Greek Seasoning

This stuff is great!

Cavender's seasoning is as distinctive in the foods of today as those prepared for the feasts of the ancient Greeks. Excellent on steaks, chops, roasts, meat loaf, chicken, fish, turkey, hamburgers, seafood's, and wild game. Use in all cooked vegetables, gravies, soups, stews, casseroles, eggs, poultry dressing and vegetable juices.

My sweet mother in law introduced me to this wonderful seasoning. I will post her "Greek Pasta Salad" recipe soon! Its so good!

Toaster Oven Chicken

I did it! I cooked chicken in my toaster oven! And it turned out so good.

I used defrosted chicken, I had 3 boneless skinless chicken breast. I made a pouch out of aluminum foil to put the chicken in. I then cut the chicken up into random pieces. And seasoned them with minced garlic, dried cilantro, salt, pepper & a fresh squeezed lime. Sealed up the pouch & cooked in my toaster oven on Turbo (not sure what your settings are) for 10 minutes. I opened the pouch up & separated the pieces, since they were kind of cooking together, in the juices. I left the pouch open & cooked another 8 minutes on Turbo. Took the chicken out of the pouch, & placed them on the already aluminum foil covered rack & cooked another 8 minutes. Really you know when chicken is done, so cook it until done.

We ate ours with tortillas, rice, salsa & sour cream....It's what was on the fridge! Hahaha

But you can of course season the chicken anyway you want. It wasn't chewy, or rubbery. It was just like I baked it in a normal oven, with no the mess. I had next to zero clean up.

Shrimp Etouffee

This is one of my most favorite recipes, so I thought I would share it. I cook it all the time.

1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 stick of butter
1 clove of garlic (I use a tablespoon of minced garlic)
1 can of Rotel (I use the mild)
1 can large can of cream of mushroom
1 pound of cooked shrimp or crawfish tails
Salt & Pepper

Saute first 4 ingredients until onions & pepper is soft
Add Rotel & cream of mushroom soup
Cook for about 15 minutes
Add shrimp or crawfish
Cook for just a few more minutes
Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Vickie's Tuscan Chicken

4 to 6 chicken breast
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1/3 can of water
2 red bell peppers julienned (I think the green ones are too bitter)
1 large onion cut in half and then sliced thin
1 tbsp garlic salt
salt and pepper

I cooked this in my crock-pot for several hours.
Before serving, I shred the chicken and it can be served over rice or pasta. I cooked a box of whole grain penne pasta and added it to the chicken.


****Side note from Crystal****
She brought us a bowl over to try & it was delicious! I'm gonna make some of it.

Razzy Banana Breakfast Cake

I stumbled upon this recipe last night (Razzy caught my eye), while searching the web. It sounds really good to me & I'll probably get the stuff to make it next time I buy groceries. I'll let you know how it turns out.





3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
Frosting:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1 to 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 9" square baking pan.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, eggs and banana. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in milk, sour cream and almond extract. Stir in flour and baking powder just until moistened.
Pour half of batter into prepared pan and top with raspberries. Pour remaining batter over berries.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar with butter and stir in just enough lemon juice to make a spreading consistency. Spread over warm cake.

Dana's Goulash

This recipe come from the great Michigna Mama, Dana.


*1 pound lean ground beef
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 cup fresh or frozen corn
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 1/4 teaspoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
* 2/3 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion
over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, water, chili
powder, oregano and salt. Bring to a boil. Add
macaroni. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25
minutes or until macaroni is tender. Sprinkle with
cheese; cover and cook 2-3 minutes longer or until
cheese is melted.

I always add more corn and I don't measure the cheese,
cuz my family loves melted cheese, I just cover it.
This recipe doesn't make enough so I usually do
another half recipe of it. Hope this helps.

Easy Broccoli Chicken Bake

I haven't made this one yet, but I thought it sounded good. Maybe this would be a good one for you to make, Mel.

1 tbsp butter, melted
10 1/2 oz can cream of mushroom soup
10 1/2 oz can cream of celery soup
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 cup broccoli, steamed
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, soups, curry, mayo & lemon juice. Stir in cooked chicken & broccoli.

Pour mixture into a sprayed 9in baking dish. Top with grated cheese & breadcrumbs.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 25-30 min, until hot & bubbly & the top is golden brown.

One good thing, about this is you can add or take away any ingredients.

Plus, make a good amount of chicken & whatever you don't use, go on, shred it & then freeze it. That way that part of the cooking of already done for you.

Recipe Request

This is from Mel.

I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR DOING THIS BLOG!!!!!!

