Emily's Spiral Chicken

- Uncooked rotini pasta
- Cooked Chicken
- 2C- Water
- min. 26oz Cream of Chicken Soup
- frozen chopped broccoli

Put the pasta in a casserole dish. Top it with chicken. Mix the water and soup together and pour over the chicken. You can toss the broccoli (or any veggie- peas, etc..) in the pasta mix if you'd like).
Bake covered @ 350 for 1- 1 1/2hrs or until the pasta is done.

Tastes great with hot sauce.

Dress Up Frozen Veggies

PEAS

1. Parmesan & Lemon
3/4C- grated Parmesan
2T- Fresh Lemon Juice
2T- Olive Oil
1/2tea- Salt
1/4tea- Pepper

2. Cream & Chives
1/4C- Heavy Cream
2T- Chopped fresh chives
1/2tea- Salt
1/4tea- Pepper

CORN

1. Sun dried tomatoes & scallions
1/2C- Sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2- Scallions, thin sliced
1/2tea- Salt
1/4tea- Pepper

2. Chili & Lime
2T- Fresh Lime Juice
2T- Olive Oil
1/4tea- chili powder
1/2tea- Salt
1/4tea- Pepper

GREEN BEANS

1. Pecans & Raisins
1/2C- Pecans, toasted & chopped
1/2C- Golden raisins
2T- Butter
1/2 tea- Salt
1/4tea- Pepper

2. Teriyaki & Peppers
3T- Teriyaki sauce
1- Bell Pepper, sliced
1/2C- Chow Mein Noodles

Homemade Ketchup

Submitted by Jessica Guinan
From How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

3/4 c. cider vinegar
2 tbsp pickling spice
2 tbsp neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
6 c. chopped ripe tomatoes (canned is fine, don't bother to drain)
1/4 c. brown sugar
salt
cayenne, to taste

Heat the cider vinegar & pickling spice in a small pot until just beginning to boil; turn off heat and let the spices steep until ready to use, at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile, put the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste until it is evenly distributed and begins to color, another minute or two. Add the tomato and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking. Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 45 minutes, being careful not to let the tomato stick to the bottom and burn. Strain the spiced vinegar and stir it into the tomato mixture along with the brown sugar, salt and cayenne; cook until just a little thinner than bottled ketchup, about 45 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and remove from the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the ketchup in the pot or pass it through a food mill. Or let the mixture cool slightly, pour it into a blender or food processor and puree carefully. Cool and serve or refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

Barbecue Chicken with Cornbread Topper

Submitted by Jessica Guinan
From 100 Best Chicken Recipes

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 can (15 oz) red beans, drained & rinsed (I like light red kidney beans for this)
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I use Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy sauce)
1 envelope cornbread mix & ingredients

Cut chicken into small cubes. Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Combine chicken, beans, tomato sauce, bell pepper & barbecue sauce in an 8x8 square baking pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Loosely cover chicken mixture with plastic wrap or waxed paper & microwave on MEDIUM HIGH 8 minutes or until heated through, stirring after 4 minutes. (You could also combine everything in your skillet & warm up.) While chicken mixture is heating up, prepare cornbread mix according to package directions. Spoon batter over chicken mixture. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread layer comes out clean.

Crawfish Etouffee

Submitted by Tiffany Gallehugh

Ingredients Serves 4 servings
1/2 cup butter (margarine)
1/2 tbsp flour
1 onion (chopped)
1/2 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
2-3 cloves cloves garlic (minced)
1 lb crawfish (tail with fat)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1/4 cup scallion (chopped, top green onion)
salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
brown rice (hot cooked brown rice as accompaniment try steamed rice desired

1 Make roux of flour and butter in a heavy skillet, and stir until blended.
2 Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until dark blonde in color, about 10 minutes.
3 Add chopped onion, garlic and green pepper, and cook until vegetables are almost tender, about 5 minutes.
4 Add crawfish fat, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5 Optionally, a little water can be added to thin mixture at this point.
6 Add crawfish tails, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7 Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.
8 Add green onion tops and parsley, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Panera Black Cherry Smoothie Copycat Recipe

Submitted by Tiffany Gallehugh

1/2 cup to 1 cup red cherries, with the pits removed
A handful of blackberries
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 to 2 cups crushed ice
splash of milk* (as desired)

Blend everything until smooth. Enjoy!

*DaNae's Note: Thank you for submitting this yummy smoothie recipe!

A couple of smoothie tips...

#1 - For those who don't like chewing on the blackberry seeds, try blending them with the yogurt for 30 seconds prior to adding the rest of the ingredients. The smoothie will still contain seeds, but many of the seeds will have been pulverized.

#2 - For people who can't have dairy, try using the alternative yogurts. There are many delicious non-dairy yogurts available now. My favorite is the almond yogurt and the coconut yogurt. Then for the "splash of milk" try using the alternative milks as well.

Baked Avocado Fries

Submitted by Nicole Lescarbeau Sutorius 

1/4 cup flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 firm-ripe medium avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-in. wedges

Grated parmesan for serving (optional)




Preheat oven to 450.

Coat avocado slices in the four, then egg, then panko. Spread on a cooling rack that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, then place on a cookie sheet. Spray the top of the wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then bake for about 20 minutes at 450, or until they are golden brown (I turned my oven up to 500 for the last 5 minutes).