Split Pea Soup

I love, love, love steaming, hot, thick, soup on a cold winter day! I made this recipe up last year and haven't had it since, I don't really remember putting so many ingredients in it but I trusted myself and it turned out very very tasty.

1 lb Split Peas

8 C  Water

12 Chicken Bullion Cubes

1 C Carrots, minced

1 C Onions, minced

1 C Potato, minced

1 t  Sage

1 t  Powdered Ginger

1/2 C  Crumbled Bacon (I just buy the pre-crumbled kind in the salad section) or

Ham

Salt and Pepper. to taste

2 T  FreshGarlic, minced

2 T Celery, minced or

2 t Celery Seeds

1. Rinse off Peas
2. Put everything in a large pot
3. Bring to a boil then reduce temperature and simmer for 1 hour.
4. Serve with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Fancy Grilled Cheese

I know another seemingly mundane recipe, but that's where you are all wrong! This Grilled cheese is delicious, especially with soups! Easy peasy double cheesy.

 2 Slices of Thin Bread

Butter

Cheddar Cheese or 

My favorite is Kraft Deluxe Singles

Parmesan Cheese

1. I like my bread thin when making grilled cheese or better yet crusty sour dough. Yum!
2. Butter the outside of both slices or bread
3. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on both slices, pat down cheese so it doesn't fall off.
4. Add Cheddar cheese to bread and grill on medium until golden brown and crispy.

Chili

I can't say enough good things about this chili. It is by far the best I have ever had! I have two versions of this chili one is better than the other but it takes a long time to make. The faster recipe is still very very delicious. This recipe comes from Marlane Hobson.

1lb Ground Beef or *Meat recipe below

1 Onion, Chopped

2  Lawry's Chili Seasoning Packets or whatever brand you can find

2 t  Chili Powder

2 t  Cajon Sesaon Salt or Regular Season Salt

1 Small Can Tomato Paste

2 Small Cans Tomato Sauce

2 Au Jus packets

1 Green Pepper, diced

3 t  Garlic, chopped

5 Cans Pinto Beans, Drained or 

*1 Lb Dried Beans, soaked over night

Enough water to cover beans plus 2 inches

1. In a very large pot brown meat and onion together or * if using Meat recipe just add shredded meat plus any juice with meat and onion to pot
2. Add all other ingredients to pot and bring to a boil
3. Simmer on low for 3 hours stirring every 15 minutes, so beans do not stick to bottom and burn
4. Serve with cheese, sour cream, and crackers.
5. You can freeze left overs but they do not retain all of it's flavor, when you reheat it add some hot sauce and brown gravy mix and it will be as good as new.

*Meat Recipe

2-3 lb Pork Loin

2 T Liquid Smoke

1 t Garlic Salt

1 t Onion Salt

2 t Celery Seed

2 t Black Pepper

2 t Worcestershire Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients except meat together, then rub on meat.
2. Wrap in a double layer of tin foil and bake in oven  at 275 for 5 hours or place in crock pot on low for 5 hours
3. Shred, it is now ready for the chili recipe. Be sure to save the juice for the chili

Spicy Noodles With Chicken or Vegetables

This has a very Thai flavor to it.  I would say it is a medium spicyness level you can very easily make it mild. My first bite I thought this is pretty good but by the time my plate was empty I was looking to see if anyone had any I could steal off their plates. Then the next day I couldn't get enough of the left overs! So needless to say I will be making this a lot in the weeks to come. The original recipe comes from Deals to Meals but I have changed a few things.

Sauce:

1/2 C  Olive Oil
2 t Garlic, chopped

1 1/2 T  Creole Cajun Season Salt or 

*if don't want it to be to spicy use regular season salt

2 T  Lemon Juice
2 T Fresh Cilantro, chopped
2 T Brown Sugar
2 T Soy Sauce
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced

**or Mixed Veggies, I'm thinking cauliflower sounds good

Noodles:

1 lb. Angel Hair Pasta, cooked
2 T Lemon Juice

2 T Olive Oil
1/2 C  Green Onion, chopped

2 T Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all ingredients under "Sauce", in a pan and cook until chicken or veggies are done.
2. While chicken is cooking,
3. Cook pasta
4. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, green onions, cilantro and salt and pepper together
5. Add cooked paste and lemon juice mixture together in a large bowl then add chicken/veggie mixture to pasta, toss to combine all ingredients.
6. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve warm

Ruby Linzer Bars

These cookies are devine! My mom and I went on a trip to Solvang, California and we stopped at a bakery called Mortensen's Danish Bakery. Holy Moly they sell the best cookies I have ever tasted!!! You used to be able to order them by mail but they stopped shipping them, BOOOO! Well these cookies have the flavor of those cookies, Yea!!!  The base of this recipe came from this website.

