White Bean Dip

Not a huge fan of hummus? Try this one! Milder in taste, lighter in calories and so so good! Packs a ton of fiber and the flavor is outstanding. We dip ours with pita bread, soft tortilla shells, (my favorite: Wasa Toast or Melba Toast  and pretzels.

• 2/3 cup reduced-fat 2-percent cottage cheese
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• One 15.5-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons good quality olive oil
• Pinch smoked or sweet paprika
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Combine the cottage cheese, vinegar, thyme, beans, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a food processor. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Chill 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the paprika and garnish with chives.

Mahi Mahi Wraps

• Seriously good! I make up lots of this fish and eat it several times over the week. It's great on pita bread, soft/hard taco shells, lettuce wraps, over rice or just as it is! I don' t even have to have it warm. I like it cold too which makes for a great meal if your packing your lunch for work!
• 
  
• 1 mango, diced
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 limes, juiced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 mahi mahi fillets
• Olive oil, as needed
• Lettuce leaves (recommended butter or romaine)

Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.

Combine the mango, tomatoes, onions, and lime juice in a medium mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Season the fish with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Grill for roughly 3 to 4 minutes per side, until just opaque in the center. Set aside to cool

When slightly cool, chop into large chunks. Add to the reserved salsa and fold carefully as to not break up the fish. Add mixture to the middle of the lettuce leaves and roll.

Baked Tilapia

• Butter cooking spray
• 4 (6 to 8-ounce) tilapia fillets
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 lime, finely grated zest and juice
• 2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large cast iron pan with a nonstick butter spray.

Rinse fish and pat dry; place on the cast iron pan. Season each fillet with salt, cracked pepper, lime zest and lime juice. Add fish to the pan. Place a pat of butter on each fillet and cook in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes.

Baked Camembert

I've used brie, chevre or any other soft round cheese for the Camembert if the Camembert is not available. This is a great crowd pleaser. You can even get these cheeses at Sams club for a decent price. And use a couple different jams for variety. Serve it with some fresh fruit along side and it will look like you spent hours!

Preheat Oven to 350*. Prepare a baking sheet by greasing lightly with Pam or line it with parchment paper. 

Make sure you only cut through the rind of the Camembert cheese, run a knife around the top (1/4 inch in from the edge of the cheese). Make several cuts across the cheese forming small triangles, and then gently remove the top rind forming a shallow cup to hold the jam. 

Spread the jam of your choice, I like raspberry or peach preserves or jam, depending on if you like seeds, over the top of the cheese. Sprinkle the rosemary and nuts on top. Place on baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until the cheese is warm and soft. 

Transfer cheese to a serving dish with a spatula. Serve with crackers or french bread toasts.  

Chicken Salad

Now my mom used to love serving her Chicken Salad on anything but bread! She would stuff these in a cored tomato, a mini sized bread bowl she'd make, but my favorite was wrapping it up on a big slice of ice cold lettuce. Crunch! A lot of people don't understand what a shallot is. Its part of the onion family. A perfect choice when a recipe calls for onions and your not a particular fan of onions. This little guy is sweet and has a little spiciness to it. Its not however, that strong onion your mom typically works with. Yellow Vidalia onions are another less pungent and strong tasting onion. I say with all recipes, if there is something you don't like that the recipe calls for? ie: Carrots, onions, garlic.... then put them in quartered so your able to pull them out prior to eating. The reason for these isn't just to eat.. they allow flavor to the broths or juices that your creating. Carrots especially lend a natural sweetness to your dish. Im not a overly huge fan of garlic in large quantities. I give one a good hard whack with the back of a knife and then toss it in. Then remove it before we eat.

Anyways... let's get ta cookin!

• 1 cooked chicken, skinless and meat shredded or diced (rotisserie if your in a time crunch)
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1 shallot, chopped 
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 cup pine nuts
• 2 T chopped fresh  tarragon leaves or 1 tsp parsley
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (Our choice) (My mom loved her chicken salad wet. I perfer mine a tad bit on the dry side. So I make this just the way it says and then add a little at a time to the chicken and vegi's until I get it the way I like it)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 
  

Ready for the hard part???????

