Amy's Fruit Dip

Amy G. made this wonderful fruit dip for the Progressive Dinner Appetizer 2018.

1 C. Brown Sugar
8 Oz softened cream cheese

Mix and serve.

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

Recipe taken from https://diethood.com/crock-pot-honey-garlic-chicken/

Serves 4-6

6 chicken thighs (We did bone-in and removed the skin, but recipe calls for boneless skinless thighs)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 C. honey
1/2 C. ketchup
1/2 C. soy sauce
1/s tsp dried oregano
2 T. fresh parsley
1/2 T. toasted sesame seeds

Arrange chicken thighs in crock pot, set aside
In mixing bowl combine all but chicken and sesame seeds.  Whisk together.
Pour sauce over chicken.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
When serving place chicken on plate, spoon a little sauce over the top and sprinkle the sesame seeds over top.

WW smart points: 7 (for 6 servings total)

Olive Garden Toscana Soup (Zuppa)

Sister Nancy B. made this for our 2017 Progressive Dinner.

About 6 servings

1/2 lb. Italian Sausage Links
2 C. Kale
3/4 C. diced onions
2 potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/3 C. heavy whipping cream
1 slice bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
salt
1 1.4 tsp minced garlic
4 C. chicken broth

Place sausages on a baking sheet and bake at 300 for 15-20 min.
Halve lengthwise, then cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices.
Place onions and bacon in a 3-4 qt saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost transparent, 3-4 min.
Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add chicken broth and potatoes.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 min.
Add greens, sausage, whipping cream and salt to taste.
Simmer just 5 min longer.
*This is a light soup.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Sister Nancy B. made this for the Progressive dinner 2017.  It was perfect for the crisp fall weather.

She got the recipe from https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/creamy-butternut-squash-soup/

Serves 8

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger freshly grated is best!
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 8 cups butternut squash cut into 1 inch cubes (about 2 lbs butternut squash)
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1-2 cups heavy cream
• croutons optional
• roasted or candied chopped pecans optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and spices to melted better and stir for 1 minute.
2. Add chicken stock and apple cider. Bring to a boil.
3. Add squash and carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until squash and carrots can easily be poked with a fork. Check liquid in the pot while simmering. Add more chicken stock if necessary.
4. Pour all the contents of the pot into a blender. Puree until mixture is smooth.
5. Blend in 1 cup of heavy cream. Gradually add more until the mixture reaches the consistency of a creamy soup.
6. Pour the contents of blender back into the pot and keep warm until ready to serve.
7. After serving soup into individual bowls, garnish with croutons and chopped pecans.

Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

Sister Nancy B. made this for the 2018 Progressive Dinner.  It was SOOOOOOO yummy!  It is super sweet, so serve small slices!

Apple Cake
1/2 C. margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
3 C. grated, unpeeled apples (Rome) *
2 C. sugar
2 C. flour
2 tsp baking soda

Cream margarine and sugar.
Add eggs, mix
Add cinnamon and baking soda.
Add alternating flour and apples, mix altogether.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 min in a lightly greased 9 X 13 pan.

* If apples are really juicy after you grate them, drain off some juice.  If needed add 1 or 2 T. flour

Caramel Sauce
2 C. sugar
1 C. butter
1 C. cream
3 tsp vanilla
Cool whip (Goes on top)

Heat and melt sugar and butter.
Remove from heat and add cream and vanilla.
Serve sauce warm on apple cake.
Top with cool whip

DIY Baking Powder (AKA Make your own Aluminum Free Baking Powder)

1 part Baking Soda
2 parts Cream of Tartar
(optional) 1 part Corn Starch (so it doesn't cake) 

Store in an airtight container 

Easy Key Lime Pie

This recipe is adapted from "Easy Key Lime Pie I" from Dinner2 from AllRecipes.com

10 egg yolks, beaten
(2) 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk...28 oz total
1 C. key lime juice (different than lime juice)
9 inch prepared graham cracker crust
Cool whip and lime slices for the top

