7 Layer Bean Dip

3 medium ripe avocado, peeled,cored,mashed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

1/2-1 package taco seasoning mix

*2 cans bean dip

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch green onion, chopped

1 (3 ounce) can black olives (sliced or chopped)

1 (8 ounce) package shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Mix avocados, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

2. Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, and taco seasoning mix.

3. Layer ingredients as follows.

4. Bottom layer: Bean Dip.

5. Second layer: Avocado mixture.

6. Third layer: Sour cream mixture.

7. Fourth layer: Tomatoes.

8. Fifth layer: Onions.

9. Sixth layer: Olives.

10. Seventh layer: Cheese (I like to use Colby Jack cheese).

11. Top with extra sour cream/olives/salsa, etc. if desired.

12. Serve with tortilla chips.

13. **This seems to be a little bit better if you can chill it for a few hours or over night to let the flavors intensify**.

The recipe was taken from this link: http://www.food.com/recipe/7-layer-bean-dip-31639#ixzz1gYVCkhtH

My changes *Instead of 2 cans of bean dip, I use 2 cans of refried beans and mixed a little salsa and cilantro into it.

Alligator Drink

1 can limeade concentrate

½ cup water

½ cup apple juice

1 large avocado peeled and cubed

8 large ice cubes

Blend in blender until smooth.

Serve immediately as it’s best when ice cold

One of Rachel’s friends gave us this recipe when he saw that we had a lime tree and our neighbor had an avocado tree. There is nothing like fresh ingredients to make this drink.

This is my modified version of the recipe using fresh squeezed lime juice.

Juice about 6 limes (enough to make ¾ cup of fresh lime juice)

One large avocado peeled and cubed

3/4 cup apple juice

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

Enough ice cubes to fill up a 5 cup blender.

Blend in blender until smooth

Serve immediately

You can take the leftovers in put in Smart and Final 5 ½ oz container with lid and freeze until ready to eat. Just before eating, slightly defrost in microwave for about 30 seconds until slushy.

Makes 5 cups

Cheese-Finger Food

Ingredients

• Mozzarella string cheese
• Green bell pepper
• Cream cheese

Instructions

1. Wearing plastic gloves or sandwich bags over your hands to keep the cheese as smudge-free as possible, use a paring knife (parents only) to cut each string in half and then carve a shallow area for a fingernail just below the rounded end of each half.

2. Mark the joint right below the nail as well as the knuckle joint by carving out tiny horizontal wedges of cheese, as pictured.

3. For the fingernails, slice a green bell pepper into 3/8-inch-wide strips. Set the strips skin side down on your work surface and trim the pulp so that it's about half as thick. Then cut the strips into ragged-topped nail shapes and stick them in place at the ends of the fingers with dabs of cream cheese.

I got this off the familyfun.com website. I like it because it is a fun, healthy halloween treat that you can serve for a holiday that is filled with too many sweet treats.

Click here to see the source for the recipe from familyfun.com. Be sure to click onto the comment section to get alternative ideas to using the green peppers (like using olive halves)

BBQ Chicken Chop Salad

(click on the recipe to enlarge the print)

This was served at the General Relief Society Meeting for the Arcadia Stake. Thanks to our new Stake RS Presidency for the delicious dinner.

Apple Cake with Carmel Sauce

(click on the recipe to enlarge the print)

This was served at our Annual Arcadia Stake General Relief Society Meeting on Sept. 24, 2011. A wonderful night, thanks to our new Stake RS presidency.

Macaroni and Cheese

4 cups elbow macaroni

4 Tbs butter

4 Tbs flour

1 teas salt

3 cups milk

4 cups grated mild cheddar cheese OR 4 cups sharp cheese (you decide what kind of cheese flavor you want)

Cook macaroni until tender (follow the direction on your macaroni package)

While the macaroni is cooking, make white sauce with the next 4 ingredients. (To make a white sauce: melt butter in sauce pan. Add flour salt and stir until not lumpy. Then add milk and stir. Cook over medium heat on the stove until it gets thick, stirring constantly. When white sauce is thickened, add grated cheese.

Drain the macaroni and then add cheese sauce.