Mix the chicken red onion shallot celery nuts in a large bowl and toss. Mix mayonnaise vinegar salt and pepper and then I mix small amounts into the chicken salad until I get the right wetness I like. Sprinkle in tarragon and mix Spoon into your favorite bread, cored tomato or put on a slice of cold lettuce. 

Braised Short Ribs

• If your family is into meat and potatoes... this here will be a winning dish. We make this in our Le Creuset but you can use any old pot or roaster that is stove top/ oven proof because you will start on the stove top and finish in the oven. 
• This dish is rich with the hint of sweetness and a wonderful flavor of garlic. We serve ours with freshly mashed potatoes. And a side of corn bread. 
• 
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 6 pounds beef short ribs (I generally find mine at HyVee)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 carrot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups dry red wine or beef stock
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, in thick puree
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 orange, zested
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat about 2-tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat.

Season the short ribs well with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, brown ribs for 6 minutes on each side. You will need to do this in batches. Remove the browned short ribs to a plate and repeat with remaining ribs and oil.

Add onion, carrots, garlic, celery, and salt and pepper to the Dutch oven and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and wine to the vegetables and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the stock, diced tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Return the browned short ribs and any juices that have accumulated back into the Dutch oven. Add orange zest. Cover with a heavy lid and place in the oven and braise for 3 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Once the ribs are tender, remove the ribs to a platter. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve the short ribs over the stone ground grits, if desired. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Christmas Breakfast Strata

Now that the holidays are less than two weeks away... I am already planning our Christmas meals. And this one always makes the table. You could totally make this anytime of year, but we general use this one for times when we have guests staying over night. Its easy, you can make it the day before, and its SUPER DELISH!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 loaf of french bread cubed and set out to dry out
• 1 package of sausage links cooked and chopped
• 1/2 pound bacon cooked well and chopped
• 2 slices of thick cut breakfast ham chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 cup monterey jack shredded
• 7 beaten eggs
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

Grease bottom and sides of 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 350*. Add cubed bread to pan. Sprinkle over the meats and diced onion. Beat eggs and milk and then add seasonings. Pour over bread. Top with sprinkled cheese and bake for 40-45 minutes. You can make ahead the night before just adjust the baking time since you will be cooking it cold rather then at room temperature.

Scalloped Corn

They could have come up with a better name. But I am telling you..I love this recipe of my mommies! It is just so yummy! At one bite, memories come flooding back and to me this is serious comfort food! 

My favorite memory when I think of this dish is the Jiffy Mix. My mom and I used to buy boxes of this by the dozen. My most prized (ok second most prized: Those who know me know I covet my blanket my mom made me when I was a baby.) Christmas gift was my easy bake oven. I loved that thing. And it required me to use the Jiffy cake mix. Mom always let me stock up since I used it so often. And it was a must to have one of each when we went to the store. Corn bread jiffy mix was always on my moms list however when we got home, I would line that corn bread up with my other mixes. ( early signs of OCD?).

 I loved when she was going to make her scalloped corn and she would come ask me if I had any corn bread mix she could "borrow". You see I was always asking her for ingredients. So it was cute that she needed some from me! 

Hey what can I say... it was the little things! 
So ... here it is.... I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we did!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 1 (14 ounce) can creamed corn
• 1 (14 ounce) can whole kernel corn (undrained)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package Jiffy cornbread mix
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Beat eggs slightly.
• 2
  Add sour cream, butter and corn.
• 3
  Fold in dry Jiffy corn mix.
• 4
  Put in baking disk (I used a 9 x 7).
• 5
  Sprinkle cheese on top.
• 6
  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.
• 7
  Make sure center comes out clean.

Hummus

Seriously. YUM! I mean my teenagers love it.. That should tell you something! Bonus? It's healthy!

