Meat Loaf (Mom's Recipe)

1 egg beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lbs ground beef
2 TB minced or chopped onion (fresh tastes best)
2 tsp salt
1 small can of tomato sauce

Mix together, reserving about 1/4 of the tomato sauce. Put in greased loaf pan. Spread the remainder of the tomato sauce on top. Bake 1 hour at 350.

Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup oil
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
4 TB cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
2 cups shredded zucchini
Chocolate chips on top

Put in a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cheesy Chowder Soup

Boil these ingredients until tender:
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 carrot grated
4 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup celery, chopped

In a small pan melt:
4 TB butter
Add: 1/4 cup flour
2 c. milk
2 (8 oz.) cheez whiz

Add above to vegetable mix and add in 1 can creamed corn

French Toast Splendor

1 loaf of French Bread (gently tear into pieces)
8 oz. Cream Cheese (cut into squares)

Place pieces of french bread in a greased casserole pan. Scatter the squares of cream cheese throught the pieces of bread.

Mix in a bowl:
8 eggs
2 1/2 cups of milk
6 TBL melted butter
1/2 cup of maple syrup

Blend and pour over the bread and cream cheese pieces. Gently squish the bread down until it has soaked up the egg mixture. Cover and let sit 2-4 hours. (Best if prepared the day/night before--it usually needs to cook bit longer too.)

Cook:
325 degrees for 35-40 min. uncovered. (check @ 35 minutes, bottom of the pan needs to be stiff and knife should come out clean.) Remove from oven and let sit for 20 minutes before serving.


Sauce:
1 cup apple juice
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 T. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. butter

Cook over stove on medium heat until thick. Add in butter until mixed well and melted. May add more apple juice to dilute the sauce until your perfect consistency is reached.

Enjoy with sauce, or sauce + syrup.

Chicken Piccata

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 egg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, beat the egg together with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Set aside.

In a shallow bowl or dish mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika. Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture, then in the seasoned flour.

In a large skillet, melt butter/margarine and brown the coated chicken pieces (make sure chicken is a deep golden brown so the breading will stay on better).

Dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Pour liquid into skillet. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, turning chicken pieces after 10 minutes, until chicken is tender. Garnish as desired and serve.

Variations:
Add white wine to the buillion mix. Add cornstarch to the buillion mix for thicker sauce. Triple sauce amount and serve over pasta or mashed potatoes. Add capers. Add minced garlic. Pound chicken first.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

From the kitchen of Stephanie Anne Frederick

2 c cooked diced chicken
2 c cooked diced ham
2 c instant rice (instant brown rice will take a little longer to cook)
2 c sour cream
2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
2 c grated Swiss cheese
1/2 to 1 cup of milk

Mix together in a 9" x 13" casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Simple Whole Roasted Chicken

Easy and tasty, this chicken has a sweet and savory flavor that is irresistable. Be sure to drizzle the drippings like sauce over your chicken.

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (4 pound) whole chicken
2-5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 sliced onion (optional)


In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Rub the chicken with the mixture. Cover chicken, and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.*

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).

Stuff the chicken cavity with the garlic and onion. Place the chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan.

Roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), and continue roasting 15 minutes. Baste chicken with pan drippings, reduce heat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C), and continue roasting 30 minutes, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

We didn't have time to do this and the chicken turned out SO FABULOUS, so I wouldn't worry about this step. We didn't use a rack in the roasting pan and it was fine. We added just a bit of water to the bottom of the pan.

Banana Bread

KATHY’S BANANA BREAD (Normandie Hays)

4 cups of flour
2 cups white sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup of shortening
1 square of butter or margarine (softened)
6 ripe bananas, mashed (to equal 2 cups)
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 cup of chopped walnuts if desired

Mix dry ingredients together with electric mixer. Add shortening & butter and mix until completely blended. Blend in eggs and bananas. Add vanilla. Mix well and add walnuts.

Grease & flour 2 - 8”x4 ½”x2 ¼ “ loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Test with cake tester or toothpick. Bake until tester come out clean.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes then empty pans onto a wire rack.

Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce

I saw this on Rachel Ray's show. We have really enjoyed this recipe. Here is the recipe off of her website.

