Autumn Apple Salad II, Hash Brown Brunch Casserole, Crescent Chicken Rolls, Raisin Bread

Hi everyone!

It's my turn to bring food for Mops tomorrow so I'm going with an Autumn Apple Salad and Hashbrown Brunch Casserole. The salad is so simple and a great salad to whip up for your family for a weekend breakfast. I'll leave the almonds out for my own family but for Mops I'll put them in there for that added crunch. The casserole is your basic potato cheesy goodness. I like this recipe because it uses those fried onions on top. Typically you see these casseroles with the corn flakes so this is a nice change. I love cream of celery soup too (most use cream of chicken). Just to clarify, you'll want to use the sausage links and I would dice them up. You could use bulk sausage but I would cook it first and then mix everything and bake.

Tomorrow for dinner we are having Crescent Chicken Rolls for dinner. These are so easy and I bet most of you have had these. This is a great dish to use up leftover chicken or you can even use canned chicken. I've done it both ways. I think leftover chicken (especially if it's a flavor) is super with this though. Since it's Monday, I'm making Raisin Bread. You've seen this recipe before so it's nothing new. There are 3 amounts listed for each ingredient. The first column is 1lb, then 1.5lb then a 2lb loaf. And obviously, this is meant for a bread machine.

Autumn Apple Salad II
Amy – amylz
All Recipes

4 tart green apples, cored and chopped
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds, toasted 1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1 (8 ounce) container vanilla yogurt

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the apples, almonds, cranberries, cherries and yogurt until evenly coated.

Hash Brown Brunch Casserole
Sheree (hapamommy05)

1 2lb package of frozen hash brown potatoes, unthawed
1 package jimmy dean sausage
1 10 ¾ oz can cream of celery soup, undiluted
3 cups (packed) grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup finely chopped onion
Green onion
1 6oz can French fried onions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients (everything except the FF onions) in large bowl, (very large bowl ) transfer to 13x9x2 glass baking dish. Bake until top is slightly golden, about 1 hr and 10 minutes. Sprinkle with French fried onions and bake until golden brown about 5 minutes.

Crescent Chicken Rolls
henryjsmama

8 oz. cream cheese
1 tbsp. butter
2 c. cooked, cubed chicken
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans crescent rolls
melted butter and bread crumbs, optional

Blend cream cheese and butter. Add chicken, salt, and pepper. Separate dough into 4 pieces per can. Spoon chicken mixture into center and fold over. Press ends together with fork. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake according to directions on crescent rolls.

Raisin Bread
soonermomto4

water 3/4c 11/8c 11/4c
marg or butter 11/2 tbs 2tbs 21/2tbs
sugar 11/2 tbs 2tbs 21/2 tbs
salt 3/4tsp 1tsp 1tsp
bread flour 2c 3c 31/2 c
yeast 1tsp 1/12tsp 2tsp
At beep add:
raisins 1/2c 3/4c 1c

Amy

Creamy Ham-n-Macaroni

Hi everyone! We're taking our boys to see Santa tomorrow, I'm very excited. Hopefully Caden will like him this year.

Tomorrow we are having Creamy Ham N Macaroni. This is so easy and definitely comfort food at it's best! It's very rich. This is a great way to use up ham. If you don't have extra ham, just buy a tiny cooked ham and dice it up. It will be great! Sandy says that she left the chicken bouillon out and I trust her so feel free to leave it out. It will gradually reduce the sodium. I have brought this meal to friends who have recently had a baby before and they said it was good.

Creamy Ham-n-Macaroni
LBsMom (From Taste of Home Magazine Dec/Jan 2006)

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
¼ cup butter, cubed
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
4 tsp chicken bouillon granules
¼ tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1-1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in the milk, bouillon and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese, ham, Parmesan cheese and macaroni. Transfer to a greased 2-qt baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes for serving. Yield: 6 servings. Sandy's notes: I use Barilla Plus pasta. I also omit the chicken bouillon granules.

Amy

Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein

Hi everyone! Are you knee deep in Christmas decorations?

Tomorrow we are having Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein for dinner. My kids actually love meals like this. Feel free to use any pasta you like. I might go with regular spaghetti noodles if that's what I have on hand. In the notes, she also says that the recipe originally called for onion. I'm assuming it's green onion. This would be great with a side salad and you've got a complete meal!

Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein
Aclark234 courtesy of "Cheap, Fast, Good"

8 oz linguine
2/3 lb boneless skinless chicken, diced
1 cup fresh button mushrooms
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bag (16 oz) frozen broccoli pieces
3 cloves fresh garlic or 1 tablespoon minced bottled garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice or white wine vinegar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp Asian (dark) sesame oil

Cook pasta as directed. Clean & chop mushrooms. Heat oil. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. When the chicken is cut, add it to the skillet. Add mushrooms, broccoli, & garlic to the skillet. Cook for five to six minutes or until mushrooms have released their liquid and the chicken is cooked through. Add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, & sesame oil. Stir to combine. Add cooked pasta and toss. Serve immediately.

AClark234 Notes- I chopped the chicken and then poured a little soy sauce over the chicken and salt & pepper over it and then let it marinate a couple of hours before adding it to the dish. The recipe also had onions in it (three of them) which I omitted for our family. I doubled everything except the broccoli and it was perfection!

Amy

Braised Chicken and Sausage, Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're all nice and full by now!

Tomorrow we are having Braised Chicken and Sausage. I know, most of you are likely having leftovers but we never have leftovers so I have to cook. I guess someday when I'm the host for Thanksgiving, I'll get the benefit of the leftovers. So, I'm making an easy dinner. This is all cooked in one pot on the stove. This makes a lot so make sure to half the recipe if you don't need 12 servings. I'm also making up some Blueberry Cheesecake bars for us all to enjoy all weekend while we're putting up the Christmas decorations!

Braised Chicken and Sausage
(Michelle – MMmom)

1 ¾ lb sweet or Italian Sausage
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 medium red or green bell peppers, cut into strips
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
4 lb chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into quarters
1 c red wine
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
¼ c parsley, finely chopped
2 T basil, finely chopped
2 t oregano, finely chopped
½ t salt
½ t black pepper
1 c olives, sliced (optional)

In an 8 qt dutch oven, over medium heat, brown sausages on all sides. Drain and cool sausages, reserving pan drippings. Slice into 1” diagonal pieces. Place in a bowl. Drain all but 1 T of drippings from pan. To drippings, add onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Increase heat slightly. Add peppers and cook for 5 more minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Transfer everything to bowl with sausages. Warm oil in the same pan over medium high heat. Add chicken in batches so pan is not crowded. Cook 5 minutes per batch, or until browned on all sides. Add to bowl with sausage. Add wine to pan, stirring to scrape up brown bits. Add tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cover. Bring to a boil. Stir in chicken and sausage mixture. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Add olives, if desired during the last few minutes of cooking.
Serves 12

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Recipe Girl

6 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 jar (10 oz.) blueberry jam or preserves
1 cup blueberries

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix butter and graham crumbs in 13x9-inch baking pan. Press firmly onto bottom of pan. Refrigerate until ready to use. BEAT cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer on medium until creamy. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended. Set aside. Stir jam in jar until softened; spread evenly onto crust. Sprinkle with blueberries; top evenly with the cream cheese mixture. BAKE 30 min. or until slightly puffed. Cool completely in pan. Cut into 24 bars to serve. Store any leftover bars in tightly covered container in refrigerator up to 3 days.

Amy

Scotch Eggs, Verdure al Forno, Baked Vegetables, Rhubarb Cherry Crisp

Hi everyone! Can you believe Thanksgiving is upon us? I have so much to be thankful for. We are very blessed!

