Rolls

2 cups warm water 

2 Tbs yeast 

2 eggs 

1 cube melted butter 

2 tsp salt 

1/2 cup sugar 

6 - 6 1/2 cups flour 

Mix yeast and water and let brew a few minutes. Add rest of ingredients and mix/knead for about 5 minutes. Cover and let rise in the bowl for about an hour.

Take dough and divide in fourths.  Take 1/4 of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin to form a circle. Use a pizza cutter or knife to divide the circle of dough in fourths and then into twelfths. (see picture) 

Roll into a crescent (start with wide end and roll onto itself). Place on greased cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rise for another 1-2 hours at room temperature. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

The dough can also be used to make cinnamon rolls. 

For filling mix: 

1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2cup white sugar, 

2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2cup butter (softened) chopped nuts (optional) 

raisins (optional) 

Break off piece of dough and roll it out as a rectangle on floured surface. Cover dough with filling mix. Roll into a log. Cut cinnamon rolls with a piece of string by putting it under the log and twisting over to top cutting the dough. (I like to use unflavored dental floss as the cutting string) Place cut dough on greased 9 x 13 pan or pie tin. 

For glaze frosting: 

Melt 1 inch of a cube of margarine. Put in 2 Tbs milk. Add 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring. Add enough powdered sugar to desired consistency. 

I got this recipe from Amy Gray to make for a Stake Relief Society function. I really liked the recipe. Of course, I like anything with butter in it.

Clam Chowder

3 6 1/2 oz cans minced clams
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 cups diced potatoes
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 pt. (2 cups) half and half
1 pt. (2 cups) milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
dash pepper

Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables in medium size pan. Add enough water to barely cover and cook covered over medium heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. In another pan, melt butter, add flour, blend and cook one or two minutes. Add cream, stirring constantly until thick. Add undrained vegetables and clams and heat thoroughly. If too thick, dilute with milk.

I got this recipe from Scott's mom. My friend, Gwen, requested that I post this recipe on my blog.

Drop Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Measure flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. Cut in shortening thoroughly, until mixture looks like meal. Stir in milk. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

I got this from my Betty Crocker cook book and use this recipe all the time when serving soup. It is quick and easy to make. Just a word of warning. Shortening can go bad if it sits in your cupboard for a long time. Smell it to make sure it isn't old.

Creamy Chicken Soup

Use 3 -14 1/2 oz or 1- 49 1/2oz can of Swanson Chicken Broth, or make your own chicken broth by boiling bones and skin from a rotisserie chicken. Cut up your favorite vegetables and cook until tender in chicken broth. (The vegetables I like to use are: potatoes, onions, celery, green pepper, carrot.) In another sauce pan, melt ½ cup butter. Add 1/3 cup cornstarch, 3 cups milk, 1 cup cream. (cream optional) Heat until thick. Add milk mixture to vegetables. Add cut up chicken from rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken, or cooked chicken tenders. Add 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes. You can also add other seasonings such as Mrs. Dash.

My younger kids like the taste of the creamy soups. It is fun to be creative when making homemade soup.

Chicken Vegetable/Noodle Soup

Boil bones and skin from a rotisserie chicken (I like the ones from Costco best!) for about 1 hour. When cooled, remove bones and save broth in fridge overnight. Skim fat off the next day. Add chicken from the day before, vegetables, caned tomatoes, salsa, salt, pepper, parsley flakes, Mrs. Dash seasoning, bay leaves, barley, noodles, or what ever else or what ever combination your family would like in your “homemade soup.” Boil until vegetables are tender. If adding noodles, add them last 10 minutes. I prefer to cook the noodles in a separate pan and then add them. You could also use canned Swanson Chicken Broth instead of making your own broth from boiling a rotisserie chicken or a whole fresh chicken.