1 C  Butter

1 C  Sugar 

1 t Baking Powder 

1/4 t  Salt 

1 egg 

1 t  Vanilla 

1 1/2 t  Almond Extract 

2-1/4 C  Flour 

1 C Slivered Almonds, lightly toasted

1/2 C  Strawberry or Raspberry Jam

    Almond Glaze

 1. Preheat oven to 300F. Beat butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract until combined. Beat in flour

2. Divide dough into three equal portions. Roll each portion into a 10-inch log. Roll logs in nuts. Place logs 3 to 4 inches apart on an ungreased large cookie sheet. Flatten each log to 1-inch thick. Make a 1/2-inch-deep, 1-inch-wide indentation down the center of each log, using fingers or the back of a spoon.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until edges are firm and lightly brown. Cool on cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack until cooled completely. If necessary, reform indentations by pressing with a spoon.
4. Spoon some of the preserves evenly down center of each log.  Generously spread/drizzle each log with glaze. Let stand until set. Cut each log diagonally into 1-inch-wide slices. Makes about 36 bars.
5. Almond Glaze: Stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoon milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in a small bowl. Stir in enough additional milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to make glaze of drizzling consistency.

 ***** After making the cookies, store in air tight container and do not eat until the next day. They taste only ok fresh, you need to wait until the glaze has time to soak in and for the cookie to soften*****

Easy Tuscan Chicken Marsala

I know this picture is totally ridiculous, but I thought it was funny with a circle of peas around it. This Comes from a  Lawry's season packet. It was so easy to make and I thought it was pretty tasty! This is good for a quick meal especially if you use the pre-cooked chicken from my "chicken for many uses" recipe. It only took 20 minutes to prepare because of the rice. I will definitely be keeping a packet of this around for a quick easy meal. I changed the original recipe so don't follow what is on the package.

2 Chicken breasts 

2 T Olive Oil or Butter

8 oz. Mushrooms, sliced

2 1/2 C Water

2 Lawry's Chicken Marsala Season packet

1/3 C White Cooking Wine

Rice

1. If you are using raw chicken breasts, brown in oil on both sides for 3 minutes. Then slice into very thin strips and set aside
2. If you are using cooked chicken just cut into bite size pieces and set aside
3. Add oil to pan and saute mushrooms on med-high for 3-5 minutes, until soft
4. Add water, season packet and cooking wine to pan, cook for 3 minutes 
5. Add chicken to pan mix until all coated, if using raw chicken cook until chicken is done, about 5 minutes depending on thickness.
6. Serve over rice

Here is a picture of the season packet, so you can find it at the store

Beef and Noodles

My Mother-in-law Marlane Hobson made up this recipe. It looks very plain but it has a lot of flavor! I love crock pot meals.

1 1/2 Au Jus Packets

1 Brown Gravy Packet

3 C Cold water 

1/2 C White Cooking Wine

 2 T Fresh Garlic, chopped

Salt and Pepper

2-3 lbs. Beef Roast

Wide Egg Noodles

Parmesan

8 oz. Mushrooms, sliced

1. Dissolve Au jus and brown gravy in cold water. Add to crock pot
2. Add wine, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and roast to crock pot
3. Cook on high for 3 hours. 
4. Take roast out and slice it thin. Cook additional 1-2 hours until meat is very tender
5. Add mushrooms in the last hour of cooking
6. Serve over wide egg noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan

Lemon Alfredo Chicken Pasta

I got the  recipe for the base of this sauce from the  Deals to Meals  website. I have said this before but she has very good recipes! This is similar to the Alfredo sauce I posted but less fat and a lemony taste to it. It is a very good sauce. I froze the left over sauce and it reheated and tasted the same as the first time we ate it!

1 lb Pasta of your choice

2 Chicken Breasts

Lemon Alfredo Sauce:
3 T. Butter
2 t. Flour
3 C. Whole Milk
1 C. Parmesan Cheese

1/2 C. Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1 t.  Pepper

1 T. Lemon Pepper Seasoning 

1 T. Lemon Juice

*Optional:

Mushrooms

Baby Spinach Leaves

Pine Nuts, Toasted

1. Pan fry chicken breasts. I didn't add any seasoning but you can if you want. Cut into bite size pieces, set aside
2. Start cooking noodles
3. For Sauce; Melt butter then add flour. Stir together to create a roux.(or thickener)
4. Then add milk. Stir together cooking only on low. 
5. Once the milk is heated thoroughly, add the chicken bouillon, add pepper, lemon pepper. 
6. Add Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella. If sauce needs to be thicker add more Parmesan cheese. 
7. Do not cook on a high heat it will curdle the milk! 
8. When sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, add * optional spinach and mushrooms. If you would like you can add chicken now or wait and put it on top when done.
9. Simmer until noodles are done cooking. 
10. When you take it off the heat, add the lemon juice.
11. Pour sauce over noodles top with *optional pine nuts.

