CHOCOLATE MINT COOKIES

This is the original version--larger cookies, mints melted on top and then spread as a glaze.This is the latest version. Smaller cookies with a Jr. Mint pressed in the middle as soon as they were taken out of the oven. This way is much easier. CHOCOLATE MINT CANDY COOKIES (I tried to find where I got this recipe but it's on all kinds of sites on the Internet--It is a keeper.)
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 (4.5 ounce) packages chocolate covered thin mints--OR Jr. Mints

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls (half this size if using a Jr. Mint in the center) and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, be careful not to over bake--I baked the smaller ones for 7 minutes.

When cookies come out of the oven, Press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute. When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer. For smaller cookies, break mints in half.

I used three Jr. Mints for each cookie but they didn't melt, so the cookies, with the Jr. Mints on top, had to go back in the oven for two minutes and then I used a knife to spread them. Four Jr. Mints would have been better. For the smaller cookies I just put one Jr. Mint in the top and didn't bother it at all. Just let it cool. Another option would be to spread when cool with chocolate frosting with a bit of mint stirred in.

These really are delicious.

APPLE OATMEAL CRISP

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com. It is good, has streusel on the bottom and the top. Serve with ice cream.

Note: I made it with the suggested amount of sugar--put over apples--and it was really sweet, too sweet. The crust and topping have plenty of sugar and that part is really good. Cut the sugar--mixed with the cinnamon--down as suggested. You could maybe even cut that part of the sugar out.

APPLE OATMEAL CRISP

9x13 pan size

1½ cups brown sugar
1½ cups rolled oats
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup butter, melted
4½ cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, optional
½ cup white sugar (this was in the original recipe but it is a lot of sugar, especially if you use the cranberries--I would use only a fourth of a cup next time or maybe only 2 Tbs.)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with vegetable spray.

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly. Place half of crumb mixture in pan. Spread the apples and cranberries (if using) evenly over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Add 1 Tbs. water to remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle on top of apples.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream.

APPLE OATMEAL CRISP

8 or 9 inch square pan size

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped
5 Tbs. white sugar (See above--probably too much sugar. If using any at all cut it down to 2 Tbs. or less)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tsp. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 inch square pan with vegetable spray.

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly. Place half of crumb mixture in pan. Spread the apples--and cranberries, if using--evenly over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Add 2 tsp. water to remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle on top of apples. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream.

TERIYAKI CHICKEN BOWLS

Teriyaki Chicken Bowls--Taylor Snyder

Sauce:

1 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbs. cornstarch

2 Tbs. cold water

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced, whichever is easier

1 Tbs. fresh grated ginger

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs. He used about 12 to 14, depending on size.

Fresh broccoli and cauliflower steamed (other veggies if desired)

White or brown rice, cooked

Simmer all sauce ingredients together until thick. Put chicken in lightly greased 9x13 pan and dob with sauce. Cover with foil and bake in 425 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Turn chicken over, dob with sauce and bake another 20 to 30 minutes or until done. You can uncover chicken the last 10 minutes to glaze if desired. ("Dob" is a French technical cooking term, I'm pretty sure.)

Chop chicken. Serve in bowls: rice, veggies, chicken, add sauce as desired.

Note: If you want sauce with a little added heat add some red chili sauce. Taylor leaves most of the sauce as is and makes some a bit hotter.

A photo of the recipe's author. Don't you just love your kids when they won't let you take their photos?

Sauce with added heat.

Some of the partakers of the goodness.
This is excellent. I promise. Phil was home with a tooth ache and didn't get to go so Taylor sent him a humongous container full. Phil loved it. I love it. The kids love it. One of the kids wasn't home and the momma of the tribe was on another one hundred mile bike ride. She was probably glad to come home to a wonderful dinner.

WHITNEY'S NOODLES

This is a cheap, filling meal. It's named after my nephew, Whitney, who served his mission in Taiwan and learned to cook inexpensive meals. Eggs.

Bacon.

Onions and garlic.

Veggies--this is the crookneck squash. Add half of the seasoning pkgs. to the veggies as they are cooking. Boil the noodles with the other half of the seasoning pkgs. Mix everything together and serve. Delicious. Thanks, Whitney. WHITNEY'S NOODLES--Whitney Peterson

Some kind of meat. I have only ever used bacon but other meats could be used or if you're a vegetarian just leave the meat out.

Eggs
Onions and garlic
Mushrooms--I didn't have any but usually always use them.
Veggies--I used two good sized crookneck squash and one good sized zucchini
Other veggies--lots of things could be used.
Ramen noodles, one pkg for each person

Boil ramen noodles with one half of the seasoning pkg. Boil only 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain. Use the remaining seasoning pkg. in the veggies.

Cook bacon, drain well. Set aside. I add everything to an oven proof bowl in a 200 degree oven to keep things warm while I sauté the remaining ingredients.

