Malibu Chicken

This recipe isn't an original as it turns out, although I didn't know that until just recently.   For some time now, I had been wanting a particular item that I remember my mother making.  As it turns out, this came from a restaurant we used to go to when I was younger.  Keller's not a huge fan of using frozen chicken patties, and that's ok, but I really wanted this chicken and ham and cheese concoction.  As it lucked out, I went to Indiana a couple weeks ago to help my folks move.  It was a perfect time to ask my mother if we could have some for dinner one night.  She was more than happy to fulfill my request.  Along with the  Malibu Chicken, she added some sweet potato tots and regular tater tots.  It was exactly what I wanted. 

Earlier this week I asked Keller if I could make some of the chicken one night for dinner and he agreed he'd give it a try.  This is an easy recipe.  You need three things-frozen chicken patties, lunchmeat ham (not a sweet variety-we used smoked ham), and Swiss cheese slices.   First, bake the chicken patties as directed.  A few minutes before the chicken patties are done, pull them out of the oven and add your ham slices and cheese.  Place them back in the oven for the last few minutes to finish baking the patties, heat the ham and melt the cheese.

If you'd like the mustard sauce, that's almost as easy-just mix equal parts of mayonnaise and yellow mustard together.  Since the sweet potato tots were so good, and Sam liked them as well, I thought I'd do those again, with the regular tater tots.  

Again, I know it's a simple dish, but sometimes the simple dishes are great for that night of the week when you don't want to do a lot of work.  

 

I've seen it also offered as a sandwich, Monte Cristo style.  Maybe that's an option since we still have a half bag of chicken patties...maybe....

Chex® Lemon Buddies

Chex® Lemon Buddies

Okay, this came straight from the Chex website, but I wanted something besides the normal "People Chow" and the already yummy White Chocolate Cherry Chex mix.  I like lemon bars and thought to myself this sounded good, so I gave it a shot.  Yum.  It was so good!  

I made this recipe for a bake sale at my work, along with the White Chocolate Cherry mix.  They both were a hit!

Ingredients

9	cups Rice Chex® cereal
1 1/4	cups white vanilla baking chips
1/4	cup butter or margarine
4	teaspoons grated lemon peel
2	tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2	cups powdered sugar

Directions

1.	Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2.	In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chips, butter, lemon peel and juice uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3.	Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; gently shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Store in airtight container.

Coming Soon...

• McBride Pecan Sandies
• Green Bean Casserole
• Goulash
• Brownies
• Pickle Wraps/Pickle Wrap Dip
• Keller's Cole Slaw

Macaroni Salad

This has been a staple in my husband's family for as long as I've known them.  I didn't think I'd like it at first, but now it's one of my summer favorites.  This recipe is an easy recipe and one not many of us can mess up, however better saved than forgotten somehow in time.

The vegetables are an approximation as they vary based on size and how many vegetables you like in your salad.  The Miracle Whip is also a range, depending on how "wet" you like your salad.

1 pound macaroni elbows 
1 large cucumber
2 large tomatoes
1 bunch of green onions
1-1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip
salt 
pepper

Boil the macaroni in salted water.  Boil about an extra minute longer than the directions to make it soft.  Soft, not mushy.  Drain and cool with running cold water.  Put to the side.

Peel the cucumber and cut into slices and then into chunks-or however you'd like them.  Some people might like diced, others bigger chunks.  Keller usually makes them about the size of a piece of macaroni. Cut the tomato into chunks, sized to your liking.  Rinse and clean about 2-4 stems of green onions and slice thinly.  Your preference will determine how much you will want to use.  

Put the macaroni into a large bowl along wiht the vegetables.  Start adding the Miracle Whip to the vegetables and macaroni, mixing as you go.  Continue adding Miracle Whip until you have a consistancy you want.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and refrigerate for a while to marry all the flavors.  Frequently, we will make it a couple hours ahead of time, but my husband's Aunt Sue makes it the night before.  This is a dish that gets better the second day.  If it's been treated well (not left unchilled too long) it can even be good a 3rd day possibly.

Great potluck dish if you can keep it cold and not get warm.

 

Mike's Rudolph's Noses

So my father-in-law's family is spread literally from coast to coast of this nation.  I try to keep his mom in the loop and I let her know about our blog and one I created for Samantha's drawings and creations.  Turns out she was having difficulties getting onto the sites.  Enter Uncle Mike, John's older brother.  Mike was helping Grandma get online and asked if I was taking an guest recipe submissions, to which I of course said, "Why not!?"  And so here we are ladies and gentlemen, Mike's Rudolph Noses, with his own notations and directions. 

Rudolph's Noses
----------------------
Ingredients (this recipe makes 45 noses)
45 mini philo shells (3 boxes)
seedless raspberry jam (1 lb with some in reserve if you have a heavy hand)
chocolate chips 2x12 oz bags
1 fresh raspberry per nose
2 oz (or so) whipping cream
2 oz raspberry liqueur (optional for adults, not recommended for children and grandfathers)

Notes: I use Athens brand mini fillo shells because they are available locally.  There are 15 shells/box. Use any brand you can find.  Use good quality seedless raspberry jam but a top line jam isn't necessary.
Same with chocolate chip quality.  I use the Costco house brand.  You can use any type of milk.  The more butter fat, the smoother the result is.  But you MUST use some type of milk.

You may have to experiment with the chocolate chip/cream/liqueur combination to get a good result.  You want a soft set.  To runny and its messy.  Too hard and they are a pain to eat.

Melt the jam in a pan over low heat.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or equivalent), mixing in the liquid ingredients.
Following instructions on the box, put the shells in the oven for 4 or 5 minutes to crisp up.

Let the shells cool a bit after taking them out of the over.
Fill each shell about half full with the melted jam.
Fill each shell the rest of the way with chocolate.
Top each filled shell with 1 raspberry, open end down.

Let cool and enjoy.

This is my own recipe and has always been very well received.

White Chocolate Cherry Chex Mix

The recipe for this is one that sort of got piggy-backed if you will.  That's where you find something and tweek it a little to make it right for you.

I was looking for a sweet Chex Mix for the holidays to take to a party one year and I went to the Chex website and found a few options.  The original called for sesame seeds,dried cherries, equal parts of Rice and Honey Nut Chex, and no white chocolate chips.  I hate using only a partial box of two separate boxes of cereals and dried cherries were terribly expensive, so I used majority of the Honey Nut Chex so the box was emptied and the remainder the Rice Chex.  Also, we don't have sesame seeds around here, so I threw in some white chocolate chips since they seemed to go well with cherries.

A nice bonus to this recipe is that it is Gluten Free-make sure to check the ingredients you purchase!

 White Chocolate Cherry Chex Mix

 Ingredients:
6 cups Honey Nut Chex® cereal
3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
2 cups whole cashews
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup craisins
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preparation Steps:
In large microwavable bowl, mix cereal and cashews.  In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and honey and salt uncovered on High about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir butter mixture. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.

Microwave uncovered on High 4 minutes, stirring every minute. Stir in cherries and 1/4 of the white chocolate chips.  Microwave an additional 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. After a few minutes cooling, pour the remaining chocolate chips over the mix so they won't melt.  Store in airtight container.

I made this along with the Lemon Buddy Chex mix and packaged them for a bake sale at work.  Both of them sold out!

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

Unfortunately, I can't remember where this one came from either, but I remember making it for work and the ladies went nuts--coconuts--for these cookies!

 

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

2 ¾ C. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 C. butter, softened

1 ½ C. white sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lime

3 TB fresh lime juice

½ C. toasted coconut

½ C. white sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt; set aside.  Beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.  This will take a couple minutes.  Beat in the egg, vanilla, lime juice & zest.  Mix until combined.  Gradually add the dry ingredients & toasted coconut.  Don’t over mix.  Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of cookie dough into balls.  Place ½ C. sugar in a bowl or tray & roll cookie dough balls to coat.  Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 ½ inches apart.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  The cookies will start to crack a little bit.  Let stand on cookie sheet 2 minutes, then move to cooling rack.  Makes about 3 dozen.