The best holiday dessert ever, especially if I don't have to share

I had Pink Salad once a long time ago at a church potluck or something and hunted for the recipe FOREVER before I finally found one I like. So when Kim posted her Thanksgiving menu, I decided to share my recipe with my internet people (all three of you).

I've heard it called all sorts of dorky names, including Heavenly Hash, but it will always be Pink Salad to me, so...

Pink Salad

1 large container Cool Whip
1 large can crushed pinapple, drained well
1 can Eagle Brand milk (sweetened condensed)
1 can cherry pie filling
Small bag marshmallows
1 cup chopped nuts (completely optional, if you want to ruin it)

Mix all and refrigerate overnight. I don't add all the marshmallows, personally, but that's really a matter of preference, as are the nuts, which I do NOT add because I think it's gross. But, you know, whatever floats your boat.

Share with others unless you're stingy and mean. Otherwise, hide and eat it all before you're discovered. It tastes better that way. :)

YUM.

Seasoning meat for tacos, taco salad, enchiladas, etc.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 lb. ground meat (I use turkey)
- 1 large bell pepper (or 2 small ones fresh from the garden)
- 1/2 of a large onion (or 1 small one fresh from the garden)
- Fresh garlic (I used 3 cloves – you can use less)
- 2 large ancho peppers (dried poblano peppers – find them in the Latin foods aisle or in the produce section)
- Salt, Pepper, and Cumin
- Optional: 1 can light red kidney beans (I add these to meat for taco salads) (not pictured because I forgot)

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare the ancho peppers to be rehydrated and cooked. Pull the stems up and out the top of the peppers, like this (see photo above for reference):
With a very sharp knife, cut off the tops:
Slice the pepper down the side and pick out all the seeds (and the veins, if you choose):

Roll the de-seeded peppers together and slice into thin slices:
Give them another rough chop until you have pieces about 1-inch square, then add to a small saucepan and cover with water:
Put them on the stovetop on high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer while you chop the rest of the veggies. Dice your bell pepper and onion and add to a large saucepan or skillet (don’t turn the heat on underneath yet):
Mince your garlic. I slice mine in half lengthwise and smash with the flat of my knife, and then mince it very finely:

Add the ground meat to the pan and turn heat on high. Cook and stir, chopping the meat to break it up (especially if using turkey). I add my salt and pepper at this point. When the meat is mostly cooked and you can see very little pink, add the garlic (see how the ancho peppers are bubbling?):
Cook and stir for a few minutes to cook the garlic, then add your cumin to the top. I don’t measure – I just make sure there’s a good layer on top, like this (feel free to sprinkle it all over the stovetop, like I did):
Cook and stir until the meat is done, then turn the heat off while you finish the ancho peppers. Your ancho peppers should be good and soft by now, and most of the liquid may have evaporated. If it hasn’t, that’s okay. Turn the heat off and let cool for a few minutes, then pour into a blender. You may need to add water to just reach the top of the peppers:
Puree until you can’t see any pepper pieces swirling around in there. It should turn a nice dark red (sorry, I couldn’t get a good photo without steam):
Add to the meat and stir well. It will look way too soupy, but that’s what you want, because now, we’re going to simmer it. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer:

If you’re using this meat for taco salad, you can drain and rinse the beans while it simmers. Here’s my method – open the can of beans, dump the whole thing in a wire mesh strainer, run hot water into the can and keep dumping cans of hot water over the beans until they’re good and rinsed. Then set the can in the sink and rest the strainer on top so the beans can drain well:
Your meat will have been simmering this whole time, so check it to see if the liquid has cooked off. Run a spatula from the edge of the pan and see if you get liquid seep back into the empty space. This is still a little too saucy:
Four minutes later, it looked like this, which is perfect:
And it’s done! If you’re doing taco salad, you can add the beans to the meat and refrigerate it until it’s time to eat. Just microwave for about 2 minutes to reheat. You can also let this cool, then put in a large Ziploc freezer bag and it will keep in the freezer until you’re ready to use it. I like to make several pounds of meat at a time and freeze 1 pound in each freezer bag.
We’re not big fans of the taco seasoning packets, so this is how we like to season meat for tacos, taco salad, enchiladas, and even for chili (brown about 1 or 2 pounds of chili meat in a stew pot, add the ancho pepper puree with a large can of stewed tomatoes, and let simmer for several hours, adding water as necessary). I hope you all like it, too! Let me know if you try it!