Why do they give good food such a weird name. Well you've heard the saying.. don't judge a book by it's cover! I visited a friend once and she had just made some homemade hummus. I was like.. Um... I don't know about that. Ill stick with the veggies and dip thanks. But she and her hubby talked us into trying it. And I will have to say.. I not only liked it. I LOVED IT! In fact, I am snacking on some hummus as I blog!

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, mashed and minced
2 15 ounce cans drained and rinsed chickpeas or garbanzo beans. These are the same thing
2/3 cup of roasted tahini (jar kind works best never raw)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Toasted pine nuts

In food processor, combine garlic beans tahini lemon juice water and olive oil. Process until smooth. then process a lil bit more to be sure. Add salt.
Toast your pine nuts in a skillet just until that nutty flavor comes out and they slightly brown. Sprinkle on the top and serve with pita bread, tortilla shell, pretzels, or  veggies!

Want to try it before making it? Sabra brand is the only one I will purchase. The roasted red pepper is wonderful. And as close as I can find to the real deal!

Homemade Pasta Dough

 This pasta machine is one that I started out on. Amazon sells them for $30.00. They work great!!! Pasta rolls out on one side and then on the other it cuts. Perfect!!

Now this is what I have graduated to. We found we loved the homemade pasta so much that we upgraded since it was something we were going to be using often. Hello!? My middle name is carbs! These attachments come in  Lasagna, Spaghetti, Fettuccine  Thick Egg Noodles, Angel Hair Pasta, and you can do ravioli with the lasagna noodles. 

I mean you think it would this tricky, hard, lots of work with a long list of ingredients right? Wrong. It's so super easy and cheaper than the store bought box. 

First of all. Gather up all of the ingredients. 

3 eggs
2 cups flour

Your hands are full aren't they....I told you this was going to be simple!

Slightly beat all three eggs. Add flour. 
Now stir this together or put in your mixer works too. The dough will be crumbly and slightly sticky.
Once its pretty mixed, turn off the mixer and bring the dough out onto the pre floured counter. Kneed the dough with your hands until it forms a nice ball and its no longer crumbly.
Cover with plastic wrap or place a bowl over the top for a couple of minutes.

*you can do this dough up to 24 hours ahead of time and keep it wrapped in the fridge until your ready!

Now, lets get ta gettin....

Unwrap your dough, divide down circle into 4 wedges. Cover three of them up and work with the one remaining.

Using a pasta machine.... ( you can do this by hand as well. With a rolling pin.. just roll it out to about a card stock paper thin) 

Lasagna Noodles: 
Flatten the one quartered dough with your hands Dust the disk and the roller attachment. With the roller on the widest setting (on mine its 1), pass the pasta through the machine's rollers once. Sometimes I push it through and it tears all up. Its ok. Fold it in half and re insert the opposite side as before. See?! It came back together! Now put through once more. 
Move to setting number 2. your done folding the dough.. your just going to run it through twice.  Put through and then go again. You will go through settings 2 - 5 twice each time. Once you are done with the 5th time, lay the long long sheet of dough on the floured counter and leave it. 
Do this with the remaining three chunks of dough. 
Once these are all done, use a pizza cutter or knife and cut each long sheet down the length wise in half. then cut width wise into strips you want. 
Making ramekins? Use a round cookie cutter! 

Spaghetti Noodles? We do 1-3 for the settings working the same way. When the long sheets are pressed, change the attachments and send it through one last time this will create and cut your noodles for you. 

Alfredo Noodles? Same as spaghetti

Now you have your noodles!
Place in small batches in boiling water for 3 minutes. Yes.. three minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. BOOYA! Your noodles are ready to be assembled into your lasagna or tossed in your sauce!



Sounds like a lot of work huh. Well the time it takes you to put boxed noodles into the boiling water to cook? Your dough is cut and ready. And with homemade pasta your cook time is 3 minutes only! So time wise, your talking equal if not a little less and your family will have pasta from scratch!

Our guests ask me all the time, can you really tell the difference  We just hand them a plate piled high with carb loving pasta and then that take that first bite. Because really there is no reason for us to answer them! They can taste it!

