Spanish Rice

Confession: sometimes I make Mexican meals just because I'm craving this rice.  It's something my Mom has adapted over the years and it has kind of boiled down to the basic ingredient of her red sauce enchiladas.  It's delicious and even Jeff (who generally isn't a fan of Spanish rice) eats it up. 

The basic amounts (can be doubled and tripled or whatever depending on the size of group you are cooking for):

2 cups water
1 cup rice
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion salt
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 cup salsa

Fry the rice in the cooking oil for two or three minutes.  Add water and the rest of the ingredients.  Cover and simmer at a medium/low temperature for 20-30 minutes until the rice is tender and the water boiled out/absorbed.  
 

Turkey a la King

With the holidays approaching, we are already knee deep in turkey and are exhausting all of our standard "leftover" recipes.  One of my favorites is Turkey a la King, brought to you from my mother via her mother.  Because it was passed down like that there is not a set recipe (as with most things in my kitchen repertoire).  

1 Can Chicken Broth
1 Can Cream of Chicken
Two spoonfuls of Chicken Soup Base (a couple of bouillon cubes are a fine substitute)
Add a little bit of flour and water to thicken if needed (see what I mean about no exact recipe?)
Little bit of thyme (again...)
Chopped Turkey
Frozen Peas

Serve over biscuits or rice (biscuits!)

Combine broth, cream of chicken, soup base in a sauce pan and then thicken as needed.   Add thyme and turkey and peas.  Let simmer until the peas are cooked through.    

Grandpa Menlove's Marinade

My dad's side of the family boasts quite a few turkey farmers, so turkey is a fairly common Sunday dinner main dish. Most often is prepared using Grandpa Menlove's famous marinade. He carves a turkey into steaks, soaks it in marinade and then grills it. Side it with rolls and Melt-in-your-Mouth potatoes and you've got my ideal Sunday dinner. I'm usually too lazy to carve a turkey, though, so I just use chicken breasts.

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup cooking oil
1 cup (or 1 can) 7-up
1 tsp garlic powder

Combine and mix in a large bowl. Add turkey or chicken. This much marinade works for about 10 chicken breasts. They don't need to be fully submersed while marinating, just coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for several hours (or overnight is best) before grilling.

Best Ever Dinner Rolls

Rolls have always been kind of intimidating to me. I guess bread in general has always intimidated, but rolls especially. Unfortunately (fortunately?) for me, my mom's rolls are one of a select few things that just make my mouth water and I couldn't live without them when we moved to Ohio. After nearly a year of craving them every single Sunday, I finally bucked up and tried to make them myself. That first attempt is something that I am not proud of. They were flat, dry and all around yucky. Two years later, I am proud to say that I am a master at making them and they work every single time. The trick is rising time. Don't cut it short, even if it means letting the first rise happen all through church.

1/2 cup potato flakes
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 cup milk (warmed for one minute in the microwave)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp yeast
4-5 cups flour

Combine potato flakes and water in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, warmed milk and butter. Mix until combined. Add sugar, salt and yeast. Mix until combined. Add flour and mix until the dough is slightly sticky to the touch (if you're using a kitchenaid or bosch, this is usually when the dough pulls away from the sides on its own). Don't be afraid to use more flour than called for if necessary, but always err on the side of too sticky rather than overly stiff. Knead for 6-8 minutes and then cover and let rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours). Punch down and mold into rolls (sadly, I'm not going to give instructions, but you can google all the different ways to mold into rolls. I will always prefer the classic pull and pinch underneath into a nice round ball method). Arrange on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled in size again (this is where you really don't want to cheat yourself. Give yourself at least forty-five minutes of rising time, even though my mom says you only need twenty minutes).

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until golden on top. When you take them out of the oven, immediately baste with butter.

I can usually get twenty four rolls with a little bit of dough left over.

Scotcharoos

Another camping favorite is scotcharoos. I honestly can't remember a camping trip when I was growing up (or currently) with my family that did not involve eating one (or four...) too many of these.

