8 LAYER BEAN DIP

Everyone loves this bean dip and it is requested wherever I go:
Ingredients:
BLACK beans (yes black is important; 2 cans)
Avocado or Wholly Guacamole brand guacamole
Sour Cream
Pace brand Mild Salsa
Sliced Olives (1-2 cans)
Corn (1 can)
Sliced Green Onions
Shredded Cheese

Drain the beans and pour them into a 9x13 pan and mash them with a potato masher. Next mash your avocado or use the guacamole and spread it over the beans. Then add your sour cream and salsa. Then add olives, corn and onions. Last layer it with shredded cheese. Vary the amounts with what you prefer or to reduce calories use less cheese, sour cream, etc. When I make this how I like it I use tons of avocado. Tim prefers tons of sour cream and Melanie wants lots of cheese.
Also I half this recipe all time: 1 can beans, 1 can olives and I still use 1 can corn.

RICE MUJADARA - CHEAP, HEALTHY, SIMPLE

We love this recipe and it's AWESOME for using up food storage. It serves about 6-8 people and takes about an hour to prepare.1 and 3/4 cups lentils (green or brown)
2 large onions (or more)
1 cup olive oil or nut oil
6 cups water
2 cups rice, washed and drained
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

1. Rinse lentils. Put in water in large pot.
2. Slice onions finely into half circles.
3. Boil lentils in water with cinnamon (optional) until nearly tender - approximately 20-25 minutes.
4. At the same time fry onions in frying pan with hot oil and sugar (optional) until golden brown - essentially caramelize them.
5. Once the lentils are tender, add in the rice, onions with oil, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover pot, and turn down heat and simmer slowly until rice is tender and all fluid is absorbed - approximately 20 minutes.

Notes: You can use short grain, long grain, or brown rice - all are delicious!

Turkey Tacos

This recipe is sooo good. It's great to do right after Christmas or Thanksgiving when you have lots of left over turkey.

Turkey meat

Cheese

Green Chilis

Garlic Salt

Salsa

Corn Tortillas

toothpicks

Shred turkey. Season with garlic salt and brown in a medium skillet (heat skillet on medium). Add green chilis (I added the Hatch green chili mix that Syd gave everyone at the cookie exchange) and salsa. Let it simmer.

In another skillet heat oil. Dip tortillas in oil to soften them up. Set them on a separate plate and fill with turkey and cheese. Roll tortillas up and secure them shut with a toothpick. Heat oil on high. Put rolled tacos in skillet until browned on both sides.

Enjoy! This is such a yummy dish - we NEVER have left overs.

Death by Chocolate Cake

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake (also known as death by chocolate)
For Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
½ c unsweetened cocoa powder (Use the best quality you have. I like Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder.)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg plus enough water to make 2 cups
1 cup oil (recipe calls for corn but I use canola)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (if you have Mexican vanilla it is great to use here!)
1 ½ cups chocolate chips (I use miniature to give a nicer texture to the cake)

For Frosting
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons whole milk
1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

To make cake:
Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour three 9 inch diameter cake pans with 1 ½ inch sides, or higher. Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Mix egg, water, oil, and vanilla in large bowl. Wisk in dry ingredients. Divide batter in three pans. Sprinkle each layer with ½ cup chocolate chips. Bake until tester in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Cool cake in pans 15 minutes and then cut around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

To make frosting:
Beat butter in mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in 3 cups powdered sugar. Beat in 6 tablespoons milk and vanilla. Add cocoa and remaining 2 cups powdered sugar; beat until blended, thinning with more milk if necessary. Place 1 cake chocolate chip side up on platter, frost, add second layer, chip side down. Frost, top with last cake layer chocolate chip side down. Spread frosting over sides and top. Can be made 1 day ahead, cover and allow to come to room temp before serving.

*Note: I made this cake for the first time yesterday. It was delish but need more for presentation. Next time I'm going to try added slivered almonds and fresh rasberries between each layer and on top.

RANCH APPLE CHICKEN

This is actually Dianne's recipe, but I'm sure she won't mind me posting it. Tim really likes it, it's very easy to make, and works well with our salad's, sandwiches, or plain.

~ 2.5 lbs chicken (I use three cans of
Kirkland brand chicken; Dianne used
canned chicken from her friend)
Two apples - chopped
Mayo to taste
1 packet ranch dressing mix (I like
Kroger brand - cheap)

Mix them all together and enjoy. We eat ours within three days, but after three days it still tastes good and the apples are not browned.

