Classic Long Johns

I heard that my sisters were wanting to make donuts and had to share these. I found them in the Taste of Home magazine and give them full credit for the recipe. We made these and loved them and what's even better is that it makes a small, family-sized batch!!!! It says it makes 2 dozen bars but these would be half the regular store size bars, so it's actually about a dozen. Which is perfect for us!

Ingredients:

2 pkgs. (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water (110° to 115°)

1/2 c. half and half cream

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. shortening

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

3 - 3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Oil for deep frying

MAPLE FROSTING:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon half-and-half cream

1/8 teaspoon maple flavoring

1 cup confectioners' sugar

CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the cream, sugar, shortening, egg, salt, nutmeg and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; divide in half. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll each half into a 12-in. x 6-in. rectangle. Cut into 3-in. x 2-in. rectangles. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

In an electric skillet or deep fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry long johns, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

For maple frosting, combine brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in cream and maple flavoring. Add the confectioners' sugar; beat for 1 minute or until smooth. Frost cooled long johns.

For chocolate frosting, in a microwave, melt chocolate and butter. Stir until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread over cooled long johns; let stand until set. Yield: 2 dozen.

Taco Bell Chalupa

Taco Bell's chicken, bacon, ranch, chalupa, modified.

So Katie is the one that told me about this. She said these things are SOOO good. She said just to cook your chicken in taco seasoning and then put everything else on. She would make a scone crust but I took the lazy woman's way of things and just used a flour tortilla. It turned out super good! One we will defiantly have again. Thanks Katie!!

Really??

So what is up with this?! Just had to take a picture and say what the heck! See I already pulled of the top of the bag so I can now use my resealable bag. Now look closely yup it's sealed underneath the zip lock. So how are you suppose to use the zip lock if you have to cut it off to get in your bag....STUPID!

General Tso's

Fast, easy, and cheap. So just make fried rice like normal and then for the chicken we just use the sunbird seasoning packet. Then I use to make it harder and actually follow the directions on the packet to prepare the chicken, well my husband had a GREAT idea to use popcorn chicken instead one night. It's super yummy and FAST!

Breadsticks

Very fast and really yummy!

*Makes about 20-25 breadsticks, depending on how thick or thin you cut them

1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

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 an 11X17-inch baking sheet. 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 sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice (I used Italian Seasoning) and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Cherry Cheesecake Cookies

These are a little bit labor intensive but worth it!! Yummy!

The recipe said it yields about 2 dozen but I made half the recipe and got about 3 dozen.

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 cans (20-ounce) cherry pie filling - I used raspberry pie filling

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners. Place graham cracker crumbs in a shallow dish.

Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, then roll the balls in graham cracker crumbs. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using a tablespoon measure, make an indentation in the center of each ball. Place 3 cherries in the dimple. Bake until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool for five minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Potato & Ham Soup...and other odds and ends

Here is the huckleberry jam I made, when we picked huckleberries with Katie, Jared and Garrett. They are sooooooo yummy!!

And some ham, potato soup. The recipe is in the Rawson family cookbook it's so good on those cold, yucky days.

Potato and Ham Soup

1 large onion

2 1/2 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 Tbsp. Ham Soup Base (or 2 extra "glugs" Worcestershire sauce)

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

4-5 c. Ham, cubed

1 c. grated carrots

7 c. water

6 medium potatoes

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. onion powder

2 c. cold water

1 c. cornstarch

2-2 1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 tsp. pepper (add last)

Cook potatoes and dice. Finely chop onion. In a large pot, add butter, onion, soup base, worcestershire sauce, carrots and ham and saute until onion is translucent. Add 7 c. water, potatoes, garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, mix the 2 c. cold water and cornstarch. Turn heat down. Stir in cornstarch mixture and stir for 3-4 min. until thick. Add sour cream and stir until creamy white. Add pepper.

Sorry my week

So I went to girls camp and didn't post my week then I got lazy so here I'm trying to catch up.
Anyway, I don't know what we had that was the same old, same old, but here are the different things we had.

We call this Quizno's Salad

we have used just bagged salad then you use whatever type of lunch meat you like best put some bulls eye barbecue sauce (original) a slab or two of cheese season with oregano put under broil till cheese melts. Put on top of salad and top with favorite salad dressing (ranch works best) and it tastes just like the salads they sell at Quizno's, thus the name.

Reuben Sandwich

This is just like a toasted cheese, just use pepper jack cheese and meat toast, then add tomatoes and lettuce once it's done, that's it. Super good and you can use whatever meat you want roast beef of course makes in a Reuben. I don't know what it would be called with anything else but we've had everything and it's good with anything! Just been trying to use all the lettuce in my garden and still not succeeding. =)

Menu Week of June 15th

Monday- Burgers and Hot dogs
Tuesday- Chinese =)
Wednesday- Twice Baked Potatoes
Thursday- Steak, garlic toast, veggies
Friday- Indian Tacos
Saturday- Chicken Taquitos and soup
Sunday- Roast & Mashed Potatoes, 45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls and Dinner Rolls

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Makes 14-16 taquitos
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup green salsa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 green onion, sliced finely (white and green parts to equal about 2 tablespoons)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese (use pepperjack if you like a little heat)
yellow or white corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix softened cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well. You can prepare this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Working with a few tortillas at a time, place 3-4 between two damp paper towels and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until tortillas are soft and pliable and don't crack while rolling. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place filled taquitos seam side down on the baking sheet, making sure they don't touch each other. When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and lightly sprinkle some kosher (coarse) salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately. Taquitos can be dipped in in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or any other combination you can dream up.

Adapted from mykitchencafe.blogspot.com