Spidey Dip (7 layer dip)

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) can refried black beans

1 (1 1/4 oz) envelope taco seasoning

1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies, drained (or jalapeños if you like it hot)

1 cup salsa

1 cup sour cream

1 cup guacamole

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

2 green onions, sliced

2 cup shredded lettuce

1 cup chopped fresh tomato

Couple large bags of tortilla chips

Instructions:
1. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the refried beans and taco seasoning.
2. On a large festive Halloween tray , spread the beans in an even circular shape. Leave room around the edges for the garnish.
3. Sprinkle green chilies over. Smooth salsa over. Smooth guacamole over.
4. Place your sour cream in the end of a ziploc bag. Cut the corner off. Squeeze sour cream on top of guacamole in several concentric circles (or octagon shapes for a more authentic look). Using a knife or the handle of a fork, run lines lightly through the sour cream to make the web shape.
5. Sprinkle lettuce in a circle around bean dip. Sprinkle tomatoes and green onions over. Sprinkle cheese over.
6. Garnish with a creepy spider and serve with lots of tortilla chips.

Easy Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients:

2 largeish avocados

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 of a small white onion, finely minced

1 small ripe tomato, peeled and diced

1/4 tsp. hot sauce

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
1. Peel and mash your avocados. To make chunky guacamole, chop avocados into cubes and mash them very slightly with a fork. You can mash them more if you like.
2. In a serving bowl, combing avocado, lemon, onion, tomato, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Don’t go overboard on any of the ingredients– if you have good avocados, that’s where most of the flavor should come from.
3. Serve. If you let it sit, it may get a bit brown– will still taste great.

Wicked Witch Hat

Cake Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1/4 cup orange sprinkles or decorator sugar

Frosting:
3/4 cup butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbsps light corn syrup
6-7 Tbsps half & half (or milk)

Decorations Ingredients:
2 waffle cones
Black decorator sugar
Fruit Roll
1 gummy fruit ring

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 1 1/2-quart oven-safe bowl. Grease and flour 12- or 13-inch round pizza pan with at least 3/4-inch high rim. Set both aside.

Combine all cake ingredients except decorator sugar in large bowl. Beat according to package directions. Gently stir in orange decorator sugar.

Pour about 3 cups cake batter into prepared bowl. Pour remaining batter into prepared pizza pan, spread evenly. Bake batter in pizza pan for 15 to 17 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; loosen sides of cake with knife and invert onto round 14-inch or larger serving plate. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, bake batter in bowl for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; loosen sides of cake with knife and invert onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

Combine all frosting ingredients in large bowl except half & half. Beat at low speed until mixed. Increase speed to high; beat, adding enough half & half for desired frosting consistency.

Frost top and sides of cake brim with about 1 1/2 cups frosting. Place crown, top side down, on center of frosted brim. Frost crown. Press 1 waffle cone gently into top of crown. Top with another waffle cone turning until it is level. Holding tip of cone, frost upward from base of crown to cover cones and to push frosting between cones for securing into place. Sprinkle frosting with decorator sugar.

Place fruit gummy ring on cake for buckle; place candy corn or other candies around crown, if desired. To serve, remove cones; cut cake into slices.
*(A 1 1/2-quart oven-safe bowl will hold 5 to 6 cups of water when filled to the top. To check to see if your bowl is large enough, fill it with water, 1 cup at a time.)

Witch Cake

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) cake mix, any flavor
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
Few drops green food coloring
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Mini OREO Bite Size Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
10 BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks

PREPARE cake batter and bake in 13x9-inch baking pan as directed on package. Cool completely.
TRANSFER cake to cutting board; cut into pieces using diagram 1.

Arrange cake pieces on cake board or large platter to form the witch's head, nose, hair and hat as shown in diagram 2.


FROST and decorate with Evil Embellishments as listed below. Store in refrigerator.

Evil Embellishments-Frosting
For frosting, add milk to dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Beat with whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Remove 1 cup of the pudding mixture to use for the hair; spread remaining pudding mixture onto cake.
Evil Embellishments-Scary Face
For scary face and witch's wart, use the chocolate chunks.
Evil Embellishments-Ghoulish Green Hair and Witch's Hat
For ghoulish green hair, stir green food coloring into the reserved 1 cup pudding mixture. Spread onto the head as desired. For witch's hat, decorate with the cookies.

