Dina's Diner

Creamy Chicken Over Rice

2012-01-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

This is easy and everyone likes it, As my friend Jane says, "It's company food!" It is very fattening, but I have yet to find someone who does not like this Sunday dinner meal.

Creamy Chicken Over Rice

3 lb. Chicken Tenders or cut up chicken breast
2 Cans Cream of Mushroom soup (10 oz. cans)
2 C. Whipping Cream
1 Tbsp. Garlic Salt

Lay chicken tenders or cut up chicken breasts in 9 x 13 pan. Heavily salt with Garlic Salt. (You know I love the McCormick California Garlic Salt. I am having a hard time finding it in the grocery store, so let me know if you find it anywhere.)

Mix the cream of mushroom soup and the whipping
cream together with a spoon. Pour over seasoned chicken. Lay tin foil over the pan and put in a 350 degree oven for 2 1/2 hours. This makes the most delectable gravy. I like to make Perfect Rice and serve this dinner over rice.

Perfect Rice

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

Some people like rice cookers. I do too. I just do not like one more thing on my counter. This is what perfect rice needs to look like. See those beautiful little holes in the top of the rice? That is what you are looking for.

Perfect Rice

2 C. White Rice
4 C. Water

Put in a 3 quart sauce pan. Get the water boiling with the rice in it. Place your lid on and turn down the rice to Low. Set your timer for 20 minutes. SET YOUR TIMER! When you take the lid off when the timer buzzes. It should look like my picture. Perfect Rice. The temptation is to take the lid off and look at your rice while it is cooking. Do not PEEK! It is the steam inside your pan that is making perfect rice.

There will be a little water that boils over the sides just when you turn the temperature to Low or 1 depending on what your cooktop dials look like. It will stop within a minute. Clean it up after you are done, but do not lift up the lid.

My niece Gwen knows I am a stickler about timers. She once asked, "Why is your (Kraft) Macaroni and Cheese always so good?" I responded, "Because I use a timer. I always cook my macaroni for 11 minutes like the recipe says."

Bruschetta

2012-01-15T22:24:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I like something hot and yummy that does not take much time, prep or thought. If you agree, try this recipe for Bruschetta. So Good!

Bruschetta

3 loaves of Artisan Bread from Costco or a Baguette
4 Fresh Roma Tomatoes
6 oz. Fresh mozzarella
1/2 C. Pesto (I like the bottled Pesto at Costco in the deli section)

Cut the loaves of bread in 1/4 inch slices. Spread the pesto on the bread and broil until golden and crispy, (usually about 2 minutes at high. Slice the tomatoes and cheese into thin slices. Place one slice of tomato on each toasted slice of bread and then lay on a slice of mozzarella. Broil again until cheese is bubbly and melted.

So good! I often like to serve these as sandwiches with a Tomato Basil Soup! Watch for the recipe. Coming Soon!

This is a crowd pleaser. We often eat these for dinner or for lunch on a busy Saturday. I purchase all these ingredients at Costco. The bread is the Artisan Bread that has six small loaves. I buy a bottle of Pesto and the double log package of fresh mozzarella and a carton of Roma tomatoes.

Dry Ranch Dressing Mix

2011-12-08T10:16:00.003-07:00

I love a certain brand of dry Ranch Dressing Mix, but I find it very expensive. I have been searching for a recipe that I can make and store. I found one and have tweaked it to my taste. I use a ton of this kind of Salad Dressing in my business and I use it in other recipes like a flank steak marinade that I have included below. Try it and let me know what you think. It makes a about 2 cups of dry mix and you only use 1 Tbsp. for each 2 cup dressing recipe, so you will have a lot of it.

Dry Ranch Salad Dressing

1 C. Dry minced Parsley Flakes
1 C. Dry Onions, minced
2 Tbsp. Dillweed
2 Tbsp Onion Salt
2 Tbsp. Season Salt
1/4 C. Garlic Salt
1/4 C. Onion Powder
1/4 C. Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp. Chives
2 Tbsp. Celery Salt
15 Saltine Crackers

Blend crackers in blender until powdery. Add parsley flakes, onions and dillweed. Blend. Put in a bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Have you ever noticed when you make salad dressing from a dry mix, it is so runny. You put it in the refrigerator and then an hour later, it is thick. I figured it out! It is the saltine crackers. They do the same thing for hot chili! You put in the saltine crackers and soon it is thick.

Salad Dressing:

1 C. Buttermilk
1 C. Mayonaise
1 Tbsp. Dressing Mix

Flank Steak Marinade

2 Tbsp. Dry Ranch Mix
1 Tsp. Cumin
1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper
1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
1/2 C. Lime Juice
2 lb. Flank Steak

Mix dressing, cumin, pepper and whisk into oil and lime juice. Place flank steak in a container and pour on marinade. Let sit as long as you like, covered in the refrigerator. I like to let it sit overnight. Place flank steak on grill and cook each side for 5-6 minutes. Let steak rest for 5 minutes and then slice across the grain. It makes great fajita meat or eat it plain.

Rolos that taste like Twix

2011-12-08T09:41:00.001-07:00

I know this picture does not look like much, but when you put a Rolo on a bowtie pretzel, microwave it for 20 seconds and then put another pretzel on top, WOW! It tastes just like a Twix bar. These are easy to make and kids love making them. With this little treat, your children can make their own treats to take to church and piano teachers, friends and neighbors for the Holidays.

1 large bag of Rolos
1 large bag of bowtie pretzels

Place pretzels on a microwaveable plate. Unwrap each rolo and place one on top of each pretzel. Microwave for 20 seconds. Just long enough for the carmel to start to ooze out or for them to be soft to the touch. When they come out, you can place another pretzel on top or leave it single instead of married.

YUM!

Cherry Crisp

2011-12-08T09:39:00.002-07:00

If you like cherries like I do, you will love this dessert. Served with vanilla ice cream it is a bit hit!

Cherry Crisp

1/2 C. Sugar

1/4 C. + 3 Tbsp. Flour

6 C. Pitted Frozen Cherries, thawed

1 C. Quick-cooking Oatmeal

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1/4 C. Butter, softened

1/2 C. Sliced Almonds

Combine sugar, 3 Tbsp. of flour and cherries. Put this mixture in a greased 13 x 9 pan. Mix the oats, brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or pulse very lightly in a Cuisinart until crumbly. Stir in almonds and sprinkle evenly over the cherry mixture. Bake until hot and bubble for about 30 minutes.

I like a lot more topping than most people. I doubled the above topping recipe and used 2-3 bags of frozen cherries.

Holiday Yams

2011-12-07T11:12:00.005-07:00

This recipe could kill you with all it's butter and brown sugar, but you will be so happy while you are dying.

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Holiday Yams*

1/2 C. Butter
3 C. Brown Sugar
3 Large Yams**

Peel yams.

Cut each yam in half. Then slice as shown below.

Use an electric skillet or watch your fry pan very carefully on the stove and melt the butter.

Add half of the brown sugar, stir to mix in and then place half of the cut yams on top of sugar butter mixture.

Sprinkle the other half of your brown sugar over the first layer of yams. Pile up the rest of your cut yams and put the lid on.

Place lid on top and steam for 10-20 minutes at medium heat or at 350 on an electric skillet. Yams need to be a little cooked, but still firm. (If you steam them too long, you will end up with mashed candy yams, which frankly are very good.)

At this point, all the sugar has melted and is mixed in with the butter at the bottom of the pan. For the next thirty minutes, at a low temperature, 300, you will be turning, very carefully, every five minutes, the candied yams from the bottom of the skillet to the top. Do not place the lid on again as this will keep the water in the mixture and we want it to evaporate.

Keep stirring until the liquid is not runny anymore and all the yams have a sticky layer of brown sugar on them. (Be careful, with all this sugar, you can burn the yams quite easily.)

*This recipe is too hard and too labor intensive for the above recipe, so I always double it. The problem is, when I write six cups of brown sugar, I have a heart attack before peeling one yam.

**(I have made this with sweet potatoes as well. I like yams better. Yams are darker skinned and have more of a jeweled, orange colored flesh under the skin.)

Flank Steak

2011-12-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Flank Steak Marinade

2 Tbsp. Dry Ranch Mix
1 Tsp. Cumin
1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper
1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
1/2 C. Lime Juice
2 lb. Flank Steak

Szewchen Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables

2011-11-01T18:47:00.002-06:00

This recipe is so good. It is pretty easy and quick. You just have to have all your ingredients ready to go.

