Sunday, October 13, 2013

Chicken Spinach Gnocchi Soup

This cooler weather really has me craving soup. But I seem to always make the same ones over and over. I wanted to try a new one and this one definitely didn't disappoint! I've never used gnocchi so I was a little worried to try this, but I'm so glad I did! If I were to make this again I would double the recipe. There was definitely enough for Jorden, Krew, and myself, but I always like leftovers, and there were none tonight. But it was after church on fast Sunday! I loved that this recipe called for lighter ingredients (like the half-and-half) But believe me, it wasn't light on flavor!

Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 a cup)
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups fat free half-and-half
  • 1 cup low fat milk
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 16 ounce package gnocchi
  • 2 cups cooked, shredded or diced chicken 
  • 1 1/2 cups spinach, coarsely chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste. 
Directions:
  1. In a 4 or 5 quart pot (bigger if you're doubling it), heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the chopped onion, carrots and thyme. Cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots are slightly tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stirring often.
  2. Add the garlic. Stir constantly
  3. Whisk in the flour and continuously stir until flour is lightly golden. About 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Stir while bringing the mixture to a boil over medium to medium-high heat.
  4. Allow to cook, stirring often until the mixture is slightly thickened. About 5-7 minutes. Stir in the uncooked gnocchi and simmer over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
  5. The soup will thicken up while the gnocchi is cooking. Stir in the cooked chicken and spinach and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.
We served ours with ciabatta bread.



Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Pizza Muffins

We love pizza and here is a different form...Pizza Muffins!

You will need:
1 tube of Pillsbury biscuits(I have also used Rhodes rolls dough and it was so good too)
Pizza sauce(any brand you like)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
And any pizza toppings you like

First, grease your muffin tin. Use your hands to roll out the biscuits. (Usually a tube of biscuits has 8 and your muffin tin has 12 spots, so I just divided the biscuits in half for a couple of them, or you could just use 2 tubes of biscuits instead.)
Place the rolled out biscuit in tin and put one spoonful of pizza sauce then your cheese and toppings.
And its as easy as that!
Follow your cooking instructions on the biscuit container. Mine took about 11 minutes!  Really quick and easy oh and GOOD!
Submitted by Lacie

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Chocolate marshmallow cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup baking cocoa
1 cup milk
Marshmallows

Frosting:
31/2  c. Powder sugar
1/4 c. Baking cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp butter melted

Instructions:
Oven 350
Beat shortening , sugar, vanilla, and eggs.
In seperate bowl, mix dry ingredients. (Flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa. Mix together well and add to the wet mixture. 
Slowly add milk.
Roll into balls by flouring hands and then rolling about 1 tsp of dough into a ball. 
Place on a sprayed cookie sheet
Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place marshmallow on top each cookie. Return to oven for one minute.
For frosting combine all ingredients and beat til smooth and creamy. Spoon over warm cookie. 
Also the frosting we make for the Texas sheet cake would be good on these.
These were my favorite cookies that my mom made for me when I was little.
Posted by suanne

Monday, July 8, 2013

Marinade for Fourth of July salmon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. distiller white vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp lime zest
1 1/2 tsp honey
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp seafood seasoning such as old bay
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
Salmon
Whisk all together and pour on salmon and marinate for 6 hours.

Dressing
1 8oz light sour cream
1/2 cup adobe sauce.. Chipotle
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp lime zest
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp seafood seasoning such as old bay
Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
Tortillas
Tomatoes
Cilantro chopped
Coleslaw
Lime wedges

Steak salad

Ingredients
Beef sirloin steak
1/3 c. Olive oil
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Avocado
Green olives
Sliced almonds
Any topping u like
Cook steaks. We grilled them. Lightly oil pan or grill. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and let cool enough to handle. Slice steak. Right before serving we put the sliced meat in pan and grilled it up more. 
In bowl whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce. Mix in the cheese. Cover and refrigerate dressing. Posted by suanne

Marinade for salmon

1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 tsp minced garlic
4 salmon fillets
Whisk first five ingredients together until blended. In a large Baggie add fillets and pour marinade on them. Seal bag and refrigerate for one to three hours.
Drain salmon and then put olive oil on pan . Cook salmon for 10 to 20 min. Or until fish flakes easily with fork. You could also cook on grill. 
Posted by suanne. Recipe from taste of home

Marinade for chicken

3 cups orange soda
1/3 c. Soy sauce
1 T. Montreal steak seasoning
1 T. Minced garlic
1/3 c. Canola oil
1 tsp. sugar
6 chicken breasts
Sweet baby rays BBQ sauce.
Place chicken in the marinade . Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours. 
I always put my chicken in plastic bag and then I pound it with a tenderizer mallet. This really makes it tender and is worth the hassle. I then grill it in pan half way then put in dish in oven to cook til done. 300 degrees. The slower u cook chicken the more tender it is.  Add BBQ sauce when done.
Posted by suanne. Recipe is from Jamie cooks it up

Monday, June 24, 2013

Better than CPK Alfredo!

So we named this "Better than CPK Alfredo" at our house! The other night we went out to eat at CPK and I got a salad and Eric tried the pasta. People don't go to CPK for pasta! It has great pizza, but the pasta was just a watered down pasta! We decided to make something better! We had a good laugh because usually when you go out to dinner you have something that is so good that there is no way you could create something better at home...well we did, but it wasn't hard! This is so easy to make.
Ingredients:
Pasta, any kind you want
Alfredo, any kind you want. I think ours was Bertonollies that come in a glass bottle.
Chicken if you would like. We used 2 large chicken breasts.
Grated mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese if you would like.
 First cook your pasta in a pot, then get your chicken going. We decided to grill the chicken on the BBQ  but you could do it any way you want. Then cut the chicken in strips.
Once all that is done pour pasta in a baking dish then pour Alfredo sauce all over the pasta, then add as much mozzarella as you want and Parmesan cheese. and then your chicken. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Super easy! Add a salad with it or bread sticks or both!


Friday, June 14, 2013

Chocolate Pudding Pops

This is just a fun summer treat that is easy enough for kids to help with!
Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 1-3.9 oz package instant chocolate pudding
  • 1 1/2 cup milk (2% or higher is the best)
  • 2 cups cool whip

Directions:
  1. Dissolve pudding in milk
  2. Whip in the cool whip
  3. Spoon into dixie cups (I used 5 oz cups but 3 oz would be fine too).
  4. insert popsicle stick
  5. Freeze. Be sure it is completely frozen or it won't hold it's shape when you take it out of the cup.
This is what it looks like 2 hours later, right out of the freezer.


 Slide the cup off. Some of them you'll just have to rip off.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tuscan Pasta Sauce

This recipe didn't call for chicken but we are trying to have protein at every meal, so I added it to the sauce and it was delicious. You can leave out the chicken or add it or any other meat if you'd like!
Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 8 ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, drained and chopped
  • 2 cups milk
  • 6 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt, more to taste if needed
  • diced fresh tomatoes and fresh basil for topping (optional)

Directions:
  1. In a medium pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Stir in the dried basil. Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will look curdled at first, but with constant whisking for 2-3 minutes, it will come together to form a smooth, creamy paste. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.
  2. Over medium heat, add the milk gradually, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking quickly and constantly until each addition is incorporated fulling into the sauce. Stir in Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt.
  3. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency, 5-10 minutes. Serve over hot, cooked noodles.
This picture doesn't look very appetizing. I think it's because I used wheat noodles and the colors kind of blend. They recommend bow-tie pasta with this dish.


Monday, June 10, 2013

White Chicken Enchiladas

I know Lacie just barely posted an enchiladas recipe. But seriously can you have enough enchilada recipes?! This one also seemed quite a bit different so I don't think you'd be feeling like you had the same meal twice! Just know that the sauce made for this does not freeze well. If you want to make it as a freezer meal, make the enchilada part (stuff the tortillas) and make the sauce the day of.

Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 10 soft taco shells (I used 8 burrito size)
  • 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken. I've also used a rotisserie chicken
  • 3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 8x11 pan (or a 9x13 if you are making 10)
  2. Mix chicken and 1 1/2 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.
  3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
  4. Stir in sour cream and chillies. Do not bring to a boil. You don't want curdled sour cream.
  5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
  6. Bake 22 minutes and then under high broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheese. The broiling part is important, so the tortillas aren't soggy!


Great served with rice and beans. We also topped ours with sour cream and salsa.

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

This was wonderful!
submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 16 Jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese plus 1/4 cup for topping
  • 3 tablespoons prepared pesto
  • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
  1. Combine all the ingredients (except shells) and stuff into the cooked jumbo shells.
  2. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
  3. Bake at 350* uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

We served our with a side salad and breadsticks!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Banana chip muffins

These are so easy to make and so good! I got the recipe from taste of home.
Posted by Suanne


1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1tsp. Baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas
(About 3 medium)
1/3 cup butter , melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven 375.  In a large bowl , whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk egg, bananas, melted butter, and vanilla until blended. Add to the flour mixture, stir just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
2. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full. 
Bake 17 to 20 minutes. Or until tooth pick comes out clean.
These do not require a electric mixer. Just stir by hand. Very quick to make!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Pineapple Glaze Chicken

Submitted by Lacie
This was a recipe I found on another blog, but I left out a few things, and changed a few things they said to do. This is a really easy recipe because it is all done in the crock pot! 
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (they can be frozen)
1 (20oz.) can pineapple slices
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 cup of cornstarch (could add less, if you want sauce thinner)

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken breasts inside slow cooker and add pineapple rings on top of the chicken. In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Serve over rice. ENJOY!!!

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Submitted by Lacie
Sometimes I can't come up with quick and EASY dinner ideas when I am really needing to, so I thought I would share this pizza idea! We love pizza at our house and eat it a lot, probably too much.  Chicken Alfredo Pizza is just a little different than your average pepperoni and cheese. For this pizza you will need:
Mozzarella cheese, and I also added grated Parmesan that I had, you do not need to do that though, I just had some left over!
Alfredo sauce, mine was not homemade, I just bought a jar of it, any kind will work.
Pizza crust, mine was not homemade either, I used the crusts that come in a package of 2, you could use any sort of dough though, I just took the easiest route.
2 large chicken breasts, cook them and then cut in the size you would like.
Olive oil.
First spread the olive oil on the uncooked crust, then add the Alfredo sauce, chicken, and cheese. I also added a little bit of the sauce on top in different spots.
And cook for the time your crust calls for! And add a salad with it, and your done! Super easy and pretty dang good! Enjoy!!!

Friday, May 31, 2013

Coconut cream poke cake

1 (16 oz) box white cake mix
3 (3.4 oz) boxes instant coconut cream pudding
1/3 cup flour
11/2 cup water
1tsp. Coconut extract
4 eggs
1/3 c. Oil
1/3 c. Sour cream
4 cups milk
2cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 (8 oz) container cool whip

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grab a white cake mix and dump contents into your stand mixer.
3. Add 1 box instant pudding, and 1/3 c. Flour. Toss it around to combine.
4.  Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tsp. coconut extract, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, and 1/3 cup sour cream. Blend the ingredients together on low speed, scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat for two min. Or until the batter is glossy. 
5. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. And pour batter in. Pop it into the oven and let the old girl bake for 35-40 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.
6. Remove the pan from oven and let it cool. 
7. Spread 2 cups coconut out on large cookie sheet. Pop it into the oven and let the coconut get all toasted and wonderful. Should take about ten min. And you will want to stir it a couple of times while it toasts. Be careful when you open the oven. Coconut lets off a really potent fume that can burn your eyes. It's best to open the oven cautiously without looking directly into oven. Let the fumes escape from oven for few seconds then u will be fine.
8. When your cake has cooled for about ten min. Poke a bunch of holes in it with the end of a wooden spoon.
9. Into your stand mixer pour 4 cups milk and 2 boxes instant pudding, with the whisk attachment whip the pudding until thickens. 
10. Pour the pudding over cake. It's ok if the cake is still a little bit warm.
11. Spread it all over cake.
12. Grab some cool whip and carefully scoop it onto pudding. Spread out evenly. If you put your cake in fridge and get it nice and cold then the cool whip spreads nicer and won't get mixed in the pudding. 
13. Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top. Pop the pan in fridge and let it set and chill for at least an hour.

This cake is so good! It's light and fluffy and easy to make. 
Here are some pictures of mine! 
Posted by suanne!






The easiest, quickest, green enchiladas!

You know these enchiladas are quick, easy, and yummy when its actually your husbands recipe and he can make them! They can be changed up to make them a bit healthy, or a bit spicy! At our house we{I} cant handle anything spicy! So these are perfect with the green sauce since its mild!
 Here is what you will need:
Chicken(I used 4 large frozen chicken breasts and then boiled it and then shredded it, but if you want to make it extra easy you could buy a rotisserie chicken and shred that.)
Cheese(Any kind is fine, or if you want to make it healthier avoid the cheese, or just use a small amount, or put it only on half if only some of the people in your family are eating healthy!)
Small tortillas(I love to use corn tortillas for this recipe, but again you can use flour, or for a healthy version use the whole wheat tortillas, they taste pretty good!)
Green enchilada sauce(This comes in a can, either get 2 regular size cans, or one large can, you can choose if you want it hot or mild, I chose mild. Also if you wanted you could use red sauce instead to amp up that spice!)
Directions:
I used a large glass baking dish (or any size or baking dish really)
 I used almost a whole bag of corn tortillas(who doesn't love leftovers!?) 
First you will grab a tortilla and put a spoonful of chicken (I also added salt and pepper to my chicken) you can add cheese to the chicken if you would like, I only added it on top at the end.  Once chicken is on tortilla, roll it up and line your baking dish pretty tightly with them. 
After your dish is full, you can sprinkle a little cheese now if you would like. (I did a tiny amount) then you pour your green sauce over all the enchiladas, soaking them almost completely. The more sauce the better since while baking the enchiladas absorb the sauce. 
Once sauce is poured then you can sprinkle the cheese and the amount you would like. 
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Or until cheese is melted. 
                                     Ready for the oven.
 This is the size of can of green enchilada sauce I use. Any brand is fine.
                                              ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOTE: Cover dish with foil for half of the cooking. Also if you use corn tortillas make sure to put them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to get them warm, I learned this the hard way when I made them once....if you don't do this then your tortillas will rip as you roll them and it will be one big giant mess and turn into a casserole! Ha Let me know if you have any questions! You can add sour cream or salsa if you would like, and its good with a salad too!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The best lemon cupcakes...EVER!

Submitted by Lacie
Ok I am the biggest lemon fan! Are any of you?! I love anything with a little lemon in it, especially in the warm spring and summer months! My Mom shared this Lemon cupcake recipe with me and I decided to try it! 
These are made from scratch, I was nervous and thought anything that wasn't a box cake mix would be hard, but they were very easy! 
Ingredients: Lemon Cupcakes
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
zest plus juice of two medium lemons
Now for the fluffy vanilla buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3-4 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
additional lemon zest for decoration if desired.
Instructions:
1.Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with 12 liners. (This batch makes 12 cupcakes) set aside.
2. Using a handheld mixer or a kitchen aide, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamed. Add eggs and vanilla.
3. In another bowl(you do not have to do in a separate bowl like I did) toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Batter will be thick. Add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix until combined, but do not over mix.
4. Pour batter evenly into 12 cupcake liners. Fill pretty full.  Bake for about 20 minutes. Check them at 18 minutes with a toothpick. Once cooked remove from oven and let cool completely. 
5. To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with a hand or stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt.  Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick. Now frost those cupcakes!!! I added a little lemon zest on top of the cupcakes for decoration, but you could use sprinkles or crushed lemon candies!
A few notes...I think I ended up leaving my cupcakes a minute or two longer in the oven than what this recipe says...every oven is different! I also didnt add a lot of lemon zest(which is the outer peal of the lemon) to my cupcakes, you can add as much as you like of that, I just don't like a ton of pieces in my cupcake when I bite into them! Oh the batter tastes SO good! Ha and your house will smell delicious! ENJOY!!!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Strawberry Angel Food Cake Trifle

Submitted by Lacie
Eric does not have a sweet tooth like me, so when he requested a dessert I was all about that! And it is now one of our favorites! Easy and a must try!
 The recipe is SO easy, you will need:
A package of strawberries, sliced.
One angel food cake(you could bake your own, but I just bought one) cut into bite size squares.
Vanilla Pudding, I bought the pack that had 4 little cups of pudding. And I ended up using all 4. And I am talking about the pudding your Mom used to put in your lunch, NOT the instant pudding you have to make!
One large carton of heavy whipping cream.
Powder Sugar.

Cut your strawberries up and put sugar on them to sweeten them, or I actually had home made strawberry jam that I added to my strawberries instead of sugar. Or you could use a gelatin that you can buy at the store.
Cut up your angel food cake next. Then your very last step is to make your whipping cream. If you do not want to make whipping cream you could use cool whip, but the whipped cream is the  kind where you lick the spoon and bowl clean, its that good! I used my hand mixer, but you could also use your kitchen aide. Whip all the cream and add powder sugar, I didn't add a certain amount of powdered sugar, I just added a little and then tasted if it was the sweetness I wanted. You whip until thick and fluffy! Takes a little bit to get that way!
Now once you have done all that it is time to layer the goods!
On the bottom start with the angel food cake, then on top of that add some strawberries, then vanilla pudding, then whip cream, then repeat! I added a few strawberries on top for a garnish.
Enjoy!!!


Monday, April 29, 2013

Orange Julius

I always loved when my Dad would make us an Orange Julius, and to me it was always better than the ones from the actual smoothie place! Here is his recipe...
You will need the Orange Concentrate that comes in the tube frozen. You will use half of the can.
I used a large cup of crushed ice
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
When I blended this it still was a little more icy and not as thick as we wanted so we added 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was perfect! Sorry no picture this time...we drank it all way too fast!!!
Serving size about 5.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Submitted by: Suanne
Here is the items you will need...
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of flour
4 Large eggs
1 8OZ. cream cheese softened
1 Large box 5.1 ounce vanilla instant pudding
3 cups of milk
1 8OZ. cool whip or whipped cream
Chocolate Syrup or home made chocolate sauce
 Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9x13 glass baking pan.
Eclair crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown(mine only took 25 minutes though.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down.)
Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with chocolate syrup. 




 Yum!!!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Chicken Empanadas

This was definitely a 5-star recipe! I love pie crusts and it was perfect for this meal!

Submitted by: Jessica
Ingredients
  • 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
  • 1 (8-ounce) package shredded Colby and Monterrey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you like. All I had on hand was cheddar and that was still good!)
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used light and it was still really good!)
  • 3 oz green chilies
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped. *optional
  • 1/2 Tbl ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 package refrigerated pie crusts. Should have 2 pie crusts.
  • Water
Preheat oven to 400*F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the water and pie crust. Unroll 1 pie crust onto a lightly floured surface. Place half of the chicken mixture on one half of the pie crust, then fold pie crust over (in half) over the filling. Lightly brush the edge of the crust with water. Press edges down with a fork to seal. Do the same thing with the second pie crust and the other half of the chicken mixture. Put on baking sheet and sprinkle top with cheese. Bake for 25 minutes.


Mini Taco Pizzas

This is actually a recipe Suanne emailed me a couple of weeks ago. I love tacos so I knew I would love this recipe! It was easy and so tasty. I love to have Krew help me out with dinner as much a possible and this was perfect for that because he could add any of the toppings he wanted!

Submitted by: Jessica
Ingredients
  • 1 lb of pizza dough. I used the Walmart brand of pizza dough. It's in a little white bag. Sorry I didn't get a picture!
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 package of taco seasoning
  • 1 can refried beans
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese
  • shredded lettuce for topping
  • salsa or pico de gallo, for topping
  • guacamole, for topping
  • sour cream, for topping

  1. Preheat oven to 450 F
  2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef. Cook until almost no pink remains, then add taco seasoning. Continue to cook until the beef is cooked through.
  3. Put the refried beans in a small pot over medium heat until warmed through.
  4. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each out into an individual pizza. Top each with 1/4 cup of the refried beans, 1/4 of the beef mixture, then top with 1/4 of the cheddar cheese.
  5. Cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or according to the pizza dough directions.
  6. After it's done cooking, top with lettuce, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.
We served ours with chips and salsa! Delicious!


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Pizza Roll

We eat this one a lot! Because it is easy and so good! If you love pizza you'll love this one!
Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • Rhodes frozen dough. Looks like this:

  • Olive oil
  • Pizza toppings such as, pepperoni, ground beef, bacon, olives, canadian bacon, pineapple, chicken, really anything you love on a pizza!
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese.
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
I don't have measurements for cheese amounts, I just use a couple of handfuls of each.
  • Shredded or grated parmesan cheese
  • Italian seasonings. Basically dried oregano, parsley and basil. Be careful with the oregano, it can be strong.
  • Garlic powder
  • salt
  • half a cube of melted butter
  1. Place 2 or 3 frozen dough on a sprayed cookie sheet. One loaf equals one roll, and one roll serves about 3 people. But I always make more for leftovers.
  2. Spray the top of loaves with pan spray and cover with plastic wrap. Allow loaves to thaw for about 3 hours at room temperature.
  3. Roll dough out to approximately 11x11 square
  4. Brush dough with olive oil.
  5. Lay toppings on dough (except the cheese).
  6. Now sprinkle with shredded cheeses and parmesan.
  7. Lightly sprinkle with Italian seasonings, garlic powder, and salt.

 This is what mine looked like all rolled out with the toppings.

    8. Roll up dough starting at one end of the square.
    9. Place rolls on a baking sheet, leaving space between.
   10. Brush some melted butter on top of uncooked pepperoni roll.
   11. You don't have to let rise. Bake it right away.
   12. Bake at 375* for approx 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it because every oven is different.

When done, top of roll should be golden brown and you should be able to make a tapping sound on the crust with your fingernail. Make sure you let cool before slicing and serving!

This is one roll that I cut in half.
We like to dip ours in marinara sauce! 
DELICIOUS! 


Amish White Bread

I know bread can kind of be an intimidating thing, but just give this a try! It's really pretty easy! This is my go to white bread recipe that doesn't require a bread machine.

Submitted by: Jessica

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 2/3 cups white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbl active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 6 cups bread flour
  1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water, then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
  2. Mix salt and oil into yeast. Mix flour 1 cup at a time. I love to use my kitchen aid with a bread hook for this part (but you don't have to)



  3. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, then turn dough to coat. 


Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.


 4. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes and divide in half. Shape into loaves & place into 2 oiled/sprayed 9x5 loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.



    5. Bake at 320* for around 42 minutes.
I spread some butter on top right when it comes out of the oven.

Enjoy!!

Lacie's Healthier Chicken Bake

So we {try} to eat healthy at our house. This recipe can be changed up quite a bit to fit any ones needs or desires! I love meals that I can prepare ahead of time. Especially while Lindley is sleeping and then I can put it straight in the fridge until I am ready to bake it! Before we had a baby and I was working I always tried to plan out my meals for a week that way one of us that was home could get started on it while the other was still gone, even if that meant we ate at 8:00...at least we had dinner together right?!
You will need the following things{remember you can add or take away whatever you would like}
1 jar of red marinara or pasta sauce.
1 routisseray chicken {I found those are kind of expensive now so when I just have bags of frozen chicken I use that} or 4 large chicken breasts
Fresh mushrooms {really as many as you want}

1 cup of mozzerella cheese
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (or  you could use canned parmesan too)
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (any oil would be okay, but this is a "healthier" kind)
 Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and has crisp edges
First things first...You will need to start cooking your chicken if you are using chicken breasts. I boil my chicken, its quick and easy. Once the chicken is done, I take it out of the water and cut into bite size pieces similar to this...


 Next I start with the mushrooms over medium heat, I cook them ALMOST all the way. I let them cook the rest of the way in the oven. This is when you add in the tablespoon of olive oil to cook the mushrooms.
 After you have cooked your chicken and mushrooms you start preparing the dish. Normally I use a glass baking dish. First you want to spray the dish with pam. (You can thank me later) Next you will put half the jar of red sauce on the bottom like this.
 Next you lay down the mushrooms and chicken like this...
 Then add half a cup of mozzarella and sprinkle a little of the parm cheese.
 Then next you would add the rest of the red sauce again, and the rest of the chicken and mushrooms, and the rest of both cheeses and your done!
 Some side ideas to pair it with are...whole wheat noodles, or regular noodles. Also if you want to be even more healthy we suggest serving over broccoli or asparagus! Some salad on the side would also be good. Or for you carb lovers (we all are) bread sticks would be good too!
Let me know if you have any questions about this recipe!!!
Enjoy!