Pulled BBQ Pork

This is a great recipe. It is a family favorite. My mom started making this last year while we were at the cabin. The taste is amazing and plus it makes great leftovers. This dish also feeds a fairly large group of people. You can't go wrong making this dish. You'll have people in the kitchen wondering what's cooking when it gets close to being done.


Ingredients
3 lbs pork shoulder ( butt )
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 package McCormick's Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork seasoning

Directions
1. put pork in crock pot.
2. mix seasoning ketchup b-sugar and vinegar
3. pour over pork
4. cook 8 hours on low
5. remove pork and let cool slightly
6. shred
7. add back to cooker..
8. heat 5 minutes....
9. serve on kaiser rolls or hamburger buns with cole slaw an pickles.

Enjoy!

Tin Foil Dinner

Right now is the perfect time to start collecting recipes for camping. Why make camping food dull and weird tasting, when camping is all about simplicity. You don't want to go overboard on the cooking because it takes out the fun of the entire experience. My recommendation to you is to find recipes that are simple, that don't take long to cook or something that you can pre-cook at home.

Materials:
Wood
Matches
Tin foil

Ingredients:
hamburger (thawed)
package of onion soup mix (dry)
carrots (pre-cooked)
potatoes (pre-cooked)
other vegetables (pre-cooked)

Directions:
1. Take enough tin foil to make a pouch.
2. Place all the ingredients in the middle
3. Take the onion soup mix and pour enough to give it flavor
4. Seal tin foil pouch with another piece of foil or leave enough room to roll the open edge.
5. Stick down by the embers of the fire to cook
6. After a minute or so check and turn over (you are just waiting for the hamburger to be cooked)


Enjoy!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Have you ever been awakened by the smell of something fresh baking in the oven. I have, and it is a bit of heaven. Your senses are filled with the sweet smell of fresh muffins that have just come out of the oven. You think to yourself, this is going to be a good day.

I love to make muffins while at the cabin. There is nothing like fresh mountain air combined with the sweet and savory smell of muffins. It is so fun to have the muffins baking and then slowly, one by one everyone starts to get up and see what is cooking. It is always fun to have breakfast at the table in the morning with everyone there.

Tip:
To make it easier to remove the muffin from the paper cup, spray just once in the paper cup. This will help keep the muffin intact.

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

BACON AND CHEESE QUICHE HOME FRIED POTATOES

Bacon and Cheese Quiche:

1 9 in. Pillsbury pie crust
1 T. butter
12 bacon slices, crumbled
1 bag mixed cheese
4 eggs
2 C. heavy cream
3/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread crust into pie plate or quiche plate. Spread crust with butter. Sprinkle bacon and cheese on crust. Beat eggs w/ rest of ingredients. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes. Turn down to 325 degrees and bake 40 more min. Let stand 10 min.

Home Fried Potatoes:

4 red potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and green pepper. Cook, stirring often, until soft; about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Pour remaining 2 tablespoons of oil into the skillet and turn heat to medium-high. Add potato cubes, salt, paprika and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are browned; about 10 minutes. Stir in the onions, green peppers and parsley and cook for another minute. Serve hot.

Once and a while at my house we like to shake things up at the dinner table. When my mom and I found this recipe, we knew it was going to be an instant hit. Plus the Quiche made great leftovers not just for dinner, but for breakfast also. A great thing about this recipe is that it can be doubled to make 2 quiche's and be cooked at the same time in the oven. This is great for when you might be entertaining for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we have.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Parfait

Start your day off right with a medley of summer berries, fresh fruit and crunchy granola, served up with a dollop of vanilla yogurt and drizzled with honey. This is a great way to step away from the ordinary breakfast. Quick, easy, and tasty are the only ways to describe how great this recipe is. Impress your friends by creating this stylish and tasty breakfast treat. They will have no idea that it only took you a matter of minutes.

If you get tired of the same fruit, try something new. The sweet nectar's of the different fruits will make your taste buds come alive.

Go ahead, give it a try. Sweeten up your breakfast.

Ingredients
1 cup (250 mL) fresh fruit or berries (see list below)
1/2 cup (125 mL) plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt
1/2 cup (125 mL) granola or other whole-grain cereal
1 tbsp. (15 mL) honey or your favourite fruit jam

Cooking Instructions
Spoon half of the fruit or berries into the bottom of a parfait glass or other ice cream sundae-type dish. Top with half of the yogurt, and sprinkle with half of the cereal.
Repeat with remaining fruit and remaining yogurt.
Add a decorative drizzle of honey or a dollop of jam and sprinkle the top with the rest of the cereal.
For a finishing touch decorate with a single, perfect berry or slice of fruit. Beautiful!

