Chicken Vegetable Pasta - My version*

(pictured here without the pasta)

Sauce:
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in sauce pan.
Stir in 1/2 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 clove garlic, minced
Combine:
1/2 C chicken broth
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 C water
1/2 C white wine (I didn't have any so I just used more broth)
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp lemon juice
Add to butter mixture and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat.

Chicken:
Combine and let marinate about 1 hour.
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks or thin strips
1/4 C olive oil
rosemary to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 a lemon

After marinating, fry until almost done, then add the following:
(These measurements are all approximate and you can put in whatever you want)
Vegetables:
6 stems asparagus, cut in 1" pieces
1 C broccoli florets
1 C carrots, julienne cut
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 C spinach (I used frozen)
3/4 C frozen peas
(I've also added green beans and you could add zucchini, red pepper, snow peas, etc.)

-Cook vegetables until tender crisp, adding tomatoes and spinach last.
-When everything is done to your liking, pour sauce over it.
-Toss with bowtie or shell pasta. (I don't remember how much I made, but this amount of sauce was good for a nice big portion of pasta for our family, with some leftovers.)
-Pass the parmesan cheese!

*I got this off the Olive Garden website and made a few changes.
I want to say it's SO GOOD, but if it wasn't, I wouldn't be putting it on here, now would I? Hmmm?

Mocha Cheesecake*

Crust: 8 chocolate graham crackers, crushed (in the blender, of course)
1/8 c. sugar
5 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Filling:
6 oz. semisweet chocolate
3 pkg. (8 oz each) cream cheese
1/2 c. sugar
2 lg. eggs
1 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. very strong coffee
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt the chocolate, set aside. In large
mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until light. Add the eggs,
one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in heavy
cream. Pour melted chocolate slowly into cheese mixture, then add
coffee and vanilla. Stir well to blend ingredients Pour into crust
and bake 45 min. or until edges are puffed up slightly. Cool in oven
with door cracked open, then cool to room temp. Chill thoroughly
(preferably overnight).

You'll probably be tempted to overbake it...don't do it! It might be
a little shaky when you turn off the oven, but it will set up. Also,
try not to overmix it. I think those 2 things are the leading cause
of cheesecake cracks.

*all credit and side comments go to Karla

This is Not a Recipe

but since it concerns food, eating, etc. I thought I would share it here. I didn't find this on my own; Christina D gets credit for this.

1. Go to http://www.thedailyplate.com/
2. Join (for free)
3. Search for the foods you've eaten today
4. Look at how many calories, fat, sodium, fiber, etc. you've consumed
5. Enter in the exercise you've done today
6. See how many calories you've burned
7. Set some goals for yourself (if you want)

You can choose to gain, maintain or lose weight, and then it will calculate for you how many calories you need each day. As you enter foods in throughout the day, you see how many calories you have left for that day. As you enter your exercise, you "gain" calories for that day. The website is kind of "busy" looking and almost info overload, but once you get going it's not as bad as it seems at first. I am finding it quite helpful, although it will take some time to see if it really is helping me or not. Let me know what you think!

The Broccoli Cheese Soup

Boil:
3 c. water
3 chicken bouillion cubes
broccoli, frozen or fresh (about 3 crowns)
Cook just until broccoli is tender

Add:
2 to 3 c. milk
When it's boiling add about 6 oz. thin pasta, broken into small pieces.
Saute some fresh mushrooms and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic in margarine.
When the pasta is cooked, add 8 oz. Velveeta cheese or Cheez Whiz. When the cheese is melted, add the sauteed mushrooms (aka deliciousness) and about 1 tsp. parsley.

This is based on a recipe in the Nisly book.

Yummo Chili Cornbread

Brown in large skillet:
1 lb. ground turkey or beef
1 small onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic
a little salt and pepper

Add:
1 can Mexican style chili beans
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles (don't drain either can)
random spices that sound good to you, which may or may not include:
Montreal steak seasoning, chili powder, more garlic, pepper, liquid smoke...whatever

Cornbread "shell" (as Kirk thinks it should be called):
1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1/2 to 1 c. shredded cheese (the more the merrier)

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix buttermilk, oil and eggs separately, then add to dry mixture. Stir cheese into batter. Pour the chili into a 9 x 9 square pan*. Pour the cornbread batter evenly over the chili. Bake at 400 F for about 35 minutes. It is especially good with hot sauce (such as Frank's cayenne pepper sauce). Serves 4-6. I thought this would get soggy and gross as leftovers, but it is as yum as the day it was born.