For breakfast, I'm making my boys Scotch Eggs. These are something fun and delicious. You want to use a tube of sausage like the Jimmy Deen or something like that. Believe me, these are simple. My kids will love these! For the main dinner, this year we're eating with John's family. I am bringing the vegetables and I decided to go with two different things (half the family doesn't eat cheese). First I'm going with Verdure al Forno. This would be an excellent side dish for any night of the week. It's basically cheesy zucchini. How can you go wrong with that? Then I'm going to bring Baked Vegetables. I love this recipe because you can do anything you like. In years past, I've thrown on acorn squash (that I sliced, skin on), onions, different root vegetables, etc. You can't really go wrong here. After dinner, we're heading to my parent's for dessert and I'm bring a Cherry Rhubarb Crisp. This is so easy because you use a can of cherry pie filling. Now, if you can get rhubarb, totally use that. The tartness with the cherries is wonderful. I can't get rhubarb so I'm going to use blackberries instead. So, it's really a cherry blackberry crisp but I think it will still be good!

Scotch Eggs
Dottie (Hokiesmom)

5 large hard boiled eggs
1 tube bulk sausage (we like Maple flavor!)
1 large egg -- beaten
plain cracker crumbs

Peel COOLED hard boiled eggs. Cut sausage into 5 equal slices. Use 2 pieces of wax paper to flatten sausage piece. Mold sausage around each egg. Dip in beaten egg (and a bit of milk) and roll in crumbs. Place eggs on a rack placed on a baking dish so the sausage grease will drip thru. Bake for 1 hour at 350. Cool for 30 minutes. Cut lengthwise into quarters. Sprinkle centers with paprika. Serve hot or cold.

Verdure al Forno
snoelles courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 medium zucchini, (about 1 1/2 pounds) sliced lengthwise, 1/4-inch thick
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup grated fontina
1/4 cup grated Romano
1 cup plain dried bread crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with extra-virgin olive oil. Arrange zucchini slices on the bottom of the dish and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Evenly pour 1/3 cup of the heavy cream and sprinkle with 1/3 of a cup of mozzarella, 1/3 cup fontina and 2 tablespoons of the Romano. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs. Repeat layers, ending with the bread crumbs. Cut the 4 tablespoons of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and sprinkle over the top of the dish. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place the baking dish on top and bake for 40 minutes until bubbling and the top is golden brown.

Baked Vegetables
Michelle (MMmom)

1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise
4 ounces white button mushrooms, wiped clean and trimmed
3 scallions, roots and dry tops trimmed
1 large carrot, cut on the diagonal into ¾ inch thick
½ to 1 T olive oil
½ to 3/4 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Arrange vegetables on a baking sheet. Drizzle oil over each vegetable and toss to coat. Sprinkle on salt & pepper and toss again. Place baking sheet(s) in oven and roast 25-35 minutes until vegetables are tender and lightly browned.

Rhubarb Cherry Crisp
Amy (ajays)

FILLING:
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

CRUST:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cornstarch and sugar. Stir in the water. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Stir in the cherry pie filling and almond extract. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar and salt. Cut in margarine until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Press 2 cups of this mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread the rhubarb over the crust, then spread the cherry mixture over the rhubarb. Stir the chopped nuts into the remaining crumb mixture, and sprinkle over the top of the fruit. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden. Serve warm topped with ice cream or whipped topping.

Amy

Sweet and Tangy Chicken Kabobs

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Chicken Kabobs for dinner. The night before a big cooking holiday, I like to have something simple. As I've said before with kabobs, use whatever veggies your family likes. I'm going to use mushrooms, onion and probably peppers this time. If you can't find the Jack Daniel's sauce, just use regular BBQ sauce.

Sweet and Tangy Chicken Kabobs
Caramia03 - from Heinz's Jack Daniels bbq sauce webpage

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 Barbecue Recipe Grilling Sauce
1 cup orange marmalade
1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup pineapple chunks or one 8-ounce can of pineapple chunks, drained

1. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch squares. Thread skewers alternately with chicken, green and red pepper chunks and pineapple chunks.
2. Combine Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 Barbecue Recipe Grilling Sauce and orange marmalade. Brush mixture over skewered kabobs.
3. Grill over medium heat for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked, turning and brushing with additional Jack Daniel's Grilling Sauce.

Amy

Spaghetti and Meatballs 2

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Spaghetti and Meatballs. My family will be so happy! I call this recipe #2 because I have another spaghetti and meatballs recipe. This one is from Cooking Light Magazine so it's supposed to be a bit healthier. This recipe looks long but it's quite easy. With the meatballs, just use regular breadcrumbs if you don't want to make your own. You'll need 1/2 cup. You can also buy ground italian sausage now so you don't need to deal with the links. Just follow the directions and you'll have perfect spaghetti and meatballs when you're done!

Spaghetti and Meatballs 2
Amy - amylz

Sauce:
Cooking spray
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) can less-sodium beef broth
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained and chopped

Meatballs:
1 (1-ounce) slice white bread
2 (4-ounce) links sweet turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons egg substitute
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1 pound ground sirloin

Remaining ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pound hot cooked spaghetti
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano
Fresh parsley sprigs (optional)

To prepare sauce, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 cup onion; sauté for 3 minutes. Add 3 garlic cloves, and sauté 1 minute. Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and broth. Cook 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Preheat broiler. To prepare meatballs, place bread in a food processor, and process until fine crumbs measure 1/2 cup. Combine the breadcrumbs, sausage, 1/2 cup onion, and next 8 ingredients (through sirloin) in a bowl. With wet hands, shape sirloin mixture into 32 meatballs. Place meatballs on a broiler pan. Broil 15 minutes or until done. Add meatballs to sauce; simmer 15 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup parsley and 1/3 cup basil. Serve over spaghetti. Sprinkle with cheese; garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired. Wine note: Spaghetti and Meatballs is terrific with red or white wine as long as the wine has good acidity to mirror that of the tomatoes and act as a counterpoint to the meatballs. Because our recipe has fresh herbs, I prefer white wine with the dish--in particular, an herbal dry white from southern Italy such as Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo 2004 ($22). Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup spaghetti, about 1/2 cup sauce, 4 meatballs, and 1 tablespoon cheese)

CALORIES 291 (25% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 3.2g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 24.3g; CHOLESTEROL 76mg; CALCIUM 163mg; SODIUM 873mg; FIBER 4.1g; IRON 7.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.2g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2006

Amy

Roasted Potatoes, SHOYU CHICKEN, Honey-Wheat Oatmeal Bread

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Roasted Potatoes, Shoyu Chicken and Honey Wheat Oatmeal Bread. The potatoes are super simple. Obviously you don't need to use all McCormick spices but since I saw the recipe on their site, we give them the credit. I do recommend using the foil as it makes for easy clean up plus the potatoes will stick to the pan so this helps. The Shoyu Chicken is soy sauce chicken. The recipe calls for boneless thighs (which I recommend) but my family will only eat white meat chicken so I'm going to use breasts. Dark meat is much more flavorful though and very juicy so you should use those if you can. Everything is simmered in a pot. It's really that simple. Oh, and if you don't want to buy a big can of pineapple juice, you can also get it in the frozen juice section. The bread recipe is very basic and for the bread machine. It should be a nice dinner!

Roasted Potatoes
Amy - amylz

1 tablespoon oil
1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick® Garlic Season-All® Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Italian Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix oil and seasonings in large bowl. Add potatoes; toss to coat.
2. Spread potatoes in single layer on foil-lined 15x10x1-inch baking pan.
3. Bake 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown.

