Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

2-4 Chicken Breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
6 oz. sour cream
½ cup butter, divided
1-2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
Ritz Crackers

Cook the chicken breasts (either boil or grill). Chop up chicken into pieces and put into the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. Mix together the sour cream, cream of chicken, and ¼ cup of butter, melted. Pour over the chicken. Crush 1 roll of Ritz crackers and mix with remaining ¼ cup of butter (melted) and poppy seeds. (Can crush and mix in a large Ziploc bag.) Pour crackers on top of chicken dish and bake at 350 for 30 min. Serve over rice.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes

I found this recipe in the Rachael Ray magazine. I followed the recipe exactly for the cupcake, but I used a different frosting. The frosting in the magazine called for a ton of egg whites and it totally grossed me out. So I'm including the buttercream frosting I used.

Pumpkin Batter:
1 c. canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Beat pumpkin, eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla together. Add dry ingredients and mix.

Cheesecake Batter:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 egg white
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together for 3 minutes (I don't know why). Add egg white and vanilla and mix well.

Spray muffin liners. Layer each muffin cup with some pumpkin batter, then the cream cheese mixture, then the pumpkin batter. Bake until done, about 25 minutes, at 350 degrees. Let cool, and then frost.

Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

I added about 1/4 c. brown sugar to this, then dusted the tops of each cupcake with a cinnamon/sugar mix we keep on hand for toast.

These take some work and don't make a lot (only 15), but they were really, really, yummy.

Divine Whole Wheat Bread

I've been making this bread for about 2 months now, and we love it. Original recipe found here.

3 1/2 c. hot tap water
3 tbsp. yeast
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
2/3 c. oil
1 c. honey
1 c. white flour
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
12 c. whole wheat flour

Mix hot water, yeast, and evaporated milk in Bosch. Add oil, honey, and white flour. Add 6 c. whole wheat flour and mix well. Put in dough hooks and add salt and remaining flour. If dough is too sticky, add a little white flour. Spread a tiny amount of oil on your countertop and turn dough out onto it. (This makes it so much cleaner and easier to handle the dough!) Separate into 4 balls and shape into loaves. Put in pans and let rise for 1 hour in warm place (I put them on the stovetop while the oven preheats). Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Eat lots and lots while it's warm. :)

Chicken Crescents

1 can crescent rolls
1 c. cooked, shredded chicken
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. butter, softened
½ tsp. lemon pepper

Bread crumbs, or crushed up stuffing mix (from a box) is super yummy!
 
Combine above ingredients. Separate crescent rolls (8 pieces) and place large spoonful of chicken mixture on each roll (the small side). Roll up and tuck edges in to form a sealed ball. Roll in melted butter, then in bread crumbs. Rolling them in crushed Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoning is the best! Bake 15-20 minutes at 375. Makes 3-4 servings.

Gravy:
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ c. sour cream
1 tsp. lemon juice
Milk

Combine in small sauce pan and warm through. Thin with milk. Pour over crescents when done.

*I served with asparagus with balsamic butter sauce (yum!!).

Pumpkin Bites

*from ksl.com last fall
Important!

This recipe makes A LOT of mini pumpkin cakes.

I always half this and get about 48.

2 C sugar
1 C oil
4 eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t salt
2 C flour

*I just use pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray a mini muffin pan. If you have them, use mini muffin liners and spray those well. They seem to come out best with liners. Beat sugar and oil together. Add eggs and beat, then add pumpkin and beat. Add dry ingredients and combine well. Place 2 tsp. of batter in each mini muffin. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. Cool and frost!

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 C butter, room temerature
1 lb powdered sugar
Evaporated milk (normal milk will work in a pinch)
1 t vanilla

In bowl or electric mixer, combine cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar to butter mix, adding evaporated milk to desired spreading consistency. Add in vanilla, beat frosting at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Bruschetta Salad

(From my friend, Jenny)
1 loaf dense bread cut into cubes.
1-2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
1-2 large tomatoes cut into chunks
1 ball of mozzarella cut into chunks
1/4 cup fresh basil

Dressing:
1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped
6 T olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Put bread pieces on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast at 350 for 15 minutes. Not quite croutons, but toasted on the outside.
Meanwhile put all veggies and cheese in bowl. Pour dressing over top of veggies to marinate. Add bread and mix right before serving. SOOOO yummy!

Fried Chicken Rollups

2/3 C plus 2 T cooking oil
1 onion chopped
5 cloves of garlic finely chopped (I use my garlic press)
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken meat (bought at store)
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese
12 small tortillas (or 6 large ones)

In a large skillet heat 2 T of the oil over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add the chicken, about 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper (to your liking). Cook until heated through. Transfer to a bowl and add the cheese. Wipe out skillet.
In the same skillet warm the tortillas over low heat just to soften them. Place them on a work surface. Spoon in chicken mixture and roll up the tortillas.
In the same skillet heat the remaining 2/3 C oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken roll ups seam side down and cook, turning once until golden. Drain on paper towels.
Top with salsa, sour cream, and more cheese. Yum!