Sugar Cookies

I got a request to make about 100 sugar cookies for a lady that wanted to buy them from me to give away for Christmas so my husband and I spend the last 2 days making and decorating cookies.
It's a pretty good recipe so here it is:

2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Butter softened
Cream that together and then add
3 Beaten Eggs
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
4 tsp Baking Powder
6 Cups Flour

Cool in Fridge for an hour and then roll out and cut into fun shapes
bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes

Big Burritos

I got this idea from the Cafe Rio burritos. Mine don't taste like Cafe Rio at all, but they are still good.
First I make the meat. I just put whatever meat I have in the crockpot with some green enchilada sauce and let it cook all day (Pork, any kind of steak, leftover roast works too, or chicken)
After it has cooked all day, shred it up and put aside.
Then I make some Spanish Rice (from the box)
And last, one can of beans, black or pinto.

Take some large tortilla shells, fill with meat, rice and beans.
roll up and put in a 9x13 pan. Cover with green enchilada sauce and mozzarella cheeses
and put in the over for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese is melted.

Sometimes I add some enchilada sauce inside the burritos.
Top with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or just eat them plain.

Chocolate Dipped Rice krispie Treats

This is a treat that is super easy to make but very impressive. I learned this one from my friend Liesl. You make Rice Krispie Treats (Melt a few TBSP Butter in the microwave and then add a bag of Marshmallows and melt. Then add a bunch of Rice Krispie cereal - I don't measure, I just pour a bunch in. Press into a pan and let cool. Cut and dip the squars into some melted Cholocate chips - see picture. For added effect, drizzle white chocolate on top. In this case, I just had some leftover frosting from decorating the Gingerbread cookies so I used that instead.

Gingerbread Cookies

I found this recipe online here.

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  

1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

Spritz Cookies

1 lb Butter
2 Cups Sugar
4 egg yolks
4 3/4 Cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 TBSP Almond Extract
1 tsp Vanilla

Cream the Butter, Sugar and Eggs first, then mix all other ingredients.
Cool for about 1/2 hour to an hour before putting in the cookie press.
Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes.

*Optional- Separate dough into a few different bowls and add food coloring to make it fun.

Beef Stroganoff

1-2 lbs of Hamburger
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 packages Brown Gravy Mix
1 Cup Water

Cook up hamburger, add soup, gravy mix and water and cook on low for 10 minutes.
Mix in 1 Cup Sour Cream. Serve over pasta, rice, or potatoes.

Chicken Pot Pie

Even though this is for Chicken pot pie, I just used leftover turkey instead.

First I make the Chicken Noodle Soup recipe only I don't add noodles, just potatoes and peas and carrots. Make it a little thicker than you would the soup.
Then I make a crust:
4 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Shortening*
2 tsp Salt
1/2 to 1 Cup Water
(This is for top and bottom crust for a 9x13 pan)

Mix and then divide in half. Roll out half for the bottom and place in pan, fill with the soup and then roll out the rest of the dough and place on top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes (until crust is a golden brown)

*I use butter flavor shortening and I think it makes the crust taste better

My mom's Sweet Potatoes

A Thanksgiving tradition.
It's not a very specific recipe. I just took a few yams and cooked them the day before and put them in the fridge.
Then the day I made them, I peeled them, sliced them, and put them in my 9x13 pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over all of them and then put some slices of butter and some pecans on top of that. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes, then put marshmallows on top and put back in oven until slightly browned.
Yum!

Pecan Pie

I found this recipe here online and thought I would try it. It was pretty easy but I won't taste it until Thanksgiving. It looks pretty good though.

3 Eggs
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 TBSP Flour
1 Cup Corn Syrup
2 TBSP Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Pecans
1 (9 inch unbaked pie shell)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pie shell in a 9 inch pie pan.
In a medium bowl, gently beat eggs. Stir in sugar and flour, then the syrup, butter and vanilla. Fold in pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes; knife inserted in center of pie should come out clean.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco's

This is one of my favorite meals I do because it's so easy and tastes good.

1-2 Chicken Breasts
1 can of Black Beans (or whatever beans you want)
1 cup Salsa

Throw all of that in a crock pot and cook it all day. Before you serve it, Shred the chicken and mix everything together.

Put in tortillas with taco stuff...ie..cheese, lettuce, tomato, olives, sour cream, guacamole etc...

No Frosting Chocolate Cake

2/3 Cup Oil
6 TBSP Cocoa
2 Eggs
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Water
2 Cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Soda

Mix all ingredients. Pour in a 9x13 pan.
Top with chocolate chips and Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes

*I always replace the oil with applesauce

Serve with vanilla ice cream or cool whip

Wes' Fried Chicken

Wes makes really good fried chicken that we had the other night.

He takes flour, seasoning salt, and Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and mixes that up then dips the chicken in that and throws it in the oil for a few minutes.

Pretty simple but pretty good.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Since we are sick in our house right now, I made my mom's recipe of chicken noodle soup.

2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Broth
1-2 Chicken breasts cooked and chopped
1/2 bag of frozen peas and carrots
1/2 bag egg noodles (not cooked)
2 chicken bullion cubes
*optional 2-4 potatoes peeled and cubed

Throw everything in the crock pot except the noodles and cook 4-5 hours on high, or longer on low.
About an hour before serving, throw the noodles in there.

*My mom doesn't usually put the potatoes in there but I always do and I sometimes don't put the noodles in. It just depends what I have in my cupboards and what I'm in the mood for.
Also, sometimes I don't have chicken broth so I just boil the frozen chicken breast in some water and add onion flakes and then use that water instead of the broth.
You could also add a variety of vegetables, we just always use the peas and carrots. When I made it this last time, I used fresh carrots and just chopped them up. I like the frozen ones though because it's less work :)
This is a very creamy soup.

Meat Loaf

Last night's dinner

2 lbs Hamburger
4 Eggs
1 Onion chopped
1 cup crushed up saltine crackers
2 TBSP Steak Sauce
Salt and Pepper

Combine and mix with hands

Shape into loaf and brown on both sides in a pan with a little olive oil.
(this is tricky - mine fell apart when I tried to flip it)

Put in a pan and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour

** I didn't have saltine crackers so I used some off brand "snack crackers" which were basically Ritz crackers and I didn't have Steak Sauce so I just used ketchup and mixed it with a little brown sugar and I thought it turned out great.

Quick Breakfast Cake

I made this today and it only took me about 5 minutes to mix it up and then 25 to bake. It's really good, I especially like the cinnamon topping :)


Cinnamon Topping

2/3 cup Brown sugar
3 T. flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 T margarine melted
combine and set aside

Batter

2 cup flour
1/2 c sugar
1 T. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c, milk
1/4 c oil
1 egg

Mix dry ingrdients. Add milk, oil, egg. Stir only until moistened. Pour 1/2 batter in pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cinnamon topping. Add rest of batter and remaining topping.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes
Serve Warm
makes 8x8 pan

Whole Wheat Bread

My first post will be my whole wheat bread that I make all the time. I don't buy store bought bread anymore because it's expensive and I like making this. It's pretty easy so here it is:

2 (8x4 inch) loaves

3 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/3 c gluten flour
1 1/4 TBSP instant yeast
2 1/2 c steaming hot tap water
1 TBSP salt
1/3 c oil
1/3 c honey or 1/2 c sugar
1 1/4 TBSP bottled lemon juice
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

Mix together first three ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, oil, honey or sugar and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. This makes a very soft dough.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves, place in oiled pans. Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan. Do not remove from oven, turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.

Lemon juice in this recipe acts as a dough enhancer which gives bread a fine, light texture. Gluten, a natural protein derived from wheat, provides elasticity and strength, added texture, helps retain moisture, prevents crumbling and extends the shelf life of bread. If you do not want to store gluten flour, substitute whole wheat flour in its place.