The BEST cleaner EVER!!!

So, not food, but you will absolutely LOVE this!

SHOUT

1 C Amonia (scented smells better)

1 C Liquid dish soap

2 C Water

Cleans: stains of clothing, hard water spots, oven tops, hairspray residue, carpet stains, blood spots off carpet! and just about anything else I think of! I LOVE IT!!! I used to buy shout, quick and brite, oxy clean, but now I mostly use this.

Homemade Pancake Mix

10 C flour
2 1/2 C instant dry milk
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C baking powder
2 T salt

Combine all ingredients.

TO MAKE:
2 C mix
1 C water
1 egg
2 T oil (3 for waffles)

Sweet and Sour Pork

1 lb Pork

1 Carrot

2 Green Pepper (bell)

6 Tbs Cornstarch

1 C pineapple

"A"

1/2 tsp Garlic Salt

1 egg yolk

1 Tbs Soy Sauce

1 Tbs Cornstarch

1/2 tsp Sugar

"B"

3 Tbs Sugar

3 Tbs Vinegar

3 Tbs Ketchup

4 Tbs Water

2 1/2 tsp Cornstarch

Cut pork into cubes. Mix "A" ingredients together and marinate pork for one hour. Remove and coat with 6 tbs cornstarch. Deep fry until done. Mix "B" ingredients together and set aside. Chop carrot and pepper (I added a little bit of diced onion) into chunks. In 2 Tbs oil, stir fry veggies, until tender, add pineapple. Stir in "B" and cook until thick. Turn off heat and add to meat.

Serve with rice or egg rolls.

This recipe has a little more prep time, and sounds difficult. But it is really easy and GOOD!

30 Min Chicken

This is actually really good for the amount of work! A quick & super easy dinner!

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2- 12 oz can of sprite (not 7up)
1- 18 oz bottle BBQ sauce

In electric frying pan, place chicken. Add BBQ and sprite covered, at 350 for 3o min (hence the name 30 min chicken). Serve over rice with extra sauce.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies! I'm not sure where the recipe came from...I've been making them since I was in high school. Whenever I make them for people, they call and ask for the recipe...so I thought I would share. It's a very basic recipe and I'm not sure what makes them soooooo yummy! This recipe can be adapted to fit your favorite cookies: white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, raisins, chocolate chunks, nuts, peanut butter chips etc. Make what your family likes! I personally like them best with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. They are a little bit larger and taste soooo good!

2/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup margarine (softened not melted)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 pkg chocolate chips

I mix all the wet ingrediants together really well. Then I add the dry ingrediants. Bake them at 375* for 8-10 minutes. The dough will be sticky and you will want to add more flour - DON'T! I take them out of the oven just as they start to turn golden brown. They look like their not quite done, but once they cool, they are the softest, almost melt in your mouth cookies! Enjoy!!!

Makes 3 dozen large cookies!

Strawberry Shortcake

If you want a cake that is really soft and sweet (like angel food) then this recipe is not for you. The shortcake tastes a little like a sweetened biscuit which I was a little nervous about but it is great for this recipe. If you want a dessert that's not super sweet then try this.

6 cups sliced strawberries

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter

1 beaten egg

2/3 cup milk

1 cup whipping cream, whipped (I used the stuff from the can and if I'd had any I would have used the stuff from the tub)

In a small bowl stir together the berries and 1/4 cup of the sugar; set aside. Stir together remaining sugar, flour and baking powder. Cut in the butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine the egg and milk; add to dry mixture. Stir just to moisten. Spread the batter into a greased 8x1 1/2 in round baking pan.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Split into 2 layers. Spoon half of the berries and whipped cream over the first layer. Top with second layer, remaining berries, and whipped cream. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.
This recipe came from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

I didn't have enough strawberries so I made mine like a sandwich.

Barbeque Beef

This is a very mild barbeque sauce that also works great with pork ribs.