Halloween Cookie Ideas

creepy cupcakes

Cupcakes, Cupcakes

Cupcakes Galore

More Cupcakes

Halloween Cupcakes

These cupcakes are fairly self explanatory. Made the Dracula's, and Spider webs for our wee party.

Halloween Cupcakes

These are pretty self explanatory. Pretty cute, eh?

Cauldron Sundae

Ingredients
12 oz chocolate-flavored candy coating, chopped
6 small balloons
4 oz vanilla-flavored candy coating, chopped
Green paste food coloring
Lime sherbet
Orange and yellow nonpareils
Orange coarse sugar
Sour gummy worms
Pretzel sticks
Candy pebbles (optional) can find this at a cake store or candy store
Yellow-, orange-, and red-tinted shredded coconut*

Directions
1. Heat chocolate-flavored candy coating according to package directions just until melted, stirring occasionally. Cool candy coating slightly. Meanwhile, inflate balloons to a 4-inch diameter. Carefully dip the balloons into the melted candy coating halfway up the balloon. (You want chocolate to coat balloon well to form a sturdy cauldron.) If desired, using a thin metal spatula, spread the chocolate coating to evenly coat the balloon. Place balloons on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Allow chocolate to run under bottom of balloon for
support. Place in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes or until chocolate coating is very firm. Reserve any remaining chocolate coating to use for patching holes.

2. Working with one balloon at a time, prick balloon with a straight pin and deflate. Carefully remove balloon by gently pulling balloon away from the sides of the chocolate. Use a small brush to fill in any holes with remaining melted chocolate candy coating. Return to freezer.

3. Melt 2 ounces of the vanilla-flavored candy coating according to package directions. Cool candy coating. Working with one cauldron at a time, use a small brush to apply the melted candy coating to top edge of the cauldron, making drips down the sides. Chill in freezer to set. Melt the remaining vanilla candy coating. Tint melted candy coating with green food coloring. With a small brush, apply melted candy coating to the top edge of each cauldron, allowing coating to drip down the sides. Place in freezer to set.

4. Cauldrons can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for up to one month. To assemble, scoop lime sherbet into the cauldrons. (Put cauldrons in freezer if not serving immediately.) Sprinkle with nonpareils and orange sugar and decorate with gummy worms right before serving.

5. Arrange pretzels on six serving plates to make campfires. If desired, circle pretzels with candy pebbles. Sprinkle with tinted coconut. Set cauldrons on top of pretzel campfires. Makes 6 servings.

Apple Bites

Years ago the Friend published a recipe very similar to this only it used peanut butter to hold the slices together. I like this recipe, too. So easy and fun. We made these for our wee Halloween party a few weeks ago.

Apples
Slivered Almonds

1. Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth.

Note: Here's the best tip ever I learned searching the net. Instead of using lemon juice to prevent apples from browning, use Sprite or 7 up. It works just as good and doesn't make the apple taste sour. It's the Ascorbic acid contained in the drink that makes it work.

Haunted Forest

This reminds me of Bento. One of these days I'm going to do a whole series on Bento, but for now isn't this awesome?

3 stalks of broccoli
3 medium beets
Wood toothpicks
3 hard-boiled eggs
Assorted vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, pea pods, kohlrabies, radishes, sweet red peppers, sweet yellow peppers, and shredded carrot
Ripe olives, pimiento-stuffed olives, and/or tiny sweet pickles
1 ounce spaghetti, cooked and drained
Liquid green food coloring

1. To make a haunted forest, first create trees. Cut bottoms from stalks of broccoli to make 6-inch broccoli trees. Slice beets about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick to make a base for broccoli trees. Break wood toothpicks in half. Insert three to four toothpick pieces into bottom of each broccoli stalk and then insert into a beet slice. Stand broccoli upright. Cover to keep moist.

2. To make egg ghosts, use a small knife or 1/2-inch aspic cutters to hollow out eyes and mouths to form a face. Cut small pieces of ripe olive to press into hollowed-out areas for eyes or mouth, if desired. Cover to keep moist.

3. Using your imagination, create creepy creatures with tomatoes, sweet peppers, pickles, olives, and radishes.

4. Place broccoli trees on serving platter. Cover surface of platter with shredded carrot. Hide egg ghosts in forest along with creepy creatures. Scatter piles of vegetables such as pea pods, beet slices, kohlrabi slices, olives, pickles, and/or any other desired vegetables. Add strips of red pepper to the broccoli branches.

5. To make moss, add a few drops of green food coloring to a small amount of water in a medium bowl. Add cooked spaghetti and let stand about 5 minutes. Drain and place over broccoli trees. Keep platter covered until serving time. If necessary, spritz platter with water to keep it moist.

Skeleton and Brain Dip

This just cracks me up. Helps to counter all that Halloween sugar, too.

1/2 leaf lettuce leaf
1 cup Ranch Dressing
4 cups assorted cut-up fresh vegetables
(red and yellow bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, snow peas, mushroom slices, celery sticks, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets)

Line half of small bowl with lettuce for the skeleton's hair; fill with dressing. Place at one end of large tray or baking sheet for the skeleton's head.

Arrange vegetables on tray to resemble skeleton's body.

Wicked Witch's Hat

ingredients
20 cups popped popcorn (1 cup unpopped)
1-1/2 cups light corn syrup
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 7 oz jar marshmallow creme
2 Tbsps butter
1 tsp vanilla
Purple and lime green paste food coloring
Candy-coated milk chocolate pieces or small hard candies
Red rolled fruit leather, cut in strips

Directions
1. Line a 12-inch pizza pan with foil. Grease foil and set aside. Remove and throw away all unpopped kernels from the popped popcorn. Grease 2 13x9x2-inch or larger baking pans. Divide popcorn evenly between the two pans.

2. In a large saucepan combine corn syrup and sugar. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in marshmallow creme, butter, and vanilla. Pour half of this mixture (about 2 cups) into another saucepan. Tint each portion with desired food coloring. Add marshmallow mixture to popcorn (keeping colors separate). Stir to coat evenly. Cool until popcorn can be handled easily, about 10 minutes.

3. With greased hands, press one color of the popcorn mixture into prepared pizza pan. Shape the remaining popcorn mixture into a 8-inch cone about 6-inches in diameter. Top base with cone shape. Decorate with chocolate pieces and fruit leather. Makes one witch's hat

Ghostie Pops

Ingredients
6 Tbsps butter
2 10 oz packages marshmallows or 4 cups tiny marshmallows
12 cups crisp rice cereal
24 oz vanilla-flavored candy coating or white chocolate
8 lollipop sticks
Small black candies
1 16 oz can vanilla frosting or homemade frosting
Green food coloring
2 cups shredded coconut

Directions
1. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan and an 8- to 9-inch diameter mixing bowl with foil, extending foil over edges of pan and bowl. Butter foil; set pan and bowl aside. Melt butter in a 6-quart Dutch oven over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal; stir until well-coated. Divide mixture between prepared baking pan and mixing bowl and press evenly and firmly into pan and bowl.

2. Set cereal mixture aside to cool completely, about 1 hour. Lift cereal mixture from baking pan with edges of foil. Use a 3- to 4-inch ghost-shaped cookie cutter to cut out ghost shapes. Insert lollipop sticks into ghost shapes through the bottom of cutouts.

3. In a medium saucepan melt candy coating over low heat. Place ghosts on a slotted spatula and spoon candy coating over ghost shapes, turning carefully using sticks to coat both sides and letting excess candy coating drip back into the pan. Carefully place ghosts on a sheet of waxed paper. Decorate face with candies before coating sets up. Let stand until coating is completely set, about 1 hour.

4. Stir together frosting and a few drops green food coloring; set aside. Place coconut in a resealable plastic bag. Add a few drops of green food coloring; seal bag. Shake and knead bag lightly to tint coconut.

5. Lift cereal mixture from mixing bowl with edges of foil and invert onto a serving platter; remove foil. Frost with the green frosting. Sprinkle with coconut. Insert lollipop sticks with ghost shapes into frosted cereal mixture.

