Valentines heart treats

I got this idea from Family Fun Magazine. I used Cherry flavored mini candy canes and quick melt white chocolate. enjoy the pictures.














YUMMY!

Chicken Crescents

Ingredients:
3 oz. cream cheese
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Cups cooked chicken
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 oz. crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk (read below)

Directions:
Cook Chicken and shred
Soften cream cheese and butter
mix together cream cheese, butter, chicken, salt, and pepper
Put mixture on crescent rolls and roll them up.
Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes
Meanwhile heat cream of chicken and milk in a saucepan
Pour over chicken roll ups and enjoy!

My Mom used to make this recipe I thought it was so good that I decided to make it for Chuck when we were dating. When I read the ingredients it called for a can of milk, I looked in the cupboard for a can of milk and found sweetened condensed milk. I put the can of milk in and tasted it and realized they meant to fill the empty can of cream of chicken soup with regular milk. Luckily my mom had more ingredients in the cupboard and luckily Chuck didn't judge me on my cooking skills which have since gotten much better.

Grandmas Homemade Noodles

Ingredients:
1 to 2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon lukewarm water
2 eggs

directions
sift 1 cup flour and salt together. Put well in center. Add eggs, milk and water. Beat with fork until mixed well. Knead for 15 minutes. adding flour as needed. Cover, I usually use plastic wrap, let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out as thin as possible. Remember noodles will almost double in size after cooking. Cut into strips. Boil until noodles are cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.

These noodles are so yummy! My Grandma used to make these noodles every Thanksgiving and put them in here chicken noodle soup. We always looked forward to this dish. Now it is one of my kids favorite dish.

Strawberry Kiwi Margaritas Virgin style

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. cold water
1 C. cold orange juice
2 T. Lime juice
1 pack of strawberry kiwi crystal light
4 c. ice


Directions:
Mix ingredients in a blender until well blended and ice is fine. Makes 6 1 c. servings

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I know this isn't the best picture but I've never claimed to be a professional. This is such a good recipe I found when I was in college just learning how to cook.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (16 oz.) Elbow macaroni noodles
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) Velveeta cheese, cut up and divided
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 egg
2 1/2 c. milk
paprika

Directions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook elbow noodles as directed on package. Meanwhile cut butter into small pieces and place in bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish. Drain noodles and pour half of them over butter. Sprinkle with 1 cup each of both cheeses. Beat the egg and milk together and pour half of the mixture over the cheese. Repeat all layers again. Sprinkle with paprika and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir bake an additional 15 minutes or until heated through and golden brown.
Enjoy!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe was on Good Things Utah and is sooooo delish! It does take some work though. You might even consider making more of the marinade because it tastes so good.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. lime juice
2 t. - 1 T. chili powder
2 large garlic cloves finely minced
1 lb. chicken cooked and shredded
corn tortillas
2c. shredded mexican style cheese
1 (14 oz.) can mild green enchilada sauce
1/2 to 3/4 c. heavy cream


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken aside in a medium bowl. In a small bowl combine honey (I heat mine for a few seconds in the microwave to help it blend better), lime juice, chili powder, and minced garlic. Whisk well. Pour the marinade mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate while preparing the tortillas for 30 minutes to an hour, in the fridge.

Heat a large Skillet, griddle, frying pan whatever it is that you use. Spray with cooking spray in between each tortilla. Heat tortillas for about 20 seconds on each side until warm and flexible. Keep warm between paper towel until ready to use.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine enchilada sauce and heavy cream. Pour about 1/2 c. on bottom of baking dish. Add a large spoonful of chicken mixture to tortilla shells in a line add a pinch of cheese and roll the tortilla tightly. Place tortillas seam side down. You will have cheese leftover. Add remaining marinade from chicken to sauce mixture and pour over enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Layered Enchilada Bake

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 Lg. onion, chopped
2 C. Thick n' Chunky salsa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 c. Zesty Italian dressing
2 Tablespoons Taco seasoning
6 flour tortillas
1 C. sour cream
1 pkg. mexican blend shredded cheese

Optional:
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brown beef and onions in a large skillet and drain when cooked through. Add salsa, beans, dressing, and taco seasoning to the beef mixture and mix well. On the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan place 3 flour tortillas broken up to fit in bottom. Cover tortillas with layers, half of each, of the beef mixture, sour cream, and cheese. Repeat all layers and cover with tin foil.
Bake for 30 minutes. Take foil off and bake for additional 10 minutes.

Top with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and chopped cilantro.

