Mexican Lasagna

This is one of those meals that Jeff actually goes back for seconds on. I made it last night for dinner and he was excited when he came home because he was actually looking forward to this meal..very unlike him! Whenever I make this I can get 2 pans (8x8). I usually cook one up for dinner that night and put the other in the freezer for another night when I don't want to cook...it works out really well. I got this recipe from Rachel Ray a long time ago from one of her 30 minute meal shows. It cooks really fast and is done within 30 minutes if you have some of the prep stuff done (which I usually do because I used canned goods)!

Mexican Lasagna
2 TBSP olive oil
2 lbs. ground beef
2 TBSP chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped (or yellow or white)
1 (14 oz) can stewed, diced, or chopped tomatoes
1 c medium heat taco sauce or salsa
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1 can corn
salt to taste
8 (8 in) flour tortillas (to make this healthier try veggie tortillas or low carb tortillas...they actually used spinach tortillas..yummy!)
2 1/2 c shredded cheese
2 scallions, finely chopped

► Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Preheat large skillet over med high heat. Add the olive oil. Add beef, and season with chili powder and cumin, and red onion. Brown meat mixture, 5 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes and taco sauce. Add black beans and corn.
► Heat mixture through, 2-3 minutes then season with salt to taste. Coat a shallow baking dish with oil or spray oil. Cut tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer. (I don't cut mine because they fit perfectly whole in an 8x8 pan, if you are making this all in one large 13x9 pan though you may want to cut them in half.) Build lasagna in layers of meat, tortilla, and cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

For the frozen one I bake it at 400 degrees for about an hour if it's straight from the freezer...which is how I do it. If you let it thaw out then you will cook it at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Sticky Chicken

This recipe is soooo easy and really tasty as well. I saw it on Good Things Utah last week and thought, "What a great, quick meal..I'll be making that." Jeff even liked it even though it was chicken. They claimed that it only takes 12 minutes but it took me longer...don't know why.

Sticky Chicken
3-4 chicken breasts, cut into strips OR chicken tenders
1 c apricot jam (I didn't have apricot jam so I used Strawberry...it still tasted good)
1 c BBQ sauce, your favorite
1 pkt lipton onion soup mix

► Pour small amount of olive oil into skillet and begin browning chicken. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over browned chicken. Let cook until sauce is thick and bubbly. Serve with rice.

See...simple!

A New Addition

Many of you know my husband Jeff and know that he is stubborn, organized, persistent, and a manager of everything. Most of the time I admire these traits (well most of them) and take advantage of the way that he is. However, there are times that I just want to slap him...literally. A couple of weeks ago he started in about how he feels so disorganized and hates coming home from work to find that there isn't anything to eat and just sits on the couch and watches t.v. until bedtime and sometimes later than bedtime only to go to bed, wake up the next day, and do it all over again. He was going on and on about how he wants to exercise, have a clean house, an organized meal plan for each day, and many other things. As a woman and his wife I couldn't help but think he was trying to backhandedly tell me to get it together. He always says he's not, but if you are a woman then you know exactly what I am talking about. When our men tell us that they feel disorganized, unhappy, like they're just floating along...we feel like it is our responsibility to get them on track, help them out in any way we can, and change things about ourselves to make it better for them. So this was my contribution to his plan...I have made a calendar for meals for the month. This way he cannot come home and say "What's for dinner?" because he will already know! Since he was the one to complain about never having an idea about what dinner is...we decided together that he should be responsible to make dinner once a week. The first week he was slotted in for Wednesday and lo and behold he didn't do it until Saturday...the last day of the week. I told him he is worse than a home teacher..waiting until the last minute! At least now he knows how hard it is to plan a dinner, do the prep work, and make the dinner so that everything is hot all at once. He made breakfast for his dinner last week and we ate in 'waves' as he called them because he doesn't have the 'get everything out at the same time thing' down yet. Anyhow...I'm telling you all of this to announce my new addition to this website! On the right hand side of this homepage you will find our Monthly Menu. Everything is subject to change and it already has been tinkered with but if you see something on the menu that you would like the recipe for...just let me know and I will post it. Happy Cooking to all of you this month...I know I'm in for some fun!

