Turkey Avocado Hummus Wraps!

YUM!  These are so good, and they are an awesome go to lunch when you need something quick!

What you need:

Whole Wheat tortillas

Slicked turkey

Avocados

Hummus

Ranch dressing (or any other favorite dressing)

Sliced cheese

Spring Mix lettuce/ Spinach
(and anything else you want to add!)

Spread the hummus on half of the tortilla and the dressing on the other half, put the rest of the ingredients on it and wrap it up!  Eat and be happy!

Beef Stroganoff

This is a creamy delicious version of stroganoff that it loaded with flavor!  It's my own version of a combination of recipes.  You can easily make this vegatarian by adding freshly cooked  mushrooms (like baby portabellas would be fantastic) instead of the meat.

Ingredients
1 lb cooked beef (steak, roast, ground, your choice)
Season meat with seasoned pepper and garlic salt.
I actually don't use the whole pound, but if I did I would double the rest of the ingredients:

1 onion
2 Tbsp butter
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup water
1 tsp veggie stock (concentrate) I love the "better than bullion" kind
1 can cream of mushroom soup (healthy request version because it doesn't have added MSG)
1 tsp or less Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 small can mushrooms, or cook fresh mushrooms with onions halfway through the sauteing process
salt to taste
pepper to taste (I like a lot!)
dash garlic salt
1 tsp parsley flakes (or better yet throw in some fresh chopped parsley)
1-1 1/2 cup sour cream (depending on how creamy you want it)

Cook meat and set aside. Saute onions in butter and oil on low heat (add mushrooms after about 5 minutes if using fresh ones).  Add minced garlic once the onions are cooked and saute 1 minute longer.  Then add water and veggie stock, cream of mushroom soup, worchestershire sauce, canned mushrooms, and spices.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes until desired consistency.  Last add sour cream and mix well, then add meat.  Serve over pasta.

* Top with fresh dill and parsley if desired!  Yum!!

Butter Ball Cookies

I'm totally on a dessert kick lately now that I'm past my first trimester and back to myself again!  So here's another one.

I grew up with these cookies, and they are still my favorite shortbread/sugar cookie ever. :)

Cream together 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla till light and fluffy.  Gradually add 21/4 cups sifted flour, mixing till smooth.  Dough will be somewhat crumbly but will stick together when rolled together.  Form into 1-inch balls;  roll in granulated sugar.  Bake on greased cookie sheet at 325 for 20 minutes.  Cool and eat!  Makes about 48 cookies.

Bread Pudding!

You might just think you've died and gone to heaven when you eat this dessert!

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread (I use 6-8 large slices of french bread, or about half a loaf.  and it doesn't have to be day old)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 eggs, beaten

• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 9x13 inch baking pan (or slightly smaller). Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork (I mix it pretty well actually, you don't have to be too light!) until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Sauce

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

3/4-1 cup whipping cream (depends on how thick you want it)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, butter, cream, and vanilla in a large saucepan. While stirring, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and stir 3 minutes more. Spoon over warm bread pudding.

My Favorite Brownie Recipe

2 eggs
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
1/2 c flour
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Melt chocolate with butter in sauce pan on stove and set aside.  Beat eggs until smooth lemon color.  Stir in sugar gradually.  Pour in chocolate and butter, then stir in vanilla flour and salt.  (can add walnuts if desired)

Bake in 8 or 9 inch square pan (greased) at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Ginger Cookies (Great Grandma's recipe)

3/4 c butter

1 c sugar

1 egg

1/4 c molasses

2 1/2 c flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

Combine ingredients and mix well.  roll into balls and roll them in sugar.  bake 8-10 minutes at 350

No Bake Cookies (The good kind!!)

2 cups sugar

3-4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 cube butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. milk

3 c. quick cooking oatmeal

1 c. coconut

1 tsp. vanilla

Bring sugar, cocoa, butter, salt and milk to a rolling boil.  Let boil and stir for about 2 minutes, but no longer.  Add oats; put lid on and let stand for 6 minutes.  Add coconut and vanilla.  Drop large spoon fulls on wax paper (or a buttered pan).  Let cool, and enjoy!

