Cream Cheese Mints

8 oz Cream Cheese Softened

8 cups Powdered Sugar

1 T. Peppermint Extract

1 tsp. Red Food Coloring

1/2 cup White Sugar

1 tsp. Green Food Coloring

2/3 Pkg Chocolate Almond Bark

2/3 Pkg White Almond Bark

Mix Cream Cheese and sugar together one cup of sugar at a time. Add Red Coloring and Peppermint a little at a time till you get the color and flavor you want. Transfer to a new bowl and put in the fridge for about an hour or more. Mean while, take your sugar and green food coloring and make your green colored sugar and set aside. When the Cream cheese mixture is cold and more solid, take out of fridge and start to form into balls onto foil on a plate. As soon as you have that done, you will need to put back in the fridge again. Let set again until they are cold and solid again. When they are ready, Melt the Chocolate Almond Bark in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted, then dip the cream cheese balls into melted chocolate and once again, stick back in fridge to set. When set, which only takes a few minutes this time... Bring out and dip in White Almond Bark this time and as soon as you pull them out of the white bark and have them all on the plates, sprinkle the green sugar on them. This seems like a lot of work, but just plan that you can do it over the course of your day when you have 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there.

Pizza

Mini 7" Premade Pizza crusts

Pizza Sauce

Cheese

Any Additional Toppings your family likes

We put ours in the oven without a pan for 10 minutes at 450*. I just put out the ingredients and let the kids all make there own. .. And, I know there is no finished picture, but it accidentaly went in all the tummies before the picture was taken. Sorry..

White Hot Chocolate

Tonight Jordan and I decided to try to make a "Christmas Hot Chocolate". He grabbed the camera while we were making it so I would post it on here, so he is the photographer, minus the picture of him :)

2 Cups Half and Half

1 Cup Milk

2/3 cup White Almond Bark, chopped

Dash Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp White Vanilla

Peppermint Sticks

Combine 1/4 cup of the half and half, white almond bark, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Whisk over low heat till Almond Bark is melted. Add the remaining half and half and milk. Whisk until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in Vanilla. Serve warm in mugs. Garnish with Peppermint sticks. Makes 3 cups.

Colorful Pasta with Ham

I know what you are thinking right now~ Oh Gross, who's recipe is this????

But it really is a good one! It is a true blue Casserolle. It's got your vegetable, meat and pasta all in one....and don't you need a recipe that you can use your leftover ham in? HMM? Go ahead and try this....it is delicious! It has french fried onions in it!

Ingredients:

16 oz. tricolor spiral pasta (cooked & drained)

1 1/2 c. ham (cubed)

15 1/4 oz. corn(drained)

1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese(shredded)

2.8 oz french fried onions (I actually buy the bigger can and use about 3/4 of the can)

1/2 c. milk (I splash a bit more in)

14 1/2 oz. chicken broth

10 3/4 oz. cream of chicken soup

1/2 t. celery salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. pepper

Preheat oven to 35o degrees.

Combine broth, soup, milk & seasonings (mix well!)

Grease a shallow 9x13 pan, and then combine pasta, ham, corn, 1 c. shredded cheese and french fried onions (save some for the end) put in pan

Pour liquid mixture over the top of pasta.

Bake 30 min.

Sprinkle 1/2 c. cheese and french fried onions on top and cook 5 more minutes.

Trust me it's good, my kids love it too.

Food Storage

Janae and I have been working to perfect our food storage spread sheets. A friend of mine just told me about this website that has a great 10 step program for building your food storage as well as a fabulous spread she that is everything that I have wanted mine to be and then some. I am so excited to get this filled out and customized to my family. I hope that it will help you all too.

Chicken Fajitas

Last night we had the missionaries over for dinner and made fajitas (no, Rebecca we weren't copying you, just happened to be the same meal at the same time by chance, lol). This is a recipe that Eric and I LOVE!

Makes 8 Fajitas

Package of 10 tortillas (you can use flour, but we like the ones you need to heat up... like the ones I used at the girls' trip).

2 Chicken breasts sliced
3 peppers sliced (I like to use 1 green, 1 yellow and 1 red- it's prettier, lol!)
1 onion sliced

Marinade:
1/4 c. olive oil
2 Tablespoons of vinegar
4 teaspoons McCormick Grill Mates Garlic & Herb seasoning
(This is the main ingredient and there are two out there so make sure you get the one pictured since it is WAY better than the other one).

**FYI: This is the same marinade we use to grill chicken breasts over charcoal and they always turn out FABULOUS**

Slice chicken breasts in thin slices and marinade for at least 30 minutes. Slice up peppers and onion and marinade for 30 minutes. I like to marinade them separate so I can cook the chicken first without overcooking the peppers and onions.

In frying pan, cook up chicken (marinade and all)on med-high heat until no longer pink. Add peppers and cook until still lightly crisp.

