Pancake Pen

This post is in behalf of Kelli who doesn't blog.  She got me a Pancake Pen for my birthday and it is one of the coolest things ever (that is if you like fun pancakes). You can make pancakes into just about any shape you can imagine.  Mickey Mouses have never been so easy!  Plus, it's easy to stick in the fridge if there is leftover batter so you're ready to make more pancakes the next day.  Thank you Kelli for sharing something so great!

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/pancake-batter-dispenser-pen/

Layers of Heaven -- pumpkin style

A friend of mine came up with this recipe and it was delicious!  Just like a chocolate torte, but pumpkin flavored for the fall.  Sooooo good!!

Gingersnap Crust:

Combine 1/2 cup melted butter and 2 cups finely crushed gingersnaps in a medium mixing bowl; toss to mix well. Spread evenly into a 9x13 pan. Press onto bottom and up sides to form a firm, even crust. Chill about 1 hour or until firm. (Or, bake in a 375 degree F oven for 4 to 5 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack before filling.)

Filling:
1 8 oz package of cream cheese

2-3 C powdered sugar

2 3 oz packages pumpkin spice pudding

2 C cold milk

1 quart heavy whipping cream

1. Whip cream with about 1/2 C powdered sugar until stiff. Set aside

2. In another bowl beat together softened cream cheese and up to 2 C powdered sugar (do the sugar to taste. Add about 2 c of the whipped cream, folding together. Spread on the cooled crust and put into the fridge.

3. Mix pumpkin pudding with 2 C cold milk for 5 minutes. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes, until set. Combine with 1 - 1/2 C whipped cream. Spread over the cream cheese mixture.

4. Top with remaining whipped cream and sprinkle the top with either crushed gingersnaps or toasted nuts, depending on what you did for your crust.

5. Let set for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Gratin

I didn't know I loved butternut squash so much until my mom made this recipe. It is so yummy. Since then I have bought precut, packaged butternut squash from Costco to make this and just eat it soft with butter and brown sugar. If you buy precut squash from Costco, it is super easy. Otherwise the peeling and cutting is the hardest thing about this. YUMMY!!

1 1/2 T. unsalted butter (I don't buy unsalted so I use just butter)
1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs (or not fresh)
1/3 c. fresh grated parmesan cheese (or not :)
3 lbs. (about 5 cups) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 T. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup half and half

Mel butter in small saute pan, add bread crumbs and toast them, stirring until golden brown 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool Toss in a small bowl with parmesan cheese. SEt aside.
Heat oven to 375*. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Put squash in a large bowl. Stir in garlic, butter, flour, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into prepared dish and pour half and half on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan bread crumbs. Return to oven uncovered for 15-20 minutes more until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from oven and serve. This can also be made ahead of time and reheated just before serving. Makes 4-6 side dish servings.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

I thought I would have been much better about contributing some recipes to this blog, but my attempts to get a good picture of the food have discouraged me! Enough of that, I made these this week and was reminded again of how they are one of my favorite foods right now - fast, healthy, and yummy! I got his recipe (along with just about every other one I am cooking lately) from www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com. If you haven't been to this site, check it out! I also love her recipes for baked ziti, manicotti, orange chicken, and I can't think what else right now. She has really some great dinners. Anyway, on to the chicken wraps:


For some reason, I can't seem to paste the recipe into the post, so go here instead to view it. I have made it with several variations depending on what I have on hand - brown rice, white rice, and most recenlty with Quinoa which was delicious - faster than brown rice, and probably just as healthy if not more so. We also decided that we like it best with Monterey Jack cheese, but will use cheddar in a bind. Hope you like it too!

Quick and Easy Stir Fry

I needed something quick and easy. Something that involved things I already had in my kitchen. Here's what I tried. Delicious!

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups cut-up vegetables *
2 cans (4.5 ounces each) white chunk chicken breast in water, drained
4 cups hot cooked rice

Stir the cornstarch, 1 cup stock, soy sauce and ginger in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth.
Heat the vegetables and remaining stock in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp.
Stir the cornstarch mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Stir in the chicken and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve the chicken mixture over the rice.
*I used broccoli, sliced carrots and green and red pepper strips.