ATK Blueberry Muffins

As Kevin and I don't have access to 'easy' ingredients (Pie filling, cake mixes, vanilla extract, etc) we've had to learn how to make things the hard way. What we've found? It's really not that hard. And, boy, does stuff taste good! America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated (available online and on PBS) gets GLOWING reviews from us. Ironic? (because we don't live in America) I think so. As a result, the majority of our recipes will be from either the Cook's Illustrated magazines (put out by ATK) or one of their many cookbooks.
I thought as my first Post to the family food blog I would share the recipe that really started the ATK madness in our branch of the family: Blueberry Muffins. I know you're all thinking "why would you make Blueberry Muffins from scratch when you can go down to the Walmart and pick up a box of Jiffy Mix and be satisfied?" BELIEVE ME-It'll be worth the effort. Oh, so worth it.

Blueberry Muffins from Baking Illustrated
Makes 12
When making the batter, be sure to whisk vigorously in step 2, then fold gently in step 3. You should not see large pockets of flour in the finished batter, but small occasional sprays may reamain. A large spoon sprayed with nonstick cooking spray ensures clean dispensing when transferring the dough to the cups in the muffin tin.

2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup (7 oz) sugar
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/4 cups (10 oz) sour cream
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2-8 oz) frozen or fresh blueberries, preferably wild

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk the egg in a second medium bowl until well-combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds; add the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition. Add the sour cream in 2 additions, whisking just to combine.

3. Add the berries to the dry ingredients and gently toss just to combine. Add the sour cream mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until the batter comes together and the berries are evenly distributed, 25-30 seconds. (Small spots of flour may remain and the batter will be thick. Do not overmix)

4. Using a large spoon sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to prevent stickng, divide the batter among the greased muffin cups. Bake until the muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Invert the muffins onto a wire rack, stand the muffins upright, and cool 5 miutes. Serve as is or use one of the toppings below. (We always use the Cinnamon topping)

Cinnamon-Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins
While the muffins are cooling, mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I like more cinnamon-I go by how the mixture looks) in a small bowl and melt 4 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. After the baked muffins have cooled 5 mins, working one at a time, dip the top of each muffin in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar. Set the muffins upright on a wire rack; serve.

Ginger- or Lemon-Glazed Blueberry muffins
While the muffins are baking, mix 1 teaspoon grated ginger or grated lemon zest and 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Bring 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir to dissolve the sugar and simmer until the mixture is thick and syrupy and reduced to about 4 Tablespoons. After the baked muffins have cooled 5 minutes, brush the tops with glaze; then, working one at a time, dip the tops in lemon sugar or ginger sugar. Set the muffins upright on a wire rack; serve.

Easiest Ever Peach Cake

Last week my husband informed me that we needed to bring a dessert to a party we were going to attend. I didn't feel like shopping so I looked at what I had in the pantry. I searched on-line for a recipe that I could put together with the ingredients I already had. Nothing seemed to match exactly, so this is a variation on a few different recipes I threw together. It was so well received, my husband ate most of the cake and I had to make a second one for the party. This comes out so unbelievably moist!

1 box white cake mix
1 can peach pie filling
3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tbl. flour
1 tbl. cinnamon
2 tbl. melted butter

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch cake pan. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add pie filling and cake mix and mix until combined. Spread evenly in pan. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of the cake. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center is cooked through. Allow to cool before serving.

HEATH BAR DESSERT

This is soooo delicious and sinful. It's Monica, my sister's recipe, but I've typed it all out (but again it can all be changed, use more or less of anything). Monica said that once she added Oreos to it and that is was great!

1 box chocolate cake mix (18.25 oz.)
3 sml boxes instant chocolate pudding
1 pkg. Cool Whip (16 oz.)
9 Heath candy bars

Bake cake according to directions in a 13 x 9-inch pan. Let cool. Mix pudding according to directions; set aside. In bowl, layer the ingredients:

Layer 1: Crumbled pieces of cake.
Layer 2: Top with pieces of Heath candy bar.
Layer 3: Pour 1/2 of pudding over candies.
Layer 4: Top with 1/2 of Cool Whip

Repeat other layers of the ingredients until everything is gone. Optional: Top with shavings of 1 candy bar.