Preheat oven to 375
In a bowl combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice.  (You do not cook the pie filling before pouring into the crust)
Mix well
Pour enough into graham cracker crust to fill the crust.  You will NOT use all of the filling.  The filling will NOT rise at all while baking.
Bake in preheated oven at 375 for 25 min.  It will still be jiggly when you pull it out.  It does NOT brown on top.
Allow to cool.
Top with whipped cream and lime slices.  (this is important...or this pie looks really plain)

Jacque's Strawberry Frosting

This recipe is from Jacque M. so you know it's good!  It is a light whipped cream frosting.

1/2 C. mashed strawberries (fresh or frozen) (measure after mashed)
3 T. sugar
3 oz softened cream cheese
3/4 C. heavy whipping cream

Beat strawberries and sugar in mixer.  Add cream cheese and mix until smooth.  Add whipping cream and beat until stiff.

Pecan Pie

This recipe was from a woman in my home ward growing up.  It is the best pecan pie I have ever tasted.

Mix the following in a bowl
1 C. white corn syrup
1 C. brown sugar (I do light brown, but you can also use dark brown)
1/3 C. melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Add
3 whole eggs, slightly beaten

Add
1 1/2 C. pecans (6 oz bag is 1 1/2 C)

Pour into an unbaked pie shell.  Cover pie crust edges with tinfoil.  Bake @ 350 for a total of 60 min.  Remove the tinfoil 5 minutes before finished baking.  The pie will still be jiggly when you pull it out.  Cool and top each slice with icecream or whipped cream.  It is very rich, so serve small slices.

Dinner Rolls

This was the recipe my Mom always made growing up, so now this is the recipe I make as an adult.

Combine
1 yeast cake (2 1/4 tsp)
1/4 C. warm water
1 T. white sugar

In a separate bowl beat
3 eggs
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C. melted butter

After yeast is bubbly, combine both bowls.

Add
1 C. water
4 1/2 C. white flour

Mix well with large spoon

Turn out on floured surface.  Knead and add a little flour at a time until the dough is no longer sticky.

Prepare a large clean bowl by spraying with pam.  Place dough in the bowl.  Cover with saran covered with pam.

Allow to double in size.

Punch down and fix the way that you want to (ie: regular rolls, crescent rolls, etc).  When fixed the way you want, dip each roll in melted butter and place on a tray to rise a 2nd time.

Allow to raise until doubled again.

Bake at 375 for 12 min.

When the rolls come out of the oven, brush the tops with butter.

For sweet rolls add an extra 1/4 to 1/2 C. extra sugar.

(If making crescent rolls then 1 batch should be split into 2 balls before rolling out.  1 batch makes 24 LARGE crescent rolls.)

Christianne's Lemon Cake

This recipe is one of Christianne F's recipes, so you know it has to be good.

1 lemon cake mix
4 eggs
1 1/4 C. water
1 small lemon jello (4 serving size)
3/4 C. oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients.  Pour into a greased cake pan (metal is better than glass because it is slightly larger so cake will be a little thinner).  Bake at 350 for 30-40 min.  Cool slightly.  Pour glaze over while still a little warm.

Glaze
Mix about 3 C. powdered sugar with lemon juice until you reach the desired consistency and amount.
(About 7 T. lemon juice).  Mix glaze really well before pouring over cake.

If you make glaze thin it will soak into the cake and it is sooooo yummy.

Serve small pieces, it is really sweet.

Monster Pancakes / Hootenannies / German Pancakes

I had these once when I was a tween or a young teenager when I slept over at my Aunt's house.  I had forgotten about them until I dreamed about them the other day...hahahahah.  So I googled a recipe and made them for dinner tonight.  They were a hit...everyone gave them 4 out of 5 stars...even the hubby...I mean...even the kids.  Hahahahaha.  (Both hubby and kids and myself gave them 4 out of 5 stars).