Mom's Chicken and Dumplings

Again, I don't have a picture of this one. But anyone who has had my moms cooking can tell you. Her dumplings were like clouds. Large with the outsides all soaked up with the chicken broth, and the insides... lord have mercy...they were good. So light, and fluffy! MMM Mmm MMM! Going to have to make this here very soon!  Then ill come back and post the picture for you! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole fryer chicken 
• 4 to 5 bay leaves
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 stick butter
• pepper, to taste
• 
  
• Dumplings:
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 small eggs
• 3 cups flour

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Place chicken in pot and over well with plenty of water and add bay leaves. Add salt and pepper, and the butter (the more butter, the richer the dish).
• 2
  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is well done, about 1 hour.
• 3
  Remove the chicken from the broth and debone. Return the deboned chicken to the broth. About 1/2 to 3/4 pot of broth should remain.
• 4
  For dumplings: In a large bowl, mix together the salt, oil, water, and eggs. Slowly add the flour to the mixture, blending it constantly with a fork. Stir only long enough to mix the dough. Mom always said don't over work the dough. You want light dumplings don'tcha!
• 5
  Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Pinch the dough in half, and roll out until thin, about 1/4 inch. Slice the dough into 1/2-inch-wide strips, and cross-slice into pieces 4 to 8 inches long, for ease in handling.
• 6
  Bring the broth and chicken back to a boil, and pepper well to taste. Drop the dumpling strips into the boiling stock. Boil approximately 20 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until until the dumplings are done (they’ll be puffy)Most of broth will be absorbed.

Mary Bells Oyster Stew

Now mind you, I loved my grandma. But when she made this stew....well let's just say... I'm not a fan of Oysters. But her stew was very good. And she always put extra potatoes in hers so that I could pick the oysters out and still have a nice warm bowl of yummy stew. I didn't mind the oyster flavor. I just didn't so much as care for the actual oyster! The one thing she didn't use.... canned oysters. She would call in to the  locker and get them brought in during the times she would serve this stew. But I am sure if you cant get them fresh somewhere canned will do! Do I have a picture? Nope. I haven't made it in years! However.... it does sound good about now...

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup of finely chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon Louisiana Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 4 peeled, diced and pre cooked until fork tender potatoes.
• 1 pint of oysters, reserving the liquid
• 3 green onions, sliced
• hot sauce

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Heat the milk and cream in a medium sized saucepan over a low simmer. You want to slowly warm the mixture so take care not to allow it to boil. Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, melt the butter over medium to medium high heat and start a roux by stirring in the flour, one tablespoon at a time, until fully incorporated. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the Cajun seasoning and garlic salt and stir in. Reduce heat to just under medium.
• 2
  Slowly begin to add the warmed milk blend to the roux about one cup at a time, and stirring constantly until all of the milk has been incorporated. I use a whisk. Do not boil. Drain the oysters, reserving the liquid; set the oysters aside, and stir in the liquid from the oysters (the oyster liquor), bringing it up to a slow simmer. Add the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• 3
  Add the oysters and slow simmer until the edges of the oysters begin to curl. Plate in a nice soup bowl, and drizzle each serving with a bit of hot sauce - I like the combination of Tiger Sauce and Louisiana hot sauce. Crumble a couple of saltines in the center of each bowl and garnish with a sprinkle of fresh sliced green onion. Also very good spooned over homemade mashed potatoes.

The Best and Most Savory Beef Stew

Now. As much as I love my mommas beef stew. I love the richness and flavor of this one I ran across a couple years ago. This is the one I make when my family is wanting a hearty warm and comforting stew on one of those cold winter nights.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 pounds Stew Meat
• flour to dust meat
• 1 small Onion, Diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can Beer, 12 Ounce Can
• 5 cups Beef Stock 
• 1 cups Water 
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 Tablespoon Soy
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1  teaspoon Sugar
• 6 whole Carrots, Washed, Unpeeled, And Roughly Sliced
• 6 whole New Potatoes, Quartered
• 1 Bay Leaf (removed before serving)

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cut meat into bite sized chunks if too big. Dust meat cubes in flour and then brown meat in two batches, setting aside on a plate when brown.  Set aside.
• 2
  Add diced onions to the pot. Stir and cook for two or three minutes until softened, then add garlic for another minute. Pour in beer and beef stock, then add Worcestershire, tomato paste, paprika, salt, pepper, and sugar. Add beef back into the pot. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• 3
  The liquid should cook down to a thicker state. I
• 4
  Add carrots and potatoes, then cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
• 5
  We serve ours with homemade seasoned garlic bread. 