Ingredients:

3 whole chicken breasts, cooked and chopped up

Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Ground black pepper

1 bunch of Broccoli, cut into florets

6 Cloves of Garlic

1/4 C. Fresh Ginger, peeled and chopped or grated

1/2 C. Vegetable Oil

1/2 C. Tahini (Sesame Paste)

1/2 C. Smooth Peanut Butter

1/2 C. Soy Sauce

1/4 C. Sherry

1/4 C. Vinegar

1/4 C. Honey

1/2 tsp. Asian Hot Chili Oil

2 Tbsp. Dark Sesame Oil

1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1 lb. Spaghetti

4 Green Onions, sliced diagonally, for garnish

1 Yellow Bell Pepper, cut into small pieces

1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into small pieces

Get a big pot of Water boiling. While the water is warming up. Grill or pan fry the chicken breasts. I found a fry pan that has ridges in it like an outdoor grill. I like to place the chicken on this pan, sprinkle with olive oil, sprinkle coarse salt and then use a pepper mill for some fresh pepper. I fry them both sides and then put a lid over them to help get them cookes inside.

While the chicken is cooking and the water has started to boil, drop in your spaghetti and cook for 11 minutes. Get another small pan of water going. Drop in a cube of chicken bouillon and drop in broccoli florets. Cook for just a few minutes. When it looks bright green and still a little under cook. Take it off the heat and drain liquid. Place broccoli on a plate to cool. You can blanch it in a cold bath if you want. I am usually not so ambitious. While the spaghetti, broccoli and chicken are on their way to the finish line, start working on the sauce.

Everything goes into the Cuisinart or any other chopping machine you have. Peel the garlic and chop coarsely, put it with the ginger, vegetable oil, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, honey, chili oil, sesame oil and cayenne pepper into the Cuisinart and let it do it's thaing!

When the chicken is done, chop it into the shape you like or tear it apart with the fork to have shredded pieces. Drain the spaghetti and put in a large mixing bowl with the broccoli and chicken. Pour the sauce over everything and then add the bell peppers. Toss gently. I love this warm. The hot spaghetti warms everything up and makes it just the right temperature.

I took this to a friend who had a terrible week with wisdom teeth out for one child, a broken arm with another and stitches for another. It is easy and simple and her family loved it.

Aunt Dina's Salad

2011-10-15T13:10:00.001-06:00

While staying with my sister-in-law, I made this salad. Her family loved it and gave it the name, "Aunt Dina's Salad". I have called it that ever since!

This salad is so simple. It seems odd that it is so popular with my dinner guests. During the senior year of my oldest child, I made lunch for him and all his friends every Friday. This salad was usually a staple. No matter how much I made, the kids always finished it off. One of Rob's friends said to me, "Dina, when I get married you have to cater my wedding and make this salad!"

2 Heads Iceberg Lettuce
1/2 C.     Parmesan Cheese
1- 1 1/2 C.Grape Tomatoes
1 lb.       Bacon, cooked and cut up
1 - 2 C. Garlic Croutons
1/2 C.    Hidden Valley Ranch (made fresh from the packets. Also see my recipe for Ranch Salad Dressing)

Growing up, my mother always told me I had to tear the lettuce when making a salad. She told me the leaves would turn brown if they were cut with a knife. NOT! I never tear lettuce when making a salad. I mean never. I always cut it with a serrated knife.

I use 2-3 heads of lettuce, depending on how many people I am feeding. The heads of lettuce from Costco are the best. I love buying three heads of Iceberg for $2.59. What a steal!

I like about 2 handfuls of grape tomatoes cut in half. I am very particular about grape tomatoes. I dislike getting a salad with whole grape tomatoes. I feel the same way about regular grapes. If putting these two items in a salad or in any dish, cut them in half. It is always easier to eat something that is bitesize and is not going to cause a volcano in your mouth when you bite into it.

I use probably 1/2 C. of grated Parmesan. Sprinkle this on your lettuce bed. If you sprinkle this on and you think it needs more, please do so.

I cut an entire pound of bacon into small pieces and then cook it on the stove top until the are crispy and brown. Pat dry with paper towels. (You know you should not pour your bacon grease down your drain, right? Let it come to room temperature, spoon into a plastic ziploc bag and throw in the trash.) You do not want to clog your drains with this nasty stuff. If it will clog your arteries, you know what it is doing in your pipes!

Pour croutons over the cheese, tomatoes and bacon until you feel you have enough. Pour on your salad dressing and toss.

I am a big believer in serving tossed salads. I like my salad dressing evenly distributed among my lettuce. If I am served a salad that I have to pour on the dressing, I do not like it as the flavors are not mixed together properly. It's just my thing, but I have found my salads are always gone when I toss them. If I serve them with dressing on the side for some reason, I never get as many takers. I always have leftover salad.

I think it is the convenience thing we are dealing with in our society. If it is all put together, no matter the cost, we seem to be more interested. It is just easier. People like easy. So, is my salad saga!

As you can tell, I throw things into this salad until it looks right. I really don't measure as I see salads as a feel thing. I just keep adding stuff until it looks or feels right. Good luck! Branch out and trust yourself.
Just feel the power of your own creative juices!

Individual Fruit Pizza

2011-09-20T19:41:00.001-06:00

These are always the hit of the party! With fruit pizzas individualized, you get to put on as much frosting as you want and the fruit you like.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

1 C. Sugar
2/3 C. shortening
2 Eggs
1/3 C. Sour Cream
3 C. Flour
1 T. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and gradually add to wet ingredients. This is a stiff dough because you roll it out after you have chilled it.

After placing dough in the refrigerator for an hour or so, divide into manageable amounts and roll out into a circle. I use a glass that has a 3 inch diameter opening. I make big cookies with plenty of room on top for lots of stuff. Place on a greased cookie sheet and cook at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. I cook them just until there is a little, tiny brown around the bottom of the cookie. These cookies rise up to become fluffy and dense. They are seriously the best cookies. Everyone in my family uses this recipe.

Let cookies cool and then frost them with the most delectable frosting. See recipe below.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

1/2 C. Butter
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 lb. Powdered Sugar (roughly 4 cups)

Beat butter and Cream cheese until smooth. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat for five minutes. (Did you know that beating your sugar into your fats makes fluffy, soft frosting? When you add everything together quickly and then frost, the frosting tends to get hard. Incorporating the sugar into your fats is the secret). Then add the rest of your sugar. I usually do not add milk to this recipe. The fats are able to incorporate all of the sugar if you have beaten it long enough before adding the rest of the sugar.

Put this into a ziploc bag. I stick my bag into a tall glass and spoon in the frosting into the plastic lined glass. Close bag and cut off a corner of the bag and use as a pasty bag. I like to place this bag on the table with the cookies unfrosted. This way everyone gets to put on as little as as much frosting as they like.

Cut up Fruit

Raspberries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Bananas
Kiwi
Pineapple
Mandarin Oranges
Anything else you can think of!

French Toast with Magelby's Buttermilk Syrup

2011-08-06T12:02:00.000-06:00

FRENCH TOAST

12 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Loaf Thick Bread (I use the sliced French toast from Costco)

Mix eggs with a wire whisk. Mix cinnamon and sugar and then sprinkle into eggs. Whisk together for a minute or two. (I am not sure exactly what this does, but my neighbor taught me how to do this while we worked as cooks one summer several years ago.)

Gradually add the milk until everything is nice smooth. Dip french toast into egg mixture one at a time and place on a hot griddle. Cook until brown and then turn once and cook until brown. I have a griddle that is flat and square and holds four pieces of bread. This griddle is not electric. It sits on the burner on my stove, LOVE IT!

MAGELBY'S SYRUP

1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Buttermilk
1/2 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Maple Syrup

Melt butter, sugar and buttermilk in a BIG pan on the stove. Add soda. This will make everything puff up very high. Make sure your pan is big enough, otherwise you will have syrup all over your stovetop!

When the mixture boils, cook for for one minutes. Take off the heat and add the maple syrup and vanilla. When I have real maple syrup I use it. Most of the time I only have the big containers of Mrs. Butterworth's from Costco. No one has ever offered a compliment that they noticed the taste of real maple syrup. For this reason, I do not spare the expense for this syrup and save my real maple syrup for straight use only.

Serve syrup warm, THE BEST!

Potato Salad

2011-07-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

This is the best potato salad. My sister Robin has been making this forever and she got the recipe from her Mother-in-law. The secret is the Miracle Whip, evaporated milk and the celery salt.

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Potato Salad

10 potatoes (I like Red)
12 hard boiled eggs

1 c. Mayonnaise
1 c. Miracle Whip
1 Tbsp. prepared Mustard
1/2 - 3/4 can Evaporated Milk
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/2 Tbsp. Celery Salt

Boil potatoes with skins on or off for 20 minutes or until when pricked with a fork, the fork enters easily. Once cooked, cool until you can handle them. I like to peel them and cut them in small cubes. Cut up your boiled eggs and add them to the potatoes.

Mix all other ingredients into a sauce. Pour over potatoes and eggs and mix. Refrigerate until ready to use. It is the celery salt the makes this so delicious.

This is bowl of cut up, cooked potatoes. I like making everything bite size. I do not want to "cut" my potato salad. I often cut the potatoes in half, the slice each half and the cube it. Then I do it again to the other half and to all the potatoes.

