Stuffed Manicotti

Cook 1 package manicotti tubes according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, mix together 2 pounds ricotta cheese, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, ground pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Pour about 1 cup spaghetti sauce in 9x13 pan and spread around to coat bottom of pan. Stuff manicotti tubes with cheese mixture and place in pan. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over stuffed manicotti and sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes at 350°.

Feel free to mess around with the herbs/spices in the ricotta mixture. I don't like the taste of ricotta and I don't like my original recipe that much, so I do something new to it every time.

To stuff the tubes, I've heard you can leave them uncooked but I haven't tried that yet. I've tried using a spoon and putting the cheese mixture in a zipper baggie and cutting off one corner, which works sometimes. Last time I used a table knife, which worked really well. You'll have some leftover cheese mixture - just plop it in the pan with the manicotti and bake it. It's still good without a manicotti around it.

Chicken Alfredo

Butter/margarine
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1 8-oz package cream cheese, cubed

Melt butter in frying pan; add chicken pieces and Italian dressing mix. Cook and stir till chicken is cooked through. Add cream of mushroom soup, milk and cream cheese. Cook and stir till cream cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Serve with noodles or rice.
Source: Hottie Christine

Easy Breadsticks

1 1/4 cups water
1 TB yeast
2 TB sugar
2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1/2 cup melted butter
Garlic powder
Parmesan cheese

Combine water and yeast; set aside. Combine sugar, salt and flour. Add wet stuff to dry stuff. Mix together and set aside to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a 9x13 pan. Spread dough in pan; brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately (place on cookie sheet) and cool for a few minutes; cut into strips. (I cut the big breadstick in half lengthwise first, then cut the two pieces into long skinny strips.)
Source: Teresa G.

Buche de Noel (Yule Log)

Source: Christmas Recipes from the Lion House, copyright 1989, Hotel Temple Square Corporation

Cake Roll:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar

Filling:
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar

Frosting:
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup margarine, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons hot water
Green and red candied cherries (optional - for garnish)

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a jelly-roll pan (10 x 15-inch) with wax paper; grease paper.

Prepare cake roll: Beat eggs in mixer bowl on high speed till thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Beat in water and 1 teaspoon vanilla on low speed. Sift together flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder, and salt; add to egg and sugar mixture, beating just till batter is smooth. Pour into jelly roll pan. Bake 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Turn out onto a dish towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove wax paper and roll cake and towel from short end; cool.

Prepare filling: Beat whipping cream till stiff. Add sugar. Unroll cake, and spread whipped cream over cake. Roll up again and place seam-side down on serving plate.

Prepare frosting: Mix cocoa, margarine, 2 cups powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water till smooth and of spreading consistency. Cover roll with frosting, making strokes with fork tines to resemble bark. Decorate with green and red candied cherries, if desired. Refrigerate till ready to serve. 10-12 servings.

Tips:
- Use cooking spray to cover the wax paper and use plenty of it. The wax paper I used went to the edges of the bottom of the jelly roll pan, but not up the sides, which ended up being perfect. The cake was so thin, about as thick as a cookie, that it was very easy to loosen it from the sides of the pan by running a butter knife along the sides. Make sure to cut a large enough piece of wax paper so the ends stick up on the short ends of the pan. This will create a handle to pull on when removing the cake from the pan.

- Be liberal with the powdered sugar on the dish towel. Don't be afraid to use too much. You can brush it off the roll before you frost it, but if you don't use enough, the cake will stick to the towel. Be sure the roll cools completely before you unroll it to spread the whipped cream filling.

- For the frosting, START with 1-2 tablespoons of hot water. It won't be enough to make the frosting of spreading consistency. Gradually add more hot water until it's the way you want it.

Crunchy Onion Loaf

Source: Christmas Recipes from the Lion House, copyright 1989, Hotel Temple Square Corporation

1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 cups water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons shortening
5 to 5 1/2 cups flour
1 egg yolk, beaten
Cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten

Soften yeast in 1/4 cup water. Mix soup mix and 2 cups water in saucepan and simmer 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, Parmesan cheese, and shortening. Cool to lukewarm; add 2 cups of the flour, egg yolk, and yeast and beat. Add remaining flour a little at a time till dough is stiff enough to knead. Turn out on lightly floured surface and knead till smooth and elastic. Place in bowl, cover, and let rise till doubled in bulk. Punch down and divide in half. Shape into two round loaves. Place on greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cut several diagonal slashes in top and brush with egg white. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

Tips:
- "Lukewarm," to me, feels like bath water or slightly cooler.
- Don't use a hand mixer for this recipe. The dough likes to travel up the beaters.
- Kneading till "smooth and elastic" makes the bread feel like bubble gum after you've chewed it awhile - stretchy and springy, but not rock hard.
- When "rising" my bread dough, I always turn my oven up to 200°, turn it off, then put the bowl (needs to be oven safe, not Tupperware) in the oven.
- The dough is doubled in bulk when you can stick two fingers into it and it will hold the shape of your fingers.
- Use plenty of cornmeal and go easy on the egg white - use just enough to cover the loaf. If you use too much, it drips and makes the loaf stick to the baking sheet. But do use it because it gives the loaves a really nice shine.

Cookie Dough Brownies

Brownie:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350°. Melt chocolate chips in microwave; cool slightly. In a bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in melted chocolate. Combine flour and baking sodea; add to batter and stir in walnuts. Spread in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake 16-22 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Cookie Dough Topping:
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 TB milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a bowl, cream margarine and sugars. Beat in milk and vanilla; gradually add flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto cooled brownie and spread carefully. Cut into squares.

The cookie dough topping is not baked and the brownies should be stored in the refrigerator.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

This recipe was given to me by my friend JaNee' R. in Evergreen ward.

2 cups chicken broth
1 cube margarine
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
4-5 potatoes, peeled & chopped
5-6 carrots, peeled & chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 can cream of celery soup
2 pints half & half
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a large pot, heat chicken broth, margarine, water and salt until margarine is melted. Add vegetables and simmer over medium-low heat. When vegetables are cooked to your liking, add soup, half & half and cheese; stir till smooth. Add pepper to taste.

Raspberry Truffle Brownies

Brownie layer:
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 TB water
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup flour

Heat oven to 350°. Melt chocolate chips and margarine; cool. Beat eggs and sugar; add chocolate and water and mix. Stir in flour and baking powder. Bake in a 8 inch round or 9 inch heart-shaped pan for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely.

Truffle layer:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam

Beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar; add jam and beat. Add melted chocolate chips and beat. Spread cream cheese mixture on top of cooled brownie.

Drizzle:
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening

Melt together and drizzle over truffle layer. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Cut into very tiny pieces.

Hawaiian Haystacks

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
4 cups cooked long-grain rice
Toppings: chow mein noodles, chopped tomatoes, chopped celery, chopped peppers, chopped green onions, pineapple chunks, grated cheese, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut

Combine soup and chicken broth in a medium saucepan to make gravy. Stir to blend. Add chicken; simmer 8-10 minutes, until heated through. On 8 individual plates, layer all ingredients - first rice, then chicken gravy, then toppings. Serves 8.

Chicken in a Pot

Quantity can vary - just depends on how much you want and how much you've got..

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Sliced onions
Sliced peppers
Canned diced tomatoes (I like the Italian seasoned kind)

Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low heat for a few hours. Or you can cook it on high for an hour or two.

Serve over steamed rice.

Mmmmm. And super easy!