Peanut Butter Frosting

This is a great frosting on Chocolate cake it is your choice though if you want it chunky or creamy. But like the cream cheese frosting you will have to add more powdered sugar to decorate with it. I am personally a big fan of light and creamy frosting that isn't just sugar. It allows the other flavors to come out more.

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups powered sugar.

Directions:

Cream peanut butter and butter together. Add sugar and mix well.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Not really for decorating but I have used it for a base and added another 2-3 cups to make it a better decorating option. Great on any cake.

1 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add Vanilla. Then whip sugar in.

I also make a Chocolate version of this that tastes like fudge.

Melt 1 12 ounce package milk chocolate chips and add into butter and cream cheese mixture. Once completely mixed add vanilla and 3 cups powdered sugar.

Also a raspberry version that is to die for and taste great on a chocolate cake.

After mixing all frosting ingredients together add 1 cup raspberries and mix well. Not for decorating with.

Low Carb Crockpot Poached Salmon

Sorry that there is no picture but this was very yummy and we liked it.



1 1/4 lb salmon fillet
1 tsp chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs lemon juice


Lay salmon in crockpot. Sprinkle chives, celery and bay leaf beside salmon. Stir remaining ingredients together in bowl. Pour over salmon. Cover and cook on Low for 3-4 hours or on High for 2 hours. Cook until salmon flakes with fork. Discard bay leaf.

I love it

Hi,

This is Maggie, I promise I will post some recipes soon. I am trying some new things, that I can freeze, I will let you know how it goes.

Caesar Salad

I thought that I would add this so I can always find it. My Husband said that he was worried about not liking it but then had seconds. He sometimes tries to spare my feelings but he will never take seconds if he doesn't like it.

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped Romaine Lettuce
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1-2 cups croutons
Caesar Dressing enough to coat (recipe below)

Directions:
Dump ingredients into bowl and toss.

Caesar Dressing recipe found on http://www.cooks.com/

CAESAR SALAD DRESSING

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 clove of garlic (minced)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp of milk or half and half
Mix all ingredients together and shake or whisk until well blended.
Submitted by: Shannon

Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwich

I made these tonight and they were soooooooo yummy. I made them with a side of Caesar Salad. With the Monsoonal Temps and the Humidity I wanted to make something that wouldn't have the oven on for longer than 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

Loaf of White or Wheat Bread

1 Package of Chopped Ham Lunch meat

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

thinly sliced onions

Bacon bits (this was totally for my Husband who loves bacon anything)

Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb

Romaine Lettuce

Spinach

Mayonnaise

Directions:

Lay as many slices of bread on a cookie sheet as can fit or you want to make. Place 1-2 slices of ham (I only did 1 slice) on each slice of bread. Layer cheese on top of ham. Then sprinkle seasoning and bacon bits on top of cheese. Place onions on top to your desired amount. I did one thin slice each. Then put under broiler for 5 minutes. While cooking spread mayonnaise on slices of bread to equal sandwiches in oven. Remove from oven and put lettuce and spinach on top. Then top with mayonnaise spread bread. Enjoy!

Almond, Bacon, Green Beans

1 bag birdseye green beans
1 T. oil
1/4 c. almonds
1/4 c. bacon pieces

The bacon pieces can be done 1 of two ways, the easiest is to buy hormel or oscar mayer bacon pieces or you can make your own, it doesn't matter.

Saute almonds in oil until they are all lightly brown (this smells heavenly). Add the Bacon pieces and green beans and toss. Steam on a lower heat until the green beans are done to your idea of green bean doneness.

Easy Chicken Alfredo

Before I start, you are all going to say "bottled alfredo sauce" ooo yuck, but trust me. I made this for my family and it is one of the few things my kids agree on. I also made it for the Teacher's for teacher appreciation week, and they loved it. So here goes.

2 lbs chicken breast
1 jar Good Value Alfredo Sauce
1/2 to 1 c. water
3 T. bacon pieces (i prefer hormel or oscar mayer)
1/4 c. parmesan cheese (preferrably the nice shredded stuff)
1 T. garlic
2 t. basil
1 lb. linguine, spaghetti or fettucine noodles cooked

Cube and cook chicken breast, add the bacon, parmesan cheese, garlic and basil. Then add the Alfredo Sauce and water. Bring to boil. Serve over noodles.

Taco Soup

This is a meal that is easy to make and very quick. I love to make this especially during the winter but will make it all year long. Plus the chips and cheese make a instant kid favorite. The best part is that it can be made all in the same pot or started early and made in the crock pot. You will have to cook the meat though before adding it to the pot if you use the crock pot. Then cook on high for 6-8 hours on low for 8-10 hours. Some people will substitute the canned diced tomatoes with only tomato sauce or will use tomato juice. Also this Freezes great and makes a ton.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground hamburger
1 small onion diced
2Tbs minced garlic
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans black beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can corn (optional)
2 packets taco seasoning
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese
2 bags Frito's or tortilla chips
shredded lettuce(optional)

Directions:
In a large pot brown hamburger on stove. Add half onion to hamburger, cook until onion is clear. Next add canned beans and tomatoes(corn if you like). Add taco seasoning. Allow to cook for at least 1/2 hour on medium high. Then add the other half onion and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. When ready to serve top with sour cream, cheese, and chips. Enjoy!

