Turkey Chili

What you need:
3 cups shredded turkey (I used leftovers from Thanksgiving)
1 onion, chopped
1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (28 oz) can dark red kidney beans (undrained)
1 Tb garlic, minced
2 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp each:
paprika
dried oregano
ground cayenne (red) pepper
salt
ground black pepper
1 pint jarred cherry tomatoes (We can ours from the garden. Any canned tomatoes would work.)

Make it:
Now here is the hard part.... combine in crock pot and heat on low for 5-6 hours.
We serve ours topped with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Autumn spice cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 Tb + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup Softened butter
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease & flour baking pan.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
Cut cake into 2 layers. Combine 1/2 cup icing with ice cream topping; spread between cake layers. Lightly ice cake with remaining icing.

This recipe makes a fairly short cake. If you would like a taller cake just double recipe and make two round cakes and then stack.

Buttercream Icing

My wonderful mother-in-law, Harla, gave me a gift certificate for a cake decorating class for my birthday. I took the class and am now forever hooked on decorating cakes. Here is the recipe I got from class for Buttercream Icing.

There are 3 different consistencies; Stiff, Medium & Thin.

Yields 3 cups

1 cup solid white vegetable shortening

1 tsp Wilton Flavor (Vanilla, Almond or Butter)

2 Tb milk or water

1 lb pure cane powdered sugar (approx. 4 cups)

1 Tb Wilton Meringue Powder

Cream shortening, flavoring & milk.

Add dry ingrediants & mix on medium speed until mix well.

Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.

(Mix a minute to a minute & a half)

For Chocolate Buttercream add the following:

3/4 cup chocolate baking powder or three 1 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted.

Add an additional 1 or 2 Tablespoons water to recipe.

Mix until well blended.

Medium Consistency

Medium icing creates stars, figure piping, borders & flowers with petals that lie flat.

~ Add 1 tsp milk or water to each cup of stiff consistency.

~ If using full recipe add 1 Tb milk or water.

Thin consistency

For writing, making vines, leaves and icing a cake.

~ Add 2 tsp of milk or water to each cup of stiff consistency.

~ If using full recipe add 2 Tb of milk or water.

~ For writing, stems & leaves also add 1/2 tsp Wilton Piping Gel per cup of icing.

Tator Tot Casserole

1 lb ground beef

2 can green beans

1 26 oz can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

32 oz tator tots

onion powder (season to taste)

Morton's seasoning salt (again-season to taste)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Brown ground beef in large skillet.

While meat is cooking add onion powder and seasoning salt.

When meat is done drain off any liquid.

Stir in green beans, cream of mushroom soup and milk.

Transfer to 9x13 inch baking pan.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Then line up the tator tots on top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until tator tots are nice and brown.

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

1/2 of a 16oz pkg linguine pasta

1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets

2 Tb butter

1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Prepare linguine according to package directions.

Add broccoli during last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain well.

Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken & cook until well browned, stirring often.

Stir soup, milk, cheese, black pepper & linguine/broccoli mixture into skillet.

Cook until mixture is hot & bubbling.

Cookie Cutter Sugar Cookies

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tb vanilla
1 cup Butter flavored shortening
2 eggs
1/4 cup light corn syrup

3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mis together first 5 ingrediants. Set aside
Mix together remaining 4 ingrediants. Combine with first 5 ingrediants.
Divide into 2 balls.
Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.
Refridgerat at least 3 hours, works best if left overnight.
Roll out with rolling pin & cut into desired shapes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Tip: Sprinkle dough with flour as you are rolling it out.

Milk Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks)-room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine in small bowl- flour, baking soda, & salt.
Beat in large bowl- butter, sugar, brown sugar & vanilla extract.
Add eggs one at a time. Beating well after each addition.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips and chocolate baking powder.
Form into balls & place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.
Remove after cooling on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.

Meatloaf

We love meatloaf in our house. My husband used to be the one to make it, until I took a shot at it. Now we use my recipe. Well, tonight we didn't have the ingredients that I usually use so I had to come up with something new. Now I have 2 recipes for meatloaf, #1 is tangy and #2 is sweeter.

Recipe #1
1 cup ketchup
1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
3 Tb brown sugar, packed
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 lbs ground beef (we use ground venison as my husband is an avid deer hunter)
1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs
2 large eggs
couple shakes Morton's seasoning salt
couple shakes tomato-basil-garlic seasoning

Grease loaf pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce & brown sugar until smooth. Put 1/4 cup mixture aside.

Mix remaining sauce with the onion, ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs & seasonings.

Put in loaf pan & place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Spread remaining sauce over meatloaf, bake for 15 minutes longer.

Recipe #2
1 cup ketchup
1 Tb honey
3 Tb brown sugar, packed
1 packet dry onion soup mix
2 lbs ground beef
1 1/4 cups fine bread crumbs
2 large eggs
couple shakes Morton's seasoning salt
couple shakes basil flakes
couple shakes garlic powder

Grease loaf pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ketchup, honey & brown sugar until smooth. Put 1/4 cup mixture aside.

Mix remaining sauce with dry onion soup mix, ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs & seasonings.

Put in loaf pan & place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Spread remaining sauce over meatloaf, bake for 15 minutes longer.

Best pancakes ever

Thank you Andee for this wonderful breakfast favorite.

1 cup flour
1Tb sugar
2 Tb baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tb cooking oil
1 cup milk

Mix together. Let sit for a minute or two. Pour on ungreased griddle.

My kids (and husband) love when I add chocolate chips to the pancakes!

Chicken Spaghetti

Thanks go out to our good friend Leanne for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken (I shred & skin a whole rotissierie chicken for a nice mix of white/dark meat)
2 cans Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 finely diced green pepper
1 finely diced medium white onion
1 4oz. jar diced pimentos, drained
3/4 - 1 box thin spaghetti, broken
2 cups chicken broth
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (I don't measure - just taste and add...start with 1 tsp.)
Cayenne pepper (again, taste and add, start with 1/8 tsp.)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 add'l cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Assembly:
Cook the spaghetti until al dente - do not overcook. Meanwhile, skin and shred the chicken. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with all ingredients except the one add'l cup of sharp cheddar.

Place in casserole dish and top with remaining 1 cup of cheese. You can freeze for up to 6 months, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days, or bake immediately at 350 for 45 minutes until bubbly. You can cover with foil if the cheese starts to get too cooked.