version of Beef Stroganoff. It's really fast and the kids love it because it's simple. And the best part is that it's REALLY CHEAP to make!!

You'll Need:

-1 lb. ground beef (free) we did a beef in the winter and so it was already paid for.

-1/2 box noodles ($.50) on sale for $1 a box!

-3 tbs. flour ($.00)

-3 tbs. margarine or butter ($.08) I promise I did the math! :o) I buy the cheap stuff.

-1 cup milk ($.14)

-salt & pepper

-scant of nutmeg

-green beans (side dish) (free) they were homegrown bottled beans.

TOTAL: $0.72!! Factor in your meat and it's still way under $5! This served me, the hubs, and my 2 year old. I still had enough for about 3 people!

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook ground beef with season salt and onions if you wish.

-While beef is cooking, cook noodles according to directions on box.

-Melt margarine, add flour and wisk together. Add milk and wait for sauce to thicken. Season sauce with salt and pepper and nutmeg.

-Mix beef, noodles and sauce together. Enjoy!

*I served them with the green beans listed above.

**I know I don't get any comments, but I do appreciate all the hits. It's nice to know that ya'll are at least still looking and hopefully trying out some of these recipes! Hope you enjoy them as much as my family does. Let me know what you think of this "meal cost" business! :o)

Sweet & Sour Chicken

2009-06-02T16:43:00.003-06:00

*I can't take credit for this recipe. It's from a good friend of mine. We had a recipe swap and this is one of the many great ones she gave me! I think I've made this one at least 4 times and it's so easy and yummy! Hope you like it as much as I do!

You'll Need:

-1 cup catalina dressing (I use kraft) ($1) on sale & I used a coupon!

-1 cup apricot preserves ($.85)

-1/2 package of onion soup mix ($.70)

-5-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (3.48)

Total: $6.03

DIRECTIONS:

-You can either set your chicken out in the morning and when you come home cook all of this in a 9x13 pan. Or you can put frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot around lunchtime and let it cook until dinner time on low. I prefer to already have it done, so I do the crockpot method! :o)

-Mix all ingredients together either in pan or crock pot. Put chicken breasts in pan/crockpot and spoon mix over chicken. Bake at 350 for 40 min. or until chicken is done. Or turn crock pot on low for 5-6 hours.

-Whalaaaa!!!

**I usually serve this with Rice a Roni and some steamed broccoli. Yummy and healthy!

Bas-ghetti

2009-05-16T18:47:00.004-06:00

*I know this is a classic meal but it's so good you can't help but love it! This is Cambri's favorite meal as well as mine; hence the name "bas-ghetti." This is another cheapo meal. Plus it uses the leftover ground beef and salad from last night!

YOU'LL NEED:

-1/2 lb. spaghetti ($1)

-1 jar spaghetti sauce ($1.68) you could use homemade sauce it would be cheaper.

-1/2 lb. ground beef ($.00) left from last night, price included in last nights meal.

-leftover salad from night before

-1/2 loaf french bread ($.45) on sale at Wal-Mart for $.90!!

-3 tbs. butter ($.05)

-1 tbs. garlic salt

TOTAL: $3.18

DIRECTIONS:

-Boil spaghetti noodles till desired doneness.

-Drain noodles. Add leftover hamburger and sauce in with noodles. Heat through.

-Cut slices off of half of loaf of french bread. Put rest in freezer or fridge for later meal.

-Butter slices and season with garlic salt.

-Bake bread at 350 for 4 min.

-Serve spaghetti and bread with leftover salad! Enjoy!

Taco Salad

2009-05-15T19:42:00.004-06:00

*This is a quick go-to meal that actually helps with a meal later on in the week and an extra side-dish as well for later on. It's a great cool and fresh summer recipe that I love! Since I have found this $5 dinner blog, I have thought that this lady has had a really good idea in posting how much your meal will cost you. So I'm going to steal her idea and try and post how much each meal will cost you. I'm not as good at it as her but I'll try my hardest. Hopefully I can show you that it doesn't cost a lot to fix nice meals for not a lot of buck! Please leave me a comment and let me know if you like this new addition to the blog!
And also please go check out this blog for more money saving meals! She's awesome!
http://5dollardinners.blogspot.com

You'll Need:
-Bag of doritos chips ($2) bought them 2/4 on sale
-1 lb of ground beef ($0) we did a beef last winter and froze all of it, it was a gift from the in-laws (this will probably cost you around $2)
-1/2 onion or minced whatever you like ($.50)
-1 can red kidney beans ($.50)
-1 cup shredded cheese ($.50) again bought on sale and froze bags of it)
-taco seasoning ($.10) I only use 1/4 packet and save rest for later)
-head of lettuce ($1)
-1 roma tomato ($.24)
-2 stalks celery (around $.10)
-1 long carrot ($.10)
-1 cup ranch dressing ($1)

TOTAL: $7.54 (including the beef price)
**remember you have already prepared cooked meat for another meal so cut that out of the cost for your next meal! And also you have the rest of your salad for your side dish the next night!!

DIRECTIONS:
-Dice onion and put in with ground beef to brown. When done cooking put 1/2 of hamburger in a container and you can put it in your fridge for a later meal. I have found it lasts about 3-5 days to stay really fresh.
-Add just about 1/4 packet of taco seasoning to the meat you left out.
-Make a salad with the lettuce, celery, carrots and tomato.
-Layer chips, salad, meat, beans, cheese and dressing on a plate.
-Dig in!!

*This is a fast, healthy meal to prepare when you are running late or just don't feel like cooking!

