Toll House Pie

I have so many memories on the day before Thanksgiving going to Coco's restaurant and picking up a Toll House pie with my Mom. Now that I don't live near a Coco's to get the yummy pie.... here's the recipe! It's like a big cookie pie and is so yummy! We're having it for our Thanksgiving feast.

Estimated Times:
Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 55 min | Cooling Time - 15 min cooling | Yields - 8

Ingredients:
* 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell *
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
* 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
* 1 cup chopped nuts - optional
* Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 325° F.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

* If using frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly.

Overnight French Toast

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe & it looks really yummy!

prep:5 minutes
Cook:15 minutes
Serve: 6

8 slices egg or raisin bread
6 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups eggnog or buttermilk
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Maple syrup, as accompaniment

1. Arrange bread in single layer in a 13-X9-X2-inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Whisk in sugar, eggnog, nutmeg, cinnamon, and butter. Pour mixture over bread. Turn slices to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
3. Preheat oven to 400`F. Bake 10 minutes. Turn bread over and bake until golden in color, 5 minutes. Serve with maple syrup.

Oreo Turkeys

One of my family traditions is to make these Oreo Turkeys & use them as "name cards" at Thanksgiving dinner... we write each person's name on the bottom oreo or attach a name card to each. They are fun & easy! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

(You can take your own spin on it... I got the picture & directions off the internet. The directions seem a bit lengthy, but it really is an easy project & you don't have to make your turkey as detailed as this picture & it will still turn out cute.)

What you need:
Candy Corn
Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies
Whoppers
Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
chocolate icing
white icing & food coloring to use to decorate the turkey

Directions:
Prep:
Put your Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge to cool. If you have cold hard chocolate to work with it makes it a lot easier.

Squeeze some of the white icing into a bowl. This will be your orange. Mix red and yellow food coloring with the icing to create your desired orange. Then put that into a plastic bag and set it aside for later.

Creating:
First you will be creating the tail using 1 Oreo cookie and 6 Candy Corns. Gently, with one candy corn pull apart just one side of the Oreo. Don't don't break about the entire thing. Put a good amount of icing in between the two sides. This will help the Candy Corn stay. Place 6 Candy Corn (white side down) in between the cookie. See picture.

Take your white icing and squeeze a generous amount onto the top back of an Oreo cookie. Take the other Oreo and put the bottom into the icing to have it stand up. If it doesn't stand, add more icing! Once you have it stand put it up against something so it doesn't fall until the icing is dry. I use a thick book.


Remove your Peanut Butter Cup from the fridge. Take your knife and cut off the very bottem so you have a flat surface. Put icing on the bottom of it the bigger flat. Bump it up against the bottom and back of your Oreo cookies. See picture.

Next take your Whopper and squeeze more icing on it on one side. Place the whopper on top of the Peanut Butter Cup to make your head.

Find a piece of Candy Corn that has a nice big white end. Using your sharp knife cut the color off leaving you with the white end. Place some icing on it and stick it on your whopper as the beak to your Oreo Turkey. Hold for a moment.

Take your icing and place two white dots as eyes. Get your tube of black piping gel and place a black dot on each eye to make them come alive.

Grab your bag of already created orange. Cut a very small hold in the corner of the bag. Now, pipe feet.

Baked Apples

My mother-in-law made this for dessert & it was wonderful! Really yummy if served with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:
8 medium apples
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 TBS. butter
1 cup ground nuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg

Directions:
Wash & core apples (don't peel). In saucepan, combine sugar, water, and butter. Heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. For filling, thoroughly combine nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, & egg. Spoon filling into apples until 2/3 full. Pour syrup over filling until cavity is filled.

Place apples in crock pot. Add 1/2 cup water. Cover and bake on low for 8-10 hours or on high 2-4 hours.

Baked Ziti

This is one of our family's favorites! It is a great meal to bring to someone, and can also be frozen before you bake it to save for another day. A lot of times I half the recipe because it makes a lot! Enjoy!!
(This is from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
8 ounces ziti rigate (ridged) or other short pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1 jar (24 to 26 ounces) spaghetti sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions; drain and reserve.
2. In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and half the mozzarella; season with salt and pepper.
3. In the bottom of a shallow 2-quart casserole dish, spread half the tomato sauce. Top with ziti, then ricotta mixture and remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining mozzarella. Place casserole on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until top is browned and sauce is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

PIZOOKIE

For those of you who have eaten at BJ's restaurant, you know exactly what a pizookie is. Basically, it's the best dessert ever invented. It's a warm, gooey cookie with vanilla bean ice cream on top. YUM! This is one of the things that I miss most about California is going out for Pizookie with friends. Well I stumbled upon "the recipe" on the internet and wanted to share it. There are 4 different flavors -chocolate chip (my favorite), oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, & white macadamia nut. I haven't made it yet, but have plans to make it next week with Stephanie & my niece Mckensey. We'll let you know how it is.

