Oven "Fried" Fish Fillets

This is delicious!

You will need:
1 # bag of frozen tilapia fillets, thawed
4 T. margarine, melted
2/3 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 t. dried basil
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. garlic powder

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, basil, oregano and garlic powder on a plate. Dip fish in butter then coat in bread crumb mixture. Place in 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.

*In place of bread crumbs, I've used crushed crackers ("Ritz" or "Club" type crackers).

Cookie Recipes--Snickerdoodles & Oatmeal

I thought I'd share two of my family's favorite cookie recipes. These work great for my husband who does not care for chocolate...CRAZY, I know!

OATMEAL COOKIES
3/4 c. margarine, softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
2 c. rolled oats

In large mixing bowl, beat margarine so that it will blend in better; add brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat until well-combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour. Stir in oats. Drop onto cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

*These are also yummy with 1 c. of butterscotch chips stirred in.



This next one is fun to do with kids...they enjoy rolling the dough balls into the cinnamon & sugar mixture! :)

SNICKERDOODLES
1 c. margarine
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cream of tarter
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3 c. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon

4 T. sugar
2 t. cinnamon

Beat margarine; add 2 c. sugar, baking soda and cream of tarter. Beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs & vanilla. Beat in flour and 1/2 t. cinnamon. Cover & chill for 1 hour. Combine 4 T. sugar & 2 t. cinnamon in smaller bowl. Shape dough into 1" balls and then roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Put on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-11 minutes. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Happy Baking!!!

Chicken Strips Italiano w/ Noodles

Here is a family friendly recipe for you!

You will need:
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, reduced fat
1/2 c. Italian style bread crumbs*
1/2 c. light Italian dressing
3/4 - 1# boneless chicken, cut into 1" strips
1/2 of a 13.25 oz. box of whole grain noodles
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

Combine Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs in a bowl. Pour Italian dressing into separate bowl. Dip chicken strips into dressing, then coat with bread crumb/cheese mixture and put on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Cook noodles, top with sauce & chicken strips.

*If you do not have Italian style bread crumbs, use plain and add some Italian seasoning.

ENJOY!!! :)

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

These are SO good!! Give them a try!! :)

You will need:
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed*
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
12 flour tortillas for fajitas
2 cans (10 oz. ea.) green chile enchilada sauce
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Oven 400 degrees. Spray 9x13 baking dish.

In skillet over medium heat, add cream cheese & chiles to cooked chicken. Cook & stir till cream cheese is melted. Spoon chicken filling into tortilla, roll up and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over top, sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes--till hot & cheese is melted.

*I use fat free cream cheese or neufchatel.

ENJOY!! :)

With Canned Pumpkin Being So Scarce...

Give this a try!

Laura, over at Sharpen Your Scissors, did a post on how to roast your own pie pumpkin to make your own pumpkin puree. Go here to check it out!

Chicken, Potato and Green Bean Dinner

I am making this for dinner tonight...and it smells so good right now while it is baking in the oven! This stuff is DELICIOUS!! It is one of our favorite meals...and it is SO GOOD that Tim will even eat the green beans! That is saying something!

5 T. olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1 can cut green beans, drained (French cut works, too!)
4 russet potatoes, cut into larger cubes
4 chicken breast halves
about 1 t. lemon pepper seasoning (this can be hot/spicy so use an amount that works for you!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl combine: olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper. Add green beans to this mixture and stir around to coat well. With a slotted spoon, scoop out green beans (I let as much of the oil drain off them as I could) and place in 9x13 baking dish. Then add the potatoes to the olive oil mixture and coat them as well; then place in baking dish with beans. Place the chicken in the olive oil mixture and coat; then place chicken on top of beans & potatoes. Sprinkle chicken & veggies with lemon pepper seasoning. Bake for 40 minutes.

ENJOY!! :)

Apple Pie Kits

Here is a great tip that some of you may find helpful when you're able to get some great deals on apples.

When I can get apples really cheap, I prep them for apple pies, apple crisp, etc. and freeze them. That way, when I need to make a dessert, I just pull one of these bags out, thaw it a little bit and throw it in my dessert. Super easy!!

4 large apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. flour
1 t. cinnamon
2 T. butter, cut into small pieces

In a freezer bag, combine all of the above ingredients. Seal the bag and then mix together with your hands.

Freeze until needed!!

Green Tomato Jam

I would have never known that you could do something with the green tomatoes toward the end of the gardening season had it not been for a woman in our small group. But you can...and the results are YUMMY!! When her and her husband first starting coming to our group, she brought us some jam and she told me it was green tomato jam...I was very curious and also a bit nervous to try it at the same time. We were all pleasantly surprised. My kids LOVED it too!! I do not have her recipe, but in talking I believe it is similar.

