S'mores Cookie Bar

A friend of mine brought Emerson these for his bday. I haven't made them yet but the whole family kept BEEEEGGGGGGING Emerson for a bite. So so good. The next-day-eating Emerson said it's better when you microwave it a little.

1 stick butter softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 t baking powder
5 Hershey milk chocolate bars (the 1.55 oz ones)
1 jar (7oz) marshmallow cream

Heat oven to 350. Spray a 9" square pan or use parchment paper with it hanging over the sides (easier to cut this way after since you can just lift it out)
Large bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy. About 1-2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, cracker crumbs, powder and dash of salt. Beat together on low speed just until combined. The dough will be crumbly and that's okay. Set aside 1 cup of cookie dough for topping.
Press the remaining dough in pan. Arrange chocolate bars over the graham cracker crust. You may have to break them to make sure the whole thing gets covered.
Drop spoonfulls of marshmallow cream over and try to spread it the best you can. Sprinkle the reserved cookie dough on top and gently press down.
Cook 23-25 minutes. Edges will be golden brown Let it cool in pan for at least 30 minutes or longer.
(If you want them gooey serve before that time)


Note: you can double it and stick it in a bigger pan. And the lady who brought it said she has ALSO used mini marshmallows instead of fluff and she says its easier and tastes fine too.

Chicken Nikki

As promised Lins, here are the two recipes I mentioned in my email.

This is my sister-in-law's recipe. It was always a favorite of mine but Brooks never liked it with all the "creamy"....so I never made it. Recently I've been making it anyway because I love it and EVERY ONE of my kids loves it. (MIRACLE!) When the Elders come over they ask for it as well. I have to make two pans when they come over (my family could eat 1.5 pans as it is). This is also the recipe that my SIL entered in her small town of Virginia's cookbook competition and won the maindish category. Her name is Nikki, so that's why we call it Chicken Nikki.
I like it because these are ingredients we almost always have the ingredients around. I think the tomatoes are a MUST since the flavor is TO DIE FOR WITH THEM. But since I'm the only one that likes tomatos I just put them on top of my chicken before I bake them and everyone else's I leave bare. I think if you make it though for SURE do the tomato and take if off if you don't love it after you cook it.

Here it is exactly how she does it:

4 boneless chicken breasts* cut into 1-2" strips
1 c. tomatoes sliced
2 (8-oz) pkg of cream cheese
1/2 c. butter
2 T garlic powder
1/2 t. oregano (opt)
1/2 t. thyme (opt)
1/2 t. marjoram (opt)
(For those last spices I just give a few shakes of my italian spice blend and call it good)

Prehead oven to 375. Place chicken pieces in casserole dish. Top with tomatoes....one tomato per chicken strip. In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add apices and mix well. Dollop mixture in large spoonfuls on top of chicken. Do not try to spread around, it will melt when cooked. Place in oven, uncovered and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve over rice.

*Note: for all my chicken breasts I always cut it horizontally so one breast would make two. Make sense? My chicken breasts are usually huge so I can probably 4-6 chicken pieces out of each breast for this recipe. It makes the chicken easier to cut the smaller it is. (NOT little pieces though. You will want it no smaller then your tomato slice.

Baked Taquitos

This is a staple in our home because it's easy and "no veggetables" in it. PLUS, I will double this and roll up the taquitos put on an oven sheet in the freezer to freeze. Then I put them in a gallon ziplock bag. Super easy to throw on a tray later and cook. I like using the small fajita size tortillas better because I don't like meat as much. Guacamole is a must. AND I will many times make 50% of my taquitos with just cheese in them so we have meat ones and cheese ones. Anyway, there's my friend's recipe.

Baked Taquitos
(Cianne Wallin)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Brown:
1 lb. ground meat/turkey
1 clove garlic, minced

Stir in:
1/2 c. salsa
2 tsp. chili powder (I've made w/o before and it's fine)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Warm tortillas in microwave.  Place 1/4 c. meat mixture down the middle and 
sprinkle with grated cheese.  (I use a Mexican blend, but cheddar or 
Monterey Jack would be fine too.)