Chicken Pot Pie Bowls

2009-05-06T22:08:00.004-06:00

I can't take credit for this recipe because I found it off of http://5dollardinners.com it really is the best site! You really have to go check it out! This lady does every single meal for her family UNDER $5!! How insane is that! She makes all of them nutritious. Anyway, I saw this recipe and had to try it. It was great! I'm definitely making it again! This serves about 4-6 people.

You'll Need:
-2 chicken breasts ($1.77) about 1 lb.
-2-3 tsp. evoo (olive oil) ($.10)
-1 tsp. garlic powder ($.01)
-Salt/Pepper
-1-2 tbs. mustard ($.05)
-1.5-2 lbs. of white potatoes ($1.19)
-1/2-1 cup of milk ($.08)
-1 tbs. butter or olive oil ($.15)
-Salt/Pepper
1- 16 oz. bag frozen mixed veggies ($.99)

Total: $4.34

DIRECTIONS:
-Place chicken breasts in 8x8 glass baking dish. Sprinkle with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes. **I actually sped things up way faster and just sauteed it in a skillet in olive oil. Tasted great and made it faster!
-Thaw frozen veggies.
-After chicken is done cooking , cut into 1/2 inch-1 inch cubes.
-Combine cubed chicken with frozen veggies. Add 1 tbs. mustard and stir through.
-Make mashed potatoes. Peel potatoes, cut into quarters. Boil until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain and place in bowl. Add butter (olive oil), milk and salt and pepper. The consistency of the mashed potatoes should be thick so add milk carefully!
-Place mashed potatoes in a bowl or on a plate. Make a "nest" to fill in with the chicken and veggies.
-Enjoy!!
**this could stand on it's own, and it's quick! But I served a salad along side it. And it was great to! This is very filling and healthy!! Let me know what you thought of it!

Easy Casserole

2009-04-29T09:38:00.003-06:00

*So I made this last night because I wasn't in the hottest mood to cook and didn't have alot of time to cook a huge fancy meal. So I threw this together with the intent of taking a picture of it for this post. But just as soon as I took it out of the oven, I had a ravenous family devour it before I could even make for my camera! So you'll have to wait until next time. Sorry!

You'll Need:
-1/2 pound hamburger
-1 can tomato soup
-1 can green beans
-1 cup mashed potatoes (enough to cover the top of an 8x8 casserole dish)
-1/4-1/2 cup cheese (mozzerella or cheddar whatever you have)

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit
-In a skillet cook hamburger. I usually cook 1 pound and use half. The other half goes in my freezer for another meal a few days later. I put seasoning salt and minced onions with my hamburger, but you don't have to.
-In an 8x8 casserole dish mix: hamburger, soup, and greenbeans. Then layer potatoes on top and sprinkle with cheese.
-bake till nice and bubbly. cheese will be melted and start to brown on top. (about 15-20 min.

*This is my husbands favorite meal. He will eat at least half the pan by himself! Kids really like it too because it's simple and has no foreign flavors. Let me know how you like it!

Cheesy Suprise Parmesan Crusted Chicken

2009-03-31T20:52:00.003-06:00

I was in an "experimental" mood tonight and decided to try something new with chicken. Honestly you can do anything with it. This is the result of my experimentation tonight! Cole and Cambri gobbled it up. And me being pregnant and sensitive to different things, I don't eat much, but this was just right! I loved it too! Let me know what you think!

You'll Need:
-8 oz. cream cheese (no fat, cut the calories :o))
-sprinkle of parsley
-sprinkle of rubbed sage (or crushed)
-4 chicken breasts
-1/2 cup parmesan cheese
-1 tbs olive oil
-1-2 tomatoes
-8 slices cheese (I used monterey jack-just whatever you have)
-plastic bag
-skillet (one that's able to go into the oven-or just transfer chicken to a baking sheet.)

DIRECTIONS:
-First turn on your broiler
-mix softened cream cheese, sage and parsley
-Put one breast of chicken at a time in plastic bag. Seal bag. Use skillet to gently pound chicken out and flatten it to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
-Pour parmesan onto plate.
-Remove chicken from bag. scoop some of cream cheese onto chicken breast and roll chicken breast up.
-Secure with a toothpick if needed. Just remember to take it out after it's done cooking!
-Roll chicken in parmesan and place in the skillet with olive oil. Cook chicken breasts on one side until browned. Flip chicken and cook for a few minutes.
-Then place a couple tomato slices on top of chicken and cheese slices on top of tomatoes.
-Place skillet on shelf closest to broiler on one below that. Broil until cheese is bubbly and a little brown.
-Walah!! You're done!
**I served it with cheesy rice and salad. Yumo!!

Puffed Rice Balls

2009-03-10T09:20:00.002-06:00

*These are one of my favorite treats! I was craving them Sunday, so Cole and I made them. They are so easy and SOOOO good! Let me know if you like them as much as I do!

You'll Need:
-3 c. sugar
-1 c. evaporated milk
-1 c. honey
-1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or margarine
-1 lb. of puffed rice/wheat

DIRECTIONS:
-Mix sugar, honey, butter, and milk. First have your stove heat set to high until the mixture boils, then turn it down to medium and cook it until it hits the hard ball stage. If you don't have a thermometer, just water test it. When it sets up in water pretty well but is still a little pliable, it's ready. Mix it with the rice in a separate bowl (it cools faster). Let it cool for a few minutes. Shape rice into balls and enjoy!! They get hard and they are so good!
*Hint: if you wet your hands a little bit before shaping each bowl, it won't stick to your hands as much and the balls will come together a lot easier.