I imagined this and thought it would be good, but as I made it I started wondering what I was thinking. Turns out I was right in the first place. The moral is: I'm never wrong.**

*Two things:
1) you may want to lightly grease the sides
2) the pan I used was deeper than average and it was none too deep for this concoction

**This may not be true.

Lazy Woman's Turtles

Melt some semi-sweet chocolate. Using your trusty kitchen shears, cut up a bunch of Kraft caramels into 6 pieces each. Put them in a bowl with some chopped pecans. Stir in the melted chocolate. Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper and chill until hardened. Enjoy the taste of turtles without all the work.

Seriously, these were surprisingly good for taking all the shortcuts and I'll happily make them again someday.

Healthy(er) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup applesauce (I used pumpkin)
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 egg white

Add:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp. baking soda
8 oz dark chocolate chips

Bake at 375 F for about 10 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.

These are quite good, even though they sound a little...different. And here's the link so you can see the original recipe.

Moose Marinade

That’s really the name that I found this recipe under in a Taste of Home type magazine. Ironically, I’ve never used it with moose meat, but it makes a tasty zebu steak! We’ve used this for our last two Christmas dinners.

1 cup oil

¾ cup soy sauce

½ cup lemon juice

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup mustard

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2-4 cloves garlic (or more)

Mix together and pour over 1 kg of steaks. Marinate 6-18 hours and grill as you like it.

I usually make ½ recipe for 1 kg of meat.

Sourdough Bread Twists

Starter:

Combine 1 cup (250 ml) flour and 1 tsp (5 ml) rapid-rise yeast in medium bowl. Blend in ½ cup (125 ml) very warm water. Beat with mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 4 minutes. Cover with damp tea towel and let stand at room temperature (at least 30 minutes, up to overnight).

Dough:

Combine 1 ½ cups flour, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp rapid-rise yeast and starter in large bowl. Blend in 1 ½ cups very warm water. Stir in 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 ¼ cups flour to form soft dough. Beat at medium speed until smooth, about 4 minutes. Add ¼ to 2/3 cup flour and knead till dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes. Divide into 4 equal pieces, place in lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let rise 30 minutes.

Lightly oil baking tray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll each piece of dough into 12” (30 cm) rope. Join the ends of two ropes, twist 3-4 times and join the other ends. Repeat with remaining dough. Place loaves on baking tray, about 4” (10 cm) apart. Sprinkle loaves with cornmeal. Let rise about 30 minutes, or until doubled.

Preheat oven to 450 F (230 C). Place small skillet or baking tray on bottom of oven (or lowest rack). When oven is hot, pour 1-4 cups water into tray and quickly close oven door. (Less water makes a darker crust. I used about 2 cups.) Wait one minute and then put bread into oven. Reduce temperature to 400 F (200 C). Bake until loaves are brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 40 minutes. Cool loaves on wire rack.

Makes 2 large loaves.

I had never made anything with sourdough before this recipe, so I didn’t know what to expect. Let’s just say that I could eat massive amounts of this bread, and it gets a lot of compliments. It’s really delicious and not actually as complicated as it looks.

My Very Own Cheeseball

(According to my husband, this is one of those rare recipes that I can truly claim as my own.)

8 oz (250 g) softened cream cheese (the soft type in the tub works well)

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (please be generous)

1 Tbsp ranch dressing mix

½ - 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/8 – ¼ tsp onion powder or 1 tsp very finely chopped onion

1 can tiny shrimp, drained

Mix all together and chill. Serve with crackers.

Oatmeal Cake

1 c. quick oatmeal
1 1/4 c. boiling water
1/2 c. margarine or shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda

Pour boiling water over oatmeal; let stand for 10 minutes. Cream margarine and sugars together. Add to oatmeal, then add eggs. Add dry ingredients to oatmeal mixture. Bake at 375 in a 9x13 pan for 20-30 minutes. Remove, then turn oven to broil.

Frosting:
2/3 c. brown sugar
6 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
4 tbsp. cream (I use milk)
1/2 c. quick oatmeal, nuts, or coconut

Put frosting on cake and back into oven until frosting bubbles, about 2 minutes.

This is a combination of two recipes in the Nisly cookbook. For the frosting, I use 1/2 c. oatmeal and about 1/4 cup pecans. It really doesn't matter, you can't go wrong with this cake.

Apple Dumplings

i'm mostly putting this recipe on here in case i lose it again, but also it's just a darn good one and i think it deserves to be posted.

2 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter
2 c. water
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

mix all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil. wrap 8 cored, peeled apples in pie dough and place in a greased pan 1" apart. pour sauce over all. bake at 375 for 30ish min. (i poured about 1/2 of the sauce over top at first, and then when they were mostly baked i poured more on. when i served it i put more of the sauce over ice cream.)