With baby coming I am in need of yummy, EASY, casseroles or crockpot recipes- any ideas???

Pink Lemonade Ice Cream Cake

"Treat your friends to a sweet taste of summer any day of the year."

This is a Pampered Chef recipe that I have in a book of theirs titled: Delightful Desserts, from Easy to Elegant.




Crust:
51 Reduced-fat vanilla wafers, divided
3 tablespoons of margarine, melted

Filling:
2 cups of Fat-free, no sugar added vanilla ice cream, softened.
1 Can (6 ounces) frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed (3/4 cup)
1 container (12 ounces) frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed, divided.


Garnish: (Optional)
Lemon Slices
Pink Sugar crystals
Mint Leaves


1. Lightly spray a spring form pan with nonstick cooking spray. For crust, place 32 of the wafers in resealable plastic bag; crush into fine crumbs using a rolling pin. Place crumbs in a bowl. Add melted margarine; mix well. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pan. Line inside of pan with remaining wafers, slightly overlapping and rounded side of wafers next to collar.


2. For filling, combine ice cream and lemonade concentrate in a bowl. Beat until smooth with a steel whisk. Fold 3 cups of whipped topping into mixture. Pour mixture into crust. Freeze until firm. At least 3 hours.


3. When ready to serve, place dessert in refrigerator 15 minutes before slicing.


4. Run a utility knife around sides of dessert. Release the collar from pan. Garnish top with remaining whipped topping using the Accent Decorator. Add sugared lemon twist and mint if desired.


Yields 16 conservative slices or 8 hearty ones!


LOW FAT: Nutrients per serving
Calories 140
Total Fat: 3 g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0g
Carbohydrate 26 g
Protein 1g
Sodium 95 mg
Fiber 0 g


Diabetic exchanges per serving: 1 starch, 1 fruit (2 carb)


Kitchen Tips:
Prep time: 25 minutes
Freeze Time 3 hours

• Do not substitute frozen yogurt for ice cream in this recipe.


• While preparing Crust, place ice cream in refrigerator to soften, about 20 minutes


• To make sugared lemon twist for garnishing, cut lemon into thin slices. Make one cut to center of each slice. Roll rind of lemon in pink crystals. Gently twist cut ends in opposite directions.

Paula Deen's Three Chocolate Cookies

The other day D & I stopped by to see my Aunt Renee at work, where she greeted us with these delightful cookies she made. I knew immediately, I wanted to make them (I haven't done that just yet) & that I also had to post them here for everyone else to make them too!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup milk chocolate morsels
3 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup almond brickle chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
With an electric mixer, beat butter and shortening at medium speed until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate morsels and almond brickle chips. Drop cookies by 1/4 cupfuls about 3-inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool.


This is what my Aunt Renee had to say...

I'm glad you like them. I love them, too! I use an ice cream scoop to measure with. I can only get 6 on a large cookie sheet (the pan I cook my brownies in). Making them that size yields 28 large cookies. I suggest investing in a roll of parchment paper and letting the cookies cool 5 - 10 minutes before taking them off of the cookie sheet, then put them on a wire rack to cool completely. Or, you could make a recipe of "Cake Release" and it will serve the same purpose. If you like to eat the cookies hot, right out of the oven, you can cover and store the cookie dough in the fridge and bake them when you want them. Yummo!!!

Recipe Pictures

Dana sent us these pictures of a recipe she got from The Recipe Place. Thanks Dana, for taking the time to not only visit us, make our recipes, but also share with us the what you have made. It makes keeping this blog going a joy. :)




Here are some pics of that Oreo Cookie Cake. The
first one is before it was cooked and the second was
right before the birthday boy ate it... I tweaked it a
little, I just mixed the cake batter with the
cookie/chocolate chip mixture and poured them all into
the pan together. It turned out really good, I did
think the oreo's would remain a little harder in the
cake than they did, but other than that it was really good.

Recipe Needed

I am in need of a simple "no Egg" recipe for homemade ice cream. The only thing is I have to have it before 7 pm on Wednesday! Please respond ASAP! Thanks!

Lauren's Yummy Peach Cobbler

1 Medium can of Peaches in Heavy Syrup
1 Large can of Peaches in Heavy syrup
1 box of butter cake mix
1 Stick of butter Melted
Pecans
Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Drain large can of peaches, the pour peaches into the bottom of 9x13 dish
Pour medium can with juice into pan.
Drizzle Cinnamon sugar over peaches
Add Butter Cake mix
Pour melted butter over cake mix
Top with pecans

Bake 45 minutes- serve with vanilla ice cream or alone! Its so yummy!