Hula Chicken

2009-02-18T08:57:00.002-07:00

*So I forgot to take a picture of this when I made it the other night, but next time I make it I'll remember and then I'll post a picture. This chicken is so stinkin' easy to make, it takes about 30 min.(Rachael ray show) from beginning to end to make! And it looks like you spent so much time preparing it! It's like the Hawaiian version of Chicken cordon bleu! You absolutely have to try it! Please let me know what you think when you do!

You'll Need:
-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
-mallot or skillet (one that can be put in the oven)
-italian seasoning (or whatever you like to use)
-ham slices
-cheese
-little flour
-small sweet onion (the purple ones, or whatever you have will work, the purple ones just add a sweeter flavor)
- 1 can of chunked pineapple
-soy sauce (just a little)
-3 tbs. brown sugar
-3 tbs. vinegar (anykind is fine, I use white)
-rice
-scallions (if desired)
-olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
-preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-place chicken breasts in a plastic bag with a tiny bit of water) or on your hard surface with wax paper over the top. (this helps the chicken not splatter everwhere when you're taking all your frustrations out on it!:O)
-butterfly your chicken (cut the chicken breast in half, but not all the way, leave a little bit connecting it to each other)
-now pound out the chicken with a mallot or some skillet pan to make it thin.
-sprinkle the italian seasoning (or seasoning of your choice) on the open part of the chicken breast.
-place a ham slice in each chicken breast and top with the cheese.
-roll up the chicken as best you can.
-now roll the chicken in a little flour. Just enough to coat it.
-drop it in a skillet with hot olive oil. You're just browning it.
-after chicken is browned, place it in the hot oven (you can transfer chicken to a pan if you don't have a skillet that can go in the oven) and bake it for another 10-15 min. or until done.
-while the chicken is cooking you can cook your sauce~

SAUCE:
-saute sliced onion in olive oil.
-Add the pineapple chunks and let it sweat out a little (till they get a little translusent looking)
-Add: the brown sugar, vinegar, tomato sauce and soy sauce (just a few shakes of soy).

**Serve the chicken on top of rice mixed with scallions and then the sauce. I don't always serve mine on top of rice. Instead I just serve the chicken with a nice salad and some other veggie like steamed broccoli or green beans. It's so yummy! Enjoy!!

The Famous Mrs. Field's Cookies

2009-01-28T10:10:00.003-07:00

Please let me know what you think of these cookies! I want to know!
There are so many Mrs. Field's recipes out there that I've seen and tried, and I don't want to be rude, so don't take it that way, but NOTHING beats this one! Believe me, I have tried all of them and this one, is the one that everyone raves about. I hope you like them as much as I do! I almost like them too much. Maybe that's why I could never lose all my baby weight!

YOU'LL NEED:
-1 pound of margarine (4 whole sticks-I know hello huge hips!) you can use butter if you want to cut down a little on calories.
-1 1/2 cup sugar
-2 cups brown sugar
-2 tbs. vanilla
-3 eggs
-6 cups flour
-1 1/2 tsp. salt
-1 1/2 tbs. soda
-4 cups of choc. chips (1 small bag)
-2 cups of nuts (optional-I don't use them)

DIRECTIONS:
-Preaheat oven to 350 degrees.
-First cream together: softened butter/marg., sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs. Just until it's mixed, no longer.
-Then in a seperate bowl mix together dry ingredients.
-Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture.
-Add chocolate chips and nuts if you want.
-Put cookie dough into tsp size dollops onto greased cookie sheet.
-Bake cookies for 10-11 min. cookies will not look all the way done. Take them out anyway and let them sit on the pan for just a minute to cool then cool them on a cooling rack.
**Makes like 75-80 cookies! I usually get 3 "stuffed" gallon ziplock bags full. I keep one bag out and freeze two of them. Then get another one out when the first bag is gone!
**I know these are fattening but, think about how many cookies you are making! So it's okay to have a few, just not all the time! :O)

Italian Ice

2009-01-10T13:25:00.002-07:00

**Okay so anyone who's ever been pregnant knows you have some serious hot flashes! At least I do! So I wanted something that would cool me down and taste really good, but be easy to make. I love,love,love this new recipe! I devoured it and can assure you I will be continuing to do so in the upcoming summer months! Ugh!! Sorry there's no picture, it made it to my mouth before I could get one, but next time I make it, I promise there will be one, so check back to see it! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

You'll Need:
-3 cups water
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1/2 cup lime juice

DIRECTIONS:
-Stick a casserole dish in your freezer to pre-chill.
-First dissolve the water and sugar in a pan on Hi heat.
-When sugar and water are dissolved add the lime juice.
-Cook it for just about a minute then take off heat.
-Put pan in an ice bath to cool it down a little.
-When it's cooled down, pour it into your prechilled casserole dish and stick it back in the freezer.
-When it starts to set up pretty good, take it out and just run a fork all the way through it. This will fluff it.
-Put back in the freezer for about 1 1/2 hours. Fluff with a fork again and Enjoy!!
**This made enough for four really big cup fulls of Italian ice.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

2008-12-16T08:34:00.003-07:00

*I got this recipe from my SIL. It is the ONLY alfredo sauce I will eat. Of course, because it's really fattening. I don't make this recipe very often for that reason, but it is so YUMMY!! You have to indulge every once in a while. I added a couple of different seasonings to make it my own, and it's really good. Sometimes I'll change the chicken seaonings and make it different, it's a really versatile recipe. I hope you like it as much as I do! Let me know what you thought of it!