©2008 McCormick & Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SHOYU CHICKEN (Soy Sauce Chicken)
Dottie (hokiesmom)

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teas. wine
1 piece ginger (crushed)
2 large cloves of garlic (mashed)
3 pounds - skinless chicken thighs - cut in half or thirds (boneless)

Mix above ingredients well, add chicken. Bring to a boil and lower to simmer. Cook slowly until chicken is TENDER.

Honey-Wheat Oatmeal Bread
Katie (Katiedid) from Healthy Cooking April/May 2008

1 1/4 c water (70 to 80 F)
1/2 c honey
2 T canola oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 c quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 c bread flour
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast

In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available. Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 T of water or flour if needed).

Nutrition Facts: 1 slice equals 115 calories, 2 g fat (trace saturated), 0 cholesterol, 178 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein

Katie's Notes: I added 4 tsp vital wheat gluten. Wonderful bread, great flavor and aroma. Ended up a little doughy or underdone, but not much. Very moist and soft bread with a firm crust.

Amy

Pineapple Meatballs

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Pineapple Meatballs for dinner. These are kind of like sweet and sour meatballs so I'm going to serve them with rice. The recipe does call for egg noodles but I know my family will prefer these with rice. The directions call for 2 cups of pineapple juice from the can. If you can't get 2 cups, just add some water to make up the difference. My only tip is make sure you roll your meatballs pretty small so you get more. I would say make them a little smaller than a golf ball!

Pineapple Meatballs
Chandra (chaneden)

Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper
2-3 tbl. minced onion
1 tbl. cornstarch

Pineapple sauce
2 lg. cans cut pineapple pieces
2 cups pineapple juice from the can
2 tbl. soy sauce
6 tbl. wine vinegar
12 tbl. water
1 cup sugar
4 tbl. corstarch

PLUS 1 bag No-Yolks extra broad noodles (or two bags of another brand of extra broad noodles)

Optional
1" x 1" pieces of onion
1" x 1" pieces of green pepper

To Make
Mix meatball ingredients, form into small meatballs. Brown in a little oil and set aside. In large saucepan, simmer pineapple juice for a few minutes over low heat. Add soy sauce, vinegar, water and (slowly) sugar. Add cornstarch. Cook until sauce thickens, stirring constantly with whisk or fork. Add meatballs, pineapple and, if desired, onion and green pepper, and heat through.
Serve over noodles.

Amy

Pretzel Crusted Chicken, PISA DIP

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Pretzel Crusted Chicken for dinner. I'm planning to use boneless, skinless breasts but you can use any chicken you have for this. I think chicken tenders would be perfect too. I love how simple this recipe is. The vanilla yogurt gives it a tiny hint of sweetness. I also have my scrapbook night tomorrow night and I'm bringing Pisa Dip. This is kind of like a pizza dip but it's got a lot of other yummy things going on in it.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken
OP???

1 c. low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. wet garlic or one clove garlic ; crushed and chopped
2 1/2 lb. cut-up chicken
1 c. salted pretzels ; finely ground
olive oil cooking spray

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, mustard, onion powder and garlic. Add chicken pieces; turn to coat. Cover bowl and refrigerate 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place ground pretzels in shallow bowl. Remove chicken from yogurt and roll in pretzels until well coated. Arrange chicken, skin side up, in large roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Roast until chicken is cooked thoroughly, basting with pan drippings, about 40 minutes.

PISA DIP
newyorkmama

¾ cup mayonnaise
2 packages sliced pepperoni, chopped
1 lb. mozzarella, shredded
1 tomato, diced
12 water-packed hot pepper rings, finely chopped
10 black olives, chopped
1 loaf Italian bread, cubed

Mix all ingredients, except the bread. Turn into 8x8 baking dish. Bake 30 minutes at 350. Use bread cubes as dippers.

Amy

Paula's Chicken Divan, Delicious Pumpkin Bread, Easy Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Pico de Gallo with Homemade Tortilla Chips, Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Hi everyone! If you love Satsuma Oranges, this is the time to buy. You can get boxes for $3.97 at Safeway. I haven't had a chance to check other places but I'm sure they'll all be low like this. Also, even if you're not cooking a Thanksgiving turkey, go out and buy one for later. Safeway has them as low as $.27 lb. Ooh, and for all you Honey Crisp lovers like me, they're $1.49 lb at Safeway. We won't be seeing these much longer so pick these up. They really are the greatest apples in the world! QFC has Tillamook butter 2/$4 so that's a great deal and they have Pepsi or Coke products, buy 2 get 3 free so run out for that. This is a great deal especially if you're entertaining next week! Now, I don't know why but Safeway has been coming out with an ad that runs Sunday-Saturday. This is in addition to their normal Wednesday-Tuesday ad. This special ad BOGO on 18-count eggs. This is an awesome deal. You should all run to Safeway right now and buy eggs. This deal is only through 11/22 and as we all know, eggs are expensive so when they're 50% off, you want to stock up. Plus, with my kids and John home for the long weekend coming up, they'll want eggs for breakfast. If you can get your hands on one of these special ads, there is a coupon for $.69 on 2-liter bottles of soda too.

Tomorrow we are having Paula's Chicken Divan. This is comfort food at it's best! Plus, most anything Paula Deen comes up with you know is good. This is a great way to use up leftover chicken. I am going to half the recipe as I don't need a giant casserole dish of this. I'll just use a square pan. Now, do know my family will hate this and probably complain but every once in a while I have to make something mama will love! Don't feel too sorry for them though, as John is having a little get together later tomorrow night and I'm serving up a bunch of appetizers. For dessert, I'm making pumpkin bread. This recipe makes 5 mini loaves or 2 regular sized loaves. I'm planning to half the recipe and make one regular sized loaf since I don't have any mini pans and don't feel like buying them. You can get the foil pans at the super market though if you wanted to make this up as gifts.

For the party, we're having Easy Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Pico de Gallo and Artichoke and Spinach Dip. The meatballs are done in the crockpot and these are your typical grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs. Trust me, you've all had them. You just buy the bag of frozen meatballs and it's that simple. Chili sauce is sold with the ketchup. It's made by Heinz (I'm sure there are other brands too) and it looks just like ketchup but tastes different. The Pico De Gallo recipe is John's favorite. It does come with a recipe for making your own tortilla chips but I'm not Emeril and I'm going to be serving Tostitos! If you're not familiar with Pico De Gallo, it's like a really chunky salsa that doesn't have all the liquid. Then for the dip lovers, you've got to have an Artichope and Spinach Dip. There are a million recipes for this and most are super good. This time I'm going with an Emeril recipe. I just saw him make it on TV and it looked simple and I wished I could eat it through the TV. So, I'm giving it a shot. Again, I'm not frying my own tortilla chips because hey, I know my limitations!

Paula's Chicken Divan
Dottie (hokiesmom)

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen broccoli, chopped
6 cups shredded chicken, cooked
2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the outer wrappers from the boxes of broccoli. Open 1 end of each box. Microwave on full power for 2 minutes, until thawed. Drain the broccoli and put into a casserole dish. Add the shredded chicken. In a medium bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, Cheddar, lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper, to taste, and wine. Whisk together to make a sauce. Pour the sauce over the broccoli and chicken. Mix well with a spatula. Place the mixture into an 11 by 7-inch casserole dish or 2 (9-inch) square disposable aluminum foil pans that have been sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray. Pat down evenly and smooth with a spatula. Combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs and butter and sprinkle over the top. Bake for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Cook's Note: Try topping with Cheddar or Gruyere cheese.