3 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 head garlic
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (2 handfuls) flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 cup Parmigiano

Slice the top half-inch off the top of a head of garlic. Place it on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little EVOO and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Wrap the foil around the garlic and place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes, until the garlic is soft and the flesh is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the flesh from the cloves onto a cutting board and, with the side of your knife, mash the garlic into a smooth paste.

Add the paste to a small saucepot over medium heat along with the cream and whisk to combine. Bring up to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until the cream has reduced by half.

Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up to a boil to cook the fettuccine. Add some salt and the pasta to the water and cook according to package directions to al dente. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the roasted garlic cream, 1/2 cup Parmigiano and parsley, toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Jeweled Jello

This is a fun Jello recipe I found on another blog site (Gourmet mom on the go). We made it to take to our Super Bowl party tonight.

Here is the recipe:

Jeweled Jell-o
Ingredients:
4 small boxes of jello, different colors
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
water

Directions:
Dissolve each box of jello separately, into one cup of hot water. Pour into individual containers (small tupperware works well) and chill overnight.
Ready a 9×13 pan.
Cut flavors of jello into small blocks.
Mix together carefully in pan.
In a separate bowl, dissolve 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add dissolved gelatin to 1 3/4 cup hot water and condensed milk. Cool.
Pour cooled milk mixture over jello and chill overnight. Cut into 1" pieces and serve. This is a fun dish to serve at a party. You can color theme it for a holiday or a party. Have fun.

Swiss Chicken Cutlets

SWISS CHICKEN CUTLETS by Normandie Hays

5 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
Or use chicken tenders
2 beaten, eggs
1 -2 cups of fine dry bread crumbs
¼ cup cooking or olive oil
3 Tbl. butter or margarine
¼ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper
2 ½ cups milk
1 cup grated Swiss cheese ( jack, or mozzarella works too)
Avocado slices & tomato wedges for garnish (optional)

Place each breast between wax paper, membrane side down, and pound to ¼ in thick. Season with salt or seasoned salt and dip into eggs and then bread crumbs. In skillet heat 2 Tbl. oil. Brown chicken cutlets, a few at a time, two minutes on each side. Add more oil as needed.

In a saucepan, melt butter; blend in flour, ½ tsp. salt and the pepper. Gradually add milk. Cook and stir until bubbly and thickened. Pour half of the white sauce in bottom of 13 X 9 X 2 inch dish. Arrange cutlets on top then cover with the remaining sauce. Cover and bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes (until bubbly). Or cover and chill overnight and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese (garnish with avocado slices and tomato wedges if desired). Bake 2 minutes more until cheese melts.

You can add cooked red potatoes to the sauce before baking. First cut the raw potatoes in half or fourths, then place them in a covered dish in the microwave oven and cook until almost tender. Arrange the potatoes with the chicken cutlets, top with the sauce and bake all together for allotted time.

Almond cookies

This is mom's traditional Christmas cookie.

Cream together:
2 c. butter (softened)
2 C. sugar
1 tsp. almond flavoring

Mix together in a separate bowl:
4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. clove
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Add the dry mixture to the creamy ingredients, also alternating adding 1/2 c. sour cream. (Add a spoonful of sour cream, a scoop of the dry ingredients, and so on.)

Add 1/2 c. almonds (If you don't like nuts, like me, you can omit the almonds. If you want a little crunch though, just add some heath candy, it's really yummy)

Refrigerate batter until it is firm enough to mold. Then roll it onto wax paper in 2inch diameter rounds. Refrigerate until hard. Cut into 1/4 inch slices and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes, until lightly golden on top.

Layered Mocha Cheesecake

This is one of Jordan and Cindy's favorites

Crust:
1 1/2 cups cream filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
1/4 cup butter

Filling:
2 TB plus 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 TB boiling water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 pkgs (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
4 eggs lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups (12 oz) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Glaze:
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
3 TB butter
Chocolate covered coffee beans (optional)

Combine cookie crumbs and butter and press into the bottom of a greased 9 inch springform pan. In a small bowl combine coffee granules, water and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter in half. Stir melted chocolate into one portion; pour over crust. Stir coffee mixture into the remaining batter; spoon over chocolate layer.

Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16 in square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Place in a large baking pan; add 1 in of hot water to larger pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter; stir until smooth. Spread over cheesecake. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with coffee beans if desired. Yield: 16 servings.