Mischele's Good (Minestrone) Soup

I don't know what to call this soup.  I got it from my sister-in-law Mischele and I'm not sure what she calls it either.  I just call it -Good Soup- because it's good and has good stuff for you in it.  It reminds me a little bit of Minestrone soup with grains in it.

2 cans of tomato sauce (small cans)

enough broth ( I use vegetable, could also use chkn) to make soupy (sorry I don't even have a guesstimate here, I just put all the ingredients in and add broth:)

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup carrot
2/3 cup potato
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup celery

2 cup Beans (can mix and match, I usually use kidney and black)
1/2 cup Cooked Pasta
1/4 cup Barley
1/2 cup Split Peas
1/4 cup Lentils

1 Tbsp Parsley
1 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Basil
1/2 tsp Thyme
Bay leaf
3 Cloves Garlic.

INSTRUCTIONS: precook barley and split peas for about 10m. Meanwhile saute veggies in butter till slightly softened. Add tomato sauce, broth beans, grains and seasonings, bring to a boil, cover and turn down heat to simmer until grains are close to done. (about 15m-20m) Add cooked pasta, and chopped spinach, remove bay leaf, a few minutes before done. Salt and Pepper to taste, sometimes I add a little extra onion and garlic powder at the end if it just needs a little more!

Edris's Oriental Pasta Salad

My Sister-in-law always makes yummy salads.  This is one of her recipes I love.  I like it best with the asparagus.  Try it out sometime!

Ingredients:
12 ounce spiral or bowtie pasta (follow cooking instructions on bag)
3 cups shredded or chopped up cooked chicken. ( boil about 3-4 chicken breasts)

1 bunch geen onion cut diagonal
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 green pepper

1/4 cup sunflower seed (optional)
1 bag of spinach or 1 bunch of asparagus. (when use asparagus just boil them in boiling water until tender -crunchy tender- not mushy)

Dressing:
1 cup oil (canola or vegetable oil)
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup white vinegar
6 TBS sugar
1 1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all the salad ingredients and marinate it with half of the dressing overnight or 2-3 hours before serving.(store salad in fridge while marinating) Add spinach or asparagus (chopped) and the remaining half of the dressing to the salad right before serving.

ENJOY!!!

Chicken Noodle Soup

My noodle soup comes out different EVERY time.  I really NEVER follow a recipe exactly on the soup but I do on my noodles.  I hope yours turns out alright - add and take away what you need to perfect your noodle soup.

THE BEST WAY

Rinse off a full chicken with warm water.  Then put it in your roasting pot and take some cold sliced butter and whole peeled garlic cloves and insert them between the skin and the meat of the chicken.  Take one or two quartered onions and in the pan.  Add about 1 cup of water and one bullion cube.  Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 - 2 1/2 hours (depending on how big your chicken is)

While the Chicken is cooking I cut up all my veggies:

1 Cup Sliced Celery

1 1/2 Cups Sliced Carrots

2 Cups Diced potatoes

Then I put them in a pot on the stove with about:

6 Cups Water

4 Bullion Cubes

3 Bay Leaves

2 tsp Parsley

Boil soup and add noodles about when the veggies are halfway cooked.  Add the strained juice from the roasted chicken to help give the soup the BEST broth ever!  I take the quarted onions that were roasted with the chicken and chop them up and add to the soup too.  Pull the cooked chicken off the roasted chicken and add to your soup.  Any additional spices needed should be added like maybe garlic - salt and pepper.  The bullion is what I use in place of salt to make the soup but then add salt at the end to perfect it. 

THE EASY WAY

INGREDIENTS

2 Large Chicken Breasts - (Cut up)
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Diced Onion
6 Cups Water
4 Bullion Cubes
3 Bay Leaves
2 tsp Parsley
1 Cup Sliced Celery
1 Cup Sliced Carrots
1 Cup Diced potatoes

DIRECTIONS
In sauce pot saute chicken and onion in butter.  Once chicken is cooked add your water, parsley, bay leaves, bullion cubes and all your vegis.  Once it comes to a good rolling boil add your noodles and cook until vegis are soft and noodles seem done.  Salt and pepper (to taste).

HOMEMADE NOODLES

2 Eggs
2 tsp Salt
2 Cups Flour (Semolina Flour or regular works fine too)
1/3 cup Milk
Beat eggs until smooth. Add salt, flour, and milk. Stir until easy to handle. Roll out on a pastry sheet to the thickness desired.  Cut into long strips with a pizza cutter

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite salads . . . and it's so easy to make!

An added bonus is that ALL my kids will eat this too

SALAD:

4 Crispy Chicken Strips                  3 Cups Chopped Romaine Lettuce

1 Cup Chopped Purple Cabbage    1 Cup Chopped Green Cabbage

3/4 Cup Shredded Carrots              2 Sliced Green Onions

2 Tbsp Sliced Almonds                   1/2 Cup La Choy Rice Noodles

Bake Chicken Strips according to package directions.  In a bowl prepare salad by tossing the romaine with the cabbage, carrots, and onions.  Sprinkle almonds over the salad, then add the rice noodles.  Cut chicken strips into bite sided pieces and place on top of the salad.   Serve with dressing. 

DRESSING:

3 Tbsp Honey                                                1 1/2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise                                      1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 tsp Sesame Oil 

Blend all ingredients together - chill

Feeds 3-4 people - I usually double this recipe for my family

Best Snickerdoodles

Doesn't everybody love a snickerdoodle?

Ingredients

1 Cup Shortening

1 1/2 Cups White Sugar

2 Eggs

2 3/4 Cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Cream of Tarter
1/4 tsp Salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating
4 Tbsp White Sugar                          
1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon

Or you can add the cinnamon in the batter itself and roll the cookies with colored sugar sprinkles for a more fun look like I did in the picture above
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BAKE 400 Degrees for 8-10 minutes

Zucchini Fettuccini

This is a recipe I got from my friend Emily

It looks so fancy and tastes so delicious
(but maybe not so much in my picture)

4 ½ t. butter                              4 ½ t. olive oil

2 t. pressed garlic                      ½ large sliced onion

½ lb. Sliced fresh mushrooms    1 c. cream

¾ c. fresh parmesan cheese       Fettuccini noodles

½ lb. Bacon sliced thin and browned

4-5 julienne cut small zucchini squash

-Saute 3 minutes:  oil, butter , garlic, onion and mushrooms.  Add squash and bacon, cook just a few minutes.  Don’t overcook.  Add cream and cheese, stir and blend.  Serve over cooked noodles.

*  I always add my noodles to the finished dish and stir it together.  Let it sit for a few minutes, too.  It thickens up a little bit. It's even better the next day :)

BEST Sloppy Joes

It's not hard to say that these are the BEST sloppy joes out there!

Plus they are so simple - what more can you ask for?

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2 lbs Ground Beef or Turkey (I like Turkey best)

1 Can Chicken Gumbo Condensed Soup

1 Can French Onion Condensed Soup

1/3 Cup Ketchup

2 Tbsp Mustard

Brown meat until all cooked and drain fat

Add rest of ingredients and simmer until all juices absorbed

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Enjoy inside of a nice hamburger bun

Freeze left overs for an easy dinner later!