Layered Bean Dip with Baked Chips

So I kinda "created" this tonite and it was a big hit with my whole family (okay, not emmy - but she only wants to eat candy). It was actually our "main course" (ahem, my only course).

Dip:

1 can (160z) of fat-free refried-beans

1/2 package of fajita seasoning

1/4 - 1/2 t. cumin

2-3 minced garlic cloves

1 ripe avacado

1 lemon

1/8 t. salt

1 t. olive oil

lite sour cream

sliced olives

chopped tomatoes

shredded monterey jack and cheddar cheese

chopped cliantro

Chips:

flour tortillas

PAM

salt 'n pepper

In a small saucepan heat the beans up with the fajita seasoning, cumin, and garlic. Once warmed, take off the heat and set aside.

Mash the avacado up with a fork and the juice from one lemon, the 1/8 t. salt and 1 t. oil. It does not need to be completely smooth.

Then either in individual ramikins or other serving dish, layer the beans, then avacado, next with sour cream, tomatoes, cheese and cilantro. (I did mine in 7 ramikins - I layered the beans, then dolloped on about 1 T. of the avacado and about 1 T. of sour cream. I also put about 1 T. of cheese on each serving, too.)

Place in fridge for at least 4 hours (more longer if doing it in a larger serving dish).

Chips:

Heat oven to 350. Cut up the flour tortillas in triangles (I used fajita-size tortillas and made 6 triangles per tortilla). Place on a baking sheet and spray each wedge with PAM. Then sprinkle salt and pepper as desired. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes. Then turn each one over, spray again with PAM, and cook another 5 minutes. Done. (We did about 6-8 tortillas, on 2 different baking sheets).

Dip "chips" in the bean dip. Yum.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

(How appropriate a title for a food site, eh?)

Anyway, I am happy to announce that...

Linda (from Living in Tally) is the big raffle winner! Congratulations Linda! Your prize packages (plural!) are on their way.

Truly, thanks to everyone who participated. The response was simply awesome. When should we do it again?!

And of course, please don't stop posting. The success of this site depends on posts (duh), which means it relies on you to post those posts, so keep 'em coming.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mini Pecan Tarts

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
30 mini fillo shells

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and egg. Spoon 2 tsp. filling into each shell and sprinkle chopped pecans over mixture. Bake for 20 minutes.

I'm not a huge pecan pie fan, but for some reason I LOVE these little treats.

Individual Cheese Balls

1 tub (8oz.) chive and onion cream cheese spread
1 pkg. (8oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
4 slices bacon, cooked, and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, ground

Mix cream cheese spread and mozzarella cheese until well blended. Stir in chopped bacon and seasonings. Shape mixture into approx. 54 balls, 1 level tsp. each. Roll in walnuts. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

To change flavor, prepare as directed using 1 pkg. natural three cheese crumbles in place of mozzarella cheese.

Fudge

1 - 12 oz package chocolate chips
1 cube butter
1 box powdered sugar (3 3/4 cups)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Melt chocolate chips and butter in double-broiler over low heat.
2. Beat eggs in bowl until lemon yellow in color. Add powdered sugar and beat well.
3. Add melted chocolate and vanilla to bowl. Beat well.
Add nuts if desired.
4. Pour into 9/13 in or 9x9 in buttered or foil lined pan. Pan size depends on how thick you like your fudge.

Cool and cut into squares. Keep unused portion in refrigerator.

Candy That Shouldn't Taste Good, But It Does

Someone brought some homemade candy into work last week. At first glance it looked like toffee, but closer inspection revealed a very surprising ingredient. I searched for it online, and it turns out to be quite a phenomenon. Check the link: I don't think it needs a new write-up here.

We made it for a Christmas party, and it was quickly gone. Who would've thought?

Chocolate Gingerbread Bars

This is from Everyday Food magazine, and is num-yummy.

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with a strip of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. Dust paper and sides of pan with cocoa; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, ginger, pumpkin-pie spice, and baking soda; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and sour cream until smooth. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Using paper overhang, lift gingerbread from pan. Transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 16 squares. Before serving, dust bars with confectioners sugar, if desired. (To store, keep in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.)

