Surprise Brownies

20 oz package fudge brownie mix

12 Nilla wafer cookies

12 caramels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownies according to package instructions. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray and place one wafer cookes each in bottom of tin.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of brownie batter over each wafer. Unwrap caramels and place one in the center of each brownie, topping with small spoonful of batter.

Bake brownies 22 minutes. Cool for about 10 mintues, remove from tin, and serve warm (if you let them sit the caramel will be chewy again).

Derek's English Muffin Pizza

After Derek went to scout camp he tried to convince all of us how great these pizza's were. We were all a little skeptical based on his description of them but when he volunteered to make dinner one night I let him have at it. They were so yummy and I'm not a pizza fan. Making these is easier with the large Canadian Bacon slices and they are a little thicker and yummier but as you can see from our picture we used the small ones this time - the store was out of the big ones. It can be a little tricky to flip over but it still worked and tasted yummy.

english muffins (1 muffin =2 pizzas)

pizza sauce

pepperoni rounds

large canadian bacon rounds (as big as the muffin)

cheese

optional toppings (pineapple, olives, onion, peppers)

*cut open the muffin and spread both sides with pizza sauce, add the pepperoni rounds, cheese and any other toppings you want, then. . . add the large canadian bacon round last.

*in a hot pan sprayed with pan spray (you can also use the pancake grill if you are making alot of them) set your muffin pizza in to cook with the muffin on the pan. After 2-3 minutes, carefully turn the pizza over and cook on the canadian bacon side for about 2 minutes until lightly grilled.

Popeye Pancakes

or Hercules Pancakes - depending on who your kids would know. I believe these are also called German Pancakes but I grew up knowing them as Popeye's. In this picture they are topped with apricot syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 400 and while it is preheating and you are mixing the ingredients, put the pan in the oven with 1/2 cube of butter on it to melt. *Be careful though, don't leave it to long, you don't want to start with burnt butter.

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients with a mixer, it will be very runny. Spread melted margarine all over the pan and pour the mixture in. Bake for 20-25 minutes until all puffed up and lightly browned on the top. After removing from oven (as they cool the big bubbles will fall flat), top with jam or syrup and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Tip: These measurements make a very light and thin version of the pancake. Because my kids weren't getting enough in one pan I 1 1/2 times the recipe and still bake in the same baking sheet. (6 eggs, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup sugar)

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

I was excited to find a recipe for baked chimi's since I really don't like frying things but I was a little worried that the un-fried version wouldn't go over very well. I worry no more. These were great! (Sorry the picture is so dark, now I know not to take pictures on top of my black stove top.) I served it with a meatless taco salad - put crushed up doritos in the salad and it gets them to eat it :D

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

3/4 cup picante sauce or salsa

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 to 1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano leaves

1/2 tsp salt

8 flour tortillas

1/4 cup melted butter

grated cheese

Combine cooked chicken, picante sauce, onion, cumin, oragano and salt in saucepan; simmer 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated and it is warm.

Brush one side of the tortilla with butter. Spoon 1/3 cup chicken mixture onto center of un-buttered side; top with grated cheese. Fold ends down.

Place seam side down in 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake in a preheated oven at 475 degrees about 13 minutes or until crisp. Top with desired toppings; guacamole, cilantro, picante sauce, sour cream, olives, tomatoes, cheese.

Tip: We were in a hurry to get to dinner because we needed to leave so for the last 3 minutes I turned the oven to broil - it crisped them quite nicely! Also, to save a little time, you can use 2 cans of canned chicken breast (Member's Mark or Kirtland work well) just be sure to drain the liquid before adding other ingredients.

Applebee's Grilled Club Sandwich

This is LeRoy's all time favorite sandwich so when I found the copycat recipe online and made it at home it became the most overused recipe of all time. He loves them hot off the grill, cold the next day and as many times as I will make them. We all enjoy them, but not as much as LeRoy. Since having them at our house Mom and Kara have also adopted this wonderful recipe, much to the tummy-satisfaction of Dad and James.


thick slices of bread (Texas Toast works best)
softened butter
mayonnaise
grated cheese
turkey slices
ham slices
cooked bacon
tomato slices (completely optional)
Bullseye barbecue sauce

*Heat pancake grill when you have all of your items ready to go . . this is a fast paced put together so the bread doesn't burn.

*Butter the bread on one side, the other side with mayo and have them all stacked and ready to go. Put all of your lunch meat on a plate and warm for about 35 seconds so that it isn't cold when you build the sandwich.

*Once you are ready, place 1/2 of the bread slices on the grill - butter side down, mayo up - and quickly layer cheese, 1 slice ham, 1 slice turkey, bbq sauce, bacon, tomato, 1 slice ham, 1 slice turkey, cheese and top with mayo side down piece of bread. Carefully flip sandwich over to brown other side.

**The picture shown above is without tomato and only 1 slice of each kind of meat.

**I'm not picky about the lunchmeat quantity. If I'm making enough sandwiches for the whole family or guests I use a little less (only 1 slice ham, 1 slice turkey)because they can get expensive. Also if you only have 1 kind of lunchmeat, it still tastes great with that.