You will need:
5-6 c. pureed green tomatoes
4 c. sugar
6 oz. package of Jello (Raspberry is SUPER yummy...but we also love Blackberry Fusion and Strawberry)

In my blender, I add a small amount of water (maybe 1/2 - 1 cup) and then add my green tomatoes (I chop them up into smaller pieces first). I then puree the tomatoes because that is what my family prefers. You could leave them in bigger chunks if you choose. You will need 5-6 c. of pureed tomatoes.

Pour the pureed tomatoes into a large pot. Add sugar; bring to a boil. Boil hard for 15 minutes. As it cooks, skim the foam off of the top. Continuously stir the tomatoes also. After 15 minutes, remove from stove top and whisk in Jello until mixed well. Pour jam into glass jars--you can use small jelly jars, pint jars...or whatever works for you. I use pint canning jars. Store the jam in the refrigerator. I've also preserved it by pouring Gulf Wax over the top. It is very easy!!

ENJOY!!!

Peanut Butter Apple Dip

This stuff is SO GOOD!!!

You will need:
8 oz. bar cream cheese (a lesser fat version tastes great too!), softened
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. milk

In a bowl, beat these ingredients together until well blended.

Serve with apples!

ENJOY!! :)

Apple Slices

This is for my Bunco friends and anyone else who loves apple desserts!! This is basically a giant apple pie with frosting on top! :)

You will need:

Crust:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. milk

Filling (OR 3 apple pie kits--find out more about these here):
12 large apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
2 1/4 c. sugar
6 T. flour
3 t. cinnamon
6T. butter

Frosting:
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3T. milk
1/3 c. butter, softened
1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For pastry: In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir together. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until it is the consistency of coarse crumbs. Slowly stir in milk until completely blended. Separate dough into two balls. Roll out 1 ball of dough to fit a jelly roll pan (15x10) with some dough extending over the edge of the pan.

For filling: Combine all of the ingredients and layer over bottom crust.

Roll out remaining dough and place over the apple filling. Seal the edges and prick the top several times with a fork.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before frosting.

For frosting: In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread over dessert.


ENJOY!!!

Easy Black Forest Torte

I haven't made this in a long, long time. It is very yummy and super easy! I was asked for a couple years in a row to make it for a big fundraising dinner when we lived in Chicagoland.

You will need:
5 c. miniature marshmallows
1 box of chocolate cake mix (will need ingredients listed on package to prepare)
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
1 container (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed

Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle marshmallows in the bottom of the pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions and pour over the marshmallows.

Spoon the pie filling over the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and frost with the Cool Whip. Store in the refrigerator!

ENJOY!! :)

Mexican Chicken

This was DELICIOUS!!! I have made this recipe a few times in the past and thought it was okay. A friend shared this same recipe with me BUT there was one difference in the ingredient list. Doritos instead of soft flour tortilla shells!! It was THE best change ever!!! It changed the recipe completely and made it taste SO much better!! (Thanks Laura!!)

You will need:
1 bag of Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos, crushed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of Rotel (I drained the juice off)
4 chicken breast halves, cooked and chopped
1- 8 oz. bag of Mexican blend cheese

Mix soups together in a bowl.

Spray bottom of 9x13 dish.

Layer in dish:
1/3 Doritos
1/2 soup mixture
1/2 of Rotel
1/2 of chicken
1/2 of cheese
Repeat layers.
Final layer will be the last of the Doritos.

I baked at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

**I only put the Rotel on one side of the dish because it can get quite spicy at times, especially for the kids.

This is a meal that would work well as a freezer meal too!


ENJOY!!! :)

"Seven Layer" Salad

I've never really understood Seven Layer Salad because typically there are usually more than seven layers whenever people make it. The same for my concoction! And I don't even layer it...so maybe I should just call it something else??

I will list what I use but alter the ingredient amounts to your liking!!

You will need:
3 heads of romaine lettuce
1/2 of a green bell pepper, chopped
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 of a small head of cauliflower, chopped
1/2 - 1 pint of grape tomatoes, sliced
5 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 bag (2.8 oz.) of real bacon pieces (you can use real bacon but this is less mess, less time and less fat...all for $1.50 - $1.89...it's worth it! Find it near the salad dressings!)
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

For Dressing:
2 c. light mayo
3 T. sugar

I usually have all of my veggies (& other items) cut and ready to go but do not combine everything until right before serving.

I also usually make my dressing ahead of time so that it can sit in the fridge so the flavors can blend. Do this just by stirring together the mayo and sugar in a plastic container.

At serving time, I combine all of the salad ingredients in a very large bowl. I then pour the dressing over top and mix in with tongs to coat the salad and serve!

It is SO YUMMY!