Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Cranberry Fluff Salad

2 Cups raw cranberries, ground
3-4 Cups mini marshmallows
¾ Cup sugar
Combine, cover and chill overnight

2 Cups apples diced with skin left on
½ Cup seedless grapes
½ Cup pecans broken (optional)
1 can crushed pineapple, drained

Add fruit and nuts. Fold in ½ pint whipped cream. Chill and serve.

*I usually double the first six ingredients just to make the salad go further.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup orange juice or water
2 cups sweetened dried, fresh, or frozen cranberries (I prefer fresh, but they can only be found during the holidays).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil, and orange juice in a large mixer bowl; beat until just blended.
Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in cranberries.
Spoon batter into loaf pans.
Bake for 60-65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.
Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wore racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 loaves

Easy Cranberry Sauce

1 lb. fresh cranberries
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar

Rinse the berries in a colander and remove and stems or bad berries.

In a medium saucepan, heat the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Then bring the syrup up to a boil and pour in the cleaned berries. Adjust the heat so the mixture maintains a simmer and cook until all the berries pop or crack open, about five minutes to seven minutes.

Take the sauce off the heat at this point, or simmer it down to the desired thickness. Remember the sauce will thicken a little while cooling. Chill overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

While simmering the berries, additional ingredients can be added for more flavoring such as orange zest or spices like cinnamon.

(*Credit for this recipe goes to my good friend who blogs here)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Maple Butter Blondies

About a year ago, Ty's cousin gave us a recipe for Blondies. We used to make it all the time. A couple of weeks ago, we had the missionaries over and I decided I would make them for dessert. When I made the recipe, I didn't remember it being so thick (which it is) so I called Ty's aunt to double check that I had the recipe right. She asked me if I was doing "the sauce" with it and I told her I didn't know what it was. She said, "Oh, it is absolutely dee-vine. You have to try it." So I did and I am not kidding, it is one of the best things I have ever tasted. So here you go...enjoy!

Blondie's

1 yellow cake mix
1 cube butter
2 eggs
chocolate chips

Mix and bake in 9x9 at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Maple Butter Sauce

3/4 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. walnuts (optional)

Melt butter in saucepan and add maple syrup. Stir. Add brown sugar until dissolved. Add walnuts.

For each cut blondie, add one scoop of ice cream, then drizzle sauce over the top. Yummy!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Peanut Chicken Angel Hair Pasta

1 lb cooked chicken, diced
1 can chicken broth
2 T soy sauce
2 T cooking wine or water
1 T cornstarch
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. grated gingerroot or 1/2 tsp of ginger
1 medium onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
Angel Hair Pasta, cooked and drained

Sauce: combine chicken broth, soy sauce, wine or water, cornstarch and red pepper and peanut butter. mix and set aside.

Preheat a large skillet with 1 T of oil. Add onions and grated gingerroot and garlic and stir-fry until onions are crisp-tender (2-3 minutes). Remove vegatables from skillet. Add sauce to skillet, stir and cook until thickened and bubbly. Add cooked chicken and vegatables and coat with sauce. Serve atop hot cooked angel hair pasta. (Enjoy - it's my husband's favorite!)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Easy Stove-Top Stuffing Quiche

Credit for this recipe goes to my sister, Jacey. I made this tonight and it turned out great. It is very quick and simple.

1 lg. can chicken breast
6 eggs, beaten
2 c. milk
1 c. cooked, canned or frozen spinach
1 box chicken stove-top stuffing mix
1 c. shredded cheese

Mix eggs, milk, cheese and spinach. Add chicken and stove-top mix, blend well and spread in 9x9 baking dish. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Optional: Add bacon, sausage, mushrooms, or any other vegetable for variety. Can also be served for breakfast.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Amazing Apricot Chicken

8 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (8 oz) bottle of Russian dressing
1 cup of apricot jam
1 pkg of dry onion soup mix

Place chicken in greased 9X13 pan. Combine dressing,jam and onion soup mix and pour over chicken. Bake uncovered at 30 degrees for 1 hr. Makes 8 servings.