Italian Vinaigrette Salad Dressing (Compares to Olive Garden)

Dressing
1/2 C Miracle Whip
1/3 C Vinegar
1 t White distilled vinegar
2 T Corn syrup
4 T Shredded Parmesan Romano Asiago (Kraft)
1/4 t Minced garlic
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t Parsley
1 T Lemon juice
2-3 T Sugar

Salad
1 Bag of spinach leaves
1 Bag of garden blend or romaine lettuce
1 Large red onion
1 small jar artichoke hearts
2 medium tomatoes

*croutons
*black olives

Colorado Yum-Yum

A pound of hamburger meat
Tator Tots
Cheese


Preheat the oven for the tator tots. Decide how many tots everyone will want and bake. Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown the hamburger meat. After it's cooked, drain, and add a few dashes of worchestshire sauce. Then liberally sprinkle meat with garlic powder and seasoned salt. Grind a little fresh black pepper into the meat. Stir. Throw in some shredded cheese and voila!

To assemble: Lay out your tator tots on your plate. Top with hamburger mixture. Dig in!

Poor Man's Lobster

Chicken Breasts
Cream Cheese
6 T Butter

Preheat oven to 400*. Stick butter in a glass baking dish. Your small cake pan will work perfectly. While the butter is melting, get out a brick of cream cheese and cut off 2 good sized hunks. You will also need salt and pepper and toothpicks. Once the butter is mostly melted, pull the pan out of the oven. Coat both sides of chicken with the butter. Lay good side down and salt and pepper it. Schlep a hunk of cream cheese in the middle, roll it up, and secure with a toothpick. Place in pan. Bake for 30 minutes. I would recommend cutting it up into small pieces and smearing the cream cheese goodness all over the pieces then drizzling them with butter. It's also a good idea to wear your fat jeans with this meal.

Asparagus Vinegarette

Start by cooking your asparagus, I like to either steam it or stick it in the oven at 350* for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small jelly jar, mix together:

2 T lime juice
2 T olive oil
1/4 t minced garlic
1/2 t Dijon mustard

Shake until thoroughly mixed together. Pour over hot asparagus and enjoy!

Lemon Butter Chicken Skewers

Chicken Breasts
2-3 Lemons, cut into wedges
Butter

After de-cooty-afying your chicken, cut into bite sized pieces. Thread onto skewers with a lemon wedge every 4 to 5 chicken pieces. Grill until chicken is cooked. Serve over rice with lemon butter.

Lemon Butter:

In a small glass bowl, melt 3-4 tablespoons of butter. Squeeze in some lemon juice and add a skoash of dijon mustard. Mix until well blended.

Soft Bread Sticks

1 1/4 C flour
2 t sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2/3 C milk
3 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450*. Place the butter in a glass baking dish and schlep into the oven to melt the butter. In your small batter bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add milk and stir to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface, knead gently 3-4 times. Using your snazzy rolling pin, roll into a rectangle that's the thickness you want the bread sticks to be. Using a serrated knife, cut into strips. Place bread sticks in the butter and turn to coat. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. I like to occasionally sprinkle these with either coarsely ground sea salt or herbs for a little variety.

Chicken -N- Stovetop

1 package Stove Top savory herbs stuffing mix
1-2 chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/3 C sour cream or milk

Stir stuffing mix, 1 1/2 C hot water, and 1/4 C butter, cut up, in the small batter bowl just until moistened. Set aside.

Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces and place in a greased baking dish. (The small glass cake pan works well). Mix soup and milk; pour over chicken. Top with stuffing.

Bake at 375* for 35 minutes.

Peanut Butter Balls

4 C powder sugar
2 C creamy peanut butter
1 C soft butter
1 1/2 C crushed graham crackers
Chocolate almond bark candy coating

In a large bowl, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar, peanut butter, and graham cracker crumbs. I would recommend using a large, sturdy spoon for this task. Stick the bowl in the fridge for an hour or so for mixture to firm up. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheets. Gently put the balls back in the fridge to re-firm up. In a small saucepan, melt half the package of chocolate almond bark (or "candy coating" if you buy generic). I like to throw in a handful of milk chocolate chips for good flavor. Once it's smooth and creamy, dip the peanut butter balls one at a time until they are all coated. Store in a covered, mostly air tight container in a cool area.

Artichoke Soup

2 T butter
2 T Flour
2 C 1/2 n 1/2
1 Can cream of celery soup
2 Cans chicken broth
2 Cans artichoke hearts, chopped up
8 oz colby jack cheese

In a large pot or stock pot melt butter. I like to add a little finely minced garlic for extra flavor. Add your flour and mix together until smooth to make a roux. Then add the cream, broth, and soup. While that is heating up, drain and chop artichoke hearts. Add to soup. When the soup is warm, pour in the bag of cheese. Once the cheese is melted, serve up and enjoy!

This recipe is from Brielle, my bestie from Jr. High and High School. Her Paran Bubby is an amazing southern cook and this is one of his recipes.

Corn Bread

1 C corn meal
1 C flour
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 C buttermilk (or milk)
1/4 C oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 450*. Grease muffin tin or small cake pan. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Beat vigorously for about 1 minute. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and bake for about 15 minutes or until brown. Makes about 12 muffins. This recipe is a snap to cut in half. Our favorite is to serve it with honey butter. I just take some softened butter, about as much as I think we'll eat, and whip in some honey. Yummy in the tummy!

Granola

2 C regular rolled oats
1/2 C flaked coconut
1/2 C coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 C honey
1/3 C cooking oil

Preheat oven to 300*. Mix all the dry ingredients in your big batter bowl. Then stir in the oil and honey. Stir until well coated. Spread evenly in a 13x9 or larger cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes then stir. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and drop 4-8 rounded tablespoons of peanut butter on hot granola. Let sit for a minute and then stir until evenly distributed. Let cool completely. I keep ours in a zip lock bag. It's super good with milk or Chris likes his mixed with vanilla yogurt.

Variation:

Substitute sliced almonds for pecans and throw in 1/2 C craisins. Omit the peanut butter for a different yumminess!

Once upon a time.....

There were two families who wished with all their might that they could live on a compound and spend their days laughing and wheeling together. Whilst waiting for that day to come, the Rock Crawling Barbies decided to share their recipes and menus so here is their meeting point.