The best playdough

Combine in saucepan:
3 cups flour
3/4 cup salt
3 tsps cream of tartar

Add and whisk until smooth:
3 cups water
3 T. oil food color (or if I don't have oil food color I just add oil and add food color at the end)

Cook over medium heat until nearly set.

Add 3 T. imitation vanilla extract

Store in a ziploc bag. this will last a long time.

Cheesey Chicken Cordon Bleu Rice Casserole

YUM! this is good and not too hard to make.

2 T. oil olive
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1/2 lb. diced ham
2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
4 T. butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
14 oz chicken broth
3 cups cooked rice of choice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella or swiss cheese

preheat oven to 350

heat oil in large 5 quart rimmed skilled over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic (i just used powder), ham, and chicken (i boiled my chicken to cook it). Cook for additional 5 minutes. Melt butter, stir in flour, add salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Slowly stir in chicken broth until well combined. Stir in cooked rice. Transfer to a 9X13 baking pan. Top with cheddar and mozarella (I used swiss) cheese. I also mixed the cheese into the dish.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

This was so tasty and my kids loved it.

Cinnamon Knots

**I just made these...delicious!! The kids devoured them!

8 balls of Frozen yeast roll dough (such as Rhode’s)

1 cup sugar

2 T cinnamon

1 stick margarine, melted

Place dough balls on plate sprayed lightly with baking spray to prevent them from sticking. Allow to thaw but not rise.

Once thawed, melt margarine in microwave. Stir cinnamon and sugar together in separate bowl. Roll out dough into tube about six inches long. Tie into knots. OR...you can dip in butter and cinnamon and then tie in knots.

Dip into margarine and then roll into cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on greased pan and cover with greased plastic wrap. Leave in warm place and allow to rise until double in size (about one and a half to two hours).

Bake at 350 for fifteen to twenty minutes, or until brown. For an added treat, prepare the following cream cheese icing to be served with rolls.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 stick margarine or butter

1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp butter flavoring (can substitute Vanilla)

1 T cinnamon

Soften cream cheese and margarine by leaving out on counter until it reaches room temperature. Combine the two in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended. Add sugar. Mix until smooth. Add flavoring and cinnamon, mixing until well incorporated and icing is creamy.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

This blog must be resurrected! I have gotten so many great recipes from here and I'm in need of more quick dinner recipes. I wish I had a great one to share, but today I only have a treat.

These are SO good! Of course they would be, they are from Paula Dean!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars


Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* Streusel topping, recipe follows
* 1/2 cup caramel topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping.
Streusel Topping:

* 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.

Yield: approximately 3 cups

Easy Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce

¼ cup catalina dressing 3 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp peanuts, chopped
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into lengthwise slices

Mix dressing, peanut butter and soy sauce in large bowl until well blended. Add chicken; toss to coat. Cover; refrigerate 10 min to marinate. Preheat broiler. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Thread chicken evenly onto 8 soaked wooden skewers. Place on rack in broiler pan. Broil, 4-6 inches from heat, 4 min on each side or until cooked through. Serve sprinkled with peanuts. Serve with cooked rice or ramen noodles.

three-herb steak

Bethany invited me to contribute to this blog a few weeks ago, and now that life is settling back down after the holidays, I'm finally making my first post. I have loved following this blog from when it first started. You all have such wonderful recipes!

This recipe that I'm posting here is actually more of a summer recipe since it's really a grilling recipe (it's from the June 2007 issue of BH&G). Brian and I don't have a grill yet, so we adapted it to the oven and it was delicious. We are having company from out of town on New Year's Day and this is what we are serving. It's quick, simple, and yummy. I am not a big meat eater - this is the first steak I have ever cooked in the seven years of married life - and I love it.

Ingredients:
1/2 C snipped fresh parsley
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C snipped fresh basil (the best part! I love fresh basil)
1 Tb snipped fresh oregano (we use 1 tsp of dry and it works fine)
1 to 2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 beef top loin steaks, cut 1 1/2 in thick
2 med red or yellow bell peppers (I use one of each color), cut in 1/2 inch rings, seeds removed
1 Tb olive oil
salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. In a bowl combine parsley, the 1/4 C olive oil, basil, oregano, black pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt. Trim fat from meat. Pat about two-thirds of herb mixture on both sides of steaks. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, brush pepper rings with the 1 Tb olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. For charcoal grill, grill steaks on rack of uncovered grill to desired doneness, turning once. Grill pepper rings next to steaks the last 8 to 10 minutes of grilling or until peppers are tender, turning once. Remove steaks from grill and sprinkle with herb mixture. Cover; let stand 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Oven adaption: Broil steaks directly under broiler to desired doneness, turning once. (We don't have a broiler pan, so we rigged up some foil ridges to set the steaks on.) Remove steaks from oven and sprinkle with herb mixture. Cover; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, broil pepper rings until peppers are tender, turning once.
4. Slice steaks across grain of meat. Serve with sweet pepper rings.

Makes 6 servings.

Using Food Storage

I don't know about you, but now that I've built up my food supply, I'm looking for good recipes that incorporate these ingredients so I can rotate what I've stored.

Here are some sites that I've come to frequent often:

Safely Gathered In

You Can Can