Italian Sausage Cream Pasta

1 lb. Italian Sausage
1 can chopped tomatoes (can use Italian style)
1 pt. heavy whipping cream
1 pkg. bowtie pasta
grated Parmesan cheese

Brown sausage in a large skillet, then add tomatoes and cream, start cooking the pasta, according to the pkg. directions. Simmer the cream sauce about 15 min. until the pasta is cooked. Add garlic salt, salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg to taste, and then mix pasta and cream sauce together. Add Parmesan cheese to your preference (we usually add 1/2 to 1 cup cheese). I think mushrooms would be really good in this dish, too.

Spanish Ole

I got this from a recipe exch. and thought it can't be good, the ingredients are too simple. But I tried it last week and my kids wouldn't stop eating, and Dan and I thought it was good, too.

Spanish Ole
1 pound ground beef
minced onion, garlic salt, pepper (to taste)
1 can corn, drained (I use frozen corn sometimes and just dump in some...I don't measure it)
1 large (28 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup macaroni noodles, dry
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. Cook beef and drain fat in large skillet. (I season the beef with minced onion, garlic salt and pepper). Add tomato sauce and corn to beef in skillet and simmer until noodles are done. Drain noodles and dump them in to beef. Then add the cheese and cook it until cheese melts.

Sun Dried Tomato Salmon

Sun Dried Tomato Salmon

Salmon
Sun dried tomato Dressing
Lemon Pepper
Parmesan cheese
Butter

Use a disposable aluminum pan. Spread butter along bottom, place salmon in pan. Add lemon pepper and butter (a few slabs). Pour dressing over salmon and in pan. Add parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and grill for ~20 minutes or until flakey (depends on thickness of salmon).

I often serve it with pesto pasta and salad. It is so yummy and super easy. You can use any dressing depending on your taste.

*I know there are no measurements, but it depends on the size of salmon you use. Just use to taste :).

CHOCOLATE CHIP BLONDIES

These are SO easy to make and SO yummy!

2 eggs; beaten
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. chocolate chips

Mix all together and place in a greased 13x9" pan. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

*You can use less or more chocolate chips if you'd like. You can also use butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, or add chopped nuts or a mixture of all! The sky's the limit!!

Sausage and Rice

This is from our Ward cookbook. I had these ingredients on hand one night and decided to try it out. It has been a family favorite ever since! Thanks Kasey Rainey!

1 lb. mild breakfast sausage
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. uncooked rice
1/2 c. milk
1 3/4 c. water
1 tsp. salt

Brown sausage in skillet until no longer pink. Add rest of ingredients; mix well. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. Serve with biscuits.

Marvelous Mini Meatloaves

I made these last night-- they were super easy, and my family loved them! My twins kept calling them "cut cakes" :)

Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 package (16 oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix
1 cup water
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Mix meat, stuffing, water and seasoning until well blended. (** for extra kick add 2 Tbsp A1 steak sauce to meat mixture before shaping it into meatloaves.***)Press evenly into medium muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray. Make an indention in the center of each with the back of a spoon.

Spoon the spaghetti sauce evenly into indentations in meatloaves.

Bake 30 minutes. Top evenly with cheese, continue to bake for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Instead of Italian seasoning, spaghetti sauce, and mozzarella, try:

Fiesta: 2 tsp chili power, 3/4 cup salsa. and Mexican style cheese

Mediterranean: 1 tsp dried oregano leaves, 3/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers, crumbled feta

BBQ: 1 tsp garlic powder, 3/4 cup BBQ sauce, shredded cheddar

Crock Pot Chicken and Pototoes

This is super easy and fast when you need a dish ready to go when you get home from work :).

8 potatoes, cut in wedges
Bag of baby carrots
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can water
Tub of mushrooms
4-5 chicken breasts cut in strips
Laury's season salt
Southwest seasoning (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Throw everything in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hrs.

Key Lime Pie---the easy way

1 can Eagle Brand milk
1 (6-oz.) can limeade concentrate
1 sm. container of Cool Whip
1 graham cracker or shortbread crust
2 T. lemon or lime juice (if you want tart)

Mix together everything but the crust. Pour into crust and chill for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

TACO SOUP

This is so easy and so delicious...not to mention Budget Friendly! I get requests for this recipe every time I serve it! I hope YOU will like it, as well. I think you will....so you might as well give it a try. I think you (and your family) will be Happy that you did. :)

1 pound of very lean ground beef or ground turkey; browned & drained
1 onion; diced
46 oz. tomato juice
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 can of whole kernal corn; drained
1 can of black beans; drained
1 envelope of taco seasoning
2 cans of dark red kidney beans with the juice
flour tortillas; cut into 1/2" strips
shredded cheese

Stir everything together except the tortillas and the cheese. Heat until just boiling, reduce heat and simmer on low for 25-30 minutes; stirring occasionally. Scoop into bowls and add tortilla strips and cheese on top.

Apricot Chicken

I'm kind of new to this blog. This is my first post. Thanks for all of the great ideas. I can't wait to try so many of them.

