Chicken Noodle Soup

14 cups water plus 7 Bouillon cubes
(or chicken broth)

3-4 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
5 stalks of Celery
6 carrots
3/4 tsp thyme
2 whole bay leaves (remove before adding noodles)
1 42oz (2lb 10oz) Rotisserie chicken breast
meat from Costco.




Combine above ingredients and cook until tender. Add noodles, may need to add extra broth or water as noodles will soak up juices.


1 16oz. pkg homemade noodles

Snicker Doodle Cookies

2 Cups shortening
3 Cups sugar
4 Eggs
5 1/2 Cup flour
4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Roll into balls and then into cinnamon / sugar mixture. bake at 350* for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas (and actually, flour ones are really good as well)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

The ones pictured below are actually flour tortillas- which I found out I like just as well (maybe even better!) than corn ones.

Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole.

Cheese Cake (Cooked)

Crust:
9 Tbsp Melted butter
9 Tbsp. sugar
18 graham crackers crushed
10 in. spring form pan

Combine all the ingredients and Press firm on bottom of pan, I usually line the pan with foil before pressing the crust, helps remove from the pan easier.

Bake at 325 for 8-10 min

Filling:
5 packages of cream cheese (ROOM TEMP)
1/4 C. Flour
1 1/4 sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla
5 large or extra large eggs (ROOM TEMP)
1 1/4 heavy whipping cream

Whip the cream cheese first by itself til smooth. Add flour sugar and vanilla and mix well. Slowly add the eggs and whipping cream while mixing. Be sure to scape the bottom and mix until all is blended, do not overblend or blend on high, this will produce air bubbles making cracks during the baking. Another thing to prevent the cheesecake from large cracks, place a pan of water on the rack under you're cheesecake's rack. Bake at 325 for 65 min. Turn off oven and keep in there for 30 min....very important not to open the oven throughout this process because it will crack. Remove from oven and let it sit out on wire rack to cool for at least 1hour until it has completely cooled. Cover then refrigerate 24 hours. Release from spring form pan right before serving.

It's okay if it cracks, usually every 1 out of 3 I've made tends to crack. It will still taste great and there are plenty of toppings out there to cover it.

Evan & Robyn Sleight

Pumpkin Crunch Recipe

15 oz. can pumpkin

3 large eggs

12 oz. evaporated milk

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. salt

4 t. pumpkin spice

2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. ginger

1/4 t. cloves

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl. Mix. Pour into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake 50 - 55 min. or until golden and firm. Cool completely. Serve with whip cream. Refrigerate leftovers. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken Recipe

The Ingredients.

1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cut in 2-inch chunks
1/2 cup flour (I used Pamela's Baking Mix)
olive oil, for browning the chicken
1 tablespoon kosher salt
6 ounces (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (I'd opt for little-to-no pulp. The pulp can taste a bit bitter when cooked)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup

updated 9/20/09: I've heard from a few readers that 1 tablespoon of salt is too much. If you are using iodized or table salt, this will be the case. Kosher salt doesn't taste as "salty" as regular salt, and since the granules are larger, you don't get as much in the tablespoon as you would with regular salt. Adjust accordingly. xoxo steph

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart slow cooker for best results. Dredge the chicken pieces with the flour, and shake off the excess. Go ahead and throw away any remaining flour, we won't need it. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on the stove and brown the chicken on all sides. There is no need to fully cook it, just sear it enough for the flour to stick and get a nice coating.

Plop the chicken pieces into your slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, combine the orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Taste. If you'd like the chicken to be a bit sweeter, add a touch more sugar. Pour sauce mixture evenly over the chicken, and toss gingerly to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3 to 4. Serve over white or brown rice.

Homemade Crayons

Have you ever wondered what to do with all the little broken pieces of crayon? The paper has come off and they are so small they are hard to color with. Well, wonder no more. Here is a fantastic (and easy) thing to do with all of those left over pieces.

* Make sure all the paper is removed

* You can use any kind of baking pan. I chose the silicone ones because I have shapes in them. But the metal pans would work great too.

* Add like colors. As you can see we added some whites to them and mixed them up a little. It makes for a cool effect!


* Bake in a 200 degree oven for about 30 minutes. The bigger the pieces the longer the cooking time.

* Remove from the oven and let them cool completely!