This that yummy sauce poured all over the potatoes and the hard boiled eggs. The miracle whip adds just the right amount of sweetness. I am really a mayonnaise girl, but this recipe would not be the same without the Miracle Whip.

Making perfect hard boiled eggs is easy. Simply put your eggs in your pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, put the lid on and take off the heat. Set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, drain water and cover the eggs with ice water. Let the eggs stand until you can touch them. Make sure when you start to peel that you get a hold of the membrane that is in between the shell and the egg. Often, if you do not get a hold of this, you cannot peel the eggs smoothly.

Kneaders Bread Pudding

2011-06-20T19:06:00.001-06:00

This is the best stuff! I use my left over Sunday rolls to make this delicious dessert. When you read the ingredients, you will know why it is so good! This picture does not have raspberries in it, but if you ask me, that is the best way to make this. I just happen to have children who do not like the raspberries as much as I do.

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Kneader’s Raspberry Bread Pudding

1 ½ loaves aged white bread

1 qt. Heavy cream

3 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

In large bowl, combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Cut bread into 1 ½ inch cubes and add to cream mixture, coating bread well. Let stand 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes to allow cream to absorb completely.

2 cups fresh raspberries

Toss raspberries into bread and cream mixture until evenly distributed. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until edges are brown and caramelized.

Cream Topping

(I have never made this, so I don’t know how it turns out. I do not think this recipe needs more fat, but when I eat it at Kneader's I love this topping.)

1 1/3 c. butter 2 tsp. vanilla

5 Tbsp. Flour 1/3 c. sugar

3 c. heavy cream

Over medium heat, melt butter and add flour; stir 10 minutes until it has a nutty aroma – do not brown. Add salt, cream and sugar and boil till mixture is thick; remove from heat adding vanilla. Serve this wonderful sauce cold.

Cut all your bread up into small pieces. I like to slice mine into little cubes. The truth is, by the time you mix this mixture with the cream and egg mixture every 5 minutes for 30 minutes, you can hardly recognize any cubes.

When I make this without the raspberries, I add 1 tsp. of cinnamon to the milk and sugar mixture. With this batch, I forgot to put the cinnamon in, so I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the entire top layer before I put it in the oven.

This is what it looks like when you take it out of the oven. There is nothing that makes your house smell better than a good batch of Bread Pudding. Some people don't like the name so, to fool them, I often call this Cinnamon Cake!

Avocado & Grapefruit Salad

2011-06-11T21:52:00.030-06:00

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Romaine Lettuce*

1-2 Grapefruit, sectioned**

1 Large Avocado

Sugared Walnuts (Recipe Below)***

Poppyseed Dressing (Recipe Below)

Tear leaves to one large head (or several small heads) of romaine lettuce.* Slice up a grapefruit or buy sectioned grapefruit at the grocery store and drain well. Slice avocado into small bitesize pieces. Add sugared walnuts toss with Poppyseed Dressing. This is a delicious light summer salad. Although, I find I love making this at Christmastime when Grapefruits come on the market, like oranges.

Poppyseed Dressing:

¾ C. White Wine Vinegar

¾ C. Sugar (you can try reducing the amount if you do not like it so sweet)

1 Tsp. Salt

1 ½ C. Canola Oil

1 Tbsp. Poppyseeds

Put vinegar, sugar and salt in the blender. Mix until sugar is almost dissolved. Add the oil in a small stream through the hole in the lid of the blender. Keep blending while you are adding the oil. This keeps your vinegar and oil emulsified, you know, together without separating. Add poppyseeds and mix again.

*There are two types of heads of Romaine lettuce in my book. There is the six pack you buy at Costco and the big beautiful, much darker green leaves at the grocery store. I use both. I am not sure I love one better than the other. Sometimes, it just comes down to what I am in the mood for. Sometimes, I feel like big, bushy Romaine at the grocery story. Sometimes, I am looking for convenience and buy the prewashed and ready to go lettuce at Costco.

**To section a grapefruit, cut off both ends of the fruit. Slice off the rind and all the white pulp. Now you should have just the grapefruit attached to the center rind. Slice in between the membranes of each section to loosen the grapefruit. Use these sections in your salad.

***Sugaring walnuts is not a great thing for me, so if someone finds a better recipe, I would love to have it. I have done it two ways.

Method 1:

Put 1/2 C. Sugar in a fry pan and pour in 1 C. Walnuts. Put on medium high heat and keep stirring until the sugar melts and adheres to the nuts. Slide the entire contents of the fry pan onto a plate to cool. The nuts will be all stuck together, but after they are cool, you can crack them apart.

Method 2:

Put 1/2 C. Sugar in a fry pan and add 2 Tbsp. water. Cook over medium heat until bubbling. Pour in 1 C. Walnuts. Keep on medium high heat and keep stirring until the sugar adheres to the nuts. Keep cooking until all the water evaporates. Slide the entire contents of the fry pan onto a plate to cool. The nuts will be all stuck together, but after they are cool, you can crack them apart.

Red Roasted Potatoes

2011-05-25T23:23:00.001-06:00

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(Recipe is on the back of the Lipton Soup Box)

2 Cups Red Potatoes – Quartered

¼ cup Olive Oil

1 package of Lipton Onion Dry Soup

Wash potatoes and quarter each potato, leaving the skin on. Mix together oil and dry onion soup in Gallon size Ziploc bag. Put cut up potatoes in bag and mix with oil mixture. Put on a large, edged cookie sheet. Place in 425 oven and bake for 1 hour turning potatoes occasionally.

I usually four times this recipe. My kids love these potatoes and I feel they are a favorite compliment to most any meat dish.

Made these potatoes at Christmas time for a church function. Everyone raved about them. I was kind of embarrassed to tell everyone the recipe was on the back of the Lipton Soup Mix.

Macaroni Grill's Chocolate Cake

2011-05-20T21:08:00.005-06:00

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1 pkg. Devil's Food chocolate cake mix
1 (3 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
2 C. Sour Cream

1 C. Melted Butter
5 Eggs
1 Tsp. Almond Extract
2 C. Semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 C. Cream
2 C. Whipping Cream, whipped

Preheat oven to 350. Grease Bundt pan. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in the sour cream, melted butter and eggs one at a time. Add Almond extract and beat on low speed until well blended. Blend in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes. Turn onto wire rack and cool completely.

Ganache - Put 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips and cream in a microwave safe bow. I like to use a pyrex 2 cup pitcher. I put the pitcher in the microwave for a minute at a time and beat well after I take it out each time until it reaches a nice consistency. I like my ganache the consistency of pancake batter.

When the cake is somewhat warm, I cut a piece and pour a spoonful or two of ganache on each piece. This way you do not have to refrigerate the entire cake, just the ganache.

To make this recipe taste like the chocolate cake at Macaroni Grill, I serve it with globs of whipped cream. This tends to soften the intense dark chocolate flavor.

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

2011-05-13T21:30:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine gave me this recipe and it has turned out to be one of my favorites.

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1 large onion, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

4 Tbsp. butter

6 c. water

6 cubes chicken bouillon

1-2 Carrots, peeled and sliced

3 chicken breasts, boneless

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk, whipping cream or half and half

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper

1/4 c. water

1 cups long grain rice

2 cups water

Slices of Swiss cheese.

I have a son that really does not like the crunch of onions in his food, so when I have onions in anything I make, I put them in my food processor and chop them up very finely. When I have celery and onions I chop them together. If you do not have a food processor, or you like the crunch of these vegetables, just chop them up to the size you like.

Saute the onion and celery in butter until tender crisp. While they are cooking, put a large soup pot on the stove and fill with six cups of water. Add chicken bouillon (I use cubes, but I have friends that only use granules. Other people I know really like soup bases. I find them extremely expensive and I really cannot taste any difference when I use them in comparison to the cubes.) to water and get boiling. Add sliced carrots and sauteed vegetables. Add your raw chicken breasts and get all this boiling. If you have time, let this simmer on a back burner for several hours. If you do not have time, add your raw rice and let this simmer until rice is done, about 20-30 minutes.)

Cook 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of water. I know there are a lot of people who really like their rice cookers, but as for me, I have found I can make perfect rice every time if I use my kitchen timer. Put the water in your pan and then add the rice. Get the mixture boiling, reduce heat to the lowest temperature, put the lid on (very important that there is as little steam escaping as possible, and set your kitchen timer to 20 minutes. When the buzzer rings, take the lid off and look. If you see little holes in the rice it is done. Put the lid back on and take off heat until you are ready to use.

After the vegetables are done and the chicken is cooked, take out the breasts and shred into small pieces. Put in the lemon pepper and add milk, cream or half and half, whatever you choose. (I always choose cream as it is more stable and doesn't separate like milk or half and half. Also it adds so much flavor to the soup. This way you do not need to add extra fat like so many recipes ask you to do.)

Mix cornstarch and cold water together. Add to soup and stir until well mixed. If you cooked your rice separately, add it now. I like my soup chunky so I add all three cups. Let everything simmer until you are ready to serve.