Spray a separate frying pan with cooking spray and heat up tortillas on med-low heat until no longer transparent and lightly browned.

Wrap fajita mixture in tortilla immediately as the tortilla tends to harden quickly.

Serve immediately with Spanish Rice (below) and salad or corn. Enjoy!

Quick Spanish Rice- Side Dish

This is a quick and easy recipe I found online and like to use it as a side dish to the fajitas (above). It is saucy so don't be surprised if it comes out "moist".

Serves 6-8

1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 cups rice
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 teaspoons chili powder
3/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon cumin

In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients (I usually mash tomatoes with potato masher or give them a quick spin in food processor).

Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.

Cover and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is done. (Unless you like sticky, gooey rice, don't take off the lid and stir at all until it is done).

Garnish with green onions and/or cheddar cheese.

Italian Chicken on Rice

Serves 6-8

3 cups of cooked rice

2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 8oz pkg of cream cheese
1 8oz container of sour cream
1 10oz can of cream chicken soup
1/2 pkg of dry Italian dressing mix

While rice is cooking, set out cream cheese to soften and boil 2 thawed chicken breasts for 20 minutes. Let cool and shred.

In a sauce pan on med-low heat, stir softened cream cheese until all lumps are gone. Add sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Stir until well mixed. Add 1/2 a package of Italian dressing mix (it is too strong if you add more than that, but if you like it strong go for it!). Add shredded chicken and heat through while stirring occasionally (tends to bubble and spurt if you just let it sit).

Serve over cooked rice and enjoy!

Party in a Bowl Potato Salad

The picture is a little washed out, this salad is to die for yummy. Older kids will love it. Younger ones will like it ok, little ones, well Ty liked the tomatos.... :) But it was fun and new, Joe thought it was well worth the money spent for a fresh new idea and he said it was nice to have something more adult taste. So here it is.

Party in a bowl Potato Salad

2 Pounds Yukon Gold Potoatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 t salt
3 T white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1T unsalted butter
1/4 pound prosciutto (or lightly smoked have Diced)
1/2 cup mayo
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup red onion diced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley minced
2 ripe avocados
1 pint grape tomatoes
Paprika, for garnish

Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover them with water, and bring them to a simmer over medium eat. Add the salt, then reduce the heat to low and continue simmering until the potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes more. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the butter ina skillet until it sizzles, add the prosciutto and saute untill it;s crispy, about 3 miuntes.

Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large bowl. Sprinke the vinegar over the potatoes and toss to coat. Add the prosciutto to teh potatoes, along with the mayonnaise, celery, onion, and parsley. Gently toss to combine, then taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if desired. Cover the salad and refrigerate if overnight. Vefore serving Peel and dice avocadoa and halve the tomatoes. Gently toss them with the potatoes and then dust the salad with paprika. I DID NOT HALF my tomatos, they were small enough to leave whole, we enjoy eating them that way if they are a grape tomato. ENOY!

Crunchy Chicken Tenders

Crunchy Chicken Tenders
4 pounds chicken tenders or cut chicken breast
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
12 cups corn flakes
(can be cut in half for a smaller family)
Heat the oven to 450*. In a large bowl, toss together the chicken, salt, pepper, mustart, and mayonnaise. To make the coating, pulse the cornflakes in a food processor about 10 times or place the flakes ina sealed bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Transfer the crushed flakes to a large shallow bwol. Dredge the chidken in the cornflakes nad arrange the pieces on a rack over a baking sheet.

Be sure to space the pieces an ince or so apart for even cooking and browning. Bake the chicken for 15 minutes or unitll the tenders are dooked through adn crispy on the outside (they will crisp up even more as they cool) each oven will cook a little longer or right on. Serves 10-12 with left overs, so this is good for company or a party or a big family, or cut in half. Hope you enjoy it. My family loved it.

Apricot Dipping Sauce

sauce-
3/4 cup apricot preserves
3 T mayonnaise
1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
1T rice vinegar
Mix all together with a wisk, serve with crunchy chicken.

Tami's Minestrone

1 lb. ground beef or sausage
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies
32 oz. chicken broth
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 14 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup yellow or white onion, chopped
3/4 cup Ditalini/salad pasta
1 T. Thyme

Brown beef or sausage with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
Combine veggies, broth, tomatoes, beans, onion and thyme in a large pot. Bring to a boil, add pasta and cook until tender. Add ground beef to warm through.

