Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2/3 C Chocolate Chips
1 cube soften butter
2 eggs
1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)

Mix Cake Mix with Butter, vanilla, and eggs till smooth. Then add Chocolate Chips and nuts.

Bake at 350 10-12 minutes

These are so good and so easy! Your family will love them!

Baked Potato Soup

I use the recipe from www.allrecipes.com  look for Baked Potato Soup I.

I did this for 3 people.  You can go to their website and change the number of servings to change the amounts in the ingredients.

• 6 slices bacon
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3-1/2 cups milk
• 2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted. 

This was absolutely delicious!

Lion House Chicken

Ingredients:

• 10 to 12 8-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 cups ground bread crumbs
• 4 cups favorite stuffing mix
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard

Method:

Lay whole chicken breast flat on baking sheet. Coat with bread crumbs. Prepare your favorite stuffing with mushrooms and butter. Portion stuffing mixture into 10 to 12 equal parts. Put Stuffing on one half of each chicken breast; fold over and secure with toothpicks. Bake 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 10 to 12 servings. To make sause, mix honey, mayonnaise, and mustard together in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat warmed through. Top each cooked chicken breast with sauce before serving.

Helpful Roll Tips Always add the flour gradually and keep the dough as soft as you can handle.
Don't feel you have to use the entire amount of flour listed in the recipe -- add only enough flour to make a manageable dough.
A soft dough will produce a lighter roll.
Brush the top of the rolls with butter when they are first taken from the oven.

Very Berry Pie from the Lion House

On the Windowsill
Hopkin’s recent pie book, Lion House Pies, is filled with scrumptious pies for all times of the year—from the summery Tropical Isle Pie to the perennial favorite Coconut Cream Pie. Try this Very Berry Pie (Hopkin’s absolute favorite Lion House Product) to add some festive color to your winter spread.

Pastry for two 9-inch double-crust pies
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen boysenberries, thawed
1 (8-ounce) bag frozen blueberries, thawed
1 (8-ounce) bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cornstarch

Roll out pastry for 2 bottom crusts and line 2 pie pans. Roll out pastry for 2 top crusts; fold each in half and cut three ½-inch slits through both layers of both crusts, then set aside. Pour thawed berries and all their juices into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, salt, and cornstarch and pour on top of berries. Mix well with rubber spatula.
Fill crusts. Moisten edge of pie crust with water. Add top crust and seal. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 2 pies.

Chef's Secrets from LDS Living article on the Lion House

Chef’s Secrets
Bread
    •    During the rising stage, never let the bowl become more than comfortably warm to the hand.
    •    When making wheat bread, add 1/8 to ¼ teaspoon of ginger; you’ll get more volume from the yeast.
    •    When freezing unbaked bread, add 1/3 to ½ more yeast.
    •    For a crustier crust, spritz water in the over after putting your loaves in.

Piecrust
    •    The biggest problem is overmixing (when you start trying to roll it, it won’t roll). When crust is overmixed, you just have to start over.
    •    Another problem is not adding enough liquid, which will make dough dry, crack when rolled, and fall apart when transferred to a pan. To fix, ball it up, add more liquid, and gently work it in (to avoid overmixing).
    •    If dough is too soft: refrigerate dough disc (about 1 ½” high and formed into a flat circle) for 10-15 minutes until a little firmer. Don’t feel the need to refrigerate for much longer.
    •    When making pies, bake 6-10 and freeze them. If company drops by, reheat in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Voila! Instant dessert!

Meyer Lemon Pound Cake

I got this off of www.dessarts.com

So this post is a little overdue. Last week I posted some links I found for desserts containingMeyer lemons.  I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my Meyer lemons. So, of course, I went back to my first instinct which was to make a pound cake. As I was reading other food blogs this week, I came across a beautiful vanilla bundt cake fromSweetapolita. It was a simple recipe with an elegant result. I then realized that sometimes keeping it simple is the best answer. A nice slice of this simple poundcake made up for the dreary New York weather that has taken over this week.

I chose Martha Stewart’s glazed lemon pound cake recipe but used Meyer lemons instead or regular lemons. Since Meyer lemons are not as tart, I doubled the amount of zest and juice in her recipe. It all worked out nicely since the added liquid from the juice compensated for the 1/2 egg that I left out.

Doubling the amount of lemon in this recipe did not really produce as  strong of a taste as I thought.  If you really want that lemon flavor to stand out, I suggest adding some lemon extract. I did not mind the subtle orange/lemon taste of the cake. The cake itself is not overly sweet either. I thought the white chocolate glaze gives this cake just the right amount of added sweetness.

The top of the cake is garnished with Meyer lemon chips.  I will hopefully be  posting how to make these chips soon.

Recipe (Adapted from Martha Stewart)
makes 1 loaf (9 by  5  inch pan)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
3/8 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan by coating with butter and dusting with flour. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.  Mix the buttermilk, zest and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the flour mixture in three parts alternately with the liquid mixture and beat until just smooth. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 50 -60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly cover it with a foil tent. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

White Chocolate Glaze (from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

2 Tbs milk

2 1/2 oz white chocolate (melted and cooled)

Whisk together the sugar and milk. It should be the consistency of thin sour cream. Add the white chocolate and stir. If it is too thick add milk a teaspoon at a time. If it is too thin add sugar. Use immediately.