You'll Need:

-1 chicken breast per person you are feeding

-fettuccine noodles

-1 pkg. neufchatel cheese

-1/2 cup low fat milk

-3/4 cup parmesan cheese

-1 tsp. garlic powder

-1/2 cup (1 stick) margerine

-salt and pepper

-itlaian seasoning

-1 tbs. evoo

DIRECTIONS:

-defrost chicken

-slice chicken against the grain in one inch strips. then season with italian seasoning.

-in a small skillet on medium heat, heat evoo and drop in your chicken strips.

-boil water and drop in fettuccine noodles.

-in another small saucepan, drop in the package of cream cheese and the stick of margarine. let them melt and mix them until almost smooth. Then add in your milk and garlic powder. mix until smooth. then at the very end add in your parmesan cheese.

-Layer noodles, chicken and sauce. Serve and enjoy!

**only flip your chicken once when cooking it. It will keep the juices in and be more tender!

**I usually serve it along with a green salad or some broccoli and green beans.

Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

2008-11-10T09:31:00.003-07:00

*I have tried numerous cinnamon roll recipes and this is the best and easiest one I have found. The tradition at our home is that I make homemade Chili and cinnamon rolls during the deer hunt. I made them during the deer hunt this year and didn't get enough so I had to make them again!

YOU'LL NEED:

-3/4 cup of low fat milk

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 1/4 tsp. salt

-1/2 cup butter

-2 packages of active dry yeast (equals 2 tbs)

-1/3 cup warm water

-3 eggs, room temperature

-5 1/2-6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

-Get your eggs out first thing! And just let them sit on the counter to get to room temperature while you're mixing everything.

-Place milk, sugar, salt and butter in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm. (Watch this pan constantly! Don't go off and get busy with something else-like me- and then it will boil over and it is a pain to clean off your burners!)

-Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add lukewarm milk mixture, eggs and 5 cups of flour. Turn mixer on to a low speed and mix that way for about 2 min.

-Continue mixing at a low speed and add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at at time, and mix until dough clings to the mixer hook and cleans the sides of the bowl, usually about another 2 minutes. Knead it on a med speed for another 2 min.

-Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover it and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about an hour or until it is doubled in size.

-Punch the dough down and roll it out on a bed of flour.

-Melt one cube of butter and pour butter on rolled out dough. Then spread it to every part of the dough.

-Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the butter and then also some cinnamon. And chopped nuts if desired.

-Roll dough up. And then slice in 1 inch slices and place on a greased cookie sheet all about 2 inches apart from each other.

-Let rolls rise for a little while until a little bulkier in size.

-Bake rolls in a 350 degree oven for about 15 min.

-Ice rolls and enjoy!

~~I usually make a cream cheese frosting, but you can use a different kind if you want.

Tomato-Basil Bruschetta Chicken

2008-10-23T16:41:00.003-06:00

I LOVE this recipe!! It is super easy and is a huge crowd pleaser! I also received a request to post what I serve along with the main dishes. This chicken I grilled new potatoes in a foil packet with garlic salt, and olive oil, then when they were done, I added parmesan cheese. Also a salad went with this. I hope that helps! I never thought of adding that. Sorry guys! :o)

You'll Need:
-1 bottle of Kraft Sundried tomato salad dressing
-8 Boneless/skinless chicken breasts
-3 medium tomatoes, sliced
-2 tsp. dried basil/ or fresh if you have it
-1 cup mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:
-Take chicken breasts and marinate in 3-4 tbs. of the sundried tomato dressing for at least 10 min. If possible for 20-30. (The longer it marinates the more flavor the chicken will have)
-While chicken is marinating preheat grill to medium heat (or you can use a grill pan).
-Slice tomatoes and combine with the basil, 1 tbs. of sundried tomato dressing and cheese.
-Cook chicken and then spoon tomato mixture on top of chicken letting the cheese melt. Serve immediately.

Pumpkin choc. chip cookies

2008-10-21T19:47:00.004-06:00

I got this recipe from my friend and I kinked it just a bit. It is the fastest cookie recipe I have ever had! And these cookies are so moist and stay that way for a week! I know because I make a huge batch and it takes that long to eat them. If I don't make a big batch they are gone hours after I make them!

You'll Need:
-2 spice cake mixes (2 boxes)
-1 big can of pumpkin
-1 small bag of choc. chips
-1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit
-Mix all ingredients together
-Spoon into balls on cookie sheets
-Bake for 10 min.
Enjoy!!!
~I can get these cookies done in 30 min. that is from the prep time to the finish time. So these are great for when you're in a hurry and don't have time to make something to take somewhere. These are super quick!

Banana Bread

2008-10-13T08:38:00.003-06:00

This bread is so soft I just devour it!! It's my great grandma's recipe and she has really got it down!! I was in a baking mood Saturday so I decided to make some deluctable banana bread! Hope you like it as much as I do!

You'll Need:
-1/2 cup oil
-1 cup sugar
-3 mashed bananas
-4 tbs. sour milk
-2 cups flour
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. baking powder
-2 eggs, unbeaten
-1 cup walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
-Cream oil, sugar and eggs together. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with sour milk. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake 1 hour at 325 degrees farenheit or until done! This makes one loaf. I usually double the recipe because it's so yummy!
~HINT: If you don't have sour milk, to make it just pour 2 tbs. of milk with 2 tbs. of white vinegar, it will sour it for you. It should be curdled after adding the vinegar.
Also you can substitute for a banana if you don't have 3. Just use 1 cup of applesauce in place of one banana!

Zucchini Bread

2008-09-25T07:23:00.004-06:00

*I love this recipe! I got it from my sister in law and it's really yummy! I love to put chocolate chips in mine to add even more sweetness. What can I say? I'm a choco-holic!!

