Friday, June 25, 2010

My favorite Crunchy Granola recipe

I've been making this Granola recipe since I was a teenager I think. But now that I"m older I've cut back on the butter and have added more honey than the original recipe. I've also added wheat germ for more health benefits and craisins and almonds for flavor. I love to munch on this by itself for a morning pick-me-up at work or for a snack. I also sprinkle some on my blackberries and yogurt for breakfast... Yum!

Honey Nut Granola

3 cups old-fashioned Quaker Oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup almonds ( I use whole almonds, but you can chop them if you want)
1/2 cup craisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix all of the ingredients except the craisins together in a mixing bowl with a spoon. Spray a 15 x 10" cookie sheet with Pam spray. Pour and spread granola out evenly on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring after the first 10 minutes. When golden brown, remove from oven and pour onto a sheet of aluminum foil (I fold the sides of the foil up about an inch) Spread out a little on the foil and let cool completely. I cool on the aluminum foil because when the granola cools it tends to stick on the cookie sheet. Remove from the cookie sheet best while still warm. After the granola is cool add the craisins and stir to combine.
Pour into a ziploc bag and enjoy!! Yum!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Fudgy Chocolate Sauce

One of my downfalls is ice cream.... mmmmm. I especially like a good hot fudge sauce on vanilla ice cream with chopped salty peanuts on the top. YUMMO! A lady I used to work with at my old office would make this recipe and bring it along with some ice cream into work.... I've been craving it lately! Use this creamy sauce over your favorite ice cream or dessert.


Fudgy Chocolate Sauce

1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
**4 packets (1 oz. each) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® CHOCO BAKE® Pre-Melted Unsweetened Chocolate Flavor
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ice cream or cake

Directions:
MICROWAVE sweetened condensed milk and Choco Bake in medium, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Microwave for additional 30 seconds.
STIR in butter, water and vanilla extract until smooth.
SERVE warm over ice cream or cake.
Makes 1 3/4 cups ice cream sauce.

**I couldn't find this Pre-melted Chocolate anywhere, and I looked in every grocery store in Blackfoot! So I used 4-1ounce Squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate. I put it in a microwave-safe bowl and microwaved for 1 minute, stirred a bit. Then I added the sweetened condensed milk and microwaved another minute. Then I stirred until the chocolate was melted. Then I added the butter, water and vanilla and continued to stir until smooth. This was just as yummy!!

Fruit Dips

I love this fruit dip. I found the recipe in a Kraft foods magazine that I used to subscribe to. It's great for potlucks, or baby showers, or girls craft nights..... also following this recipe is another fruit dip that my sister-in-law makes, it's Yummo too!

PHILADELPHIA Dessert Dip

You Need:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme

MIX ingredients until blended.

SERVE with assorted cookies or cut-up fresh fruit.

**Kraft Kitchens Tips:
Prepare as directed, adding 1 Tbsp. orange juice, 1 tsp. orange zest and a dash of ground ginger.

How to Soften Cream Cheese:
Place completely unwrapped package of cream cheese on microwaveable plate. Microwave on HIGH 10 to 15 sec. or until slightly softened.

Make it Easy:
To easily remove marshmallow crème from jar, remove lid and seal. Microwave on HIGH 30 sec. before removing marshmallow creme from jar.


Cool-whip Fruit Dip
1-16oz. container Cool Whip
3- Tablespoons Orange Tang instant Drink mix
1 Tablespoon water

Mix together and serve with assorted cut up fruit (I like apples, strawberries and grapes with this dip)! Yummo!!
Note-the Tang tends to thicken the cool whip...Adding the 1 Tablespoon of water makes it more creamy. Don't be afraid to add a little more water as needed.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Best Good Ole' Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I love chocolate chip cookies, but mine always come out on the flat side, even with the Tollhouse cookie recipe. Jim was always bragging about how good the cookies are at the INEL. So I guess he bribed the kitchen ladies and got it and now it's my favorite recipe when I want just a plain good chocolate chip cookie, and I thought I'd share. YUM!


The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons softened butter (have this at room temperture, don't soften in microwave)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350.
Cream butter and sugars together until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until well blended. In another small bowl stir flour, soda, and salt together. Then add slowly to cream mixture. Add chocolate chips and spoon stir to mix.
Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Bet ya can't eat just one!!

Easy Bowtie Pasta Salad


I love Pasta salads....I'm always trying different variations of them. But this one was yummy! We had a family BBQ for Father's Day  and this is what I came up with! I love Sundried Tomatoes and happen to have some in the refrigerator. I think they gave this the extra little punch it needed! Yum!


