Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Hello? Anybody there still? I thought I'd take a stab at resurrecting this thing. Life has been crazy lately, including having a baby 4 weeks ago...so these days I'm all about quick and easy meals. This soup did the trick last night.

8 cups water
8 cubes chicken boullion
3 broccoli crowns, chopped in small bits

Put in large soup pot, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add 1/2 cup diced onion and cook until opaque. Add 1 cup flour. Cook over med heat until golden. Add 2 cups half and half, whisking until smooth, then cook and stir until thickens, about 10 minutes. Once thickened, mix into the chicken stock and broccoli. Cook and stir until thickened slightly. Add 3 cups grated cheddar cheese, stir until melted and incorporated. Serve with warm bread or in bread Bowls. Yum.

White Chocolate Raspberry Fudge

This one is sinful.  As in, it's a sin to eat the whole pan, but you don't care 'cuz it's that good.  :) This was our neighbor gift this year - lots of requests for the recipe - so here you go!  (Adapted from At Second Street's Cashew Fudge.)

4 1/2 Cups of sugar
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 cubes of butter
2-1/2 12 oz. bags of white chocolate chips
7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream
2 t. good vanilla
1 t. raspberry flavoring
red food coloring

*In a mixer (works best in KitchenAid), put 1 cube butter, chocolate chips, marshmallow cream, and vanilla. Let sit.

*Combine sugar, can of milk, and 1 cube butter in a tall pot.  On med-high heat, bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes while stirring continuously.

*Pour hot syrup over ingredients in mixer bowl.  (Don't scrape the pan, just let as much pour out as you can...scraping can make your fudge grainy) Mix on medium until all ingredients are incorporated, and the fudge has a dull sheen. 

*Working quickly, transfer 2/3 of the fudge to a buttered 9x13 pan. Spread evenly.  Add the raspberry flavoring and 1-2 drops red food color to the remaining fudge - mix, and spread evenly over white layer of fudge.

*Refrigerate until set - about an hour or two.  Cut into 1 inch squares - just enough for a rich treat!  Store in airtight container.

Berry Baked French Toast

This is a recipe I adapted from a friend back in Idaho - she wrote a cookbook that included master mixes.  This is a variation on the one she shared - sans the mix.  We save it for once a year on Christmas - since you  make it the night before, it makes for an easy and yummy meal after all the presents have been opened!

1 loaf of day old French Bread, cubed
1/2 to 1 brick cream cheese (Joel likes less, I like more)
small pkg. mixed berries
1 banana, diced
2 C. milk
7 eggs
1 T. vanilla
1 C. sugar


Place 1/2 of the cubed bread in a greased 9x13 glass casserole pan.  Spread fruit and cream cheese (broken into small pieces) all over the bread.  Top with remaining bread.  Mix the milk, eggs, vanilla and sugar - pour over the top of bread.  Make sure all of the bread is saturated with the custard - I just use my (clean) fingers and poke it all down.  Then cover it with plastic wrap and something heavy (I use another glass dish) and refrigerate overnight.  The next morning, bake @ 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Cut like you would a cake and serve with regular maple syrup, or our favorite, Fruit syrup:

1 C. of fruit, pureed (I've substituted jam, works great, just super sugary...but hey, it's Christmas, right? :)
1 C. of sugar
1/2 C. water

Put all in small saucepan, bring to a boil. Serve warm. Syrup leftovers can be stored up to 2 weeks in fridge.

filled cookies and better waffles

I got the real recipe somewhere, but quickly realized that it does not need to be as hard as following a recipe to make a really yummy dessert.

Fun Filled Cookies

Cookies (4 dozen) - yields two dozen
1 bar cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 big tbsp vanilla
(dash of packaged jello for color and flavor... depends on the brand, so add a little, then taste...)

Take ANY cookies (I have used gingerbread, peanut butter, oatmeal and sugar cookies VERY successfully).
Prepare them as you normally would.
(When in a pinch - I use pre-packaged cookie mix. )

cream together softened cream cheese and all other ingredients.

use filling to make "whoopie pie" cookies. Sandwiching two cookies together with filling in the middle.

