Teriyaki Chicken

Always a big hit at our house, especially for guests

1 c soy sauce
1 1/4 c brown sugar
1 t minced garlic
chicken pieces for 6 - 8 people (tenders would be delicious)
2 - 3 T cornstarch
1 c chicken broth

Combine first four ingredients in large pot and bring to a boil. Partially cook the chicken, turning it so all the pieces get covered with sauce. Remove chicken to a 9x13 baking dish (or smaller if you're cooking for fewer).

Stir cornstarch into chicken broth and pour into sauce. Cook until mixture is thickened slightly. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover dish with foil (or use a casserole dish with a lid) and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until chicken is done.

We serve this over rice with pineapple and broccoli.

***NOTE: This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so you may want to cut it in half if you're serving fewer than five or six. I'd try it as-is once to see of it's too much sauce for you. Enjoy!

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

(recipe found on Rachael Ray...really called Spinach artichoke Mac n' cheese)

This is AMAZING! Seriously, if you love spinach artichoke dip, you'll love this dish!

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound regular or whole wheat penne
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup white wine (didn't have white wine so we used chicken broth)
  
• 2 cups milk
• A few grates fresh nutmeg
• 1 box frozen chopped spinach (10 ounces), defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel
• 1 box frozen chopped artichokes (10-ounces), defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel
• Ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups shredded Italian Fontina cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top ( we used half mozzarella and half swiss cheese. another option is fontina provolone)
  
• 1 1/4 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top
• We added grilled chicken
  

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, salt it well and drop the pasta in. Cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the pasta and reserve.

While the pasta is cooking, place a medium pot over medium-low heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons, and the butter. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, about 10 minutes.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute then whisk the wine into the pan, cooking for another minute to burn off the alcohol. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, veggies, some salt and pepper to the sauce, and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add the cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted.

Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle some more Fontina and Parmigiano over the top and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Salsa/Guacamole Dip

This salsa is so tasty, you can eat it with a spoon!

1 can black beans
1 can white shoepeg corn
3 tomatoes, diced
3 avacados, diced
green onions, to taste
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix
4T vinegar
3T water
2T oil

Mix and enjoy!!!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Brownies

1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix together and add:

2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. water
3/4 cup oil

Blend well (Use your hands, it's faster than using a spoon or fork)

Sprinkle 2 cups chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped nuts on top.

Bake in a 9X13 baking pan at 325 degrees for 20 minutes

This is Laurie's recipe...I'm just submitting it!

Sweet Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Relish

2 ears corn, husks and silk removed
2 vine ripened tomatoes, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 avocados, pitted and diced
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large pot of boiling water, cook corn until tender (about 4 minutes). Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob. In a bowl, add corn, tomatoes, avocados, onion, parsley, 2 tbsp. oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

We served the relish on tilapia, but the original recipe called for salmon. It is also good with grilled chicken breasts. A great summer dish with fresh vegetables from the garden! :)

German Chocolate Bars

1 German chocolate cake mix (don't prepare it, just the mix)

2/3 c. butter

1 cup. chocolate chips (I use a whole bag)

1 can coconut-pecan frosting

1/4 cup milk

Cut butter into cake mix. Press half in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and drop frosting by spoonfuls over chips. Stir milk into remaining cake mixture, drop by tsp. over top. Bake another 20-25 minutes at 350. Refrigerate 4 hours before cutting. Keep in fridge.

**These bars are SO quick and easy, and they are DE-licious!! I might have eaten the whole pan by myself:)**

Raspberry Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 3 large eggs whites
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 (6-ounce) containers fresh raspberries, cut in half or 1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting

Directions:

Line 18 muffin cups with muffin papers. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Using about 1/3 cup of batter for each cupcake, spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake the cupcakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 15 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely on a cooling rack.

Using a fork, coarsely mash 1 1/2 containers of raspberries in a medium bowl. Beat the cream and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold the mashed raspberries into the whipped cream.

