I guess I’m in a recipe sharing mood lately. I figure that as much as I like to read and try new recipes, others probably do too. So, I’ll keep sharing. This recipe is one I got from my friend Nancy. It is so good, especially on a cool rainy day like we are having today. (NOTE: I use light and/or reduced sodium items when possible in this dish)

Chicken Taco Soup

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large can tomato sauce
• 1 can or bottle of beer (could substitute chicken broth if desired)
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 2 cans Rotel (or 1 can Rotel and 1 can diced tomatoes), drained
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can chili beans, drained
• 1 can whole kernel corn

Add tomato sauce,onion, taco seasoning, Rotel, beans and corn to crock pot. Stir to mix well. Incorporate the beer into the mixture.  Add chicken breasts to crock pot and push them down under the liquid mixture. Cook on low for 8 hours. (Or high for 4-6 hours) When cooking is complete, remove chicken from the crock pot and break it up into pieces, then return to the soup.

You can top this with cheese and/or sour cream. Cornbread muffins make a YUMMY side!

I’m making a chicken and broccoli casserole for dinner tonight and thought I’d share the recipe in case anyone else would like to try it sometime. It’s a favorite around here! So good and easy to make. I usually serve it with a side of black-eyed peas. YUM!

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

• 3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
• Steamed broccoli pieces (I use the frozen broccoli that you can steam right in the microwave)
• Shredded cheese (sharp cheddar or Mexican blend without the spices)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of broccoli OR broccoli-cheese soup
• 1 (8oz) container sour cream
• 1 tube Ritz crackers, crushed

*For my soups, I use Healthy Request. I also use reduced fat cheese,  lite sour cream and reduced fat Ritz.

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray a 9x13x2″ baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Cut up the cooked chicken and put it into the baking dish.
4. Layer the cooked broccoli pieces on top of the chicken.
5. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the broccoli and chicken. (Use amount desired)
6. Mix soups and sour cream together, spread this mixture over the top of the casserole.
7. Sprinkle cracker crumbs over the top.
8. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

If any of you try this one, please let me know how you like it. It’s a family favorite here!

I have made my first attempt at making Strawberry Bread. It’s in the oven right now and, of course, I’ll be sure to come back and post the results when it’s done. In the meantime, here is the recipe I used…

Strawberry Bread

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup non-sweetened applesauce (or use 1 cup oil and omit applesauce)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups crushed strawberries
1 cup crushed nuts

Beat eggs and sugar together; add applesauce, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
 
Mix dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt) well; add oats and blend together well.

Mix flour mixture together with wet mixture; blend well.

Fold in strawberries and nuts.

Pour mixture into two greased regular-sizeed loaf pans. (DO NOT OVERFILL PANS) Bake at 350 for one hour.

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I played around with this recipe, so hopefully it will come out nice and tasty. I added the applesauce and nuts. I didn’t have enough oil and applesauce makes a nice healthy substitute. I would love to have put pecans in this bread, but I had walnuts today, so that’s what I used. I hope it’s yummy. Will edit as soon as I know…

UPDATE 1:

ACK!!! I just learned my first strawberry bread lesson. Do NOT overfill the loaf pans. I filled the loaf pans mostly full because that’s what I do with banana nut bread and it turns out fine. Not the case with strawberry bread. I smelled something burning and, yep, some of the batter was cooking over and burning in the bottom of my oven. I just hope the bread can be salvaged. (I almost didn’t post this because it’s embarassing, but I guess most of us have kitchen missteps from time to time and it’s good to learn as we go. I hope.)

UPDATE 2:

I am happy to report that the bread survived my bungled baking. Yay!! It is really quite good. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it is really quite tasty. Not a strong strawberry taste like I was expecting, but still VERY good. I’m just happy it wasn’t a total flop. Remember: DO NOT OVERFILL LOAF PANS!! I would say fill maybe half to 3/4, but leave rising room!!

I really should be cleaning house right now. It needs to be done. However, I just put some banana nut bread in the oven to bake and I was inspired to post this recipe to share it. This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever tried for banana nut bread. The recipe is from a small church cookbook that was given to me by Mickey’s grandmother a few years ago. I have used this recipe and given it out SO many times. It’s fantastic!!

