Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder (original recipe and picture found here)

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 celery stick, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.  Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Crock Pot Directions:

After you have sauteed the onions, carrots, and celery add to the crock pot with everything but the flour, water, milk and cheese. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. After it has cooked do the steps with the flour, water, milk and cheese  (about 15 minutes total). 

So, what did I do on my first day of no school?

It was the first day of Christmas Break
I finished my last assignments at 9:30pm on Saturday.
So what did I do my first day of vacation?

I sewed Rylee's Stocking from this old sweater which had grown a hole!

Made these snowmen cookies {tutorial found here}

For our visiting and home teachees, and Jojo's Nursery leader. 

Joseph is moving to Sunbeams starting the new year!! I can hardly believe that we are finally going to have a primary aged child! He is growing up sooooo fast!
Thanks Mom and Emilee for the Christmas Cards {You can see them on the door!}

Played with my kiddos!

And we went and saw Wreck-it Ralph for FHE. Cody has been wanting to go the movies for the longest time!!! now that we are out of classes we have more time. I LOVED it, it was such a creative story and so well done. it was great! And Rylee was pretty good! (usually I have to take her out because she is so wiggly) 

OH! and I can't forget to mention the WONDERFUL short Paperman before the feature. A very beautiful love story. Visual awesomeness!

Sherbet Oreo Truffles!

I LOVE Oreo Truffles! Yummy. And I've been wanting to make them for awhile. It's not the type of thing you just make one day, especially when you are trying to eat healthier. Not to mention there is just me hubby, and Joseph who could really eat them, and the recipe just makes WAY to much for just us. SO I thought "Hey it's mother's day I could keep just a few and give the rest away!" Genius.
I had bought Pink and Yellow Wilson's Melting Chocolate for Ginger's first birthday but not all of it was used so I wanted to finish them off on the truffles. When I went to get the Oreos they had a most delicious looking flavor...Limited Edition...Rainbow Sherbet (which just happens to be my favorite Ice Cream!) PERFECT!

Here's what you need...

One package (your choice flavor) of Oreos, 1 8oz. Package of thawed Cream Cheese (I used the Neufchatel Cheese, tastes JUST like cream cheese with less fat) and two colors Wilson's Candy Melts.

CRUSH the Oreos to fine Crumbles
(Don't you just love the Thor Hammer! I actually used a Wooden spoon more but I thought this looked cooler!)

Now ADD the Cream Cheese
(should Be at room temperature so it will blend better)
and MIX, prepare the get your hands dirty!
(I used my hands towards the end, don't be afraid to try this yourself!)

ROLL the Oreo/Cream Cheese Mixture into 1 inch balls

(Forgive the Stupidness of Blogger for rotating my picture)
MELT the Chocolate Following the instructions on the bag

(AHHH it did it again!)
Now DIP your balls in the Melted Chocolate
Do half in one color and the other half in the next color.

Now the super fun part. Grab a bit of the OPPOSITE colored chocolate onto a spoon and  wave it back and forth over the truffle to give it a bit more color! 

Stick the Truffles in the Fridge for an hour, or until firm. 

Store in a air tight container in Refrigerator.

There you go, Yummy Sherbet Flavored Oreo Truffles 

(Or any flavor you want that Oreos carries) 

ENJOY!

Zucchini “Noodles” with Pesto & Pine Nuts

Zucchini “Noodles” with Pesto & Pine Nuts

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients

3 large zucchini (about 2 ½ pounds)*
2 tablespoons homemade or store-bought Pesto, best quality
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pine nuts or chopped walnuts, toasted until golden*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Using a vegetable peeler, press firmly and peel zucchini into long, wide ribbons. Work your way around the zucchini and stop when you get to the seeds.

2. Lightly coat a non-stick pan with olive oil and heat to medium-high heat. Add the zucchini “noodles” to pan and gently stir for about 1-2 minutes, until just al dente.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the cooked zucchini, pesto sauce, Parmesan cheese and toasted nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste (be sure to add enough salt to bring out all the flavors), then serve.

*Be sure to get the largest zucchini possible; it makes for nicer ribbons.

*To toast nuts, preheat toaster oven or oven to 350 degrees. Toast until golden, watching carefully, for about 5 minutes.

 

Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna

Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna 


Ingredients
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 pkg. (8oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder 
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided
12 lasagna noodles, cooked


Directions
HEAT oven to 350
COMBINE chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture.
SPREAD half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover.
BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.
Original recipe from tasteofhome.com

Homemade Pizzas are the BEST!!!

When we went home for the holidays, Nathan and Nina bought Papa Murphy's pizza one night and one of the pizzas was the DeLite Mediterranean Herb Chicken Pizza. We loved it. If ever we get Papa Murphy's this is the stuff we'll get. We wanted to try and make it homemade style so we found a recipe online bought the ingredients and tried it out tonight. Outcome? very delicious, the crust was different and the sun-dried tomatoes didn't have as much flavor but is was still really good!

Description:

A delicious homemade pizza with garlic, chicken, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and baby spinach

Yield:

16 slices

Ingredients:

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 2.5 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Sauce Ingredients:

1/3 cup Light or Fat Free Italian salad dressing
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of black pepper

Toppings:

3-4 cups (12-16 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1-2 cups cooked cubed chicken breast
1/3 cup Sun Dried tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup diced onions, optional
1 cup (or one small handful) fresh baby spinach leaves
1 medium-large Roma tomato, diced

Crushed red pepper, for serving (optional)
Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. To make pizza crust, combine warm water and salt in a mixing bowl. Add about 2 cups of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir until a sticky dough forms. Add more flour as needed, and knead dough with clean hands until a soft, elastic dough forms. Knead for 5 minutes or so.

