Autumn Chicken

Chicken breasts
2 Apples, sliced
1 Onion, sliced
Some potatoes, cut up
1 cup apple juice
Salt and Pepper
Dash Cinnamon
3 T lemon juice, to prevent browning of apples
1 cup rice

1. Pour Apple Juice into the crock pot. Place chicken into the juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sliced onion & potatoes around chicken.

2. Slice apples and mix with lemon juice and cinnamon. Place on top of chicken in crockpot. Set on low and cook for 8 hours.

3. Make rice. Serve.

Barrel of M&M Cake

Self explanitory: Bake a 2-layer cake. Frost it on top and sides. Wrap Kitkats around it in 2-bar pieces. Cover top with M&Ms. YUM! and FUN!

Chicken Taquitos

1 tablespoon olive oil, more for brushing tortillas
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups shredded cooked chicken meat
2 cups low-sodium, gluten-free chicken broth
12 (6-inch) flour or corn tortillas
1 cup crumbled queso fresco or shredded Monterey jack or cheddar

(***** IDEA! ***** Make my sour cream crockpot chicken and put it in taquitos!!!)

Preheat oven to 425°F and oil a baking sheet. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onion and cook until starting to soften and turn translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, paprika and salt. Stir to combine and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, until fragrant. Take from heat and stir in cilantro and chicken. Set aside.

IF YOU'RE USING FLOUR TORTILLAS:
Lay tortilla on a work surface and spread 2 or 3 tablespoons chicken mixture over bottom third. Top with a tablespoon of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Spray or brush tortillas lightly with oil and bake until crisp and lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

IF YOU'RE USING CORN TORTILLAS:
If you're using corn tortillas, bring chicken broth to a simmer in a skillet or pot wide enough to hold tortillas. When broth simmers, dip tortillas briefly, one at a time, just to soften, 1 to 2 seconds. Lay tortilla on a work surface and spread 2 or 3 tablespoons chicken mixture over bottom third. Top with a tablespoon of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Spray or brush tortillas lightly with oil and bake until crisp and lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Shepard's Pie in Crockpot

3 cups mashed potatoes
1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups frozen vegetables
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika (then a bit more for garnish)
1 cup water
2 cups shredded cheese

I used a 4 quart crockpot---it was the perfect size. A larger will work, but it will cook faster.

Brown the meat, onion and spices on the stove, and drain any fat.
Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray.
Put the meat in the crockpot and stir in the frozen vegetables, and a cup of water.
Add two cups of cheese on top.
Press the mashed potatoes down on top of the cheese and meat. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for about 3, then remove the lid and cook on high for 30 minutes to release the condensation and allow the potatoes to brown a bit on top.
(Everything is cooked already, so you're really just allowing the flavors to meld and the potatoes to crustify.)

Fun Finger Snacks

Take a mini pretzel twist, put a Hershey kiss on it, bake at 275 for 3 minutes. Immediately press in M&M. YUM!! Refrigerate until eating for maximum solidness.

aadf

Peanut Butter Cup Bars

1/2 cup butter
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

(Line a 8×8, 9×9, or 7×11 pan with foil for easy removal of bars later.)
Melt 1/2 c. butter of low heat. Remove from heat and stir in confectioner’s sugar. Add peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs, stirring until creamy. Spread mixture into pan, patting down evenly.
In same pot, on low heat, melt butter. Add chocolate chips and stir until chips are nearly melted and very soft. Remove from heat and continue stirring until chocolate is smooth and shiny. Spread over peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut into bars.
Store peanut butter cup bars in refrigerator.

The Best. Salsa. Ever.

16 full size tomatoes, or nearly a produce bag full of roma tomatoes (we used roma)
2-3 yellow onions
20-25 jalepeno peppers (remove caps) remove seeds to reduce heat
8-10 cloves of garlic
1-2 Tbsp salt
1-2 bunches cilantro

Halve the tomatoes and onions and lay cut-side up on a cookie sheet along with the peppers and garlic.
Roast at 375 till the onions look nice and translucent, tomatoes look soft, and peppers are getting a nice char on them.
Let it all cool a bit, then run through the food processor with salt and cilantro (we had to do this in two batches).
Stir it all together and eat with abandon.