Place a slice of Swiss cheese in each bowl and ladle the soup on top. I usually serve the soup on the table with the cheese on the side. Then people can decide on their own. My kids do not Swiss cheese, but I LOVE it!

Artichokes

2011-05-05T17:57:00.004-06:00

Artichokes are the best! My mom grew up in Riverside, California and we ate them all my life growing up. She made this wonderful garlic sauce that made them fantastic.

I understand there are many out there who do not think it is worth the time to peel, scrape and eat these delectable treats, but as for me and my family, we love them.

Boil a large, and I mean large, pot of water. When boiling, put the raw artichokes in the water. You may have to adjust the water level as you do not want water sloshing over the sides. Push the artichokes down into the water as they have a tendency to float. Put the lid on to keep them down.

Once the water begins to boil, put the temperature down so it continues to boil, but doesn't continue to come over the top of your pan. They need to boil/steam for about one hour. It takes a while to get through those hard exterior leaves. While the artichokes are cooking start making the sauce.

Artichoke Garlic Sauce

1 C. Mayonnaise
1/2 of one lemon
2 cloves Garlic
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tsp. Sugar

Husk the cloves and chop until very fine. Add this and the rest of the ingredients to the mayonnaise. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to eat your artichokes.

For those of you who do not know how to eat these treats, take a look at the a video on how to do it. Click on the link below.

How to Eat an Artichoke

Rainbow Jello

2011-04-28T21:46:00.010-06:00

Rainbow Jello

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

This is a favorite Easter Recipe that my children love. Who doesn’t love layers of colored jello with gobs of Cool Whip on top? It is so festive and beautiful.

I use the six colors of the color wheel, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and I finish with red. This is an easy recipe, only time consuming.

6 (6oz.)boxes of gelatin
1 cup of Sour Cream
1 tub of Cool Whip

I like to start with Purple and work my way up so red is on top. I like the yellow in the middle as I think it is washed out on top.

Boil water on stove. Have three bowls to dissolve gelatin. One for the first color, another for the second color and the third for ice.

Dissolve the first package of gelatin in 2 cups of boiling water. Once dissolved, divide the gelatin into two bowls. Add 1 Tbsp. sour cream to one of the bowls.

Mix with a wire wisk until well blended. Put the bowl of gelatin with the sour cream in it on the ice bed in the third bowl. Stir the gelatin until it is cold when you stick your finger in it. Pour this in a 9 x 13 pan and place in the refrigerator until well set. I find this takes about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, place the other bowl of gelatin on the bed of ice.

You may have to replace the bed of ice each time you use it as it begins to melt with the bowl of hot gelatin on it.

Stir until the gelatin is cold when you place your finger in it. Pour this over the first layer of jello. Hopefully, you have waited long enough and the first layer is nice and hard and this second layer doesn't bleed through the first layer.

You continue to do this over and over again, with each new flavor until all your colors are in your pan. I find after the first layer sits for 20 minutes, each layer after that only takes 10 minutes.

Serve with a big dollop of Cool Whip. I tend to like cool whip over whipping cream with jello, but you be the judge.

It's a riddle - How long does it take to make rainbow jello. Use Grape, Blue Raspberry, Lime, Lemon, Orange (or Peach) and last of all Strawberry (or Cherry). The first layer takes 20 minutes to set and each layer after that takes 10 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2011-04-22T22:13:00.014-06:00

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

Meatballs:
1/2 lb. Hamburger
1/2 lb. Sausage (I use Jimmy Dean in the tube)
1 egg
8 oz. V8 Juice
3/4 C. Bread Crumbs (I use Progresso's Italian Crumbs)
1 pkg. Lipton Onion soup mix (dry)

Mix all this together and use an ice cream scoop to make perfect little meatballs.

Place them on a cookie sheet, right next to each other and then bake at 350 until brown and sizzling. About 1/2 hour.

While the meatballs are cooking, start your rice. I've talked about making rice before, but for those of you who have not heard my rant here I go.

Many of my friends have rice cookers, personally, I think, "Why add one more thing to my kitchen counters?" I think a nice 4 quart sauce pan with a lid works fabulously and it stacks nicely in my cupboards. I know others do not feel as I do, but you decide after you give my way a try.

The recipe for rice is 2:1, two cups of water for each cup of rice. I often make mine with chicken broth instead of water, but for this dish, I like water so it does not clash with the sweet taste of the fruity sauce that goes over everything.

Place water and rice in saucepan. Put lid on and bring to boil. As soon as it boils turn the temperature down to low and set timer for 20 minutes. Keep the lid on and do not peek! When the timer goes off, pick up the lid and see if there are little steam holes in the rice. If so, you have done a fabulous job. If not, cook until you see those holes. Rice is so cheap and easy, if you ask me.

Sauce:
I triple this recipe when I make a double batch of meatballs. You decide how much you need and want to make.
1 C. Pineapple Juice
3 Tbsp. Corn Starch
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp. Vinegar
6 Tbsp. Water
1/2 C. Sugar

Add the above ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. It will thicken as it boils. Cook to the consistency you like. I tend to like mine a little thicker.

Veggies:

2 Stalks of Celery
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Onion
2 Carrots

Cut your vegetables as you like. I tend to like small slices of celery, 1 inch pieces of bell pepper, onions cut up small and carrots sliced. As you know, I have a fourteen year old boy who will not eat onions. I always chop them up very fine in my Cuisinart and then saute. Only, occasionally does he detect onions. Most of the time, he never can tell.

If you want, saute your celery and pepper with your onions. While these are cooking, boil the carrots in salt water until done.

Fruit:

1 Can of Pineapple Tidbits

Add cooked vegetables and drained can of pineapple to the corn starch mixture.

Plate by serving rice first, then meat balls and then ladle on the amount of sauce you want. This recipe takes a little time, but it feeds a large crowd and it stores well for leftovers.

*This is my meat loaf recipe, too. This is one dish that always gets eaten. If there are leftovers, they never last long. The following is a brown sugar, ketchup topping for the meatloaf. Make meat loaf and place in a loaf pan. Mix topping ingredients together and spoon over the raw meatloaf. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Yum, yum, yummy. I actually crave this recipe at times. Serve with baked potatoes, sour cream and butter alongside cooked peas or green peas. Hard to beat if you ask me!

Meatloaf Sauce:

3 Tbsp. Br. Sugar
1/4 C. Ketchup
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
Pinch of Nutmeg

Funny Story about Meatloaf

One Saturday evening, my husband and I were coming home from a Saturday night church meeting. While thinking about what to make for Sunday dinner the next day, I suddenly said, "I feel like meatloaf!"

My husband began to laugh. He said, "Who ever feels like meatloaf? That is bizarre!"

I think growing up he did not like meatloaf very much and could hardly believe anyone would ever truly WANT to eat meatloaf without being made to eat it by their mother.

Over the years, I have convinced him, by continually making meatloaf, that in fact, you truly can WANT to eat it!

Zuppa Tuscana

2011-03-25T08:19:00.007-06:00

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

1 lb. Ground Sausage*
1 lb. Red Potatoes
1 Onion
3 Garlic cloves
8 C. Chicken Broth
1 C. Heavy Cream
1 Bunch Kale

Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Brown Sausage in large soup pot. Remove sausage and set aside. Add chopped onion and saute in grease left by the sausage. Add chicken broth*, sliced potatoes, and garlic. Bring this to boil. Add the sausage and let this simmer as long as you like.

Right before you are about to serve, about 15 - 20 minutes, add the cream and the chopped kale. Kale tends to be like Romaine lettuce. I cut it across the leaf in strips and then cut it the opposite direction to make chunks of kale. I really like it when everything in my soup is bite size.

(I do not want to cut anything in my soup in order to get it in my mouth. I want the cook to do all the work before I eat it is so it is a nice palatable experience.)

Use Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and Salt and Pepper to taste. I tend not to be a big salt user. I find with the cream and all the chicken broth, for my palette, I do not need salt in this soup. You be the judge.

*I like using the Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage in the deli section of your local grocery store. It comes in a long tube like sauce usually comes. I cut the tube of sausage in half and then in half again and slices into nice bite size pieces. (You know, I told you about my issues with small pieces in my soup earlier.)

Although this sausage is already "smoked", I like to fry it up. I like to cook it until I have a few "crusty" pieces. Because of the sugar content in this sausage, it will burn if you are not carefully watching it as you fry.

Minestrone Soup

2011-03-25T07:55:00.011-06:00

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

1 lb. Hamburger
1 Onion
1 28 oz. can Tomatoes
1 16 oz. can Tomato Sauce
2 Carrots
1 Qt. Beef Broth
1 Tbsp. Parsley
1 Tsp. Oregano
1 Tsp. Basil
1 can Green Beans
1 Can Garbanzo Beans
1 can Kidney Beans
1 C. Pasta**

Chop onion and add to hamburger while browning. Add beef broth*, tomatoes, tomato sauce and spices. Peel and slice carrots and put in soup. Let this simmer for one hour or more and then add green, garbanzo and kidney beans. Add all the juices from the cans as well. Add pasta and cook until it is done. This makes about 5 quarts so use a big pan.

