Taste a Rainbow Cupcake

Here is a cute St. Patrick's Day Treat from Family Fun

Ingredients:
White cake mix
Food coloring (red, blue, green, and yellow)
Baking cups
Whipped cream

Instructions:
Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the

batter evenly among six small bowls. Following the color

chart below, dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color.

RAINBOW Colors:
DROPS OF FOOD COLORING
Purple - 9 red and 6 blue drops
Blue-12 drops
Green-12 drops
Yellow-12 drops
Orange-12 yellow and 4 red drops
Red-18 drops

Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. Evenly distribute

the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so

on, following the order shown. As you go, gently spread

each layer of batter with the back of a spoon to cover the

color underneath. Bake the cupcakes according to your

recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper

wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a

whipped-cream cloud.

Chicken Santa Fe

One 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
One small bag frozen sweet corn
1 cup bottled chunky salsa
4 skinless chicken breasts
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, cut into chunks
1 cup shredded cheddar

In a crock pot mix beans, corn and 1/2 cup salsa. Top with chicken
and pour remaining salsa over the chicken. Cover and cook on
HIGH for 3 hours, or until chicken is cooked throughout.
Remove chicken to a cutting board and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Return chicken to crock pot along with cream cheese. Stir and let
cream cheese melt into the mixture to create a creamy sauce.

When ready to serve top with cheese. You can serve the

chicken & sauce over rice or make tacos with it.

Berry Blue Cheese Spread

½ c. dried blueberries
1 c. boiling water
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
6 oz. blue cheese, coarsely crumbled
2 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ c. coarsely chopped pecans
Assorted whole grain crackers

Place dried berries in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over
berries. Let stand 1 minute. Drain; set aside.In a large mixing
bowl beat cream cheese and blue cheese with an electric mixer
on medium speed until nearly smooth. Stir in drained berries,
green onions, and garlic just until combined. Transfer spread
to a serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours before serving.
To serve, sprinkle with pecans and serve with crackers.

Had this yummy dip at a Relief Society meeting last week.
Thanks Mary Lavook for the recipe!

Beef Stroganoff

3/4 lb ground round (I just used ground beef)
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp rosemary
1 1/2 cups cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
16 oz bow tie pasta, cooked al dente

Saute ground round, onion, and garlic.  Add mushrooms; cook 3 to 5 minutes.  Stir in salt, pepper, and rosemary; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.  Add soup and heat.  Stir in sour cream; heat, but do not boil.  Arrange pasta around edges of a large platter; spoon stroganoff into center.

Clam and Potato Chowder

1/2 pint shucked clams (8 oz) or 6 1/2 oz can minced clams
Water if needed
1 medium potato, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium turnip, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots or onion (about 4 medium shallots or 1 medium onion)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/8 tsp pepper
2 12-oz cans evaporated milk
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons oregano or marjoram
1 teaspoon thyme

Chop shucked clams, reserving juice.  Set clams aside.  Strain clam juice to remove bits of shell.  (Or drain canned clams, reserving juice.)  If necessary, add water to clam juice to equal 1 cup.

In a medium saucepan, combine clam juice, potato, turnip, shallots, bouillon cube, and pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in 2 1/2 cups of mild.  Increase heat to medium.  Combine remaining milk and flour.  Whisk until smooth.  Add to potato mixture in saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Stir in clams.  Cook and stir for 1 minute.  Stir in herbs just before serving.

Crash Hot Potatoes

I tried this out the other night.  It was an easy, delicious side dish.

Ingredients

• 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Black Pepper To Taste
• Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Girl Scout cookie recipes

Check out the Girl Scout website for recipes that use
yummy Girl Scout cookies.

I can't wait to try these Samoa Kiss Brownies:

1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1/3 cup evaporated milk
¾ cup melted butter
Mini Chocolate Kisses
¾ cup caramels, melted
½ package Samoas
Coconut



Mix cake mix, evaporated milk and butter. Pour half of mixture
into a 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350° for six minutes. Sprinkle one
cup Kisses on top. Spread melted caramel over Kisses. Add
½ box crushed Samoas and one tablespoon toasted coconut.
Pour remaining cake batter on top and bake 10 minutes.
Drizzle with melted Kisses and sprinkle with coconut.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

This is a simple five ingredient recipe that is easy and delicious. Thanks Janet Mollat for the recipe!

