I grew up with Diana - she was our neighbor and good friend.
One thing that she made that I thought was so yummy was Chicken 'n Dumplings.
My mom had never made any such thing.

For years I have tried to make her recipe but failed.
Last night, I tried a recipe from pinterest and really liked it.

Now I have my own Chicken 'n Dumplings recipe!

http://www.polishthestars.com/2011/11/slow-cooker-chicken-dumplings.html

These cookies that Sarah makes are amazing. You have to try them - they don't taste pumpkin-ie at all.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing

Cream together:

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

Then add:

1 cup pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Sift together dry ingredients then add to above wet mixture.

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

Add 1 cup milk chocolate chips.

The dough we be very wet still. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes depending how large your cookies are. I cook all my cookies on parchment paper. Allow to cool then frost.

Icing:

3 T butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. milk

2 c. powdered sugar

Icing:

In saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium to med-high heat until bubbling and thick. Cool 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup milk. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

I want to try this!

http://thimbleanna.com/recipes/rasppie.html



Raspberry Lemon Pie

This totally worked. Love this new trick!


Do you have a KITCHENAID?

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2011/11/how-to-shred-chicken-in-less-then-a-minute.html#.TsaHT2iZy_k.facebook

My new favorite chicken noodle soup

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-chicken-noodle-soup/detail.aspx

It was easy and flavorful.

Want to make these - they look yummy!

Mini Apple Pies
http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2011/10/what-i-made-for-monday.html

Yummy Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/maple-cream-cheese-frosting/detail.aspx




Alex gave these cinnamon rolls a 9 out of 10.
He said that Mrs. G and Sister Bale still has better rolls than me.

Bret asked me to make brownies for his young men yesterday at 7am. So I quickly made them. I wanted to make my yummy frosting recipe (http://thekitchenofk.blogspot.com/2011/04/httpallrecipes.html)
BUT I didn't have any chocolate chips left in the house.

So, I found a new recipe and I love this one too!

Creamy Brownie Frosting
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 Tablespoons Hershey's Cocoa
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. Makes about 1 cup frosting - perfect for 1 batch of brownies.

The boys loved this one.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1737,144174-249200,00.html

SNICKERS bar pie

I asked Alex what kind of dessert he wanted for his 17th birthday.
We had an entire costco box of snickers that was extra from Father's Day.

So he suggested that I make a snickers ice cream cake.

I found this recipe and tried it.
He said it was yummy!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1737,144174-249200,00.html

It took 8 bars of snickers - I actually saved some of the ice cream mixture later because there was too much for the pie

SNICKERS® BAR PIE

2 c. Oreo cookies, crushed 1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts, chopped 1/4 c. butter, melted 8 SNICKERS® bars (2 oz.) 2 qt. vanilla ice cream 1/4 c. caramel sauce 1/4 c. chocolate sauce Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cookie crumbs, peanuts and butter in 9 inch pie plate. Press into crust and bake 10 minutes. Cool. Chop candy bar into small pieces and fold into softened ice cream. Spoon into crust. Drizzle caramel and chocolate sauce over top. Freeze 4 hours.

I tried a new recipe tonight - Honey BBQ Chicken.
Jasmine and Al both love barbeque chicken, but they love Ron Dodd's barbeque chicken. Ron Dodd won't share his recipe. So I have never attempted to make barbeque chicken as I didn't think mine would live up to his recipe and I didn't want to be compared.
Jasmine was always the most adamant that Ron Dodd's recipe was secret and the best.
Jasmine left last week.

Tonight I made a pretty yummy honey bbq chicken dinner. I didn't get to try it because the boys ate all of it.

YEAH!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1639,141191-241197,00.html

With Bret out of town, we can expand our protein choices.
Yesterday we grilled some ribeyes for a yummy dinner. One of the ribeyes got a little crispy - Alex said it was because it was the first time that the grill had real meat on it. Bret only grills costco burgers, johnsonville brats and italian sausages and chicken.

Tonight, we had pork chops - another meat that Bret doesn't enjoy.
I really enjoyed this recipe and will try it again when Bret isn't around to complain!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Parmesan-Sage-Pork-Chops/Reviews.aspx?Page=2

This was super yummy.
The cheese was $5 for a small brick and Alex didn't even care for that part - so I think next time I will skip that and not even bake it.

Also, I will have to be more careful. When I was chopping my anaheim pepper, I touched my nose - holyheck! My nose has been on fire for the past hour! And my finger as well - I must have had an open cuticle. goodness gracious!

I substituted an anaheim pepper for the called pepper which was a cubanelle.

