Strawberry Julius

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, tops removed
3/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups ice

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed 45-60 seconds, until mixture is very smooth and frothy. Use slightly less ice for a thinner consistency; use slightly more for a thicker shake-like consistency.
Serves 4

Rate It!
Jen: 7
Kile: not home
Kiley: 6
Madee: 6.5
Destrie: good

Spaghetti Bread

*Recipe and Photo from Rhodes

Ingredients:

1 Loaf Rhodes Bread Dough thawed to room temperature
6 ounces spaghetti, cooked
1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 egg white, beaten
Parmesan cheese
parsley flakes

Directions:

Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Roll loaf into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10-15 minutes.
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
Drain and let cool slightly.
Remove wrap from dough.
Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down center of dough.
Top with sauce and cheese cubes.
Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2-inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling.
Then braid strips left over right, right over left.
Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.
Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley.
Bake at 350°F 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Rate It!
Jen: 8.5
Kile: 8.5
Kiley: 8
Madee: 8
Destrie: good

Parmesan and Garlic Linguine

Recipe and photo from What's Cookin?

Ingredients:
1/2 pound linguine pasta
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 clove garlic, finely minced
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid from pasta
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
fresh parsley, for garnish {optional}

Directions:
Bring large pot of water up to boil. Sprinkle in a generous amount of salt and stir in pasta. Cook linguine until al dente and drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Place linguine back into hot pot and stir in butter, cream, garlic, salt, pepper and cheese until butter and cheese start to melt and create a sauce. Pour in some pasta water to get the sauce to the consistency you want. {I only used about 3 tablespoons.} Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Pour onto serving platter and top with fresh parsley and more grated cheese.

Rate It!
Jen: 7.5
Kile: 6
Kiley: 7.5
Madee: 7
Destrie: good

Stuffing Chicken

Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up
4 chicken breasts, pounded out flat
(I used 10 or so chicken tenders)
8 slices Swiss cheese (or about 3/4 C shredded cheese)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c milk
1 Stove Top Stuffing box- chicken flavored
1/4 C butter melted

1. Spray the inside of your crock pot.
2. Lay the chicken out flat in the bottom of the dish.
3. Cover with the cheese.
4. Mix the soup and the milk together and pour over the top of the cheese.
5. Dump the box of stuffing over the top, and drizzle butter over it.
6. Cook on high for 4 hours. The last 1/2 an hour turn the lid sideways, so that some of the stream can escape. You don't want your stuffing to be soggy.

Rate It!
Jen: 7.5
Kile: 7.5
Kiley: 8
Madee: 7
Destrie: good

Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches

*Recipe adapted from
Taste of Home Cooking Magazine

12 Hawaiian sweet rolls, split
1 lb. shaved Black Forest ham
12 oz. Gruyere cheese-sliced
1/2 (8 oz.)Philadelphia Chive and Onion Cream Cheese
1/2 cube melted butter
1/2 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
1/4 c. Grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. minced onion flakes

Arrange bottoms of rolls in greased 9x13 baking dish.
Layer ham and cheese on each roll.
Spread cream cheese on each roll top.
Place roll on top of cheese.
In a small bowl, combine the butter, parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce and onion flakes.
Pour over sandwiches.
Let stand for 20 minutes.
Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Jen: 8
Kile:7
Kiley: 7
Madee: 8
Destrie:good!

Update

Check out my previous post, for an update on the salad dressing for the Chicken Napa Salad.
New recipes to come soon!

Chicken Napa Salad

Recipe and photo from Your Homebased Mom

Crunchy Topping:
1 pkg. chicken flavored ramen noodles
1/4 C butter
1/2 C sesame seeds
1/2 C blanched slivered almonds

Break up the noodles and combine them sesame seeds and slivered almonds in a frying pan add butter and toast them until they are golden brown. Be sure to stir frequently so they don’t burn. Add ramen seasoning packet and set aside to cool.

Salad:
1 lg head of napa cabbage, shredded
6 green onions, chopped
chicken-cooked and shredded
Put these ingredients in a serving bowl.

Dressing:
1/4 C canola oil
1/4 C white wine or regular white vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/8 C sugar
Stir ingredients to combine. Put dressing in fridge.

Rate It!
*I take back what I previously said about this dressing. But, I do want to say this...make the dressing a day before you want to serve it. When I had this salad several days later, I LOVED the dressing and so did Madee. It tasted alot like the dressing serving served at Takara.

Jen: 8
Kile: 6.5
Kiley: 7.5
Madee: 8
Destrie: not good

Smore's Carmel Popcorn

*Recipe and photo from: Your Homebased Mom

16 cups popped corn

1 C brown sugar
1/4 C Karo syrup
1/2 C butter

Cook sugar, syrup and butter in a glass bowl in microwave on high for one minute. Stir and repeat for a total of five minutes. Should be hot and bubbley.

Add:

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2-1 tsp vanilla

Mix until foamy. Put popped corn into a brown grocery bag. Pour syrup into bag. Stir to coat. Fold bag over. Place in microwave and microwave for one minute and shake. Repeat. Microwave 30 seconds and shake. Repeat.

Pour popcorn out to cool on wax paper.

Now, you will need:
2-3 C of miniature marshmallows
2-3 C of Golden Graham cereal
1 pkg. of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

Spread caramel corn onto two parchment lined cookie sheets to cool. Sprinkle with marshmallows and cereal. Melt chocolate chips and then drizzle chocolate over mixture. Allow chocolate to set up.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 8
Kiley: 7
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: good

Raspberry Cream Cake

Recipe from Joyclyn Fisher

Ingredients:
1 white cake mix + ingredients to make
1 pkg. Danish Dessert
1/3 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. water
2 c. raspberries
8 oz. cream cheese- softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. whipped topping

Directions:
Make white cake and bake according to package directions.
Set aside to cool.
In a saucepan, combine Danish Dessert, sugar,and water.
Cook on medium heat until dissolved and thickened.
Cool and add berries to mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix together with a hand mixer- cream cheese, powdered sugar, and whipped topping.
Spread cream cheese mixture over white cake.
Pour raspberries mixture on top.
Refrigerate to set.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 8
Kiley: 7.5
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: Good