Cookie Exchange

Earlier this month, I hosted my first cookie exchange! It was wonderful to be able to visit with family and friends and of course enjoy some tasty cookies! I had the best intentions of printing out all the recipes that were e-mailed to me ahead of time to pass out at the party but that did not happen. So I am posting all the recipes that I did receive on the blog this week! Hope you all have had a great December!

Week 12 - A Different Approach

This week I was hoping to change up the format a little bit and get some more input from you! With the time change this weekend reminding us all that the holidays are approaching quickly, I was thinking about Thanksgiving dinner. Each family has unique traditions and special dishes that they make during this celebration together. Most families have turkey and dressing, assorted casseroles, fruit trays and various desserts, but what makes your family's meal different and special? What would you not want to do without? 

If you have a favorite that your family makes the best or different from the norm or would like to share a tradition with us please post it here! Who knows maybe your family's tradition is just what we have been missing at our own Thanksgiving feast :)

* Just a reminder: Before making all those tasty dishes check the date on your spices and baking supplies! Those tasty gingerbread cookies and delicious pumpkin pies might not taste as wonderful as they should with that nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice that expired in 2008 ;)

Week 11 - Featured Chef: Sharon Baughman

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween this year! Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour this coming weekend. I am pleased to introduce this week's featured chef, Sharon Baughman. Sharon is a fantastic cook as well as a wife, mother, aunt and friend :) With cooler weather finally here, this week's tasty recipe is sure to warm up your family's table!

Beef Stew (Crockpot)

From: Sharon Baughman

1 can French Onion soup

1 can Golden Mushroom soup

1 can Beefy Mushroom Soup - (I never find this, so I either use a can of Cream of Onion soup or a second can of Golden Mushroom soup)

1 can water (I usually buy a can of Beef Consomme and use in place of water)

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 tsp pepper

2 1/2 lbs beef stew meat

2 bags Frozen Veggies for Stew

In large crackpot, mix together soups, water, breadcrumbs and pepper. I also mix in a little (1 tsp or so) Kitchen Bouquet. Add stew meat and stir to coat. Add frozen veggies on top and cook on low for 8-9 hrs. 

Hint: Sometimes I cook on high for 2 hours and then turn down to low for remaining 5-6 hrs. 

Week 9 - Featured Chef: Dawn Watson

I am pleased to introduce this week's featured chef, my mom!! While I may be a little biased, I was super lucky to grow up eating my mom's delicious food and I can only hope to prepare meals as great as hers for my family:) I was also very lucky to have a mom who did not make us eat anything we didn't like (very picky eaters in our household). She always said, you have to try it, but if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it!!


 I am forever grateful to her for making food that she knew we liked to eat and being so understanding of our different preferences. Thanks Mom for letting me develop my own love of food. I can only imagine how hard it is to balance the need for nutrition and the desire for junk food in your children! I hope you all have a great week and GO RANGERS!

Apple Pie In A Jar

This recipe is my new favorite because I just dump it over a pork tenderloin in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. When I get home it smells wonderful and tastes great! If you don't want to go to the trouble of making the apple pie filling you can buy a can. 

You will need enough apples to fill 8 qt. jars

Syrup:

4 ½ cup sugar

1 cup cornstarch

2 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg 

1 tsp. salt

10 cups water

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all syrup ingredients, except lemon juice. Cook syrup until thick and bubbly. Add lemon juice. Peel and slice apples. Fill jars with apple slices. Cover with cooked syrup. Seal by putting in hot water bath for 20-25 minutes or pressure for 10 minutes at 5 lbs pressure. When you are ready for an apple pie, open a jar and pour in uncooked crust. Dot apples with butter. Add top crust and bake until golden brown.