Banana Nut Bread

1 (8oz) block cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (half stick) butter, softened
1 cup (about 3 medium) mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts, chopped

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and margarine; cream well together. Blend in bananas, eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and then mix together well with wet ingredients. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased and floured 9x5x3″ loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. (Makes one loaf)

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NOTES:

• I added the vanilla and the salt to my recipe. The original didn’t call for those, but I like the additions.
• I typically make three small loaf pans of this bread.
• Adjust the baking time to your oven. I have had to cook one loaf for slightly more than an hour most of the time. The bread is done with a knife comes out clean.
• The nuts I like to use most often are pecans. Today I used walnuts because that’s what we had. Either are tasty in this bread.
• When baking bread, a small dish of water in the oven will help keep the crust from becoming too hard or brown. (This is a tip in the cookbook)
• Bananas that have darkened can be peeled and stored in a plastic container in the freezer until ready to use. (Another cookbook tip)

This morning I am baking cookies for a big youth conference at our church that will be taking place this weekend. The first batch I am making are chocolate chip cookies.

The best recipe EVER for chocolate chip cookies is the Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® recipe. Here it is:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts (optional – I usually omit because my family prefers them without, but pecans are SO good in these)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.

SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE VARIATION:
PREPARE dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

* May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks.

FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.

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I found found that my keys to cookie baking success are:

• Be sure to cream the butter and sugars together really well. Also make sure the eggs and vanilla are blended in well before adding dry ingredients. (Be sure to use real butter for the best taste and consistency)
• Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. (I mostly use mini chips because they distribute better through the cookies, but Mickey also enjoys the traditional size chips)
• Cook times can vary, but for my oven I have found that baking the cookies 10 minutes is best.
• Let the cookies remain on the cookie sheet two mintues after removing from oven. Then transfer to wire racks to cool.
• Store in air tight container(s).  

Last night I made Rachael Ray’s Chicken, Biscuits’n'Gravy Casserole for our dinner. Let me just say – it was absolutely delicious! It wasn’t one of her 30-minute meals, but it wasn’t overly time consuming either. It was quite easy to make and tasted fantastic. A great comfort food!!

Here is the recipe:

Chicken, Biscuits’n'Gravy Casserole
Yield: 4 servings
Rachael Ray

1 medium to large rotisserie chicken
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the dish
8 ounces white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Butter a large casserole dish. Pull the meat off the chicken, shredding it with your fingers or a fork into the baking dish.
2. In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over high heat. Add the mushrooms, onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned, about 6 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, sprinkle the flour into the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup of the milk and simmer for 1 minute more. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the gravy over the chicken in the baking dish.
3. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with the garlic.
4. Stir together the baking mix, the remaining 2/3 cup of milk and the cheese. Drop tablespoonfuls of the biscuit mixture on top of the casserole and brush with half of the garlic butter. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, about 25 minutes, brushing them once or twice with the remaining garlic butter.

Kelly’s Revisions:

We didn’t have a rotisserie chicken, so I just prepared some thinly sliced chicken breasts, cut those and used that instead.

I really don’t like celery (understatement), so I skipped that. I also skipped the lemon juice.

We didn’t have any mushrooms, so I just sauteed the onion in the butter. Then once I added the flour and chicken broth, I added in about half a can of cream of mushroom soup. Then I added a bit more broth and the milk to get the gravy to the desired consistency. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper to the gravy.

I used a 9×13 baking dish and found that I had just a bit too much biscuit mix. I made a couple of extra biscuits and squeezed them into the dish, but next time I’ll just leave them off because they soaked up some of the gravy. (I used a scoop to put biscuits on top)

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We really enjoyed this dish. I’m sure I’ll make it again soon. YUM!!

I tried this recipe for the first time this morning and it is SO good! I got it from my friend Jacqueline, so I wanted to give her a shout-out and a thank you for sharing this recipe.

Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled oats
3/4c brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk 
2 eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/4c maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, syrup and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

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NOTES:

I used the “1-Minute” oats and I found that this made the dish a little bit dry. So, I would recommend the regular old fashioned oats.

I substituted blueberries for cranberries since that’s what we had. I sprinkled frozen blueberries on top of half of the oatmeal (Macey won’t eat them) and it was really good!

I wanted to post and share two of my favorite summertime desserts. Both of these feature a lemonade theme because, really, what says summer more than lemonade, right?

Lemonade Layer Cake
from Cooking Light

Ingredients
Cake:
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
Cooking spray

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.

Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 322(28% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 5.9g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.5g); IRON 1mg; CHOLESTEROL 53mg; CALCIUM 60mg; CARBOHYDRATE 54.1g; SODIUM 293mg; PROTEIN 5g; FIBER 0.5g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2002

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Lemonade Pie

2 ready made graham cracker pie crusts
1 can frozen lemonade
1 regular size tub frozen whipped topping
1 can condensed milk

Mix lemonade, whipped topping and condensed milk together until well blended. Pour into two graham cracker pie crusts. Cover and put in freezer for at least 6 hours. Serve cold.

ENJOY!