Snickerdoodles

I got this recipes from recipezaar.com. I did chill the pans, and the dough, but by the time I was finished rolling the dough, it was probably a moot point. I also rolled all the cookies in the cinnamon and sugar, then went back and rolled them all again to really get them coated. My cookies were big, I only got 24 cookies out of this batch, and the centers were a little doughy, so next time, I will try to divide the dough into 36. Next time I will also add a little vanilla or almond extract to change up the flavor a little bit.

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

-Preheat oven to 350°F.
-Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
-Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
-Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.
-Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
-Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
-Scoop 1" globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.
-Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
-Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.
-Remove from pan immediately.

Hash Brown Casserole

Here is another one from my Aunt Bev.

2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
6 large eggs well beaten or 3 (4 oz each) cartons cholesterol free egg product
1 can (12 oz) Evaporated fat free milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 pkg (30 oz) shredded hash brown potatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped * optional *
1 cup diced ham or 10 slices bacon cooked & chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13" X 9" pan.

Combine cheese, eggs, evaporated milk, prepared mustard, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Add potatoes, onion, red pepper, & ham. Mix well. Pour into greased pan.

Bake about 1 hour.
Serves 10

Notes:
Tastes great with salsa.
Can be cut in half (use 8" X 8" pan).

Apple Crisp

Since I have not been cooking or baking much lately, I thought I would post a few recipes that my Aunt Bev sent me. Our family has a thing for apple desserts, so I don't think we can ever have enough apple crisp recipes.

Easy Apple Crisp
Serves 4 to 6

Peel, core & cut up 8 medium apples. Place them in an 8" X 8" pan.

Pour over the apples:
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

In a bowl mix:
1 cup sugar or an equivalent amount of baking sugar substitute
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup soft oleo or butter
Spoon flour mixture over the apples.

Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Notes:
This recipe can be cut or doubled.
The sugar can be replaced with sugar substitute.

Apple & Spices Turkey Brine

Williams-Sonoma Apple & Spices Turkey Brine. My turkey was sooo good. I thank Williams-Sonoma, and my turkey thanks you too.

Chicken Skewers

Since this blog is about what I eat for dinner, not all of it has to be this long recipe with a lot of ingredients. I am a huge fan of fast meals with lots of variations. This is one of them.

Chicken Skewers
6 Thawed Chicken Breasts, sliced into long strips
Finely chopped bread crumbs
Seasonings, like chili powder, garlic powder or parmesan cheese etc.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a small bowl mix enough bread crumbs, and seasonings of your choice to coat the chicken. (Sometimes people will dredge this in egg and flour before the bread crumbs, but I usually don't have the time to be adding all those steps and dishes. This will make the breading a little crumbly, but that really doesn't bother me.)

Next, I pour the bread crumbs mix into a bag and add the chicken a few pieces at a time. Shake until all the chicken is coated. Once coated remove the chicken and thread it onto the skewers.

Lay the chicken on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet and cook until the chicken is done, about 8-10 minutes. If you don't have a wire rack, it can be placed directly onto the cookie sheet, but remember to flip it about halfway through so that the bread crumbs don't get too soggy.

Variations I have also tried so far:
-Shake the chicken with chili powder first in a zip lock bag and let it sit for about 30 minutes before shaking with bread crumbs.
-Lemon pepper marinade to marinade the chicken, and bake with and without bread crumbs.
-Plain chicken and bread crumbs, along with different dipping sauces.

I usually get 2 meals for one with these because the next day I will add the leftovers to the top of a salad, or to a chicken wrap.

Side Note: If you are using wood skewers and want a nice presentation soak them for about a half hour first, this will stop them from burning in the oven, and also allows the chicken to slide right off the skewer.

Pasta Salad

This is a family favorite for cook outs. While the recipe says to refrigerate at least 4 hours, it really is better to make a day ahead of time so that everything has time to really marinate and meld together

12 oz Colored Spiral Noodles
2 c Broccoli Florets
8 oz Mozzarella Cheese, cubed
8 oz Cooked Ham, cubed
1/4 c Parmesan Cheese
8 oz Italian Dressing, Wishbone Robust works well

Cook spiral noodles according to package.
Steam broccoli until tender, but firm
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours

Apple Crisp

8 Medium Apples- peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 c Flour
1 c Brown Sugar
1 c Rolled Oats
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 c Butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place apple slices in a 2 qt baking dish
Sprinkle with lemon juice
Combine flour, sugar, oats, Cinnamon, and nutmeg
Cut butter into 1 inch chunks, and blend into dry ingredients
When crumbly, sprinkle over apples
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, turn oven down to 350 and bake another 30 minutes

Cheese- Hamburgers

I was looking through one of those church cook books. This one was from 1981. And Cheese- Hamburgers caught my eye. I figured that it would be a fancy burger with all sorts chopped up stuff circa 1981. I read the recipe and it turns out to be what I call sloppy joe's. Then I noticed that it was my Grandma Beckman that submitted the recipe. I remember my mom trying to force me to eat sloppy joe's, but I have no idea if this is the recipe she used, or if it came out of a can. I don't remember her putting cheese on it though, if she had, I probably would have eaten it.

