Wedding Shower Dip

This one is an old "classic" from my mom. It seemed she was always making it for something special-like bridal showers or baby showers-and we kids couldn't have any of it. Now that I'm in charge, we make some whenever we want!

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 can of crushed pineapple, drained
2 c. finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 c. chopped green bell pepper (or to suit or tastes)
1/2 c finely chopped onion (again, start with a half of a cup, and add more if you want)
1 tsp salt.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Leave in the bowl, or form into two balls and roll in additional chopped nuts. Serve with crackers-preferably Wheat Thins.

Potato Cheddar Soup

Ryan and I love soup. Lauren enjoys it, Syd likes it and Cade swears we are trying to starve him with it. Here is one of my favorite potato soups.

1/4 lb. bacon cut into small pieces

1 onion (diced)

1 cube butter

7 to 8 c. diced potatoes (peeled or unpeeled)

1 tsp mustard (just the regular 'ole sandwich kind will work)

1 tsp sage

4 c. chicken broth (I use bullion cubes)

2 c grated Cheddar cheese

1 1/2 c. cream (I actually just use half and half or milk)

1 dash of hot sauce (like Tabasco sauce)

salt and pepper

In a large soup pot, cook bacon until crisp. Drain off all but 1 Tbsp of the fat. Add butter, onion and sage to the soup pot with the bacon and drippings. (Such a better word than "fat"). Simmer until onion is soft. Add mustard and cook for one more minute. Pour in the broth and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are soft (about 12-15 minutes). Take off the heat. Gradually stir in the cream and then the cheese, stirring constantly until the cheese melts. Add the hot sauce. Serve. It will need salt and pepper-but I let everyone season their own bowl.

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

With all of the picky eaters at my house it is hard to find a meal that everyone likes. This is one of those meals. I had this at a friend of mines house and just thought is was so good I asked her for the recipe. It is pretty hearty and has lots of noodles like Carols recipe. I make my own chicken broth but you can use whatever.

4 chicken breast
5 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 quarts water
4 chicken bouillon cubes (or 4tsp chicken bouillon granules or 2 quarts of chicken broth)

Boil veggies, bouillon and water together for 15-20 min. Add cut up chicken.

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp basil
pepper to taste
1 c frozen peas (optional - I usually leave these out)
1/2 of (11 oz) package Grandma's Frozen Homemade Noodles, thawed (I just use any brand of frozen egg noodles)

Add cream of chicken soup, basil and pepper and bring to a boil again before adding defrosted noodles and peas. Cook for an additional 5 min (I cook it a little longer - probably more like 25-30 min. so the noodles aren't chewy).

Chocolate Berry Dessert

This is super easy and yummy. I made it twice in one week. Once for Quinn's office potluck and then for Christmas Eve. It calls for fresh raspberries, but those are impossible to find this time of year, so I used frozen and it was still good. The picture that came with the recipe looks better because of the fresh raspberries. But I used more chocolate over the top.

Chocolate Berry Dessert

1/2 of 1 pkg. (10-3/4 oz.) marble pound cake, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2-1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
2 cups raspberries
1 pkg. Milk Chocolate Chips; mealted

LINE bottom of 9-inch square pan with cake slices; set aside.

POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick.)

Gently stir in whipped topping. Spread over cake slices in pan.

REFRIGERATE 2 hours or until set.

Top with the raspberries and drizzle with the melted chocolate just before serving.

Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Jalapeno Poppers

If you made me list my favorite recipes, this one would be right at the top. It, along with the wonton wrap recipe, are a "must" at our Christmas Eve festivities.

Ingredients:
12 jalapenos
1 pkg cream cheese
1 lb bacon

Obviously, they aren't exactly heart friendly, and to make them even less so, 1/2 fat and fat free cream cheese don't work well in the recipe. They just melt and run out of the popper.

Directions:
Cut the stem off each jalapeno, then slice in half. I would suggest using gloves when handling the jalapenos. In the past, I thought "Heck, I'm tough, I can handle it", and then wondered why my hands burnt all night long. Now I use gloves. My hands thank me.

Next, remove the stem and seeds from the jalapeno. This will remove the "heat" from the pepper. I've found that a a grapefruit spoon works really well. (I never knew what a grapefruit spoon was until I married Ryan. It's a spoon with serrated edges.) But a regular spoon will work as well. A little hint-I try to scrape away from me so that the juice doesn't pop me in the face. See, I've had lots of experience with these things. Wash out the jalapenos if you want to make sure you got all of the seeds. Cover a large cookie sheet (with sides) with tinfoil. Very important for clean up!

Next, cut the cream cheese into 24 pieces. This isn't necessary (at all) but that way I get a fairly even amount of cream cheese in each popper. Again, it's not necessary, a "spoonful" is as good a measurement. Spread the cream cheese inside the jalapeno. It doesn't have to look pretty. Place on the cookie sheet.

Take your pound of bacon and cut in half. I should have taken a picture of this. . .but cut them in half so they aren't as long. Hope that makes sense... Take one piece of bacon and wrap around the jalapeno. I've found that if you start at the bottom of the fat side of the popper, it works better. Wrap the bacon so that it covers as much of the jalapeno as possible. Try to end with the wrap on the bottom as well. That way, it won't flip up when cooked. The bacon will stretch quite nicely. I have seen people secure the bacon with toothpicks. Personally, that is more work than I need. Return to the cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. The bacon should be crisp and the jalapenos should be soft and fully cooked. It's better that they be overcooked than undercooked. Trust me on this one. The cream cheese will kind of squirt out a bit, but that's OK. Remove from the cookie sheet and serve. My mouth is watering just thinking of them. . .

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tacos

This is a new recipe that I got from Kellie. I actually heard some women at church raving about it-and was pleased to find out it was my own sister's recipe! It's an unusual combination of flavors, but my family found it irresistible. It's kind of one of those not-exact-measurement-recipes. But it's so easy, I don't think you can go wrong.

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts ( I used 5)
1/2 bottle of green salsa
1/4 c. brown sugar
ingredients to make tacos (tortillas, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc).

Cook chicken. I boiled mine, but I'm guessing you could grill it, pan fry it, etc. Shred or dice the chicken. In a pan, combine cooked chicken, salsa and sugar. Cook and stir until combined and heated through.

I have a firm philosophy that everything tastes better with onions, (much to Ryan's dismay) so I sauteed onions and bell peppers.

Layer your taco with the chicken and fillings in whatever manner makes you happy. Enjoy!

PS. Cade ate the leftover meat the next day with tortillas. Not quite as tasty to me, but good enough for a 16 year old boy.

Chocolate Cake in Jars

Ok with my obession for getting my food supply stocked up, this is what I did today. I even remembered to take pictures. :) You can use ANY cake recipe.. Box or from scratch. I hardly ever buy cake mixes because from scratch is so much better. ANYWAY~ Just make the cake batter according to the directions. Then bake it in jars instead. Here is what I did...

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. cocoa

Mix dry ingredients well

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. cooking oil

2 c. cold water

add liquid ingredients and beat by hand

* Take 3 WIDE mouth QUART jars….. Or 6 WIDE mouth PINT jars. Grease and flour. Fill jars almost half full of cake batter.

Place in a pan and bake @ 350º for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. * I used the Quart jars and it took approximately 40 minutes or so. Remove the jars from the oven ONE at a time, wipe the rim, and then cap with simmered canning lid and secure the ring. Cool the jars on a towel until they "ping" and seal. Store on a dark, cool shelf. It didn’t take very long at all to hear the jars ping.