Delicious Pumpkin Bread
Katie (Katidid) from Taste of Home

5 eggs
15oz can pumpkin
1 1/4 c vegetable oil
2 c all-purpose flour
2 c sugar
2 pkg (3 oz) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture. Pour batter into five greased 5-in.x2-1/2in.x2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 325 F for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 5 miniature loaves Editor's Note: Bread may also be baked in two greased 8-in.x4-in.2-in. loaf pans for 75-80 minutes.

Easy Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Amy – amylz
Family Fun Magazine

Store bought or homemade small meatballs (enough to fill a Crock-Pot)
Oil for browning meatballs
1 lb. grape jelly
1 jar chili sauce

Step 1 Brown the meatballs in skillet with a little oil.
Step 2 Mix jelly and chili sauce in a medium-sized saucepan until it boils.
Step 3 Add the meatballs to the Crock-Pot and pour sauce over top. Cook on low for 2 to 6 hours.

Pico de Gallo with Homemade Tortilla Chips
Amy - amylz
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, cored, halved, and seeded (about 2 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup finely chopped white onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons minced, seeded jalapeno or serrano chiles (about 2 medium)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
Homemade Tortilla Chips, recipe follows

Cut the tomatoes into 1/4-inch dice and place in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour for the flavors to blend. Serve with Homemade Chips.

Homemade Tortilla Chips:
9 corn tortillas, cut into quarters
4 cups corn or vegetable oil
Salt

In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil to 360 degrees F. In batches, add the tortillas to the oil, being careful not to overcrowd, and cook until golden brown, turning once, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season lightly with Essence. Serve warm or use to make nachos.
Yield: 3 dozen chips

Artichoke and Spinach Dip
Amy - amylz
Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 ounces)
1 cup chopped onions
1 (10-ounce) bag of fresh spinach, stemmed, rinsed and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 cans of artichoke hearts, julienned
Salt and cayenne
10-15 small corn tortillas, cut into fourths
Vegetable oil for frying

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Preheat the fryer. Combine 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil and flour, in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly for 5 to 6 minutes for a blond roux. Whisk in the milk and bring the liquid up to a boil. Season the liquid with salt and cayenne. Simmer the liquid for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the liquid is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheeses. Set the sauce aside. In a saute pan, heat the remaining vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in handfuls of spinach at a time, until all the spinach is incorporated. Add the garlic and artichoke and saute for 2 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and cayenne. Remove the vegetables from the heat and turn into a mixing bowl. Fold the Bechamel sauce into the vegetables. Turn the mixture into a baking pan. Bake the dip for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Fry the tortilla chips, batches at a time, for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the chips are golden and crispy. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the chips with the dip

Amy

Pasta Lasagna

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Pasta Lasagna. I love the idea of this recipe! Now, since half my family doesn't eat cheese, I have to make half for them and half for Caden and me. With regular lasagna, I just do half the pan with cheese and half without but with something like this, it might be hard to keep it from mixing. So, I'm going to cook this in two smaller pans. For John and Jackson, I will do pasta, meat sauce, pasta, meat sauce and then I'll put Mozzarella on half of the top (John likes that, Jackson won't eat anything with cheese). Then I'll do the other one the way it's supposed to be. I may use cottage cheese in place of the ricotta though as I like that better. This dish is kind of like a baked ziti. This would be a great dish to freeze and a great dish to bring to someone when you're providing a meal.

Pasta Lasagna
Amy - amylz
AllRecipes.com

1/2 pound penne pasta
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook beef until brown; drain. Stir in pasta sauce; remove from heat. In a bowl, combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and beaten egg. Stir until well combined. In the prepared dish layer half the pasta, half the sauce and half the cheese mixture. Repeat. Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven 34 to 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Amy

Meat Loaf Teriyaki

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having a teriyaki meatloaf. I know, it sounds good! I don't really like to cook meatloaf in a loaf pan anymore because I hate that it sits in all that grease. So now I cook it on a slotted roasting pan so the grease can drip away from the loaf. I just shape it into loaf shape and it comes out perfect. Plus, more of it comes out crispy (and everyone loves the crispy top). My family loves meatloaf so I can't wait for them to try this. I'll probably serve this with some kind of potatoes.

Meat Loaf Teriyaki
From Recipe Box

2 lb Lean ground beef
2 Eggs; lightly beaten
1/2 c Bread crumbs
1/2 c Green bell pepper; chopped
1 lg Onion; chopped
2 Carrots; grated
2 Cloves garlic; crushed
2 tb Soy sauce
2 tb Brown sugar
2 tb Lemon juice
2 tb Fresh parsley; chopped
3/4 ts Ground ginger
1/2 c Brown sugar
1/2 c Soy sauce

Combine all but last 2 ingredients. Form into 1 or 2 loaves and place in a 9 X 9" baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and drain off grease. Mix together the brown sugar and soy sauce and pour over meat. Bake for 30 more minutes and remove meat to serving platter. Pour sauce over sliced meat loaf or serve separately.

Amy

Italian Chopped Salad,

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having an Italian Chopped Salad for dinner. We love having salad as our main dish. When I was kid, salad was my most favorite food and I am trying to make my kids love salad too. So far, it's 50/50. This salad is great because you can make it work for each person. What I do is I put each topping in it's own bowl and set it up like a salad bar. Everyone gets their plate with romaine and then they top on what they like. Of course everyone needs to take some chicken and everyone needs to take at least 2 vegetables but surprisingly that's rarely a fight. Feel free to sub veggies that your family loves. I know no one will eat cauliflower (but me) so I might do some broccoli instead. We love those grape tomatoes so I'll use those. Then everyone just adds their own dressing. This will be great!

Italian Chopped Salad
Amy – amylz
Kraft - Makes: 4 servings, about 3-1/2 cups each

6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1-1/2 cups chopped cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup cooked small pasta, such as fusilli or rotini
1 cup cauliflower florets
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup KRAFT Natural Italian* Cheese Crumbles
1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

PLACE 1-1/2 cups of the romaine in each of four salad bowls. COMBINE chicken, pasta, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers and cheese crumbles in large bowl. Add dressing; toss lightly. Spoon evenly over romaine. SPRINKLE with Parmesan cheese.

Amy

Green Noodles & Ham, Potato-and-Cheese Biscuits

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Green Noodles and Ham for dinner. This is a great recipe to keep in mind for St. Patrick's Day! You can use dried spinach fettucine or get it fresh in the butter and cheese aisle. If you like prosciutto, you should totally use it. You can get it in the deli. It's like a really thin cut of ham, kind of like bacon but it's not smoky. Strangely, my family doesn't love it so I typically use bacon in place of prosciutto but there really is a big difference so I say go with the prosciutto if you like that. I think you could sub regular ham too. The rest if very simple! For my Monday bread, I'm making Potato and Cheese Biscuits. This is a good way to use up mashed potatoes if you have some left over. This recipe isn't difficult at all, it just looks complicated. Give it a try!

