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.

Crock Pot Lasagna

I have been intending to make lasagna all week long but just haven't been able to get to it. Well, today I decided to try a new recipe from the cookbook that I won at bunco and made it in the crock pot. I was a little unsure because my previous knowledge of crock pot cooking suggested not using dairy products like cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream, etc. However, I just needed to get something put together for dinner tonight so I followed the recipe. I also wondered if the pasta would be done in 4 hours and with only 1/4 cup water and the recipes states NOT to go over 5 hours of cooking.

It smelled wonderful by about hour 2, nice a bubbly and looking like . . . lasagna.



12 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup water
1 carton (16 oz) cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Break noodles in half. Place half of the noodles in bottom of greased 4-quart slow cooker. Sitr Italian seasoning into meat and spread half over the noodles already in slow cooker. Then layer half of the sauce and water, half of cottage cheese, and half of mozzarella cheese over beef. Repeat layers. Cover and cook on low heat 4-5 hours. Do not cook more than 5 hours.

My own adjustments

• I used 8 noodles, that's what I normally use when I make it because my family likes less pasta, more sauce.
  
• I only used about 1/2 pound of beef
  
• I quickly made my own spaghetti sauce because I didn't have a jar on hand and I also just added the beef to the sauce like I do with regular lasagna.
  
• Layered noodles, cottage cheese, mozz cheese, sauce . . . twice, ending with sauce

Tortilla Roll Ups

Ok - to be honest, this one is only approved by Erika and I. It must look to girly or not be heavy enough for the guys in our family. Erika and I started making these last year (2007) when we were doing homeschool together and they became our traditional lunch. They are also great for travel. Oh yummy!



Ingredients:
tortilla (we like the tomato basil and the garden spinach the best)
vegetable cream cheese
lunch meat (turkey is our favorite)
thin slices of cheese (we like pepperjack and colby jack)
lettuce
tomato (I like, Erika doesn't)
green or red peppers (or both)

Lightly spread some cream cheese over the tortilla. Layer the toppings and roll together tightly. If you roll it tight it is easier to cut into slices which make a beautiful display for a 'girly' activity (bunco, bookgroup, baby shower, enrichment).

A great substitute for the boring sandwich!

Pumpkin Bread

This is approved by all of us! I found this recipe back in the days of watching the morning shows while I nursed Nathan. It was a morning routine for me and I found several recipes but this one is my alltime favorite from the routine.

It is similar to the Great Harvest Chocolate Chip Pumpkin bread but we like this one better. It costs less and is a bigger loaf! The original recipe calls for nuts which we love but I have also made it with chocolate chips, which the kids love but LeRoy and I don't necessarily.

Mix together:
2 cups Pumpkin Pie Mix *

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

* The Pie mix only comes in the large cans so either double the recipe to make 2 loaves or use the rest of the pumpkin for pancakes. You can also use the regular pumpkin which doesn't have the extra flavoring but it still tastes good.

In another bowl mix together and then add to pumpkin:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix just until moist then fold in 1 cup of one of the following:

walnuts or pecans

cranberries

chocolate chips

This will be a thick mixture - not like a cake. Pour into a 9" loaf pan that has been sprayed with pan spray. Bake 55-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to go along the edges of the pan before dumping the bread out of it.

Chimichangas

This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser for everyone at our house, except me! They all love them. They ask for them often. I get extra hugs when I make them. So what makes these so appealing to my brood? Duh, they are fried.

It's that same frying process that leaves me with a headache from the permeating grease smell that lingers in the kitchen for what seems like days during the winter. My best suggestion, and the only one that I have found to avoid the headache and a greasy kitchen, is to cook these in the summer in a dutch oven, or regular frying pan, over a cache cooker. These are so easy in the summer and I don't deal with the annoying leftover headache or smelly kitchen. So now, on to the recipe.

Filling:

• 2 cans refried beans
• grated cheese
• taco seasoning to taste
• salsa or hot sauce to taste
• browned ground beef**

**Our family prefers just the beans, not the beef added but you can do it both ways.

Have a sautee pan filled with enough oil to cover half the chimi - so you can roll it over to fry the other side. I have a friend who does enough oil to dip the whole chimi in but I think it wastes the extra oil and it scares me to have that much hot oil on my stove :) Heat to . . . hot. My stove does best just above medium heat. It takes a while to get it there but it doesn't fry them so fast that they burn.