Grandma Bee's Chicken Salad

4 boneless chicken breasts, baked and chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
approximately 1/4 tsp celery salt
approximately 1/4 tsp Beau Monde seasoning, if desired

Mix together and refrigerate for flavors to blend before serving. Is great on bread, with crackers or on top of a bed of lettuce.

NOTE: You can also add chopped celery.

Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken Bake

1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into pieces
2 cups instant rice, uncooked
3 cans Fiesta Cheese soup
1 cup water
1 pkg frozen or canned Fiesta corn
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/4 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup tortilla chips, broken
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp. Mexican seasoning
1 tablespoon Cilantro, chopped (if desired)

Combine soup, water, rice and corn in slow cooker. Add chicken on top and season with salt and pepper and paprika. Place onions and celery on top of chicken. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

Just before serving, put butter in skillet; add chips and Mexican seasoning. Cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly. Add cilantro (if desired) then sprinkle on chicken mixture before serving.

NOTE: You can substitute cream of chicken soup or cheese soup for part of the soups if you like. You might even add some jalapeno if you like it really hot.

Cowboy Stew, my way

I saw Stephanie’s recipe for Cowboy Stew and knew I needed to try it. Mostly because the last few times I made my recipe for beef stew for my family, no one liked it but me. Everyone complained about different things and the kids never would eat it. So I just added my beef stew recipe to the list of things I won’t make any more. This list includes my lasagna (made in the crockpot because our oven doesn't work and I always burn the edges for some reason), my sour cream chicken enchiladas, and other meals I’ve made lately that everyone complained about and no one liked but me. Hmph.

So anyway, I saw this recipe and decided to try it on my people with a couple of modifications. I make it on the stovetop, for one. I’m home all day, so I have plenty of time to watch it, but the crockpot would be perfect for those of you who don’t spend all day repeatedly watching Transformers and answering 9000 questions from a SUPER chatty four-year-old.

So here’s how I do it:

1 lb. ground turkey
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, Italian flavor (do not drain)
1 10 oz. can mild Rotel tomatoes and green chiles (do not drain)
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 15 oz. can Ranch Style beans (do not drain)

1 15 oz. can Great Northern beans (I added this ingredient to the original recipe)
1 15 oz. can green beans, drained
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
6 or 7 small red potatoes, don't peel (I omit these if making on the stovetop - they can stick to the bottom and burn)
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (optional)

Brown the ground meat with the onion, adding salt and pepper (and Italian seasoning, if desired – not necessary if you get the Italian seasoned tomatoes, though). Add minced garlic and continue to cook for about a minute on high. Add the diced tomatoes and Rotel, and cook on high until it starts to bubble. Then reduce heat and continue to cook on a low simmer for about an hour, checking every fifteen minutes and adding water if needed. Add the can of corn, both cans of beans and the tomato sauce. Fill the empty tomato sauce can about halfway with water (more if needed), swish around, and add to the pot. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. While you’re waiting for it to come up to a boil, scrub and cut the red potatoes into a 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch dice. When the stew returns to a boil, add the potatoes and cook for about 30 to 45 minutes until potatoes are done. Serve with saltine crackers.

There is enough flavor and seasoning in the Italian tomatoes, Rotel, and Ranch Style beans that you really don’t need to add anything beyond some salt and pepper when you cook the meat. It has a nice bit of spice to it, but not so much that the kids can’t eat it. If you like more spice, serve with sliced jalapenos (as Stephanie suggested), or for the kids, serve with slices of cheddar cheese. And promise them ice cream if they eat all their stew. (I’m not above bribery.)

I finally found a recipe that my people like and will eat. This one is definitely a keeper. Thanks, Stephanie!

Delicious Pork Chops and Gravy

8 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 large sliced onion
large can evaporated milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Salt and pepper the pork chops and then brown in the oil. Drain and then transfer pork chops to a crockpot. In another bowl mix together the soup, onion and milk. Pour over and around the pork chops and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. 30 minutes before serving stir in the sour cream. Serve over rice or noodles. Delicious!

