Creamy Enchiladas

This is not the greatest picture because I forgot to take one until after I'd put the leftovers away. These are mild but flavorful. My children love them because they aren't spicy.



2 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 4-oz. can green chilies
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 c. cream (or whole milk)
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. salsa, optional
6 tortillas

Saute' the onion in the butter. When the onion is translucent, add the green chilies and cream cheese. Cook and stir until the cream cheese melts. Add chicken and toss to coat with cream cheese mixture. Remove from heat. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and some of the grated cheeses and roll up. Place in a greased 9X13 pan. Right before baking, pour the cream over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Dilly Dip

1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Tb. Minced Onion
1 Tb. Dried Parsley Flakes
1 Tb. Dill Weed or Seed
1/2 tsp. Season Salt

Combine all ingredients. Let refrigerate for a few hours so flavors mix. Use as a Veggie Dip.

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is the recipe that Brittany and I made and loved over the summer. I serve it w/a French baguette that I thinly slice. I layer the slices on a cookie sheet and put it under the broiler to toast one side. Then, I flip the pieces of bread and toast the other side. Crackers are also good to dip in it.


1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind), drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Perfect Hard-boiled Eggs

Dave's family has a tradition of eating deviled eggs as an appetizer before Thanksgiving dinner, so I took this picture before I made deviled eggs this year. Here's how I achieved those pretty, yellow yolks:

Perfect boiled eggs have fluffy, yellow yolks. So that your eggs will taste as good as they look, put eggs in a large pot, in a single layer and cover with COLD water. Turn on the heat under the eggs and as soon as they come to a full boil, remove them from the heat and let them sit in the hot water for about 15-20 minutes. I always cover the pan after removing from heat. After they are done, I pour off the hot water and add lots of ice and water to stop the cooking and to quickly cool them.

Fresh eggs are harder to peel than older ones. But, any egg is easiest to peel if you start from the fatter end where the air pocket is located.

How Fresh Are Your Eggs? To make sure your eggs are fresh, put raw egg in a glass of water. If it lays on the bottom, it's fresh. If it is on the bottom, but the small end is up, it's still fine. If it is floating in the middle, but not on top, it should be safe, but not very fresh. If it floats, throw it away, it's a rotten egg.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Also called "Flap-Jack-o-Lanterns," these are delicious served with maple syrup. Our favorite way to eat them, though, is to just put a dollop of whipped cream on top. It tastes like pumpkin pie for breakfast! The last time I made these, I made a double batch, and my kids would take a leftover pancake from the fridge and eat it plain for a snack.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. ginger)

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

3 tbsp. melted butter plus 1 tbsp. for frying

1/2 cup cooked and mashed pumpkin or canned pumpkin

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and milk. Add 3 tablespoons of melted butter and the pumpkin to the wet ingredients and whisk together.

Pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and stir just until blended--a few lumps are okay.

Heat the remaining butter on a griddle over medium-high heat. Then pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. When the flapjacks bubble on top, flip and cook until brown on other side. Makes 20 pancakes.

Rachel Ray's Mega Meatball Pizza

1 pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite recipe or pizza shop

A palm full all-purpose flour or cornmeal

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons – 2 turns of the pan

2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves, a couple of sprigs

Coarse salt

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Black pepper

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano A

handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano (I only use 1/2 tsp. I think 1 tsp. is too much)

3/4 pound fresh mozzarella or brick mozzarella, your choice, sliced or grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a round pizza stone or pan or on a rectangular baking sheet, using flour or cornmeal to dust the dough, spread out the dough to form your crust. If you are using a baking sheet, drizzle pan with extra-virgin olive oil then set crust in place. Poke the pizza dough in several areas with the tines of a fork. Drizzle the dough with extra-virgin olive oil then season it with finely chopped rosemary and a little salt. Place in oven 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, then the meat. Brown and crumble meat a couple of minutes, then add onions and garlic. Season the meat with salt and pepper then work in the tomato paste using the back of a wooden spoon to combine. Stir in the cheese, parsley and oregano.

Remove pizza crust from oven and top with meat. Arrange cheese over the pizza, working to edges. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until cheese is golden, another 10 to 12 minutes.

Cheesey Beef & Rice

This is a recipe my children often request. In lieu of the garlic clove, parsley, salt, basil, and minced onion, I add 1 Tbsp. Homemade Gourmet's Garlic Basil Seasoning Mix.

1 cup uncooked long grain rice (brown rice doesn't work in this recipe)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T. butter or margarine
3 cups water
2 medium carrots, shredded
2 tsp. beef bouillon granules
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried minced onion
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained (I usually use a bag of browned ground beef or turkey from my freezer)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan, saute rice and garlic in butter until golden brown. Stir in water, carrots, bouillon, parsley, salt, basil, and onion. Bring to a boil. Stir in beef. Cover saucepan and steam for 20 min. until the rice is tender. Then, add the cheese on top to melt.

