Oriental Pasta Salad

Box of bowtie pasta

Red pepper, cut in thin strips

Yellow pepper, cut in thin strips

Bag of spinach

Green pepper, cut in thin strips

Candied Almonds

Cook pasta, drain and rinse. Toss everything together with dressing just before serving.

Oriental Dressing:

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

1/2 cup canola oil

½ cup chopped fresh parsley, or 2 to 3 Tbsp dried parsley

3 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp pepper

1/3 cup soy sauce

Candied Almonds:

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup sliced almonds

¼ cup sugar

Saute almonds in butter and sugar just until light brown.

Cincinnati Skyline Chili

This is a chili that is the consistency of spaghetti sauce. It is tradionally served over spaghetti, or is also good for hot dogs. Because of the spices it has a unique flavor, but it is good. If you google this you will find lots of variations in how to cook it and the spices to include. This is what I used and it turned out really good.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 white onion, diced
2 cups water
3 tablespoons garlic
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 square unsweetened chocolate, cut up
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon vinegar (can be regular, cider, red wine)
1 tablespoon Worchestire sauce
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Add the ground beef into the water. Break it completely up. Add the diced onions and the garlic. Cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

2. Add in the remaining of the ingredients and simmer for 3 hours stirring occasionally.

3. Spoon over cooked spaghetti.

Serving Suggestions:
If you have the chili over spaghetti that is called 2-way. If you add shreeded cheese that is called a 3-way. Add raw diced white onions for a 4-way. And to make it a 5-way add cooked pinto beans. It is standard to serve oyster crackers regardless of what way you get it.

Almond Poppyseed Bread

Bread

3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. bkg powder
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Glaze

1 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar

Mix bread ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Poke holes in bread and pour glaze on immediately after removing bread from oven. Let cool.. Enjoy!

Yield: 2 loaves

Pumpkin Brownies

I got this from my friend when I was on a pumpkin kick, but I haven't tried anything yet...

1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
4 eggs (1/4 C. dry egg powder + 1/2 C. water)
3/4 C. vegetable oil (or 3/4 C. white bean puree)
2 t. vanilla
2 C. whole wheat flour
2 C. sugar
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
2 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
Mix wet ingredients (including the water needed for your powdered eggs but not the dry egg powder…remember you DON’T need to mix these before adding to your recipes) Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Pour into 9×13 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool and frost with cream cheese frosting or dollop cinnamon whipped topping.


**I'm totally making these the non-food storage way, I'm sure they'll still be great! Enjoy!

Orzo and Tomato Salad

Ryan's Aunt made this for Brynlee's baby blessing. It was to die for. It was so dang good that I immediately got the recipe. I have made it already and it just got better and better everyday. Ryan and I ate it all...oh and Kayden loved it too!

1 1b orzo (in the pasta section)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (save 6 for garnish)
2 cups fresh mozzarella chunks
1/2 bag spinach, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
Zest of 2 lemons
Freshly grated parmesan
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper

Cook orzo in salted water until done. Strain and cool. Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, oil, salt and
pepper. When orzo is cool toss in tomatoes, mozzarella and oil mixture. Add more salt and pepper if
needed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving, toss in spinach and basil. Transfer to
serving bowl. Garnish with remaining tomatoes, lemon zest and parmesan. Serve chilled.

Chicken & Lentil Soup

I got this out of one of my Biggest Loser books. It doesn't call for chicken but it is good to add in. I have to have some kind of meat.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chopped onion (I like white)
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I add way more)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano
2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup cooked lentils
2 cups cooked chicken breast, diced
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Instructions:
1. Cook lentils according to package instructions.
2. Grill / saute 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Cool and then chop.
3. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add carrots, celery, and bell peppers and cook for another 4 minutes or until soft.
5. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute being careful not to burn the garlic.
6. Add tomatoes and spices and simmer for about 5 minutes.
7. Add broth and bring to a boil.
8. Reduce the heat to low and add the cooked lentils and zucchini. Cook about 4 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
9. Add in the cooked chicken
10. Stir in the cilantro or parsley, and the lemon peel.

It says it makes 12 1-cup servings.

This is a very chunky soup. Too much so for my taste. So before step 8 I take about 1/2 of the soup, place it in the blender or using a stick blender, and puree it smooth.

P.S. This is a very chunky soup. I don't like

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls...

Need I say more...these are DELICIOUS and AMAZING and I AM ADDICTED! I got them off my friends blog here. You can't go wrong making these. I used my Bosch for this and it was so easy. I just put everything in the bosch and let it do the muscle work. So here is the recipe!!!

Rolls:

½ cup warm water

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding

½ cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

6+ cups flour (I use 6.5 - 7 cups)

Filling:
1 cup butter, softened (I used a 1/4 c. on each half. When I used 1 c. it seemed like too much!)
2 cups brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Let set in fridge for 5 minutes.

To the pudding, add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not overflour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. (I think I ended up having to use 6 1/2 c. flour. Otherwise it's too hard to roll out.) Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Punch down dough gently and split into 2 sections. Roll out one section at a time on floured board. Make a rectangle that is 18 X 21 inches in size. Take 1/2 cup soft butter and spread over surface. (I didn't say this was healthy!) In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle half of mixture over the top. Roll up the short side very tightly (this way you'll get bigger rolls with LOTS of swirly-ness on the inside). With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with a serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart (12 on a sheet). Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover rolls and let rise until double again (probably 20-30 minutes in the oven).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 13-15 minutes. Remove before they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with the following cream cheese frosting. Makes about 28 very large rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 tablespoons milk

Combine butter and cream cheese and mix well. Add vanilla and sugar and mix again. Then add milk for desired consistency.