I made up this recipe when my kids were little. Everyone loves boxed mac and cheese, but when I had mac and cheese for dinner, I wanted to feed the family something more substantial and filling than the boxed kind.

This recipe makes a BIG batch. It feeds the whole magpad gang with leftovers. This is a recipe you might want to cut in half.

I did another post about macaroni and cheese on this blog. Click here to see it.

After I discovered Mrs. Dash seasoning, I decided that I like to sprinkle some Mrs. Dash on my mac and cheese after I dish it up on my plate.

Bubblegum Soda!

Yep, you read the title right...Bubblegum Soda.

Lisa has been in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) for the past 5 weeks where she is learning the Spanish language and preparing to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We love getting her letters while she is there in the MTC and enjoy hearing her stories of being with the 19 year old elders.

In her email home yesterday, she wrote about how to make bubblegum soda. When I read the "recipe" I knew I had to post it on my recipe blog. Below is a cut and paste from her email:

the elders learned how to make a bubblegum flavored drink from the soda machines in the cafeteria: one part fresca, one part orange-strawberry-banana juice and a shot of rootbeer. so crazy. but it really does taste like bubblegum.

Thank you, Lisa, for the "recipe".

Fruit Leather

Puree fruit in a blender. Today I used figs from my friend's tree, but I have also used apricots and strawberries.

Tape parchment paper (I purchased mine at Walmart. It is pictured above) to a baking sheet. I found that painter's tape works the best. (You can use plastic wrap instead of parchment paper, but be sure that it is very thick plastic wrap [ie: Saran Wrap brand]. If the plastic wrap is too thin, it will stick to the dried fruit leather.)

Pour the puree onto the covered baking sheet.

Tilt the cookie sheet from side to side to make the puree thin.

Put the cookie sheets outside in the sun to dry into fruit leather. It will take several hours.

Once completely dried, pull the leather off in strips. Enjoy!

I learned how to do this when I was a college student. You can make fruit leather out of any summer fruit. You can also add a banana to your fruit puree to sweeten it up a bit (I always add banana to my strawberry puree).

Peanut Butter Cream Pie

1 baked pie crust

Make crumbs out of the following:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

Spread 1 cup crumbs over the bottom of crust, save the rest to put on top of cool whip.

Filling:

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1 container of cool whip

1 1/2 cups milk

Mix pudding and 1 1/2 cups of milk together. Put on top of crumbs in crust. Top with some cool whip and a little more of crumbs. Refrigerate.

When we went on our Church History tour we had dinner served by an Amish family. (see past post here and read a little about the Amish people at the end of the post.) They served peanut butter cream pie for dessert.

I made it the other night and I would make the following changes to the original recipe. I would use crunchy peanut butter. I would also use real cream that has been whipped and sweetened instead of cool whip.

Tres Leches

Yellow cake mix with pudding (plus the ingredients to make it)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle brand)

2 cans evaporated milk

whipped cream

strawberries, sliced (optional)

Make the yellow cake according to directions on the box.  Let it cool, then use a fork to poke holes throughout the top.  Mix the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk in separate bowl.  Pour milk mixture over the cake (make sure to get around the edges) and put in the fridge for several hours  or overnight.  The milks should be absorbed and the cake should be moist and spongy.  Frost with the whipped cream just before serving.  Garnish with strawberry slices, if desired.

I had a friend who was on an eternal quest to find a recipe for Tres Leches that was just as good as Cafe Rio's.  He said this was a close contender.  I hear that the recipe found here is even better, but it has WAY too many ingredients for me.  So, I'll let you be the judge.

Mango Chip Dip

1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 oz) bottle Pace Picante sauce
1-2 avocados, diced
2 mangos, diced
juice of 2 limes

Mix.  Eat with chips of your choice.

I love mango salsa.  I have never tried this recipe, but found it in a ward Relief Society recipe book and thought it looked delicious.

Overnight Potato Salad

12 eggs - hard boiled and shredded

12 cups shredded potatoes

1 1/2 cups onions diced

1 1/2 cups celery diced

Dressing:

3 cups salad dressing

3 Tbs. mustard

3 Tbs vinegar

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 tsp salt

Cook potatoes until almost done, but still firm. Cool.