Reserve your scraps for more fun shapes.

Frankenstein CandyMan

Ingredients

Tiny box of raisins
Origami or wrapping papers (neon green and purple)
Permanent black marker
Double-sided tape
Canned icing, or homemade
M&M Minis candies (1 red, 2 green)
1 roll Smarties candy
2 neon-green chenille stems
4 Tootsie Flavor Roll Twisties candies
2-1/2x3-inch box of Nerds candy
Glue gun and hotmelt adhesive
2 orange Starburst fruit chews
2 5-stick packages of chewing gum

Directions
1. Wrap the raisin box with neon green paper, taping the paper in place. Use the black marking pen to draw facial features on the box front. Use icing to add a red M&M Mini nose and two neck bolts (two Smarties each). Set the head aside.

2. For the arms, use small pieces of chenille stem to twist the Flavor roll Twisties together at the elbows. Slip a length of chenille stem through the top of the boxed candy for the shoulders. Twist one end of the shoulder stem around the top of one arm. Trim the chenille stem and attach the remaining arm. Cut away excess chenille stem.

3. Using the patter, cut a vest from purple paper to fit around the candy box. Tape the vest in place, then ice green Minis to the front for buttons.

Mummy Cookies

Ingredients:

1 roll of sugar cookie dough or your favorite homemade sugar cookie recipe
1 gingerbread boy cookie cutter
"Red Hots" candies or other round candies for eyes
canned vanilla frosting (ew, gross use homemade:)
white chocolate almond bark

Roll the cookie dough out on the backside of cookie sheet. Cut out gingerbread boys and bake about 350 8-10 min. Remove cookies, completely cool. Do not attempt to frost warm cookies, the frosting and chocolate will melt.

Frost the entire top of each cookie with the vanilla frosting. Using the "red hots", give each mummy 2 eyes.

Add three blocks of white almond bark to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until the almond bark is completely melted. Let the chocolate sit on the counter for one to two minutes to cool, and then spoon it into a plastic baggie. Snip off one end of the bag and then drizzle the chocolate over the mummy cookies to look like bandages.

Pesto

Even Brig liked this. Costco usually carries pine nuts.


Put the following in blender and puree:
1/2 c olive oil

big handful of pine nuts

2 medium cloves of garlic


Then add
1 c fresh basil leaves

salt and pepper to taste

big handful of grated parmesan cheese
Puree it again.

Serve over favorite pasta.

Chicken Pot Pie

I was asking around for some yummy recipes and one of my co-workers sent me this link. I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first but we tried it out last night and OH BOY was it DELICIOUS!!! The only thing I would do different next time {besides maybe shake up the variety of veggies} is put them into individual, small dishes. Try it out!

Sweet 'n Sour Chicken

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Lion House Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
2 tsp. chicken soup base, or 2 bouillon cubes
3 cups canned chicken stock (broth)
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cans (10 1/2 oz. each) cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup evaporated milk or 1/2 cup whole milk
Roux (equal amounts of flour and butter used to thicken). (I don't even use roux. It is thick enough without it.)
2 cups cooked diced chicken (sometimes I use a can of chicken)
2 1/2 oz. (about 4 cups) cooked noodles ( "Country Pasta, homemade style egg pasta" from Costco is good. It's like homemade.)

Heat chicken soup base (or bouillon cubes) and stock together. Add carrots, celery, and onion, and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add cream of chicken soup and milk. Thicken with roux as desired, then add cooked chicken and noodles. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 2 1/2 quarts or 10 one cup servings.

Hot Hoagies

Are you starting to see a pattern here? Yup, Fall food. Yesterday's brrrr temps has put me in the mood.

1 loaf french bread, cut lengthwise
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (in a pinch, you can use two large cans chicken breast)
1/2 cup mayo (can use light mayo if like)
1/2 cup sour cream (can use reduced fat sour cream as well)
2 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried)
2 cups shredded cheese (can use combo of monterey jack and sharp cheddar cheese)
Olives, chopped (optional, if have on hand and like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place french bread on large baking sheet. Mix all topping ingredients together in a bowl. Spread topping evenly on top of both lengths of french bread. Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly and edges are lightly browned. Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Could this be any easier? I know, I know. I'm posting it because I forget the recipe proportions every year.

Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin seeds, de-slimed, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Let pumpkin seeds dry on paper towels. Toss cleaned pumpkin seeds with oil and salt; spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 250° oven for about 1 hour (or longer, depending on how crisp you like them, I like them very crispy), or until the pumpkin seeds are dry, stirring occasionally.

Bratten's Clam Chowder

Bratten's, just fyi, used to be a famous restaurant back in the day. Years ago a guy in my ward worked for them as a chef and submitted this recipe in our ward cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 6 1/2-ounce cans minced clams

1 cup onion, finely diced

1 cup celery, finely diced

2 cups potatoes, diced

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 quart half & half

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

Drain juice from clams and pour liquid over vegetables, adding enough water just to cover. Simmer over medium heat until vegetables are barely tender. Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add flour, making a roux; blend until smooth. Stir constantly while slowly adding half & half. Cook and stir with wire whisk until thick and smooth. Add vegetables, juice and clams. Heat through. Add salt and pepper. Serves 8.

Gingerbread 'n Bananas

From my Lion House cookbook. Those recipes are the best.

Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup molasses
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1/2 t. powdered cloves
1 cup very hot water
bananas
whipped cream

Cream butter and sugar well. Add eggs and molasses. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture.
Add hot water and beat until smooth (batter will be very thin). Pour into a well-greased 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until cake tests done. Serve warm or cold with sliced bananas and whipped cream.

who doesn't love a no-bake cookie?

My aunt posted this recipe on Facebook the other day and I gave it a try. I mean who doesn't love a no bake cookie? Any cookie that resembles a cow pie is a winner in my book. Since I'm not a huge fan of the peanut butter I was glad to see a different recipe than the more traditional no-bake. They were quite delicious and I'm pretty sure I consumed the whole batch pretty much by myself.

I used butterscotch pudding and added chocolate chips. However, I should have let them cool a bit more before adding them as the chips melted quite a bit.

Unbaked Caramel Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cup sugar
• ¾ cup butter
• ½ cup (4 oz) evaporated milk
• 3 oz pkg. instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 3½ cup quick- cooking oatmeal

Method:

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add butterscotch pudding mix and oatmeal; mix together thoroughly. Cool 15 minutes. Drop by spoons onto waxed paper. Makes 4 dozen After cooling, before you spoon onto the waxed paper you can add 1 cup of any or all of the following: butterscotch chips, nuts (any kind) raisins, coconut or chocolate chips. You can change the flavor of these cookies by changing the flavor of the instant pudding.

easy chicken recipes

I've been trying to be frugal and only cook with stuff I have on hand so I've needed some easy chicken recipes since they have been having a killer chicken sale here at the local Harris Teeter (yes that is the name of the grocery store here in NC--welcome to the South!) Anyway, here are two I did last week courtesy of My Kitchen Cafe. Both were very easy and quite delicious.

Foil packet dinner with chicken
(This one was soooo easy and quick!)

Foil Packet Chicken with Snow Peas and Carrots
*Makes 4-6 foil packets, depending on how small you make each one*

18-24 baby carrots
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 (1-inch) piece of fresh gingerroot, peeled and grated (I grated mine on my microplane)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed through a garlic press
Salt and pepper
4 small chicken breasts ( about 1 ½ pounds), trimmed (with large, thick chicken breasts, I cut them in half by butterflying them and cutting all the way through to make two thinner cuts of chicken - this helps the chicken cook quicker and helps your chicken to go further)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut 4 pieces of aluminum foil (heavy duty) about 12 inches square (if you don't have heavy-duty aluminum foil, use two pieces of regular aluminum foil for each packet). In a small bowl, combine garlic and ginger (I used my fingers to gently mash them together).

Arrange the carrots and peas on the aluminum foil. Sprinkle with the ginger/garlic mixture (this doesn't sprinkle like salt and pepper so don't worry if you get a clump here and there - the flavors will absorb while baking), and salt and pepper to taste. Brush the chicken on both sides with the hoisin sauce. Top each portion of vegetables with a piece of chicken. Salt lightly.

