Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup


Ingredients

○ 2 quarts tomato juice
○ 1 zucchini, diced
○ 1 onion, diced
○ 2 carrots, diced
○ 3 cloves garlic, minced
○ 2 Tbs. Italian seasoning (or ground oregano, baisil, parsley)
○ 1 bay leaf
○ 2 cans (19 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed
○ 8 oz. pasta (like Rotini)
○ Salt and pepper to taste
○ Parmesean cheese for garnish
○ A few Tbs. of olive oil for sauteeing


Recipe
1 - Heat oil in bottom of large stock pot and saute zucchini, carrots, onion, garlic, and Italian seasonings until the zucchini and carrots are about cooked through, about 20 minutes.
2 - Add the tomato juice and bay leaf and bring to boil. Set to simmer for 20 more minutes with lid on top.
3 - Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions or until al dente.
4 - Remove bay leaf from the soup. Drain the pasta and add to the soup. Stir and serve. Salt and pepper as desired and garnish with parmesean cheese.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients

○ 3 cups water
○ 5 chicken bullion cubes
○ 2 - 3 heads of broccoli, finely chopped
○ 1 large onion, finely chopped
○ 1/2 cup flour
○ 1 stick of butter
○ 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
○ Dash of pepper
○ 2 cups milk
○ 1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Recipe

1 - Heat water in a saucepan and dissolve the bullion cubes. Cook the broccoli and onions in the water until tender, about five minutes. Remove from heat.
2 - In a separate pan, melt butter on low heat.
3 - Slowly stir flour and seasonings into butter, constantly stirring so that no lumps form.
4 - Slowly stir milk into flour-butter mixture, constantly stirring so that no lumps form. Heat until thick and bubbly.
5 - Add white sauce to broth, and stir until well combined.
6 - Return pan to heat and add cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

 

Ingredients

○ 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
○ 1/2 cup peanut butter
○ 4 cups Bisquick
○ 2 tsp. vanilla extract
○ 1 cup sugar
○ Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Recipe

1 - Preheat oven to 375°.
2 - Beat sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter until smooth.
3 - Add Bisquick and vanilla and mix well.
4 - Place sugar into a separate bowl. Take a small amount of dough and roll it into a ball, then roll it in the sugar until well coated.
5 - Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until bottom is slightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
6 - After removing the cookies from the oven, immediately place a Hershey's Kiss in the center of each cookie, slightly flattening the cookie.
7 - Transfer cookies to cooling rack. Cool completely before eating.

Spider Eggs

Spider Eggs

Ingredients

○ Baby Yukon gold potatoes, as many as desired
○ Can of cooking spray oil (olive oil recommended)
○ Salt, to taste

Recipe

1 - Preheat oven to 350°.
2 - Wash potatoes and dry them.
3 - Place potatoes evenly on a baking sheet and spray them with the olive oil until they are evenly coated, then sprinkle salt on top. Be sure to get the underside of the potatoes too.
4 - Bake potatoes in oven for 11/2 to 2 hours.
5 - Remove potatoes and allow them to cool so that the skins shrivel. Serve warm.

Stuffed Tomatoes

Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients

○ 10 large tomatoes
○ 1 can of corn, drained
○ 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
○ 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
○ 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
○ 1 Tbs. lime juice
○ 1 small jalapeño, diced small
○ Salt and pepper, to taste

Recipe

1 - Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a baking dish with cooking oil.
2 - Cut off tops of tomatoes and then scoop out flesh with a spoon.
3 - In a bowl, mix together corn, beans, half the cheese, breadcrumbs, lime juice, jalapeño, salt, and pepper.
4 - Stuff each tomato with mixture and place each in baking dish. Cover tomatoes with remaining cheese.
5 - Tent baking dish with foil and bake until tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover dish and continue to bake tomatoes until cheese begins to brown, about 5 minutes more. Serve hot.

