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.

Chicken Pot Pie

This was really yummy! Recipe adapted from here.

2 carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium potato, cubed
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
***
3 Tbls butter
3 Tbls flour
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cups heavy cream (I used milk)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/8 tsp ground sage
***
2 cups cooked chicken
Pie Crust Pastry, prepared (enough for the bottom plus the top of a pie)

In a saucepan, cook carrots, potato, onion and peas in a small amount of water, covered, about 10 minutes or until crisp tender. In another pan (skillet), melt butter. Add flour, cook and stir until mixture is golden brown. Slowly add broth, cream (or milk), salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until thickened and smooth. Add veggies and chicken and stir until combined.

Place first pie pastry in the pie pan. Top with sauce/chicken/veggie mixture. Place second pastry over and cut slits on top.

Bake 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes (watch crust for browning).

Homemade Granola Bars

A little while back I made these granola bars. The recipe makes enough to fill a 9X13 pan, and ours were gone within a couple of days. Everyone in the family liked them. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to omit the wheat germ (didn't have any) and add in a little extra flour plus ground flaxseed to compensate.

You could play around with the ingredients like adding in coconut, nuts, craisins, etc. I think next time I'll put in chocolate chips. Mmm, the possibilities...

Broccoli and Tortellini Salad

This salad is the best. It comes from a former co-worker of mine, who was always asked to bring it to events.

Salad Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bacon
• 1 1/4 lb. fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
• 2-3 heads broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• red onion, finely chopped (to taste)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 t cider vinegar

Cook bacon, cool, and crumble. Cook tortellini for 8-10 minutes, drain, and rinse under cool water. Mix dressing ingredients. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl; add dressing; toss. Serve chilled.

Egg-less Pancakes

I know, it doesn't sound that good. But these are, I promise! We all gobbled them up. My kids woke up wanting pancakes last Saturday, and it sounded good to me too, but we didn't have any eggs in the fridge. So I found a recipe, modified it to our liking, and came up with this:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk (I used lactose free)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• a handful of chocolate chips (oh yes I added that to the recipe)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour in the vanilla, water and milk. Mix until all of the dry ingredients have been absorbed, then stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.
2. Cook pancakes (about 1/3 cup of batter) over medium heat on a large skillet or griddle.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This is a main dish, not an appetizer. I made it for my mom and sister last week, and they both asked for the recipe!

1 can (8-12 oz) pineapple chunks, packed in juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 T vinegar
1 1/2 t soy sauce
1/4 t dry mustard
1 beef bouillon cube (or 1 t bouillon granules)
1/2 lb. frozen meatballs (or, half recipe of the Quick Meatballs below)
julienned carrots
3 cups cooked rice (1 cup uncooked)

Cook rice. Prepare meatballs (or heat up prepared meatballs according to package). Meanwhile, place carrots in frying pan with butter and a little water, and steam to soften to desired tenderness. Drain pineapple chunks, saving juice. In a medium saucepan, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, water, vinegar, soy sauce, mustard, and bouillon. Cook and stir until thick. Add meatballs, pineapple, and carrots. Cover; simmer until all ingredients are hot, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot cooked rice with additional soy sauce if desired.

Serves 4.

*Notes: The original recipe calls for green bell peppers (instead of carrots), which you can just cut in strips and add in at the same time as the meatballs if you want them. Ditto with sliced water chestnuts (I just don't care for them).

Quick Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t salt
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients. Shape into 1-inch meatballs. Arrange in single layer in unheated skillet. Set over medium heat and brown, turning with spatula as necessary.

Variations: You can also bake in a large dripper pan at 400 degrees in the oven for 12-15 minutes, turning once or twice. If you want to make a lot and freeze some for later: arrange meatballs on a large cookie sheet. Freeze for 30-60 minutes. Then move them to freezer containers to store.

Chicken Milano

Adapted from Domestic Diva in Training.

1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
8 ounces dry pasta - fettuccini, penne, linguini, etc.

