Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

I got this great recipe from a good friend named Ginni.  I do things differently with it from time to time, but it is still basically the same. Its all good.  You can not go wrong with this one. Its simple, tastes great, comforting, and all in one dish!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 box Chicken Flavored Stovetop Stuffing Mix. Prepared according to package directions.
3 chicken breasts, cooked the way you like it (I grill it.) chopped into bite sized pieces
1 head of broccoli, cleaned and cooked until it looses some of the crunch, cut into bite sized pieces.
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup water, or milk
salt
pepper
Swiss cheese slices

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray your baking dish. I use an 11x7 size dish. Spread out your Chicken flavored Stovetop Stuffing on the bottom of the baking dish.  I usually spoon in the stuffing and then wit  a wet spoon I spread it out a bit until the bottom of the dish is covered.  Sprinkle the chicken over the stuffing evenly.   Sprinkle the broccoli over the chicken. then in a separate bowl pour in the cream of chicken and the cream of mushroom soup. add the cup of water and stir until incorporated. Continue to add water until the mixture is pourable. Pour the mixture over the casserole. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay swiss cheese slices over the top of the casserole. Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes. Watch that the cheese doesn't brown too much. You can always turn it down or cover it with tin foil.


Original recipe by Ginni White

Homemade Chicken Crepes

This recipe originates from an old ward cookbook. I have added a couple of additional ingredients that we like. If the thought of making your own crepes then filling them and then baking them may seem like too much work, don't worry. I promise I wouldn't do it if it was too hard and if it wasn't totally worth it! I have typed this out in detail, so don't be afraid of it. This process moves fast. These are really delicious. Enjoy!

Step 1: Chicken
Boil 3-4 chicken breast. You will need about 2 c. of chicken. While this is cooking, begin cooking your crepes.


Step 2: Crepes
1 -1/4 c. a.p. flour
3 eggs
1 c. milk, we use 1%
1/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. melted butter

I use my smallest skillet for this. Its smaller than a salad plate, but not by much.
Preheat your skillet on medium low heat and then spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Spray up the sides too. Then spoon in about 2-3 tbsp. of the batter and immediately tip it and turn it until it spreads all around the pan and its very thin. Cook about 1 minute on each sides. You don't want to brown it. It should be very soft.  It should look like a light tan color. Remove it from the pan and continue the process until. you've used all of your batter. 


Step 3: Filling
1 (10- 1/2oz.) cream of mushroom soup
1 tbsp. onion, minced
1-2 tbsp. celery, minced
chopped or shredded chicken
m
Mix all of the above ingredients in one bowl really well. 


Step 4: Assembly
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a 9x13 baking dish. Place 2 -3 tbsp. of the filling on one edge of the crepe and roll up like and enchilada. Place seam side down on the baking dish. Continue this process until the crepes are all filled.

Step 5: Topping
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream, or 1/2 cup of milk
cheddar cheese

Mix this together the soup and the sour cream, or milk. Then spoon evenly over the crepes. Sprinkle the cheese over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

These are so delicious. My family wipes out the entire 9x13 dish full! Enjoy!



Adapted from an original recipe by Wendy Starks. Thank you Wendy!

 

Sweet Potato Souffle

This is a family recipe that we bake every year for Thanksgiving. It is so delicious! This tastes like a pecan pie on top of sweet potatoes. How can that be wrong? Happy Thanksgiving!

Soufflé:
3 cups of sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed
*I use a big can of sweet potatoes and drain the syrup.
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of these until smooth. Pour into a greased baking dish and set aside. I used a 9x13 sized baking dish.

Topping:
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup coconut
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix all of these topping ingredients together a  sprinkle evenly over the sweet potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes.
*The secret to this, is to double the topping recipe! 

Roasted Sausage & Veggies

 

I love easy one dish meals. This is super easy to prepare and is very satisfying and filling.

 

 

 

1 lb. all beef smoked sausage or sausage of your choice, chopped

2 large green bell peppers, sliced or chopped

1 medium yellow, sliced or chopped

6 medium potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces

pam

olive oil

salt

pepper

aluminum foil

large cookie sheet, or roasting pan

 

Prepare all of the veggies and the sausage and place then into a big mixing bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the mixture and then toss to coat.  Cover the bottom of your pan with aluminum foil and spray pam over it generously. Pour the bowl of sausage and veggies onto the aluminum foil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. Serve and enjoy!