Remove the muffin papers from the cupcakes and cut the tops off of each cupcake. Spoon the raspberry whipped cream atop the cupcake bottoms. Place the cupcake tops on the cupcakes. Dust with more powdered sugar and serve with the remaining berries.

**Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network

Banana bars

Banana bars

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 1 (16 ounce) container cream cheese frosting ( or make the one below)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting with the cream cheese frosting.

Frosting
6 oz cream cheese
1/4 c. margarine
4 cups powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
1/3 c-1/2 cup milk

Hungarian 'Fury' Goulyas

Thanks to Jon, B's new nickname is Fury. Not to be confused with Fairy. He won't respond. Not that I tried more than once... Anyway, i made this soup that he just died for and ALL of my kids gobbled right up. It is our personal take on the

Hungarian Goulyas

1 Kilo cubed Pork (can use beef)
4 carrots (peeled and cut into medallions)
8 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
4 chicken bouillon cubes
4 beef bouillon cubes
8 cups hot water
1/2 red onion (diced)
1/2 yellow onion (diced)
1/2 red pepper (diced)
3 gloves garlic (pressed)
3 Tbs. butter
4 Tbsp. green onion (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
1Tbsp. Paprika

Dice the red onion, yellow onion, red pepper (Kalifornia Paprikas in Hungarian), and sautee all the diced veggies with the 3 pressed cloves of garlic and butter in a big stew pot. Let simmer 3 min. or so. Add the cubed Pork with salt and pepper and brown. Then cover and let cook on medium heat for about 5 min. While you are letting those cook together, dissolve the bouillon cubes in the 8 c. hot water. (You can put them in the microwave to expedite this process.) Pour the chicken/beef boullion water over the pork and let it boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer covered for an hour or two. Add the cubed carrots, potatoes, and green onion and cook until the veggies are soft. This feeds our family of 5 for two dinners. (And B and I have two helpings both nights!)

Serve with

B's Paprikas Garlic Bread:

Fresh Bread (or French Bread) cut in slices. Spread butter on top and sprinkle garlic salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, and parmesan cheese. Broil for a couple minutes. We are fans of the Hungarian Paprikas... we will send our Chicken Paprikas someday...

Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons peanut butter


In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Stephanie's Banana Bread

Cream together:
3/4 cup Butter
1 1/2 cup sugar

Add:
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed bananas (2 1/2 to 3 bananas)
1 tsp. vanilla

Fold in:
3/4 cup sour cream
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp B.P.
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans are the best)

Grease and flour 2 bread pans. Fill pans 1/3 full with banana mixture, sprinkle with topping. Fill another 1/3 full with batter, sprinkle with topping. Pour the last of the batter on top. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. Test with toothpick in the middle...if it comes out clean the bread is done. Loosen sides immediately and cool on racks. (Lining the pan with wax paper makes for easier removal! :)

Soft Chewy Pretzels

Soft Chewy Pretzels

Ingredients:
3 tsp active dry yeast
3 pinches of sugar (mine were a little big)

1 cup warm water
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt (you can do less if you are sharing with Grandpa :)
3 Tbsp oil
9 Tbsp baking soda
3 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get)
Sea salt

Directions:
Dissolve yeast into water with the pinches of sugar and let stand 10 min.

Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt, and oil, and knead until combined (a few minutes, not even 5)

Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size (about 1 hour)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. (I just squished it in my hand into snakes.) Set aside on wax paper. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now).

Twist them into any shape that you want. (We did hearts for Valentine's Day and circles one time bc the girls couldn't get the pretzel shape, but you can do whatever.) Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the strands.

Dissolve baking soda into the hot water and stir until mostly dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all pretzels with salt if wanted, (but we thought this was too much salt).

Bake for about 8-10 min, until pretzels have browned. Makes 16-18 medium sized pretzels.

