Veggie Dinner

Carrot Burgers
All Recipes


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups crushed cornflakes (Didn't have any, I used 1/2 breadcrumbs and 1/2 crushed corn Chex)
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 Tlb finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp pepper
2 Tlb vegetable oil (used olive oil, a little more than called for)
Hamburger buns


Directions:

Place shredded carrots in a saucepan with some water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until tender; drain. In a bowl, combine carrots, cornflakes, eggs, celery, onion, salt, sugar and pepper; mix well. Form into six patties. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook patties for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Serve on buns if desired.

(These were surprisingly good! They had good texture and flavor. It would still be fun to play around with the flavors a bit, some fresh cilantro or parsley would be complimentary. Could substitute water chestnuts for the celery. I wasn't too sure about the corn flakes, but I liked the corn flavor it brought. Would also try again with Panko breadcrumbs. We ate ours on slightly toasted hamburger buns with lettuce and a creamy dressing. Would also be great with creamy coleslaw or on top of a green salad. To make enough for our family of 6, I made 1 and 1/2 times the recipe.)

Candybar Fudge on a Brownie

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 batch of brownies (9x13 boxed mix)
• 1 cup chopped Reese's peanut butter cups
• 1/2 cup salted peanuts
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Instructions:

1. Make the brownies as directed on the box in a 9 x 13 pan, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

2. Remove the brownies from the oven, and top with Reese's and peanuts. Place the tray back in the oven, and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted into your brownies and comes out dry. Remove the brownies.

3. In a microwave safe dish, melt the chocolate, butter, and peanut butter for about 45 seconds. The squares should keep their shape, and will melt completely when stirred. Then, stir in the Rice Krispies.

4. Pour your melted mixture over your brownies, and place the tray into a refrigerator. Allow the brownies to cool for at least two hours, or overnight, until serving. We preferred to keep them cold in the fridge.

Temptation

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

With three layers of chocolate brownie, raw cookie dough filling (without the egg!), and rich chocolate glaze topping, these luscious sweet treats are the perfect way to spread the love this year.

For brownies

• 1 package brownie mix (or your favorite recipe) (I used family sized dark chocolate fudge brownie mix)
  
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, added to mix

Bake brownies according to package. Cool completely.

For filling:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour

Beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar until fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour and mix well. (I added in a handful of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips) Spread mixture over cooled brownies. (It seems like there isn't enough of this mixture to cover all the brownies, but it is very rich so I don't think you'd want to make more. The easiest way I found was to flatten out portions at a time and then apply it to the top of the brownies.)

For chocolate glaze topping:

• 1 (6-oz.) package chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon corn oil, margarine, or shortening

Melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Spoon glaze over filling and spread to cover.

(Instead of using this glaze, I made a semi-sweet ganache.)

These were impossible to resist! Rich and delicious. We liked them best chilled so I covered and stored them in the fridge. If I were bringing these to a dinner or potluck I think I would chill them and then cut them into bite sized pieces... the perfect thing to pop in your mouth!

Filling but Light

Marie's White Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1 med onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tlb vegetable oil
2 cans (15 1/2 oz) great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

In a large saucepan saute chicken, onion, garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

A Holiday Treat!

Chocolate (Almond) Snowballs

Betty Crocker

Prep Time 20 Minutes

Total Time 1:00 Hr

Makes: About 5 dozen cookies (mine only made about 3 1/2 dozen)

Ingredients:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 egg

1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

1 teaspoon almond extract (This was delicious, but a very strong flavor, I may cut back slightly next time I make these)

60 Hershey's® Kisses® Brand milk chocolates, unwrapped (For extra almond taste and crunch, use kisses with almonds)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg, flour, cocoa, almonds and extract until soft dough forms.
2. Shape dough into sixty 3/4-inch balls; wrap each around 1 milk chocolate candy. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. (I did not form mine into balls first, I just wrapped the chocolates in dough as I went, but still don't see how you'd have enough dough to cover all 60 kisses unless they are supposed to be barely covered.)
   
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
4. Roll cookies in powered sugar. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Re-roll cookies in powdered sugar. Store tightly covered.

Note: In order to use all the kisses in one bag and make around 5 dozen, I would think you'd need to use 2 Sugar cookie mixes and double the ingredients accordingly. Except I would only increase the chopped almonds to 3/4 cup instead of 1 full cup. My cookies also seemed to flatten a little more than the picture showed. I cooked them for 10 minutes because they seemed too soft otherwise. I'm wondering if putting the kisses in the fridge for a little while beforehand might help them hold up more, but they were still delicious.

