Key Lime Pie

This is my Nana's Recipe for Key Lime Pie and it is so yummy and so easy to make.

1 graham cracker pie crust (vanilla wafer pie crust works really well too!)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice (regular lime juice is fine too, whatever fresh limes you can find, taste best)
4 egg yolks
Green food coloring if you want it to be green and not yellow.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix sweetened condensed milk and lime juice well.
Add egg yolks and mix well. Then add food coloring if desired.

Pour mix into pie crust and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until filling s set. Let cool in the refrigerator for at least three hours.

Great served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo

This is seriously the yummiest chicken alfredo recipe I've found. I've even won an award for it at a Ward Cook-Off that was judged by the missionaries. I warn you though, this baby is full of calories!

Ingredients:

3 - 4 chicken breasts, thawed and cut into pieces

1 stick of butter

1 packet of Good Seasons Zesty Italian Mix (this can be found in the salad dressing section)

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 cup of milk or water

1 box cream cheese

Set your crock pot to HIGH. Add chicken, butter and seasoning. Cook for 1 hour. Add soup, milk, and cream cheese. Cook for an additional 2 hours on HIGH. Serve over pasta.

White Pizza Dip

1 envelope Herb & Garlic Lipton Soup Mix
2 C sour cream
1 C ricotta cheese
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c chopped pepperoni (optional)
other pizza toppings also optional
1 loaf Italian bread sliced or cut into squares

1. Preheat oven to 350. In shallow 1 qt. casserole, combine soup mex, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 c mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
2. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c mozzarella cheese.
3. Bake - uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread.
Makes 3 cups

Cottage Cheesecake

This light cheesecake has a fraction of the calories but all the flavor of a cheesecake made from cream cheese. If you're really sensitive to textures, then you might think it a teensy bit grainy, but it wasn't enough to bother me one bit. I even ate it for breakfast this morning! :) I used 2% cottage cheese, but I read that there was no difference between that and 1% (I woulda used it but couldn't find it).

Graham cracker pie crust
2 cups cottage cheese
2 eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend cottage cheese until smooth. For a denser cake, allow cheese to drain in cheesecloth or coffee filter for a couple hours, then continue.
In a blender, combine cottage cheese, milk, eggs, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour into prepared crust.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until filling is firm. Allow to cool completely.

Chicken Breast 4 Ways

Chicken breast is a staple of an American diet, right? At least it is at my house. It’s lean and versatile, and it’s yummy too! This past week I cooked a bunch of chicken breasts, then used the leftovers all week in three very different dishes. So here’s my original recipe, as well as three ways to use any leftover chicken.

If you know any more ways to use leftover chicken, please post, or email me at kaleth418+blog@gmail.com

Chicken Breasts With Herb Basting Sauce

I removed the skin and trimmed the fat first, then coated them in the basting sauce. I actually cooked this in my crock pot, on low for about 7 hours. They came out tender and juicy and flavorful, and the meat came right off the bone. Served up with steamed veggies and rolls. Delicious! You can do the same thing with boneless skinless chicken breasts. I used bone-in chicken breasts because they were way cheaper. When Lacey starts eating with us, though, I’ll probably stay away from them since it’s so easy to miss those little bones (not really an issue for the big people, but we don’t want to choke the little ones).

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
4 bone-in chicken breast halves, with skin
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425 F (350 if you're using boneless skinless).

In a bowl, prepare the basting sauce by combining olive oil, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce.
Turn chicken breasts in sauce to coat thoroughly. Place skin side up in a shallow baking dish. Cover.

Roast at 425 (or 350) F, basting occasionally with pan drippings, for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove to warm platter, spoon pan juices over.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

This is sooo easy! And yummy. Use whatever amount of sauce, cheese, and chicken you like. The amounts listed are just suggestions--what I used.

Pre-baked pizza crust (see note)
1 red onion, sliced or chopped
1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
1 cups left-over chicken
2/3 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 F. Saute onion in a little oil until soft. Spread BBQ sauce on crust. Top with onions, chicken, and cheese. Bake until cheese is melty.

Note: There’s lots of things you could use for a crust. Really any bread product would work, including tortillas, sliced bread, French bread (sliced in half), rolls, hamburger buns, biscuits. You could use Pillsbury crescent rolls (rolled out and pinched together) or one of their refrigerated pizza crusts. Or make your own from scratch.

