Grandma's Green Bean Casserole

I made this for Thanksgiving this year with a few misgivings--how could I give up the tried and true Cream of Mushroom and French Fried Onion casserole? Boy, was I glad I did. A friend said that this was the best green bean casserole they've ever had. I got the recipe and picture from allrecipes. I'll be making this for Christmas dinner too (on the Sunday after Christmas).

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 cup sour cream
3 (14.5 ounce) cans French style green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1 tablespoon butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Add green beans, and stir to coat.
Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Lean N Green Chili

I found this recipe off another food blog, Hot out of the Oven, and Shawn and I really liked it. I have a love/hate relationship with cumin. I can't stand how it smells-like dirty Mexico sweat or something, but it really works nice in this soup. The homemade tortilla strips are really simple and worth it-but you can always by the pre-made ones. The great thing about this soup is that it is low fat and calories, but high in flavor!!

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas, divided
2 tsp. vegetable oil, divided
1-2 medium Poblano Chile peppers or 1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
2 (15 oz) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10 oz) can Green Chile enchilada sauce
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped

To make to tortilla strips cut four tortillas into strips and toss with 1 tsp. (or a little more) oil. Spread in single layer on pan and bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until crisp. Sprinkle with a little salt after removing from the oven.

For the soup, chop the chicken into small pieces and sprinkle with cumin. Put chicken in pan and cook for 5 minutes, or until done. Take chicken out of of pan and put in chopped pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook for three minutes and then add chicken back in, along with chicken broth, beans, and enchilada sauce. Take the remaining four tortillas and grate through a cheese grated into the soup. This is what acts as the thickener, making this soup much healthier! Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Sprinkle in cilantro and mix in. Serve with homemade tortilla strips and I think it would be good with a dollop of sour cream also!!

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Here is another recipe from AllRecipes (Les, I thought of you while eating this-I think you would like it). It was cold-well, cold for Las Vegas weather and I wanted soup for dinner, but didn't want to go to the store so this is pretty basic and I had everything on hand. I did make a few changes from the original recipe to reduce the fat a little.

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cooked, boneless chicken breasts, shredded
1 (4.5 oz) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup flour
6 T. butter (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup)
2 cups milk (the original recipe called for heavy cream)
I also added some veggies-onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and pepper.

In a large pot combine broth, water, and chicken. Bring to boil and stir in rice (not seasoning packet). Bring to boil again, cover, and remove from heat.

In pan over medium heat melt butter and add flour, salt, pepper and seasoning packet. Basically make a roux by reducing the heat to low and let it cook for a minute. Next, whisk in the milk a little at a time until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened 3-5 minutes.

Next, I sauteed some garlic, onion, carrots, celery, and peppers in a pot. When they were done I added all the veggies and the cream sauce to my big pot of rice, chicken, and broth. Mix it all together and cook about 10-15 minutes until heated through. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

This recipes comes from Julie Benson, a great cook in my ward. It is quick and easy, and especially good. You could make this cake all fancy with icing, but powdered sugar also works.

1 yellow cake mix
1 instant vanilla pudding mix
8 oz. sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix all together and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Her picture too!

Thanks to Jenn, I found a great recipe blog, My Kitchen Cafe. Her recipes are right up my alley... good, regular food. Not the frou-frou, pan-seared, herb encrusted, mess up your kitchen with a hundred pans, and your kids turn their noses up at it, stuff. I recently made her Honey Mustard Chicken and it's delicious. If my kids would have tried it they would have loved it, but they were in a mood that evening and nothing was going to please them (except Matt, all he wanted was cottage cheese). The chicken is not too sweet, not to mustardy, just yummy. So, enjoy.

Honey Mustard Chicken
from We Are Eating (apparently she got it from somewhere else too!)


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed and tenderized slightly (if they are overly thick, slice them in half)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons mustard (I used the basic yellow mustard since my husband is not a fan of Dijon mustard, but I bet it would be tasty with either)
1/4 teaspoon salt


Pre-heat oven to 350. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, mustard and salt and whisk well. Pour over chicken. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, basting every 15 minutes.

I'm making the egg roll recipe on her blog this evening. I'll post it here if it's a winner!

Jam's Pumpkin Bars

I call this Jam's Pumpkin Bars because my sister Jamie gave me the recipe and she likes to make these.  They are delicious, especially during this time of year.

1 (15 oz). can Pumpkin Puree

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs

Mix all wet ingredients together.

Then add...

