Tacos and water

The inside of taco seasoning packets is foil-lined...instead of getting a measuring cup dirty to measure out your water...just fill the empty packet with water before adding it to your meat.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is one of my favorite soup recipes:

Boil in unsalted water (about 15 min, or until tender)

4 carrots finely chopped or 1/2 bag of shredded carrots (from Maceys)

4 green onions, chopped (all but roots)

4 stalks of broccoli (chopped, heads only)

SAVE THE WATER YOU BOIL THEM IN!!! (Put colander over a bowl to catch water)

Melt in separate saucepan:

1/4 C. butter (I used real, but you can use margarine)

Stir in 1/3 C. flour with a whisk

Using a whisk stir in:

2 1/2 C. half and half (purchase 2 pints or 1 quart---then measure at home)

1 1/2 C. of your vegetable water (saved from above)

5 chicken boullion cubes

Stir sauce until smooth and thick. Add cooked veggies. When serving, you can top with cheese, but it is good without it also. One recipe (as listed above) will fit in a small crockpot (is that 5 qt?) if you double it, it will fit in a large crockpot (8 qt?).

Coconut Chex Mix

I made this for my New Years Eve Party. I got the recipe from my Mom. She had two different neighbors bring it over to her for Christmas Neighbor gifts.

1 medium box golden grahams

1/2 box rice chex

1 large jar of unsalted nuts

1 C. butter (I used real)

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. Karo syrup

1 tsp vanilla

Bring butter, sugar, karo to a boil. Boil for 30 sec. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Pour over cereal or popcorn.

That is the "real" recipe.

This is the way my Mom's friends made it and I made it...

Same as above except no golden grahams, just 1 box of rice chex. No salted nuts. After making the sugar mix pour it over cereal, 1 package slivered almonds and 1/2 bag of coconut.

I loved it, I love anything with coconut in it.

Alternative Hawaiian Haystacks

Last night we made Hawaiian Haystacks. But first off I was out of chicken. Secondly I had left over ham and cooked ground sausage. So we had hawaiian haystacks with cubed ham and ground sausage instead of chicken. I loved it. I think I liked it better than chicken.

As a side note, I was also out of pineapple so we did not have that as a topping. I think it would have been good though.

The toppings we had on hand were...

rice, ground sausage, cubed ham, grated colby cheese, coconut, gravy (Cream of chicken soup with a can of milk), crunchy chinese noodles.

For my family of 5 eaters...I made two cans of soup with 2 soup cans of milk...it was just right.

Need recipes from Ward Christmas Party

If you brought something to the ward Christmas party...WE REALLY WANT THE RECIPES!!!!! Everything was so good!

Cheeseball Recipe

Copies of this recipe were out on the RS table...I don't know whose recipe it is or why it was out...but I swiped one and am sharing it with you.

1 pkg cream cheese

1T. worchestershire sauce, or according to taste

1T. milk

Green onion, chopped into small pieces

Chipped/dried beef, chopped into small pieces (found by the canned meats, it will either come in a package or in a small glass jar.)

Mix the first 3 ingredients until it is a smooth consistency. Add green onion and dried beef according to your liking. This recipe will make one small ball. If making for a party, I would double it.

Hawaiin chicken

I made up this new recipe last night. It was really good and the kids liked it too (although my kids aren't very picky). I made fried chicken like I usually do. Then I made sweet and sour sauce like I usually do, except that I didn't have any pineapple juice. So I drained a can of pineapple tidbits (soup can size) and used that juice (it was about 7 oz). After the sweet and sour had thickened, I added the can of pineapple tidbits (when I make it again, I will only add 1/2 of the tidbits). I then placed the chicken in the bottom of a pan and poured the sauce over the top. It would be good over rice, but I didn't think far enough ahead.

Here is a link to my fried chicken

http://just2morebites.blogspot.com/2011/07/fried-chicken.html

here is a link to my sweet and sour sauce

http://just2morebites.blogspot.com/2011/07/sweet-and-sour-sauce-won-ton-sauce.html

Kitchen utencil organization

I have always stored my utencils in a jumbled up drawer. Then when Amy G. taught her organization class she said she stores her in canisters, so I decided to try it. I keep mine in my pantry because I don't have a lot of counter space to start with. I really like it. It makes it easier to find things and gives me more drawer space.

Packet Mixes Organization

This is the way I organize my packet mixes. I take empty taco seasoning boxes (or gravy or whatever) from the grocery store, they fit the packages perfectly. Free and organized!!!

Spice organization

This is how I organize my spices...I think it's a pretty good idea...so I thought I'd share...

This picture is sideways...sorry...inside my cupboard door I have a list of all the spices I have. They are organized alphabetically.

This is a picture of the bins. Each bin has a number on it. The bins are listed on the paper with the spices that go in that bin. These particular bins are about 2 or 4 for $1 at Walmart. On the left are spices that are too big to fit in the bins. I call these "loose" and I have a category on the paper called "loose".

Do you have any Christmas Recipes?

Do you have any recipes that you like to make around this time of year?

Nancy's chicken

Becca N. and I have bragged about this meal before (we have both been lucky enough to have Nancy P. bring it to us after having a baby).

1 whole fryer chicken

clean the chicken.

baste with melted butter or olive oil.

Salt and pepper the chicken.

Bake at 325 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Start baking covered with foil. Just before done remove the foil to brown.

Serve with stove top, mashed potatoes and root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) sprinkled with parsley. You can cook the root vegs at the same time as the chicken (I can't remember how long though?!?!?!)

I have made this before it is moist and delicious and easy.

Three sauces

I just found these recipes from a RS activity at Evelyn's house a while back. They served these sauces with pulled pork over rice. I'm sure you could do it on buns too. I think they would be good with meatballs too. I'm not sure whose recipes they actually are (maybe Jan's???). I remember liking all three.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 C. sugar

1/2 C. white vinegar

1/2 C. water or pineapple juice

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp corn starch

1 T. cold water

Green pepper to taste, chopped chunky

Onion to taste, chopped chunky

Large can pineapple chunks

Combine sugar, vinegar, water, salt, paprika, garlic. Boil for 5 minutes. Put cornstarch in a small bowl and ass 1 T. cold water. Whisk with fork until smooth. Pour cornstarch mixture into boiling mixture stirring constantly until smooth. Mixture will thicken. Add green peppers and onions and pineapple chunks. Let simmer until peppers and onion are tenderized a little, but still crisp. If mixture is not thick enough, repeat the cornstarch step.

Quick Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 bottle Toshibas Hawaiian sweet and sour sauce

1 large can chunk pineapple juice and all.

1/2 C. water

green pepper, coarsely cut

onion, coarsely cut

Simmer all above until peppers and onions are a little tender but still crunchy.

ou can only find this sauce during the late summer/early fall at Sam's (big bottle) or Maceys (small bottle). It is seasonal. So if you find it...stock up.

BBQ sauce

1 C. ketchup

1 C. brown sugar

1/4 C. white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp prepared mustard

4 T. vinegar

Mix everything. Microwave just long enough to melt sugars. Pour over cooked meat. If you don't use all the sauce, refrigerate, microwave to liquify sugars when used again. Do not use this BBQ sauce to cook with the meat. The high sugar content will burn under normal cooking conditions. Great for southern pulled pork sandwiches with fruit coleslaw on top.