Just choose the cookie recipe of your choice and start baking.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chunk
2-1/2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 Cup light brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon beaten egg
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/3 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
2-1/2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 Cup light brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon beaten egg
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons white chocolate chunks (or chips)
3 Tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts

Peanut Butter
1-1/2 Tablespoons butter, softened
3 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/4 Cup light brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon beaten egg
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons unsalted peanuts

Oatmeal Raisin Walnut
2-1/2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 Cup light brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon beaten egg
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract
5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 Cup rolled oats1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons raisins
1 Tablespoon chopped walnuts

2 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
Combine ingredients for cookie of your choice up to, but not including, the flour, in bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until smooth. Add flour and baking soda (plus oats and cinnamon if making the oatmeal raisin walnut cookie) and stir well by hand. Stir in remaining ingredients then press the dough into a small buttered pie pan, cake pan or 6-inch deep-dish pizza pan.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until cookie begins to brown. Cool for a minute then add 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, and serve.
Serves 2 for dessert.

Capellini Caprese

This is an easy & light dinner. You can add chicken to it if you'd like. It was really good & really easy to make.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. capellini or spaghetti, uncooked
1/2 cup Tuscan House Italian salad dressing
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
1 cup Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
1/3 cup fresh basil, finely sliced

Directions:
Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min. Add tomatoes; cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta. Add to tomato mixture; mix lightly. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Mimi's Cafe Spice Muffins

This is supposed to be the recipe from Mimi's Cafe for their buttermilk spice muffins. They have the best muffins & I was excited to get my hands on this recipe. I made them this weekend & they were a big hit and tasted just like the muffins that I remember.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 butter, softened
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup + 1 Tbs. buttermilk

Sugar Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer. When they are thoroughly mixed, add eggs and beat one more minute. Sift the flour into a separate bowl, together with the baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add the flour and the buttermilk to the first mixture, mix at low speed until smooth. To avoid lumps in the batter, add the wet & dry ingredients alternately, in small amounts.

Mix ingredients for sugar topping in a small bowl. Put baking cups in muffin pan & fill each cup 3/4 full of batter. Add a full rounded tablespoon of the sugar topping on top of the batter in each cup. Bake immediately, or the topping will sink to the bottom of the muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe yields 12 standard size muffins, or 6 jumbo muffins. If using the jumbo muffin pans, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees and increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the recipe from under the lid on the Quaker Oats container. Definitely my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe... you can do raisins or chocolate chips whichever you prefer!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips or raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter & sugars until creamy. Add eggs & vanilla; beat well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Stir in oats & chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes about 4 dozen.

Broccoli & Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts thawed
Broccoli, cut up in small pieces
Shredded cheddar cheese
Italian bread crumbs
Toothpicks

Directions:
(There aren't exact measurements for this recipe & you can make as much or as little as you need.)

To make the chicken easier to roll up, I like to pound the chicken flat. Then sprinkle cheese & broccoli on the middle of the chicken.


Roll chicken up & secure together with a toothpick. Then put the Italian bread crumbs in a bowl. Cover chicken with bread crumbs & transfer over to pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.

S'More Bars

1 package (18oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 cups mini marshmallows

1/2 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips

2 teaspoons shortening

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13X9X2- inch baking pan

2. Remove dough from wrapper. Press dough into prepare pan. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.

3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Sprinkle with marshmallows. Bake 2-3 minutes or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

4. Combine chocolate chips and shortening in small resealable plastic food storage bag and seal. Microwave at HIGH 1 minutes; knead bag lightly. Microwave at HIGH for additional 30 seconds intervals until chips and shortening are completely melted and smooth, kneading bad after each interval. Cut off tiny corner of bag. Drizzle over bars. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is set.

Makes 3 dozen bars.

Banana Bread

This recipe is from my Betty Crocker cook book. It's a rainy day & we had some bananas that are looking pretty ripe, so I thought I'd make up some banana bread.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk - I just used milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups flour
(I added some cinnamon too)

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of two 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans.

2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Pour into pan.

3. Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart. We put the cookies in the freezer & they were really good cold.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 large egg
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally

Frosting: (or I used chocolate store bought frosting)
2 c powdered sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

To make the cookie:

Preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.

Scoop into heaping tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 9-10 minutes.

Remove from baking sheets and place a marshmallow cut-side down into the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begin to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Spread about 1 tablespoon frosting over each marshmallow and spread to cover the marshmallow.

Monster Cookies by Chef Mckensey

Mckensey and I decided to make cookies but not any ordinary cookies but monster cookies. They were really good and full of healthy and nutritious ingredients such as raisins, oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, m&ms . . . . . . .. We had a lot of fun making and eating them! Happy eating!

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup butter-flavor or regular shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups M&MS
1 cup peanuts
3/4 cup raisins

Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat sugars, peanut butter, butter, shortening, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in oats. Stir in flour, baking powder and baking soda thoroughly. Stir in candies, peanuts and raisins.

On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls about 2 inches apart. Flatten to 3/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or just until cookies are set and begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.
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Banana Nut Bread

This recipe is submitted by my MIL, Cindy Spilman. Looks yummy... I think I'll try it out this week! Thanks for the recipe!!


I don't know about you but I think walnuts taste like dirt! Here is a revised recipe with Dry Roasted Macadamia Nuts. Yum!

3 ripe bananas, well mashed.
2 eggs, well beaten
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 chopped macadamias


Preheat the oven to 350 F . Grease a loaf pan. Mix the bananas and eggs together in a large bowl. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the nuts and blend. Put the batter in the pan and bake for 1 hour (convection oven 50 min.) Remove from the pan to a rack. Serve still warm or cooled, as you like it.

Tomato Balsamic Chicken

This dinner is really quick to make & has great flavor! Definitely a favorite!! We're not huge onion fans, but believe it or not we were eating all the onions because they had such good flavor. The chicken would go great with a salad or I did red potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 small boneless chicken breasts
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup light balsamic vinigreete (I use Newman's Own but any kind will work)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place onions in bottom of 13x9 baking dish; top with chicken.

Combine drained tomatoes, dressing, and garlic powder. (I forgot to drain my tomatoes so there's a little more liquid than there should be. It still turned out fine)

Pour over chicken.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 4 servings.

Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

These are amazing! They turn out really soft & chewy. (I halved the recipe, & it still made a lot)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups oats, rolled or quick

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F.

Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk together. Add to the butter mixture. Add oats; stir well. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pan and cool on wire racks.

Spread 1 tablespoon cream filling over bottom side of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, right side up.

Creme Filling:
*I used whipped vanilla or cream cheese frosting & it is perfect for these cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I tried a new cookie recipe from the Mrs. Fields cookbook, and it turned out great!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, & salt. Mix well with wire wisk & set aside.

In a large bowl with a mixer, blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter & mix to form a grainy paste. Add eggs & vanilla & mix on medium speed until just blended.

Add the flour mixture & chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until just mixed. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 22-24 minutes.

Chicken Enchiladas

My hubby has been asking me to make these enchiladas a lot lately. This recipe is great & really easy. I got it off the KraftFoods website.

Ingredients:
2.5 cups chopped cooked chicken (I seasoned the chicken with seasoned pepper & cumin)
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup (I used reduced fat)
1 cup light Sour Cream (I only used about 1/4 cup)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, divided
12 flour tortillas (8 inch)
1-1/2 cups Salsa (I used Pace Medium.. it's really good a little spicy)

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix chicken, soup, 1/2 cup of the sour cream (I used only 1/4 cup because I didn't want it too creamy), 1 cup of the cheese and 3 Tbsp. of the cilantro until well blended. (The cilantro tastes really good in this recipe)

SPOON about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up. Place, seam sides down, in greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with the salsa and remaining cheese.

BAKE 25 min.

Chicken Roll

This recipe is a childhood favorite of Ryan's. His mom invented the recipe. It is really easy and extremely tasty. Thanks Janice for sharing your recipe!

Ingredients:
1 can store bought pizza dough
fresh cilantro, chopped up
boneless skinless chicken breast
Colby Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
lemon juice
seasoned pepper
1 egg


There aren't exact measurements for anything, so just use your best judgment.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook chicken on grill & use lemon juice & seasoned pepper to season it. Shred chicken.

Spray cooking sheet with PAM & lay out pizza dough.

Spread chicken evenly across. Then generously sprinkle cilantro & cheese on top.

Take one end & roll the dough.

