A = Apple Pie

Creamy Apple Pie

2 tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 c. chopped and peeled apples
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
1 9-inch single crust pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine apples, 2 tbsp. flour, nutmeg, and salt. Mix together egg, sour cream, 3/4 c. sugar, and vanilla; stir into apple mixture. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.

3. Cream together 1/3 c. sugar, 1/3 c. flour, and 1/4 c. butter. Set topping aside.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300°, and continue baking for 30 minutes. Remove pie from oven, and sprinkle with topping. Increase temperature to 400° and bake pie for 10 more minutes.

Alphabet Soup

Alphabet Soup: 26 days - a different recipe from my recipe collection each day, starting with A...ending with Z. What more motivation do I need to actually keep up on my postings?!?! I'll continue the Thirty Minute Thursdays, promise! :)

If any of you have suggestions, or favorite recipes, let me know! I'd love to post other ideas on here too! See ya soon!

Thirty Minute Sunday...again, I stink at this!

K, so once again I've missed Thirty Minute Thursday, sorry, I'm a little busy. I'll make it up to you, I promise.

Chicken Enchiladas

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can green enchilada sauce, separate in half
1 can chopped olives
1 can black beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese, separated in half
1 package of enchilada size flour tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Boil chicken breasts until cooked in water sprinkled with garlic powder and onion salt.

3. While chicken is cooking, mix together all other filling ingredients in a large bowl. This includes half can enchilada sauce, olives, black beans, soup, and half of the chese.

4. When chicken is cooked shred or cut into small pieces. Add chicken to filling mixture.

5. In 9x13 baking pan, fill a tortilla with a couple of scoops of filling mixture, roll up and scoot to one side of the baking pan. Lining them side by side you should be able to fit 9-10 in a 9x13 pan.

6. Top rolled enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Recipe yields about 10 enchiladas.

Shoguns

I've been craving sushi. This isn't a completely new thing for me, but it is an unfortunate craving when you live in the middle of nowhere. I've been asking around since we moved to Midland if there was anywhere to get good sushi - 'yes' came the response...in Dallas, or San Antonio. I think 5 hours is a little long of a drive for an evening of sushi, but maybe that's just me. My loving mother knew I was missing my sushi, so for my birthday she did some research. She found two places within like 30 miles that serve sushi, one here in Midland and one in Odessa! We decided to grab a "quick" dinner on Saturday night, so with the kids being watched by family we ran over to Shogun's here in Midland. It's a typical Japanese restaurant with the hibachi tables, so it was entertaining and I was able to get my sushi fix. Clearly it was no comparison to Tsunami or Asuka, our favorite places in Utah, but it will do when I need a sushi fix.

Thirty Minute Thursday...(or Friday)

Sorry, it's been a busy week and I'm just getting around to posting my weekly quick recipe. Now that it's almost officially Autumn I'm getting excited to start carving pumpkins and decorating for fall. Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite things to do, so when I saw pumpkins at the store this week I was giddy and can't wait to start this years batch of carvings! In honor of pumpkin carving here is my favorite cookie recipe EVER!!!

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 spice cake mix
1 yellow cake mix
1 package (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (29 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Mix all ingredients together.

3. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

I know, crazy, but that's it. They are amazing cookies, so moist and thick! Just like the ones that you would buy at the store, only better.



Happy Autumn to y'all!

Thirty Minute Thursday

We are still having nice, rainy, cool weather and I am still in the mood for soup. In the last week we've had lentil, split pea and I'm thinking about making clam chowder. I love clam chowder, there are so many different types. I love thick and creamy New England chowder, and I'm not as big of a fan of Manhattan Chowder with it's tomato taste. My favorite clam chowder ever was served at Chandlers in Seattle, mmmmmm........ Anyway, the following recipe integrates clam chowder with more of a vegetable/corn chowder. Lots of vegetables, lots of flavor, and perfect for nice, cool, rainy days like today. (actually tonight we're having stuffed pork chops, so tomorrow we'll do the soup...must stick to the menu....) :)

CLAM CHOWDER

1 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. diced celery
2 c. diced potatoes
1 c. chopped carrots
1 can sweet corn
2 cans minced clams (with juice)
3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1 qt. half 'n half
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1 cube chicken bouillon

1. Add vegetables to a saute pan, empty clams with juice over vegetables. Add enough water to barely cover vegetables. Add bouillon cube and cook till tender.

2. While vegetables cook, melt butter; add flour and mix. Cook, stirring constantly. Add half 'n half. Cook and stir with whisk until smooth and thick.

3. Add undrained vegetables to creamy base and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.

Hope that you enjoy, kudos to my mom for handing this recipe down. I've tweaked it a little here and there, but I stuck to the basics of the original recipe.

Thirty Minute Thursday

We have had beautiful, rainy, cooler weather the last few days and I am loving it! It's great to be able to pull out some of the 'rainy day' recipes; recipes that you don't exactly want to eat on blistering, hot days. Last night we had brisket, sweet potato surprise, and mint brownies. mmmmm! No wonder I can't lose that weight that I want! I realize every time I cook that I should really start measuring the ingredients in the dishes that I make, so I have a better idea how to write down the recipes. I tend to add a splash of this, a dash of that and....no measured ingredients to document. I vow to do better, I promise.

Sweet Potato Surprise

4 sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 c sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated unsweetened coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 375° F. In large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla extract until well combined. Transfer the mixture into a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the topping ingredients until crumbly. Distribute the topping over the sweet potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Mint Chocolate Brownies

Brownies
10 Tbsp. butter
6 Tbsp. cocoa
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Mint Filling
1/2 c. butter (very soft)
2 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring
(Beat together and spread on cooled brownies)

Chocolate Topping
1/2 c. butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(Heat for 1 minute in microwave. Stir and pour over mint filling, coating evenly)

1. Melt butter and cocoa in microwave. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour and salt; mix. Bake in 9x13" pan (grease bottom) at 350° for 25 minutes. When cool frost with mint filling. Then put in freezer for 10 to 20 minutes to harden frosting. Frost with chocolate topping.