Minestrone Soup

This is my own recipe. I love this soup in the winter, it fills you up and keeps you warm and toasty.

2 Small Potatoes, peeled and chopped

10 Mini Carrots or 2 Regular Carrots, peeled and chopped

1 Med. Onion, peeled and chopped

1 Can Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

2 T. Italian Seasoning

3 T. Garlic, Chopped

8 C. Water

12 Chicken Bullion Cubes

1 Can Tomato Paste

1 Zucchini, half peeled, chopped

1 Yellow Squash, half peeled and chopped

3/4 C. Mini Shell Noodles 

(Don't use more or they will soak up all the liquid and you won't have soup anymore)

1. In a Large pot add all ingredients and bring to a boil 
2. Lower temperature and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Serve with cheese toast. Yumm!!

*Tip
When I say "half peeled" I peel a strip down the entire side then leave a strip then peel a strip and so on.That way you still have the nice green peel but not all the hardness from it. As you can see in the picture.

Poppy Seed Kolachkes

This recipe came out of a cook book I own entitled "Cookies". I know you are probably all cookied out after the Christmas season but just tuck this idea away in your brain for now and pull it out when you want to make a special, delicious cookie.

1 C. Butter or Margarine, softened

6 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 C. Sugar

1 t. vanilla

3 C. All-Purpose Flour

3 t. Poppy Seeds

2/3 C. Jam

Glaze:

1 C. Powdered Sugar

8-10 t.  Milk

2 t. Almond Extract

1. Heat oven to 375
2. On medium speed, cream together butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Until light and fluffy
3. Add flour and poppy seeds, beat at low speed until a soft dough forms.
4. Divide dough into fourths.
5. On a lightly floured board, roll one forth of the dough out to a 1/8 inch thickness. 
6. Cut dough into circles, I used a small ring for a canning jar
7. Place circles on an ungreased cookies sheet
8. Spoon 1/4 t. jam onto center of each circle, If you use more it will just leak out.
9. Fold in half and press edges with a fork
10. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove cookies from cookie sheet immediately or they will stick. Cool completely
11. In a small bowl combine ingredients for glaze and drizzle over cooled cookies. Dry completely before storing.

Tips: *When you bake these, jam usually leaks out know matter what you do. You will want to clean the jam off of the pan before you make a new batch of your cookies or it will start to stick and smoke and cause problems. Or you could use parchment paper.

Chicken Ring ( I know it's a ridiculous name)

This recipe comes to you from Pampered Chef. I like a lot of their recipes, they are simple, tasty and use common ingredients. Sorry for the bad photo. I cut it up before I remembered to take a picture.

1 Pkg Crescent Rolls

2 Small Chicken Breasts or 1 large

1/2 C Mayonnaise

1 t Mustard

3 T Bacon, cooked and crumbled 

(I buy it pre-crumbled near the salad dressings)

1/2 C Cheddar Cheese, grated

1/4 t Garlic Powder 

2 T Parmesan Cheese

*Optional:

3 T Green Bell Pepper

Lettuce 

Tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to temperature on the package for crescent rolls.
2. Pan fry chicken breasts with no seasonings or oils. (If you add seasonings it ends up being too salty and having too many seasonings) When mostly cooked cut into small bite size pieces and finish cooking.
3. While chicken is cooking, in a bowl combine, mayonnaise, mustard, bacon, cheese, garlic powder and * optional green peppers.
4. When chicken is done add to bowl with mayonnaise mixture, mix thoroughly. Set aside.
5. Place crescent triangles on a large cookie sheet so the corners of the fat side of triangle touch, forming a circle or "ring". Squish the triangles out a bit so there is plenty of room to put the chicken on.
6. Place chicken on the crescent rolls, putting an even amount all the way around.
7. Fold the top part of the triangle crescent roll over the chicken and squish down.
8. Top with Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake according the directions on crescent roll package.
10. Once done you may top with lettuce and tomato or serve as is.
11. I served it with sides dishes of, my yummy Parmesan potato bites and mixed veggies. 
12. I hope these directions weren't too confusing. Let me know if you need any clarification.