Our Christmas eve dinner!

This is our traditional Christmas eve dinner
Orange Glazed Salmon Salad
this will take approximately 30 minutes

Baked Salmon (bake at 350 20-25 min) with a bit of butter and lemon pepper

Grilled Pineapple (make sure you get nice grill marks)

Fresh Spinach

tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

bleu cheese crumbles with craisins

(and usually I would put a fan of avacadoes but they were too hard)

Glaze:( to taste)

pineapple juice 

orange juice

honey 

Ginger

soy sauce

brown sugar

corn starch (to thicken)

Crunchy chocolate covered caramel popcorn!

Here is my sisters recipe of caramel popcorn, I just tweeked it a bit!

3/4 C popcorn unpopped

1 cube butter

1C brown sugar

1/4 C Carro syrup

a few dashes of salt

sweet caramel sprinkles (pampered chef) (optional)

large brown paper bag

pop the popcorn and put in bag

mix ingredients in a microwaveable bowl

microwave 1 1/2 min..stir

repeat 2 min...stir

add 1 tsp baking soda...stir

pour over the popped popcorn

stir with wooden spoon

put entire bag into microwave 2 mins

take out....shake 

pour over two large strips of wax paper or foil on counter

cools in minutes..

drizzle melted chocolate over top

(Nestles semi sweet)

place in fridge for 15 minutes

I was inspired

I saw this idea on pinterest and I loved it, here is my version...Hot Chocolate Bar, hope you like it!

chocolate popcorn mix

Here is a easy treat for fall, to share with neighbors and friends

Air popped popcorn

pretzels

honey roasted peanuts

semi sweet chocolate chips 

white chocolate chips

 finished product

Thai lettuce wraps with peanut sauce

Here is a recipe that is a little lower in fat and very yummy!

Thai Lettuce Wraps

1/2 small onion diced
1/2 red pepper, minced
1 carrot, shredded
2/3 cup bean sprouts
4-5 washed whole bibb lettuce leaves (butter lettuce)
handful of dry roasted peanuts
Thai Peanut Sauce

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup  peanut butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 t. sugar
2 T. lime juice
1/2 t. hot chili oil or hot sauce
2 t. low sodium  soy sauce
1 T. minced cilantro  
1/4 tsp Ginger
2 T. warm water
I put this on stove and brought it to a boil
then added a little starch to thicken then set it aside to cool and serve

 I made brown rice with this as a side and also a small cup of fruit with fat free cool whip on top

Mexican Meatball soup

some things are meant to be repeated and this is definitely one, I posted this last year and since it is the start of soup season and this is a favorite of my family, here it goes!

Mother Theresa's Albondigas Soup

My kind of comfort food!

This is one of my favorite soups ever!!!

this will feed easily 10-15 people

3lbs hamburger (lean)

1 onion 

3/4 of a  bunch of fresh Cilantro

2 bay leaves

2 eggs

2 hand fulls of rice

2 green zucchini's

1 yellow squash

1 lrg can Hominy (drained)

4 carrots

1 can corn (drained)

1 lrg can whole tomatoes (diced)

5 beef bouillon cubes

about 6-8 cups water

1 jalapeño devained and seeded

2 lrg potatoes diced

2 cloves of Garlic

in large bowl mix your meat with eggs,rice, 1/2 yellow squash &1 zucchini minced very small and 1/4 onion.

season meat with cumin,parsley,oregano,garlic salt, thyme, rosemary and salt and pepper

in the pot of water put tomatoes undrained, onions chunked

beef boullion ,hominy and corn.

then start making your meatballs and drop each one in the water. once all your meat balls are all in the pot then cut up and add the rest. bring it all to a boil and then back down to med/low for at least a good 1 -2 hours. serve with a slice of lime and good white corn tortillas(warmed)

Yummy!

Catalina Salad Dressing:)

I am making Taco salads for dinner tonight, we love Catalina dressing  with a dallop of  sour cream on top!

3 c. catsup
2 c. oil
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1 lg. onion, chopped fine
Pinch garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste

      Mix well and refrigerate.

frozen Burritos :)

I was talking to a friend the other day (Rebecca Richards) and she gave me this idea for a quick breakfast. You know my family loves my breakfast burritos, but I never thought of freezing a bunch to make life just a little bit easier. so here is what I did.....