*Some of you know how I feel about broths you buy already in a can. I think these are way tooexpensive. I always use bouillon cubes and add 1 cup of water for each cube to make any broth I use. I buy the big containers of chicken bouillon at Costco and use that exclusively for my chicken broth.

I have one friend you is a wonderful cook. She absolutely believes in Swanson's chicken broth. You be the critic and let me know what you think.

** I buy the Salad Macaroni at Macey's Grocery Store. It is a Western Family brand. I have looked for this pasta in other stores and not been able to find it. It is a short tube of pasta. I like the way it cooks up and looks in the soup.

Yummy Yams

2011-03-05T07:39:00.011-07:00

Sweet Potato Pie

5 - 6 Sweet Potatoes
3 eggs
1/2 C. Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Whipping Cream

Topping:

1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Brown Sugar
1 C. Pecans, chopped
1 C. Flour

Wrap each sweet potato in tin foil, separately. Bake your sweet potatoes for an hour and a half at 500. (I know it sounds high, but I have found this to be the best temperature for any kind of potato. Try it with your Russets. You will find it gives you a wonderfully flaking potato.) Place a cookie sheet un the potatoes as they "leak" due to the high sugar content.

After you have baked them, let them cool until you can touch them. Unwrap from tin foil and peel the skins off (should be very easy now that they are cooked.)

Place potatoes, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, sugar and whipping cream in a large mixer and mix. I put everything in my Bosch mixer and mix it all up like I would any kind of mashed potatoes.

When everything is pureed, put it in a 9 x 13 pan. Sometimes, I have a little more than can fit in a 9 x 13 pan so I use my slightly larger Pyrex dish. Now mix the topping.

Make sure your butter is softened. (Remember, 1 - 2 minutes in the microwave at power 2 works for me.) Measure brown sugar, pecans and flour and place in a bowl with softened butter. use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut up butter into pea size balls. At this point mix well with hands and spread over mashed sweet potatoes.

Bake at 350 or until crumb topping has browned. I love these. I find this dish better than dessert on many occasions. I like serving these potatoes at most holidays, but I find they accompany any roast or ham in the same way you might serve mashed potatoes.

Find out more about how good Sweet Potatoes are for you at the website below.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

Chicken Tacos

2011-02-19T18:53:00.010-07:00

Chicken Tacos

4 Chicken Breasts
2 C. Mango Salsa
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
Corn Tortillas
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Limes

Put chicken, salsa and brown sugar in a crock pot and cook all day. At the end of the day, shred the chicken with a fork into the sauce. Serve on warm corn or flour tortillas with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro and a lime wedge.

I like to fry my corn tortillas in a little oil in a fry pan. I fry them for about 10 seconds, turn and then fry again for 10 seconds. Pat dry in between 2 paper towels. Fold immediately in half, Place in 9 x 13 pan lined with paper towels. Place a fork on top of the folded tortilla to help keep its shape.

Banana Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-02-06T13:41:00.012-07:00

Banana Cake

2 1/2 C. Flour
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Shortening
1 C. Mashed Ripe Bananas
2/3 C. Buttermilk
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Peel ripe bananas and put them in a bowl. Blend until watery. Beat eggs in another bowl. Add bananas, sugar and vanilla to eggs. Sift dry ingredient together. Add a portion of dry ingredients and then a portion of buttermilk to banana mixture until all is incorporated.

Tips: I know what cake batter looks like, it should be runny and not stiff like cookie dough. I often add water to any cake recipe I have until it is the consistency of a cake mix you make from the store. I often add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to this recipe. Cook for 25-30 minutes until top is light brown.

I often make this recipe in little loaf pans I have to make individual cakes. Then I frost them with a swirly pattern on the top with cream cheese frosting.

I have made this cake in a 9 x 13 pan, but often when I am pleasing a crowd, I will make it in a jelly roll pan. This way, there is lots of creamy frosting on every piece, since that is really what every likes about this recipe to begin with.

Did you know you can usually find ripe bananas for a very cheap price in the produce section of your grocery store. I usually never have to buy mine already ripe. It seems I always have 2-5 bananas on my counter screaming, "Please, make me into Banana Cake!"

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 C. Butter
1 lb. or 4 cups of Powdered Sugar
1/2 C. Milk

Blend cream cheese and butter until soft. (Softening butter in the microwave is easy. I usually put two squares in the microwave at 2 minutes on power 2. After 1 minute, I turn them upside down and microwave for another minute.)

Add 2 cups of sugar and blend for several minutes. This makes your frosting soft and keeps it soft. Then add the rest of the sugar intermittently with milk until you get the consistency you are looking for. I like my frosting very creamy and inviting to bite into.

Salsa

2011-02-02T18:18:00.011-07:00

I love a good salsa. This recipe is one I got from a friend when I lived in Arizona. It never fails me at parties or family gatherings. It simply disappears.

Who doesn't like a nice homemade salsa with a little kick? I find I never have left overs of this recipe. Everyone eats it with chips, on burritos, on nachos and quesadillas.

2 cans tomatoes, diced
3 or 4 green onions, chopped
2 Serrano Chilies, seeded, chopped
1/4 tsp. oregano
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Jalapeno chilies, seeded and chopped

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Stir in the following

2 Large ripe tomatoes or
4 Small Roma tomatoes (That is the type I usually buy)
1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro

This makes about 3-4 cups, depending on how big your tomatoes are. I found Roma tomatoes years ago and rarely if never buy big round ones anymore. I love the sweet flavor of the Roma. Besides the flavor, I love how easy they are to slice. I slice off the tops and the cut them in half, then I slice each half in 1/4 slices and then cut the opposite way to make perfectly sized cubes of tomatoes, perfect for chunky salsa.

Make sure you wash your hands very well after handly the peppers. I always forget and then I touch my eyes and YEOW, that hurts.

Gingersnap Cookies

2011-01-24T21:00:00.007-07:00

Man, I love these cookies! No matter how good I am trying to be on my diet, I can usually, never resist one of these cookies. Some people call these cookies, Soft Molasses Cookies. I've always been a "gingersnap" kind of girl. I can remember my mom making plain old gingerbread cake. The smell always makes me hungry long before the cookies come out.

1 1/2 c. Shortening
2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Molasses
2 Eggs
4 C. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
4 tsp. Soda
4 Tbsp. Water
2 tsp. Cloves
2 tsp. Ginger
2 tsp. Cinnamon

Makes 3 1/2 dozen 4" cookies.

Cream shortening and sugars. Add eggs one at a time. Mix soda and water together in a small bow and set aside. Sift dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients alternately to egg mixture with soda and water . Mixture should be heavy. I use my dough hook before I add the last 2 cups of flour. You can refrigerate for better handling, but I can never wait that long. I always use an ice cream scoop to form the balls that I roll in sugar. I then line them on the cookie sheet and push the tops down with the bottom of a glass before baking at at 350 degrees until they start to crack,like snickerdoodles, about 10 - 12 minutes.

You can always let them cool and then put a ball of ice cream in between two cookies. If you are a sandwich cookie person, make some cream cheese frosting and use that in between two cookies. YUM! YUM!

Roasted Asparagus

2011-01-18T21:14:00.006-07:00

1 big bunch of Asparagus
1/4 c. Olive Oil
1 -2 tsp. Seasalt
1/2 tsp. Ground Pepper
1 Tbsp. Lemon Zest
2 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds
Coriander

Cut the ends off the asparagus to your liking. Place the washed spears in a large ziploc bag. Pour olive oil over the asparagus, about 1/4 cup. Sprinkle sea salt over the asparagus, about 1 - 2 teaspooons. Grind Pepper over the top to your liking, about 1/2 tsp. I like a lot of lemon, so I zest a whole lemon. Then add sesame seeds.

My girlfriend gave me this recipe. She loves coriander, but as for me, I like it without. But then again, I do not know what I am missing since I have never used it in this recipe.

Once all your ingredients are in the ziploc bag, shake it all up and then stack the asparagus on an oven safe dish in a log cabin style. Then pour 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the dish and bake at 400 for 15 - 20 degrees.

My kids love this! I never have left overs.

Dinner Rolls

2011-01-11T16:13:00.012-07:00

2 Cups Water (105 to 120 Degrees)
2 Tbsp. Dry Yeast
1 tsp. Sugar
1 Cup Margarine (Blue Bonnet)
4 Eggs
1/2 C. Sugar
1-2 tsp. Salt
7- 8 C. Flour, Bread not all purpose

Put all four eggs in the blender and blend while you are doing the next two steps.

Step 1: Fill a 2 cup measuring cup with hot tap water. I use a thermometer to measure the temperature of my water every time I make bread. If the water is too cold (under 105 degrees) the yeast will not activate. If the water is too hot (over 120 degrees, the yeast will burn up and not work).

Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water and then sprinkle on the 1/2 tsp. of sugar. Stir with a fork until all yeast is wet. (The sugar helps the yeast to active.)

Step 2: While yeast is activating, put the two cubes of margarine in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until just melted.

Now add 1/2 C. Sugar to the eggs that have been beaten for the last four minutes or so. Beat well and then gradually add the warm margarine to the egg mixture. (Very, slowly, you do not want to "cook" your eggs with the warm oil).

For those of you who like to use butter, I say go ahead. I find that my rolls are not as light, but some can really tell the difference in taste. I brush mine when they come out of the oven with butter. I think it makes them taste great and they are still light.

After you have mixed in the margarine, add one cup of flour, sprinkling in the flour a little at a time. Add another cup of flour and then add the salt. Now mix in the yeast mixture and continue adding two more cups of flour. At this point, take out your beaters in your mixture and add your dough hook. Continue adding flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

I like my dough a little sticky. I stop adding flour when there is just a little dough still sticking to the bowl. At this point. Find a large bowl and spray it with cooking spray. Take out your dough from your mixture and put it in the bowl. Cover with Saran wrap that you have also sprayed with cooking spray. Put the sprayed side down so when the dough rises and touches the saran wrap it will not stick.

Let dough sit in a warm place for two hours. After the dough has doubled in size, (Seriously, what does that mean? How can you tell? I just look to see if it is quite a bit bigger than when I left it. :) I punch it down and divide the dough into four equal parts or balls.

Take one ball of dough and roll it out until it is about 16 inches in diameter. Cut the circle into four parts. Then cut those four parts in half until you eight pieces and then cut those eight pieces in half. Now you should have 16 equal pieces. Roll them up fat side on the inside of the roll and the little point on the outside. Place the rolls on a greased cookie sheet, point side underneath.

Place Saran wrap over the tray when you get it filled and let rise for two hours. Bake at 350 degrees for 12- 15 minutes until they are as brown as you like. My husband likes them doughy. I like them more brown on top. Brush with softened butter after they have been out of the oven for 3-4 minutes. ENJOY!

Colossal Cheeseburger

2011-01-06T20:22:00.008-07:00

1 1/2 lb. Hamburger
1/2 C. Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Chili Powder
1 can(8 oz.)Tomato Sauce
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 1/2 C. Cheese, grated
2 cans Crescent Rolls, 8 per pkg.
1 Tbsp. Milk
1 tsp. Sesame Seeds

Brown hamburger and onions. When hamburger is browned, drain and add tomato sauce and seasonings. Let simmer for 5 minutes for flavors to blend.

While hamburger is simmer, place a large pizza pan or cookie cheese on counter. Open crescent rolls and separate into triangles. Lay 13 triangles, overlapping, in a star or spoke pattern (See picture below). Place the last three triangles int he center of the star shaped triangles to make the "bun" complete. Place hamburger mixture in the center of crescent rolls. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bring up triangles one at at time and seal them to the one next to it to form a large "bun". Use a pastry brush to brush on milk and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 375 until "bun" is nice and brown. Cut it up and serve.

Everyone in my family loves this recipe. I have yet to find a kid, that does not like it. When my son has all his friends over for game night, I usually serve this and usually nothing is left, even if I make two of them.

Smoked Salmon Appetizer

2010-12-27T07:10:00.007-07:00

Smoked Salmon (I bought mine at Costco in the deli section)
Hard Boiled Eggs
Red Onion, Chopped
Capers
Creme Fresh
Toast Points* or crackers

While in Spokane, Washington, my husband and I visited Churchill's Steak House. We ordered the Smoked Salmon appetizer and immediately became enamored with it. I came home and decided I needed to try and replicate it. After serving this at a family function on Christmas Eve, I decided to post it so you could try it as well.

The ingredients are simple and there is nothing special about any of this. I thought I would share just a few tips I've learned along the way.

When boiling your eggs, puts the eggs in a pot of water. Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. At this point, put the lid on your pan and take it off the heat. Set the timer for 10-15 minutes. After the timer rings, drain off the hot water and then add very cold water (I add ice cubes) to your pot of eggs. Let them rest for another 10 minutes and then peel. You will find you have perfect boiled eggs if you follow this recipe.

You can use sour cream instead of creme fresh, but I like the consistency of creme fresh with this appetizer. It is runnier and tends to spread easier. I had to hunt for it, but I found it at a local store called Sunflower Market.

*Toast Points are pieces of bread that have the crust cut off and are cut in triangular pieces. I cut off the crusts and then smashed the bread with a rolling pin before cutting it into fourths on the angle. I then toasted them in the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the corners began to brown. You can try brushing them with butter if you would like.

You eat it by placing a piece of salmon on your bread (I cut the salmon up so it was in cracker size pieces). Then place a little creme fresh on the salmon and top it with your favorite topping whether it be the hard boiled eggs, onions or capers. I like all three on mine. So fabulous! I cannot even tell you how great this tastes. Try something a little gourmet the next time you entertain.

Pomegranate Salad

2010-12-27T07:00:00.005-07:00

4 C. Spring Mix Salad Greens
4 C. Baby Spinach Leaves
4 C. Romaine Lettuce leaves
2 C. Pomegranate Seeds
1/2 C. Feta Cheese
1 C. Sugared Pecans, chopped

Seriously, can you get any simpler than this! I am not sure on the amounts of greens. I tend to take handfuls of each of the different types of lettuce until I have enough for what I want. I pour on pomegranate seeds until it looks right and then enough feta until I am satisfied and then throw on the peans. I toss it in the salad dressing recipe below and serve it. This was also served at that big party I was in charge of. Usually, there is always salad left over, but not that night.

Salad Dressing

3/4 C. Red Wine Vinegar
3/4 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 C. Salad Oil (Canola Oil)

Mix vinegar and sugar in blender. Add mustard and salt. Add oil to vinegar mixture as blender is going in a very thin line to emulsify. You will find your salad dressing does not separate as much when you take the time to drizzle your oil.

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

I made these differently last time I made them and I really liked them. I placed 1 cup of sugar in a fry pan and then added 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water. I brought this to a boil and let it simmer until it was a little thicker. I added the probably 1- 1 1/2 cups of pecans and then dusted them with cinnamon. I then tossed it all together, still cooking it, until the sugar and water were dry and stuck on the pecans.

Pour the cooked pecans on a plate and let cool. They will be one solid mass, so you will need to break them apart and then cut them up. I do not like to cut the pecans before I cook them because they get too done for my taste.

Cranberry Pork Loin Roast

2010-12-27T06:54:00.004-07:00

2 1/2 lb pork loin
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1/2 c sugar
1/8 c orange juice concentrate
1 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 T corn starch
2 T water

Place pork roast in slow cooker or in a roasting pan with a lid. In medium bowl mix cranberry sauce and next ingredients except cornstarch and water. Pour mixture over pork and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours in crock pot. Cook for 3 hours at 325 in a roasting pan. Then remove the roast and keep warm. Measure 2 cups liquid from juices. Bring to a boil. Then add the corn starch mixed with the two T of water and cook till thickened. Cut roast and pass the sauce.

This was served at a big party, where I was in charge of the food. It is my neighbor's recipe, but we had so many compliments I just had to share it with you. It is nice to do something different once in a while.

Loaded Potato Soup

2010-12-02T18:31:00.008-07:00

If you have leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, you will find this soup a perfect place to use them. This is Cheesy Potato soup, VAMPED UP with bacon, sour cream and cheese. So good my daughter said, "Wow, Mom, this soup is really good. No, I mean it. It is really good!"

Loaded Potato Soup

1 Large Onion
4 Stalks Celery
2 Large Carrots, diced into small pieces
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 quart Chicken Broth
1 C. Half and Half
3 C. Mashed Potatoes*
2 C. Chopped Ham
1 1/2 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Garnish
1 lb. Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 C. Sour Cream
1 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Cut Bacon into small pieces and then cook in a large dutch oven until done, stirring to keep from burning.** Save 2 Tbsp. of oil and saute chopped onion, celery and carrots. When vegetables are almost done, add minced garlic. Let the rest of the oil cool and then dispose of in a plastic bag in the trash.

Pour 1 quart of chicken broth into sautted vegetables and cook until tender crisp. (I never buy chicken broth. I opt to use the much cheaper chicken bouillon mixed with 8 oz. of water for each cup of bouillon needed. I add the water to my dutch oven and throw in the chicken bouillon letting it dissolve as the vegetables cook.)

Add mashed potatoes and chopped ham to vegetable mixture and let simmer until ready to serve. Before serving, add half and half and cheese in enough time to bring everything up to temperature. Serve with a small spoonful of sour cream, topped with grated cheese and garnished with bacon bits. A wonderful winter's night soup served with homemade rolls or bake and serve rolls from your local grocer. My homemade roll recipe is coming in upcoming blogs.