Links from the Realm of Crazy People

Hi, everyone! I went through the archives on my personal blog and thought I'd give you some links to all the recipes I've posted over there:

Dill Potato Salad

Potato Soup in the Crockpot

Taco Salad

Brussels sprouts with bacon and garlic

Many recipes in this post, including chicken tortilla soup, pot roast, rotisserie ham, and includes info about how I plan our bi-weekly menus (from when I participated in Menu Plan Monday – don’t click the link in the post because the web address has changed since I participated a year ago!)

Pesto-Like Rotisserie Chicken and other ideas

Pretty, isn't it?

My local grocery store has been running specials on 5-lb. bags of chicken leg quarters all summer, so I stock up every few weeks. The last ones were $.49 per pound and they limit three bags at a time, so I bought 15 pounds of chicken the other day for a little over seven dollars! Needless to say, we've eaten a LOT of chicken leg quarters this summer. Pretty much all of our chicken was cooked on the barbecue grill outside since the high temperature has been up around 315 degrees (OR SO) every day for months here, and even if my oven were working (which it's not), there's no way I'd cook anything in it.

To prepare our chicken, we mostly just rinsed it and sprinkled the outside with salt, then SuperDad grilled it until it was done all the way through. (You can always add some other seasonings under the skin, like I do below, or baste with a sauce, too.) After we take off the skin, we remove the meat from the bones and freeze in labeled and dated Ziploc bags for other recipes, and we have quite a few meals ready to be thrown together. Save the skin and bones, and you can make your own chicken broth for soups and stews!

Here are some of the things we've done so far with our cooked chicken leg quarters (and one whole turkey, too, that was super cheap):

• Dice for chicken tortilla soup, chicken and dumplings, chicken and rice soup
• Add to ramen noodle soup with some frozen mixed veggies and maybe a can of cream-of-something soup
• Add one jar of Woody's barbecue sauce/marinade and a little water to roughly four leg quarters' worth of meat for barbecue chicken sandwiches
• Mix diced chicken with some sour cream, dill, salt, and pepper for chicken salad sandwiches
• Use diced meat in a stir-fry (add thawed, cooked meat at the end and heat through)
• Of course, you can just serve them whole (as seen at Medieval Times - well, sort of "seen," since you eat in the dark)

I also have a rotisserie oven that my grandmother gave me about five years ago. I haven't used it much this summer because it heats up the kitchen - not as much as the oven, but the rotisserie oven does put off a good bit of heat. But today has been rainy and cool, so I decided to give it a go. I made some rotisserie chicken with pesto-like seasoning this morning and soon, I plan on using a soy sauce/ginger/white pepper marinade to make some for stir-fry.

Here's how to make the Pesto-Like Rotisserie Chicken:

I can fit three leg quarters in the basket in my rotisserie oven, but it's the compact version, so if you have a bigger one, you can fit more.

Prepare the chicken... Don't remove the skin! Thaw your chicken, if frozen. Otherwise, rinse extremely well and pat dry. Set aside.

Prepare the seasoning... With a mortar and pestle, crush together some fresh ground black pepper, Kosher salt, dried rosemary, dried oregano, and dried thyme. Crush until it's a pretty fine powder. Pour into small bowl (I used a coffee mug). Mince several cloves of garlic, finely chiffonade some fresh basil and add to the bowl. Add a splash of lime juice and a little olive oil to make a paste (the consistency of store-bought pesto). Stuff the seasoning in between the skin and the meat, giving it a good thick coating. I held the skin together with a toothpick so the seasoning wouldn't fall out while it was cooking.

I cooked mine in the rotisserie oven for 45 minutes, and then I let it go for another ten minutes on "No-heat rotation," mostly to allow it to cool before I took it out. If you're using it for something (mine will be chicken salad sandwiches), let it cool, remove the skin and bones, and dice the meat. You can either use it right away, refrigerate overnight, or freeze in a Ziploc bag for later.

Hamburger Casserole

This is another recipe from Mow Mow, my grandma. This was always one of my favorite things that she made. The combination of the cream cheese, sour cream, and green onions is so tasty!

(This recipe makes a lot, so you might want to half the recipe, or make it all and just freeze half. It freezes really well.)

