Brownie Recipe from the kitchen of Susan Tuft!

Susan’s Wonderful Brownies!

Mix all this stuff together with your mix master:

1 cube softened margarine
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Then add:
½ cup dry powdered milk (the “instant” kind...most of them are)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (the dark bitter stuff)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup flour

Batter will be stiff. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 28-30 minutes, at
somewhere between 325 & 350 degrees. Don’t over bake. (Don’t over eat!!)
Now! These brownies are real tasty with chocolate frosting of some kind, but, they’re EVEN
BETTER UN-frosted, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on them, and covered with this sauce:

Chocolate Microwave Sauce

Add all this dry stuff and mix it well::

1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cocoa powder
dash salt
Then put in 1 cup of water and stir it up.

Microwave on high power for about 2 minutes, or until it just begins to thicken. Then take it out,
stir in 2 Tablespoons of butter or margarine, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Microwave again for about 1-1 ½ minutes more, til thick. Don’t go too long in the microwave or
it can get Way Too Thick. (You can cure this by adding water, and Stirring Soundly, by the
way).
Anyway, when it’s thick but not TOO thick, pour it over the ice cream and brownie.
DELICIOUS!!!

Mormon Lasagne:)

This is not exactly authentic, but yummy nonetheless. I hope I haven't posted it before...

1 pkg lasagne noodles
2 lbs-ish hamburger
2 cans tomato sauce
1 small pkg sour cream
1 small pkg cottage cheese
1 can chopped olives
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c-ish of shredded cheese, or however much you like!

Boil noodles. Brown hamburger with a little salt and pepper if you like. When brown, add tomato sauce. You can also add a dash of cornstarch if it's runny.

In a small bowl, stir together about 3/4ths of the sour cream and cottage cheese. Add olives and a bit of salt. I know there are actual measurements, but honestly, I lost the recipe and this works just as well:) Just add until it tastes/looks good. You can't go wrong.

Then go ahead and layer it! I do noodles, meat sauce, noodles, sour cream mixture, noodles, meat sauce and then shred cheddar over the top.

Bake at 375 for about 45 min or until bubbily. (Also, I like to cover the top with tin foil so it doesn't get dried out). Okay, The End.

Butter noodles and saute'd shrimp

Shrimp are probably the easiest and tastiest things on the earth. Here is the recipe for our delicious dinner of last night, which all my children enjoyed. My husband however, asked, "what stinks?" when he came home. Can't please everyone.

Ingredients:

Jumbo, flash frozen, pre-cooked, Shrimp - about 6 pieces per person works well for our family

1/4 stick of butter

Olive Oil

2 Garlic cloves

Parsley, oregano, crushed red pepper, rosemary, salt, pepper, chives, onion flakes, you know, what every yummy spices you like.

Noodles (we used linguine)

Directions:

Thaw the shrimp by running cold water over them in a colander; set aside. Boil and salt water, drop in noodles. In a skillet, on medium heat, melt butter with a few TBS of olive oil. When that is nice and melty, add garlic, onions and all the spices your heart enjoys (we used all those listed above, in moderation). Let the garlic get happy, but not toasty. Drop in the shrimp. They are already cooked, so you are just warming them through and covering them in yummies. Then turn the heat way down. When the noodles are done, drain and combine them with the shrimpy buttery happiness.

We served this with apple slices, steamed cauliflower, and watermelon. It is my current theory that fruit and veggies should make up the main parts of your meal and the meats and grains should be treated more like small side dishes.

One-Dish Chicken Bake

Here's another back of the box recipe. It's alot like your chicken and vegetable, Brandy. We had it tonight, I love it. Here you go!

1 pkg. Stove Top
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can crm of mushroom soup
1/3 c sour cream or milk
*I always half recipe this for our little family

Mix Stuffing pouch with 1 2/3 C water, set aside.

Place chicken in 13x9 baking dish. Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Spoon stuffing evenly over top.

Bake 375 for 35 min.

On a new Health Trend

Been eating a lot of salsa. I love pretty much any kind of salsa, but here's a quick recipe to make some fresh. Some restaurants call in Pica De Gillo or something like that. Like I said, it's all salsa to me.

Homemade Fresh Salsa

4 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, diced or pressed
1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 jalapeno, diced (leave some seeds for heat, if desired)
juice from half a lime
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno in a bowl. Squeeze lime juice over. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. This has almost no calories and is great with corn chips, over chicken, pasta, grilled steaks ... it's just a great healthy thing.

Creamy One-Dish Chiken and Vegetables Skillet

Ingredients:

6 small boneless skinless chicken halves (I'm on a low meat thing, just used 3 little tender things)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1 10 oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables (I like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots) - THAWED.
1 pkg Stove top stuffing mix, northern style with long grain and wild rice (PREPARED!)

Directions:

1. Heat up oil or spray skillet. Add chicken. Cook on medium heat, 5 minutes on each side.

2. Mix soup, sour cream, and vegetables. Pour over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing. Reduce heat to low; cover.

