A Must Have....Cheese Ball

Ingredients:
2 - eight oz. packages of cream cheese
1- two cup package of grated sharp chedder cheese
1 tsp. very finely chopped green pepper
1 tsp. finely chopped pimento
1 tsp. worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. lemon juice (or vinegar)
1 tsp. dehydrated minced onion
1 tsp. dehydrated parsley
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 dash pepper
1 dash paprika
1 dash of cayenne pepper
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Let chill for at least half a day. When
ready to serve, shape into round ball. Roll in nuts or parsely. Serve with crackers.

Notes: This is a MUST HAVE for every holiday for our family. It's SOOOOO good. The cayenne pepper is to taste. The more you put the spicier it gets. Don't change a thing. The recipe is perfect as is.

Sweet Potato Casserole

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This is the best sweet potato casserole EVER! I'm not a big fan of the marshmallows people usually put in sweet potato casserole. This recipe was given to me from a friend. It use to be made by her grandmother. When I finally made it & ate it...it reminded me just of my momma's sweet potatoes. Ive never compared the ingredients with this recipe with my mom's, but I'm sure it's pretty close. This dish is sweet, but not soooo sweet that you can't taste the flavor of the sweet potatoes.

Ingredients:

Filling:
5 cups of smashed sweet potatoes
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
1 c. light brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. butter
1 c. chopped walnuts

Directions:
Peel, chop & boil sweet potatoes until soft. Put all "Filling" ingredients into a bowl & mix on low with beaters. Put filling into a casserole dish. Mix "toppings" together and place on top (crumbled) of filling. Bake at 375 for 20- 25 minutes. Enjoy! MY KIDS LOVE THIS!

Swiss Vegetable Medley

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Ingredients:
1 bag frozen broccoli, carrots & cauliflower (thawed and drained)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 jar (4 oz) chopped pimento (drained)
1 can French fried onions

Directions:
Combine vegetables, soup, 1/2 cup cheese, sour cream, pepper, pimento and 1/2 can onions. Pour into 1 quart casserole dish. Baked covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and onions. Bake uncovered 5 minutes of more.

Notes: If you have a large party, you can actually use 2 (16 oz) frozen bags of vegetables. You do not need to double the rest of the ingredients. If you do not have swiss cheese, you may substitute Italian blend cheese. I use the large can of fried onions. THIS IS MY FAVORITE VEGGIE DISH! If you are tired of the same ol' green bean casserole, try this recipe instead. I promise you won't be disappointed. This recipe was given to me by my mom. Love you mom! I saw a similar recipe on allrecipes.com, but it's missing the pimento...which is a yummy ingredient. Let me know what you think if you try this out!

Ranch Picnic Pasta Salad

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Ingredients:

16 oz. pkg of angel hair pasta (I have used spiral pasta as well)
4 firm, ripe tomatoes, diced
2 1/4 oz. can black olives, drained & sliced
2 medium cucumbers, peeled seeded & diced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small green pepper, seeded & diced
1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded & diced
3 (1oz) pkgs ranch dressing mix
1 pkg Italian dressing mix
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Prepare Italian dressing mix according to directions, but using 1/2 the oil called for. Mix ranch dressing mix with oil and vinegar. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss well. Refrigerate for at least a few hours, to combine flavors. Toss again before serving.

Notes: You don't have to use angel pasta. Pretty much any pasta will work. I typically will toss in the last bit of oil last because each time I make this...I think there is too much oil in the ingredients. So I save the remainder oil for last & slowly add what I think is best so the salad is not drenched in oil. I picked up this recipe at Macey's grocery store. It's a hit for our family & great to take to social parties.

Shrimp with Lime-Cilantro Dipping Sauce

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Prep: 10 min. Cook: 6 min.
Serves: 8
Cost per serving: $2.11

Shrimp:
32 medium to large shrimp (about 2lbs.) peeled & deveined
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 c. soy sauce
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Make sauce by combining soy sauce, cilantro, lime juice, oil, sugar & 1tbsp water in small bowl. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sauce an be prepared up to 2 days in advance and stored, covered, in the refrig. Make shrimp by rinsing cooked shrimp under cold water, drain & pat dry. Place them in a large bowl and add all the "shrimp" ingredients until coated well. Then thread shrimp onto skewers & place on flat cooking pan. Pour remaining sauce on top of shrimp. Cook shrimp about 3 minutes on each side until bright pink and firm (total 6 minutes). Serve over a bed of rice with dipping sauce.

Notes: YUM! We loved this dish. So easy to make also. Hint: I just bought the already cooked frozen shrimp from Walmart for like $5. Thawed them, rinsed & pat dried them. Worked perfectly. I didn't have a lemon to "zest" so I skipped that part. Served it over brown rice & the sauce was so yummy on the rice as well. Good healthy dish. Picked this up out of All You magazine.