In addition to the powdered sugar, I added pomegranate seeds, chopped pistachios, and whipped cream. I think those additions took this dessert from YUM to SUPER-YUM!

Christmas Yumminess

I don't know what to call this, nor do I remember where I got it from. It's just so good and so easy.

1 bag of stick pretzels
2 bags of MINT M&M's
1 package of white chocolate almond bark

have the bag of pretzels and M&M's opened and waiting in a large mixing bowl. Melt the package of almond bark (check heating directions on package, usually just 1 mintue).

When melted well, dump into the bowl on top of the pretzels and M&M's and stir til it covers it all. While still warm, spread on a wax papered cookie sheet. Let harden (10-15 minutes). Then break it up haphazardly and serve.

Take it to a party

Or take a treat to a friend

Or let your kids devour it.

Buckeye Balls

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening

1. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.
2. Press a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later as the handle for dipping) and chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Melt chocolate chips and shortening in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth.
4. Dip frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate holding onto the toothpick. Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like Buckeyes. Put back on the cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving.

Betsy Rolls

I guess rolls are on the brain of The Foodees contributors. Tis' the season!
This recipe is similar to the "Crescent Roll" recipe but a bit different. I guess you can try both and decide which you like the best. The one thing I like about this recipe is the rising time is shorter - I think because of the flour you use. Also, I accidentally left out the eggs and baking powder once and they still turned out - never would have known.


1 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup boiling water
1 Cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 Cup sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
5-6 Cups "Better for Bread" flour (you can find this next to the normal flour. It's usually wrapped in yellow paper.)

Pour boiling water over the butter and let it melt. Add lukewarm water to mixture.
When mixture is warm to the touch, add yeast and sugar.
When mixture becomes bubbly add 2 eggs and mix well.
Add salt and baking powder
Then add flour. When beating in flour, add enough until dough starts to pull away from sides of bowl and it doesn't stick to your fingers.
Cover bowl with a dish cloth and let rise for 1-2 hours.
Punch down and divide into thirds.
Roll out in circles (16"). Cut each circle into 16 triangular wedges. Roll up like crescents, turning ends slightly in. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and let rise again for 1-1 1/2 hours.
Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. (check in 8 minutes)

OR

After rolling into crescent shapes, put on parchment lined pans and freeze until hard (1-2 hours) Then put in freezer bags for future use.
You will then need to allow time to thaw and rise before baking.

*I would not recommend freezing for more than 2 weeks. They get to "frozen" and don't come out right after that time.

Crescent Rolls

1 scant T yeast
1 T sugar
1/3 c warm water
3/4 t salt
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c sugar
3 eggs, beaten (2 large eggs works)
1 cup warm milk
5 c flour
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, melted

In a small bowl, mix first three ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl mix next three ingredients. Stir in the yeast mixture, then add the eggs and warm milk. Gently stir in the flour. Add additional flour if dough is sticky. Cover the dough and let it rise for three or four hours.

Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll each piece into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Brush each circle with a tablespoon of melted butter. Slice the dough like a pizza into 12 wedges and roll up each wedge from the wide end to the narrow end. Place the rolls on baking sheets with the narrow tip of the dough tucked underneath. Cover the rolls and allow to rise for another two or three hours.

Brush the tops of the rolls lightly with melted butter and bake them for 10 minutes at 375˚. Makes 2 dozen.

Note: Recently we’ve found using 2 cups of whole wheat flour with 3 cups of white flour is just perfect. They do come out slightly smaller, but still delicious.
See:

Homemade Egg Noodles and Chicken

2 c diced chicken or turkey
3 c chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
pepper and other spices to taste
1 batch homemade noodles (below)

Combine first three ingredients in large sauce pan and bring to boil. Add noodles and boil until noodles are just cooked through. You may need to add more liquid depending on how thick your noodles are, how deep your pan is, and so on. Fresh noodles cook faster than dried, thin noodles cook faster than thick, so do not boil too long! Season to taste (we are partial to sage in this dish) and enjoy the goodness.