Ground Beef/Ground Turkey Meal Starter

Every 2-3 months, I buy a bunch of ground beef or ground turkey (I wait for ground beef to go on sale, but I always buy my ground turkey at Costco). Then, I cook some of it up and freeze it to have ready to put in soups, spaghetti sauce, Cheesey Beef 'n Rice, casseroles, lasagna, and any other recipe that calls for browned ground beef or turkey.



For every 1 pound of meat you're going to cook, add 2 Tbsp. Homemade Gourmet's Garlic Basil Seasoning Mix. Mix thoroughly with your hands in a bowl. It will look like this:


I cook the meat, about 2 pounds at a time, by placing a steamer basket in a large pan. Add water to the pan, then the steamer basket, then 2 pounds of meat.

Cook on medium-high heat. Stir the meat like you would if you were browning it normally. I usually put the lid on in between stirring so that it steams and cooks more quickly. The grease will automatically drain off into the bottom of the pan. After it is fully cooked, transfer the cooked meat to a container to cool. Repeat process until all meat is cooked. I never pour the water/grease down the drain . I wait until it's completely cool and the fat has hardened so that I can throw the fat away and then pour out just the water. When the meat is cooled, place in quart-size freezer bags. I usually put 3/4-1 pound portions in each bag. Place in freezer and save lots of time when making future meals!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie

I came up with this recipe during my college days because I missed this pie after I left the dorms (they served it every Sunday). It is now a family favorite. I will make it for Christmas dinner and post pictures when I do, especially so that the consistency of the peanut butter crumbs can be shown. I have never been able to come up with exact measurements for some of the ingredients because the amount needed varies due to humidity, etc. I do it by how the consistency looks, so pictures will help.

1 9-inch pie shell, baked according to recipe/package directions, cooled
1 6-serving size pkg. Chocolate Jell-o Pudding (I use Cook-n-Serve, but you can use Instant)
2-3 cups milk (depending on pudding type)
1/3 cup peanut butter
granulated sugar
all-purpose flour
1 cup whipping cream (or you can use Cool Whip instead of these last 3 ingredients. I always whip my own cream.)
powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter, 3 Tbsp. sugar & 3 Tbsp. flour for starters. Beat with an electric mixer. This peanut butter mixture should be crumbly when it's done. If it isn't crumbly after beating, continue to add desired amounts of sugar and flour and beat (depending on how sweet you want it--more flour than sugar is usually needed to meet desired consistency, though). Crumbs should be moist, the size of peas or smaller, and not too dry. They should stick together a little bit. Sprinkle crumbs along the bottom and sides of pie crust. Set some crumbs aside to garnish the top of the pie. This is what the crumbs look like:

Mix pudding and milk according to package directions. Pour pudding into pie shell. You may want to spoon the pudding into the pie shell to avoid displacing any of the peanut butter crumbs. Refrigerate pie and allow to set.

Before serving, whip cream. When it's beginning to thicken, add powdered sugar to taste and vanilla. Finish beating until soft peaks form. Spread whipping cream (or Cool Whip) over top of pie. Sprinkle top of pie with remaining peanut butter crumbs. Then, cut, serve, and enjoy!

Chicken tortilla soup

1 Tb. vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion, minced
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 Tb. chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups chicken broth
1 pound chicken breasts
2 Tb. lime juice

tortilla chips
tomatoes, chopped
avocado, chopped
1/2 whole fresh cilantro leaves
shredded cheese
*Layering is the key to this soup. Layer in crushed tortilla chips, cheese, shredded chicken, tomatoes, avocados, and cilantro; finally the broth is ladled on top.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion, jalapeno, chili powder, and garlic. Cook until the onion is softened, about five minutes. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and simmer until no longer pink. About 15 minutes.
Remove the chicken and let cool. Continue to simmer the broth for 10 minutes. Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Remove broth from heat and add lime juice.
To serve layer ingredients into bowls and cover with broth.

This soup was so yummy and fun to put together! I really enjoyed everything that was going on in this soup. And it had the perfect amount of spice.

Cinnamon Cream Syrup

This is a delicious, old family recipe.

1 c. sugar
½ c. light Karo syrup
¼ c. water
½-3/4 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup evaporated milk

Combine the sugar, Karo syrup, water, and cinnamon in a pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool 5 minutes. Stir in the evaporated milk. Serve warm. Makes 1 1/3 cups. This keeps well in the fridge.