Blue Cheese Dressing

I would much rather make my food at home, then buy it in a store. Here is another example of something that I make for my family. This dressing is so thick and wonderful, that is can easily double as a dip. I adapted this for a recipe for allrecipes.com.

Blue Cheese Dressing

1/4 cup milk
3 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 container of crumbled blue cheese (They range from 4 oz. to 5 1/2 oz.)
2 teaspoons garlic salt

Mix together the milk, mayonnaise, sour cream and garlic salt until smooth and well blended. Stir in the blue cheese. Cover and refrigerate. It is best to allow the flavors to mix for at least 2 hours before serving.

French Dressing

This is the best French Dressing I have ever had. It is so much cheaper to make than the bottled version, plus it is better tasting and no artificial ingredients. I hope you like this as much as my family does. This recipe comes from Cooking with the Horse and Buggy People cookbook.

French Dressing
2 t. dried minced onion
2 t. salt
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. oil
1/3 c. white vinegar
1 c. ketchup
1 t. paprika
juice of one lemon
1 T. mayonnaise

Whisk everything together but the mayonnaise until all mixed. Then stir in the mayonnaise just until blended. Keep refrigerated.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

This is the best pound cake I have ever eaten. It is moist, tasty and has a great texture. For years, I was told not to over beat my mixture. My cakes did not turn out very fluffy. They were dense and heavy. I do use my mixer, and I do mix it a lot. This is a great recipe that my friend Kellie Furr shared with me. You can switch around the extracts to adjust the taste to suit you. I am a traditionalist, so I just use vanilla. But you can use 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp of lemon extract, brandy extract, almond extract or any flavor you want to try.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 c. shortening
3 c. sugar
3 c. all purpose flour (I only use unbleached flour - no one needs the extra chemicals used to bleach the flour.)
5 eggs
2 - 3 tsp. vanilla extract (I only use the real, not the imitation. Imitation comes from charred wood, not from the vanilla bean.)
1 c. milk (I do use skim, and it turns out just fine.)

Cream the butter and shortening. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and alternate with mild. Blend thoroughly. Add flavorings. Pour into a greased and floured tube or fluted pan. Place in cold over and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Then raise the temperature to 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 -15 minutes before turning out of pan. Allow to cool before cutting. Serve plain, with powdered sugar, strawberries and syrup or any way you wish.

Honey Carrots

As you may know, I do not eat out a lot because it is expensive. I do love the sweet carrots from oriental restaurants. This recipe is the closest to those carrots that I have ever made. I did make them with baby cut carrots, but you can easily use whol carrots and just slice them. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. This was adapted from Reynolds Kitchen.

Honey Carrots

1 sheet (18x24-inches) aluminum foil (I did use regular size and folded two pieces together.)
1 package (16 oz.) peeled baby carrots
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Preheat oven to 450°F or grill to medium-high.
Center carrots on sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with brown sugar, drizzle with honey and top with butter.
Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal making one large foil packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes on a cookie sheet in oven or grill 11 to 13 minutes in covered grill. Open foil; stir in fresh parsley and lime juice before serving.

Vintage Vanilla Pudding

As many of you know, I do not like to use packaged items. I do when I have to, but would much rather make mine food from scratch. This is a wonderful pudding recipe that is easy to make. My family no longer will eat pudding from a box. It is tastier and cheaper than box, and I would also hope a little healthier. Sometimes I take this pudding and use it to make banana pudding.

Vintage Vanilla Pudding

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Argo® or Kingsford’s® Corn Starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Combine sugar, corn starch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milk until smooth. Add egg yolks.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Stir in vanilla.

Pour in a serving bowl OR pour equal amounts into 4 individual serving bowls. Cover and chill a minimum of 30 minutes before serving.

Creamy Macaroni Salad

My mom always makes macaroni salad, but with her traveling on her trip, I had to come up with something new. So this is the recipe that I used to make some of the best macaroni salad that I have tasted in a long time. It was creamy, even on the second day. I did not add celery, but you can add it for some extra crunch. I am all about using what I have in my pantry to make my meals. It also should have had green peppers, and I did not have any, so I used jalapeno peppers.

Creamy Macaroni Salad

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 cups creamy salad dressing (e.g. Miracle Whip)
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
3/4 cup white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon celery seed

Directions:

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add macaroni, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Drain, and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, onion, pepper, and relish. In a small bowl, stir together the salad dressing, mustard, white sugar, vinegar, salt and celery seed. Pour over the vegetables, and stir in macaroni until well blended. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice

This recipe really made a lot of food. So we ate it twice and also put it in tacos and other Mexican dishes. This was a cheap, easy and fulfilling dish that can be made from items in your pantry. This was a wonderful recipe, and that I will make over and over again for my family. This recipe was adapted from Food TV. This recipe was also very good topped with melted cheese.

Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice


2 cups brown rice
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilis
1/2 cup prepared salsa (You can also use your homemade salsa too.)
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (11-ounce) can corn, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and set pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until rice is cooked. Fold in rice and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Lime Chicken

This recipe was AMAZING!! It was easy and very tasty. Dean even loved it, and he hates chicken. I think the next time that we make this, I will use thighs. Boneless chicken breasts will work too. Both of these options will require less cooking time. This is a recipe that I adapted from Food TV. This does make a lot of chicken. I used my left over chicken in a salad and in quesadellas. If you try this, please let me know how it turned out for you.

Lime Chicken:

1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (5 to 6 limes)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno pepper (1 pepper seeded)
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3 cloves)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 whole (6 split) boneless chicken breasts, skin on

Directions
Combine the lime juice, orange juice, chili powder, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken breasts. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a grill with coals and brush the rack with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, sprinkle well with salt and pepper, and grill them skin-side down for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn the chicken and cook another 5 minutes. Repeat this turning process every 5 minutes for a total of 25 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove from the grill to a plate. Cover tightly and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

The Beginning of a Dream

For so many years, I have wanted to publish my own cookbook. I have never really had the time or the resources to follow my dream. But today, I am launching my first step of my dream. I am going to start a cooking blog.

The entire blog will consist of recipes that I make for my family. I will include ingredients, cooking instructions, pictures and a reflection of each recipe. I want to be able to share my love of food and cooking with you. I am just a home cook who loves to try new recipes and to make the best food that I can on a budget.

Thanks for reading my blog! If you have any recipes to share, let me know, I would love to try them.

Kelly