If you have a bread machine, set machine to "dough" cycle and put ingredients into the machine in order listed. (Start with 2 cups of flour and add more as it kneads if the dough looks too sticky.) Dough should be slightly sticky, but smooth and elastic. I allow my bread machine to knead the dough for about 15 minutes (or until dough looks smooth and elastic) before turning off the machine and pulling out the dough to use.

2. Liberally butter a 16-inch round pizza pan. With clean buttery hands, spread and press the dough into the pan to form a pizza crust.

3. Mix sauce ingredients together and spread over the dough. Sprinkle toppings on. I listed the toppings in the order I prefer to add them (sun dried tomatoes can get too dark if they're added last; the spinach shrinks substantially as it cooks and will look like a lot less in the end!).

If you like a thinner crust, pre-heat oven and bake immediately.f you prefer a slightly thicker/fluffier crust, allow pizza to rest for 15-20 minutes before baking.

4. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes, until the crust is browned on bottom and the toppings are hot and bubbly.

If I'm using a thinner, non-stick pizza pan, I bake it on the top oven rack. For a heavier/thicker stainless steel pan, I use the bottom oven rack to ensure that the crust gets fully cooked.

5. Remove pizza from oven; cut into slices after about 5 minutes. Serve with crushed red pepper and Parmesan cheese if desired.

Preparation Time:

30-40 minutes

Cooking Time:

10-12 minutes

Lion House Pie Dough

Lion House Pie Dough (the best!)Yield: 2-3 shells
3 cups All-purpose flour
1 T. Sugar
1 t. Salt
½ t. Baking powder
1 T. Nonfat Dry Milk Powder
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup Margarine (at least 65% oil)
1/3 cup Lard 
1/3 cup Shortening (not butter flavor)
½ cup Water (may need up to 1 T. more)

Measure all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well with a spoon. Measure all fats and place on top of the dry ingredients. Cut fats into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender, table knives or rub it together with your hands until it is the size of small peas. Add the ½ cup water ALL AT ONE TIME and mix together with a fork or mix lightly with your hands.

If you mix this with a mixer (not hand mixer), assemble backwards: begin with fats, add dry ingredients and water last....barely mix.

Divide dough into 2 or 3 portions (depending on how thick you want your crust). Roll out 1st portion of dough and line your pie tin with it. Roll out the 2^nd portion of dough. Fold in half and cut steam slits into the fold.

Fill pie crust with filling. Brush the dough on the edge of the pie tin with water. Place the folded top crust onto the fruit filling and unfold it, making sire it goes to the edge of the pie. Seal the 2 crusts together. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar and bake.

Most fruit pies can be baked at 375 for 45 to 55 minutes.

Crispy Ranch Chicken

We tried out a recipe that I had since we got married but had never tried. It is VERY good and VERY easy!!!! WE LOVED IT.

Crispy Ranch Chicken

Prep Time - 10min

C ook time - 20-25 min

Ingrediants

2 Cups Crispy rice cereal (we used crushed corn flackes)

1/2 cup grated parmesan Cheese

1 envelope (1 oz.) ranch salasd dressing mix

2 egg whites, beaten

8 skinless, boneless Chicken thighs (about 5 oz each) (we just used breast)

Preheat oven to 350 deggrees. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the cereal, parmesan cheese and ranch salad dressing mix in a large bowl.

Place Beaten egg whites in a medium bowl. Dip each chicken thigh in the egg whites and then in cereal mixture to coat evenly.

Arrange the coated chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with knife, 20 - 25 minutes. Serve hot!

ENJOY a Great American Recipe!!!

Refrigerator Rolls

REFRIGERATOR ROLLS

1 cup hot water 1 T. yeast dissolved in 2 T. warm water with 2 t. sugar
1 t. salt 1 beaten egg
1 ½ T. shortening 3 to 4 cups flour
¼ cup sugar

1. Combine hot water, salt, sugar, and shortening in a bowl. Cool to luke warm.
2. Prepare yeast, water and sugar and set aside.
3. Add yeast, softened in warm water.
4. Add the egg and half of the flour and beat well.
5. Stir in more flour---enough to make stiff (not hard) dough
6. Knead in the bowl 8 to 10 times.
7. Put dough in oiled container, identify with name, and refrigerate.
8. Take the dough from refrigerator 2 to 3 hours prior to forming into rolls.
9. Shape dough into desired variation.
10. All variations need to rise in a warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until double in size.
11. Bake at 350 or 375 degrees around 15 minutes or until desired browning.

These are some of the yummier things you can do with the above recipe.

Breadsticks

Roll dough to ½ inch thick, rectangle shape, on floured surface. Cut into ½ inch lengths, twist into rope shape. Place close together on greased cookie sheet. Brush with butter then sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Bake.

Pretzels

Roll pieces of dough into ropes about ½ inch in diameter and 18 inches long. Form into pretzel shapes. Place on prepared baking sheets. Brush tops of pretzels with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake.

Orange Bow Knots

Roll dough into a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Cut into 5 inch strips. Roll each strip lightly and tie in loose knot. Place on oiled cookie sheet and tuck ends under if needed. When hot out of the oven glaze with orange icing. 1 T. orange zest, 1 T. orange juice, ½ cup powdered sugar. Mix and apply with pastry brush.