Janae's Minestrone Soup

In the fall of 2004 Tami came to visit me in Minnesota and taught me how to make the BEST Minestrone soup ever... A few years ago, due to lack of a few ingredients and my family size, I had to alter it a bit, and it has stuck with us.. So, this is not the "AUTHENTIC TAMI"S MINESTRONE" soup. This is a sister side kick to it, but we still LOVE it here at our house.. So I am posting it... :)

3 tsp Chicken Broth
3 Cups Water
1 can Kidney Beans, undrained
1/2 Head of Cabbage, chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup Acini De Pepe Pasta, uncooked
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 can Stewed Tomatoes with Celery & Peppers
1 lb hamburger
1 tsp Italian Seasoning

Fry hamburger with onion and all seasonings. Then put hamburger mixture in the fridge for a few hours to set the flavors. When ready to cook. Put water in the pot with the pasta, cabbage, beans and tomatoes. Boil for 10 minutes and add hamburger mixture and heat to proper temperature.

Manacotti

1 package Manacotti Shelles

1/2 pkg Fresh Spinach

1 pt drained Cottage Cheese

1 lb Hamburger

1/2 onion Chopped

1 can Spagetti Sauce

2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup Shredded Parmeson, Asiago & Romano Cheese

Cook Manacotti Shells until firm but not tender. Drain and cool. Mix Spinach, Cottage Cheese and Cheddar Cheese together. Brown hamburger and onion together. Add spagetti sauce to meat. Spoon 2/3 of the sauce mixture into greased casserole dish.& Stuff manacotti shells with cheese filling and place on top of sauce. Spoon remaining sauce over manacotti. Sprinkle with Parmeson Cheese, Asiago & Romano Cheese. Bake in covered dish at 350* for 30 minutes.

Virginia Fudge

1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup Evaporated Milk
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Almonds
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add milk & brown sugar, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil & cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat & add powdered sugar, beat until creamy & smooth. Add vanilla & nuts, pour into a buttered pan & cool.

Mexican Pizza's

Refrigerator Biscuits
Cheese
Olives
Refried Beans
Onions
Tomato

Layer all ingredients except tomatoes. Bake at 425* for 15 minutes. Remove and top with Tomato.

Mini Dogs

Link Sausages
Refrigerator Biscuits

Fry up the Link Sausages until done, Cut them in half. Wrap each biscuit around the cut up sausage piece and Bake in 450* oven for 15 minutes.

Mozzarella Chicken

10 Chicken Tenderloins, skinless & boneless
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/4 Cup Butter, Melted
1 soup Can Water
2 Cups Bread Crumbs

Arrange Tenders on bottom of dish & cover with Cheese. Mix soup and water in seperate bowl and spoon evenly over chicken. Sprinkle crumbs over top and drizzle with melted butter. Bake uncovered one hour at 350*.

This goes great with Cheesy Brocolli, Mandarin Oranges and Biscuits.

Asian Beef Stir-fry

8 oz uncooked Spaghetti
1 lb lean steak; sliced in 2 in strips, 1/8 in thick
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
3 cloves Garlic
1 Red Onion sliced
4 Celery Stalks, sliced
1/4 head cabbage or nappa cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup Soy Sauce

Prepare spaghetti according to directions on package; drain and set aside.
Lightly coat a large skillet or wok with cooking spray. Over medium-high heat, stir-fry red pepper flakes and garlic for one minute. Add the steak strips to the skillet, stir-fry just until no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Remove steak from skillet and set aside.
Lightly re-coat the skillet with cooking spray. Stir-fry onion and celery until tender, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage and cook until crisp-tender.
Return steak to skillet. Add Soy sauce; mix gently and heat through.

Shrimp Spinach Salad

Okay, so Karin got after me for not posting anything on here yet. Well, here is my first real contribution.

Shrimp Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
HOT BACON BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE:
2 egg yolks
1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
4 or 5 slices bacon
1 green onion, roasted
1 cloves garlic, roasted (or 1/2 tsp minced garlic from the jar)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste

SPINACH SALAD: you can use all of the following ingredients or just the ones you like.
spinach
bacon crumbles
red onion, sliced
feta cheese, crumbled
craisins
can of mandarin orange slices
almond slivers
large or medium shrimp, sauted

HOT BACON BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE:Combine egg yolks and 4 tablespoons of liquid from recipe in a sauce pan and cook over lowest heat until it starts to thicken, stirring the entire time. Set aside and let it cool a little. Cut frozen bacon into 1/4" strips and then the other way into 1/4" pieces. Cook bacon and sliced green onion. Save the bacon grease in the pan. With a blender or mini food processor, emulsify(mix) egg yolks and remaining oil until thick and creamy. Add vinegar, cooked bacon pieces and all other ingredients, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.
SPINACH SALAD: Cook the shrimp in the left over bacon grease. Plate spinach and garnish with the rest of the ingredients, placing grilled shrimp/prawns on top.

