Poppy Seed Salad

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 Tbsp. onion, pureed
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup oil

Combine all salad ingredients and refrigerate overnight to meld flavors together.

Salad:
1 lb. bacon
2 heads green leaf lettuce
1 head iceberg lettuce
1 lb. Swiss cheese, grated
1 small carton small curd cottage cheese

Cook bacon and crumble into small pieces.  Wash and tear lettuce; toss with cheeses and bacon and dressing just before serving.

Poppy Seed Spinach Salad

Salad:
Baby spinach leaves
Cucumber, sliced
Strawberries, quartered
1 large can Mandarin oranges
Sliced purple onion
Sugared slivered almonds

Dressing:

1 cup mayo
1 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Whisk dressing in gredients together.  Toss enough dressing to coat salad ingredients.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
½ onion chopped
Nature's Seasons seasoning blend
¼ cup butter
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cans chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 cups egg noodles (or homemade egg noodles, recipe below)
½ cup cream*
Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken breasts in crock-pot and season with salt and pepper.  Cook on high for 3 - 5 hours (chicken can be frozen, just needs to be cooked longer).  Remove from crock-pot and shred.

Peel and chop carrots, celery and onion.  Generously sprinkle with Nature's Seasonings and sauté in butter until soft, but still firm. Add flour. Cook, stirring until golden brown. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring chicken broth to a boil; add bay leaf, and egg noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add vegetables, shredded chicken and cream; simmer for 15 more minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

*can use half and half or evaporated milk, just isn't as creamy, obviously.

Homemade Egg Noodles

1 egg, beaten
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbs. milk
1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)

Mix all ingredients together, divide into balls, coat with flour and roll out thin (or use a pasta roller). Use a pizza cutter to cut into small strips and pull apart.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these for my older brother's birthday party last night and they were a HUGE hit!  It makes a large batch, which was a really good thing.  My husband even deemed them "extraordinary."  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  It was rated 4 1/2 stars and had been rated 7,128 times, so I figured it must be good...and it is!  As a side note, I always bake my cookies for a minute or two under what the recipe says to ensure truly soft cookies.  Enjoy!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 12 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 40 Minutes Servings: 72

"Here's an Allrecipes classic and much-loved chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses instant pudding mix in the batter."

INGREDIENTS:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 cups butter, softened 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla

pudding mix 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Easy, Delicious Fruit Salad

Ingredients

• 1 (29 ounce) cans peach slices, undrained
• 1 (20 ounce) cans pineapple chunks, undrained
• 1 (3 1/8 ounce) boxes dry vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 lb strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 1 bunch grapes (I used green)
  (Supplement with whatever fruit you like/have on hand. I prefer to leave out the blueberries and add oranges instead. I also added apple chunks.)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine peach juice, pineapple juice, and vanilla pudding mix.
2. Mix well until pudding is dissolved.
3. Pour desired amount of pudding sauce over fruit and stir.
4. Chill.

Katie Noel's Cheese Fondue

2 cups chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp garlic powder

4 C (1 lb) Swiss cheese, shredded

3 T cornstarch

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 loaf french bread, toasted.

Do not boil. Heat 1 3/4 c bouillon and garlic until hot. Add cheese, stirring constantly till melted. Cheese may not thoroughly combine with liquid.

In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch, salt, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and nutmeg with 1/4 cup cold bouillon. Stir into cheese mixture. When cornstarch is added, cheese will combine with liquid for smooth blend. Continue heating and stirring until smooth. Serve from fondue pot with cubes of toasted french bread.

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food coloring and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Pour batter into pan. This recipe makes more than a regular cake recipe so you can either do 2 9" pans or a 9x13 and then have some left over for a few cupcakes (that's usually what I do). Bake for 35-40 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 pound butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth, slowly add sugar. Add vanilla.

Or...


1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar 

I can't remember which one I use...

