Parmesan Chicken

Tanya gave me a cookbook from her ward for Christmas, and I decided to try one of the recipes tonight from the things I happened to have. It was good!

4 Chicken breasts
1 sleeve of Ritz Crackers crushed (2 c.)
5 T. Parmesan cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1 t. season all
1/2 t. garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste

Combine crackers, cheese, and seasoning on a plate. Coat chicken in sour cream, then roll in cracker mixture. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Recipe from: Coralyn Grant

Carmel

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Microwave on high 5 minutes. Stir. Slowly pour sweetend condensed milk. Microwave on med high for 17 minutes stirring every three minutes using a wooden spoon that is clean until soft ball test. (put a little drop into cold water, if it is easily molded into a ball, and is soft, it's ready). Stir in vinilla. Pour into a well buttered 8 x 8 pan and pie tin. Let set. Cut up and enjoy!

Mints

My Mom used to make these every Christmas. I'm spending Christmas with her this year and we made these mints. I really like them so I thought I would share the recipe.

4 Tbls butter or margarine
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 tsp salt

Mix well

Add and knead like bread dough until smooth while adding 1 lb powdered sugar.
Divide into 3 parts and add about 1 drop of food coloring to each portion. Knead to distribute the color evenly. Roll into ropes and cut into small pieces. Layout on was paper to dry slightly before storing.

Easy Ministrone Soup

I got this recipe from my Mother-in-law who told me that it was the only soup recipe her boys like when they were young. I took it to a pot-luck today (ok, I made Mark make it because I was busy) and it was a hit! We were the only ones with and empty pot when we left.

1/2 - 1 lb. lean hamburger (I like it a little on the meaty side so I go toward the 1 lb.)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced celery
2 Tblspn. brown sugar
3 cans Campbell's Minestrone Soup (condensed)
1- 16oz or more can of porn n beans
1 tblspn. Worcestershire sauce (opt.)
3 soup cans of water

Brown hamburger, onion, and celery. Drain. In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Zesty Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 can Campbells tomato soup
1 1/3 cup French Fried Onions
2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 egg
3/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix ground beef, 1/3 cup soup, 2/3 cup onions, and remaining ingredients with your hands. Shape into a loaf and place in loaf pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and drain off fat. Top with remaining soup and sprinkle with remaining French fried onions. Bake 5 more minutes.

Additional tip: Don’t use the leanest ground beef

Steak Fajitas

This is a recipe that Mark and I have kind of made up. It's not perfected yet, infact sometimes the steak is a little tough, but I'm not sure if that's because I buy cheap steaks or what else it may be...

3-4 cheap beef steaks, cut into strips
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
salt & pepper to taste

Fry the steak with the peppers until cooked through. Serve on tortillas with cheese, sour cream, salsa, tapitio (I don't know how to spell that), ranch, corn, or whatever you want to serve it with.

This is one of Mark's favorite meals. I hope others enjoy it too.

Calzones

This is one of my favorite things to make when I have practically nothing in the house. I almost always keep Rhodes Rolls on hand, and the rest of the ingredients can be substituted for whatever you want. I like to put in sausage, mozzarella cheese, 1 can of diced tomatoes (drained) and sometimes mushrooms. I also often do ham with cheddar cheese. My sister in law likes to do mozzarella, broccoli, chicken and tomato sauce. Really you can put anything you want in there as long as the meat or veggie (if it is a hard vegetable) is precooked. Tonight I am doing chicken (from a can), diced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil.

Rhodes Rolls thawed to room temperature - they don't have to be risen, just soft enough to mold them.
Pre-cooked meat - cooled
Cheese
Anything else you'd like to add!

Combine all the filling ingredients into a bowl. Flatten a roll into a circle and place a spoonful of filling on the roll. Then you can either fold it over to make a half circle, or put another flattened roll over it. Then you just press the edges together with fork. I usually do a few of each for different portion sizes. I like to dab a bit of olive oil on the top of the calzone and put a little parmezean cheese on. Then cut a small vent in the top of the calzone so they don't explode in the oven. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes! If you don't put sauce inside the calzone I often serve with pasta sause on the side.

I really like this recipe because you can really use just about anything you have on hand. If you want some more complicated fillings, they have a few different ones on the rhodes website.

*I got this recipe from Liz Nelson