A Recipe For Christmas Cheer

Important: Do not make until after Thanksgiving is over!

First, Take one happy couple. Then, add Christmas music, lights, and a tree. Decorate the tree thoroughly before doing next step. Watch a few Christmas movies. Walk around a freezing Temple Square at least twice. Hang up Christmas cards and add a few carefully wrapped presents beneath the tree. Plan for several family parties, but not before finishing finals. Be sure to create new Christmas traditions as you go, such as making an ornament for the tree out of your wedding announcement. Last, carefully preserve every moment with a camera and relive the memories as often as needed. Serves: Everyone but Scrooge and the Grinch. Merry Christmas!

Texas Fudge Cake (from Sarah Page’s family)

I made this tonight for my husband's birthday tomorrow!!! He doesn't know how lucky he is. . . it has 3 sticks of butter in it. . .  yes.

 The top got a little crinkly. I think I had a little too much powdered sugar in the icing, so it got hard faster than I wanted it to. But it doesn't matter, because I know how wonderful it will taste!

Boil mixture:
1 cup water
2 cubes butter
4 T. cocoa

Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar

Mix top two mixtures together and then add to it:
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Bake at 370 degrees for 30 minutes.

For the icing, boil:
6 T. milk
1 cube butter
4 T. cocoa

And pour on top of:
16 oz. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

*put icing on while the cake is still hot*

**hint: it tastes even better the day AFTER it is made!** . . .which is why I made it tonight for his birthday tomorrow.

I also made two of these cakes for my roommate Sarah's birthday one year.  One of them didn’t get eaten that day, and we ate it the next.  It really is better the next day.  This is one of Sarah’s favorite cakes.  I love it too!


Husband's reaction: To Be Determined. . . 

Chicken & Cream Cheese Roll Ups

I totally LOVE these! Best dinner ever.

adapted from the recipe here: http://jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/chicken-roll-ups.html

• 1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
• 1 pkg crescent rolls (6 ct)
• 2 shredded cooked chicken breasts
• 1 C grated chedder cheese or whatever cheese you have around
• Spices: salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, basil. 
• Olive oil to brush on top

Combine chicken, cheeses, and spices to taste. Spoon onto crescents. Put lots of filling in, but make sure you can still roll them up. Try not to let the filling spill out the sides, but if it does it's ok. Brush tops with olive oil and sprinkle garlic salt and paprika. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly brown on outside. They are better when they are not as brown as the ones pictured above.

My husband isn't home yet, so I can't give you his reaction. But this is what I texted him:

"Dude, I just made the best dinner ever! It's so so good!"

If that doesn't make you want to try this recipe, I don't know what will. Do it.

Italian Chicken and Potatoes from Nikki S.

Italian Chicken and Potatoes


I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet! It's one of the easiest to make, and one of my favorites to eat. I've made it probably 3 times since I started this blog, but I just never got around to taking a picture of the finished product so I could post it. Well, today's the day!


I got this recipe from a Young Women's activity where we swapped favorite recipes and put them into books. This one came from Nikki S. (she's married now, so I guess she's Nikki C. now). I don't know if she even remembers bringing this recipe, but I've used it so many times. So, thank you, Nikki, for sharing!

4-6 red potatoes

4 chicken tenders or as much chicken as desired, cut into strips

1/3 cup parmesan cheese-grated

1 Tb Italian seasoning

1 bottle Italian dressing

In a casserole dish place cut potatoes and chicken.  Sprinkle Italian seasoning and dressing over mixture.   Spread cheese across the top.  Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.  (Brown potatoes can be used, but will need to be cooked longer).

I usually use half a bottle of Italian dressing and add a little water to keep the dish moist. I also don't usually cover it while it cooks, but this can make it more brown on top than you might like. It's better with red potatoes, but the brown ones work too. I usually just cut them into smaller pieces. 


This recipe is simple and can be altered to feed fewer or more people. You could even use different seasonings, make your own dressing to pour on top, etc. I've said it before, but I LOVE recipes that are easy to mix up and make your own. This one is definitely that way!


*Can also be made in the crock pot. Just dump it all in and cook as long as your crock pot needs to get the chicken all the way cooked.


Husband's Reaction: HE LICKED HIS PLATE CLEAN!!! . . AND THEN HE LICKED MINE TOO! haha silly husband.

Family Goulash (I call it "Deliciousness on a Plate")

Family Goulash

So, I'm having a little trouble with the word "goulash." It sounds disgusting to me. And this dish is far from that. I tried to come up with a better name for it, and all that kept coming into my head was the word "delicious," so that explains the title up there. You can call this meal whatever you like, but you MUST make it. It's too easy and yummy not to.

Ingredients: 

1 lb. Lean ground beef

1/2 cup sliced onion

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 cup water

1/2 cup ketchup

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 t. brown sugar

2 t. paprika

1 t. salt

1/2 t. dry mustard

dash ground black pepper

1 T. cornstarch or flour blended with 2 T. water

6 cups American Beauty Extra Wide Egg Noodles, uncooked (can you tell where this recipe came from?)

Directions:

In large skillet, brown beef; drain. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is tender.

Combine water, ketchup, Worcestershire, brown sugar, paprika, salt, mustard, and pepper; stir into meat mixture. 

Cover; simmer 15 minutes.

Add cornstarch and water to meat mixture. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and begins to boil.

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. 

Serve goulash (shudder at the word) over hot cooked noodles. Makes 4 servings.

Husband's reaction: This is very good. Thanks, honey. (He sounds way more polite in writing than he is in real life sometimes).

I was surprised  by how much I enjoyed this. I substituted a little onion powder for the onion (I didn't have one on hand) and some barbecue sauce for the Worcestershire sauce. I used cornstarch in the second to last ingredient. And I can see how this recipe could work with many other substitutions: different noodles, no mustard, more salt and pepper to taste, different spices if you're feeling adventurous, etc. I love recipes like that, and this one is a keeper!

Halloween Pizza

 We tried making a jack-o-lantern pizza like Papa Murphey's does. It ended up looking more like a hippie man once we added the olives, but that's ok. He was delicious!

Happy Halloween!

Roasted Halloween Pumpkin Seeds

*from a recipe at Food.com

Ingredients:

• 
  1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds
• 2 teaspoons melted butter (olive oil or vegetable oil work well) or 2teaspoons melted oil (olive oil or vegetable oil work well)
• salt (This is all I used)
• garlic powder (optional)
• cayenne pepper (optional)
• seasoning salt (optional)
• cajun seasoning (optional)

Directions:

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. 2
   While it's OK to leave some strings and pulp on your seeds (it adds flavor) clean off any major chunks.
3. 3
   Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter or oil and seasonings of your choice.
4. 4
   Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on baking sheet.
5. 5
   Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
   
   
   YUM!!!!!
   
   Also, check out those pumpkins that these seeds came from. Can you guess which one I carved and which one was Danny's?