NEW YEARS BASH AND HOLIDAY TREATS!!

It has become a family tradition that we throw a New Years Eve or Day bash with friends over. There's lots of kids, noise, games, laughter and most of all....FOOD!!! Here are some of our favorite things to have. I'm sure most of them you know so I won't put a recipe with everything, just those that might be a little new or unusual.
Have a GREAT night and or day and remember to be safe. Make realistic goals for the New Year, that's my motto. ("What's a motto....nothin', what's a motto with you?")

BBQ Weenies
7 layer dip
7 layer salad
Teriyaki wings OR
honey Lime Wings
Chicken Salad Won Tons
Deviled Eggs
Spinach Dip & Veggies
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Cheese Ball & Crackers
Ham & Rolls


7 LAYER SALAD

If you have a Trifle bowl, it is best prepared in that
Layer 1- lettuce
layer 2 - Thawed peas
layer 3 - Mayonnaise spread over first 2
layer 4 - Chopped boiled eggs
layer 5 - Chopped tomatoes (I don't like tomatoes so I substitute green onions)
layer 6 - Crumbled cooked bacon
layer 7 - Grated Cheddar Cheese

TERIYAKI WINGS

One LARGE package of Wings
1 bottle Yoshida Gourmet Sauce

Place wings and 1/2 bottle of sauce in a crock pot on High for 3 hours. (Note, if you enjoy this sauce, you can purchase a LARGE bottle of it at Sam's Club for about $8)

CHICKEN SALAD WON TONS
If you have a favorite recipe for Chicken salad, use it. Other wise try the following.
Boil chicken the night before and place in fridge. Next morning, chop or shred chicken. Mix with the following.

1/2 C. chopped celery
1/2 C. chopped green onions
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
Mayonnaise (Amount is up to your own preference.)

If you have a SMALL cupcake pan, it works best. Place a single won ton wrapper in the cup cake holder. DO not fold down or trip, it will automatically make a small bowl. Bake them at 350 for about10 min. or until lightly browned. Cool and fill with your chicken salad.

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries

MICROWAVE PEANUT BRITTLE

1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 pinch salt (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Grease a baking sheet, and set aside. In a glass bowl, combine peanuts, sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cook in microwave for 6 to 7 minutes on High (700 W); mixture should be bubbly and peanuts browned. Stir in butter and vanilla; cook 2 to 3 minutes longer.
2. Quickly stir in baking soda, just until mixture is foamy. Pour immediately onto greased baking sheet. Let cool 15 minutes, or until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

1/2 C. Softened BUTTER (1 stick)
2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
3 C. Sifted Confectioner's Sugar
1 ENTIRE PACKAGE Chocolate Almond Bark

Place Almond Bark in med. sauce pan on LOW, repeat....LOW!!! Meanwhile, mix your Peanut Butter and Butter together. Once creamed, add in Powdered Sugar 1 C. at a time. Mixture should be thick. Once chocolate is fully melted, roll peanut butter mix into a small ball, walnut shape. Dip into chocolate. Use a spoon to roll it around to ensure fully covered. (Now is a good time to turn off your stove so the chocolate doesn't get too hot and begin to burn! If while rolling your chocolate gets lumpy, it is burning. Add a LITTLE bit of plain shortening to get the smooth texture back.) Place peanut butter ball on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Once sheet is full, place balls in the freezer for about 2 min. These will last longer IN THE FREEZER, unless of coarse you just CAN'T stay away from them like my family! Take one out, let sit for a couple minutes and it's perfect! If while rolling, the peanut butter mixture gets gooey; place in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm back up.

Dec. 27 - Jan. 2nd 2010

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL & FILLING Christmas. The week of Christmas I didn't do a whole lot of cooking, mainly because I was busy doing other stuff to get READY for Christmas. It was a few nights of grilled sandwiches, hot dogs and what not.
I was HOPING to have some leftovers from my in laws for this weekend, but we all ate too much and didn't even get that! So, here's what I will HOPEFULLY be cooking this week!

MUSHROOM CHICKEN

1.5 lb. Chicken thighs
1 large can + 1 reg. can Cream
of Mushroom Soup
1 can Evaporated Milk
1/2 C. reg. milk
1/2 lb. (or more) fresh sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 C. Whit wine (optional)

Place all ingredients in a crock pot on high for 3-3 1/2 hours. Serve over rice.

