Candy Cane Twists

I've been meaning to type up this recipe since before Christmas, but here we are a month later and I'm just getting to it. I made these for Luke's preschool Christmas party and the kids loved them. They were really fun to make with my little helper, Luke. This recipe came from the Family Fun magazine.

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extrac
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp red food coloring
1/2 tsp green food coloring

Directions:
Use electric mixer to cream the butter. Gradually add sugar. Beat in egg until mixed and then add vanilla, peppermint extract, and salt until wee blended. Use wooden sppon to stir in flour (1/3 at a time). Divide dough into thirds. Add red food coloring to a third and green to a third and knead into dough. Flatten each third to 1/2 inch thick rectangle, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375. Roll a pair of tablespoon size pieces (in contrasting colors) on lightly floured surface into 8 inch long ropes. Twist together, pinch ends, and bend into candy cane shape. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet until set, but not brown, about 10 minutes. Cool sheets on wire rach about 5 minutes before transferring cookies to rach to continue cooling.
Jill

Black Bean and Banana dish

I was inspired by my niece, Sarah, to find something with these ingredients. I don't know why I remember this, but she mentioned having something with similar ingredients at a friend's house and she loved it! I found this recipe (sort of) at epicurious.com. The recipe was for an empanada, but I modified (ok just skipped the lovely pastry part) to make it Daniel Fast friendly. This may have been one of my favorite Daniel Fast meals we've had.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 firm med sized banana (sliced)
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 15 oz can of black beans
1/4 cup of cilantro (i used more)
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
brown rice

Directions:
Cook brown rice according to package directions. Heat oil to med/high heat and cook banana for about 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove banana to paper towel to drain and cool. Add onion to skillet and saute for about 3 minutes. Add beans, cilantro, cumin, and cayenne pepper and cook another few minutes. Serve bean mixture over brown rice and garnish with banana slices.

Jill

Oreo cookies

Ingredients:
2 packages devil's food cake mix
1/4 cup water
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup shortening

Combine ingredients. Bake at 350 on an ungreased cookie sheet 8-9 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

This recipe is from the Las Vegas Taggarts. I made them today and they are yummy.!

Snow ice cream

Ingredients:
1 gallon fresh clean snow
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 cups milk

Stir snow, sugar, vanilla to taste. Stir in enough milk fo desired consistency. Serve at once.

Fun to make. Not the tastiest but the girls thought it was great

Daniel Fast Oatmeal

Pick your favorite brand of whole grain oats and make according to package directions with water. Add cinnamon, coconut milk, and your favorite fruit. Bananas work well!

Jill

Fried Potatoes and Onions

So simple, but oh so yummy! One of our favorite Daniel fast dishes.

Ingredients:
Red potatoes (or whatever you choose)
olive oil
onions
sea salt
pepper
options - baby bella mushrooms, tofu, squash, zucchini

Directions:
Heat oil on medium to high heat. Add sliced potatoes first and cook for about 5 minutes before adding other ingredients. Season as you would wish. We just like sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Jill

Chicken, Ranch, Rice Soup

Can I just say...YUMMO! We loved this one, but really would I post one that we didn't love?? The kids loved it, Mark loved it....it's a keeper! Another winner from Picky Palate.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 Tbsp of minced garlic
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
1 cup dry rice, steamed (will be about 3 cups)
64 oz chicken broth
1 Tbsp dry Ranch dressing seasoning
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp hot sauce (I did not add)

Directions:
Heat oil in dutch oven over med-high heat. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook for about 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute or so. Add chicken, chicken broth, and then seasonings and mustard. Turn to low and let simmer until time to serve. I garnished with a little parsley and served with yeast rolls.

Jill

Butterscotch, Oatmeal, M&M Cookies

Really...doesn't the title say it all? The kids helped make these and they are most helpful gobbling them up as well! This lovely recipe came from one of my favs, Picky Palate.

Ingredients
2 sticks butter (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp butterscotch ice cream topping
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I would use much less next time)
1 cup M&M's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In kitchenaid mix butter and sugars until well blended. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and butterscotch topping. In large bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Slowly add wet ingredients to the dry along with chocolate chips until well combined. Scoop about 1/4 cup of dough into muffin top pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. I don't have this nifty pan (but someone should tell my husband that I would love to have one) so I used a cookie sheet and they turned out just fine. I simply flattened them a bit and sprinkled a few M&M's on top of each cookie. Bake for 11-13 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes about 24 large cookies.

Jill

7 Layer Greek Salad

I made this dip for dinner on New Years Day. Mark almost finished off the entire dish! I love dips and appetizers and New Years just seems like the time to have a little dip for dinner. It was actually quite healthy and the kids liked it! I found this great recipe from Our Best Bites.

Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)
1 tsp of dill weed or Greek seasonings
2 tsp lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 1/2 cups hummus (pick your poison)
1 cup peeled and seeded cucumber (diced)
1 cup seeded tomato (diced)
1/2 cup Kalamata olives - I used just regular ole black olives because I had some
3 stalks of green onion (chopped)
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions:
Whip with electric mixer softened cream cheese, seasonings, garlic, and lemon juice. Layer mixture at bottom of pie dish. Next layer hummus, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, green onion, feta, and top with parsley. Chill for a couple of hours. Serve with crackers, chips, bread, etc...

Jill

Bacon,Egg, and Cheese Muffin

Definitely one of my new favorite breakfasts. Quick, simply, and tasty. Does it get any better? My kids love that they can pick these up like a piece of pizza and gobble them up (and they do). I love breakfast, but it is a meal I often struggle with. The kids are usually dragging me (literally) out of bed in the morning so first on my list of priorities is COFFEE. This of course is after new diaper, milk for KC, OJ for Luke, and Gabby is fed. This is something on can throw together while my heavenly coffee is a brewin!

Ingredients:

English muffin

precooked bacon or turkey sausage patties

egg

shredded cheese
cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray large (texas size) muffin pan with cooking spray. Place half of an english muffin in each cup (or as many as you desire), place torn up bacon or sausage pattie next, crack egg over top of the meat, sprinkle with cheese and seasonings if you like. Bake for about 15 minutes or until eggs no longer wiggle. I really do the wiggle check! My little man doesn't like runny eggs.

Jill