Egg Noodles
-----------
2 cups flour
1 t salt
4 eggs
few drops of water as needed

We make our pasta dough directly on the counter surface but use a bowl if you wish. Combine the flour and salt. Mound the dry ingredients on the counter and put a depression in the top large enough for an egg. Crack the egg into the depression and use a fork to incorporate the flour into the egg. Repeat with remaining eggs. Then knead, adding water a few drops at a time if necessary, to make a smooth dough. Use a pasta mill to roll dough and cut noodles or divide the dough into workable pieces and roll with a rolling pin and cut with a pizza cutter. You may make the noodles ahead of time, dry, and store a few days, or immediately cook.

White Bread

from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book

2 packages active dry yeast (I use about 1 T. to equal 2 packages)
1 1/2 c. warm water
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 eggs
1/4 c. vegetable oil
5-5 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the sugar. Let stand 5 min. until the yeast foams. Beat in the salt, eggs, and oil. Stir in half the flour to make a loose batter and beat until satiny and smooth. Add enough of the rest of the flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 5-10 min. Cover and let rest 15 min.

Now just do whatever you do when you make other breads. It just depends on what yeast you use. If you use instant yeast you can just shaped the loaves now and let rise for about 30-60 minutes, until doubled. Or if you use the normal acting yeast, let dough rise about an hour. Shape into loaves. Rise again until doubled - about 45 min.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 20-25 min. or until golden and loaves are done.

e-notes: This is like a "treat" at my home. Usually I only like wheat bread to be made for its nutritional qualities. So white bread is a treat here. I really like this bread because it tastes just like yummy Thanksgiving rolls - in fact, this is what we made instead of rolls for our Thanksgiving. Much easier, I think! I think it must be the eggs that make it taste very similar to rolls. Anyways, it's delicious.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

*The secret yummy ingredient is the pineapple. This is so tasty, it was gobbled up at our home.

Ingredients:
1 21-oz. can of blackberry pie filling
1 21 oz. can of crushed pineapple (juice included)
1 box of yellow cake mix
¾ C melted butter
1 C chopped pecans
Directions:
Pour pineapple (first) and blackberry filling in an ungreased 9x13 in. glass dish. Top it off with dry yellow cake mix and pecans. Pour melted butter over cake mix. Bake in preheated oven for 45 min. at 350.

Thanksgiving Turkey

*Obviously late, but I had to try it to make sure it was good. It was DELICIOUS and oh so juicy!
1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey

Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. (I did it 24 hours in a big white garbage bag, inside of my ice chest)


Brine:
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary

To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, plastic garbage bag.) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place breast side down in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with Olive Oil at room temperature. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper.

Stuff the turkey with:
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 large orange, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme

Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string (mine was already done with wire). I actually doubled this recipe and cooked my 22lb. turkey for 6 hours. I covered the turkey in foil, and let it cook for nearly 5 hours. At the 5 hour mark, I took the foil off, basted a little with its juices, then it cooked the last hour uncovered.
Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Yummy Spiced Cider

8 c. apple juice

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

6 inches stick cinnamon

1 t. whole allspice

1 t. whole cloves

1 t. shredded orange peel

Cheesecloth (100% cotton)

To make the spice bag, place cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and orange peel in center of a double thick, 6" square piece of the cheesecloth.  Tie closed with clean string.  (I use sewing thread.)

In a large sauce pan combine juice and sugar.  Add spice bag to the saucepan with juice mixture.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.  Remove spice bag and discard.

Note: When we do this, we buy 64 ounces of apple juice, make the cider, and then put the cider back in the juice container.  We then keep it in the fridge and reheat in mugs when we want it.  It's super tasty.

Chicken Parmesan

3 T olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded ½ inch thick
½ c flour
1 t oregano leaves or 1/2 t ground oregano
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten with 1 T water
1 c bread crumbs
13 oz (½ jar) spaghetti sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1/4 c grated Parmesan
1/2 c sliced olives
basil to taste, about 1 t
1 lb spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large oven-proof skillet. Combine flour, salt, pepper and oregano in shallow bowl. Lightly dredge both sides of each chicken breast in seasoned flour, then dip in the egg mixture. Allow the excess to drip off, then dredge in bread crumbs. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and fry each side until golden and crusty. Ladle the sauce over the chicken in the skillet and sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, olives and basil. Move to oven; bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot on a bed of spaghetti.

