Monday, December 3, 2007

How to make a really good smoothie...

*Start by buying a bag of frozen mixed fruit from the grocery store. I prefer bags that contain pineapple, mango, and strawberries.
*Get out your blender
*Put in Mixed fruit (not defrosted), 100% Orange Juice (Pre-made works well, but if you make it from the can I think that would work just as nicely), and one 8 oz. yogurt (any flavor works, try different ones to see what you like best). Portion sizes depend on how much smoothie you want and how thick you want it. You can play around with that too. Usually we just stick with one yogurt though and it is plenty.
*Blend away. We don't use any ice since the frozen fruit serves the same purpose.
*Sometimes we will add a banana if they are on hand.

And WAH-LAH! (How do you spell that?) You have a deliciously easy (and healthy) treat!

(Stolen from Kim Perry's blog) (but really, I like to think of it as borrowing...)

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Every Cookie You Have Ever Dreamed of...

Hi girls,
This website has hundreds of cookie recipes (seriously). Kind of fun, and nice, if you are looking for a particular kind of cookie...
Enjoy!
http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/cat0001.html

Lemon Cookies with Lemon Glaze

3/4 C shortening
1 C. sugar
3 eggs
2 small packages instant lemon pudding
2 C flour
3/4 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and beat. Add pudding (dry mix) and dry ingredients. Mix well. Roll into balls. Don't make big balls because they won't cook all the way through. Bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. When pulled out of the oven, they should be soft, slightly craked on the top, and have a touch of golden brown.

Glaze:
1 1/2 tablespoon milk
1 1/4 C powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon

Melt butter with milk in a pan over a low setting. Take off heat and stir in powdered sugar. Wisk until smooth. Add lemon juice and rind. Wisk. Frost cookies while cookies are still warm. (You might want to do this on waxed paper because the frosting has a tendency to get everywhere and waxed paper makes for easier clean up.)

This is Sister Lewis' recipe (she is the Stake RS President). They are the most amazing Lemon Cookies I have ever tasted!

Megan Hambly

Mandi's Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream or cream cheese (I prefer cream cheese)
6 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla. Add cream cheese. In separate bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Add gradually to creamed mixute. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. (You can refrigerate the dough if you want to, but it isn't necessary). This is really yummy and extremely easy sugar cookie recipe!

Megan Hambly

Grandma Hambly's Cheesecake

Crust:
6-8 large graham crackers
1/2 stick butter, melted

Finely crush graham crackers. Pour crushed graham crackers into a springform pan, spreading them evenly. Melt butter, and pour on top of graham crackers. USe the butter to smoosh the graham crackers together.

Cheesecake:
16 oz. cream cheese
3 eggs, separated
dash salt
dash cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar

Mix cream cheese, egg yolks, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Blend well. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold eggs whites into cream cheese mixture. Pour the entire mixture on top of the prepared graham cracker crust. Bake for 45 min, 350 degrees. Take out of oven, spread topping over cheesecake. Put back in oven and bake for another 5 min. Cool 2-3 hrs. before serving (but it is better the next day)

Topping:
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
5 tsp. sugar
dash salt

Mix all ingredients together, blend well. Pour on top of cheesecake after it has baked for 45 min (See above directions) Enjoy!

*This cheesecake is Ryan's grandma's recipes. It is amazing and relatively simple. We have served it with fruit, with chocolate, with caramel, and just by itself--and it is amazing every way you try it!

Megan Hambly

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste, and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, basil, paprika, and parsley. Mix well. Pour 1/2 of this mixture over the chicken, and brush to cover.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and brush with the remaining 1/2 of the honey mustard mixture. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Jill Thayer

Mrs. Field's Cookies

1 lb. butter (softened)
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups gran. sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. vanilla(Mix together)
Add 6 cups flour (This is a thick dough)
Add Choc chips (milk or semi sweet), and nuts (if you want)

Bake 350 degrees until done. All ovens are different, size of cookies vary, so anywhere from 10 minutes to 15 minutes

Jill Thayer

Yummy Salad

1. Any type of greens (spinach, romaine, iceberg) or a mixture of any
2. Add any or all of these: craisins, mandarin oranges, apples, strawberries, candied pecans (1/2 C. chopped pecans plus 1/4 C. sugar)
3. Mix pecans & sugar on low heat in a skillet pan, stirring continually. When light brown lay out on cookie sheet to cool

Dressing:
4 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. salad supreme (Schilling spice)
1/2 t. pepper
4 T. apple cider vinegar
1/2 C. vegetable oil

Shake and Stir all ingredients. Put dressing on right before serving

Jill Thayer

Welcome

Hi!
This blog is devoted to favorite recipes! Please send me recipes you love (or just like) and I will post them on here to share. Let's get cookin'! (Sorry, that last line was super cheesy, but it just kind of came out...so I decided to leave it).

