Cornbread ~ by Kelsey

This is another recipe from allrecipes.com.  I usually just use the Jiffy cornbread, but decided to make it on my own this time.  This is really spongy and moist, it seems more like cake than what you get from the Jiffy box.  My kids love it!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine cornmeal and milk, let it sit for 5 minutes.  Grease a 9 X 13 inch pan.  Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Mix in the cornmeal, eggs, and oil until smooth.  Pour into the pan and cook for 30-35 minutes.

Strawberry Muffins ~ by Kelsey

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com when I was looking for something to do with some strawberries that needed used up.  They are really good!  This recipe made 12 muffins.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray muffin pan or use liners.  Mix the oil, milk and egg together.  Beat.  Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together in a separate bowl.  Toss the strawberries in the flour mixture until coated.  Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until moist.  Spoon into the muffin pan and cook for about 25 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie ~ by Sarah

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe and you must make this.  If you like pie you must make this.  If you like chicken you must make this.  If you like pot...oh, wait.  But still, you must make this!

Molly and Kelsey, you don't know what you're missing!

Ingredients:
3 celery stalks
3 medium carrots, peeled
1 large onion
4 T. (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 c. frozen peas
2 c. cooked chicken
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 c. white wine (optional)
1 c. heavy cream
1 t. thyme
1 t. kosher salt, or more to taste
black pepper to taste
pie crust (This link goes to a recipe for Mom's pie crust.  I used Pioneer Woman's pie crust recipe, but they are very similar...)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Begin by finely dicing the vegetables.

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrots, celery, and peas.  Saute until the vegetables start to turn translucent, a couple of minutes.  Add the chicken and stir to combine.  Here's how I did the chicken: I boiled a young whole chicken, cooled it, removed the skin, and then picked off the meat until I had two cups.

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken and stir to combine.  Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently.  Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly.  Stir in the bouillon cube and wine, if using.  Pour in the cream and stir.  Allow the mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes.  Season with thyme, salt, and pepper.  Remove from heat.  Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. 

Pour the chicken into a deep pie pan or small casserole dish.  (This made enough for me to fill two pie plates, so I made two and then covered one and froze it for later.) 

Roll out the crust so that it's 1 inch larger than the pan.  Place the crust on top of the chicken mixture and cut small slits in the top.  Press the crust gently into the sides of the dish to seal.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

You can't believe how delicious this is!  The filling is so creamy and savory.  I loved it!

Roasted Lemon and Garlic Bird ~ by D'Lynn

I have no pictures, cause I forgotted....Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Buy a *Bird. I usually get Foster Farms 5-6lb cause they aren't injected with salt water like their Arkansas cuzins....

Wash the *Bird with a clean cool water, pat it dry with a paper towel, and make sure you take the gizzards and pieces out of the inside. I usually cut some of the fat off it also.

Rub EVOO on the outside of the *Bird. Salt and pepper, and season with Garlic, Thyme, parsley, etc, the inside and outside heavily.

Cut a whole GARLIC bulb in half and a medium sized lemon in half. Shove all sections inside the *Bird.

Prepare WHITE or YUKON GOLD POTATOES. I prefer these over Russet because they don't disintegrate once they're cooked. Cut into quarters.
Quarter a bulb of ANISE.
Quarter a LEMON.
Add any other carrots, celery, etc....whatever veggies that you like roasted...Drizzle with EVOO and season with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, etc....The garlic and lemon become very sweet thru the roasting process.

Put the *Bird in a roasting pan, dump veggies around the outside of it.

Roast for 1 hour with the *Bird uncovered or until it is browned nicely. Then cover the *Bird with foil and bake an additional 30 minutes.

*Bird is commonly known as a Chicken, but for Kelsey and Molly's benefit, we don't use that word!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake ~ by Kelsey

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
2 pints strawberries, sliced, with sugar
1 (12 ounce) container whipped topping
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (I forgot to do this part)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease two 9 inch layer pans.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in butter until it's coarse crumbs.  Add milk, mixing just until moistened.  Spread the batter evenly in the two pans.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool.  Combine strawberries and sugar (I used a little Splenda).  Cover the bottom layer with whipped topping, then strawberries, then a little more whipped topping.  Put the top layer on and put more whipped topping and more strawberries.  Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Salmon & Pasta Primavera ~ by D'Lynn

1 1/2 tsp Dill Weed
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Minced Onion
1/2 tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Thyme Leaves
8 oz of Linguine Pasta
1 LB of cooked Salmon
4 1/2 Cups assorted cut-up, fresh, vegetables
1 Cup heavy Cream
3/4 Cup of Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 TBSP Butter
1/2 tsp salt

Cook Salmon. I put a large fillet on a double layer of foil on the BBQ grill, usually 7 min/inch of Salmon thickness. I shut the grill off and let it sit a bit to cool. Then I flip it onto a plate, peel the fish skin off, and then cut the Salmon into chunks.

Cook pasta in a large saucepan as directed on the package, add the fresh vegetables the last 3-4 minutes of cooking. Drain Well.

While Pasta is cooking, add remaining ingredients, except cheese into a saucepan. Heat it slowly to boiling, stirring constantly to make sure cream doesn't scald. Once it reaches boiling, reduce to simmer and add the cheese, continue stirring so that it doesn't all stick to the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes.

Add pasta and veggies to sauce and fold together until sauce is evenly distributed through the dish. Turn out into a pasta bowl or plate and add the salmon, mix this in evenly.

*I opted for fresh broccoli and marinated artichoke hearts, but carrots, peas, and red bell peppers are nice additives as well. You may also use 1lb of shrimp, scallops, etc. for the seafood portion of the meal.

Taco Bake ~ by Sarah

I got this recipe from Tasty Kitchen. I LOVED it! I love all things bread and this has a bread-like crust. It was easy, too!

Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUST:
1/2 cup crushed corn chips (like Fritos)
2 cups flour
1 package (7g packet) yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh onion
3/4 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup very warm (not hot) water
2 Tablespoons oil

FOR THE FILLING:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning
water (amount according to taco seasoning packet's directions)

Directions:
Put crushed corn chips, flour, yeast, sugar, minced onion and salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse a few times to combine.  (Note: Next time I make this, I'm going to add a tablespoon or so of taco seasoning to give the crust a little more flavor.)

With processor running, add the warm water and oil in a thin, steady stream to the dry ingredients. Keep pulsing and mixing until the dough forms a ball.

Grease a deep, 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan.

Press the dough evenly over the bottom and at least a couple of inches up the sides. This is a yeast dough and, while it doesn’t rise a lot, it’ll get puffy. You’re going to fill this shell with taco meat and want to give the dough room enough to puff and also to hold the meat.

Put it aside in a warm area, cover it with a towel and let it rise anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours.

About 20 minutes before baking, cook the hamburger and chopped onion. When the onion is translucent and the meat no longer pink, drain the fat and add taco seasoning and water.

Simmer 7-10 minutes, uncovered, then gently pour into the waiting dough shell.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until crust is a nice golden brown.

Top with anything you’d put on a taco: grated cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato or avocado.