Green Noodles & Ham
(Astrid, from Rachael Ray)

1 box spinach fettuccine (12-14 oz)
1/4 lb prosciutto
3 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
1 c cream or half & half
1 c - 1 1/2 c parmesan cheese, grated
salt & pepper, to taste
1 c frozen green peas, thawed

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a spoonful of salt to the water to season the pasta as it cooks. When it boils, add pasta and cook according to the package directions until it is al dente. While the pasta cooks, cut prosciutto into thin, short, ribbon like pieces. Separate ham ribbons, and loosely pile them up, and set aside. Preheat a large skillet over moderate heat. Place butter in pan to melt. Add cream. Stirring constantly, add 1 c cheese and cook for one minute, seasoning with pepper and a pinch of salt. Turn off heat under sauce and drain pasta. Add pasta and defrosted peas to the sauce, tossing to coat. Add prosciutto ribbons and toss to distribute evenly. If you think it needs it, melt in up to 1/2 c more cheese (I did not)

Potato-and-Cheese Biscuits
Amy - amylz

1 cup (1-inch) cubed peeled Yukon gold or red potato
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 tablespoon cold water
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425°. Cook the potato in boiling water 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain well; mash potato, and cool. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add mashed potato, cheese, buttermilk, and green onions; stir just until moist. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead lightly 5 times. Roll dough to a 3/4-inch thickness, and cut with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Place on a baking sheet. Combine water and egg white, and brush over biscuits. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until golden. Yield: 9 servings

CALORIES 151 (29% from fat); FAT 4.8g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 6.3g; CHOLESTEROL 13mg; CALCIUM 170mg; SODIUM 353mg; FIBER 0.9g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 20.6g
Cooking Light, JUNE 1999

Amy

Fiesta Tacos

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having tacos! This is my most favorite food. Obviously you don't really need a recipe for tacos but in case you do, here is one from McCormick below. I actually buy the giant container of taco seasoning at Costco and I use that for tacos. I just dump it in until it tastes good. We like our tacos nice and spicy though. We always have onions, black olives, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and jalapenos with our tacos! Yum! And for some reason, I like to serve tator tots with tacos. I guess it's the love of Taco Time that got me hooked on this combo!

Fiesta Tacos
Amy - amylz

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 package McCormick® Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup water
12 taco shells
Assorted toppings such as shredded lettuce, chopped tomato and shredded cheese

1. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Drain fat.
2. Stir in Seasoning Mix and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Spoon into warmed taco shells. Serve with assorted toppings.

©2008 McCormick & Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Amy

Crockpot French Dip,

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Crockpot French Dip. Making french dip this way is so easy. You'll want to get an arm roast or an eye of round roast for the leanest meat. You simply put the roast in the crockpot with some seasonings and let it cook. When you're ready to eat, you will need to slice the roast for the sandwiches. The juice in the crockpot is what you'll use for dipping! Yum! I think I'll serve this with fries and a nice green salad!

Crockpot French Dip
Brenda

1 lean roast, all fat removed
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 can beef broth (14 oz.)
1 envelope dry beefy onion soup mix (Lipton)
1 bottle beer
3 cups water
12 slices Mozzarella cheese
6 hoagie rolls or French buns

1. Trim all fat from roast. Season with garlic powder & pepper. Place trimmed roast in crockpot on high.
2. In large saucepan, combine beef broth, dry French onion soup mix, beer, and water; bring to a boil. Pour over roast in crockpot and cook for 7 hours.
3. Remove roast to a platter and slice thin slices with an electric knife.
4. Place open hoagie rolls on a baking sheet covered with foil. Place 2 slices of mozzarella cheese on each roll (two half slices on each side of the roll). Place under oven broiler for 1-2 minutes (make sure rack is not too close to broiler element). Remove from oven & place sliced beef over melted cheese.
5. Strain Au jus broth from crockpot and place in 6 small serving bowls to dip. Add a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper to Au Jus just before serving.

Amy

Corn Dogs, Brown Sugar-Banana Muffins

Hi everyone! Tomorrow is grocery shopping day so I thought I would go over any great sales. Oh wait, there aren't any. I was really disappointed this week. Don't they know that baking season is among us? Safeway does have their turkeys at $.27/lb so be thinking about picking one up.

Jackson is very excited because tomorrow we're having corn dogs. He watched this episode of Sandra Lee when she made these (back in the summer) and he's been asking for them ever since. Now, if you don't have a deep fryer, fill a heavy pan with vegetable oil and make sure you have enough in there to completely cover the corn dog. You want to get the oil really hot too! Since it's Friday, I'm making Brown Sugar-Banana Muffins for dessert. Again, I like to make big batches of muffins and then I freeze the extra for quick after school snacks and things like that. I'll be leaving out the nuts but otherwise following the recipe exactly!

Corn Dogs
Amy - amylz
Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee

1 egg
1 (10-ounce) package corn muffin mix
3/4 cup milk
2 packets spaghetti sauce spice seasoning mix
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 reduced-fat beef hot dogs
Vegetable oil, for frying
12 wooden skewers

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, corn muffin mix, milk and 1 seasoning packet. In a separate shallow dish, mix second seasoning packet and flour. Insert wooden skewers half way into hot dogs. Heat oil to 360 degrees F in a deep-fryer. Dredge each beef frank in flour seasoning mix, dust off excess then dip into cornmeal batter. Fry 2 to 3 corn dogs at a time for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Brown Sugar-Banana Muffins
Kmc0415 via myrecipes.com (Southern Living)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. (Do not overbeat.) Spoon batter into 12 lightly greased muffin cups, filling two-thirds full. Sprinkle evenly with pecans.
3. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans immediately, and cool 10 minutes on wire racks.
Tip: If you don't have buttermilk, stir 3/4 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar into 1/4 cup milk.

Amy

Champ, Chicken Spiedini

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Champ and Chicken Spiedini. Champ is just Green Onion Mashed Potatoes but there is a story with it. The poem is at the bottom of the recipe. For the main dish, we're having chicken spiedini. This is very clever! You want to pound your chicken really thin. I put mine between two pieces of plastic wrap and then use a rolling pin to make it thin. It works like a charm. You then bread the chicken and roll it up and cut it into pieces. Skewer them and then grill (or use a grill pan or the George Forman Grill). So simple!

Champ (Green Onion Mashed Potatoes)
Sandy~Bettyinthekitchen- Epicurious

2 lb russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup whipping cream (milk is fine)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced (about 1 1/3 cups)

Cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Mix in green onions. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep while potatoes cook. Drain potatoes thoroughly. Return potatoes to same pot and mash. Add cream mixture and stir until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover; let stand at room temperature. Reheat over low heat, stirring often.) Serves 4. The traditional implement used for pounding potatoes was a wooden masher, pestle-shaped, called a "beetle." The poem says:
There was an old woman
that lived in a lamp;
she had no room
to beetle her champ.
She's up'd with her beetle
and broke the lamp,
and now she has room
to beetle her champ.

Chicken Spiedini
(Tyne-ABC123T from Dierberg's magazine)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs. parsley
2 tsp. lemon peel
2 cloves garlic ; minced
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. melted butter

Place chicken between plastic wrap; pound until very thin. Combine bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, lemon peel and garlic. In another dish, combine olive oil and melted butter. Dip chicken into butter mixture; coat with crumb mixture. Tightly roll and cut into 1-inch thick pieces. Thread onto metal skewer. Grill or broil.

Amy

Texas Beef Chili

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Texas Beef Chili for dinner. Now, I don't want my chili to be screaming hot because the kids won't like that so I'm going to skip the ancho chiles. However, if you like that, I really recommend you use them. You should be able to find the dried chilis in the Mexican aisle of the store. I am going to use 1-2 chilis in adobo since I have some I want to use up though. The rest I'm going to follow!

Texas Beef Chili
Amy - amylz
Culinary.net

8 dried ancho chiles, trimmed and seeded
3 pounds ground beef, preferably coarse-ground chuck
1/4 cup canola oil, divided
1 OSO Sweet onion, diced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans
Salt to taste
Chopped colorful bell peppers for garnish

Soak dried chiles in 1 quart warm water to soften about 15 minutes. In blender, puree chiles with their liquid. In large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat half of oil and brown beef. Remove and reserve. Add remaining oil to same pan, and lightly brown onion and garlic. Stir in paprika, cumin, oregano and allspice. Add chile puree, beef, beans and salt to taste, and bring to boil. Cover and simmer 1 hour, or until chili is rich and concentrated. Offer chopped bell peppers to garnish. Chef's Tip: One secret to great chili is to use coarsely ground beef. Ask the butcher to coarse-grind beef chuck. Dried chile anchos can be found in the Mexican section of supermarkets.