Bring opposite sides of the foil up to meet over the chicken. Fold the edges together in a ¼-inch fold, and then fold over 3 more times. Fold the open edges at either end of the packet together in a ¼-inch fold, and then fold over twice again to seal.

Put the foil packets on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes. Transfer the contents of each packet to a dinner plate and serve.


Easy Chicken Tacos

Easy Chicken Tacos
Printable Version


If I had to do this one over I would do my tortillas a-la Uncle Jeff, white corn tortillas, butter, cheese in the middle, etc... The flour tortilla with this underwhelmed me but I thought the meat was extremely tasty.

*Serves 6

3 tablespoons butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (you can find these in the Mexican Foods aisle at most grocery stores)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
Salt and pepper
12 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chipotle and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the orange juice, Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat for 12-13 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through cooking. When the chicken is done cooking, transfer to a plate and tent with foil.

Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the mixture left in the skillet until the liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the yellow mustard. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and return to the skillet. Add the remaining cilantro to the skillet and toss until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm with tortillas topped with lettuce, cheese, tomato, sour cream and avocado.

**To warm the tortillas, wrap them in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.

muddy buddy cookies!

Cookies:
1 pouch of Betty Crocker's peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Step 1: In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until dough forms. (make the peanut butter cookies just as directed on the package)
Step 2: Shape dough into balls (I would recommend small balls because when they are finished they are the perfect size.) Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Step 3: Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.


Coating:
(I would recommend starting this step after moving last batch of cookies from the cookie sheets to the cooling racks.)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Step 1: In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter uncovered on high for 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Step 2: Place 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in 1 gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag; set aside.
Step 3: Place 12 cooled cookies in a large bowl. Pour 1/3 chocolate mixture over cookies in bowl. Using a rubber spatula, toss cookies gently to coat. Place cookies in bag with powdered sugar; seal bag. Gently turn bag to coat cookies. (Kody and I only put a few cookies in at a time because we like our cookies to be more on the soft/doughy side and didn't want them to break apart. We also dipped our cookies in the chocolate mixture versus the stirring option for the same reason.) Remove cookies from bag to cooling rack to set.

Step 4: Repeat with 12 more cookies and 1/2 remaining chocolate mixture; repeat again until all cookies are coated, adding additional powdered sugar to bag as needed.
Step 5: Eat and enjoy!

My boss/friend made these for her bead party that I attended a few weeks ago and they were absolutely DELIGHTFUL!!! Kody and I are HUGE fans of muddy buddies so we thought we'd try our hands at the cookie style...worth it! :0)

Manti Chicken (or Turkey)

Yup. Served at the Manti Mormon Pageant. We had it for Father's Day dinner today.

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup oil
1 tsp. horseradish
1 tsp. garlic salt
24oz lemon-lime soda (7up or Sprite)
boneless, skinless chicken (cut chicken up in pieces for faster grilling)

Mix marinade ingredients together; add chicken pieces and marinate for at least 7 hours. Cook chicken over grill.

granola

Made some delicious homemade granola last night. Peep the recipe here!

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are so many versions of this recipe floating around. Hard to say which is best. I like this one and have used it for years. I usually half it if it's just for the fam, it makes a lot.

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ½ cup sugar
2 cup brown sugar
1 lb. real butter (no substitutions)
4 beaten eggs
6 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
2 bags of gourmet chocolate chips (milk chocolate 6 oz.)

Cream butter and sugars. Add egg. Sift in dry ingredients. And vanilla and chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies will look underdone, kind of doughy.

GARLIC CHICKEN FARFALLE

I made this for Lacy and Dave when I went down a few weeks ago. I hadn't ever made it before but I have to say I found it to be really delicious. I found it one day whilst blog surfing, I wish I could remember where so I could give them credit. One note on the bacon. If you cook it on a cookie cooling rack it drains off most of the grease.

16 oz. Farfalle pasta
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt (I do a spoonful of crushed garlic)
1 Tbsp. pepper*
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon, crumpled**
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice

*Seems like a lot of pepper, but it has a wonderful flavor when everything mixes together. If you're apprehensive, do less pepper. You can always add more.

