Pasta Salad

12 to 16 oz. bag tri-color rotini
1/2 green bell pepper, diced small
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cubed
4 oz cheddar cheese, cubed
1/2 container grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/4 carrot, shredded or chopped
5 oz. Wishbone Italian dressing or Ranch dressing

Boil pasta, make sure you don't over cook it. Drain and then add cold water & ice cubes to cool off, then drain again. Add the dry ranch dressing mix & bell peppers to the pasta. You can let this part sit over night or if you're eating it soon, add the rest of the ingredients right before serving. The cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes will get soggy if you let them sit too long in the dressing. I like to omit the Italian dressing and top mine with Ranch. If you plan on eating this over a couple of days, don't add the Italian dressing to the bowl, just add it when you are eating. You can make it a meal by adding some cubed grilled chicken to it. YUMMY!

Chicken Shish-Kabobs

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes

1 medium zucchini cut into 1 inch cubes

1 red onion cut into 1 inch square pieces

1 green, red, orange or yellow bell pepper cut into 1 inch squares (or mix it up and use more than one color.)

Italian Dressing (I use Wishbone brand)

Wood or metal skewers (if you use wood, you need to soak them in a pan of water for at least an hour so they don't burn and if you use metal, spray them with cooking spray before you add the food to them.)

1. Cube chicken and place in a ziploc bag. Pour enough Italian dressing over it to coat. Let marinade for about 6 hours.

2. Cut up vegetables (make sure they're all about the same size as the chicken) and add them all to a different ziploc bag and coat with Italian dressing. Marinade for about 6 hours.

3. After everything is done marinading, alternate chicken and vegetables on skewers, making sure that you don't leave gaps on the skewer (the wood might burn between the food if it's exposed to the flames). The onions turn out best if you stack 3 layers together at a time.

4. Grill for approximately 3-4 minutes on each side on a Med-High heat, turning 3 times. The Italian dressing will turn black when you grill the kababs, but won't have a burned taste.

*These are great with the twice baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

Freezer Jam

Okay so I LOVE some good jam on a loaf of homemade bread. I've made lots of freezer jam and it always seem to be a hit and miss process for me. Sometimes it sets up, but other times it separates no matter what - even when I double the amount of sure-jell. Well, on my trip to Idaho my mom gave me this awesome product called Ultra Gel. It's AMAZING!!! There's no cooking involved at all - plus you don't have to let the jam sit out for 24 hours before freezing it. The jam will thicken within 5 minutes. My mom bought it at her health food store, but the website address is http://www.carnetfoods.com/ Again the product is called Ultra Gel - modified food starch. My mom paid $6.79 for 11.7 oz. This may sound like a lot of money, but you only use a little bit and it can be used in lots of different recipes. I've figured that it's cheaper than sure jell. Anyway, it's wonderful and delicious and without further adieu, I give you :

Never Fail Basic Freezer Jam

3 3/4 cups of fruit puree(any type you want - I just pureed mine in the food processor)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Ultra Gel

Combine crushed fruit, sugar and lemon juice. Gradually add Ultra Gel, stirring constantly. Let stand 5-10 minutes and stir until smooth. Add additional Ultra Gel if necessary for desired consistency (I didn't have to add any extra.). Put in plastic or glass containers and freeze immediately.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes....YUMMY!

This is a recipe that Stacy introduced our family to several years ago. We LOVE it and so does everybody else who tries it.


Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

5 baking potatoes
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
3 T. dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (1 packet)
2 green onions, chopped

Oven Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes and poke holes in them with a knife. Place them straight on the oven rack (do not cover them with foil because you want crispy skins). Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375 degrees. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, scoop out the middles with a small spoon and place in mixing bowl. (To save your hands from being burned, use a small hot pad to hold the potato halves when removing the middles.) Use a hand mixer to combine the middles with 1/4 cup butter and salt & pepper to taste. Stir in, with a spoon, 1 cup of the cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing mix and green onions. Spoon mixture into potato skins and place on baking sheet. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 more minutes.