I also couldn't find crushed fire roasted tomatoes so I got diced.
I also didn't have beef stock so I used beef broth

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/three-alarm-italian-style-chili-mac-recipe/index.html

Trying to decide if Grandma Bonnie could also pull off making a King Cake for Jasmine. She loves herself some King Cake but I don't want to pay $60 to have one shipped.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/mardi-gras-king-cake/Detail.aspx?

When Lindsay and I dropped in on our sweet friend Elizabeth Miller from Milwaukee, she was making homemade caramels.
I'm not a caramel person - or at least I didn't think that I was.
These were delicious!

Grandmas Caramels
By Margaret Earl (Elizabeth Miller's grandma)

1 can condensed milk
1 cup brown or regular Karo syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 lb butter

Combine all ingredients in heavy pan and cook for 20 minutes from the moment you put it on the heat stirring constantly.
Pour into buttered pan or dish.
Cut and wrap in waxed paper.
If caramels are sticky, use corn starch on cutting board.

This morning I had strawberries and lemons. I was thinking that sounded like a yummy partnership. I found this recipe and went for it.

I realized when I was taking them out of the oven that I had forgotten to put the sugar on top prior to baking.

So I made a quick lemon glaze and poured that over to add another layer of yumminess.

http://backtothecuttingboard.com/breakfast/light-strawberry-lemon-muffins/

And the best quote of the night in regards to food:


"Alex, what is the best thing you have on your plate?"

(Let me set this up for you. He had salmon, homemade smashed potatoes with real bacon bits, homemade risotto, and corn with fresh lemonade).

He said "EVERYTHING"

LOVE IT!

I have made this a few times but we love it (especially Jasmine and me)
I made it tonight - didn't have the cherry tomatoes but both kids still liked it.

Yeah!


http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/italian-bacon-tomato-risotto-56806.aspx

It was Ashlee's birthday earlier this week.
I asked her what I could make to help her celebrate.

Her request.....
ICE CREAM CAKE

One of our favorites and easy to make.


http://thekitchenofk.blogspot.com/2010/04/ice-cream-cake-this-cake-was-made-by.html

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brownie-Frosting/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Found a SUPER YUMMY BROWNIE FROSTING!

Really - you have to try this one!

I have posted this recipe before.
Chris had his birthday and so I asked what he would like for me to make him.

Mom's Banana Cake.

Happy Birthday Chris!

http://www.ldsliving.com/story/64185-food-dish-cookie-recipe-contest-winner-recipe

Tried these today.
I saw them in my LDS Living Magazine.
Then someone blogged about them today.
Had lemons and some time.

Success!

Aren't these lemons huge and beautiful? They aren't from my tree - mine are all gone.

Totally want to try these!


http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/03/orange-kissed-cookies/

I was so excited....
I got asked to make dinner for a family in our ward. I love when I have a reason to cook. (besides my own family).
I was going to make this.....

Creamy Pesto Chicken Casserole

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/creamy-pesto-chicken-casserole/ead128b0-ab01-4ab3-9cad-d3e39896cd7f/

I needed to make a special trip to the store as I had this on my meal list for tonight but only enough for my family. I went to the store with a list (but had several calls at the store which distracted me) and left without the PESTO!

So I googled quickly and found this:

Chicken Alfredo Casserole

http://busycooks.about.com/od/precookedpoultryrecipes/r/chickenalfredo.htm

Jasmine and Alex both gave it a 10.
There wasn't enough for Bret by the time he got home. With casseroles there is so much risk involved with my family, that I have a smaller dish (about 1/2 of a 9X12). I used this in addition to a 9X12.
Since the dish was a winner, I'll have to make a full 9X12 the next time.

I also made my new favorite basil infused breadsticks.

I'd still like to try the Pesto dish. I'll have to remember to keep it on my list.

As a side note, I bought some basil, cherry and grape tomato seeds to plant. My basil and tomato plants are officially sad - time for a refresh.

New favorite Salmon recipe from Jenny:

In a foil packet, layer
asparagus
salmon (with skin side down)
drizzle olive oil and lemon juice
tablespoon of pesto
wrap and bake for 15 minutes at 400

Jazz = 12
Alex = 11

Served with Rhodes Rolls and Mashed Potatoes.
perfect!

Tomatoes
Fresh from my "garden"
Just felt like that was worthy of its' own post.

I made Lemon Pie cookies this week, just like I said I was. They are ok - nothing to write home about.



http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/lemon-pie-cookies-recipe/index.html

Bread Flour

Do you use it?

Do you buy generic of Gold Medal?

My store stopped carrying generic so I bought the Gold Medal brand this week.

Have to have me some bread flour.