Mashed Potatoes*

This is a fabulously fattening way to make mashed potatoes. Although your heart might stop beating when you read the ingredients. I promise you will never have leftovers with this recipe.

10 - 12 Large Potatoes, peeled and quartered
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 - 1 C. Butter
1/2 C. Sour Cream

Cook Potatoes, covered in water, in a large dutch. Get the water boiling and then put the lid on and turn down the heat so the water is still boiling but not coming out of the pan. Cook for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fork tender (A fork is able to be inserted with ease into each piece of potato tested.)

While potatoes are cooking, soften fats in microwave and then mix in large bowl with beaters. (I use my Bosch mixture and mix the cream cheese and butter until soft and then add the drained potatoes. Usually it fills the entire bowl with the amounts I have specified.) I always start with 8 oz. of cream cheese and 1/2 c. butter. Add potatoes and then decide if I need more fat or not. Usually, I don't.

If more fat is needed, I add sour cream until I get the consistency I want. If that doesn't do it, I add the extra butter. It all depends on what sizes my potatoes are and how many I boil. Sour cream tends to make the potatoes thinner and runnier. You'll have to experiment until you get the consistency you want. YUM, YUM is all I can say!

** My husband's Aunt Gail taught me to cut the pound of bacon before you cook it. Then you do not have to crumble your cooked bacon strips, it is all done for you. You will find you render much more grease when the bacon is cooked in small pieces rather than in strips, thus making your bacon less heart problematic because you have taken more of the fat off/out of it.

Raspberry Pear Salad

2010-12-01T20:11:00.006-07:00

Sometimes, I just want a good salad.

Romaine Lettuce
1 Pear, peeled, sliced and cubed
1/2 c. - 1 c. Raspberries
1/2 c. Feta cheese

Dressing:*
3/4 C. Red Wine Vinegar
3/4 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 c. Canola Oil

Chop Romaine lettuce. I use three to four heads of the skinny kind of lettuce at Costco. If buying regular romaine lettuce in the store, I would use 1-2 heads. I chop mine with a knife into bite size pieces. Throw into a big salad bowl or onto individual plates. Sprinkle on feta cheese, place on pears and then arrange raspberries for effect. You might want to sprinkle the feta on last depending on what you are going for. Usually, I make it in a large bowl, toss it with the salad dressing and serve immediately.

This salad goes so well with most any kind of main dish dinner. It is elegant for a luncheon with your friends or a dinner party with couples.

When making the dressing, pour the vinegar and sugar into a blender. Add the mustard and salt and blend well. The next step is paramount in making a good dressing. Take off the little plastic insert in your lid on your blender. Turn the blender on and drizzle the oil into the vinegar mixture a small amount at a time through the small opening. This allows the thin line of oil to really mix well. This makes it so your dressing will only separate a small bit on the bottom of your jar instead of the vinegar and oil separating completely.

Cafe Rio Salad/Burritos

2010-11-30T08:47:00.025-07:00

I love this recipe. I probably make this dish once a month. My recipe is written on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. It has a big tear on the right hand side and there are red enchilada sauce and brown sugar stains all over it. It has been used a lot.

This salad really has three recipes:

Sweet Pork, Lime Rice and the Creamy Tomatillo Dressing.

I understand there are several salad recipes out there, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one.

SWEET PORK

This recipe is too much work for just a little bit of meat, so I always double the recipe and freeze the rest of the meat.

3 lbs. Rump Pork Roast
1 C. Dark Brown Sugar (I like the deep molasses taste of this.)
1 C. Worcestershire Sauce (I buy mine at Costco. You cannot beat the price for the amount you get.)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. dried minced onion

Cook all the ingredients in a crock-pot all day on low or on high for half a day. I cook mine in the oven for 7 hours on 250-275, in a covered roasting dish. Sometimes, I cook the roast through the night. You just have to be prepared to wake up in the middle of the night smelling something savory. This way, it is nice and hot if I am serving it for lunch.

Remove meat from pot and shred. Discard liquid. Put shredded meat back in and add:

1 C. Dark brown sugar
1 C. Red Enchilada Sauce

Lime Rice

1 C. White long grain rice
2 C. Chicken Broth
1 T. Garlic Powder
1 T. Minced Dry Onion

Cook above ingredients for rice directions, substituting chicken broth for water.

It really is possible to make perfect rice without a rice cooker or instant rice. Follow directions below.

Put water/chicken broth and rice on stove to boil. When water begins to boil, put on lid to pot and turn temperature to simmer. On my stove, I have a dial that starts at Lo and goes up to Hi with the numbers 1 - 9 sequentially in between. I set my dial to Lo after the rice and water/chicken broth is at a rolling boil. The lid is the important part here. I set my timer to exactly 20 minutes. When the buzzer rings, I look at the rice. If there are small holes in the rice, I know it is done. I put the lid back on and set it on a back burner, with no heat, until I am ready to serve it, or in this case add the next ingredients.

When rice is done, add:

1/2 c. Chopped Cilantro
1 T. Lime Juice
1 C. Green Enchilada Sauce

For Sweet Rice, add 1-2 Tbsp. of sugar at this point.

CREAMY TOMATILLO DRESSING

1 Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Packet (Hidden Valley Ranch Brand Recommended)
1/2 C. Buttermilk
1/2 C. Sour Cream
1 C. Mayonnaise
2 Tomatillos
1/2 Bunch Cilantro
1-3 Cloves Garlic
1 Lime, juice of
1 Jalapeno

Husk the tomatillos and slice them. Take out the ribs and seeds of the Jalapeno and slice. (Be careful! I always forget to really wash my hands well after slicing jalapenos and then I touch my eyes or something and WOW, that hurts.). Cut up the cilantro into small pieces.

Put all ingredients, except cilantro, in a blender or food processor and blend until well mixed. Add the cilantro to blender and give it a little burst of power. Just enough to mix in the cilantro and still leave little flecks of green in the dressing.

Serve on Tortillas with a little melted cheese, black or pinto beans, chopped lettuce, sour cream, gucamole and thin fried tortilla strips.

I often will heat up small Tortillas, heap on some rice, then beans and then meat. I drizzle a small line of Salad Dressing down the middle and then fold like a burrito. Delicious!

Cowbow Salsa

2010-11-24T14:22:00.007-07:00

This is a favorite of my tennis friends. I play competitively at a club nearby. Often during the winter months, while playing indoors, we bring snacks and invite the opposing team to socialize with us after the match is over. Everyone always loves this as it is so good for you and it seems to satisfy cravings after playing the match.

COWBOY SALSA

2 cans Black Beans
2 cans Whole Kernel Corn
2 cans Black Eyed Peas
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 Bunch Green Onions
1 Avocado
1/2 bunch cilantro

Dressing
1/4 c. Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 c. oil
1 pkg. Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing

Drain and rinse peas and beans. Drain corn. Add beans, peas and corn to bowl. Add chopped green onions, tomatoes, cilantro and avocado. I like my tomatoes and avocados in small pieces. Add to bean mixture. Mix dressing and toss. Serve with corn or tortilla chips.

I like to make mine dip and let it marinate for several hours before serving. Toss again before serving.

Taco Soup

2010-11-22T17:53:00.009-07:00

Tired, hungry and on the go? Here is an easy dinner for tonight.

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 c. onion
1 can tomato soup (condensed)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
10 oz. beef broth
1 can kidney beans
Tortilla strips or corn chips crumbled
Cheese
Sour Cream

Brown hamburger and chopped up onion. Add next three ingredients. When liquids are nice and hot. Add the can of kidney beans and heat thoroughly. Serve with crushed corn chips, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

For years, I have carefully drained and rinsed all beans I use out of can. Recently, I read a recipe where the instructions read, "Add can of beans with juice." I tried it and I liked it. The extra starch from the bean juice adds a nice texture to the soup base.

Apple Crumb Pie

2009-11-28T14:08:00.006-07:00

1 unbaked pie crust
5 c. granny smith apples, peeled and sliced very thin
(I use about 7-8 big apples)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Crumb Topping:

3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter, softened

Apple Crumb Pie

Mix apples with next four ingredients. Place in unbaked pie crust. Mix next three ingredients with a pastry cutter or in your food processor on pulse. My apples are always a huge mound in my crust. I try to lay them in the crust so they are not a mound, but it never seems to work. I have to mash this crumb topping on to the apples. Otherwise, the mound is so tall the crumbs just roll off.

Place pie in a large brown paper bag, a grocery bag. Fold over the ends and paper clip closed or staple. Lower rack in oven and back at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes. NO PEEKING! The fat in the crumb topping drips down and covers the bottom of the bag and prevents it from catching fire in your oven. It really works! I've done it for years and a very close friend of mine gave me this recipe which she has been making just like this for years before I received it.

My sister-in-law made this pie for each of her neighbors one year for Christmas. She was the hit of the neighborhood.