I browned 2 lbs of hamburger 1 lb of sausage

4 red potatoes diced

1/4 purple onion diced 

1/4 bunch of cilantro minced

sautee in olive oil

I added 1/2 small jar of salsa

garlic salt

salt/pepper

scrambled up about 7 eggs

mixed everything all together

and started filling up my burritos!

topping them off with half a handful of cheese

put them on this cookie sheet for a quick flash freeze for approx. 1/2 hour

then started bagging them.....bye bye burritos see ya in the AM!

that will make 20+ burritos:)

Chicken Chow Mein & Crab/cream cheese Won Tons

Ingredients: 

CHOW MIEN

1 lb spaghetti noodles

1/4 head cabbage

2 stalks celery (sliced diagonally)

vegetable oil 

sesame oil

Ginger

2 chicken breasts (browned and seasoned with ginger salt/pepper)

2 cloves of garlic

I then do a quick fry of the garlic, cabbage and celery

After boiling noodles

I do a quick fry of the noodles

sesame oil

vegetable oil

then I make a mixture of brown sugar and soy sauce & ginger (by Taste)

and add into noodles

then I added the cabbage mixture

and then the chicken

and toss!

WON TONS

Won Ton wrappers

1 block cream cheese 

2 cans crab meat

3 tbs minced red bell pepper

2 tbs fresh parsley

3 tbsp minced red onion

this will make 60-70 Won Tons

Deep Fry till Golden brown

DIPPING SAUCE:

1/3 C rice wine vinegar

4Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs Ketchup

1tsp soy sauce

2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp water

Turned out Fabulous

Chicken cordon bleu Sandwiches

Here is my version of Chicken Cordon blue Sandwiches

First I marinade the chicken with olive oil and McCormick Grill Mates for Chicken

then Bake @350 For 1 hour (covered)

thinly Sliced Ham, Swiss Cheese, Sliced Tomatoes and Lettuce

Place your Chicken,Ham and Cheese on a half Ranch roll and Microwave for 3o seconds

the other half spread mayo on it (of course "Best Foods" )

Yummy! I served this with Orange slices :)

Sweet find and a little altering!

I found this wall candle holder at a little place in Springville yesterday, it did have crystals hanging off of it but I had Taken them off before i took this picture.

BEFORE

AFTER

Here is where I put it

Right over my Tub

Spring wedding I catered

Menu:

Chicken Alfredo w/Penne Pasta

Marinara Sauce

Green Garden Salad 

rolls

Lemonade

Lemon squares

Double Fudge Brownies

The weather was perfect

Food was yummy

SUCCESS!

I can only take credit for the Food tables :)

THIS TIME!

Centerpieces

And Of Course the FLOWER-GIRL :)

!

One of my families favorite.....strogonoff bake!

Ingredients:

1-2lbs hamburger

1/2 onion diced

1/2 can sliced olives

1/2 red bell pepper Diced

1 pkg. Strogonoff  seasoning

Cheddar cheese

1 cup fresh mushrooms

2-3 tbsp, Sour cream

loaf of French Bread

Directions

Brown hamburger with the onion

add in seasoning pkg 

water as directed on pkg

add bell pepper

add mushrooms

add olives

add sour cream

mix all together 

place on top of French Bread

top with cheddar cheese

bake in oven 350 15-20 mins

Chicken noodle Soup in crock pot

Ingredients:

2 chicken Breasts

3 potatoes

3 carrots

1 celery stock

4 cups of water

4-5 Bouillon cubes Chicken

salt and pepper to taste

handful spaghetti noodles

Driections:

First place water frozen Chicken and bouillon cubes in crock pot

let cook on high 4-5 hours

then add in potatoes, celery, and carrots

at the last 45 minutes add in spaghetti noodles

the season with salt and pepper! Yummy

I serve with warm biscuits:)

Lemon Coconut bars

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners’ sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly (I used my food processor and pulsed the ingredients until thoroughly combined).
3. Press into the bottom of a lightly greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and baking powder until well mixed. Pour over crust; sprinkle coconut evenly over the top.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.