Ham & Potato Soup

I've made this soup a few times and we really like it. I've got left over ham, so I'm going to make it tonight. I'd go a little lighter on the pepper.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Delicious-Ham-and-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Delicious-Ham-and-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx

Here are the ingredients.

• 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules

• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Crockpot Pot Roast & Gravy from Six Sisters

When you have to resort to your own Sunday dinners, you turn to the web. I've used this recipe a few times and really like it. 

Slow Cooker Sunday Dinner Pot Roast and Gravy Recipe

Sunday dinner was always the best meal of the week growing up at my house . . . and pot roast was one of our staple Sunday meals. After I got married and was in charge of Sunday dinner for my own little family, I was super intimidated by pot roast . . . until I discovered that I could make it in my CROCK POT. Hooray!

I promise you, this is the easiest and yummiest pot roast recipe. You just can't mess it up! And when you feel ready, try the homemade gravy recipe . . . it took me a couple of tries to get it just right. And let's be honest . . . you really could make this any day of the week! My husband would think that he had died and gone to heaven if he came home from work and found this waiting for him!

2 1/2 - 3 pounds beef chuck roast 

1 pound (16 oz) baby carrots
4 medium potatoes, cubed (I use whatever I have on hand- red, Yukon gold, or Russet)
1 large sweet onion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes (optional- I make it with and without this and it tastes great either way)
2 cups beef broth
1 chicken bouillon cube

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Pat beef with paper towels and season all sides generously with salt and pepper. Sear beef in the saute pan until a nice crust forms (about 3 minutes on each side). Place beef in crock pot. Don't drain the drippings.

Add carrots, onions, potatoes and garlic to the pan and saute for about 3 minutes. Pour in the diced tomatoes (with juices) and stir to combine. Arrange vegetables over the beef in the crock pot and pour in the beef broth with the bouillon cube dissolved.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Pot Roast Gravy

Pot Roast drippings/liquid
2 Tablespoons butter, cold
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 - 2 teaspoons cold water

Pour all the liquid out of the crock pot into a small or medium sauce pan. Let simmer over medium low heat for about 5 minutes. Mix butter and flour together in a small bowl and mash together with a fork until well combined (kind of like a buttery paste). Slowly whisk in the mixture into the liquid until starting to thicken and combined. If you like thick gravy, add the cornstarch as an added thickening agent. Just combine the cornstarch with cold water until dissolved and stir into the gravy, whisking until smooth. Season with freshly ground black pepper (I don't normally need anymore salt).

Recipe adapted from The Dish on Delish

Lime Crepes

I learned how to make these at the Williams' house and I love them. 

Do you like the fancy lime on top?

Crepes:

1 1/2 c. flour

1 T. sugar

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 c. milk

2 T. butter

1 t. lime zest (finely grated) -you'll need about 3-4 limes for zest and juice

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 eggs

Blend above ingredients together in blender. (I just keep it in the blender and pour it directly into the pan.) Make crepes as usual on medium heat. There meant to be served cool.

Filling:

1 package of cream cheese

1/2 c. sugar

1 T. lime zest

Whip together and add either heavy whipping cream or just cool whip if you are on a tight budget--it tastes just as good). I wouldn't add the whole container because it tends to drown out the cream cheese taste if you put too much.

Marilyn Thompson's Nosey Rolls

Shane's requested that I learn how to make some of his mom's favorite foods. I usually make these rolls every Sunday. You can make a large cookie sheet full of delicious rolls with this recipe. We enjoy them all week.

1. Mix 2 (scant...less than) T. of dry yeast and 1/4 c. warm water in a mug (stir with plastic, not metal).
2. In a small microwavable bowl, add 1 cup of water and 1/2 c. shortening and microwave for 1 minute.
3. Mix 1/2 c. sugar and 2 tsp. salt. Add 3 well-beaten eggs, water/shortening mixture, and yeast/water mixture. Mix well.
4. Slowly add 4 1/2 cups of sifted flour.
5. Put dough in a greased/covered bowl to rise for a couple of hours.
6. Roll out to about 1/4 inch or so on well-floured surface and cut into large circles.
7. Dip half of the circle into melted butter and place on large cookie sheet and fold over in half. Use two finger to seal them together. (I know that's kind of confusing...I'll try to add pictures this weekend).

Here's a list of ingredients:
-2 T (scant) dry yeast
-1/4 cup warm water
-1/2 cup shortening
-1 cup water
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 tsp. salt
-3 well-beaten eggs
-4 1/2 cups sifted flour
-melted butter

Resurrection Rolls

A friend of mine posted this recipe on FB. I think we'll make them tomorrow morning.

Resurrection Rolls:
Crescent rolls
melted butter
large marshmallows
cinnamon
sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a marshmallow, this represents Jesus. Have them dip the marshmallow in melted butter, which represents the oils of embalming. Then dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represent the spices used to anoint the body.

Then wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. The oven represents the tomb.

When the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, He is risen. (The marshmallow and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

NOTE: I had problems the first time I made them. I re-did them last night and they worked. What I did was I cut the large marshmallow in half. Then instead of baking them on a cookie sheet I put them into cupcake papers and baked them in the muffin tin. They worked MUCH better and they were hollow inside. When I did it the first way with the whole marshmallow and on a cookie sheet, they oozed marshmallow everywhere and were not hollow).