Microwave Directions:
Wash potatoes, poke holes in them with a knife, then wrap them in plastic wrap. Cook for however long your microwave says for baked potatoes. Then cut each potato in half lengthwise, scoop out the middles with a small spoon and place in mixing bowl (the skins will be delicate, so be careful). (To save your hands from being burned, use a small hot pad to hold the potato halves when removing the middles.) Use a hand mixer to combine the middles with 1/4 cup butter and salt & pepper to taste. Stir in, with a spoon, 1 cup of the cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing mix and green onions. Spoon mixture into potato skins and place on a microwavable plate. Top with remaining cheese. Microwave for 3-4 minutes.

*Serve as a side for grilled steak, chicken or pork.

Spicy Crockpot Chicken Tacos

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or about a 2 pound pork roast)
2 cans green El Pato sauce (jalapeno flavor)
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix El Pato with brown sugar and pour over the top of chicken. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Chicken cooks really fast in the crockpot, so check on it after a couple of hours. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from crockpot and shred; add whatever sauce is left in the pot and mix together. Place chicken mixture on flour tortillas and top with your favorite taco toppings. This is good and easy! When I made it we had more of a chicken burrito because I didn't have smaller tortillas and I halved the recipe for our family.

Lasagna Sammy

So I saw this recipe on another blog and tweaked it a little bit for our family. It turned out so yummy. Since we've moved to Ohio, the only good food we can find is Italian food because there of the influence here. I think it's due to an Italian immigrant overflow from New York. It's been a lot of fun tasting and learning all the authenticities of real Italian food, not just the Americanized versions. Anyway, I incorporated all my new "Italian tips" into the recipe.

You will need:

1 lb. ground Italian Sausage (I prefer sweet over Hot, but either one will work well)

2 tbsp. EVOO

1 26 oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce. ( I think the 3 cheese combo. works best for this recipe).

8 leaves fresh basil, chopped (you can used dried if you want, just make sure to rub them around in your hands to release their flavors)

15 oz. container of Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (I always use Parmesano Reggiano when a recipe calls for Parmesan).

1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 package of Garlic Roasted Ciabatta rolls and/or 1 loaf of Garlic Roasted Ciabatta Bread. Both of these can be found in the Bakery section of the grocery store.

1 ball of fresh mozarella

Nutmeg


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat EVOO in a skillet over medium heat until sausage is browned.

3. Reserve 1/4 cup Sausage.

4. Reduce heat to low and stir in pasta sauce and basil leaves. Simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Place reserved 1/4 cup sausage, ricotta, parmesan, shredded mozarella, salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg and Italian seasoning into a bowl and mix together.

6. Split each roll and/or loaf and bread and place on a baking sheet.

7. Spread Ricotta mixture on bread. Then top with a pasta sauce and slices of fresh mozarella cheese.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and hot. Remove, sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese and serve.

Cherry Salad Mix

This is my new favorite salad to make! The flavors and bold and seem to have a party in your mouth. It's perfect for summer and I love to eat the leftovers for lunch paired with some homemade potato rolls. If you add the dressing to individual servings - it will keep longer.

You will need:
1/2 cups pecans
1 bag of Spring Salad mix
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 small red onion (finely diced)

Dressing:
4 tbsp. raspberry vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable and/or canola oil
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. parsley

1. Caramelize pecans with sugar by stirring them in a fry pan with sugar until the sugar melts. Let cool.

2. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Add dressing right before serving. Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese - grownup style

If you're in the mood for some real cheesy goodness, please skip the Kraft blue box and make this. It's delish, simple to make and downhome cozy.

You will need:

3 tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 cups whole milk

3 cups sharp cheddar

salt & pepper

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. paprika

1 cup chicken stock (a little pricey, but makes your food taste so much better!)

