Pumpkin Roll

This is one of my favorite fall recipes. It makes the house smell sooo yummy!
Note: If the pumpkin roll is too much work, you can leave the cake in the cake pan and add the frosting to the top and eat it just like that.

3 eggs-put in a blender and blend 5 minutes

In a seperate bowl put 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. pumpkin spice or 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger and mix together.

2/3 cup canned pumpkin, 1 tsp.lemon juice. Mix together and add to egg mixture. Spray a cookie sheet and the sides really really good with PAM no stick spray. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Turn onto a dish towel sprinkled with powdered sugar and roll up-being very careful as you roll. Cool.

Frosting:
1 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. margarine
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix together, unroll the cake and spread over pumpkin roll.

Roll bakc up, cover with tin foil and I put in fridge until ready to eat.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I don't know what it is about fall that makes me want to throw away my diet and bake something with lots of flour, sugar and shortening? I made these into mini muffins, using a mini muffin tin, which made 24 mini muffins (and I still had dough left over), or you can put these in regular muffins tins.

3 Lg. or 4 small ripe banans mashed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
Chocolate Chips (I used jumbo milk chocolate chips)

Cream together first 3 ingredients, don't overmix
Beat egg in
Gradually add last ingredients.
Bake 350 15-20 min's or until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean

Snicker's Harvest Apples

RU kidding me, that's all I have to say about this recipe

What you'll need:
1 bag SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures, unwrapped
1 bag DOVE® Brand Milk Chocolate, unwrapped
6 apples, washed and patted dry
2 tablespoons water
2 bags soft caramels, unwrapped
6 craft sticks
Waxed paper
What to do:
Press the craft sticks into the tops of the apples.
Melt the caramels with water in a 4-cup heat-safe glass measuring cup for 1 to 2 minutes in the microwave. Stir occasionally until smooth.
Dip the apples into the caramels, rolling each apple to cover it completely. Set them on the waxed paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, melt the DOVE® Brand Milk Chocolate in the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir until smooth.
Roughly chop the SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures.
Dip the chilled apples into the melted chocolate and immediately roll in the chopped SNICKERS® Brand Miniatures, covering each entire apple.
Makes 6 apples.

Recipe from brightideas.com (you can go to brightideas.com and sign up for their newsletters-it's from the M&M company, it's really fun!!)

Chicken Veggie Casserole

I can 98% Fat Free Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 cup Fat Free (skim) milk
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 large boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 can (16oz.) whole kernal corn, drained (but I used a can of creamed corn-undrained and I really liked it)
2 cups frozen cut green beens
2 cups sliced cooked potatoes
small amount of cheese

I boil my chicken so it's cooked though and easy to shred.
In a large bowl combine the soup, milk, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir in chicken, corn, beans, and potatoes. Pour mixture into a greased 1-1/2 qt. baking dish. I topped it with a very small amount of cheese, just enough to barely cover the top (but you can leave this out if you want to make it more healthy). Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through. Makes 6 servins.

Recipe from: Taste of Home's/Budget Suppers

Peaches n' Cream

Okay, I have seriously been missing out!! My mother in law got some peaches this week from Brigham City (the best peaches ever). The other day we sat down and she introduced me to "light" peaches and cream and it was heavenly!!

1 peach, with the skin removed, diced
Half and Half dairy product
Splenda/Equal

Dice the peaches in a bowl, pour half and half on top, cover with Splenda or Equal and enjoy a healthy snack!!!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

This one is a favorite at my house, we have to cook this at least twice a month.



I love this recipe because I make 2 different recipes with the same ingredients, you can make enchiladas or casserole, here is the recipe for both:

Ingredients (same for both)
3-4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (boiled and cooked through)
1/2 pint Sour Cream
2 cans 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
4 oz. can of chopped green chillies
grated cheese (as much or as little as you would like)
Tortillas

Boil your chicken, then I run the chicken through my grater food processor to make it thin. Mix the chicken in with the Sour Cream and Chicken Soup, add green chillies and about a cup of cheese.

For the Enchiladas:
Add as much as you would like to the center of a tortilla, save some remaining chicken mixture to pour over the top of all the enchiladas. fold and put seam side down on greased 13x9 pan. pour remaining chicken mixture on top and add a little more cheese. Cook 350 for 25-30 min's or until cheese is melted and center is warm.

For the Casserols.
Layer 1: Rip apart tortillas into pieces and layer on the bottom of greased 13x9 pan. Follow same instructions for the enchiladas and pour 1/3 of mixture on top of tortillas.
Layer 2:Rip up more tortillas and follow previous steps
Layer 3:Same as above, but top with more cheese.
Bake 350 for 30 min's or until cheese is melted.

Once baked, you can add more sour cream and add salsa before serving.

I like to serve Mexican Style Rice-a-Roni with this meal

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 servings
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Lower Sodium Stuffing Mix for Chicken
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.)
6 slices OSCAR MAYER Thin Sliced Smoked Ham
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard
6 KRAFT DELI FRESH Swiss Cheese Slices
PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside.

PLACE chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with ham. Mix soup and mustard; spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

BAKE 25 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165°F). Top with cheese. Bake an additional 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

From: Kraft Food and Family

Note: If you have thick pieces of chicken, you might want to put the stove top stuffing on the chicken when they are half way done. Otherwise the Stove Top can get crunchy.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cups

My mom brought this recipe last time she came out for a visit. They are to die for!




I large tube of Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough
24 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Take a heaping Teaspoon full of dough and roll it into a ball. Place the dough in a mini-muffin tin (one pan makes 24).
Using the back side of a melon baller (or something similar in shape) press the center of the dough down.
Bake 375 for 9-11 minutes
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a Peanut Butter Cup into the center of the cookie and let them cool completely before trying to remove them from the muffin tin.

Tator Tot Casserole

If you grew up in the 80's, I am guessing this was a weekly recipe your mom would use. I have to whip it out now and then, it just reminds me of my childhood!



1 Lb. hamburger (I use lean meat)
1 can cream of chicken AND cream of mushroom soup (or 2 cans of cream of chicken) depeding on your likeings!! I use 2 cans of the 98% fat free cream of chicken
1 soup can full of milk (you can use skim milk to make it healthier)
shredded cheese
1 bag tator tots

Brown hamburger. Mix hamburger, soups, and can of milk. Pour mixture into bottom of pan. Sprinkle Cheese. Line the tator tots on top of the casserole. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until tots are brown and crisp.

Salsa

We went to a BBQ on Sunday, and our friend was telling us that she's got so many Tomatoes in her garden she needs a good recipe for Salsa. This is a Hernandez Family recipe, and it is to die for. Enjoy. P.s. you will need a large bag of chips to go with this, you will eat the entire batch!

Roma Tomatoes (6)
Green Onions (3)
Cloves Garlic (2)
Jalepeno's (2-3 depending on how hot you like your salsa )
Cilantro
Salt and pepper and juice from a lime.

Puree

Season to taste.

Semi-Homemade Mini-Pizza's

This is a SUPER quick and easy meal to fix.

1 pkg. of Rhodes White Rolls
1 small jar of pizza sauce (or the homemade sauce recipe on my blog)
Your favorite cheese (I use cheddar and mozerella on mine)
Your favorite toppings (We use Pepperoni and Olives, I know boring!!)
Corn Meal

Spray a couple cookie sheets with Cooking Spray. Defrost your Roll dough just enough that it's easy to roll into a mini-pizza crust. DON'T over defrost or it will dry out your dough. Using the palm of your hand flatten the roll to make a nice circle. I sprinkle a little bit of corn meal on the bottom of my pizza's but this is optional.

Spread about 1 Tbsp. pizza sauce on each pizza and then top with your cheese and favorite toppings. Bake 350 degrees until bottom of crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Red Lobster Cheese Garlic Biscuits

This one is for you dad!

Okay, so when I go to Red Lobster I swear I get full on these before my meal even comes out. I have an aunt who can go home and mock up a recipe in a couple of days, so here is her recipe:

2 c. buttermilk baking mix

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 t. garlic powder

2/3 cup milk

1/4 c. melted butter

Combine baking mix, milk, and cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon till a soft dough forms (adding more milk if needed). Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Drop dough by heaping Tbsp. full onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 450 for 8-10 minutes. Combine butter and garlic powder (if you want you can add parsley here too, to make it pretty). Brush over warm buscuits before removing from cookie sheet. Makes 10-12 biscuits.

**CHEATING** and for those of you who don't want to slave away in the kitchen, I found one of those packages (you know the betty crocker/Bisquick things that come in a package and all you have to do is add an egg and water to get brownies or cookies)..anywho..they make one that is called cheese-garlic bisquits. Ummm...so, try that one too!!

Homemade Pizza Sauce

In a couple nights, we are making homemade mini pizza's-my mother in law has a secret weapon when she makes her pizza's-the homemade sauce...here is the recipe...

64 oz. Tomato sauce
1/2 lg. onion
3 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1/2 cup Paremesan
9 cloves garlic (I know you can smell it in your head can't you?)
1/2 tsp. salt-to taste

Medium-low heat. Cover with a tilted lid-stir often- and cook 45 minutes or until thick

Hide your Pepperoni's, this stuff is so good, that Chris get's the pepperoni's out and dips the pepperoni's in the sauce and eats them just like that.

Because this makes such a large batch (keep your old salsa bottles or pickle bottles) and store the sauce in them and freeze for the next use.

Manhatten Rolls

This is a family recipe from Chris's family, it brings back lots of memories from his childhood. This is an AWESOME recipe for kids. They think they are getting a really yummy homemade roll from mom, but when they bite into it, it's a cheeseburger. You can double the batch and freeze the second batch and pull them out for "emergency" meal days. They are soooo yummy!

2 pkg. (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
3/4 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees)- I never check the temp., if it's warm, not hot, it's good!
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2-4 cups flour
1 1/2 Lb. ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
8 slices American Cheese

In a mixing blowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, shortening, egg, salt and 2 c. flour, beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

In a skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomato sauce. Remove from heat, set aside. Punch dough down, divide into 16 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out and stetch each piece into a 5 inch circle. Cut the cheese slices in half. Top each circle with one slice (1/2 piece) of cheese and about 3 Tbsp. beef mixture. Bring dough over filling to the top center and pinch the edges real tight to seal it.

Place seam side down on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes. Bake at 400 for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Refrigerate or freese leftovers. 16 sandwiches.

Mom's Lasagna

My mom came into town this weekend and so I made one of our family favorites and took it up to her and my grandpa to munch on. When I used to work at Bear River Head Start I would take leftovers for lunch the next day and I always had to bring an extra piece for my friend Kelli. It's the BEST!

9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean beef
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Garlic Salt
Italian Seasoning
Mozzerella
Cheddar
4 cheese Italian blend (parmesan, Romano, etc.) I just buy the wal-mart brand
olives

Cook your lasagna noodles as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook up your beef. Mix together 1 can of Tomatoa Sauce (just a small size) and 1 can Tomato Paste (small size)-mix them together so the paste is nice and smooth. Add this to your beef. Add quite a bit of Garlic Salt and Italian Seasoning. Let it come to boil and then simmer 5-10 minutes
Layer 1:3 noodles, meat mixture, mozerrella, cheddar and 4 cheese blend
Layer 2: same as Layer 1
Last Layer: Same as Layer 1 and 2, but top with sliced up olives (use a whole can) the salt in the olives makes this recipe Yum-O.

Bake 350 for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the center is hot.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

So I can't take the credit for this fab recipe, so I give all credit to my friend Haley. I did change a few things so I can add this to my cooking light recipes. But, I also love this recipe because I changed it from grilled chicken to using Rotisserie Chicken. Every other Monday I make a trip to Wal-mart to get 2 weeks worth of groceries. I hate grocery shopping soo bad, and it helps me stay on a budget to plan for 2 weeks. By the time I am done grocery shopping the last thing I want to do is spend another hour of my night cooking and cleaning up dinner. So, every other Monday is my Rotisserie Chicken night, I pick one up at Wal-mart and it's an easy dinner. So, this is one of my new Shopping Monday recipes. Enjoy!

So this is a no measurement recipe....but just do what tastes right.