Nutritions:
calories 320
totalfat 2g
saturatedfat 1g
cholesterol 28mg
sodium 879mg
totalcarbohydrate 57g
dietaryfiber 3g
protein 18g

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Tis the season for high fat soups, to warm the body and comfort the soul! At least that's the case in North Dakota where our average temp has been in the 30's with snow, and it's only October! So, to lift my spirits and warm my belly, I'm making my favorite creamy soup. I'm a big believer in 'Read the Label' and know your nutrition information, however, on this recipe...I'd rather not know. Enjoy!!!



4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded
1 (4.5 ounce) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.
2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
3. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

This soup is best eaten with some high calorie French Bread or Baguette. Sour Dough works too.

So you might be wondering who I am? Well, I'm a long lost cousin to Butterball and Beans. We'll just call me Nik. They so graciously invited me to contribute to their food blog, and I happily accepted. I'm sure my entries will be few and far between. I'm not a big cook, but what I do cook, I cook well!

Italian Chicken Pasta Toss

This recipe is very simple and light in flavor!  It is a great one to use those garden fresh vegetables!

6 oz. uncooked bow tie pasta (about 3 cups)- although I used more!

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced- I used grape tomatoes from my garden

1 small onion, chopped- didn't add

1 medium zucchini, sliced- I also used yellow squash

1 small yellow or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch strips

2 t. olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 c. frozen peas

1 t. italian seasoning

1 t. salt

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and keep warm. Heat oil in a stri-fry skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Press garlic into skillet and add chicken. Stir-fry 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, zucchini, bell pepper, peas, seasoning mix and salt; stir-fry 2 minutes (or longer for softer vegetables). Add tomatoes; heat 1-2 minutes, stirring gently until heated through. Remove from heat. Stir in warm pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. Great served with garlic bread.

Campfire Dinner

We all love a simple dinner! This is great for throwing over a campfire, into the barbeque, or into your oven and couldn't be any easier to prepare! Serve it with some warm rolls and you have Sunday dinner simplified!

Ingredients:
potatoes
carrots
red onion
hamburger
dry onion soup mix
cream of mushroom soup

Directions:
Simply slice your potatoes, carrots and onion to a uniform thickness. Place desired amount of each onto heavy tinfoil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, crumble raw hamburger over the top, sprinkle with desired amount of onion soup mix and add a heaping spoonful of mushroom soup. You really can't go wrong so don't be afraid to just throw in a little more of this and a little less of that! Wrap up foil to seal in heat. Place into a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes or until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Also try it in your barbeque or over a campfire!

Truck-stop Buttermilk Pancakes

These here pancakes are somethin else. I'm not much of a pancake lover but toast these babies and slap em with butter. mmm....mmmm.
This makes a lot of pancakes but I make them all and put them in the fridge and freezer. Then when we want pancakes, we pull them out and pop them in the toaster. They come out just right crispy and delicious. A new favorite!
This recipe comes from a lady in my ward, Sherri Henrie.

5 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
6 T. butter, melted
5 c. buttermilk
5 c. flour
5 tsp. baking powder
5 tsp. baking soda
1 pinch salt
5 T. sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Stir into wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula and cook until browned on the other side.

Yummy Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese is my comfort food. I love it. I inherited this love from my mom. She's always looking for the best recipe and so am I. Well I think I have come pretty close to finding "the one" if it's not "the one". My kids love this recipe. I love to eat it with tomatoes and John likes to dump Winger's Sauce on it. Whatever way you eat it, it's a good one.
This came from my bishop's wife, Shelly Salmon.

1 1/2 c. elbow macaroni
1/2 cube butter, melted
3 T. flour
2 c. milk
1 c. grated cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Add flour, salt, and pepper to melted butter. Make this into a white sauce by slowly stirring in the 2 cups milk. Stir and cook until thick. Add cheese and pour over cooked macaroni in a 2 quart buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 400* for 20 minutes. (Double for a family of 6).
This goes great with the BBQ meatballs below.

If you think you have the best homemade mac and cheese, please share your recipe with me!!

Awesome BBQ meatballs

Eventually I'll take some pictures. Promise!!
I use to make my own meatballs. Not this summer. I'm going with the Costco frozen meatballs. They are still good. Make the following BBQ sauce in a pot on the stove then put the meatballs in until they are hot and ready. Or put the meatballs in the crockpot, mix the sauce and dump it on the meatballs. My kids talk about these meatballs often. Stay tuned for the awesome macaroni and cheese dish to go with it!

BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar (i like apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1/4 cup favorite bbq sauce (Our favorite is Famous Daves with the purple label or Sweet Baby Rays)
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

Combine and blend. Heat.
Double if desired.

If you want an easy meatball recipe to go with it, here it is:
1-1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
few grains pepper
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients. Form into 12 balls. Place in a casserole dish. Cover with sauce.
350* for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Makes 6-8 servings. 2 meatballs each.

Lemon Herb Chicken

Sorry for the hiatus!!! We just moved and then moved again and Comcast took a month to finally get us hooked up. I don't have a computer at home yet but I do have the internet. So I'm excited to get back on the wagon.
I did not take pictures but I did make a dinner tonight that everyone loved. I'm usually not much of a lemon person but this really hit the spot and it was great with the chicken, on the broccoli, and on the rice. I saved the leftover sauce to hopefully slather something else in the next day or two. This recipe came from a friend from my old neighborhood, Cherie Rich.

1 stick margarine or butter
8 chicken breasts, skinned
flour

Preheat oven to 350*. Melt the margarine in the microwave in a medium sized mixing bowl. Spoon off 2 T. of margarine and place in 9 x 13 baking dish. Dip each chicken breast in the remaining margarine and then in flour (lightly). Place the floured chicken in the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. While chicken is cooking, make sauce.

1/4 c. lemon juice 1/2 t. rosemary - crushed
1/2 t. salt 2 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. lemon pepper 1 t. lemon peel - shredded (I did not have this so did not use it)
1/2 t. garlic powder 1/2 c. water
1/2 t. oregano 1-2 T. margarine or butter, melted

Place all the ingredients into the mixing bowl; mix well. After chicken has cooked 30 minutes, remove foil covering and pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake another 25 minutes. Serve over hot cooked rice.

ENJOY!!!

Chicken Wonton Salad

Jolie and I are both salad geeks. We absolutely LOVE a good salad and this is one of them. Our mom use to make this and now we make it for almost every "shower" or girls get together!

You'll have to forgive me for not taking a picture of my own. I am in the process of moving and don't have the time and probably wouldn't be able to find anything I need to download pictures. I will be having a cleaning party tomorrow and this is the salad I will be serving. A cleaning party and we're having salad? That's right!!! The women folk from my family will be coming over to help and where there are many women, there should always be a good salad!

This salad is extremely simple when you use canned chicken, precooked wonton strips, already cut up salad, and premix the dressing. I will heat the chicken a little because canned chicken is always a little pink and I don't suggest precooked wonton strips. Home cooking the wontons are sooo much better but I won't be taking the time to do that this time. Give it a try. It is very addicting! Enjoy!!

Chicken Wonton Salad

1 package wontons (cut into 1/4" strips)

Cook in 1/2" of oil over medium heat. Half package will be enough but I always cook the whole package. They are great with or without salad. (And you can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on some for the kids). Cook until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.

1 head or bag of lettuce

1 can water chestnuts

6 chicken breast, cooked, cut into strips

4 green onions, chopped (optional....I never use them)

Toasted Sesame seeds

Mix the above all together.

1/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Accent

1/4 c. salad oil

1/4 c. seasoned rice vinegar

Mix together. Add wontons and dressing to salad and serve at once.

Oreo Cookies!

I had a chocolate craving and so I made some chocolate Oreo cookies! They were so yummy, chewy, soft and delicious! I colored the cream cheese frosting yellow to match the wonderful thoughts of spring! And then I had more than one cookie and one more after that... then realized I had to give them away before I finished them off all by myself. So my neighbors ended up with a "Happy Spring! Happy Everything!" treat from our family. I'm the "maker" and the husband and kids are the "takers"! Hope you are as excited to see spring coming as we are! Enjoy the cookies!

Cookie!

• 2 packages Duncan Hines devil's food cake mixes
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. shortening

Mix thoroughly. Roll into balls and bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes!

Filling!

• 1 lb. or 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cube butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 t. vanilla (or almond or mint!)

Enjoy! Share!

The Portion Pro

This is an awesome tool! It is called the Portion Pro by Progressive and I learned about it when I went to a crepe cooking class at Ace Hardware. You pour your choice of liquid in the bottle (which also happens to have a spout) and can use the dropper to measure whatever you have in it. The dropper measures up to one tablespoon and makes one less thing to have to wash. That's reason enough right there to get one! The dropper also serves as the lid to the bottle. Genius! I bought two of them! One for the big bottles of pure vanilla that I have and another for olive oil. I absolutely love it!

Personal Pizzas!

Here is great and simple dinner idea! Tonight the kids made their own personal pizzas on pita bread! I sat out bowls with all needed ingredients to make a yummy personal pizza including spaghetti sauce, cheese, olives, pineapple, canadian bacon and pepperoni! I put a paper towel in front of each child, gave them a pita and let them create their own pizzas! They loved it! Husband actually loved being creative with it too! Now that is my kind of dinner! Definitely worth repeating! Simple and delicious!

Food & Family Magazine

I get this great food & family magazine from Kraft foods and it comes 4 times a year and is full of simple and delicious recipes. It came while we were on our trip and of course I read it cover to cover. Any recipe collection floats my boat! :) Wanting to do better at planning dinner menus for our family, I decided that this week all our meals would come from this magazine. They have been so good! Click HERE to get your own copy of "food & family" sent to you! You'll LOVE it too! You can also view it online, but it is always more fun to have a copy to hold in your hands! You can never have too many receipe books/magazines! :)

NOTE! I previously posted that you could get this magazine FREE. So very sorry for the wrong info. I have been getting it for years now and it must have been some lucky promotion when it first came out to get it free. There is now a charge to order it, however it is still wonderful!

Settebello

So my husbands, brothers, best friends, sister is married to the guy who opened this amazing restaurant. His kids go to the same school my kids go to. That almost makes us related!!
We waited an hour to be seated. When we were seated we got our water, placed our order, and literally within about 3 minutes, our unsliced pizza was in front of us. There are no frills. Just authentic, Italian, delicious, pizza. We each had our own 12 inch pizza baked in an authentic, straight from Italy, brick oven which gets to temperatures of nearly 1000 degrees, taking only 45-60 seconds to fully cook the pizza.
This picture is of the Pizza Lasagna because it's the only picture I can find of their pizza online but I had the "Marinara" and John had the "Margherita". We were out of the restaurant happily fed about 15 minutes later. I wasn't feeling well that evening but had I felt good, we would have stepped into the gelato half of the restaurant. It looked delicious. When my good friend, Heidi, and I went to Italy, we were obsessed with the stuff. Especially the cantaloupe gelato. I'll have to give it a try and see if it is as great as I remember.
So take a look at their menu and find your way to Settebello! It was a great dining experience and I'm excited to go back! More than anything, I was impressed by the simplicity of the place.
http://www.settebello.net/SLC/main.html

Welcome to Butterball & Beans!

Tawnie and I have always talked about putting together a cookbook or catering weddings and parties! We are obsessed with food and anything food related including visiting restaurants and kitchen supply stores! We love kitchen gadgets, tools, cookware and beautiful dishes! We love tablecloths, kitchen towels and dish rags! We love to see how weddings and parties have been catered! We both have more recipes and cookbooks than we could ever use! We simply love to talk about food! Why the obsession? I don't know... but it is a part of every day life and we think about it daily both having families to feed and take care of! So why not make it extra exciting by blogging about our experiences and sharing our creations with each other and you! If nothing else, we'll all get some new ideas about what to make for dinner or dessert!

So here goes the kick off of our blog! We are sisters that love aspiring to be great and creative in the kitchen! We welcome you to our collection of favorite kitchen things and every day creations!