Tyler Florence's Meatloaf Recipe

I love Lindsay. She is my BFF. As I was asking her "why is it that red peppers cost more than green peppers?" we started talking about what I was making for dinner. As I told her about the recipe, she said she had made it before and it was yummy. Well of course that got me pretty excited. Then she was at Walmart so she picked up the ingredients and she is making it tonight for dinner. Linds is a way better cook than me so I'm sure hers will come out as a 10!

Mine turned out fine. Luckily, I made smashed potatoes (mashed potatoes + milk + cheese + bacon bits) and so I knew that the kids would eat that if nothing else. Jasmine really doesn't like meatloaf and Bret isn't in love with the concept.
Bret gave it a 7 and said it was better than my usual meatloaf recipe.
I don't think Jasmine even put any on her plate.
Alex gave it a 7 but mostly because of the smashed potatoes. He didn't like the peppers.

So we had more than 2/3 leftover. HMMMM! What to do with it? I called the Bale Family and delivered it to them. Hope they enjoy it!

Now back to the peppers!
Why do red peppers cost more?
At my walmart, red peppers this week were $1.64 each. While green peppers were .64 each. At my safeway, red peppers were $1.99 each this week. Green Peppers at Safeway were $1.64. Lindsey was at her walmart while we were talking and her red peppers were a deal at $0.88 each.
This is the answer my research gave me:
Red peppers are just green peppers that have been allowed to fully ripen. There is a risk in letting them stay on the plant that long and it takes more 'field time' so they are losing money by not getting ready to plant something else. So the plants sit in the ground longer waiting for them to ripen.

How much are red peppers at your local store?

Broccoli Cheese Chicken Rice Casserole

I did make this on Sunday. It was a bit labor intensive.
I read many of the reviews and made some changes. I used "fresh" chicken instead of canned. I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen. I used real cheese instead of processed. And...
And I hated that I added bread crumbs to the top because that was overpowering.
It was way better yesterday as leftovers, with a bit of extra cheese added to it.

So the quest continues for a good recipe for this as I love the concept. There is an amazing Broccoli Cheese Rice sidedish (no chicken) found HERE... and when I was eating mine, I was just trying to imagine that I was eating theirs!

Calzones - which dough is the best?

I used a pizza/calzone dough recipe that I had written down on a scratch sheet of paper. I thought it was the one that Bret was in love with from the last time. Not so much. He gave it a 4. BUT Jasmine gave it a 10 and Alex gave it an 11.

4 teaspoons yeast 2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water 2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil 4 cups flour

Banana Bundt Cake from RAJ

• 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 cup shortening 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 2 eggs 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 2/3 cup sour milk (can be 1 tblspn white vinegar with regular milk to make 2/3 cup)
• 4 soft brown mashed bananas 2 cups flour

Cream sugar, shortening, and egg. Then add all ingredients. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until done.

**Note to self - be sure that it is DONE. Toothpick doesn't always work. Sorry Chris!

I have the Martha Stewart jars for my flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and bread flour. However, I have used these for almost 10 years and I'm tired of them.

















I'm thinking about switching to these OXO towers. I have one that I use for marshmallows and I'm really happy with it.

I want to try these recipes.

Can you tell what I spent this Saturday doing? Now granted I was watching TV, while I was working out and responding to emails - so it isn't like I was just sitting like a bump on the log (well at least not the entire time!) Some of these recipes I saw earlier this week but they are still on my wish list

Triple Lemon Pie
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/triple-lemon-pie-recipe/index.html

Slammin Swedish Meatballs
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aaron-mccargo-jr/slammin-swedish-meatballs-recipe/index.html

Simple Birthday Cake with Marshmallow Frosting
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/simple-birthday-cake-with-marshmallow-frosting-recipe/index.html

Cheddar & Scallion Bread
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/cheddar-and-scallion-bread-recipe/index.html

Broccoli Chicken Casserole
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/broccoli-chicken-casserole-i/Detail.aspx

Creamy Pesto Chicken Casserole
http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/creamy-pesto-chicken-casserole/ead128b0-ab01-4ab3-9cad-d3e39896cd7f/

White Bean and Chicken Chili
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/white-bean-and-chicken-chili-recipe/index.html

Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/dads-meatloaf-with-tomato-relish-recipe/index.html

Bacon Cornbread
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/bacon-cornbread-recipe/index.html

served with Honey Butter
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/honey-whipped-butter-recipe/index.html

Lemon Pie Cookies
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/lemon-pie-cookies-recipe/index.html

Isn't this so fun?
Rod got me this great tool because I LOVE pineapples.

We have made these multiple times. It is a true winner.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Soft-Garlic-Breadsticks/Detail.aspx

Do you ever make french toast?

Do you have a special pan for your batter?

Mom bought this pan for me several years ago. When I use it, it reminds me of her.