In this recipe, you basically have three pans on the stove top doing three different things:

1. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter; add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and chicken broth; increase to medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender. Add the cream and bring to a boil; stirring. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the chicken (from step 3) and basil and adjust seasonings to taste.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, transfer to a bowl and toss with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sauce.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm oil, add chicken to pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is no longer pink inside. Add chicken to sauce and stir.
   

Transfer the pasta to serving plates; top with cream sauce; serve. I LOVE this pasta!!

Cous Cous with Peanut Sauce

It's the new Mac and cheese! At least it might be at my house, since my kids loved it and don't really care for mac and cheese (weird I know). I got this recipe from The Vegan Spoonful (click the link to see a picture). I made a few slight alterations such as using regular milk instead of soy, and also halved the recipe (it was plenty for us plus leftovers), but otherwise my version is almost the same.

Peanut Sauce:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1 and 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or hot water with bouillon)
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt to taste
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup milk

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in peanut butter and allow it to melt a little. Add vegetable broth and whisk until smoothly incorporated. Add spices and simmer on medium-low heat, covered, for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in milk and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Cous Cous

1 cup dry cous cous
1 T olive oil
1 t vegetable bullion powder (I used chicken)
1/4 t paprika
1 cup boiling water

Stir olive oil, bouillon powder, and paprika into dry cous cous until thoroughly mixed. You can do this right in your serving bowl. Stir in boiling water and cover for 5 minutes. Remove lid and fluff with a fork. Serve peanut sauce over hot cous cous. Enjoy!

Never Flat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm always on the lookout for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe--one that makes cookies that are chewy and soft in the middle and slightly crisp on the outside, and that don't get flat or seem too dense. I found this recipe when organizing my cookbooks/recipes this weekend, and decided to try it. I think my search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie may be over--these cookies were SO yummy!

*Note: this makes a large batch, so feel free to half it if you want a smaller/normal sized batch. I rolled the extra dough into balls and froze them for later use.

Combine the following until creamy:
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 lb. (4 sticks) real butter (softened)
2 cups brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Combine the following and then mix with the creamy mixture:
6 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 heaping cups (1 pkg.) chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes.

Oriental Chicken Salad

I don't usually eat large portions of salad, but I do when it's this kind!

Salad ingredients:
1-2 cooked chicken breasts, diced (I dice them when raw, marinade in a little teriyaki sauce, then saute in a skillet)
~1 1/2 heads lettuce, greens, spinach, etc.
1 can mandarin oranges
3 green onions, chopped (optional)
1 pkg. ramen noodles, uncooked
1 small pkg. sliced almonds

Dressing ingredients:
4 T sugar
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
4 T vinegar
1/3-1/2 cup salad oil (I use canola)

Combine dressing ingredients. Combine salad ingredients. Toss salad with dressing.

Christmas Sausage Souffle

This breakfast casserole is a Thomson family tradition for Christmas morning.

1 large loaf french bread, cut into 8 thick slices
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 t dry mustard
1 can sliced mushrooms (I use fresh)
1/2 - 1 pound sausage, browned
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk

Arrange slices in 9X13 pan. Beat eggs, 2 cups milk, and mustard, and pour over bread. Top with mushrooms, sausage and cheese. Cover and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.

In the morning, combine 1/2 cup milk with soup and spread over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes.

Chunky Beef Noodle Soup

Got this recipe from my friend Emily. I haven't tried it yet, but if she says it's delicious (which she does), then it is.

1 lb. boneless round steak, cut into 1/2 in. cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10-1/12 ounces)condensed beef consomme, undiluted
1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup uncooked spiral pasta
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

In large saucepan, cook round steak, onion and garlic in oil until the meat is browned and the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in water, tomatoes, consomme and seasonings; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 1-1/2 hours. Stir in pasta and green pepper. Simmer, uncovered, until noodles are tender, about 8 minutes. Add parsley. YIELD: 8 servings (2 quarts)

Cranberry Salsa

1 pkg fresh cranberries
1 small handful of cilantro
2 green onions
1/2 t cumin
1 med. jalepeno (seeds removed) - to taste
3/4 cup sugar

Blend in food processor. Sit in refrigerator for 4 hours. Serve on top of 1 block of cream cheese.