2 cups flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 bag of chocolate chips (in my mind this is mandatory, but I guess you could leave it out)

Mix all together and spread on jelly roll (11x17) pan that is NOT greased, although I did line mine with wax paper (just a habit that I often do when making brownies or bars, it helps them come out of the pan easier).  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Cover with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup (1/2 cube) butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. milk

4 cups powdered sugar

Spread on bars when completely cool!

Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies

These are my favorite cookies. I wait all year for fresh cranberries to be stocked in the grocery store so I can start baking these. Even if you "think" you don't like cranberries try these. I know a lot of people do chocolate chips in their pumpkin cookies, these are better. And healthier, too :)

1 cup sugar
3/4 butter softened
1 egg
1 cup of Libby pure pumpkin
2 cups self rising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 nutmeg
1 and 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries chopped


Preheat oven 350 degrees. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter together in a medium bowl, until light and fluffy. Add egg, mix well. Add pumpkin and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Add to pumpkin mixture, mixing until just moist, using the electric mixer. Stir in cranberries. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy :)

Can't Leave Alone Bars

These are very similar to the Revel Bars Jenn posted. The main difference is that this recipe uses a boxed cake mix for the crust. They are really good and the chocolate is so gooey.

Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 oz. size) white cake mix (use chocolate if you're a chocoholic)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 can (14-oz. size) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 T. cup butter, cubed
1 t. vanilla

In a bowl, combine the dry cake mix, eggs and oil. With floured hands, press 2/3 of the mixture into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set remaining cake mixture aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, chocolate chips and butter.

Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH for 45 seconds; stir. Microwave 45-60 seconds longer or until chips and butter are melted; stir until smooth. Add vanilla. Pour over crust.

Crumble remaining cake mixture over top. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Creamy Tomato Soup and Bread Bowls

Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients

* 2 (15-ounce) containers, chicken or vegetable stock/broth (preferred brand: Kitchen Basics)
* 1 (28-ounce) can concentrated crushed tomatoes
* 1 cup heavy cream
* Coarse salt and black pepper and basil (I used a tablespoon but, used more or less based on your taste)
*One clove of garlic minced



Directions

Combine broth, tomatoes,basil and garlic in crockpot on high for4 to 6 hours. Stir in heavy cream, salt and pepper and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes.With an immersion blender, puree soup. (I didn't have an immersion blender so I poured the crockpot contents into a blender a pureed)

Bread Bowl

I cheated on the bread bowls..

Ingredients

*Package of frozen bread loaves such as Rhodes (I brought the gentric with three 1 lb loaves)
*One egg beaten

Directions

I made 2 adult size bowls and 4 kid size bowls but, you can alter the size of the bowls to your needs.

Thaw 2 loaves. When dough is thawed but still cold divide the first loaf in 4 parts for kid bowls and second loaf into 2 parts. Form into ball and put on greased baking sheets, brush with egg. Let rise. I put mine in a 170 degree oven turned off for 2 hours. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cut of tops and hollow out in a bowl shape.

These could easily be made from scratch. Easily, if you know how to make bread from scratch, so not easy for me.

This is a new family favorite. My husband doesn't really like tomato soup but, he loved this.

Cake Balls

Easiest thing to make and they are really, really good. These would be especially good for Christmas treats. I found the recipe and picture at allrecipes.com. I've made them with cake and frosting from scratch and from the packaged stuff. We really like chocolate cake mixed with chocolate frosting dipped in white chocolate.

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate frosting
1 (3 ounce) bar chocolate flavored confectioners coating (I used much more than this, and I used the chocolate bark)

DIRECTIONS
Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended. Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the chocolate cake mixture. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.

Lasagna Rolls

This is a great alternative to traditional lasagna and my kids love it.

Sauce:
2 T. unsalted butter
4 tsp. all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole milk (I used 2% and it was fine)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:
1 (15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dry
1 cup plus 2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1-2 T. olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 cup marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella

*spinach and prosciutto are optional.

To make the sauce you are basically just making a white sauce. Melt better over medium-low heat, add flour and whisk for about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the milk and increase the heat to medium-high. Keep cooking and whisking the sauce until it is thick and smooth and then add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour the bechamel sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.

Preheat oven to 450. Boil Lasagna noodles until they are almost done (about 7-8 minutes). If they are too done they will just fall apart when rolling. When noodles are done lay out on baking sheet to prevent sticking and let the noddles cool.

Make Filling. Mix ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, prosciutto, egg, salt and pepper until blended.