Blueberry French Toast

2009-11-28T13:52:00.005-07:00

12 slices bread, cubed 12 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese 2 c. whole milk
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries 1/3 c. maple syrup

Put half the bread cubes in a greased 13"x9" pan. Distribute the blueberries evenly over the bread cubes. Make very small cubes of cream cheese and place evenly over berries. Add the remaining bread cubes. Combine eggs, milk and syrup. (If you don't have whole milk, but you do have cream, you can make a mixture of 1 part cream to 3 parts milk to replace the whole milk).

Mix together well and pour over bread cube mixture. Cover with foil; refrigerate overnight. (If you don't have overnight and you want to make it this morning. Push down the bread cubes into the egg and then cover with foil. Place bananas that have been separated or something about the same weight on top of the foil. Let the bread mixture sit with the weight on it for about an hour. You can leave it on the counter or put it in the refrigerator. I often use frozen bread. Leaving it on the counter lets everything come to room temperature.)

Make sure the foil is not touching the bread cubes when you place it in the oven. Bake the dish, covered in foil, in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook another 30 minutes or until set. It should look a lot like bread pudding. Serves 10 to 12.

Blueberry Syrup

1 c. sugar 1 c. blueberries
2 Tbsp. cornstarch 1 Tbsp. butter
1 c. water

Cook sugar, cornstarch and water in a pan over medium heat until thick. Stirring constantly. Add berries and simmer with a medium boil for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and add butter. Spoon over your French toast.

Chicken Pot Pie

2009-11-19T21:08:00.009-07:00

Chicken Pot Pie

Crust
1 cup butter
4 oz. cream cheese
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. cold water

1 egg (egg wash for crust after it is assembled)

Soften butter and cream cheese to room temperature. (I often stick my butter in the microwave for 1 - 2 minutes on power level 2. It softens butter without melting it to just the right consistency. Play with the time and let me know what you think.)

Put butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Add the flour and salt. Cut with a pastry blender or use can use two knives. Cut the fats into the flour and salt until the lumps are about the size of peas. This is a great dough. You really cannot mess it up if you follow these simple directions.

Add the water and stir with a spoon. The dough will start to clump together. Keep stirring. When most of the flour is stuck to the fat, use your hands to gently push everything together. I like to turn it over and over and push a little until all the flour is pretty much incorporated into the ball. Use both hands and squeeze on the dough until it is round and shiny.

Divide the dough in half and roll it out into a circle. Make sure you roll it out big enough to cover the entire pie plate and it has about an one inch lip. (I use a deep pie dish). I like this dough a lot and use most of it even though it will feel thicker than pie crust. Reserve the other half to put on the top after you have filled the bottom crust with your filling.

Filling

1/2 a big onion, or one small onion
1-2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 - 1 whole bag of frozen peas and carrots
Roux with chicken stock or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2-3 cups cooked, chopped chicken breast

(Notice these ingredients compliment the Chicken Noodle Soup because they are mostly the same, so you can use up all your ingredients between the two recipes.)

Saute your chopped onions (You know how I feel about onions from the previous day's post)in the melted butter until translucent. Add the Roux (find out more about this from the Chicken Noodle Soup post) or cream of chicken soup (undiluted). Pour in the peas and carrots and cooked chicken. Let everything get nice and warm in your pan. Pour this mixture into your prepared crust.

Roll out the top crust until just slightly bigger than your bottom crust. Just eyeball it. You can do it! I know you can! Gently pick up one side of the crust and fold it over to the other side of the crust so there is a folded side showing. Cut three very small lines into the folded side of the crust. These are your vents to let the steam out as your pie cooks.

Unfold your crust and lay on top of your pie plate with your other crust and pie filling in it. Cut the crust around the pie so there is only 1 inch over hang. Find the bottom crust and gently work around the circle and between your fingers mash the top crust and bottom crust together. Then start turning the crust under to make a log around the outside of the pie. Pretend the pie plate is your child's chin and your are rolling the sheets and tucking them underneath. Go all the way around the pie until all pie crust edges are hidden under neath your pie plate chin.

To make a lovely fluted crust, use your first and middle fingers on your writing hand and spread them apart about an inch. Place them on the edge of your dough. Smash down slightly and take the thumb from your other hand and put it in between the two fingers and pull up slightly on the crust. Continue this around the pie until you have a perfectly fluted pie. (You can always start over. Everything can be fixed. Don't listen to those people who say pie crust is hard. Just dig in and keep trying it until works)

Beat one egg in a small bowl. I use a wire whisk for about 1 minute until it is smooth. Use a pastry brush and brush the egg onto the top crust. Make sure you get in all the peaks and valleys of the crust. Place in a hot oven of 350. I bake it for about 20-25 minutes at 6000 feet where I live. Keep looking in the oven and take it out when it is very golden brown, but not burned.

This is a great dish to take into someone's home when you are taking meals in as a service. I picked this recipe up 25 years ago when I first got married from a friend of mine. I have shared this with more people than almost any other recipe. The only other recipe that might be more popular is my Gingersnap Cookie recipe. Check later on, this one is coming.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-11-18T19:16:00.008-07:00

Allen, This is for you. You have been asking me to post this recipe for quite some time. I hope this makes your winter wonderful and warm. Love, Aunt Dina

Chicken Noodle Soup
1/2 a big onion, or 1 small onion
2 Tbsp. butter
Make a roux* or use 2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 bag of frozen peas and carrots, or 1/2 bag of frozen peas and fresh carrots
2-4 cups cooked, cubed chicken
Homemade Noodles*

I have a 13 year old onion hater in my house. He maintains he doesn't like onions. So does his Granddad. You will never convince me that they really hate onions. They only hate the crunch of onions. It is their texture that so many people hate. The truth is "Onions are the work horse of any good kitchen!" (You must say this in a very thick Julia Child accent.)

To solve the onion problem you simply chop them up really small. I don't mean with a knife. I want you to chop them in a Cuisenart or some other wonderful chopping machine. If you like onions and you don't mind the crunch, by all means chop away with your lovely chef's knife.

In a skillet, melt the butter. Toss in your onions and saute for 3-5 minutes. Other recipes always tell you to cook them until they are translucent. I hate to admit it, but I just cook them until they are done (whatever that means) or until the moisture in the pan runs out. When they start to stick add more butter if you don't think they are done or take them off the heat.

In another pan make a roux. If you want to learn some more about the history of roux and how it is used in cooking, check out this link.

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artroux.html

A roux is equal parts of butter and flour. You melt the butter in a pan on medium high heat and then add your flour. Cook the flour before you start adding liquid. I like my roux to be a golden brown when making this soup.

Roux Recipe

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
4-6 cups of chicken broth

I think most people buy chicken broth already made and in a can. I am a little too frugal to buy chicken broth. I buy a large Schilling or McCormick bottle of chicken bouillon and use this instead of broth. (One cube of bouillon to 1 cup of water. I measure the water in a Pyrex four cup measuring cup, drop in the bouillon cubes and boil in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Crushing the cubes is better than just placing them in the water. I like to smash them between the backside and the frontside of two spoons.)

Melt your butter and then sprinkle in your flour. Stir the flour and butter consistently until you get a light tan color. Add the chicken broth and stir continuously on medium high. The butter/flour mixture should begin to look like soup. If it looks like gravy, add more water. Soup is suppose to make ingredients go a long way, so if the soup doesn't look like it is going as far as you want with the ingredients you have, add more WATER!

Hopefully, you made your roux in a large stock pot, but if you didn't just put it in one now. Add your sauted onions and 1/2 bag of peas and carrots. If you are only adding frozen peas, don't forget to add your raw carrots at this point, that is what I do. I like to slice mine up into very thin discs of carrots. Let this begin to boil and then reduce the temperature to medium low or simmer. If your chicken is all chopped up, add it now. I like all these flavors to start melding together while I make the noodles.

Homemade Noodles
2 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. milk

Beat the eggs with a wire whisk. Add the milk. Pour in 1 1/2 cups of flour and the salt. Mix all of this with a spoon. Your dough should be somewhat sticky but should gather in a ball as you mix it together. Use the 1/2 cup of flour on your counter top and start rolling the dough in it until it isn't sticky any more and you can roll it out with a rolling pin. I like to divide the dough in half. I roll out one half in a very thin sheet of dough. You will need plenty of flour on the top and bottom of this dough. Keep picking it up and reflouring underneath of it as you roll it out so it doesn't stick to the countertop. I like to roll it into a rectangle shape.

Get your water boiling, or if you have put enough water in your soup, you can use that to cook the noodles. I use a pizza cutter and cut very thin strips, maybe 1/8 of an inch. I cut up all of the dough into long strips and then I cut the opposite way and make 1-2 inch strips that are 1/8" wide. Drop these into your boiling water or soup. It is important that your liquid is boiling. Sometimes, I need a small spatula with which to scrape my noodles off the counter. Boil for 6 minutes. If you didn't use the soup to cook them, transfer the cooked noodles into your soup. Buen Provecho!