Roll tightly and place on a baking sheet.  Spray with a very LIGHT spray of 
olive oil cooking spray. (this makes the crunch on the outside so this step can't be skipped) Bake taquitos for 15-20 minutes - until edges 
brown.  Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Chili

Actually we call this "Leckie Chili" because that is the family here who makes it. They have won year after year here in the chili competition in October and I convinced them to give me their recipe because it's the ONLY chili my kids will eat. And since it's on the stove now simmering for tonight's chili-cheese-fries dinner (we're fancy, I know), I thought I would share it:

1/2 lb. bacon, chopped into little pieces on the bottom of the pan
add to it: 1 lb. of sausage and 1 lb. of ground beef

Cook and drain fat.
-sprinkle with liquid smoke
-add 1.5 pkg of McCormick Chili seasoning packets and .5 of HOT McCormick's chili seasoning
(so two packets total)
- add 9-10 oz. of Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce
drain and add 2 cans of beans
1-2 cups of water
optional- peppers cut up
Simmer

That's it. I've made it WITH those name brand things and w/o and haven't noticed a difference. Also following the recipe as is leaves it kinda with a kick. Brooks is surprised I can even eat it!!! I think it's the 2 packets. So sometimes I just cook it with one regular chili seasoning packet and it's a little less chili-in-your-face tasting. I guess it's just to your preference. The BBQ sauce and bacon make this.

Raspberry Pretzel JELL-O

After hearing that Jodi was making this for Thanksgiving TOO, I decided that we should post one of my family's favorite recipe. We have had it every Thanksgiving for about 8 years. Brooks doesn't like it because of his allergy to dairy, but the rest of us down it. This is for a casserole dish size. I would half it if you can't eat it all in one sitting. It's okay-ish the 2nd day for leftovers but after that, forget it.

2 cups crushed pretzels
3 T sugar
1/2 c. butter melted
Mix and press in the bottom of 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes. Take out and cool. (HAVE TO cool it!!!)

1  8oz. of softened cream cheese
1 c. sugar
12 oz. cool whip
16 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
Mix and spread on top of pretzels. Make SURE it covers even in the corners. This is the middle layer and if you don't get it spread everywhere then the top layer will get down into the pretzels and change the consistency. Put in fridge and chill for at least 2 hours. I usually make this the night before. Mine (up to this step) is in the fridge right now like this.

6 oz. JELLO raspberry or strawberry
3 cups boiling water
10 oz. frozen raspberries
Mix JELLO in water until it is dissolved and add raspberries. Let it sit for a little bit to cool down before pouring this last layer on top. If it's too hot it will bore a hole right through the white layer. ;) Pour on top and put back in the fridge to chill until set and firm on top. (2-ish hours)

Summer Pasta Salad

This is such a "girl" salad. We love it though. When my sis came to visit we downed a whole bowl. It just feels light. Plus, who doesn't want to eat something COLD then a hot meal sometimes on these hot days (I hear the west is having some KILLER heat!)

The trick is finding "mini" noodles. When I used regular-sized rotini it just soaked up ALL the dressing so I ended having to use 2 whole bottle or something. So in the store in the noodle section find a noodle that the box says "mini". They can be any shape.

- 1 box mini noodles
-cucumber, cut up
-celery cut up (you HAVE to have celery, the salad needs the crunch, even though I'm not a HUGE celery fan)
- red grapes, halved
-grilled chicken (cooked and chopped up...........we've done it w/o chicken before but w/ the meat it feels more 
maindish-y)
-One bottle of Poppyseed dressing.....like Briana's.....the one w/ the big peach on the front. (have another bottle on hand just in case you like it more wet. Every noodle is different so it's hard to say how much it will soak up or not)

You cook up the noodles, rinse, Let cool. And add everything else. It tastes best if you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (I make it during naptime). You can make the ratio however you want, I love a lot of grapes and cucumbers in it and Brooks prefers more meat. Whatever.
Cut up some watermelon to serve and you have a perfect light, summer meal.

Note: When I had Iris someone brought me this as a meal. I loved LOVED it that I asked her for the recipe. When she told me the dressing was just a bottle of salad dressing, I couldn't BELIEVE it!!! And when I've taken this to people they ask about the dressing because it's so good. Funny huh. Must mix w/ the other flavors of the food.....

Peach Cinnamon Syrup

Our favorite day to have the Elders over to eat is on Sundays since we always have breakfast for dinner. Anyway, last night we had them over and I made this syrup recipe that a friend gave me a while back. They LOVED it. I've always liked it and so do MOST of my kids (Emerson doesn't eat cooked fruit). Brooks said it was too sweet a while back so I had modified the recipe a little to the below. If you WANT it more sweet, you can always add more sugar. It also keeps well in the fridge for a while. It's just something fun to offer when you have a bunch of fruit syrups, fruit, whipped cream and stuff to put on pancakes/french toast/waffles.

