cajun fried turkey

16 oz bottle of Italian dressing
1/2 cup cayenne pepper
1/2 cup black pepper
1 cup creole seasoning
2 tablespoons garlic salt

In a medium bowl, mix 3/4 Italian dressing, cayenne pepper, black pepper, Creole seasoning, and garlic powder. Rub over turkey, using remaining Italian dressing to fill cavity. Allow turkey to marinate 8 hours, or overnight, before deep-frying as desired.

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup vinegar

¼ cup sprite

2/3 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Key Lime Pie

4 egg yolks

¾ cup key lime juice

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

¼ cup cornstarch

1 bag frozen raspberries

Pie: Combine egg yolks and cornstarch. Blend with electric mixer on high for 2-3 minutes. Add key lime juice and condensed milk and mix together. Pour mixture into graham cracker pie crust and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool.

Topping: Thaw frozen raspberries in microwave adding, stirring regularly and adding cornstarch until mixture is fully thawed. Spread topping on cooled pie and refrigerate until cold. Serve with whipped cream.

Dark Chocolate Cookies

6 oz dark chocolate

2 egg whites at room temperature

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp vanilla

¾ cup finely ground almonds

Melt dark chocolate in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla slowly and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in chocolate and almonds. Drop teaspoons of batter onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Crisco Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

¾ cup butter flavored Crisco

¼ cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 ¾ cup flour

¾ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) and wet ingredients separately and then stir together until well mixed. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Banana Bread

¾ cup softened butter

8 oz softened cream cheese

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups mashed bananas

½ tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp orange juice

Combine butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Separately combine baking power, baking soda, salt, and flour. Slowly add dry ingredient mixture while stirring. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1 ½ hours. Combine powdered sugar and orange juice in small saucepan and cook until mixture is smooth. Pour over bread while bread is still hot. Wait 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Chicken Pillows

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

1 8 oz can of chicken breast

1 pacakge of refrigerated crescent rolls

2 packages of powdered chicken gravy

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine cream cheese and canned chicken. Open the crescent rolls and separate. Place a spoonful of chicken mixture on the large end of the crescent roll and fold edges so that it will not leak out. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown. While rolls are cooking make chicken gravy according to the package. Optionally add any remaining chicken mixture to gravy. Serve one roll in a bowl and pour gravy over it.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 really ripe bananas, mashed up

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in the mashed up bananas. Stir in the melted butter.

Cook on griddle over medium heat for about 2 minutes per side.

Salmon with Strawberry Pineapple Mango Salsa

Salsa:

¾ cup small diced strawberries

¾ cup small diced mango1/2 cup small diced pineapple

¼ cup small diced onion

1 jalapeno

2 tbsp fresh mint leaves

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp lime juice

¼ tsp salt

Salmon:

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

4 salmon filets

2 tsp grill seasoning

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Brush salmon filets with olive oil. Mix seasonings and sprinkle over salmon. Place the fish on the grill, skin side down and cook for about 3 minutes then turn the fish 45 degrees and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until cooked through to the desired degree of doneness.

Remove the fish from the grill and serve with the fruit salsa spooned

Mom's pancakes

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp oil

blend and cook

Brazilian Lemonade

2 limes--cut off ends and then cut into quarters
3 Tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups water
ice

blend all ingredients. strain out rinds.

Chad's New York Cheesecake

This is really Chad, but I can't post to the blog, so I'm signed in under Mel's account.



Crust:

• 1lb graham crackers, crushed
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

• 5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter, vanilla, and sugar. Press onto bottom and up the sides of springform pan.
3. Line the entire outside of the pan with at least two layers of aluminum foil.
   
4. Pre-bake crust in oven for 10 minutes.
   
5. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
6. Boil water for water bath.
7. Place cheesecake onto baking sheet with at least one inch lip that the springform pan will fit into. After cheesecake is in pan, pour water to create the water bath.
   
8. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

This fills up the entire 12 inch springform pan. If you are using a smaller pan, make sure to adjust the recipe accordingly!

Main Street Grill Cheesecake

Ingredients:

     2 C whipping cream, whipped

     2 C sugar

     2 tsp vanilla

     2 lbs (4 pkgs) cream cheese, softened

Whip the cream until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until completely soft and smooth.  Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Pour onto graham cracker crust and freeze until firm.  Thaw in refrigerator before serving.

