Kluskis

This is my Grandma Hattie's recipe. It pretty much is fried dough. My mom made this for me when we were little. It's a great winter food. I love seasoning mine with salt and pepper and dipping in grape jelly! Yum!

Ingredients:
3 cups of pre-sifted flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
enough milk to make thick consistency (I used a little less the 1 1/4 c)

Directions:
1.Mix all ingredients together.
2.Boil a large pot of water.
3. Drop dough by teaspoonful into boiling water. Cook for 25 minutes. Stir 1-2 times to avoid sticking.
4. Drain in a strainer.
5. Saute in butter until browned.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with grape jelly!

Chip Beef Ball

I love this appetizer! I remember my parents making this when I was little. My sis-in-law, Shannon, and I love making this for the Holidays.

Ingredients:
2 8oz. cream cheese
1 tbsp mayo
6 green onions, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 pkg chipped corn beef
1 dash garlic powder

Directions
Mix together all ingredients. Form into a ball. Place on a plate. Cover with saran wrap and chill over night. Serve with crackers. I prefer Wheat Thins.

Chicken Pasta

This was another dish I had to have to recipe for after my girlfriend Kelly made us this when we brought Jack home from the hospital last January. I finally got around to making this pasta dish. It seems harder than it looks. I seriously thought my friend picked this up at a restaurant! It reminded me of Suparossa.

Ingredients:
chicken breast
flour
2 bags/packages of sweet grape tomatoes
6 - 8 Garlic cloves (cracked but the skin left on--I smash them with the side of my knife so the skin is cracked but the clove, for the most part, is intact...you will eventually remove the skins after baking... )
olive oil
1/2 lb to 3/4 lb pasta (I usually use rigatoni--the sauce sticks well to them)
basil (I typically buy the small packages of basil from Jewel by the fresh herbs and usually use the whole package but that can be adjusted to your taste)
parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. In a large baking dish place tomatoes and cracked garlic with skins on. Coat the tomatoes and garlic with extra virgin olive oil (maybe 5-6 tbs). Make sure the garlic is covered well with the oil so it doesn't burn easily. Generously coat them with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the pasta al dente and before draining, reserve 2 laddlefuls (about 1 1/2 c) of hot pasta water and put to the side in a bowl.

I coat boneless skinless chicken breasts in flour and cook them in butter (about 2 tbs) in a large saucepan.

Once the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven. Take the roasted garlic out of the skin and place them into a medium size mixing bowl. They should be soft and mash them up with a fork to make almost a paste. Add in the reserved pasta water. Next add in the roasted tomatoes and, using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes up and mix together with the garlic paste.

I then return everything to the large saucepan I cooked the chicken in--the pasta, and sauce. Mix together. Salt and pepper to taste. Take a good amount of parmesan cheese and add it to the chicken pasta. I like my sauces cheesier so I probably add 3/4 c to 1 cup. Start off with less if you like and add more to taste---it's really about what you like. The cheese helps thicken up the sauce too. Heat together for a few minutes and at the very end, add in the fresh basil (I usually add 1/3 c maybe??).

Recipe courtesy of Kelly Lezza.

White Chicken Enchiladas

This is one of our favorite dinners! My friend Danielle made these for me when we came home from the hospital with Jack last year. They are great to make in advance!

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup green salsa (canned in the spanish section)
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Lawrys Mexican Chili marinade
chicken broth
2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese blend
1 1/2 cups white cheese sauce or queso dip
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
Pasta Sides spanish rice packet & a can of black beans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly spray baking dish with cooking spray. Marinate chicken breasts in Lawrys marinade for at least 30 minutes.

2 In a deep pan, bring chicken broth and some water to a boil (enough to cover chicken). Take chicken breasts out of marinated bag and boil for around 10 minutes or until cooked. Shred
chicken instead of cubing with 2 forks.

3. Cook Pasta Sides spanish rice according to directions. Open a can
of black beans & drain.

2. Stir together the softened cream cheese, sour cream and green salsa
until blended in a bowl. Fold in chicken and 1 cup of shredded cheese. (*** Put
prepared rice and black beans on the bottom of the pan). Spread a
small amount of the white cheese sauce onto the bottom of the baking
dish (I did this and mixed it a little with the rice and beans).
Evenly divide the filling among the tortillas and roll into firm
cylinders. Place into prepared baking dish and cover with remaining
white sauce (before cooking, if making ahead, wait to pour the sauce
over).

3. Bake in preheated oven until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
(**Sprinkle additional cheese on top and bake an additional 5
minutes). Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with guac, chips, red salsa, sour cream, shredded lettuce &
chopped tomatoes.

Recipe courtesy of Danielle Shannon.

Holiday Crunch

Here's a real simple and delicious dish to make as a gift, to bring to a Christmas party, or to enjoy yourself!

Ingredients:
Rice Chex
Butter Popcorn
Pretzels
Red and Green M-n-M's
1 pkg of European Style Candy Coating-Vanilla Flavor
Holiday sprinkles
wax or parchment paper

Directions:
This recipe was adapted from Wheat Foods. I did not use exact measurements but referred to the Wheat Foods webpage to gauge measurements. My sis-in-law Shannon who gave me the recipe and the Holiday Crunch suggested Meijer's vanilla candy coating. So that is what I used. It would be cute to find holiday shaped pretzels. I didn't see any at Meijer. I also used microwave pop corn.

1. Pour the cereal, pretzels, popcorn, and M-n-M's into a large bowl. Mix.
2. Heat the candy coating in microwave according to directions.
3. Slowly pour the coating over the dry ingredients and mix until all coating is in the bowl.
4. Pour the mixture on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper.
5. Sprinkle with Holiday Sprinkles right away before place in fridge.
6. Cool in fridge for 30 minutes.
7. Break into pieces and enjoy!

My version of Holiday Crunch courtesy of Shannon Csorba. Recipe adapted from Wheat Foods.

Spicy Noodles & Chicken

This is an easy week night dinner. It is one of our favorites! I actually put a little extra crushed red pepper to make it even more spicier.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. angel hair pasta (capellini), uncooked

2 cups small broccoli florets

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. each ground ginger, garlic powder, crushed red pepper

1/3 cup chopped PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in large saucepan. Add broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 min.

2. Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 to 8 min. or until done, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing, soy sauce and seasonings; cook 1 min., stirring occasionally.

3 Drain pasta mixture; place in large bowl. Add chicken mixture; mix lightly. Serve topped with nuts.

Recipe and picture courtesy of Kraft foods.

Chicken Taco Soup

This recipe makes a lot of food. Great if you are feeding a lot of people or want leftovers. I love slow cooker recipes. Today was unusually warm for October, so it was nice not to have to put the oven on.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (I used 12 oz of chicken broth instead)

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

2 cups of elbow noodles

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Sour Cream

Crushed tortilla chips or Fritos

Directions

1. Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer (or chicken broth), and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

2. Cook elbow noodles until tender. Set aside.

3. Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve with elbow noodles, topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Recipe courtesy of Lori Held. Lori's tip: use leftovers for enchiladas. Just drain the liquid.

Monkey Bread

I'm signed up to receive emails from the Pillsbury website. This week I was sent Monkey Bread. This stuff is to die for! A few teachers at my school have made it and I always say I want the recipe. Today I decided to surprise Brian with them. He's never had Monkey Bread before.













INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1/2 cup raisins, if desired (I omitted raisins)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large -storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.

2. Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces.

3. In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.

4. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.
Recipe courtesy of Pillsbury.

Cutie Pies

I made these mini Boston Cream Pies aka Cutie Pies for a baby shower I had at my house this weekend for Erin Surma. My friend Danielle Shannon made the pacifier candies.

Ingredients to make Cutie Pies:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup cold milk

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PREPARE cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes. Cool completely.

BEAT pudding mix and milk with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, use serrated knife to cut cupcakes horizontally in half. Stir 1/2 cup COOL WHIP into pudding; spoon onto bottom halves of cupcakes, using about 1 Tbsp. for each. Cover with cupcake tops.

MICROWAVE remaining 1 cup COOL WHIP and chocolate in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Let stand 15 min. Spread onto cupcakes. Refrigerate 15 min. before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Recipe courtesy of Kraft Foods.

Easy Bake Chicken

I've made this recipe for the last ten years. It is one of my fall/winter favs! It is a recipe from my mom's friend. I usually cut the recipe in half. Makes for great leftovers. I like to serve with an applesauce cup and a vegetable.

Ingredients:
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 slices of Swiss Cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/4 c of dry white wine
2-3 c crushed herb seasoned stuffing mix
1/4 c or bit more of melted margarine

Directions:
Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Place chicken in a 9 x 13 in buttered dish. Lay a slice of cheese over each breast. In a bowl, combine the soup and wine. Stir to mix and pour over chicken and Swiss cheese. In another bowl, mix stuffing and margarine and sprinkle over chicken. Cover with foil and place in a 350* preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover for an additional 20-30 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Time depends on thickness of the chicken breasts.

