Sweet Somethings... ;)

No collection of recipes are complete without some good sweet desserts! Desserts have always been a hit in my family, especially around Christmas time. We love to make sweets for everyone who will accept them and just enjoy ourselves!

When I think of desserts, I think of my Grandma Janice. She and my Dad have taught me how to make most of my favorite desserts and are the reason I know how to cook and bake today.

Here are a few family favorites for the Christmas season and for anytime you just want something sweet and yummy.

Cheesecake is a huge family favorite! Grandma used to always make them for any celebration. My little sister, Cydney, especially loved them. She loved them so much that as a young girl, she would help Grandma make them so she could learn how. After she knew how, she would make them every chance she got. As a result, they became a common item around our household whenever she had the opportunity to choose what was for dessert.

Cheesecake

1 (8-oz) cream cheese, softened

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

12 oz cool whip

¼-½ c. lemon juice

2 graham cracker crust pie shells

Mix cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, cool whip and lemon juice until smooth. Scrape the bottom of the graham cracker crust to get about a teaspoon of crust to sprinkle on top. Pour half of cream mixture into each pie shell. Sprinkle with crust. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Optional: Add fruit of your choice. (strawberries, cherry pie filling, etc.)

Dad's secret chocolate chip recipe has been around since I can remember. I remember making cookies with him as a young girl and having so much fun! After I finally learned how to make them he would let me them all by myself and I would feel so grown up baking cookies by myself. These cookies will always hold a special place in my memory, remembering all the fun times my dad and I had in the kitchen making cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ¼ stick of butter or margarine

½ c. sugar

½ c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

2 ¼-½ c. flour

Chocolate chips

Walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°. Mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Mix flour and baking soda in separate bowl. Add flour mixture into wet mixture. Cut in chocolate chip and walnuts (walnuts). Bake at 375° for 10-12 min, until done. Makes about 1 dozen.

I remember growing up and enjoying holiday jello. I always love the cherry, creamy middle and the lime. All the flavors mixing were just so good and I always looked forward to Christmas so Mom would make the jello and would get so excited.

Michko’s Holiday Jello

1 large Cherry jello

1 small Lemon jello

1 large cream cheese

1 small carton whipping cream

1 small crushed Pineapple (optional)

1 large Lime jello

In a 9 x 13 pan, mix Lime jello with 1 ¾ c. hot water then with 1 ¾ c. cold water. Let cool until set. Combine Lemon jello with 1 c. hot water and all of the juice from the pineapple. Mix cream cheese and whipping cream beat until soft. Add lemon and pineapple with cheese batter. Add the pineapple. Layer on top of set Lime jello softly. Cool overnight. In separate bowl, mix 1 ¾ c. hot water and Cherry jello. Add 1 ¾ c. cold water. Layer, gently, on top of lemon mixture. Cool until set. Serve cold!

Our favorite Christmas present from Grandmas was always her fudge. We would get big boxes of presents and would find the fudge tins and break them out for breakfast Christmas morning. They were the favorite Christmas morning treat! After we were old enough to make it ourselves, my grandma decided to teach us how to make it and she allowed us to help her. Now that we are grown up, Grandma still makes us fudge but we also make it for others to enjoy as gifts.

Grandma’s Fudge

Mix:

4 ½ c. sugar

1 can evaporated milk

Bring to boil over medium heat. Boil 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off heat.

Add:

2 c. butter

9 to 14 oz of chocolate chips

6 squares Bakers chocolate

Stir together until melted.

Add:

1 jar of marshmallow cream

1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix until creamy and smooth.

Optional: Add 2 c. walnuts, 2 cup marshmallow mini package.

Not many people have ever had or even heard of this. My dad grew up loving Pistachio cake. He learned it from his Aunt Sonja, and then his mom made it for him. He learned how to make it and we've been having it every year for his birthday for as long as I can remember. It is still to this day his favorite cake. We have it every August 22nd, and sometimes for other birthdays if we leave it to dad to make a cake.

Pistachio Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

2 small pkgs of pistachio pudding mix

1 pkg dreamwhip

Make the cake like the box says and add one package of pudding. Bake the cake according to the instructions. Allow to cool. While the cake is cooling, whip the dreamwhip package as directed and add second box of pudding mix (you may have to add a little more milk). Once the cake is cooled, spread whipped cream over the cake and enjoy!

Pumpkin pie is a family favorite especially for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. My Grandma Dean used to make this pie every year. She got it out of the Parade magazine but it has become a family favorite. After she died and when I was old enough, I took on the role of making Pumpkin pies every year. We used to always make 4 the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas. We would then eat one for breakfast the next morning, two for dessert after dinner with our relatives, and then the last one for breakfast the next morning. It was a delicious family tradition.

