Jim's Pancakes

Ok I haven't attempted any of these yet, but I came across this today and thought I would share in case any of you are feeling ambitious. Jim's Pancakes

Creamy Corn Chowder

I know I haven't posted in a while - I am truly hopeless! Anywho - I had to take a soup to our ward Halloween party the other night and I ended up trying out this one on our best bites. Creamy Corn Chowder Recipe It was a hit! Came home with an empty crockpot! I doubled the recipe for the party which filled my medium sized crockpot. I just now realized that I forgot to add the garlic - but it still tasted great! According to the comments on the website it can be frozen and eaten later - the consistency just looks a little different. I'll have to try that next time. Also I had to add a little cornstarch to the soup to thicken it up a bit, but that may have been due to doubling it.

Don't forget

To make Jack-o-lantern Pancakes for Halloween this year!

Fried Chicken

This isn't like a recipe that most people wouldn't have it's just something that's really easy that I forget about and need to make more often.

Chicken breast cut into chunks

(amount just depends on how many people your feeding. I used 2 in the pictures below.)

Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet

Dip chicken chunks into flour and then put in skillet

Season with Season Salt

And fry on all sides until cookied through.

After your chicken is fried make some chicken gravy to put on mashed potatoes-add some green beans or salad and you have a meal.

If you don't think you have enough grease left in to bottom of your pan just add a little bit of margarine. And then my mother in law taught me this.

Put 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup milk in a Mason jar and shake it up well. Then add that to your grease (this also works for brown gravy.

 Whisk it together until lumps are smooth. You may have to add more milk to get the right consistency...I probably added about another 3/4 cup to my pan.

And that's it your done. Easy Peazy!

5 cup salad

I love this recipe because I usally have everything on hand. And it's a fast easy salad if you have people coming over for lunch or dinner.

1 can Pineapple chunks drained

1 can mandarin oranges drained (or and orange cut up)

1-2 medium apples diced

1 cup sour cream

1 cup marshmellows

1 cup coconut

Wait a minute...I think that's 6 cups...but anywho...

I also add just a little powder sugar to sweeten it about 1/4 cup but you don't have too.

You can substitute any of the above for grapes, banana's, etc...

Easy Chicken Salad Sandwhiches

This is all you need!

 I wash and cut my grapes. Add a bag of freezer chicken or a can of canned chicken. Then add The dressing until I like the consistency. Mix together.... and put on pita's or bread. 

I LOVE them on pita's but didn't have any this day.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

K- so Amanda actually gave me this recipe a few years ago-but this is what I did with my leftover canned pumpkin from the pancakes. I only had a big can of pumpkin in my cupboard so I doubled it. But you can use a small can and one spice cake mix.

Anyway you just add a can of pumpkin to a spice cake mix and mix it together

(don't actually add the eggs and oil and stuff to the cake

mix like I did my first time...MIX only!!!)

then mix in a bag of chocolate chips.

Put on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 16 minutes

Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Bars

1 16 oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
¾ cup melted butter
1 cup nuts (optional)
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Grease & flour 15” x 11” pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
½ stick butter melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbls milk

I-HOP Pumpkin Pancakes

This Recipe is out of the Top Secret Recipes Cookbook

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

4 tbls melted butter or marg

3 tablespoons canned pumpkin

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Use Electric mixer to blend ingredients.

Put these next items in a bowl and mix together

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground allspice

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend with mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Spray pan

Pour batter into 1/3 cup portions onto hot pan or skillet.

When batter stops bubbling and edges begin to harden, flip pancake. They should be brown. This will take from 1 to 3 minutes. Once flipped cook other side for the same amount of time until brown.

Makes 8-10 pancakes.

These are seriously so stinkin delicious! And this is the perfect time of year to try them! I would suggest 1 1/2-ing or doubling the recipe for more than 4 people. Hope you love them I know we do at our house!

I'll be posting a recipe later this week on what to do with your left over pumpkin...

Mom's Maple Syrup

My mom always made homemade maple syrup growing up and now I just can't eat store bought! It taste nasty to me. I just made batch last night for Pumpkin Pancakes. It is so so easy to make and is delicious!

4 cups Sugar

2 cups Water

2 tbls Brown sugar

1 tbs Karo syrup

In sauce pan bring ingredients to boil.  Then let simmer 10-15 minutes.

Cover with lid and let sit over night to thicken. Then add

1 tsp Maple extract

1 tsp Vanilla

Then I use a funnel and just pour it into and old "store bought" syrup container. If I have more syrup then fits in the container I just put it in a mason jar or something and use that first.

Mexican Hash

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can diced chiles

2 lbs hamburger

(I use 1lb -  but I'm not much of a meat lover)

american cheese

(I use just normal grated cheese cuz I don't always have american)

tortilla chips

On the side: Sour cream, tomatoes.

Cook Hamburger, drain

Add soups, chiles, and enchilada sauce to hamurger.

In baking dish (9x13) layer chips, then hamburger mix, then cheese.

Repeat twice

Cover and bake on 350 for 25 mins.

This can always be halfed in an 8x8 and then I use the rest of my soups and chilis for chicken enchilada's later in the week.