Shred chilled potatoes and eggs with shoestring potato shredder. Add onions and celery. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes. Mix well. Let set overnight for flavors to blend.

Note: Chilling of potatoes is the secret to this recipe. If not chilled they will crumble instead of shredding into long firm strands.

Our family just returned from a Church History tour. One night we had a wonderful dinner at an Amish home in Ohio. The family served a chicken dinner with the above recipe of potato salad as one of their side dishes. I was intrigued with the texture of the potato salad. When I read the recipe I realized the different texture was from the potatoes being cut with a shoestring potato shredder. I"m now on the lookout for a shoestring potato shredder. Does anyone know where I can pick one up? Maybe at the local Amish shop?

When I get a chance to make this salad, I'm going to cook my potatoes in the oven. I'm also going to use Mayonnaise and not Miracle whip.

".....In the beautiful hills of Pennsylvania, a devout group of Christian people live a simple life without automobiles, electricity, or modern machinery. They work hard and live quiet, peaceful lives separate from the world. Most of their food comes from their own farms. The women sew and knit and weave their clothing, which is modest and plain. They are known as the Amish people...." Pres. James Faust April 2007 General conference.

The Amish family served all 50 of us from our tour in the sun room of their house.

Below is a picture I took of their family carriage.

To finish the story that Pres. Faust tells about the Amish community, click here.

Window Cleaner

Someone asked me the best way to wash windows... You know, as in spring cleaning type washing the windows. I found webpage: ehow.com and liked their washing solution and procedure of using the solution with a rag to get off the dirt and then newspaper to dry the window without leaving streaks.

Click here to see the vinegar solution recipe and the procedure on how to do the job. (A tip at the end of the article suggests that you wear latex gloves to prevent the dye from the newspaper from staining your hands.)

A Wake Up Call From Mother Nature

Did you see the news this week?

What were you thinking when you saw the photos from

Joplin Missouri?

I'll tell you what I was thinking.....

WAKE UP!

How come I've let my pantry dwindle?

A quick trip to Costco and $150 later = peace of mind.

Do you remember how to store food in Pete recycled containers?

For a refresher course, click here.

Remember, you can never have enough water!
Read more about water storage by clicking here.

Lemon Fluff Dessert

1 pint chilled whipping cream

2 cups homemade lemon curd

2 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (or a little more depending on your taste)

2 T. grated lemon peel

Beat cream in large bowl until stiff peaks form. Mix lemon curd, lemon juice and peel in another large bowl to blend. Fold in whipped cream. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Serve by dolloping on a slice of pound cake or angel food cake. You may want to mix in some raspberries or just top with berries.

Lemon Curd

3 lemons (about 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice)

2 large eggs

3 egg yolks

2 Tbsp. milk

1/2 c. sugar

6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Wash and dry lemons. Before juicing, grate the zest of one of the lemons. Beat eggs, yolks, milk and sugar together. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Set the mixture over medium-low heat and whisk until the eggs are thickened and warm. Add the butter a few pieces at a time, stirring until each addition is blended into the eggs. Continue stirring until mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. When thick, pour into a bowl or glass jar to cool. Cover with plastice wrap touching the surface so a skin doesn't form and refrigerate. Makes 2 cups.

Always Moist Pound Cake

1 Duncan Hines brand all butter cake mix

4 large eggs

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. granulated sugar

8 oz. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350*F. Combine cake mix, oil, sour cream and sugar. Add eggs one at a time until thoroughly mixed. Stir in vanilla. Spray (or grease) bundt pan and sugar coat the inside of pan (this creates the crisp crust found on the old fashioned pound cakes). Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until cake test is done.

April Steimle served this at a pre-ward conference meeting with Arcadia Ward bishopric. It was delicious! April topped it with berries. It looked so nice. Thanks, April for sending me the recipe!

Artichoke Spinach Cheese Dip

6 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach

1 cup drained and chopped canned artichokes

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

5-6 slices pita bread, grilled

Heat the cream cheese in the microwave for one minute or until hot and soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except the bread) and mix well.

Cut the grilled pita bread into 8 triangles per slice.

Serve the dip hot with the sliced grilled pita bread.

