My new love...

Yep, that's right. It is a kitchen electric...a KitchenAid Mixer. And one large enough for our family! I am in love! I have made bread, cake, waffles, etc. All in a short time. I had been holding out on buying one, because, well, I am just not good at spending money. But when I had the opportunity to purchase a $500 mixer for $190, I just couldn't resist! And so far, so good!

Easy baked chicken for a family

Mushroom and Cream Cheese Chicken Bake

-6 boneless chicken breasts
-6 tbsp. butter
-8 oz cream cheese (softened)
-1/2 c. crumbled bacon
-2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Put butter in 13x9 inch pan. Place chicken in pan and sprinkle with bacon. Mix soup and cream cheese; pour mixture over chicken. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serve with whole grain brown rice (I made a batch of this and put chunk frozen veggies in it, and some chicken bouillon and it was delicious!)

The whole meal had great reviews by everyone in the family (of course, maybe it was the fact we had peanut butter/chocolate homemade ice cream cake for dessert!)

Best Steak Recipe!

This is the best HEALTHY steak recipe ever!  The serving size is for ONE, because this coincided with the diet that I am on, so just multiply it by however many people you are serving.

BALSAMIC MUSTARD CRUSTED STEAK

Ingredients:

3.5 oz beef tenderloin (lean, think filet mignon)

1 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper (or fresh pepper)

1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 2 fresh garlic cloves)

Mix all seasonings in mixing bowl.  Line a broiler pan with foil and place steak on top.  Coat evenly with mustard mixture and let stand 10 minutes.  Broil stead to desired doneness. (I like medium, so I did 4-5 minutes on each side).  Let stand 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

It is SO yummy and will MELT in your mouth!  Oh- and only 125 calories too! :)

Spiced Plum Bread

I have moved on from apples to plums. So, after having a garbage bag full of plums, I needed something to do with them. So, Spiced Plum Bread was born...

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c chopped plums (I left the skins on, some people peel them)
1 c chopped walnuts (pecans are good too)
1/2 c applesauce
1/4 c milk

Ingredients — Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed [half a stick]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine all ingredients and transfer batter to pan. Sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

****I quadrupled the recipe and make 4 loaves at once. I used a huge pot to mix all the ingredients. The only problem was that 2 of my loaves baked in 60 minutes, the other ones really needed almost 70 minutes.

Apples galore!

We have lots of apples. We have three apple trees and then a good friend of ours has a bunch as well. So we ended up with tons of apples. Enough that I gave Sara three full brown paper grocery bags of apples, because you can only make so much applesauce and apple pies! :) Brian even got into peeling the apples after I sliced my finger, which left me less than capable of continuing to peel... :)

Recipes to share...

Applesauce:

INGREDIENTS
20 medium sized apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3 cups water
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

Apple Pie with French Crumb Topping:

About 8 sliced & peeled good cooking apples

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Dash of ground cloves

1 tbsp. lemon juice or 1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. cornstarch or flour4 vanilla wafers, crushed, or 3 tbsp. finely ground nuts

1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell

FRENCH CRUMB TOPPING:
1/3 c. butter

1/3 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. flour

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch (or flour). Mix together with apples, brown sugar, spices, and lemon juice. Sprinkle wafers or nuts on bottom of pie shell. (This keeps crust from becoming soggy.) Spoon apple mixture into pie shell.

Make French Crumb Topping by mixing 1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar together. Cut in 3/4 cup flour. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle topping over apples in pie plate. Bake for 50 minutes or until topping is golden and apples are tender.

NOTE: If you prefer to use conventional top crust, brush unbaked top crust with egg yolk and 1 tablespoon cream mixed together. Dust with sifted powdered sugar when pie comes out of oven. Or use the following topping on top of the crust before baking.
2 tbsp. flour

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. chopped nuts

3 tbsp. dark corn syrup

2 tbsp. butter, softened

Mix all ingredients together and spread over unbaked top crust. Bake for about 50 minutes.

TIP: For a lovely taste thrill, mix 3 or 4 teaspoons of cinnamon into 1 quart softened vanilla ice cream. Refreeze. Serve a scoop of the cinnamon ice cream on warm apple-pie slices.

Pickles, pickles & more pickles.

