Thursday, January 29, 2009

HAWAIIAN HAYSTACK OR CHICKEN SUNDAE

Toppings:

Pineapple tidbits
Chopped green onions
Chopped green pepper
Chopped celery
Diced tomatoes
Cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces
Cooked rice
Sliced water chestnuts
Grated Cheddar cheese
Chow mein noodles
Coconut
Toasted almonds (slivered)

Pick the ones that your family likes or add different ones.
Put rice on your plate then some chicken, cover with chicken gravy and then top it with any or all of the above ingredients. You can put more gravy on.

CHICKEN GRAVY:

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth (if you boil your chicken- you could use the broth for this to make your gravy)

Heat. Until Warmed through.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Cinnamon Crisp-Topped Cream Cheese Banana Bread

I got this recipe about a year or so ago off of Good Things Utah- a morning show on one of our television stations. (www.abc4.com) It is easy to make and so delicious!

3/4 Cup of Butter or Margerine Softened
1 (8oz) pkg Cream Cheese softened
2 cups of sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder, baking soda and salt
1 1/2 Cups mashed Bananas
1/2 Vanilla extract

Topping
1/2 Cup brown sugar packed firmly
1/2 chopped and toasted pecans
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans and vanilla. Pour into 2 greased and floured 8X4 inch loaf pans; sprinkle with the topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and sides pulls away from the pan, shielding with aluminum foil last 15 minutes to prevent browing if neccessary. Cool bread in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove pans and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.

Italian Bake

8 ounces pasta (I usually use the bow tie or the spiral ones, not sure what they're called.)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1 lb. ground beef or chicken
2 cups grated mozzarella

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. Cook the hamburger or chicken. (If you're using chicken, cut it up into bite sized pieces.) In a bowl, combine the spaghetti sauce and salad dressing mix; add pasta and mix together. Place the meat on the bottom of a casserole dish. Spread the sauce/pasta on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Chili Pasta Soup

A hearty and simple soup to warm you up on a cold night.

1 pound ground beef
1 pound onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 can Stewed tomatoes, 15 oz.
1 can Beef broth
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Parsley
1 cup Spiral pasta, uncooked

In large sauce pan, brown ground beef, garlic, and onion. Add water, stewed tomatoes, beef broth, chili powder, and parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes. Add pasta and simmer until pasta is tender.

Tomato-Basil Chicken

Simple and delicious for anytime of year!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt
5 ounces tomato-basil wheat thins, about half a box
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Parsley, flakes
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk

Pour yogurt into a small dish. Crush crackers into fine crumbs. In a separate dish, blend cracker crumbs with parmesan cheese and seasonings. Dip chicken breast halves into yogurt, coating both sides. Roll in crumbs until well coated. Place in greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour. For sauce, combine soup and milk in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until hot. Serve over chicken.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Ball

This recipe is one I should have posted for the Holidays but I didn't! You could make it for the Super Bowl Party!

1 8oz package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 of butter, softened
3/4 Cup Confectioners Sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans or candied walnuts

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in confectioners sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Shape chilled cream cheese mixture into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll the cream cheese ball in finely chopped nuts before serving. Serve with Chocolate or Honey graham cracker sticks.

Deliciously addictive! Enjoy!

Homemade Burritos Ole!

These are so good and my favorite part is that you can make them ahead and freeze them for later! I decided to make these for dinner tonight so I thought I would post the recipe! I even took a few pictures of the process- a first for this blog!! :)

Ingredients needed:

1 lb sausage(you can pick if you want spicy or mild)
1 big can of refried beans
1 package of Burrito Mix (I usually find it with the mixes for gravy etc...)
Shredded Cheese
Tortillas (Soft Taco Size)
Tin Foil


Optional: chopped green chiles

Brown the sausage and in a sauce pan mix the refried beans and Burrito mix heat until warm all the way through. Rinse the browned sausage under warm water in a strainer to remove some of the grease- I do this anytime I brown meat to remove some of the grease. Dump the sausage in with the refried beans and burrito mix mixture and mix together(if you want green chiles- you can add them in at this point).




Get your pieces of tin foil ready by tearing off pieces that are a little larger then your tortillas. Place the tortilla on on piece of tin foil and then drop by cookie scoop or spoonfull on to the tortilla. The amount of the mixture you put in your burittos is up to you. I usually do a cookie scoop and a half.


Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the mixture and then roll the tortilla.





Roll the rolled tortilla in the sheet of tin foil and fold in the ends. Do this process until all the mixture is used and your tortillas are made- I can usually get about a dozen burittos out of this recipe- but you can double it and make more at a time.







If you are going to eat some of them- preheat your oven to 350 degrees, place the number of burittos you need in a pan (size is dependent on how many you need to cook)you can lay them on their side to get more in the pan- see the picture. Cook them for 30 minutes.




The ones you will be freezing you can put in a gallon size freezer bag and label and date them and place in your freezer. When you are ready to cook them follow the instructions listed above.


You can garnish these with anything you like, sour cream, olives etc...

Serve them with rice or a salad.