Bacon & Cheddar Dip

This is a recipe from a potluck we had at work. It was so yummy, it was requested she share and she was kind enough to do so.
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Ingredients Needed:
1 pint of sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip
¼ cup bacon bits

1. Mix all ingredients in bowl.
2. Serve with crackers.

ENJOY!!

Tuna Salad

This is a dish my mom has been preparing for years, my Grama Louise makes it too, so I can only presume it is a long standing family dish. I know many others that make this, but none exactly like us and this is my preferred version.
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Ingredients Needed:
1 can of tuna in water, drained
4 stalks of diced celery
1 8 oz. package small shell noodles
3/4-1 cup Kraft Miracle Whip
1/8 tsp. Lawry’s Season salt
1/8 tsp. onion salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

1. Boil water for noodles, cook, and cold rinse them when they are done.
2. Take drained tuna and place in medium sized bowl, mix in pepper, onion salt, and Lawry’s Season salt.
3. Mix in chopped celery.
4. Add in cold rinsed noodles.
5. Stir in Miracle Whip.
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Variations:
I know people who add onion, peas, or cheese. Have also seen egg in it. Some substitute salmon in place of tuna. Most people use mayonnaise and not Miracle Whip, but to me, Miracle Whip rocks.

ENJOY!!

Hamburger Stroganoff

This is a recipe that I sort of made up based off of watching a ton of kitchen shoes and quirking things around until it tasted like I wanted it to. Hope you like it.
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Ingredients Needed:
1 lb. lean Ground beef
1 tsp. Onion salt
¼ tsp. Lawry’s Season salt
½ tsp. Garlic powder
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup sour cream
1 bag Egg Noodles

1. Cook hamburger with spices until done.
2. Add in cream of mushroom soup, let simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in sour cream.
4. Serve over egg noodles.
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Variations:
I substituted hamburger for sliced steak as it tastes just as good and is less expensive. I usually serve this over mashed potatoes, since they are my favorite. You can also serve this over rice.

ENJOY!!

Rave Reviews ~ Chicken Noodle Soup

I made it this weekend at the Peaslee's. We decided to pretend we were at Olive Garden having soup, salad and breadsticks. Well, we didn't have their dressing and we didn't have their Zuppa Tuscana, BUT, it still was yummy.

The kids ate the soup right up, I made a big pot, so we actually did have some leftover which we had the next day in addition to our tomato soup and grilled cheese. I also made a big salad with leafy greens, roma tomatoes and cucumbers. And to complete the trio, Pillsbury garlic breadsticks fresh from the oven. Laurie like the soup alot, the broth was different from how Fred makes his, but that is to be expected as Fred doesn't use any seasoning. He also makes homemade from scratch noodles, which, while delicious, is alot of time and effort. Joey even commented on how much he liked it, although I figured it out on my own after the third bowl was dished up! Kid is growing like a weed and being in football makes him hungry all the time. And then I got a phone call the other night from Fred. He had the last of my chicken noodle soup and called to tell me he loved it. Coming from Fred, this is a compliment because he doesn't use any seasoning and I use all kinds! He was impressed. I smiled.

I love the fall, it is a great time to make soups and stews to warm you up after coming in from outdoors. The temperatures continue to drop around here, in fact, we have had frost on the cars a few times already, so I expect I'll be making soup alot more often.

Dirty Snoballs

This is a recipe I got back in high school from a friend's mom. Super easy, super fun for kids!
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Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients needed:
1 can of Pillsbury biscuits
1 pkg. Hershey Kisses
½ stick melted butter
½ cup sugar

1. Wrap biscuit around a Hershey Kiss and roll into a ball.
2. Roll in melted butter.
3. Roll in bowl of sugar.
4. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Rave Reviews ~ Pizza Casserole

So a family in our church had a new baby last week and I was asked to make them a meal for Sunday. I love to cook of course, so I said yes.
I called them up and asked them if they wanted me to bring it to church with me or if they wanted it delivered. We discussed a few things and Scott thanked me and said he'd see me on Sunday.
Well, it turns out that Kathy wasn't feeling very well on Sunday, so they didn't come to church, so Scott's brother picked up the food and delivered it.
I got a phone call on Monday from him with another big "Thank You!" and he said that his kids(obviously not the baby) loved it! They ate it very enthusiastically and were happy I included the recipe so Mom could make it again sometime.

Told you my Pizza Casserole was a hit with the kids!

I happened to make a big batch so there would be enough for a meal at Fred & Laurie's and their kids all loved it too.

And there was a secret ingredient! I used whole wheat pasta for the healthy benefit factor and you couldn't even tell once it is covered in red sauce that it was any different from regular semolina pasta, taste, texture or otherwise. SNEAKY huh?

Makes me feel good to get compliments from people I don't cook for on a regular basis!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Now that fall has arrived, I figured I'd post a soup recipe. This is a recipe I made up myself through experimentation trying to emulate the broth that Noodles has, it is as close as I can come since their recipe is a secret! This is also one of those recipes that I typically don't measure, I just throw in a dash of this and a handful of that, so, feel free to experiment yourself!
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Ingredients needed:
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 small carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly diced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
8 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 pound egg noodles (preferably wide ones)
1 cup cubed cooked chicken (meat from about 1 breast)
1 tablespoon whole flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish

1. Put the onion, carrots, celery, thyme, parsley, chicken broth, and water in a medium pot.
2. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
3. Simmer until the vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the noodles and cook until tender, 5 to 8 minutes (depending upon the size of the noodles).

5. Add the chicken, warm through, and then adjust the seasoning, if necessary, with salt and pepper.
6. Serve garnished with parsley.
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Variations:
If you don't have fresh herbs, dried will work. I also usually add potatoes(most people wouldn't), but I love spuds and it tastes good to me! You can also use dark meat, I just prefer white meat. You could also substitute turkey in place of the chicken. Feel free to experiment with herbs.

ENJOY!!