My mom and I pickled tonight. Bread and Butter Pickles, Dill Pickles, and my fave, Sweet Pickles. Yum, Yum. Super easy fridge recipe that keeps the pickles fresh in the fridge for 6 months. For longer shelf life pickles you need to do more boiling and waiting (not good for someone as impatient as I am) but then you can keep them for 18 months or longer just right on the shelf.

Strawberry Jam making...

NO - COOK STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

4 c. fresh strawberries (yeilding 2 c. crushed strawberries)
4 c. granulated sugar
1 box non-flavored powdered pectin
3/4 c. water

Crush fresh picked stawberries. Measure out 2 cups of berries. In large bowl, mix together the berries and sugar. Let stand 10 minutes. Combine pectin and water in saucepan. Bring to boil; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir hot pectin into the fruit bowl; continue stirring. Don't worry if sugar is not completely dissolved. Ladle jam into freezer containers. Put lids on immediately. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours or until set. Refrigerate for a few weeks or freeze for up to a year.


Yummy, Yummy! We went and picked stawberries on Monday and made freezer jam. I made 30 large jars and also froze 7 bags of berries. Should last us a year. :)

Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Cheese Pie

Evidently, this pie got rave reviews by all 5 kids. I went to get my memory card to take a picture, and came back to this. Lovely. Thank you children. :)

Filling:
1/4 c cornstarch
1 c sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 c water
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen rhubard (cut in 1/2 inch chunks)
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen strawberries (sliced)
1 unbaked pie shell, 9 inch

Topping:
8 ounce pkg cream cheese
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs

Top Topping:
1/2 tub cool whip
sliced almonds

Directions:
In saucepan, combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add water and stir until well combined. Add rhubarb and strawberries. Cook, stirring often until mixture boils and thickens. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 10 m inutes. Meanwhile, for topping, beat cream cheese, eggs and sugar until smooth. Pour over pie. Reduce heat to 325 and return to oven for 35 minutes or until set. Cool. Chill several hours or overnight. Smooth cool whip over entire pie and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Enjoy!

To die for appetizer recipe!

So good...and very easy to make!

Bacon Asparagus Roll-Ups

12 slices white bread with crusts removed
1 container (8 oz.) soft cream cheese
2 T. chopped green onions
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
24 fresh asparagus spears
1/4 C. butter, melted
3 T. grated Parmesan cheese

Flatten bread with a rolling pin.In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, onions and bacon.

Spread mixture over bread slices. Cut asparagus to fit bread; place 2 spears on each bread slice.

Roll up bread slice and place seam side down on a greased baking sheet.

Brush with butter; then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400º for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately

Makes 12

My new favorite smoothie!

I was very proud of myself today. I ran a mile. I was as slow as molasses, but I DIDN'T stop! This was the first time I have ever ran a mile without stopping once. It was a 10 minute mile, but I don't care!

Anyway, back to my post, I made the most awesome smoothie. Here it is:

1 1/2 c. cold fat free milk
2 cups coarsely crushed ice
1/2 c. water
1 package (1.4 oz) sugar free instant chocolate pudding
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Blend it all up in the blender. Makes 3 LARGE servings. 167 calories if divided by 3. If you did 4 servings (still plenty) then it would only be 125 calories. This was so filling that it ended up being my dinner with a side of green beans (I know, lovely combo!)

Raspberry Cream Cheese Cake

Oh so fluffy and yummy! I made this cake for my mom to take to Enrichment night for Relief Society at church. It was the Relief Society's birthday...anyway, I made it in 2 9x13 inch pans and then layered them. For the first layer, I sliced off the top of the cake to make it smooth. Then I put a layer of 1/2 raspberry preserves and 1/2 raspberry pie filling (so, this was the filling in the center of the cake). Since I was in a hurry, I just used two boxes of Betty Crocker white cake mix. But then I made the frosting from scratch. I then put swirls of Raspberry pie filling across the top with just a sprinkle of coconut, just for decoration and added flavor. It really was good!

10 min prep

(I doubled the following recipe for my cake, since I made a large layered cake)

1 (8 ounce) cream cheese, room temperature
4 ounces unsalted butter softened
4 ounces vegetable shortening
1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon Almond Extract
2 lbs powdered sugar
food coloring (optional)

-Beat cream cheese, butter, and shortening till light and airy. Add preserves and extract and pulse till blended.
-Adding the sugar till the consistancy is where you want. Adding more for decorating and less to make a smooth and creamy frosting or glaze if you prefer.
-Add food coloring if wanted.

easy chicken finger recipe...sure to please!

This is such a great recipe...the kids really love it!

I call it "Pretzel & Sun Chip crunch chicken fingers"

Take even amounts of Sun Chips (we used harvest cheddar) and pretzels (doesn't matter what kind) and grind them up in the food processor.

Wet your chicken fingers in milk and egg mixture (no science to this, I did 2 eggs and about a half cup of milk)

Toss chicken fingers in gallon ziploc bag full of food processor mix. Put them on greased cookie sheets to bake right away. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (mine took longer because they were super thick).

The best thing is that you can make a ton of them and put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Put them in the freezer until frozen, then toss them into a gallon freezer bag, and then just defrost before you cook them. This is a great way to cook ahead of time.

My favorite honey mustard recipe:

1 cup mayonnaise
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons dijon mustard

sprinkle poppyseeds in it just for the heck of it! :)

-just mix everything together, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

homemade whole wheat noodles

The kids made the BEST homemade whole wheat noodles tonight for our chicken noodle soup. So easy, and so fun! I would put my chicken noodle soup recipe here, because it was delicious, except I don't really know what I did! :) I boiled chicken then shredded it. Oh yeah- and I put a couple pieces of left over lime chicken from last week in it. Then I chopped up carrots and celery. Added parsley, onion, salt, pepper, soy sauce (thought I would try it)...and I think a couple of other things. VERY tasty! Fresh noodles only need to cook for about 5 minutes, so I added them very last after I let the soup simmer for about a half hour.

Whole Wheat Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups 100% whole wheat flour
2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

Water, as needed

DIRECTIONS:Blend together flour, eggs and salt. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together, but is not sticky. Check after each tablespoon to see if dough has firmed. I used about 12 tbsp of water for this doubled recipe.

Roll dough as thin as you can, forming a rectangle (or, something that resembles a rectangle, if the kids are doing it!). If dough starts to spring back when rolled, let the dough rest for ten minutes and resume rolling.

Slice the dough as thick as you would like the noodles. I have heard you can roll it up in a jelly roll and do this too. For the kids it was easier to just slice it. We hung the strings over a bowl to dry.

Fresh noodles will only take about 4 minutes to cook — they are done when they float to the top of the water.

Makes two medium-sized portions of pasta...we, of course, doubled it for our brood.

Zesty Lime Chicken

Great recipe! 2 ways to do it. Fix it up and throw it in the fridge for 4 hours to marinate (this is what I did today). Or, make it in a freezer container and throw it in the freezer. When ready, thaw it out and throw it on the grill! I used a George Forman grill tonight.

Put six boneless, skinless chicken breast in a container (obviously, I had to double the recipe for my brood!)
Add:
1/2 cup chicken broth
zest of one lime
1/3 cup lime juice
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon garlic
1 Tablespoon onion flakes
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon pepper

So good and yummy...and good for you! Everyone agreed this was a great one to share!

Funnel Cakes

So cool...it was like being at the state fair! We had Family Home Evening tonight and had Funnel Cakes for our treat! So quick, easy, and oh so fun!

1. Heat three cups of vegetable oil over medium high heat until it reaches 350-375 degrees.

2. Whisk together 4 cups of flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well, then add 2 1/2 cups milk 3 large eggs. Blend until smooth.

3. Put batter in gallon sized bag. Remove excess air, and seal. Cut 1/4 inch wide hole in bag. Carefully squeeze 1 cup of batter back and forth into oil making a free form lacy web. Cook until golden on bottom, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, turn the cake over and cook until golden brown on other side, about 1 more minute. Transfer funnel cake to paper towels to drain.

4. Dust funnel cakes with powdered sugar and serve warm. I also did some with drizzled honey and powedered sugar. And another with freezer strawberry jam with large chunks of strawberries...and then of course, powdered sugar.

These were quick and easy, and got 2 thumbs up from everyone.

flower pot pancakes...so fun!

Today I surprised the kids with a new breakfast...it was so easy and so much fun! Set oven to 350 degrees. On the griddle, make 5 inch round pancakes - make sure they are on the thin side. Spray a muffin tin (make sure to do this!). After the pancakes are done mold them into the muffin tin. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Put them on a plate and dress them up with fresh strawberries (I used strawberry freezer jam from strawberries we picked over the summer), blueberries, or any other berries and then a dollop of whip cream! YUM! YUM!

The girls also had fun doing some valentine crafts this afternoon! We plan to finish those up tomorrow.

Red, White & Blue "everything" cookies

So, Alex came home Thursday night and said - "Oh, I need 48 cookies for tomorrow...and I want them to be chocolate chip and red, white & blue!"...I was like "What?" and he said "Everyone passed their "citizenship test" (um, that's good!) and so we are celebrating that and Barack Obama...I told my teacher you would make cookies!". *Sigh*, thanks, son.

So, here is what we came up with. Because Valentime's Day is around the corner, the store had just red M&M's, and they were Cherry Chocolate flavored. We used those. Then, I used White Chocolate Chips. That left "Blue". So, I bought 3 HUGE bags of M&M's and the girls spent a 1/2 hour sorting out all the blue M&M's. One bag was Peanut Butter filled, so in all we had "White Chocolate, Cherry, Peanut Butter M&M cookies". They sound kind of funny, but YUM, were they good!

Here is the recipe *makes 24 cookies*:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Cherry Chocolate M&M's
1 cup Blue M&M's
1 cup White Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, white chocolate chips, and M&M's. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Peppermint Coconut Crunch cookies

Yum, Yum! :)

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups coconut
1 1/2 cups homemade peppermint bark*
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Directions
1)Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2)Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes).

3)Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

4)On low speed, add baking soda and salt, and then flour. Mix completely.

5)Stir in oats, coconut, pecans, and Andes baking chips.

6)Measure out 2 tablespoons for large or 1 tablespoons for small cookies. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet two inches apart. Press lightly.

7)Sprinkle some of the remaining chips (from the 10 oz. bag) on top of each cookie.

8)Bake for 20 minutes for large cookies or 12-15 minutes for small. Do not overbake.

*Melt white chocolate on wax paper on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with crushed candycanes...once cooled, break up into chips. Or, if it is the holiday season, pickup some Andes peppermint baking chips at your local store...though you can't beat the homemade peppermint bark!

Warm Crab Dip....YUMMY!

Oooh, rich and gooey (and of course, low fat...HAH!)...and soooooo good!





RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Old Bay or other seafood seasoning
4 ounces low-fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup milk
8 ounces crabmeat, fresh or canned(drained)
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar or soft Fontina
Sliced French Bread and tortilla chips, for serving

1. Lightly oil or butter a small shallow casserole (about 1 1/2 quarts). Heat the oven to 375°.

2. Melt the butter in a medium-size skillet. Add the onion and garlic, and saute them over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the Old Bay or other seafood seasoning and cook another 30 seconds, continuing to stir. Remove the skillet from the heat.

3. Using an electric mixer, blend the cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise. Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and milk, and blend the mixture again until it's smooth. With a spoon, stir in the crabmeat, half of the cheese, and the sauteed onion and garlic.

4. Transfer the dip to the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with a spoon. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top. Place the dish in the oven and bake until the top of the dip is bubbly, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm with bread and tortilla strips. Serves 12 as an appetizer.

Pineapple Cheese Ball

I FINALLY got my gosh darned cheese ball right! :) The trick is that you need to open the can of pineapple, drain it as good as you can, and then put it in a bowl (open to the air) in the fridge for 2 days, so that it can dry out. I tried three times to make this recipe and all I ended up with was a bunch of soup...then, my house cleaner was over here, and she says "why not let it dry out in the fridge for a couple days?"...thanks Sue! It ended up being worth the wait, as it was very tasty!

Ingredients:

-- 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
-- 1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained (and dried out in fridge)

-- 2 tbsp finely chopped green onions

-- 4 tbsp chopped green bell pepper

-- 1 tbsp seasoned salt

-- 1 cup chopped pecans

-- crackers

Mix cream cheese, pineapple, onions, bell pepper and salt. Shape into 2 (or 1 big) balls. Roll in chopped pecans. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. Serve with crackers.