Orange French Toast

Ingredients

- 8 Thick slices of bread
- 4 eggs
- 1 C. heavy cream
- 1/4 C. honey (melted in microwave)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 C. butter


Directions

in a medium bowl, beat together eggs, cream, salt, cinnamon, orange zest,vanilla, and honey.

Melt butter in a large frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Dip both sides of bread in mixture, transfer onto hot pan. Brown both sides, and serve with syrup, powdered sugar, whipping cream, berries, or chopped pecans.

We LOVE this recipe! It has a different taste than the regular French toast and you can use less or more of the ingredients depending on what taste you like, you could also use less cream to make it less fattening and substitute with milk or half and half. We like it with the cream!

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Lg. onion, chopped
3 Lg. cloves garlic, minced
4 cans black beans, un-drained
2 cans reduced sodium chicken broth
3/4 c. corn
1/3 c. Franks Original REDHOT cayenne pepper sauce.
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
sour cream
cheese


Directions
Heat oil in 4 quart sauce pan; cook onion and garlic until tender. Add beans with their liquid, corn, broth, Franks sauce, cilantro, and cumin. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat; simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, Remove 1 C. soup mixture and blend in blender until smooth. Stir back into soup. Serve with sour cream, and cheese.

p.s. looks are deceiving this may look yucky, but it sure tastes yummy!!!

Spinach Artichoke dip

Ingredients

1 can artichoke hearts, Chopped
1/2 c.-1 c. Frozen chopped spinach, thawed
8-12 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of pepper
diced tomatoes (optional for garnish)


For dipping
crackers
chips
toasted bread

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine spinach, artichoke hearts, and cream cheese until well blended. Set aside a small amount of parmesan cheese for topping. Add remaining parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to cream cheese mixture until well blended.
Place all ingredients in a 9x9 baking dish add remaining cheese and bake in oven for approx. 15-20 min. until heated through. Garnish with tomatoes if desired. Serve warm and enjoy!

Caramel Cinnamon rolls

I altered this recipe it started as a dutch oven recipe, so I changed a few things and it still tastes delicious!!! The picture doesn't do it justice trust me!!!

2 reems (I think that is what they are called!?!) of refrigerated cinnamon rolls
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 cube butter
2/3 c. brown sugar

I like a little extra sauce so sometimes I add a little extra of the whipping cream and brown sugar.

Preheat oven to 350
cut butter into small pieces, and melt on bottom of pan by placing in oven until melted.
pour in whipping cream.
Sprinkle brown sugar evenly into pan.
Place cinnamon rolls in pan.
reserve frosting that came with cinnamon rolls.
Bake for 20- 30 min. or until golden.
After taking Cinnamon rolls out drizzle the frosting on and dig in! Make sure you have a glass of milk ready!!!

Trifles

These recipes are from www.Kraftfoods.com With a few revisions. If any of you haven't been on this website it is a great resource for cooking, fitness, and even shopping for produce.


Strawberry Trifle




ingredients
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP, divided
2 cups frozen pound cake cubes (1 inch)
2 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate


COMBINE berries and sugar; refrigerate until ready to use. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; mix well.
BLEND in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP. Spoon half into 2-1/2-qt. bowl.
TOP with layers of cake, berries and remaining cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Brownie raspberry trifle




ingredients
3 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP, thawed, divided
1 baked 9-inch square brownie layer, cooled, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 5-1/2 cups)
1 pt. (2 cups) raspberries

Directions

BEAT milk and dry pudding mixes in large bowl with wire whisk 2 min. or until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of the whipped topping.

PLACE half of the brownies in 2-qt. serving bowl; top with half each of the pudding mixture, Cool whip and raspberries. Repeat all layers.

REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

cake

So here is the cake I made for Pam's wedding shower. Keep in mind this cake was done quite quickly I hope you like it. Nothing too fancy and actually quite simple to do. I used a stencil, and some thinned out butter cream frosting. If you go to www.cakecentral.com they have a video you can watch on how to do it.

Dump Cake

This recipe is supper easy.

ingredients:
1 can crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling
1 yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter

directions:
In a 13x9 pan dump your undrained pineapple and smooth to cover bottom
next dump your pie filling and smooth on top of pineapple
next dump your cake mix and smooth over pie filling
next cut thin slices of butter and lay all over the cake mix.

bake for 45 min.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a dallop of whipped cream
I will usely only use 1/2 to 3/4 of a stick of butter and it still works great.

more cakes

Here are some more cakes I have made. This first two were for my brother in-laws wedding and open house

cakes

I took a cake decorating class almost 2 years ago and these are some of the cakes I have made since then