  I have changed this recipe from its original. Original recipe courtesy of Pioneer Woman. 

Seriously Delish Pot Pie

This is super easy. The pot pie inside can be made ahead of time, and topped last minute with homemade crust and baked. Want to cut time even further??? There are times this is what the family is hungry for and I don't really want to make the crust from scratch. Know what tastes just as good if not better we find???? You got it! Pillsbury!

Just how versatile is this recipe? So so many ways to enjoy it! See below under pastry to see all the options. 

2 whole chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

Freshly ground black pepper and Salt

5 cups chicken stock  
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 stick butter 
1 small onion diced.  
3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots
3/4 cup frozen peas 
3 large potatoes pealed and diced

Pastry:

Add these three in a food processor and pulse ten times.

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

Add these two below that have been diced:

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 pound cold  butter, diced

Drizzle slowly while pulsing the water.

1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

The egg is to brush dough before baking.

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Sea Salt and cracked black

Chill this in the fridge for 20 minutes before topping pot pies.

Want to use the Grands?

Take them out of the tube. And using a rolling pin, roll out thin so that they will cover your ramekin. Making a 9x13? you could roll out the entire crust of a Pillsbury original pizza crust and cover the pan with that! Want to skip that all together? Bake the grands like the package says and serve the pot pie in a bowl. There is no need to reheat it in a ramekin or pan in the oven!!! * we still sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the crust before we bake it. 

Preheat oven to 375*

Cook chicken in oven seasoning with salt and pepper and debone, cut into cubes.  Or boil it on the stove in a pot of water or stock until cooked and debone. Want to speed it up? buy a roasted chicken from the store deli or used precooked chicken and dice.

I like my potatoes nice and tender. And this soup, once its started, is made rather quickly. So I peal, cube and boil my potatoes until fork tender in a separate pot. Drain and reserve. 

In an empty stock pot, add your butter (melt) add your diced onion and diced carrots and cook five minutes on low. Add  3/4 cup of flour and stir until thick. Cook one minute. Add five cups of chicken stock and bouillon. Add 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Add peas and chicken.  Add cream. Add reserved potatoes. Simmer on low until nice and thickened. 

Spoon mixture into individual ramekins, or a baking dish of your choice.

Using your dough, cut the dough into four sections. Roll out about two inches bigger than the dish you are using. Fold over the filled ramekins and pinch edges. Using one egg, beat well and brush the tops of the dough, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and make three slits in the top of dough. Bake for 1 hour.

Using Beef? Change beef stock, beef bouillon, diced roast, steak or your favorite meat!

Karen's Homemade Chicken and Noodles

Countless days of making this beautifully tasting dish with my mom! We always used Reames Noodles but you sure can make your own. (Ill be sure to post my homemade pasta recipe) We also always had ours over mashed potatoes. Mmmmmm reminds me of growing up! This sounds like a daunting recipe to try to make. It looks like it has a lot of steps. It's easy! It's actually fairly quick. And the taste??? It's heavenly! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 chicken cooked and deboned.
• 2 (49.5 ounces) of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 T butter
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• Reames Noodles (Orginial) or you can do homemade noodles
• 2 tsp Chicken Bouillon
• Salt/Pepper