2 lbs. hamburger meat
1 1/3 tsp. salt
1 2/3 tsp. sugar
2 - 16 oz cans tomatoes
2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, chopped
pepper to taste
2 - 5 oz packages wide noodles
1/2 pint sour cream
2 - 3 oz packages cream cheese
12 chopped green onions
2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese

Brown meat in a skillet. Cook for 10 minutes with sugar, salt, and garlic. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce.
Cook noodles, drain but do not rinse. Add sour cream and cream cheese. Stir until cheese melts.
Chop green onions.
In a buttered casserole dish, alternate noodles, meat, onions, and grated cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Easy Cheese Danish For Two

This is an easy recipe that makes only 2 servings. Perfect for a quick dessert or snack. BUT.......if you are like me, and LOVE all things sweet, you will want to double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe. Seriously. You think I am kidding? Try it out for yourself. You will want more, I guarantee.

1 tube (4 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter, melted
Cinnamon-sugar, optional

Unroll crescent roll dough, and separate into two rectangles; place on an ungreased baking sheet and press the perforations together.
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over half of each rectangle; fold over opposite half of rectangle and pinch to seal.
Brush with butter; sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
*Makes 2 servings*

(Or, if you don't feel like buying the crescent roll dough, just mix up the filling in a bowl and eat it with a spoon.....I never do that........)

"There's No Coconut In It" Cake

This cake doesn't really have a name. The frosting has crushed pineapple in it, and it looks like coconut when you spread it on the cake. But, my dad, sister and I all HATE coconut, so we lovingly call this the "There's NO COCONUT In It" cake. And it is the most delicious cake I have ever eaten!

To make the cake:

1 box of yellow cake mix
6 oz can mandarin oranges (Do not drain)
1 egg
1/2 cup oil

Mix all together, bake in a greased and floured pan according to cake mix directions. (It usually cooks a few minutes quicker than the box says.)

To make the frosting:

12 oz tub Cool Whip
15 oz can crushed pineapple (Do not drain)
1 small box vanilla pudding mix

Stir all together, spread on cake when it is completely cooled.

Osgood Pie

Mow Mow's Osgood Pie
(Mow Mow = Ora Lee Boen, my grandma)

1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup white raisins
2 tbsp vinegar
1 deep dish pie shell

Cream sugar and butter. Add vanilla, egg yolks, and vinegar, then add raisins and pecans. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into mixture and pour into an uncooked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until brown on top.

You might want to make two of these pies, because when you take the first bite, you will sigh and say "OSGOOD!!"

Links!!

I've been trying out new recipes from around the blogosphere for a while now, and I just had to share a few of the links with you!

Super Easy CrockPot Lasagna - Sweet mercy, this is probably the best lasagna cooking method ever! The CrockPot Lady isn't kidding when she says it really works. Here's what I did differently... I doubled up on the sauce, added a pound of ground turkey, and substituted monterey jack cheese instead of mozzarella because I'm a doofus and bought the wrong kind (it was also cheaper at our Wal Mart). I also left out the hard-boiled eggs because I didn't want SuperDad to have to go to the hospital with a bad case of anaphylactic shock. It was REALLY REALLY tasty, though! I had a good bit of leftover sauce and spinach, so I added the spinach to the sauce, cooked it down, and canned it in a large jar. We'll be having that with some spaghetti later in the week. (Edited to add: if you make it this way, you'll need to watch to make sure the edges don't burn... not sure what I'm doing wrong, but the last several times I've made this in the crockpot, it burns around the edges, even if I turn it off earlier than you're supposed to. Everyone has been complaining, so I need to find a better way to do this one. Maybe I'll just buy frozen lasagnas and see how they like that? LOL)

Really yummy biscuits - Shannon posted this recipe as a Works-for-Me-Wednesday a long time ago, and I've been making them ever since. They really are good, and you can serve them for breakfast with jam (or honey!), or with your favorite meal. They're sweet, but not too sweet to have with a meatloaf, you know?

Penne with Shrimp - I found this in the Pioneer Woman Cooks archives and had to try it! We've modified it a little... we add broccoli and make extra sauce. We all love this one! (Note to self: add to menu plan for next month.) Also really good if you substitute chicken for the shrimp and add spinach instead of broccoli.

If this site doesn't make you want to go out and buy supplies to make your own cheese, nothing will. I SO want to make some fresh mozzarella... yum.