They were super easy.  Really fast.  Quite cheap.  Not very many ingredients.  Very filling.

Win, win, win, win, win!

They get really big in the oven and then fall when you pull them out of the oven.

Other reviewers thought they tasted "eggy", but no one in my family thought so.

I did warm my family before we ate that even though they are called pancakes, they do not taste like pancakes, that they need to expect a whole new food.

I got the recipe from Real Mom Kitchen.
https://www.realmomkitchen.com/73/hootenannies-otherwise-known-as-german-pancakes/

1/4-1/2 C. butter (some people even use up to 1 cup) (I used 1/2 and it was great...I would try 1/4 next time just to see if they still turned out good)
1 C. milk
6 eggs
1 C. flour
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
1.  While oven is preheating to 425 degrees, melt butter in a 9 X 13 pan.
2.  Mix remaining ingredients in a blender.
3.  Remove hot pan from oven and pour batter into melted butter
4.  Bake 15-20 minutes (They will rise, but won't overflow)
5.  Cut into squares and serve with normal french toast toppings.  One traditional topping is lemon juice and powdered sugar on top.  (We really liked the lemon juice and powdered sugar, they almost tasted like lemon squares.)

Serves 8 (I only needed 1 pan for my family of 6 eaters and we had leftovers).

Lime Ginger Chicken Marinade

(This is the amounts doubled that I do for my family of 6 eaters)

1/2 C. Soy sauce
1/2 C. Canola oil
zest of 2 limes
Juice of 4 limes or 4 T. lime juice
4 T. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves

I often freeze the chicken and marinade in a baggie right away.

Then the day I want to make it, I put it in the crockpot (dumped out of baggie of course) on warm to thaw for several hours.

Then I cook on the grill on low.

Flip every 5 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.

I do not need to boil extra marinade @ the end...the chicken was moist and delicious.

Chili Lime Marinade

3 T. Oil
1 T. Chili Powder
1 T. Lime Juice
1 T. Garlic Powder
Salt to taste

Marinate 30-60 minutes.  Grill.  Turn every 5 minutes.  Cook for a total of 30-40 min.

Rice Bowls

Hilary P. served these cute appetizers at the 2018 Girls Night Out Progressive Dinner.  

They were so fun and really yummy.

First she prayed a cupcake pan with pam and put the wonton skins in the holes and then sprayed the tops with pam again.  She baked until lightly browned.  Wonton skins (wonton wrappers) can be found in the produce section of grocery stores.

She placed some cooked white rice in the little bowls.

She topped the rice with Panda Express Teriyaki Sauce (Walmart carries it).

The meatballs were Aidells Teriyaki and Pineapple (from Costco).

Pictured is Panda Express Orange Sauce, but she used Panda Express Teriyaki Sauce.

Caesar Bacon Lettuce Wraps

1 Pkg. Caesar Salad Kit
1-2 pkg. bacon
Tortillas (I use Tortilla Land tortillas because I think they taste better.  You do have to cook them.  Or use ready made ones.  Whatever you like.)

Cook bacon (and tortillas if you buy them raw like me.)  Mix up the salad kit.  Put bacon and salad into the tortilla and viola! It's easy and quick!  We usually end up eating about 2 per person.

Italian Tortellini Soup

1 lb ground hot sausage

1 C onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 quarts water

3 Tbsp beef bouillon

1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes

2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce

½ tsp basil

1 bay leaf

½ tsp oregano

2 C carrots, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

20 oz cheese tortellini

In a pot, brown the sausage then drain the grease.  Add the onions and saute until translucent; add garlic and saute for 30 seconds more.  Add the water, bouillon, tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, bay leaf, oregano, carrots, peppers and tortellini.  Simmer until vegetables are soft and tortellini is cooked through. (About 8-10 min).  Serve.