If you love almonds these are the cookies for you! They are sweet and crunchy and yummy! My kids had fun unwrapping the kisses and rolling the finished cookies in powdered sugar. We took them to a party so I put each one in a silver foil muffin cup to help contain some of the powdery sugar goodness.

Simple Slaw

Cabbage Slaw

This recipe is very light and a little tangy. It works great on burgers, BBQ, or a chicken slider.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup chopped green onion
2 Tlb dill picked juice (from a jar of pickles)
2 Tlb cider vinegar
2 Tlb sugar
1/2 tsp coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (16 oz) package shredded cabbage cole slaw mix

Whisk all ingredients together, except cabbage mix, in a large bowl. Add the cabbage mix and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Deep Flavors, Not a lot of Time

Chicken Cacciatore


Ingredients:

1 4-lb chicken, cut in pieces (I used breasts because that's all I had. I liked the way they turned out although I'm sure the chicken pieces would add more flavor.)
3-4 Tlb flour
2 Tlb olive oil
1/4 cup chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 6-ounch can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 14-ounce can chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp sweet marjoram
1 8-ounce package sliced fresh mushrooms (about 2 cups)


Directions:

1. Dredge chicken with flour until well-coated. In a large deep frying pan or pot, heat the olive oil and saute chicken over high heat until golden brown. Add the shallots and garlic while the chicken is browning, and cook until golden. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer the chicken, covered, about 1 hour or until tender. Serve over pasta, rice or new potatoes.

This had a really lovely deep flavor to it for not a lot of cooking time. The chicken was super tender and the sauce was a perfect consistency. I garnished mine with some chopped Italian parsley which gave it some nice color and added flavor. This meal is so simple it works great for a weeknight Italian dinner, but impressive enough to serve for any special occasion.

Easy as Pie!

Apple Pie with Crumb Topping


Ingredients:

1 9-inch deep dish pie crust

Crumb Topping:

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) at room temp

Filling:

5 medium to large baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (I used Granny Smith and liked it, but next time I think I'll mix them with a slightly sweeter variety of apple)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp flour
3 Tlb melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tlb butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. To prepare topping, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand or with a pasty blender until crumbly.

3. To prepare filling, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour into pie crust. Pile topping thickly on top (like a second crust). Bake 1 hour or until a knife easily slides into center of pie with no resistance. If pie is browning too quickly, reduce temp to 350 degrees after 30 minutes (I did end up doing this). Let cool.

4. To prepare caramel sauce, combine all ingredients, except vanilla, in a small heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaching 244F on a candy thermometer (firm-ball stage). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool and drizzle 1 tsp over each apple pie wedge. You will have caramel left over.

Serves 8

I chose not to make the caramel sauce because it sounded just as good without it, but I'm sure it would be delicious. I really liked this pie because it gives you the best of both worlds... an apple pie with an apple crisp topping. It was perfect with vanilla ice cream.

Saving Oven Space

Slow Cooker Stuffing allrecipes

"Making this moist bread dressing in a slow cooker is an excellent way to free up the oven for other dishes on a busy cooking day."

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine 2 cups chopped onion 2 cups chopped celery 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 12 ounces sliced mushrooms 12 cups dry bread cubes 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 1/2 cups chicken broth, or as needed 2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

1.	Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, mushroom, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
2.	Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten, and mix in eggs. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, and cover.
3.	Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours. **Don't add all the broth at once! Make sure you take the time to mix it thoroughly so that all the liquid gets absorbed. Check and stir your stuffing every hour and add more broth as needed. Many people suggested skipping the "high" cooking period or at least shortening it. If it is still soggy at the end of your cooking time, remove the lid and let it finish cooking and it will help dry it out. A crock pot liner would probably be nice for clean up.

Versatile Mexican Chicken

Creamy Chicken Tacos
I got this from a ward recipe night (Shannon Sorensen) and I really liked it.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (boiled and shredded)
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 sm can green chilies
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 fresh tomato, diced
Flour tortillas


Directions:

In a large saucepan add cream cheese, green chilies, and taco seasoning. Let the cream cheese melt and simmer and stir it all together. While that is simmering, shred chicken into the pan then add the diced tomato.

In addition to tacos, you can use this in quesadillas or burittos, on tostadas, or as a creamy dip for chips.

It's fast, easy, and flavorful. I used mine in toasted quesadillas and the kids gobbled it up! I did find that an entire package of taco seasoning was a bit overpowering for one pkg of cream cheese. I added another 1/2 package, but would still probably cut back a bit on the taco seasoning, esp when making for kids.