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Source: ldsliving.com

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Recipe from Nestle via ourbestbites.com

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.
2 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C white granulated sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C real butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 C chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark works best, you might find milk too sweet)
1 C chopped pecans (you are welcome to make it without nuts)

Vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream for serving (a must! I prefer ice cream)

optional: chocolate sauce (honestly, doesn’t really need chocolate sauce, but it looks pretty!)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

*There have been several comments about pies turning out runny. First and foremost, follow the instructions, completely (no margarine or anything from a tub!) I’ve made a million of these and never had that happen so I have no idea. The recipe is correct as written, it comes straight fromNestle!

Creamy Lemon Bars

I just made these for a family party and, oh my, they were good. The recipe comes from ourbestbites.com. Definitely worth checking out!

(Note: instead of using lemon, I used lime. The coloring still looked like lemon because of the eggs, so next time I might add a drop or two of green food coloring to make it look more like lime. Also, I don't have a good zester, so I skipped the peel. It still was great. I also doubled the recipe, so it took about 3 limes to get 1/2 cups fresh lime juice. Enjoy!)

Creamy Lemon Bars

20 Nilla Wafers, finely crushed
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold real butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese (you can use 1/3-less fat cream cheese)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. grated lemon peel, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (don’t even think about opening a bottle!)
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 8-inch square baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside. (The foil isn’t too pretty, but it makes clean-up and cutting the bars a cinch!)

In a bowl, combine Nilla Wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup flour and the brown sugar. Chop butter into small pieces and then cut into crumb mixture with a pastry blender.

If you don’t have a pastry blender, just use 2 knives, or even your fingers to break up the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min.

While crust is cooking, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 2 Tbsp. flour, and baking powder; mix well. Blend in 1 Tbsp. lemon zest, and lemon juice and then pour mixture over crust.

Bake 25 to 30 min. or until center is set. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. These bars improve with time. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and remaining 2 Tbsp. grated lemon peel just before cutting into squares to serve. Store leftover squares in refrigerator. (As if you'll have leftovers!)

Cheese Fondue

• Fondue:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• Paprika (optional)
• Sliced green onion (optional)
• Dipper Ideas:
• Thick Pennsylvania-style pretzels
• Toasted garlic bread
• Apples or pears
• Saltine crackers
• Favorite veggies (celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers)

Directions

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour in melted butter and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Whisk milk into flour mixture and constantly stir until mixture thickens and begins to boil.
2. Lower heat to simmer; stir in Ranch and cheese until smooth. Pour into a fondue pot and sprinkle with paprika or green onion, if desired. Serve with dippers.

Chunky Crockpot Chili

2 lbs. lean ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 16 oz. can kidney beans (drained)

1 16 oz. can black beans (drained)

1 29 oz. can tomato puree

1 can condensed beef broth

2 cups of salsa

1 14 oz. can diced tomato (undrained)

1 cup water

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. dried basil

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. A-1 sauce

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Fritos (optional)

diced green onion (optional)

shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Brown ground beef and combine with remaining ingredients in a crockpot. Cook mixture on low heat for 6 hours. Serve on top of Fritos and top with green onion and cheddar cheese.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 large sweet potatoes, boiled, drained, peeled & cubed
2 beaten eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all together in a 9 X 13 pan. Bake 350° for 25 minutes.

Topping:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Grapenuts (or cornflakes or any plain cereal)

Mix together. Place on hot potatoes. Bake 10 minutes or until the marshmallows melt.

*The original recipe used canned yams then mashed and whipped them into the other ingredients so it had more of a mashed potato feel.

Flawless Focaccia Bread

This post is from my friend Marta's blog. If it's on her blog, you know it's good!


Focaccia Bread
2 hours, start to finish

2 cups warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast (not instant)
1 Tbs. sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1-2 Tbs. Italian seasonings

Toppings.
1/2 cup butter, melted
garlic salt
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions.
1. In small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

2. Blend together remaining 1 1/2 cup warm water, dissolved yeast, sugar, flour and salt in mixer bowl. Combine well. Mix in Italian seasonings. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise to double or more (about an hour).

3. Grease a 9x13 pan. Scoop dough into prepared pan, dough will be very sticky. You'll be tempted, but don't add any extra flour. Butter your clean hands and coax the dough into all the edges of the pan.