NOTES: I used 2 parts breadcrumbs mixed with 1 part crushed cornflakes. I have used seasoned breadcrumbs before. The original recipe calls for kalamata olives; we usually use plain old black olives. If you don't have an oven-proof skillet large enough to fit four chicken breasts, you can place the cooked chicken in a lightly greased baking pan and proceed as the recipe directs.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie - BHG

From Better Homes and Garden Nov 08

1 recipe Deep Dish Pie Pastry (see below)
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup finely shopped semisweet chocolate or mini chocolate pieces
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 sup half and half or light cream

First: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare and roll our Deep Dish Pie Pastry. Transfer to 9 1/2 to 10 inch deep dish pie plate. Flute edge high. Line pastry with double thickness of foil. Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 6 minutes more or until golden. Cool on wire rack and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Next: In medium mixing bowl combine cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg; beat on low until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture in cooled pastry shell. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate.
Then: In bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar and spice. Stir in 4 eggs. Gradually stir in half and half. Slowly pour pumpkin mixture on chocolate layer. To prevent over browning, cover pie edge with foil.

Last: Bake 60 to 65 minutes at 375 or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove foil. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. Top with chopped chocolate.

Deep Dish Pie Pastry: In medium bowl stir together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 tsp. salt. Using pastry blender or two knives cut in 6 Tbs shortening until pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 Tbs cold water over part of flour mixture; gently toss with fork. Push moistened dough to the side of bowl. Repeat using 1 Tbs water at a time until all flour is moistened (5 to 6 Tbs total). Form into ball. On lightly floured surface, flatten dough. Roll pastry from center to edge into 13 in. circle.

Notes: this pie turned out very tasty. My first mistake was leaving this until last minute as I was making this for an event. So I cheated and used store bought pie crust which was obviously not made for a deep dish pie pan. On the plus side my pampered chef pie crust shield is a fantastic tool that kept my crust from over browning. The 3/4 cup chocolate was too much. I'm pretty sure I ended up only using about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at most. This pie tastes best when eaten same day baked.

Apple Crumb Pie

This is one of my favorite pies, because it combines the goodness of apple pie with the yummy-ness of crumb topping! Enjoy!

APPLE CRUMB PIE:

Filling:

10-15 apples, peeled & cut into thin slices

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 cup sugar (+)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (+)

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Topping:

1 cube butter, chilled, but not too hard

1/3 cup heaping sugar

1/2 cup heaping flour

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 pie crust

Put the pie crust in the bottom of pie dish. Load apple mixture on top - should be heaping. Make the crumb topping by cutting the butter into the sugars, flour and oats until crumbly, then sprinkle over top of apple pie. Wrap tin foil around edges of crust to keep from burning. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour. This tastes fabulous served warm with some ice cream!

Spinach Lasagne with Béchamel sauce

Lasagne:
1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
2 T Parmesan cheese
2 10-oz packages frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
12 oz lasagne noodles
2 c spaghetti sauce
12 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (about 3 c)
2 c Béchamel sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, Parmesan and spinach. Set aside.
Cook lasagne noodles in boiling water until slightly chewy, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare Béchamel sauce. Cover and set aside.
Drain lasagne noodles and rinse with cold water.
Evenly spread the following layers in a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan:

1. first third of Béchamel
2. noodles
3. first half of ricotta
4. second third of Béchamel
5. noodles
6. half of spaghetti sauce
7. half of mozzarella
8. noodles
9. ricotta
10. last third of Béchamel
11. noodles
12. other half of spaghetti sauce
13. other half of mozzarella

Cover pan with foil (sprayed with nonstick spray) and place in oven for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Twelve 300-calorie servings.

Béchamel sauce:
2 c milk, almost boiling
3 T butter
4 T flour
salt and pepper to taste
dash of nutmeg

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. When foam subsides, sprinkle flour into butter, whisking all the while. Cook flour until foaming but not brown, about 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; add hot milk all at once and stir until bubbling subsides. Replace on heat and bring to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Sauce should be thick and smooth. Season to taste.

