Kitchen Sink Granola Bars

1c quick oats (instant oatmeal stuff)

1/2 c corn syrup

1/2 c honey

3 tsp brown sugar

1 1/2 c rice crispy cereal

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 cups of anything (Marshmallows, seeds (sesame, pumpkin, flax), granola (strawberry/raspberry etc), cookie crumbs, chocolate chips, melted chocolate (1/2 c)...

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together, then add in the wet ingredients, stirring until everything is coated.

Place wet mix into 9X9 pan lined with parchment paper. Wet fingers with water and press down the granola bar mix into the pan; make sure all edges are pushed in and it is nicely packed. Keep fingers as wet as possible to reduce sticking and moving.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Remove and cool:

Recipe by Renee

Hand tossed Mini Pizzas

Recipe to come


Recipe by Kelly

Roasted Chicken & Asparagus Pasta Salad

1 roasted chicken, cubed
1 box pasta, cooked
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1 bunch asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper
mozzarella balls

Cut asparagus tips off and then angle cut them into 1" pieces.  Blanch them in boiling water for 4 min or until just slightly cooked.  Drain and rinse with cold water until cooled.

After cooking pasta, drain and drizzle with olive oil and season with plenty of salt and pepper or other seasonings.  Add cooled asparagus, chicken and parmesan cheese, gently toss.  Taste and add more seasonings if needed.  Dot with mozzarella balls.  Other less kid friendly add-ins: Green onion, red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes and bacon.

Recipe by Christie

Peanut Butter & Cinnamon Greek Yogurt Dip

1 1/4 cups fat free Greek yogurt
3 T natural peanut butter or almond butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp- 1 T honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon (2 large dashes)

Throw everything into a food processor or whisk well in a large bowl.  Refrigerate and serve with sliced apples, bananas, celery, carrots, grapes, crackers, graham crackers or pretzels. 

Recipe by Sara

Leek & Goat Cheese Pie

5 small leeks and 3 big ones
4 T butter
6oz goat cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 heavy cream
salt and pepper
2 eggs
2 T olive oil
1 tsp. mustard
2 pie shells

Cover the pie shells with parchment paper to keep from rising. Cook 10 min on 375.

Wash and slice leeks into thin slices.  Rinse and drain.  Sautee leeks in butter in a frying pan until they are white and more transparent and soft.  Add sour cream.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook and stir another 10 min.

In a medium bowl mix the eggs, olive oil, heavy cream, mustard and more salt and pepper.

In each pie shell layer egg mixture then leeks mixture and repeat.  Top with slices of goat cheese.

Bake about 25 minutes at 375 then check to see if done.

Bon Appetit

Winning Recipe by Mylene (our guest from France)

Chicken Curry Croissant Sandwiches

1 chicken breast cooked and cubed (or canned chicken to save time)
1/2 cup apple, chopped into small chunks
curry powder to taste
mayonnaise (scoop & stir in a little at a time until you like it)

Stir all ingredients together and spread onto sliced croissants.

Recipe by Evelyn

Gluten Free Banana Coconut Muffins

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
3 mashed bananas
1 cup yogurt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups gluten free flour

Beat egg and sugar together.  Add in remaining ingredients and mix well.  Bake on 375 for about 15 minutes.

Recipe by Katie

Oat Currant Scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cream of tartar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
 
Preheat oven to 425. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter with pastry blender.   Mix cream, eggs and vanilla together and add to dry mix.  Stir in currants and nuts. Pat dough into 8in diameter circle on an ungreased pan and bake for 15 min.

Serve with clotted cream and jam

Recipe by Corrie

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

2 -14 ounce cans premium coconut milk
1 heaping Tbsp Thai curry paste
1 bunch cilantro roots, rinsed well
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 cups chicken broth
1 carrot, shredded
4 or 5 lime leaves
2 stalks lemon grass, halved lengthwise, woody leaves removed
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 limes zest and juice
a small knob frozen ginger
a handful bean sprouts
8 oz pkg rice noodles
1 bunch cilantro leaves, rinsed well
2 or 3 green onions, thinly sliced
a sprinkle or two salt or soy sauce 

Scoop the thick coconut cream from the top of just one of the cans into a large stockpot set over a medium-high heat. Melt the cream, add the curry paste and stir for a few minutes until they begin to sizzle.
Add the cilantro roots and chicken and sauté until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Add the coconut juice from the first can and all the contents of the second can along with the chicken broth, carrot, lime leaves, lemon grass, fish sauce and lime zest and juice. Grate the frozen ginger into the broth with a Microplane grater or standard box grater. Simmer for 20 minutes or so.
Stir in the bean sprouts. Add the rice noodles, gently pushing them beneath the surface of the broth. Turn off the heat and let stand until the noodles soften, about 5 minutes. Rice noodles don’t need to simmer like pasta to cook; they simply need to rehydrate in the hot liquid.
Stir in most of the cilantro leaves. Remove the lemon grass stalks. Taste and season with a touch more salt (or soy sauce) as needed. Ladle into large bowls and garnish with the green onions and remaining cilantro leaves. 