4. Let dough rise again for 20 minutes, meanwhile preheat oven to 400. Before baking, poke indents in the focaccia with your fingers. Drizzle melted butter over the top of the bread. Sprinkle some garlic salt over the top and add a couple handfuls of Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake 20 minutes. After cooling for ten minutes, turn focaccia out on cutting board and slice into thick breadsticks. Pile them into a bread basket and serve to hungry guests.

enjoy.

banana bread

Yummy! My favorite banana bread recipe

1 cup sugar
1/2 c shortening
2 eggs
2 tsp milk
1 tsp soda disolved in 1/4 cup water

2 cups flour
pinch of salt
3 bananas

mix

cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Makes one loaf or 4 mini loafs

Potato Caserole

I've really been into one dish meals.
Here is one that I really like!

1 pkg(8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken broth
3 lbs red potatoes thinly sliced (I just had baking potatoes and they worked fine)
1 pkg (6 oz) diced ham (smoked is yummy)
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup frozen peas (I hate peas but didn't mind them in this dish)

Preheat oven to 350
spray 13x9 baking dish
mix cream cheese, sour cream and chicken broth until well blended
add potatoes, ham, and peas and 1 3/4 cups cheese
stir gently to coat all ingredients
spoon into prepared baking dish
sprinkle with remaining cheese
bake for one hour or until potatoes are tender

enjoy!

Easy Strawberry Cake

1 white cake mix

3/4 c. water

1/2 c. oil

2 (6 oz.) ctn. strawberry Yoplait thick & creamy (no fruit chunks) yogurt

4 oz. Cool Whip

Red food coloring

Fresh strawberries

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your pan(s) of choice. Prepare cake mix as the box directs, but alter the water and oil to the quantities above and add 1 (6 oz.) container of yogurt before mixing. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake for the short time listed on the box. Cool cake completely.

Frosting:

Combine the second container of yogurt, Cool Whip and a small amount of food coloring to turn the frosting pink. Frost cake and chill in refrigerator to set frosting. Partially slice strawberries into approximately 4 slices, stopping when you hit the leaves so the slices remain connected. Splay the slices and place strawberries on top of cake in a decorative manner. Cake should remain refrigerated until ready to serve.

Limeade Slush

8 c. water
3 c. sugar
1 (12 oz.) can frozen limeade concentrate or any flavor juice (lemonade or cranberry juice works well, too)

Dissolve sugar in water and add limeade. Freeze in decorative bowl or ice cube trays. Remove frozen limeade from trays or bowls and place into a large punch bowl. Add Sprite or ginger ale and break up frozen limeade with a fork to form slush when ready to serve. Serves 20-24.

(Notes: Before Sprite is added, the limeade fits in a bundt pan well for freezing. Also, if there's any slush left, refreeze and reuse!)

Andes Mint Puddle Cookies

I got this recipe from my friend Anjela down the street. She is a dessert master!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 package Betty Crocker's Devils Food Cake Mix (Any type of dark chocolate cake mix would work)

2 eggs
3/4 Cup Shortening (I always use butter flavored)
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 boxes Andes Mints

Combine all ingredients, EXCEPT the mints, with an electric mixer.

Scoop 1 inch balls on to UNGREASED cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake! Unwrap mints while your waiting for the cookies to bake.

Remove from oven. Immediately after you remove the cookies from the oven, place 1 Ande's mint on top of each cookie. Let it sit for a minute or two until it is melted. Once it is melted, swirl the chocolate slightly with your finger tip or the tip of a spoon, so that you now have a circle instead of a rectangle.

Let cool completely before serving.

Soft Gingersnaps

This recipe comes from my friend Marta's blog. The first time I made them, they instantly became one of my staples. Enjoy!

1 1/2 cup Shortening
2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Dark Molasses
1/2 tsp. Salt
4 tsp. Baking soda
2 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. Cloves
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Ginger
4 cups Flour

Cream together all the ingredients except the flour. When dough is creamy, gradually add the flour. Form dough into small balls and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and flatten each cookie with your thumbprint.

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. (The key is to under-bake them a little for truly soft cookies.)