Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna

**This recipe came from my friend Jennifer M. She sent it over when we were doing a recipe swap online. It was fun to see a new and different recipe.**

Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna

2 cans evaporated milk (not fat-free)

1 1oz pkg Ranch dressing mix

3 cups cubed, cooked chicken

1/8 tsp pepper

1 16oz lasagna noodles, cooked (I only used 12 noodles)

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 cups mozarella cheese

Cook chicken and noodles first. Once noodles are done, rinse in cold water and set aside. Combine evaporated milk and ranch dressing mix in a saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir in Chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered 25 minutes (the directions say not to do less than 25 minutes), stirring frequently. In a well buttered or greased 9x13 baking dish, layer the lasagna noodles, sauce, and cheese. Repeat.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

VARIATION:

Cook Penne Pasta instead of Lasagna noodles. Make sauce as directed and add the mozarella cheese and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese and noodles. Stir and let the sauce melt the cheese until you have a nice creamy sauce. Add to baking dish, and sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Cranberry Mousse

If you're not very fond of cranberries, but like the idea of having them because they are traditional and festive, then you might like this recipe as much as I do. It's become a regular part of our Thanksgiving and/or Christmas meal.

1 lg. (6 oz.) box raspberry jello (sugar free works perfectly)
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple
1 8 oz. carton Cool Whip
1 C. chopped walnuts
1 lg. can whole-berry cranberries

Make jello using only 2 cups water. (You can use pineapple juice as part of the 2 cups.) Let jello set until just starting to gel, not solid. Empty can of cranberries, Cool Whip, drained pineapple and walnuts in a large bowl. Add jello and mix all together. Best if refrigerated a couple more hours.

This makes a pretty large batch. If you don't have a lot to feed I would half it.

Make the cranberry bowl by freezing water in between two bowls and letting cranberries float in the water. Add enough water to the top bowl to make it heavy enough to give you the thickness you want.

Yams

Yam Crisp--This was a yummy sweet yam with a nice pretty thick crunchy topping.
Yam mixture
3 cups yams cooked mashed by hand (peel off skin)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (well beaten)
1 stick butter (room temperature)

Crust mixture
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup pecans (chopped)
1/3 stick butter

In mixing bowl, combine crust mixture ingredients and stir well. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl add all the ingredients listed above for yam mixture. Stir all ingredients together until well blended.

Pour yam mixture into a lightly buttered baking dish (9x9). Bake for approx 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until hot in the center.

Remove from oven and spread crust mixture over the top. Turn on the broiler and place dish back in over close to the top of the oven. Brown the crust mixture

Let stand 30 minutes, then enjoy.



Yam Filled Pumpkin--This one was a sweet yam mixture, and the topping on top reminded me of homemade german chocolate cake frosting. It was delicious.
**I personally would not make this in a pumpkin. I would make this in a 9x9 dish.

Yam mixture
3 cups yams cooked and mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 qt size pumpkin-cleaned and hollowed out

Topping
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, melted

Combine all the ingredients for the yam mixture. Blend until smooth. Fill hollowed out pumpkin with the yam mixture.

Mix all the topping ingredients together. stir well. Sprinkle over the yam mixture.

Place the filled pumpkin in a greased baking dish. Top with the lid to the pumpkin and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Potato Soup

5 cups cut red potatoes

2 1/2 cups water

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 cups ham

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese + more for garnish.

In a large pot, cook potatoes in water until tender. Drain water from the potatoes, saving 1 1/2 cups of the water and returning to the pot with the potatoes.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and add pepper and flour and mix well.

Put all ingredients in with the potatoes and water and cook on medium-low, simmering for 25 minutes. Add cheese and simmer for 5 more minutes. Dish into bowls and sprinkle with cheese if desired. Makes about 5-6 servings.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 T butter
1 c sliced celery
1 c chopped carrot
1/2 t onion powder (or 1/2 cup chopped onion if you prefer)
1 small diced potato
1 teaspoon thyme (if you don't have this go to the store, do not leave this out)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (again, go to the store)
4 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 lb or 1 1/2 c noodles (penne are my favorite)
2 c cooked chicken, shredded or diced
1/2-3/4 c water

First I like to cook my chicken in a slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours. Put two small chicken breasts in, fill the slow cooker about 1/3 full with water and sprinkle in 1 1/2 teaspoons of onion salt. After the chicken is done, either shred or dice and set aside. On high heat, melt butter in a large pot and saute celery, carrot and onion powder for two minutes. Add potato, thyme, poultry seasoning, chicken broth and bouillon. Bring all to a boil. Add the noodles and chicken and simmer on low for 20 minutes. Depending on how thick you want this to be, add up to 3/4 c water. It's pretty thick if you don't add any extra water due to the noodles.

