Fudge Puddles

Makes 4 dozen
Oven 325º

Cookie:
½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups flour

Filling:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cookie:
Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars in mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir in dry ingredients. Chill for 1 hour. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place in lightly greased miniature muffin tins. Bake for at 325º for 14 to 16 minutes. Make a depression in the center of each with a melon ball scoop. Allow to cool and remove from tins.

Filling:
Melt chocolate chips with condensed milk in saucepan. Stir in vanilla. Spoon into depression.

Mexican Crock Pot Chicken

Serves 8 to 10

3 to 5 frozen chicken breasts
1 15¼-oz. can corn, drained
1 15½-oz. can black beans, drained
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup salsa
1 1¼-oz. package (or ¼ cup) taco seasoning

Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 6 to 7 hours. Once cooked, shred the chicken and return it to the mixture. Serve over tortillas, chips, lettuce, rice or baked potatoes. Garnish with cheese, salsa, sour cream, olives and/or guacamole.

Chicken Enchilada Braid

Oven 375º

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 4-oz. can chopped green chilies
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
¼ cup olives, chopped
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
¼ cup tortilla chips, crushed

Take rolls out of packages and unroll, but do not separate into triangles. Place four sections of dough rectangles on a cookie sheet right next to each other. Use a roller to connect dough sides together.

Combine everything and put into braid. Place ingredients down the middle of the dough. Take a knife and cut slits about 1½ inches apart starting in the middle and moving out to the sides. Starting at one end pull a strip of dough over the ingredients to the opposite side. Pull a strip from the alternating side and cross over strip of dough that is already there. Finish doing this with the rest of the dough to crate a braid effect. Bake at 375º for 25 to 30 minutes.

Bread Sticks

Oven 400º

3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey or sugar
2 tablespoons malted milk powder
8 cups flour
beaten egg
Parmesan cheese or sesame seeds

Soften yeast in ½ cup warm water. Set aside. Combine remaining water, salt, honey, malted milk powder and 2 cups flour mixing until smooth. Add yeast mixture stirring well. Stir in remaining flour and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double. Punch down and divide dough in half. Roll out each half to 1/4” thickness. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese or sesame seeds. (I use garlic bread sprinkle and Parmesan cheese.) Cut into 1” by 6” strips and place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise 45 to 60 minutes. Bake at 400º for 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Chicken

Serves 4 - 5

4 to 5 chicken breasts
½ cup margarine
1 envelope dry Italian dressing
1 10¾-oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 8-oz. package cream cheese

Mix dressing and melted margarine. Put ½ in the bottom of a crock-pot, place chicken on top, pour remainder of dressing on chicken. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Remove chicken from crock-pot and add soup and cream cheese. Cook until melted. Pour over chicken and serve.

(You can also prepare this dish in a conventional oven by preparing a 9X13-in dish the same way you would the crock-pot and baking at 400° for one hour. Heat the cream cheese and soup in a saucepan and stir until melted and mixed well. Then add the juices from the chicken and stir until smooth. Pour over chicken and serve.)

Rice

Serves 3

1 cup white rice
½ onion, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 cups boiling water

Fry rice, onion, salt and pepper in oil until onion is transparent and rice is completely coated with hot oil. Add boiling water, stirring well. Put on lid and reduce heat to low. Allow rice to simmer for 20 minutes or until water has evaporated. Remove from heat and let steam for 10 minutes.

Fast and Easy Lasagne

Serves 12
Oven 375º

1 1-lb. package lasagna, uncooked

Sauce:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt
1 32-oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup water


Cheese mixture:
2 16-oz. containers cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
4 cups mozzarella cheese

Brown meat with onion. Drain fat. Add parsley, oregano, salt, spaghetti sauce and water. Heat through. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Divide the noodles and cheese mixture into thirds and the meat sauce into fourths. Layer the meat sauce, noodles and cheese mixture in a 9x13-inch pan finishing with a meat sauce layer. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375º for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Parmesan Chicken

Serves 6
Oven 400º

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons margarine
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup plain bread crumbs
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
spaghetti sauce
linguine, cooked

