Friday, January 30, 2009

Homemade Mac-n-Cheese!

Here is one of my favorite dishes to take to church or to a sick friend. It is the ultimate comfort food. Enjoy!

Homemade Mac-N-Cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups macaroni (cooked until tender)
1/2 stick butter
1 can evaporated milk
2-3 cups of Cheese (your choice...I use Cheddar and sometimes throw in some Pepper Jack for a kick!)
Salt and Pepper

Layer in a casserole dish in the following order: 1/2 macaroni, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 of the butter in small pats, 1/3 of the cheese and then repeat ending with cheese on top. Pour whole can of evaporated milk over entire casserole and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to 1 hour (until starts to brown). Yummy, yummy in my tummy!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!

This one is my sweet husband's favorite! Old fashioned oatmeal raisin cookies! They are wonderful anytime.
Here is the recipe and a few pictures too. I realized the other day that some of our younger "church ladies" have not had a lot of experience cooking from scratch so I thought I would take the time to show a "step by step" recipe especially for all of the "beginner" church ladies!
Enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
In a large bowl mix...
1 cup butter (yes...real butter!)
1 cup white sugar (I actually used Splenda instead!)
1 cup brown sugar
Cream together well in large bowl with electric mixer.


Once mixed well add 2 eggs and 1and1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.and beat well until mixture is creamy.

Now, mix in 2 cups of plain flour (not self-rising), 1 teaspoon of baking soda, one teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
Once this is mixed well, stir in 1 1/2 cups of raisins and 3 cups of Quaker Quick cooking oats. The mixture will look like this.
I usually use a tablespoon to measure a good sized "dollop"! These do not spead out very much so you can put them fairly close together. I also recommend using a baking stone, mine is from Pampered Chef and I use it all the time! Bake at 375 degrees for about 12-14 minutes depending on how brown you would like them. Here they are before baking...



AND...after! They are so good!











Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Blueberry Cake!

Here is a simple and delicious recipe for blueberry cake! A church lady favorite! Enjoy!

Blueberry Cake
1/4 butter
1 cup of sugar or Splenda
1 egg
1 1/4-2 cups of blueberries
1 3/4 Cups of flour
1 tsp. of vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of milk
Powdered Sugar (for dusting)


Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease pan (either 8×8 or bundt pan)

  • Cream butter and sugar, add egg
  • Add dry ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla
  • Fold in blueberries
  • Bake for 50 minutes

When cool, dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Easy Mexican Chicken Casserole

This was actually a recipe I came up with quite by accident.

I started by putting 3-4 boneless chicken breasts in the crockpot and cooked them on low with about 1/2 jar of medium salsa. Now just the chicken cooked in the salsa is wonderful but I decided to experiment a little and take it up a notch!

When the chicken was done and could be shredded easily with a fork I shredded the chicken into small pieces and sat aside. Take one can of cream of chicken soup and mix with one can of milk in a separate bowl and set aside.

Next, spray a 9x13 inch pyrex dish with Pam. Layer one layer of flour or corn tortilla shells (overlapping them is fine) then spread the tortilla shells with the 1/2 of the chicken.

On top of the chicken mixture, layer a generous amount of cheddar cheese and layer another layer of tortilla shells. Top with the remaining chicken...more cheese and a final layer of tortilla shells and cover all with the cream of chicken soup.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes until starts to brown.

This was so easy and so good and was even good the next day! Ole' again Eula Mae!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Bisquick favorites!

I have said it before and I will say it again...Bisquick is a church lady's best friend! You can even buy the low fat version and it is good! Here are a few of my favorite Bisquick Recipes. Enjoy!

Blueberry Banana Bread
Ingredients:
2 Cups Bisquick (regular or reduced fat)
1/4 Cup oatmeal
2/3 Cup sugar or Splenda
2-3 med-large very ripe bananas (mashed)
1/4 Cup milk
2 eggs
1 Cup blueberries (frozen are fine)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix Bisquick, oats, sugar, bananas, milk and eggs in a large bowl. Mix well for about 30 seconds (careful not to over mix) Gently fold in the blueberries. Put mixture in a well-sprayed loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick insterted comes out clean. Great on these cold mornings and healthy too!



Bisquick Drop Danish
Ingredients
Danish:
2 Cups Bisquick (low-fat or regular)
1/4 cup softened margerine
2 Tablespoons Sugar or Splenda
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup of your favorite fruit preserves (Smuckers makes some WONDERFUL sugar-free strawberry preserves!)

Glaze:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon warm water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix the baking mix, margerine and sugar together until crumbly. Stir in the milk until soft dough forms. Beat about 15 strokes. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Make a little shallow "well" in the middle to fill with your preserves. Bake until golden brown (about 10-15 minutes). Drizzle with the glaze while still warm. Yummy!


Quick Bisquick Pudding Cookies
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Bisquick
1 package of instant pudding mix (any flavor)
1/4 oil
1 egg

Mix all ingredients together and form into small balls and flatten with your hand on un-greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Quick...easy and mmmmmm good!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup canned pumpkin (real pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 Cup milk
1 egg
2 Cups Bisquick
1/4 Cup sugar or Splenda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger

Heat oven to 400 degrees...grease muffin pan or line with paper cups. Mix the pumpkin, milk and the egg with a fork in a mixing bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients until moistened. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Spicy Corn Fritters
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil (for frying)
4 cups Bisquick
1 cup cold water
2 eggs
2 cans (15.25 oz. each) Green Giant whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans (4.5 oz. each) Old El Paso chopped green chilies, well drained
Salsa

Heat the vegetable oil (2-3 inches deep) in a deep fryer or small sauce pan. Stir the Bisquick, cold water and the eggs in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in the corn and the chilies. Drop batter by small spoonfuls into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Serve with your favorite salsa. YUMMY! Ole' baby!

Taco Pie!

This is a great little "pie" to make and share or to just enjoy at home with the family. Just add a salad and you are ready to go! Ole' ya'll!

Taco Pie

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion (chopped...approximately 1/2 cup)
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 can (4 ounce size) chopped green chilies, drained
3/4 Cup Bisquick (Bisquick is a church lady's best friend!)
1 and 1/4 Cup milk
3 eggs
1 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease (or spray with Pam) a pie plate. Cook the ground beef and onion over medium heat until beef is brown...drain. Stir in the dry seasoning mix, mix well and then spread into the pie plate. Sprinkle the green chilies over beef mixture.

In a bowl, mix together the Bisquick, milk and the eggs until well blended. Pour into the pie plate. Bake for 25 minutes. Take out and sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.

This is so good! You can also serve this with salsa and chips on the side too!

Ole' Eula Mae!