Put a spoonful (large, small, depends on how many you want to make) of the filling in the tortilla. If you are going to fold them into squares just leave the filling in the center. If you are going to roll them more like a crisp bean burrito (which is what I do) then spread the filling on half of the tortilla, avoiding the edges. To roll mine I turn the sides in a little (prevents spattering when the oil hits the filling) and then roll them in a tube. With 2 cans of beans I usually get between 15-19 chimi's depending on how full I make them. You can of course do the recipe with 1 can for a smaller family but if you are going to go to the effort I'd do 2 cans and freeze the leftovers.

To fry, use metal tongs to hold the tortilla closed, set in hot oil with the fold of the tortilla down first, fry on one side until golden, then fry on the other side. Set on a paper towel to soak up a little of the oil. If you eat them right away they are crispy and if you let them sit a little they are soft.

You can eat these plain as a finger food - which is what the kids do. Or you can put them on a plate, cover with other taco type toppings (salsa, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives) and eat with a fork - which is what LeRoy does. Leftovers make a great lunch for LeRoy to grab and a good afterschool snack, especially for the 2 hungry teenage boys that appear at my house daily around 3:40. They also freeze well - don't ask me how long, I don't know. I have left them in the freezer for up to a week knowing I would be gone on a weekend and they are eaten that weekend but I'm sure they could freeze longer and be fine.

So what do I eat after I have gone to the effort of pleasing my family and I'm sitting on the edge of a grease headache? Usually regular vegetable tacos filled with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, olives, salsa, avocado and a touch of sour cream.

**WARNING: due to the combination of deep fried and refried beans you may find family members experiencing a rather explosive, smelly after-effect. It is recommended that you DO NOT make these on a Saturday if your intentions are to attend church on Sunday.

Pizza Pockets

(For those with the Fullmer Family Cookbook, this is mom's breadstick, pizza dough recipe)

Dough:

1 TBSP yeast

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

let is rise for a few minutes

Add:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 TBSP sugar

Mix and knead for about 3 minutes. You don't want it stiff but you might need to add a little more flour so that you can handle it. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. Divide into 10 balls. Roll out each ball to a rectangle (these will be very thin).

Spread only about 1 tsp of your favorite pizza sauce (homemade or canned) but be sure to not get it too close to the edges. If it is too close it just makes it messy to pinch together but it won't really hurt anything.

Add toppings:

any combination of what you like on your pizza

Pepperonni

Canadian Bacon

Italian Sausage

Pineapple

Olives

Mushrooms

Top with Grated Cheese

(we like a mixture of Colby Jack and Mozarella)

Fold over top and seal edges. Place on a buttered baking sheet, brush with egg mixture (1 beaten egg mixed with 1 tsp water), let rise 10-15 minutes. Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top.

Notes:

* You don't have to have these perfectly shaped, by the time they rise a little and bake they look great.

* The 2nd time that I made these I just mixed all of my toppings together rather than applying 1 topping at a time. It saved a little time in the end and because it is folded over no-one sees how carefully (or not) you applied the toppings.

Bread

This one has a full stamp of approval from all 7 of us!! Two loaves just aren't enough, especially if we have extra teenagers over. During 1 week I made 6 loaves and felt like that was alot. Then I remembered that mom used to make 4-5 loaves with each batch she did and sometimes that was more than once a week. Way to go Mom!

From what mom tells me I learned how to make bread when I was 8 and even though we did have a bread mixer for a good part of my growing up years, I still don't like breadmakers (different from bread mixer). To me it is easier to mix the dough and do the whole process than depend on a breadmaker to do it taking longer time and producing only 1 loaf. If you think I'm crazy, that is ok. I have been told that before concerning my bread theories.

I make this bread with a little whole wheat flour and ground flax but you can just use white flour in place of the WW and flax.

In a large mixing bowl combine:

1 1/2 TBSP yeast

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 cup warm water

Let rise for a few minutes

In a microwave dish heat for 1 minute:

1 cup water

1/2 cup milk

2 TBSP butter/margarine

Pour into yeast mixture and add:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup ground flax

2 TBSP sugar

2 tsp salt

Mix well and then add:

3 cups flour (and a little more if needed to make dough manageable but not stiff)

Knead just until mixed well, not too long or it will be a stiff bread. Let rise 15-20 minutes, punch down and shape into 2 loaves. Place in 2 large greased bread pans and let rise. Bake 400 for 10 minutes, then 350 for 20-25 minutes until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

If your kids are like mine, eat the 'heel' before the kids get to it. It is the best part of the bread!