3 lb beef roast (the kind that can be shredded)

3 tbsp flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dry mustard (I always use 1 tbsp prepared mustard)

3 beef boullion cubes

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp lemon juice

15 oz tomato sauce

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Add the roast and cook on low 10-12 hours. Shred roast and mix with sauce. Serve on rolls.

Kitchen Sink Brownies

These brownies have everything except the kitchen sink in them! They are so good & rich. Callie originally called them "Fat Girl Brownies" but I'm changing the name so as not to discourage any skinny cooks from trying them!

You'll need:
Brownie Mix
Kettle Corn
Peanut Butter Chips
Marshmallows
Chocolate Chips
Karo Syrup
Butter

Make Brownie Mix as directed (fudge or cake-like, whichever you prefer.) Pull brownies out of the oven when there is 3 minutes cooking time remaining. Pour a generous amount of Marshmallows over brownies and return to oven until melted.

Pop 1 bag Microwave Kettle Corn. Measure out 4 cups and try to eliminate any unpopped kernels. In another bowl, microwave entire bag of peanut butter chips, 1 stick butter, and 1 cup karo syrup and stir until smooth. Pour on top of kettle corn and stir gently until popcorn is covered. Pour popcorn mixture on top of brownies/marshmallows. Melt at least 1/2 bag chocolate chips and drizzle over entire concoction. How can you resist?

Twix Bars

Crust:
1/2 lb Butter
1/2 C sugar
2 C flour

Cream butter and sugar, add flour. Press onto greased cookie sheet for thin cookie crust, or cake pan for thicker cookie crust. Bake @ 350 for 15-20 min.

Filling:
1/2 lb butter
3/4 C sugar
1 C sweetened condensed milk
4 T karo
2 C choco chips

Bring butter sugar milk and syrup to a boil and cook to light brown coffee color, stirring constantly. Cool slightly and pour over crust. Top with choco chips and spread when melted or leave as chips.

Layer Salad

I usually start this the night before to let the layers "marinate" a bit. I also cook the bacon and eggs ahead of time and let them 'chill out".

1 head lettuce, chopped or shredded
8 oz spinach, washed and drained
1/2 Cup sliced green onions
1 Cup sliced celery
1 pkg frozen peas (about 10 oz)
2 Cups mayo or Miracle Whip
2 tsp sugar
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Season All
1 Cup grated cheddar
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 lb bacon, fried and crumbled
2 med tomatoes, cut in wedges

Mix lettuce and spinach together in large glass salad or serving bowl. Layer on green onions, celery, and uncooked peas. Spread mayo over top. In another bowl, mix up the Parm, sugar, and seasonings. Sprinkle over mayo. Just before serving, layer on the cheddar, egg and bacon. Garnish with tomato wedges. This is a big salad, so have someone over to help enjoy it.

Mimi Chicken

Okay, so basically this is just standard BBQ chicken in the oven with a little twist. It's named after my grandmother who made it all the time.

You will need:

French or Catalina dressing, 1 large bottle
Frank's hot sauce (optional)
drumettes or other dark meat chicken

Drumettes are the larger part of the chicken wing that look like Drumsticks. Some places carry them, some don't. Other good options are wings, drumsticks or even thighs, although these need to cook longer. Do not use chicken that has been skinned. You need the skin to keep the meat moist and protected from the heat. Take it off after if you must. Spray a cake pan, (i prefer a glass one but your choice) put in chicken and douse it with the sauce. You will feel silly, but really, you need to use it all and just pour it on. This will bake into the chicken and infuse the meat with all its saucy goodness. If you are putting on hot sauce, just put it directly on the chicken pieces. Put in oven and bake until chicken is done, about 45-60 minutes at 375 for drumsticks or thighs. Makes great hot wings.
Serve with yellah-rice (NOT yellow or my grandomother will haunt you from the grave) or plain white rice with a pat of butter on top.

Fruit Flowers

This was super easy and it turned out really cute! I didn't get a picture of mine, but it looked very similar to this picture (minus the elephant vase.... I used a basket). Here is a link to instructions on how to make it! You could also use apples, kiwis, or anything else you can think of. Very fun!