Sorta-Soba Bowls

I love my Rachael Ray cookbook, and that's where I found this recipe. My local grocery store didn't have some of the ingredients, so I substituted and modified to fit my family's tastes. It came out really well!

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, sliced into thin strips

1 cup julienned carrots

2 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices

8 oz. package fresh sliced mushrooms (or 2 cans pieces and stems)

1/2 head cabbage, cut into 1/2 inch slices or 1-inch squares

32 oz. box chicken broth

1 tablespoon ground coriander (a definite must)

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ginger

salt (check before serving - I never add enough salt and people complain)

soy sauce for serving (I use Kikkoman low-sodium with no MSG)

lemon or lime wedges for serving

chili-garlic sauce for serving (found in the Asian foods section)

OPTIONAL: cooked, shredded meat (turkey, chicken, pork, beef, whatever - we had some turkey that SuperDad had cooked on the BBQ grill that he added to his for lunch the next day)

First, start the water going for the noodles (4 quarts heavily salted water for 1 pound spaghetti noodles).

While the spaghetti noodles are cooking, place 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil in a large soup pot and turn on to medium-high heat. Cook the onion, garlic, carrots, and zucchini until the onions and zucchini start to get tender, about 5 minutes (more if you're like me and the pan wasn't hot enough). Add the mushrooms and cabbage and cook for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms and cabbage start to look fully cooked. Add the chicken broth and seasonings and bring up to a boil (if you want to add more broth or water to make it more soupy, go ahead - one box was perfect for the amount of veggies I had - it just came to the top of the veggies in the pot). Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, depending how crisp you want the veggies to still be. Remove from heat. Your noodles should be pretty close to done by now. When they're done, drain and toss with olive oil and a little salt.

To serve, put noodles in individual bowls. Ladle the soup/veggies on top and serve with soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. Two of my kids ate it this way with no problem. The Tiny Man would have rather eaten just plain noodles. SuperDad and I added a small amount of chili-garlic sauce to ours, and it added just the right amount of extra flavor and spice for us.

Side note: If your people require meat at every meal (like mine apparently do), then at this point, they'll start to fuss at you, and you'll have to go get the leftover turkey out of the fridge so they can satisfy their carnivorous side. I had mine vegetarian and it was still great.

For lunch the next day, I just added the leftover noodles to the leftover soup and veggies, added a couple of shakes of soy sauce and some lime juice and reheated. Big Brother, the Princess, and I all enjoyed it like this for lunch. The Tiny Man, however, had a PB&J.

Mimi's Chili

This is a good chili for people who don't care for spicy or hot chili (which is everyone in my family, but me).

2 lbs. ground beef
1 large can tomato juice
1 c. water
2 packs Chili seasoning
2 large onions
2 cans dark red kidney beans (optional)

In a large stock pot, start tomato juice, water, beans, and chili seasonings to simmering. While this waits, saute onions in butter until slightly browned. Add onions to pot. Brown ground beef and drain. Add beef. Let this simmer for several hours. The kids will LOVE it, and absolutely insist that you never make you own, hot chili again...

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 c. cooked sweet potatoes
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 stick butter (softened)
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine above ingredients and put into a large Pyrex baking dish.

Topping:
1 c. dark brown sugar
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. coconut (sorry Stacey...)
1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. oleo

Mix topping ingredients together and pour over filling. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. AWESOME!!

Chinese Cole Slaw

1 package precut cabbage slaw
6 green onions, sliced
2 (3 oz) packages Oriental Ramen noodles
2 (6 oz) packages slivered almonds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (one) seasoning packet from the Ramen noodles

Mix cabbage with onions and place in large bowl. Crumble noodles and mix with almonds and sesame seeds and place in a baking pan; broil for about 2 minutes. Make sure not to scorch the seeds. In a jar with a tight lid combine and shake well the oil, sugar, vinegar, salt and oriental seasoning packet. Blend dressing well and just before serving pour over the salad and top with the nuts and then combine all gently and serve immediately. Always a big hit!

