Puffy Sugar Cookies

4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and sour cream- mix until blended. Add flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Mix until blended Dough will be a little sticky. Roll out and leave a little thick. Bake 350 degrees 8-10 minutes, then let cool.

Butter Cream Frosting:
cup butter (2 sticks), softened at room temperature.
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 to 3 tsp milk or cream

Use an electric mixer to cream ingredients together adding a tsp. of milk at a time until desired texture. You don't want it too runny. Frost and decorate!

Slow Cooker Turkey

We had this for Easter (rather than the traditional ham), and it was melt in your mouth delicious. Soooo good. This would also be a great way to make turkey if you have a smaller crowd at Thanksgiving time. Original recipe here.

5 slices bacon
1 (5 1/2 pound) bone-in turkey breast, skin removed
1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper (I just used plain garlic powder, and plain black pepper)
1 (10.5 ounce) can turkey gravy (I used a packet, plus a little more water than what it called for)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried sage (I didn't have sage, so I used savory and rosemary)

Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain and crumble.

Spray a slow cooker with cooking spray. Place turkey in the slow cooker. Season with garlic pepper. In a bowl, mix the bacon, gravy, flour, Worcestershire sauce, and sage. Pour over turkey in the slow cooker.

Cover slow cooker, and cook turkey 8 hours on Low. Use drippings to make gravy if desired.

Burger Buns

I decided to attempt this recipe a couple of weeks ago because I didn't want to make a special trip to the store for buns. I was surprised how easy they were and how perfect they turned out - much better than the cheap flavorless store brand buns!

1 cup water
2 T butter
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 t salt
1 T quick-rising yeast
1 t onion powder (optional - I included it)
1/2 t dried onion flakes

Combine all the ingredients and knead them together in a mixer (I used my breadmaker) until you have soft, smooth dough. Place in lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour (or just leave in the breadmaker on dough cycle to let rise).

Divide dough into 8 pieces and shape each one into a flattened ball. (Next time I'm going to try sprinkling them with sesame seeds at this point.) Place buns on greased baking sheets, cover and let rise 30-40 minutes until puffy.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake buns 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool on a rack. Cut in half with serrated knife and use for burgers or sandwiches.

Carrot Cake

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Taco Soup

This recipe is SO simple and SO good! The most
work you'll have to put into it is browning the
ground beef.

Here's exactly what you'll need from the store:

2 large cans of ranch style beans

1 regular sized can of jalapeno ranch style beans
(I usually pick out the jalapenos because there is NO
way my kiddos are going to eat it. It still has the
flavor of jalapenos though and not too spicy)

1 or 2 drained cans of corn. However you prefer it.
( I thought I'd include a photo of a can of
corn....like you don't know what THAT looks like!)

1 package of taco seasoning

1 package of dry ranch salad dressing mix

In addition to the things above you will need:

*(1) lb. of browned ground beef
(in my ground beef I always use chopped onions and chopped fresh garlic with salt and pepper)

*(1) 4 oz. can of green chilies

* (2) cups of water

*Grated cheddar cheese

*Tortilla chips

After your ground beef is done, drain it and dump all of these ingredients (in any order) into your pot, heat it all up, and serve. I always break up tortilla chips and place them on top with come grated cheddar cheese and it is out of this world!