Green Smoothie

FROM a great blog I like to read

Green Smoothie
- 6 oz Pineapple Coconut juice (I use the L&A brand in the glass bottle)
- 1 banana
- two handfuls of spinach
- about 5-6 ice cubes

Blend together the juice and the banana first, then add the spinach. When it's all blended together add in the ice cubes and blend till smooth.

She said: "I promise you that this tastes like a banana smoothie. You really can't even taste the spinach. I like the way that spinach tastes, but not really in a smoothie. I love that I get a full fruit and veggie serving in first thing in the morning." So I tried it and she was right!!

Potato and Broccoli Cheese Soup

I think I have soup and fall foods on the brain....

2 cups potatoes chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1 onion chopped

combine and cook until potato's are tender

Then add fresh or frozen chopped broccoli and put the lid on until it is tender
after broccoli is cooked;

Add one tsp paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
7-8 Slices of Kraft American Processed Cheese
Then take 1/4 cup flour and whisk with 2 cups whole milk until blended and no lumps
then add to the soup.

Yummy and Super Easy!!

Big D’s Birthday Chili

3 cans pinto beans rinsed

1 can S&W chili beans not rinsed (these are just flavored pinto beans that S&W makes)

2 cans kidney beans rinsed

4 cans diced tomatoes

1 ¼ pound hamburger cooked and grease drained

1 medium onion

1 cup ketchup

2 TBL chili powder

2 TBL cumin

2 TBL Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

Throw in crock pot and warm until onions are cooked.

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

2 C. croutons
2 C. shredded cheese + some to sprinkle on top
2 lbs. link sausage cooked and diced OR
1 lb. precooked sausage links, diced (I use the turkey sausage from Costco)
8 eggs scrambled
2 1/2 C. milk + 1/3 C. milk
3/4 t. dry mustard
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Layer croutons, sausage, and cheese in 9x13 pan. Mix 2 1/2 C. milk, eggs and dry mustard then pour on top of crouton mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Before baking, mix soup and 1/3 C. milk until combined and spread evenly on top of casserole. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake one hour uncovered at 300 degrees.

Apple Crisp

1/2 c flour

1/2 c quick oatmeal

1/2 c brown sugar

1/8 tsp soda

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup soft butter

4 cups sliced apples

1/3 c sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter

Mix and blend first 7 ingredients and set aside. Mix together apples, etc. Sprinkle oatmeal mixture over apple mixture in 9X9 inch square baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Chocolate Zuchinni Cake...easy version

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 eggs
1 ¾ c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
½ c. milk
½ c. oil
½ c. applesauce
2 ½ c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1 t. soda
½ t. cinnamon
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 c. grated zucchini (It usually takes about 1 large zucchini. I wash it, cut it and grate it in my food processor with the skin on. I also drain off most of the water from the zucchini once it’s grated.)
Mix the eggs and sugar together until smooth. Add all wet ingredients then add all dry ingredients. Then add the grated zucchini and mix well.
Pour mixture into greased baking dish.
Sprinkle these next three ingredients on top before you bake the cake. 
1 c. milk chocolate chips
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. nuts (if desired)
Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes (may take a little longer, depending on your oven).

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 c. wheat flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 oil and 1/2 applesauce)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips (or more)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

In large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mix well. In separate bowl, combine sugar and eggs, beat until well blended. Add oil and vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in zucchini. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon evenly into loaf pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pans; cool completely on wire rack.
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I have been dreaming about this recipe for a couple of weeks. I made it a few times last summer and it is delicious! I got the recipe from a friend's blog and she got the recipe here.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped

2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each line cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a times, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours or up to overnight. Remove from tins just before serving.

Makes 30 Martha Steward recipe

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of the bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately frosting can be refrigerate up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Makes about 4 cups. Great on children's cakes, can be tinted with food color. Add a drop at a time and stir with a flexible spatula until well combined before adding more. Martha Steward Recipe.

Dark Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup plus 2 TBL unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/4 cug plus 2 TBL boiling water

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c confectioners' sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

1 lb best-quality semi sweet chocolate melted and cooled

Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, convections' sugar and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add meted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. If not using immediately frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container. Before using bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Great consistency for spreading or piping into beautiful swirls. It also has a wonderful sheen. Makes about 5 cups. Recipe from Martha Stewart.

Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Butter Frosting

Cookies
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups butter, softened
3 eggs
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
3 t. vanilla
6 1/2 cups flour

In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, salt and vanilla until fluffy. Add the flour, blending thoroughly. Divide the dough into four pieces and wrap each separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Take out one piece of dough, leaving the rest in the fridge until ready to use. (Cold dough makes better cookies.) Roll the dough between two pieces of waxed paper to desired thickness. Cut out with cookie cutters.
Place the cookies on a cold baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. (Rinse the baking sheets with cold water between batches so they are cold when they go in the oven.)
Bake 9 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 min before cooling on rack. Decorate as desired.
-Recipe from "Three Decades of Cooking with Donna Lou Morgan"

Frosting
6 C. powder sugar
2/3 C. margarine or butter softened
3t. vanilla extract
approximately 4 T. milk
food coloring if desired

Blend powdered sugar and butter. Add vanilla and milk one tablespoon at a time. Beat until smooth.

Both of these are large recipes and can be halved.

Easy Enchiladas

1 pkg frozen burritos
1 can enchilada sauce
1 C. shredded cheese
toppings according to your taste
(sour cream, olives, shredded lettuce, salsa, etc.)

Place small amount of sauce on the bottom of baking dish. Place burritos in pan and cover with remaining sauce. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Add toppings once served.

For faster version, microwave burritos according to package directions. Bake for 10-15 minutes until warm and cheese is melted.

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
5 C. chicken broth
3 C. diced vegetables (carrot, celery, potato)
1 small onion or 1 T. dehydrated onion
1 t. poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
3 c. egg noodles, uncooked

Combine all ingredients except noodles in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Remove chicken breasts, shred meat, and return to pot. Add noodles and cook 30 min. more. Do not over cook. Serves 4.

Cauliflower Soup

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/cauliflower-soup/

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter
• ½ whole Onion, Finely Diced
• 1 whole Carrot Finely Diced
• 1 stalk Celery, Finely Diced
• 1 whole (to 2 Whole) Cauliflower Heads (roughly Chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Or Dried Parsley (chopped)
• 2 quarts Low-sodium Chicken Broth Or Stock
• 6 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons To 4 Teaspoons Salt, To Taste
• 1 cup (heaping) Sour Cream, Room Temperature

Preparation Instructions

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown. Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half-and-half. Add mixture to the simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

Serve immediately.

Cake Making Tips

Homemade Cake Recipe Tips

When baking with butter:
Room-temperature butter in the cake batter is one of the biggest cake baking mistakes. In fact, butter must be below 68°F to trap air molecules and build structure. Otherwise, the fat will liquefy and the cake will be flat. To get “cool” butter: Cut the chilled butter into chunks and let it sit in a bowl for 5 minutes before beating.

When mixing cake batter:
You cannot overbeat the eggs, sugar and butter, but you can overbeat the flour. If you do, gluten will form and you will be making a quick bread instead of a layer cake. Beat the flour just until there are no visible signs of dry flour, but not until the batter is completely smooth.

Cake flour:
Cake flour is milled from soft wheat that has a lower gluten content and higher starch content than all-purpose flour. It helps to ensure a fluffy texture in cakes and pastries. A substitute for cake flour is to use all-purpose flour, but reduce the amount by 2 tablespoons per cup.

Chicken Stir Fry

1 C. chicken, cut into small chunks or thin strips (apx. 2 chicken breasts)
1 T. corn starch
1 T. soy sauce
2-3 t. oil
1/4 C. water
2 carrots, sliced thin*
2 stalks celery, sliced thin*
1 C. sauce (sweet and sour, spicy orange, teriyaki, etc.)
1 C. pineapple chunks or mandarin orange slices
*other veggies can be used, like onion slices, snow peas, broccoli florets, etc.

Coat chicken with corn starch and soy sauce. Heat oil in fry pan, then add chicken. Cook until outside of chicken is white. Add water and simmer covered 10 minutes, stirring twice. Add carrots and celery and fry for a couple of minutes while stirring. Then add the sauce and simmer covered for 10 more minutes. Add pineapple or oranges and heat through. Serve with cooked rice.