1 c. honey
3/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. minced garlic(8 to 12 cloves or 2 to 3 tsp. dehydrated)
1/2 c. peeled and grated fresh ginger root(or 1 tsp dry ginger)
2 chickens(3 1/2 lbs each), quartered, with backs removed

Cook honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted. Arrange the chicken in a large, shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 1/2 hour. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 365 degrees. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh and the sauce is a rich dark brown.

National Pancake Day Celebration

February 23rd is National Pancake Day Celebration.

To help celebrate here are a few pancake recipes to

try from Betty Crocker.

click here for recipe
click here for recipe

click here for recipe

Happy pancake day!

Share your FUN pancake ideas with us.

Cinnamon Toast Muffins

1 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder

In a separate bowl, combine following wet ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients til moistened. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of
the way full. Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon
sugar on top of each muffin. Bake in 400 oven for 12 minutes
or until cooked through.

Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup oats
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup powdered milk
1/4 cup ground flax (optional)
chocolate chips (optional)

Mix Together and roll into balls. Chill to prevent stickiness

Raspberry Swizzle

Recipe and picture from The Farm Chicks

Heat some frozen (unsweetened) raspberries until runny. Layer
a few spoonfuls of the raspberries with vanilla ice-cream scoops in
a frosty glass. Pour sparkling apple cider over the top, swizzle all
together, and enjoy!

Red Velvet Trifle

Recipe and picture from Let's Entertain

1 (18.25-oz.) package Red Velvet Cake Mix
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 pt. fresh raspberries
Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare cake batter as directed.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 13- x 9-inch pan.
Bake at 350° for 28 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick

inserted in center comes out clean. Meanwhile, beat cream

cheese at medium speed with a electric mixer 1 minute or

until creamy. Add yogurt, powdered sugar, and lemon zest.

Beat 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth, stopping to scrape

down sides of bowl as needed. Cover and chill.
Remove cake from oven. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes.

Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Invert cake onto a cutting board. Cut rounded top off of cake.

Trim and discard edges of cake. Cut cake into 32 pieces.
Arrange about one-third of cake pieces in a 3-qt. trifle dish.

Carefully spread one-third of chilled cream cheese mixture

over cake. Repeat layers 2 times, smoothing top layer of

cream cheese mixture over cake pieces. Top with raspberries.

Cover and chill 1 hour before serving. Garnish, if desired.

S'more Snack Cake

I found this recipe in the book, "Kids' Cake Mix Fun and More" that I own. Its a GREAT book with lots of ideas for cake mix recipes. I made this cake(pictured above) for my daughter's teddy bear pj birthday party and it was a hit!

1 package(18 1/4 oz) yellow cake mix with pudding in the mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix

1 c chocolate chunks, divided

1 1/2 c mini marshmallows

1 cup bear-shaped graham crackers(teddy grahams, whichever flavor you prefer, we love chocolate:)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease 13X9 baking pan. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup chocolate chunks. Bake 30 minutes. Remove cake from oven; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chunks and marshmallows. Arrange bear-shaped graham crackers evenly over top of cake. Return cake to oven; bake 8 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.

Serve and enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

Recipe from Celebrations at home

1 18-oz package Oreo cookies, crushed
1 8-oz block cream cheese, softened
1 lb. white baking chocolate

In large mixing bowl, combine cookies and cream cheese.
Beat with mixer on low speed until well blended. Form
1 inch balls using mini scoop (if possible) or hands. Chill
in freezer for about 30 minutes, or until firm. Melt
chocolate in microwave using 30 second increments.
Do not over heat! Take out chilled balls and using a
toothpick, dip them in melted chocolate one by one.
Place on Wax paper to cool. You can also decorate
with sprinkles or drizzle with colored chocolate.