Coleslaw

Note: Supposedly this is the KFC recipe. I'm not sure about that, but I do know the only two types of coleslaw I will eat are KFC and this recipe. Take from that what you will...

Ingredients:
8 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine cabbage and carrots. In another bowl mix remaining ingredients and combine thoroughly. Pour liquid ingredients over cabbage and carrots and stir. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving (longer is better). Stir well before serving.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I used to shred the cabbage myself. Now I buy the handy dandy bags of coleslaw. To me, it's worth spending the $2 on that. Then I just shred one or two carrots if I have them on hand. I use Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise but that's just personal preference.

What I'll do differently next time:
Same as above.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! This recipe is classic - I make it for every cookout, festival or Thanksgiving that I get the chance. It's SUPER easy and so delicious! And that's coming from someone who really dislikes coleslaw.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
8 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine cabbage and carrots. In another bowl mix remaining ingredients and combine thoroughly. Pour liquid ingredients over cabbage and carrots and stir. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving (longer is better). Stir well before serving.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box Devils Food Cake mix
1 1/2 cup cherry pie filling
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix all ingredients well by hand. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Frost with icing if desired. Don't store in an airtight container - they might be too soft.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Neutral. I won't be making these again but for some reason they're strangely addictive! I bet I ate a dozen of these even though I didn't think they were fabulous. They were definitely easy, that's for sure. I think it's the consistency that gets me - they're really soft. Like I said though, very easy to make and easy to snack on. They're just not something I'd make in the future probably.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1 box Devils Food Cake mix
1 1/2 cup cherry pie filling
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix all ingredients well by hand. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Frost with icing if desired. Don't store in an airtight container - they might be too soft.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry or orange juice
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp grated gingerroot or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
8 bone-in chicken breast halves

In shallow glass or plastic dish mix all marinade ingredients. Add chicken; turn to coat. Cover dish and refrigerate, turning chicken occasionally at least 1 hour but no longer than 24 hours. As you grill the chicken, brush with marinade.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I halved it because we only had 3 chicken breasts. That was plenty of marinade. I substituted the sherry by adding an extra Tbsp of sugar and pouring in a bit of white vinegar - sorry, I didn't measure. It wasn't more than 1/4 cup. As usual, we didn't marinade it more than a few minutes. We were too hungry! Oh, and we mix the marinade in a ziploc bag and then put the chicken in. Less mess that way.

What I'll do differently next time:
Same stuff. Actually, I might use OJ next time instead of sherry if we have any in the house. I bet that would add a good flavor.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! This was a great marinade! And it was so easy.

Printable version:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry or orange juice
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp grated gingerroot or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
8 bone-in chicken breast halves

In shallow glass or plastic dish mix all marinade ingredients. Add chicken; turn to coat. Cover dish and refrigerate, turning chicken occasionally at least 1 hour but no longer than 24 hours. As you grill the chicken, brush with marinade.

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:
CRUST
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups flour

FILLING
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg

TOPPING
4 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam

Heat oven to 350. Spray 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and the butter until well blended. Stir in flour until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of pan.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Meanwhile, in large bowl with electric mixer, beat filling ingredients until well blended. Remove partially baked crust from oven. Pour filling over crust. In small bowl, stir 2 Tbsp of the jam until softened. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. With tip of spoon, carefully swirl jam onto top of filling. Don't disturb the crust.

Return to oven, bake 15-20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool 30 minutes. Stir remaining 2 Tbsp jam until smooth; spread evenly over cooled bars. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing. Well, maybe do a different jam for those who don't like raspberry.

Verdict:
Thumbs UP!! I had one tiny little corner and could have eaten the whole thing. My goodness, this was delicious! And so easy to make! I love cheesecake and this is something I could eat every day.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
CRUST
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups flour
FILLING
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
TOPPING
4 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam

Heat oven to 350. Spray 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and the butter until well blended. Stir in flour until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of pan.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Meanwhile, in large bowl with electric mixer, beat filling ingredients until well blended. Remove partially baked crust from oven. Pour filling over crust. In small bowl, stir 2 Tbsp of the jam until softened. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. With tip of spoon, carefully swirl jam onto top of filling. Don't disturb the crust.

Return to oven, bake 15-20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool 30 minutes. Stir remaining 2 Tbsp jam until smooth; spread evenly over cooled bars. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator.

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained, cut up
1 can (14 oz) beef broth
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley

In a saucepan, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables and barley are tender.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I substituted venison for the beef. Other than that, I did everything by the recipe.

What I'll do differently next time:
I may leave the barley out. In my opinion, it doesn't really add anything.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Can a recipe get any easier than this? And it's the perfect comfort food!

Printable version:

Ingredients
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained, cut up
1 can (14 oz) beef broth
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley

In a saucepan, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables and barley are tender.

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:
1 can buttermilk biscuits (if you aren't making biscuits separately)
12 oz. bulk pork sausage
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
3 cups milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Bake biscuits as directed on can.

Meanwhile, crumble sausage into large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned and no longer pink, stirring frequently.

With wire whisk, stir in flour, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Split warm biscuits; place on serving plates. Serve sausage mixture over warm split biscuits.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I used smoked sausage, only about 12 oz. I used more like 2/3 cups of flour and 2 cups of milk to make the consistency of gravy I wanted.

What I'll do differently next time:
Same, although I'll probably use a different type of sausage. That was just some I had in the freezer already.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Very easy to make. Not as good as Chick Fil-A though. The best part is I had a lot left over so I froze it. The next time I have biscuits left over from dinner, I'll be able to heat this up and pour it over those biscuits! Simple!

$$:
The most expensive thing would be the sausage. I paid $0.50 for 12 oz because I got it on sale and with a coupon. I think it's normally around $3 or so though, which isn't too bad considering you can make two to three meals out of this!

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1 can buttermilk biscuits (if you aren't making biscuits separately)
12 oz. bulk pork sausage
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
3 cups milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Bake biscuits as directed on can.

Meanwhile, crumble sausage into large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned and no longer pink, stirring frequently.

With wire whisk, stir in flour, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Split warm biscuits; place on serving plates. Serve sausage mixture over warm split biscuits.

Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 (1-oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup raspberry jam

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until soft and creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs and chocolate, mixing well. Add flour to butter mixture, mixing well; stir in walnuts.

Spoon half of batter into a greased and floured 9-inch square pan. Spread raspberry jam over batter; top with remaining batter.

Bake mixture at 350 for about 28-30 minutes.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Left out the walnuts.

What I'll do differently next time:
Leave out the walnuts.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Super easy and really good! The only problem I had was when they were done I was scared they weren't really done because you know, the raspberry jam looks like the brownies are runny. But after taste-testing them, I was reassured they were done.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 (1-oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup raspberry jam

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until soft and creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs and chocolate, mixing well. Add flour to butter mixture, mixing well; stir in walnuts.

Spoon half of batter into a greased and floured 9-inch square pan. Spread raspberry jam over batter; top with remaining batter. Bake mixture at 350 for about 28-30 minutes.

Potato Soup

Ingredients:
16 oz frozen hash brown potatoes
1 cup chopped onion
14 1/2 oz chicken broth
2 cups water
1 10-3/4 oz can cream of celery soup
1 10-3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 cups milk

Combine potatoes, chopped onion, chicken broth, and water in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

Stir in soups and milk; heat thoroughly. Garnish if desired with cheddar cheese, cooked ham or bacon.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up. Not the best potato soup ever, but certainly easy and good. I loved the fact that I had frozen hash browns in the freezer I had bought on sale last year and I always have chopped onion in the freezer, so I only had to buy a couple of ingredients for this. Cheddar cheese and crackers made this soup even better!

Printable version:

Ingredients:
16 oz frozen hash brown potatoes
1 cup chopped onion
14 1/2 oz chicken broth
2 cups water
1 10-3/4 oz can cream of celery soup
1 10-3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 cups milk

Combine potatoes, chopped onion, chicken broth, and water in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in soups and milk; heat thoroughly. Garnish if desired with cheddar cheese, cooked ham or bacon.