You'll need:

-1 cup sugar

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 cup oil

-3 eggs

-2 tsp. cinnamon

-1/4 tsp. baking powder

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. salt

-2 gated zucchini(not peeled)

-3 cups flour

-1 cup choc. chips(if desired)

DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees farenheit.

-Mix sugars, oil, eggs and cinnamon together.

-Then add flour, powder, soda, and salt.

-Then add zucchini and choc. chips!

-Pour into greased loave pans (makes 2 loaves)

-Bake for 1 hour and enjoy!!

Speedy Strawberry Swirl Triffle

2008-09-10T08:37:00.007-06:00

*This was supposed to be a cake, but when I baked the cake according to the directions.......the strawberry part didn't rise and cooked funny so I cut the cake into cubes and made a triffle out of it!!

You'll Need:

-1 white/yellow or chocolate cake mix

-1 (4 serving) strawberry flavored gelatin mix (don't need this if you are using choc. cake)

-1 (8 oz.) tub of cool whip-low fat

-2/3 cup of sour cream

-2/3 cup of powdered sugar

-1 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit

-Prepare cake mix as directed

-Put half of cake mix into another bowl and add the jello mix, stir it in gently

-Grease 2 (9") cake pans and pour half of the plain cake mix and half of the strawberry cake mix into pan.

-using a teaspoon or regular cereal spoon, gently swirl the two together (be careful not to over swirl it or the cake will be all pink when it comes out).

-Bake cakes for 30 min. then let them cool for 30 min in the pan. Don't worry the strawberry par of the cake won't rise like the yellow will, that's why this is a triffle! No one will know it didn't rise!)

-After cake is cooled cut into cubes and layer in a triffle dish with sliced strawberries, and the fluffy filling. Enjoy!!

FLUFFY FILLING:

-Mix 2/3 cup of sour cream with 2/3 cup of powdered sugar. Mix gently or it will be really really thin!

-Then gently fold in the 8 oz. tub of cool whip.

~You can store the leftover triffle in the refridgerator but I doubt there will be any left over!!

Quick homemade Oreos

2008-09-03T09:34:00.001-06:00

*This recipe is so fast and easy that it's the one thing I can whip out in a half hour! What cookie only takes a half hour to mix, bake and assemble? Only this one! I'm addicted to homemade Oreo's! I shouldn't make them because I eat them all!

You'll need:
-2 devil's food cake mixes
-1 cup oil
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup flour

DIRECTIONS:
-Mix all ingredients together.
-Place small cookie balls (a tablespoon measuring spoon works great!) on a cookie sheet. This recipe makes tons!
- Cook for 10 minutes at 350 degrees farenheit. They will be a little gooey but they will cook a little on the pan when you take them out. If you want them a little more crunchy then cook them only 1 or 2 minutes longer otherwise you will break your teeth trying to bite into them!

FROSTING:
*This is my own version of cream cheese frosting. Don't eat a lot or don't eat it at all if you are trying to lose weight! It is so fattening but SOOO YUMO!! To cut down on fat alittle use a low fat or no fat cream cheese.

-1 package no fat cream cheese, softened
-1/4 cup low fat milk
-1 bag of powdered sugar
-pinch of salt
-1/2 tsp. vanilla

*blend all together until a thick creamy consistency. If it's not thick enough add a little more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, then add a LITTLE more milk until you have reached your desired consistency.
~This frosting recipe makes a ton! It will last in the fridge for a long (about a month or more-no kidding) if you don't use it all with the oreos!

Simple Chicken Salad

2008-08-26T21:46:00.000-06:00

*This is my mother in law's recipe with my little twist.

You'll Need:
-2 cans of pre-shredded chicken
-2 or 3 celery stalks
-1 can olives, sliced
-1 cup miracle whip
-1/4 cup dried onions, soaked
-dash seasoning salt
-dash of pepper
-dollop of ranch

DIRECTIONS:
-Put dried onions in measuring cup and fill with a little water, let onions soak water up.
-cut veggies and add to shredded chicken in large bowl.
-add miracle whip and mix thoroughly
-put soaked onions into chicken mixutre and finish with seasoning salt, pepper and ranch (for an extra kick).
-Serve on crackers, rolls, or just regular sandwich bread.
~This store in the fridge well and keeps for about a week.

Mini corndogs (super easy!)

2008-08-22T09:05:00.000-06:00

*My friend did this at a girl's night out and it was so great! I loved it!

-You'll Need:
-pkg. little smokies
-3 cans of crescent rolls (pillsbury, greatvalue, etc..)

DIRECTIONS:
-Cut crescent rolls in half.
-Roll little smokies in crescent roll
-Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for about 8-10 min. Crescent rolls will be golden brown.
~Hint: barbeque sauce goes great with these as well as ketchup!

Creamy beef-veggie biscuit casserol (healthy and pretty low fat!)

2008-08-22T08:16:00.000-06:00

*I had tons of fresh veggies I needed to use and some ground beef that also needed to be cooked so this is how I used them!

You'll need:
-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
-1/2 red or white onion
-Veggies: squash, zucchini, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower (or whatever you have)
-1 can cream of celery or chicken, or mushroom (whatever you have)
-1 cup low fat sour cream
-9 lowfat refrigerator biscuits (pillsbury, greatvalue, whatever)
-salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
-Dice onion and saute while hamburger browns.
-Season hamburger with salt and pepper.
-Cut up all veggies and boil in water for 10 min. or until crisp-tender or desired doneness.
-Drain veggies and toss in a small casserole dish, mix with sour cream and soup. Salt and pepper the soup and veggie mix then top with biscuits and bake at 375 degrees farenheit until bubbly and biscuits are golden brown!
~Hint: Make sure that the casserole dish isn't too full otherwise it will bubble over and make a huge mess in your oven! I learned the hard way!