Blueberry Chill Pie

1 shortbread Ready Crust
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces Cool Whip
1 can blueberry pie filling

Empty pie filling into a strainer to drain some of the excess liquid. Reserve some blueberries and liquid for garnish. In medium bowl combine Eagle Brand milk with lemon juice and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread half of mixture into crust. Add blueberries and remaining mixture. Freeze until firm, about 3 hours. Let stand at room temp for 15 minutes before garnishing and serving.

Heath Bars

2 sticks butter or margarine
1/2 box graham crackers
1/2 cup sugar
sesame seeds
1/2 cup broken pecan pieces

Line a cookie sheet with graham cracker sections. Melt butter and add in sugar. Bring to boil and boil for 2 minutes. Immediately pour over crackers. Sprinkle with seeds and nuts. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and separate sections. Enjoy! BEWARE: These will disappear quickly and are habit forming! Better make a double batch or more to feed a crowd. Dieting women will curse you.

Crazy Cake with Smoothie Cocoa Frosting

Here's one to get the kids involved in the kitchen! SuperDad's aunt gave me this recipe and the kids LOVE to help me make it. Now that they're a little older (7, 5, and 4), I'm going to start letting them measure ingredients, too. What I love about this is that the cake mix is all mixed into the pan, so there are no extra dishes to wash. And the frosting is all in one bowl, too!

In a 9x13 cake pan, mix together:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

3 tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

Make three holes in dry mix. Add:

2 tsp. vanilla (in one hole)

2 tbsp. white vinegar (in one hole)

2/3 cup oil (in one hole)

(Since I have three kids, I let them each pour something into a hole. It's all about fairness, you know.)

Pour 2 cups water over the top or everything and let the kids mix until smooth. I give them each a fork and let them go at it. Moms, if you have food OCD like I apparently do, you might have to give it a stir at the end to make sure they get it all mixed.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

While it cools, make the Smoothie Cocoa Frosting:

Melt 1/3 cup butter in medium sized microwave safe bowl. I do it in the microwave.

Add 1/4 cup cocoa and mix until smooth.

Gradually add:

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until smooth(ie) and frost your cake. Give the kids each a spoon and let them "clean" the frosting bowl. Go crazy and have dessert!

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings is an excellent comfort food, and to make it even easier, I make mine in the crockpot!

1 whole precooked rotisserie chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
64 ounces homemade (or 2 32-ounce boxes) chicken broth
3 to 4 stalks celery, diced
1/2 of a large onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. baby carrots (optional - I like to quarter mine so they're bite-size)
2 cans refrigerated biscuits, not the giant ones (I get the cheap four-can pack of buttermilk biscuits from Wal Mart)

This works best in a very large crock pot, but can be halved for smaller ones.

Prepare the chicken by picking all the meat off the bones and coarsely chopping/dicing into bite-sized pieces, then arrange meat in the bottom of the crock pot (you could also cook about three seasoned chicken breasts in a little olive oil in a skillet, then dice and add to the pot). At this point, you can take all the bones, skin, and stuff from the chicken and put it all in a deep casserole dish, fill with about 64 ounces water, then cover and microwave for about 15 minutes. Cool, strain, and use as your broth, or freeze for later. Add all the rest of the ingredients except cream of chicken soup and biscuits to the pot. Season according to your tastes (I like about 1 tsp. each of salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, thyme and oregano). Cook on high for about 5 1/2 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add both cans cream of chicken soup and stir until well incorporated. Quarter each biscuit and add to the pot, stir gently (they’ll all float on top), and continue to cook on high for another 30 minutes until biscuits are cooked through and fluffy.

If you want to cook on the stovetop: Saute onion, celery, and garlic in skillet until tender. Put all ingredients except cream of chicken soup and biscuits in a large stew pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until carrots are cooked through, about 30 minutes or so. Then add both cans cream of chicken soup and stir until well incorporated. Quarter each biscuit and add to the pot, stir gently, and continue to simmer until biscuits are cooked through and fluffy.

Meat, Beans, & Rice

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
black pepper, to taste

Brown the above ingredients in skillet. Drain and mix into:

1 can Ranch Style beans (or if you live where you can't get those, Bush's chili bean in mild sauce)
1 can Spanish Rice (as above, if you can not find it in a can, Lipton offers a pack where you can make your own)
1 can Rotel tomatoes

Combine all ingredients into a large Pyrex baking dish. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Serve with tortillia chips.

This can be a main course, or it makes a great dip for parties! Enjoy!

