Mandarin Salad

Janae made this recipe for my family on my birthday and has since become I one our favorite salads. Even my kids will eat it. It comes from the Lion House cookbook.



2 quarts salad greens torn into pieces
2-3 ribs celery cut on diagonal
1 can Mandarin oranges drained
2-3 green onions cut on diagonal
1 c grapes (either green or red)
1/2 c pecans coarsely cut

Clean and dry greens thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients. Toss to mix well. Just before serving toss with dressing using enough to moisten lightly.

Dressing

2 T sesame seeds toasted( place in a pie tin in a 350 degree oven and brown for about 5- 10 minutes)
3 T sugar
1 t salt
pepper
1/4 c salad oil
2 T vinegar ( I use apple cider vinegar)

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Dressing may be stored in fridge. Shake well before using.

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli

This recipe make 9 QUARTS of soup which is a ton. I would suggest cutting the recipe in half unless you are feeding a ton of people. It a very simple but really yummy soup. My family loves it! Great for left overs!

3 t. oil (I don't add this ....I can't make myself cook hamburger in oil)
2 lbs hamburger
12 ounces of onion chopped
14 ounces carrots silvered
14 ounces celery diced
48 ounces diced tomatoes
2 c cooked red kidney beans
2 c cooked white kidney beans
88 ounces beef stock
3 t oregano
2 1/2 t pepper
5 t parsley (fresh chopped)
1 1/2 t Tabasco sauce
48 ounces spaghetti sauce
8 ounces dry pasta

Saute beef in oil in large 10 qt pot until beef starts to brown. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Also add beef stock, oregano, pepper, tabasco, spaghetti sauce and noodles. Add chopped parsley. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender about 45 minutes. Makes 9 qts of soup!!!

Once again my pictures of the soup were deleted so I will add some as soon as possible.

Bread Machine Breadsticks

This recipe was given to me by one of my favorite neighbors. She found this recipe in her bread maker recipe book. It has become a family favorite at our house.

Put the following ingredients into your pan in your bread maker in order.

1 1/2 c. warm water
2 t. yeast (I allow yeast to dissolve before adding sugar)
2 T sugar
2 T oil
1 t salt
1 t lemon juice
4 c. white flour

Turn bread maker to dough setting. Mine takes about an 80 minutes. Remove dough from bread machine and roll out on cookie sheet. Cut into strips and then melt about 1/4 c of butter and then add either about 1 tsp of garlic seasoning or salad supreme to the butter and spread over the dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven.Before baking.

Lime Chiffon

This is one of my families very favorite desserts!

It's dangerously light & oh so refreshingly delicious.

Lime Chiffon

Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cups melted butter

1/3 cups sugar

Mix all & press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

Chiffon:

1 8oz. package light cream cheese softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 small box lime jello

1 cup boiling water

1 12 oz. light cool whip

Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water; set aside. Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar & vanilla with hand mixer until smooth. Slowly add the warmish gelatin mix well. Fold in the cool whip & pour over the graham cracker crust. Smooth over the top & refrigerate until set. An hour or two.

This is a great dessert for a crowd or potluck & did you see...? I used "light" ingredients so you can eat tons of it. It's like health food! ;)

Sugar Cookies

This is my first time making sugar cookies using this recipe and I am sold on it!!!! This cookies turned out so soft and yummy. Emily says you can't just eat one so that must mean they are good! I am not sure where or who I got his recipe from. It was written on a piece of paper that I found with my recipes. So if this is your recipe please let me know....so I can give due credit for these yummy cookies....I think the secret ingredient is the buttermilk.


11/2 c. sugar
3 cubes of butter softened
2 eggs

Cream together and then add
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 c buttermilk
4 c flour

Add remaining ingredients. Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Ice and enjoy!

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

This recipe was given to me by a family friend.....Arlene who is also a lurker of all the blogger mom's blogs. She says she is our biggest fan!!!!! This is a really easy recipe and very yummy! I used some left over chicken when I made so that made it super easy!!

1 cup of butter (2 cubes)
10 oz frozen peas (I used peas and carrots because that is all I had)
4 cups cooked chicken cubed
3 cans cream of celery soup
1 t. salt
1 T diced onions
1 80z package Pepperidge Farm Stuffing (the blue package...fine crumbs)

Combine melted butter and stuffing. Put 1/2 of stuffing the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Next put chicken over the stuffing. Mix soup, peas, onions and salt and pour over chicken. Top with the rest of the stuffing. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!