Shredded Beef Tacos

This recipe is great for all kinds of shredded beef. Take advantage of sales (Buy 1 Get 1 Free) and cook up some extra to store in your freezer for future meals. For plain shredded beef, omit the taco seasoning. You can replace it with a packet of onion soup mix, if you like.

Shredded Beef Tacos

3-5 pounds chuck roast (you can use 2 small roasts or 1 big one)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 onion

1 can beef broth

Preheat crock pot on LOW. Pour beef broth into preheating crock pot.

Sear roast on all sides & place in crock pot.

Sprinkle roast with taco seasonings - use it all! Slice onion & place on top of roast.

Cook in crock pot for 8 hours on LOW.

Remove roast from crock pot & place on cutting board. Using 2 forks, pull meat apart until shredded. Remove fat & grisle and throw it away.

Serve with your favorite taco toppings!

This meat freezes well & is great to use in casseroles or more tacos later. Enjoy!

YUMMY pizza on the BBQ

Okay, I'll start with the yummy dough recipe (sorry my lack of photography skills really does this no justice).

Herb Pizza Dough
½ cup warm water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon yeast

Combine first three ingredients and set aside for 5 minutes.

3 ½ cups flour (white, wheat or combination of both)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon oregano

3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup cold water
1 ½ Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine dry ingredients then add yeast mixture and mix well. You can let it rise if you want but you don't have to. You can also let it rise a few times and it won't be a problem. Spread on cookie sheet add toppings and cook at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes 1 cookie sheet pizza.

Now if you want to bake the dough in the oven, fine. However, I just discovered how to grill it on the barbecue and oh my is it tasty...Click here for directions.

Meat Sauce over French Bread (which is a title I had to make up since it's a recipe I made up)

I posted a recipe for freezable meat sauce awhile ago & mentioned (as another dinner option) you could serve this meat sauce over french bread & topped with mozzarella cheese. We made it tonight & I wanted to share the results! :)

Paired with a salad it's a yummy, super-quick meal.



Defrost meat sauce. (I used 2 cups for 1/2 french loaf above.)

Heat meat sauce through in microwave or stovetop while hollowing out french loaf.

This is where I went wrong tonight! I cut the loaf in half before hollowing it out. Bad idea - it totally fell apart when we tried to cut it.

Use a whole loaf, just cut off the top third & then hollow out about an inch down. Leave at least half the french bread loaf intact at the bottom for stability.

Partially hollow out loaf of french bread.

Spoon meat sauce into hollowed-out bread & mound it up a bit.




Top with slices of mozzarella cheese (or grated).

Bake 15 minutes at 400*. Serve immediately.

(FYI - Above you see 1/2 french bread with just pizza sauce & cheese for my picky eaters)

Here's the original meat sauce recipe:


I have this meat sauce in my freezer all the time. When I make it, I make 1-2 extra batches & freeze them flat in Ziploc bags. Just pull one out of the freezer in the morning & serve that night for dinner. Love the convenience! Love the taste too! :)

FREEZABLE MEAT SAUCE
1 pound ground turkey (I've never tried ground beef)
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped onion (for a mild onion, use 1/2 cup - for a stronger onion, use 1/4 cup)
1 T fresh minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
1 can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained & rinsed
4 cups spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
1/4 cup water

Brown ground turkey in a large skillet. Halfway through browning, add chopped onion. Cook until turkey is thoroughly browned & onion is translucent.

Stir in garlic & beans. Add salt & pepper sparingly. (just a few shakes is plenty - or none at all)

Pour in spaghetti sauce & stir to mix well. Only add water if sauce looks too thick - never more than 1/4 cup. Bring to soft boil.

Cover & reduce heat.
Simmer for 15 minutes and serve!


TO FREEZE:
Allow to cool to room temperature.
Spoon into gallon-size Ziploc bag. Push out all the air, seal & lay flat in freezer. On a cookie sheet is great, but on top of something flat like a pizza or pie box is good too.
Once frozen, you can stand it upright & it takes up less than an inch of space.

FOR VEGGIE OPTION:I've used portabella mushrooms, sliced or roughly chopped, instead of the ground turkey. I'm not a mushroom fan, but it was really good!

Chicken Enchiladas

********This comes from Jenna's blog*******
http://myfavoriterecipes-rejoice.blogspot.com/2009/01/creamy-enchiladas.html

**Our family tried these enchilada's from Jenna's blog page (a fellow author to this blog) and we all quite enjoyed them. I do have to say that if I made them again, I may possibly try adding some green chiles to the chicken mixture, although we liked them just the way they were.

Creamy Enchiladas
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion diced up (I did not add this because I don't love onions)
1 clove garlic crushed
8 oz. tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. sugar
3 cups heavy cream
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1/3 cup olive oil
12-18 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups monterey jack grated cheese

--Saute onion in 2 Tbsp. oil until translucent. Stir in garlic, tomato sauce, salt, sugar and chicken. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. In a large saucepan heat cream. Dissolve bouillon in cream; set aside. Dip tortillas, one at a time, in oil turning once for a few seconds to soften; drain on paper towel. Dip tortilla in cream mixture; place on flat surface. Put 3 Tbsp. chicken mixture and roll up. **I also added cheese before I wrapped it up. That was not part of the original recipe. Place rolled tortilla seam side down in 9x13 baking dish. Pour any remaining sauce over enchiladas. Cover with grated cheese. Bake @ 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Chicken with Cornbread dumplings

This recipe came from the Raleys/Bel-Air/Nob-Hill magazine. I never heard of Raleys until I moved to Northern California.....but anyways, this meal was a welcome change. It was something I have never made and never would have eve thought of doing. It was not a meal that I thought was fabulous, but it was good and everyone liked it.

Chicken with cornbread Dumplings

3-1.2 oz packets Knorr Roasted Chicken Gravy Mix
4 cups water
2 stalks celery-sliced
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 tsp Spice Island Fines Herbs (parsley, chives, chervil, tarragon)
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken meat (I just cooked chicken in chicken broth)
2 1/2 cups C&W petite peas, corn, petite carrots and snap peas
1 (6.5oz) pouch cornbread mix (I used a box of jiffy cornbread mix)
1/3 cup milk
2 TB melted butter
1 egg
1/4 cup minced green onion

Whisk together gravy mix and water in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Add celery, onion and herbs. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes stirring frequently.

Add chicken and vegetable blend. Meanwhile prepare cornbread batter with milk, butter and egg. Stir in green onions and let sit 5 minutes.

Bring chicken mixture back to a boil, drop cornbread mixture in large spoonfuls on top of boiling soup. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes over medium heat. Cover and reduce to simmer and cook another 10 minutes.

Southwest Tortilla Soup

**I have never made this soup without someone wanting the recipe. Most kids do not like tomatoes, but every child I know eats this soup.** Thanks Jennifer M. for the recipe!

Southwest Tortilla Soup

2-3 cans chicken broth

3-4 chicken breasts

2 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (I do not like ro-tel at all, not even the mild. They tend to be too spicy.)

2-3 TB taco seasoning

1 can white beans drained

1 can black beans drained

grated cheese

tortilla chips- crumbled

Cook chicken in chicken broth, and shred. Add both cans of tomatoes, taco seasoning, and both cans of beans. Bring to a boil. Done.

Serve soup in a bowl with grated cheese on top and crushed tortilla chips.

Beefy Fettucine

Beefy Fettucine
1 lb stew meat chunks
2 cans reduced sodium beef broth
onion salt
cornstarch mixed with water
fettucine noodles

In a skillet brown the stew chunks while seasoning with onion salt. Add 2 cans beef broth. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and reduce heat to a simmer for about an hour or until the beef chunks become soft enough to shred. Return to high heat after meat has been shred and add cornstarch mixture to thicken to gravy consistency.

While the meat is cooking boil the fettucine noodles and cook according to pkg directions.

Serve noodles on plate with beef mixture on top.

**You could use leftover roast, or you could buy the canned Hereford beef chunks to make this recipe in a snap**

Taco Cups

**This recipe came from Sandra Lee Semi-homemade**

Taco Cups

1/2lb ground beef

2Tb taco seasoning

1 12oz can refrigerated flaky butter biscuits, Pillsbury

grated cheddar cheese

sour cream

salsa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Place a biscuit in each muffin opening patting the biscuit dough carefully up the sides.

In a skillet brown ground beef, drain, and add taco seasoning with a small amount of water. Cook about 5 minutes.

Spoon meat mixture in each muffin and top with cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

New Allergy Blog

My son was just diagnosed with severe egg and peanut allergies so I've pulled several resources together and created a new blog, which can be found here. Feel free to pass on to anyone you know who may have these allergies.

Easy Cheezy Pasta Bake

I got this recipe from Family Fun Magazine a few years ago. For 20 minutes prep, and 20 minutes in the oven, there's a BIG reward! SUPER yummy, easy & from items you probably have in your fridge & pantry right now.

I like to make it in the morning & keep it in the fridge when I know I'll have a busy day. Just pop it in the oven for 30 minutes, serve it with a salad & you're good to go!


Easy Cheezy Pasta Bake

1 lb dried pasta - the recipe calls for ziti, but I just use whatever I have on-hand.

15-16 oz part-skim ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

3 cups (or 26 oz jar/can) spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

OPTIONAL: 1 lb italian sausage, browned

1. Preheat oven to 350* Grease a 9x13" dish.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
3. In large bowl, stir together cooked pasta, ricotta and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese (and italian sausage, if you're using it) until well-blended.

4. Pour 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce, covering the bottom of the greased 9x13" pan.
5. Spread pasta/cheese mixture over spaghetti sauce.
6. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese & remaining mozzarella.
7. Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes (use the full 30 minutes if you've refrigerated the casserole), until the casserole bubbles on the edges.

ENJOY!!