Makes 3 round cheesecakes

Classic White Bread

Ingredients:
     6 cups flour
     3 TBSP sugar
     1 TBSP salt
     2 TBSP shortening
     4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
     2 1/4 cups very warm water
     2 TBSP melted butter

1. Mix yeast into warm water and allow to get foamy. Mix 3 cups of flour, sugar, salt, and shortening in stand mixer using dough hook. Add yeast and water and mix until somewhat combined.

2. Gradually add in remaining flour, one cup at a time, and allow mixer to knead for several minutes.

3. Allow dough to rise for one hour or until double in size. Punch down and cut in half. Roll out dough and then roll up to fit into bread pans.

4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove to wire rack and brush tops with melted butter.

The Ultimate Sugar Cookie

Ingredients:
     1 stick (1 cup) butter flavored shortening
     1 1/4 cup sugar
     1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
     2 TBSP milk
     1/4 cup corn syrup
     1 tsp vanilla
     3 cups flour
     3/4 tsp baking powder
     1/2 tsp baking soda
     1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar in stand mixer for about five minutes. While continuing to mix, add eggs, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla. Mix until combined thoroughly.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture slowly to wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Add more flour as needed.

3. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4" thickness and cut with cookie cutters. Bake for 7-9 minutes depending on size.

4. Cool cookies on pan for 2 minutes and then transfer directly to counter to finish cooling. Decorate as desired. Makes around 2 dozen medium cookies.

Skillet Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1lb sausage
• 1 small chopped onion
• 1 medium zucchini, minced
• 1 large carrot, minced
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  
• 1 can tomato sauce, seasoned with oregano and garlic
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
• 2/3 cups cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• salt and pepper
• occasionally I'll throw in some diced peppers as well, if Chad is in the mood
  

Directions:

In skillet, cook sausage and onion until sausage is almost cooked through and onion is about the desired consistency. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 4 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce with seasonings. Return to a boil, and stir in pasta. Once it is fully boiling again, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 14 minutes. Stir once after 10 minutes.
Stir in zucchini, carrot, and mushrooms. (Peppers, if desired.) Return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 5-6 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Remove from heat.
Combine cottage cheese, parmesan, and pepper in a bowl. Drop in spoonfuls into lasagna. Don't stir! Sprinkle mozzarella liberally over the top. Let stand covered for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Enjoy!

Oyako Donburi

Oyako Donburi (also known as Oyakodon) is a Japanese dish that means "mother and child", because the two main ingredients are chicken and eggs. It's a delicious comfort food.


Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups cooked Japanese rice
  
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced for stir fry
• 1 small onion, julienned
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1 zucchini, julienned
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced into strips
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1 cup dashi stock (you can substitute with chicken broth)
• 2 tablespoons mirin (you can substitute with rice wine vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 4 beaten eggs

Directions:

Sautee chicken, onion, carrot, and zucchini in a little bit of oil, until the chicken is cooked through (about 5-7 minutes).
Stir in broth, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and salt. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and simmer for a few more minutes. Sprinkle in about half of the green onion and stir gently.
Pour beaten egg over the top, cover, and simmer until egg is cooked through (about 7-10 minutes). Serve over sticky rice. Garnish with the remaining green onion.

White Chocolate Blackberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
     2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
     1/2 cup sugar
     1 tsp. vanilla
     2 eggs
     3 oz. white chocolate chips, melted
     1 ready-made pie crust (shortbread recommended)
     1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until just blended. Stir in the white chocolate. Pour into the crust.

2. Heat the blackberries in a small saucepan just until the berries burst. Drop by spoonfuls onto the top of the cheesecake, then cut through the batter with a knife for a marble effect.

3. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Let it cool, and then refrigerate for at least three hours.

Taitum's Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups hot water
• 2 Tbsp sugar (or 1 Tbsp honey)
  
• 1 Tbsp of fast acting yeast
• 3-1/2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp salt

Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast. Make sure yeast is bubbling. Stir in salt and flour. Knead until smooth and elastic, add up to 1/2 cup additional flour if necessary. Let rise until double. Roll onto skookie pans. Add Jared's sauce and desired toppings. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. There is no need to pre-bake the crust.

Jared's Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic salt
• 1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper (optional)
  
• 1 cup warm water

Directions

Stir all ingredients except water until well mixed. Stir in water. Refrigerate. Best if made a day before use. Warning to those that use cayenne, we used to use 1 Tbsp until we bought a new package of it. Either the new brand was stronger or the old stuff had lost some strength, you may have to adjust it.

