Linguini Salad

This is my mother's recipe and she's been making this for as long as I can remember. It's a perfect side dish to go along with any sort of cookout type food. My husband drools every time he hears that she is preparing this. I hope you enjoy it too!

Linguini Salad:

courtesy of my mom

1 lb linguini, cooked

1 bottle Zesty Italian salad dressing - you can use Light

1 jar Salad Supreme

1 cup chopped pepperoni

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped tomato - optional

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate overnight. Stir before serving.

Calico Beans

I love baked beans and was looking for a new way to prepare them. This is a nice change with the additions of multiple types of beans - baked, kidney, cannelini and butter. The bacon gives it a nice smokiness too. This is now a staple dish that I have to bring any time we have a cookout.

Calico Beans:
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 15 oz can kidney beans - dark red - drained

1 15 oz can cannelini beans - drained

1 15 oz can baby butter beans - drained

1 16 oz can baked beans - I used Bush's Country Style

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tsp. white vinegar

1 Tbsp. dry mustard

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

4 oz bacon, fried crisp and chopped

onion powder to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low all day, 8-10 hours.

Rice & Ground Meat

This is my mother-in-law's recipe for what she calls rice & ground meat. It's always served with mashed potatoes. Basically, it is the stuffing that is typically put into stuffed peppers...minus the peppers! It is actually quite tasty.

Rice & Ground Meat:
courtesy of my mother-in-law

1 lb ground beef
2 cans tomato with rice soup - condensed
1/3 cup Minute rice

Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain off fat and then add both cans of soup and the rice. Simmer for about a half hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the BEST chocolate chip cookie I have ever made or tried. You can mix it up by changing the pudding flavor and the chips flavor. I also love making these with peanut butter chips and butterscotch pudding. They are very moist and almost melt in your mouth. The pudding is the key for this recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
courtesy of allrecipes.com

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 3.5 oz package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Stuffed Crust Pizza

My husband loves the stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut, but it is very expensive to have as a treat. I knew I could make it for less. Plus, this way I could control the ingredients that went into it, and on it. A traditional stuffed crust pizza would use tomato sauce, but my husband loves Alfredo so that's what I used. This is very rich, but oh so good.

Stuffed Crust Pizza:

adapted from foodnetwork.com

Crust:

1/4 cup warm water

4 Tbsp. sugar

1 package dry yeast

3/4 cup milk

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading

3 Tbsp. cornmeal, plus more for the pan

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. salt

8 ounces mozzarella

Olive oil, for coating bowl

1 small jar Alfredo sauce

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 cups grated mozzarella

1 package sliced pepperoni

To make the crust: Stir the water, 1 Tbsp. of the sugar, and the yeast together in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add the butter, and stir until melted.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, remaining sugar, egg, milk mixture, yeast mixture and salt until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, adding flour as needed if dough is sticky, about 1o minutes. Clean the bowl and coat it generously with olive oil. Form the dough into a ball, put it in the bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

Punch the dough down and let rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 45o degrees.

Cut the mozzarella into sticks about 3"x3/4"x3/4". (I use string cheese) Sprinkle a large baking sheet with cornmeal. Place the dough on the baking sheet and stretch it into a 15" circle.

Arrange the mozzarella sticks around the dough about 1" from the edge of the pan. Then roll the dough over the cheese to form the stuffed rim.

Spoon Alfredo sauce to taste on crust. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over sauce. Sprinkle herbs over top of the cheese. Finally, lay the pepperoni slices on top of it all.

Bake until crust is golden brown, 15 to 2o minutes.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

These were super, super easy and so good!! If you have a craving for cinnamon rolls and don't have the time to put in to making them completely from scratch, this recipe is perfection. Using crescent rolls, it makes a more difficult and time consuming dish easy.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls:

courtesy of Southern Living

1 8 oz can refrigerated crescent rolls (I used reduced fat)

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. milk

1 drop vanilla extract

Unroll crescent dough and separate into four rectangles; pinch seams to seal.

Stir together sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over rectangles.

Roll up, jellyroll fashion, starting with a long side; press edges to seal. Cut each log into 5 slices, and place in a lightly greased 8" round cakepan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla; stirring until smooth. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Mini Meat Loaves

My son loves meat loaf and I like to make the mini loaves to make it easier to portion it out for him. This recipe was in the September issue of Woman's Day and looked fairly easy. I altered it slightly to add more veggies into the mix. My son really enjoyed it and my husband snagged some too.

Mini Meat Loaves:
adapted from Woman's Day - September 2010

1/3 cup ketchup + 2 tsp.
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup sliced scallions
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup shredded zucchini

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Whisk 1/3 cup ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, egg and salt in a large bowl to blend. Add ground beef, bread crumbs, scallions, carrots and zucchini. Mix well using hands. Form mixture into four 2" loaves on lined baking sheet. Spread the 2 tsp. ketchup over top of each loaf. Bake 25 minutes or until cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted in centers registers 160 degrees.

Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies

I was e-mailed this basic recipe from myrecipes.com today. I needed a cookie recipe to make for my husband's lunch and he loves peanut butter, so this was perfect timing. Believe it or not, my store was out of peanuts on Sunday, so I decided to substitute peanut butter chips for the peanuts. I just finished eating one of these straight out of the oven and, boy, it did not hurt the recipe at all. They have a very distinct peanut butter flavor without being completely overpowering. They are sweet, so I think I could only eat one at a time. I will be hanging on to this recipe.

Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies:

adapted from Southern Living Food, July 2009

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together first four ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Stir in peanut butter chips and vanilla. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2" apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned. Cool on pan on a wire rack five minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool five minutes. Serve warm or cool completely.

Yield: 14 cookies

"Sakes Alives" Chocolate Fudge Bars

"Sakes Alive" Chocolate Fudge Bars:

courtesy of J.M. Smucker Company

Crisco Butter Flavor No-Stick Cooking Spray

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

2 (7.4 oz) pkgs. Martha White Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 (12 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x9 inch pan with no-stick cooking spray. Beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg.

Stir in muffin mix and oats. Reserve one cup of mixture. Pat remaining mixture into prepared pan.

Combine sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips over low heat until chocolate is melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts. Spread over muffin mixture to edge of pan. Drop reserved oat mixture by teaspoonfuls over chocolate mixture.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.

Potato Croquettes

I'm not good at taking food pictures, so forgive this shot. These were very good. Crisp on the outside and super creamy on the inside. I got this recipe from Anthony Bourdain's blog, but I changed it up somewhat based on what I had on hand. This is VERY time consuming to make, but they are worth it in the end!!

Potato Croquettes:
adapted from almostbourdain.blogspot.com

3-4 medium potatoes (I used Yukon gold)

1 tsp. dried parsley

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1 stick of string cheese mozzarella, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Canola oil, for deep frying

Peel the potatoes, place in a saucepan of cold salted water and boil until tender. Drain well, put through a potato ricer or masher, then return to pan over medium heat.

Stir potato for 2-3 minutes until all moisture evaporates. Transfer to a bowl and add parsley and parmesan.

Make a well in the middle of the potato mixture and stir in one egg until the mixture is combined. Season to taste.

Shape the mixture into croquettes, about 3/4" x 2".

Place a cube of cheese in the center of each.

Lightly beat the remaining egg in a shallow bowl. Dip the croquettes into the egg, allowing the excess to drain. Then, roll in breadcrumbs, pressing to coat well.

Heat oil in deep saucepan until 320 degrees. Deep-fry croquettes, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until golden and crisp all over. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Sweet & Tangy Chicken

This chicken was very tender and it cooked up in no time. The sauce was slightly sweet, but not overpowering. I served it with potato croquettes and they complimented each other nicely.

Sweet & Tangy Chicken:
courtesty of campbellskitchen.com

1 Tbsp. butter

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 can Campbell's condensed tomato soup

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp. vinegar

Heat butter in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned.

Add soup, water, sugar and vinegar. (I mixed it together in a bowl first and then added to skillet.) Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until done.

Giant Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Giant Peanut Butter Cup Cookies:

courtesy of Cooking for Kids

1 stick butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

16 peanut butter cups, cut into fourths

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter, sugar and peanut butter in medium bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture; blend well. Drop dough by level 1/4 cup measurements onto ungreased cookie sheets; three cookies per sheet. (Cookies will spread while baking.) Push about seven pieces of peanut butter cup into each cookie, flattening cookies slightly. (I mixed the candy pieces into the dough)

Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Centers will be pale and slightly soft. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire rack; cool completely.

Bow Tie Lasagna

Bow Tie Lasagna:

courtesy of Pioneer Woman

1 pound ground chuck

5 cups bow tie pasta

3 cups spaghetti sauce (I used 1 jar Prego Tomato, Basil and Garlic)

1 Tbsp. olive oil (I omitted)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

Fry ground chuck in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce.

Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Brownie Cookie Bites

Brownie Cookie Bites:

courtesy of Cooking for Kids

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

1 Tbsp. butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 large egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips and butter over hot (not boiling) water, stirring until smooth. (I melted mine in the microwave) Combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

Beat egg and sugar in large mixer bowl at high speed about 3 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Stir in vanilla extract and melted chocolate mixture. Gradually blend in flour mixture. Stir in remaining 1 cup chocolate chips. Drop by level tablespoon onto greased baking sheets.

Baked in preheated 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are puffed and tops are cracked and moist (cookies will look slightly underbaked) Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I am still learning to cook, but I wanted to attempt something completely from scratch and not from a cookbook. I knew the basic principle of chicken cordon bleu and ran with it. This came out amazing!! My husband and my one year son gobbled it down!

Chicken Cordon Bleu:
my recipe

2 chicken breasts - pounded thin
2 slices virginia ham deli meat
2 slices provolone cheese
2 slices mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups half and half
6 Tbsp. butter
8 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup shredded cheddar/monterey jack combination
4 slices provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lay chicken breasts flat on the counter. Layer one slice of ham, one slice of provolone and one slice of mozzarella on each breast. Roll up carefully tucking in filling when you can. Once rolled, secure with toothpicks. Combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on a plate. Dip chicken breasts into eggs, one at at time, and then dredge in the bread crumb/cheese mixture, covering each breast completely.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet. Brown the chicken on all sides to a golden brown color, then transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour until done.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt the butter in a large sauce pot. Once melted, add the flour and stir. Let cook for a minute to cook out flour taste. Add the half and half and whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. Add the slices of provolone and the cheddar/jack mix. Whisk until smooth.

When chicken is done, spoon sauce over the top of each breast.

Apricot Bars

I was in the mood to bake something today, and since I can't have chocolate, I wanted to find something that I could eat for a change too. I had some apricot preserves in my fridge that needed used up, so I went on a search. I found this recipe for Apricot Bars on allrecipes.com and it sounded perfect. Some of us don't like nuts, so I only put them on half the batch. Enjoy!

Apricot Bars:
courtesy of allrecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter

2 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup apricot preserves

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream flour, butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Press into a 9x13 inch pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Take out and spread preserves evenly, then sprinkle with nuts. Score into bars, but leave in pan.

Return to oven at 250 degrees for up to 15 minutes. Cool on rack.

Banana Bread

Bananas are a cheap form of nutrition and my little boy just loves them. I wanted to make him a treat that wasn't totally horrible for him and had some nutritional value. This fit the bill too because it does not have any nuts in the recipe. It was his dessert tonight and he loved it!!

Banana Bread:

Courtesy of Food Network

1 cup granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan. (I sprayed with cooking spray)

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Chicken & Dumplings

Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings:

adapted from allrecipes.com

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs - fat trimmed away

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of chicken with herbs soup

1 carton chicken broth

2 8 oz. cans of biscuit dough - regular ones, not grands

garlic powder

onion powder

Place the chicken thighs in a large crockpot. Season to taste with garlic powder and onion powder. Pour the two cans of cream of chicken soup over the chicken pieces. Pour in chicken broth until the level is about 1" over the chicken pieces. Cover and let cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until chicken falls apart.

Break pieces of chicken up into bite size pieces. Add the rest of the carton of chicken broth to the existing juices. Tear the biscuit dough into small bite size pieces and drop into the chicken/broth mixture. The crockpot will be very full after all biscuit pieces are in. Replace lid and cook on high for about 30 minutes. Do not stir the dumplings or remove the lid. After 30 minutes, taste the dumplings for doneness. (I've had it take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how big the dumplings are.)

Peanut Butter Kisses

Peanut Butter Kisses:
from allrecipes.com

1 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

18 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, peanut butter and egg. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Note: If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 1/2 hour or until easy to handle.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each warm cookie.

Jam Filled Butter Cookies

I absolutely adore apricot flavored anything. Couple that with not being able to have chocolate and this became the perfect Christmas cookie for me this year! These are melt in your mouth and so scrumptious. I also made strawberry jam cookies, but I much preferred the apricot.

Jam Filled Butter Cookies:
from allrecipes.com

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup fruit preserves, any flavor

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 tsp. of preserves.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Banana Walnut Muffins

I had some bananas that were about to go bad and I wanted to do something with them. My husband always liked the Entenmann's Banana Nut mini muffins, so I thought why not make the real thing? I got this recipe for banana muffins from allrecipes.com and just added some walnuts to them. They are super moist and tender. Just a strong enough flavor of banana without being overpowering.

Banana Muffins:
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large bananas, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat muffin pans with non stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Combine bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture and mix until smooth. Add in walnuts and mix until incorporated. Scoop into muffin pans.

Bake in preheated oven, 10 to 15 minutes for mini muffins, 25 to 30 minutes for large muffins. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.