Yummy Hot Dip Recipe

One of our nighbors made this for Super Bowl Sunday.... It was sooooooo good... I got the recipe from her to share with you all.

Barb's Articoke Dip

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened or whipped

1 cuo mayo

1/2 cup parmasen cheese

1 sm can chopped jalepanoes

1 8 oz marinated articokes, chopped

mix all, bake @ 350 degrees, 20 minutes or until hot in 8X8 dish.

Serve on bagget slices.

Crab Salad

Happy Friday!

Here is a delish and easy recipe for you to try over the weekend or some time this season or next - my family loves it and I always get lots of requests for it when they want me to bring something.

JO’s Imitation Crab Salad

1 Pkg Imitation Crab
¾ pkg of small pasta shells (cooked, drained and cooled)
12-15 baby carrots chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
3 green onions chopped
3 Tbl Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
1/3 cup Mayo (more or less as desired)
Morton’s Nature Seasoning (look for the blue cap)

Mix wet ingredients with veggies and about ¼ tsp seasoning. Then mix with pasta. Chop your Crab up in chucks – not too small then mix in to pasta mix. Sprinkle more seasoning on top and then chill for at least 4 hours. Enjoy! YUMMY!

Have a great day!

Swiss Steak

Here's another easy recipe for you all to try. This is one my grandmother used to make us often. My grandpa loved it. I think it was one of his favorites. Good stuff!

Swiss Steak

2 Lbs Round steak, tenderized

2 - 14.5oz cans of tomato sauce (plain)

2 T Real Butter

1 small bag of baby carrots

1 large Yellow onion

1/4 cup water

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Salt

Slice onion in 1/4 inch slices and separate rings, reserve about a third of the onion rings. Cut butter into small chucks. Put butter and onion rings at bottom of crockpot, lightly salt/pepper and garlic salt the meat, add meat to pot. Cover the meat with Tomato sauce and add carrots, sprinkle sauce and carrots with salt and pepper. Add water and the reserved onion rings. Cover and cook low 6-8 hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes. The meat's sauce makes a wonderful gravy for the potatoes.

Delicious with sweet corn!

~Enjoy!~

Perfect Articokes with Spicy Dipping Sauce

PERFECT ARTICHOKES

2 - 3 Medium Artichokes

(Large ones are a little tougher but can be used)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

Salt/pepper

Morton's Nature Seasoning

Garlic Salt

Wash the Artichokes and cut off the top inch. Cut off the stem leaving only about 1/2 inch of stem on. Fill a large saucepan with about an inch and a half of water and the butter. Place Artichokes in the pan stem down and drizzle tops with Oil. Sprinkle generously with seasonings, cover pot tightly with Aluminum Foil and put on medium/high heat for ten minutes. Reduce heat to Medium/Low for an additional 20 minutes....

Check by poking stem with a fork - it should be very tender.

Spicy Dipping Sauce

3 Tbsp Mayo

1 tsp Ketchup

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Tabasco to taste

Mix all well and serve with chokes.

YUMMY!

Chicken Noodle Soup

My Mom requested I post this one... Very simple and a yummy classic.
Great for rainy/snowy weather.

The recipe takes two days - but don't let that make you not attempt it - it is easy.

Chicken Noodle Soup

First thing you need to do is go buy yourself a rottissere chicken and have a light dinner or lunch with it. Save the carcass. (If you can't buy a rottissere, bake or BBQ a whole chicken first.)

1 whole chicken carcass

1 cup sliced carrots

1 celery bunch - sliced

1/2 small onion - sliced/chopped

1 can Chicken broth

4+ cups water

1Tbsp chicken broth powder

1/2 package fresh mushrooms

1 Tbsp Dried parsley

1 large bayleaf

salt/pepper

1/2 package Lg Extra Wide Egg Noodles

Try to pick meat off the tiniest bones of the chicken then pull apart the rest and throw it all in a large pot half filled with water. Boil this for about two hours or so. Pour into a bowl and let cool before covering and refridgerating over night.

The next day - pick all the meat off the bones and toss bones. Add chicken, onions, celery, bayleaf, parsley and carrots to a large pot with Chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add powdered broth to two cups water and add this to soup. Add an addtional 2 cups water...boil an hour, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper mushrooms then add them to the soup. Boil an additional hour.

The last 10 mintes or so cooking time - cook the noodles according to the package directions. Rinse cooked noodles with COLD water. Remove soup from the heat. DO NOT ADD NOODLES TO THE SOUP WHILE BOILING _ THIS WILL MAKE MUSHY NOODLES _ EWW!

Put some noodles in a bowl and laddle the soup mixture over the noodles.

Enjoy!

After the soup has cooled a bit you can add the remaining noodles to the soup and refridgerate or freeze the left overs... the soup is even better the next day.

Spring Has Sprung!

There are pretty little patches of yellow wild flowers popping up everywhere! YAY! Spring is here!! I can't wait for the purple patches to come. (See above - that is how the hillsides will look pretty soon)

Even the Golden California Poppies are popping up - with the late rains this year - I am thinking it will be a BEAUTIFUL spring and summer FULL of glorious wild flowers! Gotta love that!


I can't wait to check out the dessert and mountain flowers - they will come next.