Pumpkin Pie

1 (29 oz) can pumpkin

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. sugar

¼ tsp. ground cloves

3 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. salt

4 eggs

1 c. evaporated milk

1 c. heavy cream

2-9” deep dish unbaked pie shells

Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, salt and eggs; mix well. Combine evaporated milk and cream; heat to scalding point (do not boil); add; mix well. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350° for about 1 hour or until knife is inserted near rim comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream.

Grandma used to make rice pudding for us after we would make a pot of rice. It was always a favorite thing to look forward to. I always think of my mom begging for raisins to be put in it but since none of us liked raisins, they were always left out. Sometimes my Grandma would make two batches: one with raisins and one without. Now my sister makes it for us all and we just enjoy it!

Rice Pudding

1 gallon of whole milk

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

4 c. rice, cooked

¼ c. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. lemon extract (to taste)

1 tsp vanilla

Raisins (optional)

In large pot with heavy bottom, pour in milk. Mix in eggs and sugar. Add raisins (optional). Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the rice and cornstarch. Boil until thick. Take off heat and add the lemon extract. Serve warm or cold with cinnamon.

Dinnertime!!!

Main dishes are delicious. They are the main part of a meal and if done well they can taste so yummy! My family seems to like to discover new foods but when we find something we like we keep it close so we can make it often!

We also have found that dinnertime is the time we can spend together. With so many different schedules, dinner time was usually the only time you could find us together as a family. So it was always important to have good food. Here are a few recipes that my family makes often and just make me hungry! :)

So my family is known for making new foods when we are expecting guests. Luckily, they seem to turn out pretty good most times. Beef Creole was made one night when some couples from the ward were coming over. But it turned out to be so so good! I will always remember the first time having this with the people from our ward and then making it for the family since it tasted so good.

Beef Creole

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, diced

1 lb. stewing beef or ground beef

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

Cook the beef with the onions. Saute green peppers in separate pan until tender. Drain the meat then add tomatoes, peppers, and chili powder. Cook for about 20 min on low heat. Serve over rice

I've actually only ever had left overs of this. My family says the discovered it after I left for college and they make it often. They say it is a family favorite cause it is simple yet tasty and the whole family likes it.

No Peek Chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can water

1 pkt. Lipton onion soup mix

1 c. long grain rice

1 lb. chicken

Mix in baking pan – combine cream of chicken soup, onion soup mix and rice. After ingredients are mixed well, wash chicken and place face down. Cover with foil and cook 1 hour at 450°.

A friend once told me that pork and applesauce is gross together and that he wouldn't eat it if I made it. So I didn't make it but he missed out! My family makes these pork chops occasionally but we cannot have them without applesauce. The applesauce makes these! The soup and fried onions are good with it but the applesauce is really where its at.

Smothered Pork Chops

4 pork chops

1 can cream of mushroom soup

french fried onions

In a pan, cover the pork chops with the soup and sprinkle the top with the onions. Cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until pork is fully cooked. Serve hot. Great with applesauce.

Have you ever wanted to eat lasagna but just haven't had the time to make it? Happens to me all the time. Well, String pie is the way to go! This is probly the most common dish made at my house. It is simple and easy! We've been making this for as long as I can remember. My sister doesn't like cottage cheese (and has since become lactose intolerant) so we leave a section cheese free but it tastes just like lasagna! It is super simple and a huge hit in the Bailey home.

String Pie

1 lb. pkg ground beef (optional)

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 (16 oz) bag spaghetti noodles

1 cube butter

2-3 eggs, whipped

2 c. Parmesan Cheese

1 pint cottage cheese

Cook the meat and add the sauce to it. In a pan, boil water, add the noodles and boil until noodles are soft. Drain the noodles. In a large bowl, mix noodles, butter, eggs and 1 ½ c. Parmesan cheese. Stir until noodles are completely covered. Pour noodles into 13x9 pan, and spread evenly. Smooth the cottage cheese on top of the noodles evenly and then spread the sauce over the cottage cheese smoothly. Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese on top of the sauce. Bake at 350° for 20 min. Let cool for 5 min and ENJOY!

My favorite side is... SALAD!!!

My sisters and I love to eat salads. I love main dishes too, but who doesn't love a good side salad that adds to the meal? On many occasions, I eat salads for my main meal but side salads make any meal better. I try and eat one once a day just cause I love them so much. Probly explains why one of my top favorite restaurants is Souper Salad, (if you ever get the chance go there! It is just oh so good!!!) Anyways, here are a couple salads that I have come to enjoy!

My Mom has always loved Broccoli Salad. She would put it out for dinner but none of us kids would eat it. But as we got older and were more willing to try new things, we finally gave in and now it is one of my favorite salads! I make it occasionally and most people are wary to try it but once they do, most really like it.

Broccoli Salad
Serves: 6

1/2 large head broccoli washed and trimmed
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
¼ cup & 2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Cut broccoli into small florets, peel the stem and cut into 1/2" pieces. Combine broccoli, onions, raisins, nuts, and bacon. In a small separate bowl, make dressing of mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar. Pour dressing over salad. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss before serving. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for hours, even overnight.

This next salad is so good! My old roommate brought it over for our Thanksgiving dinner and oh my goodness I couldn't get enough of it! It was delicious! I ate so much and just enjoyed every bite. It is a recipe claiming to be the olive garden salad recipe. I'm not sure if they are the same but it is really good!

Olive Garden Salad

Olive Garden Salad Dressing:

½ c. mayonnaise

1/3 c. white vinegar

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 Tb. corn syrup

2 Tb. Parmesan cheese

2 Tb. Romano cheese

¼ tsp garlic salt – or one clove garlic, minced

½ tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp parsley flakes

1 Tb. lemon juice

Salad:

1 large head romaine lettuce

slices red onion

black olives

2-4 banana peppers

2 small tomatoes, quartered

½ c. croutons

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Homemade Croutons:

4 slices sandwich bread

1 clove garlic, minced

3 Tb. butter

salt and pepper

dried parsley flakes

For the salad:

Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Put lettuce in bowl. Place on top of lettuce red onions, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

For the salad dressing:

Mix all dressing ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal tastes, add a little extra sugar.

For the homemade croutons:

Cut off crusts of sandwich bread, and cut bread into cubes. Melt butter in small saucepan and add minced garlic. Toss sandwich cubes in the butter and spread out in a pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper and parsley flakes to taste. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°, turning half way through baking.

Burr... It's Cold Outside...

After a cold long day, there is nothing I love more than coming home and having a warm dinner. I especially love eating soup to warm me up when I'm frozen. My Grandma Janice taught us how to make lots of dishes, and some of my favorites are soups! I mean, who doesn't love Grandma's homemade soups! I know I sure do! Here are a few soups that my family makes to warm us up...

Growing up, I never wanted to eat my vegetables. I used to always tell my mom that I was full for vegetables but not for dessert (or whatever else I wanted). But, she found out one way she could get me to eat my vegetables. Whenever she would make broccoli cheese soup, if the pieces were small enough, I would eat the broccoli! I mean who doesn't love anything doused in cheese? Mom would make this recipe that Grandma loved and the whole family would enjoy it!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 head of broccoli

1 head of cauliflower (optional)

1 c. Trio Cheese

2 c. water

Pepper to taste

Mix water and cheese. Chop up the vegetables then steam them. Add to the cheese sauce and add pepper to taste. Cook for 10 min, stirring frequently. Serve hot.

What is the one thing you always want when your sick? Chicken soup! Well, my grandma taught me how to make homemade chicken noodle soup and now whenever I'm sick I crave her soup! It is warm and just oh so good! Its also a great accomplishment when you're done making it because its completely homemade! Another great thing I do is I freeze it in serving size freezer bags so when I'm feeling under the weather I just pull out a bag and throw it in the microwave and ta-da its done and tastes oh so good! :)

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Soup:

1 whole chicken

Chicken bouillon, cubes or powder

Carrots

Celery

Boil the whole chicken until fully cooked, about an hour. Let cool overnight or long enough to get cold. When it is cold, scrape most of the fat off the top and take the chicken out. Shred the chicken from off the bones and put it all back unto the chicken broth. Then add as much water as you want soup to the chicken and broth. Put it all over medium heat and cover. Bring to boil and simmer. Add as many chopped carrots and celery as you want. Add chicken bouillon to taste. Boil soup until vegetables are soft.

Noodles:

1 c. flour

2 eggs

Mix until all is mixed then use a rolling pin to flatten out. Then cut into strips. Add the strips to the boiling soup and cover. Allow for noodles to cook, about 5 min. Then let cool some and serve hot or warm. Can freeze for later!

