Vegetable Soup

According to my sweet husband, this is the best vegetable soup he has ever had. Awww...
And talk about easy!!

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey (browned and drained)
1 jar Ragu Traditional spaghetti sauce (Any brand of spaghetti sauce would probably work but Ragu has a sweet flavor which is perfect for vegetable soup)
1 bag frozen vegetables for soup
1 cup chicken broth (1 can)
1 can Rotel tomatoes (Original flavor added the perfect amount of spice for us)
A couple of dashes of onion powder (we don't eat onions so I use this as a substitute)
Lots of dashes of salt
Ritz crackers (vegetable soup isn't vegetable soup without Ritz crackers)

Throw ingredients in crock pot for several hours or on stove for a shorter amount of time. It's ready when the veggies are tender.

- Compliments of my wonderful mother

Banana Coconut Muffins

YUM! I got this recipe from my friend Jenn after she raved about them. (www.madewithlovebyjenn.blogspot.com) This was my first attempt at making muffins from scratch and I was amazed at how easy it was!

Servings: Makes 8 (For some reason I ended up with 15. Who knows?)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin cups with liners. (I used my silicone muffin pan and just sprayed on a little Pam) Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
Divide batter into 8 muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffind to a rack and cool slightly.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

This was wonderful! I was too impatient to let it cool before taking a bite because it smelled so good. I even ate a piece for breakfast. Oops!
Ingredients:
For the gingersnap crust:
1/4 lb. gingersnaps (about 20 small cookies)
1/3 cup pecan halves (I omitted)
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature (2 8 oz. blocks in case you are as bad with conversions as I am!)
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree

For the topping: (I omitted the topping)
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan. To make the crust, in a food processor, combine the gingersnaps and pecans and process until crumbly. Add the brown sugar and melted butter and pulse for a few seconds to blend. Transfer the crumb mixture to the prepared pan. Use your fingers to pat the mixture into the bottom and evenly all the way up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
To make the filling, in a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and cloves. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Using a rubber spatula, occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the brown sugar mixture, beating until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the pumpkin puree, beating until smooth. Using the rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the chilled crust and smooth the top. Bake the cheesecake until set or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
To make the topping, set aside 10 pecan halves and coarsely chop the rest. In a small fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add all of the pecans, sprinkle with the granulated sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts and the nuts are toasted and caramel coated. Transfer the nut mixture to a plate and let cool completely, then store in an airtight container. Just before serving, sprinkle the chopped pecans over the cheesecake and arrange the halves evenly around the perimeter. Serves 10 to 12.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Thanksgiving Entertaining, by Lou Seibert Pappas (Simon & Schuster, 2005 ). Given to me by Addie and Kelsey from my Cooking Board

Easy Kool-Aid Pie

This is perhaps the easiest dessert I have ever made. It is delicious! I have tried using the Kool-Aid Lemonade and I love it! a slice of this pie is only 2 pts. on the Weight Watcher's diet.

1 pack of Kool-Aid
1 can light sweetened condensed milk
1 small container of light Cool Whip
1 graham cracker pie crust
Mix Kool-Aid, condensed milk and Cool Whip. Pour in pie crust. Chill or freeze.
-compliments of Nick's grandmother

Variations:
Use orange Kool-Aid and mix in a can of drained mandarin oranges.
-idea given by Veniceforever on my cooking board

Use Strawberry Kool-Aid and mix in frozen strawberries

Fried Pork Chops

A southern tradition and one of my very favorite dishes!

To be completely honest...I am not sure if the measurements are right in this recipe. It was one of my experimental meals and I didn't measure anything. The recipe is more or less a guideline. It's hard to mess up so just have fun with it!

3-4 boneless pork chops
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp. white pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp. red pepper (or to taste)
salt (again...or to taste)
black pepper (you guessed it! Add more or less according to your taste)
vegetable oil

Soak the pork chops in a container of salt water for at least 30 minutes. They can be soaked overnight if desired. Pour vegetable in a shallow skillet and allow to get hot. Mix flour, salt and peppers. Whisk a single egg. Roll the pork chops in the egg and then coat with the flour mixture. Spread a couple of paper towels on a plate. Place the pork chops in the skillet. When the breading starts turning brown and center of the pork chops are white they are ready! Remove from oil and place on the paper towel lined plate.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is what happens when you let a man in the kitchen...he will roll a cookie dough ball into the size of his fist. I was surprised that it turned out so well! He said that it was the best cookie he had ever had!

These are truly the best homemade cookies I have ever had! While eating them I was in shock and kept saying, "I can't believe that I made these!" Thank you Chelley for sharing this wonderful recipe!

2 cups plus 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. ( I used my Pampered Chef Pizza Stone and it worked great!)

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl, set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.
(Or roll the dough into small balls and spread a part on cookie sheet. This is what I did because I'm lazy.)

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.
- taken from the Brown-eyed Baker and Baking Illustrated, pg. 434
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/

Taco Chili

This is my favorite chili. I could literally eat it for lunch and dinner every day!

1 lb. ground beef
1 small can tomato sauce
2 cans pinto beans
1 pkg. Taco seasoning
2 cans Ro-Tel tomatoes (mild to spicy, according to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook beef, salt and pepper together. Drain. Put in crock pot. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Simmer for 1 hour or all day in crock pot on low. Serve over Fritos and top with shredded cheese.
Note: For traditional chili substitute red kidney beans for pintos and chili seasoning for taco seaso ning.
-compliments of my mom