Apple Muffins

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

2-3 apples

1 1/2 cup flour
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients  in bowl.  Add liquids and grated apples.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Lion House Dinner Rolls

Photo by RobinS Smith

1 Photo of Lion House Dinner Rolls

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/lion-house-dinner-rolls-103547#ixzz1YDkxfTKK

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant or non-instant)
• 2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
• 1 egg
• 5 to 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or bread flour

Method:

In large bowl or electric mixer, combine water and milk powder; stir until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand). Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour). Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out). Cover with plastic and allow to rise in warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.
Scrape dough out onto floured board. Turn dough over so it is floured on both sides; gently flatten to about 1 inch thick. With rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle about 18 inches long, 8 inches wide, and ¼ inch thick. Brush with melted butter. With pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cuts through strips of dough every 2 inches, making about 18 pieces of dough.
Starting with short end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside. Place roll on parchment-lined pan with other short end down on the paper. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Serve with Honey Butter. Makes 1 to 1 ½ dozen rolls.
Helpful Tips for Making Rolls
Always add flour gradually and keep dough as soft as you can handle. A soft dough will produce a lighter roll.
It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour called for in the recipe—add only enough flour to make dough manageable.
To shorten dough's rising time, use one of these methods:
1) When dough is thoroughly mixed, oil bowl and cover dough with plastic wrap. Fill sink or larger bowl with about 2 inches of hot water or enough water to come about half or three-fourths the way up outside the dough bowl. Place bowl of dough in bowl of water and allow to rise until double in size.
2) Just before mixing dough, turn oven on lowest possible temperature. Place a pan of hot water on bottom oven rack. When dough is thoroughly mixed, place in oiled bowl. Cover dough with plastic wrap; place in oven. Turn oven off, shut oven door, and allow dough to rise until double in size, about 50 to 60 minutes. Shape or cut into desired rolls. Place rolls on greased or parchment-lined pans and allow to rise until double in size. Bake according to recipe.
Brush top of rolls with butter when first taken from oven.
How to consistently make attractive, good-tasting rolls? Practice! Practice! Practice!

Honey Butter

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup honey

Method:

Whip softened butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and honey gradually. Beat for 20 minutes. Makes 1 cup.      

Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time  20 Minutes         Total Time 2:50 (with cooling time)          Makes 49 bars

Bars

4	eggs
2	cups granulated sugar
1	cup vegetable oil
1	can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2	teaspoons baking powder
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
2	teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2	teaspoon ground ginger
1/4	teaspoon ground cloves
1	cup raisins, if desired

Cream Cheese Frosting

	5 oz cream cheese, softened
5 T	butter or margarine, softened
2	to 3 teaspoons milk
1	teaspoon vanilla
4	cups powdered sugar
1/2	cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, beat eggs, granulated sugar, oil and pumpkin with wire whisk until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir in raisins. Spread in pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and bars spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours.
4. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until smooth and spreadable. Spreading frosting over bars. Sprinkle with walnuts. For bars, cut into 7 rows by 7 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Waffle Cones

2 whole eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp.vegetable oil
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix eggs, sugar and salt then add the rest of the ingredients! I have a waffle maker,  it works great! It is a lot of fun with the kids! And doesn't cost $4.00 a cone either! 

Grilled Corn on the Cob

This is something new I tried yesterday and my family couldn't get enough!


6 Ears of Fresh Corn on the Cob
1/3 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Chili Powder


Mix together and spread on corn cob
Sprinkle with 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan


Then wrap corn cob in foil and cook on grill. 
It is wonderful! 

Smothered Chicken

Smothered Chicken
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Seasoning Salt
Fresh Mushrooms
Onions Sliced
6-8 Slices Cooked Bacon
My Recipe for Honey BBQ Sauce
Colby Jack Cheese

Season Boneless Chicken Breasts with seasoning salt and put on grill.
Saute Mushrooms and Onions
Once Chicken is done put mushrooms, onions, bacon, honey bbq sauce, and Colby Jack cheese on top.

This recipe is so good, it takes a little work! But well worth it!

Honey BBQ Chicken Sandwich

4-5 Grilled Chicken Breast (we seasoned ours with Spade-L chicken seasoning any would work)
Tomatoes
Red Onions
Lettuse
Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce


Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce

1/2 Cup Mayonaise
2-3 tablespoons Honey
2 tsp Mustard
1 Tbsp BBQ Sauce
1 tsp fresh garlic

We made this sauce a few hours ahead and let it sit! It was so good!

Broccoli Salad

1 head of Broccoli (3 big stalks) cut up
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 bottle of real bacon bits
seedless purple grapes cut in half
mix all ingredients

Dressing Mix:
1 cup mayonaise
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Mix and pour over salad!