Easy Chicken Parmesan (Quick weeknight dinner)

2008-08-18T21:14:00.000-06:00

*I was again in an experimental mood. Plus I had some spaghetti sauce I had to use up in the fridge before it went bad and some fresh basil I wanted to use! I wasn't in a really big mood to take a long time fixing something but I wanted something that tasted good so this is what we had for dinner tonight. This is a really quick weeknight dinner when you don't want to cook that much but still want something better than soup and sandwiches! I should really start taking pictures of this stuff!

You'll need:
-olive oil
-2 chicken breasts
-Italian seasoning
-Plain bread crumbs (or italian bread crumbs, then scratch the italian seasoning)
-1/2 jar spaghetti sauce
-angel hair spaghetti noodles

DIRECTIONS:
-In a non-stick skillet heat some olive oil.
-Mix italian seasoning with bread crumbs. You can pretty much guess on how much you want. It should be mostly bread crumbs and some green specks every now and then.
-Coat your chicken in the bread crumb mixture.
-Place coated chicken in hot olive oil and let it pan fry for about 10-15 minutes, until juicy and no more pink!
-While chicken is cooking, chop some fresh basil and add it to your spaghetti sauce (you don't have to, regular spaghetti sauce is great. The basil just adds a little pizazz)
-Heat your spaghetti sauce and cook a good amount of angel hair spaghetti noodles. These cook up in like 5 minutes.
~Hint: this is a meal you can cook and have served in less than 30 minutes if you have already defrosted your chicken! It goes great with a fresh green salad. Yummo!

Lemon-Lime Chicken Fajitas

2008-08-14T07:15:00.001-06:00

Okay this one has a funny story behind it. Bare with me! So when Cole and I were first married, I had all these new cook books I was flipping through trying out new recipes. Well...I saw this one for lemon chicken tortillas and it looked so easy and fool proof, so I tried it! It specifically said use lots of lemon...so I did. Well...our mouths were making the weirdest noises(squeaking out of the side of your mouth-like when you tell a horse to go). I have never been able to try that recipe for the fear that it would happen again. We were scarred forever. Well one day, I bought 10 limes on sale at the grocery store and didn't know what I was going to do with them....so I decided to be brave and improvise a little using the inspiration of that specific recipe and this is what became of it!! This has such a nice, unique and sweet flavor, my 1 year old daughter even gobbled it up!!

You'll need:
-2 limes, juiced (or 1/2 cup of lime juice)
-1/2 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts,sliced into strips
-1/2 red onion, diced
-1 tbs. olive oil
-sprinkle of cheese (monterey jack works nicely, but whatever you have)
-tortillas, warmed
-sour cream
-salt and pepper, just a dash
-whatever things you want to top it with (lettuce, tomatoes....etc)

DIRECTIONS:
*First heat olive oil in non-stick skillet.
*Saute onion in olive oil, let it sweat out while you're slicing your chicken into strips.
*Sprinkle strips of chicken with salt and pepper to taste, throw it in with onions and let it get golden brown.
*Once chicken is golden brown, add lemon and lime juice. (Hint: if you are using fresh lemons and limes-squeeze them with the open side facing your palm to prevent seeds getting into your chicken)
*Once chicken is nice and tender, serve on tortillas. Top with cheese, sour cream and whatever else you would like in the tortilla.

Sweet-n-Spicy Beef Stir Fry

2008-08-14T06:54:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I made steak on Sunday and had defrosted too many steaks!! So I was really looking for something to do with my extra two steaks before they went bad. So this is what became of the two leftover steaks!! Hope you like it! Let me know what you think. Even if you don't like spicy food, I think you'll still like this, it's got just a little kick to it! The ingredients I used, made tons, so you can cut in half if you aren't a big family.

You'll need:
-2 top sirloin steaks (defrosted)
-2 Summer Squash
-2 Zucchini
-2 full size carrots
-3 stalks of celery
-2 cloves garlic, grated
-1/2 onion, diced (red or white-red will make it sweeter)
-1/2 cup orange juice, melted
-1 cup soy sauce (or more if it starts to dry out-use it liberally)
-3 tbs. olive oil
-dash of seasoning (I used): salt, pepper, curry powder, paprika, cumin, parsley, oregano, onion powder and garlic powder. (a dash of each mind you!)
-2 cups of noodles (I used what I had, angel hair spaghetti and it cooked fast and tasted great!)

DIRECTIONS:
*First you want to put your defrosted steaks into the freezer for just about 5-10 minutes. This makes it easier for you to thinly slice it.
*Heat non-stick skillet to medium heat. Saute diced onion in olive oil. Let sweat out for a few minutes while meat is freezing.
*Pull meat out of freezer and very thinly slice it.
*Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper to taste and put it in with the onions to cook. When it is mostly cooked, you can throw in your thinly sliced veggies! All of them.
*You will need to put in about half of your soy sauce by now to coat the veggies and let them soak up the flavor.
*Use a dash of each seasoning listed above, to season all your veggies. If you're out of one, don't use it. Or substitute it, be brave!
*Let veggies sweat out a little until crisp-tender or desired doneness.
*Cook pasta, in a seperate pan (I used angel hair, it's done in about 5 min. so by the time the veggies were done, my pasta was. If you're using something else, begin cooking it when you throw your meat in the freezer because of longer cooking time).
*Put orange juice in stir-fry.
*Add the rest of soy sauce.
*Add pasta and coat it with sauces. Then serve!
~Hint: Don't let pasta set too long in stir-fry it will get a funny texture. Hence putting it in very last. I hope you like it!

