Pumpkin Bread or Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup veg. oil
• 1/2 cup of applesauce
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup of raisins (optional - but we like it with the raisins!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Best Blueberry Muffins!!!!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg

1/3 cup milk 1 cup fresh blueberries 1/2 cup white sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2.	Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3.	To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Lemon Lime Marinade

This marinade is great for chicken or fish. It has a great summer/spring fresh taste to it and it is pretty light and healthy!

4 chicken breasts/or fish
1/2 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
1/4 c. lime juice (fresh squeezed)
1 onion, minced

1 clove Garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Ryan's French Toast Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 10 to 12 slices white bread
• Vanilla (amount can vary depending on preference)
• Cinnamon (amountt can vary depending on preference)
• butter
• maple syrup or other syrup

Preparation:

Break eggs into a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate; beat lightly with a fork. Stir in sugar, salt, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Over medium-low heat, heat griddle or skillet coated with a thin layer of butter or margarine.

Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will be cooking at one time.

Transfer bread slices to griddle or skillet, heating slowly until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Serve French toast hot with butter and syrup.
Recipe for French toast serves 4.

Meredith's JAMBALAYA

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 teaspoon minced garlic 1/2 pound medium Gulf White Shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound andouille sausage, sliced (can use cubed ham instead in a pinch, although the andouille is best)
1 (16-ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed with the can juices
1 cup chicken broth Tony Chachere's Famous Creole Seasoning to taste (cayenne pepper can be substituted)
2 bay leaves 1 cup rice, uncooked
Louisiana hot sauce (I prefer Crystal)

Steps:

In a large heavy pot, heat the butter over medium heat.

Add the onions, bell peppers, celery and garlic. Sauté for about five minutes, or until they are wilted.

Add the shrimp and sausage.

Cook for two to three minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink (be sure not to overcook).

Stir in the tomatoes and chicken broth. Season to taste with salt and Creole seasoning. (I also usually add hot sauce here too.)

Add the bay leaves and the rice. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Cook until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and serve with hot sauce. Makes about 4 servings. (Works well doubled.)

Cherry Limeade Punch

1 can frozen limeade concentrate

1 bottle Sprite

1 jar of maraschino cherries

1 lime

Put in the limeade and then add the sprite. Pour in the juice from the cherries. Then add the cherries and sliced up lime for looks and taste.

Oyster Cracker Snack

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (12 ounce) package oyster crackers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, ranch-style dressing mix, dill weed, lemon pepper and garlic powder. Pour this spice mixture over the crackers in a medium bowl, and stir until the crackers are coated. Arrange the crackers on a large baking sheet.
3. Bake in the preheated 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Stuart's Whole Wheat Banana Pancake Recipe

Whole Wheat Banana Pancake Recipe

Preheat griddle.

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (or even regular whole wheat flour)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

In another bowl, mix together:

1 ½ cups milk

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 eggs

Also:

1 ripe banana, chopped (or anything else of course)

Combine wet and dry ingredients, gently whisk together, add banana, and cook pancakes on the griddle.

Fast & Easy Taco Salad

For two people:

Ingredients:

1 can black beans

1 sm jar salsa

1 bag of salad

1 sm can of sliced black olives

1 pkg of sharp low fat cheddar

1 can diced jalapenos peppers

1 handful of baked tortilla chips

2 chicken breasts

Pour salad in a large bowl, add can of beans, desired amount of salsa, can of olives and desired amount of peppers. Combine ingredients. Grill chicken breasts and slice into strips. Add a handful of tortilla chips to Ziploc bag and crush. Add chips to salad, top with cheese, add chicken and serve. Yummy!

Noelle's Quiche Recipe

Get or make a pie shell and add any filling you'd like. For the one Noelle made for us, she grated a small onion, chopped up some broccoli crowns and put in a cup of Colby/Monterrey jack cheese.

The basic egg mixture is 4 large eggs, a cup and a quarter of whole milk, a tablespoon of all purpose flour, a teaspoon of salt and a dash of black pepper. Mix that up with an electric mixer and pour it over whatever you decided to put in the pie shell. That's it! Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. It is normal for the quiche to puff way up when its almost done, it flattens back down when it cools.

Stuart's Chicken & Dumplings

2 sticks celery, sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup sliced carrots (optional)
1 whole chicken, quartered
8 cups water (depends on pot)

Seasoning:
6 peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon salt (or less)
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves (or ½ teaspoon dill)
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon parsley

Dumplings:

2 cups flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons melted butter (or lard or vegetable shortening)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt

Place chicken in a large Dutch oven or similar pot. Add (carrots- optional) , chicken seasoning and enough water to cover chicken with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until meat can easily be removed from bones (about an hour.)