Sauté one veggie at a time and add to bowl in the oven--or you could steam them with a bit of water. I used some of the bacon grease and it was too greasy. I couldn't find my original recipe so I sautéed the veggies for too long. You want the veggies to have a bit of crunch.

Cook the eggs and then cut them into chunks.

Add everything together and serve.

I made extra as I want to send them some to my neighbor. I told her about the recipe but she looked at me a little oddly so I want her to taste it. Her daughter has gone away to college and needs cheap, filling meals.

BUTTERMILK PIE

This doesn't look like pie, does it. It's the "for the masses" version. I took one of these cookie sheets of pie to a funeral luncheon and one to my grandson's baptism luncheon. Here's what the regular size looks like.It's delicious. Maybe you should make some. Here is the recipe for a pie size. The recipe for a cookie sheet size--which serves 20 with nice generous squares follows.

BUTTERMILK PIE--This is a very old Bisquick recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray pie plate with vegetable spray.

In a blender, mix the following (this isn't in order of quantities, but the order I put things into the blender):

1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup melted butter, cooled to luke warm
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Bisquick ( I always use pancake mix because I don't ever have Bisquick in the house. I do have a recipe for homemade Bisquick. If anyone wants it leave a message in the comments section and I'll post it.)

Blend one minute. Pour into greased pie plate and bake for 30-35 minutes.

BUTTERMILK PIE FOR THE MASSES--Makes a cookie sheet full--17x12 inches.

This is tricky in a blender. If your blender won't handle this much liquid make halfish of it and pour it into a bowl and then make the remaining halfish, mix them together and pour into greased cookie sheet.

2 2/3 cups buttermilk
8 eggs
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup melted butter--I only use 1/2 cup and it turns out fine
4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups Bisquick--I use pancake mix because I never have Bisquick in the house.

Blend really well in blender--maybe in two batches--and pour into greased cookie sheet. Bake 35 minutes.

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE

Delicious.

Self – Frosting Chocolate Zucchini Cake--Muum’s Musings blog

½ c. butter
½ c. oil
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

2 ½ c flour
4-6 T cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder (Oops! I used a Tbs. of baking powder and it worked fine--maybe with one teaspoon it would have been a more dense cake, but it was delicious)
½ t cinnamon (optional--I didn't use this)

1/2 c sour cream or buttermilk (I used sour cream because that's what I had)

2 c finely grated zucchini

Mix oil, butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs. Mix well. (I did all the mixing by hand)

Sift the dry ingredients together, including the cocoa. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk or sour cream .

Add the zucchini by hand. Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan

Mix the following and crumble on top of the cake:

¾ c chocolate chips
¾ c chopped nuts
¾ c brown sugar

Bake @ 350º for 35-45 minutes or until done. Serves 12 (I cut the cake into 15 pieces and they were large.)

Note: Omit cinnamon to bring out better chocolate taste.

Note two: Next time I am going to replace half the oil and half the butter with applesauce and see how it turns out.

TASTES-BETTER-THAN-IT-LOOKS PASTA SALAD

I'm calling this salad '"Tastes-Better-Than-It-Looks Pasta Salad because it's so plain--kind of like a girl with a face that doesn't stop traffic. Perhaps I should change the noodles, but the family knows this salad with macaroni noodles so I probably won't. Besides that, my daughter-in-law told Phil this was the best pasta salad she's ever eaten. What better praise could you have?

This photo was taken two full days after I made the salad so it's looking a little weary. I usually forget to take food photos until we've either gobbled everything up or almost gobbled it up. This time, because I made a double batch we still had some. The peas were bright green the first day--not so much today, when I took the photo.

TASTES-BETTER-THAN-IT-LOOKS PASTA SALAD--Lynne Snyder

1 part Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1 to 3 parts sweet cucumber chip’s pickle juice (taste and decide how much pickle juice you want to use)
chopped sweet pickles
canned tuna
shredded carrots

finely diced celery
frozen peas
finely minced green onions
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper
Elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed and drained.

I used a one pound pkg. of pasta to one can of tuna, about 1 1/4 (or more) cups Miracle Whip, a pint of home canned sweet pickles and all the juice, 2 medium carrots, 8 oz. frozen peas, 3 stalks of celery, one bunch of green onions and then seasoned it with salt, pepper and cayenne.

MEXICAN CASSEROLE

Mmm, good. This was served at our Enrichment dinner last Tuesday. Our theme was, "What Can't You Do Without?" We had everyone bring what they couldn't do without--family and scriptures didn't count so it had to be something else. I took three things but which are all part of my one thing I can't do without. My little desk lamp which shines on my magnifying mirror which I use to pluck my chin hairs--which are actually stray eyebrows (according to Janette Barber: “I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows”). I pluck every single night, whether I need to or not. That is one of my pet peeves, women with moustaches or chin hairs. Pluck Lynne, pluck. So my one thing I can't do without were tweezers.

