Broccoli Soup

I hope Lindsey doesn't mind me posting this! I got this from her...it's fabulous. I've made it two weeks in a row. I half it and it makes enough for two meals for Gary and I. It's yummilicious! Sorry about the lame picture...

BROCCOLI SOUP

4 C. Chicken Broth

1 C. Diced Onion

1 C. Diced Carrots

2 C. Cubed Potatoes

2 Packages Frozen Broccoli

2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 lb. Velveeta Cheese

Simmer first 4 ingredients for 15 Minutes, then add 2 packages frozen broccoli (I buy the small chopped broccoli) and simmer for 15 more minutes. Add both cans of Cream of Chicken Soup and 1 lb. cubed Velveeta Cheese. Heat until melted and serve! Delish!

Lion House Rolls

Steph: Every time I make these (like I did yesterday) I remember how you LOVED these. I love them too. And I really like that they don't seem to take as much time and work as other recipes I've made. I make these at least once a week. The best part about these buns is that they store very well and taste so fresh even 2, 3, 4, etc. days after I make them! So, even though there is only two of us, I use them for Gary's lunches, and basically we have them with every meal until they're gone...and then I make them again!

Here's how you make them...

Ingredients:

2 C. Warm Water (115 Degrees)

2/3 C. Nonfat Dry Milk (instant or non-instant)

2 Tbs. Dry Yeast

1/4 C. Sugar

2 tsp. Salt

1/3 C. Butter (I actually use oil)

1 Egg

5-5 1/2 C. Flour (I use bread flour but either will work fine)

Directions:

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water and the milk powder and stir so the milk dissolves. Add the yeast to this mixture, then the sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then turn to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 2 more cups of flour then mix on low until the ingredients are wet then turn to medium and mix for 2 minutes. The dough will be getting stiff and you may need to mix the remaining flour in by hand. Add approximately 1/2 cup of flour and mix again. The dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is no necessary to use the entire amount of flour. AND you may even need more...I actually use closer to 6.5 cups of flour but it may have something to do with the elevation I'm at). Continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until it gets to the right texture.

Scrap the dough off the sides of the bowl and pour approximately one Tbs. of oil all around the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough over in the bowl so it is covered with the oil. (This helps prevent the dough from drying out). Cover with a clean dish towel and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size.

Spray your counter with vegetable oil and remove dough from bowl. Divide dough in two. Gently flatten to about 1 inch thick. With rolling pin, roll our to a rectangle about 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick. Brush with melted butter (I don't always do this). With pizza cutter, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cute through strips of dough every 2 inches, making about 12 pieces of dough.

Starting with the short, narrow end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside. Place roll on pan with the other short end facing down (I use my stone and it works FABULOUS!) . Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on the baking pan. Cover lightly with dish towel and allow to rise until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops or rolls with melted butter. Makes 2 dozen rolls.

Helpful Tips:

*Always add flour gradually and keep dough as soft as you can handle. A soft dough will produce a much lighter roll.

* It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour called for in the recipe - add only enough flour to make dough manageable.

Honey Butter Cream

Remember that one Boxing Day when we had scones? Oh, yeah...we do it EVERY YEAR! :) Well, I thought I'd post the recipe for that yummy yummy honey butter that I made for that event. (Don't worry, I didn't come up with it or anything. I just found it on the internet and lucky for me and all of you, it turned out divine!)

1 Small bottle Marshmallow Cream (I think it's 8 oz.)

1 C. Butter, softened

1 C. Honey

1/4 C. Powdered Sugar

Mix together and enjoy! Maybe put it back in the fridge for a bit if you have time.

Tortilla Soup

I got this from Niki. We had this at her house a while ago and it was DIVINE! I've made it quite a few times since and I'm making it this week for the Missionaries. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it when I make it.

4 Chicken Breasts, cooked & shredded (Or one whole rotisserie chicken)

3 Cans Cream of Celery/Chicken soup

1/2 Onion, chopped (or more...)