Amy

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken, Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having BBQ Chicken. This is a crock pot recipe. You just throw everything in the crockpot and that's it. Just make sure your crock pot is at least 1/2-3/4 full. That's the key to crock pot cooking. You could shred the chicken when it's done and make sandwiches or you can just eat it the way it is. On the side, we're having a spinach and strawberry salad. You can buy the spinach already packaged and ready to go if you want to skip washing and trimming it yourself!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
OP?????

3-4 Chicken Breasts (can be frozen)
2 c. Ketchup
4 tbl. Brown Sugar
1 tbl. Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbl. Soy sauce
1 tbl Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

Put all ingredients into crock pot, Cooks on High 4 hours. (low 6 hours)

Spinach and Strawberry Salad
Amy – amylz
All Recipes

2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.
NOTES: Be sure to leave the dressing at room temperature. It changes consistency once refrigerated!

Amy

Pulled Pork, Whole Wheat Bread, Rotini Salad with Kalamata Olive Dressing

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Pulled Pork for dinner. You can cook this in the oven or the crock pot. There are no measurements here so just eyeball it! Liquid Smoke can be found in the spice aisle and it comes in a little black bottle. If you don't see it, just ask someone, they have it! Michelle says she likes to cook this a day ahead of time since it takes all day but that's up to you! I plan to shred it and serve it on buns. Since it's Monday, I'm making Whole Wheat Bread. This is a bread machine recipe and there are instructions for 1, 1.5 or 2 pound loaves. For our side dish, I'm going to make a Rotini Salad with Kalamata Olive dressing. I have some Kalamata olives left over from another recipe a couple weeks ago that I want to use up. You can get Kalamata olives in a jar in the olive section of the store or sometimes you can get them in the bulk bins in the deli. Now, this recipe as written is a bit time consuming but you can cheat and do some short cuts. First, I'm going to just used roasted peppers from a jar (found where the pickles are). Haricot Verts can be found in the freezer section if you don't have them in the produce section. I think you can sub fresh green beans too. The rest of the items you should be able to find!

Pulled Pork—oven or crockpot
Michelle (MMmom)

(sorry I don’t measure ingredients)
Beef broth—low sodium, about 1 to 1 1/3 cup
Apple cider vinegar
Liquid smoke
Cajun seasoning
Pork shoulder or butt
BBQ sauce (your favorite)

Oven Method:Pour beef broth into a roasting pan. Add a generous splash of apple cider vinegar. You can add more later if it needs it. Pour liquid smoke over the entire surface of the pork. Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning and rub into the meat. Place meat in pan of broth. Cover loosely with foil. Bake at about 300 all day until meat is tender and falling apart. Remove from oven and shred, picking out fat. Reserve cooking liquid in a bowl. Add shredded meat back to pan. Pour BBQ sauce over the meat (1/2 to 1 full bottle, depending on how much meat you have). Add some of the cooking liquid to desired consistency. Taste to see if you need more vinegar, liquid smoke, or seasonings. Return to oven and bake for 30-45 minutes longer. Serve.
Crockpot Method:Add beef broth & apple cider vinegar to crockpot and prepare meat as in oven method. Place meat in crockpot carefully to avoid splashing. Cook all day on low. If you find that the meat is tough or taking too long, switch to high. Remove meat from crockpot and shred, picking out fat. Place meat in a bowl. Pour BBQ sauce over the meat (1/2 to 1 full bottle, depending on how much meat you have). Add some of the cooking liquid to desired consistency. Taste to see if you need more vinegar, liquid smoke, or seasonings. Discard any cooking liquid you don’t need. Pour contents of bowl back into crockpot and cook on high for 30-40 minutes. Serve.
Notes: I like to make this the day before I need it since it takes all day. I prefer the oven method, b/c you get something similar to “burnt ends” (the TX people know what I’m talking about!)

Whole Wheat Bread - Bread Machine
Sandy~~*~Sandy~*~

1 POUND LOAF
1/2 cup water
2 T margarine or butter
1 egg
1 1/2 T sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 whole wheat flour
1 tsp yeast

1 1/2 POUND LOAF
3/4 cup water
3 T margarine or butter
1 egg
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 POUND LOAF
1 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 egg
2 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp yeast

Layer in bread machine according to the manufacturers directions. Use the whole wheat or basic cycle.

Rotini Salad with Kalamata Olive Dressing
Amy - amylz

1 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
6 ounces uncooked rotini (corkscrew pasta)
1/4 pound haricots verts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced fresh basil
1 1/2 ounces diced fresh mozzarella
4 pitted kalamata olives, sliced
1 ounce prosciutto, chopped
Cooking spray
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 large shallot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat broiler. Cut red bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place red and yellow pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel and dice; place in a large bowl. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add haricots verts to pasta during last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain. Add pasta mixture, tomatoes, and next 4 ingredients (through prosciutto) to peppers; toss well. Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add garlic and shallot to pan. Cook 15 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Place the garlic mixture, vinegar, and remaining ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Pour dressing over pasta mixture; toss well. Yield: 7 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)
CALORIES 147 (18% from fat); FAT 3g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 6.6g; CHOLESTEROL 8mg; CALCIUM 59mg; SODIUM 205mg; FIBER 2.2g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 23.9g
Cooking Light, JULY 2006

Amy

CROCKPOT SMOKED SAUSAGE

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having Crockpot Smoked Sausage. Smoked Sausage can be found in the hot dog section of the super market. They kind of look like hot dogs but they're bigger and they're very clearly marked as smoked sausage. This recipe is soooo easy. Just throw it all in the crock pot and forget about it. Then you serve it over rice or noodles. We prefer rice!

CROCKPOT SMOKED SAUSAGE
annepash or OP?

2 pkgs smoked sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano

Place all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high for at least 4 hours (or low for 8). Serve over rice or noodles. Note: I used brown rice.

Amy

Chewy Brownies, Flour's Famous Banana Bread, OREO BROWNIES, Chicken Strips with Blue Cheese Dressing

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow is Hollyfest (a craft fair my Mops group puts on) and we always have a bake sale. This year I am contributing a few different goodies. First I'm making Chewy Brownies. This couldn't get easier because you use a chocolate cake mix to start with. You just mix everything together and bake. These come out as a soft, chewy brownie! Since these are to sell, I am adding the nuts. The 2nd goodie is Banana Bread. This particular recipe I got from the Food Network. It's from the Flour Bakery in Boston. This recipe is very easy to follow. If you're using frozen banana from the freezer, you can thaw them for about 20 seconds in the microwave to soften them up. Make sure you don't cook the bananas though so watch them carefully! The 3rd goodie is Oreo Brownies. Yum! Ok, this is messy and will destroy a pan so I recommend you use a foil pan. I also recommend you really break up the oreos. It makes it a little easier to work with. Just beat them with a rolling pin or something like that!

Now for dinner, I'm making Chicken Strips with Blue Cheese Dressing. I've told you all before, making stuff like this from scratch really is the way to go and your kids will eat it. It's so much healthier and I just like being able to see what my kids are eating. The key to making the strips nice and crispy is make sure you don't move the chicken at all when it's cooking. Once you put them in the pan, leave them alone. You can get buttermilk in the milk section of your super market and it should come in a quart size (4 cups). I know, this recipe only calls for 1/2 cup but you can use the leftover buttermilk to make pancakes! If you just don't want to buy buttermilk, feel free to sub sour milk. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for every 1 cup of milk so in this recipe you'd add 1/2 tbsp. Now, as many of you know, my family won't eat blue cheese dressing and I don't need to eat it so I'm not going to make it. We like to dip our chicken strips in mustard so we'll be happy with that!

