Tacos with mean Green rice

Bret ruined this by asking what the spinach was for. I think the kids might have enjoyed it if they hadn't known what they were eating. Bret also said that there was too much cilantro in the rice. So this is a non-repeat.

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/joly-mole-rubbed-chicken-or-beef-tacos-and-mean-green-rice/

Million Dollar Fudge - From Grandma Lilly Jespersen

Mom tells the story of Grandma making this fudge for some kind of church fundraiser. I don't remember the story except for that though.

This fudge is a Christmas tradition.

12 ounces Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon Vanilla
4 1/2 cups Sugar
a pinch of salt
7 ounces Marshmallow Fluff
1 stick (1/2 cup) Margarine
1 1/4 cups chopped Walnuts, optional
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Evaporated Milk

Line 10 X 15 inch cookie sheet with wax paper. Put chocolate chips into mixing bowl. Cover chocolate with marshmallow fluff.
In heavy kettle, combine milk, margarine and sugar. Cook to boiling point; stirring constantly. Boil (at a rolling boil, steady but not hard) for six minutes.
Pour boiled mixture over chocolate chips and marshmallow fluff. Beat 3 minutes. Do not let it loose its shine.
While mixing, add vanilla and salt (walnuts too, if desired).
Spread into pan.
Cut into squares when set.

As an additional note, Mom had a special clear plastic grid ruler that she would use when cutting her fudge. Every time she made this fudge, she used the ruler to cut the treat into PERFECT one inch squares.

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats

This recipe was a LOSER! It didn't look good either.
Bret ate the zucchini and the kids ate the pasta. The meat part just wasn't good. I don't know if it was because it was ground turkey or what - but YUCK!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/turkey-stuffed-zucchini-boats-recipe/index.html

Soft Italian Breadsticks

Bret got this recipe from someone that worked for him in the Flagstaff office. He would often buy them from the wife of the employee already made for us and bring them home.
After having the recipe for at least a year, I finally tried them.
A bit time consuming to make but pretty yummy.

1 cup water
3 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast

In bread machine pan, place the first 8 ingredients. Select dough setting. When cycle is completed, turn dough onto lightly floured surface and divide in half. Cut each portion into 9 pieces. Roll each into a 4-6 inch rope. Place two inches apart on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
Immediately brush with butter (1 Tablespoon melted) and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (1 Tablespoon grated). Serve warm. Makes 18 sticks.

Corn Pudding for Jasmine

Jasmine loves all things CORN! Last night she told me that corn would be good in hashbrown casserole. I did a shrimp boil tonight for dinner and since she hates shrimp, I wanted to do something for her to enjoy. This was it. She had more than one serving, so I would say it is a repeat. I also made chocolate pudding pie in an oreo crust per her request for this dinner as well.

I would note that my cream cheese wasn't completely softened and next time I will wait for that to be ready so that there aren't any clumps.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/corn-pudding-recipe/index.html

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

I made these a few weeks ago but never updated the blog. These were easy and good! I can't remember what the main dish was but these made a nice side with it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/buttermilk-cheddar-biscuits-recipe/index.html

Peppermint Cookies - WINNER!

This was a new recipe that I did like.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1610,154168-227195,00.html

Lemon Cookies - didn't like these

So much potential but I didn't like these for all the effort that was put into them....

http://cookies-n-cakes.com/2008/05/21/lovely-lemon-cookie-recipe/

Baked French Toast Casserole

This did not work out. I really have tried several different breakfast casseroles but haven't had success. This was just another attempt.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-french-toast-casserole-with-maple-syrup-recipe2/index.html

Mint Brownie Bites - didn't even get to the mint part

These didn't turn out so much. I got the recipe from Good Housekeeping. I didn't even bother putting the mint topping on them. They were too tiny and didn't taste that great.

Mint Brownie Bites

From Good Housekeeping

triple-tested at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute
Chocolatey and cakey, these brownies get their cooling kick from icing mixed with mint extract and a topping of peppermint candy chunks.