Recipe by Kelly

Crispy Tacos Picadillo

• For the Picadillo

  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 large white onion, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 pound ground chuck (80 percent lean)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (1 to 2 cloves)
  • 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped (2 3/4 cups)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder or pasilla chili powder (earthy.com)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar

• For the Tacos

  • Vegetable oil, for frying
  • 20 corn tortillas
  • Shredded iceberg lettuce, for serving
  • Chopped white onion, for serving
  • Shredded mild cheddar cheese, preferably longhorn, for serving
  • Salsa Picante, for serving

Directions

Make the picadillo: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook until just starting to turn translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add beef, and cook, breaking up pieces with the back of a wooden spoon, until beef has browned, about 4 minutes. Spoon out excess fat so that 1 tablespoon remains. Stir in garlic, tomatoes, paprika, chili powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and cumin. Add water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer until thick and very little liquid remains, about 18 minutes. Stir in vinegar. 

Make the tacos: Heat 1 inch oil in a heavy-bottomed, high-sided skillet until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees. Fry tortillas, one at a time, by folding in half and laying one half flat in oil while holding other half with tongs, and repeating with the other half to form a half moon shell, until golden and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes per half. Meanwhile, let finished taco shells rest on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. 

Spoon picadillo into each taco shell, and garnish with lettuce, onion, shredded cheese, and salsa picante.

Recipe by Sara

Katie's Red Lentil Curry

1/2 onion, chopped finely
coconut oil
1/2 cup carrot shoots or sticks
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups coconut milk, separated
1 1/2 cups dry red lentils
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 bag frozen veggies
1-2 tbsp brown sugar
4-5 cups Jasmine or Basmati rice

Saute onions in coconut oil.  Add in carrot shoots, chicken stock coconut milk, lentils, cumin, tumeric and curry powder.  Simmer 45 min on medium low heat.  When curry is smooth and creamy add 1/2 bag of frozen mixed veggies. While this is cooking make your rice. Add 1-2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 more cup of coconut milk to the curry.  Heat through.  Remove from heat and mix in some chopped cilantro.  Serve over warm rice.  Top with fresh cilantro.

Recipe by Katie

Doro Wat Chicken - Ethiopian

3 lbs.  frying chicken cut into 8 pieces
Juice of one lime
5 cups thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup butter
1/2 Berbere sauce
1/2 cup dry Red Wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2-1 tsp cayenne (depending on how spicy you like it)
1/2 fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Marinate the chicken in the lime juice for an hour.  In a heavy saucepan saute the onions in 2 tbsp of the butter.  Cover the pot and cook the onions over low heat until they are very tender but not browned.

Add the remaining butter to the pot along with the Berbere sauce, wine, garlic, cayenne and ginger.  Add 1/2 cup of water and mix well.  Bring to a simmer and add the chicken pieces.  Cook covered for 30-40 min or until the chicken is tender.  Add more water as necessary to keep the sauce from drying out.  When chicken is tender add salt to taste.  Add the eggs and heat through.  Top with the freshly ground pepper.

Recipe by Cathy

Holubtsi - Ukranian

1 head green cabbage
1 large can diced, stewed tomatoes (not drained)
1 lb. ground sausage, hamburger or turkey
1/2- 1 cup rice
olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
salt & pepper to taste

In a large soup pan fry up ground meat in a little olive oil until it is half cooked.
Add onion and continue cooking.  Add in tomatoes and cabbage (which has been chopped into bite size pieces).  The cabbage will cook down quite a bit.  After cabbage is cooked through and tender add rice to absorb the juice from the tomatoes.  Finish cooking until rice is done.  You will want to use a rice that cooks in 10 min or less.  If you want to use a longer cooking rice then make the rice ahead of time and add to Holubsti.

Recipe by Christie

Sweet Potato Chicken Pot Pie

1 roasted chicken cut up into bite size pieces
2 medium sweet potatoes
2-4 turnips
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 double pie crust
1 egg, beaten

Cut up sweet potatoes & turnips into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil along with salt & pepper. Roast 15-20 min or until tender on 400.

Heat soup plus 1/2 can of milk on the stove.

Line a pie pan with a layer of pie crust. Poke holes with a fork.  Layer chicken & sweet potatoes until the crust is full. Pour just enough warm soup over the mixture. Place top crust on and seal around the edges. Cut slits into top crust. Brush on beaten egg over top of pie.

Bake on 350 for 15-20 min or until crust is done.


Recipe by Christie

Grilled Salmon with Pesto

Half salmon

Rub with kosher salt and Montreal steak seasoning
1 sliced lemon
1/2 cup Pesto (nice thick layer)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 white onion sliced

Set out large piece of foil.  Rub salt all over salmon.  Lay the salmon on the sliced lemons, on the foil.  Spread the pesto on the top of the salmon, followed by the parmesan and cover with the onions.  Seal up the foil and BBQ for 20-30 minutes or until flaky.

Recipe by Kelly

Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. dark choc chips
10-15 Brach's type wrapped caramels, cut into 4ths
sea salt

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Stir in flour, baking soda & baking powder.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Place spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet and press in 2-3 caramel pieces.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 min or until done.  Halfway through the baking cycle sprinkle on sea salt and then finish baking.

Recipe by Corrie

Cream Cheese Pinwheels

1  package cranberries
1 8oz pkg. cream cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onion
4 large spinach tortillas

Combine first 4 ingredients.  Mix well.  Spread evenly over 4 tortillas.  Roll up tightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.  Cut each roll into 12 slices.  Ham slices can also be added inside the roll.

 

Recipe by Renee

Coconut Chocolate Pudding

1 14 ounce can of coconut milk (lite is fine), divided
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
scant 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup arrowroot powder, sifted (cornstarch can be used but arrowroot is best)
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder, sifted
1 -3.5 oz bar semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or 3.5 oz choc chips) 
1 tsp. vanilla

Shake the can of coconut milk vigorously for a few seconds.  In a heavy saucepan bring 1 1/4 cups of the coconut milk, maple syrup, and the salt just to a simmer over low heat.  

While that is heating, in a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining coconut milk, arrowroot powder and cocoa powder.  It should look like a chocolate frosting.

When the coconut milk and maple syrup mixture have started simmering take about 1/4 cup of it and whisk it little by little in to the arrowroot mix creating a slurry.  Turn down the heat to the very lowest setting.  Now drizzle the slurry back into the simmering pan of coconut milk whisking vigorously all the while.  Keep whisking until the pudding comes back up barely to a simmer and thickens up a bit, about 1 minute.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, continue whisking while it is cooling for about a minute.  Now whisk in the chocolate pieces and vanilla.  Keep stirring until the pudding is smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge to chill thoroughly.  To prevent a skin from forming press plastic wrap against the surface of the pudding.

Recipe by Katie

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
10 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 2-quart baking pan (which is an 11 X 7 pan-I used a glass Pyrex dish) with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream. Microwave caramels on High until caramels are melted, stirring every 20 seconds. This will take about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.
5. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough. Sprinkle caramel with sea salt. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.
6.Bake cookie bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.

Recipe by Evelyn 

Mighty Bowl

 4 cups cooked rice
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup prepared curry
1 large can olives, sliced
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 large avacado
2 cups cooked shrimp
1 cup shredded cheddar 
sour cream

This dish can be served warm or cold.  If you want to serve it warm heat the beans, curry sauce and shrimp (separately) while rice is cooking.  When rice is finished cooking layer 4 bowls from bottom to top with rice, curry, black beans, shrimp, salsa, olives, cheese, sour cream, avacado and cilantro.  Makes 4 servings.

Recipe by Christie Sims

Lemon Bars

1 box Angel Food Cake Mix
1 15oz can Lemon Pie Filling

Mix the Angel Food cake mix together with the lemon pie filling.  Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Recipe by Cathy Boardman

Chocolate Comfort Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 ounces of cream cheese

1 egg

2 Tbs. milk

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (melted)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups plus 2 Tbs. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup cocoa

1 cup marshmallow cream

1/2 cup Craisins

2 cups XL semisweet chocolate chips (can be substituted with regular sized ones)

1 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Beat together butter, sugar, cream cheese, & egg until very creamy & smooth.  Beat in milk, melted chocolate, & vanilla.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa, & add to butter mixture.  Blend in marshmallow cream until thoroughly combined.  Add chips, Craisins, and nuts (if using) Batter will be thick!  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup or a 4 Tbs. scoop - measure out batter & place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  Bake 13-17 minutes at 325 degrees.  Cool on sheet for 1 minute

Recipe by Evelyn Weed