Friday, May 25, 2007

Raspberry Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon seedless raspberry preserves

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring until smooth.

Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (6 oz.) package Hershey's Premier Baking Pieces Dark Chocolate Filled with Raspberry Creme
Raspberry Icing (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electic mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and baking powder; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in baking pieces. Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Remove to wire racks to cool. Once cool, drizzle with Raspberry Icing.

Enchilada Casserole

From Paula Dean's cooking magazine March/April 2006
Makes 8-10 servings

2 pounds ground chuck
1 medium onion, chopped
2/3 cup water
1 (1.25 oz.) package taco seasoning
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15.25 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies
1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (19 oz.) can enchilada sauce
20 (5 1/2 inch) corn tortillas
2 (8 oz.) packages shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2 inch baking dish.

In a large skillet, cook ground chuck and onion over medium heat until meat is browned and crumbles; drain. Add 2/3 cupwater and taco seasoning; cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans, corn, chilies, tomatoes, and enchilada sauce. Remove from heat.

Tear corn tortillas into bite-sized pieces. Place half of tortillas into bottom of prepared baking dish. Spoon half of meat micture evenly over tortillas. Sprinkle with half of cheese. Repeat layers. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Italian Pizza Casserole

Makes 8-10 servings! Can be made ahead of time and frozen when ready to bake. Or you can just make it and bake it right away.

3 cups uncooked ziti noodles
1 pound ground sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced/ or garlic powder
1 1/2 cups quartered fresh mushrooms
1 (3 oz.) package sliced pepperoni, chopped
1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced black olives, drained
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

In a large skillet, cook sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic over medium heat until sausage is browned and crumbles; drain well. Spoon sausage mixture into a large bowl.

Stir in mushrooms and next 8 ingredients. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Add cooked ziti, tossing gently to combine. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until casserole is hot and bubbly.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Carrie's Monkey Mix

This is one of Hunter's favorite snacks and he loves that it's one of his favorite animal's snacks too! You can make this on a rainy day too! Hunter loves to help with this one!

3 cups dried bananas
2 cup each dried papaya and dried mango (I buy Sun maid's Tropical Mix bags)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2-3/4 cup sweetened coconut (sometimes I'll add more if desired)
3/4 pkg. mini chocolate chips
1/2 pkg. chocolate chunks

Combine all of the ingredients and enjoy!

*Sometimes I'll fill this in snack size plastic bags for community events such a brunches. Or I'll send them to Mike's work for Mike and his fellow workers to have as a midday treat!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Roasted Vegetable Burritos

From planetorganics.com

what you need:
3 tblspns vegetable oil
1 small russet potato, cut into 1/2 dice
1 small sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 small carrots, chopped cut into 1/2 dice (shredded carrots work too!)
1 Japanese eggplant cut into 1/2 dice (we don't have that out here so I left it out)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 dice
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 dice (I forgot to buy this but had yellow squash on hand. That works great too)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tblspn chili powder
1 tspns ground cumin
1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn sugar
1½ tspn salt
1/2 tspn black pepper
Juice of 2 limes
8 (9 inch) flour tortillas
Garnishes: sour cream, salsa, guacamole

how you make it:
Preheat the oven to 400ยบ. Pour the oil onto a rimmed metal baking pan. Add potatoes, carrots, eggplant, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic. Sprinkle with the chili powder, cumin, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat the vegetables with the oil and herbs and spices. Bake for 40 minutes or until the vegetables are done. Squeeze the lime juice over the warm vegetables. Warm the tortillas between wet paper towels in the microwave. Spoon the vegetables onto the tortillas, garnish as desired and fold around the filling.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Vegetable Lasagna

1 container (15 oz.) Ricotta Cheese (use part-skim version)
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 eggs
2 cups shredded carrot
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and well drained (spinach also works great)
9 cooked lasagna noodles (I prefer whole wheat noodles)
1 jar Prego Chunky Garden Combo Pasta Sauce, divided (or any organic sauce)
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Mix ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, eggs, carrots, and broccoli. Set aside. Place 3 lasagna noodles in a greased 3-quart shallow baking dish. Top with half of the vegetable mixture and 1 cup pasta sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining lasagna noodles and remaining pasta sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve with Parmesan Cheese. Makes 8 servings