Yummy Corn Chowder

Corn Chowder
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced celery (2-3 stalks)
1-1/2 cups carrotts, sliced
2-1/2 cups potatoes, cubed
1 can corn, drained (or 2 cups frozen corn)
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
1 15 oz can evaporated milk
4-5 chicken bullion cubes
2-3 quarts water
1 lb cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup potato pearls or flakes, for thickening
In your favorite soup pot, saute the onion and celery in the butter until they are softened. Add 2-3 quarts water, carrots, potatoes and chicken bullion cubes. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until veggies are soft. While that is simmering, cook the bacon in a frying pan. I like to slice it in small pieces while it is still a little frozen and then fry it–that way it is all ready crumbled and cooks pretty evenly. Set bacon aside on a paper towel to drain. Now, back to the soup pot. Add corn, cream of mushroom soup and evaporated milk. If you want to you can add potato pearls or flakes at this point to make it thicker. Let chowder simmer 5-10 more minutes. Serve with warm rolls or bread. If you know you will be eating all of the soup at one meal, you can add all the bacon to the soup. I don’t like soggy bacon, so at my house, we add our own bacon to our individual bowls. *This chowder will definitely warm you up on a cold evening. It also makes an easy dinner to take to someone who is sick or struggling.

Faux Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat Muffins

These little puppies were sure tasty and a hit on the 4 hour road trip to DC, my husband took some youth from church on, last weekend. I had some butternut squash I needed to use and since it is basically the same consistency and color as pumpkin, I used it in the place of pumpkin for this muffins. I don't know if there is a person in the world who could tell the difference. I got this yummy recipe from my friend Michelle. She is the Muffin Queen!

Pumpkin (Butternut Squash) Chocolate Chip Muffins
cream together:
2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (that is 1/2 a cube)
1/2 cup apple sauce (If you don't want to use applesauce you substitue veg. oil or butter)
add:
2 cup butternut squash or pumpkin of course
4 eggs
mix well.
sift the following together, then add to creamed mixture:
3 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, you can use white if you want, but if you use wheat you can eat them for breakfast. :)
3 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ginger
3/4 t. nutmeg
3/4 t. allspice or ground cloves
2 t. baking soda
1/2t. baking powder
1/2t. salt

stir until well mixed.
if desired, add 1-2 cups chocolate chips.
fill muffin tins (24 muffins)
Bake @ 350 for ~20 minutes

If you do mini-muffins reduce cooking time to 12 minutes.

White Chicken Chili

A few months ago our ward (church) had a chili cook-off. I realized I didn't have any ground beef that morning, and instead of risking the craziness of shopping on Saturday, (I really try to avoid it) I decided to try a white chili. I had some bone in chicken breast that I stuck in the crock pot with some lemon juice and salt and pepper. Then I started the beans because I new they would take at least 4 hours. I rinsed them, covered them with water and then put in lots of garlic, a whole onion in wedges and a couple teaspoons of salt. I do pinto beans the same way and freeze them in 2 cup batches. I really like beans and could go on and on but I'll dedicate an entire post to them someday. Anyhow, I was pretty happy with the end resultof the chili and ended up getting second, I missed first by one vote. And can I just say, the prizes were awesome. I got a $50 dollar gift card to Chili's and two bottles of hot sauce. Go Chicken!

Maria's White Chicken Chili

1 small or medium onion, chopped

2 pieces of garlic, crushed

3 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

5 cups white navy beans, or three 15 oz. cans

2 cans mild rotel, drained unless you like it really spicy then leave the juice, or get the regular or spicy variety for more heat.

1 packet dry italian dressing seasoning, or 1 cup italian salad dressing

2-4 cups of water, depending on if you drain the rotel or if you use dressing instead of the seasoning packet

2-4 chicken bullion cubes (to personal taste) I like to also add the drippings from meat if I cook it in the crock pot.

1-2 Tbsp lime or lemon juice

1 spoonful of sugar (secret ingredient)

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 1-2 tsp cumin

Sour cream

Grated cheese

Saute the onion for 3 minutes and then add crushed garlic, chili powder and cumin. Suate 1 more minute. Add tomatoes, water, 3 1/2 cups of beans or two cans, and chicken. Add chicken bullion, and italian seasoning. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Mash remaining beans and add them to help thicken the chili. Add the sugar and lemon or lime juice. Simmer a little longer and then serve with sour cream and grated cheese.

The great thing about this soup is you can use whatever you have on hand. If you have a lime use fresh lime juice. If all you've got is bottled lemon juice, use that. You really can't mess it up if you have the key ingredients. If you think that two cans of Rotel is going to be to spicy for your kids, do one can mild rotel and one can plain crushed or diced tomatos. I can't tell you how many people asked me for this recipe. You are definately going to want to keep this one in your favorites. I personally think what makes it great is the beans being cooked with onion and garlic and the meat being slowcooked with a little lemon juice. I am telling you lemon juice is my best friend when it comes to poultry. Toodles

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hadn't made these cookies since I was a kid and just remebered how much I like them. I couldn't find the good old recipe my mom made, and it was too late to call her, so.....I looked on line and combined a few. This is what I got. They are so tasty!!!