6 servings

I got this from the LDS Living Magazine--it's a recipe from "the Roof" in Salt Lake City. SO YUMMY. I served it with wheat thin crackers instead of the pita bread.

Limeade

One of the blessings of living in Southern California is the abundance of citrus trees that are around. This is our neighbor's lime tree that hangs over our fence. My son is getting ready to pick a few limes.

We had quite the harvest that day.

We have an electric Black & Decker Handy Juicer that makes the juicing fun and easy.

After we are done squeezing the juice, I put the juice into little 5 1/2 oz or 3 1/2 oz containers that I get at Smart and Final. Then I put the containers in the freezer to use for a future time when a need a little lime juice for my summer fruit, my homemade salsa, or in other recipes. (I wrote in permeant marker on the top of the container the name of the juice and the date)

My friend gave us a big box of their citrus fruit the other day. By the time I was done juicing what was in the box, I had 1 gallon of fresh juice. I went searching for another way to store all my citrus juice. I ran across this recipe webpage for engineers.

www.cookingforengineers.com

Having a brother and a couple of brother-in-laws who are engineers, I found this site pretty funny. Click here for their recipe for limeade.

Below is my simplified version of their recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup lime juice (squeezed from limes)

Lime juice consecrate:

Make a simple syrup by heating 1-1/2 cup water and 1-1/2 cup granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture has turned clear. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup of lime juice to the simple syrup.

Now you have limeade concentrate. You can refrigerate this or even freeze it into ice cube trays or containers for a cup of instant limeade whenever you want. I put some of the the concentrate in 2 cup containers for larger servings and the rest in 5 1/2 oz containers for single servings. On top of the lids, I wrote with a marker: 1 part juice, 2 part water

Limeade:

To convert the limeade concentrate into limeade, simply add two cups of water for each cup of concentrate. (Another way to think of it is: one part concentrate to two parts water) If you desire a little less tartness and sweetness, just add an addition half cup of water to the mixture.

Here are some more recipes for lime drinks:

Sparkling Limeade

1/2 cups granulated sugar or more, to taste
1 1/2 cups freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 quart sparkling water

Beginning with the 1/2 cup sugar, add to the lime juice and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the sparkling water, stir and taste for sweetness; add more sugar if needed. Pour over ice to serve.

Strawberry Limeade

1/2 cup lime juice
2 cups cold water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (10 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed
5 ice cubes

Put all ingredients except 5 ice cubes in blender container; cover and run at high speed until smooth.

Meanwhile, while blender is running, add ice cubes one at a time.

Makes 6 servings.

No Fail Rolls

1 cup milk, heated

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 TBS dry yeast

2 eggs

4 cups flour

Put the milk in a saucepan and turn on low heat on the stove. While it's warming, combine butter, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in a large bowl. Then add warmed milk (it should not boil). In another bowl combine warm water, 1 tsp sugar, and yeast. Make sure the water isn't too hot, just warm. Stir. Add 2 eggs and flour and stir with wooden spoon. Combine everything in a large bowl and stir. Refrigerate dough overnight. This helps it to rise. If you need it same day, you can put in fridge for 3 hours or in freezer for 1 1/2 hours. If you put it in freezer, let it thaw on counter for about 15-20 minutes. Take dough and divide in half and roll it out with a rolling pin to form a circle. Use a pizza cutter or knife to divide dough in fourths and then into eighths. Roll into a crescent (start with wide end and roll onto itself). Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise for another 1-2 hours at room temperature. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

This is Aunt Lynn's famous recipe. She's been known to make hundreds of rolls at a time!!!

Click here for Amy Gray's roll recipe. This recipe is the roll recipe I usually use when I make homemade rolls.

Click here for Loraine Lindstrom's scone/roll recipe

Our Winter Garden - Part 2

....Continuing the saga of our winter garden. You will recall here that we had some critters that enjoyed our previous winter garden. The animal control man suggested that we put down wire and replant. The wire prevents our little animal friends from digging up our tender seedlings. And it worked!

Scott preparing the wire

The garden plot after the seeds were planted

The seedlings growing through the chicken wire

Peas

Cilantro

Carrots

Picked lettuce ready to prepare for tonight's dinner

Below is a picture of our garden today. With the chicken wire down, it makes it so the raccoons are not able to dig up the plants. It also makes it hard to weed the garden. If you click on the picture, you'll notice that weeds are growing along the wooden fence, not lettuce.