We served this tonight to our home group of teenagers and they loved it!

NO BAKE "Better than Sex" Cake

This is one of my favorite recipes, but tonight I made it a new way and it was just as good and so much easier! Now its a NO BAKE cake and those are really good when you need a fast dessert or a dessert for church or a potluck.

1 box of ding dongs

1 8 oz cool whip container

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Carmel syrup (the kind you put on ice cream)

1/2 bag of Heath Bit of Brickle

Directions:

Break up the 12 ding dong cakes into the bottom of a dish

mix the entire can sweetened condensed milk with Carmel. (Use the milk can to measure out the Carmel)

Pour mixture over the ding dong cakes

Top with Cool Whip

Sprinkle Bit of Brickle over Cool Whip

Keep refrigerated until time to eat.

So sweet, and SO good! I've never found a person that didn't like it! Some can't eat much of it because its so sweet, but they always like it!

Now if you want to BAKE a cake, you can- just use German Chocolate cake mix. And when it comes out of the oven use a knife to poke holes in the cake. Pour the Carmel/milk mix over the cake and allow it to soak up into the cake. All cake to cool completely- then top with Cool Whip and bit of brickle. Refrigerate 30 minutes for best results.

Ideas Needed Please....

We are doing "home groups" with our students this summer and each Sunday night I prepare some type of food for the kids. This week I want to do "sweets" I need some ideas for some easy sweets to put together that they will enjoy. They also need to be easy to make! If you have a recipe or an idea, please comment! I have about 15 people to feed.

*Staci*

Maw Maw Kluttz's Oven Baked Chicken

This is a great alternative to fried chicken.

3 Tbsp. Butter
2/3 c Bisquick mix
1 1/2 Tbsp. paprika
Salt, Pepper
Chicken (legs, breast, thighs)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt margarine in pan. Stir together Bisquick, paprika, salt and pepper. Roll chicken in batter. Place in hot baking dish skin side down. Bake 35 minutes, turn chicken. Bake 15 minutes longer or until done (no pink.)

My Maw Maw makes this Chicken all the time and its delicious. Its always moist and just so tasty. One year for Christmas, my mom bought all the kids and grand kids and great grand kids a package of Bisquick with this recipe attached to it. As soon as I got back to Texas, I put the recipe on my fridge so that I wouldn't loose it! I just remembered that it was there and that I should post it on this site! That way its never lost!

Tasty Green Beans

Tasty Green Beans
(Serves 15)

4 Cans of green beans
1/2 package of bacon
1 chicken flavored bouillon cube

Cut bacon into bite size slices and cook just long enough to get a good amount of grease.
Add beans, bacon grease, bacon & bouillon cube into a large pot. Cook on low for 2 hours, stir occasionally. The longer it cooks, the more flavor you will have! Slow cooking is a big secret to a lot of foods!

This recipe is from my Mother in Law, she's a great cook! (No pun intended!)

Ding Dong Dessert

Box of Ding Dongs
Cool Whip
Cook & Serve Vanilla or Chocolate pudding

Break ding dongs up into a 9x13 pan.
Prepare Pudding as directed.
Pour hot pudding over ding dongs
Once pudding cools, cover with Cool Whip.

Sweet, Easy and Delicious!

Creative "Cool Dog"

I didn't invent this, but I did try one tonight. I think I could make them myself though! I thought I would post a picture. Has anyone ever heard of a "Cool Dog?" Its angel food cake for the bun, then you put ice cream in the center for the dog and top it with cool whip, Carmel or chocolate and sprinkles. You could do this and use the hot dog holders to keep it all together. Maybe for a kids party or something!

Fried Squash

This is a family favorite for me. Growing up when my moma would cook fried squash you could count me to be in the kitchen "helping" her every step of the way. As soon as they were cool enough I would have to try a few. She would fuss at me and say "Now Staci, if you keep eating them, there will be none left for supper!" My response was "that's okay!" I called tonight to get the recipe to make some for our family tonight and boy were they good! So I figure I would share it with all of you!

Heat Oil on Med-high in a skillet on the stove

Pour flour into a bowl add salt

Wash Squash

Slice Thin

Add squash to flour and mix with hands

Once the grease is hot, lay the squash into carefully, once the edges start to curl up or brown, simply turn over with a fork. Once you get them all turned over go back and start pulling them out.

*If you take your time your squash won't burn and they will be perfect! If you get in a hurry and turn up the heat too high, they will burn quickly*

*I served them with White Rice tonight and its real good with a slice of tomato*