1 large can of peaches (if you don't have a large can do 2 small ones)
1/3 c. sugar
2 T butter
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
dash of nutmeg
1 T cornstarch mixed w/ 2 T water

I like putting the peaches in the pan first and mashing them up a little bit. I don't like a WHOLE peach on my french toast.....so I mash them into little pieces. Then add everything else into the saucepan and put on med-med/high heat until it bubbles. Stir so it doesn't get stuck on the bottom, but you don't have to stir the whole time. It will thicken the longer you keep it on, so just keep it on until you like the consistency.
Note: I used 2 cans of peaches last night in LITE syrup. The original recipe caused for the good syrupy kind with full sugar. I've tasted both and don't notice much of a difference. I guess it's up to you.
Enjoy.

Crock Pot Tacos and Salsa

I've made this before and my kids were okay-ish w/ it. Then we went to a FRIEND'S house and she served her homemade salsa and it made the WHOLE difference. Now they LOVE it.

frozen chicken breasts, 1/2 c. of salsa (if you want it spicey use medium or hot), can of black beans, can of white beans and a can of corn. Cook in crockpot on low all day or 4-5 hours on high.

Serve on warmed tortillas with cheese, avocados, lettuce, tomatoes, and the homemade salsa. (Recipe below......its to die for. I made it the first time 2 weeks ago and Brooks keeps downing it and I just eat it w/ a spoon!)

 

Blender Salsa
(But I use my food processor)
2 cans diced tomatoes (or fresh equivalent)--3 if want it milder
Juice of half a lemon/lime
1/2 purple onion chopped--or whatever onion you have
Few fresh garlic cloves or a teaspoon powder
Salt and pepper (I usually do the amount I would need on the tomatoes if I were to eat them plain)
Small bunch of cilantro chopped
1 jalapeño-cook in microwave in a ziplock Baggie for about a min til soft, the chop up (leave the seeds in it for it to be a bit spicier)

-pulse blend it all together 

French Dip Sandwiches

(Brooks' fav. meal from elementary school cafeteria)

Pat came one time and threw a potroast in the crock pot w/ Onion Soup mix and cooked it 6-8 hours on high. Then she got cool rolls and an "Au Jus" packet (by the gravy mixes) at the store and mixed it up. For some reason this is STILL a favorite around here and super easy.

Scones

Scones

This is actually Pat's recipe that Brooks remembers as a child. Not healthy because it's fried, but a family pleaser. It makes a TON so we usually make it whenever we have guests staying w/ us. We eat breakfast-for-dinner every Sunday night.

1qt. buttermilk (I use sour milk....1 T vinegar per every cup of milk)

2 T yeast

1/4 c. luke warm water

1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 T oil

1.5 t. salt

3 t. baking powder

1/2 t. soda

8 c. flour

Heat milk until warm. Soften yeast in warm water. In large bowl put buttermilk, sugar, eggs, oil, salt, baking powder, and soda and 4 cups of flour.

Add yeast and beat until smooth. Add remaining 4 cups flour and let rise until double. Punch down and put in fridge overnight (covered).

Next morning, roll out on floured surface, cut and put in oil. (frying oil is ready when you splash water on it and it starts to bubble....takes about 20 minutes. I usually put it on med heat)

Then serve w/ her Honey butter recipe:

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 t vanilla

1 egg yolk

1 cup honey

Stir well.

We usually serve w/ fruit on the side or sausage or whatever. Super yummy....and fattening.

Tostadas

Just get those flat corn tostada shells in the Mexican section of the store

Either make homemade refried beans or buy a few cans. Warm it up.

Put the beans on the shells, w/ cheese and set out toppings like mushrooms. lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, olives, green peppers, etc. for everyone to pile on.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

 

4 frozen chicken breasts

2 T butter

2 cream of chicken soup

1 onion finely cut

2 (10oz) packages of biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Put chicken, butter, soup and onion in crock pot and fill w/ enough water to cover. Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on High. 30 minutes before serving, place torn biscuits in slow cooker. Cook until dough is no longer raw in the center (30-40 min). 

I always cook peas/corn or whatever on the side in case they want to have veggies mixed it. It's simple, but like I said, they all eat it.

BEST EVER Pork Chops

Cumin Pork Chops

Marinade:

1/2 c. oil

1/4c. soy sauce

1/4 c. worchestershire

1 t. minced garlic

1 t. cumin

2 T br. sugar

salt/pepper

Puncture 6-10 pork chops and put in marinade 4-6 hours.

Grill

(I've used the Forman before and they turned out awesome, but the grill is BEYOND awesome). This is Brooks' fav marinade ever that I've done. (could use on chicken too, but we like pork chops w/ it better)