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 small onion

1 lb. chicken breasts and/or tenders chopped up in bite size pieces

1 lb. macaroni elbow noodles and/or cavatapi (pictured above) corkscrew noodles

2 1/2 cups broccoli florets

• 1.Boil pasta according to directions. Making it "al dente" is a little more preferable in my opinion.
• 2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil and chicken. Season it with s & p.
• 3. After a few minutes, add the onions and cook another 5-7 minutes until onions are tender and chicken is cooked through.
• 4. When your pasta has 3 minutes of cooking time left, drop your broccoli into the noodle pot.
• 5. Meanwhile, heat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter and melt, then add flour, cayenne and paprika and whisk together over heat until roux bubbles - then cook a minute more.
• 6. Whisk in milk and stock and raise heat a little to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Simmer sauce till thickened - about 5 minutes.
• 7. Add chicken to drained noodles and broccoli.
• 8. Add cheese to milk sauce and stir to melt it in. Stir in mustard and season sauce with s & p.
• 9. Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli and cooked pasta and stir to combine.
• After tasting this, your kids will never want the blue box again!
• Recipe taken from Rachael Ray

Taco Salad

You will need:
medium head lettuce
8oz-grated cheddar cheese
4-tomatoes diced
1-can kidney beans
1lb.-ground beef
1-pkg. taco seasoning
1-bag tortilla chips or Doritos

1-8oz bottle thousand island dressing

1.Brown ground beef, When I am browning the meat I add dehydrated onion to add flavor.

2.After draining grease from meat add taco seasoning reserving 1Tbs for dressing.

3. Cut up lettuce, tomato, and shred the cheese, and if you use canned kidney beans make sure you drain them before using.

4.Select a large salad bowl allowing room to toss salad. layer salad, starting with Lettuce and ending with cheese. Cover and refrigerate.

5. At serving time toss with dressing. This is so good, and is easily adjusted for how many you need to serve. Because of the lettuce it is not good the next day so I just adjust the recipe to the amount of people we are feeding.

DRESSING:
8oz-Thousand Island dressing
1/3 Cup sugar
1Tbs-taco seasoning
1Tbs-taco sauce

mix all ingredients pour over salad and toss to get dressing through out the salad. We keep chips separate. Put chips on your plate and top with salad mixture. You can also add salsa and sour cream on top if you like.

Crockpot Chili Beans

1 pound ground beef or round steak, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup diced green chilies (we use frozen...they are spicier)
1 (29 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cans pinto beans or 4 cups cooked homemade pinto beans (don't drain)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground black pepper

1. In a pan, brown meat with diced onion.

2. Add remaining ingredients to crock pot, except pinto beans. Mix and then add meat mixture.

3. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4 hours. During last hour add pinto beans.

The cayenne pepper really makes the chili spicy. If you want less heat, put in 3 tsp. of chili powder and omit the cayenne pepper. Also, if the chili starts drying out in the crock pot, add a little water.

We like to eat this on fryed bread (Navajo taco style), in tortillas, on top of bean burritos or in a bowl with cheese.

Honey Orange Chicken

We enjoyed this tasty dish last night for dinner. It's very quick. In fact, I managed to finish a Babybrags order and get prepared for mutual while cooking.

1. Combine 1 cup plain breadcrumbs (I store mine in the freezer for long keeping), orange zest from 1 orange (don't zest any of the white part - it's bitter) and 1 tsp. salt in a shallow dish.

2. Put 1/2 cup orange juice (I squeeze fresh from the orange I just zested and if I need more I add already made OJ) and 1/4 cup lemon juice (again I used fresh squeezed) in another shallow dish.

3. Take 1/2 bag (I had a 3.5 lb. frozen bag) of thawed chicken breasts and/or tenderloins. I prefer the tenderloins because they aren't as thick. Dip each piece of chicken in the juice, then into the crumb mixture, covering well. Pat on an even coating.

4. Place coated chicken into a greased 9x13 glass pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, combine 1/4 butter, 1/2 cup orange juice (again I prefer fresh squeezed - but already made will work too), all the leftover juice from coating the chicken, 1/2 cup honey, and 1 cube of chicken boullion. Heat on medium until honey and boullion are dissolved and then turn to warm.

6. After 20 minutes, pull the chicken out of the oven and pour the sauce on top. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake until chicken is cooked throughout. If using thawed tenderloins like I did - then 10 minutes will suffice. If unsure on the cooking time, read the directions on the back of the frozen bag of chicken and adjust accordingly.

We like to serve over sticky rice at our house. Having lived in Hawaii, Matt and I are quite fond of Calrose rice and like to cook it the old fashioned way on the stove. We follow the directions on the bag and add an extra 1/2 cup water for maximum stickiness.

I hope your family enjoys this tender sweet citrusy meal as much as mine does.