California Chowder

I was searching for a different soup recipe and stumbled upon this awesome soup! Even my kids raved about it being soooo good! And think of all the veggies they got tonight!

If you got a Bountiful Basket in our area this last week, then you have about everything you need! That is what got me more interested in trying this soup out! It has 5 different veggies and was super good on a cold day like we had yesterday!

I made a few changes, but for the most part it has ingredients on hand. If you are missing one of the veggies, you could probably do more broccoli if you don't have cauliflower etc.!

Enjoy!!

California Chowder

(www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com)

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tbsp chicken soup base (I used 2 chicken bouillon)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 cups whole milk (I used 1% milk I had on hand)
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 clove minced garlic (or 1/2 tsp granulated garlic)
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions (I used dried onions because I didn't have an onion)
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup fresh broccoli
• 1 cup fresh cauliflower
• fresh parsley for garnish

Melt 4 tbsp butter in a soup pot. Add flour and mix well. Add chicken base (or bouillon) then slowly and steadily mix in the whipping cream, milk and water. Bring to a low boil. I stirred frequently to prevent any burning. Add potatoes, celery, garlic, salt and Worcestershire sauce.

Cook for 45 minutes or until veggies are fork tender. It may only take 30 minutes depending in how small you dice your veggies.

Saute onions in the 1/2 tbsp butter for 3 minutes (or just throw in the dried onions) and add to soup along with the broccoli and cauliflower.

Cook another 15 minutes or until veggies are fork tender. Enjoy with fresh bread or we had saltine crackers with ours!

Makes about 6-8 servings!

Orange Julius

I found this recipe shared on a craft blog (the idea room) that I like to look at for fun ideas! She shared this recipe that her son put together from a foods class at his school!

I made this after church and it was super yummy! The kids thought it tasted like those orange dreamsicles!

It was a great treat and reminded me of the days of finding these at the mall in California!

Orange Julius

(the Idea Room)

• 6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate (I thawed mine)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients (except the ice) in your blender. Blend for about 1-2 minutes. (I had a 12 oz can of orange juice and just used the rest to make orange juice).

Now add the ice cubes 1 at a time. When ice is blended, pour and enjoy!!

Overnight Caramel Sticky Buns

I love the Our Best Bites recipe blog! It has great recipes and has been a fun place to look for new ideas! When they came out with a cookbook, I had to have it!

This is from their new cookbook (which is really great with ideas to do with leftover ingredients, and many tips) and it was yummy! My kids are already asking when I am making them again! Good thing rhodes rolls are on sale right now, I may have to go buy some more to have them on hand!

You make these the night before (which is sooo nice) and then they cook up pretty fast and super good!

Overnight Caramel Sticky Buns

(Our Best Bites cookbook

check out there site www.ourbestbites.com)

• 18 Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
• 1 (4.6 oz) box cook-and-serve pudding mix in either vanilla or butterscotch (I used butterscotch)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pecans, optional
• 1/3 cup melted butter

Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray. Make sure to get your pan completely covered! Place the frozen rolls evenly around the pan.

Sprinkle the pudding mix, brown sugar and cinnamon all over your rolls. Make sure to evenly coat! Sprinkle with pecans if desired! Pour melted butter all over the rolls.

Cover with a clean dry towel and leave at room temperature over night!

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and then invert on a plate or platter.

Make sure to be careful when inverting so as not to spill the caramel goodness all over your floor! Take that from experience, I did that once! Enjoy and your kids or husband or friends who are over will love you!!!

Keeping apples from browning

Once you cut an apple, they tend to turn brown and start looking not so pleasant anymore!

I have heard of water and sprinkling salt (which works great too) and I have also heard of using lemons too!

Zach came home from a 4H meeting with this little bit of info, which I tried and it actually worked great and who doesn't love a little soda taste!

Next time you need cut up apples, but don't want the brown or salt try soaking them in some

7-UP!

I cut up my apples and then covered them with 7-UP and it worked! No brown apples and a little hint of lemon lime!

Rainbow Jello

I found this on Sisters Stuff and had to try it out for our St. Patrick's Day dinner!

It definitely took time, but was very simple! She recommended on her site to save all day to make this-it took me most of the morning but I was able to get other things done in between!

It was a hit and it looked super fun and was worth the time for a treat!

Definitely not something I would make often, but fun every once in a while!

Rainbow Jello

(Sisters Stuff)

• 6 small pkg jello (lime, lemon, orange, strawberry, cherry, black cherry) made in this order. ~ I couldn't find black cherry so I made one less layer!
• 1 16 oz sour cream ~ I would have needed a little bit more if I had done all the layers!

STEP ONE:

Take 1 box of Jello (she started with Lime) and 1 cup of boiling water and mix together until jello is dissolved.

STEP TWO:

Then measure out 1/2 cup of jello mixture into another bowl and add 1/3 cup sour cream. Mix together with a whisk. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan and set in the refrigerator until set, about 20 minutes. Make sure that your pan is level in the refrigerator.

STEP THREE:

Then mix 3 tbsp cold water in with remaining jello mixture and pour over firm sour cream mixture. (I found you should start pouring around the edges where it is the firmest) Let firm and then repeat steps with the other jello flavors!

She added that it is best to let this sit overnight, I made it the same day and it was fine too! Cut in squares to serve!

Jack's Favorite Salad

I found this on Jill's cooking blog. I love homemade salad dressings and all her ingredients were simple and I had them on hand!

I really liked this salad, and any salad with toasted nuts is super yummy!

I loved the almonds!!

I think I might add some more ingredients next time, like apples or shredded monterey jack cheese.

Thanks Jill for a great recipe!

Jack's Favorite Salad

(jackandjillskitchen)

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 head Romaine lettuce (I had the spring salad mix from Costco and it worked great!)
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 green onions
• 1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges

Dressing:

• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (she said you can leave this out if you don't have any, may try adding dried next time~I didn't add any when I made it)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• dash tabasco sauce (about 2 drops is recommended)

For the Nuts:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook almonds with sugar stirring constantly (about 5-8 minutes)! Really stir constantly and watch, they cook a little faster than I thought!

Cool and store in an airtight container, or let sit on aluminum foil until ready to use and then store. **If cooking ahead and storing, don't use a plastic container the nuts are too hot and they will melt your container.

For the Salad:

Wash and tear the lettuces, mix them together. Mix salad dressing and chill until ready to serve. Add almonds, celery, oranges and onions to lettuce when ready to serve and pout dressing over!

Basic Drip Beef

This beef sandwich had great flavor and was very easy!

You cook it in a heavy pot instead of a crock pot. I don't know why you couldn't put it in a crock pot if you don't like the idea of putting it on your stove all day.

My house smelled like dinner all day, but at least dinner was pretty much done in the morning!

Basic Drip Beef

(Pioneer Woman)

• 2.5-4 lb chuck roast
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 large onion, sliced thick
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup sherry (substitute 2 tbsp vinegar + chicken stock to equal 1 cup)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups water
• Toasted, buttered rolls
• Cheese, optional

Heat butter in a heavy pot over med-high heat. Saute the onions for a couple minutes, or until starting to brown.

Set roast on top of the onions. Add all remaining ingredients and cover pot. Simmer on very low heat on the stove for 6 hours, or until beef is fork tender or you can shred easily.

Shred meat with 2 forks until all large chunks are gone. Serve immediately or you can continue to simmer for 30 min. to 1 hour.

Serve with your rolls or you can also toast under the broiler and melt cheese!