Yummy

Well my wonderful sister sent me this recipe last week, so I thought I would try it out. I think it actually came from my cousins ward cookbook. It is super easy and pretty good. Nate even asked for it for lunch today, so that is saying something. Enjoy.

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Italiano

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 envelope dry Italian salad dressing

1/2 cup water

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 (4oz) can mushroom pieces, drained

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine the dressing and water. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Combine the cream cheese and cream of mushroom soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 1 hour or until juices run clear from the chicken. Serve over rice or noodles.  -- After if was done cooking and I took our chicken out, I stirred the cream mixture in a little to thin it out an mix the flavors.--

Cook once - eat twice

I riped these out of one of the magazines I get because it looked easy and pretty good. I especially loved the idea of cooking meat for dinner #1 and saving half of it for dinner #2. Nate LOVES Mole (Mexican dish with chocolate in it) and got a recipe from his mission that he is dying to me to make. The problem is that it has a ton of ingredients that I have never heard of and don't know where to get, so I say this Mole recipe and hoped it would quench his need for Mole. This was very easy to make and both were really good. If Nate says he would eat it again, that is saying something. I am not the biggest fan of Mole, but this was pretty good. (it did call for caned fire roasted tomatoes, which I could not find, so I just used normal diced tomatoes). Enjoy


Pork with Mole Sauce


1 can (14.5oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
3/4 cup sliced onion
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
2 TBS chili powder
2 TBS sliced garlic
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
One 2 and 3/4LB boneless pork loin roast, well trimmed
1 and 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped


1. Mix all ingredients except pork and chocolate in a 3-qt or larger slow cooker. Add pork; spoon some of mixture over pork.
2. Cover and cook on low 5 to 8 hours until pork is fork-tender. Remove pork to cutting board. Add chocolate to slow cooker; stir until melted.
3. Transfer about half of the sauce in slow cooker to a food processor; process until smooth, stir back into remaining sauce in slow-cooker.
4. Cut pork in half; wrap and save on half for Pork Taco recipe (below). Slice or shred remaining pork. Serve topped with sauce.



Pork Tacos


1 cup salsa Verde (green salsa)
1 cup chopped cilantro
3 cups thick shreds cooked pork loin (from Pork with Mole recipe)
Taco fixings to your liking:
-Flour or Corn tortillas
-lettuce
-tomatoes
-cheese
-sour cream
-guacamole
-salsa
-black beans
- whatever else you like on tacos!


1. Mix salsa and cilantro in a microwave save bowl. Add pork and toss, Cover and microwave until hot.
2. Set out taco fixings and make however you want. Eat and enjoy!!

Pasta

I made this because it was quick and easy and we love all of the ingredients. It might need a little bit of salt, and it great the next day. I actually made it again 2 days later with just dry pasta, because it sounded good.


Fettuccine w/ Ricotta, Tomato and Basil - serves 6


2 (9oz each) packages refrigerated fettuccine
6 TBS butter or margarine, melted
1 and 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped (2 cups)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

Cook and drain fettuccine as directed on package, using 4-quart saucepan. Return to saucepan. In a small bowl, mix butter, ricotta cheese and 3/4 cup of Parmesan; toss with fettuccine. Serve pasta topped with tomatoes, basil and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Best Baked Beans

Ok, I have another recipe for you. Nate loves food and is always searching for the "best" of everything. I found a Baked Bean recipe and thought I would try it out to see if it could be added to Nate's "BEST" list. They made the list. The recipe actually comes from my old ward (9th) favorites cookbook which many of you have so (page 155) you may have made it. We made a few adjustments to it though. Nate loves - I mean LOVES - brown sugar, so we added some extra of that and thought it needed some extra bacon stirred in after it is cooked for a bit of texture and crunch. If you try it out for your next BBQ let me know your thoughts. ENJOY!

1 large can pork and beans ( I used 31oz can)
1 large onion (I used 1/2 onion), chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 cup chili sauce
1/4 lb bacon, cooked and diced (reserve some for serving)
2 TBS mustard (I used spicy brown)
1/2 cup brown sugar ( I probably did 3/4 to a cup)

Mix all together. Bake at 350, uncovered for 1 hour.

After an our we tested it and it was not quite to Nate's liking, so we put it back in for about 10-15 minutes longer and tuned up the temp to 400. It did burn on to the edge of the dish, but was quite tasty.

Sorry I dont have a picture, I will remember next time!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies and the other day I was in the mood for some, so I took a look at my trustly cookbook to find a recipe that I had not made in a while. A friend from our old ward gave us this recipe and it is so yummy. The cookies have a crispt outside and a chewy middle and the dough is not too bad either. Nate is more of a sugar, gingerbread, snickerdoodle cookie person, but he loved these cookies. I meant to take a picture of the cookies for you to see, but we ate them all before that could happen... So here it is if anyone wants to try it out.

2 1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg and 1 yoke
1 cup chocolate chips (1/2 of 12oz pkg)

Mix all together and bake at 350 for 11-15 minutes oruntil lightly golden