Lumberjack Chili

Lumberjack Chili
this is from Mel at sisterscafe.com

Ingredients:
2 lbs of ground beef (or 1/2 ground pork)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 can tomato juice, 46 oz
1 can diced tomatoes 15 oz
2 15 oz cans red kidney beans or chili beans or pinto beans
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp pepper
garnish:
shredded cheddar cheese
frito corn chips

Instructions:
saute onions and beef/pork, drain well
combine all ingredients in slow cooker
cook for 3 hours on high or 6 on low
serve with shredded cheese and corn chips
enjoy!

Jenna's famous chicken

Jenna's famous chicken

I am going to make this tonight! Jenna says it is yummy yummy and I believe her:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 TBLSP Worcestershire sauce

Jenna says she adds liquid smoke cuz she has it on hand and that she just dumps all this in a crockpot and cooks until tender!

Jenna's coleslaw

Buy the prepackaged cole slaw mix and then mix together:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tblsp white sugar
1 1/2 Tblsp lemon juice
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
 pour over cole slaw!

Strawberry Spinach Pasta Salad with orange poppy seed dressing

Strawberry Spinach Pasta Salad with orange poppy seed dressing
found this at Creme de la Crumb blog page, all the recipes look divine, for a picture go here: I am going to try it, will let you know

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces penne noodles, cooked according to package directions
• 2 cups packed fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• 1 cup pineapple chunks
• ¼ cup dried cranberries, or dried blueberries
• ½ cup salted cashews, or other nut like pecans or walnuts

orange poppy seed dressing

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons honey
• ⅓ cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• optional: pinch of salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar, cover, and shake well. Set aside.
2. Combine penne, spinach, strawberries, pineapple, cranberries, and cashews in a large bowl and toss with the prepared dressing.
3. Serve immediately or cover and chill for 1 hour before serving.

Shauna'sFamous Chocoloate chip pudding M&M cookies

Shauna's famous chocolate chip pudding M&M cookies

These are my new favorite cookies.  And they are wonderful to make and give away as gifts as you can roll them in balls, freeze them and then give them to friends with instructions on how to bake at home.  so fun and so yummy.  Make great Christmas neighbor gifts!


Cream together:
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar

Add 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla

combine these ingredients and cream together for 4 minutes, then add rest of following ingredients

Add:
2 cup flour
1/4 cup pudding mix
pinch of salt

Stir in :
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cups M&M's

Form dough into 15 mounds add M&M's to top and chill for 2 hours

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes

so so so yummy! You will get compliments when you make these!

and for the thought for today:
I saw this  :

should (crossed out)   
would (crossed out)
could (crossed out)
did

I love it , cuz we it goes with the just do it theme.  you can say I did it! (instead of I should have done it, or I would have but, or I could have but) 

also here is another saying:
things that don't change remain the same.
so if you don't like where you are at in life, then you must change some things or it will all remain the same!

Megan's Green Beans

Megan makes the green bean casserole for our Thanksgiving and they are so good, here is her recipe from "thenovicechefblog"

The Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe:

serves 8 (megan doubles this)

Ingredients:
2 Tbslp kosher salt
1.5 lbs fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
2 Tblsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 gloves garlic, minced
2 large portabello mushrooms, chopped
1/2 to 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tblsp all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
6 oz french fried onions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375, grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish and set aside.
Blanch the beans: In a large pot bring about a gallon of water and 2 Tblsp of salt to a boil.  Add the green beans and boil for 5 minutes.  Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and onion, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and stir to combine.  Then add the half and half and simmer until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in all of the green beans.  Transfer the green bean mixture to prepared casserole dish.  Top with bread crumbs and then layer the french fried onions on top.
Place casserole in the oven and bake until bubbly, about 20 min If the onions start to brown too quickly then cover casserole with foil. Serve immediatley

Christy's Caramel Corn

Christy made this at school and then came home and made it for us, it has become our family favorite! It is the best and easiest caramel popcorn ever!

Christy’s caramel corn (from school recipe)

½ cup brown sugar

2 T corn syrup

½ stick butter or margarine (1/4 cup)

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup popcorn, pop in air popper and set aside

This said to use a double boiler and put brown sugar in, the corn syrup, and the butter, add baking soda  , add salt, stir ingredients and cook until mixture becomes thickened , it will be about 5 minutes after ingredients are blended, Pour over popped corn, stir and serve while fresh!

You can probably just pop two or three bags of microwave popcorn, be sure to get all the unpopped kernels out and then put this mixture over it all.  Seems like we always doubled the recipe.  good luck, this was the recipe you had written down and we all know it is yummy! 

OKAY:  so I just found this same recipe on Mel's Kitchen Café blog but she does double it, so here is the recipe to double it:

10 to 12 cups popcorn
1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup butter (8 TBLSP)
1/4 cup corn syrup
Pinch of salt (She uses coarse, kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1.  Place popcorn in large bowl (you'll want extra room in bowl for tossing the popcorn with caramel)
2.  In a medium saucepan, add the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt.  Heat the ingredients over medium low until the butter is melted and the ingredients are combined.  Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring often.
3.  Cook for 3 to 4 min stirring often

4.Take off the heat , quickly whisk in the baking soda and vanilla (the mixture will foam and bubble) (see note about adding marshmallows below)
5.  Immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn in a slow steady drizzle, tossing the popcorn to evenly coat in the caramel mixture.  The caramel will set up and harden a bit as it cools so mix as quickly as you can
6. Serve immediately
NOTE: for softer, gooier popcorn, use less popcorn.  Also if you want to amp up the gooey factor (for a marshmallow vibe) stir in 8 to 10 large marshmallows after the caramel mixture has simmered.

Yields 12 to 14 cups caramel popcorn!

For the nourishment of the soul:

Today before I headed off to work I said my morning prayers.  I asked for guardian angels to protect me and my family and I then asked for help with several items, including that  I wouldn't get in a car accident (nor my children/grandchildren/parents).  So when I found myself going through a construction site and I made a wrong turn and found myself going in the wrong lane and into the head on traffic, which a car was coming right at me head on, I panicked and tried to jump over the curb (median) and my car straddled the median at a diagonal, making it so cars on both sides could go around me but I was stuck.  I knew I must have popped a tire or scraped the under car causing damage, and I quickly called 911 and then waited by the side of the road . Within two minutes a big work truck with 3 big men hopped out and said they could help me, they stopped traffic, had me back out, they lifted my car up and off the median, and I drove off!  just like that.  rescued.
I can't stop Thanking Heavenly Father for sending me those 3 guardian angels to help me and for protecting me from hitting someone head one. 
Moral of story:  Pray every morning for Guardian Angels and for Protection!  Prayers are heard and answered.
So grateful.

 

Becky's Butternut Squash Fries

Becky's Butternut squash fries

Look for Butternut squash that have long necks, slice them into rounds and from the rounds slice into fries.
Spray a jelly roll pan with coconut spray, layer the whole pan full of the squash fries (stack them along side eachother)
spray the tops again with the coconut spray (like pam but made of coconut oil)

She sprinkles on top of them Mccormick grill mates montreal chicken and garlic powder

over the coconut oil

Put in the oven for 40 minutes, check at 30 or 35 so you dont burn them

She likes them a little crispy and then she makes a sauce out of
 1 oz parmesan cheese
Litehouse Ranch Dressing  (her favorite cuz it doesnt have sugar in the top 5 ingredients) h
2 Tblsp of ranch dressing

(her rule is in anything she eats the sugar has to be the fifth or lower ingredient)

She said bake at 500 degrees