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Ok! Let’s do this!
• 2
  Cook and debone your chicken if you haven’t already. Set this aside for now.
• 3
  Pour chicken stock into a large pot. If your using chicken broth you’ve gotten from your chicken which is fine you can always add a little more chicken stock to get that nice amount.
• 4
  So ... now you have that chicken stock in your pan. Turn the heat up to high. Add your chicken. It will start to boil. Add 2 tsp chicken bouillon. (I use granules but you can use cubes) Add 1 tsp ground pepper. Stir until bouillon is dissolved and then taste it. Do you need more chicken flavor? Then add small amount of bouillon until you get that desired flavoring / saltiness. My family is a salt lick so we like ours nice and rich.
• 5
  Got the flavor you like? Now your going to add the entire bag of frozen noodles. It will stop boiling and then gradually bring it back to a boil. Cook soup until the noodles are just done. They should still have a bite to them.
• 6
  Now your going to thicken it.
• 7
  In a separate bowl. Add your milk and flour. (Don’t have flour? You can also use corn starch) *some people use water here I prefer the creaminess of milk instead). Using a fork, stir this milk and four together until all of the lumps are gone.
• 8
  With your soup still boiling. Using a whisk, slowly pour in milk/flour mixture whisking the entire time. You will see and feel your soup begin to thicken.
• 9
  If you would like your soup thicker, make another milk/flour mixture just like before and slowly add it little by little to your chicken noodle soup letting it thicken before adding more each time.
• 10
  Once you have the desired thickness... your ready to do a final tasting. Taste it, if you need more salt you can add it now, or more bouillon if you so choose. And here you will add your ground pepper and that 4 T of butter.
• 11
  Give it a final stir and your good to go!!!
• 12
  Serve over biscuits, mashed potatoes, or just in a bowl!

Karen's Scalloped Corn

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 1 (14 ounce) can creamed corn
• 1 (14 ounce) can whole kernel corn (undrained)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package Jiffy cornbread mix
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Beat eggs slightly.
• 2
  Add sour cream, butter and corn.
• 3
  Fold in dry Jiffy corn mix.
• 4
  Put in baking disk (I used a 9 x 7).
• 5
  Sprinkle cheese on top.
• 6
  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.
• 7
  Make sure center comes out clean.

Ham and Hashbrown Casserole

I mean who doesn't love cheesy hashbrown casserole?! Well my family loves ham! And this recipe is not only simple you can do so much with it!!! We add chunks of ham or even at times have used crisp cooked thick cut bacon. Serve this with some warm bread fresh from the oven! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (32 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes
• 8 ounces cooked, diced ham
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of potato soup
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 sm Ham diced.

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• 2
  Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• 3
  In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Fold in Ham chunks Spread evenly into prepared dish.
• 4
  Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Bruschetta

I went out for dinner one night with my girlfriends and for an appetizer we got Bruschetta. It had the most wonderful sauce! Not like a bunch of diced vegetables on top a piece of soggy toast so when you take one bite they all fall off. Oh no! This was great. So I have tried to duplicate their recipe (When I called them, they did give me some hints for which they were rewarded with some of my Simply Delish cupcakes!) I now serve mine in a bowl along side crisp warm baguette slices. And I like a little crumbled feta on top of mine. The creaminess of the cheese pairs nicely with the salty garliciness of the bruschetta. 

Ill use any tomatoes they have in season. Red Yellow, Green, Heirloom .. you name it!

INGREDIENTS

• Ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 3 red plum tomatoes diced
• 3 yellow tomatoes diced
• 2 finely diced shallots
• 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 6 whole Basil Leaves
• Salt And Pepper To Taste
• 1 whole Baguette
• 8 Tablespoons Butter
• Sprinkle with crumbled Feta (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir, lightly frying for about a minute, removing before the garlic gets too brown (it can be golden.) Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.
• 2
  Add tomatoes, balsamic, basil, shallots and salt and pepper to the bowl. Toss to combine, then taste. Salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two if you have the time.
• 3
  Cut the baguette into diagonal slices.Melt the butter and brush the tops and backs of the bread slices. Grill, Bake or Broil until lightly toasted. 
• 4
  To serve, give the tomato mixture a final stir, serve in bowl along side toasted baguette slices.