Ham, Peas and Potato Casserole

A few weeks ago I made a ham for dinner. You know what happens when you only have 2 people and a whole ham??...you don't eat it all in one or even two sittings. I had some left over cubed ham and found this recipe to use it up. It was really delicious and even Jeff liked it. I have the hardest time finding anything that he will eat willingly and want more when he's through. So next time you cook up a whole ham for your family...use some of the leftovers for this recipe!

Ham, Peas & Potato Casserole
1 c celery, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c boiling water
1 1/2 c cubed potatoes
milk
1/4 c butter
1/4 c onion, chopped
1/4 c flour
2 c ham, cubed
2 TBSP parsley, chopped (or 1/3 less of dried parsley)
1 c cooked peas
1/2 c your favorite cheese, grated

► Add celery and salt to boiling water, cook for 10 minutes. Add potatoes and cook 15 minutes longer, drain and reserve liquid.
► Add enough milk to potato water to equal 1 1/2 c liquid. In a large saucepan, melt butter, add onion and cook over low heat until tender. Add flour and blend well, gradually adding liquid, stirring until sauce thickens. Boil for one minute and remove from heat.
► Add ham, parsley, celery, potatoes, and peas. Spoon into an oiled 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. You can also make this casserole a day in advance and refrigerate overnight, just bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Another Take on Pumpkin Cookies

Since I adore pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I thought I would try another pumpkin cookie recipe. These are good but maybe not worth the trouble of making them unless you want to experiment and then go right ahead. I still like the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies better.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Cookies:
2 3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 c butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c (14 oz) canned pumpkin
3/4 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:
4 c powdered sugar, sifted
10 TBSP butter
1/4 c + 1 TBSP evaportaed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

► Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients; set aside.
► Mix on medium, butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce mixer to low; add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture until combined.
► Pipe batter on parchment lined baking sheets. (1 1/2 inch rounds) Space about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating halfway through about 12 minutes (Tops spring back). Cool on wire racks after cooling 5 minutes on pan.
► For icing, place powdered sugar in a bowl. Melt butter over medium heat, cooking until golden brown (about three minutes). Immediately add butter to sugar, scraping in brown bits. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Ice the cookies when they are cooled.

This recipe made tons and tons of cookies (about 6 dozen). I'm not sure if I'll try it again...it was kind of an experiment and unless you really love icing or pumpkin these may not be for you!

Surprise Cookies

Oh my goodness! These are really really yummy! If you like chocolate then you must try this recipe. I found it on Martha Stewart's website and thought they looked good. They are good. They were also very easy to make. That is helpful to me. Try these with a cold glass of milk and you will be pleased that you did!

Surprise cookies

1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 large egg
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
chocolate frosting

► Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
► Cream together butter and sugar about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and mix on low.
► Drop dough by 3/4" ice cream scoop (or tablespoon) on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.
► Remove from oven and place cut marshmallow cut side down, into cookies. Bake 2 minutes more.
► Cool completely and then frost over marshmallow.

I did a few things differently than the recipe states. I didn't have large marshmallows so I just put 4 mini marshmallows on the cookies...it worked just fine. I also used premade chocolate frosting (from a can) and it tasted great!

Try these TODAY!

Cinnamon and Sugar

These are one of Jeff's favorite cookies. He likes the varieties without chocolate if possible. I remember when I first started dating Jeff and he was living with his friend Ben. I had called to talk to Jeff and Ben answered his phone. We chatted for a while and Ben kept telling me that I should bring Jeff some cookies. Of course I was willing to do that for two bachelors and I asked what kind they wanted. Snickerdoodles was the answer I got!

Snickerdoodles
1 c butter
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c flour
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar mixed with 2 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients except the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Shape dough into balls and roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Fantasy Fudge

I've had this before and I always wanted to make it myself. It was really easy to do and great to freeze for the holidays coming up.

Fantasy Fudge
3 c sugar
3/4 c butter
2/3 c evaporated milk (5 ounces)
1 1/2 pkg Baker's semi sweet baking chocolate squares, chopped (I actually used Hershey's semi sweet chocolate chips...no chopping :))
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
1 c walnuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Line 9" square pan with foil overhanging the sides. Place sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in heavy saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4 minutes or until candy thermometer reads 234 degrees, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.
Add chocolate and marshmallow creme. Stir until melted. Add nuts and vanilla, mix well.
Pour into prepared pan evenly. Let stand at room temperature for 4 hours or until cooled completely. Cut into 1" squares.