Other Fruits To Add:
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Peaches
Pears
Cherries
Apples
Nectarines
Pineapple
Mango
Papaya
Kiwi
Banana

Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad

Juicy, warm chicken breasts baked in a crunchy pecan and garlic flavored coating sit on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce. Dried cranberries and mandarin oranges add a sweetness that is balanced by the tanginess of crumbled blue cheese. Ranch dressing ties the dish together to make a wonderfully light, filling salad.

You and your family or guests will absolutely love the flavor of this salad. It is a sensational hit at the dinner table. Being easy to prepare, this salad only takes 15 min of preparation time and in 25 minutes to cook the salad is ready to eat after you toss it together.

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy garlic salad dressing
1 cup finely chopped pecans
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 head romaine lettuce leaves, torn into 1/2 inch wide strips
1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup dried cranberries
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Ranch dressing


DIRECTIONS
1-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2-Place the creamy garlic dressing and pecans in separate bowls. Dip each chicken breast in the dressing then in the pecans to coat. Arrange chicken on a baking sheet.
3-Bake chicken 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until juices run clear.
4-Cool slightly, and cut into strips.
5-On serving plates, arrange equal amounts of the lettuce, mandarin oranges, cranberries, and blue cheese. Top with equal amounts chicken, and serve with Ranch dressing.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This salad will make your taste buds explode. It is so delicious. In my family we like to have this dish along with our hot off the barbecue grilled chicken. This salad is the perfect mixture of sweet, salt and flavor. Just thinking about how good strawberries taste, will start to make your mouth water. What I especially like about this recipe is that the dressing is light. It is light in texture and taste.

When you make this salad, you should know that there is quite a bit of dressing made. There is enough dressing that if you used twice the amount of salad mix the taste and texture of the dressing doesn't change.

If you are taking this salad to a party, I suggest that you not put the dressing on till you get there. If the dressing sits on the spinach leaves too long then the leaves lose their crunch.

Also, if you want to try a different fruit, I would suggest raspberries, peaches, blueberries and other varieties of softer fruit.


Salad
1 bunch spinach, rinsed
10 large strawberries, sliced

Dressing
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

In a large bowl, mix the spinach and strawberries.
In a blender, place the sugar, salt, vinegar, and oil, and blend until smooth. Stir in the poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.

Fruit Pizza

Crust :
1 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
Cream all of these together in a bowl with you beater then add....
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
Press into a lightly greased pizza pan and cook at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes ( until it is golden brown on the top) - I make mine in a cookie sheet which you totally can do, but you will have to double this recipe, however you won't want to use all of the dough because it will be too much. So still double it, but just use half of the double if that makes sense! Your best just to do it in a pizza pan!

Topping :
16 oz softened cream cheese
1 7 oz cool whip
1/2 - 1 cup of powdered sugar ( just to taste, as sweet as you want it!)
whip the cream cheese until it is completely soft, then fold in the cool whip. After that pour the powdered sugar in and whip it all together! For the fruit on top you can put whatever your heart desires! (kiwi is really yummy!!)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every time I bake these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, my family goes wild! (especially my dad) These cookies are simple and delicious. It takes about 10-15 minutes to mix all the ingredients and then about 15 minutes to bake. I know that the next time you need to make a batch of cookies, you'll be the talk of the party.

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
1-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets
2-In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, white sugar, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree
3-Once mixed together well start adding the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg
4-After everything is combined, add in chocolate chip
5-Drop teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets
6-Bake 12-15 minutes, until edges begin to brown

Enjoy!

Guacamole!

This is one of my favorite things to make. It is also a family favorite. Anytime someone buys avacados we know that someone is going to make guacamole. The great thing about guacamole is that it is a side dish for any time of year. You can eat this during the winter and have it feel like your at a summer barbeque. Depending on how much you make sometimes there is enough to save for the next day. Though sometimes its just too good so it gets eaten.

Ingredients:
Avacados
Tomatos
Mayonase
Lemon juice
Onion salt/ other seasonings
Salsa


Directions:
As you make this there is no actual measurement for each ingredient. Everything is based off of taste and texture

1. Cut open avacados and take the pit out then place into a bowl
2. Cut tomatos into chunks and place with avacados
3. Add mayonaise
4. A squirt of lemon juice
5. A few shakes of onion salt and other seasonings you like
6. A couple spoonfulls of salsa
7. Mix everything together and taste, add anything else for taste.
8. Get some tortia chips

Enjoy!