Grandmas Pineapple Pie

1 large can crushed pineapple (not drained)
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tablespoons Minute tapiocia
Mix well and put in an unbaked pie shell Top with  another pie crust. Poke holes in top. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes

I make it really easy and use the refrigerated pie crust!
This sounds different but it is so good!

Chicken Pillows

2 pakages Big Crescent Rolls
2 chicken breasts- Diced

1 pkg Cream Cheese

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt

1 Container Sour Cream

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup Milk

Cook chicken in pan, add cream cheese, salt, pepper and a little garlic salt.

Spoon onto rolled out crescent rolls, fold together and bake at 350 for 20 minutes

In seperate pan mix sour cream, soup and milk heat and serve over top of chicken pillows!

My kids loved these! They were even great for leftovers!

Swiss Cheese Chicken

6 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 small container of Sour Cream
1 pkg Swiss Cheese Slices
Small Box Stove top Stuffing
1 Cube Melted Butter

Put Chicken on bottom of pan.
Put Cheese slices on top of them.
Mix Soup and Sour Cream and Spread on top

Mix melted butter and Stovetop and put over the top.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes

Anne's Mustard Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon mustard
1/2 cup grated cheese

Wash Cauliflower, and Wrap in Saran wrap put in bowl and cook in microwave for 4 minutes. Turn cauliflower over and cook another 7-9 minutes depending on size.
Mix ingredients and spread on Cauliflower
Put Cheese on last and Cut into wedges.

My kids love this dish!

Yummie Rice

1 cup White Rice
2 cans of Chicken Broth
1 cube butter

Put rice and broth in pan or casserole dish. Cut butter on top. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 uncovered!
It is so good and it always turns out!

Grandma's Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

1 Yellow Cake Mix with pudding
1 3oz pkg Instant French Vanilla Pudding
1/2 cup oil
1 Cup water
4 eggs
3 tablespoons poppy seeds

Cinnamon Sugar 1tsp Cinnamon +1/3 c sugar

Stir all together and beat well. Prepare bundt pan by spraying well with Pam. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Pour about 1/3 of batter into pan Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar then pour in remaining batter. Sprinkle rest of cinnamon sugar.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes
Let Cook 5-10 Minutes before removing from the pan.

 I like to top it with powder sugar glaze!

(powder sugar + milk to make a runny glaze!)

Yummy Hamburger Patties

2lbs Hamburger
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
3 tablespoons dry onion
1 tablespoon seasoning salt

Mix together and cook on the grill! Your family will love them!

Favorite Carmel Corn

5 bags Buttered microwave popcorn, cooked
2 cubes butter
1 cup white Karo syrup
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Melt Butter. Add sugar and Karo. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off Heat and add can of sweetemed condensed milk.
Pour over popped popcorn, stirring 3 or 4 times while mixing!

This is easy and makes a huge batch so make sure you have a huge bowl for mixing!

My Favorite Pineapple Dip

1 8 oz package softened cream cheese
1 large can crushed pineapple
1 Tablespoon diced onion (dice very small)
2 Tablespoon diced green pepper
1 Teaspoon Accent

Drain Pineapple very well. Add cream cheese and mix well. Add other ingredients. Serve with either Chicken in a Biscuit Crackers or Wheat Thins.

Pretzel Salad

2 1/2 Cups Broken Pretzels
3/4 c Melted Butter
3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix and press into a 9x13 pan
Bake for 10 minutes at 350
Let Cool

Mix 8oz Cream Cheese (soften&stir_
1 cup powder sugar
1 egg

Into above mixture fold 12oz  Cool Whip

Spread over cooled pretzel crust. Refrigerate.

1 package Strawberry Junket (I find mine at Winco)
let junket cool and add on top put in fridge for a few hours.

(you can use jello just make sure its set up enough to put on top)

Enjoy! This is one of my favorite dishes! Its not too hard just takes time to make!

Lasagna Roll Ups

Lasagna Roll Ups

Brown 2 lbs Hamburger
1 small chopped onion (brown with hamburger)
Then add:
1 Can Speghetti Sauce
1 can diced Tomatoes

Boil Water for Lasagna Noodles

once water is boiling add noodles I used 12 total

Large bowl Combine
1 Container Ricotta Cheese
1 Container Cottage Cheese
1 Egg
Salt and Pepper
1/2 small pkg  mozzarella
1 cup thawed spinach (optional)

Once everything is ready I put 1/2 meat mixture into the bottom of a pan, then put the noodles on my cutting board and let them dry a little and took a spatula and  spread on my cheese mixture to each noodle and rolled them up and set them on top of the meat mixture and once I finished I added the rest of my meat/sauce mixture and added the rest of the mozzarella

I added frozen Spinach to my cheese mixture, however to be honest my 7 year old hated it! But my 4 and 3 year old thought it was delicious!

This is a meal that can easily be frozen too!

Golden Oreo Cookies

Golden Oreo Cookies

Super Easy and So Good!
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 Cup Oil
2 Eggs

Mix together and form into small balls and bake at 350 on greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes
Then I took cream cheese frosting and spread between two cookies and my kids loved them!