Apple Bread

Thanks to Tracey for this recipe!!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 apple
a few raisins
1 package active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (about 105 degrees)
1 tsp salt
1 cup flour, 1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg
1/4 cup shortening

Melt butter in 9x9 baking pan. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl (or use cinnamon sugar if you've already got a mixture). Sprinkle sugar mixture on melted butter in pan. Cut the apple into thin slices. Arrange apple slices in rows on sugar mixture in pan. Sprinkle a few raisins over the apples.

Stir together with spoon in large bowl the yeast and 3/4 cup warm water. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup flour. If the flour is self-rising you don't need salt. Beat 2 minutes or until the batter drops from spoon in sheets. Add and beat until smooth 1 egg, 1/4 cup shortening, and 1 1/4 cups flour. Drop batter by small spoonfuls over apples and raisins in pan. Cover pan and let rise in warm place until double, 50-60 minutes.

Heat oven to 375. Bake 30-35 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove cake from pan by turning upside down onto serving plate.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I didn't use raisins because I had everything else in the pantry. Raisins would definitely have been good though!

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up!! I ate 1/3 of this by myself and Stephen ate almost the rest. It was so good I immediately made another one with pears! This was such an easy recipe too!

$$:
Free - well, obviously not technically. Mom gave me the apple so it was free and everything else was in my pantry. This shouldn't be an expensive recipe though.

Printable version:
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 apple
a few raisins
1 package active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (about 105 degrees)
1 tsp salt
1 cup flour, 1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg
1/4 cup shortening

Melt butter in 9x9 baking pan . Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl (or use cinnamon sugar if you've already got a mixture). Sprinkle sugar mixture on melted butter in pan. Cut the apple into thin slices. Arrange apple slices in rows on sugar mixture in pan. Sprinkle a few raisins over the apples.

Stir together with spoon in large bowl the yeast and 3/4 cup warm water. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup flour. If the flour is self-rising you don't need salt. Beat 2 minutes or until the batter drops from spoon in sheets. Add and beat until smooth 1 egg, 1/4 cup shortening, and 1 1/4 cups flour. Drop batter by small spoonfuls over apples and raisins in pan. Cover pan and let rise in warm place until double, 50-60 minutes.

Heat oven to 375. Bake 30-35 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove cake from pan by turning upside down onto serving plate.

Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
lasagna noodles (I usually use 1/2 of a 12 oz box)
1 jar Prego tomato, onion, garlic Chunky Sauce
2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese
1 cup shredded provolone cheese
6-8 deli-style sliced mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet cook the ground beef until done. Cook noodles during this time according to the package. Drain beef and add tomato sauce. Spread thin layer of beef and sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Layer noodles. Mix the shredded cheese and spread on top. Layer with beef, noodle and cheese mixture. Lay the sliced cheese in a row on top.

Cover very loosely with foil. Bake at 355 for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil the last 10 minutes.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Instead of buying Prego, I normally buy the store brand that is onion and garlic-flavored. It's usually much cheaper unless Prego is on sale. Also, instead of buying both mozzarella and provolone cheese I normally just use Italian because it has both of those cheeses in there. This time I also used shredded Parmesan because I had some leftover from another recipe.

What I'll do differently next time:
Same as above.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! This is a staple in our house - I can't believe I hadn't made it yet to post on this blog. The best thing about it is that you only use half of the stuff you use - which means you can make it again right away!! This is the only lasagna Stephen will eat because it doesn't have tomato or onion chunks or ricotta cheese in it, so if you like that kind of lasagna I'll get you my mom's recipe - hers is the best!

$$:
This can seem like an expensive recipe, but keep in mind you can make two. In fact, make two and freeze one. Or eat them both at once! You can easily make this recipe for under $10 if you buy on sale and generic brands.

Easily printable version: (so if you need to print this out rather than running back and forth from the kitchen to the computer... mom. :) )

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
lasagna noodles (I usually use 1/2 of a 12 oz box)
1 jar Prego tomato, onion, garlic Chunky Sauce
2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese
1 cup shredded provolone cheese
6-8 deli-style sliced mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet cook the ground beef until done. Cook noodles during this time according to the package. Drain beef and add tomato sauce. Spread thin layer of beef and sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Layer noodles. Mix the shredded cheese and spread on top. Layer with beef, noodle and cheese mixture. Lay the sliced cheese in a row on top.

Cover very loosely with foil. Bake at 355 for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil the last 10 minutes.