Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies & Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

Soft Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
1 t salt
2 cups sugar
1 t baking soda
2 eggs
4 t baking powder
1 cup sour cream
4 ½ cups flour
1 t pure vanilla extract
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and combine with wet ingredients. Roll into ball. Refrigerate. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake at 350° F for 10-12 minutes. (Thicker cookies longer.) Cool and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1-2 t milk
8 T butter (room temp)
1 t pure vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar
Beat cheese and butter. Add milk, and vanilla. Slowly add sugar until the consistency you want. Beat until smooth.

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!

Soft, Chewy Cookies
You will never use a different recipe again!!
Mindy Powell

1 c butter flavored Crisco

¾ c white granulated sugar
¾ c light brown sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 ½ c white flour
1 bag Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips
(This is the brand I prefer because they are larger
size chocolate chips and they taste the BEST!!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pans with cooking spray. Beat Crisco, sugars, vanilla, and eggs until mixed well. Add dry ingredients slowly and then mix in chocolate chips. Use small scooper to place twelve even sized balls on cookie sheet. Bake for exactly 11 minutes. Makes four dozen cookies. (Note: If you half the recipe, still use the full teaspoon of baking soda.)

Creamy Chicken & Cheese

6-8 skinned chicken breasts

1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 lb. grated Monterey jack cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 T parsley flakes
Place chicken in lightly buttered casserole dish (or spray with cooking spray). Salt and pepper chicken and spoon soups over chicken. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese over chicken. Bake 50 minutes more or until bubbling and cheese is light brown. Serve with rice.

Barbecue Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Barbecue Bacon Wrapped Smokies

1 bottle honey barbecue sauce
14 oz package little smokies
12 oz sliced bacon
1/4 c brown sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour one half of barbecue sauce into large glass baking dish. Cut bacon strips into thirds. Wrap 1/3 slice bacon around smokie and insert toothpick to hold. Place in dish on top of sauce. Repeat with all smokies and bacon. Top with brown sugar and remainder of barbecue sauce. Bake 60-80 minutes or until browned. Makes 36 bacon wrapped smokies.
HINT: You can also cut the smokies in half length wise and use another package of bacon and have double the smokies! Great for parties!!

Mango Limeade

This is one of my FAVORITE Summer drinks!!

Mango Limeade
1 can of frozen limeade (made as directed)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar (or to taste)
2 c frozen mangoes
1/2 bottle of Sprite
ice cubes
Garnish with lime slices, if desired
Make up frozen limeade in large pitcher. Fill a blender half way with ice cubes. Add mango, sugar, lime juice, and fill to near the top with limeade. Blend well. Pour this mixture back into the pitcher and stir until blended then add Sprite.

Kristen's Yummy Granola Bars!

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 1/3 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour (include wheat germ)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups rice crispies
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coconut(optional-I don't use this)
1 cup gogi berries, craisens, or raisens(I like gogi berries but my kids like it without)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 11x14 pan. I also like to use an 8 1/2x11 pan for thicker chewier bars. Cream sugar and butter. Add honey, peanut butter, vanilla and egg. Blend together. In seperate bowl stir flour, cinnamon, soda, salt, rolled oats, rice crispies, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Add to creamed ingriedients. Mix in chocolate chips, coconut and berries. Turn into pan. Press and bake approx. 22 minutes (adjust according to pan you use and your oven)

Note: Many of these items can be found in bulk at the health food store. That is the best place to buy them and more cost efficient than the grocery store. You can store the seeds in your freezer for longer shelf like. Also to make a quick fresh batch of wheat flour for this recipe, use your dry vitamix grinder and 1 cup whole wheat. It grinds exactly 1 1/3 cups of fresh wheat flour. You can buy wheat flour just make sure the germ has not been removed as it has many nutrients!
Also you can slice these in individual bars and wrap them in saranwrap for a quick snack on the go. Perfect for hikes too!

Heavenly Brownie Dessert!

I found these BEAUTIFUL raspberries at the store,
and immediately knew I needed to make a
HEAVENLY DESSERT with them!! So I opted to
make a layered Brownie dessert!!
Here are the layers...
Chocolate Brownies- Homemade or from a box!
Chocolate Pudding- Homemade or from a box!
FRESH heavy whipped cream
FRESH raspberries
It tasted UTTERLY DIVINE!!

My daughter does not like her foods to touch, so she opted
for the "deconstructed" brownie dessert!! SO YUMMY!!

Mindy's Puff Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries!!

Mindy's Puff Pancakes
4 T butter
5 eggs
1 ¼ c milk
1 ¼ c flour
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1 t vanilla
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in 9x13 glass baking dish in oven while waiting to preheat. Mix all ingredients and add batter to baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with fresh fruit (we like fresh strawberries with a little sugar and lemon juice!) and powdered sugar.

Chili Cheese Egg Souffle & the BEST Buttermilk Waffles

This is what we had on Christmas Day for Breakfast...
Chili Cheese Egg Souffle & Buttermilk Waffles,
along with Hashbrown Potatoes, Sausage, and Bacon!!

Chili Cheese Egg Souffle
5 eggs
1/4 c flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 c grated cheddar cheese
1 c small curd cottage cheese
2 T melted butter
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilis
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add remainder of ingredients. Grease a square glass baking dish and pour mixture in. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 20 minutes. (For amount shown in picture, double this recipe.)

The BEST Buttermilk Waffles
1 3/4 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t sugar
2 c buttermilk
1/3 c canola oil
2 eggs
Beat all ingredients together and drop batter on hot waffle griddle.