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup light corn syrup
1 Cup peanut butter
1 box rice kripies
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Heat sugar and light corn syrup in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Pour peanut butter mixture over rice kripies in a large mixing bowl. Mix together. Press into a brownie pan (quickly, before it cools too much!). Melt the chocolates chips in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir to make smooth. Spread the chocolate over the rice krispy. Allow to cool. Cut into squares.

Coconut Chex Mix

We've been gearing up for a fun camping trip with some of the families in our ward. I love camping. Growing up it was our standard family activity. We went on multiple long camping trips every summer and many, many more smaller camping trips. Of all the things I learned from these vacations, the most important was that food is essential. Especially snack food. Coconut Chex Mix is insanely unhealthy, but no camping trip (or New Year's Eve) is complete without it.

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
2 Cubes Butter
1 tsp coconut extract
1 Large Box Chex Mix
1 Cup Coconut Flakes
Handful silvered almonds

Combine sugar, light corn syrup and butter in a sauce pan. Heat to a boil and let boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add coconut extract. Pour sugar mixture over the Chex cereal in a large mixing bowl. Stir in coconut flakes and slivered almonds.

Store in a large tupperware.

Cafe Rio Chicken Salad (bonus! Cafe Rio Rice and Tomatillo Ranch Dressing)

Cafe Rio... oh, how I miss thee!

For any of you who know my mom, you know that she is an expert at copying restaurant recipes. Are you in love with Los Amigos smothered burritos? Shoot me an email. I've got the secret recipe... courtesy of Mom. Do you find yourself craving PF Chang's lettuce wraps? Again... my Mom. To this day, though, her greatest achievement has been recreating Cafe Rio's chicken salads (and raising seven incredible children, of course). Now that Jeff and I are here and far away from Cafe Rio (sob!) and Los Amigos (sob!), we can still find a little piece of home in my Mom's tried and true recipes. The best part? Most of them are easy pleasy crock pot recipes! And because she is not a recipe snob, I figured she wouldn't mind me sharing with you...

Cafe Rio Chicken

1 (8 oz) bottle of zesty italian salad dressing

1 T chili powder

1 T cumin

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 lbs chicken breast (but, hello! I never use 5 lbs. Have you seen the price of chicken?)

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours. Shred chicken and cook additional 1 hour. Make a salad by placing a heated flour tortilla (Sam's club cook-it-yourself tortillas-- to die for!) in a bowl. Put rice, heated black beans, chicken, shredded cheese, torn romaine lettuce, picante sauce, guacamole, cilantro lime dressing all inside tortilla (of course, you can choose your own fillings. Who has picante sauce laying around?)

Cafe Rio Rice
6 cups water
6 tsp chicken base or boullon
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 onion
1 can chopped green chiles
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 cup converted rice (which, I assume, means regular rice. Converted? What?)

Place cilantro, onion, garlic, and chopped green chilis in a food processor and whirl until well chopped. Place all ingredients in a pan and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Cafe Rio Ranch Dressing
1 pkt ranch dressing mix
1 lime (juiced)
2 tomatillos (but I ommitted those tonight and it was still fabulous)
1 clove garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 jalapeno-- to taste (I only use this sometimes)

Mix ranch dressing according to directions on package. Place dressing and remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend well. Refrigerate until use.

Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
I have never used this because I *heart* the ranch, but my Mom likes it

3 T red wine vinegar
2 T fresh lime juice
3 Cups oil
1 1/2 T minced cilantro
2 T minced purple onion
1 clove garlic
1 sm jalapeno (to taste)
1 tsp sugar to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Place the vinegar and lime juice in a blender. With blender on, gradually pour oil into vinegar. Add remaining ingredients and blend. Adjust ingredients according to taste. Very good marinade fo chicken. Tweak sugar and salt to taste.

PF Chang's Lettuce wraps

I posted this recipe on my family blog a couple of years ago and it was crazy popular. It comes to you from my Mom's kitchen. She is seriously expert at copying restaurant recipes. If you're looking for a recipe that is as close as it gets to PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps, this is it.

