Nutty Sauted Asparagus

2 Tbsp tarragon-flavored vinegar, like Heinz
2 tsp sugar
1 lb asparagus, trimmed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup toasted pecans

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar and sugar until dissolved. In non-stick skillet, over medium heat, cook asparagus in olive oil for 3 minutes or until tender.

Stir in vinegar mixture, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Toss asparagus to coat. Top with pecans.

Makes 6 servings (99 calories per serving)

Taco Chip Dip

8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup salsa
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 tomato, diced
2 cup shredded cheddar

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise; spread over 2 (12 inch) pizza pans. Place in freezer for a few minutes to harden the spread. Layer with salsa, green pepper, red pepper, onions, tomato and cheese.

Fruit Dip

200 gram jar marshmallow cream
1 pkg dream whip
8 oz pkg cream cheese

Prepare Dream Whip. Add remaining ingredients and mix well in blender. Let sit for a few hours before serving.

Japanese Salad

1/2 head cabbage (shredded)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 pkg ichiban noodles (broken)
*2 Tbsp sesame seeds
3 green onions
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
* fresh mushrooms
* 1/2 pkg bean sprouts

Prepare and mix salad ingredients. Starred ingredients are optional. Add to taste. Leave noodles out for now. Refrigerate. Add noodles and dressing just before serving.

Dressing
1 pkg seasoning from noodles (beef)
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper

Nutty Cinnamon French Toast

1 cup egg substitute
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp canola oil
2 tsp sugar, divided
1/4 cup slivered almonds
4 slices whole wheat bread

Mix egg substitute and 1 tsp sugar. In seperate bowl, mix 1 tsp sugar, cinnamon and almonds, Heat oil in skillet. Coat both sides of bread in mixture. Cook for 1 min and turn. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture on cooked side. Cover with lid and cook for 2 minutes.

Tea Biscuits

1 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup margarine
6 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 425 F. Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Stir together. Cut in margarine until crumbly. Pour in milk. Stir quickly to combine. Dough should be soft. Turn out on lightly floured surface. Knead gently 8-10 times. Roll or pat 1/2-1/4 inch thick (or 1/2 the thickness you want the baked product to be). cut with small round cookie cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet.

If desired, brush with milk before baking.
Bake at 425 F for 12-15 min.

Peanut Graham Bark

A co-worker of mine made this for our Christmas Bake Exchange.  It was very good.  The little I got to taste of it that is.  BigDaddy LOVED it however. {grin}

1 pound white dipping chocolate
4 cups Golden Graham Cereal
1 cup peanuts

Melt chocolate over med-low heat. Add cereal and nuts.  Spread on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Once hardened, break up into pieces.

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

(Not my recipe but not sure where I found it - through a blog via a blog via a blog via a blog...)
Mix together;


2 3/4 c. oats

1/3 c. brown sugar,

1 t. cinnamon,

1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice, or more if you like

Add; 1 1/2 c. pureed pumpkin, fresh or canned,

2 beaten eggs,

1 T vanilla,

3 c. milk



Stir in 3/4 c. raisins or dried cranberries, 1/2 c. chopped nuts.

Pour into an 8 x 8 pan and bake 350 about 50 minutes.

Sweet n Hot Mustard Dip

Ingredients


1-1/2 cups honey

1 cup white vinegar

3 eggs

2 containers (1-3/4 ounces each) ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pretzels, cooked chicken fingers or sausage slices

Directions

In a blender, combine the first five ingredients; cover and process until blended.

Pour into a saucepan; cook and stir over low heat until mixture thickens and reaches 160°. Pour into small jars. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Serve with pretzels, chicken fingers or sausage. Yield: 2-1/3 cups.
 
tasteofhome.com

You're-an-angel cake

1 box angel food cake mix
1 Tbsp orange zest

Glaze
1 tsp orange extract mixed with 3 Tbsp water
2 cups confectioner's sugar

Garnish: fresh pomegranate seeds

Heat oven to 350 F. You need a 10-inch tube pan with removable bottom. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Stir in zest. Pour into ungreased tube pan. Bake, cool and remove cake from pan as package directs.
Glaze: Whisk extract mixture and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Spread over top of the cake, letting excess drip down the sides. Sprinkle the top with pomegranate seeds.
(Bake the cake up to 2 days ahead. Leave in pan, covered and at room temperature. Remove from pan and glaze the day of serving.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust (15 oz box)
2 eggs
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
2 cups milk chocolate chips
12 pecan halves for garnish

Heat oven to 325F. Fit the pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and crimp edges. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

In a large bowl, beat eggs; beat in flour and then sugar. Continue to beat for 1 minute. Stir in butter and vanilla until completely combined. Fold in chopped peacans and 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Pour into the pie crust.
Bake at 325 F for 55 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Place remaining chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe glass bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Spread melted chocolate over top of pie and garnish with the remaining pecan halves. Allow to cool completely.

Creamy Pumpkin Pie

1/2 cup cold milk
1 pkg (6-serving size) vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 1/2 cups thawed, whipped topping
1 Graham Crumb Pie crust
In large bowl beat milk, pudding and spice with wire whisk for 1 minute (mixture will be very thick). Whisk in pumpkin. Stir in whipped topping. Spread in crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set.
Garnish as desired (whipped topping sprinkled with cinnamon).
Serves 8.