White Chicken Chili

6-8 chicken breasts, cubed

2 quarts water

3 Tbsp chicken bouillon

1 onion, diced

2 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 (4oz) cans green chilies

3 (15oz) cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 C sour cream

½ C whipping cream (or evaporated milk)

Boil the chicken and bouillon in the water.  In a skillet, sauté the onions in the butter. Stir in the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Put the onions and garlic in the chicken pot, then add green chilies, beans, salt, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 min.  Next, add the sour cream and whipping cream.  Serve.

Peanut Butter Bites

Submitted by Sister Jan L.
She brought these for the girls on the last morning of Girls Camp 2018

2 C. Peanut Butter
1 C. Honey

Blend honey and PB.

Add 7 C. Rolled Oats.
(Jan says...I don't like it real sweet or real soft, so I usually add more oats (about a cup or so).)

Then she adds whatever add-ins she wants.  For girls camp she did...
1 small bag unsweetened coconut
1 bag of mini M &M's
1 C. of trail mix (to taste)
1 C. craisins (to taste)
Sunflower seeds

You can really add whatever you want.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoons place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or in cupcake papers.  She puts hers in the freezer, then after they are frozen she puts them in baggies.  They will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks or in the freezer for about 6 months.

Marinara Sauce

My go-to recipe for meatless spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and eggplant parmesan with ingredients I always have on-hand.

Marinara Sauce

Makes 1 3/4 cups

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14oz) crushed tomatoes
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
In medium saucepan, heat oil over med. heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring 1 min.
Stir in tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, sugar, oregano, basil, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer with lid ajar for 30 min, stirring occasionally. Season with more herbs to taste, if desired.

*I have used cans of whole tomatoes and diced tomatoes. As the sauce simmers I just used a potato masher to stir and crush up the tomatoes while they're really soft.

Creamy Stroganoff Pork Chops and a Bonus Money-saving Tip

I had a lot of leftover onion sour cream dip after a reunion picnic and I thought of making a stroganoff sauce with it. It turned out great. My husband and my toddler loved it, and so did I. I'm sure regular sour cream would be just fine too.

Creamy Stroganoff Pork ChopsMakes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion dip or sour cream
1/4 tsp dried dill
6 boneless pork chops
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 tsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp flour
1 3/4 cups or 1 (14 oz) can beef broth
3 Tbsp *tomato paste
1 tsp Worcestershire

Directions:
Season pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides and place in a greased 9x13 baking pan.
In a large skillet heat oil on med. heat; saute onions 8-10 min. until golden. Stir in garlic and cook 1 min.
Sprinkle flour over onions; cook and stir 2 min. Stir in broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Remove from heat and stir in onion dip/sour cream and dill.
Pour sauce over pork chops.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 min.

Serve with rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes. Also great with steamed veggies.
Next time I make this I want to make up the sauce and pour it over meat in the slow cooker.

*Frugal tomato paste tip: When I buy tomato paste in the little cans, I rarely ever need to use the whole can. Whatever is left over after my recipe I drop tomato paste by the Tablespoonful onto wax paper and freeze, then save them in a ziploc bag in my freezer until I need tomato paste again. Boom! They're already measured and you can plop them frozen right into your next recipe.

Layered Cheesecake

Recipe submitted by Brother Kyle T.

Brother Kyle brought this to the Elder Quorum Party in Aug 2018 and everyone loved it!

Crust
1 box Graham Crackers
6 Tablespoons Brown Sugar a little more then 1/3 cup
3/4 Cups Melted Butter


1st Layer
(2) 8 oz of soft Cream Cheese
2/3 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Lemon juice


2nd Layer
(2) 8 oz of soft Cream Cheese
2 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoon Lemon juice
(2) 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk

Optional toppings:
If desired


Directions Crust (crust will be divided into 2 layers)
Smash Crackers mix in Brown Sugar and melted Butter.
Put in a layer of Crust in a Glass pan.
Cook for 5 Minutes at 325 degrees
Pull out of oven.