Quiche with Rice Crust

Crust:
2 c rice, cooked
1 egg, beaten
1 t soy sauce

Filling:
1/2 lb vegetables and/or meat, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c milk or light cream
1 c cheese, grated
1/2 t salt
dash of nutmeg
pepper to taste

Mix crust ingredients together and spread evenly to cover well-buttered pie plate. Bake crust at 350° for 10 minutes. Meanwhile mix eggs, milk, salt and seasonings. When crust comes out of oven, place chopped vegetable in crust and pour over egg mixture. Top with grated cheese. Bake for 45 minutes to until set. Allow to cool ten minutes before slicing. You may also wrap pie pan and freeze. Quiche may be served cold after thawing, or reheated at 350° for 20 minutes.

NOTES:
-We use less rice than the recipe calls for. Two cups of rice in a 9-inch pie plate makes for an excessively thick crust, in our opinion.
-After an hour in the oven, the crust edge can get pretty crunchy (we're talking teeth-shattering here). Make sure the egg mixture covers the edge of the crust when it goes back in the oven (another reason we reduce the amount of rice).
-We used plain old broccoli for our vegetable, but adding a bit of sausage or other
vegetables would make it more interesting.
-We substituted evaporated milk for the milk.

Bacon Wrapped Lil Smokies

1 lb. package little smokies (or little polskas)
1 lb. package bacon
3/4 c. packed brown sugar

Cut the bacon into thirds. Wrap each little wienie with the bacon and secure with toothpick; place on baking sheet. Sprinkle the brown sugar generously over everything.

Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.

Notes: I did these using turkey bacon and (shocker) dear husband thinks they'd slightly better if I used real bacon, although he still ate more than I had planned. Maybe next time we'd only make half and freeze the rest. They were perfect for football-watching.

Baked Apple French Toast

Baked French toast has been one of our favorite breakfasts for years, but it was a guilty pleasure. With so much butter and sugar we didn't feel we could in good conscience eat it that often. We recently found this recipe that--by including apples--directly reduces the need for sugar and moisture and, therefore, the amount of fat. Cooking the sugar until it dissolves produces a syrupy-smooth topping that releases from the baking pan and (more importantly) complements the apples beautifully.

5 T butter
2 large baking apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1 c brown sugar
2 T corn syrup
1 t cinnamon
10 slices of French bread, 1" thick
4 beaten eggs
1 c milk
1 t vanilla

In large heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add apple slices and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon to apples. Stir until brown sugar dissolves. Pour apple mixture into greased 9x13 pan, and spread evenly. Arrange bread slices in one layer on top of apple mixture, squeezing to make a tight fit. Mix eggs, milk and vanilla well and pour over bread slices, making sure to wet all the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 375° until mixture is firm and bread is golden. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Invert to serve.
SOON!:

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2/3 c. (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. butter, softened (approximately 5 T.)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk
2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, and egg; beat well.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Gently fold in raspberries and walnuts.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

Notes: I did 1 1/3 c. white flour, 2/3 c. whole wheat flour. Also I didn't do the walnuts because, well, I just didn't feel like it. And if you are near a Harris Teeter, check their sales because I got the raspberries for $1.50. I used one silicon muffin tin and one regular. If you have a silicon, use it and only it; otherwise, I suggest using muffin papers as the sides and bottoms got really dark in the metal muffin tin.

Brandy's Chili

I admit I made this up when I could not find a chili recipe I liked, but it actually is quite tasty (much to my surprise!)

1 lb hamburged browned and drained
1 can diced tomatoes Italian style/flavor
3 cans beans (any kind, I have used black, pinto, chili, kidney, white, etc.)
1 26 oz jar of "Southwest Black Bean & White Corn Salsa - Mild" (this is Sam's choice brand, but I'm sure other people make it)
1 package of chili seasoning
Chipotle seasoning

Drain beans and add to all other items in a crock pot. Stir until mixed. Use the chipotle to your desire for heat. Cook on low until heated through (minimum 2-3 hours, but I've left it all day before and it still came out great).

