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.

White Texas Sheet Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup water
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In large saucepan, bring butter and water to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, almond extract, salt and baking soda until smooth. Pour into a greased 15x10x1-inch jelly roll baking pan. Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Sift confectioners' sugar into a separate bowl. Combine butter and milk in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add sugar and extract and mix well. Stir in chopped pecans. Pour and spread over warm cake.

Cook time: 22 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.

Taco Seasoning

This is a replacement for those taco seasoning packets you buy at the store. Great for when you don't have any packets on hand, and in my opinion tastes better too.

2 t dry minced onion
1/2 t salt
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cornstarch
1/2 t crushed dry red pepper (I usually omit this)
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t ground cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Add all of it, plus 1/2 cup water, to 1 pound browned ground beef, simmer for 15 minutes, and serve in tacos.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

30-48 mini Reese's cups (one bag)

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

combine butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and peanut butter in a bowl (or mixer). Mix until smooth. Combine flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and chill. Roll in small balls. Place in greased mini-muffin tin. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove and immediately press mini Reese's (top up) into cookie. Cool for 10 minutes and carefully spoon out of pan. YUM!!!!

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.
  

Zucchini Bread

You can get zucchini for a steal at Superstition Market right now. Which means I'm buying WAY more than we could ever eat. BUT, as it turns out, you can freeze grated zucchini! Which means you can have zucchini bread all year round! Yay!

Bread:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 heaping cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Streusel (because adding that much oil and sugar to a vegetable doesn't make this unhealthy enough):
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Throw it all together in a bowl. I like to squish it around a bit with my hands so you get some lovely little clumps.


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 2 8.4 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nuts. Stir into egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans. Top with streusel mixture.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until done.


Kayla's Notes, or, What I've Learned Through Trial and Error Using This Recipe, or, Things You All Probably Already Know But I'm a Little Slow:

-Beat the eggs on high for a long time. Underbeating makes the loaves flat

-Grate the zucchini (skin, seeds and all) right before you add it to the batter. If its left out for long, it starts to lose some of the moisture and it makes for a drier bread. Which doesn't taste as good.

-This makes for really good mini muffins. I use mini muffin paper liners in a mini muffin tin and bake for about 15 minutes. I usually get one loaf and about 3 dozen mini muffins per batch, depending on how generous I've been with the batter.

-Home teachers really like mini muffins.

Chicken Broccoli Bake

4 chicken breasts

2 lbs broccoli - fresh or frozen

1 can cream of chicken soup - I usually use the low-fat version

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup miracle whip

1 cup grated cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Simmer chicken in water for 30 minutes.  Remove chicken and let cool.  Place chicken on top of broccoli in a baking dish.  Combine and heat soup, milk, mayo, and miracle whip in a saucepan until smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Add lemon juice to taste.  Pour over chicken and broccoli. Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350.  

Pesto

This is actually a recipe of Todd's, he served his mission in Italy.  

2 cups basil leaves

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 cloves garlic, peeled

large pinch salt

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Roast pine nuts in oven.  In a food processor or blender, place the basil, roasted nuts, garlic cloves, salt and cheese - pulse these ingredients then gradually add the olive oil and continue pulsing until at desired consistency.  Serve over the pasta of your choice.