Celery Mushroom Soup over Quinoa

You can substitute raw spinach for the greens and you can also use dried food storage mushrooms in place of the fresh ones. I like to make homemade pizza when I make this soup or some cheese bread the kids love it!!

This recipe feeds 4 adults

1 Tbls of olive oil
2 celery stalks sliced thin
1/2 diced onion
1.5 cups of shitake mushrooms (I use more and have not noticed the kind of mushroom matters)
Uncooked greens (collard greens, kale, or spinach)
4 cups of chicken stalk
pinch of red pepper flakes
prepared Quinoa

add oil, onions and celery to pot cook until fragrant

Add mushrooms, greens, red pepper flakes and chicken stalk, bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer until greens and mushrooms are tender. (about 20 min.)

put perpared Quinoa in a bowl and ladle the soup over Quinoa.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Malibu Chicken

When I was growing up, it was super rear for us to go out to eat, even more rear for us to be patrons at a sit-down restaurant.  As a kid the most fancy restaurant we went to was Sizzler.  My favorite dish was the Malibu Chicken...That is other then mom's salad bar.  I always loved stealing bites from mom's salad bar plate.  I even tried ordering a salad bar once and assembling it the way she did, but I promise it didn't taste nearly as good as mom's!  Just one of those things, right! 

Ingredients:
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (pound 'em thin)
6 slices of cooked ham
6 slices of swiss cheese
*(sometimes I have to double the items for the breading on the chicken, just depends on how big you chicken pieces are)
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Stir egg and 1 tablespoon water together with a fork.  Combine flour, salt, and pepper; coat each chicken piece.  I set up an assembly line, a large pyrex dish with the flour-coated chicken, next - a shallow dish with the egg mixture, next a shallow dish with the breadcrumbs.  Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Now work you way down the assembly line: take a piece of floured-chicken, and dip in egg mixture (coating both sides), then move it into the bread crumbs (coating both sides), and place in your hot skillet.  Brown both sides.  Place browned chicken onto a cookie sheet, top each piece with a slice of ham and slice of cheese.  Bake a 350 degrees, until the cheese melts.

For the dipping sauce combine mustard and mayonnaise.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

This was the most intense cake I've ever made, but so worth it!!! 

 I got the recipe here, and there is even a youtube video here! 

Ingredients

Crunch Topping

• 3 Cups (450 g) walnuts, finely chopped (I omitted these)
• 3 Cups (360 g) nilla waffers (about 75 cookies) 
• 3 Cups (540 g) brown sugar
• 12 oz (340 g) butter

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

• 1¼ (250 g) cup sugar
• 6 oz (168 g) softened butter
• 1 16 oz (425 g) can solid pack pumpkin
• 2½ ( 300 g) Cups flour
• ½ Cup (96 g) Greek yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon (15 g) pumpkin pie spice
• 2¼ Teaspoons( 12 g) baking powder
• ¾ Teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
• ½ Teaspoon (2.5) Salt
• 4 Large Eggs

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 24 oz (454 g) cream cheese
• 8 oz (227 g) softened butter
• 2 cups (150 g) confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla

Instructions

Crunch Topping

1. Melt Butter
2. In a food processor, pulse cookies to a fine crumb. Remove from processor and put into a medium bowl.
3. Then pulse walnuts to very small pieces. Add walnuts to the bowl with the cookie crumbs.
4. Add in Brown Sugar and mix well.
5. Add in Melted Butter and mix until completely blended.
6. Place one very full cup of the mixture into 3 greased 8″ round cake pans, pressing into bottom and spreading it evenly into the cake pans. Reserve about 2 cups of the mixture which will be baked to use on the sides of the cake.
7. Set pans aside and begin cake.
8. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Pumpkin Cake

1. In your mixer beat sugar and butter for about 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scrapping down the bowl frequently .
2. Add In Pumpkin and all the rest of the ingredients, except the eggs. Mix just until blended. Do not over blend.
3. Add in the Eggs, one at a time just until blended.
4. Divide batter equally into your 3 prepared cake pans on top of the nut/cookie mixture, smooth it out and make it as even as possible in the pan.
5. Place remaining crunch mixture in a 4th cake pan or pie dish and allow to bake for the same amount of time as the cakes.
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you use 2 racks to bake on in the oven, at the halfway mark rotate the pans .
7. Allow pans to cool about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire racks and allow to completely cool. DO NOT LET THE CAKES COOL IN THE PANS. This is important because the crunch mixture will stick to the pans and you’ll be scraping it out. I made this mistake and ended up scraping much of the crumb mixture off the pans and piecing it back together on top of the cake layers. This was almost a Pinterest FAIL! Luckily I fixed it all in the frosting stage of the cake.
8. Break up the extra crunch mix to very small bits to use to decorate the cake with.
9. While your cakes are baking prepare a Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Whip the cream cheese and butter till very smooth and creamy
2. Slowly add in the powdered sugar while mixer is on low setting
3. Add in Vanilla and mix well. Set aside till needed.

