Cilantro Lime Rice in a rice cooker

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
3 Tbsp mild diced green chiles (canned)
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder

Once rice cooker is done add:
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro

Directions:
Add rice, chicken broth, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 seeded chopped jalapeno, black beans, 3 Tbsp mild diced green chiles.  Set rice cooker to white or brown rice cook setting on rice cooker.  Once rice is cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in 2 Tbsp of lime juice and 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped.

Creamy Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:

12 oz fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 6 oz raspberry jello mix
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
3/4 cup orange juice
1 apple with peel, grated
1 cup whipping cream
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Process cranberries in blender or food processor.  Pour sugar over cranberries, stir to dissolve.
Bring 3/4 cup water to boil.  Stir in gelatin and cool.  Stir cooled gelatin into cranberries, add pineapple, Orange juice, grated apple.  Mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Whip cream and beat in cream cheese and powdered sugar.

In glass serving dish layer half the cranberry mixture, then the whipped cream mixture, Then the remaining cranberry mixture.

Easy Sausage Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 lb savory sage or original recipe sausage roll
1 lg onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 14 oz pkg cubed stuffing
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium heat, crumble sausage.  Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally until sausage is brown.  In a bowl combine the sausage mixture with the cubed stuffing. Add the poultry seasoning, broth and butter.  Toss to combine.  Pour into a 13x9 inch pan.  cover.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Pani Popo (Hawaiian rolls)

My niece, Lia, made these roll for our Hawaiian themed New Year's party. I don't like coconut but all the food at that party seemed to have a bit of coconut in it so I gave it all a try. Even though these rolls are covered in coconut milk, they were sweet enough that I still loved them. When a friend of mine had her own Hawaiian themed party I knew just what to bring! The best thing about them is how completely simple they are to make.

Ingredients:
Rhodes Rolls (or any dinner roll recipe)
1 can coconut milk
3 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup sugar

Directions:You can just use any dinner roll recipe you want, or use the frozen rhodes rolls (but thaw them and let them rise). Once the rolls are risen to how you would usually bake them, mix 1 can coconut milk, 3 tablespoons sweeten condensed milk, and 3/4 cup sugar, and then pour this mixture over the rolls and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. (I found that my rolls only needed about 20 min to bake)

Sesame Green Beans

Ingredients
8 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon miso paste
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Directions1.Place the green beans into a steamer insert and set in a pot over one inch of water. Bring to a boil, cover and steam for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer beans to a serving bowl.
2.Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, miso paste, red pepper flakes, garlic and ginger. Pour over the green beans and toss to coat. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Sweet Potatoes

I've been trying to figure out how to make a healthy sweet potato french fry. I have yet to figure out how to make crispy baked sweet potatoes. Even though these weren't crispy, they were delicious and I couldn't get enough of them.

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Directions
1.Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.Place the sweet potato chunks into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, chili powder, and cayenne pepper overtop. Toss until the potatoes are evenly coated with the seasoning. Spread onto a baking sheet.
3.Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the potatoes over with a spatula, and continue baking until the sweet potatoes are golden and tender, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Bunny Buns

My 11 yr old wanted to make these as soon as she saw them in The Friend magazine at the beginning of the month. On Easter weekend we finally got around to it. Actually she finally got around to it, she made them mostly by herself and they turned out great. I love that my kids cook.

Ingredients:
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp grated orange peel
5 1/2 cups flour, sifted
Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 tsp butter

Directions:
Sprinkle yeast in warm water and set aside. In another bowl, blend milk, sugar, shortening, and salt. Cool until lukewarm, then add eggs, water with yeast, orange juice, and orange peel. Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough. Let stand for 10 minutes. Knead dough 5-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover with a clean towel and put in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long. Roll between hand to rounded snake shapes. Cut one strip into pieces 1/2 inch long and roll into balls. Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet. PLace one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on the top of the bottom loop. Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes until nearly doubled in size.
Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

For the glaze stir powdered sugar, water, and butter together. Frost bunnies with the glaze while they are still warm.

Bean Salad

Ingredients:
1 can corn
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can white beans
1 can pinto beans
Or any other types of beans you like
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped or shredded
bundle of parsley, chopped
bottle of balsamic dressing, any type

Rinse beans. Mix all ingredients together. Enjoy!