Kate Sears

Yields: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 35 min

Cook Time: 7 min

Oven Temp: 350



Brownie Bites

* 2/3 cup(s) all-purpose-flour
* 1/2 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
* 1 pinch(s) salt
* 3/4 cup(s) granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
* 2 tablespoon(s) honey
* 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
* 1 large egg white

Topping

* 1 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
* 1 tablespoon(s) milk
* 1 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine, softened
* 1/2 teaspoon(s) peppermint extract
* 2 ounce(s) white chocolate, melted and cooled
* 2 ounce(s) round hard peppermint candies, broken into chunks

Directions

1. Prepare Brownie Bites: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease large cookie sheet.
2. In large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In medium bowl, whisk sugar, butter, honey, vanilla, and egg white until blended. Stir sugar mixture into flour mixture; then, with hand, press dough just until blended.
3. With greased hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart; press to flatten slightly. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until brownies have cracked slightly. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
4. Prepare Topping: In medium bowl, whisk confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Whisk in butter and extract, then whisk in melted chocolate until smooth. Swirl 1 teaspoon topping on each cookie. Top each frosted cookie with 1 candy piece. Store in tightly sealed container with waxed paper between layers at room temperature up to 3 days or in freezer up to 1 month.

Homemade Biscuits - Jazz gave them a 10

EASY DROP BISCUITS
Printed from COOKS.COM

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup cold milk (place in refrigerator until needed)
4 tbsp. butter at room temperature.
1 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 475°F.

Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Measure dry ingredients into a medium bowl (sifting is not necessary). Add butter and milk to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (do not overwork the batter!)

Immediately drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

For larger biscuits, drop by half cupfuls onto baking sheet about 3 inches apart, and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Biscuits are done when golden brown on top and lightly browned on the bottom.

Cooks Note: Biscuits may be brushed with cream or egg wash before baking, if an extra sheen is desired. To make egg wash, beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

This is a recipe we got from Kim Harker.

2 packages of Devil's Food Cake Mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup Butter Crisco Sticks

Combine ingredients. Form balls and bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine ingredients. Place frosting in between two cooled cookies to make oreo sandwich cookie!

Chicken in Creamy Pan Sauce

Jazz gave this an 8. She said if I had cooked rice to go with it, she would have given it a 10.
Alex gave it a 10 but he is always trying to kiss up to me.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbspn flour
1 Tablespoon oil
3/4 cup reduced chicken broth
4 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Coat chicken with flour. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, cook on each side until cooked through.
Remove chicken from skillet. Cover chicken to keep warm.

Add broth to skillet. Stir to scrape up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream cheese. Cook 2-3 minutes or until cream cheese is melted and sauce starts to thicken. Stirring constantly with wire whisk.

Return chicken to skillet. Turn over both sides of chicken with sauce. Cook 2 minutes or until chicken is heated through.

Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients
Cupcakes:

* 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
* 1 cup sliced and firmly packed, ripe banana
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 3 tablespoons water
* 1 large egg
* 1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
* 1 (9-ounce) package devil's food cake mix without pudding (recommended: Jiffy)

Peanut Butter Frosting:

* 2 1/2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
* 1/3 cup plus 2 1/4 teaspoons powdered sugar
* 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons whole milk
* 2 1/2 tablespoons roasted and lightly salted chopped peanuts
* 10 dried banana chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place a medium-sized platter in the freezer.

Line 10 standard (2 3/4-inch wide) muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.

To make the cupcakes, in a medium bowl and with an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter, sliced banana, oil and water together on medium speed until mostly smooth or only a few very small pieces of banana are visible. On low speed beat in the egg, cocoa powder and the cake mix. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute or until batter is well blended.

Spoon an equal amount of batter into the lined muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack for 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of cakes comes out clean.

Remove cupcakes from the pan and place on the platter in the freezer. Freeze for 8 minutes to quickly cool the cupcakes.

While the cakes cool, make the frosting, with an electric mixer beat together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons milk until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. (If needed, add up to an extra 1/2 teaspoon of milk to make frosting smooth.) Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle the tops with an even amount of the chopped peanuts. Garnish the tops of each cake with a dried banana chip.

A viewer, who may not be a professional cook, provided this recipe. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe and therefore, we cannot make representation as to the results.

The frosting didn't turn out so fabulous. Jasmine thought there were too many flavors combined. Waiting to hear what our "banana" friends think....