Put three Tablespoons filling on each noodle and spread all over. Starting at one end roll noodle, jelly roll style, and place in bechamel sauce in pan (seam side down). Repeat with remaining noodles until done. Spoon 1 cup marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls and sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining 2 T. Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil and cook until heated through and sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Take off foil and cook for 15 more minutes until cheese is nice and brown on top. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving!

Sesame Chicken

Okay Jenn, I thought I would give Sesame Chicken a try. This is actually my sister Jamie's recipe (maybe she should post something..right Jam). Shawn and I thought it was good.

Sauce:

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 T. soy sauce

1 T. toasted sesame oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tsp. grated ginger root

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. sugar

Chicken:

1/2 cup flour

2 T. sesame sees

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup milk

cooking oil for frying

1 lb. skinless chicken thighs cut into small pieces (I used breasts)

Vegetables:

1 T. cooking oil

2 zucchini, cut into strips (I didn't have any zucchini and was so sad. This would have made a big difference)

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips

6 green onions, cut into strips

(or you can just use a frozen bag or oriental veggies)

Directions:

Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

In large bowl combine flour, sesame sees, salt and cayenne. In a small bowl combine milk and egg. Add to dry ingredients and beat until smooth. In a wok heat 1/4 inch oil to 365 degrees. Dip chicken into coating and then add to oil. Fry until golden brown and cooked. Drain on paper towels. Cook all chicken and keep warm in oven.

Pour cooking oil for veggies in pan. Stir fry veggies for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in sauce and cook until thick and bubbly. Add chicken to mixture and stir. Serve with rice. ENJOY!

Mongolian Beef in a Crockpot!!

I got this recipe off http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/ and yes, it is good and even better that you cook it in the crockpot. We really liked the sauce!

--1 1/2 pounds flank steak
--3 cloves of garlic, minced
--4 sliced green onions--one is for garnish
--1 t dried minced onion (or 1/2 fresh onion, diced very small)
--1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce

--1/4 cup white wine
--1/4 cup cooking sherry

(but I didn't have either sherry or wine, so I just substituted 1/2 cup chicken broth and it tasted fine)
--1 T white wine vinegar

--1 t sesame oil
--1 t molasses
--1 t ginger
--1/4 t black pepper
--1 t red chili pepper flakes
--1/2 T peanut butter (if allergic, use black bean paste)
--3 T brown sugar
--1/4 cup cornstarch (to dredge meat--don't add to sauce mixture)

--slice your meat in thin strips and toss in a Ziploc bag with cornstarch.
--add all of the liquid and dried spices to your crockpot, and the peanut butter, and mix well. Add the garlic and three of the sliced green onions. If you are using fresh onion, add that now, too.
--put your meat on top, and toss gingerly to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Flank steak is thin and have very little fat, and will cook quickly. There isn't a lot of liquid in this dish, so if your crock tends to cook hot, please check it after 3 hours.

The meat is done when it is no longer pink and has reached desired tenderness. I cooked our meat in a 6qt oval Smart Pot and it was done after 4 hours on low.
Serve over steamed rice and and garnish with freshly sliced green onion.

Sesame Chicken

I'm going to try this Sesame Chicken recipe this week because I love sesame chicken. The only thing that I will do differently, is that I won't deep fry it. I'm going to prepare the chicken just like the way it's prepared in the Tiny Spicy Chicken that Jenn posted, but then I'll do the sesame sauce. Does that make sense?

If it looks like this and tastes like take-out, I'm going to be pretty happy. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It was okay, it wasn't fabulous like it was hyped up to be. The sauce was more red than the brown sauce of sesame chicken. It didn't really even taste like good sesame chicken. It was more like sweet and sour.

I'll keep searching for a good one.

Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger

A friend of mine made these and because they were so good, I decided to make them too. They were featured on Oprah. My friend's were a little different, but following the recipe produced an equally good, juicy, flavorful turkey burger balanced with tart apples and lemon, sweet chutney, and hot, smokey tabasco. I would definitely half the recipe, because I used about 2-1/2 lbs. of ground turkey and I got about 8 burgers. There's no way the full recipe would only make 8 patties. Oh, and I used half pure turkey breast, half regular ground turkey to keep the price of meat down.

1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
3 Granny Smith apples , peeled and diced
1/8 cup canola oil
4 pounds ground turkey breast
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. Tabasco® chipotle pepper sauce
1 lemon , juiced and grated zest
1/2 bunch parsley , finely chopped
1/4 cup Major Grey's Chutney , pureed

Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.

Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll. (I didn't make this, and the burgers were still good)