Broccoli Cheese Soup

This reminds me of Panera Bread's Broccoli Cheese soup but it's loaded with more veggies I think. We love this soup and stole this recipe from Lulu the Baker.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped carrot
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
4 cups chicken broth
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup milk
2 cups chopped broccoli
2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Melt the butter in a large soup pot.

Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.

Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.

Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.

Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.

Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.

Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Instant Chocolate Pudding

Yet another stolen recipe. This time from betterwithcake.com. Apparently she fed this to someone who HATES avocados and they loved it so those avocados are easily disguised :) I changed this recipe to non-healthy. I'm not afraid of sugar :) She uses Stevia and Maple Syrup and I tried it that way but I wasn't thrilled.

Healthy Homemade Instant Chocolate Pudding
Makes approximately 2 cups of pudding

Ingredients:
2 avocados
2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Directions:
1) Slice your avocado in half and remove the pit.

2) Scoop out the flesh and place into your blender/food processor Of you dont have a food processor or blender you could just use your stand/hand held mixer)

3) Blend/pulse/whisk until smooth

4) Add cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, and salt and blend/pulse/whisk again until smooth, glossy and well combined.

5) Taste and add extra sugar accordingly.

Her pic :)

Note:
You can also spoon the mix into a Ziplock bag and snip off a corner to pipe into cute little cups which is what she did.

One Pan Chocolate Fudge Cake & Frosting

I don't know how I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest or how out of all the dessert recipes I pin I picked this one to try but I'm so grateful I did! This is one of the best and easiest chocolate cake recipes ever! I'm posting this because if the link to Simply Sweet Home ever fails, I will have a copy of the recipe.

Fudge Cake (Taken from Simply Sweet Home)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In an ungreased 9 x 13 pan (yes--UN-greased!) sift all dry ingredients.

Add the liquids and stir just until blended.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Top with hot fudge or frost with your favorite frosting. Cake will be extremely moist so care must be taken that you don't tear up the top of the cake.

Pic stolen from Simply Sweet Home

Simple Vanilla Frosting (taken from Simply Scratch)

YIELD: 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups Powdered Sugar
4 tablespoons Butter, softened
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
4-6 tablespoons of Whole Milk

DIRECTIONS:
In your mixing bowl add the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla. Turn your mixer on medium low and slowly add your whole milk. Adding more milk if needed. Increase the speed to medium until fluffy.

*for special occasions tint the frosting with food color!

Shawna's Whole Wheat Pancake/Waffle Mix

Do you like waffles?

Ya we like waffles!

Do you like pancakes?

Ya we like pancakes!

Do you like French Toast?

Ya we like French Toast!

Do dododo Can't wait to get a mouthful!

Oh, Parry Gripp! You have penned the words of my soul! I love breakfast foods! These two recipes come from my beloved mother-in-law. We adore her and we adore these recipes! I'm just posting these for my own reference; it's easier to find them on Pinterest rather than hunt through my recipe box. Enjoy!

To Make Pancakes or Waffles
INGREDIENTS: 

1 egg

1 1/2 cup water

2 1/4 cups Pancake/Waffle Mix

DIRECTIONS:

1) Mix water and eggs

2) Add in mix until just moistened

3) Cook on hot griddle 3-4 minutes (or in waffle iron)

Yields about 7 medium pancakes or waffles

Whole Wheat Waffle/Pancake Mix

INGREDIENTS:

18 cups flour 

3 cups dry milk

3 Tablespoons salt

2 1/3 cups sugar

3/4 cups baking powder

3 cups butter

2 cups corn (optional)

2 cups rice (optional)

1/2 cup wheat germ (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Mix dry ingredients

2) Mix in butter

3) Store in cool, dry place. Will keep for about 10-12 weeks.

No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars (5 variations, same base)

I saw this recipe on FB, looked for it on Pinterest, saved a few pictures of it to our iPad, and now I've finally found it on the internet so I'm creating a pin for my own dark purposes. I took this recipe from My Kitchen Escapades. This recipe makes a 9x13 pan-full :)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups quick cooking oats (or pulse whole oats in a food processor a bit)
1 C rice crispy cereal
1/4 C shredded coconut
1/4 C butter
1/4 C honey
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cereal and coconut. Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter. Add the honey, brown sugar and salt. Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil. Once the boil has reached all the way around the edges of the pan, begin timing. Allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes and 15 seconds. During this time, you may need to turn the heat down a bit so it doesn't overflow, but be sure it keeps boiling.