MEXICAN CASSEROLE--Carolyn Heaton

1 box Spanish Rice mix (Rice a Roni®)

1 (15 oz.) can chopped tomatoes—to use in Rice a Roni

½ pkg Doritos Tortilla chips
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can chopped tomatoes with green chilies
1 can Hatch’s green enchilada sauce
2 cups grated cheese, a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar

Make rice dish as directed, using the one can of chopped tomatoes. Put rice in 9x13 pan, top with 1 can diced tomatoes with chilies. Layer Doritos, crushed a bit. Top with beans, drained and rinsed. Top with enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake in 350 for 35 minutes.

Serve with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, dollop of sour cream and chopped avocado. Can add olives if desired.

OKAY, I DIDN'T EXACTLY MAKE IT LIKE THAT. THIS IS WHAT I DID.

Made the Rice a Roni as pkg. directions. I used a little more than half of a quart of diced, home-canned tomatoes in the Rice a Roni. Didn't put the extra can of canned tomatoes on top--saved it for later. Topped with a bunch of tortilla chips from Costco. Drained a can of pinto beans and black beans and mixed with one can--NOT drained--of S&W Caribbean beans--I buy them to make Cafe Rio salad so I have a bunch in my food storage--plus two Tbs. of Red Hot liquid seasoning. (I dislike kidney beans so I rarely buy them.) Topped them with the rest of the quart of tomatoes, drained. topped that with a can of green enchilada sauce--I would have made my own--I'm a home-made type girl but I'm all out of green chilies. Topped with Mozzarella cheese only as I was too lazy to hunt up any cheddar cheese in the freezer. Baked loosely covered--kind of tented so the aluminum foil didn't touch the cheese--for 45 minutes at 350°. Uncovered the casserole, turned the oven to 400° until it was a little brown on top and bubbling.

For the salad I mixed tomatoes, chopped multi-colored peppers, pepperoncini--also known as pickled banana peppers, and lettuce. I made guacamole, had sour cream and ranch dressing on the side.

Of course, I forgot to take photos until everyone was finished so no photo of the salad and guacamole and sour cream but everyone knows what salad and guacamole and sour cream looks like anyway.

It was very good. Lord Bumhampton had several servings and really liked it. We all really liked it. Go forth and bake some.

RHUBARB FRUIT LEATHER

Grow it. Wash it. Cut it.

Sugar it.

Cook it.

Blend it.

Flavor it.

Blend it some more.

Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray. Smooth it out.Pour the hot mixture on a cookie sheet.

Make sure it's evenly spread. Put it in the oven. Make sure the door is cracked so the moisture can escape. I use a wooden spoon.
The finished product. Peel it off the cookie sheet, cut it into rolls and eat. It's delicious. No one can tell it is not normal fruit leather and it's practically free.

The light colored one is watermelon kiwi, the red is cherry and the dark is orange with some dried cherries blended in.

RHUBARB FRUIT LEATHER –Lynne Snyder

4 cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 1/3 cups sugar
¼ cup water
1 pkg unsweetened Kool Aid®

Wash rhubarb and cut into ½ inch pieces. Put rhubarb, sugar and water into a pot and bring to a boil. I cover it at first and then uncover it to boil as much liquid off as possible.

As soon as the rhubarb is soft you can blend it—I use an immersion blender—also called a “stick” or “hand held” blender. If you use a normal blender be extremely careful as hot liquids will “pop” the lid. You may want to let it cool some before blending and then hold the lid on with a kitchen towel folded to make many layers. Add pkg. of Kool Aid, blend again. Pour onto greased cookie sheet—I spray with “Pam” and then smooth it out with my hands. Try to get the rhubarb mixture as evenly spread as possible—maybe even a little thicker on the edges as they dry faster. Put in a dehydrator or an oven set to a low temperature—my oven has a dehydrator feature on it and I can get it to a low temperature and a fan continually runs so it is a more even heat. I even make yogurt in the oven which takes a 110° temperature. For the rhubarb leather I dry it at 140°. This takes at least a day.

Dehydrate until almost dry. Let cool, peel off cookie sheet, roll and cut.

Sometimes I peel off the cookie sheet and put the leather, top side down, right on the oven rack and let it dry for another hour or so. You can lightly dust with cornstarch if desired.

Years and years ago I dried the leather in a car, with a window cracked. The car smelled divine! Just make sure the cookie sheet is perfectly level. And don’t drive off when the leather is in a liquid state. You will be cleaning up a mess. I called this my redneck dehydrator.

Our favorite flavors are grape and cherry but they are all good...except lemonaid. That flavor was so sour.

If you have some fresh fruit you can blend it in the the liquid rhubarb. If you have enough you don't need the Kool Aid as your leather will take on the flavor of the fruit. Taste it before pouring it on the cookie sheet to see if it has enough flavor.