Cauliflower Salad Bowl

4 cups thinly sliced raw cauliflower
1 cup very coarsely chopped pitted ripe olives
2/3 cup coarsely chopped green pepper
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pimiento
1/2 cup chopped onion
Crisp salad greens
DRESSING:
1/2 cup salad or olive oil 3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons wine vinegar 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. In medium bowl, combine cauliflower, olives, green pepper, pimiento, and onion.
2. Make dressing; in small bowl, combine salad oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper. Beat with rotary beater until well blended. Pour over cauliflower mixture.
3. Refrigerate, covered, until well chilled, 4 hours or overnight.
4. To serve: spoon salad into bowl lined with salad greens. Toss just before serving.
Makes 8 to 10 servings. 

Week 8 - Featured Chef: Amy Crawford

This week has already brought some great changes in the weather (cooler temps and much needed rain)! The Rangers have managed to win the first game in the ALCS, despite the multiple rain delays:) And.... somehow even with everything else that's going on we still have to eat! 


This week's featured chef is not only one of the smartest gals I know, but also a very busy pharmacist, wife and a truly wonderful friend - you know the kind of woman I'm talking about: good times, bad times, great food.... "do-we-really-have-to-eat-this" food!! I am pleased to introduce this week's featured chef, Amy Crawford!!

Tortilla Soup

1 can Ranch Style beans

1 can Mexicorn

1 can hominy (drained) 

1 can cream style corn

1 can Rotel (I use mild but can use whatever)

1 lb ground beef, cooked

1 can beef broth

Cook ground beef and add this plus all cans into the crock pot. Simmer for a few hours. I eat with tortilla chips, then soup, and melted cheese and sour cream on top. Freezes well too!

Week 7 - Featured Chef: Bette Cochran

The school year is in full swing now and it seems as though things just keep getting busier!! A fellow blogger posted last week that the first official day of Fall marks 93 days until Christmas..... SCARY! A big congrats goes out to the Rangers last night for tying up the division series against Tampa :D GO RANGERS!!!


This week I am proud to introduce Bette Cochran to Eat 'n' Meet. Bette is a sister, wife, mother, aunt and a nurse who has been 'wowing' our family with her tasty creations for years!! I will also post her much requested Angel Food Mash (very semi-homemade:)) under her recipe submissions. 

Green Chili Lasagna

1 whole chicken cooked however you like to cook your chicken. I boil mine like I would if I was making chicken soup or chicken stock. You can also bake or use a store bought rotisserie chicken. Skin, debone & shred chicken. 

2 large jars of your favorite green chili enchilada sauce. My favorite is 505 but can be difficult to find. 

14-16 oz Green chilies. Either fresh roasted or canned. 

1box Lasagna noodles. I've used the non-precook kind & that works fine but usually I use the precook kind & cook in chicken stock for 1/2 the time directed. 

1 lb Favorite Mexican cheese blend. 

In the bottom of a 9x13 start with a thin layer of sauce. Then add noodles, more sauce, chicken, green chilies, cheese. Just make layers until you end up with a top layer of noodles. Top liberally with green sauce, cheese & chilies. 

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted & bubbly & noodles are cooked through. 

Poached Orange Roughy w/mango salsa

2 fillets of orange roughy

1 shallot sliced thin

1/4 c white wine vinegar

1/4 c orange juice

1/4 c stock (chicken, fish or veggie)

1/2 c water

In a large nonstick pan Add vinegar, shallots, stock & orange juice. Simmer on med low until liquid is reduced by 1/2. Add water. Mix well. Add fillets. Poach fillets on each side 4-5 minutes or until center is done. Remove from pan using a slotted spatula. Plate each fillet. Top with salsa. 

Mango salsa:

1 large mango, peeled and chopped

1 lime, juiced

1/4 c chopped red onion

2 jalapenos, deveined and seeds removed, chopped fine

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredient together & serve on top of your favorite fish. 

Week 6 - Featured Chef: Jennifer West

This week's recipe is an awesome idea for the busy gal on-the-go! I am pleased to introduce my good friend Jennifer, as a wife and a mother of two beautiful girls she certainly knows a thing or two about cooking great food fast! Jennifer has taken a great recipe and shown several varieties on how to make it work for you and your family! Enjoy!!