Assembly

1. After your cake is completely cooled. I recommend refrigerating the layers for an hour or so to make frosting easier, especially if you had to piece the crumb mixture back on top of the cake. Then begin frosting the layers and putting the cake together.
2. Frost one layer of cake. (If you use the icing recipe I list here, you’ll have plenty of frosting to make pretty thick layers in between the layers.) Top the frosted layer with a second layer and frost the top. Repeat with the third layer.
3. When you have assembled all the layers with some frosting between them, start to spread the remaining frosting on the sides and top.
4. When finished frosting the cake, coat sides and top with your extra crunch mixture. Just take handfuls of the crunch mixture and carefully smash it into the sides of the frosted cake.
5. *Store cake in refrigerator.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of powdered milk

1/2 cup water

1 Tbls. Butter

•heat water and butter to a boil in microwave 45-60 seconds. 

•putt sugar and milk in blender

•add water and butter to sugar and milk and blend

•good in fridge for 7 to 10 days

•makes 1 1/4 cups (one 14 oz. can)

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken

 I was kinda surprised the first time I tasted this.  I LOVED the big chunks of tomatoes.  Normally I'm only a fan of tomatoes in my BLT's, but the favor of the balsamic slow cooked in the these tomatoes are heavenly! 

Ingredients

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 40 ounces)

2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion thinly sliced (Not chopped)

4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp each: dried oregano, basil, and rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme (I go skimpy on this because I’m not a huge fan of thyme)

ground black pepper and salt to taste

Directions

Pour the olive oil on bottom of slow cooker, add chicken breasts, salt and pepper each breast, put sliced onion on top of chicken then put in all the dried herbs and garlic cloves. Pour in vinegar and top with tomatoes.

Cook on high 4 hours; serve alone or over angel hair pasta.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

I was a lucky girl who got a whole box of tomatoes from my mom, she had brought them home from her trip to Utah.  While researching recipes with fresh tomatoes I came across this one, from here.  It was a big hit with everyone and defiantly a keeper!

In the post that I got the recipe, she says it freezes well.  I didn't get a chance to try that this time (since we all gobbled it up), but it's good to know for the future! 

Fresh Tomato Salsa

(perfect for an appetizer for 6)

Ingredients:

8 large roma tomatoes with skin (or any medium tomato)

1 green bell pepper

1/2 cup red onion

1/2 cup vidalia onion (sweet onion)

1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt

5 tablespoons white vinegar

fresh lime juice from 1 lime

1 head of garlic (I put a little extra, because I'm a garlic lover)

crushed red pepper (very little)

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

Cut washed tomatoes in 1/2 and add to food processor. I keep the skin on for nutrients, and no one can tell. Wash bell pepper and take out the seeds. Cut in big wedges and place in food processor with tomatoes. Slice onion in wide pieces and add it to the mixture as well. Peel garlic and add whole cloves. Add salt, vinegar, lime juice, and a dash or 2 of crushed red pepper. Pulsate food processor until everything is diced up well. We like ours thin, but if you like it chunky, just don’t pulsate for too long. Add fresh parsley and cilantro last and pulsate a couple more times. This is making my mouth water. If it’s too salty, add another tomato. Not salty enough, add vinegar and/or salt. Adjust red pepper flakes as well. Serve with your favorite tortillas.

Homemade Graham Crackers

These have made Aunt Christy famous, in my children lives anyways.  I do believe this is the biggest request from my children when they are over at her house! 

These crackers have been "Bello'd" up with chocolate 

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

(optional) chocolate for melting

1. Mix dry ingredients together, set aside.

2. In separate bowl mix melted butter and honey.

3. Mix honey/butter to dry ingredients, stir until combined

4. Drop mixture onto cookie sheet and roll out, making sure edges reach the sides of cookie sheet.

 Tips from Christy: Use a smaller cookie sheet for a thicker graham crackers.  Spray pan and roller with cooking spray for more workable dough.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees, cut quickly once out of oven.