3. Cook an additional 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

So .. I love stuffing and love the quick recipe things they put on the boxes, which is, of course, where I got this recipe. However, I did not read it carefully enough and dumped the uncooked stuffing on my chicken and sauce mixture. THEN, as I was typing the instruction in here, I realized the stuffing needed to be already prepared before I added it to the chicken. I knew this recipe sounded TOO easy. So I quickly added some butter chunks, some water, and am now praying for the best .... There's the timer now .. hold on .... the rice needed a little more time, but other than that, mmmm, comfort food. This will feed my troupes for a couple days! A lovely green salad with ARUUUUUGALA, some cantaloupe chunks, and delicioso! Dinner, tonight!

Lazy Mom Cooked SOmething

I liked it, but the kids ... eh, what do they know. Here it is, dinner in under 20 minutes.

1 box Macaroni and cheese dinner
1 can tuna
1/2 bag mixed veggies (ours was carrots, peas, corn, green and lima beans)

Cook mac and cheese according to box directions, add drained tuna, add veggies (if frozen, just turn the stove down to low and put a lid on it for 5-10 minutes until the veggies are all warm and happy). Enjoy the white trashy goodness.

Mystery Recipe: Sumptuous Pork Chop Delight

Sometimes I write down a quick list of ingredients, some cryptic instructions and fill a scrap of paper away in my overflowing ancient recipe box. Here's an example of what wonders lay hidden:

1 pkg. herb and onion stuffing
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8-10 pork chops (though I can't imagine I'd ever cook more than 4 at a time ... maybe it I froze them?!)
1/2 can milk (arggg - i detest recipes that call for half a can ... the other half is just wasted. I bet regular milk or whole, or even sour cream would work ... but no, i have to stick to the recipe so as not to accidentally kill my family)

Prepare stuffing according to directions on box - put in a 9x13 baking dish.
Brown chops.
Bake 350. 1 hour.

That's all I've got. Hope it works. I might suggest adding a bit of seasoning to the chops. Not sure when the milk and soup come in, but I would wager to guess after the chicken, before the stuffing, combined. And I would call this magnificent conglomeration of normalcy ... Sumptuous Pork Chop Delight.

(spell check was off, sorry!)

Had enough chicken yet? How about Chicken and Broccoli Stuffing Skillet

1 pound of chicken (or so)
1 TBS oil
2 cups water
5 glorious cups of fresh broccoli florets (bite size)
1 pkg stuffing (yes, stove top whole wheat for chicken, mmm)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (everything is better with cheese)

Cook chicken in the hot oil on medium high, 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet and cover to keep warm (or if you have that handy "keep warm" setting on the microwave, now's the time to try that out!).

Add water and broccoli to skillet, bring to a boil. Add stuffing, stir until just moistened.

Return chicken to it's loving place in the skillet; sprinkle with a shower of shredded cheddar cheese. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

I adore this recipe, my family likes it. Try it out, its a casserole, but it's good!

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (try the garlic & olive oil kind)
1 pkg stuffing mix (try stove top whole wheat for chicken, it's my favorite and my best!)
2 cloves garlic, lovingly minced
1 pound of chicken (or so) hacked into bite size pieces.
1 tbs dried basil leaves (or fresh, more so, if you roll that way)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Place tomatoes with all their lovely liquid into a medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, 1/2 cup hot water and garlic; stir until moistened ans set aside.

Lovingly arrange chicken into 9X13 baking dish, sprinkle with basil and cheese. Top with the prepared stuffing.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

GOES GREAT WITH A NICE BAG OF SALAD!
ooo, and bread sticks, mmm.

Eassssy Chicken Bake

1 pkg Stuffing Mix (I like stove top, whole wheat, for chicken)
3/4 cup hot water
1 pound (or so) boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite size pieces.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup sour cream
1 bag mixed veggies, thawed, drained

Preheat oven to 400. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of dry stuffing mix evenly on bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Set aside. Add hot water to remaining stuffing mix, stir until just moistened. Set aside.

Place chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) over dry stuffing in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream and veggies; spoon over chicken. Top with the prepared (moistened) stuffing.

Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Chicken Parmesan Alfredo

We've been on a chicken kick lately, reap the fruits of our labors:

Chicken Parmesan Alfredo

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (though I prefer the chicken tenders one can buy now)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs (I'll post my recipe for these later)
1/4 tsp paprika
1 jar Alfredo sauce (i guess you could make some, but I never have cream around)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 medium tomato (or a drained can of diced ones)

Preheat oven to 400. Dip chicken in egg then breadcrumbs combined with paprika, coat well.

Arrange chicken in a 9X13 baking dish. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes

Pour 1 cup sauce over chicken, top with cheese, then tomato. Bake another 10 minutes (make sure chicken is cooked through). Serve with noodles and remaining sauce, sprinkle with some grated Parmesan.

A New Recipe

Fiesta Chicken Casserole

From: Campbell's Kitchen

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (15 oz.) refrigerated pie crust
1 jar (16 oz.) Pace® Chunky Salsa
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup OR 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz.)
1 pkg. (24 oz.) frozen whole kernel corn
2 cans (9.75 oz. each) Swanson® Premium Chunk Chicken, drained
1 can (about 15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Bring pie crust to room temperature.

MIX salsa, soup, sour cream, cheese, corn, chicken and beans in large bowl. Spoon into ungreased 13"x"9"x 2" baking pan.

PLACE crusts on floured surface, overlapping about 3" in the center. Press seam to seal. Roll into 14"x10" rectangle. Trim excess crust. Place crust over beef mixture and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry.

BAKE for 40 to 45 min. or until pie crust is golden brown.

Not a Recipe, But a Great Product

I just tried the Bear Creek Minestrone Soup last night and really liked it. I also got Broccoli and Cheese to try. It was Souper easy:

Boil 8 cups of water.
Add soup mix, add meat or veggies or what have you.
Cook for 15 minutes and eat.

I added half a pound of ground beef to the minestrone and a bit of salt and pepper and everyone had 2nds. So, if you've been thinking about trying this product, I can recommend it. Plus their website has a bunch of recipe ideas which you can try and post your outcomes here. And it was cheap, like $2.89 and it made like 8 servings (or 5 if they're hungry), which is way cheaper than if you buy canned soup and probably cheaper than if you buy all the ingredients and make it yourself.

Subscription Type thing

I recently noticed that there is a feature where you can have and email sent to you anytime a new post is published, if you would like to essentially subscribe to this website, email me at crichtonsmom@msn.com and I will put you on the automatic email list and you'll never miss a recipe again.

Beef Macaroni and Cheese Surprise

This is a really yummy casserole. The night I made it, one kid fell asleep before dinner and wouldn't get up and my husband worked late. I ate a bit and the baby liked it so I saved it for the next day. I had almost no hope for this dish, though I thought it was very tasty, it was now casserole AND leftovers. The surprise was, for the first time ever, I made a casserole and it ALL got eaten up.

For about 8 servings (I halved it for my family)
Ingredients:
1 LB bag of elbow macaroni
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 C Green pepper chopped
1 TBS Garlic chopped
2 LBS Lean Ground Beef
3 C canned crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 tsp each dried basil, ground cumin, and dried oregano
2-3 C grated cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350. Cook macaroni to just done - not over done, drain and set aside. Heat oil in skillet, add peppers, onion, and garlic, saute until soft. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and basil, cumin, and oregano. Combine macaroni and beef mixture. Spread into a 9X13 baking dish. Top with cheese and bake for 20-25 until cheese is lightly brown and bubbly.

Oh, and when I made it I didn't have green peppers, cumin, or basil, so I used celery salt, chives, parsley and Season All. Since then I have bought cumin and can't wait to use it, it smells really good!

Another leftover HAM recipe!

This was one my mom made up when we had Sophie and we love it! We have it everytime we do a ham and it's so simple.

Leftover Ham, cubed
2 cans Crm Mushroom Soup
Dash of Milk
Green Bell Pepper, chopped
Noodles, cooked

We just cube the leftover ham into cooked noodles, add soup and a little milk to thin to desired consistancy and then chopped bell pepper. It's amazingly good!

Ham and Beans
On the ham topic, we also like to soak beans overnight and then add the ham bone to the crockpot the next day with some onion, garlic, salt, and pepper for ham and beans.

****Also just wanted to say THANKS, BRANDY for the barbecue leftover roast idea! Dave LOVED it! Awesome idea, thanks!

Left Over Ham Surprise

Made a ham for Christmas. Had some leftovers. Here's what I did with it:

Bunch of leftover Ham
1 Bottle of Alfredo sauce
1 Pkg of noodles

Cube up ham into bite size bits. Cook Noodles. Drain. Return to pan. Add Alfredo sauce and ham. Warm everything up and serve with veggies and now we have no leftover ham.

Eggnog French Toast

My family loves for me to make this as soon as eggnog is available in the stores. Janet said that she makes this too.

She dips the bread in just eggnog and cooks iton her griddle, but said that this way it never gets that crisp browning on it.

When I make it I use about 1 1/2 cups eggnog, 1/2 cup milk and an egg or two.

When your using eggnog you don't want your bread left in the mixture to long, in fact it's best to just dredge it through enough to just get it covered.

Mine gets crisp on the outside, but if you've accidentally let it soak up too much mixture I will sometimes bake it in the oven for an extra 10 minutes at 350, after cooking it in a griddle.

Island Chicken

Janet I found it!!! This was a recipe I found in college and used to make pretty often, but I thought I had lost the recipe. I'm so glad I found it again.


2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tblsp olive oil
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tblsp lime juice
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp chopped parsley or cilantro

Pound chicken to 1/2" thickness. Combine oregano and cinnamon. Sprinkle over chicken.

Cook chicken in skillet over medium heat, with hot oil. 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove to a plate.

Stir pineapple juice, lime juice and cornstarch in skillet; cook, stirring until sauce boils and thickens. Stir in parsley. Spoon over chicken.