 



Easy Donuts

 

Every once in a while my mom would break out the canned biscuit dough and make us these sugary treats. They are so simple and so yummy! Maybe everyone know about these already, but I thought they were worth the reminder. These are best with Pillsbury Grands, but you can use the smaller ones too.

 

Pillsbury Grands, 1-2 cans

sugar

oil, for frying

 

Pour oil into a pot until its about 2-3 inches deep, and heat on medium. While its heating up, open the biscuits and use something to cut a perfect circle into the center of each biscuit. Then drop 2-3  donuts at a time into the oil to fry. The trick to this, is you don't want the donuts to cook too fast or they will be doughy in the center. So, it should take 25-30 seconds on each side, maybe a bit more if you cook it on lower heat. Using tongs, lift the donuts out of the oil and let the oil drip off good then place the donut into the sugar. Lift all of the donuts and place into the sugar and then transfer to a plate to rest.  Toss the donuts around in the sugar until they are thoroughly coated.  These are really great and so quick.

 

 

 

Snickerdoodle Brownies

 

So, you should know, that unless you are prepared to pretty much eat the whole pan of these you might not want to make this recipe! You think I'm kidding!? These have the perfect texture, a little chewy and just the right amount of sweet. This is definitely going down as a family favorite! I did find this recipe on "pin-interest". (That's how my mom pronounces it. LOL!) This is a great fall dessert. The cinnamon and sugar are warm and cozy.

 

Recipe:

 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Get out three separate bowls.

1-In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and set that aside.

2-In  small bowl combine the white sugar and cinnamon, and set that aside.

3- n a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well blended.

Spread the mixture into the 9x13 baking dish.

Sprinkle the sugar cinnamon mixture evenly over the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minute or until it springs back at touch.

Let the brownies cool on a wire rack for a bit and serve.

 

 

original recipe from Dozen Flours



Icecream Cookie Treats

A treat now and then is good for everyone!  This is really ridiculously yummy!  So, easy to put together and the kids love them, ofcourse.

Ingredients:
1 c. Butter Flavored Crisco
3/4 c. Granulated Sugar
3/4 c. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
*Blend these ingredients until smooth.
2 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
*Add these ingredients to the first mixture.
1/2 c. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 c. White chocolate chips
*Add chips to mixture.
-----------------
Vanilla icecream


Directions:
Drop by rounded tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes or until barely golden brown! Remove cookies from baking tray and place on cooling rack. Let them cool completely then add a tablespoon of vanilla icecream to the cookie and gently press another cookie on top. Serve immediately.

 *You can add any kind of chocolate chips, or nuts, candies, anything to these!

Corn & Black Bean Veggie Salad

I was craving some fresh veggies and remembered that I had this recipe I wanted to try. So,  I made this salad, took two kids to soccer practice, came home ready to dig into it and the two kiddos I left at home with their dad had finished off the salad! They all said they loved it and asked if I  could make some more! Well, if I expected to get any of the salad I needed to make some more! LOL!  This is delicious! We ate it as a side dish to pork chops, and we ate it with tortilla chips. All good!

Salad:
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans of corn, drained and rinsed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 small onion, yellow or red, diced fine
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 -2 large cucumbers, peeled and chopped

Dressing:
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 TBSP. white granulated sugar
4 TBSP. apple cider vinegar
4 TBSP. canola oil
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3/4tsp. cumin powder

In a large bowl, add all of the Salad ingredients and stir well.
In a separate bowl, add all of the Dressing ingredients and whisk well until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
Pour the dressing over the salad and stir really well.
Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes at least. 
Serve as a side dish or with tortilla chips.

Adapted from a recipe in Taste of Home.

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

YUM! YUM!  Everyone likes this casserole.  It's easy to make and easy to eat! LOL!

2- 12 ounce bags frozen, shredded hashbrowns, thawed (at least 30 minutes)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of diced deli ham
1/2 - 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, or your favorite kind of cheese!
6 large eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
salt
pepper


     Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Squeeze moisture out of thawed potatoes then put them in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over potatoes and stir well until combined. Pour the potatoes into an ungreased 9x13 casserole dish, and press them to make a crust. I press them up the sides of the dish also.
     Bake until the potatoes start to brown around the edges, at least 10 minutes.
     Into a big bowl add the eggs, the milk, salt and pepper.
     Remove the potatoes from the oven. Sprinkle the diced ham over the  potatoes, then sprinkle the cheese over the ham. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and ham.
     Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Cheddar Dill Scones

This was my first attempt at making scones and eating them! My impression of a scone is that its like a flat biscuit!  They are firmer of course, but the overall bite is similar to a biscuit.  I liked these, and surprisingly all of my kids and their friends did also. I served this with a ginormous pan of Broccoli Chicken Alfredo. The flavors were really great together. The best thing about this recipe is the DILL. I love some dill!