My family loves Thanksgiving day turkey! But really, you can only have so much turkey until your sick of it! So to help get rid of the turkey without wasting it but still enjoy it, we make Turkey Soup! Its takes time to make but its so good when its done and the best part is... you can freeze it! How great is that? So when you're sick of turkey everything, just throw it in the freezer and save it for a cold day! :)

Turkey Soup

1 ½ - 2 large onions

3 stocks of celery

3-4 carrots

2-3 cups of shredded turkey

1 ½ c. cooked rice

2 ¼ sticks of butter

1 ½ c. flour or cornstarch

3 quart turkey stock

1 pint milk

In a big pot add 3 quarts of water, 1 Tbsp salt and carcass of turkey for 3-4 hours (make sure there is still 3 quarts of water at all times). After it is done boiling, remove bone and strain. Keep turkey stock in the pan. While it is boiling, finely chop the vegetables. Saute vegetables in ¼ c. butter. Cover with water and cook on medium for 20 min or until tender. Melt the two sticks of butter and add the flour or cornstarch in a bowl until creamy. Stir in flour mixture to the stock. Add vegetables, turkey and rice. Cook for 10 min. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Breakfast Foods

Breakfast anyone???

So they always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day right? Well I happen to love breakfast! I'm not a huge fan of pancakes or sweet sugary foods so its a good thing there are other options. Anyways, here are a few of my favorite breakfast meals! :)

This is my favorite (and most commonly eaten) cereal for breakfast. It is just so yummy and easy! I grew up just like any kid, with lots of different cereals for breakfast but the one I came to love were cheerios. Not the gross name brand one but the Kroger store brand called Toasted Oats. My mom would laugh at me cause I loved the store brand over the name brand and could tell the difference! I know I'm weird. Toasted Oats, to this day, are still my favorite cereal!

Chloe's Favorite Cereal

Ingredients:

1 c. Kroger brand toasted oats

1/2 c. skim milk

1 sliced fresh bananas

Put together in a bowl and enjoy!

Did your family ever have the same meal one night every week? For a long time, my family would have breakfast burritos for Sunday dinners. They were simple and quick and since Sundays were relaxing days, we wanted to relax and still eat some yummy food. One time my sister was making the eggs and she accidently grabbed the oregano instead of the pepper and poured oregano all over the eggs. They were interesting to say the least. Apparently everyone knew except me and they all just sat and stared at me while I made my burrito and began to eat. I knew something was off after my first bite. I'm not a huge fan of oregano in my eggs. I do like omelets though. They even work in a breakfast burrito! This next recipe is what I make periodically, a Chloe twist on my dad's omelets! :)

Bailey Omelet

Ingredients:

Eggs, slightly whipped

Bell Peppers, chopped (any color, I usually do green)

Bacon, chopped

Onions, chopped

Tomatoes, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large frying pan, saute bacon, onions, and peppers until bacon is cooked and onions are clear. Add eggs, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook until holds shape and flip it, or you can just chop it up like scrambled eggs. When the eggs are almost to your liking, take off heat and let sit for a minute to finish cooking. Serve alone or with toast or on a tortilla. Enjoy!

Another family favorite that my sister Cydney makes are Cinnamon Rolls. After learning this recipe in YW, she became the designated roll maker. She makes cinnamon rolls when she gets the chance but the great thing about this recipe is that you can just make rolls without the cinnamon-sugarness! We make these every time we get the chance to make rolls cause they are just so yummy! The cinnamon rolls are light too. I'm not a fan of heavy, dense rolls so the light and fluffiness is just so yummy! :)

Cinnamon Rolls (or Dinner Rolls)

Dough:

2 tsp. yeast

1 ¾ c. very warm water

3 T. butter

3 T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 ½ - 4 c. flour

Mix above ingredients and knead into a ball for 10 min. Set aside in a warm place to double in size – usually 30 min. I can usually make a dozen cinnamon rolls from a batch or 2 medium size leaves or about a dozen rolls. Bake bread at 325° for 35 min.

To make cinnamon rolls – roll out dough in circle, rub softened butter all over and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up and use dental floss to cut perfect cinnamon rolls. Bake at 425° for 15 min.

Glaze:

1 ½ c. powdered sugar

2 T. milk

2 T. butter

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, milk, butter, and sugar together until smooth. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls while they are hot.

Anyways, these are just a few favorites of mine for breakfast! I just thought I would share so you can make yummy foods for breakfast too! I learned that breakfast replenishes your glucose levels so it is important to eat it (or something) within 90 minutes of waking up and then you'll be less tired and have more energy throughout the day! Cool huh? Being a college student I'm always tired so anything I can to to stay awake totally helps! And who doesn't love to eat a good meal first thing in the morning???

Happy Breakfast!!! :)

Primero Post

Whoa! I never thought that I would be a blogger and well, here I am. Joining the rest of you with my very own blog. I feel so... oh what's the word... grown up? I don't know but I feel that way. ;)

I'm starting this blog to let the world know about my fun adventures. I don't have them often but ya know, there its always a possibility! I do love to cook though and I have lots of adventures doing that.

Any who, I have to write my paper but I will be back to post some fun family recipes that my family loves!

Have a happy day! :)