BBQ Pork Ribs

Desired number of pork spare rib racks
2 1/2 to 3 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce per rack

I don't think there is such a thing as too much sauce. Last time I made these I had about 3 cups [I didn't measure] per rack, didn't grill, and had about 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of the Tupperware when the ribs were gone.

Prepare aluminum foil by folding two pieces together to make one larger piece and place on a baking sheet. Place one rack of ribs on the foil, pour sauce over ribs. Repeat with remaining racks. (I would do no more than 3 racks per group, depending on how much you want to make and how big your foil is.) If you are only doing one rack, you can cut it in half and stack the pieces on top of each other. Bring edges of foil up over ribs and secure. You want to prevent your sauce from escaping. You can always double foil too.

Bake at 300 degrees for 4 - 5 hours. (Usually I end up cooking for 4 1/2 hours.) If you prefer to have a little crunchy layer on your ribs, you can throw on the BBQ grill for about 5 - 10 minutes. If you do this, baste the ribs in the sauce to help keep them moist. These are fall off the bone, melt in your mouth delicious out of the oven. I also don't see why you couldn't throw these in the crock pot if you preferred. Especially if you were only going to do one rack at a time. Just cut them to fit.

If you are really ambitious, you can make your own BBQ sauce, but I just used the Famous Dave's sauce I got at Sam's Club where I also got the ribs and my husband couldn't stop telling me how good they were. We cooked one rack and I put the others into freezer bags with the sauce and stuck them in the freezer for another day when I want gourmet taste with mac-n-cheese effort.

Crockpot Enchiladas

I found this on the Yummy Food 4 All recipe Blog, posted by Nora's World. It was very tasty and we tried it in the Crock Pot. But instead of the 5-7 hours on low we did 3 hours on high while we were at church. It was perfect. Since we get out of church at 5 pm we were able to come home and eat right away. The other nice thing is with the crock pot Liners that we have it is very little clean up as well. Oh and we didn't have chili powder and cumin so we substituted those ingredients with 2 tsp of Taco Seasoning and we didn't add the salt and pepper either. Oh and we didn't have diced tomatoes with green chilies but we did have a can of green chilies and a can of diced tomatoes and so we used that instead. It was very yummy. Definitely something worth trying if you are looking for an easy crock pot meal. Below is the directions that I copy and pasted from Yummy food 4 All blog. She has a picture there. So if you would like to see how this looks click on the link below to get to this recipe.
http://yummyfood4all.blogspot.com/2008/05/crockpot-enchiladas-although-i-have.html

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar and jack)
flour tortillas

Directions:
In a skillet, cook beef and onion until beef is browned and onion is tender; drain. Add the next eight ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Now there is some debate as to assembly...

There is the slow cooker way:
In a 5-qt. slow cooker, layer about 3/4 cup beef mixture, one tortilla and about 1/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours or until heated through.

Nora's World in-laws way:
On a microwave safe plate, layer 3/4 C beef mixture, one tortilla and 1/2 C cheese. Repeat layers. Heat in the microwave for about 5 minutes until the cheese melts. Cut into wedges and serve.

Nora's World preferred method:
Layer ingredients in a round casserole dish (beef, tortilla, cheese, repeat). bake in a 350 degree oven 20 minutes or until heated through.

Nora's world found this at Sam's Club "I got a case (8 cans) of diced tomatoes with green chilies for $2. Nice."

The Sweetest and Simplest Peanut Butter Cookies Ever!

1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg

Mix, roll in hand, fork and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 mins. Bakes 1 dozen.

Chicken Salad

I made this for dinner tonight using Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs because I was out of Chicken Breasts and you can get a big bag at Costco that helps to stretch the budget in between shopping trips. But in all fairness I would prefer white meat to dark meat. Personal preference on mayo always goes to Best foods/Hellmans Real Mayonnaise. I hope that you enjoy.

Ingredients:
3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
water
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup diced celery (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cups sliced grapes
1/4 cup Mayonnaise

Directions:
In a pot cover chicken breasts with water. Boil Chicken until it can be easily separated with a fork. When chicken is finished remove from water and shred. I will use the food processor for this. My suggestion is to only pulse for 1/2 a minute. Any longer and it will break the chicken up too much and will make it grainy tasting. After shredding the chicken set it in the fridge to cool. When you are ready to mix ingredients together remove chicken from fridge and add carrots, onions, grapes, celery and mayonnaise into a mixing bowl with chicken. Mix and Serve.

Serving Suggestions:
croissants, rolls, pita bread, crackers, or on a bed of lettuce.