Beat an egg with a fork & spread part of the egg onto the top of the roll (this makes the bread brown really nice). Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Dip for the chicken roll:

Ingredients for Avocado Salsa:
1 avocado
2 tbs. lemon juice
seasoned pepper
cayenne pepper
tomato
1 or 2tbs. light sour cream

Dice up avocado & tomato. Combine in a bowl & add sour cream. Stir until well blended. Add lemon juice, a pinch of cayenne pepper. Add seasoned pepper until you get the taste desired. If you don't want it to be spicy, omit the cayenne pepper.

The recipe of your dreams!

Cinnamon Rolls

Serves:20

Ingredients:
2 cups milk scalded
2/3 cups shortening
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3 large eggs
8 cups flour
1 stick butter melted
brown sugar
cinnamon
nuts (optional)

Icing:
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups powder sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set aside. Put milk in small sauce pan and heat just until steam rises (this is scalded milk). Take off heat and add 2/3 cup shortening and 2/3 cup sugar. Beat egg in large mixing bowl and then add cooled milk mixture. Mix in two cups flour and salt. Add yeast that has been rising. Mix well. Then add the rest of the flour to make a soft dough. Let dough rest for ten minutes and then knead for about ten minutes. Let rise until double in bulk. Divide dough in half. Roll out dough approx 1/2 inch thick in large rectangle shape. Spread melted butter on top, sprinkle with brown sugar and then cinnamon. Roll up like jelly roll. Cut into 1 inch cinnamon rolls. Put onto greased cookie sheet and let rise for about an hour. Do the same with the other half of the dough. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until just lightly brown (do not overcook). Mix the icing ingredients together and ice hot rolls.

Grilled Salmon

I made this for dinner tonight & it was so good. Ryan, who is not a big fan of fish, loved it and had seconds! This is really easy to make. I got this recipe off of the Kraft Foods website.

Recipe:
1/2 cup Kraft Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 salmon fillet (2 lb), 1 inch thick (you can adjust the proportions for the size fillet that you have)

PREHEAT grill/BBQ to medium heat. Mix dressing, parsley and tomatoes; set aside. Place fish on grill; cover grill with lid.

GRILL 10 min. Brush with dressing mixture; continue grilling 10 min. or until fish flakes easily with fork.

Cafe Rio Chicken

We had Cafe Rio Chicken for dinner about a week ago when Brooke was here & it was d-i-v-i-n-e! Just pair the chicken recipe with cilantro rice, homemade tortillas, black beans, & the rest of the toppings & you're set! It tastes great in tacos, burritos, or as a salad. This recipe feeds a ton of people, so you can modify the portions.

Chicken Ingredients:
1 small bottle of Light Zesty Italian salad dressing
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 Tbsp. Cumin
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast (thawed)

Combine all of the above ingredients in your crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken, and roast for an additional 1 hour. Yum!

Homemade Tortillas:
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Stir together then cut 1/4 cup Crisco into flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup warm water. Knead until smooth. Divide into 12 balls. Cover & let rise for about 15 minutes. Roll the dough into 9-10 inch circles. Heat up a griddle & cook tortilla over the stove. (You can put oil in the pan if you want to fry them or I use PAM spray instead & it worked great).

Cilantro Rice:
3 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
4 tsp. garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups rice (long grain, not Minute rice)

(This makes a ton of rice, so I always half the recipe and still have tons left over)

Put cilantro, chiles, salt, butter, garlic, & onion in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture into sauce pan with water. Add bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil. Then add rice. Cover & simmer for 30 minutes.

Tomatillo Dressing:
3-4 Tomatillos
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 package of dry Ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
juice of lime

Put in blender & blend!

Breadsticks

When Brooke was here, she & Ryan made these Breadsticks. They taste just like Little Ceasar's crazy bread. They were so yummy that we made them 2 days in a row. (I got this recipe from a blog that I read.)

Ingredients:

1 T yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 T sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 c. flour
1/2 c. butter/margarine

1. Dissolve yeast in 1 and 1/2 c. warm water (about 5 minutes).

2. Mix all ingredients together, slowly adding flour last; knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise 10 minutes.

3. Melt 1/4 cup butter (or just eye ball the amount) and pour into 2 cookie sheets (or I used a 9x13 Pyrex pan).

4. Roll out dough into a rectangle, about the same size as the pan. Cut into 1 x 4 inch strips, using a pizza cutter. Roll each piece in melted butter and place in the jelly roll pans.

5. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Let rise 15-20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes.