Amy's Orange and Peppermint Sugar Gems

These cookies don't look nearly as good as they taste. One taste of these cookies and you will be back for seconds gaurantee.

Orange and Peppermint Sugar Gems
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2. c. butter softened
1 jumbo size egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. orange juice (squeezed from orange)
1 T. orange extract
1/4. c. orange peel (grated or shredded)
1/4-1/2 c. Peppermint Bark white chocolate squares grated/shredded. About 5-10 shredded squares.
Powdered sugar for dusting.

Note: If you do not have any peppermint bark to grate or shred, use the limited edition Hershey Kisses, peppermint flavored, and put kiss immediately thumbprinted into center of cookies after they have baked.

Cream together powdered sugar, butter, egg, and oil. Add granulated sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add orange juice, orange extract, orange peel, and 1/8 of peppermint bark shredded. Mix well, Add flour, baking soda, salt and mix well. Spray a cupcake tin pan and shape each ball of dough into golf ball sizes. Sprinkle with more peppermint bark on top. Bake at 350 for 11-12 min. or until done. Dust with powdered sugar.
Source: sugar gem recipe taken from another source, but I added/changed some ingrediants.

Bruschetta

Many of you know how much I LOVE tomatoes. My husband doesn't like them as much, but after having brushetta, I think he may have changed his mind. Bruchetta is fast, easy, and healthy. Plus, you feel like your having a real Italian feast when you add a nice cold glass of grape juice with your tasty meal.

Bruschetta: This recipe serves about 3-4

1 loaf of french bread
1 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T. Aged Balsamic Vinegar
7-8 Roma tomatoes
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 clove garlic, chopped finely (food processor recommended)
1/4 c. chopped finely cilantro
1/4 c. chopped finely green pepper (or yellow if you prefer, or even better..both!

Preheat oven to 450. Boil a pot of water and place each roma tomatoes in pot after you take the pot of boiled water off the heat. Let stand for about 1 min. Take tomatoes out of pot and peel skins (skins should peel very easily). Chop each tomatoe and place in bowl with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cilantro, garlic, pepper(s), basil and onion powder. Mix well. Cut french bread into 8 slices and brush with olive oil. Place in oven and bake for about 6 min. Take out of oven and put tomatoe mixture onto each slice of french bread. Serve
Source: Taken from online recipe, changed/added ing.

New Year's Eve..... a time to eat cheeseballs!

Cheeseball

2 pckages cream cheese softened
2 c. sharp shredded cheese
1 tsp. chili sauce
1 T Worcheshire sauce
1 T. parsley
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2. c finely chopped pecans (food processor recommended)

combine the cream cheese, sharp shredded cheese together in bowl. mix well and them combine all other ingrediants together and mix. Shape into three balls and roll into pecans. Chill for a couple hours and serve.
Source: taken from online food blog, changed/reduced

Better then Cafe Rio: Bean,Veggie and Lime Dip

This bean dip is oh my gosh amazing! I found the original recipe off of another food blog, but decided I would experiment a little with it by adding a little more or a little less. I believe I finally discovered how to make a mixture that resembles Cafe Rio, but taste even better because it doesn't have the salty flavor but more lime and and salsa verde flavoring. With this recipe, I decided to divide it in half by making one cold salsa and the other a baked bean dip. Check out the ingrediants!

Better Then Cafe Rio Bean Dip

1 can white beans
1 can black beans
1 small can of corn
7-8 Roma tomatoes
1/8 c. finally chopped scallions
1/4 c. finely chopped green pepper
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1/2. cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 to 1 whole Jalepeno Pepper chopped
8 oz of Herdez Green Salsa Verde or use half of a bottle of a 16 oz.
1 lime cut in half
2 c. shredded sharp cheese or mozzerilla cheese or 1 c. of each

Preheat oven to 350. Drain and rinse beans and corn and combine. Chop finely the tomatoes. Combine scallions, green pepper, red onion, cilantro and jalepeno pepper together in food processor. Add chopped tomatoes to food processor mixture and beans and corn. Mix well. Next, add the cheese but reserve about 1/2. to add to top. Add the salsa verde and lime juice (as much as your want) mix well. Place a sheet of foil in a cassorale pan and spray. Place the mixture on foil and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for about 15 min. or until cheese is melted. Serve with chips and add more lime juice if you like.
Source: Taken from online food blog, changed, more ingrediants added.

Amy's Salsa

I made this delicious salsa from the ingrediants I divided from the Better then Cafe Rio Bean Dip recipe. I added more tomatoes since the other recipe called for 7-8 With this one, I also added 1/4 tsp. balsamic vinager and 1 T. extra virgin olive oil.

Amy's salsa

7-8 roma tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 small can corn
1 jalepeno pepper
1/2 c. finely chopped cilantro
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1/8 c. chopped scallions
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1/4 tsp. balsamic vinager
1 T. lime juice
1 tsp, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Use food processor for all veggies. Combine with beans and corn. add lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and let chill until ready to serve.

Mango Salsa

I love the sweet taste of mangos and the spicy jalepeno combined together. Mango salsa is fast and easy and a definate crowd pleaser!

Mango Salsa:
1 mango
1 cucumber
1/2 c. red onion
1/4. cilantro
1 T. lime juice
1 Jalapeno pepper


Chop mango finely and set aside. In food processor, combine cucumber, red onion, cilantro and jalapeno pepper. Combine with mango. Add lime juice and mix together. Let chill and then serve with chips.
Posted by Amy at 2:29 PM
Source: online recipe

Banana Pecan Pancakes

It is easy to be creative with pancakes. Spice up your morning with some variety! I decided to be creative and add the combo of blueberries, bananas and pecans. I added blueberries and about 1 T. of cinnamon and poured on top, with powdered sugar. For the banana pecan combo, use any pancake mix, chop finely about 1/4 c. pecans, and 1-2 whole bananas finely cut. Combine into batter and cook on low heat. Top with any fruit, powdered sugar of anything you prefer.

Source: my own

Cherry Cordial Brownie Cookies

Any chocolate lovers dream cookie. preheat oven to 350. Take any brownie mix (I used Lehi Mills brownie mix). Follow brownie mix recipe and then Add 1/2 c. flour and 1 tsp. baking soda. Combine and mix well. Place dough into golf ball shapes and place in a sprayed muffin cookie tin (to make them thicker and have more shape. Bake for about 11-14 min, or until done in center. Take cookies out of oven and immediately place a cherry cordial kiss in center. Let cool and then remove from muffin tins.
Source: My own recipe

Oatmeal and Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Oatmeal and Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Gazpachio Soup

Everything you need to make Gazpazzio soup! Made with
cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, celery, chicken broth and
red wine vinegar. You can add cilantro and bread crumbs
too!

Gazpachio soup

1 cucumber, chopped
6-7 Roma tomatoes
1/2 c to 1 c. chopped celery
1 can chicken broth
1/8 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. red onion chopped
1/2 c. finely chopped cilantro
1 garlic clove finely crushed
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
Combine all ing. and let chill in fridge for a couple of hours. Serve well chilled.
Source: my own creations

Oatmeal waffles with peach and cinnamon topping

So many things to do with a pumpkin

I LOVE dinner in a pumpkin. Do you ever wonder what to do with your leftover pumpkin. You can make a delicious meal in it, eat he pumpkin (taste similiar to squash) and then bake the seeds (add some sea salt, and pumpkin seeds are high in good vitamins like zinc). Yum.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 pound of lean hamburger meat or turkey meat
2 c. cooked rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 small can of mushrooms (for fresh mushrooms, about 1 c. of chopped mushrooms is about right).
1 T soy sauce
1 T. brown sugar
1 small can of water chestnuts (chopped)
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 tsp. onion powder

Preheat oven to 450. Have pumpkin cleaned out and ready to fill with mixture inside. Cook hamburger, drain grease, and set aside. Combine cream of mushroom soup, onions, onion powder, celery, soy sauce, brown sugar and water chestnuts with the rice. Mix together well. Add to hamburger or turkey mixture. Mix well. Fill the pumpkin and replace the lid. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Continuously check pumpkin flesh to make sure it is tender, when it is tender, it is ready to be eaten with mixture. A real festive treat, I tell ya!

Gift ideas

Pictured above is caramel, cherry, strawberry, and peach popcorn.
This year, instead of making the traditional sugar cookies I made last year, I decided to make popcorn flavor varieties instead. We are giving these treats to family this year. The caramel corn is a little generic, but very easy to make and it turns out great. The peach, strawberry and cherry popcorn were a little more creative. I remember making candied popcorn from gelatin many years ago and couldn't remember how to make it. The recipe found online used one small box of jello, serving of 4 (any flavor) 3 T. of light corn syrup, 1/4 c. butter and 1/2 c. sugar. In a greased cassorole pan (use foil greased instead) , add 7-8 c. popcorn, meanwhile mix the corn syrup and butter together and cook on medium heat; wait until it boils, then add jello powder and sugar. Let simmer for 5 more minutes and then pour evenly over popcorn. Bake for about 10 min. on 300 degrees. Be sure to mix it up the last 5 minutes of cooking. Pour on greased foil and continuously toss and mix while it cools. Makes a great gift for kids!!
Warning: Gets stuck in your teeth, so be prepared to brush hard.

Oriental Chicken and Veggie Soup

This original meal I created is super easy to pull together. For 2-3 servings, you will need the following:
2 packages of ramon noodles
Stir Fry Vegtables (about 2 cups) use more if you want more veggies.**
4 strips of chicken breast tenders (cook first)
2 hard boiled eggs (optional)
1 can of Swanson's chicken broth (use 2 cans if you want it more soupy)
2 T. soy sauce
Cook the veggies in pan until fully cooked, meanwhile, prepare eggs in boiling water for about 25 minutes on medium high heat. Bake chicken according to directions. When everything is fully cooked, cook ramon noodles last according to directions, except don't use the flavored packet inside (do not use ramon flavored packet inside if you want a more healthy alternative). Do not overcook ramon noodles. Drain water out of ramon noodles and put back in pot. Take chicken out of oven, chop into fine pieces and then combine chicken, chicken broth, soy sauce and veggies into the pot. Cut hard boiled eggs in half and add to soup. Let everything simmer for about 5 more minutes or until medium hot and ready to serve. Serves 2-3 people.
**I prefer Stir Fry Veggies from Costco. You get an assortment of baby corn, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, pea pods, water chestnuts, brocolli, carrots and more.

Bruschetta

Amy's Salsa

Better then Cafe Rio: Bean,Veggie and Lime Dip

Mango Salsa