Chicken and Biscuits

This is a really quick and easy recipe for chicken and biscuits. It would be easier just to sub the chicken broth and cornstarch with a can of cream of chicken soup, but this way is dairy free and low fat, if those are concerns. If you want it creamy, you could add milk or cream.

2 cups chicken broth
1 cup cooked chopped chicken
2 cups frozen vegetables (I used peas, carrots, corn, and potatoes)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup cold water

Combine everything together in a pot and cook until the vegetables are done, about 5 minutes. Whisk together cornstarch and water, and add to pot as you stir. Simmer until thickened. Serve over biscuits (recipe for drop biscuits here, or use frozen biscuits, canned biscuit dough, Bisquick, whatever).

Taco Chicken Soup

Sooooo easy and delicious.

1 cup cooked chopped chicken
3 cups water
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can white kidney (canellini) beans
1 (16-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (1.5 oz) envelope taco seasoning mix
1 cup salsa

Toss everything in a pot and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Yogurt in the CrockPot!

Yes, I made yogurt in my CrockPot, and I am most excited about it! Lacey and I eat a lot of yogurt, so this is a way to cut costs a little bit. I found the instructions here, but I thought I'd consolidate the information.

The process takes a while, but most of it is just waiting. It's really very very easy.

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon milk (homogenized and pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized)
1/2 cup live/active culture yogurt, as a starter
You will also need a thick bath towel and, of course, a slow cooker

Instructions:
1. Pour 1/2 gallon milk in slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours
2. Unplug slow cooker, and let it sit covered for 3 hours.
3. After 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of milk, whisk in the live culture yogurt, and stir it back into the slow cooker.
4. Put the lid back on, keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel around for insulation.
5. Go to bed (or let it sit for 8 -12 hours). In the morning, it should have thickened (not as thick as what you buy at the store, but significantly thicker than the milk you started with).
6. Stir in whatever fruit and/or sweetener you like. Just keep in mind that as you stir, you may break down the proteins that make it thick, and it won't thicken up again.
7. It will be good in your refrigerator for about 7 days.

Some tips that were in the comments on the web site:

--The lower the fat content in your milk, the thinner your yogurt will be.

--Ways to thicken your yogurt. 1) Add a packet of non-flavored gelatin along with the live culture yogurt. 2) Add some NOT instant powdered milk (amounts between 2 tablespoons and 1/2 cup were all suggested). I assume that you either add it at the beginning or with the the live culture yogurt. I don't know, I haven't tried it. 3) Line a strainer with a double thickness of cheese cloth. Add the yogurt you just made and let the liquid drip out of it (I used a coffee filter, and it worked, but it was just a mess trying to get the yogurt off the filter, and I'm pretty sure that there were pieces of filter left over in my yogurt. I assume cheese cloth would still be messy but hopefully it won't leave pieces behind). This can take a couple hours or all day and night, depending on how much yogurt you use and how thick you want it.

--You can use 1/2 cup of the yogurt that you made as a starter 5 or 6 times until the cultures die. Then you'll probably need to start over again. One person said that the cultures in Yoplait are pretty weak and would die after maybe 2 batches.

Double Thick Baked Potato-Cheese Soup

Simple, delicious, and cheesy!

2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cans (10 1/2 oz. each) condensed cream of mushroom or chicken soup
1 1/2 cups finely chopped green onions, divided
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp, ground red pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 cup milk
Black pepper

Combine potatoes, soup, 1 c. green onions, garlic powder and red pepper in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 8 hours or on HIGH 4 hours. (I've found that it doesn't take this long.)

Add cheese, sour cream and milk; stir until cheese has completely melted. Cover; cook on HIGH 10 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. Garnish with remaining green onions. Makes 7 servings.

Tip: chopping onions

I hate chopping onions because they always set the tears a-flowin', then my eyes won't open and I try to chop blind, which is just dangerous.

So, I put onions in the freezer for 10 to 30 minutes before I chop them--and no tears. No fumes, no danger of chopping off my fingers. So, if you're like me and have to chop an onion with a box of kleenex, give this a try. Just don't leave the onion in the freezer too long, or it'll get too frozen to cut.

Yogurt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Delightful cookies! They use no eggs and about half the butter that my classic cookie recipe has--and they are just as delicious. Yum yum yum! I also use about half the amount of chocolate chips that this recipe calls for, but some people would think them scarce that way.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a medium bowl, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter until light and fluffy. Stir in yogurt and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until incorporated, then mix in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown. Cool for a minute on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.