2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese, use sharp
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 TBSP. baking powder
4 tsp. dill weed
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter or margarine, room temperature
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the eggs and milk just until the mixture is moistened. Turn out your dough onto a lightly flour surface and knead it until its smooth. Divide the dough in half; and roll each half into approx. an 8" circle. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Place on a cookie sheet about a 1" apart. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Smear a little butter on top of them when they come out of the oven. Easy and delicious!

Adapted from a Land O Lakes recipe.

Pepperoni Bites

This recipe was so easy to make! My 9 year old daughter actually made these one afternoon for everyone to have as a snack!  Delicious! We like deli pepperoni better than the ones you can get pre-packaged, but you can use whatever you want.  Enjoy!

 

1 cup AP Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 cup Milk

1 egg

1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1-1/2 cup pepperoni, diced

Pam

Marina sauce

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Into a big mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder and stir. Next add the milk and the egg and blend well with mixer. Then add the cheese and the pepperoni and blend well. Spray the mini muffin tin well and then spoon in the mixture. Be sure not to over fill the mini muffin tin cups.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25- 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown.  This makes approximately 2 dozen pepperoni bites. 

 

 

 

 

 

adapted from a Goose Berry Patch recipe. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu

Oh my goodness, this is so yummy and definitely on my "comfort foods" list from now on.  The recipe was super easy to put together. We enjoyed it, and it looked a little on the fancy side to serve to our guest. Yet all I had to do was put it all in the slow cooker and wait for it. It was creamy and really satisfying. We served a really great spinach salad with it and some rolls and corn on the cobb. Enjoy!          

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

(or one breast per person. I had 8.)

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup of milk (I used 1-1/4c)

6 slices of deli ham

(OR 1 slice per breast...get some really good ham!)

6 slices of Swiss cheese (1 slice per chicken breast.)

1 (8 Oz) package of Stovetop Herb Stuffing mix 

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix the soup and milk in a bowl. Pour some of the soup onto the bottom of the slow cooker and spread it around so it coats the bottom of the cooker. Then layer the chicken breasts over the sauce.  Next layer the ham over the chicken and then layer the Swiss cheese over the ham. If you had more chicken breast, like I did, then you would do another layer of chicken breasts and ham and cheese.

 Sprinkle the stuffing over the top and then pour the remaining soup mixture over the stuffing. Try to cover the stuffing. Then pour the melted butter over the that.  I think it works best if you try to wet your stuffing. You don't want it to be crunchy. Spread the soup mixture a bit over the stuffing or even try to poke a spoon or fork down and in between the layers. Cover the slow cooker and cook on med to high for 4-6 hours.

Adapted from recipe by Six Sister's Stuff

Chicken & Wild Rice

 

My family really liked this. Its a recipe I found in my 4 ingredient cookbook.  I changed it up a bit,

and voila! It was SUPER simple and cooked itself! The mandarin oranges add just a bit of sweetness to this dish that really makes it great! By-the -way, this is pretty healthy.

 

 

Ingredients:

1 bag of chicken, boneless & skinless

1 box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice, original flavor

1 box of Uncle Ben'sWild Rice, Herb Roasted Chicken Flavor

1 big can of Mandarin Oranges   

salt

pepper

2 1/2 cups of water, according to rice directions

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a roasting pan, layer the bottom with both boxes of rice.  Then sprinkle one of the seasoning packets over the rice.  Cut all the fatty parts off of the chicken and cut each breast into thirds. Layer the chicken over the rice. Sprinkle the second seasoning packet over the chicken and the rice. Lightly sprinkle salt and over the entire dish.  Pour the can of mandarin oranges over the chicken. Spread them out a bit so all of the sweetness goes everywhere instead of on  just one spot of the dish. Add the water carefully. Cover your roasting pan with tinfoil if you don't have a lid. Then bake for 2 hours.  So, put this on just before you go to get the kiddos from school and it will be ready for dinner!

 

original recipe from 4 Ingredient Cookbook.