Honey Baked Chicken

4 Legs
4 Thighs
1/4 C butter
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (salt or cloves)
1/4 C Honey
Potatoes Quartered
Onion (optional)
Carrots (optional)

In baking pan, chicken and potatoes, pour butter over, season to your tastes. Bake for 40 min @400. Then baste Chicken with the honey and juices from pan a few times for 20 more min. Or until potatoes and chicken is done.

Crunchy Ranch Chicken Fingers

1 Cup of bread Crumbs
1 Tb parsley
1/3 Cup of ranch dressing
1 tsp water
1 lb of chicken breast cut into strips

Preheat oven to 425. In small bowl, combine bread crumbs and parsley. In separate small bowl, combine ranch dressing and water. Dip chicken in dressing mixture, then bread crumb mixture, coating well.
on baking pan lightly sprayed,with nonstick cooking spray, arrange chicken. Bake 8 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Pumpkin Cake

4 eggs
1 c. oil
2 c. sugar
1 lb. or 2 c. pumpkin
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 t. nutmeg
Bake on a cookie sheet (I made it in two rounds for the picture above, both works great) at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Frosting:
6 oz. cream cheese
1 and 1/2 cubes butter
2 T. milk
2 t. vanilla
3 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Creamy Decorating Frosting

AKA: The Best Frosting EVER!!!

4 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. plus 2 T soft shortening
2 T. soft margarine
3/4 t. salt
5 T. milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond

Beat til fluffy!

Red Velet Sandwich Cookies

I found this off of bakerella.blogspot.com. It is an awesome website!!! (thanks for letting us all know about it-you should totally check it out) We make this recipe with a Devil's Food cake mix to make Homemade Oreos, which is a family favorite "fat-fat" for Sunday nights, but this is a fun Valentine's Day twist to a great cookie!!! And even better, they are super-easy!

All you need is:

1 Box red velvet cake mix*

1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature (I usually use shortening, but both would work fine)

2 Eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix ingredients until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of cookie batter onto baking sheet about two inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. (you want these to be a little underdone---they stay soft days after and are yummy to eat)
Cool.

Cream Cheese Filling

1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 8 oz. Package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 1lb. Box of confectioner's sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

In a mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla.
Gradually add sugar and mix until smooth.

(I never make my own frosting anymore! I just use a container of Cream Cheese frosting-way easy and we think it tastes exactly the same!)

Makes about 24 cookies or 12 cookie sandwiches* Any cake mix should work.

Bakerella

Okay, I don't have a recipe right now, but I have a great new blog for you all to check out. It's called bakerella.blogspot.com. This woman is amazing! You will feel creative just watching the things she does. If you need a good idea for treats to send with the kids to school, take to a church function, or whatever, this is the place to look. Have fun!

Clam Chowder

2 cans minced or chopped clams
1 c. onions, chopped fine (or dried onion)
1 cube butter
4 c. milk (or part milk, 1/2 & 1/2, or cream)
1 c. diced celery
2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
Dash of salt, pepper, and sugar

Drain juice of clams and pour over vegetables and cover with water. Simmer until tender. In another pan, melt butter, add flour and then milk, gradually. Bring to a boil. Mix undrained vegetables into the white sauce and add the clams. Makes approximately 8 servings.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

My mom found this recipe while blog-hopping. It is technically called "Tiny Spicy Chicken" but since there isn't anything to make it spicy, I'm calling it "Sweet & Sour Chicken" but I may try it again with a little crushed red cayenne pepper or something to make it spicy. Whatever you want to call it...it's fabulous.

2 1/2 lbs chicken, cut into small pieces

Mix and coat chicken with 1 cup corn starch & 3 tsp garlic salt.

Fry in oil. Then place in 9 x 13 pan and cover with sauce.

