BBQ Chicken Sandwich

 

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1 bag coleslaw
1 bottle coleslaw dressing
1 package cheddar cheese, sliced
1 package bacon, cooked
1 bag buns

Notes / Directions

Place chicken in a crockpot and cover with BBQ sauce. Cook on high for 4 hours. Check after 3 hours to see if you can start shredding it by using 2 forks and pulling apart. If it's a little dry, add more BBQ sauce and finish cooking till chicken is done. It may not need a full 4 hours.

Put coleslaw and some coleslaw dressing in a bag and shake it up.

Cook bacon.

Layer chicken, cheese, bacon, and coleslaw onto buns and enjoy!

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Adapted from Georgetown Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar 
4 eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons honey  

1/3 cup hot water

Notes / Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line cupcake pans. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt and set aside. In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each egg. Mix in pumpkin puree and honey. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by 1/3 of the water. Mix thoroughly. Scrape down bowl as needed. Repeat process 2 more times. Scoop into baking pan and cook for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely.

Makes 24 cupcakes

Frosting:

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 teaspoons cinnamon

Notes / Directions

Beat hard for at least 2 minutes to make it light and fluffy. Generously pipe onto cupcakes.

You will have extra frosting. It is scaled to frost 36 cupcakes and you will only have 24. I recommend making cinnamon rolls to put the extra frosting on top of.
 

Almond Sheet Cake

This dessert isn't originally served with strawberries, but I had some in my fridge and just KNEW they were going to be good. I was right. Serve it with strawberries that have been cut up and mixed with sugar.

 

Ingredients

Mix:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
 

Boil and add to mix:
1 cup butter
1 cup water
 

Stir in:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
 

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup whole milk (or whipping cream)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups powder sugar

Notes / Directions

Pour into greased jelly roll pan. Bake 22-25 minutes at 350°. Let cool 30 minutes, then frost.

Frosting:
Boil milk and butter. Add extract and powder sugar and whip till lumps are gone.

Creme Fraiche

This is like a yogurt/pudding type of dessert. It's great for things like baby showers or relief society parties. It's so so very delicious. I actually first had it at a relief society activity and ate like 5 of them. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin (or one packet)
3 cup heavy cream
1 cup cold water
12 oz sour cream
3 teaspoon vanilla

Notes / Directions

Mix sugar & gelatin in large sauce pan. Add heavy cream & water. Warm thru until sugar & gelatin are dissolved, but do not boil. Remove from heat. Add sour cream & vanilla & mix well. Pour into cups & set in refrigerator for 3 hours or more. Top with your favorite fruit close to serving time.

3x recipe = about 58 1/3 c. servings. 5 oz. clear cups work well.
(For triple recipe, add 1 extra gelatin packet for a firmer set, if desired)

Raspberry Pretzel Cheesecake

This is just so good. Originally, it's supposed to be a salad. But it's totally not a salad. It's a dessert, like a cheesecake dessert.

 

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
Filling:
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6 ounce) package raspberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen raspberries

Notes / Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix together the pretzels, 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for no more than 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen raspberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.

*If using thawed raspberries, cool jello until it sets a little before pouring it over the cream cheese layer. You want to avoid liquids spilling down into the pretzel layer so that it will stay crisp.

French Toast

This recipe is an original of mine. I've liked it so much over the years that I've never felt a need to find another recipe. It's flavorful and simply delicious. Hope you like it too!

Ingredients
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 loaf of bread

Directions
Heat skillet to medium heat. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend till mixed through. Pour into a container. Dip both sides of the bread into the mixture and brown each side on a greased skillet. Swirl the mixture periodically to keep cinnamon and nutmeg from settling at the bottom of the container.

Poppyseed Chicken

One of my room mates in college introduced this dish to me and I was left wondering where it had been all my life. I served it to my mom and she felt equally ripped off. Don't deprive yourself of this goodness. There is something about those Ritz crackers that just make me want to jump up and down or something.

Ingredients:
5 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
2 packages ritz crackers
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup butter, melted

Notes / Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a sauce pan, heat cream of mushroom soup and sour cream on medium heat while stirring constantly. Make sure to scrape the bottom to prevent burning. Remove from heat and add poppy seeds. Set aside. In a greased 9x13 pan, spread cooked chicken evenly. Pour cream of mushroom mixture over the chicken. You may want to stir it a little to make sure the chicken is evenly coated.

Before opening the crackers, place a hand on each end of the package and firmly and slowly smash the crackers. Pour cracker crumbs into a bowl and pour melted butter over the top. Toss around until butter is well incorporated. Sprinkle over the top of the chicken.

Cook for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients
2 small cans tomato soup
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2-4 tablespoons basil pesto
milk

Notes / Directions
Pour small cans of tomato soup into a large pot. Fill one can with milk and dump it in. Fill the can again with water and dump it in. Add crushed tomatoes and basil pesto to taste. Cook over medium heat until heated through.

Make it a dinner! Serve with dinner rolls and a rotisserie chicken. You can put the chicken in the soup or make buttered chicken sandwiches to dip into the soup.

Black Bean Soup

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 pinch black pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cans black beans, drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can crushed tomatoes 

Notes / Directions
Saute onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add seasonings and cook for additional minute. Empty vegetables into a large stock pot. Add vegetable broth, 2 cans of black beans, and corn and bring to a boil. In a blender, blend remaining 2 cans of black beans and crushed tomatoes until smooth. Add to the stock pot and reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.