Thought I'd post something...these are a favorite of the family. Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Bars
1 1/2 C Sugar
1 C Butter
1 8 oz Cream Cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
cream the above ingredients together
Then add:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 C flour
Place in 11X17 inch pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 min.

Frosting:
1/2 C butter
4 oz. cream cheese
3 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
food coloring of choice
milk as needed

Karine Romero

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

Cafe Rio might be my favorite thing to eat, and when our secretary at school made these salads for us for Christmas I was in heaven!  I found the recipes in my box this morning, and thought while my student teacher was teaching I would post them for all of you!!

Cafe Rio Pork Salads

Recipes from:  Caryn Waterman

Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork

2 Cups Pace Salsa

1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

1 Can Coke or Dr. Pepper

1 3lb. Pork Tenderloin or Center-Cut Pork Loin

Cut the pot into large chunks and place in a crock pot.  Fill it half way up with water.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours.  Drain off the water.  Shred the port and remove any excess fat.  Put salsa, soda, and brown sugar in a blender and mix well.  Pour over the shredded port and cook in the crock pot for 3 more hours on low.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

1 Cup Mayonaise

4 tbs. Green Salsa Verde

1-2 Cloves of Garlic

3/4-1 Cup Chopped Cilantro

1 tsp. Lime Juice

1/2-1 Small Jalepeno, seeds removed.

Blend everything together in a blender.  Add a little milk if the dressing is too thick.



Black Beans

2- 16 oz. Cans Black Bean

1/2 Cup Chopped Onion

2 Cloves of Garlic

1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Salt and Pepper to taste

Juice from 1/2 a Lime

In a medium sauce pan, combine beans, onions and garlic.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Season the beans with cayenne and salt.  Add pepper if needed.  Simmer for 15 minutes, add lime juice, and serve.

Cafe Rio Rice

4 tsp. Chicken Bouillon

4 tsp. Chopped Garlic

1/2 Bunch Chopped Cilantro

1 tsp. Cumin

1 Can Green Chilies

3/4 tsp. Salt

1 tbs. Butter

1/2 of a Chopped Onion

Blend ingredients together in a blender, then put in a pan on the stove.  Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add 3 cups of MINUTE rice and simmer for 30 minutes.

"No-Guilt" Chocloate Oat Cookies

The only guilt you'll have is from eating half the batch in one day!

1/4 cup butter
3/4 c. Splenda
1/2 c. brown sugar Splenda blend (or you can use 3/4 c. brown sugar)
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
2 T. water
2 t. vanilla
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon (optional)
1/4 t salt
2 c. rolled oats, uncooked (can substitute quick-cooking)
1/2 to 3/4 c. chocolate chips

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, egg whites, water and vanilla; beat until well mixed. Add all dry ingredients except for the oats to butter mixture; beat until blended. Mix in oats; stir in chocolate chips. I use a cookie scoop to drop cookies onto baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
makes 2-1/2 to 3 dozen cookies.

Take my word for it, they are EXTREMELY yummy. You may want to double the recipe!

Avocado Salsa

Ingredients

8 oz frozen corn
1 can black eyed peas (drain MOST of juice)
2-3 large tomatoes (or large can diced)
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 green onions, finely chopped
1 pk dry Italian dressing
2 Haas avocados, cubed
Juice of 1-2 limes

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients except for dressing and avocados
2. Mix dressing according to package directions
3. Stir dressing and vegetable mixture together. Chill
4. Add avocados just before serving

White Chili

4 cans Great Northern White Beans (rinsed)
4 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion, chopped

Simmer 1 hour

4 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 can diced green chilies
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic

Simmer 1 hour

Serve with sour cream and Monterrey Jack Cheese

Taco Salad Meat Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c green (or red) pepper
1 packet taco seasoning
1 16 oz can re-fried beans
1 16 oz can stewed tomatoes

Instructions
Brown ground beef with onions in a large frying pan. Add green pepper and saute. Add remaining ingredients, stir well, simmer, serve.