Di's Easy Bowtie Pasta Salad

Approx. 4 cups uncooked Bowtie Pasta
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced thinly
1/2 can olives sliced
1/2 cup (appox.) diced sundried tomatoes in oil (you can find this usually by the olives, and pickles, or by tomatoe sauces, they come chopped in a jar with olive oil)
Kraft Tuscan Italian dressing (or your favorite italian dressing)
Parmesan cheese

Cook Bowtie Pasta according to directions on box. Drain. Place in big bowl with green pepper, zucchini, olives and sundried tomatoes. Squirt about 1/2 cup or so of the salad dressing over pasta and veggies, toss to coat. At this point I taste it and see if I need more dressing, if so add a little more and taste again. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese and a little salt and pepper if desired and toss to mix. Yum!!
**Can use more or less veggies, sometimes I add broccolli florets too, if I have it.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I had some filling leftover from my Eggrolls that I made over the weekend, and I decided to turn it into lettuce wraps!! Yum!!! I think I'll make my lettuce wraps with this from now on!! When I made my eggrolls I didn't have a can of bean sprouts like I thought, so I used water chestnuts that I sliced into slivers. This was Yummo in the lettuce wraps!
Di's Lettuce Wraps
1 pound chicken (I used chicken that I've chopped finely in my food processor)
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger if you don't have fresh on hand)
2 Cups Cabbage, finely chopped **hint- I've used about 3 cups of classic coleslaw mix for the cabbage and carrots, easier cuz it's already shredded)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup celery, sliced paper thin
1 can water chestnust, drained and sliced into slivers
3 Green onions, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Oyster sauce
3 Tablespoons Hoisin sauce (Oyster and Hoisin sauce are found in the asain section of most grocery stores)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Lettuce
Asain Toasted Sesame Salad Dressing

Brown chicken ,ginger and garlic over medium high heat until browned and chicken is cooked through. Add cabbage, carrots, celery, water chestnuts,and green onions: cook 2 minutes. Stir in oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, salt and pepper. Cook a few more minutes until flavors blend and veggies are crunchy tender.
To make lettuce cups slice the top off of a head of lettuce right through the middle of the head. Pull your lettuce cups off of the outside of this slice.
To assemble: add a spoonful or two into the lettuce cup, drizzle a little of the toasted sesame dressing on the top and enjoy!!
*If you like a spicy kick add a drop or two of sriracha hot chile sauce to your individual lettuce wrap.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

OOOPS!

I have to apologize... I didnt' realize my scone recipe was missing the yeast in the ingredients. It was brought to my attention by a good friend.... It's fixed now, so if you had printed off my Scone recipe, it's now all there. I think when I transferred recipes off my personal blog to make my recipe blog, I skipped some of it or something. :o)

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Brownies with Cream Cheese Swirls


mmmmm these were yummo!! I love brownies and cream cheese! Here's my good old Saucepan brownie recipe that I have on here already, but I saw a cooking show where they added a cream cheese mixture to their brownies... so I tried it with mine.. and it was awesome!
Sauce Pan Brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line and 8x8 or 9x9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving about 3 inches hanging over each side for handles.

Melt in saucepan:
1 stick of butter
2 - 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate

Remove from heat and add:
1 cup of sugar
Stir; then add:
2 eggs, one at a time, stir after adding each one

Then stir in:
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Then add:
3/4 cups flour
dash of salt

Set aside.

Prepare cream cheese mixture:
Whisk 4 ounces softened cream cheese with 2 Tablespoons softened butter until creamy and smooth.
Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Stir to combine.

Pour a little less than half the chocolate mixture in prepared baking pan. Spread to cover the bottom of the pan. Then alternatley spoon the cream cheese mixture and the rest of the chocolate mixture into the pan. Then with the tip of a knife run through batter to swirl. I go in one direction and then go through one more time in a different direction so you get a marble look.
Bake in oven for about 25 minutes or until brownies are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool for about 30 minutes. Then using the parchment handles lift out of pan and cool completely. Then cut into squares and serve!! Yumm!

Teriyaki Chicken Soft Tacos

I tried out his new recipe today! And of course it's for a different kind of taco and you know how I like tacos! They turned out yummy!! I love teriyaki anything and pineapple!! Thought I would share! Enjoy!! Oh... one thing about this recipe is you need to let the chicken marinate for 6 or so hours... so I prepare the Teriyaki sauce the night before, and marinate the chicken in the morning until I'm ready to cook.