TERIYAKI CHICKEN & SHRIMP

It has always been a family tradition while growing up that on Christmas Eve, we went out for Chinese. It is a tradition I love to carry on....but the wallet doesn't always cooperate. So, I have learned to improvise.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 lb. small frozen shrimp (already cooked kind is easier)
2 C. shredded cabbage
1/2 onion sliced
1 C. shredded carrots
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced
1 jar Kikkoman Teriyaki Glaze
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 C. Brown Sugar

Dice chicken into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. (you can marinade this for a while in a mixture of Soy Sauce, Sesame oil, a little Ground ginger and some Garlic powder) In a large frying pan or Wok, pour in oil and coat sides. Once heated on Med. Hi, pour in chicken and cook through; set aside. In same pan, add in all your veggies and saute on Med. heat. You don't want to FULLY cook these, you still want them a little crunchy. When done, place in a separate bowl. Add chicken back to pan and pour in your frozen shrimp. Place a lid on. The water from the frozen shrimp will create a thin sauce on the bottom of your pan. DO NOT OVERCOOK THESE SHRIMP. Add in the entire bottle of Teriyaki Glaze. Pour a little water in the bottle, shake it around to get remaining sauce out and pour into the pan as well. Toss meat and shrimp well to fully coat. Add in your brown sugar to sweeten. (add more according to own taste) If the sauce is too thin, thicken it up with a cornstarch and water mixture. Pour into separate bowl and serve with veggies over rice. (Yeah, we are a big rice eating family!)


SAUSAGE & SPINACH QUICHE

8 oz. mild sausage
1 C. torn fresh spinach
3 eggs, beaten
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/2 c. half and half
1 pie shell

Arrange pie shell in your pie dish and set aside. Cook sausage and drain grease. (You can also run warm water over the cooked sausage to get rid of extra grease) Place sausage, spinach and cheese in a bowl. Add eggs and half and half. Mix well and pour into pie shell and bake at 375 for 45 min. Serve immediately.


HAM & FUNEREAL POTATOES
For those of you who are not of the LDS religion, this might sound like a foreign dish. But like every church, it's one of those famous "Church recipes" that has been around for years!! Whenever there was a funeral, these potatoes were sure to be there for the luncheon for the family. Thus the name became "Funeral potatoes." In our house, we put just a little twist on it though.

1 bag frozen hash browns
1 large can Cream of mushroom soup
1 C. sour cream
1 C. milk
1 small chopped onion (Saute a little before you add in if you like)
1 tsp. pepper
1-2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, mix together soup, sour cream, onions and pepper. Mix in half the cheese and then fold in the frozen hash browns. Try to coat as evenly as possible. Pour into an 11x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 for approx. 45 min. Top off with remaining cheese the last 4 min.
THE WOOD TWIST: When we have leftover ham, I chop that up and add it into these potatoes. It's a complete meal and we just add a salad on the side. My boys inhale it like no tomorrow!

CHICKEN K-SO

My sister laughed at me when I told her the title of this one. She says I'm such a "white girl." This is an honest to goodness made up recipe and it turned out GREAT!!

6-7 Boneless Skinless chicken Breasts
1/2 can chicken broth
1 C. Tostito Queso cheese dip

Place ALL ingredients in a crock pot and cook oh high for 3-3 1/2 hours. (For me, it was cooking while we were at church, done by the time we got home!) Remove chicken and shred completely. Pour some of the cheese sauce from crock pot over the top. We used this and made soft tacos with it. Try eating it with Tortilla chips too....it's YUMMY!!!

Dec. 13- 18th

OK...CALL ME A SLACKER!! I have not been as diligent about keeping up with my recipes as I should have been. Please tell me your life gets hectic and that sometimes it's all you can do just to shower and get dressed! Two of my boys had birthdays over the past week and we were busy celebrating them. PLUS....I haven't done a ton of new and fun cooking, just a lot of easy boring stuff.
After watching Julie & Julia, I decided that I needed to get back to my blog PRONTO. Like her, I wonder if anyone really reads this or tries these recipes. I have one thing though that Julie didn't have.....CHILDREN!!! She was diligent and posted daily and tried new recipes for an entire year. Sorry folks, I can't commit to that. Doing so would also commit me to the looney bin!! SO, for those that have been waiting....(ARE there any that have been waiting??) I give you my weeks recipes!! :)


BAKED POTATO SOUP

6 C. water
3-4 chicken Boullion cubes
8-10 chopped red potatoes
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1 PT 1/2 & 1/2
3 C. milk
1 TBS. dried parsley (fresh if you want)
1 lb. Velveeta Cheese
1-2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
6 strips crisp bacon

Add water, bouillion, onions and potatoes to pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are half way cooked. Add all other ingredients except bacon. Simmer soup until cheese is melted and potatoes are soft; but don't let them fall apart! Serve and top with crispy bacon.

