Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

I was in charge of an appetizer for a family Christmas party and made this.  It was DEVOURED in minutes! Definitely a keeper!!

Ingredients

12 ounces fresh cranberries
4-5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approx. 1 large lemon)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
Crackers, for serving

Directions
Pulse the cranberries in a food processor or blender until coarsely chopped. Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, cumin, lemon juice, and salt and pulse until the ingredients are well combined and finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours (or overnight) so the flavors have time to develop and the cranberries lose a bit of their tartness.

When ready to serve, spread cream cheese in an even layer on a serving plate or 9-inch pie dish. Top with cranberry-jalapeno mixture, spreading evenly over the top of the cream cheese. Refrigerate up to an hour before serving.  Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Lime & Coconut Sugar Cookies

I made these for a cookie activity we had a church. They are delicious, though I couldn't really taste the coconut. Some would argue that is a good thing.  Make them and decide for yourself, and add more if you think you need to!

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 large lime, finely minced
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup unsweetened toasted coconut
1/2 cup sugar (for rolling dough in before baking)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Toast coconut on a cookie sheet in the pre-heated oven for 5-7 minutes.
Keep an eye on it though, it can go from white to burnt if you aren't watching close!
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, lime juice and zest. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut. Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 -2 inches apart. (Don't put them too close together, and don't make the balls too big as they spread quite a bit.)

Bake 8-10 minutes in the pre-heated oven until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet for two minutes and then remove and place to cool on wire rack.

Perfect Fall Recipes

This weekend I am doing slow cooker demonstrations/cooking at the Deseret News Home Show and featuring these two perfect-for-fall recipes:

True Texas Chili

(according to the Texans I know, if it has beans, it ain't chili!)

Ingredients

1/2 teaspon garlic powder

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 (14 oz.)cans beef broth

3 lbs. stew meat

Limes, cut into wedges (optional)

Sour cream (optional)

Cilantro, chopped (optional)

In a small bowl, combine all the spices, flour, and beef broth. Set aside. Place meat in a greased 3 1/2 - 4 quart slow cooker. Pour spice mixture over meat. Cover and cook on low heat 8-10 hours, or on high heat 4-6 hours. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, juice from a lime wedge, and sprinkle with cilantro.

Spice Cake with Orange Juice Glaze


Ingredients
1 spice cake mix
1 (3.5 oz.) package instant butterscotch pudding
1 cup water
3/4 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
Orange juice, prepared
1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding, water, oil, eggs, and sour cream. Beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter into greased slow cooker. Cover top of crockpot with paper towels (to catch moisture during the cooking process from dripping into the cake), and cover with lid. Cook on high heat 3 1/2-4 hours or until done in the center.  While cake cools, in a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons orange juice.  Drizzle orange juice glaze over cake, serve and enjoy!

Hashbrown Quiche

Great for breakfast, or breakfast-for-dinner!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded, frozen hashbrowns (thawed and drained)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 4 large eggs (beaten)
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 1/2 cup diced green onions
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper

Preheat over to 450 degrees F.

Gently press the drained hashbrowns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible. In a 9 inch pie plate, toss the hashbrowns with the melted butter and press into the plate. Press into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. When the hashbrown crust is ready, pour in the egg mixture and return to the oven.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for about 30-40 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top, and puffed.

YUM!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

We had this yesterday night for dinner, and it was a big hit with EVERYBODY (which is a BIG deal at my picky house!)

Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chili sauce**

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. garlic

1 tsp. ground mustard

Dash of fresh groundblack pepper

**If you don't have chili sauce in the cupboard, here's a substitute recipe--just be sure you only add 1/2 cup of it to the sauce ingredients:

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. vinegar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Dash of ground gloves

Dash of allspice

Spread a thin layer of the sauce over your favorite pizza crust recipe (homemade, store-bought, whatever)

Top with cooked, cubed chicken breast pieces, red onions (I left these out since my kids don't like them),and mozzerella cheese. Bake it oven according to your crust's instructions. When finished baking top with fresh cut cilantro (if you are like me, the more the better!) Enjoy!

Casserole Cookbook Now on Sale

Purchase my new cookbook via amazon.com (see link below)

or directly from me and get it autoraphed through the link on the right side of the blog!

Thanks!

Fire and Ice Salsa

Perfect summer recipe!

3 cups chopped/diced watermelon

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (I used one large Anaheim green chili instead)

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon chopped green onion

1 tablespoon chopped jalepeno pepper (I used one banana pepper I stole from the neighbor's garden)

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

In a large bowl, combine the watermelon, green bell pepper, lime juice, cilantro, green onions, jalepeno, and garlic salt. In other words: mix it ALL together in a large bowl!! Mix well and serve. We chilled ours for a half hour or so.

Serve with your favorite chips. We made our own cinnamon tortilla chips and it was great.

Other amazing fruit salsa recipes HERE (plus a video of my cute wife Janet making them on TV!)

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

You may be a little skeptical about this recipe based on the title, but I promise, it's really very good!

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (you could also used 1 cup sour cream)

Method:
Mix first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinade for at least 1/2 hour (You could toss it together in a ziploc bag in the morning and leave it in the fridge all day). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, roll them up and place in bottom of pan, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and left over marinade. Pour sauce on top of rolled enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Make it a Freezer Meal: Make and freeze this recipe. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake covered (without thawing first) for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer, until brown and crispy on top.

Lip Smacking Good Carrot Cake

I am sitting here at the computer eating this cake as I type. It is soooo good. I must give a nod to the fantastic little blog where I found the recipe, that I have been reading the past few months (I love all it's country charm and beautiful photographs): Meadowbrook Farm .

Here is the recipe. Seriously, try it very, very soon. You won't be disappointed.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil (I substituted 1 cup applesauce for 1 cup of the oil)
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I left these out for the picky people who live at my house)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots

Combine sugar, oil, (and applesauce if you choose to substitute), and eggs. Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to sugar/egg mixture. Mix well and fold in carrots and pecans.

Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan (I used a bundt pan). Bake at 300 degrees for one hour.

Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 - 8 oz package softened cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Cream the cream cheese and butter, then mix in the vanilla and powdered sugar. Spread on the cooled cake and lick the beaters and the bowl clean!

Seriously. It's to die for!

Delicious Dill Pickle Dip

For New Year's Eve we decided to try a new dip. Tons of pickles.....YUM! We are also big Ruffles fans at our house, so this seemed like the perfect companion for that big bag of chips we were taking to the family party:

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise, NOT Miracle Whip (I used "light")
2 tsp. dill
2 cups finely diced dill pickles
Method:

Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Let chill for a couple of hours.

Enjoy with Ruffles, or your favorite chip.