If you like Peanut Butter...

Then you will love these! Chocolaty Peanut Butter Cupcakes
1 pkg plain devil’s food cake mix
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 c buttermilk
½ c vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
24 peanut butter cups

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low for one minute. Top and scrape down the sides. Increase speed to medium and blend 2 minutes more. The batter should look thick and combined. Pour the batter into lined cupcake tins. Push in a peanut butter cup into each tin. Bake until the cake springs back lightly when touched, about 18 minutes. Cool while preparing the frosting.

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
1 c creamy peanut butter
8 Tbsp butter, room temperature
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
3 to 4 Tbsp milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place the peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy for 30 seconds. Stop and add the sugar, milk, and vanilla. Blend on low speed until the sugar is well combined, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting lightens and is fluffy, about 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 Tbsp of milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

Enjoy!

Em

Nacho Libre Night

see my blog for details of our night!

Banana Licuados
2 c ice
3 c 2% milk
splash of vanilla
1 ½ Tbsp sugar
3 large bananas

Blend until smooth and enjoy.

BBQ Chicken CPK Salad
Salad:
½ head iceberg lettuce
½ head romaine lettuce
12 large fresh basil leaves, dieed
1 lb jicama, chopped
2 c shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 c canned black beans
1 c canned sweet white corn kernels
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 lb ripe tomatoes diced
½ c sweet/spicy bbq sauce
¼ c green onions
tortilla strips

Herb Ranch Dressing (if you don't have time to make this dressing, just use your favorite ranch...it's still good!)
½ tsp dry mustard
¼ tsp cold water
2 ¾ c mayonnaise
1 c buttermilk
7 Tbsp sour cream
2 ½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp scallions (greens and whites)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced fresh Italian parsley
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp minced fresh dill
½ tsp minced fresh oregano (1/4 tsp dried)
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp minced fresh basil

Chicken:
1 1/3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp salt
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ c good sweet/spicy bbq sauce

To make the ranch dressing, use a fork to stir the mustard and water, forming a paste. Set aside for 10 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl and use an electric mixer at low speed to blend together until smooth. Try not to incorporate too much air into the dressing. To make the chicken, preheat a grill or broiler. Mix together the olive oil, garlic, soy, and salt. Marinade the breasts at room temperature for 15 minutes. Grill or broil until cooked through (5-6 minutes per side). Chill thoroughly and then cut chicken into cubes. Toss with the bbq sauce to coat well. Mix all ingredients for the salad and top served with chicken, bbq sauce, and dressing. Garnish with scallions and tortilla chips.

Fried Ice Cream
1 quart vanilla ice cream
2 c crushed frosted flakes
1 ½ c sweetened coconut flakes
3 large eggs
3 Tbsp sugar
vegetable oil for frying
hot fudge
caramel sauce
whipped cream

With an ice cream scoop, form 4-8 large balls of ice cream. Place on a waxed paper lined sheet and cover with plastic wrap or in place in cupcake tins. Freeze for at least 2 hours. In a bowl, combine the cornflake crumbs with the coconut. Spread the mixture in a shallow dish. Dip the ice cream balls in the crumb mixture and freeze for 30 minutes. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Dip the coated ice cream balls into the eggs, then roll in the crumb mixture, coating completely. Freeze for 1 hour. (If necessary, or for a thicker crust, roll again in eggs and crumbs until the balls are completely coated.) Heat the oil in a large pot or fryer to 400 degrees F. One at a time, lower the balls into the oil and fry until golden brown, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the oil and place in a dessert bowl. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, as desired. Repeat with the remaining ice cream and serve immediately.

So much fun! Enjoy!

Pan Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cream sugar, butter, cream cheese, egg and extracts. Combine dry ingredients. Add a little at a time to creamed ingredients. Set aside. Grease jelly roll pan with a vegetable spray like Pam. Add just a little flour to the dough to keep it from sticking as you work with it. Spread dough in pan with a knife. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Do not overbake.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
dash of salt
half-n-half cream add to get right consistency

After cookies have cooled, add frosting. Cut into squares and enjoy.

Kathy

5 Minute Dinner

I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens awhile ago. I tried it tonight because I had a tiny bit of Pesto left over that I wanted to use up. It was so simple and delicious. I sat Sophie down to play but it was ready so fast she didn't even get to play! This has a great simple pesto recipe if you don't have any on hand. I just used a little store bought pesto and it was great as well. Serve with a little salad or bread and you're set. Dinner in 5! Enjoy!