ZIPPY SALAD

This is probably Phil's favorite "raw" recipe. I love it too but not like he does. He will eat it for days so I always make a lot. Zippy Salad—Lynne Snyder


3-4 diced tomatoes (I used roma)
3 cups frozen corn OR fresh corn, cut off the cob
1 cup chopped celery
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped OR 1 small jicama, peeled and diced
¼ cup chopped onion or 1 Tbs. dried onion

Dressing:
¼ cup (total) mixture of Olive oil
and Safflower oil
1/3 cup lime juice
8 sundried tomatoes (in oil), chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
¼ to ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dry basil OR use fresh basil, julienned
¼ tsp Italian seasoning or oregano
¼ tsp. dill weed

Mix salad ingredients together set aside. Mix dressing ingredients together, pour over salad, mix well.

CRUNCHY, SWEET AND SAVORY SALAD

This was adapted from a recipe from Juliano, (THE UNCOOK BOOK). He owns a raw restaurant called "Juliano's Raw" in Santa Monica, California.

NOTE: It makes a LOT, way too much for normal consumption. Cut it in half or even in fourth.

1 red bell pepper, julienned

1 yellow or orange bell pepper, julienned

1 large carrot, julienned

1 large yam or 2 medium, sliced and julienned

1/2 cup quartered walnuts

1/2 cup cashews

2 large apples, peeled, sliced thin and cut in half--I used Fuji

1 cup dried cranberries

1 bunch chopped green onions, including most of the tops

1/2-1 jalapeno, minced--I forgot to do this

1 cup--or to taste--fresh squeezed orange juice

1/4 to 1/2 cup--or to taste--maple syrup--start with lower measurement

1/4 cup--or to taste--fresh squeezed lemon juice

4-6 cloves garlic, pressed

2-3 Tbs. olive oil

2-3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

2-3 Tbs. Nama Shoyu OR soy sauce

1 tsp-1 Tbs. freshly grated ginger--more if you are crazy about ginger.

Mix the first set of ingredients together. Mix the second set of ingredients together and taste, adjust to suit your taste. Pour over fruit and veggies and mix well.

CHICKEN TACOS

Start with corn tortillas, fried in a little oil.Top it with sour cream.

Add hot sauce.

Pile on the chicken mixture,

and spinach.
Fold over and eat.

Yummy.
If you want to save calories just pile everything on spinach leaves. Delicious.

And soon this was all that was left. These are our favorite hot sauces, both are mild and I love them both.

CHICKEN TACOS—Good things Utah—original recipe here.

2 tablespoons butter
Canola oil, for frying I never use Canola oil! It does bad stuff to me.
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces I used already cooked chicken
3 tablespoons chopped onion (I used ½ red onion, next time will use a whole one, I think)
I added one chopped jalapeno but will use 2 or 3 next time
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped (I used one –15 oz.—can diced tomatoes, drained, because I was out of tomatoes)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic salt I used garlic powder

12 corn tortillas

TOPPINGS:
Shredded Cheddar cheese, pepper Jack cheese, or a combination
Sour cream
Fresh spinach, thinly sliced I didn't slice it, just piled it on
Fresh Salsa or Tabasco sauce
Lime wedges.

6 servings--Ha! We each ate four. But we didn't eat any Mexican rice or refried beans. Does that make us less piggy?

Thanks to Aunt Sue, (this was the Aunt Sue from whoever gave the recipe on Good Things Utah) we have been making these tacos for over 30 years. This is an original Mexican recipe and is one of our family favorites. You may skip frying the tortillas and simply make soft tacos with heated tortillas.

1. Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and onions and cook and stir until the onions are soft and the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more. Decrease the heat to low and stir in the tomato and cilantro. Add water (or chicken broth) if the mixture seems too dry. Season generously with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Continue cooking about 2 minutes. Cover and turn off the heat. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Heat 3/4 cup of canola oil (I only used a couple of tablespoons of expeller pressed safflower oil) in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry one tortilla: With tongs turn it once to cook both sides, then quickly fold halfway over and cook for a few more seconds to make the taco shape I just left it flat. Drain on paper towels. Place the tortilla in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, putting each one into the oven to keep warm. (If the taco shells cool, they lose their crispness and become tough and chewy.) For soft tacos, simply heat the tortillas one at a time in a dry skillet over high heat for a few seconds on each side. (Or wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and heat in the oven at 275 degrees for 20 minutes.)

3. To serve, place a small amount of the chicken mixture in each taco shell. Put the filled tacos on a platter and serve. Pass the cheese, sour cream, spinach, salsa or hot sauce and lime.

Serve with Mexican Rice with Fresh Tomatoes and refried beans with a little shredded cheese on top. We didn't do any of that and it was a great dinner.