Meatball appetizers

1 pkg of italian meatballs - cooked
1 15 oz jar of grape jelly
1 jar of chili sauce
1 tb. brown sugar

mix jelly, chili sauce and brown sugar together in a pan and heat until the jelly melts. Pour over cooked meatballs and simmer for a while. Serve with toothpicks or over rice.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasonings

salt and pepper to taste 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a small baking dish.
	Mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
	Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, lightly browned.

Cafe Rio-style Sweet Pork salad

Sweet Pork
4 lbs pork roast
12 oz tomato sauce
3 tsp minced garlic
2 c brown sugar
3 tsp cumin
12 oz coke or Dr. Pepper ( I use caffeine free)
4 TBSP molasses
½ tsp salt
Combine in crockpot and cook 10 hours on low
Remove and shred
Add: ½ juices from roast
4 oz. green salsa verde (Herdez brand)
4 drops Tabasco sauce (opt.)

Lime Rice
2 T butter
1 ¼ cups rice
2 ¼ cups chicken broth or Water and bullion
¾ t. salt Pepper to taste
Juice and zest of 1 lime
2 t chopped cilantro
1/8 t. cumin
In pot melt butter, fry rice for 2 minutes. Add liquid and other ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and cook until rice is tender approx. 20 mins

Creamy Cilantro Dressing
1 pkg. buttermilk ranch dressing (dry)
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh cilantro (chop after measuring)
1 t. minced garlic
½ t. garlic
2 T fresh lime juice
1/8 t. cumin
1 T. sugar
Opt. ¼ t. cayenne pepper
A few drops Tabasco sauce
Blend in blender until smooth

Marie’s Pico de Gallo
Tomatoes (unpeeled)
Onions Cilantro – chopped
Lime juice

Black beans
Guacamole
Parmesean cheese
Tortilla strips
Tortillas and cheese

Peanut brittle

3/4 c water
1 c. white karo
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cube butter or margarine
1 3/4 tsp. soda
1 Tbsp. vanilla (prefer Mexican)
2 to 2 1/2 c RAW peanuts

Before starting mixture put soda in a small dish, salt in another, the vanilla in another and get butter cut. Butter 2 cookies sheets. Use heavy pan place sugar, water and syrup in it and cook over high hear. When the syrup starts to thicken (soft ball stage) add peanuts. Stir constantly!! Watch for the peanuts to turn to a pale beige and syrup to change from crystal to pale yellow or straw color. Remove immediately from heat. Stir in vanilla, salt, and butter. Then add soda and stir 10 strokes or until it foams. Pour onto the cookie sheets. In about 2 min. the edges will stiffen and you must go around the edges and pull the candy to make it thin. You may want to half the recipe till you get expert at the pulling. Good Luck!

Pumpkin Bars

In honor of Thanksgiving -

2 cups pumpkin
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups flour

Mix together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, oil. Combine dry ingredients and then add to pumpkin mixture. Pour into well greased 1/2 sheet cake pan. Bake 350º for 30 minutes. Cool and frost with -
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cube butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar ( equals 4 cups)
Mix and spread over cooled pumpkin bars.

Easy Orange Rolls

2 cans of refrigerator biscuits
zest of 2 oranges
1/2 c. butter - softened only
1 c. sugar

Mix the softened butter, zest and sugar. Dip biscuits and lay in pan. Bake according to the biscuit wrapper. Add a couple of minutes if necessary.

Egg Nog Pound Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 (4 serving) instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 c. Egg Nog

3/4c. Oil

4 Eggs

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

Pwd Sugar for Garnish

Preheat 350. In large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, egg nog and oil. Beat on low until moistened. Agg eggs and nutmeg; beat on high for 4 min. Pour into greased and floured 10 inch bunt pan. Bake 40-45 min, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 min, remove from pan. Cool completely Sprinkle with pwd sugar. 

Chinese Pepper Steak

this is a new one for me, tried a judy and made something new for company last night. we loved it (and it's healthy):

1/2 lb steak trimmed and sliced thin
2 Tbl soy sauce
1/2 c beef broth
little minced giner root or sprinkle of powdered giner
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash cayenne pepper

olive oil
1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced

1/4 c cold water
1 1/2 Tbl cornstarch
salt/pepper

marinade the meat in the first group of ingredients, at least 1 hour (i did more like 3 hours, it was easier at the time, and it tasted great).
heat oil til hot, stir fry meat (reserve marinade) til no longer pink. add a little marinade and cover to cook meat all the way through til tender (5 minutes or so). add green peppers and onions, cook 5 minutes, add tomatoes. combine cornstarch and water to slurry, add to marinade, add that to the food and stir constantly till it thickens (1-2 minutes at most). salt and pepper to taste.

serve over rice. (makes 2 big servings, 308 cal each, according to my handy cookbook)

Chicken Soup

I'm not a huge fan of boring chicken noodle soup but I thought I'd give it a go anyways. This is what I did and it was pretty good I must admit.

In a med large pot dump in some milk and some water about equal amounts.

If you want lots of soup add more of everything. If less. Opposite that.

Slice lots of carrots celery and a bunch of green onions

Get all that stuff on a low boil

Add a fat clove of minced garlic

A chunk of butter. Mmmmm. Or margarine. What ever was in the wrapper.

Then I just started grabbing the seasonings like an idiot.

A shake of garlic powder

A shake of basil

Couple shakes of minced dry onion. We like onion.

A shake of oregano but Mom said that was a bad idea

Lots of Salt and Pepper but mine came out a little too peppery

Pack of chicken broth seasoning. Or bull-ee-on.

Cook it all down. Long style.

Chunk up some defrosted uncooked chicken and toss that all in. 

Then I made some homemade noodles. They were fun. 

One egg

Cup flour

And I doused it with water a couple times cause mine was too crumbly

Work it till it barely starts to stick together and get your hands in there and make a ball

Roll the stuff out on a dry surface

Make it thin till it almost tears apart

Let it dry a minute and slice it up to small noodle width. They'll expand in the water. Thin is good.

Then Mom said that they need to be dry so they don't break up in the water so I took a magazine and started fanning them. I considered a blow dryer. 

With the soup on a low roll I started dropping noodles in. 

Let the noodles cook at least 15 min. It doesn't seem that long I promise.

And thats it. Best chicken noodle soup I've ever made. And the first.

ErockN Out!

Cheesy Delicious French Dip by ErockN

Bag of hogi rolls

Lots of sliced roast beef

Provolone cheese

Ah Jews sauce for dipping

A little butter on the bread never hurt a dang soul

Pile the roast beef on

A slice of cheese

Prepare Ah Jews! according to instructions. That means read the pack. I know. Lame.

Broil in the oven open face

Don't let 'em burn

DIP Chomp DIP Chomp Slurp Repeat

Danni and I eat these by the pound with the fam.

Peace,

ERIC

Easy chili

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion ( I use 1/2 of course)
1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes (ground up in processor)
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 15 oz. can chili beans in sauce (or great northern if mild desired)
1 1/2 c. tomato juice or water
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 garlic clove minced
Salt and pepper to taste.

In a large saucepan brown meat, onions and garlic together. Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans and juice.

Season with chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

8 slices bacon, chopped

3 LBS potatoes, scrubbed

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 TBS flour

4 c. chicken broth

1 c heavy cream

1 sprig thyme or 1/4 t dried thyme

4 c shredded cheese plus additional for garnish

1 c sour cream plus additional for garnish

pepper

3 scallions, sliced thin

cook bacon until crisp. While the bacon is cooking, use a vegetable peeler to remove wide strips of peel from the potatoes; reserve the peels. cut the peeled potatoes into 3/4 inch pieces. transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towel. Add the reserved potato skins to the bacon fat in the pot and cook until crisp. transfer the skins to the plate with the bacon. 

add the onion to the fat remaining in the pot and cook over med heat until golden brown. stir in the garlic and flour and cook until fragrant, about 1 min. Gradually whisk in the broth and cream, stir in the thyme and potatoes, bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to med-low, cover the pot, and cook until the potatoes are tender. 

transfer 2 cups of the cooked potatoes to a bowl. Puree the remaining soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and warm over medium heat. 

Off the heat stir in the cheese until melted, then whisk in the sour cream. Return the reserved potatoes to the pot and season with pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with bacon, fried potato skins, scallions, cheese and sour cream.  

Cookies

I am posting two website addresses that have hundreds of cookie recipes. I thought with Christmas coming in just 56 days we might be looking for some new recipes for those neighbor plates of goodies.

http://www.cookierecipesonline.com/

http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/

Good luck and Have fun baking!!

Garlic Lime Chicken

¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp dried parsley
½ tsp garlic powder

2 tsp garlic powder
6 boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbls butter
1 Tbls olive oil
3 Tbls lime juice

Mix together all seasonings except 2tsp garlic powder and lime juice. Cover chicken with seasonings on both sides. Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat and sauté until chicken is golden brown. (5-10 minutes each side.) Sprinkle with remaining garlic powder and lime juice. Cook five minutes stirring frequently to cover evenly with sauce. Serve. (We like with flavored rice and green beans or tossed salad. Good with broccoli and baked potatoes and/or sweet potatoes. Serves 6)

request

Mom, please post the cafe' rio pork and cilantro ranch recipes!! :) thanks 

Sticky Chicken (sweet n' sour)

4 boneless chicken breasts sliced into tenders

onion pwd and salt for seasoning

1-2 eggs, beaten

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. cornstarch

2 TB oil

1/4 c. water

1/2 tsp. salt

pinch black pepper

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. white vinegar

4 Tsp. ketchup

1 TB soy sauce

Season chicken with onion pwd and salt. Combine flour and cornstarch in a bowl. Beat Eggs in a separate bowl. First dip chicken in egg and then flour cornstarch mixture. Fry in frying pan with the 2 TB oil until browned. Lay in greased casserole dish. Combine rest of ingredients to make sauce. Pour over the chicken. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour, basting (rotating every so often so the chicken can be fully coated) When done, juices should be thick and bubbly. 

this is from school, it's one of the favorites served over white rice or ham fried rice it's awesome!! 

green chili

i already put this one on myfamily, but it's still one of my favorites (we're having it tonight)

2 lbs pork, diced small (ground pork would work too, and be faster)
garlic salt
1 sm-med onion, diced small
1 26 oz can mild, roasted, peeled green chilis (look for hatch brand, or equilivant)--diced large
1 14.5 oz can diced, chili ready tomatoes (this adds the only heat, so if you really, really don't like heat, use 2-3 fresh, diced tomatoes or skip all together)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
salt/pepper as needed

Brown pork (really brown, not just cooked through) in large pan (i like a wide skillet with a lid, if possible) in a little hot canola oil. use garlic salt to taste. add onion, saute til soft. add chilis with their juice, tomatoes, cumin, & oregano. cover and simmer 1/2--3 hours (long time is good, not necessary).

serve with beans, cheese, fresh tomato, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, corn, tortillas... fried eggs, in a burrito, over a baked potato, with a tostada, as a dip for corn chips, etc...

Salsa CousCous Chicken

3 cups hot cooked couscous or rice (cook as directed on pkg)
1 T olive or vegetable oil
1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 chicken thighs, skinned
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup water
2 T dried currants (raisins if you are on a budget)
1 T honey
3/4 t cumin
1/2 t cinnamon

Heat oil in large skillet over med-high. Heat until hot. Add almonds. Cook 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove almonds from skillet with slotted spoon. Set aside.
Add garlic to skillet. Cook and stir 30 seconds. Add chicken, cook 4-5 minutes or until browned, turning once.
In medium bowl, combine salsa and all remaining ingredients; mix well. Add to chicken. Mix well, reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 20 minutes or until chicken is fork tender and juices run clear. Stir in almonds. While chicken is cooking, prepare couscous or rice. Serve chicken mixture with couscous. Serves 4.

I got really sick of all my meals either tasting like marinara or mexican. So I tried this one (got if from my mother-in-law). It is delicious, and spices things up for a change. Totally worth the random ingredients you have to buy at the store.

recommendation

if you want to label your posts (dinner, dessert, bread, etc), we can look them up by catagory in the future.

sour cream enchiladas

I made these last night to have for dinner. I'll give you the recipe that I actually did, but if you want the original recipe that I adapted it from, go to Allrecipes.com and search this title.
These little guys were pretty hot. I tried to tame it down a little by leaving out the green-chili salsa it calls for, but I think next time I make it I'm going to change it up even more. Here's what I did.

1 bunch of cilantro (i left out the stems.)
1 cup of sour cream
2 (7 oz) cans of jalapeno salsa
1/2 can of diced green chilies

Puree this in a blender or food processor and set aside.

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cooked and shredded
Flour Tortillas
1/2 can of cream of chicken soup
2nd 1/2 of can of diced green chilies

I read online to fry the tortillas up before stuffing them because it keeps them from getting soggy. I didnt fry them, just warmed them. But it might not hurt.
Mix the second ingredients together and fill tortillas.

Put enough of the sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish and place tortillas in with seam down. Pour the remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with shredded cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.

*Note: Sadly, I made these Saturday and didnt get to bake them because we went over to a friend's house. I left them in the fridge over night and we had them for lunch after church. My tortillas were SOGGY. So, dont do that. (i knew it was going to happen, but I was left in a pickle and did the best I could.) The sauce has a might good kick. I think next time I make them I'm going to put in less jalapeno salsa in the sauce. I also am going to put in more sour cream. I think I want to put cheese in the tortillas, and if you want to make more than just 6 enchiladas you need more than 2 pieces of chicken. (or maybe my chickens were just small) I ran out of sour cream, but I think that would be good in the enchiladas and I would definitely serve some with the dish as a garnish or something. Anyway, I liked them. I really liked the cilantro flavor. Maybe I'll tweek it and post it again after I mess around with it. Enjoy.

Morning Glory Muffins

2 c. Flour (may use whole wheat if desired)
1 1/4 c. White Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 C. Shredded Carrots
1/2 c. Craisins or Raisins
1/2 c. Nuts (optional)
1/2 c. Flaked Coconut
1 Apple peeled, shredded
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. Applesauce
1/2 c. Canola oil
2 Tsp. Vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, salt. Stir in carrot, craisins, coconut, apple, nuts. In a separate bowl beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and applesauce. Stir into flour mixture. Mix until just moistened. Scoop into greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Bake 17-20 minutes at 375º.

Family's Favorite Granola

8 c. Old-Fashioned Oats
1 2/ c. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 c. Wheat Germ
8 oz. Coconut
1 1/2 c. Sunflower Seeds - We like Honey Roasted
1/2 c. Canola Oil
3/4 c. Honey
2 tsp. Vanilla
Cinnamon - optional
Mix oats, wheat germ, coconut, and sunflower seeds together. Heat oil, and honey together until bubbly. Remover from heat, add vanilla, and stir into oat mixture.
Grease 2 large cookies sheets and spread 1/2 of mix onto each pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon, mix gently and level in pan. Bake 325º for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through. If you prefer it chunky let the granola cool in pan then break up and store in gallon-sized plastic bags.Dried fruit may be added at the end.

Fast Amazing Pickle Dip

If you read Moms post on her blog, she mentioned our conversation that sparked the idea of this blog so I wanted to share our favorite dip recipe with everyone.

So we have all eaten the pickle dip mom picks up from the store. Well its not available in Reno so Mandy makes this amazing dip that I know Dad will love.

1/2 block of fat free cream cheese (use more cream cheese to make more dip)

Dill pickle juice

Chopped up dill pickles

(you can play with seasonings Garlic salt, onion powder etc.) I like it plain.

So soften the cream cheese in the microwave for a couple seconds, then pour in some pickle juice the more you pour the more it tastes like pickles and the thiner it gets, no exact measurement. Then throw in the chopped up pickles grab a bag of Ruffles, and BAM!! the best pickle dip ever and super fast.

-Adam/Mandy Fluke

New Blog needs to be Christened -

I am thinking my favorite recipe deserves to be the first of this blog.

Toffee/Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c. real Butter
1/4 c. Crisco
1/2 c. White Sugar
1 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 1/2 - 4 c. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 cup Chocolate chips (more if you want)
1/2 package Heath chips
Mix butter, Crisco, sugars. Add eggs, vanilla. In separate bowl mix dry ingredients. Add to wet mixture and mix. Add chips last and mix gently.
Bake 375º for about 9.5 minutes.