Snow Cream

 This my friends, is snow cream.  I can't tell you how much of a delicacy this is in the south. Whenever it begins to snow, which isn't too often in the south, you wait and hope it snows for a couple of hours. Because you can't collect the "first snow"! (I don't know why, some older people have always said it wasn't clean.  -smile-)  But, after its been snowing for a while you place really big bowls outside to collect the snow while it falls.  Then you bring it in and add the yummy stuff to it to make it into snow cream!  It is soo good!  We will actually take the risk of driving through terrible weather to get the ingredients needed to make this, because we love this stuff so much.  Everybody has a different recipe. Some people add eggs. (yuck) But, I tend to go with simple recipes and it doesn't get any simpler than this.  If it snows this winter where you live, give this a try. I promise it will make you like the snowy weather much more!

Ingredients:
Lots of Snow, (about 16-20 cups per bowl = 36-40 cups of snow for 2 cans of condensed milk)
Condensed Milk, 2-4 cans
Vanilla flavoring, 1/8 - 1/4 cup ( for 36 cups of snow.) 

   You begin this with a lot of snow!  A lot of snow! The picture below is the beginnings of our second batch.  The biggest tupperware bowls we owned were needed for this.  LOL!  This picture actually shows you there wasn't enough collected  in the bowls to use both cans of condensed milk.  The bowls have to be packed full and heaping! 
  

Then add one whole can of condensed milk and about 1/4 cup of vanilla. (I know that sounds like a lot, but trust me.)  Then stir and mash.  Stir and mash.  You are going for a creamy texture.  Add snow as you go. You will use both bowls of snow.   The bowls are equivalent to a big stock pot. The biggest one in your set. 
Add the other can of condensed milk. But not the whole thing.  Then add a Tbsp or two of the vanilla flavoring.  Stir and mash. It takes a little while to mash out the snow balls in the mixture and get it all creamy. When it looks like the picture below you are finished.  Enjoy! - and put it in the freezer to keep until its all eaten.  ;)

 

Yummy, yummy!

 

 

recipe by Niki Lewis

 

Sugary Peanut Butter Kisses

 

These are so yummy.  The kids enjoyed mixing the colors into the sugar, and then rolling the cookies in the different colored sugars.  So, this is a very kid friendly recipe and so good to eat!

 

Coloring sugar:

1-2 drops Wilton Gel Food Colors

1/2 c - 3/4 c Granulated sugar

 

Pour sugar into a ziploc bag and squeeze one drop of gel color into the sugar. Seal the bag and start squishing the color into the sugar unto all the sugar is colored.  You can darken the color  by adding more drops of the gel. You can lighten the color by adding more sugar.

 

 

Cookie Ingredients:

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 c. real butter, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 TBSP. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1- 3/4 c. self-rising flour

Hershey kisses, about 30 or more pieces, with the foil off

 

Preheat your oven to 375%. Cream together the white sugar, brown sugar and butter. Really give a few minutes to get nice and creamy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add the following peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Mix well and scrape down the sides of your bowl. Whisk the flour and then scoop up the right amount needed.  Slowly add in the flour and continue to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

 

Pour colored sugars onto paper plates. With a cookie scoop drop 1" balls of the dough into the different colors of sugar and roll around. Place the cookies about 2" apart on the cookie pan. Bake for 10 minutes for a soft chewy cookie, and 12 minutes for crunchy cookie.  (The cookie will flatten a bit as it bakes.)

 

Take cookies out of the oven and immediately press the hershey kiss into the cookie slightly! Move cookies to a rack to cool.  It takes a while for them to cool down because the hershey kiss melts a bit and then solidifies again.  So, give them time.  Then enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Peanut Butter Crackers

      CAUTION!  CAUTION!  CAUTION!!  CAUTION!!  CAUTION!!  CAUTION!!  CAUTION!!

These are just about good enough to make you slap your momma!   Ha-Ha-Ha! No, seriously, these things are scrumptious and addicting.  We make these every year as part of our Christmas Treats Extravaganza! Some families probably just call that night Christmas Eve.  But, we call it our Christmas Treats Extravaganza!  (It's fun to say. Use your biggest announcer's voice.  Try it.)  We make a ton of different kinds of goodies/ treats and we eat them for dinner, and then we have plenty for our company that comes to visit.   You should try these, and I promise your family will love them! They almost taste like Nutter butter cookies!