Ham and Cheese Souffle

2008-08-13T15:09:00.000-06:00

You'll need:
-6 slices of bread with crusts removed,cubed
-6 slices of ham, cut into cubes or small squares
-2 cups cheddar cheese (or mozzerella)
-1 dozen eggs
-2 cups milk
-2 tsp. dry mustard
-2 tsp. parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
* Layer in the bottom of a pan:
-cubes of bread, ham, and cheese
*Mix together:
-eggs, milk, and dry mustard.
*Pour egg mixture over bread, ham and cheese.
*Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
*Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for about 45-60 minutes.

Key Lime Pie

2008-08-13T15:02:00.001-06:00

You'll need:
-1-8oz. cool whip
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-1/3 cup lime juice
-2 tsp. lime zest

DIRECTIONS:
*Beat all ingredients together and put in graham cracker crust.
*Double recipe for a large pan.
*Save a little bit of graham crackers and lime zest to sprinkle of top for decoration.
*You can also put a slice of lime for decoration (slice part of it and twist it)

Pizza Dough/Bread stick dough

2008-08-13T14:56:00.000-06:00

You'll need:
-1/2 cup warm water
-1 tbs. yeast
-1 tbs. oil
-1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
-1 1/2 cups flour
~hint: for variation add italian seasoning (adds great flavor)

DIRECTIONS:
*Let yeast dissolve in warm water for about 10 minutes. Mix all ingredients together, then let rise in a warm spot for about 10 minutes.
~Hint: this is a small batch, I usually double for thick crust on a round pizza pan or a 9x13 square pan.
~When you cook this dough it doesn't brown very much so make sure to check it to be done after about 10 minutes in the oven . If you want it to brown more, put egg wash on it before cooking it.

Waffle Cookies

2008-08-13T14:46:00.000-06:00

My mutual leader used to make these for us when I was in Young Women's. It was our favorite! These are way easy!!

You'll need:
-1/2 cup melted butter
-3/4 cup sugar
-1 cup flour
-2 eggs
-4-6 tbs. cocoa (depending on how chocolatey you want them)
-1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
*Mix all ingredients together (it will be thick).
*Spoon small amounts onto a greased waffle iron.
*Cook about 1 minute and take off.
*Ice cookies with chocolate icing and enjoy!!
~Makes tons!!

ICING:
-1/2 bag of powdered sugar
-dash of salt
-1/2 stick of softened butter
-1/4 cup milk
-dash of vanilla
-a little cocoa (up to your disgretion)
~Hint: this makes A LOT of icing, but icing stays good for months! Just keep it in your fridge and use it the next time you make these cookies or use it for something else.

Caramels

2008-08-13T14:42:00.000-06:00

I LOVE these!! SOOOO EASY!!

You'll need:
-1/2 lb. butter
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 cups sugar
-1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
-1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

DIRECTIONS:
*Boil all ingredients until it reaches 230 degrees Farenheit. Stirring constantly!
*Pour in a greased (you can use pam spray) pan. Put in the fridge until it sets up.
*Wrap in wax paper or Saran wrap.
~Hint: Boil on med. high heat.

Rita's Brownies

2008-08-13T14:38:00.000-06:00

These are my one of my favorite recipes of brownies!

You'll need:
-1/3 cup shortening (or margarine)
-3 tbs. cocoa
-1 cup sugar
-1 tsp. vanilla
-2 eggs
-2/3 cup flour
-1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1/4 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:
*Mix first 5 ingredients then add the rest.
*Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for about 35-45 min. or until desired doneness.
~Hint: double this to make a 9x13 size pan full.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

2008-08-13T14:31:00.000-06:00

I made this on up one morning when I wanted something "different." Let me know what you think!

You'll need:
-2 cups strawberries, sliced
-cream cheese
-bread
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup milk
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
*Whip eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl.
*Spread 1 tbs. cream cheese on one slice of bread. Then put sliced strawberries on it until it covers the whole piece of bread. Then cover with other slice of bread.
*Dip bread in egg mixture.
*Fry french toast on griddle until golden brown.
*Top french toast with powdered sugar or syrup.

Chicken Cresent Rolls

2008-08-13T14:16:00.000-06:00

You'll need:
-4 cans Pillsbury big and flaky cresent rolls
-1 can of shredded chicken
-1-8oz. pkg. cream cheese
-1 small container of sour cream
- 3 scallions, sliced
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 can olives,sliced
-1 small can mushroom pieces and stems
-1 cup milk
-8 saltine crackers, crushed
-3 tbs. melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
*Melt cream cheese in sauce pan. Stir in sour cream.
*Add sliced olives, mushroom pieces, scallions, and chicken.
*Take cresent rolls out of package and stretch just a little. Be careful not to tear them!
*Fill cresent rolls with a spoonful of cream cheese mixture, roll up so no filling falls out.
*Place rolls on a cookie sheet.
*Baste with melted butter and top with crushed saltine crackers.
*Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

SAUCE:
*While rolls are baking, in a small sauce pan combine 1 can of cream of chicken soup and 1 cup of milk and heat to desired hotness. Pour over cresent rolls.

~This makes TONS!!

Wedding Chicken

2008-08-13T14:04:00.000-06:00

You'll need:
-1 cup corn oil
-1 cup. soy sauce
-1 can of 7up/Mt. dew/or sprite (whatever you have in pop)
-1/4 tsp. horseradish
-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
*Mix this all in a plastic baggie and let chicken marinate in it for 24 hours!