My Favorite Pot Roast

1 (3 pound) roast
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2-4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 cups water
cut up potatoes and carrots

Place roast in a 5 quart Dutch oven. Add onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Add water. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours. Add vegetables and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour longer or until fork tender.

Beef Bake

2 cups cooked macaroni
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion, optional
2 cups grated cheese
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
large can chopped or stewed tomatoes

Cook meat, celery and peppers together. Add rest of ingredients (except cheese) and place in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Scalloped Corn

2 cans cream style corn (or frozen, thawed)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 package crumbled crackers
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 stick butter

Melt butter and then saute onion in it. Mix in rest of ingredients and bake in an uncovered casserole dish at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until set.

NOTE: You can add cheese if you prefer but use American as cheddar gets too tough. Try layering half of the mixture, add cheese, add other layer and top with more cheese.

Scalloped Potatoes

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
5 cups thin sliced potatoes
grated cheese (approximately 1/2 lb)

Melt butter in large pan. Add flour, salt and milk; cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes and bring to a boil. Pour into a 8 x 8 casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with cheese and continue baking until cheese melts.

NOTE: I've used cheddar cheese and a combination cheddar and American. Both work well, although I prefer just cheddar. You can experiment with other cheeses too. I put the cheese on before I bake it. It will get a little crusty and slightly brown on the edges but that's the way I like it. If you have a really hot oven it might get too brown so watch it carefully. Also, If you double this recipe for a 9 x 13 pan it will take almost a 5 lb bag of potatoes.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

2 frozen pie crusts

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 1 small precooked rotisserie chicken from the deli)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can sliced mushrooms (pieces and stems work well, too)

1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

2 cans "cream of" soup (cream of mushroom, chicken, or celery)

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

garlic powder

onion powder

salt

pepper

Defrost chicken breasts, dice into small pieces, and marinate in a brine of garlic powder and salt water for a couple of hours. Sautee chicken with onion, celery and mushrooms, cooking till chicken is done and onion and celery are cooked through. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds more. (OR debone a precooked rotisserie chicken, dice and set aside while you sautee the onion, celery, mushrooms and garlic.)

While chicken is cooking, in separate microwave-safe bowl, add frozen mixed vegetables with enough water to cover and microwave until veggies are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Open both cans cream soup (I like one each of mushroom and celery), pour in large bowl, and add 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning. Add cooked chicken mixture and cooked veggies to soups in bowl. Mix well and set aside to allow flavors to meld. Taste and season as needed.

Follow directions on pie crust package for a two-crust pie. Generally, you will remove both crusts from freezer, set one aside, and take one out of pie tin to set on waxed paper to thaw, aproximately 15 minutes. For crust on waxed paper, after thawed, press gently to flatten and repair any cracks by pressing crust back together.

Pour filling mixture into other, non-flattened crust. Very carefully, turn flattened crust over and apply to top of filled crust. Press around edges of pan to remove excess crust. Press with a fork to seal (and make a pretty design on edges!), the cut several small slits in top. I like to take extra crust from edges, flatten, and cut out shapes to put on top of crust before baking. My kids love it!

Bake according to pie crust package directions until golden brown on top.

Experiment with different types of vegetables, different flavors of soup, and varied seasonings to come up with a pot pie recipe that is all your own! Enjoy!

About our blog name...

Why "The 2500 Mile Cookbook," you ask? Well, here's the whole story...

Cynthia and I met at a revival at church on June 23, 1991 (has it really been that long? wow...). I remember the date because that's the night I was saved. Cynthia walked right up to me at church that night, looked me straight in the eye, and said "Hi!" She wrote in my senior yearbook that I gave her one heck of a look, but we became best friends pretty quickly. We lived about a hop, skip, jump and maybe a short jog away from each other. It seems like we've known each other forever and ever. Now, though, we live far away from each other. And since my sister has moved far away in the other direction on the U.S. map, we're all over the place. It is a 2500 mile trip from Cynthia's house to Kim's house , with a stop here in between to visit me, my mom, and Cynthia's parents. So "The 2500 Mile Cookbook" has a very special meaning to all of us because we don't get to see each other that often any more. But still, the friendship is strong and won't ever change just because of something piddly like a few thousand miles.