Please pass the salad.

Salad in a Jar

This has to be the coolest idea. Salad in a jar. Check out the recipe here. As as long as you are checking out the recipe, check out Paula's web page.

Waldorf Salad

chopped apples - to taste

chopped celery - to taste

drained crushed pineapple - to taste

*strawberry poppy seed dressing - to taste

Mix everything together.

We have been eating this salad a lot lately as a side dish for dinner. It is easy to make and tastes so good. I usually have some poppy seed dressing already made up in my fridge. I also have lots of canned crushed pineapple on hand in my cupboards.

Below is a picture of my chop wizard (In the picture it is chopping a red pepper. Don't get confused. There is no red pepper in this recipe. I just used this picture for another post.) I quarter and de-seed the apples and chop them using the chop wizard. I also use the chop wizard to chop my celery. As I said in a previous post, I use my chop wizard a lot. I got it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

*Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing

2 C Mayonnaise
1/3 C half and half (if I don't have half and half, I just use milk)
2/3 C sugar
3-4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
3-4 tablespoons strawberry jam
A few drops of red food coloring

Chicken Croissant Sandwich

1 Costco rotisserie chicken - de-boned and cut into small bite size pieces. Add the chicken drippings from bottom of the rotisserie container to make the meat moist.

Add:

• Lawry’s seasoned salt to taste*
• Mrs. Dash to taste*
• 1/2 bunch of Celery cut into small pieces
• 1 red pepper cut into small pieces
• Best Foods Mayonnaise (add enough to coat the chicken so that it is moist)
• 1 cup cashews (optional) -best if broken in pieces or halfs

Just before serving the sandwiches, add cashews (if you use them) and spread on croissant rolls that have been cut in half. Add a piece of leaf lettuce to each sandwich.

This is a modified version of Debbie Jones' recipe that you can get here.

I like to use the small setting on my chop wizard to cut my vegetables. You can get a chop wizard from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. (As a side note, I use my chop wizard all the time for different recipes such as making vegetable soup or salsa)

*When putting this together, I like to use generous amounts of seasonings. You don't need to use croissant rolls to put the chicken mixture on. I like the rolls that Smart and Final has available.

**One added bonus from making this recipe is that you can also make a pot of chicken broth from the chicken carcass and skin.

**How to get chicken broth from rotisserie chicken: After de-boning the meat, put the chicken carcass and skin into a pot. Cover with water and boil on the stove for 30 - 60 minutes. When it has cooled little bit cool, take out bones and skin with a slotted spoon. Then put the broth into the fridge. The next day, skim off the fat that has risen to the top. Put the broth into a ziploc bag or another container and put it into the freezer for for future use. Or you can leave the broth in the fridge if you are going to use it within the week. You now have a batch of nutritious chicken broth to use as a base for any other soup recipe such as cream of broccoli soup or chicken noodle soup or any other chicken soup found in my soup section.

Bread Bowls for soup

2 TBS yeast

2 1/2 cups water

4 TBS sugar

1 TBS salt

5 TBS oil

7 cups flour

1 TBS dough enhancer

Start yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and set aside. In Bosch, combine 2 cups warm water, sugar, salt, oil and half the flour. Mix well. Add yeast mixture, dough enhancer and the remaining flour Let rise. Mix down and let rise again if time permits. Shape dough into 8 equal balls and place on two large cookie sheets. Brush with egg whites. Let rise until double. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes until golden. Cut tops off and hollow out for soup.

Seriously, who doesn't love soup in a bread bowl?? This recipe comes from the wife of a counselor in the bishopric. Maybe someday when I have more time on my hands and a Bosch to do all the dirty work, I'll actually try making these myself!

Cranberry Salad

2 large (6 oz) pkg. Raspberry Jello

2 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar (can use less)

2 Tbs lemon juice

1 can 20 oz crushed pineapple, undrained

2 cups cranberries (fresh)

2 oranges peeled

2 apples

2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Dissolve jello in water. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add lemon juice and pineapple. In food grinder, grind cranberries, oranges and apples together. (Or you could use a grater or put in a food processor.) Add cranberry mixture and nuts to jello mixture. Chill until set in 9x13 pan.