* Once cool, pop them out of the pans and start coloring!


They make great gifts too!

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter
2 T shortening
1 cup caking cocoa
8 ounce cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and shortening. Whisk in cocoa and stir until smooth. Let cool until it is cool enough to touch. Add cream cheese and mix thoroughly. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix well

will cover a 9x13 cake

Yummy with Devils Food cake!

Southwest Chicken with Black Beans

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 small can diced green chilies
1 clove crushed garlic
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. lime peel
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb. chicken, cup into strips (to add a little zing and save a little time, I use the Tyson Southwest already cooked chicken strips.)

Cook chicken (if using raw chicken), onion, chilies and garlic in oil until chicken is cooked. Add beans, lime juice & peel and tomatoes. heat until hot. Serve with all the side stuff (sour cream, cheese, tortillas) or by itself.

Soft Pretzel Recipe

Ingredients:
1-1/2 teas yeast
1/2 teas brown sugar
1 dash salt
1-1/2 Cup 110 degree water - (I always just guess on the actual temp, it needs to be warm for the yeast)

Combine the above ingredients and let rest for about 5 minutes until the yeast is ready. It will be foamy.

Add in:

4 Cups flour

Mix together and then knead approx. 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, cover with damp towel and let rise 1 hour.

in flat dish ( I use an 8x8 glass casserole) mix the following:

1 TBLS Baking Soda
1/4 cup warm water

Pinching off a golf ball sized (or slightly bigger) piece of dough, roll in hands to make long snake-like shape and then shape into pretzel form. (I do both traditional pretzel shapes and also pretzel twists - with twists I use slightly less dough so it makes more) Dip shaped form in above soda/water mixture. Make sure both sides of dough have been dipped. Then place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 8 minutes. (You want them slightly browned on top but not over-cooked)

This recipe makes about 8 to 9 pretzels

Once they are out of the oven brush them with melted butter and sprinkle course Kosher salt on top. (just a note, the first time I made them I over did the salt - a little goes a long way) You can also top them with cinnamon-sugar, Parmesan cheese or other toppings.

And just as an FYI, I personally only like these fresh. So for best results eat them right away.



Amy C. Williams

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Ingredients
2 - cups all purpose flour
1 - teaspoon baking powder
1/2 - teaspoon salt
5 - tablespoons lard (recommended) or vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
3/4 - cup hot water




Directions:
In a large bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder and shortening. Using your fingers cut in the shortening (or lard) until the mixture resembles pea size pieces (or use a pastry cutter). Add the hot water and mix together using your hands or a wooden spoon until the mixtures starts to form. Knead on a floured surface for 5 - 10 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball. Place the dough into a covered bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Pinch off the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into golf ball size balls. Preheat your griddle or cast iron pan on medium high heat. Flatten each dough ball a bit and then roll out on a floured surface forming a circle.
To make a round shape roll out the dough and then make a 1/4 of a turn of the circle and then roll and make another 1/4 of a turn. Keep doing this until the dough is rolled out to 1/8 inch thick. You really want these to be very thin, almost like tissue paper because they do puff up while cooking. Place onto the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly. Flip and continue cooking the other side. Each side should cook about 30 seconds. Keep the cooked tortillas warm while you continue rolling and cooking the remaining tortillas

Crepe

2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 T sugar
1 T melted butter
1 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c milk

Mix dry ingredients together. Beat eggs until thick, add 1/2 flour mixture and beat until mixed. Add remaining flour and beat well. In a skillet, melt butter and add to batter. Coat pan or griddle with cooking spray and pour about 1/2 cup of batter. Heat should be about 350*. Spread batter out as thin as possible. Using a knife or spatula, flip over until lightly brown.

Marshmallow Fondant

8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp water
Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

(I find it easier to half the amount and make smaller batches)
Preparation:

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.

2. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you want to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.

3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.

4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.

5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.

6. If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball.

7. Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups, 3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cups grated zucchini


Beat eggs. Add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Beat well. Add flour and spices. Makes a thin batter. Pour into greased and FLOURED bread pans. Bake 1 hour at 375*.

Homemade Noodles

2 eggs
3 Tablespoons water
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour

Mix all together. Roll out with noodle maker. Lay on wax paper and cut into strips with a pizza cutter.