Filling:

3 Tbs. Oil

2 boneless sinless chicken breasts

1 can water chestnuts, drained

2/3 cup mushrooms

2 Tbs. chopped green onions

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 can bamboo shoots

2 t. minced fresh ginger

2 small dried chilies

1 head boston/butter lettuce

1 pkg. cellophane rice noodles, fried

Stir Fry Sauce

2 Tbs. soy sauce (I use more, about 4 Tbs.)

2 Tbs. brown sugar

1/2 tps. rice wine vinegar

Special Sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 water

2 Tbs. soy sauce

2 Tb. rice wine vinegar

2 Tbs. ketchup

1/8 tsp. sesame oil

If you want more spicey sauce add:

1 Tbs. chinese hot mustard (or Sam's club beer and brats mustard)

and/or

1-2 tsp. Garlic and Red Chile paste

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add next 5 ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate this sauce until you are ready to serve. Combine the mustard and garlic chile sauce to some of the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps. It is better with the spicy sauce added, but just a touch!

Chop all the ingredients to the filling, (except the cellophane noodles and lettuce) using a food processor. First we chop the vegetables together, then the chicken, until they are very small pieces. Prepare the stir-fry sauce by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken breasts for 3 or so minutes. Add the vegetables and saute until crisp tender. Pour stir-fry sauce over all and let simmer until chicken is done. Serve mixture in lettuce cups along with some cellophane noodles, and top with special sauce, plain or spicy.

Peanut sauce is great on lettuce wraps also. Best one is by House of Tsang called Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce. You can find it in the oriental section at Wal-mart or Macy's.

Coconut Chicken Curry

This is the best Coconut Chicken Curry that I have ever had outside of a restaurant. At first the potatoes over rice thing seemed weird to me, but it melts in your mouth. Even my curry-hating husband eats this and takes the leftovers to school for lunch. It is originally found at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks or strips
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika (substitute cayenne pepper if you like the heat)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 medium red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, light or regular
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, Italian style
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
Hot cooked Jasmine rice or brown rice

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil, curry powder, and paprika in a large skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat for two minutes, until fragrant (but don’t let it burn). Turn the heat up to medium and stir in onions and garlic and cook 7-9 minutes more or until onions are very clear. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and is cooked through or nearly cooked through (it will continue to simmer in the next step). Add potatoes, coconut milk, tomatoes (I lightly crushed the stewed tomatoes with my fingers before adding), tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30-40 minutes. The sauce thickens slightly upon standing, but is great served piping hot (and a bit thinner), too. Serve with Jasmine rice (or your favorite rice) and garnish with cilantro, if desired

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

My friend Lindsay posted this recipe and she got it from here. I'm in love with it. And Jeff gives six out of five starts. It's a great alternative to our deep fried enchiladas when we're feeling a like being healthier. We love to serve it with sour cream, salsa, guacamole and refried beans.

1/3 cup softened cream cheese

1/4 cup green salsa (Salsa Verde) or green enchilada sauce

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups cooked shredded chicken

1 cup grated pepper jack cheese

1 small can diced green chilis

20 small (6 inch) flour tortillas

1. Mix seasonings, salsa, and cream cheese, add chicken and cheese.
2. Heat oven to 425 and soften tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds.
3. Place two tablespoons of mixture on the bottom third of the tortilla and roll up very tight. Place seam side down on baking sheet, and continue until all your mixture is gone.
4. At this point you can place the pan in the freezer, and after they are hardened place them in a freezer bag--if you would like to save the taquitos for later. If you are using them tonight spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle them with salt and bake for 15 to 20 minutes!

Yields: 5 to 6 servings

Ranch Dressing

If I ever had to go on The Biggest Loser, my temptation room would be filled with pitchers of ranch dressing. I'm not even kidding. PITCHERS. When my family all gathers at my Grandma's house (every Sunday), there is always a pitcher of homemade ranch dressing on the table. We use it as a salad dressing, a gravy, and a dip for anything that we can think of. I'm also very picky about my ranch. Hidden Valley is not tolerated around here.

2 ½ cups mayo (Hellman’s or Best Foods, depending where you are in the country.)