Basically, this is a very flexible sandwich. However, we have tried it with regular breads and it isn't near as good - the Texas Toast makes a big difference.

Kiwi Cooler

A hint for always having fruit on hand for smoothies is to buy it at Sam's Club/Costco in bulk and freeze it. This is especially great for strawberries, pineapple and kiwi. Just peel the kiwi and pineapple and slice them in about 1/2 inch slices, place in large freezer bag and they will be great to toss in for smoothies. Even banana can be frozen, just peel and stick in a bag.

Here is one of our favorite smoothies.

1 (4-5 frozen slices) kiwi
1/2 banana
1 cup (5-6) frozen strawberries
1 cup (1 sliced ring) fresh pineapple
1 cup water
1 cup ice cubes

*If your fruit is frozen you can omit the ice cubes
*These measurements are flexible (since it is hard to measure a frozen pineapple round) and it works well to just use this combination.

Strawberries Wild (Jamba Copycat)

* Makes about 3 cups *

1 cup apple juice

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 frozen banana

1 cup vanilla frozen yogurt

ice to thicken if desired

Pour the apple juice in the blender. Add the strawberries, bananas, frozen yogurt and ice cubes. Blend until smooth with a thick consistency.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

3 1/2 cups mashed strawberries
1 box MCP pectin
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup corn syrup
4 1/2 cups sugar

*Stir pectin into strawberries and let sit for 30 mintues until pectin is dissolved. Stir every few minutes.
*Add lemon juice and corn syrup and mix well. Stir in sugar gradually so that it can all be dissolved. Stir until sugar is no longer grainy.
*Put into containers, leaving 1/2 inch at top to leave room for expansion when frozen. Let wit at room temperature for 24 hours.
*Jam can be left in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or can be frozen for up to a year.

** mashing the strawberries leaves a little texture to the jam, you can blend the berries if you want it to not have partial berries in it.
**I switch up the berry and sugar quantities because we like a little more berry flavor and for the jam to not be quite so thick. (3 1/2 cups sugar, 4 1/2 cups berries

Apple Pie Filling (Bottled or Frozen)

Back in about 2005-ish I had a neighbor bring me 4 buckets of apples. I stared at them, wondering if I should dump them before or after they all rotted because I didn't know what to do with them. Then another neighbor saved me with this awesome recipe. It is great for pie, apple crisp and to top ice cream with - I've even caught one of my kids eating it straight out of the jar.

I have no idea what kind of apples we were given so all I can offer is the recipe. It seems that any crisp apple would do. Also, if you have the freezer space and would rather freeze the filling,

I found the same recipe but with a little different instructions - Go here!

Mix and cook (boil) until thick in a large saucepan:

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
10 cup water
*after it has thickened, add 3 drops of yellow food coloring

Peel and slice apples, about 6 lbs. for 6 quarts. Pack apples into quarts-you'll want it packed tight because the apples reduce down as they cook. Pour mixture over apples and remove air bubbles with a butter knife. Secure hot lids on jars with rings. Water bath quarts for 20 minutes.

Apricot Syrup

5 1/2 cups blended apricots
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup
4 tbsp lemon
2 tbsp butter

* Apricots are only pitted for blending, not peeled

Stir all ingredients in a large pan and continue to stir until it comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into 5 prepared pint bottles, place new lids and rings, water bath 20 minutes. Invert jars for 5 minutes after waterbath, turn right side up and they should seal.

Broiled Zucchini

1 zucchini sliced into 1/4 inch slices - don't measure, just approximate :)
olive oil
salt (fresh ground is super yummy)
sliced onions and peppers (optional)

Line broiler pan with foil. Drop sliced zucchini in a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil. Grind salt over the top and mix all of it. Lay zucchini in a single layer on foil. Broil for 2-3 minutes or until lightly brown on one side. Flip over and do the same on the other.

OR

Only broil on one side.

** I like this with the Broiled Tilapia fish because I can broil it at the same time as the fish and they are yummy together.

Broiled Tilapia (Fish)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (fresh)
2 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

*I just do 2 fillets at a time because Erika always eats mine, and then save the rest of the dressing in the fridge for the next day.

Preheat broiler. Line broiling pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the parmesan cheese, mayo and lemon juice. Add seasonings and mix well.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Season them with salt and pepper. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

** really yummy to eat with broiled zucchini **

3 Bean Chili

I was looking at a magazine while getting an oil change and found this recipe. I haven't actually tried it yet but I make a taco soup with the 3 beans that is similar. I figured this would be a good one with veggies (peppers and zuchinni) instead of meat.

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 TBSP chili powder
2 sweet bell peppers,(yellow or red)cored and diced
1 medium-size zucchini, trimmed and diced(not peeled)
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (blend if you want)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp oregano
1 15 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 15 oz can small white beans drained & rinsed
1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
Grated cheddar cheese

1 - heat oil in a large nonstick pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and chili powder and cook 3 minutes.

2 - add peppers and zucchini and continue to cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3 - stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup and oregano. Cook 8 minutes

4 - Gently stir in the beans. cover pot and continue to cook 3 minutes. Serve with grated cheese, if desired.