Sauce: 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c pineapple juice (I used the juice from a can of pineapple & added the pineapple to the chicken)
4 T ketchup
2T soy or teriyaki sauce

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

Meals for a week +

Since I have the most fabulous sister of all, she made me a list of easy meals that I could make for a week+ and a grocery list for it all. So if any of you are like me and don't know where to start, here you go!

Monday--Taco Salad
Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas (the red kind)
Wednesday--Chili & Rolls (Chili in the crock pot.)
Thursday--BBQ Pork Sandwiches with Potato Salad or Jello Parfait
Friday--Go to a restaurant.. you deserve it! :)
Saturday--Lunch: Hamburgers & Fries Dinner: Shepherd's Pie
Sunday--Chicken Breasts, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Rolls
Monday--Spaghetti
Tuesday--Stroganoff over Egg Noodles
Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday--Clam Chowder

If you wanted to make all of these meals, here is most* of your shopping list...

*Please be sure to read through the recipe before you go grocery shopping to make sure that all of the items that you want are on the list. I don't care for a few ingredients that are in the recipes, so that's why they're not on my shopping list. :)

Meats:
Chicken (enough for 3 meals)
Hamburger (enough for 3 meals)
Pork
Hamburger Patties

Canned Food:
Refried Beans
Enchilada Sauce
Chili Beans (2 cans)
Kidney Beans (1 can)
Pinto Beans (1 can)
Canned Tomatoes
Green Beans (we prefer french sliced)
Chicken Broth (1 can)
Spaghetti Sauce
Cream of Chicken
Cream of Mushroom
Clams (2 cans, one minced, one chopped)
Olives (sliced)
BBQ Sauce

Refrigerated or frozen foods:
Cheese
Rhodes Rolls
Sour Cream (2 cartons)
Eggs
Heavy Cream
French Fries
Pie Shell

Misc:
Taco Seasoning Packet
Chili Seasoning Packet
Chicken Gravy Packet
Egg Noodles
Spaghetti Noodles
Doritos
Hamburger Buns
Tortillas

Produce:
Potatoes
Lettuce
Tomato

If you'd like the recipe to any of these, please leave a comment and I will post it!

Happy cooking!

Easy Black Forest Cake

1 devil's food cake mix
stuff to make cake mix
1 can cherry pie filling
1 tub whipped topping

Make chocolate cake mix and bake. While still warm, spread on cherry pie filling. Let cool. Cover with whipped topping. If you want to be fancy, cut the cake in half or make a second cake and put another layer of pie filling and whipped cream in the middle of the two cake layers. Sometimes I get even more fancy with chocolate curls on top. Sometimes.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 C water
3/4 C uncooked rice
2 C frozen broccoli or mixed veggies
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 C grated cheddar

Stir soup, water, rice and veg into a cake pan. Top with chicken and season as desired (Season All, onion and salt, whatever) . Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 45 min. Top with cheese and let melt in oven 5 min.

Ham and Cheese Soup

Make this tonight. You'll thank me. Then curse me in the morning when you step on the scale.

2 Cups diced potatoes
1 Cup chopped onion
1 Cup grated or chopped carrot
1 Cup chopped celery
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 Cup butter
2/3 Cup flour
1 quart half & half (or 1 qt milk with 3Tbs butter)
1 lb Velveeta, cubed
2 Cups diced ham

Boil veggies in the broth until almost tender. Melt butter and add flour. Put 1/2 of half and half in soup, then add melted butter and flour. Stir or whisk until dissolved. Add rest of half and half. Heat until thick. Add cheese and let melt into soup. Add ham. DO NOT LET BOIL!

New York Cheesecake

I got this recipe from foodtv.com. It's an Emeril Lagasse recipe...I think he makes the best cheesecakes!

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar and mix well. Press onto bottom of springform pan and bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, butter the sides of the pan.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees F. (This was actually too hot in my oven. I'd decrease the temp to about 450 in the future.)

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour, then the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F and bake for 1 hour more. Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate cake overnight before serving. Serve with raspberry or cherry pie topping or chocolate syrup.