Jello Balls

1 large package flaked coconut.
1 large box jello gelatin. (any flavor)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 small box Jello gelatin (for coating finished balls)

Mix first 4 ingredients.
Roll into small balls.
Roll to coat in the small package of jello.
Refrigerate in an air-tight container.

Tip... wet hands for rolling to help control the sticking.
Think red & green for Christmas. (Cherry & Lime)

Broken Glass Jello

http://foodlibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/03/broken-glass-jello.html Go here for pics.

4 small boxes (3 oz. each) of Jell-O or store brand "gelatin dessert" in different colors.
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (don't get evaporated milk)
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (that Knox stuff)

For each flavor, dissolve one box of jello in one cup of boiling water. Pour into a container and chill overnight. After chilling the four flavors, cut them into small blocks.

Carefully mix the blocks in a 9 x 13 pan.

In a separate bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin into 1/2 cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1 1/2 cup boiling water and dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over jello and chill overnight.

Cut into blocks or shapes and serve!

Lentil and Brown Rice Tacos

3/4 cup dry lentils (brown ones)
3/4 cup dry brown rice
4 cups water
4 beef bouillon cubes (or chicken, vegetable)
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Dump everything in a medium pot and boil.
Turn down the heat to a little lower than medium and cook covered (just like rice) until done.
I usually stir every 5-6 minutes, but you probably don't need to once the spices are mixed!
Use just like regular taco filling.

Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole

3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
3/4 cups green lentils, although any color will do
1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Variations: This could be jazzed up with spaghetti sauce, salsa, BBQ sauce, parmesan cheese. Whatever suits you!

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Add broth, lentils, brown rice, chopped onion, and spices to 9×13-inch glass baking dish. Stir together and cover tightly with foil.
3. Bake at 300 for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
4. Remove foil and sprinkle shredded cheese over the top and return to oven and bake uncovered for 20 more minutes, or until cheese is completely melted.

Beef and Bean Bake

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 yellow onion, chopped*
1 green bell pepper, diced*
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 15 oz can tomato sauce**
2 teaspoons chili powder**
1 teaspoon garlic powder**
1 teaspoon ground cumin**
Salt and pepper
1 15 oz can black beans
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
Shredded lettuce (optional)
1 tomato, diced (optional)
salsa (optional)
dollups of sour cream (optional)

*Use onion and pepper blend instead.
**Substitute tomato sauce and spices for a 10 oz. can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies.

Brown meat w/ onion, pepper, corn. Add tomato sauce & spices/Rotel. Simmer 5 or so minutes to allow flavors to mingle. Add beans and rice. Place in casserole dish and cover with cheese. Bake until cheese is good and melted. Serve with lettuce, tomato/salsa and sour cream.

Chocolate Fudge cookies

1 box of devils food cake mix
two eggs
1/3 cup oil
whatever chips you feel like putting in it. I used 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate and 2/3 cup butterscotch. The chocolate ones really add some flavor that the dough kind of lacks. * Try 1/2 of each*

Bake them for 9 minutes at 350.

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until combined. Add in the eggs and molasses, and beat until combined. Then slowly add in the dry ingredient mixture until combined.
Roll the dough into small balls (about 1″ in diameter). Fill a small bowl with sugar, and roll each ball in the sugar until it is completely coated. Place on cookie sheet, and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Once they are done, remove from the oven and let cool for a minute or two. Then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Easy Apple Butter

apples to fill crock pot
4 c. sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
Peel, core, and slice apples to fill crock pot.
Cook on low for 16-18 hours (Don’t lift lid!)
Remove lid and stir well.
Add sugar and spices.
Cover and cook 3 more hours on low.
Take off lid and cook on High for 1 more hour.

Notes : This is such an easy recipe because you do just leave it- not messing with it AT ALL for 16-18 hours.I use this recipe with my biggest crock pot– so, smaller crock pots may need less sugar and spices.This is a recipe that we have canned in a hot water bath, frozen, or served fresh. We have really enjoyed it!!!

