Monday, January 7, 2008

Angel Chicken Pasta

Way good and way easy!!!

3-4 big chicken breasts
¼ cup butter
1 dry Italian salad dressing mix
½ cup white cooking wine
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
4 ounces cream cheese with chives
½-1 lb angel hair pasta

Preheat oven at 325
In pot melt butter and then stir in Italian dressing
Add wine & soup
Add cream cheese until melts
Heat through- but do not boil

In a 9x13 pan cut chicken breasts into smaller pieces
Space them out and pour sauce over.
Cook about 60 minutes

Pour over pasta and/or rice.

Fiesta Casserole

Fiesta Casserole

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 green pepper- chopped
1 onion- chopped
1 red pepper- chopped (optional)
1 jar (16oz) Thick ‘n Chunky Salsa
10 oz. corn
Flour tortillas
Cheese

Preheat oven 375
Brown meat with peppers & onions in large skillet.
Drain and add salsa & corn. Bring to boil
Spoon 1 cup meat mixture onto bottom of 13x9 inch baking dish.
Top with tortiallas, overlapping if necessary.
Spoon ½ of remaining mixture over tortillas, and top with cheese.
Top with more tortillas and meat mixture, cover with foil.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until heated through.
Remove from oven and uncover.
Sprinkle with cheese and let sit until cheese is melted.

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups milk
6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions:
Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

I never knew Alfredo sauce was this easy to make!

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 c. chopped, cooked chicken
1 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. chopped carrots
1/4 c. chopped onions
1/4 c. butter
8 oz. egg noodles
2 boxes (32oz) Swanson chicken broth
3-4 c. water
1/2 t. dried marjoram
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 T. dried parsley (I prefer fresh)

1. In a large stock pot, saute celery and onion in butter.
2. Add chicken, carrots, broth, water, marjoram, pepper, bay leaf and parsley. Simmer 30 minutes.
3. Add noodles and simmer 10 more minutes.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

After trying a few different recipes, I decided this is the best one!

1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. water
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon (I bet you could add more though if you wanted)
3 cups nuts

Combine all ingredients except nuts in a saucepan. Over medium heat, dissolve sugar. Add nuts. Cook, stirring frequently, until nuts are completely sugared and no syrup is left in pan. Spread on wax paper and let cool. Enjoy!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Super Easy Tomato Basil Soup


Ingredients:
1 can tomato soup
1/2 can whipping cream
1/2 can milk
Basil

To make this super easy (and super good) tomato basil soup all you do is take a can of tomato soup (and brand will do) and pour it in a pan. Then fill half the can with whipping cream and then fill the rest with regular milk (I use skim). Then mix it up and shake in some basil (you can try fresh, but I haven't tried it yet). Let it boil up a bit and stir until you're satisfied or your "grilled" cheese sandwich is done. Enjoy! (I have, in past attempts, added garlic and dried onions, but I like it without either. It's up to you!) You'll never want to eat tomato soup the old way again!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Peanut Butter Balls

These were given to me by a friend and I thought they were mouth-watering.

1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
3/4 c. salted butter softened
1 1/2 T. Vanilla Extract
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (2 lb.) bag of powdered sugar
24 oz. chocolate candy coating, melted

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer combined peanut butter, butter and vanilla.
Gradually beat in condensed milk and powdered sugar.
Beat until throughly mixed.
Shape into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper lined baking sheet.
Refrigerate for 2 hours.
With a fork dip each ball into melted chocolate than refrigerate until firm.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This was fast and fabulous!
1 T. vegetable oil
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts (appox. 3 breasts), cooked & cubed
½ c. diced onion
1 garlic clove, pressed
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. masa harina
3 c. water
1 c. enchilada sauce
16 oz. velveeta cheese
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
½ t. cumin

In a large pot, place oil and diced onion; sauté until onions are soft and clear, about 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth, garlic, salt, chili powder, and cumin; Bring to a boil.
Combine masa harina with 3 cups water in a separate bowl; Stir until all lumps are dissolved.

Add to hot cooked mixture and return to a boil. Once mixture starts to bubble, continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. This will eliminate any raw taste from the masa harina.
Add enchilada sauce. After mixture return to a boil, stir occasionally and add cheese that has been cut into chunks.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese melts.
Add chicken and heat through.
Makes approximately 6 servings.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Mom's Caramel Popcorn

I requested that my mom write this recipe up. Here it is:

1 Cube Butter
1/4 c water
1/2 c light karo
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c sugar
1/8 t cream of tarter

Cook to softball stage. (I always just have a cup of ice water by the pan and as soon as it all starts to boil, drop a bit into the water until it forms a soft ball, and then take it off the heat.) Stir in 1/4 t baking soda and then 1/2 t vanilla. Pour over large bowl of popcorn and stir.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Homemade Flour Tortillas

3 c. unbleached flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
4-6 T. vegetable shortening
About 1-1/4 c. warm water

Mix dry ingredients together. Add vegetable shortening and cut into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives. Add warm water a little at a time until the dough is soft but not sticky. Pull off dough pieces to form 10-12 small dough balls and let them sit 10 minutes or longer. Heat a frying pan or skillet to medium to high heat. Dust each ball with a little flour and roll each out into a thin tortilla shape. Cook only a few seconds on each side in the skillet (until nice brown spots appear around the tortilla). Keep warm in a towel until ready to serve.