Ravioli with Spinach Pesto

9 oz pkg 4-cheese ravioli

12 oz. baby pattypan squash, halved, or yellow summer squash, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick

3 ½ cups fresh baby spinach

½ cup torn fresh basil

¼ cup bottled Caesar Parmesan vinaigrette salad dressing

Shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook ravioli according to package. Add the squash the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Drain. Meanwhile, for pesto, in blender container combine spinach, basil, salad dressing, and 2 tablespoons water. Cover and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down blender as needed. You can also use store bought pesto. Just use about 2 Tbsp. Toss ravioli mixture with pesto. Sprinkle with cheese.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just found this recipe online, and these are good! (I've never baked anything with pumpkin before, so I am impressed)!
These may sound elementary, but if you're in need of a fabulous recipe... here ya go!

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

This ended up making more than two dozen for me, and they're a good size! These are also a little cakey, which I LOVE! So enjoy!


adrianne

Aunt Kathy's Pumpkin Waffles and Carmel Apple Syrup

Pumpkin Waffles
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil for brushing waffle iron or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined. In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks (as in, far softer than the over-beaten whites you’ll see in my picture above). Folk them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined. Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.

Carmel Apple Syrup
2 medium cooking apples
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1/3 cup walnut pieces

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Set aside. In small saucepan, melt butter. Add spices, brown sugar. Cook until thick. Add water, walnuts and apples. Let simmer on low until thick. While syrup is cooking make waffles.

Enjoy!!

Apple Butter Hotcakes

Everyone's making apple butter up here in the Northwest. We were lucky and had some bestowed on us. So, we made these! I found them last year from Better Homes and Gardens. They are really yummy with the flavored butter and cherry syrup, BUT they are just as delicious plain with powdered sugar or syrup. Enjoy and happy fall!

Apple Butter Hotcakes

½ c butter, softened

¼ c honey

¼ tsp cinnamon

12 oz package pitted cherries

½ c cherry jam or preserves

1 tsp finely shredded orange peel

1 ½ c regular or buttermilk pancake mix

¾ c milk

2 Tbsp oil

2 eggs

½ c apple butter

For flavored butter, in a small mixing bowl, use a small whisk to combine butter, honey, and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined; set aside. For cherry sauce, in a medium saucepan, combine frozen cherries, cherry jam, and orange peel. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened slightly. Cover and set aside; keep warm. In a medium bowl, stir together pancake mix, milk, oil, eggs, and apple butter. Stir just until moistened (batter should still be lumpy). For mini-size hot cakes, spread about 1 tablespoon batter into a 1-1/2-inch circle onto a hot lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. (For standard-size hot cakes, spread about 1/4 cup batter into a 4-inch circle.) Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or until hot cakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when hot cakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm with flavored butter and cherry syrup.

Fabulous Fall Soup

We've been feeling quite fallish around here and craving all things pumpkin and spice. My friend said she had a fabulous soup recipe so we made if for the men while they were at the priesthood session. We hardly got to try any of it because they just kept eating and eating and eating. I've never seen grown men adore a soup so much. It was kind of unsettling actually. Haha. BUT the soup was seriously fabulous. You must try it!

Happy Fall! Enjoy!

-Em

Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup

6 slices bacon

1 c finely chopped onion

1 c finely chopped celery

2 garlic cloves minced

4 c peeled and chopped butternut squash

4 ½ c chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

¼ tsp ground red pepper

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

¼ c whipping cream

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 cans (15 oz) Great Northern white beans, rinsed and drained

3 Tbsp unsalted pumpkinseed kernels, tasted (optional)

Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving about 2 teaspoons of bacon drippings. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Add onion, celery, and garlic to bacon drippings. Cook 3 minutes until tender. Add squash; cook 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ¼ c chicken broth and stir until the liquid almost evaporates. Stir in the remaining broth, cumin, red pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until squash is tender. Stir in cream, oregano, salt, pepper, and beans. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Sprinkle each serving with bacon and pumpkinseeds. Yields 6 portions (1 ½ cups).

-hope you don't mind if I add a picture from the last time I made this soup! Love it.

-maggie

Aunt Wendy's Slush

I made this for Morgan's birthday party, and people were asking for the recipe. Well, it's Aunt Wendy's yummy recipe. Mmmmm

6 oz can of Orange Juice

6 oz lemon juice

2 cups sugar

8-10 cups water

1 t. vanilla

1 t. almond extract

7 Up (at least 2 bottles)

Mix together and place in a bowl or pan. Put in the freezer, stir every 30 minutes breaking up the ice. If you don't do this, then you'll just have a big block of ice that you'll have to try to break up. Use a fork to break it apart and make it light and FROTHY. Mmmmmm

Put in a punch bowl and add 7 Up

Maryland Fried Chicken and Gravy

Another Cook's Illustrated recipe. I love this because you don't need a deep-fat fryer to make this chicken, but it tastes like you cooked it in a deep-fat fryer anyway.