Chewy Brownies
Amy – amylz

1 chocolate Cake Mix
½ cup margarine, softened
3 eggs
¾ cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together cake mix, margarine, and eggs until the cake mix is completely absorbed. Stir in chips and nuts. Press the stiff dough evenly into a greased 9X13 pan. Bake 26-30 minutes. When cooked, cut into squares and serve.

Flour's Famous Banana Bread
Amy – amylz
Recipe courtesy Chef Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery in Boston

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

OREO BROWNIES
Sharon --GatorGrrrl

1 package Oreos, crushed
14 oz. can sweet condensed milk
12 oz. package chocolate chips
1-1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 disposable aluminum brownie pans (I ruined a pan getting these out once and now prefer these)

Mix all ingredients until it forms a stiff batter. Grease the brownie pans well and pour in batter. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. Cool and cut (I've found it's best to put them in the fridge to cool. Then turn them upside down on the counter and peel away the aluminum pan with kitchen scissors)

Chicken Strips with Blue Cheese Dressing
Amy - amylz

Chicken:
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound chicken breast tenders
1 tablespoon canola oil

Dressing:
1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To prepare chicken, combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a shallow dish. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, and dredge chicken in flour mixture. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Set aside, and keep warm. While chicken cooks, prepare the dressing. Combine fat-free mayonnaise and next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl. Serve with chicken strips. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 3 chicken tenders and 2 tablespoons dressing)
CALORIES 281 (28% from fat); FAT 8.7g (sat 2.6g,mono 3.2g,poly 1.5g); PROTEIN 30.8g; CHOLESTEROL 77mg; CALCIUM 101mg; SODIUM 771mg; FIBER 1.3g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.4g
Cooking Light, MAY 2005

Amy

Honeyed Balsamic Beef Strips, Olive Cheese Bread, Cinnamon Crunch Cobblestone Muffins

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we're having Honeyed Balsamic Beef Strips. You start with a roast and cut it into strips. You can ask your butcher to do this (even at the super market) and they will slice it for you. Then you can cook the meat or grill it. I'm also going to make Olive Cheese Bread. It just sounds good. My family loves olives so I think they'll like this. And finally, since it's Friday, I'm making Cinnamon Crunch Cobblestone Muffins for dessert. These are super yummy. They remind me of monkey bread. I will leave out the nuts but otherwise follow as directed.

Honeyed Balsamic Beef Strips
Jessica?s Recipe, posted by Eileen

Center cut beef roast, trimmed of fat
4 Tb balsamic vinegar (red)
4 Tb honey
4 Tb olive oil
3 cloves smashed & chopped garlic
salt & pepper to taste
1lb mushrooms

Slice roast into thin slices, approximately 1/3 inch thick or the width of your pinky finger. Put in large plastic storage bag & set aside. Whisk together remaining ingredients or pulse in mini food processor until well-blended. Add to the storage bag and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Sear in pan on stove top & cook to desired doneness or grill. Add 1 lb of sliced mushrooms & saute to desired doneness. Top beef strips with mushrooms to serve. Eileen's Notes: I thread mine on to skewers and grill over medium low heat. They cook quickly - taking only about 5 - 10 minutes to cook, flipping halfway through so watch them carefully!

Olive Cheese Bread
(MommytoJimmyLee)

1 regular can whole black olives
1 6-oz jar pimiento stuffed green olives
2 green onions
¾ pound Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup real mayonnaise
1 stick butter, softened
1 loaf French bread

Roughly chop olives. Slice green onions and give them a rough chop. Combine green onions and olives with the softened butter, ½ cup mayonnaise, and grated Monterey jack
cheese. Mix thoroughly. Slice French bread in half lengthwise, then spread mixture evenly over the halves. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, or until thoroughly melted and starting to turn light brown and bubbly. Cut into diagonal slices and serve with salad, with soup, with spaghetti, or as a yummy appetizer. Make-ahead tips: You can make the cheese mixture up to two days ahead of time and store in the fridge. Or, you can spread the mixture on the bread and freeze the bread, unbaked, for several months.

Cinnamon Crunch Cobblestone Muffins
Dottie (hokiesmom)

¼ C pecan halves, chopped
2/3 C sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 pkgs (11.3 oz each) refrigerated dinner rolls (I use cheap biscuits)
1/3 C butter, melted and divided
1 Tbsp all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375*. Chop pecans. Combine pecans, sugar and cinnamon; mix well.
Separate rolls; cut each roll into six pieces using a pizza cutter. Place half of the dough pieces and 2 Tbsp butter in a bowl and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with ¼ C of sugar mixture; toss to coat. Divide dough pieces evenly among six muffin cup pan. Repeat procedure with remaining dough etc to fill remaining cups. Add flour to remaining sugar mixture in bowl; add remaining butter and mix until crumbly. Place a “scant” amount of the crumb mixture to the top of each muffin. Bake 20-25 minutes or until muffins are deep golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove and serve while warm.

Amy

Cranberry Harvest Muffins

Hi everyone! I fgiured I would go over some good sales this week. THis is a good time of year to start stocking up on some staples since many go on sale during the holidays. QFC is doing this Mega Event where they have some things on sale for one price but if you buy 10 they're even less. So, for instance, Swiss Mix cocoa is on sale for $1 a box but if you buy 10, they're only $.50 a box. This applies to Quaker Mini Rice Cakes, Carnation Evaporated Milk, PowerAde, Vitamin Water, and Dial Hand soap. Then they have these items for $1.50 or $1 if you buy 10...Betty Crocker Potatoes, Hormel Chili, Olives, Peanuts, Hunts Tomatoes or Sauce, Zatarains and Quaker Oatmeal I don't know why you would need 10 of those giant Quaker Oatmeal containers but that's a good deal if you do. There are more sales like this as the prices go up. The only ones I wanted to mention were General Mills cereal and Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks are $1.50 if you buy 10 and they have C&H Sugar, Pam, and Smucker's Jam at $2 if you buy 10. Oh, and on Saturday from 12-5 you can get a whole pineapple for $1.99, a gallon of milk for $.99 and a bottle of 7-up for free.

Albertsons is offering a coupon for $15 off your next shopping trip if you spend $30 on certain products this week. There are a ton of products to choose from though. They've got Lipton Soup Mix, Betty Crocker Cake Mix, Betty Crocker Potatoes all for $1. Then there are tons of things at 3/$5 and 2/$5. Even General Mills Cereal and Best Foods Mayo is in there so you could easily get to $30. This seems like a good deal. Safeway (my store of choice) has a few things worth mentioning. The Honeysuckle turkeys (17-22 pounds) are $.69 but it's while supplies last so if you want one of these, you better go today! London Broils are 50% off, Fresh Atlantic Salmon is $6.99/lb and Tostitos are BOGO. They have pears 10lb/$10 and the best deal are the red or black seedless grapes $1/lb. The black ones are delicious. If your store is out, get a rain check! Safeway is also offering a coupon for $5 or $10 off your next shopping order if you spend $25 or $40 on certain products. You look for the items with the tags that say Home for the Holidays. Some to note are Nestle Chocolate Chips 2/$5, All Purpose Flour 2 5lb bags for $3, Betty Crocker Potatoes 4/$5, Betty Crocker Cake Mix $.89, and Brown or Powdered Sugar 2/$3.

