Lemon Pasta

1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente
1/2 stick Butter
3 whole Lemons, Juiced
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 cup Half-and-half
1-½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)
Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste


Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a colander.

In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. Dump in cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt and pepper. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed.

Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Serve immediately!

Baker’s Dozen Yeast Rolls

•2 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•2 tablespoons sugar
•1 package (1/4 ounce) quick-rise yeast •1/2 teaspoon salt
•3/4 cup warm water (120° to 130°)
•2 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons butter, melted, divided
•3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
•2 teaspoons honey
•1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1.In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add water and 2 tablespoons butter; beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in cheese and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

2.Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide into 13 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in a greased 9-in. round baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

3.Bake at 375° for 11-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Combine the honey, garlic salt and remaining butter; brush over rolls. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Yield: 13 rolls.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan (it fit just right in a 3-quart) over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with spaghetti, with or without grated parmesan cheese to pass.

Fluffy Apple Dip

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
Assorted apple wedges

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and pie spice until blended; fold in marshmallow creme. (or you can do what i did and throw everything in a bowl and blend) Serve with apple wedges.

Fattoush

Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cups Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar (can Substitute White Vinegar)
2 teaspoons Dried Mint
2 cloves Garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Fresh Gound Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Sumac (I bought mine online)
1/4 cups Loosley Packed Fresh Parsley
approximately 10 mint leaves (more or less depending on your taste)


Place all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow all of the flavors to blend together.

For the salad, use Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, green onions and tomatoes. I also add feta.

Top the salad with Pita Chips that you can make. Take some very thin pita bread (Arabic if you can find it), cut into 1-inch strips by about 2 inches long and fry in some olive oil until crispy. (You don’t need a lot of oil to fry these in, just enough to crisp them. I also use a nonstick skillet when frying these). Sprinkle on top of the salad and enjoy!

5 Soup Chicken

•8 pieces Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breast
•1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cheddar Cheese Soup
•1 can (10.5 Oz. Can) French Onion Soup
•1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cream Of Mushroom Soup
•1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cream Of Celery Soup
•1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cream Of Chicken Soup

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place chicken in a large baking dish. It should be large enough to hold the chicken with room to spare. If necessary, you can split it up into two containers. Combine all soups in a bowl and pour over the chicken. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 4 hours. Remove foil and continue cooking for another hour. Serve with rice or potatoes.

Note: You can speed up the cooking time by cooking at 325 degrees for 3 hours, but I think it tastes better if you cook it for 5 hours. Also, if you don’t have all the soups, you can do a 3-soup version—use the cheddar cheese, French onion and one of the “cream of” soups. A crock pot can be used with this recipe if you can find one large enough.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2 –inch size)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
3 large eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)

Note: Use reduced-fat sour cream, and you’ll sacrifice only fat and calories, not flavor. If you can’t find plain German chocolate cake mix, buy the pudding in the mix version and forgo the added pudding. For more chocolate flavor, use chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla, but the cake won’t be as red in color.

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Place these cupcakes, uncovered or in a cake server, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. The cupcakes are ready to serve.



White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces (half an 8-ounce package) reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 to 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

1. Place the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it is smooth. Set the chocolate aside to cool.

2. Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the melted white chocolate and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Add the 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar and blend on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 30 seconds more. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is fluffy, 1 minute more, adding up to 1/2 cup more sugar if needed to make a spreadable consistency.

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

•8 cups Chicken Broth
•½ cups Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
•4 Tablespoons Chicken Base Granules
•½ teaspoons Ground White Pepper
•½ cups Butter, Separated
•½ cups Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
•½ cups All-purpose Flour
•6 whole Egg Yolks
•½ cups Whole Milk Or Heavy Cream
•1-½ cup Cooked White Rice
•1 cup Finely Diced Chicken Meat
•6 slices Lemon


1. In a large pot, combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, soup base and pepper. Bring to a boil on high, then simmer for 20 minutes.

2. In a separate frying pan, melt 1/4 of the butter and saute the onions until translucent. Empty into the stockpot. Then add the rest of the butter to the hot frying pan that you just cooked the onions in. Stir in flour to make a roux, keeping over medium heat (and stirring frequently) for about 10-15 minutes. Gradually add the roux to the soup mixture in the stock pot. Simmer for 10 minutes more.

3. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks until light in color. Then beat in cream/milk. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly (about a cup or so). Return the egg/milk mixture to the soup pot and heat through. Lastly, add the cooked rice and chicken and simmer for another ten minutes. Garnish with lemon slices, and add salt/pepper to taste.

Malted Milk Ball Cupcakes

24 cupcake liners
1 package (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix
1 box (3.8 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Malted Milk Buttercream (see recipe below)
40 malted milk balls, coarsely crushed, for garnish

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

Place cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds until the ingredients are well blended, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look smooth and thickened. Fold in the chocolate chips, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22-24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.

Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18-20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners. Lift the cupcakes from the bottoms of the cups using the end of a knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare the Malted Milk Buttercream. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Garnish with crushed malted milk balls.

Malted Milk Buttercream

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons malted milk powder (the author of Sweetnicks used chocolate syrup instead)
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioner’s sugar, malted milk powder, milk and vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more.

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

Cake:
1 package lemon cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 small package lemon instant pudding

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. For cupcakes, bake them at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes (I was able to get 24 very full cupcakes from the recipe).

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. Use and store at room temperature. (Don’t refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

Rice a Roni Chicken Salad

2 boxes of Rice a Roni fried rice, cooked according to package and cooled
1-2 Tbsp. butter
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
4 chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup green onion, diced
1 cup mayonnaise
While you are coking the Rice a Roni, saute mushroom slice in butter until tender. Allow to cool along with the Rice a Roni.
In a large bowl, combine Rice a Roni, sauteed mushrooms, and remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined. (I like to put mine in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving but isn’t necessary.) Makes 6-8 servings.

Oyster Crackers

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
* 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
* 1 (12 ounce) package oyster crackers



Pour crackers into a bowl (preferably one that has a lid) Dump the packet of Ranch, dill and oil on top of crackers. Put lid on bowl and shake well until everything is mixed well, Let sit for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Ginger Ale Meatballs

40 frozen, fully cooked meatballs (I used turkey ones)
2 cups ginger ale
2 cups ketchup
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Place frozen meatballs in a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker prepared with nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl, combine ginger ale, ketchup, and garlic. Pour mixture over meatballs. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or on high heat for 3 hours. Serve with toothpicks as an appetizer, on hoagie buns, or over hot cooked noodles.

Perfect, Simple Chili

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 pounds ground beef (i used turkey, as usual)
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup masa (corn flour, found in the Mexican section of many supermarkets)

Optional Ingredients

1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
1 can diced tomatoes and chilis
(i didn't use any of these)

For Serving

Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped green onion
Fritos


* Place the ground beef (or turkey) in a large pot and throw in the garlic.

* Cook the until brown.

* Unless you want to tick off your cardiologist, drain off the excess fat.

* Pour in the tomato sauce, followed by the spices and the salt.

* Stir together well, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes overly dry, add in 1/2 cup water at a time as needed.

* After an hour, place the masa in a small bowl. Add 1 cup of water and stir together with a fork.

* Dump the masa mixture into the chili and stir together well. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and add more masa paste and/or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or add more corn flavor. Add the beans, jalapeño, and tomatoes if desired. Simmer for 10 minutes.

* Serve with shredded cheddar, chopped green onions, sour cream, and Fritos.

Ramen Noodle Salad

Dressing Ingredients:
* 2/3 cups oil
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup vinegar
* seasoning packets from ramen noodles

Salad Ingredients:
* 1 pkg. cole slaw mix
* 1 bunches of green onions (chopped)
* 1 cup sunflower seeds
* 2 pkg. chicken ramen noodles (broken up)

Mix dressing ingredients. I mix them in the blender, makes it much easier. Mix salad ingredients. Add dressing and toss. Let stand for a few hours to overnight in the refrigerator.

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

2 cans (12 oz) evaporated milk (not fat-free)
1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (16oz) lasagna noodles, cooked
1 1/2 to 2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 to 2 C mozzarella cheese, grated

Cook the chicken and noodles first at the same time. Once noodles are done–rinse in cold water and set aside (it keeps them from sticking together). Combine evaporated milk (don’t use fat-free version) and Ranch dressing in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir in chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes (don’t do any less), stirring frequently. Layer half of lasagna noodles, poultry sauce, and cheese in well-buttered 9×13 pan. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Meatballs ala Kelly

* 2 eggs
* 1 small onion, minced
* 2 pounds ground turkey
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
* 1 1/2 cups ketchup
* 1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
* 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
* 3/4 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the onion, beef, milk, and salt; mix well. Sprinkle in the bread crumbs and mix until evenly combined. Form the mixture into 40 meatballs and place into a 9x13 inch baking dish; set aside. Whisk the ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and sugar in a bowl; pour over the meatballs.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour.

Dill Dip

* 2 cups mayonnaise
* 2 cups sour cream
* 3 tablespoons chopped onion
* 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
* 3 teaspoons dried dill weed
* 1 tablespoon white sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, chopped onion, seasoning salt, dill weed, and white sugar. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving to blend flavors.