Cheesy Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ingredients
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
1/2 a bag egg noodles
1 can corn
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1/2 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
1.Cook egg noodles in boiling water till chewy.

2.Cook chicken in olive oil, and salt till chicken is not pink in middle, then drain oil.

3.Combine cream of chicken soup, egg noodles, and chicken till boiling.

4.Reduce heat, and add Velveeta cheese, corn, and pepper. Cook until all of Velveeta is melted. Remove from heat and sprinkle with parsley flakes.

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 30 min

Potato Bacon Chowder

I thought I would post this soup recipe because Kristi was asking me if I had any good soup recipes yesterday. This is the one I was talking about. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 cups peeled, cubed potatoes
1 cup water
8 bacon strips
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Directions:
In a covered 3-qt. saucepan, cook potatoes in water until tender. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a skillet until crisp; remove to paper towels to drain. In the same skillet, saute onion and celery in drippings until tender; drain. Add to undrained potatoes. Stir in soup, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until heated through (do not boil). Crumble bacon; set aside 1/4 cup. Add remaining bacon to soup along with parsley. Sprinkle with reserved bacon.

Note: I usually just put all the bacon into the soup. And I never buy fresh parsley, so I just add some of the dry kind to the soup.

Oatmeal Waffles

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
In large mixing bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in eggs, milk, butter and brown sugar until blended. Pour batter on to preheated, lightly greased waffle iron. Close lid quickly; do not open during baking. Use fork to remove baked waffle. Top with fresh fruit and yogurt, maple syrup, or peanut butter.

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

I saw this on Studio 5 a long time ago. The girl that was on has a blog - http://www.mindikamoments.com/. She said she bought the ingredients to make Spinach Artichoke Dip during the holidays but never got around to it. So she turned it into a dinner instead. It is REALLY good. Tony and I both love it. FYI - I make some changes to it based on our family, so I'm not sure how this exact recipe tastes! ;)

SPINACH ARTICHOKE PASTA
(Mindi Original)

6 to 8 oz. pasta, cooked according to package directions

2 small chicken breasts, cubed

2 t. olive oil

1/2 c. onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1 can artichokes, chopped

1 c. chopped spinach, packed (if using frozen, defrost, drain and squeeze out the water)

1 can diced Mexican style tomatoes

1/2 c. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. chicken stock

1/2 c. half and half

7 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (reserve 1 oz.)

2 T. hot sauce (**as a side note - I think 2 T. hot sauce is WAAAAY too much. Even with just 1 T. it still has a big kick to it. Just add according to your tastes, but be warned that 2 T. is A LOT!)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook pasta, drain and set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over med high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes or until onion starts to become translucent.

3. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook until chicken is done and juices run clear.

4. Stir in cream cheese and sour cream. Cook until they are melted and incorporated into the mixture.

5. Add the artichokes, spinach and tomatoes. Stir to incorporate.

6. Add the chicken stock, half and half, Parmesan cheese and hot sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. Add the pasta and pour the mixture into a large casserole dish, top with remaining Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.

Sister Beck's Key Lime Cheese Ball

KEY LIME CHEESE BALL:

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup graham crackers (coarsely crushed, cinnamon flavor)
2 T. key lime juice (she uses 2-3 real limes)
2 T. key lime zest (grated) (she uses the same limes she got the juice from)

Combine all ingredients (except for the graham cracker crumbs) in a mixing bowl until well combined. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 2 hours until ball is solid. Remove cheese ball from the fridge and roll in the graham cracker crumbs. Serve with extra cinnamon graham crackers, baked croissants and pound cake.

**Instead of forming it into a cheese ball, Sister Beck just put it in a bowl, sprinkled the graham cracker crumbs on top and served with cinnamon graham crackers. It is softer this way, but still delicious!

Sister Beck's Fruit Salsa w/ Cinnamon Chips

SALSA:

2 kiwis, peeled and diced

2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced

8 ozs. raspberries

1 lb. strawberries

2 T. white sugar

1 T. brown sugar

3 T. fruit preserves, any flavor (jam)

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

**Side note - Sister Beck said that to save time, she put all of this in a food processor - so it is more mashed up. She said it would look prettier if you individually cut up each fruit. Either way - it was FANTASTIC!

CINNAMON CHIPS:

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas

butter flavored cooking spray

2 cups cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven 8-10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approx 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Sister Beck's Crockpot Chili Dip

Put 3 cans of chili in a crockpot. Smash the beans a little bit. Add 2 packages of cream cheese. Dump in part of a bottle of salsa and a bunch of grated cheese. Turn the crockpot to warm with the lid on. Stir often! Don't let burn!

Serve with chips!

(We didn't get a pic of this, but it was VERY good also!)