Favorite Oatmeal Cookies

From A Flood of Recipes from the 12th Ward, Ann Heron, p. 125
Makes about 2 dozen

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. flour
3 c. oatmeal

Mix first four ingredients. Add next four. Then add oatmeal last. You may also add 1/4 tsp. cinnamon or raisins or walnuts (I never have). Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove while slightly underdone for more chewy cookies.

These are the best oatmeal cookies ever. So chewy and soft. You gotta love them. My hubby's personal favorite.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know... I found it!

Red Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic

From More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea p.61
Makes 4-6 servings

1 1/2 lb. baby red potatoes
4 garlic cloves, coarsley chopped
1 1/2 teas. dried rosemary
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 teas. kosher salt
1/2 teas. black pepper

In a 4-qt slow cooker, add washed and quartered potatoes, garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss the potatoes with two large spoons to coat evenly with the oil and spices. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours.

Wow, I thought these were pretty good. A wonderful side dish to any meal. The potatoes weren't dry like they can get in the oven, but they were moist and flavorful. I made a half recipe in a 2 qt cooker.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches...deluxe.

From Simple and Delicious... altered by me
Makes as many as you'd like

For each sandwich, butter the outsides of two slices of bread (use something nice and hearty if you have it, not the cheap stuff) and shake on garlic salt.
Fill each sandwich with chopped tomatoes (you can use canned; I have), sliced green onion, and cheese of your choice. It's really fun to mix a few together. Tonight we just had plain old medium cheddar.
Grill on a hot griddle or grill.

This is a must-try spruce up to the good old Grilled Cheese. I am not a fan of plain tomatoes, but when sandwiched between bread and cheese... delish! Serves really well with Creamy tomato soup.

Creamy Tomato Soup

From More Make if Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea p.32
Makes 4-6 servings

2 (14-oz) cans crushed tomatoes
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teas. dried basil
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 teas. unsweetened cocoa powder (the secret ingredient)

1 (14-oz) can evaporated milk
2 TBS butter

In a food processor or blender, puree the tomatoes and onion. Pour the mixture into your slow cooker (4 quart) and then add broth, brown sugar, basil, Worcestershire, and cocoa powder. Stir, cover, and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 or 4 hours. Stir in the milk and plop in the butter. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until butter melts.


I thought this was pretty good. The flavor was excellent, but I wasn't in love with the texture. My husband, however, loved this soup better than any other he's had (tomato, that is). Score! It serves really well with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies

From Food & Family Spring '09 p. 39
Makes 18-20

1. Prepare a box of brownies or use another brownie recipe and spoon the batter into 20 paper-lined muffin cups. (I did 18)
2. Beat 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese , 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla with mixer until blended.
3. Spoon into center of brownie batter cups and pressing lightly into the batter.
4. Bake 30 minutes. Cool. Top with Cool Whip and maraschino cherries.

Um, hello... Peanut Butter, Brownie, Cheesecake...why wouldn't this be good? Well, it turns out, they are pretty good, but not exactly what I expected. It's somewhat of an odd mix. My hubby didn't even finish his, so... there you have it.

Rainbow cupcakes

From Our Best Bites
Coming Soon

Garlic Twist Breadsticks

From Our Best Bites
Coming Soon

Creamy Ranch Mashed Potatoes

From More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea p.56
Makes4-6 servings

Place 2 pounds red potatoes cubed into a 4- qt slow cooker. Add 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup milk, and 1 (1-oz) Ranch salad dressing mix packet. Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours, or until the potatoes mash easily. You can whip them in the slow cooker with a hand mixer or mash with a hand masher.

I stirred this as it cooked a few times to mix in the cream cheese and ranch seasoning. I also used the ranch dip mix from the cookbook and it was WAY too peppery. Either she likes pepper a lot or I put in too much, but it was... overbearing. I will definitely have to try them again with less pepper or a store-bought packet. I also only made half the recipe in a 2-qt slow cooker, which served as an excellent amount for two (well, we had too much leftovers because of the pepper anyway).

Husband: what do you think?

Me: I'll let you know when my lips stop burning.

Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie

From BettyCrocker.com
Makes 4 servings

1. Place 1/2 lb-1 lb boneless skinless chicken in your slow cooker (4 qt). Top with 1/2 TBS dried chopped onion, 1 bay leaf, 1/8 teas. pepper, and 1 jar (18 oz) chicken gravy (I used 2 cups chicken gravy from powder). Place 1 sliced celery stalk on top of gravy.

2. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

3. Add frozen mixed vegetables of your choice to the pot 1/2 hour- 15 minutes before serving and switch cooking temperature to high.

4. Before serving, make your biscuits. (I used Bisquick and milk)

5. Remove bay leaf and serve your chicken pot on top of your biscuits.


This was a decent meal. It was pretty easy, and it tasted good. I wanted a chicken pot pie recipe that didn't use pre-cooked chicken, so slow-cooking it made it nice and tender. It would be nicer to have the biscuit topping more incorporated, so we will see if I come up with something different next time I attempt this one.

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

From Rebecca Bettilyon and Allrecipes
Makes 4 servings

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 8-ounce package cream cheese and 2 teas. garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add 2 cups milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese and 1/8 teas. ground black pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long.

Great topping for pasta, potatoes, pizza, or bread. We used this for our Relief Society baked potato bar. It was dreamy on a huge baked potato, a spoonful of California mixed veggies and then topped with shredded Monteray Jack cheese. We had lots of leftovers, and I was the lucky one who took them home. First off, they lasted a long time without going bad and secondly, it was still creamy and delicious when reheated in the microwave.

Taquitos, Baja Bonanza Cilantro Chicken

From my hubby and 52 Weeks p. 12 by Jill McKenzie
Makes plenty of chicken. We usually fry up about 6-8 taquitos.

Baja Bonanza Cilantro Chicken  (I usually make half this much and still have leftovers)
2 pounds frozen chicken breasts
2 14-ounce cans chicken broth (or about 4 cups water with bouillon)
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 handful chopped, fresh cilantro (or a squeeze or two from my refrigerated Gourmet Garden cilantro)
1 TBSP chopped garlic
1 teas. dry mustard (or a squirt of prepared)
1 teas. ground cumin
1 teas. chili powder
2 teas. seasoned salt

Place the frozen chicken and chicken broth in the bottom of your crock pot. Squeeze lime over chicken, and add two of the wedges with the chicken. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook on low for about 8 hours. Shred chicken with two forks.
This can be used for many a wonderful purpose... burritos, tacos, salads, enchiladas, or chicken sandwiches. We divide it up into corn tortillas (handmade style are the best!) and fry them up in the frying pan to make taquitos. They are soo good!

Banana Chip Muffins

From Jessica DuRee
Makes 24 large muffins or 48 small
(or if you're like me, 12 large and 24 small)

1. In a large bowl, beat 1 egg, 1/3 c. vegetable oil and 1/2 c. sugar until smooth.
2. Stir in 3 bananas. (Jessica used frozen ones and pureed them in her blender. Fresh ones seem to do the trick as well --and I blended them for easy mixing).
3. Combine 2 cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup AP flour or a combo of the two), 1/2 cup oats, 3/4 teas. baking soda, 1/2 teas. baking powder, and 1/2 teas. salt.
4. Stir into the banana mixture just until moistened.
5. Stir in 1/2 c. chocolate chips. (Totally all for the semi-sweet ones)
6. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
7. Cool for 5 min. before consuming.

All I can say is DELICIOUS. A pretty good healthy snack that I have made for breakfast or lunch. Plus, the kiddos eat 'em up like nobody's business.

Brownies

Coming soon.