Spaghetti!!!

This is always a family favorite. Between my mom and I we cook this meal about 3 times a month. Spaghetti is great fresh off the stove and make great leftovers. This recipe take about 30 minutes to make and it is easy clean up.

One thing that I love about cooking is smelling the flavor of the food as you walk into the room. The aroma sets your stomach up for good eating's. Anytime anyone cooks spaghetti, it always reminds me of home. For some reason the smells, noises and tastes continually take me back to my home and cooking in the kitchen. Home is where the heart is, especially when it comes to food. There is nothing that tastes so good as a home cooked meal. I think that is why, as college students look forward to going home on occasions.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey burger (less fat)
1 package of noodles, your choice
1 jar Chunky Mushroom Ragu Sauce

Directions:
1- Defrost meat if frozen, if not place in pan and begin cooking. You want to chop the meat up into small chunks and cook till brown all the way through.
2- Cook your noodles (as meat is cooking) Boil till soft.
3- When the meat is done place into a strainer and rinse (this takes off the extra grease) then place back in pan
4- When noodles are done, strain and rinse and combine with meat
5- Add sauce and mix
6- Heat everything till hot
7- Serve

Great sides:
Green Salad
French Bread (buttered)
Parmesan Cheese

Enjoy!

Summer Time Chicken

I know that summer is not here yet, but I couldn't wait to share how I cook chicken in the summer. This is one of my favorite dishes to have. Mainly because you don't have many dishes to clean up when you are done eating. This is definitely a family favorite. The chicken turns out so juicy and full of flavor. Your mouth will water.

With this dish I like to also cook squash, corn and green beans. Or some nights I like to make pasta salad, strawberry spinach salad, green salad, or fruit salad.


You'll need:
Frozen chicken breasts-as many as needed
Zesty Italian Dressing

Directions:
Turn on the grill to high (this gets all the gunk off, don't forget to scrape the grill)
Move temperature on grill to medium
Defrost the chicken breasts (about 10 minutes on defrost cycle)
Place chicken in a cooking pan and pour dressing all over
Let the chicken marinade for at least 15-30 minutes
Place the chicken on the grill, be sure to sear both side of the meat (this keeps the juices inside)
Turn frequently as the chicken cooks

The grilling time takes about 10 minutes

Enjoy!

Gooey Popcorn

This treat is one of my family's favorites to make and eat. It is so simple that you'll wonder how you ever went without it. Not only is it simple, but it tastes so good. After making this treat you'll wonder, how it is not a sin to each so much of your batch.

Every year for Christmas, we start making this yummy treat for our neighbors. I think that it's their favorite too. The best time to eat it is about a minute after spreading it out on the pan. Mmm...it's delicious.

Ingredients
1 qt (quart) popcorn kernels
5 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup margarine
1/2 cup Karo syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup sugar

Mix together in a large bowl popped kernels and marshmallows

Stove Top:
At a medium high heat start melting butter, add in sugar, and Karo syrup. Mix ingredients till blended and comes to a boil. Simmer the mixture at a medium heat for 3 minutes.

After the 3 minutes, take off of the heat and pour the teaspoon of vanilla and stir in.

Pour all around the popcorn and marshmallows and mix together.

Place on a sheet of wax paper.

Enjoy!!!

Pasta

This is probably one of the easiest dishes you can make.

What you'll need:
Pasta
Frozen Chicken Tenders
White sauce mix
Any other add in you choose (corn, broccoli, peas)

Time: 20-25 minutes
Servings: 5-8

Steps (all of the steps are happening at about the same time)

1. Start boiling your water, microwave the chicken, and mixing white sauce (follow directions on the white sauce packet)
2. Once water is boiling, toss in your noodles and cook till tender
3. When microwaving chicken cook for 10minutes then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes
4. When the chicken is done cut into small cubes
5. Once noodles are done, strain and rinse and place back in the pot
6. By this time your white sauce will be ready to pour over noodles
7. Add chicken to noodles and sauce and begin to mix together
8. Add in another vegetable for texture and taste

When I made this for my family, it was an instant hit. This is a great dish for Italian cuisine on a budget. These steps are basic enough that if you felt daring to add something else you can make it your own Italian dish. This dish is also great for leftovers.

Enjoy!