A Healthy Meal...

to warm you up and make you healthy. I try to get my husband to eat healthy at least once and a while. He loves things like nachos, burritos, pizza, ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, and other carb loaded things for his dinners. When I make something different it takes him some getting used to. I always say to him that I have made a healthy meal and he knows that it's going to be something he's not used to. He is such a good sport though and always thanks me for dinner no matter what it was or how much of it he ate. haha Last night I made homemade soup and biscuits. I really enjoyed it and I know he loved the biscuits and ate the soup to please me. Oh well...I will keep trying to get him healthy!

Cream of Chicken-Rice Soup
4 qts wager
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 c fresh parsley, minced
1/4 c butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c rice, uncooked (not instant)
salt to taste
2 c milk
1/2 - 3/4 c cornstarch

► Bring water to boil. Add chicken and cook until tender and juices run clear; reserve broth. (I actually didn't follow this part of the recipe. I had some left over chicken from another night and just chunked it into bite-size pieces and mixed it with 3 cans of chicken broth and 3 cans of hot water)
► Meanwhile, in a frying pan, saute onion, carrots, celery and parsley in butter until tender. (Again, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I didn't have an onion or any fresh parsley. I used 1 1/2 tbsp of onion powder and the about the same of dried parsley.)
► Add garlic and cook for one minute.
► Cut chicken into bite-size pieces ( if you haven't done that already.) Add sauteed vegetables and chicken to reserved broth (or canned broth).
► Stir in rice and salt and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Mix together milk and cornstarch; add to soup. Stir until thick. Makes 16-20 servings.

Biscuits Supreme
3 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 c butter or 1/2 c butter and 1/4 c shortening
1 1/4 c buttermilk or 1 c milk

► In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender (or fork) cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add buttermilk (milk) all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.
► Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surafce. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for 4 to 6 strokes or just until dough holds together. Pat or lightly roll dough until 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (or a cookie cutter like I did to make it more festive).
► Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8-12 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve immediately.

Zucchini Bread

Jeff makes fun of me everytime that I make this bread. He laughs that we all think we are making something healthy when there is so much oil and sugar in this bread it technically is a dessert! I like it either way and then I can trick myself into thinking that I have eaten my veggies for they day!

Zucchini Bread
Mix:
1 c oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs
2 c grated squash (zucchini):)
Then add:
3 c flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. It will make one large loaf or 4 mini-loaves.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love love love pumpking chocolate chip cookies. It's ridiculous how much I love these cookies. I could eat the whole batch by myself and I know that I shouldn't...that's how much I love them. I try to tell myself that they are not bad for me because of the vitamins in pumpkin...whatever! Try this recipe and if you like pumpkin you may just fall in love as well.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 c sugar
1 c vegetable shortening
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla
4 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
12 oz. chocolate chips (I did 6 ounces of semi-sweet and 6 ounces of milk chocolate)

► Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
► Cream together sugar, shortening, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix until light and combined.
► Mix the flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Stir flour mixture into creamed mixture. Mix until combined.
► Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonful (or tablespoonful if you are me) onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until set. Cool cookies on rack.

Thumbprint Cookies

My mom used to make these every year around Christmas time for cookie exchanges and they are really yummy! I did a little variation with this recipe but they are yummy either way.

Thumbprint Cookies
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
► Cream together.
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
► Add to creamed mixture.
2 egg yolks (reserve the whites)
1/2 tsp salt
2 c flour
► Add in flour and salt. Roll dough in balls. Beat the reserved egg whites until frothy. Dip balls into egg white and finely chopped nuts (optional).
► Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes, then press thumb into center of each and bake 8 more minutes.
► Cool well and fill with frosting (see recipe below) or jelly. I actually used fruit filling from the cake store in SLC (Bakers Cash and Carry)

Frosting : 1/2 square butter, powdered sugar, milk, almond and vanilla extract

Hawaiian Haystacks

It has been a long time since I made Hawaiian Haystacks or even had them somewhere else. This is a great buffet meal for parties because your guests can adorn the simple base with anything that suits them best. A couple of weeks ago I had some friends and their kids over for a lunch/playdate. I made this recipe that is super easy and really yummy. If you need an entertaining dinner/lunch or just a dinner for your family, give this a try!