2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp garlic salt

1 Tbsp parsley flakes

Pepper to taste.

Mix together and refrigerate.

Melt in Your Mouth Potatoes (Funeral Potatoes)

Who doesn't love this super unhealthy but beyond yummy side dish?

6-8 potatoes

2 cups shredded cheese

2-3 chopped green onions

1-2 cans cream of chicken

2-3 cups sour cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil potatoes with the skin on 15-20 minutes until barely fork tender (do not cook too long! They will be mushy!) After the potatoes are done, cool immediately with cold water, then place on counter to cool completely. Peel off skin and shred or cube, and place in a large bowl. Add cheese and chopped green onions. Mix together cream of chicken and sour cream, Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir sour cream mixture into the potato mixture and place in a casserole or baking dish and cover with tinfoil. If you really want to you, you can top with crushed corned flakes, but I don't like it that way.

Bake at 350 for about 1 hour.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever. Seriously.

When we lived in Utah, I always used the Better Homes & Gardens Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and it never failed me; but when we moved to Ohio everything changed. My cookies came out cakey and too tall. I tried everything and slowly my cookie making confidence disappeared. I avoided making chocolate chip cookies at all costs. And then my friend Jessica posted this recipe and changed my life. It's yummier than my Utah cookies ever were and they turn out perfectly every single time.

3/4 butter crisco (no substitutes)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 T milk
1 T vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c flour
1 t salt
3/4 t baking soda
1 package chocolate chips
HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COMBINE shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

DROP by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

BAKE 6-8 minutes.

Eat. Love.

Meatball Potato Casserole

Jeff is a big "meat and potatoes" kind of guy. I'm always looking for ways to make it a little more interesting and to sneak in a few vegetables.

2 eggs

½ cup dry bread crumbs

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 ½ pounds ground beef

2 tbsp flour

6 medium potatoes, sliced

1 (10 oz) can cream of celery soup

1 cup milk

Several big handfuls of peas (or one can)

Paprika

Combine ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs and soup mix in bowl.

Shape into meatballs.

Brown them in a hot skillet.

Cut potatoes. Place in casserole dish.

Combine soup, milk and peas.

Place meatballs on top of potatoes.

Pour sauce over everything.

Sprinkle with paprika.

350 for 60 minutes

Spagetti Sauce

I love spaghetti, but I don't love using the jars of sauce when I am just pouring them over noodles. You know what I mean? So when I'm making spaghetti, I always use this recipe. It is almost as easy as opening a jar and a hundred trillion times better. And it feels like more than meal when you make the sauce. You know? Less of a cop out or something. In the summer, you can substitute the canned tomatoes and dried herbs for fresh and, oh man.

1 pound ground turkey/beef

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

½ tsp black pepper

Combine ground turkey/beef, onion and garlic in a large pan. Brown. Drain grease. Add everything else. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally, and periodically smelling it and adding a little more of this and that until it suits your liking.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

My friend Britt has an amazing cooking blog. I always head to her site when I'm at a loss for a meal. I've tried several pizza dough recipes, but I always come back to Britt's. It's perfect.

1 tablespoon quick rise yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup very warm water (as hot as you can get it from your tap)

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups white flour

a little bit less than 2 cups whole wheat flour

a teaspoon or so of olive oil (or none if you prefer)

Combine yeast, sugar and water in large bowl. stir until it starts to bubble.

Add salt and flour (and oil if you wish). knead just until combined.

Cover and let rise - minimum 1 hour, but it's better if you let it rise for 2 hours.

Roll out dough. top with desired toppings.

Cook in oven at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

Makes crusts for 2 pizzas (i make them on large cookie sheets)

Barbecue Chicken Topping:

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1 chicken breast, cubed

1/2 bottle barbecue sauce

1/2 jar pasta sauce

1/2 bunch chopped cilantro

Red (purple?) Onions, sliced

Cook cubed chicken in 1/4 cub barbecue sauce. Cook through. And then set aside.

Heat barbecue sauce and pasta sauce together with chopped cilantro.