1 Rotisserie Chicken OR Instead of using Rotisserie chicken, used grilled and chilled chicken.

Next add some celery. chopped.

Green onions. chopped.

Toasted Walnuts or Slivered almonds. (Great for crunch)

Purple grapes cut into halves or quarters

Add garlic salt.

Pepper.

Add a few dashes of lemon Juice.

Fat Free Cream Cheese at Room Temp. (make sure it's at Room Temp.)

Add softened cream cheese and Light mayo...maybe equal parts. It gives your chicken mixture a great rich taste.

Mix it all together, making sure that there is plenty of the mayo/cream cheese mixture...so it doesn't taste dry, and serve on a croissant or if you want it to be a light recipe, serve on Wheat Bread

Butter Caramel Popcorn

Okay, this is so far from a Cooking Light recipe. But, this weekend Chris and I had a movie night and made my dad's famous caramel popcorn. Most caramel popcorn I have tried is done by baking it and making it crunchy. This is more of a glaze that's poured over the top of air popped popcorn, and it's heaven. Enjoy this yummy splurge!

1/2 Lb. Butter (yes, you read that correctly, that's why it's so delicious!)
1 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. Light Corn Syrup

Bring to a boil for 1 minute
Take off heat and add 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Pour over large bowl of popcorn. I do 2 batches of popcorn in my popper, and that makes the perfect amount for this recipe.

Crackers and Cheese (a new twist)

I don't know if I would really call this a "recipe" but I had to share it. This weekend we headed to the lake with Chris's family. My sister in law brought up a box of

Wheatable crackers or Reduced Fat Ritz (or your favorite cracker)
Low fat Cottage Cheese

I know this sounds like an interesting combination, but I am so hooked. All you do is dip your crackers in the container of cottage cheese, and it's soooo yummy.

Homemade French Fries

Believe it or not this is a Cooking Light Recipe, and sooo yummy. Every time we have a BBQ at my in-laws, I'm requested to bring these French Fries.



Potatoes (as many as you want)
Extra virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Ground Pepper
Paprika
Emeril's Orignal Essence
Chilli Powder
Season All Salt
Cayenne Pepper


Cut your Potoatoes in half, and then each half, you can get about 4-6 slices of fries.
Coat a Cookie Sheet with PAM spray and then spread out your frech fries so they don't overlap. Coat them lightly with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and then sprinkle all of your seasonings on top.

Bake 350 for 1 hour. Half way through toss them so both sides get cooked. After one hour if they aren't as crispy as you'd like them, broil for a few minutes to make more crispy

Blackened Beef Stir Fry

Okay, so I have been a total slacker about adding new recipes to my blog. But with Young Women's camp and my parents coming to visit for the 4th of July who had time to cook. And let's be realistc, my cooking days are limited in the summer, who wants to cook when you can be outside soaking up the sun!!

But here's a new recipe I tried this week, it was delic and it's a Cooking Light Recips. the only confusion I had on this was that it called for Blackened seasoning. I had never heard of this, the closest thing I could find was seasoned black pepper. If anyone knows what this ingredient is, please let me know!!!

* 12 ounces boneless beef top sirloin steak or top round steak
* 2-1/4 teaspoons blackened seasoning for beef
* 2/3 cup water
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch
* 1/2 teaspoon instant beef bouillon granules
* 1 tablespoon cooking oil
* 1 16-ounce package frozen stir-fry vegetables (any combination)
* 3 cups hot cooked rice

Directions

1. If desired, partially freeze beef for easier slicing. Trim fat from beef. Thinly slice beef across the grain into thin bite-size strips. Sprinkle steak strips with 2 teaspoons of the blackened seasoning; toss to coat well.

2. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together the water, tomato paste, cornstarch, beef bouillon granules, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon blackened seasoning; set aside.

3. In a wok or large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add stir-fry vegetables. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from wok. Add beef strips to hot wok. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until desired doneness.

4. Push meat from center of wok. Stir sauce. Add to center of wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return vegetables to wok. Stir together to coat all ingredients with sauce. Heat through. Serve over rice.

5. Makes 4 servings

Taken from Better Homes and Garden