DIRECTIONS:
*Preheat grill to medium
*grill chicken until done!!
*enjoy!

EASY Italian-crusted chicken cordon bleu

2008-08-13T13:47:00.000-06:00

You'll Need:
-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
-1/4 cup flour
-Olive oil
-Cheese (provolone or swiss)
-Ham slices
-italian seasoning
-1 red onion
-1 can pineapple chunks
-3 tbs. brown sugar
-3 tbs. vinegar
-little soy sauce
-1 c. tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS:
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
*Defrost chicken. Butterfly it (cut it in half -like a Subway sandwich) then place saran wrap or wax paper over it. Pound it out till it's about 1/4 inch thick.
*Sprinkle italian seasoning on chicken.
*Place 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese on chicken.
*Place a little olive oil in non stick skillet (one that can go into an oven) and heat it.
*Roll chicken into a bundle, then roll it in flour to coat it.
*Brown chicken in olive oil just until it's a little seared.
*Put chicken in oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until done.

SAUCE:
*While chicken rolls are cooking......
*in olive oil saute: sliced red onions, for about 5 minutes, then add pineapple chunks and let them sweat out until onions are tender.
*Then add, 3 tbs. of brown sugar and 3 tbs. of vinegar.
*Add a little soy sauce, depends on your tasting I usually just guess, probably about 1-2 tbs.
*Add 1 cup of tomato sauce and a few shakes of salt and pepper to taste.
*Stir all together and let it simmer until chicken is done.

~Hint: Chicken and sauce is really good served on top of rice with scallions.

Grilled Summer Squash and Zucchini

2008-08-13T13:42:00.000-06:00

You'll need:
-Zucchini and Summer Squash
-Olive oil
-Garlic Salt

DIRECTIONS:
*Cut zucchini and squash length wise into long strips.
*Pour a little olive oil down on them and spread to coat entire strip(both sides)
*Sprinkle with garlic salt
*Preheat grill to medium heat
*Grill for about 10 minutes until crisp-tender or desired doneness; turning occasionally.
*Enjoy!!

Zesty Grilled Veggies

2008-08-13T13:32:00.000-06:00

You'll Need:
-an assortment of veggies like:
-Zucchini
-Summer Squash
-Red, Green and Yellow Peppers
-Pineapple goes good too
-Mushrooms

-1/4 cup of kraft zesty italian dressing
-1/4 cup parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
*Marinate veggies in plastic baggie with the zesty italian dressing for around 10-15 minutes.
*Preheat grill to medium heat.
*Put veggies on skewers or in grill basket.
*Grill veggies for about 10 minutes until crisp-tender or desired doneness. Occasionally turning.
*Place veggies in large bowl or platter
*Pour the remaining zesty italian dressing (from the plastic baggie) to coat veggies.
*Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.

~Hint: if you don't have skewers or a grill basket, just put heavy-duty aluminum foil down on grill grate and spread the veggies out on that, they'll cook just great! Make sure to keep it away from any raw meats while cooking.

Cowboy Burgers

2008-08-13T13:16:00.000-06:00

You'll need:
-2 tbs. olive oil
-3 onions, thinly sliced, separated into rings
-8 hamburger patties or 2 lbs of beef if making your own
-3 tbs. A.1. Original Steak sauce
-2 tomatoes, each cut into 4 slices
-8 hamburger buns, split
-8 slices of cheese (swiss or monterey jack goes great with this)

DIRECTIONS:
*Preheat grill to medium heat. Meanwhile, heat oil in large non-stick skillet. Add onions; cook 5 min. Stir frequently.
*Cover onions with lid. Simmer for 20 min or until onions look golden brown, stir frequently.
*Meanwhile, grill patties about 6-7 min. on each side (or until desired doneness) -(if you are making your own, add 2 tbs. of A.1. to the meat before making the patties, it adds great flavor)
*Stir steak sauce into onions.
*Build your hamburgers, with tomato on bottom, then burger, then cheese, then onions.
*The heat from the burgers and onions will melt the cheese.
~Hint: These go great with the Zesty Grilled Veggies!!

Frozen Strawberry Delight

2008-08-13T08:51:00.001-06:00

*Let me know how much you enjoy this one. I couldn't get enough of it!!

You'll need:
-4 cups strawberries
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-1/4 cup lemon juice
-1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip
-8-10 Oreo cookies
-1 tbs. melted butter
-8x4-inch loaf pan
-aluminum foil

*Shape foil onto outside of 8x4-inch loaf pan. Then line the inside of the pan with that foil, with the ends extending over the sides of the pan (long ways)
*Mash 2 cups of strawberries in a large bowl. Stir in condensed milk and lemon juice.
*Stir 2 cups of Cool Whip into strawberry mixutre. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
*Finely chop Oreo cookies. Combine cookies and melted butter. Spoon over the mixture in the loaf pan.
*Cover the dessert with the ends of the foil and gently press the cookies into the strawberry mixture. Freeze 6 hours or until firm. (I think I froze mine 4 hours-and that was good enough)
*Invert dessert onto a serving plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil. Spread the remaining Cool Whip onto the top and sides of the dessert.
*Slice the remaining 2 cups of strawberries and decorate your dessert!
*If you can't finish this whole thing in one sitting (which I highly doubt) if freezes again nicely and you can enjoy it more than once!!

Janice's Recipe's

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Cheesy Potato Soup

Healthy & Delicious Fries

Parmesan Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Easy Quiche

Rustic Veggie Pizza

Found this recipe over at kraft. You know I'm a sucker for anything pizza! So yummy! And healthy! Low cal and I can still enjoy pizza. mmmm....

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