BBQ PORK NACHOS
Cooked a small pork roast last night and shredded it. Now have all this WONDERFUL meat to do so many things with. Tonight we are doing BBQ Nachos. Here's how it goes! Line plate with tortilla chips, spread shredded pork over, pour on BBQ sauce, top with shredded cheddar cheese OR use cheese queso and then warm up in the microwave. EASY RIGHT?? My husband likes this as a meal AND a late night snack!

SPLIT PEA SOUP IN CROCK POT

2 c. DRIED split peas
1 C. chopped onion
1 C. chopped celery & greens
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can chicken broth
2 C. water
3-4 ham hocks
2-3 C. chopped cooked ham

Place each ingredient in a crock pot except for chopped ham. DO NOT MIX. Place lid on and cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours. Remove ham hocks the last hour and replace with the cooked ham. Mix in well and add salt if needed. The natural salt from the ham hocks should add plenty.

BAKED PARMESAN CHICKEN

5-8 Chicken thighs with skin
Keebler Club crackers
1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
1-2 TBS. Garlic Salt
4 TBS. melted butter
2 C. Buttermilk

Crush crackers in a ziplock bag. Pour into bowl and add Parmesan Cheese and garlic salt. In separate bowl, pour milk and set aside. (If you don't have Buttermilk, pour 2C. milk in bowl with2 tsp. lemon juice and let sit for 5 min. WHALA....homemade Buttermilk) Preheat oven to 400 deg. Dip chicken in milk, then dip into cracker crumb mixture and coat well. Place in a glass dish. Drizzle melted butter over chicken and place in oven to bake for approx 45 min. or until juices run clear.


HONEY ROLLS
(With permission from my friend Angela, I give you the EASIEST ROLL RECIPE EVER! YES, you CAN make rolls)

1/4 C. really warm water
2 TBS. yeast (NOT those little Red Star Packets from the Store...BUY A BAG OF YEAST!!)
1 tsp. honey
MIX THESE FIRST AND SET ASIDE

1 3/4 C. milk heated until warm
ADD:
1/2 butter and melt
THEN ADD
2 large eggs
1/3 C. honey 3 tsp. salt
MIX WELL THEN ADD TO MIXING BOWL WITH YEAST MIXTURE

Mix in 6 1/2 C. flour 1 C. at a time. Dough should be slightly sticky to the touch but will not stick to your finger. Cover bowl with a towel and let rise until doubled. Tear off pieces of the dough and shape into a ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise again until doubled in size. Bake at 400 for 15-18 min. Remove and spread homemade honey butter over top or just plane butter. SEE, YOU CAN DO THIS!!

STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

1 box large shells
1 lb. ground sweet sausage
2 lb. Ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce
2 C. shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Boil shells until slightly firm. DO NOT OVER COOK THESE; they will finish cooking in the oven!
Cook sausage and set aside. In a bowl, combine the Ricotta cheese, garlic salt, sausage and egg. Mix well and then spoon into the shells. Pour 1 C. of sauce in the bottom of an 11x13 dish. Place shells in dish. You will need to place these close together so they stand up. top off with the sauce and bake at 350 for 25 min. Sprinkle shredded cheese over and bake additional 8 min. Remove and serve.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
My husbands favorite thing at Thanksgiving is the sweet potatoes with the melted marshmallows. Personally, I've NEVER like that. In fact, I don't even like sweet potatoes!!! Until I tried this recipe! I thought it was FABULOUS and prefer making this around the Holidays instead!

4 cups sweet potato, cubed (or use 2 large cans sweet potatoes DRAINED)
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
4 TBS. butter softened
1/2 C. evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

TOPPING:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
3 TBS. butter
1/2 C. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. (OR Drain canned sweet potatoes and mash well) In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.