I love making homemade soup. I feel so healthy when I eat it. And it is good for you, especially when you are sick. I learned a lot about making homemade soup from Debbie Jones.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

3 or 4 chicken breasts cooked and diced
1 dozen corn tortillas torn into pieces
1 cup milk
1 chopped onion
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 can cream chicken soup
1 can green chili salsa (7 oz size)
1/2 cup chicken broth
Grated cheese

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except the cheese. Put into a crock pot and cook all day on low. Then put grated cheese on top right before serving. You can also put into a 9x 13 pan and bake for 1 ½ house covered at 300 degrees.

I got this recipe from Scott's mom. I make this recipe a lot using the leftovers from our Sunday crock pot chicken. Sometimes I'll add leftover rice or add a can of beans.

June 23, 2023

I can't believe I've been making this recipe for over 20 years.  I have this version of the recipe that I use now. 

I’ll use a rotisserie chicken from Costco for the chicken meat.  I'll buy the chicken, debone it, and divide the chicken meat into 2 or 3 portions.  As I debone the meat, I put the skin and bones into a pot, cover the bones and skin with water, and boil it for about 1 hour.  Then I remove the bones and skin, skim off the grease, and divide the broth into 3 equal parts. (It's about 1 cup broth x 3)  I will use one portion of  the meat and one portion of the broth for each time I make this recipe.  I put the other 2 portions in the freezer to use the next time I make the recipe. 

Chicken Tortilla Casserole 

1 jalapeño pepper (about 3 Tablespoons) that I’ve chopped in my chop wizard. Click here to see what a chop wizard is.  If you don’t have a chop wizard, just chop it into small pieces.  

1 small onion chopped

4 minced garlic cloves

6 Tablespoons butter

Several shakes of Mrs. Dash (original seasoning blend)

Put the above ingredients into a large pot and cook until tender.  

Add:

1/3 cup flour and blend in.  

Add:

1 1/2 cups milk and whisk and cook until thick

Add:

1 1/4 cup salsa (I use 1 cup red salsa and 1/4 cup green salsa)

14 cut up corn tortilla shells (I cut them into squares with my knife on a cutting board)

1 1/4 cup cooked rice  (I use rice that I cook in my instant pot and have ready to use in the freezer.  The rice I prefer to use is the blend is 1 cup wild rice and 1 cup brown rice.  After it is cooked, I put it 1 1/4 cup portions in a zip-lock sandwich bag and put it in my freezer — ready to use when I make this recipe.

1 cup chicken broth (from my freezer from the rotisserie chicken made earlier.  See above explanation) 

1/3 - 1/2 of a Costco rotisserie chicken that I have stored in my freezer (see above explanation) or fresh cut up rotisserie chicken.

salt and pepper to taste (I use 1/4 tsp each) 

Put it into a 9x13 pan.  Top with grated cheese (I use sharp cheddar cheese)  Cook in 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.  

Pictured below are the ingredients I use for the recipe.  The brown and wild rice mixed are cooked together and put in the freezer

Pictured below is the cut up rotisserie chicken, broth, onions, jalapeño pepper, and rice mixture that was prepared earlier and put into the freezer.

Frozen brown rice and wild rice mixture

Crock Pot Chicken

Spray crock pot with Pam (cooking spray). Put whole chicken or chicken pieces in crock pt. Add one cup salsa or BBQ sauce (see recipe below) Cook on high for several hours. (depending on how hot your crock pot cooks). Serve the chicken and broth that is made through the cooking process over rice.


I have made crock pot chicken almost every Sunday for the past 30 years. It makes a delicious Sunday meal with minimal effort. Our family favorite is to use the cup of salsa, but the BBQ version is good too.  Lately I've added a can of chicken broth along with the salsa when I put the chicken in. It gives me more chicken broth to use with the leftovers.   

When everyone is home from their Sunday meetings, I put on a pot of rice to cook for 20 minutes, and also serve a vegetable. I prefer to use chicken with bones because then it makes a better broth. I usually buy the frozen chicken breasts from Smart and Final and put the chicken in frozen or I'll use a whole fresh chicken, or chicken legs from Costco or Smart and Final. I like to buy my fresh chicken from Fresh and Easy or on sale at any grocery store. If I have any leftovers, I'll use it for chicken tortilla cassarole, or homemade soup (add a couple cans of chicken broth to what ever left over broth there is along with vegetables and noodles, or chicken tacos. If there is left overs with the BBQ sauce chicken I add stir fry vegetables and 1 TBS soy sauce to the BBQ chicken sauce and chicken and serve over rice. There is probably endless ideas to do with the left overs from this meal!

For a change I'll add this BBQ sauce recipe instead of adding salsa;

BBQ Sauce

1 cup ketchup
1 small can tomato sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs prepared mustard
1/4 tsp Lowry season salt   (optional)                                                         

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

1 3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup 1 minute oatmeal
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1 pkg chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Pour boiling water over oatmeal. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add brown and white sugar and margarine. Stir until margarine melts and add eggs. Mix well. Sift together flour, soda, salt and cocoa. Add flour to sugar mixture. Mix well. Add half of chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with nuts and remaining chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Tastes best when warm.

Rachel got this recipe from her cousin, Eliza. It is always a big hit when ever we serve it. I tell people this is a very healthy cake because it has oatmeal in it.

Chocolate Yummies

7 Graham Cracker sheets
2 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 package (12 oz., 2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2/3 cup light corn syrup (when I make this recipe, I use 1/3 cup light corn syrup)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1. Coat 9 x 13 microwave-safe dish with cooking spray. Arrange Graham crackers in single layer over bottom of dish, breaking crackers as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows.

2. Microwave on high about 40 seconds or until marshmallows are puffy. Removed from microwave. Cool completely.

3. In 2-quart microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate morsels, corn syrup and butter. Microwave at high about 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter. Add Rice Krispies cereal, mixing until combined.

4. Spread evenly over marshmallows. Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm. Cut into bars. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Yield: 36 servings


You can save money by using Wal-mart brand graham crackers and rice krispie cereal. I have used smooth peanut butter because I didn’t have any crunchy. I use more than 2 ½ cups of miniature marshmallows because when I do the last part of step #1, I covered completely the layer of graham crackers with marshmallows. I got this recipe out of the newspaper. I was requested by Sam’s friend, Mike, to post this recipe.

Carrot /Zucchini Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups shredded carrots (5 medium)
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

1. Heat oven to 3500. Grease bottom and sides 9x13 pan.

2. Mix sugar, oil and eggs in large bowl until blended; beat one minute. Stir in remaining ingredients except carrots, nuts and cream cheese frosting. Beat 1 minute. Stir in carrots and nuts. Pour into pan.

3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

4. Frost with cream cheese or vanilla frosting.

For lighter carrot cake

Substitute 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt for 1/2 cup of the oil. Decrease the chopped nuts to 1/2 cup.

Zucchini Cake: Substitute zucchini for the carrots.

I got this recipe from Rachel. I just served it for Scott's work administrators breakfast meeting on Friday and for the Duarte II Ward bishopric who were over for a meeting on Sunday night. (I made a double batch and froze half for the Sunday night meeting.) It is very good, moist, and easy to make.

Pizza Dough

1 package active dry yeast (1 Tbs.)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3-4 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 Tbs olive oil (I sometimes use canola oil)
1 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar. Mix 2 cups flour, salt and oil in large bowl. Add yeast mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in additional flour until the dough begins to form a ball and is easy to handle. Place dough on lightly flour cupboard and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 min.) Place dough in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. (A lot of times, I'll just have it rise for 5 or 10 minutes, and not a whole hour that it would take to have it double in size) Roll the dough into a circle. Bake with toppings at 450 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes until crust is golden brown.