Remove chicken, bay leaves (and carrots if added) from broth with a slotted spoon and set aside; discard bay leaves. Add celery and frozen peas to broth and simmer for 15 minutes. If desired, you can thicken the stock at little by mixing 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and adding it to the stock.

Meanwhile, make dumplings.

In a large bowl combine dumpling ingredients, mixing with a fork. Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and roll out until ¼ inch thick. Cut into strips 1 inch wide and 2 inches long.Bring broth to a rolling boil and add dumplings, taking care to make sure dumplings don't stick together. Cover and return to boiling. Do not lift lid. When broth returns to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove lid and return chicken (and carrots) to broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle fresh chopped parsley on top.

Candy's Baked Ziti

Ingredients:1 box of Ziti pasta (1 lb)1 large jar of marinara sauce (I use a garlic marinara)1 bag of low-fat shredded mozzarella1 package (4 links) of spicy Italian chicken sausage (they have the organic/free-range kind at Trader Joe's)2-4 slices of provolone cheese

Directions:Cook pasta for 1 minute less than the instructions on the box say. Brown the sausage. Mix pasta, sausage, marinara and all of the cheese except 1/4 cup. Once all the ingredients are mixed, place in baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella and sliced provolone.Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Poppyseed Chicken

Poppyseed Chicken
I use all Healthy Request Soup (low fat) and low fat sour cream, so it's at least a little less fattening than the original recipe (although the original tastes better ). I also serve it over basmati rice - which tastes really good. Add a salad or veggie and your meal is complete. If you're going to freeze it, just leave the cracker topping in a ziplock bag and then add it and the melted butter before baking. Enjoy!

2 c. diced chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 stick butter
1 c. sour cream
1 tube Ritz crackers 2 tbsp. poppyseed

Mix diced chicken with undiluted soups. Add sour cream and salt and pepper to taste. Roll Ritz crackers with rolling pin in plastic bag until finely crushed. Add poppyseed and melted butter. Put chicken and soup mixture in buttered casserole and top with the crackers and butter mixture. Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Mint Brownie Recipe

1. Use your favorite brownie recipe and cook in a 9x13 pan. Allow the brownies to cool completely before moving to step 2.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer, beat 8 tablespoons (1 stick) softened unsalted butter and 2 cups confectioners' sugar at low speed until just incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon milk and 1 teaspoon mint extract and continue to beat until combined, about 30 seconds, adding up to 1 additional tablespoon milk if necessary to achieve a soft spreadable consistency. Add a dab of green food coloring if desired (I like the way the green looks with the brownies, but you can just keep it white if you want). Using an offset spatula, spread the mint frosting evenly onto the cooled brownies, cover with foil, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.



3. Melt 4 ounces chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth; set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.4. Pour the chocolate glaze on the frosted brownies; using an offset spatula, spread the glaze into an even layer. Cover with foil and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares, and serve.

Nana Sandi's White Chicken Chili Recipe

1 Broiler/fryer chicken (cut up)
1 med. onion,chopped
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 T. olive oil
2 cans (15 1/2 oz. each) great northern beans,
rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans (4 oz. each) chopped green chilies
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper ( you may want to start with 1/8 tsp. first and see how spicy it tastes for your family)
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream( heavy cream)


1. Simmer the chicken pieces in water that has been salted. I add a sprig of celery top and a chunk of onion, too. It usually takes about 1 1/2 hours to cook. Then drain, saving the broth for later. This will make enough shredded chicken meat for two batches( or you can use half for another dish)

2. Saute the onion till soft and then add the garlic powder.

3. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings . Bring to a boil Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6-7 servings * will freeze well*

Pesto Tortellini

This is a quick and easy pasta recipe. In the summer, you can serve it cold for a picnic lunch. Or, you can serve it as a warm side dish.

Ingredients:

1 pkg fresh tortellini from the refrigerated section of your grocery store
1 container of pre-made pesto (usually by the tortellini)
1 can of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
1 jar of pine nuts
Shredded fresh Parmesan
Minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste


Boil tortellini per package directions. Drain and then add pesto and sun dried tomatoes (amounts can vary based on taste. I use the whole container of pesto and about 4 tbs of sun dried tomatoes). Mix, add minced garlic, salt & pepper, top with pine nuts and Parmesan. Serve hot or cold. Yummy. :-)