No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coco powder
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, salt, and coco powder in saucepan. Add butter and milk; bring to a boil. Add oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well. Place spoonfuls on wax paper and let cool.

Fresh Tomato Pasta Toss

Got this delicious recipe in The Taste of Home Cook Book.

3 lbs fresh tomatoes
1 package (16 0z) uncooked medium tube pasta or pasta fo your choice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp minced fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese

To remove peels from tomatoes, fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Place tomatoes, one at a time, in boiling water for 30 seconds. Immediately plunge in ice water. Peel skins with a sharp paring knife and discard. chop, pulp, set aside. (may want to smash with something)
Cook pasta according to package directions. IN a large skillet, cook garlic in oil over medium heat until completely golden. Add parsley, basil, oregano, salt, sugar, pepper, and reserved tomato pulp; mix well. bring to a boil ; reduce heat. Add whipping cream; heat through.
Drain pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Pour tomato sauce over pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.

Minestrone

Some of you probably could list in your mind what to put in Minestrone, but for the people like me, this Taste of Homes recipe is pretty helpful.

1 lb bulk Italian Sausage
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium leek (white portion only) chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 cups beef broth
2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup uncooked small pasta shells
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a soup kettle, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the celery, carrots, leek, and garlic; cook for 3 minutes. Add zucchini and add green beans; cook 2 min. longer. Stir in broth, tomatoes, cabbage, basil, oregano, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover; simmer for 45 minutes. Return to a boil. Stir in garbanzo beans, pasta, and parsley. Cook 6-9 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve with Parmesan Cheese.

What Our Family Calls Flan

 . . . and the Germans call Obsttorte, which is where we got it. Americans may call it a Fruit Tart, but I say who cares, just give me some!

oven- 350

Shell:
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
approx. 2 tbsp milk

Filling:
any flavor Danish Dessert
1 bag of any fruit

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, eggs, flour, baking powder, and milk; mix well. Spread evenly in well buttered flan pan; bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. REmove from oven and cool. Make Danish Dessert according to pudding directions, adding only 1.5 cups of water. Mix in fruit; spread over inverted flan shell. Chill for approx. 3 hours.

Brownies

I got this recipe off of the internet (I don't remember where) forever ago, and discovered they are delicious!

oven- 350

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups plain flour

Cream butter and sugar. (can be done with a mixer, but I do it by hand because you have to do everything else by hand, if you don't the brownies get really tough.) Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until just smooth. Pour in cocoa and flour. Again, mix until smooth and lumps are broken up. Remember to not go too crazy because you really don't want tough brownies. Bake for approx. 22 minutes in a 9x9 pan.

Egg Rolls

1 chicken, cooked and diced
1 tsp ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp corn starch
1 can bamboo shoots, diced
3 cups diced cabbage (Chinese)
1/2 tsp. sugar

Combine: ginger, soy sauce, corn starch,and bamboo shoots and set aside 15 minutes. Fry in 1 tbsp. oil 2 minutes. Fry remaining ingredients until cabbage is crisp and tender. Add to meat and stir. Place filling in egg roll wrappers and fry.

Chicken Roll Ups

Oven- 325

8 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 (8 0z) pkg. cream cheese
1 tbsp. chopped green onion
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced (optional, I don't really like them)
4 pkgs. crescent rolls, separated
crushed corn flakes (optional)

Mix all ingredients except for crescent rolls, butter, and corn flakes. Put a rounded tablespoon in center of one crescent roll. Fold over sides and roll up. Dip into butter and roll in corn flakes. Bake on a cookie sheet for 25 min. Serve with creamy (use only 1/2 can of milk) chicken mushroom/ cream of chicken soup as gravy.

Cheeseburger Soup

1/2 lb ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp dried basil (optional)
1 tsp parsley flakes
4 tbsp butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced, peeled potatoes
1/4 cup flour
8 oz. (2 cups) processed American cheese, cubed

Brown and set aside beef. Saute onion, carrots, celery, basil, and parsley in 1 tbsp. butter till tender. Add broth, potatoes, and beef; bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer til potatoes are tender (10-12 minutes). Thicken soup with flour-butter mixture. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes, reduce heat to low, and add cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese melts.

Salsa

Just barely made this. Delicious.

2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can whole tomatoes
1 small can diced green chilies
1 small bunch green onions- chopped
1 small can tomato sauce (yellow duck sauce)
use about 1/4 of the can, the more the hotter
salt

Put in blender and turn on-off quickly. Be sure not to make too runny. Best when served after it's sat for a little while.

Orange Julius

You may want to half this recipe, because the blender gets really full fast.

1 (12 oz) can frozen orange juice
2 cups milk
1 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar (adjust to taste)
16 large ice cubes (or however many...)