Hawaiian Haystacks

10 to 12 chicken tenders, cut into chunks (I actually used 3 large chicken breasts cut into chunks)
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) cream of chicken soup, condensed
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
6 cups cooked rice (I used a combination of white and brown rice)

► Place chicken in a greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker.
► Combine remaining ingredients except rice and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on high heat 3-4 hours or on low heat 6-8 hours. Makes 4-6 or more servings!

► Serve over hot rice with a variety of col toppings that could include grated cheese, peas, pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, shredded coconut, raisins, Chinese noodles, celery, olives, diced tomatoes, diced green peppers, sliced green onions, water chestnuts, sunflower seeds, and other family favorites!

A Twist on Oatmeal Cookies

Jeff loves oatmeal cookies and will ask for them when I suggest that I make cookies. My man is a simple man and likes his cookies without a lot of fluff and no chocolate. I don't know where he gets it from... When I happened upon this recipe I figured I better try it to give a new fun side of making oatmeal cookies. I actually made these as halloween cookies but the picture shows some different varieties of cut-outs you can do.

Oatmeal Cut-Outs
3/4 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 c oatmeal
powdered sugar for rolling dough on

► Cream butter and sugars together.
► Add egg and vanilla and beat well.
► Blend in dry ingredients and chill overnight. Divide and roll on powdered sugar, cut with your favorite cookie cutters.
► Bake at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes.
► Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutter.

Yummy Sugar Cookies

I have had this cookie recipe for quite some time and it was passed onto me from my mother. I used to love these cookies when I was a little kid and I still enjoy them today! I made these cookies for a get together with friends and for my husband this month. Try these out with any type of frosting...the royal icing gives the cookie a nice polished look.

Cookie Monster Sugar Cookies
3/4 c soft butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

► In medium mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until they are blended.
► Add eggs and vanilla, blend together.
► Sift flour, salt and baking powder - mix everything together.
► Put dough in fridge and chill for at least 1 hour.
► Roll dough on floured or powdered sugared countertop to 1/4" thickness, cut into various shapes.
► Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

(A tip...if you really like sugar cookies, double this recipe because you will surely eat some of the dough and you want enough cookies to share and eat. Also, if you have the means...use the powdered sugar to roll out your dough. It tastes yummy on the chilled dough and is much easier to clean up!)

Long time...no Blog

This month has been full of odds and ends of things to do. I have been in the kitchen a LOT this month and have lots of recipes I would like to post. Before I start posting you need to know why I've been doing the things I have. October is such a fun month. It used to be my favorite when I was teaching school and so when I found myself in this month with no little kids to teach (aside from my 6 month old) I started searching for things to do on my own that are different and new to me. I already knew that October was National Pizza Month...there's still time by the way to celebrate this!:) I just found out that it is also National Cookie Month. I had wonderful, glamorous, ridiculous thoughts of making a cookie a day. Every day a new cookie a new experience. Needless to say that didn't go down very well. I reevaluated my goal and decided to do a cookie a week. Well that didn't work either so I'm just doing cookies when I can. That works much better!
I also started canning a lot this year and I had my hands full with that as well. So let the posts begin.....

Want a Funky Lunch???

I saw this as a segment on Studio 5 yesterday and thought they were so creative and delicious. You can visit the sandwich gallery by clicking on the title of this post... "Want a Funky Lunch???" to view the different amazing sandwiches. If these don't make kids happier to eat lunch...nothing will.

White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Cookies

These were featured last week on Good Things Utah. They were actually the prize winning cookie recipe from last year's state fair competition. I thought that I needed to try them as soon as I found out what was inside of them. You can make these with any kind of fruit topping...not just cherry. I'm not really fond of cherries myself but I bought them and just picked them out of the glaze. These were soooo good you have to try them.

White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Cookies
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c shortening
1/4 c butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c white chocolate chips, melted
3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c white chocolate chips
1 can cherry (or any other flavor) pie filling

Filling
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 TBSP milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugars, shortening, butter; add in eggs, and vanilla. Add in slightly cooled melted chocolate. Beat at medium speed until blended. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Cream together filling ingredients. Drop cookies by heaping TBSP about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cooking sheet. Make an indentation with finger on each cookie and drop in about 1 tsp filling. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cool - spoon on pie filling. Store in the refrigerator. To make them extra special you can take the remaining white chocolate chips from the bag, melt them, and drizzle them on top of the entire cookie.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen and it seemed to make a little more for me when I made them yesterday!

Fajita Chicken Salad

This is inspired by the Quesadilla Explosion Salad from Chili's restaurant. My mom and I both love this salad and upon ordering it one day decided to write down what was inside of it to try and recreate it at home. It's not exact but it still tastes yummy.

Fajita Chicken Salad
1 bag salad greens (your choice) I use Romaine
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 can olives, sliced
1 tomato, diced
tortilla strips or crushed up tortilla chips

Mix everything together.

1 pound chicken, cut into chunks and seasoned using a Fajita seasoning mix (follow directions on package of seasoning)

Plate up your salad and put the chicken chunks on top while they are still warm. Use any type of dressing you like. I used Avocado Ranch dressing...recipe follows

Avocado Ranch Dressing
2 med ripe avocadoes
1 c ranch dressing
1/2 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
1/4 c lime juice
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Blend together in food processor or blender. Chill and serve with salad.

Fresh Homemade Salsa

Alright..just so you know this is not the 'secret' recipe that has been spoken about. However, I like this recipe and I took some elements from the 'secret' recipe to enhance flavor with some of the spices. I've added my own touch to this salsa, just as you will need to do with your own. What I have found with salsa is that you can get a recipe but it may not be to your own taste so you have to experiement a little with the combination and the amounts. So try this recipe and then play with it until you have your perfect combination!

Fresh Salsa (Homemade)
4-6 tomatoes (whatever kind you like...just not cherry or grape..they are too small)
1-2 serrano peppers
1/4-1/2 onion - you can use white, yellow, or red - your choice
1 bell pepper - again it's your choice...green or red
Cut all of these ingredients to the chunkiness that you prefer. I like to do the peppers and onion really small and the tomatoes a little more chunky...I love tomatoes.
Now for the spices... I like to add my spices 1/2 tsp at a time so that I don't overdo it and it's easier to add more than to subtract more from the salsa.
Garlic Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Chile Powder (I don't add so much of this...it makes it hot)
Cumin
Oregano
(I use all of these as bottled spices)
Stir around and add the juice of one lime or 2-4 TBSP of bottled lime juice.
Taste and adjust the spices to your liking...this is my secret...I usually add 2 TBSP of sugar at this point to sweeten it a little and take the bite out of my salsa...again this is up to you.
If you want to really make your salsa hot...add fresh cilantro to the mix.
Now the most important thing to know about homemade salsa is that the longer you let it marinade together the better it gets. I usually make my salsa the day before I want to eat it. ENJOY!

Peaches for Me and You

My peach tree has really started to produce a lot of fruit. I am thrilled about it and also burdened by all the peaches. This year I gave a lot away to family and then I canned a lot of them as well. I did reserve a few to make this delicious peach cobbler for my family. (Sorry I didn't make cheesecake Nattie!) I didn't get to snap a picture before it was gone and it tasted much better than it looked anyhow.

Peach Cobbler
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar

Put in saucepan, bring to boil, simmer 10 minutes.

8 TBSP butter

Melt in bottom of your 9 x 13 baking pan

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 cup milk

Stir just until combined. Pour batter over butter - DO NOT STIR. Pour peaches and syrup over batter - DO NOT STIR. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg or both!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on top and peaches are bubbly. Serve with or without ice cream!

Wedding Cake - YUMMY

Making dinner and then posting about it was getting a little too much for me. I am now going to try and be better about posting my fun in the kitchen events. I have a few to put on that are desserts. First thing I did was that I made a wedding cake for my sister-in-law. She wanted just a basic white cake with white frosting and strawberry filling. I used a recipe I got from the food network to make the cake. It is super easy and super delicious. Many people at the wedding were not only complimenting the look of the cake but the taste as well. Here is the recipe.