2 lbs. ground beef
1 c chopped onions
1 green pepper, chopped
small celery stalk, chopped
16oz tomato soup
Season to taste
American Cheese slices
Hamburger Buns

Fry meat until slightly browned. Add seasoning. Add the onion, pepper, celery, and soup. Place in a double boiler and cook 1-1/2 hours. Butter buns. Put a slice of cheese on one half, heat to melt cheese, then fill the buns with the meat mixture and serve.


I imagine that the seasoning she is talking about is salt and pepper? I don't know. But I think I will try it with taco seasoning and see what happens. Maybe give it a little more flavor.

Chicken Stock

If you know me, you know I am not a fan of eating anything that resembles an animal. Bones, blood, even dark meat on a bird just makes me nauseous, and once I usually see any of it, there is no way I am eating it. Well, you will be proud to know that I made my very first whole chicken tonight, and ate it too. When I was a teenager, my mom had bought a thing of chicken parts, and asked me to clean it up. She never asked me to do that again, because I cut everything I could off the meat and tossed it. I think we all had a very small dinner that night.

Anyway, for some reason, I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago, I decided that I was craving rotisserie chicken. But I live in Kenosha, and our grocery stores don't do that. So I bought a 5 pound chicken and a bag of seasoning. Then I started thinking, what in the world am I going to do with 5 pounds of cooked chicken. So chicken stock it is. And once again, you all should be proud of me because after I ate my dinner, I stood there and tore up the rest of the chicken. But I would rather not talk about that.

Chicken Stock:
Chicken, leftovers, bones, everything but the gizzards and the neck
Carrots, chopped into 3" pieces
Celery, leaves and all, chopped into 3" pieces
Whole yellow onion, skin included, cut into quarters
1 Bay leaf

Toss everything into a stock pot. Cover with cold water. Bring to just a boil, and reduce to a simmer. It is important to not let it come to a rolling boil. Check it every half hour for the first few hours and skim off the foam that rises to the top. Let it simmer until the broth is the right consistency and taste for you. You may have to add more water if the level gets to low in the pot.

Once the stock is done to your liking, remove it from the stove, and pour it through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the chicken parts and veggies.

Put the strained stock into the fridge and let it cool down. Once cold, remove the layer of fat that has accumulated on the top. At this point, I divided the stock in half, some to freeze for sauces, and some for soup.

For chicken noodle soup, I brought the stock to a simmer, and tossed in bite sized pieces of carrots, celery, peas and a few cloves of garlic. In another pot, I boiled egg noodles (can use rice also). When the veggies were tender, I added in the cooked pasta, and the chicken, and simmer for a few minutes to warm the chicken. Next time, I think I will add some cold water to the stock, and boil the noodles in it rather then a separate pot.

The soup turned out well, but next time I will use uncooked chicken so that the broth with be a little less savory.

Chicken Rice Casseole

This dish is so easy. My only complaint is the cook time. I have to plan ahead to make this otherwise we would be eating at 9 o'clock.


1/2 Pkg Dry Onion Soup
1 cup uncooked Rice
4 Chicken Breasts
1 can Cream of chicken or celery soup
1 can full of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a 2 qt casserole dish:
Sprinkle 1/2 Package dry Onion Soup. Then add rice over top of onion mix.
Layer chicken breasts on top of rice layer. Mix 1 can water with 1 can cream of chicken soup and pour over top of chicken and rice.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours or until rice is done and Chicken reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Sometimes I like to sprinkle bread crumbs over the top about 20 minutes before it is done.

Risotto

I think Risotto is one of those scary types of foods. I thought it would be a lot harder then it really is. Once I got to the recipe that I use now, I make it often and Arborio rice has become a staple in my pantry.

5 c Low Sodium Chicken Broth (can use bullion cubes also)
1 c Arborio Rice
1/2 c parmesan or ramano cheese
Olive Oil
Splash of cream (optional)

Begin by bringing Chicken Broth to a boil. You will need a laddle to add the broth the Risotto.

In a sauce pan, heat a couple of teaspoons of olive oil. Add rice and shake to coat rice with oil. Cook a few minutes until rice becomes translucent. Add in 2 laddles f broth. Using a wooden spoon stir until the rice has absorbed most of the broth. Keep adding and stirring until rice is creamy, and rice no longer has a crunch to it. Once all the broth is added, gently stir in cream and cheese, being careful not to mash the rice.