Ingredients:
Creamy Peanut Butter
Ritz crackers
Almond Bark Candy
Wax Paper

Lay out a long piece of wax paper.  Spread peanut butter on a Ritz cracker and sandwich it with another Ritz cracker.  Make these using 1 whole sleeve of crackers.  Once you get this far, set them aside and break your almond bark into squares. Place them into a microwavable bowl, and melt them in the microwave for about 60 seconds.  Take the bowl out of the microwave and try to stir the squares and break them up as much as you can.  Then put the bowl back in the microwave for about 15 seconds.  Then stir and break up lumps. You will do this over if needed until the candy is all melted and smooth.  Then put a Ritz cracker sandwich into the candy and flip it over with the fork covering as much of the sandwich as you can.  You have to work quickly because the hot candy melts the peanut butter!  Then as you pick up the Ritz cracker sandwich with a fork (kind of scoop it up. don't stab it with the tongs!) , you can tap the fork gently on the bowl to get off excess candy.  Then put the Ritz cracker onto the wax paper you have layed out.  Finish the entire sleeve of cracker sandwiches you have made. 

You can get about 1 & 1/2 sleeves of Ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches dipped to one package of almond bark candy.

Mistaken Chocolate Brownie Cake

 

So, I have never said that I was a great cook.  Never.  I try.  But, you know what, I walk away from the oven and help someone with homework, or I have to get a band aid for someone, or I have to run upstairs and take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer.  You know you can't be distracted when your cooking.  Everyone knows this. I know it,  I just choose to multi-task ;)  This cake was a big mistake!  It turned out Delicious but it wasn't even supposed to be a cake!!!  I was attempting to make a dessert to take over to friend's home for a "get-together"  and like I always do, I tried a new recipe at the last minute.  I was trying The Pioneer Woman's Knock You Naked Brownies, but, um, I didn't make the brownies.  I mixed the cake mix like the box said then I added all of the ingredients from the brownie recipe.  It was very wet.  I wasn't sure if I could even bake it. But, I put it aside and made the brownies and then went back to the mess I made. I just stared at it.  It had a lot of stuff in it.  Ingredients that I didn't want to waste.  So I dumped it into a bundt pan and cooked it. Then I made my homemade chocolate frosting and it was Delicious!  Very moist and chocolaty and just good!  So, that mistake turned out well.

 

Cake:

1 box of Betty Crocker Cake Mix

(the ingredients needed on the box)

1 cup chopped pecans, or less, or none!

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your bundt pan with cooking spray really generously.

In a large bowl, mix the cake mix together like you normally would.  Leave it in the mixing bowl. Add the following to the mixture, pecans, evaporated milk, butter.  Mix these into the cake batter.  Pour into the bundt pan, and bake for at least 30 minutes.  You may need to let it cook a bit more, but check it with a toothpick .  Let it cool completely before frosting.

 

Frosting:

3/4 bag powder sugar

1/2 cup Hershey's baking cocoa

1/8 cup milk

1/2 stick butter, room temperature (don't melt it, let it set out and soften)

 

This is the starter mix for the frosting.  You may need to add a tad more milk, add only a Tablespoon at a time. Taste it, and go from there. More chocolate if it needs to be more chocolaty for you.  More powder sugar, if it needs to be thickened or sweetened.

 

 Adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

 

 

Thanksgiving Egg Gravy

This is a family recipe from my Great-Grandmother Nanny past down to her daughter, my Grandmother Josephine, past down to her daughter my mom Jacqueline, past down to her daughter..Me.  My Grandmother Josephine was born and raised on a farm in the countryside of North Carolina.  Her father was a tobacco farmer and her mother tended to the children, the farm and cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner! (from scratch of course!)  This recipe was part of my favorite meal of the year!  I looked forward to this all year long.  I love food and appreciated the work that went into making this. I was allowed to help when I was around the age of 10.  My mom and grandmother would cook all day long.  They had to cook a lot of food because all of my Grandmother Josephine's siblings and their children and their children's children would end up at her house to eat every Thanksgiving.  So she fed roughly 30 people at one time. She even had pies, and cakes. Looking back now, I don't know how she did it.!  We ate in shifts with her best china, silver and crystal.  (I loved that and wasn't allowed to wash them until I was in high school!)  The men went first, then the kids, then the moms. Funny how I didn't think about that then.  But, it's pretty typical for a mom to eat last, huh?  The "shifts" would eat, the dishes were washed and then the next shift began.  The picture above is from this weekend.  My husband can't travel home with us for Thanksgiving.  So, we cooked an early Thanksgiving meal for him. This was yummy.  In the picture, (not my best china obviously) you can see the Egg Gravy, the Turkey, and the Dressing.  (The dressing is stuffing patted out in a cookie sheet and cut into squares.  Good Stuff.)  But the Egg Gravy is what we are talking about now.  It is really easy and so good. And you know, its taste is not "eggy". Its just good stuff.  Real comfort food and I love it.  I really do.  I love it.  Not just the taste of it, but my heart loves this treasured memory of my grandmother's recipe. 