Raspberry Caves with Cinnamon

A raspberry cave is a Swedish short bread cookie filled with jam. I made these for the international-themed potluck at Amelia's school last weekend. They were yummy!

14 T butter, at room temperature
½-3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
raspberry jam (or use lingonberry, which is a Swedish favorite)
30 medium paper cups (I used regular muffin cups)

Heat the oven to 375° F.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour, combined with baking soda and cinnamon. Divide the dough into 30 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and put in a medium sized paper cup. With your finger, make an indention and fill it with jam.

Bake on a cookie sheet in the middle of the oven for about 12 minutes.

Creamy Chicken Soup

This one's in the ward cookbook--it's Tiffany A.'s recipe. We use it frequently and love it! It's hearty and makes a LOT, so if there's only a few of you and you don't want a lot of leftovers, half it. It's great with rolls for taking a meal to someone.

2 chicken breasts
1 lb. carrots, chopped
6 medium potatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
3/4 cup milk thickened with 1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper

Boil chicken in large pot until cooked. Strain remaining chicken stock and return to pot. Boil carrots, potatoes and onion in chicken stock until soft. Cut chicken into chunks and add to pot. Add thickening mixture while stirring. Add cream cheese cut up. Stir until cream cheese melts into soup. Salt and pepper (heavily) to taste.

Leo's Tortilla Soup

Total time: About 25 minutes

I love the flavor of this soup! It is very filling so makes a great dinner on its own. I got the recipe from my sister-in-law and it originally came from a Lion House cookbook. I also stole this picture from my sister-in-law's blog because she always makes food look so pretty. :) (If you're reading, thanks Tiff!)

1 tablespoon chicken bullion
2 cups diced canned or fresh tomatoes
1/2 cube of butter
1/2 cup canned diced green chilies
1 1/2 cups diced onions
5 cups water
2 1/2 cups dried refried beans
1 cup crushed heavy corn tortilla chips
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup diced green onion
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
Tortilla chips
Sour cream
Shredded cheese

In a large soup pot add chicken base, tomatoes, butter, green chilies, and onions. Cook until onions are translucent. Add water, dried beans, chips, and seasonings. Heat until thickened and beans are soft. Add green onions and cilantro about 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with crisp tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream. Yields 5-6 servings.

Janell's Notes:

• I took a boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed it, and added it (raw) to the soup when I added the beans and water. It only takes 5-10 minutes for the chicken to cook through.
• If you don't have the dried beans (does anyone know if you can still get them at the cannery?), I am pretty sure it would work fine to use a large can of refried beans, and just add water until you get the right soupy consistency.
• I didn't have green chilies, so I used salsa instead and cut down a little on the onion and tomato to compensate.
  

No Bake cookies

You've probably all made these ... just another idea for summer treats when you don't want to turn on the oven! They do have peanut butter--sorry Hailey. :(

2 C white sugar
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C milk
1/2 C margarine
1 t vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/2 C peanut butter
3 C quick cooking oats

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cocoa, milk, and margarine. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, salt, peanut butter, and oats.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow to cool for 1 hour. Store in an airtight container.

Teriaki Ranch Chicken

I thought this chicken was sooo yummy. It does take a little time though, so for me it's going to be more of a company/special dinner recipe.

2 T vegetable oil
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (flatten w/meat mallet if desired)
flour
1/2 cup teriyaki basting sauce
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled

Pour flour (1 cup?) into a ziplock bag or a bowl. Press each piece of chicken in flour, then shake off excess. In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown chicken breasts in oil for 4-5 min on each side.

Place browned chicken breasts in a 9X13 baking dish. Brush with teriyaki sauce, then spoon on the Ranch. Sprinkle with cheese, green onions, and bacon bits.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, removing foil for last 10 minutes of baking time.