**We like to cook our bacon in the oven (400 degrees, convection). Way less messy. And it's crispy every time. Time varies, so you just have to watch it. I think it's usually around 30 minutes. Allow to cool and then crumple (I totally wear disposable gloves for this part - surprise, surprise).

[ directions ]

Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred (I pull it apart). Set this aside. About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Mother's day Munchies

For Mother’s day Megs and Kenz took over making dinner. They made Café Rio Salad (previously posted and raved about here).
Earlier in the day we also munched on some Banana Nut muffins, baked in pink polka dot liners no less.

Banana Nut Muffins

3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla


1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (toasted or raw)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped nuts.
Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack. Makes 12.


I also made these little Mother's day 'tokens' for my visiting teaching ladies and my girls. It's white fudge in a house cookie cutter. Very easy and kind of cute.

Raspberry White Fudge Cookie Cutter Gifts
(Adapted from Pillsbury)

1 package (12 oz) white chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
½ tsp raspberry or cherry extract
Food coloring (if desired, pink is good)
Nuts, if desired

Line a large cookie sheet with foil. Spray foil then cookie cutters;
Place on foil-lined cookie sheet. Melt vanilla chips in a saucepan
Over low heat; stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and
Stir in frosting and extract.

Fill each cookie cutter with mixture. Refrigerate about 1 hour
or until firm. Decorate as desired.

Wrap each filled cookie cutter with cellophane or plastic wrap;
Tie with ribbon and store in the refrigerator.

Fettuccine Alfredo Sauce (like Olive Garden's)

We had this at our RS Enrichment in March. Very good & easy. Delighted to find the recipe printed in our RS newsletter today.

Sauce Ingredients:

½ cup butter
1 pint heavy Whipping cream
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ cup cream cheese, cut up
1 pound Fettuccine, prepared as directed

In a saucepan (medium heat) melt butter, add cream, garlic powder, and salt & pepper and dash of cayenne. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes stirring constantly, until thick. (Because this sauce takes a long time and doesn’t thicken easily without it, go ahead and add the cream cheese in about 5-10 minutes into making it.) Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Stir until melted and serve over cooked fettuccine.* Good with cut up fresh basil, chicken or bacon, too.

Fried Ice Cream

3 cups of corn flakes (slightly crushed) with hands
1-1/2 cups coconut
1-1/2 cups Heath Toffee Bits (blue on bag)
1 cube butter
vanilla ice cream
homemade caramel sauce(see recipe)
whipped topping

On a large cooke pan mix corn flakes, coconut, and Heath Toffee Bits. Sprinkle with desired amount of pumpkin spice and mix well. Melt butter. Pour over mixture. Mix until moistened.
Spread evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until coconut is golden brown. Stir mixture half way thru so both sides are golden brown. Let mixture cool a little. Roll ice cream balls that you have done ahead and placed on pan in fridge top with caramel sauce and whipped topping. Enjoy!

Homemade Caramel Sauce*

1 cube butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt buttin in a sauce pan. Add remaining ingredients and stir constantly over medium heat until mixture boils for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Grandma Ethel's Cherry Cheesecake

Mother made this for nearly every special occasion. It was especially loved by the menfolk. True, it's not gourmet, but it is definitely a dessert packed with a lot of memories. Just thinking about it makes me homesick:) Think I'll whip it up for Sunday dinner.

1 9 inch graham cracker pie crust (sometimes Mom made her own)
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 15 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling

Soften cheese to room temperature. Whip until fluffy and gradually add condensed milk. Continue beating until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla. Blend and pour into crust. Top with pie filling.

Quiche without a crust or Faux Quiche

9 eggs
½ cup flour
4 cups cheese
5 thinly sliced ham slices (chopped)
4 oz can diced green chilies (optional but yummy)
1 bunch green onions (chopped)
16 oz tub cottage cheese

Beat eggs. Add flour gradually. Add cheese, ham, chilies, green onions, and cottage cheese. Mix well. Pour into lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover with foil. Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover bake 45 minutes more or until firm.