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 egg

1 cup applesauce

2-1/4 cup flour (I used half wheat, half white)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet if you prefer)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg, applesauce and vanilla: mix well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg and salt. Mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by the tablespoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until very light brown. These little guys are tasty fresh out of the oven, but I personally like them the next day when they have softened a little. They make a great breakfast. :)

Carmel Apples

At one of our annual girl parties. My Aunt took me with her into a candy shop in the mall and I came out with a carmel apple that had been dipped in carmel, white chocolate and then rolled in cinnamon sugar. To say the least it was DELICIOUS!
There are a few foods I have had in my life that I haven't been able to forget. This was definitely one of them. I will fill you in on the others another time. (Just remind me to tell you the sad story about a chocolate rice crispy at Disney World.)

This summer I happened upon a chocolate store when me and the fam were doing a little outlet shopping. Boy, was I thrilled, to see the same apple in their window. I bought one and it was as good as I remembered. Ever since, I have been dying to try making one myself. I finally got around to it this weekend, and I have to say, it was DELICIOUS!!! You have got to try it! This was the first time I have ever attempted dipping apples like this and lets just say I learned ALOT!

I made three atempts at dipping before realizing what wasn't working. Instead of telling you the things that didn't work. I will make this easy for you and tell you what did work. After melting both the carmel and the white chocolate, I let it cool until it was almost room temperature. (I added a few Tbsp of water to my carmels.It made my carmel too runny. You may not need to let yours cool so long if you don't add water to it.) Once my carmel had cooled off, I used a spoon and smeared the carmel all the way around the apple. Following that I used another spoon and smeared white chocolate around the carmel and then quickly rolled the apple in cinnamon and sugar. This way worked great. I think my carmel and chocolate were too warm for my first attempts.

I had a few different things I used for toppings. I rolled some in crushed Oreo cookies. I also did one in just carmel and mini M&M's. Sliced almonds looked pretty nice around the bottom of one with carmel and white chocolate, but my favorite were the "apple pie," carmel, white chocolate, cinnamon sugar ones. YUM YUM YUM! My little boy thought it was really fun and could hardly wait for me to quit taking pictures so he could eat one.

If you want to make these you will need:
Apples (I like granny smith and honey crisp)
1-2 bags of wrapped carmels
6 squares of almond bark or white chocolate chips
Toppings (cinnamon sugar, crushed oreos, mini m&m's, reeses pieces, cut up peanut butter cups, sliced or crushed nuts of your choice, or whatever else sounds good to you.

Wax papper

Unwrap all the carmels and put them in a 2 quart sauce pan. Heat the carmel on low stirring often so it won't scorch. You may need to add 1 Tbsp of water to make the carmel a little easier to work with. Don't add more then one or it will be too runny like mine.

Heat 6 squares of almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring in between until it is smooth.

Prepare toppings and put them out evenly on plates.

Depending on the consistency of your carmel you might have better luck dipping instead of spreading. However, The carmel needs to be quite cool or the white chocolate will melt off.

Get creative and have fun. These apples are soooooo Yummy.

Apple Crisp

I love to make this when I have an abundance of apples on hand. It is also a great way to get rid of the apples in your fridge that are about to get to the "I'm not eating that" stage.
Filling:
3-4 cups sliced apples (I like the granny smith because they are tart, but any variety will work)
2 Tbspwhite sugar
2 Tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of lemon juice
Mix together and place in a 9×13 buttered baking dish.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup flour
1 cup quick oats, heaping (old fashioned oats work also, it will just have a little different texture.)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 cube butter, softened
Mix all dry ingredients and then cut or crumble the butter into the mixture. (I just workit in with my hand.) Sprinkle over apples and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. You can use the same crumble mixture on top of almost any fruit. We like to do peaches and blueberries. It is also great with black berries. (You do not need to add the sugar and flour mixture to any fruit except apples.)

Chedder Broccoli Soup

I like this recipe because it is quick, simple, tasty, and less fattening then recipes that use cream. Technically you could substitute cream for the milk and evaporated milk if you want a richer, "creamier" soup. As long as you don't mind adding a few hundred more calories per serving. :)

1-2 large bunches of fresh broccoli, chopped (you can substitute a 1 lb. bag of frozen broccoli)
½ cup chopped onion
2-3 tsp chicken bullion (2-3 cubes)
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup flour
1 cup milk
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups grated cheddar or colby jack cheese
Pinch dry mustard

Put chopped broccoli and onion in a 2 -3 quart sauce pan. Barely cover vegetables with water. Add the chicken bullion. Add salt and pepper if desired. Bring to a boil and then simmer until broccoli and onions are tender. In a separate sauce pan melt butter and whisk in the flour to create a rue. Continue whisking the rue for about 30 seconds. Add the regular milk while you continue to whisk the rue until it turns into a smooth white sauce. Add the white sauce to the broccoli and onions. Stir, and then add the can of evaporated milk. Add the pinch of dry mustard. Simmer for 20 minutes. Five minutes prior to serving stir in the cheese. More milk can be added for a thinner soup. Works great in bread bowls.

Seriously Irresistible Pumpkin Squares

I origonally got this recipe from Nan Petersen.
Beat until creamy:
4 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 cups packed pumpkin

Add:
2 cups flour (I use wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of Nutmeg (optional)

Pinch of Salt
Beat until well blended. Spread batter in a lightly greased jelly roll pan. Bake for 18-23 min. @ 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

Frosting:
Beat together:
1 stick softened butter
1 softened 8 oz. package of cream cheese
Add:
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
Beat until smooth. Spread on completely cooled cake.
I like to keep these in the refrigerator. They are fine if you don’t keep them in the fridge, but it keeps the frosting fresher and it just makes them so tasty for some reason. The recipe is ment to be made with white flour, They are fabulous that way too. I just like to use wheat so I don’t feel quite so bad when I eat half the pan by myself.