Meatloaf/Meatballs


4 lbs. ground beef
3 c. dry bread crumbs
4 eggs
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. yellow mustard
4 t. salt
1 t. pepper
4 T. onion powder
1 1/4 c. milk

Combine all ingredients. Mix well.



At this point, you may choose to:
1. Form into meatloaves or place in loaf pans. Bake 375 degrees for one hour.


2. Package raw meatloaf mixture into individual patties*. (This is what I do for our family so I can cook it more quickly in a skillet on top of the stove rather than baking for an hour in the oven.) You may also bake 375 degrees for one hour or freeze raw mixture.


3. Form meatballs (1 – 2 T. each) to be used for other dishes**. For patties & meatballs, I freeze (formed raw meatball mixture) in a single layer on a cookie sheet first. When patties & meatballs are fully frozen, I transfer to freezer bags.


4. Divide raw mixture into 1 lb. packages, wrap in freezer paper or place in freezer bags for later use. The full recipe will make about 6 one-pound packages + a little extra.



*Ideas for Individual Meatloaf Patties
Individual Meatloaves – I cook in a skillet on the stovetop & top patties before serving with a mixture of ½ c. ketchup + 1 T. Worcestershire sauce (adjust more or less to taste).

Salisbury Steak – Cook the same as meatloaf above & top with mushroom gravy.

Hamburger Pot Roast – Place meat patty in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil. Top with a slice of onion, sliced potatoes, baby carrots, green beans or whatever combination of veggies you like. Wrap each meat/veggie combo in its own foil packet. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour.



**Ideas for Meatballs
Swedish Meatballs – In a large skillet, cook meatballs in margarine or butter until no pink remains. Remove meatballs from skillet, reserving 2 T. of drippings. (Add more butter to make 2T. if necessary) Stir 2 T. flour, 2 t. instant beef bouillon granules and 1/8 t. pepper into drippings. Gradually stir in 2 cups milk or light cream. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add meatballs back to skillet & heat through. Serve with noodles.

Spaghetti & Meatballs - Bake meatballs at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Add to your favorite pasta sauce & serve with pasta. (I also sometimes cook & crumble the meat mixture and add to pasta sauce to make meat sauce.)

Meatball Subs – Bake meatballs or cook in skillet as indicated above, add your favorite pasta sauce (mine is Bertolli Organic Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic) serve on toasted hoagie rolls & sprinkle with parmesan &/or mozzarella cheeses.

Week 5 - Featured Chef: Joy Baughman

I hope everyone had a great week and got a chance to enjoy the cooler weather we had! This week's featured chef is a grandmother to two beautiful grandchildren, a mother, wife, a LOYAL Rangers' fan and of course a great cook!! This week Joy has chosen to share two delicious recipes, one of which is sure to get you excited about cooler weather and the other will satisfy your sweet tooth :) Courtesy of one of the sweetest aunts around, here are this week's recipes!

Tim McGraw's Chicken-n-Dumplings

Really starting to look forward to some cooler weather and starting to think about some cold weather foods. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were interviewed by Oprah in their home on tv one day and he was preparing his grandma's recipe for Homemade Chicken-n-Dumplings. They are my favorite and my mom could make the best. This is close to how yummy hers tasted:

1 small chicken (I use boneless breast)
Water
Pinch of salt
2 c. of all-purpose flour
3 T. butter shortening (he says you gotta use this - not regular shortening)
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 egg

Boil chicken, adding salt to taste. When tender, save broth and pull chicken from the bone (or cut up boneless breast) and return to the broth.

Measure flour into a bowl. Cut in shortening. Add 1 egg and enough buttermilk to form a doughy consistency (similar to how you would make biscuits) Sprinkle flour on cutting board. Pinch off part of the dough and roll into a thin sheet and cut into squares. Drop one square at a time into broth. Continue this until all of the dough is used. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until tender.

Allow the dumplings to thicken the broth until it is a creamy consistency.

Great served with your favorite cornbread.