2. Add the vanilla then pour the mixture over the oats, using a rubber spatula to get all the sugar mixture out of the pan. Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated. Add in your desired mix-in then press very firmly into a lightly greased 9x13" pan. If you like your bars thicker, you can use a smaller pan. If you do not press firmly enough, the bars will fall apart when you eat them. Place them in the fridge for 20 minutes then cut to size.

Chocolate Chip
Add 1/2 C of mini chocolate chips to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan, allowing it cool just a bit or you will end up with melted chips. Sprinkle on a few extra chips over the top after they are pressed into the pan.

White Chocolate Cranberry
Add 1/3 C of white chocolate chips and 1/3 C of Craisins to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan, allowing it to cool just a bit first or you will end up with melted chips.

Candy Bar
Add 1/3 C of Heath bar pieces, 1/3 C of mini M&M's and 1/3 C of chopped pretzels to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan.

Peanut Butter
Add 2 Tb of peanut butter to the finished sugar mixture before pouring it over the oats. Once mixed with the oats, add 1/2 C peanut butter chips before pressing into the pan.

Raisin Nut
Add 1/3 C of chopped raisins and 1/3 C of chopped pecans to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan.

Swiped this pic from her website, too. Photo thief much? I know. At least I try to give credit where it's due.

Easy French/Cranberry Chicken

We got visited. It was super fun cramming 11 people into our tiny home. I love Chef Chris-teaux's huge family. Anyway, when it came to food, everyone pitched in and helped. My BIL made this dish (I'm pretty sure this is the recipe from the way he described it) and I was a huge fan. So I searched Lord Google and came across this recipe from Pam's Cooking. Thank you, Pam! Don't even know you, but your pin isn't working so I'm pinning your recipe on my own blog and making my own pin.

INGREDIENTS:
6 regular sized Chicken Breasts
1 can of Cranberry Sauce (I like mixed berry)
1 packet of Onion Soup Mix (I use my own recipe for this)
8 oz of French Dressing

You can bake this in the oven or crockpot depending on how busy you are. I generally prefer the crockpot method but I've included both in case you have a different preference.

DIRECTIONS:
Oven:
Mix 1 Can of Cranberry Sauce, the Lipton Onion Soup Mix, and 8 oz of French Dressing.
Grease a baking pan, lay out the chicken breasts and pour over the mixture over the chicken.
Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours.

Crockpot:
I generally start it around lunch time. I put the chicken in frozen, add all the other ingredients and start it on high for the first hour or two. That is mainly to help the chicken thaw! Then I turn it to low until it's time to eat! We eat around 6:00 usually. The chicken has always been good - never dry!!!

This picture is also stolen from Pam's Kitchen

Sweet & Tangy Chicken

I'm a huge fan of this recipe. It's simple, fast, and easy. This probably isn't the healthiest of recipes, but it definitely tastes good :) I'm throwing it up here because the pin isn't working and it makes me sad. I swiped this recipe from Syrup & Biscuits.

INGREDIENTS:
8 chicken thighs (you can use a whole chicken or other parts)
1 package dry French onion soup mix
1 (8 oz bottle) Russian dressing (you could use French or Catalina or Thousand Island)
1 small jar of apricot preserves (or about a cupful).

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients, except chicken, in a bowl.

Place chicken pieces in a baking pan. Sprinkle with pepper. No extra salt is needed (if you want you can adapt this recipe to a crockpot).

Pour sauce over chicken and make sure it’s coated well.

You can either choose to cook it in the crockpot or oven. I generally choose the crockpot but I'll include both sets of instructions:

Roast uncovered at 400 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Baste several times during cooking.

OR

Simmer in the crockpot on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours.

Serve over a bed of hot rice.

She took this pic but mine looked just like this.