P.S. The name...Ryan came up with it. I don't love it, but he is more creative than me, so it is all I have. If you can think of anything better, let me know!

--megan

Spice Cake with Penuche Icing

Cake
2 c. flour
1 c. granulated sugar ¼ tsp. cloves
¾ tsp. baking soda 1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. salt ¾ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon ½ c. oil
3 eggs

Into mixer bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add buttermilk, brown sugar, and oil. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Add eggs; beat 2 minutes more. Spread batter in two greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, remove from pan. When cool, frost with penuche icing.

Penuche Icing
½ c. butter
¼ c. milk
1 c. brown sugar
2 ½ c. powdered sugar

In saucepan, melt ½ cup butter, stir in 1 cup brown sugar. Bring to boiling; cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Stir in ¼ cup milk. Return to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool to 120 degrees. Gradually beat in 2 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar. If icing becomes too thick, 1-2 tablespoons of milk will help to thin it.

Taylor Watanabe

Molten Chocolate Cakes with Mint Fudge Sauce

These cakes are slightly under baked so that the chocolate center oozes when cut into. I usually just make the cakes and let them cool and sprinkle powered sugar on them and serve them in the soufflé dishes. I serve each one with a little dish of ice cream. I haven’t tried the sauce before, but I’m sure it’s good too. Makes 6.

Sauce
4 1/2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Stir both chocolates in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted. Add 1/3 cup hot water, corn syrup and extract; whisk until smooth. Remove from over water. Cool slightly. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill. Before serving, rewarm in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.)

Cakes
5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes, dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)

Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 minutes or up to 14 minutes for batter that was refrigerated. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Immediately turn cakes out onto plates. Spoon sauce around cakes. Serve with ice cream.

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved

Dana Rowland

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1- 1/2 C. milk chocolate chips 2 tsp. vanilla
3 C. sugar 2 tsp. cinnamon
1 C. shortening 1 tsp. salt
2 eggs 2 tsp. baking soda
1 large can pumpkin 2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice 5 c. flour

Mix ingredients completely. Will be sticky.
Place 1-1/2 inch apart on pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 13-14 minutes.
Makes 8 dozen.

Emilie Peterson

Muffin Top Cake

One white or yellow cake mix
One muffin mix
Cream cheese frosting

Make cake mix and put in pan then sprinkle muffin mix on top, place in oven to bake. Bake according to directions on cake package. After cake is done melt the frosting and drizzle on the top of the cake. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Tiffany Elzinga

Butterfinger Cake

1 devil’s food cake mix
9 oz butterscotch/caramel topping
4 Butterfinger candy bars (crushed)
8-12 oz cool whip

Bake cake according to directions on box in a 9x13 pan, let cool for at least 20 minutes, poke 8-12 holes with a spoon and pour the topping along the top of the cake (allowing it to run in the holes). Spread cool whip and then sprinkle crushed butterfingers on top.

Tiffany Robinaugh

Baked Ziti

1 lb. cooked ground beef
1 package of Ziti (or other small) pasta
1 can/jar pasta sauce
2 cups of mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook pasta according to package instructions
3. Heat pasta sauce in large frying pan, stir in cooked meat (I usually add some seasoning here...onion powder, garlic powder and parmesan cheese)
4. Combine sauce/meat mix with cooked pasta, layer in a 13x9 baking dish, sprinkling cheese between layers and on top.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted

Adrienne Orrock

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

2 T margarine
2 T flour
1 1/2 C milk
1 C grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
6–8 ounces macaroni, cooked and drained
1/3 C bread crumbs (optional)
1 T melted butter (optional)

Melt margarine in medium frying pan. Add flour and stir constantly until mixture bubbles and turns a light tan color. Add milk and heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Reduce heat to low and fold in cheese to form a creamy cheese sauce.Method 1: Fold cooked pasta into sauce. Serve immediately.

Method 2: Put cooked macaroni in 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and pour the cheese sauce over. Mix gently to combine. Sprinkle with mixture of bread crumbs and melted butter. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes until bubbly.

Yield: 4 servings

Jackie Shafer

Tuna Noodle Casserole with a Curry Twist

1 can Cream of mushroom soup (any cream of soup can work)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup green beans, broccoli, or peas. Whatever sound yummy to you
2 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 1 cup uncooked)
Some potato chips, bread crumbs, cheese or crackers for top
2-3 Tbsp curry (optional)
a dash of salt and pepper

1. In bowl, mix soup, milk, veggies, curry, tuna, salt, pepper, and cooked noodles. (way easy, huh). Put in a pan about 1 1/2 quart size and bake at 400 F for 20 minutes or until hot. Yay, you are almost done!
2. Now, a few minutes before it is done, add the topping of your choice.
3. Ok, here's the hard part, chow down and enjoy!

Havalah Turner

Noodles, Chicken, and Vegetables

About 1 box of angel hair (I'm pretty sure it was angel hair and not spaghetti)
about 1 1/2 c of steamed vegetables (I used Birds Eye Classic Mixed Vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, and cut green beans) - I might have added more corn
about 1-2 lbs of cooked chicken (I used the crock pot and actually was out of chicken broth so i used the broth in Progresso chicken noodle soup)
Spices: Parsley, Basil Leaves, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Minced Onion, Salt (maybe Italian seasoning)

Cook pasta and steam the vegetables. Cut up the chicken once it's cooked. Add vegetables into pasta (I actually didn't drain the pasta but you may need to) and cut chicken. Add spices - I did probably 2-3 shakes or pinches of each spice. And you're done.

Kristin Allred

Whole Wheat Bread

2 1/2 Tb. Yeast 3/4 c. sugar or honey
4 c. warm water ½ c. oil
1/4-1/2 c. gluten flour 10 c. whole wheat flour
1 heaping Tb. salt

Bake at 350 degrees, for 25-30 minutes. Mix the first 6 ingredients (everything but flour) preferably in a large mixer. Let it sit until it is really bubbly (about 20 minutes). Add 5 cups flour. Beat it on the highest speed it will go at for 10 minutes. Add the last 5 cups 1 cup at a time, let each mix in completely. Let it rise until settled. Punch it down, knead. Loaf it out (3-4 loaves of bread). Let it rise until 2 1/2 times that size.

*Can make pretty much anything (tortillas, pitas, rolls, sweet-bread, herb bread, mix cheese). The dough freezes well--let it thaw completely, then rise, or it won't work

Kristy Burtenshaw

Charoseth (Haroset)

4 large, tart apples, chopped small
1 1/2 C spouted buckwheat and wheat mixed (this is optional but we really like it. If not desired, replace with more apples and/or nuts)
1 C walnuts, chopped
1/2 C raisins
1/4 C honey
1 T cinnamon (or to taste)
apple or grape juice to desired consistency, taste (probably up to 1/2 C)

Stir together and enjoy!

This is a variation on a traditional Jewish dish served as part of the annual Passover feast. In the Passover service it symbolizes the sweetness of hope in the midst of opposition, and is eaten directly after the bitter herb as a contrast. We decided we liked it so much we decided we wanted to make it other times as well. It works well as an appetizer or a side dish, and can be served with matzo, toasted rye bread, or just by its sweet self! :-)

Camilla Ready

Hummus

2 cups (1 can) canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup tahini*
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, halved (garlic powder works fine too)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

1. Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil salt and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add some liquid from the beans or water to have it mix smoothly depending on how chunky or smooth you like it. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl.

2. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley to garnish. Or you can just add it in with everything else.

3. Eat with chips, crackers, pita bread, pita chips, veggies or spread on sandwiches.

*Tahini is a sesame seed paste. It can be found in either the health food section or the Asian section of the grocery store.

Kassie Howe

South of the Border Salad

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can tomatoes and green chilies, un-drained
3/4 C. thinly-sliced green onions
1/3 C. canola oil
1/4-1/3 C. lime juice
1 T. minced cilantro
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cumin

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

Emily Wall

Artichoke Dip

1 large can artichokes hearts, drained, not marinated
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 6 oz. can diced green chilies

Chop artichokes hearts. Mix all ingredients together and pour into an 8 x. 8 baking pan. Sprinkle top with extra parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with crackers.

Emily Sessions

Asiago/Parmesean Cheese Dip

1 cup lite mayo
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/3 cup grated asiago or parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mushrooms sliced (optional)
1/4 sundried tomatoes
8 oz. low fat sour cream

Heat oven to 350. Combine ingredients in a bowl and spread into a 1 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve with toasted French bread.

Shevaun Davis