FUN FACTS: Golden poppies grow wild throughout California. Native American Indians used the poppies for food and oils. Try placing some on top of your next salad... beautiful!

The Storm's a Brewin'

There is a big cold storm brewing - it is expected this afternoon to start sprinkling and the down pours tonight - thunder and lightning!!! We enjoy storms at our house... the rain makes me sleep well. This storm will be a cold one. It is coming from Alaska and is supposed to bring 1-2 feet of snow to our local mountains - YAY more SNOW!

I started some home made chicken soup last night, the broth and chicken. Tonight I will add the veggies and make the noodles - it will be perfect for a rainy night. Maybe I will post the recipe tomorrow.

Pork Rolls with Rice

The other night I made a yummy recipe that I haven't made in years. After eating it, my hubby and I remembered just how good it was - I will have to get this one back into rotation.... it is easy enough to make plus nice and filling too.

PORK ROLLS WITH RICE

4-6 thin sliced pork chops

1 cup long grain white rice

1/2 green or red bell pepper

1/2 small yellow onion

1 reg size can diced tomatoes

water

1 clove garlic (minced)

2 T Butter

swiss cheese (sandwich slices)

salt/pepper

1/8 tsp cumin powder (or more if you like)

garlic salt

crushed red pepper

Place pork between two pieces of plastic wrap. Pound with a back of a metal spoon until about 1/4 inch thick. Salt and pepper both side of the pork pieces. Place thin slices of onion and peppers on the pork, then take a slice of swiss and cut it in four strips, stack the strips and put them on one end of the pork on top of the peppers/onions. Roll the pork up like a jelly roll....secure with a toothpick or two... repeat with all pork. Chop up remaining onion and peppers. Melt butter in large skillet, add garlic, chopped onions and peppers and pork rolls, brown rolls on all sides for just a few mintes. the cheese may melt out a little, just keep pushing it in or next to the pork rolls.

In a two cup measuring cup, empty can of tomatoes, add water to the tomatoes until you reach 2 cups, add this plus an additional 1/2 cup water to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Sprinkle cumin, a bit of Garlic salt and some crushed red pepper ( a tiny bit or a lot depending on your taste buds) Finally add the rice, making sure that all of the rice is in the liquid. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook about 25-30 minutes or until rice is tender. Do not stir, your rolls will fall apart.

Don't forget to remove your toothpicks if you used them.... no one wants to slice into wood on thier plate...

Enjoy!

PS If you don't keep cumin powder in your cupboard, don't go out and buy it just for this - it goes bad if you don't use it up quickly. You can just use a little more garlic for extra flavor.

If you love HOT WINGS...

You got to try this!!!

I made it Super Bowl Sunday and we Loved it! Delicious! It is really easy to make the hardest part is shredding the chicken... did I say it was delicious?! It is delicious!

Bonnie's Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

4 boneless chicken breasts, boiled & shredded
12 ounces Franks Red Hot Sauce

Mix in a 13x9" baking dish.

2- 8 ounce packages cream cheese
16 ounces ranch dressing
1 cup chopped celery

Mix and heat in saucepan till smooth.
Pour over chicken mixture.
Top with 1 block Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Bake 375°F for 45 minutes. Let sit 10-15 minutes before serving.

Serve with nachos, Fritos, celery or carrot sticks.

...it was extra yummy with the celery sticks!!

Soy Sauce Chicken

Here is another old Recipe of My Mom's... quick to prepare, easy to make and very good... if you like Soy Sauce you will love this!

2-3 lbs bone in chicken

1 cup Soy Sauce

1 cup white vinegar

2 Cloves Garlic (crushed)

1/2 cup water

Pepper

2 Tbls Butter

Bring liquids and garlic to a boil in a large pot. Rub chicken with butter, sprinkle with pepper and add this to the pot. Cover and boil, stirring occasionally until meat falls off the bone.... YUM! Serve over steamed white rice...

TIP: need it done faster? Pre-cook chicken in a microwave save bowl half filled with water for 2 or 3 minutes before boiling...

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Happy Friday to ya'll!

Here is a recipe to a yummy dish my mom used to make us while we were growing up!
It is pretty simple to make, makes lots and is filling and delish!
Try it out some day - I bet you will love it!

Mexican Chicken Casserole
(JO’s Mom’s Recipe)


4 *Chicken Breast Halves (cooked)
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can (7oz) whole green chili’s (mashed or chopped)
3 Cups Sour Cream
6 Green Onion tops chopped
1/3 cup milk
Pinch of Garlic salt
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 10oz plain tortilla chips
¼ lb jack cheese
¼ lb sharp cheddar cheese

Toppings (optional):
Red or Green Taco Sauce
Chopped Avocado


Crush chips (fun for kids to do) and line bottom of 9x13 inch pan or two 8 inch pans. Break up and shred cooked chicken into bite size pieces. Mix all ingredients except chips and cheese. Pour mixture over chips, top with graded cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Cool briefly before serving. Top with Avocado chunks or Taco sauces.

Serves 6-8

Enjoy! Yummy!

Picture By angoraknitter :-)

*If you are in a hurry, you can buy a rotissere chicken and shred that too - Gives lots of good flavor...