Combine cheese, bread crumbs and spices. Melt margarine and coat chicken by dipping in margarine, then in crumb mixture. Place in foil-lined, greased pan. Bake at 400º for 25 minutes. Remove chicken to a serving dish. Warm spaghetti sauce in a saucepan and pour over chicken. Serve with linguine.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Serves 6
Oven 400º

6 halved boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 thin slices cooked ham
6 slices Monterrey Jack cheese
½ cup melted butter or margarine
1 cup Corn Flakes, crushed

Lay each chicken breast on the cutting board and, with the knife parallel to the cutting board, cut through the middle of the chicken making an open pocket. Wrap each cheese slice in a slice of ham and slide into the pocket in the chicken breast. Dip each chicken breast in melted butter, then coat with corn flake crumbs. Place chicken breasts in a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400º for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown.

Chicken Broccoli Braid

Serves 4
Oven 375º

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup cooked broccoli, chopped

Take rolls out of packages and unroll, but do not separate into triangles. Place eight sections of dough rectangles on a cookie sheet right next to each other. Use a roller to connect dough sides together.

Combine everything and put into braid. Place ingredients down the middle of the dough. Take a knife and cut slits about 1½ inches apart starting in the middle and moving out to the sides. Starting at one end pull a strip of dough over the ingredients to the opposite side. Pull a strip from the alternating side and cross over strip of dough that is already there. Finish doing this with the rest of the dough to crate a braid effect.

Bake at 375º for 25 to 30 minutes.

Beef and Mozzarella Bake

Serves 6
Oven 400°

1 lb. ground beef
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder or clove garlic, minced
1 10¾-oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 10¾-oz. can condensed tomato soup
1¼ cups water
1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
4 cups cooked medium shell macaroni

In 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef and seasonings until browned stirring to separate meat. Spoon off fat. Stir in soups, water and 1 cup mozzarella cheese; add macaroni. In 2-quart oblong baking dish, spoon mixture. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400º for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

Apple Betty

Serves 6
Oven 375°

4 cups sliced pared tart apples
¼ cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup butter

Mound apples in buttered 9-inch pie plate; sprinkle with orange juice. Combine sugar, flour, spices and salt; cut in butter till mixture is crumbly; sprinkle over apples. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or till apples are tender and topping is crisp. Serve warm with cream.

Parmesan Potatoes

Serves 6 - 8
Oven 350°

1 32-oz. package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1½ to 2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Thaw potatoes. Mix potatoes, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Add heavy cream and mix. (Potatoes should be quite wet.) Place in a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350° for 1 hour.

Beef Stroganoff

Serves 8

2 to 2½ lbs. stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons shortening
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 6½-oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 10¾-oz. cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups sour cream
cooked rice or noodles

Brown meat in shortening in hot skillet. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes. Add water and mushrooms. Cover with tight fitting lid and simmer for 2 hours, replenishing water if needed. Drain off excess water saving some to thin soup. Add soup and enough water (about ½ cup) to make a thick sauce. Gradually blend in sour cream just before serving.

Pizza

Serves 6
Oven 425°

2¾ to 3¼ cups flour
1 tablespoon yeast
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Pizza sauce
Pizza toppings (pepperoni, ham, pineapple, green pepper, etc.)
4 cups mozzarella cheese

In a large bowl combine 1¼ cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt. Add water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Grease two 12-inch pizza pans or baking sheets. If desired, sprinkle with cornmeal. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough into a 13-inch circle. Transfer to pans. Build up edges slightly. Do not let rise. Bake in a 425° oven about 12 minutes or till browned. Spread pizza sauce over hot crust. Sprinkle toppings and cheese. Bake 10 to 15 minutes more or till bubbly.

Chicken Parisienne

Serves 6
Oven 400º

6 skinless, boneless halved chicken breasts
paprika
2 tablespoons margarine
1 6½-oz. can sliced mushrooms
1 10¾-oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream

Place chicken breasts in oblong baking dish and sprinkle with paprika. Cover with foil and bake at 400º until done (about 25 minutes). In a saucepan, melt margarine and sauté mushrooms. Add soup and sour cream and heat thoroughly. Remove chicken to serving dish and spoon sauce over the top. Serve with hot rice.