This is one of Sam's favorite dinners. For the pizza sauce, I will use spaghetti sauce or a can of tomato sauce with Italian seasoning, or take a can of tomato paste and add a can of water along with some Italian seasoning. I like the last suggestion the best because it makes a thicker pizza sauce. As I prepare the cookie sheet to cook the pizza on, I'll first spray it with Pam and then sprinkle some corn meal onto the cookie sheet ( when I use a cookie sheet, I'll roll my pizza crust into a rectangle instead of a circle).

No Bake cookies

The first part of this recipe is a commentary from the person who posted this recipe on dowehavetoeatthis.blogspot.com:

I'm sure that many of you have mastered The Art of The No Bake Cookie but, until Friday I had not! I finally figured it out! For some reason mine always turned out crumbly and I was always frustrated because I wanted yummy ones and mine never were! Well, I think I've got it! I read somewhere online that if you don't boil them for the EXACT time that the recipe calls for you will not get good results. Well, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick oats


Directions:
Lay out foil or wax paper BEFORE you make the cookies.

Combine the sugar, cocoa, milk and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a heavy boil for exactly one minute. Remove from heat.

Add the vanilla, peanut butter and oatmeal; stir well to mix up all the ingredients and plop spoon sized amounts onto foil or wax paper and let cool.

The key to making these set right is to boil them for one minute exactly. You start counting the minute once the mixture comes to a ROLLING BOIL. Use a clock with a second hand or a digital with a stop watch for accuracy.

If they never really get firm, then you didn't boil them long enough.

If they get too crumbly, then you boiled them too long. Adjust accordingly the next time you make them.


GOOD LUCK!

No bake cookies have been a Magnusson favorite to make and eat through the years . I thought I'd post this recipe from the Christensen/Finaly recipe blog because I like the commentary that went along with it.

Meringue Kisses

2 egg whites, whipped very stiff
2/3 cup sugar, add slowly

Stir in
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (Must be mini chocolate chips)
1/2 cups nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Drop batter on cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil.
Turn Oven off. Put in cookie sheet
Leave in overnight.

Makes about 18

These can be colored to fit any season

Meringue Kisses recipe #2 (from off the Internet)

Nonstick cooking spray
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Splenda (no calorie sweetener)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degree F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In large bow., beat the egg whites with the salt, cream of tartar and vanilla extract on high speen. When soft peaks form, add half the sugar and beat again. When stiff peaks form, add the remaining sugar and Splenda, and beat for several seconds.

3. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop meringues by the teaspoon onto the baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inches of space between each one.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the baking pans twice. Turn off the oven heat and prop open the oven door a crack. Leave the meringues to dry in the oven for another 1/2 hour. Remove the meringues from the oven and peel off the foil. Place them on a rack. Allow meringues to cool completely

My mother used to make this recipe when I was in high school. They are so good and so easy to make. (I have never made it with nuts. I don't think they would taste good with nuts.) I have recently seen variations like the recipe #2 posted above which uses cream of tartar. I haven't actually tried the #2 recipe. I made the first recipe last night and added 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. I'm thinking the cream of tartar makes them more stable and the vanilla gives it a richer flavor. This is my first post with a picture. Hopefully it turned out.

Tuna Tomato Pasta

3 cloves garlic, chopped small
2 TBS oil
1-2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can tuna, drained
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

In a large skillet, saute the garlic in the oil for a couple minutes, until softened. Dump in the tomatoes, juice and all, and mash them up with a fork or potato masher. Add the tuna and seasonings. Stir. Bring to a boil, them lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Toss with hot cooked pasta and sprinkle with lots of grated Parmesan cheese.

Makes enough sauce for 4 servings of pasta.

It sounds really weird to have tuna in a pasta sauce, but it really is pretty good. You can hardly even tell that it's tuna. This is a good recipe for when you need a fast meal (you don't have to spend time browning hamburger) or for when you are feeling poor and can't afford hamburger. Like most of my recipes, this was discovered and loved in college. From the cookbook Clueless in the Kitchen.