Twist on a White Cake
1 box white cake mix
1 1/3 cup water
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together all ingredients for 30 seconds on low speed and then for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour into well greased cake pan and bake. I like to bake mine nice and slow so that it cooks evenly and is still moist when you are through. I do 300 degrees for starting at around 25 minutes for an 8 inch round and then I add more time as necessary. My husband's favorite part about making cakes for other people is that they need to be level which means I have to cut off the top parts of the cake and he gets to eat them.

If you want to put a filling in your cake you must first torte the cake (cut it evenly in half so that you have a top and bottom portion). I bought my strawberry filling at Baker's Cash and Carry in SLC (367 W Paxton Ave). They have delicious fillings that are premade and can be stored on your pantry shelf for quite some time without going bad. They have a variety of flavors such as cream cheese, raspberry, lemon, bavarian cream, and of course strawberry. The prices are different depending on which flavor you would like. The strawberry was about 4.50 for one bag. It took two bags to fill this cake. The other filling in the middle is just regular icing colored orange. No flavor.

For the icing I used icing from a can. One secret though is that if you want a buttercream like finish you will need to use whipped frostings!

What's for dinner??

If you are a wife or a woman you have probably heard this question numerous times...too many to count or even try to remember. It used to really get on my nerves when I was working and my husband would call and want to know what was for dinner. I would think WHAT??? YOU HAVE TWO HANDS! Now that I have more time to explore foods and different options I don't mind him asking. I usually, if not always, have an answer to that question now. I don't always make the most nutritious meals (I wish I could), but I do always make a meal that fill his belly. So if any of you out there are thinking, 'I don't know what to make'...all you have to do is quit your job and start to cookin'. If you still work..well order in or go out!:)

Porcupine Meatballs

These meatballs are super easy and one of Jeff's favorite dinners. He doesn't usually ask for a certain meal but for these he will ask almost as much as he does for pizza.

Porcupine Meatballs
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup uncooked rice (if you don't use instant it's better)
1 (10.75 ounce) can tomato soup
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

Combine ground beef, onion, 1/4 cup water and uncooked rice. Shape into 1-inch balls. Arrange in greased baking dish. Combine soup, chili powder, salt and 1/2 cup water. Pour over meatballs. Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and enjoy. I usually serve these on some rice. 6 servings

Try these for an easy and delicious dinner!

Cheesecake

Did you notice yet that I love dessert? I haven't been the best about posting my dinner recipes on here because of two reasons...sometimes I think why share such a simple recipe and then another reason is I forget to take a picture and the dinner is gone. So in the future you may see some stock photos if I got the recipe from an online cookbook. This is a mixture of a few recipes for cheesecake. I like to keep my cheesecake as simple as possible so as to not interfere with the goodness I call cheesecake.

1 premade graham cracker crust
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
little bit of cinnamon sugar

Unwrap your graham cracker crust and dust it lightly with the cinnamon sugar. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time; mix just until blended. You may want to add a little lemon zest to your cream cheese mixture to give it a unique flavor. Pour cream cheese mixture into crust and bake for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Peanut Butter Bars

Remember in school (back when they allowed us to have desserts) the yummy donuts, the delicous peanut butter bars...aww that sounds great! I got this recipe from the old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Everytime I make them they disappear quickly. I am making them today for my husband's family dinner. I always make a double batch when I visit them because everyone wants to have more than one! Here is the recipe...


Peanut Butter Bars

1 c flour
1 c quick rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 c peanut butter
1/4 c milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together. Add egg, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, oats, and baking soda and then add to butter mixture. Mix until incorporated. Spray cooking dish and pour mixture onto dish. Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes. Immediately after removing from oven pour chocolate chips on top and return to oven for one minute. Spread melted chocolate over top of bars. For an extra touch you can make this frosting to drizzle over the top of the bars. Mix 1/4 c powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, and 2-3 Tbsp milk.

These are yummy anytime of the year and anytime of the day! Enjoy!

A Place to Start

Well...It's hard to find a place to start so I'm starting with this. The purpose of this blog is to share with family and friends recipes that I have tried and loved. These recipes have been passed to me by many people and I will usually say where the recipe came from (if I know). I hope that you will try some of these recipes and use them regularly for yourself and your family. Most of my posts will be accompanied by a picture so that you can see what it is I'm serving up!