Cinnamin-Vanilla Yogurt Dip

1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of your favourite vanilla yogurt

Mix all of the ingredients well and serve with sliced fruits, graham crackers, teddy grahams, etc for dipping.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

16 ounces milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
1 pound fresh strawberries with leaves

Insert toothpicks into the tops of the strawberries.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding them by the toothpicks, dip the strawberries into the chocolate mixture.

Turn the strawberries upside down and insert the toothpick into styrofoam for the chocolate to cool. or simply place them on a sheet of wax paper. White chocolate may be drizzled over the milk chocolate for a fancier look.

Fresh Fruit with Spiced Chips & strawberry dip

Spiced Crisps


2 (6-inch) pita breads
1 Tbsp margarine or butter, melted
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Fresh Fruit

2 lb seedless green grapes
3 pints whole fresh strawberries, stems on

Strawberry Dip
2 (6-oz) containers low-fat strawberry yogurt
1 (8-oz) container light sour cream
1/2 tsp almond extract

Heat oven to 375 F. Split pitas into 4 rounds. Brush rough side of each round with margarine. In small bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle over rounds. Cut into 8 wedges. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp.

Wash grapes and strawberries. Separate grapes into clusters and arrange fruit in a large basket or on a platter.
In small bowl, combine all dip ingredients; blend well. Spoon into serving bowl. Serve dip with spiced crisps and fruit.

10 servings

Baby Blue Punch

(0.13 ounce) package blue, berry flavored unsweetened drink mix
1 (2 liter) bottle lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
1 (64 fluid ounce) bottle white cranberry juice
8 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 cup white sugar, or to taste

In a large punch bowl, stir together the drink mix, lemon-lime soda, and white cranberry juice. Taste, and stir in sugar to your liking. (I like to add the whole cup.) Float scoops of ice cream on the top. The ice cream melts somewhat and turns the punch a beautiful baby blue color with frothy white clouds floating on the top.
Great for a baby boy shower...float a couple rubber ducks in the top

Green Beans with Bacon and Feta

8 slices bacon - cooked, crumbled and divided
1 (16 ounce) package frozen cut green beans
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons water

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly browned but only slightly crisp. Drain grease, leaving a small amount in the skillet for later use. Crumble bacon, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish, and set aside.

Cook frozen beans in a covered, microwavable dish for about 3 minutes until thawed, but not fully cooked. Drain liquid, pat dry, and set aside.

Reheat skillet with residual bacon grease over medium-high heat. Stir in bacon and garlic until garlic is lightly golden. Add green beans and feta cheese, and season with onion powder and black pepper. Cook and stir until most of the feta cheese has melted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, and garnish with remaining feta cheese and crumbled bacon. Serve hot.

Cake Ball Bites

1 13X9 baked cake *cake mix from box or homemade
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 package white chocolate almond bark
bowls for dipping
wax paper
sprinkles

Bake a cake from a mix or from scratch and cool completely.

Crumble cake into fine pieces.

Add can of cream cheese frosting and blend together using the back of a large spoon. Blend thoroughly.

Roll mixture into 1.25" - 1.5" size balls and lay on wax paper. You’ll need to wash your hands quite often.

Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours or for 15 minutes in freezer. This makes it easier for dipping. Remove from freezer when you’re ready to start dipping.

Follow the instructions on the almond bark package for melting.

When you are ready to dip, remove cake balls from freezer and set up another sheet of wax paper.

Dip each ball into chocolate melt.. I used a wooden skewer to hold balls for dipping.

Just after dipping... sprinkle with candy sprinkles.. then lay ball on wax paper. The little hole from the skewer can be easily covered with chocolate melt.

Since the balls were frozen ... the chocolate melt sets up within a few minutes.

Cinnamin-Raisin Bread

Dough:
1 cup apple juice
1 Tbsp or 1 pkg active dry yeast
1 Tbsp cinnamon
4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp oil

Filling:
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp cinnamon

To make dough: Place apple juice in small sauce pan. Warm over med heat and pour into large bowl. Add sugar and yeast. Stir well. Let stand in a warm place for 5 minutes or until foamy.Add cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and 2 1/2 cups flour. Stir well. cover and set in a warm place for 30 min, or until doubled in size. Stir oil and about 1 cup of remaining flour, into dough, to make a kneadable dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead, adding up to 1/2 cup flour more, for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Coat another large bowl with non-stick spray. Add the dough and turn to coat all sides. Cover and set in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

To make filling:In microwaveable bowl, combine raisins, juice and cinnamon. Microwave on medium power for 5 min, or until thickened. Let cool. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 10x8-inch rectangle. Spread filling over dough, then roll up. Pinch seams to seal. place seam down in prepared pan. Let stand for 5 minutes. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack before slicing.

To freeze: Cool loaf. Place in freezer bag and then wrap in tin foil. Thaw overnight.

Turnip Whip - Slow cooker

4 turnips, peeled and quartered
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp minced onion
1 tsp saltwater
1/4 cup light cream
2 Tbsp soft butter or margarine
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

In slow cooker, combine turnips, potatoes, onions and 1 tsp salt. Cover with water. cover pot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until vegetables are tender. Drain well. Mash; add cream, butter, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Beat until fluffy.

Makes 6 servings.