Chile Lime Chicken Tacos/Tostadas

I found this yummy recipe on Real Mom Kitchen and it looked delicious, so I gave it a try and it was super yummy!

• 1 can diced green chilies
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder (I was nervous and used only about 1 tbsp.)
  
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 diced medium onion
• 2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
• 1 can fat free refried beans, warmed
• 10 tostada shells
• Desired toppings such as: shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, salsa, light sour cream, sliced olives, guacamole

1. Add chicken and onion to a slow cooker that is at least 3 1/2 quarts.
2. In a bowl combine green chilies, garlic, chili powder, and lime juice. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
4. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Mix in 1/2 cup of juice remaining in slow cooker to the shredded chicken.
5. Spread warmed refried beans on tostada shells.
6. Top with hot chicken mixture and any other desired toppings.

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

I've been on a quest to be able to make a decent loaf of bread. This recipe has gotten me the closest! I found it on the internet and gave it a try because the ingredient list is so similar the absolutely wonderful bread that my neighbor makes. I haven't had success with her bread recipe though, so for now I'm sticking with this recipe!

Makes 2 loaves

2 cups warm water

1 tbsp. yeast

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup oil

2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup gluten

5 to 7 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground if possible

In a stand up type mixer such as a Kitchen Aid combine water, yeast and honey. Let this sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast is nice and bubbly. Add oil, salt, gluten flour and 3 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Knead this with your mixer and continue to add more flour until the dough does not stick to the side of the bowl and does not feel sticky to the touch. Knead for another 7 to 8 minutes.

When dough has finished kneading let it sit in the mixer bowl and rise until doubled in volume. This usually takes about 45 minutes. When it has finished rising, turn on your mixer and knead again for a few more minutes to get all the air bubbles out. Remove from mixer and divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape into loaves and put in bread pans that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Let the loaves rise until they are about to 1 inch above the rim of the bread pan. Bake at 350 for approx. 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

YUM!!! This is one delicious salad! It's hands down my new favorite salad. Thanks to Julia who made it at bunco last week! In addition to being delicious and pretty nutritious it's super fast and easy to throw together.

1 bag of baby spinach

1 lb. (give or take) strawberries, sliced

Dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar (Julia says that regular white vinegar tastes great too)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. paprika

2 tbsp. sesame seeds

1 tbsp. poppy seeds

Mix all dressing ingredients together until the sugar is dissolved. Toss spinach and strawberries together, top with dressing, and serve.

I only used about half of dressing for the salad, then had enough for a second salad later.

One Hour Rolls

Here's another good roll recipe that I found on Apron Girls. Thanks Mindy! I've tried this recipe and they turned out fantastic!

Combine:

¾ cup HOT water

1 tsp. salt

6 Tbs. melted butter

¼ c sugar

Cool to lukewarm.

Add:

2 Tbs. yeast dissolved in

¼ cup + 2 Tbs. lukewarm water

Add 1 egg

Beat well and add 3 1/2 - 4 cups of flour until easy to work. Knead.

Roll out and cut. Brush with melted butter.

Cover and let rise until double (about 30-45 minutes).

Bake 425° for 12 minutes.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Thanks to my awesome neighbor Jessa for sharing this delicious recipe for blender pancakes. My family loves them. I'm not a pancake fan myself, but the batter also tasted great cooked up as waffles.

Combine in blender:
1 cup whole wheat kernels
1 cup milk
Mix on high for 2 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup milk and continue to mix for 2 more minutes.
Add:
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. baking powder
Blend well. Cook on a hot griddle.
Make 8-10 medium sized pancakes. Can also be used in a waffle iron.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Thanks to my Aunt Deanne for this delicious salsa recipe!

Makes about 1 quart

3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped (approx. 3 cups) or 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/4 red onion
1 large green pepper
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3-4 tsp. fresh cilantro
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce (optional- if using canned tomatoes)

Chop or blend all ingredients in the blender. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy!

Apple Pie FIlling

My sister-in-law Katie passed on this recipe for home canned apples. I used it and it turned out beautifully! We've been enjoying apple crisp all winter thanks to this recipe!

1 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups Sugar (can decrease for sweet apples)
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
3 tbsp. lemon juice
2 drops yellow color

Mix first 5 ingredients in large saucepan. Add 10 cups water. Stir.
Stir and cook till thick and bubbly. Add lemon and color.
Pack into warm quart jars which have been filled with apple slices to 1 inch from top.
Fill to ½ inch with syrup mixture.
Process 25 minutes.
Makes 7 quarts

Caramel Corn

This is the recipe for the best sticky caramel corn ever! Thanks to Julieanne for sharing her delicious recipe!

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Bring all ingredients to a rolling boil for 5 min. stirring constantly. Pour over 3 packages of microwave popcorn or an equivalent amount of air popped popcorn. Eat it right up. I think it tastes best when it's fresh!

Chicken Paprika

I had this yummy dish at bunco night and Heather was nice enough to send along the recipe. I really liked it, but my family wasn't sold. Dang them! When I try it again, I think I'll do a little less paprika and see if they like it better.

2-3 lbs chicken
1 cup chopped onions
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. paprika
2 cups water
2 tbsp. corn starch
1 cup sour cream (I always opt. for fat free-It makes me feel better)
2 cans of mushrooms of 1 pkg. of fresh mushrooms

Saute the onions and mushrooms with some butter in a large frying pan. After they have been sauteed, add the salt and paprika. Lay the uncooked chicken on top and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes (turn chicken halfway through cooking time). Mix water and corn starch. Pour over chicken. Cook until sauce begins to thicken. Remove chicken from pan and place on serving dish. Add sour cream to mixture in sauce pan and mix well. Cook until heated. Pour over chicken and serve.

Buttercream Frosting

I love Wilton's frosting recipe! Delicious! I use it for nearly all of the cakes and cookies we frost around here!

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup barely softened butter
1 tsp. clear vanilla extract (regular works too) or 1 tsp. almond extract
4-5 cups of powdered sugar
2-4 tbsp. milk

Put shortening and butter into mixer bowl and mix together until well blended (I love my Kitchenaid for this). Add 4 cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add vanilla or almond extract. Add 2 tbsp. milk. Add more milk a little at a time until desired consistency is reached whipping well after each addition- don't forget to scrape to sides of the bowl occasionally. If it gets a bit too runny add a bit more powdered sugar.  Frost away!

Can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

NOTE: For years I preferred the frosting flavored with almond extract, but lately I've been using just vanilla.  I have a few friends who are allergic to nuts and I worry that the almond extract might do something horrible to them.  Maybe it wouldn't, I'd rather not find out.  Anyhow, I've been loving the slightly different flavor!

Cheesy Chowder

This recipe came from my sister Emily's mother-in-law. Emily and my Mom whipped some up for Jenna's birthday party a while back and it was delicious. I finally got around to making it myself over Christmas vacation and again, YUM! A single batch will serve 6-8 depending on how hungry you are.

-Cut 4 slices of bacon into little pieces and fry in sauce pan.
-Remove cooked bacon leaving drippings.
-Add 1/2 cup chopped onion.
-Cook until tender.
-Add 4 T. flour, (you might need to add 2 T. butter) and 2 cups milk.
-Stir until thick then add 2 or 3 cups of sharp cheddar cheese.(It depends on how cheesy you like it.)
-Using a different pan, boil 2 cups chopped potatoes, 1 cup sliced carrots, 3 cups water, 3 chicken -bouillon cubes. Cook until tender. Do not drain extra water.
-Add cheese sauce to cooked veggies.
-Stir until blended.
-Top with crispy bacon just before serving.
-Add a little garlic powder, salt and pepper and parsley.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts in Cream Sauce

This is one of the very few recipes I have that EVERYONE in my family will eat! That's right--EVERYONE! See miracles really do happen! I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and it's fast and easy, which makes it even better. The only thing that keeps us from eating it more often is that I don't always have celery and mushrooms on hand. Enjoy!

