White Chicken Chili

3 split chicken breasts
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped 1 onion, chopped6 cups chicken stock
2 cans Original Rotel (IF you like it spicier you can use hot)
2 cans white shoepeg corn
2 cans Cannelini Beans
2 cans White Northern Beans
salt and pepper to taste

Just cover chicken breasts with water, add celery, green pepper and onion; cover and simmer until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool. While chicken is cooling add chicken stock to the leftover water in the pan along with the rotel, corn, beans and salt and pepper. Shred chicken and simmer for 1 hour.

Even my kids love this (which is why I use the original rotel and not the hot)! You can serve it with a dollop of sour cream or a little shredded cheese.

Peach Cobbler

INGREDIENTS:
Filling:
1 can (1 lb. 13 oz.) peaches with syrup
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. cornstarch

In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.  Cook and stir 1 minute or until mixture thickens. Pour into 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Set aside.

Topping:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Combine milk and beaten egg.  Add to dry mixture and stir until just moistened.  Drop by tablespoons on filling.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

I serve this while it's still warm with vanilla ice cream.

French Dressing

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 ounces white vinegar
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup ketchup
8 ounces olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a mixing bowl whisk together first 5 ingredients.  Slowly add olive oil, whisking the entire time.

Drizzle on your favorite salads.

**Pampered Chef Recipe

Balsamic Vinagarette

INGREDIENTS:
4 ounces Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 ounces olive oil

Place first seven ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Allow to stand for 10 minutes for flavors to permeate vinegar.  After 10 minutes slowly whisk in olive oil.

Drizzle over your favorite salads.

**Pampered Chef Recipe

Spinach Salad

Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
Salad:
4 cups torn fresh spinach
2 hard boiled eggs
6 strips of bacon, crumbled
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, sliced

Dressing:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. onion
2 tsp. green pepper
2 tsp. fresh parsley
2 tsp. ketchup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. paprika

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  This dressing also freezes well so make extra to make future spinach salads easier.

Arrange spinach, eggs, bacon, tomato and cucumber on plates and drizzle with dressing.

Sweet Muffins

Makes 12 standard size muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line 12 muffin cups. Beat egg, stir in milk and oil.  Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened.  Batter should be lumpy.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans immediately.

Variations:
Apple Muffins:  Stir in 1 cup grated apple with the oil and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon with the flour.  Sprinkle top with nut crunch topping: mix 1/3 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup broken nuts and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Bake 25-30 minutes.

Blueberry Muffins: Fold in 1 cup fresh blueberries or 3/4 cup frozen blueberries into batter.  Bake as above.

Cowboy Caviar

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium yellow pepper, chopped
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans shoe-peg corn, drained

DIRECTIONS:
In a small saucepan combine vinegar, sugar and oil, bring to a boil.  Boil for one minute or until sugar is dissolved. Cool.  Chop vegetables.  Drain beans, peas and corn.  Rinse black beans.  Mix together.  Marinate of 4 hours or overnight.

Serve with Tortilla chips or Fritos scoops.

 

Caramel Corn

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 quarts unsalted, unbuttered popcorn

DIRECTIONS:
In a large saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil without stirring for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat. Stir in soda and vanilla. ***BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH THIS STEP...IT WILL FOAM UP, JUST KEEP STIRRING.  Gradually pour over popped corn, stirring well.  Place on two large baking sheets.  Bake in 250 degree oven for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes during baking.  Cool completely and store in a tightly covered container.


 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 7 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, margarine, shortening, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on rack.


 

Banana Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 mashed bananas
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Throw it all in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until combined.   Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

 

Struesel Coffee Cake

Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup water

1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

Mix together at low speed and set aside.

Topping:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

3/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cups melted butter

1 cup walnuts

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 tsp. water

Mix together in small bowl until crumbly.

Put 1/2 of the cake mix in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle half of the topping mix on top of the cake batter. Spread remaining cake mix on top of topping then sprinkle remaining topping over cake.

Bake at 300 degrees for 40-55 minutes.

Drizzle icing over cake while still warm.

 

Homemade Pizza

Makes 1 large cookie sheet size pizza.

INGREDIENTS:
White Bread Dough
1 can of your favorite pizza sauce (I use Pastorelli)
Mozzarella cheese
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Pizza Toppings: pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, black or green olives, tomatoes, spinach...

Prepare White Bread dough according to instructions.  After dough is doubled in size, grease cookie sheet and roll out dough to the size of your cookie sheet.  Sprinkle dough with black pepper and garlic powder.  Spread with sauce top with cheese and other toppings.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until dough is set.  Use a spatula to slide pizza off of cookie sheet and bake directly on oven rack until bottom of crust is browned.

White Bread

Makes 2 loaves

INGREDIENTS:

1 package Active Quick Rise yeast

1/3 cup warm water

1 1/3 cup warm water

2 tbsp. Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
5 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Stir in 1 1/3 cup warm water, sugar, salt, shortening and 3 cups of flour.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Place in a greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down and separate in half.  Roll each dough half into a rectangle and roll up.  Pinch ends and fold under to seal.  Place bread loaves on a greased baking sheet.  Let rise 30 minutes.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Bread is done when it makes a hollow sound when tapped.

Brush baked bread with butter and wipe with a paper towel.

FYI:  I DO NOT make my dough by hand.  I can't stand to have my hands all sticky and full of dough so I Put all of the water in my bread machine, followed by the yeast then the rest of the ingredients and then set it on the dough/pasta setting.  After the kneading cycle is finished I remove it from the bread machine and put it into the greased bowl.  No messy dough hands for this chic!
 

