Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Spinach Salad Dressing

2 c. oil
1 red onion sliced thinly
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. cider vinegar
3 T. poppy seed

Cheese Cake (cool whip or whipping cream)

8 oz. whipping cream whipped or 1 med. container cool whip

Blend the following well:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. sugar

Fold in whipping cream. Pour into graham cracker crust. (You may use pecan sandies cookies rather than graham crackers for the crust.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Slow Cooker Chicken Soup and Dumplings

Ingredients
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 cups whole baby carrots
2 stalks celery, sliced (about 1 cup)
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1 cup water
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose baking mix
2/3 cup milk

Directions
1. Place the chicken, potatoes, carrots and celery into a 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Stir the soup, water, thyme and black pepper in a small bowl. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken and vegetables.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours* or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Stir the baking mix and milk in a medium bowl. Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the chicken mixture. Increase the heat to HIGH. Tilt the lid to vent and cook for 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked in the center.
5. *Or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.
6. Serving Suggestion: Serve with spinach salad; baby spinach leaves topped with orange sections, dried cranberries and raspberry-pecan vinaigrette. For dessert serve wedges of mixed berry pie with whipped topping.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Frozen Dinner Rolls from Kellie Harris

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 packages yeast (2 1/4 tsp = one package)
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. butter
2 eggs (at room temperature)

In a large bowl thoroughly mix 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast. Combine water, milk, and butter in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until liquids are very warm (120-130º). Butter does not need to melt. Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and 1/2 c. flour. Beat at thigh speed two minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, then a towel, let rest twenty minutes.
Punch dough down. Shape into desired shapes for dinner rolls and place on sprayed baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. (Approx. 30-40 minutes.) Bake @ 350º for 15 minutes

Freezer method: Place on greased baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and foil, sealing well. Freeze until firm, transfer to plastic bags. Freeze up to four weeks. Remove from freezer, place on greased baking sheets. Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350º for fifteen minutes or until golden brown and done. Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Crescent style: Roll out portions of dough in a circle about the size of a dinner plate. Using a pizza cutter, cut triangles as if cutting a pizza. Roll each triangle from the biggest to the shortest end tucking the point underneath the roll.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Cookies

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:
  • 1 package (8 oz) lite cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup canned solid pack pumpkin (or homemade puree)
  • 1 egg
  • Red, Yellow and Green food colors, optional
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 12 oz package
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
Method:

Beat together softened butter, white sugar and packed brown sugar. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin, egg and a couple drops each red and yellow food color (enough to make cookie dough orange); stir in chocolate chips. Add 3 cups flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking powder; stir to thoroughly mix. Remove approximately 1/2 to 2/3 cup cookie dough and set aside. Roll remaining cookie dough out between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper or parchment paper into a 12x15x1/4 inch rectangle. Freeze dough while preparing cream cheese filling.

Knead a couple drops green food color into reserved 1/2-cup cookie dough. Roll dough into approximately 36 small marble size balls, refrigerate/freeze until ready to use.

Beat cream cheese until smooth; add powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of flour; beat until smooth and creamy. Remove cookie dough from freezer; peel off top parchment paper; spread prepared cream cheese over 2/3 the width of the rectangle (keep cream cheese on one side of dough and spread out to both ends). Using the parchment paper to carefully lift, roll cookie into a log, starting on the long cream cheese side (jelly roll fashion with cream cheese in center). Wrap log in parchment, return to freezer for 2-3 hours, preferable overnight (or until stiff).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray or line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove cookie dough from freezer, remove parchment wrap, cut into 1/4 to 3/8-inch thick slices; place on prepared baking sheet. Place a green marble size piece of dough at the top of each cookie and slightly flatten to form a stem. Bake about 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool cookies on rack. Enjoy with a glass of cold milk.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies

* NOTE: Pumpkin Pie spice may be replaced with mixture of 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.