Heart Pasta

I made up this recipe for our Valentine's dinner and it's a keeper. It was so tasty.

5-6 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1 jar Roasted Garlic Parmesan sauce (or Alfredo sauce)
2 cups cottage cheese
1 can sliced olives
1 can diced tomatoes (I prefer the olive, oregano, basil kind)
1 cup cooked and chopped bacon (or bacon bits)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top)
parsley (to sprinkle on top)

• Cook and drain macaroni.
• Add pasta sauce and cottage cheese. Mix until evenly coated.
• Add olives, tomatoes and bacon. Stir until well mixed.
• Spoon into greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and parsley over the top.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted.
  
  

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

These are incredible. My friends and I made them at a baking night and I can't wait to make them again. They are also beautiful.

3/4 cups butter cubed
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 oz white chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
6 oz white chocolate chips, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. In microwave, melt butter; stir in brown sugar. Transfer to a large bowl. Cool to room temperature. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in cranberries and chocolate chips. The batter will be thick.
2. Spread into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.
3. For frosting, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange peel until well blended. Gradually add half of the melted chocolate chips. Beat until blended.
4. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with cranberries. Drizzle with remaining chocolate. Store in the fridge.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

Here is the last recipe from the Nelson cookbook for awhile.

2-1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (or applesauce)
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
2 cups apples, chopped (I leave the skin on)

Topping:
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

1. Combine flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add liquid ingredients to dry ones and stir just until moist.
3. Stir in apples.
4. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Combine topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over top of batter.
5. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Orange Spinach Salad

Anyone who knows Ricky's extended family knows that there is always good food at a Nelson family party. Here is one of salads we found in the family cookbook. It looks beautiful and tastes great too. Ricky is a big fan of avocado so he especially likes it. My boys loves the mandarin oranges. If you make the full batch it is a lot of salad. We usually make the full amount of dressing and store it in the fridge, but only make about 1/2 the salad.

1 bag fresh spinach
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
3 green onions, chopped
8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms
1 large avocado, cut into pieces
grape tomatoes, halved

Dressing:
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

• Combine dressing ingredients and mix well (I use a magic bullet).
• Toss salad ingredients together with dressing and serve.

Veggie Cheese Soup

We made this for dinner last night and it was to die for! I thought I would have leftovers, but the pot was licked clean. I found the original recipe in the Nelson family cookbook (I am trying a lot of recipes out of that book this week) and adapted it to our family's taste buds. I can't wait to make some more. The best part is it tastes like a rich, creamy soup but it was made with skim milk.

3 cups potatoes, diced

1 cup onions, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1/4 cup butter

2 (16-oz) cans chicken broth

2 teaspoons chicken bouillion

2 cups skim milk

1/2 cup flour

3 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon dry mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Combine potatoes, onions, carrots, butter, broth and bouillion in large saucepan. Cook 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. I had the veggies boiling most of the time.
• In another bowl mix flour and water until smooth. After veggies are tender, turn down heat and gradually add flour mixture; stirring constantly.
• Add cheese, mustard and pepper. Simmer and stir until cheese is melted.
• Serve with nice hot rolls.

Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki

I am always looking for good crockpot meals. This one was excellent. My family inhaled it and wished there were some leftovers.

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits (and their juice)
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon molasses
cherry tomatoes (optional)
hot cooked rice

1. Combine all ingredients, except rice and tomatoes in crockpot. Cover; cook on high 2 hours.
2. Add tomotoes and cook on low until chicken is cooked all the way through (another 1-2 hours).
3. Serve chicken and sauce over rice.
   

Chicken Stuffed Pastry

Delicious! This chicken looks very elegant and feels fancy. I made this to feed 4 people, but it would be really easy to make for 8 (or any multiple of 4).

1 sheet thawed Puff Pastry (1/2 of a 17.3oz package of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry)
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons butter
1 container spreadable garden vegetable cream cheese

1. Heat oven to 4oo. Beat egg and water in a small bowl.
2. Heat butter in a skillet until melted. Season chicken with black pepper and cook in butter until well-browned on both sides. Put chicken on plate; cover and let cool in fridge for at least 15 minutes.
3. Unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Roll into a 14-inch square. Cut into 4 equal squares.
4. Spread about 2 tablespoons cream cheese on each square. Top each square with one piece of chicken. Brush the edges of the squares with egg mixture. Fold corners of squares over chicken and press to seal. Places pastries seam-side down on a baking sheet. Brush pastries with egg mixture.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until pastries are brown. Let pastries cool 10 minutes on baking sheet.
   

Sugar Cookies

When Ricky was out of towns the boys needed a project. We made these sugar cookies. I can usually resist sugar cookies, but these were so yummy I just couldn't resist eating way too many of them. They even taste great right out of the freezer.

1-1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (the longer the better though). I added red food coloring to make the cookies fun for Valentine's Day.
2. Preheat oven to 400. Roll out dough on floured surface (roll to about 1/2-inch thick). Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes. Put cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 6-8 minutes. Cool and frost with favorite frosting. I love cream cheese frostings on sugar cookies.

Pretzel Salad

My brother Drew had lots of pretzels left over from his wedding reception. And when I mean lots, I mean we were sent home with a 6 pound bag of them. Needless to say, I think we need a little help eating them. At the same time I have challenged myself to not eat any treats in February until Valentine's Weekend. We invited some friends over for dinner on Sunday and this was my compromise dessert/treat for them. I made it the night before and it was light and yummy. I did find the recipe in the "soups and salad" section of the Nelson family cookbook. I altered the recipe a bit, so here's my version.

2 cups crushed pretzels
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 medium container Cool-Whip
2 (3oz) packages raspberry jell-o
2 cup boiling water
1 (16oz) bag frozen strawberries

Crust: Preheat oven to 350. Combine pretzels, 3 tablespoons sugar, and butter. Press into a 9x13-inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling: Mix cream cheese, sugar and cool-whip. Spread on top of cooled crust.

Top: Combine Jell-o, boiling water and frozen strawberries. Put on top of filling. Let set for at least 4-5 hours. I let mine set overnight.