Vegetable Cheese Soup

Vegetable Cheese Soup

Boil 12 cups of water and 12 chicken bullion cubes

Add two cups of chopped carrots and 2 cups chopped celery

cook until carrots and celery are tender

While your veggies are cooking, start making the rous:

melt 3 cubes of butter in a pan

add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour and whisk

bring it to a low boil and allow it to boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly

Add the rous to the boiling soup, whip until thick, then take off of heat

Put in 1 pound Velveeta cheese and melt

Add 1/2 a bag of frozen peas

Add 2 cups of cut up cooked chicken (I use two cans of my canned chicken from the last post, and add the juice too to add flavor).

* When cooking this soup stir often because it burns easily, and it makes the whole soup taste smokey if you burn a little on the bottom. Also, it makes A LOT!! I actually doubled this recipe so I could freeze some for meals, so these pics are the recipe doubled.

This soup is so so easy to make, and is SOUP-er (ha ha) yummy, especially with rolls or sandwhiches.

Not a recipe, but....

So this isn't a recipe, it's just a suggestion, and a lot of you might already do this. My sister and mom and I just got done canning chicken, and it is the greatest thing ever!! It's the perfect time since it's caselot sale time and you can get chicken a little cheaper and in bulk. I've never canned my own stuff before, but all you do it buy the chicken, trim it and cut it up yourself and make an appointment at the cannery and go do it there. It's a little bit of a pain but having the chicken on hand is soooooo nice, and this chicken is really good (I am not a fan of store bought canned chicken) and is super quick to add to your meals. I bought 40 pounds and ended up with 23 cans.

Seriously, I can't reccomend this enough, it makes meals so easy, and it doesn't gross you out to eat it like store bought canned chicke, cause it's super tastey!! I love it in casseroles, soups, hawaiin haystacks, etc....

Fried Rice

Fried Rice:

Cook minute rice (however much you plan to fry) and let it cool in the fridge- it's best if it cools all the way.

When you're ready to fry it:
Thickly coat the bottom of your frying pan with veggie oil (it needs to be thick because you'll eventually fry the rice in it).
Fry small chopped up squares of ham and fresh diced green onions until browned. I just buy thick sandwhich or deli ham, and you can put as much of this stuff as you want, depending on how much you are making.
Once your ham and onions are fried, move them to the edge of the frying pan and scramble eggs in the oil (I use two.) When the eggs are scrambled you can mix everything together.
Add your white minute rice, and let the bottom fry, then stir and repeat for about twenty mminutes.
Add a little salt and a lot of pepper, and soy sauce (then when you eat it you can add more soy sauce to how you like it.).

I know this doesn't have exact amounts, but it's really just kindof how you want to do it. I just kindof guessed on everything when I first tried it and it worked fine.

This is super simple and not anyting exciting, but Shawn loves it and it's something different.

Get Your Man Bread Sticks

• 1-½ cup Warm Water
• 1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 3-½ cups Flour
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Butter for melting in the pan and more to put on top.
• Garlic Powder
• Garlic Salt

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto 2 cookie sheets. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheets.  Mix garlic powder with melted butter and brush over bread sticks. You can also sprinkle with basil, thyme, rosemary, or parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown. Brush more butter on top and sprinkle with garlic salt. So good!
 I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and even though I don't bake much, it's hard to mess these up. I heard somebody call them get-your-man bread sticks once because if you made them for a guy you liked, he would fall for you. I'm still working on the twisting part, but even when they're ugly they're still tasty. They're good the next day if you warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds, but hot and fresh out of the oven is best!

Raspberry Pretzel Salad

So unlike most of you I really am a hopeless mom when it comes to cooking, so I don't have a ton to contrubute but I've just been taking pictures of some things I've been making here and there that are really easy. One of my favorites is pretzel salad:

Crust: Mix two cups of crushed pretzels, 3/4 cups melted butter, and 4 T. sugar. Spread evenly into bottom of 9" by 13" sprayed pan. Bake in the oven on 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Take out and let it cool completely.

Middle: Beat 8 oz. cream cheese, one 8 oz. container of cool whip, and 1 cup sugar together. spread evenly over crust.

Top: Boil 1 and 1/2 cups of water, and add 2 small boxes of raspbery jello mix- stir until dissolved. Add 1 and 1/2 cup of cold water, a bag of frozen raspberries and stir, then put in fridge. Watch the mix and when it gets a little wobbley but not fully set its ready to pur onto the rest of the salad (this is so it will still pour but so it's not so liquid like that it runs down to the crust and makes it soggy. I also make sure I kindof seal the edges with my middle layer to keep it from dripping down.) Put bak in the fridge until jello layer is completely set.

It doesn't look like much but it's yummy!!!

Lasagna

Cheesy bread:

Mix 3/4 cube of softened butter and a heaping teaspoon of garlic salt.

Cut a loaf of fresh french bread down the center long ways, and spread with butter.

Sprinkle mozerella cheese generously over the top.

Put on cookie sheet and bake on 375 for about 15 minutes then broil until cheese is melted.

Lasagna:

Brown a pound of ground beef ( salt, pepper and onion if you want)

Mix the following:

1 can diced tomatoes

2 or 3 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce (I like it really saucey, so i use three, but it's a lot!)

1 bottle of traditional Ragu spaghetti sauce

about half a cup of grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Your cooked hambuger

Then spray a 9" by 13" pan, and layer uncooked lasagna noodles and sauce. I start with noodles, then add sauce, noodles, sauce, noodles, and end with sauce. Spread a grated pound of mozzerella cheese over the top. Sprinkle with parsley flakes. Cover with tinfoil.

Bake on 375 degrees for about an hour, and enjoy!