Tomorrow I am hosting play group and I'm making Cranberry Harvest Muffins. This makes 18 big muffins so there should be plenty left to throw in the freezer for after school snacks. I'm also going to leave the nuts out but otherwise I'll do as directed. We have Jackson's soccer banquet tonight at a pizza parlor so I'm not making dinner. It's nice to have a night off from time to time!

Cranberry Harvest Muffins
OP???

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries (I don’t chop them)
1/2 cup medium-diced apricots (figs or prunes can be used too)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (pecans or hazelnuts too)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk, eggs and melted butter. Stir quickly just to combine. Add the cranberries, apricots, nuts and both sugars. Stir just to distribute the fruits, nuts and sugar evenly throughout the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned on the top and a toothpick comes out clean. Yield: 18 Large Muffins

Amy

Chicken Noodle Soup

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we're having Chicken Noodle Soup! I love homemade soup and Chicken Noodle is probably my families favorite. This recipe is very easy to understand and straight forward.

Chicken Noodle Soup
(Jennifer)

1-2 T. canola or olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (or may use garlic powder to taste)
1 onion, diced
2 celery ribs, chopped
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 medium potato, diced (optional)
8 C. low sodium chicken stock (or just use water and about 1 T. chicken base or bullion)
6 oz. homestyle noodles (dry, found in the pasta section of the store)
1 C. frozen peas
12 oz. canned chicken (or use leftover cooked chicken or turkey if you have it)
1 t. poultry seasoning (or to taste)
fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

In a large stock pot, saute onion, celery and garlic in oil till they are soft. Add carrots and potato if desired and satue a couple minutes. Add chicken stock (if you preheat this while the veggies are cooking it saves time) and bring to a boil. Add peas, poultry seasoning and pepper. If your noodles take more than 10 minutes to cook (the ones I buy need about 20 - the label will tell you) add the noodles immediately, if they only need 8-10 minutes, simmer veggies for 10-15 minutes before adding noodles. Just before soup is done, add canned chicken, and stir well. (total simmer time about 20-25 minutes)

Amy

Boulevard’s Maple Syrup and Apple Cider Brine for Pork

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having pork. The great thing about this recipe is you can use anything you like. You can do chops, a tenderloin, a roast, whatever pork you want. The recipe is actually for a brine. If you haven't tried brining something before, you have to try this. You'll fall in love with this method because it adds so much flavor! With a brine, you want to use a giant bowl or bucket or something really big. The directions here are assuming you're using a pork roast so if you're only going to use chops or a tenderloin, do adjust your cooking time. You can leave something sitting in a brine for a few days. I typically do mine a day ahead of time but I've known people who leave them in their for a week, no kidding. I'm not brave enough to do that!

Boulevard’s Maple Syrup and Apple Cider Brine for Pork
Niki5959 – from The Complete Meat Cookbook

7 cups of hot water
½ cup kosher salt
2 cups apple cider
½ cup maple syrup
2 T coarsely ground black pepper

Stir the hot water and salt together until the salt is dissolved. Add the remaining brine ingredients. Cool to at least 45 degrees in the refrigerator (I cooled mine outside). Add the pork and refrigerate until ready to cook. Pat dry and cook as desired. To cook: brown the pork in a hot oven at 400 – 450 degrees. Turn the oven down to about 325 and cook until the internal temperature reaches 140 –150. Let the roast sit for about 15 minutes or so before carving. I made gravy during this time.

Amy

BBQ Grilled Chicken Kabobs, Portuguese Sweet Bread

Hi everyone!

Tomorrow we are having BBQ Grilled Chicken Kabobs for dinner. We're just in a kabob mood lately but I know my family will eat these so it's ok. This recipe is so simple. Just use the veggies you like, cut up the chicken and you're good. Now, here's my tip...I think it's better if you skewer the veggies all together and the meat all together. That way everything cooks evenly and you won't end up with burnt veggies. If you don't want to BBQ, there are broiling directions given too. I'll serve this all with rice. And since it's Monday, I'm making Portuguese Sweet Bread. This recipe is very affordable! It's for the bread machine!

BBQ Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Amy – amylz
Kraft - 4 servings, two kabobs each

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
6 cups assorted cut-up fresh vegetables (bell peppers, mushrooms, onions and zucchini)
1 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce, divided

PREHEAT grill to medium heat. Thread chicken onto eight skewers alternately with the vegetables. GRILL 10 to 15 min. or until chicken is cooked through, turning after 8 min. and brushing with 1/2 cup of the barbecue sauce for the last 5 min. SERVE with the remaining 1/2 cup barbecue sauce. Use Your Broiler: Preheat broiler. Assemble kabobs as directed; place on rack of broiler pan. Broil, 4 inches from heat, 10 to 15 min. or until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally and brushing with 1/2 cup of the barbecue sauce for the last 10 min. of the broiling time. Serve as directed.

Portuguese Sweet Bread
Sandy~~*~Sandy~*~

3/4 cup milk (sub 3/4 cup water and 1/3 cup dry milk less 2 T)
1 egg
1 1/2 T margarine or butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Layer in bread pan according to manufacturer’s directions. Bake on Sweet or Basic cycle. Sub water and powdered milk instead of fresh milk to reduce cost.

Amy

Teresa’s Bean Soup, Teriyaki Salmon Supper

Hi everyone! Can you believe it's November? I mean really, November? I feel like I need to Christmas shop or something. I hope you all survived Halloween! My kids had a great time!

Tomorrow we are having Teresa's Bean Soup. Teresa is a woman I used to work with at Boeing all those years ago. She was a vegetarian and gave me some recipes that I've loved all these years. This is one of those recipes. My kids love beans too so I know they'll like this. You can add meat to this and she gives some suggestions in the directions. I think bacon might be a good addition too. John won't touch this though so I'm making him Teriyaki Salmon Supper. This is a quick and easy way to have a complete dinner. Since he likely won't eat the veggies, I'm going to just make the rice and the salmon.

Teresa’s Bean Soup
Amy – amylz

1 pound bean soup mix
2 quarts water
1 onion, chopped
2 14 oz. Cans tomatoes, peeled, with basil
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
1 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
parsley, chopped for garnish

Pick over bean mix, rinse and pour boiling water over to pre-soak. Let stand for one hour. Drain and add the water and simmer for 45 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Option: Add 2 cups cooked diced ham, chicken, turkey or beef with remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve piping hot garnished with parsley

Teriyaki Salmon Supper
Amy - amylz
4 servings

3/4 cup A.1. STEAKHOUSE Marinade for Seafood Ginger Teriyaki with Orange, divided
4 salmon fillets (1 lb.), skin removed
2 cups small broccoli florets
1 cup short thin red pepper strips (about 1 medium)
1 can (14 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (about 1 medium)

POUR 1/2 cup of the marinade over salmon in resealable plastic bag. Seal bag; turn to evenly coat salmon with the marinade. Refrigerate 30 min. to marinate. PREHEAT broiler. Remove salmon from marinade; discard marinade. Place salmon on rack of broiler pan. Broil, 4 to 5 inches from heat, 6 to 8 min. or until salmon flakes easily with fork. MEANWHILE, cook remaining 1/4 cup marinade in medium saucepan on medium-high heat until heated through. Add broccoli and peppers; cook 2 min., stirring occasionally. Add broth; bring to boil. Stir in rice; return to boil. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 5 min. or until all liquid is absorbed. Stir in onions. Serve salmon with the rice. Substitute fresh pea pods for the broccoli florets. Substitute chopped cilantro for green onions. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts before serving.

Amy