Chicken Puffs

My husband and his friends fight over the leftovers whenever I make this meal. Even the kids love them!

3-4 chicken breasts boiled and shredded (3 if average size, 4 if small breasts)
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c chopped onion
3 packages crescent rolls
Melted butter to cover
Italian bread crumbs to top

"Gravy"/Sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c. sour cream

Mix shredded chicken, cream cheese, and onion together. Spread crescent rolls out of counter so there are 24 triangles of crescent to work with. Fill each of the triangles with 1-2 tbsp of chicken mixture (I do this by hand and sight, with no true measuring). Roll the triangle of dough around the chicken mixture so that no mixture is visible, and everything is covered with dough. Place in a sprayed pan about 2 inch from the next ball to leave room for rising (I use 10 x 13 baking dishes). Brush the tops of each ball with butter (I spray the top of each of mine with pam or butter flavored cooking spray) and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until the crescent rolls are browned to your desire.

While the "puffs" are cooking, prepare the "gravy"/sauce in a small saucepan on the stovetop by... Combining the chicken broth, sour cream, and cream of chicken together and heating until warm, without boiling.

To serve, cover the chicken puff with the gravy as desired. At my house we also use the gravy to top items such as mashed potatoes, etc.

Tomato Dip

Great for serving with chips or fritos or even veggies!

8 oz brick lite cream cheese
8 oz brick fat free cream cheese
3 medium ripe tomatoes
4 tbsp grated onion
1/2 tsp. tabasco
1/2 tsp. salt

Blanch tomatoes and peel. Cut the tomatoes into very small cubes on a paper towl to help remove the seeds and most of the juice (I removed the skins and seeds and then chop with a small food processor until fairly chopped). Blend the tomatoes with an electric mixer with the rest of the ingredients until well mixed. Chill 2 hours. Serve with chips or veggies.

Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

These are very popular at my house, where I have some very picky eaters when it comes to Mexican food. I make these at least 1 -2 times a month.


10 -15 tortillas
1 lb cheddar cheese shredded
12 oz sour cream
3-4 boiled and shredded chicken breasts
1 reg. can cream of chicken soup (sometimes I use 2 cans if chicken seems dry)
1 reg. can diced green chiles

Mix sour cream, soup, chiles together. Brush the bottom of two greased 10 x 13 pans with mixeture -very lightly. Add chicken to mixture and stir until combined. Fill a tortilla with a large spoonful or two of the chicken mixture (obviously depends on the size of your tortilla as to how much will fill it). Top chicken mixture with cheddar cheese. Roll tortilla, and place seam down in baking dish. Repeat process until baking dishes are full (approximately 6-8 enchiladas in each pan depending on size). If there is any mixture left, brush the tops of the enchiladas with the mixture and then top with 1/2 cup of cheese per baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 5 minutes to make cheese golden. Yields 12 -16 enchiladas which at my house, feeds 8.

Mock Champagne

This is a very light and tasty alternative to the standard event punch of sprite and shorbet. You can even make this and leave out the ginger ale if you don't like the carbonation like me. :)

2 gallons apple juice
2 regular sized containers of white grape juice
2 liters of ginger ale

Mix the apple and white grape juices together and freeze. Refrigerate the ginger ale separately. Put the frozen juices in a large punch bowl and pour the ginger ale over the top to serve.

Serves 40 easily.

**Recipe can be halved for smaller groups and juices can be mixed together and frozen in the juice container. To get the juice out of the small necked juice bottle, simply take out of the freezer several hours before the event to allow the juice to become slushy. No ice is neeed.

Muddy Buddies

This is almost better than Rice Krispy treats, if you ask me.......

9 C Chex, whatever kind you want, I used "corn"
You can mix kinds too

Set aside

1/2 C Peanut butter (smooth)
1/4 C butter
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix together over medium heat in sauce pan

1 tsp vanilla

Add to mixture above, after removed from heat

1 1/2 C powdered Sugar

Pour chocolate mixture over Chex, mix well, add powdered sugar, shake, stir, mix well, Wa-la!!!! I LOVE this after school snack, midnight snack, 7am snack, whatever.........from chex.com