Twice Baked Potatoes

Who doesn't love a twice baked potato? Well this recipe is the best I've ever tasted and it is completely fat free!  (ok not really but I bet you got a little excited for a second :) )

8 Baking Potatoes
8 oz Cream Cheese
2 C Cottage Cheese
1/2 C Sour Cream
1/2 C - 1 C Swiss Cheese
1/2-1 C Milk
1 tsp Garlic
1/2-1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash potatoes, rub olive oil and salt on the skin then bake for 1 hour or until cooked well.  Remove from oven and let cool until slightly warm.  Slice off top half of potato.  Scoop out cooked potato and place in a large bowl; keep shells on the baking sheet.  Add remaining ingredients to potato and mix well.  Add more milk if necessary.  Fill empty potato shells with creamed mixture to overflowing.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until starting to brown.

If you like cheesy potatoes as much as I do, you can add cheddar cheese to the top of the potatoes in the last five minutes of cooking.

 

Jenn's Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
8 oz sliced mushrooms
hot cooked rice or angel hair pasta
1/4 c butter
0.7 oz package dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c white grape juice
4 oz chive and onion cream cheese

Place chicken and mushrooms in crock pot. Melt butter in sauce pan; stir in Italian dressing mix. Stir in soup, grape juice (you can substitute milk or water if you don't have grape juice) and cream cheese until combined. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve chicken over rice or pasta.

Smoked Gouda and Spinach-Stuffed Chicken

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
2 tsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
stuffing (below)

Smoked Gouda and Spinach Stuffing

5 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c shredded smoked Gouda (smoked Swiss would work also)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Drain spinach. Mix all ingredients for stuffing. Loosen skin from chicken but leave attached. Insert stuffing under skin. Place chicken, skin side up in greased baking dish. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake at 375 for 45-55 minutes.

A fool's dinner!

chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yum.  if the recent weather has you down in the dumps warm up your soul with this tasty meal....

you'll need....

• 1 (4 1/2-inch) aluminum foil potpie tin
• 1 refrigerated piecrust (most 15-ounce packages contain 2 crusts, enough for 6 of our pies)
• Aluminum foil
• 1 egg (makes enough for 6 pies)
• 2 tablespoons water

• 1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla or white-chocolate pudding (1 box makes enough for 3 pies)
• 1 yellow and 2 orange Starburst candies
• 1 green Chewy Jolly Rancher candy or green Tootsie Roll candy (we found the green Starburst candies to be too pale)
• 1 banana (makes enough for 6 pies)
• 1 to 2 dried apple rings or a 4-ounce bar of white chocolate (1 bar is enough for 6 pies)

hahahah!! Happy April fools! now go out and trick someone!!!!!! (oh and here is the remainder of the instructions!, you can find some more tom foolery here!)

1. Bake the crust:
   Heat the oven to 450°. Unroll or unfold a piecrust on your work surface. Using the upside-down potpie tin as a guide, cut a circle of dough about 1/2 inch larger than the tin. (If you're making more than one potpie, simply cut another circle from the dough. Reroll the scraps to cut out a third.) Crumple a piece of aluminum foil into a 1 1/2-inch ball and set it in the potpie tin. Cover it with a layer of foil to create a smooth mound, then lay the circle of dough on top. (A)
2. Now press the tines of a fork around the edge of the dough to crimp it, then use the fork to gently poke a few holes in the crust. (B)
3. Beat the egg with the water, then brush the mixture over the dough.
4. Set the pie tin on a baking sheet and bake the crust for about 10 minutes. Let it cool completely.
5. Make the filling:
   Prepare the pudding according to the package directions and refrigerate until serving time.
6. Create the faux chicken and vegetables:
   To make the Starburst or Tootsie Roll candies easier to work with, place them unwrapped on a paper plate and warm them in the microwave just until they're slightly softened, about 12 to 15 seconds. (The Jolly Rancher candies will soften from the warmth of your hands.) Once you've shaped them, lay the candies on waxed paper or a paper plate, set apart from each other so they won't stick together.
7. Corn kernels: Roll the yellow candy between your hands or on a clean work surface to create a 4-inch-long rope, then use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut the rope into 1/4-inch pieces. With your fingers, form each piece into a kernel by flattening one end and pinching the other.
8. Chicken: Use kitchen shears or a knife to cut the apple rings into 1/2-inch-wide pieces. If you're using white chocolate, chop or break it into roughly 1/2-inch-wide pieces.
9. Peas: Roll the green candy into a 5-inch-long rope. Cut the rope into 1/4-inch pieces, then roll each piece into a ball.
10. Potatoes: Peel the banana, slice off three 1/4-inch-thick pieces, then cut each piece into small cubes.
11. Cubed carrots: Cut each orange candy into 4 squares.
12. Assemble the pie:
    Just before serving time, spoon about 2/3 cup of the pudding into the pie tin.
13. Add the candies and the fruit to the pudding, then set the piecrust on top.

Turkey Meatloaf

I must admit, I don't like meatloaf. It is usually so dry and gross, but this meatloaf changed my mind, I love it!

1.25 lb ground turkey
1 packet Knorr's vegetable recipe mix (it is in the baking aisle at our grocery store)
4 egg whites
3/4 c old fashioned oatmeal
1 diced onion (we skip this)
1 c salsa
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 c ketchup (we skip this)

Mix all ingredients together except ketchup. Grease 9x5 loaf pan. Place mixture into loaf pan. Spread ketchup on top (we skip the ketchup at our house). Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

We usually have some garlic mashed potatoes and salad on the side and it is a delicious meal!

the BEST sugar cookies ever

if you are ever feeling down in the dumps then you need these cookies in your life. not only will they give you a light fluffy sunny feeling and turn your despair around but they will also boost your confidence to levels you've never even felt before! no joke these cookies will do wonders for your self esteem, your popularity and best yet, your ego!

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 Tbl spoons of sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 3/4 cup flour.

I mix the wet ingredients first and then the dry. (another great thing about these cookies, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get it just right!). once all the ingredients have been mixed well together divide the dough in half and wrap in saran wrap and put in the refrigerator for a few hours. I usually let my dough chill overnight, but if you're in a hurry a couple hours should be fine.

also to note, your dough might seem really sticky when you're done mixing it and wraping it with saran wrap, but I don't add any more flour because when I roll the dough out to cut the cookies I always sprinkle flour on the counter and on the rolling pin so it gets any extra flour it might need at this stage in the game. plus chilling the dough makes it less sticky.

now for the icing...

2/3 cup butter mixed with
3 cups powder sugar (add more if needed)
1/2  cup of milk and
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla 
1/2 teaspoon almond extract!

I dare anyone to write and tell me that after they made these cookies they weren't asked by more then one person (who they might not even have known) for the recipe!!!! they're just that good!

Dahlia Cookies!

I make these cookies when I need a change from chocolate! they are so so good! and even better warm....(as I suppose most cookies are)

12 Tbl butter (that's 1 and 1/2 cubes)
1 cup. sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 tbl ginger
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tea baking soda
1/2 tea salt
1/2 tea cinnamon

Mix all wet ingredients and then stir in the dry ingredents.
If dough is too soft, put in fridge for about 20 minutes.
Roll into 1 inch balls, then roll in a bowl of sugar.
You can flatten the balls if you so desire, but I never do
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

they really are divine, we often get request to make more or pass along the recipe. and if you are scared about buying the molasses and ginger, don't be! I promise you will want to make them again and will be glad you had to buy a big ol' jar of the sticky stuff.