Alfredo Sauce

This recipe is adapted from the Olive Garden copy cat recipe. It is easy and so yummy. It saves great if you keep it separate from the noodles. I like it with chicken, steamed broccoli, and fresh tomatoes. And of course French Bread.

Alfredo Sauce

1 stick of butter
2 T cream cheese
1 pt whipping cream
1/2-3/4 C Parmesan cheese
1 t garlic powder
salt and pepper (I like white pepper) to taste
a dash of nutmeg

melt butter in a sauce pan. Add cream cheese until soft. Add cream and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Serve over warm noodles and/or chicken and veggies.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

I love these cookies, they just give a slight twist to chocolate chip cookies. They taste different enough to be just what you need when you are tired of your regular recipe. And my little taste-tester agreed, they are yummy, especially dipped in milk!

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
(Adapted from Nestle Toll House)

1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 2 T butter, softened
2 T coconut oil
3/4 C Brown sugar
1/3 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1 & 2/3 C flour
1 cup toasted coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 & 3/4 C chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Add egg and mix again. Add baking soda and powder, salt and flour. Stir in chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts. Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Makes about 2 & 1/2 dozen.

Hancock Rice Crispie Treats

This is one of those recipes that I am sure many people already have, but just in case you don't here it is. In my home, growing up, these where known as Hancock Rice Crispie Treats because our good friends the Hancocks introduced us to them. I have also heard them called Scotch-a-roos. But what ever you call them they are delicious!

Hancock Rice Crispie Treats

1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice crispies
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Cook sugar and corn syrup until almost boiling. Remove from heat and add peanut butter. Mix well. Stir in rice crispies and stir until combined. Spread and press into a greased 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips together and spread over the top. Let cool until chocolate hardens.

Chicken and 3 Bean Chili

A great one from Picky Palate. This is a wonderful twist on traditional chili. It comes together really quickly. I liked it even better the next day once the flavors mixed a little more. Don't let all the spices scare you, this is not very hot.

Chicken and 3 Bean Chili


4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 14 oz cans chicken broth
16 oz can black beans, drained
16 oz can red kidney beans, drained
16 oz can canelli beans, drained
15 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 Tablespoon Tabasco hot sauce
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 heaping Tablespoons chili powder
1 heaping Tablespoon cumin
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and shredded chicken breast; cook for 1 minute then stir in chicken broth, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, hot sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes then reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve. Garnish with cheese, sour cream and corn chips.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

As beautiful as they are good! I love doing these simple treats for my loved ones on lots of occasions. They are sure to wow guests as well and are great for all sorts of parties. This isn't so much a recipe as it is instructions.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Strawberries, washed and dried
favorite chocolate chips (about 1 bag to 30 strawberries, I use Ghiradelli milk chocolate)
about 1 teaspoon oil to 1 cup chocolate chips (the chips just need be coated)

Heat the chocolate chips and oil in a pan over low heat. Stir until just melted. The chocolate will barely be warm. you don't want to cook the chocolate or it gets lumpy. Once chocolate is melted remove from heat and dip strawberries in it. Place them on wax paper on a cookie sheet and then chill until chocolate hardens. I then melted a little white chocolate with oil the same way and drizzled it over the strawberries with chocolate already hardened on them. I added a little food coloring to make the white chocolate pink. You can also do these with dark and milk chocolate.

Chicken and Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes

I love to food blog hop and came across this recipe on My Kitchen Cafe. It is so good! I love the sweet potatoes in it. Put this with some fresh French Bread and there is nothing better for a cold wintery day!

Chicken and Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes

3 cups whole milk
1 cup yellow corn muffin mix
2 T. butter
1 onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 quarts chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 " cubes
2 sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
3 cups frozen corn (not thawed)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix milk and muffin mix in bowl until well combined. Meanwhile, heat butter in large pot over medium heat until foaming. Add onion and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, cumin and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, chicken and sweet potatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until sweet potatoes are just tender, about 8 minutes.
Stir in milk and muffin mixture and simmer until soup thickens, about 10 minutes. Add cheese and corn and cook until cheese begins to melt, about 2 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Chicken Tacos with Homemade Tortillas

Let me just start by saying that if you don't make your own tortillas, you should. They are easy and so much better than store bought. I usually make a big batch every other week or so and freeze half of them. They freeze great and keep great in the frig. With that said here are the recipes. The tortilla recipe is actually from my Grandma Clara, yes she is Mexican, and the chicken recipe is a couple different recipes that I made into one.

