Swiss Turkey Tenderloin Strips

I loved the Swiss with this. It was a nice change in flavor. I used chicken instead of Turkey though because that is what I had.
Swiss Turkey Tenderloin Strips

From: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook

20 oz. turkey breast tenderloins, cut into thin strips (I used chicken)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. garlic, minced
2 Tbs. flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
3 cups (12 oz.) swiss cheese, shredded
1 pkg. (10 oz.) spinach, trimmed
1/4 cup water

Season Turkey (or chicken) with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, saute turkey in oil for 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the drippings, saute the garlic until tender.  Stir in the flour, broth and wine until blended.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is blended.  Add turkey; heat through.

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, cook spinach in water for 3-5 minutes or until wilted; drain.  Serve turkey mixture over spinach.

Tomato Mac and Cheese

Tomato Mac and Cheese

From: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook

1 pkg.(12 oz.) uncooked penne pasta
3 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
3 cups milk
1 lb. white cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a dutch over, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add the milk.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Reduce heat to medium.  Stir in the cheese, salt, mustard and pepper.  Cook and stir until the cheese is melted.  Drain pasta; stir into cheese sauce.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until heated through.  Stir in tomatoes just until combined.

Cauliflower Tomato Medley

This doesn't look like much, but it sure was tasty.

Cauliflower Tomato Medley

From: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook
  
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
 6 strips bacon, diced
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 Tbs. green onions, sliced
1 1/2 tsp. snipped fresh dill or 1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. salt
dash pepper
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Place cauliflower in a large saucepan and add 1 inch of water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until crisp tender.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp.  Removed to paper towels.  Drain drippings, reserving 3 Tbs.  Toss bacon and bread crumbs with drippings and set aside.

Drain cauliflower.  Arrange the tomatoes in a greased shallow 2 quart baking dish.  Sprinkle with onions, dill, slat and pepper.  Top with cauliflower and bacon mixture.

Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Saltine Cracker Toffee Bars

My mom introduced me to these almost two years ago. I had never heard of making toffee bars with saltine crackers! And I haven't stopped making them since. They only require a few simple ingredients, probably stuff you've already got on hand. You can pretty much find similar variations of this recipe just about everywhere, so I just put on my take of this delightful dessert.

Saltine Cracker Toffee Bars
From: Um, everywhere!
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
saltine crackers
1 package Hershey's milk chocolate chips (other recipes use semi-sweet, but not me!)
Chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a regular cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (being in Europe means my jelly roll pan is too big to fit in the ovens!) with parchment paper. You could use foil or eek! wax paper, but coming from experience you'll be disappointed. Just use parchment paper. Then salt side up, fill up your pan with the crackers. Melt butter in a saucepan and then add brown sugar. Boil 1-3 minutes. This part seriously depends on how you like your toffee bars. The longer it boils, the harder they will be. About 2 minutes is good for me. Pour mixture over crackers and spread until even on all crackers. Put into oven for 6 minutes. Pull out of the oven and sprinkle on chocolate chips. The reason I say Hershey's is because they are hands down 10 times better for this than Nestle. I'm not kidding. I don't know what it is, but Hershey's is SO much better. Okay, so after you've put on your chocolate chips, you can either let them sit there until completely melted and then using the back of a spoon, spread it around. Or, if you just can't find Hershey's milk chocolate chips for some reason, like you live in Belgium (grr), and you have to use Nestle's, then you can put them back in the oven for no longer than 5 minutes. That should help those little buggers. After you've spread your chocolate around, add the chopped nuts. Let cool, then cut and serve, or eat them all soft and hot, like us! Either way their delicious, and your friends won't believe you put saltines in them!

Rice Crispy Treat Solutions

I hope Jenny doesn't hate me for posting something that I didn't plan on posting and it's not quite a recipe. I just decided to get on here and post this before I forget.

I LOVE Rice Crispy Treats. And I use to make them all the time. But I got so sick of them being so darn hard. I fooled around with the recipe, but there are so many out there that use the same ingredients but have varying amounts of each...so I thought I couldn't screw it up too much right? Am I the only one with this problem? Well, I figured it out! So I have three simple solutions to making fantastic rice crispy treats. Or, at least they work for me.

1. Use less rice crispies than marshmallows. Seems silly, but every recipe I see calls for more rice crispies. Less is more. For a 9x13in pan, I use a whole bag (16oz) of marshmallows and only 5 cups of rice crispies, and 1/4 cup butter.

2. Grease your pan. Gee what an original idea. Seriously, don't skip this part, even if you think "it's just rice crispy treats). Or you can use parchment paper.

3. Stick it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. That's all. Cut and enjoy. They come out soft and chewy, the way they were meant to be!

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe comes from my friend Sarah. Recently, I substituted half of the peanut butter for nutella. Yum.

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

Cream:
1 c white sugar
2/3 c brown sugar
1 c butter
1 c peanut butter
1 t vanilla
2 eggs

Add:
2 c flour
1 c rolled oats
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Sweetheart Custard Dessert

I didn't feel like making mine into a heart, but whatever floats your boat.
Sweetheart Custard Dessert

From: The Sisters Cafe

Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
powdered sugar

Custard:
2/3 cup sugar
3 Tbs. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbs butter or margarine
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Topping:
2 to 3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
2 Tbs. semisweet chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips as my husband doesn't do chocolate)
1 tsp. shortening

Roll out each pastry between waxed paper into a 12 inch circle; using an 11 inch wide heart shaped pattern, cut each pastry into a heart shape.(I didn't waste my time with this, I just rolled out my crust.) Place on greased and floured baking sheets; prick with a fork. Bake at 450 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt; gradually stir in milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook
and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. combine the egg yolks and lemon juice. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolk mixture; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Cover; refrigerate until cool. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently whisk the lemon custard, then fold in whipped cream.

Place one pastry on a serving plate; spread with half of custard. Arrange half of the berries over filling. Repeat with second pastry and remaining custard and berries. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening. Drizzle over the top.

Lime Ranch Chicken

This was great. I love me a good quick fixer.
Lime Ranch Chicken

From: Cooking with Anne

1 lb. chicken, cut into strips
1 packet ranch salad dressing mix
1/4 cup lime juice
cooked rice

Combine ranch dressing mix and lime juice. Toss mixture with chicken strips and let chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Grill, bake or cook in a skillet and serve over cooked rice.

Festive Rice Medley

Festive Rice Medley

From: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook

1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice (I use regular rice unless I'm in a super big hurry)
1/4 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup sweet yellow pepper chopped
2 tsp. canola oil
2 Tbs. fresh cilantro, minced
2 Tbs. green onions, chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika, optional

Cook rice according to package directions. In a large skillet, saute the peppers in oil for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Add the cilantro, onion, garlic and salt. Stir in the rice and paprika if desired. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.

Deli Monte Cristos

These were absolutely outstanding. Love, love, lots of love.
Deli Monte Cristos

From: Taste of Home Simple & Delicious Cookbook

4 slices rye bread
4 thin slices deli ham
2 thin slices deli turkey
2 Tbs. deli coleslaw
2 Tbs. Thousand Island dressing
2 slices swiss cheese
2 eggs

On two slices of bread, layer a slice of ham and turkey, coleslaw, salad dressing and cheese. Top with remaining ham and bread. In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs. Dip both sides of the sandwiches in eggs.

In a nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, cook sandwiches over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.