This is a Magnusson Family recipe from Great Grandma Cula Magnusson that is traditionally served at our Magnusson's Thanksgiving meal. My friend, Melissa, requested that I post this recipe.

Sesame Twist Bread

Use a Bosch bread mixer or a heavy duty Kitchen Aid

Place the following ingredients in mixer with dough hook:

3 cups very warm water

2 TBS dry yeast

4 TBS sugar

Wait 3-4 minutes, then add:

2 eggs

6 cups bread flour

1 TB dough enhancer

1 TB salt

Place splatter ring on bowl; quick stir to mix everything together; then turn mixer on #1 (slow speed) then add:

2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups of flour, a little at a time. If dough remains too sticky, add a tiny bit more flour. Stop when you can see the dough coming away clean from the sides of the bowl. It's better if the dough is a tiny bit on the sticky side rather than dry. Test by stopping your mixer and touching the bread dough.

Then turn mixer on #2 speed and run for 10 minutes.

On lightly floured board divide dough into 4 parts. With a rolling pin, roll each part into about a 4 x 12 rectangle, cut each loaf into 3 strips, then braid the strips, tucking ends under the loaf.

Spray bread pans with Pam and place loaves in pans. Cover with a damp thin cloth and let rise 35-40 minutes. Before baking brush tops gently with 1 egg yolk diluted with 1 TB water. Then sprinkle tops with sesame seeds.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden.

Remove bread from pans immediately and place on a wire rack to cool.

Tips: When adding the salt always put it on top of the flour then mix it in. Salt added to yeast can kill the yeast and dough won't rise well. To check doneness, use two oven mitts and tilt the bread out of the pan to see if the bottom of the loaf is light brown. If it isn't return to oven and bake another 2-3 minutes.

I got this recipe from Donna Corrigan. She made several loaves for the Acradia Stake Women's conference last month. It was so delicious I asked Donna for the recipe. She said Carol Moore gave her the recipe 30 years ago to use with her Bosch bread machine.

I've never used dough enhancer. If I can't find any in our local stores, I saw that you can buy it online... just google dough enhancer.

I don't have a Bosch machine, so I'm going to knead the bread myself. I also haven't ever braided bread before and look forward to trying that. After I make a loaf, I'll post a picture. It was a beautiful looking and great tasting loaf of bread.

Dijon Chicken Strata

1 8 oz loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (8 cups)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey

1 4 1/2 oz jar sliced mushrooms, drained (I USED FRESH MUSHROOMS...canned mushrooms are NASTY.)

1/2 cup sliced green onions

3 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese or American cheese

5 beaten eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

3 TB Dijon-style mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Place bread cubes in a greased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Layer chicken, mushrooms, and green onions over bread; sprinkle with cheese.

2. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, and pepper. Carefully pour over layers in dish. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours.

3. Bake, uncovered, in a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

My sister-in-law got me hooked on dijon mustard! This is from a "Better Home and Gardens Cookbook." It is SO YUMMY. Have it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner!

Shake and Bake Potatoes

• 10-12 medium red potatoes
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¾ cup Italian style bread crumbs
• 1 package dry ranch dressing mix or dry Italian dressing mix (I used ranch) (Click here for a homemade dry ranch dressing mix)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Wash and dry potatoes. Cut potatoes int 1 inch cubes.
3. Place potatoes in a large bowl or gallon-size bag and drizzle with olive oil. Toss or stir well until potatoes are coated with the oil.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and stir together.
5. Add dry ingredients to potatoes. Shake in the bag or stir in the bowl until all potatoes are coated with the seasoning mix.
6. Place on a baking sheet (at least a 10×15 sized) 45 minutes at 450, stirring and flipping potatoes halfway through.
7. Remove from oven, salt to taste and serve. Potatoes should be light and golden brown when they are finished. Bake time may vary depending on the size of potatoes. Makes 10 servings.

I like potatoes and so when I saw this recipe on realmomkitchen.com, I decided to post it. Click here for the link to the original recipe that Laura posted.