Tortillas

4 cups flour
2 t salt
1/2 cup crisco
1 1/2 cups luke warm water

Mix the flour and salt together and then cut in the crisco. The water is the tricky part, I usually put 1 1/2 cups in but this will change depending on how humid it is where you are. The dough should be soft, kinda like playdough but not sticky. It should clean the bowl but not break at the edges when you knead it. I do big batches in my bosh and it is awesome, but by hand works just fine. You should knead it until it is smooth and well combined about 50 times. Now break the dough into 16 balls (that is how many tortillas this will make) and put into a covered bowl for at least 15 minutes. I like mine to sit for about 1 hour. Roll them out to desired thickness, I make mine taco size. I then let them rest for about 10 minutes. Cook on a cast iron skillet for best results. Cook on one side until bubbles form, about 30 seconds. They should look like this:
If they don't try letting your tortillas rest a little longer. Once the bubbles form turn over and cook other side. Place cooked tortillas in a covered container like a tortilla warmer or a frying pan with a lid. This keeps them soft. If you are going to refrigerate or freeze them put them in a plastic bag and leave vented until they have cooled completely otherwise the condensation will make them mushy.

Chicken

3-4 frozen chicken breasts
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
garlic salt to taste
(this will be mild for more heat add some crushed red pepper)

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix the next 3 ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken and add garlic salt. When you shred the chicken it soaks up a lot of the juice but I still used a slotted spoon to serve my chicken. Serve chicken in warm tortillas with all the fixings. We use cheese, sour cream, guacamole, cilantro, lettuce, and tomato.

Strawberry Shortcake

I know, I know it is only February but Sam's club had a great deal on strawberries and we just couldn't resist. It some how gave me hope that Spring is somewhere near. But I am not holding my breath. My cute boys were so happy to be making the pound cake while I made dinner, Wyatt was the official taster, like always. This is a really good Pound Cake recipe from Paula Dean .

Strawberry Shortcake

Cake
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Sift the baking soda and flour together. Add to the creamed mixture alternating with eggs, beating each egg 1 at a time. Add the vanilla and pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Topping
Sliced fresh strawberries
sugar
vanilla
Fresh whipped cream

Put sugar and vanilla on strawberries and mix. Let them sit in the frig for about 1 hour, this brings out some of the juice. Top cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

French Bread

This is my favorite French Bread recipe. My sister-in-law Teresa gave me the recipe and I fell in love instantly! I did change a few little things from the original recipe to my liking. It is also great as pizza crust.

French Bread

Starter
Combine-
1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
½ T. yeast
1 T. sugar

mix and let sit for a minimum of 3 hours
(I let mine sit over night for even more flavor)

Add-
4 cups flour
1 cup warm water
½ T. yeast
2 egg whites
2 t. salt

mix for 7 minutes - until it cleans the bowl but is still moist like playdough. Let rise for 1 hour. Shape into two loaves and let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cook at 400 for 20 minutes. Rub with butter.

Spaghetti Pie

My Mom used to make this recipe growing up. It is a great twist on plain old spaghetti. My boys love it!

Spaghetti Pie
6 oz spaghetti cooked
2 T butter
2 beaten eggs
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
*mix all this together and form into a crust in a pie pan

1 c cottage cheese
*spread over noodle crust

Sauce:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c chopped green pepper
8 oz can stewed tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
1 t oregano
1 t garlic powder
1 t sugar
salt and pepper to taste

pour sauce over cottage cheese
bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes,
sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese and cook 5 more minutes.

Granola

This is my favorite granola recipe. I can't remember where I first got the recipe but I have changed it quite a bit. Here is the way I do it. It is so easy and great plain, with yogurt or fruit or both!

Granola
6 cups oates
¾ cup wheat germ
½ cup brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 T cinnamon
2/3 cup honey
2 t vanilla
2 T water
½ cup dry milk
1 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 t salt

Mix all ingredients together. Spread on large, lightly greased cookie sheet, press down if you like chunky granola and bake at 300’ for 25 minutes. Let cool and mix in any dried fruit, if desired. This is enough to put on two large cookie sheets, I usually half this.