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

Killer Bean Dip

What can I say? It's just the best.

1 lb ground beef
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 lb velveeta cheese
1 can green chilies (4 0z)
1 onion

Brown beef and drain. Add onions, cook until clear. Add beans and cheese; heat until melts. Add tomato sauce and chilies. Dip with tortilla chips.

Wassail

mmm... it's past the Christmas Season I know, but this is good no matter what.

2 cups sugar
1 quart water
1 (12 oz) can frozen orange juice
1(6 0z) can frozen lemonade
cinnamon sticks
1 gallon apple juice

Heat sugar in water til dissolved. Add other ingredients and simmer. Serve warm.

Mom's Carrot Cake

I don't know where she got this recipe, so it's hers now! (Isn't that probably how these things usually happen?)

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated carrots
1 small can crushed pineapple (half a large can works, too)

Sift first five ingredients together. Add egg, oil, carrots, and pineapple. Mix well and pour in greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Note: That was what the original recipe said. However, I need to play with the bake times a little. 30 minutes was perfect for two 9-inch round cakes.

I liked this cream cheese frosting I loosely got from allrecipes.com. (from several recipes)

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
3-4 cups powdered sugar (according to desired sweetness/consistency)
1 t. vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar and mix well before mixing in vanilla. Don't eat too much of it, save some for the cake.

Caramel Corn

I thought of posting this, mainly because I need more time for my 10 hour project, and because I'm eating it while I type.

1 Stick Butter
1/2 cup Corn Syrup
1 cup Brown Sugar

In the microwave, bring to a boil (approx. 2 minutes). Then add 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk, and cook 4 more minutes (or until it forms a ball in ice cold water), stirring every 2 minutes. Take out of microwave and add 1 tsp vanilla. Pour over popcorn.

Skor Cake

We've heard this cake called by lots of names, but Sarah and I like this one. Fantastic part about this is you get a yummy cake but it's fast to make.

1 box chocolate cake mix (I like Devil's food)
whatever you need to make the cake mix
1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small jar caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping (optional - I like caramel)
2-3 toffee candy bars (Skor or Heath - I say more is better)

Prepare cake according to box directions. When cake has cooled, take a straw and poke holes all over the cake. Pour entire can of sweetened condensed milk all over cake, making sure to get some in the holes. Then, pour ice cream topping all over cake. You may not need the entire jar, depending on the size - go with your preference. Next, spread the entire tub of Cool Whip on top. Finally, break up candy bars into small pieces and sprinkle on top of Cool Whip. It will be yummy if you eat it now, but way better if you refrigerate for several hours. The goo soaks into the cake, and makes deliciousness.

Chicken Pot Pie

Let's start out with a classic: Mama Jane's chicken pot pie. I believe she originally got this recipe from a magazine back in the seventies (maybe Better Homes and Gardens?), but it has become a family favorite. Here you go:

5 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 cups milk

1 cup water

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 chicken bouillon cube

3 cups cooked chicken (bite-sized chunks)

3 potatoes, thinly sliced (1 pound)

1/4 pound mushrooms, quartered

1 10-oz package frozen mixed vegetables

1 egg, slightly beaten

pie crust

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onion until tender. Stir in flour until blended, cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in milk, water, salt, pepper, and bouillon. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is slightly thickened. Stir in chicken, potatoes, mushrooms, and other vegetables. Spoon mixture into a 13 X 9 baking dish. Roll out pie crust and place over dish; brush top with beaten egg. Bake at 350 degrees, 45 minutes or until crust is golden and vegetables are tender. (I plan an hour.)

**Alternative crust that I actually like better than pie crust:

1 cup milk

1 cup mayo (or 1/2 cup mayo and a couple Tbsp melted butter; that's how I like it)

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Mix together crust and pour over top of pot pie before baking.

Seriously, guys, you can't go wrong with this dish. It's yummy.

Welcome to the Kitchen!

Do you find yourself calling for a recipe but can't get ahold of anyone? Worry no more. Well, worry for a minute, until this site gets going strong. The object of the game here is to have a collection of tried and true recipes we all love to make, providing recipes and ideas for everyone whenever you need it. So, contribute, contribute, contribute. We'll use labels to keep them organized, and keep in mind that blogs have a search box on the top left. When we think we've got everything we can think of, we'll make it into a book.

Not only do we want all of "our family's recipes," we want new recipes you've tried that are great. If you have a special something you usually do to a recipe that someone else has submitted, mention it in the comments. However, if you want to make lots of changes in the comments, submit a new recipe. Also, please attribute all recipes to its original source as far as you know.

So, them's the rules. If you could call them rules, because really the most important one is - contribute!