Baby's First Carrot Birthday Cake

2 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
2 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate (you may use slightly less)
1 1/2 cups raisins
Vegetable Spray/Shortening
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 Tbsp low sodium baking powder
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 9 inch square cake pans with waxed paper and spray the paper with vegetable spray/shortening.

1. Combine the carrots with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the juice concentrate in a medium size saucepan.

2. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender, 15 to 20 mins. Puree in a blender of food processor until smooth.

3. Add the raisins and process until finely chopped. Let mixture cool.

4. Combine the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups juice concentrate, the oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat just until well mixed. Fold in the carrot puree and applesauce. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

5. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 mins. Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. When cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting below or sprinkle a wee bit of powdered sugar if desired.

Apple Swirl Cake

2 c Apples
3 tb Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 c Sugar
1 c Cooking oil
4 Eggs
1/4 c Orange juice
2 tsp Vanilla
3 c Sifted flour
1 tb Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt

Peel, core, and chop apples into small pieces. Mix together with 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
In large bowl, combine sugar and cooking oil; beat. Add eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Beat until smooth. Pour one third batter into greased and floured 12 cup bundt pan alternating with one half apple mixture. Repeat.
End with layer of batter on top. Bake at 325 degrees F for 60 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan 10 to 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack or serving plate to complete cooling. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired or lightly frost with cream cheese frosting.

Apple Spice Cake

Note: As with any "non traditional" cake, this batter will not seem "right"

1/2 cup molasses
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-3/4 cup flour
1 tsp ginger

Mix the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it tests done.
**The batter may be a bit dry and you may need to add more applesauce or a bit of water. Try adding 1/4 cup of applesauce first then gradually add a bit of water by tablespoon**
We have added a bit of pure cocoa (2 tablespoons) to make a chocolate flavor.

Vanilla Cake

1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup pastry flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray an 8" X 8" baking pan with low-fat spray. Sift the dry ingredients and set aside.

Whisk together wet ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the dry to the wet and mix until most of the lumps are gone. Pour mix into the pan and bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes or until knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Applesauce Spice Cake

Since the other cake was, well, not good, here's another:

3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 Macintosh apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 inch square baking pan.

Beat the eggs until they drop like ribbons from the beaters. Continue beating and add the oil in a thin stream. Beat in the 1 cup applesauce and the 1 cup unsweetened apple juice concentrate then mix in the flour gradually until well blended. Add the baking soda, ground ginger, ground almonds and apples. Fold together until well mixed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F about 40 minutes or until the cake tests clean with a knife or toothpick. Cool completely before frosting.

Sugar Cookies!

Sugar Cookie Snob's recipe

1 C real butter (no substitutions!)
1 C sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t almond extract (you could use vanilla instead)
3 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes.
Add in eggs and extract and mix to incorporate.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
Shape the dough into 2 flat disks and wrap in waxed paper and place in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours.
If you want your cookies to hold their shape well, the dough needs to be chilled properly.
A great tip to speed things up is to immediately roll dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and place on a flat surface in the fridge.
It will chill super fast and be ready to go in no time.
When you're ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.
Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes.
The baking time really depends on how you like them.
If you like them really soft under-bake them.
In my oven, about 8 minutes does it.
However if you're making large cookies, or ones with small parts or heavy frosting, you might want to be careful because they might break when they're super soft.
About 8 minutes will get you a really soft cookie, a few minutes longer (when they start to just brown around the edges) and you'll get just a little crispiness around the edges and then a soft center, bake even longer (and roll thinner) and you'll get a buttery, crispy cookie that will just melt in your mouth.
Any way you do it, they'll taste good.
Remove onto cooling racks when you're done and let cool completely.
I honestly think these even taste better the second day.

