Sloppy Joes

I got this from my friend Stephanie. This is the best receipe! Once you have it, you'll never do Manwich again! We eat it a lot - it is VERY kid friendly and VERY easy!!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. hamburger
1 onion
1 and 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 can tomato soup
1/2 cup katsup
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 and 1/2 tsp dry mustard (optional - I opt yes)
1/2 tsp curry powder (optional - I opt no)

Directions:
Brown and drain the hamburger and onion together (I do it in a large skillet - this way I am able to make this whole meal in one pan). Once it is drained put it back in the large skillet and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix together and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until it is a "sloppy joe" consistency. Serve it on hamburger buns (we like to top it with a thin slice of cheddar cheese)!

Turkey and Apple Melts

Turkey and Apple Melts
from Harvest Creek

• 1 12.5 oz can harvest creek diced turkey, drained
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 - 1/2 cups grated swiss cheese
• 1 apple finely chopped
• 12 slices bread of your choice
• 2 tbsp butter

combine the turkey, mayonnaise, swiss cheese, and apple.
make sandwiches
use butter or oil on the outside of sandwiches.
cook in a frying pan with a cover until cheese begins to melt and bread is toasted.

The Best Parmasan Chicken Ever!

This receipe comes from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook!
Parmasan Chicken:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 extra large eggs
1and1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated parmasan cheese (plus extra for serving)
unsalted butter
olive oil
salad greens for 6 (we used baby romaine)
lemon viniagrette (I will put the receipe for that at the bottom)

1. Pound chicken until it is 1/4 inch thick.
2. Combine flour, salt, and pepper, on a dinner plate (or a pie tin). On a second plate (or tin) beat eggs with 1 tbsp. water. On a third plate (or tin) combine bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated parmasan cheese. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides in the egg mixture, and then dredge both sides with the bread crumb mixture. (**It seemed wierd to me to do the flour mixture before the egg mixture, but this is the correct order - so don't think I typed it wrong.)
3. Heat 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large sautee pan and cook breasts on med-low heat for 2-5 minutes on each side until cooked through. Add more butter and olive oil every time you re-use the pan. (**We used one big sautee pan and one medium sized skillet and it made all five at once. Also, if you notice one part of the chicken isn't cooking Vanessa sprayed that part with cooking spray, put it back down in the pan, and it made it cook better - just a trick I didn't know!)
4. Top with lettuce greens and drizzle with lemon viniagrette. Serve with extra grated parmasan cheese on top (don't be stingy with the cheese!)

Lemon Viniagrette:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons) (**Vanessa said you could use bottled lemon juice, but it wasn't as good.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1. Wisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper (**Rick added a little lemon zest also, it was great).
2. Drizzle over the greens that you have put on the chicken!
**I think this viniagrette would be delicious just on some lettuce or spinach as a light and refreshing summer salad, just some lettuce topped with the viniagrette and some grated parmasan cheese!

I realize it looks like a lot and sort of complicated, but from the time we started until we were ready to eat was about 30-40 minutes and we made side dishes in that time too, so it isn't as time consuming as it seems.

Theresa's Adaptation of Great Grandma Brunner's Tamale Pie

Great Grandma Brunner's Tamale Pie
Adapted by her Great Granddaughter

Ingredients:

• 1 cup slivered almonds (optional) and a little oil
• 1/2 - 1 lb ground beef
• 1 chopped onion (optional)
• 1 chopped green pepper (optional)
• 3-4 large handfuls of egg noodles
• 3-4 cups water
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (or small can parts and stems) (optional)
• 3 - 5 medium sized beef tamales in large chunks
• 1 can olives chopped (optional)
• 2 - 3 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 tsp cayanne pepper (optional)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1-2 cups shredded cheese

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown almond slivers in some oil in a large skillet then set aside in the casserole dish.
3. Brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper in the large skillet.
4. Add the water and egg noodles to the meat, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the egg noodles have sucked up all the water. The meat should be pretty well cooked through.
5. Drain this mixture and put into a 9X13 casserole dish or pyrex pan.
6. Combine with almonds, diced tomatoes (juice and all), corn, mushrooms, tamale chunks, olives, worcestershire sauce, cayanne pepper, paprika, and pepper. Make sure everything is mixed together in the pan without breaking up the tamale chunks too badly.
7. Cover with shredded cheese
8. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until cheese has melted and contents are bubbling.

I haven't tried this yet, but I think it'll work and I'm going to try it shortly after christmas since I have some tamales I want to use. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Some Notes on the Changes I've made:

• I made some of the ingredients optional for picky eaters.
• I cut the overall cooking time down by at least 45 minutes for the mom who doesn't have time to let dinner cook ALL DAY.
• I stole the idea of cooking the meat with the noodles from hamburger helper's recipes. They always use this shortcut to save on DISHES, EASE, and TIME I've noticed.
• I cut down the amounts of the ingredients so that the end result would be better suited to a smaller family.
• I don't prefer creamed corn so i substituted for whole kernel.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies and Butter Frosting

Cookies:
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese at room temp
1 cup real butter at room temp
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. baking powder

1. Cream together cream cheese, butter, sugar, egg, flavorings, and baking powder with a mixer on medium speed until well blended
2. Gradually add flour and mix well
3. Refrigerate overnight
4. Roll dough to about 1/4 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes

Frosting:
1/3 cup cold real butter (I found out the hard way you don't want to use margarine)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Food Coloring

1. Beat butter till fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of powdered sugar and slowly beat in milk and vanilla
2. Slowly beat in remaining powdered sugar.
3. Add food coloring

This recipe makes soft delicious sugar cookies.

Homemade Pedialite

If I haven't raved about my pediatrician before, let me do so now...he is AWESOME!! Noah has been throwing up today and because of the storm I can't really get anywhere to buy special drinks for him, so he gave me this receipe for some homemade pedialite. It is stuff I usually have on hand anyway and it is really easy to make. I will never buy special "sick" drinks again!

1 quart of water
1 oz. orange juice
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Mix them all together and give it in small sips to your sick child.
If your child doesn't like the taste, Dr. Parker said that you could add either a little more o.j. or sugar to sweeten the taste. Isn't he amazing!

Cheeseburger Soup

My friend Stephanie gave me this receipe for a yummy soup that I made last night. It is very hearty, creamy, and delicious! My family loved this meal! It has a lot of good stuff in it (carrots, celery, potatoes, etc.) but you can't really taste it, so it is a great meal for kids. It was a great way to sneak some veggies into Clayton's dinner! This is our new favorite creamy soup!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. browned hamburger
3/4 c. shredded carrots
1 tsp. dried basil
4 tbsp. butter divided
4 c. peeled diced potatoes
8 oz. Velveeta (cut into cubes)
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. diced celery
1 tsp. parsley
3 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. sour cream

Saute onion, carrots, celery, basil, and parsley in 1 tbsp. butter for about 10 minutes. Add broth, potatoes, beef, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small pan melt 3 tbsp. butter and add flour. Cook and stir about 3-5 min. Add to soup. Bring to a boil, cook about 2min. Reduce heat to low, add velveeta, salt, and pepper. Cook (while stirring) until cheese melts. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and enjoy!
**I served it with warm homemade bread, this is the PERFECT soup to dip with!**