NOTES: The vinaigrette recipe will make enough for about 8 servings. With the salad ingredients use whatever amount of each to your taste. The vinaigrette will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for a week or 2, probably more. I used the cooked, veined shrimp with the tails on from the freezer section at Walmart so you don't have to worry about cooking it, just heating it through and let it get a little brown. You can also just put it in the pan frozen and take the tails off when it has defrosted. I also used grated Parmesan cheese (not the kind you shake from the bottle, the kind from the refridgerated section) because I didn't have feta cheese. In the picture above I used red onion slices, craisins, parmesan cheese, shrimp and of course spinach.
Even Josi and Hyrum loved it.

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cups white sugar
2/3 cup water
4 eggs

Grease and flour three 7 x 3 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350*.
Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices into a large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pumpkin, water, oil, eggs and nuts. Beat until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake for approximately one hour.

Oreo Balls

1 package Oreo Cookies, Crushed

1 8 oz package Cream Cheese, Softened

1 package White Almond Bark

1 Package Chocolate Almond Bark

Using a mixer, mix oreos and cream cheese together. Roll into walnut size balls. Chill for one hour. Melt almond bark. Stick a toothpick into each Oreo ball and dip into melted chocolate. Let set in Fridge overnight. Then in the morning, Melt the White almond bark and dip the tops of the balls in the White Chocolate Bark and Put in Fridge until cool.

Oven Fried Chicken

2 Cups Bread Crumbs
1 T. Basil
15 Chicken Tenders
1/2 cup Butter, Melted
Salt
Pepper

Mix Bread Crumbs and Spices in a Gallon Ziploc Bag. Dip Chicken in Melted Butter. Add Chicken to Bag of Crumbs and coat thoroughly. In Baking Pan arrange chicken pieces so they don't touch. Drizzle butter on top. Bake at 375* for 1 hour. Do not turn over during baking.

Goes great with a Green Salad. :)

Raspberry Bread

1/2 cup Butter
2 1/2 cups Raspberries
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 3/4 cup Whole Wheat Graham Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 T. Whipping Cream

Preheat oven to 350* and grease 2 loaf pans. Mix ingredients with a wooden spoon one ingredient at a time. Make sure it is mixed very well before you add the next ingredient into the mix. Scrape into greased loaf pans and bake for one hour. Cool, then remove from pan.

I like to make these the night before and let the cool overnight on the stove top with a towel over it.

P.S. When you add the whipping cream at the end. A Note of caution, It will make you feel like you are at Grandma Egglestons, sitting across from Grandpa Eating Raspberries and Whipping Cream, I would suggest that you do not give in to the urge to taste the batter at this point to see if it tastes as good as you think it smells. :).. Just keep the memory in your head at this point.. :)

Parmeson Chicken Tenders

4 lbs Chicken Tenders

1 cup Parmeson Cheese

2 T Parsley

1 T Oregano

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 tsp Paprika

Rinse Chicken. Put the rest of ingredients in large bowl. Put chicken one piece at a time in the bowl and coat with Cheese and spices well. Put Chicken on Greased Cookie Sheet. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes then Broil for 2 minutes.

P.S. If you don't like to Broil, you can leave in oven for full hour for a bit more crunchier chicken.

This goes great with a Green Salad and Purple Grapes.. LOL.. Oh and it feeds a family of 8 with leftovers for lunch to send with the dad to work the next day... ENJOY!!

Crepes

In a bowl Combine-

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

1 t oil

1/4 t salt

Beat with a rotary beater till bleanded

Heat a lightly greased 6 inch skillet. Remove from heat. Spoon in about 2 T batter; lift adn tilt skillet to spread batter. Return to heat; brown on one side only. Repeat to make 18 crepes. greasing skillet occasionally.

Fill crepes with whipping cream and fruit

Peanut Butter Corn Flakes

Peanut Butter Corn Flakes

1 Cup Karo Syrup

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup white sugar

Bring to Full boil, then turn off and add the following:

1 1/2 cup peanut butter

1 t vanilla

Stir till melts and then add the following:

5 to 6 cups Corn Flakes

Pour on greased pan and cool

Crusty Italian Bruschetta

1 loaf baguette bread

6-8 roma tomatoes, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

6-8 fresh basil leaves chopped (or 1 tsp. dried basil)

2 tsp. salt

olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut bread into diagonal slices.

Brush tops with olive oil.

Bake 450 degrees for 5 mins. until edges are golden.

Remove from oven.

Mix remaining ingredients with 1/2 c. olive oil (I never use that much)

Spoon mixture on top of bread and serve with your favorite Italian main dish.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

6-8 Cups water
1 pkg Long Grain and Wild Rice mix (uncle Ben's)
1 Envelope Chicken Noodle soup (Liptons)
2 stalks Celery, chopped
2 Carrots, chopped
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 10.5 oz can Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped

Whisk together; water, rice mix with seasoning and chicken noodle soup. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add vegetables, boil for 2-3 minutes then simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk in cream of chicken soup and add chicken. Heat through