Pretzel Fooler

2 c. crushed pretels
3/4 c. butter, melted
3 T sugar
1 (8 oz) Cool Whip
1 (6 oz) pkg. strawberry jello
2 c. boiling water
2 (10 oz) pkg. frozen strawberries
1 (8 ox) cream cheese
1 c. sugar

Spray 11x 9 x 2-inch pan with Pam. Mix together pretzels, butter and 3 T sugar; press into pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes; cool completely. Mix cream cheese and 1 c. sugar. Add cool whip and spread this mixture over cooled pretzel crust. Mix jello with boiling water and add strawberries. Let set up partially. Spread over cool whip mixture. Refrigerate; cut into squares.

I first tasted this dessert when my sister-in-law, Andi fixed it when we went for a visit. I love the salty and sweet crunch. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family has always enjoyed it!

Week 4 - Featured Chef: Tammy Baughman

This week's featured chef, Tammy Baughman, is a great wife and a very busy mother of two. You can follow her and her beautiful family on her blog at http://thebaughmanbunch.blogspot.com.  She is one of the best "hostess with mostest" I have ever met as any one who has ever been to her home can tell you! Tammy was my first 'sister' (I couldn't ask for a sweeter sister-in-law) and she is such a great cook!! Tammy has chosen one of her most requested recipes to submit this week, as well as some other tasty dishes that are sure to be your new favorites :) 

Chicken Salad  

1 Rotisserie chicken, chopped

2 cups red grapes, halved

1 cup chopped celery

½ cup green onions

¾ cup chopped walnuts – Toast walnuts in 350 degrees oven for 5 minutes

Dressing – Mix ¼ cup mayo & ¾ cup French Vinaigrette (I use the La Martinique dressing)

Mix all ingredients and add dressing.    Serve with crackers or with bread.  

This is a great snack or lunch and always a crowd pleaser! 

Shrimp Jambalaya

2 cups rice

2 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled

1 stick butter, melted

1 medium bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 can french onion soup

1 can cream of shrimp

1 can rotel

Salt, Pepper

Mix ingredients together.  Put in large 9X13 casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 350 degree oven for  1-1/2  hours or until rice is done.  This is a family favorite and it doesn’t get any easier than this!

Chocolate Trifle

Devils food cake

1 large box instant chocolate pudding

1 large tub Cool Whip

1 package Heath bar toffee bits

Bake cake as instructed on box.  Cut cake into 1-inch squares.  Make pudding and set aside.   I layer dessert in glass trifle bowl, making 2 layers in this order...cake, pudding, cool whip, and toffee bits.  Refrigerate before serving.  It is delicious!

Week 3 - Featured Chef: Elizabeth Davis

Hi everyone! They always say better late than never, so here is week 3 of Eat 'n' Meet! I hope every one had a great holiday weekend and some much needed rest! This week's featured chef is a wonderful cook, a mother, a wife, a very busy pharmacist and one of my very best friends:) I am pleased to introduce Liz Davis!! 

Shrimp Wraps

1 pound fresh Shrimp, cleaned, deveined boiled and chilled

½ cup good Mayonnaise

2 T Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley

¼ C Red Onion, finely minced

1 t Sugar

Sea Salt

Cracked Pepper

12 medium Butter Lettuce leaves (about 2 heads; it is the hydroponic stuff in the clear plastic container)

1 Fresh Ripe Avocado cut in thin slices

2 t prepared Cocktail Sauce (Golden Dip is my favorite)

1 Lemon, sliced in small wedges

Drain shrimp and dry lettuce leaves with paper towel to avoid a watery wrap.  Combine shrimp, mayonnaise, parsley, red onion and sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Chill until ready to serve.  Arrange lettuce leaves on a large platter.  Place about 2-3 shrimp of the mixture on the center of each leaf.  Top with 1/8 t cocktail sauce, slice of lemon and slice of avocado.  Crack fresh pepper and sprinkle salt on top, if desired.  Each leaf can be rolled up when eaten.

