Green Chile Pie

This is a lot like enchiladas, but a little bit different. You tear the tortillas in half or in quarters and layer them with the meat/sauce mixture and cheese. So it is kind of like an enchilada that is layered like lasagna.

Ingredients

1 lb. hamburger (you can use cooked chicken also)
1 doz. tortillas
1 medium onion chopped
1 small can diced green chiles
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 can enchilada sauce (or 1/2 can El Pato Mexican tomato sauce)
Shredded cheddar and Jack cheeses, about 1/2 lb. of each

Cook onion and meat in a large skillet. Stir in green chiles, soups, and enchilada sauce. Layer torn tortillas with meat mixture and cheese in 9 X 13 baking dish. Repeat and top with cheese, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Won Ton Soup

Mostly Homemade War Wonton soup.
(with Lisa's Eggrolls - one baked and one fried)

1/2 of a large pkg frozen potstickers
( I use the chicken/vegetable ones from Costco)
Bring 10 cups chicken broth to a boil and add two flavoring packets from the potstickers.
While that is heating:
Chop about 8 green onions and add to broth
When water boils add about 1/2 pkg won tons (I figure about 3-4 per person) and start timer for 8 min.

While that cooks wash, chop and set aside the following:

1/2 head or so of Broccoli
1 Small head Bok Choy (in fruits and veggies near the lettuce)
1 cup carrots chopped
Mushrooms - to taste (if they are small you could leave them whole)
Drain one can of sliced water chestnuts and set aside
Drain one can of baby corn and set aside

NOTE: You can add diced firm tofu or any kind of leftover (all ready cooked) meat if you like but avoid any with strong seasoning as it changes the flavor of the broth. Char shu pork is awesome if you can find it.

When timer dings. take the soup off the heat and add the veggies (and tofu or meat) making sure they all get submerged in the boiling broth. Put lid on and allow to sit for a few minutes off the heat while you set the table and round up the kids.

DINNER'S READY!

Note: We like our veggies crisp tender - if you like them softer, allow them to cook in the broth until desired tenderness (or mushiness:)

The only Weight Watcher points in this is the Won Tons - 4 points for three
If you add meat there are also points for that.

Sugar Cookies

Sorry this is a day late.

Thus recipe is from Erika's Young women's President. They are great. Be sure to use the almond extract. It make a huge difference. She recommends that you double the recipe.

Sugar Cookies
Mix well:
¾ c margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (I use almond extract instead)
Add:
2 ½ c flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Chill dough for 1 hour. Roll out dough to ½” thick (these are the soft thick cookies not the thin crisp kind) and cut with shape cookie cutters.
Bake 350 degrees for 8-10 min. (These cookies don’t get brown around the edges.)
Frosting
8oz. cream cheese, softened
1 ½ lb. powdered sugar (or until desired consistency)
¼ - milk or more if needed
1 tsp vanilla
food coloring as desired
Beat 5 min.
*** Note: this makes lots of frosting that could frost more than one batch of cookies.

Home made Peanut Butter (cookies too)

My friends' sister used to teach kindergarten at our elementary school.
She quit to stay home when she had her first baby.
Now she has a website called "Make and Takes" where she posts all kinds of fun things.

She recently posted a video where she makes homemade peanut butter (and then uses it in cookies). I tried making peanut butter in the blender when I was little and it didn't work out too well - after watching her video I think it was more a lack of scraping
and letting the blender do it's work than anything.
Well, maybe it was the butter that made the peanuts stick to the sides of the blender.

She uses a food processor and it looks pretty easy.
I just happend to be roasting some almonds this morning and tried it with warm fresh roasted almonds in my food processor and it worked great!
I wonder if almond butter cookies would be good...
maybe with chocolate chips - everything's good with chocolate

Edited: I made some cookies Friday and they were awesome!

Chicken Enchiladas

I had searched forever to find a good enchilada recipe without a green or red sauce...and I finally found it!

Ingredients:
2 little cans chopped chopped chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 little can chopped green chilies (optional)
2 chopped green onions
1 pint sour cream (I just use 2 cups/16 oz. plain yogurt instead)
10-12 medium flour tortillas
Grated yellow cheese

Directions:
1. Saute onion in butter in a deep pot.
2. Add cream of chicken soup, chicken, and chilies. Stir until just mixed and beginning to warm. Turn off heat and add sour cream (or yogurt). (At this point, I also add a few spices--garlic, seasoning salt, etc...just whatever I feel)
3. Place 2 tortillas in microwave at a time and heat to soften and warm. Place about a 1/4 cup of the mixture in the middle of tortilla and then wrap up and place in a 9x13 pan with seam down. pour rest of mixture on top and spread so none of the tortillas are dry. Place LOTS of grated cheese on top.
4. Cover with foil and back at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until bubby.