Recipe courtesy of Bunny Moorman aka Sister Mary/Gladys/Bonita :)

Tuna Melt

This was a super easy, super quick, and super tasty dish I made tonight. I love Kraft foods. It is where I found this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 pita bread
2 tbsp Cream Cheese with onion and chives
1 3 oz can of tuna
3 tbsp of shredded cheddar cheese
carrots, cucumber, and radishes chopped up

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*. Mix tuna and cream cheese together. Spread onto pita bread. Sprinkle desired amount of chopped vegetables. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Chicken & Pepper Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
3 c rigatoni, uncooked
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 each red, yellow, and green pepper, coarsely chopped
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce
2 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 c mozzarella cheese
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese














Directions:
1. Preheat oven 375*
2. Cook pasta as directed on package
3. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook chicken














4. Add peppers; cook and stir














5. Stir in spaghetti sauce; simmer 8 minutes















6. Add cream cheese; cook and stir until melted














7. Drain pasta. Add to chicken mixture. Toss to coat













8. Spoon half into 8 or 9 inch square baking dish. Top with 1/2 c mozzarella and 2 tbsp
Parmesan. Repeat layers


























9. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.















Recipe courtesy of Kraft foods.

Saucy Pepper Steak

This is a great recipe I found in my Kraft foods magazine.

Ingredients:
Red, green, and yellow pepper-sliced
1/4 c red onion-sliced
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 c BBQ sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 lb sirloin steak-chopped
brown rice

Directions:
In a large skillet, sprayed with cooking spray, saute onions and peppers till heated through. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Add steak, garlic and black pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Add soy sauce. Cook another minute. Add BBQ sauce. Mix in peppers and onions and cook till warm. Serve with brown rice.

BBQ Chicken Salad

I love BBQ sauce...can you tell? I always post recipes with BBQ in the title! LOL! Tonight I made this delish salad. It was great because I prepped all the ingredients yesterday. So, tonight I just tossed them in two bowls and voila! Dinner is served!

Ingredients:
Chopped romaine lettuce
canned corn, drained
black beans, drained and rinsed
cucumber
tomato
red onion
cooked chicken (I used rotisserie...my fav!)
avocado
shredded Mexican cheese
BBQ sauce
tortilla strips
Ranch dressing

Directions:
I cleaned and prepared all the items above the night before and chilled in the fridge. I chopped up everything and put in separate containers. When ready to serve, I lined my large salad bowls with the lettuce. Then I added a few tablespoons of all the vegetables. Before I added the chicken, I mixed the chicken with the BBQ sauce. I topped the salads with the shredded chicken covered in sauce. Top with some cheese and the tortilla strips. Toss in Ranch dressing and drizzle BBQ sauce. Corn bread would make a nice side. I didn't have any tonight. So my hubby made a hot dog. :)

Recipe courtesy of Nicole Dygdon and Kristen Lezza.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I love making BBQ chicken pizzas. They're quick and easy.















Ingredients:
Boboli Pizza Crust
BBQ Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella and Colby Jack cheese
Chopped cooked chicken
green pepper chopped
red onion chopped
cilantro

Directions:
I don't have any exact measurements. I just use the amount I like. Bake pizza according to crust's directions on package. I like using rotisserie chicken and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce.

I served the pizza with cut up cucumbers that I had marinating in Kraft's Classic Italian Vinaigrette dressing. Thanks to my sis-in-law Shannon for introducing this to me!

BBQ Ribs on the Grill with Hashbrown Casserole

Grilling ribs is super easy with this great recipe from Mary Rodgers. I LOVE ribs and this recipe is a definite must! My sis-in-law Shannon's hashbrown casserole makes a nice side dish as well. I like to serve with sweet corn on the cob from the farm stand.

BBQ Ribs on the Grill

Ingredients:
2 racks of Baby Back Ribs (I bought mine from Trader Joe's...much better than Jewel's)
BBQ sauce (we used Open Pit on one rack and Sweet Baby Ray's on the other)
foil

Directions:
Marinate ribs overnight in BBQ sauce of your choice in a zip lock bag. The next day, wrap ribs in foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake 250 degrees for 3-4 hours. Drain grease and let cool. Grill immediately or place in fridge. When ready to grill. Grill for about 20 minutes, 10 each side. Bast ribs while grilling.

HBC:
1 2 lb bag of frozen cubed hash browns (thawed)
1 c sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 oz of shredded sharp cheddar (I just used 8oz of sharp cheddar since I didn't have colby)
4 oz of colby cheese
1 stick of butter sliced thin
1/4-1/2 c onion chopped
1/2 tbsp kosher salt-or to taste
1 c corn flakes or French's fried onions

Mix all together except corn flakes. Spread in a greased casserole dish 9x13. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours (longer if potatoes are thawed). Last 10 minutes cover with corn flakes or fried onions. (My potatoes were frozen and the casserole was done in 1.5 hours).