4 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken

1 T dry mustard

1 T garlic

1 t table salt

2 c. (10 oz) unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 t. baking powder

3 c. peanut oil or vegetable shortening

Opt. Old Bay seasoning (It is a mixture of celery salt, bay, mustard, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, etc.)

Gravy:

1/4 c. pan drippings from frying chicken

1/4 c. (1 1/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose four

2 c. low-sodium chicken broth

1 c. heavy cream

1 t. black pepper

table salt

Pat the chicken dry, mix mustard, garlic, and salt and sprinkle over chicken. (This was pretty strong for me, I think next time, I'll use half as much. It all depends on how much you like garlic.) Combine flour and baking powder in a shallow dish, and dredge each piece of chicken in it. Refrigerate 30 minutes-2 hours.

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat oil or shortening to 375 degrees (use a candy thermometer to check). Arrange half the chicken in the pot skin-side down and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. Lower the oil temperature to 300 degrees, and continue cooking chicken until meat thermometer reads 175 degrees for dark meat and 165 for white.

Remove chicken to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Season with Old Bay seasoning and transfer to the oven. Turn the oil back up to 375 and cook the rest of the chicken.

For the gravy:

Pour off all but 1/4c. oil out of the pot. Stir in flour and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in broth, cream, and pepper. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and serve with chicken and mashed potatoes. Mmmmmmm

Perfect Pan Pizza

Hey All! It's Di again, coming to you with another great recipe from my favorite magazine, Cook's Illustrated! This pizza is so easy and yummy. The crust is chewy and buttery and comes out perfect every time!

Dough:

2 T. Olive Oil plus 4 T. for the pans

3/4 C. plus 2 T. skim milk warmed

2 t. sugar

2 1/2 c. flour

2 1/4 t. yeast

1/2 t. Table salt

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Coat two cake pans (or pie pans) with 2 Tablespoons of oil.

Mix milk, sugar, and 2 T. of oil in measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in a stand mixer (or if mixing by hand, mix together and make a well for the wet ingredients) Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture, after dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix about five minutes or until shiny and smooth (or if by hand, stir until the dough becomes shaggy, turn onto floured surface and knead about 10 minutes). Place in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the warmed oven for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll each half into a ball and with a rolling pin, shape each ball into a 9 inch round. Place in oiled pan using knuckles to push the dough to the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm spot until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees.

Sauce:

1 T olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves pressed or minced

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper

Cook oil and garlic in medium saucepan over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, increase heat to medium and cook until slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes.

*I like to add fresh basil to my sauce*

Topping:

1 3.5 oz package sliced pepperoni

3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

any other toppings you prefer

Put half the pepperoni in a single layer on a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. Pat the grease off the pepperoni. Repeat with remaining pepperoni. This keeps the pizza from getting too greasy.

Assemble:

Remove plastic wrap from dough, put sauce on leaving a border around the edges, sprinkle with cheese and top with pepperoni. Bake until cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Let pizzas rest in the pan for 2 minutes. Using a spatula, remove from pans onto a cutting board and cut into slices.

Here ya go Maggie!

Hope this helps! This is definitely one of our favorites too! Miss you tons!

Green Bean Casserole
10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
¾ c milk
1/8 tsp pepper
2 pkgs frozen cut green beans, thawed
1 1/3 c French’s French-Fried Onions

In a 1 ½ qt casserole dish, mix all ingredients except 2/3 c onions. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir and top with the rest of the onions. Bake for 5 more minutes. Serves 6.

tip: if you don't thaw the beans first, use less milk.

-Em
Starving in Seattle

Green Bean cravings

Hello everyone! It's Maggie.

Fall is here and I'm starting to have the holidays on the mind. The one dish I can't stop thinking about? Green bean casserole. Weird, I know.

Maybe it's because I think I have all the ingredients I need for it. I checked my trusty cookbook and realized I don't have a recipe for it.

Do any of you have a recipe for Green Bean Casserole? You know, the one with Cream of Mushroom soup and onion crunchies on top? Jordan makes a great one, I know that.

Post it if ya got it!