Per Serving: 208 Cal, 11 g fat, 171 mg chol. , 0g fiber, 24g Pro., 3g Carb, 1,218 mg Sod.
HINT: You could use low sodium soy sauce to cut down on the sodium intake.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

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Ingredients:
1/2 lb. (aka 8 ounces) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
12 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cups raspberry jam, softened

Directions:
Cream butter & sugar in mixer until well combined. Add flour & oatmeal and mix gently to make a crumble dough. Pat 2/3 of dough into buttered 9x13 pan, set aside 1/3 dough for topping. Combine cream cheese & condensed milk in mixer & beat until smooth, this will be a fairly thick mixture. Drop cream cheese mixture onto crust & spread with back of metal spoon. Soften jam in microwave until pourable, and spread over cream cheese mixture. Crumble remaining dough onto top of raspberry preserves. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.

Notes: DELICIOUS! YUM! YUM! The only thing I changed up on this recipe was the coating of the pan. Instead of using butter, I just used cooking spray. Recipe taken from some magazine, but forgot which one.

Pink Pasta

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1 pkg. Bowtie Pasta (cooked and drained)
1 pint whipping cream
1 lb. Italian Sausage (or just use ground beef)
2 cans Italian style Tomatoes
½ lb. Fresh sliced Mushrooms

Sauté sausage and mushrooms. Add tomatoes and simmer 10 min. Add cream and simmer 10 more minutes. Pour over hot pasta and mix to coat all pasta.

Notes: I only use 1/2 a pint of whipping cream because we all know this cream is lethal! I have used penne pasta and can mushrooms in the past. They work pretty good if you are desperate, but the original recipe with fresh mushrooms are by far better! Recipe provided by my good friend, Maria.

Easiest Yummiest Turkey Chili Ever!

photo from http://www.yumsugar.com

I had a request for my chili recently, and I've been meaning to post it. Especially since we are now in the fall/winter seasons, this recipe will WARM you up! It's not spicy, so the kids love it. It's not heavy either, but full of flavor. I want to say it's pretty healthy too! Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground turkey
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 (8 oz) can of Italian diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 can of corn (half drained)
1 can of kidney beans (drained)
1 chopped onion (if I have time to chop it, but it's not necessary)

Directions:
Cook ground turkey with onions in skillet until pink is gone. Sprinkle in taco seasoning & mix well. Pour in Italian diced tomatos, corn, and beans. Add one can of water also. Mix well & simmer about 15 minutes. Serve with sour cream, cheese, or crackers if you wish.

Seared Salmon with Balsamic Sauce

Ingredients:
4 (4 ounce) salmon fillets
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 t. canola oil
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar ( or balsamic salad dressing)
4 1/2 t. lemon juice
4 t. brown sugar

Directions:
Sprinkle both sides of fillets with salt & pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, cook fish in oil over medium heat for 10- 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, turning once. Remove and keep warm. Combine the water, vinegar or dressing, lemon juice and brown sugar; pour into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to about 1/3 c. Serve over fish.

Nutritional: One serving (1 fillet w/ 2 tbsp. of sauce) equals 257 calories, 15 g of fat (3 saturated fat), 67 mg cholestrol, 366 mg sodium, 7 g carbs, 23 g protein.

NOTES: MY KIDS LOVE to eat fish cooked like this & with this sauce. I have cooked this meal with salmon, tilapia & mahi mahi. All turned out great! If you don't have any balsamic vinegar on hand, just substitute with your favorite balsamic dressing. Recipe found through allrecipes.com Enjoy!

Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Pasta

image from raisingchefs.com

Ingredients:
1 lb. shrimp (pre-cooked)
1/2 c. butter
2 t. parsley (fresh or dried)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 t. lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
12 oz. linguine noodles

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions and set aside. In large skillet, melt butter with parsley, garlic and lemon juice until heated through. Add shrimp and gently stir for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Add pasta and stir to coat. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese. Serves 6-8.

Notes:
This recipe is EASY & DELICIOUS! Seriously felt like I was eating from Macaroni Grill! I picked this recipe up out of The Crossroads Journal newspaper. It was a hit in our home! Some pointers, I used whole wheat pasta noodles to make it a bit healthier. Also I didn't have fresh Parmesan on hand, so I substituted fresh mozzarella. I also used about only half of the amount requested for the cheese. I did use dry parsley & it brought great flavor. The shrimp I used was pre-cooked w/ tails, just bought at Walmart in the frozen section. I thawed the shrimp, rinsed them & just threw them in as is. It was super easy & oh so good!