Refried Beans

First I'll apologize for the picture. I don't know how to make refried beans look good? I'm sure there is someone out there that could do it, but I don't have that skill. This is a very healthy version of refried beans and so easy to make. I made them in a crockpot but I just bought a pressure cooker and my sister says they are very good made in the pressure cooker and a lot faster. I will be trying them out for sure! This recipe is courteous of allrecipes.

Ingredients:
1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and
chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic 5 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black
pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
9 cups water

Directions:
1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

7 layered lettuce salad

This recipe comes from my mother in law. Anything with bacon is great in my opinion. It's easy to put together and a little different from the usual green salad.

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped celery
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup green onions, chopped
1 package frozen peas, uncooked

1 head of lettuce
6 hardboiled eggs, chopped
1 cup cheese, grated
6-7 pieces crisp bacon, crumbled

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
Mix together: celery, green pepper, green onions and frozen peas.
Layer half the lettuce (torn or chopped) on bottom of 9x13 pan. Layer half the celery mixture, the entier 6 eggs, chopped. Then layer the remaining lettuce, remaining celery mixture. Top with mayonnaise mixture. Then sprinkle with cheese and bacon.
Can be refrigerated overnight.

Ribbon Salad

This is my favorite jello salad. I love to have it at Christmas time because of the fun Christmas colors, although anytime is a good time for this salad. I have never been able to successfully make it look pretty myself--for some reason my top layer of jello has never completely covered the middle layer. It still tastes good, it just doesn't look good. So while my mom was in town I asked her to make it for me so I could see where I was going wrong. We decided I was either using the wrong size pan or forgot to add the 2nd bit of water to the red jello. So we will see if I've got it figured out the next time I attempt to make this jello salad.

Ingredients:
1 pkg each 3 oz size Jell-O: Lemon, Lime, and Raspberry or strawberry
3 cups boiling water
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cup cold water
4 oz cool whip
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple

Directions:
Dissolve jello flavors separately, using 1 cup boiling water for each. Stir miniature marshmallows into lemon Jell-O, set aside. Add 3/4 cup cold water to lime Jell-O; pour into 13x9 inch pan. Chill until set but not firm. Add 3/4 cup cold water to raspberry Jell-O, set aside at room temperature. Then add cream cheese to lemon mixture; beat until blended, chill until slightly thickened, then blend in mayonnaise, whipped cream and crushed pineapple. Chill until very thick; spoon gently over lime Jell-O. Chill until set, but not firm; meanwhile chill raspberry Jell-O until thick, pour over lemon Jell-O. Chill.

slow cooker mashed potatoes

I'm not sure how these are so much a crockpot dish when it really just serves as a way to keep the potatoes warm but they are really ready to eat without going in the crockpot. But they are very good and it was nice to be able to make the mashed potatoes ahead of time and kept warm until the rest of the meal was ready.

Ingredients5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Footnotes

Garlic Red Potatoes

I recently saw these on the Real mom kitchen blog. And ever since I upgraded my internet explorer I haven't been able to correctly link to other blogs--so annoying. These potatoes were a big hit with everyone and they were so super easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 pounds red potatoes, quartered (I use half red and half yukon gold potatoes)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place potatoes in an 9 x 13 inch baking dish, lined with tin foil to make an easy cleanup. In a large bowl, combine melted butter, garlic, salt and lemon juice; add
the potatoes and stir to coat. Pour potatoes into the baking dish and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes.

Eggplant Au Gratin

 .

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
olive oil cooking spray
3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:
spray both sides of eggplant with olive oil cooking spray. Fry each slice in a skillett until lightly browned and crispy. Place a layer of eggplant in a small casserole dish. Top with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Garlic Fridge Pickles

 

Ingredients:
2 whole cucumbers
2 cloves garlic
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp dill, dried
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 pinch corriander
6 whole peppercorns

Directions:
Use cucumbers with no wax residue on the peels. Slice cucumbers in 1/4-1/8 inch slices. Cut garlic cloves in quarters, then smash them a bit. Put cucumbers and garlic in a bowl. Heat vinegar, water, sugar, salt, dill, red pepper flakes, corriander, and peppercorns in a small sauce pan until sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour over cucumbers and garlic. Cover and let marinate in refrigerator. Serve cold.

Egg Rolls

 It's very important that you choose the right egg roll wrappers. Apparently the type of wrappers in regular grocery stores are thicker than the ones you can get at Asian grocery stores. So the thinner the better.

