Cheesy Chicken Vegetable Soup

I never would have tried this soup had I known it contains Velveeta. Let's just say my prejudices against Velveeta are extinct. This is a delicious soup. (You may remember it from the first annual Westerberg Christmas party.)
From my friend Emily Morrison, who is an excellent cook.

4 c. water
1 c shredded or chopped carrots
1 c. diced celery
2 c. cubed potatoes
1 medium onion
4 chicken bouillon cubes
Combine above ingredients and cook 15 min. Add the following a cook 15 more.
1 (10 oz) frozen broccoli
1 (10 oz) frozen cauliflower
Add the following:
2 cans cream of chicken
1 lb Velveeta, cubed
1-2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast pieces.
Heat through and serve.

Wisconsin Mac & Cheese

For anyone that has partaken of the deliciousness at Noodles & Co may dream about the mac & cheese. Here is my version..I make it with different amounts based on how much I make. It's like an experiment every time I make it.

Start by making a roux with butter & flour. I usually use 1-2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour.

Then add desired amount of milk, probably about 1 cup (I use skim and it works great, but I think evaporated would also work).

Stir until thick.

Add your favorite cheese. I have found adding really sharp cheese is the tastiest. If it appears too thick add a bit more milk.

Pour cheese mixture over cooked pasta and top with grated cheese.

Every time I make this Mak comments on how much he loves it..and it only takes about 15 minutes!!

Pico De Gallo

Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse
Alterations by Christina

3 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 T diced J peppers
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, diced
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 limes, juiced

Combine and season with salt and pepper. Best left to marinade at least 1 hour.

Tropical Salsa

From Silvia Woodward

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole corn, drained
6 roma tomatoes, diced
1 red or yellow pepper (or both), diced
2 avacados, diced
2 green onions, chopped finely
juice of 1 lime
1 package dry italian dressing seasoning

Mix beans, corn tomatoes and peppers. Add italian seasoning. Leave overnight. Before serving add avacado and lime juice. Serve with lime flavored tortilla chips

Mom's Cheesecake

I have sampled many cheesecakes in my life, but few compare to my Mom's. This recipe is restaurant worthy.
3 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
2- 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Combine ingredients, pour over baked crust and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes
1 ½ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup white sugar
pour over baked portion of cake and bake at 425 for 6 minutes

Crust:
1 ½ cup vanilla wafer crumbs
½ cube buttercinnamon
Combine ingredients, press in a spring-form pan and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.
Cook cake on the counter for 1 hour, then refridgerate.

Joyful oreo balls

1 package oreos (you can use any flavor)

1- 8-oz pkg cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup cream or a few tbsp of oil

1. grind up oreos in food processor until they are a very fine consistency (all the white filling should be gone)

2. Combine vanilla and cream cheese with a blender

3. Roll into balls (whatever size you prefer), refrigerate for 45 minutes

4. Melt chocolate chips and cream (or oil) until smooth (I melt them in microwave about 30 seconds at a time and stir, but you can use a double broiler if you are intense).

5. dip your cooled oreo balls in the chocolate and place on a cookie sheet covered in wax. Store in the fridge...delish!!

Grandma Johnson's Mustard Sauce

No ham is complete without this mustard sauce
Make sure to use Coleman's dry mustard. It comes in a yellow tin and can be found in the spice section of your local grocer (Wal Mart doesn't carry it).
1/2 c. sugar
3-5 T dry mustard (use Coleman's-- generally, I use 3 T and think that's plenty spicy. The original recipe calls for 5)
1 scant t salt
1 t cornstarch
2 T butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. vinegar

Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining liquid ingredients. Cook slowly over double boiler about 15 min or until thick, stirring constantly.

Orange Rolls

I've been looking for a good orange roll recipe. Can't wait to try these.

Orange Rolls
from Darcee Waddoups
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
4 TBSP softened butter
4 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 TBSP yeast

Put ingredients in bread machine and select dough setting. Refrigerate. When ready to roll out, spread with orange past (below) and cut out as you would cinnamon rolls. Bake in muffin tins or on a cookie sheet. Let rise for 30 minutes. Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes. Glaze while still hot.
Orange Paste:
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
grated rind of 1 orange
Squeeze juice from 1/2 of orange and blend well with /2 cup cream cheese frosting. (I just use the frosting in the tub.)

Almond Joy Bars

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but they look delish!

Almond Joy Bars
From Darcee Waddoups
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp soda
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar and soda. Set aside. In saucepan mix butter, water and cocoa. Bring to a boil. Pour over flour mixture and mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour into greased 10 x 15 jelly roll pan. Bake @ 375 for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.Filling:1/2 can sweetened condensed milk1 1/2 powdered sugar14 oz. coconut1 tsp vanillaMix milk and vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar then add coconut. Spread evenly over cooled bars. Sprinkle with coarsely chopped almonds.Frosting:1/2 cup-1 cup butter **2 cups chocolate chipsMelt butter and chocolate. Drizzle over bars then spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Cool completely before cutting into squares.**note: The more butter you add, the more of a 'glaze' you'll get. I tend to like it (if I'm not worrying about butter amounts!) a little thinner, but some of my kids like it better with a thicker, more chocolaty topping.

Thanksgiving Rolls

Thanksgiving Rolls

4 1/2 t. yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 T sugar
1 c. scalded milk
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. shortening
2 t. salt
2 eggs, beaten well
4 c. flour

Mix yeast, warm water and 1 T. sugar. Let stand 20 min. Scald milk and when it is cool add shortening, 1/3 c. sugar, salt, eggs and yeast mixture. Add flour and mix well. Mixture will be sticky. Put in refrigerator over night and knead well then roll out on a floured board. Let rise 2 hours. Bake 15 min at 350

Orange Pecan Scones

MB can leave out the pecans. These are delish!
From homespunliving.blogspot.com

Orange Pecan Scones
1/2 c. butter, in pieces
1 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. sugar
grated zest of one orange
1/2 c. orange juice
1 egg, beaten
For glaze:
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp. orange juice
12 pecan halves
Scones: Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, chopped pecans, sugar & zest) in food processor*, and using pulse, cut in butter til it looks like a coarse meal--be careful not to over process. Add orange juice and beaten egg and combine until just mixed. Drop 12 equal lumps of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.
* or use a pastry cutter and mix by hand.
Glaze: Combine confectioner's sugar and orange juice, mixing til smooth. Spread a little glaze on each scone and top with a pecan half.
Makes 1 dozen.
These are best eaten right after they are baked!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1- medium sized pumpkin, cleaned (you can leave a little stringy stuff)
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 T soy sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 container of fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 c. cream of chicken
1-1/2 c. rice, cooked
1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained

Pre-heat oven to 400. Place prepared pumpkin on a baking sheet. Cook pumpkin for 30 min. or until it is semi-soft (this will vary depending on thickness of pumpkin).
Meanwhile:
Cook ground beef adding onions and mushrooms until both are wilted. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, cream of chicken, cooked rice and water chestnuts. Combine well. Place ingredients in partially cooked pumpkin. Bake for 30-40 min (until the insides are warm) at 400. Serve directly from pumpkin and enjoy a festive meal.

Pumpkin Choco Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
from allrecipes.com with modifications by Christina
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
puree
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 cup semisweet chocolate
chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
(optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Stir in the walnuts if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Enchilada Casserole

Tonight's Dinner

1 lb ground beef
Corn tortillas (it's very important that you use corn, not flour).
1 T chili powder
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 diced onion
1 can enchilada sauce (10 oz)
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
2 c. grated cheese of your choice

Brown onions, add ground beef until cooked. Next add kidney beans, chili powder, grlic, corn, enchilada and tomato sauce. Spray a 9X11 pan, cover bottom layer in corn torillas. Add a layer of ground beef mixture, then cheese, then tortillas, etc. Continue layering unil pan is full. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 min (Uncover the last 10 min). Serve with sour cream if desired.

Cafe Rio Cheats (From Jill)

Cafe Rio-ish Chicken
5 lbs. chicken (I used one of those 3 lb. frozen packages Wal-Mart sells that used to be 5 lbs. But that's a different post)
1 small (8 oz) bottle Zesty Italian Salad Dressing (or measure out 1 cup from that big bottle, no one will know the difference...except your garbage man, maybe)
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 1/2-ish tbsp. minced garlic from a bottle in your fridge)

Put the chicken (defrosted if you bought it frozen) in your slow cooker. Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the happy chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours (depending on your slow cooker - mine cooks super hot and only took 5 hours). Shred the chicken and then cook an additional hour. If you can stand the wait.

Cafe Rio-esque rice
1/2 bunch cilantro1 small can green chilies
1/2 medium onion
3 cups water
3 cups instant rice
4 tsp chicken bouillon
4 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
In a blender or food processor blend cilantro, chilies, and onion. Bring water to a boil and add all remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover. Remove from heat. Let sit about 5 minutes.

Cilantro-Lime Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch packet
2 tomatillos
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno, seeded (watch out! Don't touch your eyes! These little things are hot!)

Make ranch dressing according to package directions. In a blender or food processor whirl together the tomatillos, cilantro and jalapeno. Now add the garlic and lime juice to your blended mix. Blend again. Combine with ranch dressing (which you made up in style an hour ago - look at you, planning ahead and all! I'm so proud.) and enjoy.My additions:*Dave and I love to add black beans to the rice. When we eat it we pile everything on a tortilla (including the dressing), roll it up and top it with more dressing. Add cheese, salsa, whatever your heart desires. *I also nixed making up the package of ranch dressing and just used 2 cups of already prepared ranch dressing. A tiny bit thicker than I remember when I used the dressing packet last time, but still delicious!