Directions 1st Layer Cheesecake
Mix all ingredients together. 
Pour on crust.
Cook for 40-45 minutes at 225 degrees farenheit until it is almost done. Pull out of oven


Directions for another Crust layer
Lightly put another layer of crust on top of 1st layer.
Cook for 5 Minutes at 325 Pull out of oven.
Let it cool the Glass pan until it is good to touch..


Directions 2nd Layer Cheesecake
Mix all ingredients together. 
Pour on crust.
Put in fridge let sit for about 5 hours.


Topping
Add whatever you want.
If there is any left over crust, sprinkle on top of Topping.

Egg Roll in a Bowl

1 lb ground pork (I did regular, not HOT, since I was feeding my kids)
1 head green cabbage, thinly sliced (I did 1/2)
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 T. Sesame Oil
1/4 C. Soy Sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
2 T. chicken broth (I did beef, because that is what I had on hand)

I doubled the recipe above for my family of 6.

1.  Brown meat and drain
2.  Add oil and onion
3.  In a separate bowl mix soy sauce, garlic and ginger
4.  Add sauce from #3 to meat/onion mix
5.  Add cabbage and broth
Cook for 3 minutes (I cooked longer than that)

*Optional--garnish with green onion

Ground Chicken Pizza Crust (Keto-Low Carb-Gluten Free)

This is a pizza crust substitute that is high in protein and low in carbs.  It is very filling.

1 1/4 pound ground chicken, raw (I did 1 lb ground turkey)
1/3 C. fresh parmesan, shredded
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt (or regular salt)
2 tsp italian seasoning

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2.  Line large cookie sheet or pizza pan with parchment
3.  Spray parchment with cooking spray
4.  In a medium bowl combine the chicken, cheese and spices.  Mix until well incorporated.
5.  Spread the chicken mixture on the parchment in a thin layer
6.  Bake for 20 minutes
7.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  (I did not cool mine)
8.  Refrigerate or freeze if not going to use imediately.
9.  To make pizza, add sauce and toppings and bake 10 more minutes until cheese is melted.

Using the ground turkey as listed above it was 2.54 net carbs for the entire crust.

Homemade Mayo

Submitted by Sister M. Stans

Recipe originally from
From "Well Fed" and "It Starts with Food"

1 1/4 C. light olive oil (it must be light), DIVIDED
1 egg @ room temp (or 3 minutes in warm water)
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 to 1 lemon, juiced @ room temp (it takes several hours to overnight)

1.  Place the egg, 1/4 C. oil (NOT ALL) and spices in blender
2.  Blend thoroughly
3.  Slowly drizzle in remaining oil, while mixing
4.  After thoroughly mixed, add lemon juice to taste

Baked Fries

I got this recipe from Sister Amy G.

Makes 2 large servings or 4 small servings

4 small potatoes (or 1 large sweet potato)
2 T. EVOO
Garlic Salt or Sea Salt
Cayenne

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2.  Wash and Cut potatoes in 1/4" strips (like fries), peel first if desired
3.  Put fries and oil in a bag and toss to coat
4.  Line pan with parchment paper
5.  Put fries on pan
6.  Sprinkle with garlic salt (pretty liberally) and cayenne (as little as possible)
7.  Bake 20 minutes, then turn fries
8.  Bake another 15 minutes.

Keto Stroganoff

Serves 1 (large serving)

45 grams heavy whipping cream
62 grams 1/3 lower fat cream cheese (I'm sure you could sub regular cream cheese...this was just what I had on hand)
57 grams mozarella cheese, cubed
110 grams 85% hamburger (weight after cooking)
148 grams zucchini with skin, spiralized

1.  Cook and drain hamburger, weigh out desired amount
2.  In separate pan combine whip cream, cream cheese and mozarella
3.  Cook cream and cheeses until all all melted
4.  Add hamburger and zucchini
5.  Cook for a few minutes until Zucchini softens

Total Macros:
607 Calories
Net Carbs 6.3
Fat 41.8
Protein 49