Vegetable Beef Soup

Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. beef stew meat, cut into small pieces
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. crushed garlic
2 16 ounce bags, frozen mixed vegetables
1 tbsp. beef soup base
1 16 ounce can tomato sauce
2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
6 cups water (divided)
1 tbsp. parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a large soup pot combine beef, celery, onion, garlic, soup base and 3 cups of the water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add frozen veggies, worcestershire sauce, parsley, and remaining 3 cups water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes or until frozen veggies are tender.  Add tomato sauce and heat through.

Serve with garlic bread.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS:
6 large green peppers
2 lbs. ground chuck
1 lb. ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp. crushed garlic
2 cups cooked white rice
2 large whole eggs
1 Tbsp, parsley flakes
1 tsp, salt
.5 tsp, black pepper
6 cups Marinara Sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Green Pepper Prep:
Wash and dry green peppers. Cut off tops of peppers and remove seeds.  Stand peppers up in a baking dish and set aside.

Filling:
In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chick, ground pork, onion, garlic, rice, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix with hands until combined.

Fill peppers with meat mixture, use extra meat to make large meatballs, place in baking dish.  Pour marinara sauce over peppers and cover with foil.  Bake at 350-375 degrees for about 2 hours or until peppers are tender and meat is no longer pink.

Serve peppers and sauce over rice.


 

Stuffed Zucchini

Servings: 5

INGREDIENTS:
5 medium zucchini
1.5 lbs. ground chuck
.5 lb. ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp. crushed garlic
1.5 cups cooked white rice, cooled
1 large whole egg
1 T. parsley flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
5 cups Marinara Sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Zucchini prep:
Wash and dry zucchini.  Slice off both ends and cut zucchini in half lengthwise.  Using a spoon, scrape out a well in the center of the meat of the zucchini. Lay zucchini in a baking pan, skin side down, and lightly salt.

Filling:
In a large bowl, add ground chuck, ground pork, onion, garlic, rice, egg, parsley flakes, salt and pepper.  Using your hands mix until combined.

Fill inside of each zucchini half with meat mixture.  Use any remaining meat and shape into balls, place around zucchini in pan.

Pour Marinara Sauce over the top of the zucchini and meatballs.  Cover pan with foil and bake at 350-375 degrees for 1.5-2 hours or until zucchini is tender and meat is no longer pink.

Serve sauce and zucchini over rice.

 

Marinara Sauce

This is a quick and easy marinara sauce.  I use it on mostaccioli, stuffed peppers, stuffed zucchini, anything that calls for a marinara sauce.  This recipe makes a TON of sauce.  I freeze leftovers in Ziploc bags for nights I'm not in the mood to cook.

Servings:13

Serving size: 1 cup

INGREDIENTS:

2T. oil (vegetable oil or olive oil)

1 large onion, chopped

2 T. garlic, crushed (we love garlic, you can use less to taste)

1 T. dried Parsley Flakes

4 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes 

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in large sauce pot, sauté onion until soft, add garlic the last minute.  Pour in crushed tomatoes and add parsley flakes, salt and pepper.  Allow sauce to simmer on stove-top for at least 30 minutes.

 

Cherry Chocolate Cake

Since today is my eldest child's 12th birthday, I want to share a family tradition.

When I was a child my mother would always make me a cherry chocolate cake for my birthday.
It was the only time of year that we would have this cake and I always looked forward to it.
I now make this cake for my children.

Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS:
1 box Pillsbury Chocolate Cake Mix (prepared according to box directions)
1 can Cherry Pie Filling
1 box Betty Crocker Fluffy White Frosting Mix
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
3 drops Red Food Coloring

DIRECTIONS:
Place a metal bowl and beaters for hand mixer in the freezer.

Prepare chocolate cake mix and bake in two 8 inch round cake pans.

Remove bowl and beaters from the freezer.  Add 2 cups heavy whipping cream and Fluffy White Frosting mix.  Using a hand mixer, beat whipping cream and frosting mix for 2 minutes, add 3 drops red food coloring, continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Place in refrigerator.

Allow cake to fully cool before frosting.

Place on 8 inch cake round top side down on a plate.  In center of the cake round place cherry pie filling in a circle leaving 1 inch on the outside of the cake without cherries.

Using a teaspoon, spoon frosting around the edge of the cake.

Place second cake round on top and repeat cherries in the middle and frosting around the outside edge.

Frost outside of cake with a spatula.

Place a dollop of frosing in the middle of the cherries and then one cherry in the middle of the dollop (the birthday person gets the dollop and cherry with their slice).

Keep cake refrigerated until ready to serve.

I hope you all enjoy this family tradition!

HAPPY EATING,
 

A little about me...

First, I want to tell you a little about me...

My name is Stephanie, I am a happily married, 30 something mother of five.

My oldest daughter was born in 1997, my oldest son was born in 2003 and then when we decided to have one more child we got the surprise of our lives when our triplets (2 girls, 1 boy) were born in 2007.

To say life is crazy would be an understatement.

I grew up in a home with my mother, father and sister.

We always had family dinners.

Our friends were always welcome, whether is was one or five.

My mother could always stretch our meals to feed whomever happened to be there that day.

All of my recipes are prepared for a family of 7 with leftovers, just in case.  :)

I hope these recipes inspire people to cook more and order out less.

I love learning from others also so if you have a great recipe to share please send it to me at stephkessler84@yahoo.com.

You will be given credit for all submissions.

I can't wait to get started sharing these wonderful recipes that I was raised on and hopefully, gaining some new ones from readers!

FYI:  I am not a chef and I don't pretend to be one.  I am a simple mother trying to create traditions and great food for my family.  If a recipe is ever unclear please let me know so I can correct it.

HAPPY EATING,