Teriyaki Chicken Soft Tacos

Teriyaki Sauce:
1 3/4 cups water
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup canned pineapple tidbits, drained (save juice) I use a 20 ounce can, you use the rest later on.
1/4 cup pineapple juice (that you saved from the pineapple, drink the rest on ice! Yum! :o)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (or you can use a heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)


Taco ingredients:
12 chicken tenderloins (or 1 to 2 pounds chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken breasts)
12 7-inch flour tortillas (the snack size tortillas)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 cups iceberg lettuce chopped very thin or shredded
1 1/2 cups canned pineapple tidbits
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (two medium tomatoes)
1/2 cups chopped green onion (green part only)
2 avacados diced (optional)

-Make the sauce by whisking corn starch into the water in a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients, then bring mixture to a boil, Reduce heat and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Let sauce cool
-When the sauce is cool, measure out about 1 cup of the sauce ( i saved a little more than a cup) Set this aside in the fridge. Use the remaining sauce to pour over chicken tenders in a medium bowl or ziploc bag. Cover chicken and let marinate for at least 6 hours. Overnight is even better.
-When chicken has marinated, preheat a large skillet over medium/low heat. Sprinkle pan with a little oil, Remove chicken from marinade (throw out the marinade the chicken was in) and saute' chicken in the pan for 8 to 10 minutes until it's cooked through and brown on both sides or since I like using my BBQ grill, I cooked my chicken on a preheated grill, and cooked for about 7 minutes per side, or until nicely browned and cooked through.
Slice each chicken tender into 3 or 4 pieces and place all the chicken in a medium bowl. Microwave the leftover 1 cup teriyaki sauce for 30 to 60 seconds or until it's hot. Pour the sauce over the sliced chicken in the bowl, and toss to coat.
When you're ready to build the tacos, preheat a skillet over medium heat** see note below. Toss a tortilla into the pan for a minute, then flip it over and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of shredded cheese across the center of the tortilla, let the tortilla sit in the pan for about a minute or so (until the cheese starts melting) then remove the tortilla and immediately spoon the equivalent of one chicken tender into the tortilla and some of the sauce.
Then arrange about 1/3  cup shredded lettuce over the chicken, follow that with a spoonful or 2 of the pineapple tidbits, and 1 to 2 spoonfulls of tomato, a spoon full of avacado, and couple of pinches of chopped green onion.  Serve with fried rice and steamed veggies!! Enjoy!!!

* Makes 12 tacos

**Note: since my grill was hot from cooking the chicken, I warmed my tortillas on it, you can do 6 at a time, I warmed on 1 side for abour 30 or so seconds flipped over, and sprinkled some cheese on it, and let set for 30 more seconds or so until the cheese would start to melt.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Egg rolls

I love egg rolls!! Every new year's we make egg rolls, and fried rice to ring in the new year... and I've made them with my Young Women's girls. They love them too. This is the recipe that I found on the back of the Azumaya egg roll wrappers, and of course I tweaked it a little to  suit my taste. I also use the sweet and sour sauce recipe that follows for a great dipping sauce. The sweet and sour sauce also makes great sweet and sour chicken. Enjoy!

Egg Rolls
Makes about 20 egg rolls

1 Package Azumaya Large Square Egg Roll Wraps
1 pound lean ground beef, pork, or chicken (I used chicken that I've chopped finely in my food processor)
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger if you don't have fresh on hand)
2 Cups Cabbage, finely chopped **hint- I've used about 3 cups of classic coleslaw mix for the cabbage and carrots, easier cuz it's already shredded)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup celery, sliced paper thin
1 can Bean sprouts, drained
3 Green onions, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Oyster sauce
3 Tablespoons Hoisin sauce (Oyster and Hoisin sauce are found in the asain section of most grocery stores)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Mustard, ketchup or sweet & sour sauce for dipping

Preparation Method:
Brown meat ,ginger and garlic over medium high heat until browned and meat is cooked through. Add cabbage, carrots, celery, bean sprouts,and green onions: cook 2 minutes. Stir in oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, salt and pepper. Let mixture cool. Use 2 tablespoons filling for each egg roll. Follow folding directions on package of egg roll wrappers. To deep-fry: heat oil to 350 degrees, and deep-fry a few at a time, turning occasionally, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. (I usually deep fry mine but you can oven bake)
To oven-bake: brush each egg roll with 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the egg rolls are crisp on the bottoms; about 7 minutes; turn and bake until crisp all over, about 5 minutes.
 Serve with mustard, ketchup, or sweet & sour sauce if desired.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
6 Tablespoon Catsup
2 chicken bouillon cubes, crushed(or 2 teaspoons granule chicken bouillon)
3/4 cup white vinegar
6 Tablespoons water (I usually dissolve my bouillon cubes in this if you get it really hot)
4 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce.

Mix all together in saucepan and bring to boil, cook  on a medium low heat until thickens. Makes a great dipping sauce for eggrolls or great sweet and sour chicken.

Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Cake

This is an awesome recipe!! It's a good dessert for the summertime. We made it at work when I worked at my old office. (as you can tell we like to eat and exchange recipes at my job! ) Enjoy!!

OREO  Fudge Ice Cream Cake
prep time 10 min
total time 4 hr 10 min
makes 12 servings

What You Need!
1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed **see note
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
8 OREO Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Make It!
POUR fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup COOL WHIP. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in chopped cookies.

ARRANGE 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half the COOL WHIP mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost top and sides with remaining COOL WHIP. Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.

FREEZE 4 hours or until firm.

**Tips/Note
The consistency of fudge topping can vary depending on what brand you purchase. If the fudge topping mixture is too thick to spread easily, stir in 1/4 cup milk.
Special Extra--Prepare using Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches.
Size-Since this indulgent ice cream cake makes 12 servings, it is the perfect dessert to serve at your next party.

Zucchini Relish

I got this recipe from a girl at work too! It's a great way to use up zucchini!! It's also one of the best relishes I've ever had! Tastes like sweet pickle relish, I love it on smoked brats with banana peppers too! You can eat it like you would sweet pickle relish. If you didn't tell people it was zucchini, they would never know!! Yum!! I halved the recipe the first time I made it and put in jelly jars since I'm the only one who likes sweet pickle relish.....

Zucchini Relish

10 cups Zucchini, chopped or  minced
4 cups onion, chopped or minced
1 green pepper, chopped or minced
1 Red pepper, chopped or minced
5 Tablespoons salt

I minced all the above in my food processor, but you could just chop finely (depends on how chunky you like your relish). Put in large container and stir all together. Let it sit overnight. The next morning wash with cold water and drain. Place in large cooking pot.

Add the following:
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups  Vinegar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon tumerac (I used curry powder because I didn't have tumerac-still good)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Let cook 30 minutes. Add to clean, sterlized jars, and place in water bath for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Dilly Beans

I thought since it's gardening season I'd post a few recipes for vegetables. Here is a recipe for Dilly beans I got from work. I changed it a bit. Have you ever eaten at a Mexican restaurant that has pickled carrots, and veggies on the side? They are kind of spicy... well that's what I tried to create. My changes are in parenthesis, the original recipe is good too, they are great to just munch on or have on the side of mexican dishes...

Dilly Beans

You will need clean, sterilized canning jars. Usually 9 pints for a batch

Fill each jar with the following:
Fresh green beans, washed and stems removed
1 whole clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon minced)
1 to 2 dry Chinese or Japanese peppers ( I couldn't find, so I used 1/2 a fresh jalapeno pepper, and 1/2 a serrano pepper)
1 sprig of Dill (I used about 1/2 teaspoon dried dill in each jar)
(I also added a few diagonal sliced carrots along with the beans in each jar, they were yummy)

Pour the following mixture into bean filled jars to within 1/2 inch of the top:
5 cups water
5 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup salt
Bring to a boil, then pour over beans in the jar.

Put on jar lids, and process in water bath: 10 minutes for pints, and 15 minutes for quarts.

*The first time I made this I just made a 1/2 batch of the liquid and did 4 pints because I wasn't sure we'd like them. We loved them! So I'm going to do a whole batch next time. I think I will put more peppers in them too, maybe a whole jalepeno sliced in half, and the same with a serrano.

Original Ranch Grilled Chicken

This is one of my all time favorite chicken marinades. I usually use chicken tenders- they are flavorful and tender when you grill them. I have made this at family 4th of July BBQ's , everyone likes them!! Yum!!



Original Ranch Grilled Chicken
1 packet (1-ounce) Hidden Valley Original Ranch Salad Dressing
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders

Whisk the salad dressing mix, Olive oil, and vinegar in a small bowl or measuring cup. Place chicken in a gallon size ziploc bag, pour dressing mixture over the chicken, Zip the bag shut and mush around so all the chicken is coated. Marinate for 1 hour in the refridgerator (or longer if you want, the longer it marinades the more flavorful the chicken will be)
Heat grill. When ready turn heat down to medium, and grill chicken about 5-7 minutes per side for tenders and 8 to 10 minutes per side for chicken breasts (depending on how thick your chicken is) or until no longer pink in the middle and juices run clear.  Enjoy!!

Makes about 2 to 4 servings.

New and Improved Chicken Enchilada Soup

I have a few different Chicken enchilada / chicken tortilla, and different chicken soups on here, but I did a few things different yesterday...