Monkey Bread

When we were home for Christmas, Carol made this for us Christmas morning. I bought the ingredients 2 other times while we were there so we could have it again. It is so YUMMY and easy - but not in the least bit healthy, so this will be a "special occasion" recipe for my family!

2 loaves frozen bread dough (or 24 rolls)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 lg (2 sm) pkg vanilla pudding, cook variety

2 TBSP Milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Thaw bread, but do not allow it to raise. Grease 9x13 pan. Tear one loaf into pieces & drop helter skelter into pan. Melt butter in sauce pan, add rest of ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour over the torn up loaf. Tear second loaf and throw on top (trying to place in empty spots). Let raise 2 1/2 -3 hours (or overnight in fridge). Place in 375 oven for 30 minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes, turn out on wax paper.

Chili Relleno Casserole

This is a great way to use up those peppers from Bountiful Baskets. I've tried several different versions of this and this one is by far my favorite. Much more filling and much more flavorful. If anyone has other ways to use the chilis, I'd love to hear it. Also, I discovered freshly made corn tortillas at Harmons. They're soooo much better than the regular ones you find in grocery stores, so I recommend trying those. If your kids don't like spicy, they can easily remove the peppers from their portion after it's all cooked.

*4-8 hot peppers, roasted, skinned, seeds removed
several corn tortillas (10ish), torn into 1-inch strips
1/2 lb. each Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese
2 to 3 tomatoes, sliced
8 to 10 eggs
1 tsp. each: salt, pepper, ground cumin and garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion salt

Preheat oven to 350°F; grease 9 x 13 pan. Cut chilies in half; lay out flat on bottom of pan. Cover chilies with half the tortillas, half tomatoes and half cheeses. Repeat for second layer. Beat eggs and spices; pour on top. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake 40 minutes, uncovered, until knife inserted comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

*To roast peppers, just place them on a pan on the highest rack in your oven and turn the broiler on. Let them cook until the skins char and bubble. You may want to turn them over so it does that on both sides. Then cool in a paper bag. The skins should easily come off, and if it doesn't, just leave it on.

key lime cupcakes

found these on a blog I follow and they look so good I am going to have to make them!
Key Lime Cupcakes

½ C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
3 eggs
1 C. milk
1 C. flour
1 (14 oz.) Can sweetened condensed milk
10 graham cracker squares, crumbled
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/8 t. salt
5 egg yolks
½ C. lime juice

è Start by creaming your butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add the 3 eggs, one at a time.
è In a medium sized bowl, shift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in the graham cracker crumbles.
è Slowly add the dry ingredients, and the milk, to the butter mixture. Make sure you alternate between the dry ingredients and the milk. (dry-milk-dry)
è In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, condensed milk, and lime juice. Pour into your batter and stir slightly.
è Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350.

For the frosting, I made a basic cream cheese frosting with a little lemon extract.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8 oz package softened cream cheese
¼ C. soft butter
1 t. lime or lemon extract
4 C. Powdered Sugar

è Mix the cream cheese and butter until combined.
è Add the sugar and extract slowly. Beat on high until fluffy.

Pizza Dough

Dissolve 2 T dry yeast in 3 C. warm water. After it bubbles, add 1/4 cup sugar or honey and 1 T. salt. Mix thoroughly. Add 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add 2 more cups flour. If needed, add up to 2 more cups flour. Knead about 5-10 minutes by machine, adding flour to make dough not sticky.

Cut into 4 pieces. I thick crust pizza is desired, roll out dough onto pizza pan and let rise for 10 minutes. Otherwise, just pat or roll into pizza pan. Spread with sauce, sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Add toppings as desired. Bake 500 until done, about 20 minutes (mine burned on top at 500 so I would probably do it lower next time). Makes several pizzas. Recipe may be halved.

May use dough to make garlic bread. Place 1/4-1/2 of the original batch of dough in a greased bowl, let rise in warm place for 40 minutes. Punch down. Shape into load, let rise 1 hour on greased baking pan. Baking 375-400, 15-20 minutes. Slice, butter, sprinkle with garlic sale, wrap in foil, bake 20 minutes or pop in freezer.

Pistachio Pesto

My kids loved this one!

1 Cup packed spinach

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, quartered

12 oz dried pasta, cooked and drained

Put the spinach, oil, nuts, cheese, salt, and garlic in food processor. Process until smooth. Toss with pasta and serve. Makes 6 cups.

Nutritional per cup: 361 calories; 10g protein; 16g fat (3g sat. fat); 44g carbs; 2g fiber; 60 mg calcium; 2mg iron; 253mg sodium.

**I added some shredded chicken to the mix before serving**

Crock-pot Mongolian Beef

This was a goodie and so easy! Everyone in my family liked it, except the 4-year-old who doesn't like anything that's not Cheeto-based. I don't count her opinion anymore.

1 lb beef flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain
1 medium white onion (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup light soy sauce or 1/2 cup Braggs liquid aminos
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 inch piece fresh ginger grated
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup cut scallion, in 1 . 5 inch pieces (green onions)
1/3 cup fruity white wine

1 Slice the flank steak thinly across the grain - the strips should be 2 to 3 inches long each; set aside.

2 Combine the onion, soy sauce, broth, garlic, hoisin, brown sugar, ginger, and pepper flakes, then put the mixture into the crock pot.

3 Put the cornstarch in a large Ziploc bag; add the sliced beef and toss well to coat. (It practically kills me to use up a gallon bag for such a simple task, but I did, and the food was worth it in the end.)

4 Add the coated beef into the crock pot, gently pushing it into the liquid to cover; pour the white wine over - do NOT stir.

5 Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours; an hour before you're going to serve, turn the crock pot to high, add the cut scallions, stir, and cook for an additional hour.

6 Stir, and serve over rice or noodles.

Whoopie Pies (America's Test Kitchen)

(serves 12...big whoopie pies)

Cookies:

4 cups flour

1 cup cocoa (preferably Dutch processed)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 sticks butter, softened but still cool

2 large eggs, room temp

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups buttermilk

Filling:

3 sticks butter, softened but still cool

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

5 cups marshmallow creme

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer...about 4 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Pour some of it into the butter/sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk..dry mix, buttermilk, dry mix, buttermilk, etc. Drop the batter onto sheet pans covered in parchment paper. Give the cookies plenty of room to spread. Bake for about 7 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven and bake for 7 minutes more OR until the cookies "spring bag" when lightly pressed with your finger.

For the filling, beat the softened butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt. Beat in the marshmallow creme. Mix well. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Dollop on a cookie, take another cookie on top and press together until the filling spreads to the edges. Eat!

 

found this, this morning and can't wait to find a reason to make them!