I feel like this is one of those recipes that everyone else in the world knew how to make except me, but maybe I'm not the only one. It is REALLY easy and yummy. I like to serve it with rice pilaf (from a box) and green beans (frozen). We halved it since there are only 2 of us eating grown-up food right now. It might sound like a weird combination of ingredients at first, but I promise it is really good.

Ingredients:
1 sm. jar apricot preserves (16 oz or whatever)
1 env. Lipton onion soup mix
1 (8 oz.) bottle French/Russian/tomato based salad dressing (Tangy French is good!)
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or however many your family will eat)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in shallow pan. Mix apricot preserves, onion soup mix and French dressing in bowl. Mix well. Pour mixture over chicken. Bake in oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour and serve.

Number Of Servings: 8

Preparation Time:5 minutes

Snicker Salad

Looking at the fruit dips below reminded me of a salad I haven't made in a while. It's a regular at functions in our little town. It sounds sort of interesting- but SOOO yummy. And it's a great side dish, but can be used as dessert too.

1 (5 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 c. milk
1 (12 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed
6 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (can be one kind or a mixture of apples)
1/2 c. seedless grapes
6 Snickers (or Baby Ruth) candy bars, sliced or chopped

Prepare pudding using 1 cup milk; blend together with whipped topping. Add apples, candy bars, and grapes. Mix together and refrigerate until chilled.

Fruit Dip Recipes

Hooray for recipe sharing! I'm new to this blog (thanks Shally) and wanted to share some fruit dip recipes:

Bit O' Honey Fruit Dip

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
English toffee bits (Skor)

Beat cream cheese, sugars, and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Stir in Skor bits (available by the chocolate chips). It's also yummy with Heath bits which have chocolate!

Yummy Fruit Dip

1 7 oz. jar marshmallow cream
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 to 2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract

Use a hand mixer to blend marshmallow cream and cream cheese. Blend in powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Serve with fresh fruit.

Strawberry Dip

Dip washed, whole strawberries in sour cream, then in brown sugar. Delicious!

Cool Whip Dip

1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1/2 to 1 cup orange or pineapple juice
1 tub cool whip (thawed)

Use a fork or whisk to mix pudding and juice until it's smooth, thick, and pasty. Fold in cool whip. Serve with fresh fruit or mix with fruit cocktail and mandarin oranges for an easy fruit salad.

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

I don't usually give this one out because it's such a hit!! (i like to be the one to bring it to the party)!!

1 can black beans drained

16 oz. corn
(i like to use frozen but you can use canned)
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 cucumber
( i like a lot of cucumber so i use a whole one but use as much or little as you want)
chopped fresh cilantro
(i like a lot, use as much or as little as you want)
1 small bottle italian dressing
(i like to use zesty italian and if you can't find the small bottle use 1/2 of a regular size bottle)
Mix it all together & serve with tortilla chips!!!
It's better if you let it sit in the fridge a little before serving.

So yummy, i've even had people eat it as a side dish rather than with chips!!!
Kids love it too!!!

Bow-Ties with Ham

Ingredients:

3 cups uncooked bow-tie pasta (6 oz)
1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
10 medium asparagus spears cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil and herbs, drained, chopped
1 cup diced cooked ham
1 cup feta cheese

Heat oven to 350. Spray 2 quart casserole with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.
Meanwhile, in 3 quart saucepan, heat Alfredo sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot. Gently stir in cooked pasta, asparagus, tomatoes, and ham. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese. Pour into casserole.
Cover, bake 35-45 minutes or until bubbly. Top with remaining cheese.

Okay, so i haven't posted in a while so i thought i would post two to make up for it!! These muffins my husband found on the internet, but we couldnt get enough! They stayed moist and yummy for like a week! The biscuits below are on the bisquik box but i make them ALL the time because they are so good... and i also add lots of garlic to them!!

Blueberry Muffins

1 ½ c. flour

¾ c. sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 c. veggie oil

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

1 c. fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease muffin cups.
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Place veggie oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done.


Cheese Garlic Biscuits

2 cups bisquick
½ cup shredded cheese
2/3 cup milk

Stir ingredients until soft dough forms.
Drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix tsp. butter (melted) and 1/8 tsp garlic
powder and brush over warm biscuits.

More Recipe Sites

My cousin has some of her favorite recipes at this site:

http://mmmcafe.blogspot.com/

My friend has some of her favorites at this site:

http://notsosecretfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/

Lemon Chicken

This is SO GOOD. It made enough for my family of 4 and it makes A LOT of lemon sauce. I loved it!

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
1 dash pepper
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. flour

Soak chicken breasts in egg yolk, soy sauce and pepper for at least 30 mintues.
Coat each piece of chicken in a mixture of cornstarch and flour. fry chicken in hot oil. Drain chicken on a plate covered with paper towels.
Service with rice and lemon sauce (below).

Sauce:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup water

In medium saucepan mix together sugar and corn starch. Then add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Cook until thickened.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened                                    1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup white sugar                                            2 teaspoons hot water

1 cup packed brown sugar                             1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs                                                                2 cups chocolate chips

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.  Dissolve baking soda in hot water.  Add to batter along with salt.  Stir in flour & chocolate chips.  Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

YUMMY!!!!!