Thanks!
maggie

Our Favorite Chili

Oh wow! Y'all have been posting like crazy! I guess that chill in the air brings us back to the kitchen. This is Mandy, up in Alaska where the leaves are already changing colors, and I'm sharing one of my most prized recipes. They say your favorite chili is the one you grew up with. That's typically true, but this isn't your Aunt Wendy's recipe. I adapted this from a friend's when we were newlyweds in Logan. It's my favorite, and your welcome to give it a try if you're looking for a new favorite chili recipe. I love and miss you all! Mandy

Our Favorite Chili

1 C pinto beans
1 C kidney beans
1 C black beans
Soaked overnight and cooked till soft--or if you forgot to soak the beans, just use a can of each.

1 T olive oil
1 onion
1 lb ground beef
Grill onion till clear, brown ground beef.

Mix beans and hamburger in a crock pot, add:
1 1/2 C corn
1 can tomatoes and green chilis, or just the green chilis, if that's what you have
1 package taco seasoning, or your own version--I just make it up each time
3 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1/4 C honey and a teaspoon or so molasses OR 1/4 C brown sugar

Let everything simmer for an hour or so. Serve on corn chips, add a dollop of sour cream, and garnish with green onions.

Healthy Chicken Nuggets

I saw this on a blog ages ago and finally decided to try it now that the hubs is back in school and not home to tell me what he wants for dinner. Now I'm mad I waited so long! Baby girl ate 5 nuggets and was begging for more. Hubs came home and ate the entire rest of the batch. They really are good! I thought it was weird to use rice crispies, but it works! For some reason they don't let any of the juice out of the nugget so the inside is super tender while the outside is nice and crispy. Don't be afraid to use the fat free sour cream, it actually tastes great in the dipping sauce! Enjoy!

Healthy Chicken Nuggets with Creamy Dijon Dipping Sauce

1 ½ pounds chopped chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins

½ c flour

1 – 2 eggs slightly beaten

4 c crisp rice cereal

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

½ c reduced fat sour cream

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp honey

carrot and cucumber sticks for dipping

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the rice cereal in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Pulse in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place crumbs in a shallow bowl. In a second shallow bowl add the flour and in a third beat the eggs. Coat each piece of chicken in the flour first, shake off the excess, dredge the chicken in the egg next, and then press the chicken in the crumbs to help them stick. Place each piece on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until light golden brown and cooked through (turn once halfway through). Meanwhile, mix the sour cream, mustard, and honey. Serve the chicken nuggets with carrot and cucumber sticks with the sauce for dipping.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake Balls

Hi everyone! It's Maggie!

I think long, long ago someone tagged me to include a recipe of my favorite messy meal. Well...basically everything I do in the kitchen leaves a path of destruction, but today I discovered THE MESSIEST DESSERT EVER! But It's so good that it's totally worth it.

I call these cake balls.

you'll need:
A chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
apple sauce
1/2 can of chocolate frosting
a package of fresh raspberries
a bag of milk chocolate chips

First you bake a chocolate cake using the lowfat directions. The cake mix I used called for a cup of water, 3 eggs, and 1/3 cup applesauce. Bake and cool.

Next scoop 1/2 a can of chocolate frosting in a large bowl and add about a 1/3 of a cup of applesauce. Mix in about 3/4 a package of raspberries. Using a hand mixer on the lowest speed, mix the ingredients until they are blended. The raspberries will be chunky.

Now's the FUN part! When the cake is cool, cut it up into large pieces and dump them a few pieces at a time into the large bowl with the frosting mixture. Use a hand mixer to blend everything together. The consistency should be very moist but the mixture should hold together enough to hand-form balls.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Using a spoon, scoop up the "dough" and shape it into small bite-sized balls (kind of the size of a donut hole) with the palms of your hands. Place the balls on the wax paper. You can place the balls fairly close together on the wax paper but just not touching.

When all the dough has been formed into balls and placed on the wax paper. Put in fridge for about 1 hour to cool and firm.

After cooling, pour 1 package of milk chocolate chips into a small saucepan (the smaller the better because you want it to be deep enough to dip the balls in the melted chocolate). Melt the chocolate on very low temperature. Add a little milk if you think you need more moisture. Once melted, hand-dip each ball into the chocolate so it is completely coated. You can also pour spoonfuls of the melted chocolate over the ball while holding it over the melted chocolate. Be careful to not burn yourself if the chocolate is too hot, because throughout this process your fingers will be absolutely covered in the melted chocolate!

Place each chocolate covered ball back on the wax-papered cookie sheet and when all the balls are covered in chocolate, be sure to lick all the remaining chocolate off your fingers!!! :) Place the cookie sheet back in the fridge for another hour or so to chill before serving.