2 chicken breasts
1/2 medium onion chopped
2 tbsp. margarine
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp crushed basil
1/4 tsp. chervil
1/8 tsp. crushed thyme
1/3-3/4 cup chicken broth
1 pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
corkscrew pasta

1. Cut chicken into strips and cook in the margarine.
2. Add onions, mushrooms, celery, pepper, basil, chervil, and thyme.
3. Add 2 tbsp. chicken broth and cook til done, stirring occasionally.
4. Cube cream cheese and combine with milk in a saucepan and cook over low heat until smooth.
5. Add remaining chicken broth to cream sauce until desired consistency.
6. Serve chicken over noodles then top with sauce.

We often run out of sauce before noodles when eating this, so don't be afraid to make a little extra!

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Need something to do with all your tomatoes now that summer's almost over?  Try this!  It's easy and so yummy!

3-4 pounds ripe tomatoes
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
a large pinch of dried herb, crumbled (marjoram, thyme, basil or oregano) or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 375. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise, then arrange them cut-side down, in one layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet (mine is 12-by 17-inches), lined with parchment paper, if you like, for easier clean-up. Arrange the onions, garlic and herbs over the top, then drizzle the whole thing evenly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper. Bake for an 1-1 1/2 hours or until the tomatoes are browning in spots and have ful1y collapsed. Around an hour in, the tomatoes will be sitting in a flood of juice in their pans, and then this juice will reduce as they cook further.

After cooking, put everything in the blender.  Salt and add more salt or sugar as needed.  Allow it to cool, then freeze.

Pumpkin Dessert Squares

Fall is here and I have several recipes that I can't wait to make--including this one. My fabulous sister Emily got this one from Williams Sonoma where she works. They sell the pumpkin butter that you need for this recipe, though I've seen it elsewhere including the local kitchen specialty store. Just a warning: this pumpkin butter stuff is NOT cheap. Luckily Emily stocked up for me after Thanksgiving last year when it went on clearance in her store. So I have a few jars that I've been itching to use for a while now!

1 box yellow cake mix
1 jar Muirhead Pumpkin Pecan Butter
3 eggs
I tbsp. Flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon

Reserve 1 cup of the cake mix and set aside.
Mix remaining cake mix with 1/2 cup of melted butter and 1 egg. Press mixture lightly into the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan.
Mix 1 jar of Muirhead Pumpkin Pecan Butter with 2 large eggs and 3 tbsp. of milk and pour over cake mixture in pan.
Mix to a crumble reserved cake mix and 1 tbsp. of flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup soft butter and 1 tsp cinnamon- crumble over the top of the pumpkin layer.
Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden.
Cool and serve! It tastes great with whipped cream!

Snickerdoodles

My Mom was always making cookies when I was a kid. Delicious, yummy cookies. I especially remember how she would often mix up a batch of cookies before school and baking enough that we could take some to school in our lunch! I've gotten most of my cookie recipes from my Mom including this fast and easy one for snickerdoodles.

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Cream sugar and margarine together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix well. Dough will be quite soft and sticky. Scoop into 1 inch round balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 min. Do not overcook and do not press balls down on cookie sheet!

Sweet Muffins

Another yummy recipe from my great neighbor Lesley! These yummy muffins almost taste like cornbread, but sweeter.

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in muffin tins at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Crepes

We had crepes for breakfast one day at girls camp this summer and I've been meaning to make them ever since. I didn't get around to it until today though. I found this recipe online this week and it looked pretty simple. I made them for breakfast this morning- we filled them with various fruit and whipped cream of course, and they were delicious! I did the regular version of the recipe without the dehydrated and powdered stuff. I think I ended up with 8-10 crepes before I ran out of batter- more than enough for our family!

Basic Crepes
4 Eggs (1/4 C. Dehydrated Eggs + 1/2 C. Water)
1 C. Flour (1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour + 1/2 C. All Purpose Flour)
1 C. Milk (3 T. Powdered Milk + 1 C. Water)
2 T. Butter, Melted
2 t. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt

Measure all ingredient into blender (you don’t need to re-constitute your eggs or milk just throw the powder and milk in and let the blender do the work!). Pour scant 1/4 C. batter onto lightly greased 8″ pan. (You’ll know your pan is hot enough when you throw water on the pan and it “dances” around the pan.) Tilt pan to coat bottom evenly with batter. (Basically, move the pan around until the batter is a circle and fills the pan) Cook over medium heat until brown and turn to brown second side. Fill with fruit, jam, syrup, whipped cream, whatever sounds good really!!!

Peach Cobbler

Mmm... I love cobbler. We just returned from the annual Jones Family Campout and I must admit the cobbler I made turned out divine! The recipe isn't really an exact science, but with the right ingredients it's still going to be delicious!

1 boxed yellow cake mix
2 14.5 ounce cans of peaches (fresh peaches are fabulous too!)
1 can of Sprite
1 cube of butter or margarine

Dump the peaches and about 2/3 of the liquid into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the dry cake mix over top of the peaches. Pour the remaining liquid and about 1/3-1/2 cup of the Sprite on top of the dry cake mix. Cut up the butter or margarine and small chunks on the top (you decide how much butter, 1/4 to 1/2 a cup is usually great!). Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top and bubbly on the edges. Serve with ice cream and or whipped cream.

Easy Cheesy Potatoes

I love potatoes of all kinds--baked, mashed, fried, and so on. These are some of my very favorite fast and easy potatoes. They're great for an easy lunch or to make with leftover baked potatoes.

Ingredients:
1-2 medium potatoes per person, baked in oven or microwave, then cooled slightly if possible
shredded cheese
butter
seasoned salt
salt
pepper

Bake potatoes, cool, then remove skins, and slice. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a frying pan on medium to high heat. Add potatoes, sprinkle generously with seasoned salt and a little black pepper. Stir to spread the melted butter around a bit and lightly coat all the potato slices- be sure to add more butter if needed. Cover and allow potatoes to brown and crisp, then turn and brown and crisp the other side. Add cheese and allow to melt. Serve!

Chocolate Lasagna

I really miss this dessert. It was definitely one of my favorites and going to Olive Garden hasn't been the same since they discontinued it a couple of years ago. Justin actually paid a small fortune and bought an entire cake to share with our friends and family on my 30th birthday--the best part was that there were several leftover pieces and I had this fabulous dessert everyday for several days in a row. Yep, that was a good birthday!
I've been craving it lately and my sweet sister Emily sent me this recipe. I think I'll make some tonight! You'll want some too--I promise, it's that good!
Olive Garden's Chocolate Lasagna

1 18.25 ounce boxed devil's food cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs

**I actually just followed the instructions on the cake box. They were similar, but not exact.

Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar (I used more like 6, I think, to get the consistency I wanted)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I actually prefer almond extract)
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chilled

Directions:

1. Make the cake in a 13x9-inch baking pan following instructions on the box of cake mix (Preheat oven to 350 degrees; mix cake mix, water, oil, and eggs together in a large bowl; pour batter into pan greased generously with shortening.). Allow the cake to cool completely.
2. When cake is cool, make buttercream frosting by first whipping the soft butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Add two cups of the powdered sugar, mix well, then add remaining powdered sugar. Add 1/4 cup of whole milk and vanilla, then mix on high speed for 2 minutes or until frosting is smooth and creamy.
3. Turn cake out of the pan onto wax paper. Using both hands, carefully flip the cake over, so that it's right-side-up, onto another strip of wax paper. Now you're going to cut through the cake twice, creating three layers. We'll start at the bottom slice. First slide the cake over to the edge of your kitchen counter. This way you can drop your hand with the knife down below the counter at the edge to get a nice, straight cut through the cake. Using a long bread knife or other long serrated knife , cut through the bottom third of the cake. Spin the cake and wax paper so that you can cut through all sides (your knife probably won't get all the way through to the other side). When the cake is sliced, carefully flip the top section over onto the other sheet of wax paper. Frost the bottom layer of cake with approximately 1/3 of the buttercream frosting. Break the chilled semi-sweet chocolate into little bits that are a tad smaller than chocolate chips. A good way to do this is to put the chilled chocolate into a large zip-top bag, then use the handle of a butter knife to smash the unsuspecting chocolate into pieces. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the chocolate bits over the frosting on the bottom layer.
4. Turn the top section back over onto the bottom layer. Again, slice through the top section creating the final two layers. Carefully flip the top over onto the wax paper, and frost the new layer as you did with the first layer, adding chocolate bits as well. You may, at this point, wish to slice the top into thirds across the width of the cake. This makes flipping over the top layer much easier. It's also how you're going to slice the cake later, so you'll never see the cuts. Any cracks or breaks are no big deal since you'll just cover up the goofs with frosting.
5. Carefully reassemble the top section on the rest of the cake. If you have a large bulge in the center of the cake, you may wish to slice that off so that the cake is flatter on top. Throw that slice away. Frost the top of the cake with the remaining frosting, then sprinkle on the remaining chocolate bits.
6. The cake is served as triangular slices. So, slice it up by first cutting through the middle of the cake, lengthwise. Next cut across the cake through the middle (widthwise) twice. Now you have six slices that just need to be cut from corner to corner one time each, creating 12 triangular slices. Chill any cake you don't eat that day.
Makes 12 servings.