Makes: approx. 24 cookies

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2 small cans cream of chicken soup

1/2 -1 cup sour cream (depending on how creamy you like it)
cooked chicken (amount to preference, chopped or shredded)

1 onion (chopped and sauteed)

1/2 can corn

1 small can red enchilada sauce
1 small can green chiles (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

shredded cheddar cheese

flour tortillas

In a bowl mix the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, chicken, sauteed onion, green chiles, corn, salt and pepper, and about 1/3 of the can enchilada sauce.  Fill tortillas with the mixture and roll them up.  Place a small amount of either enchilada sauce or some extra cream of chicken soup (mixed with a little milk) in the bottom of the pan before putting the enchiladas in.  Place enchiladas in 9x13 in pan snugly next to each other.  Top with remaining enchilada sauce (sometimes I mix sour cream in with the sauce) or top with more cream of chicken soup (slightly diluted with milk).  Bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes, then sprinkle shredded cheddar on top and bake for another 10 minutes.

Ukrainian Borscht

This soup is amazing!  If you like beets, you will adore this soup!  It is so healthy and so delicious!  Lot's of work, but well worth it!!!  My mother got this recipe from a Ukrainian friend of hers when I was in high school.  It has been one of our favorites ever since.

Note:  The recipe says to cook a whole chicken and use the meat and broth from that.  But I prefer to just cook some chicken breasts, or even use a rotiseree chicken and then add chicken stock or water mixed with 'better than bullion'.  There isn't a measurement for water/chicken broth in the recipe, so the best way is to make sure all the veggies and meat are fully covered with the liquid and it turns out great.  (Some of the water will dissolve while boiling so be generous with the amount you put in).  Put in the beet juice before adding water so you don't have too much liquid.

Also you'll need to use a very large pot, unless you want to do half the recipe.

1 chicken whole

4 cans of beets - juice only!  (make sure you don't use pickled beets, I made that mistake once without realizing it and it ruined the whole pot of soup!)

3 bunches fresh beets (aprrox. 12 small to medium size)

  *sometimes we put in half fresh and half canned beets, they are both good in it, but at least do some fresh ones for sure*

1 pkg baby carrots

6 med. potatoes

1 large onion

2 c celery

1/2 cabbage

2 large bell peppers (red or green are best)

1 pkg fresh dill

1/2 c fresh parsley

2 dashes garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

salt to taste

1 small can tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste

sour cream to put on top (optional)

Cook chicken in boiling water.  Strain the broth and save it.  Remove from bones and cut up meat.  Put in fridge while preparing soup.  Chop up all vegetables (remove skin from both potatoes and beets) and put into the broth.  Add beet juice from the 4 cans to the broth.  Chop up fresh seasonings and add to the soup.  Add tomato sauce and paste.  Then add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Boil vegetables in the broth for about 20-30 min. until slightly tender. Turn off the heat.  Once the vegetables are fully cooked then add the chicken (otherwise the meat will be tough). If the tomato flavor is dominant you need more beet juice, the sweet beet flavor is what you want.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top of the soup.  

All ingredients are approximate, you may want to vary amounts according to your preference.

My Favorite Buttermilk Pancakes

Buttermilk Pancakes (Jayme Burkhart's)

2 eggs

2 c buttermilk

1/4 c oil

2 T sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 c flour

1 c blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed, drained  (optional)
these are also excellent with fresh raspberries in them!

Beat eggs, buttermilk and oil.  Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour.  Stir until lumps disappear,.  Add blueberries if desired.  Lightly grease griddle (heat to 375) or pan, .  Pour out pancake batter 1/4 cup at a time.

I like to top it with agave rather than syrup, but homemade maple syrup is great too.

(This recipe makes a lot of pancakes.  If you are only feeding 2-3 people you can half the recipe.)