1 Green Pepper

4 Cans Chicken Broth (or more...)

Heat all ingredients together well.

Garnishes: Tortilla Chips (Hint of Lime are the BEST with this), Chopped Tomatoes, Green Onions, Jack Cheese, Chopped Avocados, Sour Cream, etc.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Fabulous! I made it for Gary to take to EQ on Sunday (Yes, they have treat assignments) These turned out delish.

Mix together well: (I used my mixer)

1 C. soft margarine

2 C. creamy peanut butter

3 C. or 1 lb. icing sugar

1 inner seal package of crushed graham crackers (I used my blender to get this all blended to a powder. BUT, I'm thinking just crushing it might be fun to try next time as well. Give it a little crunch.)

Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet (9x13). Melt about 1 bag of Milk Chocolate Chips and spread over peanut butter mixture. Place in the refrigerator or freezer to harden.

Tip: I kept it in the fridge all night long and tried to cut it to bring to church on a plate but the chocolate cracked all over the place. So, we let it sit out for a bit (Sacrament and Sunday School) and cut it after that...chocolate cut much better but the peanut butter was quite soft (totally yummy!) But what I'd probably do is let it sit out, cut it, put it on a plate and put it back in the fridge for a little bit to cool the peanut butter a tad. Oh, I'm craving a piece of this right about NOW!

Au Gratin Potatoes

While my mom was here visiting she bought us a ham from Costco. I whipped up these potatoes to go along with it - and let me tell you, they were deliciously yummy. And if you haven't tried the ham from Costco get some. It is AMAZING!


Au Gratin Potatoes

* 4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
* 1 onion, sliced into rings or diced
* salt and pepper to taste
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups milk
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.
2. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

Blueberry Muffins

Well, to celebrate New Years...Gary and I stayed home, watched the crazy stunts on ESPN, drank Bubbly, worked on a puzzle, jumped on bubble wrap, you get it. After all the festivities, I decided to make blueberry muffins for a little New Years day early breakfast (since we were no where done working on our puzzle!) We both really really liked them so I thought I would share them. (Got them online)

Ingredients:

3 1/4 C. Flour

1 1/2 C. sugar

1 tsp. Salt

4 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

Rind of 1 lemon

2 Eggs

2 C. Buttermilk

1/2 C. Vegetable Oil

2 C. Frozen Blueberries

1/2 C. Pecans, chopped (optional)

Decorating Sugar

Line the muffin tins with paper liners and spray. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda) into large bowl. Add lemon rind and pecans.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and oil until combined. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until the batter is just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries and distribute as evenly as possible. It is important that you don't stir the batter too much or the muffins will be tough.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each up to the brim (NOT, I did this with my first batch NOT so good...try about 3/4 full). I sprinkled each muffin with some decorating sugar (maybe about 1/2 teaspoon). Bake in oven preheated to 375 for 23-25 minutes or until brown. Cool for about 10 minutes in the muffin pan then remove the muffins and DEVOUR! :) I don't like blueberries, so I did my first batch with blueberries and the second batch with blueberries.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ya'll HAVE to try these babies! No seriously. It's 11:38 pm on a Friday night and I'm posting this recipe because they were THAT good! We just had a little pancake party here with some friends tonight and we tried this new recipe that I got out of an Elementary School Fund Raiser Recipe Book I bought... ok enough talking already, here is the recipe go make it!

BUTTERMILK RECIPE

3 Eggs

1 2/3 Buttermilk

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 1/2 C. Flour

1 Tbs. Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. Soft Butter

Separate egg yolks from whites. Beat egg whites until fluffy (I beat them until they were almost to the point of stiff peak). Beat yolks (I just did the rest of this in a bowl with a whisk), then add buttermilk and baking soda. Mix together. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Fold in egg whites. Cook on griddle until light brown. - And then don't forget to call me to thank me for the BEST Pancake recipe EVER!