Serve chilled on a plate garnished with the leftover fresh raspberries.

In this recipe I cut back on the fat by using the lowfat baking method, plus cutting back on the frosting by adding applesauce. The result is still a delicious moist chocolate and raspberry flavor. You can probably see that this recipe is very alterable. You could use any cake mix flavor or frosting flavor and could use white chocolate to cover the balls if you want. You could also add different fruit flavors. I'm serving these ToNigHt at a dessert party so I'll let you know how they go!

Miss you all!
Maggie

Pepper Jack Chicken

It's Di again! Matt loves pepper jack cheese, so I put a little twist on mac n cheese, to make him a happy hubby.

2 cooked, chopped up chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper (canned chicken works too)

2 lbs. penne pasta cooked and drained
(opt. cooked broccoli)

Sauce:
4 T. butter
5 T. flour
3 cans of evaporated milk or 3 c. milk (evaporated milk makes the sauce smooth)
2 t. salt
2 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
1 c. shredded swiss cheese
1/2 c. shredded colby jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour whisking until it turns a light brown. Slowly whisk in milk and 2 t. salt and cook until it begins to simmer and thickens. Take off heat and stir in cheese. Add salt and pepper if needed.
Place pasta and chicken and optional broccoli in 9X13 dish, pour the sauce over. Stir together. Bake 15 minutes.

The PERFECT Sloppy Joe

Sloppy joe, slop sloppy joe!

It's DI! I have my own kitchen, I'm cooking again, so I'm BAack!
Early in my marriage, my husband asked if I would make Manwich over rice for him. Eh? That sounded so disgusting to me! I had never had Manwich before, and I didn't even know what it was! I soon learned that sloppy joes were a favorite of his. I have tried over the years to perfect the elusive joe to no avail. Seriously, it's either too sweet, or not sweet enough, too spicey, flavorless, etc. I tried adding bell peppers, celery, carrots, even red beans, and it was never very good. Manwich has chopped up pickles in it, and it tastes like a tin can. NO WAY!
Lo and behold, I picked up my favorite magazine, Cook's Illustrated at Costco, and it had a recipe for sloppy joes! This magazine is so awesome because they write an article on each recipe explaining the many experiments they did to perfect it. They also recommend different brands of products and offer many cooking tips. I have never been disappointed by their recipes. So, without further ado:

The PERFECT Sloppy Joe!

2 T Vegetable oil (I used Olive oil)
1 medium onion chopped fine
Table salt
2 medium garlic cloves minced
1/2 t chili powder
1 lb. 85% lean ground beef (this percentage keeps it flavorful and less greasy, but just use what you have)
Ground black pepper
1 t. brown sugar
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. water
1/4 t. hot sauce like Tabasco
4 hamburger buns (the recommend Pepperidge Farm Bakery rolls, but I got the whole wheat buns, still good!)

Heat oil in skillet on medium heat, add onions and 1/2 t. salt. Cover and cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. If they start to brown, turn down the heat.
Add garlic and chili powder and cook about 30 seconds.
Add beef and break down with wooden spoon, until just pink.
Add 1/4 t. pepper, brown sugar, tomato sauce, ketchup, water, and hot pepper sauce. Simmer until mixture is slightly thicker than ketchup, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on buns.

You won't be sorry!

A Different Sort of Salad...

We had this for lunch today. It's different, refreshing, and fun! Logan and Sophie ate so much I had to take it away. I think it's the corn chips.

Some of the ingredients look weird, I know, but trust me...it's fabulous!

Mexican Salad
1 large head lettuce chopped, romaine or iceberg
2 or 3 tomatoes chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
1 can kidney beans, rinsed well
1 bottle Catalina French dressing
1 ½ lbs grated cheddar cheese
1 large bag Frito Lay Corn Chips

Toss together the first 5 ingredients, cover and refrigerate until needed. Mix in the remaining ingredients when ready to serve.

Enjoy!

-Em

Greek Shrimp Kebabs

I've never actually made anything with shrimp before and there was a random sale at the store...voila!

These were pretty dang good! I hope you try them!

Greek Shrimp Kebabs
1 ½ lb shrimp, uncooked
1 onion, chopped
¼ c fresh lime juice
¼ c olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb bacon, uncooked

Peel and devein shrimp. Tails may be left on. Combine onion, lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add shrimp. Cover. Refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Discard liquid. Wrap each shrimp in ½ strip of bacon. Thread 5 to 8 shrimp on each skewer. Grill over low heat (bacon burns easily) just until shrimp are opaque and firm. Yield: 4 servings.

Enjoy!

-Em