Ingredients:
5 potatoes diced
1+ cups finely chopped cabbage
4-5 carrots diced
4 stalks celery finely chopped
5 green onions sliced
2 1/2 cups bean sprouts
dash of pepper
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2-3 Tbsp canola oil + more for frying the egg rolls
Thin egg roll wrappers
Optional: cooked ground beef


Directions:
Heat 2-3 Tbsp of oil in large frying pan. Add the potatoes, cabbage, carrots, celery, green onion, and bean sprouts. Add a couple tablespoons of soy sauce and a few dashes of pepper. Saute for about 10 minutes. It doesn't need to be cooked completely because it will cook more when you fry and bake the rolled egg rolls. Take the filling and prepare to wrap the egg rolls. Have a small amount of water handy. Place an egg roll wrapper in front of you so it looks like a diamond in front of you--with a point toward you. Put about 1/4 cup of the filling on the egg roll wrapper on the end closest to you. Then dip your finger in the water and put a drop of water on the tip of the wrapper closest to you. Take that end and wrap it over the filling and the water will make the wrapper stick to itself.
Take the right point of the wrapper and fold it to the left so that no filling is coming through and do the same with the other side. Now roll it as tightly as you can. When you come to the end get another drop of water to seal the wrapper shut. Once they are all rolled up it is time to fry them.

Heat about a half in layer of oil in a frying pan. It needs to be hot enough that it will fry the egg rolls quickly. This step is just to get them crispy not to cook them completely. Just put the egg rolls in for a couple minutes on each side. Place them on paper towels to soak up excess oil. Once that is done you can put some aside to freeze and eat later. When you want to eat them you take them and do the next step which is to bake them in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Flip them over halfway through baking. These were so good. My sister in law also adds ground beef to hers which is very good too.

Hot German Potato Salad

Ingredients:
9 potatoes peeled
6 slices bacon
3/4 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp pepper
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup white vinegar

Directions:
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes that have been sliced thin and cook until tender but still firm, abt 30 min. Drain.
Place bacon in a large, deep skillett. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside, reserving drippings.
Saute onions in bacon drippings until they are golden brown. In small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper. Add to the sauteed onions and cook and stir until bubbly, then remove from heat. Stir in water and vinegar, then return to the stove and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute. Carefully stir bacon and sliced potatoes into the vinegar/water mixture, stirring gently until potatoes are heated through.

Breadsticks

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 c. all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
2 T. unsalted butter, softened
2 T. sugar
1 T. fine salt

For the Topping:
3 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of oregano

Directions:1. Make the dough: Place 1/4 c. warm water in the bowl of a mixer, sprinkle in the yeast and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, butter, sugar, fine salt, and 1 1/4 cups plus 2 T. warm water; mix with the paddle attachment until slightly sticky dough forms, 5 minutes
2. Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface until very soft and smooth, 3 minutes. Roll into a 2 foot long log; cut into 16 1 1/2 inch long pieces. Knead each piece slightly and shape into a 7 inch breadstick; arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a cloth; let rise in a warm spot until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 400 F. Make the topping: Brush the breadsticks with 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Bake until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine remaining 1/4 tsp salt with garlic powder and oregano. Brush the warm breadsticks with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with flavored salt.

Layered Summer Fruits with Creamy Lime Dressing

Ingredients:
3 cups cut up cantaloupe
1 quart strawberries, quartered
2 ripe medium mangoes, seed removed, peeled and cut up
2 cups blueberries
2 cups cut up honeydew melon


Dressing:
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipping cream whipped (I used cool whip when the whipping cream I had was unusable)



Directions:
For dressing: beat cream cheese, limeade concentrate and powdered sugar with electric mixer on med-high speed about 3 minutes until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Set aside.

In trifle bowl layer cantaloupe and strawberries. Spread half the cream cheese mixture over the strawberries. Layer mangoes, blueberries and honeydew over cream cheese mixture. Spread remaining cream cheese mixture on top. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours before serving.

Zucchini Patties

Ingredients:
2 cups grated zucchini
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
salt to taste
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
In medium bowl, combine the zucchini, eggs, onion, flour, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and salt. Stir well enough to distribute ingredients evenly. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over med-high heat. Drop zucchini mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden.