Tyler's Halloween Eyeball Meatballs

This is for all of you out there who have a little boy who loves gross things for Halloween, more specifically EYEBALLS!

Meatballs

Spaghetti

Green Olives with pimentos

toothpicks

Pile the plate high with noodles and sauce. Place 2 meatballs right on top. Brake toothpick in half, stab the green olive with toothpick halve and attach it to the meatball. You have two monster eyes watching you while you eat!!!

*Of course, take the toothpicks out before you eat the meatballs! ;)

Garlic Rolls

These are so easy and have made me famous in the Jones family.

Ingredients:

Rhodes rolls (in freezer section, you want the rolls not the loaf)
Butter (melted, amount depends on how many you're cooking. Enough to coat the rolls.)
Garlic salt
Parmesan Cheese (shredded or grated)

Just let the rolls rise according to package. Then cover in butter, sprinkle on garlic salt and cheese right before you bake. Then bake according to package. You can also make sticky buns! Just dip the dough in butter and then roll in cinnamon and sugar. Stack them in a bundt cake type pan and bake.

Libby's Pumpkin Roll

Ok, I'm just going to say this does not sound easy, but oh my goodness is it worth it!!! It's really not that hard, just "a piece of cake." If you like pumpkin and cream cheese, you're gonna need to try this!!! I've always wanted to make this, it's DELICIOUS!!! Very impressive looking.

CAKE:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, & I think coconut might be good too)

FILLING:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese ( I use 1/3 less fat, and still alright, probably not as good) softened

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

6 tbsp butter or margarine (I also used less, more like 3 tbsp)

1 tsp vanilla

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350* (it says 375* and I just noticed that, I did 350*). Cut wax paper to fit a jelly roll pan, grease and flour the paper. Sprinkle a thin, (I'm going to add clean right here, a little obvious, but you know...) cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

CAKE: Combine flour and dry ingredients in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake for 11-13 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off wax paper. Roll up cake and towel together starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FILLING: BEAT cream cheese, sugar, butter, vanilla until smooth. Carefully unroll cake, remove the towel. Spread the cream cheese mixture over cake. Re-roll cake, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

I made this last night for Sally and Keith. It was so yummy and pretty easy to make. I served it with my garlic rolls. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice Mix cooked
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1 cup of diced red onion
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped carrots
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup of flour
1 8 oz package of mushrooms sliced and clean (optional, I did not use them, yuck!)
1/2 tsp. of thyme
1/2 tsp of tarragon
2 cups of water
2 cans of chicken broth (the size that just a bit bigger than a soup can)
12 oz. can of evaporated milk
2 Tbsp of dry sherry (optional, again I did not use this, and it turned out just fine!)
3 cups of shredded chicken ( I buy a pre roasted chicken from Costco)

Steps
1- Prepare rice mix according to box instructions
2- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
3- Stir in flour for 1 minute and and taraggon and thyme
4- Add liquids- chicken broth, water, sherry, and milk.
5- simmer for 20 min.
6- Add shredded chicken and cooked rice and cook for another 10 min. or until ready to serve.

Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake

I made this last week for a friends birthday and, WOW was it good. Perfect recipe for fall!

Cake mixture:
1 18.25 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin pie filling

Filling:
1 8 ounce package cream chees, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 16 ounce box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13*9*2 inch baking pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, pumpkin,and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in powdered sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgement call on the cookin time, because oven temps ca vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point! Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way- even for piggies like me!

Brick Oven's Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe is supposed to be like Brick Oven's and it comes pretty close. Mom even called and got the ingredients when she made it. Surprisingly there wasn't any secret concoctions in it! Just plain old Chicken Noodle Soup. Today was really chilly and nice outside so it put me in the mood to make it, and I wanted to have something fun to post to the blog. Like Mom, I don't really measure so I'll give approximates but you can add more or less to taste.

Fill a large pot 2/3 full with water
Add 2 Large chicken Breasts (boneless and skinless)
4-5 Tbsp. Chicken bullion (may need to add more later or add water later if too salty)
5-6 stalks of Celery chopped
1 Onion chopped
Large handful of Baby carrots sliced
1/2 tsp. Pepper
A few dashes of Garlic Salt or Seasoning Salt to taste

Once all above ingredients have been added let simmer for 1-2 hours until chicken is very tender. Remove Chicken, cool and then tear chicken into peices, add back into soup. Let the soup simmer while you make the noodles.

(the noodle recipe is straight from Better Homes and Gardens)

2 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Egg Yolks
1 Egg
1/3 cup water
1 tsp Olive oil

In large mixing bowl stir together 1 3/4 cups of the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. In a small mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, egg, water, and oil. Add to dry mixture, mix well. Sprinkle kneading surface with remaining flour. Knead dough until smooth and elastic 8 minutes total. (I use my kitchen aid with the "hook" attachment and it works great) Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 4 portions. Roll each portion out very thin 1/16'' thick and then use a pizza cutter to cut it into narrow strips. Place the noodles on a cookie sheet to dry for about 30 minutes or longer.

Add the noodles to the soup and bring to a boil
Add 1/2 cup of Frozen peas (or more if desired)
Thicken with Corn Starch (mixed with water) to desired thickness.

Since much of the water is usually boiled of by now it may be to salty, so add water as necessary. If not salty enough add more bullion or salt.

Serve with Yummy Garlic Bread

Garlic Cheese Bread

This is straight from the red cookbook. Eventually I'll like to put all the recipes from the red cookbook here. We grew up on this stuff. Mom elaborated on one of Grandma Vera Jean's recipes and came up with this.

1 Loaf of French bread or baguette (purchased from grocery store)

½ c. Mayonnaise

½ c. Butter

½ c. shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

a few dashes of dill weed

2 cloves of fresh garlic grated

Salt to taste

Or

Garlic Salt to taste if you don’t have fresh garlic

Melt butter in microwave until it is soft but not completely melted. Add mayonnaise, cheese, dill weed, garlic, and salt. Stir until well combined. Slice bread however you prefer. If it is a wide loaf you may want to cut each slice in half so that it goes farther. Coat each slice very thoroughly, it works best to use your hands. Place on cookie sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until browned. You want the edges to be crispy but you don’t want a crouton.

Italian Chicken

Okay! So I'm finally contributing to a blog!! This is a recipe for that chicken I make sometimes. I'm not sure if the measurements are correct because I never measure myself!

5 breasts of chicken
1-2 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 chopped onion
2-3 cloves of grated garlic
¼ chopped red pepper
1 can tomatoes or 3-4 fresh tomatoes (or use some of both)
Sun-dried tomatoes (if desired)
1 T. fresh basil
Italian spices (whichever you prefer i.e., oregano, parsley, etc.)
Lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
Veggies of your choice (squash, eggplant, green beans, artichoke hearts, spinach)


Heat olive oil on stovetop. Add chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides over medium-high heat. In a separate dish sauté the onion, garlic, and red pepper in 1 T. butter. Add the sauted veggies to the chicken. Then add the tomatoes, basil, and other seasonings of your choice. Cook together over low heat for 30-40 minutes (until tender). Keep stirring it and watching it as you may have to add a little water to the sauce. The last 10 minutes add additional veggies if desired (yellow squash and zucchini, green beans, eggplant, artichoke hearts). Finish it off by throwing on a handful of spinach and freshly grated parmesan cheese, and squeeze lemon juice on top.

My Favorite Fall Cookie

Cookie Jar Gingersnaps

2 cups all purpse flour
1 TBSP ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (can omit if you want to)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 white vegetable shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup molasses
Sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven 350*. Sift dry ingredients into a med. bowl. In large bowl beat shortening til soft. Gradually add sugar and continue until fluffy, add egg and molasses, then stir in flour until blended thoroughly. Roll into balls and roll in sugar. Bake for about 9-10 minutes, until tops are crackled and lightly browned. (do not overcook, they are still really soft in the center when you take them out, these are best when soft and chewy) Remove from baking sheets to cool completely.

These cookies are fabulous and scream- "Fall is here!!!" They are guaranteed to please, I have never made them without receiving compliments. Have them with a glass of cold milk, or a cup of hot cider. Enjoy!