Glacé Icing

1lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 C)
1/4 C + 2T C whole milk (low-fat actually works, but use whole if you can)
1/4 C + 2T light Corn Syrup
1 t extract (I use almond because I use almond in my sugar cookies)
With a whisk, combine sugar and milk until smooth (no lumps!) Then stir in corn syrup and extract.
You will use this same recipe for both glazing and piping. The way it is right now is the consistency you want for glazing. It's smooth and thin, like in the picture below. It easily runs off the whisk in a pretty thin drizzle.To prepare the icing for piping, you just add more powdered sugar. Just eyeball it. You can't really mess it up because if it's too thick you just add more milk and if it's to thin, you add more powdered sugar. I add it in small amounts until it's a good consistency. For me, it's when it gets to a point where it's relatively hard to whisk it by hand. When I pick up the whisk, it still runs off, but in a very slow, thick stream now, like this:
Take your glazing icing and separate it into bowls if you want to color it. I decided to do red (more pink, but I love it!), green, and blue. And I left my piping icing white. Use gel food coloring (you can find it at craft or cooking stores) for more intense colors.
There are a few ways to use icing like this. One way is to just glaze the cookie and leave it like that. I'm going to glaze it and then pipe a decoration on top. So the first step is to glaze. Take a small spoon and drop a spoonful of glaze onto a cookie. (Do one at a time, I'm just doing 3 for picture-taking-fun)
Then take a small spoon (baby spoons work great) and gently spread it out to the edges of the cookie. If you want the cookie completely covered, you could just hold it by the bottom and dip it in, then place it over a rack to let the excess drip off.
You need to wait for the icing to set before you pipe on top of it. It doesn't have to be completely dry, but just set on top. An hour or two will probably be enough, but it depends on humidity and everything, so just barely touch the top and don't smash the glaze because it will probably still be soft underneath. If it's dry to the touch you can go ahead and decorate.
With your piping icing (the thicker stuff) in a pastry bag (I just used a plain, round tip), just draw on your design. I started doing little snowflakes and pretty much fell in love with them. These little cuties are about an inch and a half in diameter. How adorable are they?? I just get happy every time I look at this picture.
The next method is to do do the piping first, and then fill in with the glaze. So for these shapes below, I just took my pastry bag and piped the white icing around the edges.
Great Tip: when you do dots, or when you start or finish a line, you may get a little peak of icing. If you try to smash it down, it will stick to your fingers and then you'll make a big mess and maybe say a naughty word. Just get your finger wet and gently press down. It won't stick and all of your problems will be solved.
You can fill them soon after outlining. The piping will act as a dam and hold the glaze in. So just drop a spoonful of glaze in the middle of the cookie and with a small spoon, or clean paint brush, or toothpick for small spaces, gently spread the icing out until it fills the cookie in.
While the glaze is wet, it's kind of like paint. You can have fun combining different colors and swirling around for cool patterns. In these ones I just used a toothpick to make designs.
The last method is to outline the cookies with piping, then fill them with glaze, and then pipe again on top. You could then color different piping bags and decorate cookies like snowmen, santas etc. I think monograms are really cute too, especially for things like baby and wedding showers. Here's some letters I did. Oooh, or how about an ABC theme for a toddler's birthday party? That would be cute too.
If you're going to do this method, it may seem like a lot of steps. To break it up, you could bake your cookies one night and put them in an air-tight container. Then the next day glaze them and the next day give them away. Or if you ice them in the morning, they might be dry enough to stack and pack that night. I tested my cookies, and on the third day they were still soft and super yummy.
*I'm editing this post after making my Valentines Cookies. I discovered that it worked great to bake the cookies ahead of time and as soon as they're cooled, put them in the freezer. They can stay frozen for several weeks (maybe even months? I don't know, they don't last that long at my house!) Then when ready to decorate, take them out of the freezer and you don't even need to let them thaw, just start decorating. I think the cold helps the icing dry faster. Do it in the morning and they may be dry enough for you to package later the same day- this way the cookies are super fresh.
(Pics can be seen at : http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/12/tutorial-glace-icing-and-cookie.html)

Other recipes available at http://community.babycenter.com/post/a14493145?scid=ddigest_body_20090903 if these don't turn out.