Fruit & Yogurt Smoothies

Ya' know how Yoplait has their new Frozen smoothies, usually in the juice section of the store...well, they're over $3 for 2 servings...*sigh*

These are a perfect knock off...same consistency and every thing.

Ingredients:

6 oz Frozen yogurt chunks - I use vanilla and freeze them in tablespoons over night.

1 cup frozen fruit - I use strawberries. Tried blueberries once, and it was ok, but I'm not a big blueberry person

1 cup milk

Pepperoni Pizza Bread

I threw this together tonight just to see what happened - and it's a hit!

2 cups bisquick

3 oz pepperoni

1 cup shredded cheese

2/3 c milk

2 Tbsp margarine or butter

1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix together bisquick, pepperoni, and shredded cheese. Stir in milk...this will be tough, I had to finish up with my hands. It was very tempting to add a bit more milk, but I'm glad I didn't.

Spray an 8" round pan with cooking spray, then put mixture in it and push around to the edges.

Bake for 20 minutes.

In the last couple minutes, put the margarine/butter in a bowl and microwave 45 seconds to melt. Stir in garlic powder.

When the bread is done, brush the garlic & butter mixture over the top. Cut and serve...eat alone or dip in pizza or alfredo sauce.

Yummy dill potatoes and onions

I don't measure. Consider all of these "suggestions," especially considering that I don't know how many potatoes you need to feed your family, or the size of the onions you like to buy.

1 large onion, peeled and cut into wedges
enough potatoes to feed everybody, cut into chunks (about an inch or so)... peel them if you want to, but I generally don't
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. (more or less) dill weed
1 tsp. (more or less) garlic powder
cooking oil

Put some oil in your pan and heat it up. Toss in the onion, and cook and stir it over medium heat just until it starts to get fragrant -- about 2 or 3 minutes. Toss in your potatoes, and add salt and pepper to taste (I like a little salt and lots of pepper) and the garlic powder. (You can use fresh minced too, and it would probably be even better.) Cook and stir for a while. Don't let the onions sit too long without getting scraped up off the bottom, or they'll get burned. They're going to end up kind of caramelized, but you don't want them crispy. A few minutes before the potatoes are done cooking, sprinkle in your dill. Use as much as you like -- I like a lot! I find if you add it earlier in the cooking it still tastes ok, but the dill loses some of its oomph and you have to add more, so I save it until last. And that's it! Yummy with just about everything. You can also add cut up carrots and/or celery for more yummy goodness.

Molten Lava Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

DOVE Promises (I prefer dark chocolate)

1 recipe of chocolate chip cookies (I use an adaptation of the Nestle Tollhouse recipe - I use 1 cup of brown sugar and no nuts)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Make cookie dough as directed by recipe.
2. Spray a cupcake pan. Fill each spot about 1/3 full of dough, put a Promise in the middle, then cover with more dough - the spot should be about 2/3 full.
3. Bake for 20 minutes.

Easy Boneless "Buffalo Wings"

boneless skinless chicken cut into chunks

cornstarch

salt

pepper

onion powder

garlic powder

oil for frying

container with lid big enough for shaking

Preheat oil to 400. I use a deep fryer.

Coat chicken with cornstarch and seasonings by placing all items (chicken first) into the container, then closing the lid and shaking it all around.

Fry chicken a few pieces at a time until about 170* internally - time will vary depending on size but my pieces were about the size of a McDonald's chicken nugget and took 5-7 minutes per batch of 6-10 pieces.

Drain on paper towel.

Coating:

I used three different coatings. The first was straight buffalo sauce, the second was half buffalo sauce and half ranch, and the third was BBQ sauce. Put cooked chicken in a clean container with lid and pour sauce on top; close & shake. They were also good without a coating.

Taco meat burrito thingys (an alternative to regular tacos)

2 cups taco meat (I keep it in the freezer in 2-cup packages)
2 carrots
1 onion (or half a large one)
2 large whole-wheat soft tortillas
cheese

Grab some taco meat that's been in the freezer for a while and you don't know what to do with it. Or just make some with ground beef and taco seasoning. If you're making it fresh, drain it well after it's brown. Use a food processor to finely chop the onion and carrots together, and then put them in the skillet with your taco meat (you don't have to defrost your meat first if it's frozen -- just stick it in there). Cook over medium heat until the onions are getting tender and a little browned. Spoon the mixture onto the tortilla shells, half in each one. Put it right in the middle, in kind of a strip down the middle. Put your cheese on top of the meat, however much and whatever kind you like. I used white American because it was what we had, but I think cheddar or a spicy cheese would be better. Fold the sides of the tortilla over everything, so it's like a flat burrito. Stick it on your George Foreman grill and grill it until it's brown and the cheese is melted, just a minute or two. If you don't have a George Foreman grill -- um, you need to get one. But you could probably brown it in the skillet if you wanted, if you've drained out the oil.

I don't like tacos because I hate lettuce and the stuff that's usually in tacos, so this is a good alternative. You don't *need* the carrots, I suppose, but they do enhance the flavor a bit, and it's added nutrition. I add chopped carrots to whatever I can add them to, because it's good for you and you don't notice the flavor that much. You could probably also do the same thing with chopped celery, maybe even some chopped baby spinach leaves. Whatever. This is great because it's a quick lunch packed with protein and flavor, and you can customize it for your tastes. Although I don't think I'd put lettuce in it. It would get wilty on the grill.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This was an impromptu meal put together upon realizing that I didn't have enough tortillas to make enchiladas - AFTER I had already mixed up the filling. It came out super yummy, so I'm going to share. :-)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter/margarine

1 box Rice-a-Roni Mexican or Spanish rice

1 can (14 oz, I think) of refried beans

1 small can (10 oz, I think) of Old El Paso green chili enchilada sauce

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese

1 can (4-7oz) chopped green chilies

1 to 1.5 lbs of chicken, cut into bite size pieces

tortillas

tortilla chips

shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. Prepare Rice-a-Roni according to package directions.

3. While the rice is simmering, cook the chicken in a skillet. Once it's done cooking, add the cream cheese and green chilies and stir and cook until all is combined and warm.

4. Spray the bottom of a casserole dish with cooking spray. Spoon a very thin layer of enchilada sauce in the dish. Place a layer of tortillas in the bottom. The number of tortillas will depend on the size of the dish and the tortillas; my dish was about 8x12 and my tortillas were fajita-size - I used two.

5. Spoon all of chicken mixture into casserole dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Add another layer of tortillas.

6. Spread refried beans into casserole dish. I found this to be easier if I picked up each tortilla and spread it on the tortilla, then used a spoon to fill in any gaps where the tortillas didn't cover.

7. Spread rice on top of beans.

8. Crush enough tortilla chips to cover top of casserole, then spread on top. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of chips. Bake for about 15 minutes.

*I actually used leftover rice and beans, so if you find a full box of rice or a full can of beans is too much for you, use half instead and save the rest for another meal.