***I have been seriously trying to find this recipe all my life. Okay, all my married life, but I finally found it! These are wonderful and I have made them 3 times so far (since Oct) and they always turn out fantastic! (I usually omit the sea salt bc they are salty enough already.)

Hot Artichoke Dip

1 lb. cream cheese
10 oz. grated Parmesean cheese
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. Mayonaisse
1 1/3 oz. chopped jalapeno peppers ( you can turn down the heat by using less peppers)
1T. garlic powder or 3 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
1 lb. water packed artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together cream cheese, Parmesean cheese, sour cream, mayo, peppers and garlic powder. Fold in artichoke hearts. Spread into 10 inch baking dish. Bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Serve hot with tortilla chips, baguette slices, or sourdough bread.

I have to give credit to Brooke Kane for this recipe and it came from her R.S. cookbook when they lived in Chicago. It's lots of calories and kinda' pricey, but great for special occasions.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 C. white sugar
2 1/2 C. cake flour*(I used whole wheat flour)
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 C. canola oil
1 C. buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. vinegar

*homemade cake flour: 2 Tbs. cornstarch 1/2 tsp. baking powder fill the rest of 1 cup up with flour and sift

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz. red. fat cream cheese
1 C. butter, room temp.
2 C. confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with wrappers. Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together. Pour wet mixture into dry and mix until combined. Fill tins 2/3 full with batter. Bake about 20 minutes. Cool completely. For frosting, mix butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly mix in confectioner's sugar. Add vanilla. Frost cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip. Or frost with a small spatula. Makes 24.

I like these just because of the frosting. It's fantastic!

This is Bryanna posting.

Lemon Bars

LEMON BARS

Ingredients:

* 2 sticks (1 cup) butter -softened

* 2 cups flour (for crust)

* 1/2 cup powdered sugar

* 4 beaten eggs

* 2 cups sugar

* 4 tablespoons flour (for topping)

* 1/4 cup lemon juice (juice from about 3 lemons)

* 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel (from 3 lemons)

* sifted powdered sugar

Preparation:

Heat oven to 325°. Blend butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Pat into ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. For filling, blend together eggs, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Pour over first layer. Return to oven and bake at 325° for 20 minutes. Loosen around edges, cut into bars and sift confectioners' sugar over.

I made this tonight and I thought it was a little tart, but B was in Lemon Bar heaven. The ladies I shared it with liked it as well, so it can't be THAT bad. This recipe won a ton of awards on some site, so I gave it a shot. It was yum-deliciouso, but I puckered a few times. *** This is coming from a person who puts extra sugar in her Hot chocolate, apple cider, Kool-aid, veggies (I know. sad.) , cereal, and candy bars. Just kidding about the last one, but still! So just take B's word for it. It was so easy to make too!

psst... I put a LOT of extra powdered sugar on my 2nd piece and it helped, just don't suck in or laugh when taking a bite with a lot of Powdered sugar bc you might get powdered sugar at the back of your throat and up your nose and that's not much fun. :)

Chocolate Rollo Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder

Cream sugars, butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking pwder, cocoa. This will make a slightly sticky dough. You can chill it a bit, or lightly dust your fingers with flour to work with it. Take a small amount of dough and wrap it around a rolo candy. Roll the ball in granulated sugar. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. Don't over bake!!

Dawn thinks the peanut butter version is better, but I like these! Maybe it's the chocoholic in me.

Whole wheat waffles

—I made a mistake and there is now the right amount of salt. My apologies if anyone made them with too much salt before I fixed it.—
I played around with waffle recipes until I got them to be about like Grandma Washburn's. Bryanna likes to use whole wheat, so that's what this calls for, but I assume it would work fine with white, too.

Whole wheat waffles

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

2 T butter
2 T oil

2 eggs
1 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter and oil with a fork until it's well mixed with the flour (it will have small lumps). In a separate bowl, beat eggs well. Add them to the dry ingredients along with the milk and mix for about 1 minute. The batter will be lumpy and runny. Cook on your favorite waffle maker.