To the finished risotto, I also like to add veggies (ie brocolli and asparagus) and shrimp. These can all be cooked in the broth and added to the risotto when the cheese is added.

Chili Con Queso

When I was a little kid, my parents used to have a Super Bowl party every year. At least, I think it was Super Bowl, all I really remember was this dip, no idea if people were sitting around watching a game or not. If I remember right, I think my mom used to serve it in a fondue pot (I could be way off on that one) and served it with Doritos. I think this dip is my first memory of cheese. Is it weird that I think I have a first memory of cheese? Maybe a little bit.

1 small Onion
1 small can of diced Green Chili Peppers
16oz can stewed tomatoes, diced
1 lb Velveeta Cheese, cubed
1 lb Sharp Cheddar Cheese, cubed

Brown onion in a skillet. Add peppers and tomatoes. Layer cheese cubes over top and simmer until melted, stirring occasionally.

I like to take a short cut and dump it all into a crock pot. Turn it on to high until everything is melted and stir able, and then turn it to low and serve it right out of the crock pot.

You can also brown some ground beef with taco seasoning, and add it to the cheese once melted, or different kinds of roasted peppers, or refried beans.

Four Layer Dessert

This has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. My mom got the recipe from her friend Mary years ago. I usually cut the recipe in half and instead of making this crust, I put it in a graham cracker pie crust. Either way is delicious. I also cut calories by using fat free cream cheese, and sugar free cool whip and pudding mix.

Layer 1:
1c Flour
1/2c Chopped Nuts
1/2c Melted Butter

Mix, and press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 10-15 minutes. Let cool

Layer 2:
8oz Cream Cheese
1c Powdered Sugar
2/3 container cool whip

Cream together cream cheese and sugar, then fold in cool whip
Layer onto cooled crust

Layer 3:
2 small boxes chocolate pudding
2c Milk

Combine ingredients and layer onto cream cheese mixture

Layer 4:
Top pudding layer with remaining cool whip and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired

Pecan Tarts

This is a family favorite that we make every year at Christmas.

Crust:
1c Flour
3oz Cream Cheese
1/2c Butter

Mix together and divid into 24 pieces. Press into tart or mini muffin pans

Filling:
1c chopped pecans
3/4c Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1Tbsp Melted Butter
1tsp Vanilla
Powder Sugar

-Fill crust with pecan mixture
-Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes
-While still hot, sprinkle with powder sugar

Cream Cheese Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts
2/3 c Chicken Broth
2 Cloves Garlic
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
1 tsp Chili Powder (optional)
3 oz Cream Cheese
2 Jalapenos, minced (optional)
Olive oil

-Heat olive oil in a saute pan
-Add chicken breasts, and cook about halway
-Mix chicken broth, garlic, jalapenos, chili powder, and red pepper flakes
-Add to pan with chicken
-Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until chicken is done
-Remove chicken to serving plate, but leave the broth in the pan
-Turn up heat a little bit and add cream cheese to pan and whisk until smooth and starts to thicken a little bit
-Pour sauce over chicken and serve

All the spices are optional, but used together, they really make it spicy, so watch out. The sauce is also really good on veggies and pasta as well.

Baked Fish in Cheese Sauce

Fish:
1-1/2 lbs White Fish, I usually use cod or tilapia
1 Tbsp Butter

-Preheat oven to 450
-Place fish in a greased baking dish
-Sprinkle with salt and pepper
-Top each piece with a little butter
-Bake until fish flakes with a fork

Sauce:
1/2 tsp Butter
4 oz Shredded Cheese, I use a mild white cheese, like Sargento's Roasted Garlic
1 Egg, beaten
1-1/2 tsp Salt
1-1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Mustard Powder
1 cup Milk

-Mix together cheese, egg, mustard, salt and pepper
-In a sauce pan, scald milk
-Slowly stir in cheese mixture until sauce is smooth and thick

Pour sauce over fish, and serve immediately. I like to serve this over pasta so as to not waste any of the sauce.

Enchilada Casserole

The original recipe calls for ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning and red enchilada sauce. I also added the peppers and chili powder.

2 Large chicken breasts or 1 large can shredded chicken
6 Small corn tortillas
1 Can hot or mild green enchilada sauce
1 Can refried beans
5 Cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
2 jalapenos, diced or 2 tsp Red pepper Flakes(optional)
Chili powder (optional)


Prep:
Preheat oven to 375
Season chicken with chili powder and cook.
Chop cooked chicken into bite size pieces.
Cut tortillas into quarters.
Mince the jalapenos and mix into the refried beans

In a small casserole dish layer ingredients the following way:
Enchilada sauce, just enough to cover the bottom of the dish
Half of the tortillas
Refried beans
Chicken pieces
Jalapenos, or red pepper flakes
2 cups shredded cheese
Second half of the tortillas
Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top
Top with remaining cheese

Bake in oven until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Makes 4 servings