1 32oz carton of Chicken Broth
1 32oz carton of Chicken Stock, OR use your drippings from your turkey!
1 dozen Eggs, hard boiled (you don't have to use this many eggs. but we like them so we use a dozen)
3-4 Tbs. Flour
salt
pepper

Hard boil the eggs. Peel them and slice them. In a big stock pot add the chicken broth and the chicken stock.  Cook over med-high heat.  Go ahead and add the flour before it gets to hot and you can't break up the lumps.  Add 3TBS in and whisk until all lumps are dissolved.  If you want the gravy thicker add more flour.  then bring it to a boil lower the heat to med-low and add the eggs.  Cook for about 30 minutes.  Stir frequently so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.  Then serve over your dressing and turkey.  It's a southern delicacy!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Rustic Corn Chowder

 

 

 

This is really great comfort food.  It warms you up and fills you up!!! I made a huge pot of this chowder and had more than 12 servings!  This is very simple  to make, and I am sure you already have everything on hand!

 

 

1/2 lb of bacon, chopped 

1 small onion, chopped into same size as the corn kernels (do this for all veggies except potatoes)

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

4 ears of corn , kernel cut off (or 2 cans of corn or 1 bag of frozen corn)

1 potato per person, chopped into bite sized pieces

milk, about 1 quart

16 oz of chicken broth

2 tbs. of butter

salt

pepper

2 TBS. or more of cornstarch or flour, for thickening

water, for the cornstarch

 

*serves:6-12 people

 

In a really big pot, fry the bacon. Stir to keep it from sticking and scoop out when done and set it to drain on paper towels.  Save the grease.  You can pour off all but about 2 -3 TBS.

 

Into the bacon grease add the veggies except the corn and potatoes.  Let the veggies cook until tender. Then add the corn.  Stir to keep from sticking for a couple of minutes.  Add the potatoes. Stir those also. 

 

Add the enough milk to cover the potatoes and then add in the chicken broth.  You may not want all of the chicken broth but, add until you have enough liquid. Drop in the butter, season with salt and pepper.  Let this simmer until the potatoes are tender. 

 

In a separate bowl add the cornstarch. To that add a little water slowly and then whisk away the lumps.  Add the cornstarch mixture to the pot when the potatoes are tender.  You may need to add more until you get it the right consistency for you. 

 

Serve with crumbled bacon on top or you could add that back to the chowder.

 

recipe from ME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Pumpkinger Bread

I know that I did a post a few months back on how much I love pineapple.  But, let me tell you about how much I love Pumpkin and Fall in general!  I mean I love this time of year!  Any recipe with pumpkin, sweet potatoe, allspice, cinnamon, chocolate, cloves, ginger bread...oh, man! I could go on, and on, and on, but I want.  Just know that if I post a recipe on this blog and it has any of the above mentioned...its good.  Really good. 

This recipe was found on pinterest! I tucked it away for this fall season and pulled it out today to make and take over to my new neighbors!  (By-the-way, they are a very nice family.) Anyhoo, this recipe makes me happy for another reason other than the pumpkin and the spices,  it make two loaves!  You gotta love that.  Because, sometimes in baking you can't just double a recipe.  You have to make it twice! And that gets old.  So, I loved that this makes two BIG loaves the first go round!

We made some cream cheese icing to smear on it and ...sorry, there wasn't any left to photograph. But it was yummy too!

3 cups white granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
2 tsp. ground ginger   (which is why i named this "pumpkinger" bread)
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
 1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pan. ( I generously sprayed Pam and it worked great!)

Mix your wet ingredients first. Beat together the following until smooth: sugar, oil, and eggs. Then add the water. Blend well. Add the pumpkin puree, and blend well. Then to the wet ingredients add the spices.  The ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and clove.

In a seperate bowl mix together your dry ingredients.  The flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend well. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake!

Bake for about 1 hour or until your toothpick inserted comes out clean. I had to bake mine for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Recipe adapted from pinterest.