Amish White Bread

From: allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tbs active dry yeast (approx. 4 packets)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tbs gluten or dough inhancer
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 cups BREAD flour

Instructions
1. In a large bowl dissolve the sugar in warm water then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix oil, gluten and salt into yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place into 2 well oiled 9 x 5 loaf pans. (those are Large Loaf pans, 3 if you have Medium size pans) Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Chicken Carbonara

This one is for Greg.  I made it once for him, because I knew it is his FAVORITE thing to eat!!  By no means is this a diet food.....or even one that could even be considered a little bit nutritious, but man is it good!  Just ask Greg!!

Chicken Carbonara

By:  Giada DeLaurentiis

Taken from:  Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped (I used bacon.)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

8 large egg yolks

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Salt

1 pound spaghetti

4 cups coarsely shredded chicken (from 1 roasted chicken)

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (I left these out...sounded weird to me.)

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta (or bacon) and garlic and saute until it is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, cheese, yolks, basil, and parsley to blend.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Add the chicken to the pan with the pancetta and stir to combine. Next, add the spaghetti and the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the chicken is heated through and the saucecoats the spaghetti thickly, about 4 minutes (do not boil or you might end up scrambling the eggs). Season the pasta, to taste, with pepper and salt if needed (the pancetta will likely add all the salt you need). Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl. Sprinkle the walnuts and lemon zest over, and serve.

I have only made this recipe once, but it was delish!  A little labor intensive, but worth it.  This probably wouldn't be a week night meal, but one you might want to save for special occasions.  There was no picture of it on Foodnetwork.com either.  I bet by now you can figure out who my favorite Food Network personality/chef is.......since this isn't the first, or the last recipe of her's I will share.

Chicken Tetrazzini

By:  Giada DeLaurentiis

Taken from:  Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

9 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 pound white mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, finely chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk, room temperature

1 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature

1 cup chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

12 ounces linguine

3/4 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

1 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup dried Italian-style breadcrumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Spread 1 tablespoon of butter over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Melt 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil in a deep large nonstickfrying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot pan and cook until pale golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool slightly. Coarsely shred the chicken into bite-size pieces and into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil to the same pan. Add the mushrooms and saute over medium-high heat until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms become pale golden, about 12 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it evaporates, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the bowl with the chicken.

Melt 3 more tablespoons butter in the same pan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, broth, nutmeg, remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Increase the heat to high. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 9 minutes. Drain. Add the linguine, sauce, peas, and parsley to the chicken mixture. Toss until the sauce coats the pasta and the mixture is well blended.

Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Stir the cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the pasta. Dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top and the sauce bubbles, about 25 minutes.

This is probably my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It's easy, and doesn't make a zillion cookies like so many recipes do.  This picture doesn't do the cookies justice, I promise!!  These are not your average run of the mill cookies!  I added a few of my own tweeks to the recipe in italics.

My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

By:  Tyler Florence

Taken from:  Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher salt, which adds a little salty bite to the cookies that is delish!)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I always triple the vanilla in any chocolate chip cookie recipe I make.)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (8-ounce) block dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I add 1/2 of a bag of Chocolate Chips instead.)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use a silicone mat). Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside (I skip this step, and my cookies always turn out just fine).

Place the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms. Turn off the mixer and fold in the chocolate chunks using the spatula.

To form the cookies, scoop about 1/4 cup of cookie dough into your hands and roll it around into a ball; place them about 3-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets; you should get about 4 cookies on each pan. Press down the tops of the dough slightly and bake until the cookies are light brown, 12 minutes for chewy cookies, or about 15 minutes for crispy cookies.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough/cookie sheets.

Poppy Seed Chicken

This is another recipe from my mama......It is a recipe that doesn't make too much, maybe enough for 2-3 people, but can easily be doubled or even tripled for those with larger families.  Again, I apologize for the lack of picture.  I will get better at taking pictures of things when I cook now that we have this fabulous blog!

Poppy Seed Chicken

Ingredients:

2 Cooked Chicken Breasts Cubed

1/2 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 Can of Cream of Celery Soup

1/2 Cup of Sour Cream

1/2 of a Sleeve of Ritz Crackers Crushed

1/4 Cup of Melted Butter

1 Tablespoon of Poppy Seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the soups, sour cream. and chicken together.  Pour the mixture into a 9x9 Pyrex baking dish.  Mix the butter, crackers, and poppy seeds together, and sprinkle the mixture over the chicken.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Crock Pot Chicken

This is one of Cameron's favorite recipes, and it is super simple to make.  I mean, who doesn't love crock pot meals!?!?  I think I brought it to the "Favorite Foods" dinner a few years ago.  

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to go with it so you will have to use your imagination.  And, I am not sure where the recipe came from originally.  This is one I got from my mama when I got married.

Crock Pot Chicken

Ingredients:

8 Chicken Breasts
1 Stick of Butter
1 Pkg of Dry Italian Dressing Mix
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 8 oz. Pkg of Cream Cheese

Directions:

Place the chicken and the butter into the crock pot.  Sprinkle with the entire package of Italian dressing mix.  Cook on low for 7 hours or 3-4 on high (depending on how big your chicken breasts are).  Half an hour before serving, melt the cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in the microwave, and add to the crock pot.  Mix well, and continue cooking for 30 more minutes.  Serve the delicious contents of the crock pot over rice.

Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

This is a recipe I got from Megan Bradley's blog, Confessions of a Bake-a-holic.  She is always posting delcious recipes that are both sweet and savory!  If you like Asian food or salmon, you definately need to try her Soy Noodle Salmon Stir Fry.  It was AMAZING!!  I added a button with a direct link to her blog in the left column. 

These are also the cookies I brought to our cookie swap.  I didn't use the red crunchy peppermint chips though.....I used green mint chips I found a Winco.

Chocolate Cookies with Mint Crunch Chips

By: Megan Bradley

Taken from: TheBradleyKitchen.blogspot.com

1 chocolate cake mix
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 c oil
2 eggs
1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips (if you can't find them, any minty chips will work)

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix together cake mix, sugar, oil and eggs. Stir in chips. Drop dough balls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool.

Egg Nog Pound Cake

Eggnog Pound Cake Recipe

Recipe adapted from one by Flo Braker

Taken from Simplerecipes.com

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1/2 cup dried currants, raisins or cranberries
• 2 Tbsp dark rum or water
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup eggnog mixed with 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp grated orange zest

Glaze:

• 3 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 Tbsp dark rum
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

• Soak currants in rum in a small bowl for 15 minutes.
• Adjust rack to lower third of oven. Preheat the oven to 325°F (350°F if the pan doesn't have a dark finish). Butter a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan (original recipe calls for a Festive Cake Pan).
• Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until creamy, 30-45 seconds. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally as needed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
• At very low speed, add dry ingredients in 4 additions, alternating with eggnog (begin and end with dry ingredients). Scrape bowl occasionally. Gently fold in orange zest, currants and any remaining rum.
• Spoon batter into pan; spread evenly. Bake 55-65 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center and pulls away from the sides of the pan. You can also use a long toothpick or thin bamboo skewer and insert into the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done.
• Remove from oven and cool upright in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.
• Prepare glaze by blending together sugar, orange juice, and rum.
• Invert cake onto a rack, over a sheet of waxed paper. Use a pastry brush to brush the surface of the cake with the glaze. Cool completely before serving.

Notes from the website:

Baked at convection setting I used a 325 degree oven. I've made mini cakes from this recipe and got 12 plus a mini loaf pan. I also found out that eggnog can be frozen if you don't have time to bake the cake and the eggnog is in danger of going sour.

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake

The holiday season is all about giving, and for me that means giving the gift of a delicious treat! 

This is one of my new holiday favs!! 

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake

By:  Giada De Laurentiis

(taken from Foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 table spoon granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 orange, zested
• 2 tablespoons amaretto Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan with butter. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to blend.

Using a mixer, cream the butter, ricotta and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange zest and amaretto until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. To wrap, return to the pan and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Photograph by Gemma Comas