Beef Tacos

Beef Tacos

Ingredients

○ 1 lb. ground beef
○ 1 packet of taco seasoning
○ Flour tortillas
○ Lettuce
○ 1 or 2 tomatoes
○ Cheddar cheese
○ Sour cream
○ 1 can of black beans, rinsed

Recipe

1 - Brown beef over medium high.
2 - Meanwhile, shred lettuce, slice tomatoes small, and grate cheese.
3 - Drain off excess fat off the beef.
4 - Add contents of taco seasoning packet and amount of water specified on the seasoning packet to the beef, and stir in until well mixed.
5 - Place lid on pan and set to simmer until meat is fully cooked, about 5 minutes.
6 - If you want warm beans, add beans to beef.
7 - Put ingredients in separate bowls and allow everyone to make their own taco.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Fresh Tomato Sauce

 

Ingredients

○ 4 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped
○ 1/4 cup olive oil
○ 2 onions, chopped
○ 2 green peppers, chopped
○ 6 cloves garlic, minced
○ 4 TBS. dried basil leaves
○ 2 TBS. dried oregano leaves
○ 1 TBS. Italian seasoning
○ 2 TBS. sugar
○ Dash of salt
○ One small package mushrooms, sliced
○ One package pasta

Recipe

1 - In large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high.
2 - Place chopped onions, peppers, and garlic and sauté until  onions and peppers are soft.
3 - Stir in tomatoes, basil leaves, oregano leave, Italian seasoning, sugar, and salt.
4 - Bring mixture to boil, then turn heat down to low and allow to simmer until thickened, about 2 hours.
5 - In last few minutes of cooking, heat oil in a pan and sauté mushrooms until soft. Add mushrooms to sauce.
6 - Cook pasta according to package directions.
7 - Serve sauce over pasta.

Rum Cake

Rum Cake

Ingredients

Cake
○ 1 pkg. yellow cake mix
○ 1 small (4-serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix
○ 4 eggs
○ 1/2 cup water
○ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
○ 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum

Glaze
○ 1/2 cup butter
○ 1/4 cup water
○ 1 cup sugar
○ 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum

Recipe

1 - Preheat oven to 325°. Generously grease and flour 8 inch bunt pan.
2 - Mix cake ingredients together in mixing bowl and mix with electric mixer on high for 2 minutes.
3 - Place mixture in bunt pan and bake until toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 45 minutes to an hour.
4 - Take cake out and allow to cool in pan, about 20 minutes.
5 - While cake is cooling, prepare glaze. Place butter, water, and sugar in sauce pan and heat until butter is melted and then stir to combine the sugar.
6 - Heat mixture until just boiling, then add rum and cook for 2 minutes more, constantly stirring. Remove from heat.
7 - Invert cake onto plate and prick with fork in several areas. Then invert cake back into bunt pan, being careful to line the cake up with the mold.
8 - Drizzle glaze over cake, making sure to get plenty of glaze down the sides.
9 - Let cake sit and absorb glaze for 20 minutes, then invert back onto plate and serve.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 TBS. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
• 6 TBS. butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Dash of salt

Recipe

1 - Preheat oven to 425°.
2 - Mix dry ingredients together.
3 - Cut butter in with pastry blender (alternatively, use a fork) until the mixture resembles corn meal, about 3 minutes.
4 - Make a well in the middle and pour buttermilk in well. Stir in buttermilk until the ingredients are just moistened. Be sure not to over-mix.
5 - On a clean, dry surface, sprinkle flour.
6 - Pour dough ingredients onto surface and lightly knead about 12 times.
7 - Roll out dough to a thickness of about 1/2 inch.
8 - Cut biscuits using a biscuit cutter or rim of a cup.
9 - Place biscuits on baking sheet. If you want softer biscuits, place biscuits together so that they barely touch. If you want harder biscuits, place biscuits farther apart from each other.
10 - Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Mint Lemonade

Mint Lemonade

Ingredients

○ 10 lemons
○ 4 cups water
○ 1 cup sugar
○ 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

Recipe

1 - Place mint leaves in blender and blend until mint leaves are ground up.
2 - Juice lemons.
3 - Add lemon juice, water, and sugar to blender and blend until well combined.
4 - Place in fridge until chilled.
5 - Shake or stir before serving. Best served with ice.