Chocolate Pudding Cookies

1 cup butter

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

1 pkg. Jell-O instant chocolate pudding

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 ½ cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

12 oz. white chocolate chips

Mix butter and sugars. Add eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Dad's Baked Beans with a kick!

Dad's Baked Beans with a kick.

4 cans of pork and beans.
1 pkg of bacon.
1 medium sized onion.
1 large bell pepper.
2-3 cups of brown sugar.
Ketchup.
Mustard.
Worcestershire sauce.
Dave's Gourmet Insanity Sauce.

Cut the bacon into small bits. This is best down with very cold bacon. Place this in a 8-10 quart oven safe pot. (Dutch oven) over medium heat on the stove top burner. Dice the onion and the pepper and add them to the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft and the bacon is no longer raw. Add the pork and beans and two cups of brown sugar. Add around 1 cup of ketchup, a couple of table spoons of mustard, and acouple of table spoons of Worcestershire Sauce. Stir until well blended. Taste. Add ketchup or sugar to achieve the desired balance of sweet versus tangy. (This is somewhat a personal preference, but that is how I cook-to taste).
Depending on who you are cooking for, add 0-4 drops of Insanity Sauce to the pot and mix it in. Place the pot in the oven at low heat, (200 to 250 deg), for 4-6 hours. Stir every hour to minimize scorching the beans on the bottom of the pot.

White Chocolate Habanero Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Margarine or Butter, Softened
1 Egg
2 1/4 Coups All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Package (6 ounces) White Chocolate Chips
4 - 6 Diced Habanero Chile Peppers (Fresh or Dried)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°. Mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, margarine and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt; once done, the dough will be stiff and somewhat granulated in consistency. Stir in chocolate chips and habanero bits until well blended. Then Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about two inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Cookie centers will be soft. Cool for 10 minutes, and then carefully remove from cookie sheet. Serve with cold milk and enjoy!

Requests??????

I know we all have some specific recipes we want, so if you have a request, leave a comment here and I'll try to track them down.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

I actually got this recipe from a crafting site that I love called V and Co., so I am borrowing her image to post with the recipe. Here's a link to the actual post on her site too. We tried it out last summer and loved it!

1 can of corn
2 cans of black beans
2 large tomatoes
1 avocado
1 to 2 jalepeno pepper
1 red or white onion
a small bundle of cilantro
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of redwine vinegar
3 to 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of pepper.

combine in a small bowl your olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. whisk. set aside.

drain your corn and black beans. rinse your black beans.
chop up your tomatoes, onion, avocado, cilantro and jalepeno.
combine in a large bowl corn, black beans, tomatoes, onion, avocado, cilantro, and jalepeno.

pour over your ingredients your olive oil mixture, and stir in.

Captain Crunch Chicken

vegetable oil for frying

2 skinless chicken breast fillets

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal

½ cup panko bread crumbs

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Creole Mustard Sauce:

2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Mix together and chill in refrigerator.

Cut each chicken fillet, lengthwise, into 5 long slices pounded flat (chicken fingers). Put in a bowl, cover with buttermilk, and marinate overnight. Just before breading, mix in an egg to the marinade. Smash the Cap’n Crunch into crumbs using a food processor, or put the cereal into a plastic bag and start pounding. Combine the cereal, crumbs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Remove chicken from milk and completely coat it with the dry mixture. Discard leftover milk. When the oil is hot, fry the chicken for 4 to 6 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Remove to paper towels or a rack to drain. Serve hot with chilled Creole mustard sauce on the side for dipping.

Let's get cooking! :)

Ok, so after a failed attempt at making a family cookbook, I guess we'll try the blogging route. I know we all have a lot of great recipes (and no dad, I don't mean habanero cookies), and I'm always happy to find new recipes to try out, plus there are just some old stand by's that mom used growing up that we all love. So please, post if you have something great to share. I'll try to get some categories set up to post to and keep things a little better organized, but if anyone else has any great ideas, let me know because I am not claiming to be a blogging genius or anything. If I didn't get your email address right and you're not able to post, let me know, and I'll be sure to add you as an author. Oh, and if you happen to have a picture of the recipe you are posting, upload it!!! Recipes are always more tempting when accompanied by a picture!