German Pancakes

I make these yummy pancakes every once in a while. Kids always get a kick out of them because they puff up. I've seen a couple different versions, but this is the one I like the best.

1 Tbsp. Butter
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Eggs
Dash Salt
Dash Cinnammon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in 9 inch pan.
2. Beat ingredients with wire wisk.
3. Pour into 9 inch pan. Put back into oven.
4. Bake 12-15 minutes.
5. Serve w/ powdered sugar, lemon juice, and syrup/

French Toast Cupcakes & Maple Frosting

1 box Yellow Cake Mix
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1 small box instant vanilla pudding

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake tins with paper liners. Mix cake mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth & fluffly (about 2 minutes). Spoon into cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Maple Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temp.
1 cube butter, room temp
1 Tbs. Maple Flavoring/Extract
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Cream all together for about 3 minutes. Frost cupcakes. Be brave and top with crumbled bacon...!

Dump Cake

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 can of crushed pineapple
1 stick of cold butter
walnuts

Grease 9x13 pan. Pour crushed pineapple in with the juices. Spread into even layer.
Pour cherry pie filling on top of the pineapple, disperse evenly.
Next pour dry cake mix over the fruit mixture. Again spread evenly.
Next cut butter into thin slices and put on top of cake evenly. ( fyi- I had to use a few slices more than 1 stick to cover areas)

Sprinkle nuts on top of it all.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, and serve warm with icecream1

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Am I the only one who posts on here still? I bet all y'all have clean houses too. Pfft.

This recipe came from my friend Karen, who got it from AllRecipes.com. These cookies are AMAZING, I'm tellin' ya!



Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Ranch Potato Salad

I got this from one of my BabyCenter friends, Leslie.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes, quartered (it's about 10ish)
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in 1/2
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped chives or green onions
6 slices of bacon
1/2 cup ranch dressing

Cook potatoes until tender (about 10-12 mins), mix everything together. Can do it warm (right away) or cool. It was a hit when I made it and super super easy!

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

I got this from a friend who got it from Kraft's website -

We made this the other night and it is DANG good. Promise.

What You Need!

1-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained 2 oz.
(1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It!

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COOK pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.

COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel.

DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish.

BAKE 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

**Confession (I'm so embarrassed to admit this!) - Because I didn't know what Neufchatel is, and I didn't bother to Google it, we used cheddar cheese instead. But it was still awesome. Next time we'll try the Neufchatel though! ;)

Coconut Macaroons

Dustin loves Macaroons and has been asking me to make them for a while. I've never made them before so I was a little nervous. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I added 1/2 cup of flour and didn't use any almond extract, instead increased the vanilla extract to 3 teaspoons. They turned out pretty good. Dustin loved them, but I felt like they needed something more, maybe like milk chocolate drizzled on top? But since he likes them just the way they are I probably won't try it.

1 14 oz) can EAGLE BRAND Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 egg white, whipped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 (14 oz) package flaked coconut
1/2 cup flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with foil; grease and flour foil. Set aside. (I just used my baking mats and I didn't have any trouble)

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg white until soft peaks, add sweetened condensed milk, extracts, and coconut; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets; slightly flatten each mound with a spoon.

3. Bake 15-17 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Immediately remove from baking sheets (macaroons will stick if allowed to cool) on wire racks. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Servings: 48

Salsa Chicken

This is Kandis' recipe:

Put your chicken breasts in a crock pot - I usually put about 4-6. Pour over top a jar of salsa (a small or medium size jar will do....not a Costco size he he) and then sprinkle a pack of taco seasoning over the chicken and salsa.

Let cook all day.

Then about 1/2 hour before serving put about a cup to a cup and a half of sour cream in the crock pot with chicken and sauce and it will melt. Before serving stir everything really good so the sour cream mixes.

Serve over white rice.

I promise it is so good... I have given this recipe to so many and EVERYONE loves it!

Enjoy!

Creamy Loaded Mashed Potatoes

8 servings - Prep Time: 10 minutes - Cook Time: 45 minutes

3 lbs all-purpose potatoes, peeled & cubed
1.5 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (about 6 oz.), divided
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
3 green onions, finely chopped (optional, but just do it!)
6 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled

1 - Preheat oven to 375*. Spray 2-qt shallow baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
2 - Cover potatoes with water in a 4-qt sauce pot; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain and mash.

3 - Stir in 1 cup cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, green onions and 4 strips crumbled bacon. Turn in to prepared baking dish and bake 30 minutes or until bubbling.

4 - Top with remaining .5 cup cheese and bacon. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish, if desired, with additional chopped green onions.

Shoyu Chicken

I got this recipe from a lady in my mom's ward who got it from a Samoan guy they knew - family recipe.

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
ground ginger (up to 1 tbsp - to your liking)
1 5 lb bag chicken thighs

Mix soy sauce, pineapple juice, sugar and ground ginger in a big pot. add chicken. When it comes to a boil, turn the burner down to medium heat, let cook for 45-60 minutes. While it is cooking, make your rice.

The hardest part for me in this recipe is taking all the fat off the chicken. long process - but worth it. So yummy!

Taco Soup

I got this recipe from my MIL. It's super easy and so good!

Ingredients:

1-1.5 lb of hamburger
2 packets of taco seasoning
1 small onion chopped
1 can of corn
2 cans of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
2 cups of salsa
1 large can of vegetarian veggie soup (aka-veg. beef soup minus the beef)
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese

In large pot brown your hamburger with your onions, drain fat. Next add soup, along with one soup can of water. Next add kidney beans, black beans, and corn-DO NOT DRAIN any of them, just add straight from can. Next add in salsa and mix all together. Last add taco seasoning and stir into soup.I used about 1 1/2 packets of taco seasoning and it was perfect, you can adjust to your liking. I put on medium heat for about half hour stirring occasionally. Last top off with crushed tortilla chips and cheese.

It makes a lot!!

Bread Pudding

My husband LOVES bread pudding so I have been making it lately when I have bread or buns that are kinda going old. I really like making it because you can adjust to your own tastebuds by adding different fruit or spices and it usually still turns out really good.

Ingredients:

About 7 or 8 pieces of old bread.
3/4 cups of brown sugar (or you can use white sugar)
2 TBS. of melted butter
2 Cups milk
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp. of cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
3 Eggs


Directions:

Break bread up into little pieces and place into 8x8 pan.
Drizzle melted butter over broken bread, add raisins on top if desired.
In bowl combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar together and mix with electric mixer until well blended.
Pour mixture over bread.
With a fork, make sure all bread is soaked in liquid mixture.
Bake at 350 for 45 min.

Serve with whip cream on top, or by itself. Really yummy hot or cold.
Enjoy!!