Easy Slow Cooker Taco Chicken

I got this recipe from SixSisters and it was super easy and good.  We used the chicken on top of a taco salad, as well as in tortillas for soft tacos:

Ingredients:
1 envelope taco seasoning
5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (16 oz. jar of salsa)

Directions: Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken in the bottom, pour salsa on top, and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.  When done, shred chicken with fork.

John's Chocolate Chip Cookies

- Beat 3 eggs in mixer for 15 minutes

Then, Add:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 squares margarine
2 Tbsp Vanilla

In separate bowl, combine the following:
6 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Add flour mixture slowly into sugar mixture.  Once mixed, add 3 cups chocolate chips (I use two full bags of chocolate chips).

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes.
Makes approx. 8 dozen.


How many stars? 4 stars
Would I make these again?  Yes, easy and you can feed the masses with them.

Grandma's Fudge

Mix:
4 cups of sugar
1 large can of evaporated milk
Bring to a boil and cook for 11 minutes stirring the whole time
Take off stove
Add:
2 squares of margarine
2 pkgs  milk chocolate chips (ghiradeli or gitard chips are the best)
1 tsp vanilla
Beat with a wooden spoon till creamy.
Fold in 1 cup of chopped nuts

Crispy Belgian Waffles

Mom gave us the Belgian Waffle Maker's a while ago and we have been working on perfecting our waffle batter so that it tasks like the Waffles at Mauna Kea in Hawaii.  If you haven't had them, they taste similar to a churro in that they are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  They also have coconut syrup that is off the heezy.

Here is the Belgian Waffle Recipe that we used this last time and it worked really good:

Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup oil
2 cups milk

Directions:
1. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Separate the eggs.
3. In small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff (use electric mixer)
4. Mix together the egg yolks, milk and oil and stir slightly
5. Add to dry ingredients and mix well
6. Fold in beaten egg whites.

Step 6 is really the most important step because you can mix the other ingredients pretty much how you want without screwing things up.  But you have to make sure that you very carefully "fold" in the egg whites as it will greatly effect  the quality/crispness of the waffle.  Do not "over fold" as it will loose its fluffiness.

Make sure that your Belgian waffle maker is turned on its highest setting.  You want the outsides to be crispy.  Also make sure you grease it with a lot of butter or cooking spray.  Pour in about 3/4 a cup into the waffle maker and close the machine and rotate it immediately.  It will let yo know when its done.

I just found this coconut syrup recipe here that looks pretty easy: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/coconut-pancake-syrup/

I give this recipe 4/5 stars.  Hoping to find that 5 star batter soon.
It only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and about 1-2 minutes per Waffle

How to Poach Chicken

I was getting sick of the texture and dryness of my chicken after I'd boil it to add to casseroles or whatever, so I looked up alternative ways and found this site: 

http://www.chefdarin.com/2011/04/why-boiled-chicken-is-bad/

The gist of it is this: 
1. Make a chicken stock with whatever you have on hand (he suggests: celery leaves, onions, parsley stems, peppercorns, bay leaves and garlic). I didn't have any of that, so I just filled my pot with water, added some chicken bouillon cubes, garlic powder, salt, and a little lemon juice.

2. Bring the mixture to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.

3. Turn it up to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn off the stove and remove the pot. 

4. Immediately add thawed chicken (I cut my chicken tenderloins in half) and cover tightly with a lid or tin foil. 

5. Let the covered pot sit for about 10-12 minutes (15-20 minutes if cooking chicken on the bone) off of the heat.

6. The chicken will be moist, flavorful and ready to add to any recipe. 

**Note, you can use the stock over and over again and even freeze it. I did this with a bunch of chicken I bought on sale, shredded it/cubed it and froze it in ziploc bags.

Boiled vs. Poached Chicken

Kylee's Rating: 4 stars

Will I do it again? Yes, every time!

Delicious, Easy Sugar Cookie

There's a little drive-through place in St. George called "Swig". They specialize in drinks, hence the name, but they also have these delicious sugar cookies. I made them last night for the NCAA tournament viewing party that was at my house yesterday. I'll be making these when I come up in May.

http://www.vintagerevivals.com/2013/03/swig-sugar-cookie-recipe-literally-best.html

Why I like them? These are drop cookies, so there is no rolling out or cooling, so they are quick. They're soft, buttery shortbread-like cookies. And the frosting is delicious.

Possible changes: If you aren't a fan of sour cream frosting, I bet cream cheese frosting would be good too.

Kylee's Rating: 4 stars
Will I make again? Yes! Easy and yummy and they make a lot!

White Chili Recipe

I got this from Brock & Arrienne and it's delicous!

The recipe card said (Emily Hall)

1. Sauté 1 medium onion until tender in big pot.
2. Add
    -1 (15 oz) can of chicken broth
    -1-2 small cans of mild green chilis
    -3 (15 oz) cans of Great Northern Beans (drained, rinsed, dried)
    -1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
    -1 tsp. salt
    -1 tsp. cumin
    -1 tsp. oregano
    -1/4 tsp. cayenne
    -1/2 tsp. black pepper
**Note: I didn't have cumin or cayenne, so I just used chili powder and it tasted great.

3. Add 3-4 cooked chicken breasts or 1 rotisserie chicken (cubed or shredded) and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Before serving add:
    -1 cup sour cream (can be low fat)
    -1/2 cup cream

Serve with lime Tostito chips and grated cheese.

I served mine with a side of guacamole.

Level of Difficulty: Easy
Kylee's Rating: 4 stars
Shane's Rating: 4 stars
Will I make it again? Heck, yes!