Fudge Jumbles

I first had these at Young Women Camp this summer. And YUM! They are so delicious! So of course I had to get the recipe and make some! Justin loves them too- but was a little distraught when he saw me mixing the melted chocolate, sweetened milk, and butter all together. I assured him that the 3 cups of oatmeal made up for anything else that was less than healthy in the recipe. He didn't believe me of course, it was a pretty flimsy lie. However, this yummy treat has earned a new name at our house "Oatmeal Excuses".

Ingredients:

1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 c. quick oatmeal
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and mix. Add vanilla. Sift flour, soda and salt, stir. Add oatmeal and stir. Spread 2/3 of mixture in a greased 9 x 12 pan.

Melt in microwave sweetened milk, chocolate chips, butter, salt. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour over mixture in pan. Drop remaining dough in dots over chocolate mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup

This is one of our family's favorite recipes. I can't believe I haven't posted it before. Justin found this recipe on the Recipe Zaar website, but we've made just a few changes so I've typed it up the way we do it. A word of warning: this makes a lot of soup. We can easily feed two families with just one crockpot full.

3/4 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion chopped
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
3-4 stalks of celery thinly sliced
2 cans Italian style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
32 ounces beef broth
3 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
5 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce (optional- I don't ever use it, but Justin always adds a little to his own bowl)
1 20 oz. jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 cup small shell or other small pasta noodles

Brown the beef in a skillet. Drain fat from beef then add all ingredients except pasta to a large crockpot. Cool on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. During the last 30 min. on high or last hour on low add pasta.

Chicken Brunch Club Salad

I got this recipe at a Pampered Chef party and it was delicious.

1/2 cup mayo
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tbsp. parsley
1 13 oz. can of chicken
1/4 lb. cooked bacon
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 tomato

Combine mayo and mustard. Add onion and parsley. Mix chicken, swiss, and bacon in a separate bowl. Add mixtures together. Serve on bread with tomato.

At the party, they served it on French type bread that had been brushed with olive oil and topped with a bit of crushed garlic and Italian dressing packet spices then toasted in the oven. Yum!

Pollo Durango

This is a delicious chicken dish from a fabulous local restaurant Cafe Sabor. It's fast and easy and tastes fantastic!

2 medium chicken breasts sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
3/4 cup tomatillo enchilada sauce (I couldn't find any of this- instead I mixed 1/4 cup mild green chili sauce with 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatillos)

Cook chicken and mushroom in a buttered pan. Drain grease off chicken and add remaining ingredients. Cook til creamy. Add a pinch of cilantro. Serve on a tortilla shell. This tastes great with other Mexican foods like beans, rice, and tortilla chips as well.

Lemon Bars

I didn't think I could like lemon bars as much as I do, but this recipe is addictive. Delicious! I got this one from my fabulous neighbor Lesley.

Crust
1 1/4 cups butter
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 powdered sugar

Beat butter until soft. Add flour and sugar and mix until just combined. Spread dough evenly in a 9x13 pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and our filling over crust.

Filling
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
4 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
6 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk or on low speed for a couple minutes. Pour on top of crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool slightly and dust lightly with powdered sugar.