Spread sauce over pizza. Top with barbecue chicken, sliced onions and mozzarella cheese.

Mmmmmmm.

Cassoulet

I think that Cassoulet is suppose to be a really fancy french dish, but we have parkerfied it to fit our tastes. It makes a lot, is inexpensive and is hearty and healthy. It's the perfect "just throw a bunch of stuff in there and see how it turns out" meal, but here are our basic ingredients:

Meat of any variety (I think that italian sausage is the most common)

White beans (Great Northern, usually)

Pinto Beans

Kidney Beans

Black Beans

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cup carrot slices

1 cup celery

1 cup onion

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp salt

Garlic salt to taste

Onion salt to taste

Cook meat in pan. Add everything else. Cook until vegetables are tender. Transfer to casserole dish.

350 for 30 minutes.

Grandma Menlove's Mile High Dessert

This dessert is the essence of summer to me. If I close my eyes while eating it, I completely see my Grandma's backyard, filled to the brim with all of my extended family (who do this every Sunday... man, I miss home). It tastes a lot like home made ice cream, but it's half the work.

2 Eggs Whites

1 Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 package fresh strawberries, halved. Or 1 package frozen strawberries (thawed)

Dash salt

1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

Combine all the ingredients and beat for 20 minutes (this is where a kitchenaid comes in really handy). Beat in ½ pint heavy cream or a small container of cool whip. Pour in a 9X13 baking dish. Top with loose Graham Cracker Crumbs.

Freeze overnight

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Jeff and I consider ourselves Chinese food purists because we lived in Taiwan for a little over four months. Logical, I think. This sweet and sour chicken is a little labor intensive (especially the tricky egg bit) but oh-so worth it. It's amazing how the chicken itself is bland and the sauce is crazy, but when you put it together it creates a flavor that is out of this world amazing.

Batter:

½ cup flour

¼ cup cornstarch

½ tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp egg plus enough water to make ½ cup Totally weird, right? That's how you know it's GOOD

1 tsp cooking oil

Use ½ pound cubed chicken breast and coat with the batter. Fry Twice (we usually end up doing it once, but if you have the time to do it twice it tastes phenomenal)

Sauce (in this order):

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp soy sauce

¼ tsp salt

2/3 cup water

-Bring to Boil-

Add ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

-Bring to Boil-

Add 3 ½ Tbsp dissolved cornstarch in 1/3 cup water

-Boil until thickened-

Menlove Sunday Chicken

This recipe is Katja-approved, which is a really big deal in my recipe book. Next to a good ole pot roast, this is my favorite Sunday meal and we have it at least once a month around here. Make sure to serve it with mashed potatoes AND rice. Growing up we were a house divided on whether it should be a potato or rice meal. My dear mom, bless her heart, settled matters by declaring that it was both. Now it just doesn't seem right unless you have a little bit of potato and a little bit of rice (but if you have to choose go with mashed potatoes. Go team potatoes!). We usually serve it with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and fresh rolls as well.

½ cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp pepper

Cubed chicken (we usually do one big chicken breast, but we're not big meat eaters)

1/4 cup shortening

1 onion, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped

Spoonful garlic

Add 1 can chicken broth

Add 1 can cream of chicken

Add spoonful Chicken soup base (optional)

Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice or sour cream (optional)

Combine flour, salt, paprika and pepper in a large ziplock baggie. Add the cubed chicken and shake until fully coated. Melt shortening in a large skillet and add battered chicken. Brown chicken on all sides and then transfer the chicken to a large roasting pan. Add chicken broth, cream of chicken soup and the rest of the shaker bag (and the soup base and lemon juice or sour cream, if desired) to the left over shortening. Heat through and pour over the chicken in the roasting pan. Sprinkle with ¼ tsp Thyme

Cook at 350 for 45 min-1 hrs

Menlove's Traditional Chocolate Birthday Cake

Unless we requested otherwise, this is the standard birthday cake in the Tammy Menlove kitchen. And there are no complaints here. This is the kind of cake that starts out good and gets even better after it sits on the counter overnight and is inadvertently consumed for post-birthday breakfast. It's delicious and fool proof.

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ cup cocoa

3 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup hot water this may sound weird, but it's what makes this cake phenomenal.

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl (kitchenaid) bowl combine eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir in hot water. Pour into a greased cake pan.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Allow to cool and then top with your favorite frosting.

Michele's Baked Ziti

My dear friend Michele made this and let me eat the leftovers once. It has been a staple in our house every since. We often eat it vegetarian style, but you can toss in cooked chicken or another choice of meat and it is delicious too.

1 lb ziti

½ cup butter

½ cup flour

4 cups milk

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 cups parmesan

1 cup frozen peas (or as much as you can handle).

½ cup bread crumbs

*Choice of meat

*optional

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly. Cook until thick and creamy (5-10 minutes). Stir in nutmeg, parmesan, peas and meat (if desired). Add cooked pasta

Transfer to a baking dish

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs

Cook at 420 for 20 minutes

Santa Fe Tacos

Or Navajo Tacos for those of you who have never been to Dalton's Restaurant in Payson, UT (You don't know what you're missing).

The best part of this recipe is the scone. Afterward you can pull out a little butter and honey and voila! Ready made dessert. Perfect for Mondays, if you want a Family Home Evening treat hot and ready to go.

Scone:

2 cups flour

¾ salt

3 tsp baking powder

¾-1 cup warm water

Mix until doughy. Roll until ½ inch thick and cut into squares. Deep fry in cooking oil until brown and puffy.

Top with your favorite chili, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, cheese, ranch dressing (or sour cream), guacamole and salsa.

Red Sauce Enchiladas

1 Can tomato sauce

3 Cans water

1 Tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion salt

1-2 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp vinegar

3 Tablespoons flour

15-20 corn tortillas

Combine all ingredients. Make sure that everything is COLD when you combine them. If it is already bowling, the flour won't dissolve easily and you will have a runny sauce with chunks of flour. Believe me.

You can serve these as cheese enchiladas or brown a little ground turkey/beef to roll into the tortillas.

Fry tortillas in hot oil (3 seconds on each side). You might think that you make these healthier by skipping this step. I've tried. It's not the same and the tortillas crack, but you're the boss of yourself.

Stuff with just cheese or a little browned ground turkey/beef and a spoonful of sauce and place in a rectangular casserole dish. Top with extra sauce and cheese.

Cook at 350 for 20 minutes (or until cheese is melted)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are a lot of pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. This is my favorite. Because it's my dad's favorite. Sometimes logic works like that.

2 cups sugar

½ cup shortening

2 cup pumpkin

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp all spice

Chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl (kitchenaid? If your mom blessed you with her old one like mine did). Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the pumpkin mixture. Add chocolate chips and drop onto to greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes

Dad's Waffles

This is a dreaded three bowl recipe. THREE BOWLS! Let me tell you, though. I hum as I wash all three of those bowls afterward because they are worth it.

1 ¾ cup flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

Two eggs, separated

1 1/3 cup milk

½ cup oil

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy. Seriously, beat those suckers. This is not the time to save time by giving them a few wisks. Get out the hand mixer and beat, beat, BEAT. This step is going to give you the tall, fluffy, cloud-like waffles that dreams are made of. In a medium bowl, combine egg yokes and wet ingredients. Combine flour and egg yoke mixtures. Stir gently. Fold in egg whites, gently.

Mom's Apple Pie

Crust

2 Cups Flour

1 Tsp. Salt

¾ Cup Shortening

8-10 Tbsp. Water

In a mixing bowl, add (in order) 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp. of salt. Mix together. Cut in ¾ cup of shortening until the mixture is mixed into pea-sized balls. Add 8-10 tablespoons of water—fluff in with a fork until the dough sticks into a ball. Cut in two and roll each flat.

Filling

2-3 Large Apples

1 tsp. Cinnamon

2 Tbsp. Flour

Line the pie tin with dough. Add filling. Cover with top crust. Pinch corners shut. Make sure to cut a slit on the top of the pie. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Let cool.