Sunday, November 29, 2009

Quick Candy Cookies

Once again.... from PW!

Ingredients:

Refrigerator Cookie Dough
Miniature Chocolate Candies

Directions:

Slice the cookie dough into 1 to 1 ½ inch slices. Lay the slices on their side and cut them into quarters. Place each quarter into a greased mini-muffin tin. Peel the wrapper from as many pieces of candy as cookies you’re going to make. (Don’t be afraid to try different combinations of candies and dough.)

Bake the cookie dough in a 350-degree oven for just a few minutes, about 6 to 8 at the most. You’ll want to take them out just when they start to turn golden.

Almost as soon as you pull the warm cookies from the oven, begin lightly pressing one piece of candy into each cookie. The warmer the cookies, the better. They’ll grab onto the pieces of candy and work their magic, making the candy nice and soft and melty. And ridiculous.

When they’re all done, carefully remove from muffin tins with a spoon and arrange on a nice decorative platter.

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies

I think I'm in love with The Pioneer Woman. Seriously. She shares some of the best recipes!!!

This one is a favorite for our OU football watching at my dad's house!

The second time I made them I only cut the bacon in half and we liked them better!

Ingredients:

20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
2 cubes Cream Cheese (Softened)
1 pound Thin(regular) Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

Directions:

If you have them, slip on some latex gloves for the pepper prep… Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT). Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle. (At this point, you can freeze them, uncooked, in a Ziploc bag for later use).

Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

Serve immediately, or they’re also great at room temperature.

Corn Bread - Jiffy Style

We LOVE cornbread. I used to buy boxes of Jiffy when it was on a good sale and would have a pretty good stock of it. One particular day when I went to make some I was all out. So, I went to the trusty internet and looked up a good substitute. I haven't bought a box of Jiffy since.

I make this in a 9x9 pan and it's a little on thin side so I usually double the recipe for the same size pan.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 c. milk

Directions:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
Whisk in vegetable oil and mix until dry mixture is smooth and lumps are gone.
Combine mix with egg and milk, mixing well.
Pour into pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400*.

Easy Peasy Chili

If you want a recipe that is really good but a little more involved CLICK ON THIS LINK it is great! I love Wendy's Chili and this tastes really good!

If you're wanting something even more quick and just as tasty, try this next one:

Sooooo easy. And a crowd pleaser.

This recipe doesn't use meat. Why? Because I'm cheap. I don't buy a lot of meat and I think chili tastes just as good without meat. But you can surely add a pound of ground turkey (my choice) or ground beef and it will be just as delicious.

Make this with a pan (or 2) of This Cornbread to go with!

Ingredients:

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cans (14.5 oz) beans of your choosing (kidney, pinto, etc...)
1 can tomato paste
1-2 cups water
1 packet chili seasoning

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a crockpot on low for a few hours.

Tortilla Chicken Casserole

My friend Roxie posted a recipe for her enchiladas a while back and this has been our 'go to Mexican dish' a lot lately. But I've kind of tweaked it to make it my own and even easier!!

Ingredients:

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
½ cup sour cream
1 packet taco seasoning
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
8-10 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (or Monterrey Jack)

Directions:

Cook chicken in the taco seasoning according to packet instructions.

Using a pizza cutter or kitchen shears cut up tortillas into about 1 inch pieces.

In a large bowl mix soup, sour cream, seasoned chicken and tortilla pieces. Dump into a 9x13 pan. Top with cheese.

Bake in a 350* oven for 20-25 minutes.

*note: to make this even easier... you can use canned chicken. You can also skip the step of cooking the chicken and just throw all the ingredients together.

Coconut Cream Pie

OH. MY. SCRUMPTIOUS!

Ingredients:

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt.
Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract.
Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.
Top with whipped topping, and with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut.

Note: To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Peanut Butter Pie

Super yummy! There is absolutely nothing in this world better than chocolate and peanut butter!

Ingredients:

8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
2/3 c. peanut butter
2 T. milk
4 oz. thawed whipped topping
graham cracker or chocolate cookie crust

Directions:

Beat cream cheese & peanut butter until smooth.
Add sifted powdered sugar & milk.
Beat until well mixed.
Fold in topping.
Spoon into pie shell.
Chill in freezer 15 min.

***you can also spread a layer of homemade hot fudge or hot fudge ice cream topping onto the crust before putting the guts of the pie into the shell. this step is highly suggested but not necessary to LOVE it!!!!

Basic Mexican Rice

Once again The Pioneer Woman saves the day!!
We invited the missionaries over for dinner a while back and made Tortilla Chicken Casserole. But, I knew that with their appetites, that would not be enough. So, I remembered seeing a basic rice recipe on PW's site and made it to supplement the dinner. It was a hit!

I used regular diced tomatoes instead of the Rotel cuz my kiddos DON'T DO SPICE. But, I wish I had used the Rotel because I think it would have had a little more flavor. And we don't do cilantro in our house.... I'm allergic. So, that got left off as well. In the end it was still very yummy!!!
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
  • ½ whole Large Onion, Chopped
  • 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 2 cups Long Grain Rice
  • 1 can Rotel (10 Ounce)
  • 1 can Whole Tomatoes (14.5 Ounce)
  • 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (more If Needed)
  • 1 teaspoon Cumin (more To Taste)
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • Fresh Cilantro, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and garlic, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add rice and garlic. Stir constantly, making sure the rice doesn’t burn. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Add Ro-tel and tomatoes. Stir to combine and let cook for 2 minutes. Finally, add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 additional minutes or until rice is done. Add more liquid as needed; rice shouldn’t be sticky.

Just before serving, sprinkle lots of freshly chopped cilantro over the top. Serve immediately.

Pecan Pie

This pie gets made once a year. For Thanksgiving. It's so yummy! The last few years I've even added a handful of chocolate chips and it is even more delicious!!!

Ingredients:

1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust
1 cup White Sugar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Corn Syrup
⅓ cups Melted Butter (salted)
3 whole Eggs Beaten
¼ teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup (heaping) Chopped Pecans

Directions:

Mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl.
Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of an unbaked pie shell.
Pour syrup mixture over the top.
Bake pie at 350ยบ for 50 minutes, being careful not to burn pecans and crust.
Allow to cool for several hours or overnight.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients
  • 1 package (around 26 Oz.) Shredded Frozen Hash Browns Or 6 Medium Potatoes (Peeled, Cooked, Cooled And Grated)
  • 1 can Cream Of Chicken Soup
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • ½ cup Milk
  • 1/2 cup To 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • 1 whole Small Onion Chopped
  • 2 cups Bread Crumbs
  • 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • ½ cups Butter, Melted

Mix together the potatoes, soup, sour cream, milk, cheese and onions. Spread it into a greased 9 x 13 dish.
Mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan with the melted butter. Spread it over the top of the casserole.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
This freezes well, too. Make it in two 8 x 8 pans and freeze one.


Recipe linked here.