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.