Colorful Chicken Casserole

This is the first recipe from the Taste of Home Freezer Pleasers cookbook I just bought. I love when I have a recipe to make ahead and freeze. The last thing I want to worry about when I get home from work is dinner! What is so great about a lot of these recipes are that you make enough for 2 batches. So you have dinner tonight and then you can freeze the 2nd one up to 3 months! I love it. I made this chicken casserole over the weekend and froze both batches. It was great to come home tonight with dinner already made.

Ingredients:
1 c chopped celery
1 c chopped green pepper
3/4 c chopped onion
2 tbsp butter
1 c chicken broth
1 c frozen peas
1 c frozen corn
1 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp pepper
3 c cooked chicken ( I used a rotisserie chicken)
1 package (7 oz) cooked elbow macaroni (I used wheat)
1 jar (4-1/2 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (I omitted. Not a fan of mushrooms!)
1 c (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, saute the celery, green pepper, and onion in butter until tender. Add the broth, corn, peas, salt and pepper; heat through. Stir in chicken and noodles. Divide between two 2-qt baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Top with mushrooms and cheese.

2. Cover and freeze one casserole. (I froze both since we had other dinner plans). Cover and bake the second casserole at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer or heated through.

3.To use frozen casserole: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 2 casseroles ( 4 servings each).

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake

I got this recipe from my sister's friend Meghan. It was super easy and so good. I made it for our Labor Day picnic with the family.

Ingredients:
Box of Oreos
1 gal mint chocolate chip ice cream
1 regular sized container of cool whip
Hershey's syrup

Directions:
Place all the Oreo cookies in a gallon ziplock bag. Crush with a rolling pin. Set a few tablespoons aside to sprinkle on top of the cake. Line a 9x13 baking dish with the crushed cookies. Then spoon the ice cream across the cookies. (**I actually made this right when I came home from the grocery store, so the ice cream was soft enough to spread.) I used the entire container of ice cream. Top with the entire container of Cool Whip. Spread to cover the ice cream. Drizzle Hershey's syrup on top of Cool Whip. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. Freeze overnight.

Chicken and Cheese Casserole

This recipe I got from my friend Mary Rodgers. We were up at her lake house this past weekend and I went through her recipe book she made of her favorite recipes. This is one of them. Brian and I enjoyed it. It was easy to make. I cut the recipe in half, since it was for just the two of us. Brian said I shouldn't have, because he wanted leftovers. Oh well, next time!

Ingredients:
8 slices of white bread cut into squares (I used wheat)
3 cups cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from Jewel)
1/2 cup mayo
1 small onion diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 ounce bag of shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs beaten

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together. Pour in a greased baking dish. (I used an 8x8 dish since I cut the recipe in half). Bake 350* for 45 minutes. Sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top before baking.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. I found it one the internet a couple years ago and copied the recipe by hand. So I don't have the website to share. There actually is a story that goes behind these cookies. Two summers ago, while golfing with my husband and parents, we saw 2 boys selling cookies and banana bread at one of the holes. The cookies were homemade. They were soft, cake like, chocolate chip cookies. My mom and I almost drove the golf cart back to find these boys and have them ask their mom for the recipe. Well, we never did. I researched the internet to find "cake like" chocolate chip cookies. Tried a few and this one was my favorite. I'm making them today for our weekend away up at the lake. They are always a hit!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg -room temperature
7 tbsp unsalted butter-room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp sour cream
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a second, larger bowl, cream the sugars with butter using a mixer. Mix in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Then add flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with sour cream and beat until just combined. Stir in the semi sweet and milk chocolate chips by hand. Cover dough and put in freezer for 10 minutes. Then place tbsp sized portions on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes until centers set and cookies are pale golden brown..

Chicken Caesar Salad

For my first post, I'd like to share a meal I make almost every week. Chicken Caesar Salad. I can't claim it as my own. My sis-in-law Shannon gave me this recipe and it is one of my favs! It is fun to change up the pasta. Sometimes I do bow-tie (Brian's favorite), penne, rotini, or whatever is in my pantry. Sometimes I use wheat pasta and sometimes white.

Ingredients:
romaine lettuce
rotisserie chicken (cooled in fridge)
1/2 a box of pasta noodles of your choice (cooked and cooled in fridge)
fresh Parmesan cheese, shredded
Caesar dressing (I prefer Wish-bone)

Directions:
Chop lettuce and place in a bowl. Add chicken, pasta, Parmesan cheese. Mix with dressing. I like to serve Ciabatta bread by Texas Toast.

Jaime's tips:
I like the salad best when the noodles and chicken have been in the fridge overnight. Brian and I can get two meals each out of this. Bon Appetit!