There are only about a million possibilities.
ex. Take sugar cookies.
mix a little strawberry or orange jello in with your filling.

ex. gingerbread and the vanilla cream cheese is awesome!

Better Waffles

I have been preparing waffles (as directed on package of waffle mix from the cannery)
Then I add one packet of Quaker flavored oatmeal (kids like apple cinnamon the best)
Then I add a little dash of extra milk.
Use waffle maker to prepare waffles as you normally would.

Very delicious!

Rice and Sauce

One of our old standby things that we do when we are pressed for time is what we call "Rice and Sauce." This is when we make rice in the rice cooker then make up some kind of sauce to put over the top. This is usually ready in about 20 minutes - if you have the cooked meat in your freezer. Most of the time we make the sauce in a stroganoff style:

• Cooked cubed chicken or cooked ground beef (that I have already in the freezer)
• Cream of something soup
• Sour cream
• Onion soup mix
• Milk

Heat through and serve over rice.

Other sauces we have enjoyed:

Southwestern Style:

• Cooked cubed/shredded chicken
• 1 c. salsa
• 1 brick cream cheese
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• Milk

Creamy Italian:

• Cooked cubed chicken
• Cream of something soup
• 1 brick cream cheese
• 1 packet italian dressing mix
• Milk

Chicken Cordon Bleu:

• Cooked cubed chicken
• Diced ham
• Grated swiss cheese
• Cream of chicken soup
• Milk

Another one we like:

• Cooked cubed chicken
• Sour cream
• Cream of chicken soup
• Milk
• Put Chinese noodles and cheddar cheese over the rice then pour sauce over the top.

Still another:

• Sauteed onions
• Cooked cubed chicken
• Cream of chicken soup
• Frozen peas
• Milk
• I think we used a can of chicken gravy in this one as well.

I think the possibilities are endless! With our busy schedules, we LOVE throwing together a quick, hot meal. If you have other ideas, I'd love to see them in the comments!

Catalina Dressing

It's been too long!  We need some new recipes ladies!  I've been trying out some homemade salad dressing recipes - this one I tweaked a little bit to be just like Catalina.

1/2 C. catsup
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. red wine vinegar
1/2 C. onion, minced
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. worcestershire sauce
1 C. salad oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a blender or use an immersion blender in a tall cup.  Store in fridge.

Sweet Apple Rolls

Well hello! Anyone reading still? I know it's been forever...so let's try a heavenly recipe that will make up for it!  This was a happy accident I tried while using up a box of honeycrisp apples.  **I would however highly recommend a Kitchenaid or similar large mixer for this one...

2 1/4 C. lukewarm water
1/3 C. + 1 T. honey
1/2 T.salt
1 1/2 T. yeast (heaping)
1/3 C. + 1 T. oil
2 eggs
4 C. flour

Add all above ingredients to mixer, and mix on low until wet.  Turn to med, and mix for 10 min.
Add 3 C. additional flour, and mix until thoroughly combined.
Turn out onto floured counter, and roll into a giant rectangle...roughly 1 1/2 foot by 2 foot.

3/4 C. butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 C. brown sugar
2 C. peeled, diced apples, any variety...(the sweeter the better)
1 T. cinnamon

Mix filling ingredients in a small bowl, and spread evenly (using a rubber spatula) over rolled out dough...

 Roll tightly starting from the wide end. Then slice using a serrated knife...or clean length of dental floss. (a nifty little trick I learned at the restaurant!) Slide it under the end about an inch, pull the ends across the top, and pinch off.  It leaves a clean line that doesn't tear out the filling...Place on greased cookie sheets

Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.  Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.  Cool and frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting, (or try this one):
Mix well:
1 brick of cream cheese, at room temp.
1/2 C. apple butter
1 C. (or more) powdered sugar