Cashew Chicken

I love this recipe and it is pretty easy.

Cashew Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite size chunks.

1 bunch of broccoli, cut into florettes

3 green onions, sliced

1 can water chestnuts, sliced

a handful of cashews (I have never measured them, just put in how many I think looks good)

Stir fry chicken and a little garlic. Start the sauce while the chicken is cooking. (see below)

Add broccoli, green onions until cooked to desired texture. (I like mine done more but many people like them crunchy). Add water chestnuts and cashews

To make the sauce:

2 cans of mandrian oranges (drain the juice into the pan, keep the oranges to put into the chicken)
1 Cup Chicken broth
8 TBL sugar (1/2 cup?)
6 TBL Soy sauce
2tsp garlic
2 tsp ginger

Combine above into a pan and boil. Thicken with cornstarch. Poor on stir fry and add the oranges and serve over rice.

Fettuccine Alfredo

So this sauce recipe is probably not the healthiest thing around, but it tastes good! I will have to search for some lower-calorie alfredo recipes and try them out, but this is good for making every once and awhile.

Alfredo Sauce

8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. butter
1 c. milk
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Dash of pepper

Cut cream cheese into chunks. Melt all ingredients together on medium heat until smooth, then serve over fettuccine or whatever noodles you like best. Makes 4-6 servings. We like to add cooked chicken to it also.

Tortilla Soup

I got the picture from the internet but this is really what it looks like. Sooo Yummy.
I got the recipe from Sharon Bell, my good friend in Tucson, about 16 years ago and it's still a family favorite. We were in the primary presidency together and did an annual Christmas party for the teachers and their spouses where we had Tortilla soup and then made gingerbread houses - you'll have to look for that picture on a flashback Friday on my personal blog (if I every find it). Enough reminiscing... here is the recipe:

Tex Mex Tortilla Soup

4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
(you can use cooked (leftover) chicken, grilled chicken is awesome or just go vegetarian)
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (Sharon insists on canned broth but I always use bullion)
2 cups beef broth
2 - 14oz cans of diced tomatoes undrained (I love the lime cilantro kind)
1/2 cup chopped onion (or more if you like onions)
1/4 cup chopped sweet pepper (green is prettier but my family likes the flavor of red better)
1 can drained sweet corn (Sharon insists on frozen)
1 can drained rinsed black beans (optional)
Combine ingredients and boil for 15 to 20 min. until onion is transparent and chicken is cooked through. If you are using cooked chicken do not add it until the broth has cooked for 15 min.
Then add:
1 tsp chili powder
2 TBS Cumin
and pepper to taste.

Cook for 10 min., taste and add fresh ground pepper or salt as needed. The soup will look watery but that's OK because you need room to add all kinds of fresh ingredients.
Serve with:
Diced avocado
Tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips (Sharon says Fritos are the only way to go)
Chopped green onion
Lime slices
Shredded cheese.

This makes 6-8 main dish servings

No tortilla chips? No problem

I really like tortilla chips, especially with salsa but when I started Weight Watchers I just couldn't justify the points/calories. So I set out to find a better alternative and this is what I came up with, all you need is corn tortillas and Pam (Lisa and I discovered that White corn Tortillas have less calories than yellow ones... go figure).

1st... Put the rack in your oven close to the top and turn the oven on Low Broil... don't panic, you don't need to hunt down your broiler pan just grab a cookie sheet.

Get out the number of tortillas you want and leave them stacked up. Lifting one at at time spray the bottom of one and the top of the next with pam. When you are done with the stack cut the whole stack at once.

For tortilla chips - I like to cut it into 8 wedges - I feel like I'm getting more.

For these babies:I cut the tortilla in half first and then cut them into thin strips - the thinner the better

Spread your cut tortilla on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. Put under the broiler for a few minutes... watch it closely as you want them golden and they tend to burn easily. For my oven I know it's time to "stir" them when "thick steam" or a tiny bit of smoke comes out of the vent. Stir and return to the oven for a few more minutes. NOTE: We tried to speed it up once by doing it on high and ended up taking the flaming tortillas outside to finish burning. I would suggest that you be very attentive the first time or two while you figure out what works best for your particular oven. If you still have some soft ones and most are golden brown just turn off you oven and put the cookie sheet on a lower oven shelf and they will crisp up quickly.

My kids prefer these over the kind you buy and they are cheaper and better for you. We use the little strips for Taco salad and tortilla soup.

English Muffins

I know what you are thinking... Make English muffins - no way..... Yes way and they are easier then it sounds. I have made them using half white and half wheat flour and they are still very good. They freeze well and if you don't mind them not being round you can get approx 18 out of a batch. Which makes them very cheap to make.

1 package of active dry yeast
2 cups of warm Milk
3 tablespoons of shortening ( i use the butter kind)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 cups of flour
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons of cornmeal

*Warm your milk and shortening just until the shortening melts either in a pan or in your microwave.
*Meanwhile put the yeast, sugar and salt in to you large mixing bowl.
* Pour your milk mixture into your bowl and mix for 30 secs.
* Slowly start added your flour. This will be a very stiff dough. After all the flour has been added mix/knead for 5 to 10 min.
* Put dough into a well greased bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
*Punch dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 4 to 5 times. Divide dough in half ( I divide into thirds). Place dough on a smooth surface that has been generously sprinkled with corn meal. Pat dough down until it is approx 1/3 of inch. Cut carefully because the dough should not be reused. That is why i cut it in squares. Repeat procedure with remaining dough.
*Sprinkle two baking sheets with remaining 2 tablespoons of cornmeal. Place rounds, cornmeal side down, approx 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise in a warm place - 30 mins or until double in bulk. Using a wide spatula, transfer rounds to a preheated, lightly greased electric skillet (350), cornmeal side down. Cook 7 min on each side or until golden.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 cups cubed cooked chicken OR turkey (I just use a can of chicken)
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained (optional--we aren't mushroom lovers)
4 cups hot cooked spaghetti
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
Pam spray


Directions:
1. Mix soup, cheese, onion and garlic. Add chicken, mushrooms and spaghetti and toss to coat. Spoon into 3-qt shallow baking dish.
2. Put bread crumbs on top and spray with pam.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes or until hot.

Egg Rolls

I love to make these because they turn out so yummy. My husband says they are the only "chineese" food that I make that is as good as a resturant.

Egg Rolls

1 lb ground chicken or turkey. (pork works too) (I use 1 lb even if I double it)

1 tsp ginger
2 cups finely chopped cabbage (abt ½ head)
¼ lb bean sprouts (I buy the pkg and put about ½)
½ C. shredded carrot
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 TBL oyster sauce (in the Chinese section)

1 pkg Large Square wanton wrappers (usually in the fruits/veggie section)

Stir fry meat and ginger over high heat. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot and green onions. Cook 2 minutes or so. Stir in oyster sauce. The recipe doesn't call for it, but I often will salt to taste here, especially if you are using ground turkey. IF the filling tastes good, the egg roll will too. You can try it and season to taste.

Let mixture cool. Use 2 TBL’s (or so) of filling for each egg roll.

Deep fry at 350 in vegetable oil until golden, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels.

To fold the eggroll:

Lay wrapper diagonally.

Place filling in wrapper, close to the bottom corner.

Fold up bottom corner to cover filling.

Fold in both sides roughly against filling.

Roll toward top corner.

Wet the top corner slightly (I dip my finger in water and just go down both sides a little. Then when you roll it closed it will seal. Then it is ready to cook.


Some things I have found out…if the filling is hot, the wrapper will tear. This makes the oil pop and stuff comes out. Also, if they sit too long, they will get soggy on the bottom.

If you want to make them and only cook a few, freeze the rest. I have frozen them uncooked and cooked. If they are cooked, they can just go into the microwave. I freeze them on a cookie sheet for about an hour, and then put them into a ziplock bag. You can then remove however many you want to eat at one time. We eat a ton of these, and I usually double or triple it. So, one head cabbage, one bag bean sprouts, 1 lb meat, and last time I used 3 packages of wrappers.

I also have been trying to bake them instead of frying them, in my effort to lose weight. They are not as good, but not bad either. Last time, I baked them at 350 for 10 min and then put them under the broiler for 4 min. They were not too bad. :) You still can't eat 8 though. (Well, you could and you will want too, but you shouldn't or you will get fat like me. Stick to 2...a day)

Chocolate-chip Pumpkin Loaf

I really like chocolate chip/pumpkin desserts, so this is a favorite of mine.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. With mixer on low speed (or by hand), add small amounts of flour mixture alternately with pumpkin. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased, lightly floured loaf pan. Bake at 350- 65 minutes for a large loaf and about 20 minutes for small 6 X 3 1/2 X 2 1/2 pans. Can test with a toothpick to see if its done. Makes 1 large or 3 small loaves. :)

Easy Lasagna AND Breadsticks

My family loves lasagna and now I love to make it. Not cooking the noodles really speeds things up... and don't chicken out like I did my first few times making it... it really does work! Not cooking the noodles first also allows you to make it all in the serving dish minimizing clean up.

If you want bread sticks start the bread dough before you start the Lasagna. I used my Whole Wheat Bread recipe (what else would I use?) I used half a recipe to make the basket full above and made the other half into bread. We fed 8 adults and had a few left over.

Prep time 15- 20 min. Cook time 90 min. Set 10 min.
Lasagna Ingredients
1 bottle/can of your favorite spaghetti sauce (my family likes Hunts)
1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 lb ground beef, cooked and drained*
10 1/2 regular lasagna noodles
24 oz container fat free cottage cheese (substitute higher fat if desired) undrained
4 cups (ish) grated cheese (mozzarella or jack/cheddar, whatever I have on hand.)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x12 pan with pam.

Pour about 2/3 of the crushed tomatoes in the bottom of the 9x12 pan.
Place three dry lasagna noodles on top of the tomatoes with a half one across the end.
Top noodles with half of the cottage cheese, a cup and a half shredded cheese and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Put cooked hamburger meat on top of the cheese. Top with remainder of the crushed tomatoes and enough of the spaghetti sauce to barely cover the cheese. Top with more noodles and repeat the layers once more. Place noodles on top of the cheese once more, top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese. Cover with foil making it higher in the middle so it does not stick to the cheese. Cook for 1 hour in the center of the oven (I often put a cookie sheet under the pan just in case it boils over). Remove the foil and continue to bake for 30 more minutes. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

For the Bread Sticks
Start dough 2 - 2 1/2 hours before you want to eat. (I have done it in less time and it still works but don't skimp on your rising time) About 1 hour before you want to eat spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Roll half a batch of dough out until it's a little smaller than the cookie sheet. Use a large knife to cut the dough in about 1 inch strips (going the short way if you want more bread sticks or the long way if you want to be fancy). Place the strips on the cookie sheet, spray the tops liberally with Pam and sprinkle with Garlic Seasoning, or leave plain. Set in warm place and allow to rise for about 30 min. Bake in a 350 oven for 15 to 20 min. (I have put it in with the Lasagna for the last 10 min of "Lasagna cooking time" and it works just fine.) You can also sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar after cooking and/or drizzle with frosting.

*I usually buy the 91% lean ground beef "yesterday's grind" in bulk (way cheaper per pound), cook it all that day with dried onion and then drain it and freeze it in a ziploc sandwich sized bag. When I need ground beef I just pull out a baggie, microwave for 2 min and wallah!

Asian Turkey Wraps

I'm sorry I missed my day this week! I had like...9 distractions! :) I hope you don't mind me posting one today. I got this from a friend who got it off another site, but I love it! I wish I knew which site it came from to give them credit.

Asian Turkey/Lettuce wraps

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil ( have just sprayed with Pam and it was fine)

1 Cup finely chopped onion

1 lb ground turkey breast

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

1 12 oz bag of Broccoli Slaw

1 small can drained water chestnuts

½ Cup Yoshida’s Teriyaki Sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil (I have made w/o if I don't have any)

Approximately 15 Butter Lettuce leaves (you can also use iceberg lettuce leaves)

1. Place oil into a large 5 qt skillet or other large pan over medium heat. When hot, add onion and cook for 5 minutes to soften. Add ground turkey, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Brown and crumble until cooked through.

2. When turkey is cooked, stir in broccoli slaw, water chestnuts, teriyaki sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until heated through. Reduce heat to low until ready to serve. Serve spoonfuls inside lettuce leaves. Enjoy!

Sesame green beans

1 pound fresh green beans
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

heat 1 inch water to boiling in a 2 quart sauce pan. Add beans. Boil uncovered 5 mins. Cover and boil about 5 minutes longer or until tender crisp.

While beans are cooking, heat seame seeds in a small skillet about 2 minutes, stirring frequently until browning begins, then stir constantly until golden brown. Stir in remaining ingredient: heat through. (The longer you leave the crushed red peppers on the heat the spicer they get.) (leave them out if you don't like spicy/hot foods.) ( this only takes about 5 mins)

Drain beans. pour sauce over beans, tossing until evenly coated.

Calories 40; Fat 1 g; Cholestrol 0 mg; sodium 140 mg; Carbs 8g; protien 2g
diet exchange 1 1/2 vegs.

Chicken- Tomato Chowder

This is from my weight watchers cook book.
If you are doing points it is 5 points per serving.

Makes 4 Servings

4 teaspoons olive oil
2 carrots thinly sliced
1 small onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 - 14 1/2 ounce of can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
2 medium all purpose potatoes peeled and cubed
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken breast cubed
1/2 cup caned cannelli beans rinsed and drained
2 tablespoon chopped parsley

In a medium sauce pans, heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Saute chicken for 6 mins then add (the rest of the oil if needed )carrots,onions, celery and garlic. Cook until softened, 5-7 mins. Stir in tomatotes and broth; bring to boil. Add potatoes and spices. Cook for 15 mins then add beans. and parsley. Cook an additional 5 min on simmer.

This receipe works well in the crockpot. Cook your chicken and onion together, then put all the ingredients into the crockpot. You can also use any kind of precooked chicken.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
2 cans chicken broth (or 3 cups water with bouillon cubes)
2 cups cooked diced chicken
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 cups egg noodles
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook carrots, celery, and onion in broth. When tender, add noodles & cook.
2. In blender, mix cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk, and milk. Add to soup.
3. Add flour until desired consistency is reached.
4. Cook until boils and thickened. Add chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes about 2 1/2 quarts, or 10 one-cup servings.

This is fabulous with some breadsticks!

Enjoy!

Cheesy Potato Soup

Aaron and I really like this soup. It's a recipe from a lady who lives in Enterprise, Kathleen Clove.

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes, diced
1 large onion
1 qt. water
1/4 c. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
chopped chives or parsley
1/2 c. milk

Combine potatoes, onion, and water in heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. In another pan, melt butter and add flour, cook and stir until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Return to heat and stir until thickened. Stir mixture slowly into potatoes and cook and stir until soup thickens. Add cheese and seasonings, then serve with chopped chives or parsley. Makes 4 servings.

You can also add ham or sausage if you want it to be more meaty. :)

Is it Spring yet?

Pasta Salad

This is a favorite at my house, and they look for leftovers the next day.
Note: you can use any veggies, meats or cheeses you like to tailor this for your family.

Get a large pot of water boiling while you chop the veggies.

I chop equal amounts of carrots, broccoli and cauliflower in small pieces.
(think too small to be picked out easily and too small to overpower a spoonful.)
You could add any veggies, thawed peas, halved cherry/grape tomatoes, leftover cooked chilled asparagus, chopped sweet peppers. Whatever you family likes.

All together you should have about three cups of vegetables.
Place in a large bowl.

Next chop about 5 stalks of green onions and add it to the other veggies.

Some time in here your water should be boiling. Add about 12 oz of your favorite pasta and cook according to package directions. We like small shell and bowtie pasta the best but corkscrew in any of it's varieties works great as does penne.... really, whatever you have on hand works (maybe not spaghetti but who knows).

Time to chop some meat - this is a great use for leftovers, chicken (grilled is especially good), beef, ham... the thicker sliced lunch meat works fine too. Cottage cheese is also really good.

Chop some cheese, string cheese is a favorite but you could do Colby jack, Parmesan, feta, shredded cheese (you get the picture).

I always keep the meat and cheese separate and allow people to add their own - or not. The salad as a whole keeps better this way.

When your pasta is done, drain it and then put ice cubes in the bottom of the pan. Mix the ice cubes, hot pasta and some cold water in the pan and allow to sit for a few minutes as you get everything together. Stir the pasta occasionally to cool evenly.

Drain the pasta again making sure the ice cubes are melted or removed and mix pasta with veggies. (There should be roughly equal amounts of each).

Serve with the cheese and meats as well as a variety of salad dressings on the side.
Serves 4-6.

Deep Dish Mexican Pizza

My kids love tacos and corn bread, so when i found this recipe it seemed like a natural combination. This is great for left over taco meat.

Preheat oven to 400
Cornbread-
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/4 vegetable oil
2 egg whites or 1 egg beaten

Toppings:
Anything you would put on a taco-
I put taco meat, sliced olives, diced tomatoes, 1 cup of shredded medium cheddar cheese.

Mix the corn bread ingredients and pour mix into a greased 11" (deep) oven safe skillet, (I put mine into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake corn bread for 15 min. Remove from oven and put the toppings on with the cheese last. Put back in the oven and bake an additional 5 mins. Remove and serve with salsa and sour cream.


If you don't want make cornbread from scratch use 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix. For those of you with smaller families, try 1 box of muffin mix in a 9in square pan.
I make 2- 9 x 13 pans for my family of 7.

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

This is a fabulous side dish that goes well with chicken or any other meat you want. Plus, it is easy!

Photo courtesy of http://www.andreasrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups orzo pasta
2 (14oz.) cans chicken broth
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped or 2 Tbsp. dried
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Melt butter in pan. Stir in orzo and saute until slightly browned. Stire in broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed--about 15 minutes. Mix in parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8.

Banana Bread

This is the Best Banana Bread! It is from my friend Pamela, and I always use this recipe.

Banana Bread

2 1/2 C Flour

1 1/2 C Sugar

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 - 2 C bananas (about 3)

3/4 C buttermilk or 3 T powdered buttermilk and 3/4 C water

1/2 C shortening

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (also buttermilk if using pwdr). In another bowl, mix mashed bananas, buttermilk (or water if using the powder, shortning and vanilla. Add banana mix to dry mix. Add eggs and beat on med. speed for 2 min.

Pour batter into greased and floured bread pans. Bake for 40-50 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on racks and store in gallon size ziplocks.

Note: I LOVE powdered buttermilk! I don't ever use it except for this recipe and if I use the powdered, I can have it on hand and not have to run to the store. Also, butter flavored crisco sticks are the easiest to use, cut and measure. No mess. I also make these into muffins. They bake in 30 - 35 min and are 130 cals per muffin.

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits

This is my friend Melissa's recipe for biscuits. They are really fast and easy, and I think that they taste just like the kind that you get at Red Lobster. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 c. buttermilk baking mix
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Combine baking mix, milk, and cheese with wooden spoon until soft dough forms. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Combine melted butter and garlic powder. Brush over warm biscuits. Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.
Sorry that there isn't a picture! I'll put one up soon.

Calzones

On a trip back from St. George we stopped at a little place in Cedar City called Bruno's
It's actually connected to a gas station... but I got a calzone there and it was so yummy!
I played around a little and this is what I came up with:
This recipe makes about 10 medium size calzones.
(It can be done with one person but goes really fast with a helper)

Make half a batch of bread dough (or make a whole batch and use half to make a loaf of bread, faux foccacia or bread sticks - more details on that later)

Allow dough to rise once before you cut it into 10 even parts.

About 15 min or so before dough is ready chop and prepare the toppings you want in your calzone. (cheese, Ham, pepperoni, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, olives, spinach, onions, artichoke hearts, BBQ chicken ... whatever you like or have on hand) Set it aside.

Preheat oven to 400.

Roll each dough ball into a thin circle. I like to lift and turn the dough as I go (I use a little pam on the counter and my rolling pin for my first one but the dough should not be sticky). Rolling it thin makes for a crispy crust and also allows it to cook quickly. It sould be about the size of a small plate.

Spray a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with pam and place the dough on the pan. ( I stretch it a little more here too). Put the desired toppings on one half in the middle, keeping it away from the edge. Wet your finger (you could use a pastry brush) and wet the edge of the calzone.

Stretch the other half gently over the top and press to seal the calzone.
Note: I tried to make these with sauce inside but could never get them to seal well, so now I serve sauce on the side.


If you want to identify what is inside you can use a fork to make initials in the top. When the pan is full, spray the whole thing with Pam and bake at 400 for about 13 min, until golden brown.

You can see in the picture at the top that I wanted to try once again to put the sauce inside - and it leaked...

These are great for a meal on the go as well as snacks.

Note: If you have two people, one can do the rolling while the other fills and seals.