I LOVE this recipe because it is so yummy and so easy!  If you are like me you never have everything on hand for a recipe so here are a few substitutions:

Real crab for the shrimp, green onions for red onion, fancy leaf lettuce for butter lettuce.  I have also made it with the precooked, frozen cocktail shrimp.  Just make sure they are completely thawed and drained really well.  They are intended to be an appetizer or salad course.  However, we eat these for dinner during the summer. 

Week 2 - Featured Chef: Jeannette Maurer... my Grandma!

This week's featured chef is none other than my grandmother! Since I can remember (and before I can remember) she has been cooking and serving some of the best food that exists. My grandmother and grandfather have six children and too many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to count .... well for me anyway:) My grandma is a fantastic cook and for every one who has a favorite recipe of hers (I know you probably have many favorites), please feel free to comment and include which recipe of Grandma's is your favorite! Grandma's chosen submission for Week 2 of Eat 'n' Meet, without further ado.......

TURKEY TETRAZZINI

8 oz. thin spaghetti, broken into 3-inch lengths, cooked, rinsed and drained.

1 ½ c shredded cheddar cheese     

4 oz sliced mushrooms

¼ c parmesan cheese, divided        

¼ c chopped onion

2 to 3 c diced cooked turkey           

½ c chicken broth

2 T diced pimientos    

¼ c white wine

1 T butter     

salt & pepper to taste

1 can cream of mushroom soup

  Combine spaghetti w/1 c cheddar cheese & ½ of parmesan

cheese.   Add turkey & pimientos.  In a skillet melt butter and sauté mushroom & onions until tender; add to turkey mixture with remaining ingredients.  Gently stir & place in greased casserole & sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Cover & bake 45 min @ 350 deg or until hot & bubbly.  Serves 6 to 8.

Week 1 - Featured Chef: Shana Fleming

I am pleased to announce our first featured chef on Eat 'n' Meet, Shana Fleming! Be sure to check out her blog http://extensiondeepintheheartoftexas.blogspot.com!

This is a great recipe. I found it somewhere on the web, but I cannot remember where. The flavor is mild (not hot) so it works well for children. I made them, wrapped them in foil and froze them for my children’s breakfast before school. It makes a lot so it is a good recipe to keep on hand when having people sleep over. You can just make it the night before and reheat it. My oldest loves it with sour cream on it. 

Enjoy!  

Sausage and Egg Breakfast Burritos

6 Tablespoons butter

1 (32 ounce) package frozen square hash browns country-style

1 (16 ounces) pound hot Jimmy Dean pork sausage

6 eggs

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies

1 (15 ounce) can Hatch green chili enchilada sauce (or some other brand green chili)

6-8 slices of thick bacon, cooked until crispy 

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

10 large tortillas or more small ones

Melt butter in a large skillet and add hash browns in a single layer (you may need two skillets). Cook hash browns according to package directions or until browned. 

While hash browns are cooking, you are going to use one pan to cook everything else, one ingredient at a time, and then add it to a large pot where you will mix everything. 

Brown sausage in a separate pan. When sausage is done, add it to a large pot. Scramble eggs in the skillet and add to the large pot. Add diced green chilies, green chili sauce, and bacon (optional) to the large pot. When the hash browns are done, add them to the large pot and incorporate gently. Add the cheddar cheese and fold in gently until melted. 

Fill warm tortillas with filling and enjoy! We like to make burritos, wrap them in aluminum foil, and store them in the fridge so they can be easily warmed up for breakfast or for company. Makes around 20 regular burritos.

Welcome!

Hi everyone! I love to cook and I love to try new recipes! It seems like the best stuff always comes from your family and friends - you guys have great taste!  So I created this blog as a way for all of us to share great recipes amongst each other so we can all eat great food:)

I would like to have a featured recipe of the week, every week, brought to us by none other than.... YOU! I also thought it would be a great place to share questions and ideas (ex: coupons available, great supermarket sales, etc). Each week our "featured chef" will share his or her delicious recipes and anxiously await to hear your thoughts/comments on how the recipe turned out for you and your family!

It is true the best times happen with your family around the dinner table, so ..... AMEN - DIG IN!