Applesauce Choc. Chip Cookies - Mom's Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 bag chocolate chips

Cream together sugar, shortening and eggs.
Add the applesauce and vanilla, mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix.
Add chocolate chips and stir.(I LOVE the dark chocolate chips with these cookies. My boys, all three, would rather have milk chocolate chips.)

Bake on cookie sheet for 12-15 minutes. I usually preheat my oven well but it seems that the last few batches of cookies don't need to bake for as long.

As you know, these cookies are super moist, so make sure that you bake them until the bottom of the cookie is brown. Otherwise the cookies will cool to be doughy. Yuck!

German Pancakes

6 Tbsp. Butter
6 eggs
1 c. flour
1 c. milk
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 425. While it's heating up, chunk up butter in 13x9 pan and melt in oven. Mix up eggs, milk, flour and salt. (The faster and harder you mix it, the poofier the pancakes will be). Pour into pan with butter. Bake for 18 min.

Cinnabons

rolls: 1/4 oz pkg active dry yeast

1 c luke warm milk
1/2 sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/3 c margarine, melted

4 c flour

filling: 1 c brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 c margarine

frosting: 8 Tbsp butter

1/1/2 c powdered sugar

2 oz cream cheese

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in milk in large bowl. Add sugar, margarine, salt, eggs & flour.Knead into a ball, cover and let rise. Roll out dough into 1/4 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with filling and roll up. Cut. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly brown

Mark makes these, but he swears against margarine. All butter at our house, but this recipe ROCKS!!

Danish Butter Cookies

(Ammon's favorite)
1 c soft butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 knife point baking powder

Mix ingredients and roll into a log about 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Cover in plastic wrap and freeze. Slice log into 1/8 inch disks and bake at 350 until edges light brown.

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

1 c sugar
1 c butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 c flour

Combine sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, extracts, & egg yolk. Stir in flour. Form into logs or balls and cover with plastic wrap - chill until more firm (gets really soft when you mix everything). Roll out and cut. Cook at 375 until edges lightly brown.

Caprese Pasta Salad

2 1/4 c dried penne pasta
1 lb tomatoes, diced
10 oz mozarella cheese, cut into small cubes
1/4 c olive oil
1 tbsp basalmic vinegar
grated lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon
15 shredded basil leaves
salt and pepper

Cook pasta per directions on package, cool
Mix olive oil, vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice and basil.
Season with salt and pepper
Add tomatoes and cheese to oil mixture and let stand for 5 minutes.
Mix in with pasta when pasta is cool.

Quick Quiche

3 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
1 c bacon, chopped
1/2 c grated cheese
3/4 c bisquick or other pancake mix
1/2 c onion, chopped

Mix all ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley if you want more color. Pour into a pie plate or 9X9. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Coconut Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup karo syrup
1 c 1/2 & 1/2
1 tsp coconut extract

Boil sugar and karo syrup. Let cook and mix in 1/2 & 1/2 and extract

Shepherd's Pie

3 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 lbs. ground beef
½ cup chopped small onion
1 can chopped green beans
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 ½ cups cold water
Salt and pepper
Grated Cheese

1. Cook potatoes until tender and mash with butter and milk. (Regular mashed potatoes.)
2. Cook carrots until tender.
3. Brown ground beef and onion. Rinse with water and then put them back into the pan.
4. Add cornstarch to water in a bowl and stir. (It has to be cold water or the cornstarch won’t mix in.)
5. Add the water, cornstarch mixture to the hamburger mixture. Simmer over low heat until the mixture thickens like a gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add the carrots and beans to the hamburger mixture and cook until beans are heated.
7. Pour the above mixture into a casserole dish.
8. Cover the hamburger mixture with the mashed potatoes and sprinkle with cheese.
9. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. I turn on the broiler the last couple minutes to make the cheese crusty on top.

This requires you to do a lot of steps at once, but it is worth it. This is the best vegetable dish for kids – my boys love it!

Pie Crust

Although this crust is not as good as moms, it is fast and easy to make. You can make as much or as little as you like, just use the half, half, half rule.

2 cups flour
1 cup shortening (I like the butter flavored shortening)
½ cup ice water

Cut the shortening into the flour until you have pea sized clumps. Add the ice water and stir. Roll the dough out onto a very well floured surface. The dough will be very sticky at first, just add as much flour as you need to keep it from sticking. I was sure that I was messing it up the first time, but it always seems to work out.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pie crust: see below
2 chicken breasts chopped
½ small onion chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups chopped carrots
1 ½ cups chopped potatoes
1 cup frozen peas;
2 packages turkey gravy mix
1 egg beaten

1. Cook chicken and onion in butter until the chicken is cooked and onions are tender. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Boil carrots, potatoes and peas until tender.
3. In chicken pan, mix up the 2 gravy mixes.
4. Combine the chicken mix with the vegetables and the gravy and pour into an uncooked pie shell made in a casserole dish.
5. Cover the pie with the top of the pie crust (I use a cookie cutter to cut a shape out of the top so that it can boil over if needed) and brush with the beaten egg.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes
7. Remove foil and bake until the crust is golden brown.

Baby Spinach, Sausage and Black Bean Soup

1 roll Jimmy Dean Regular Sausage
(It doesn’t have to be Jimmy Dean)
½ small onion chopped
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped celery
1 clove garlic minced (I use garlic powder)
1/8 tsp. Fresh ground pepper
4 cans chicken broth
2 cups fresh baby spinach chopped
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 can rinsed black beans
1 can white beans or chick peas

1. Cook sausage and onion together. Add
celery, carrots, garlic and pepper and cook until tender.

2. Add broth, spinach, tomatoes and beans. Bring to
a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer about 10 minutes.

3. Taste and add more chicken broth if needed.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

6 chicken cutlets (I get the thin-sliced breasts)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 c chicken broth
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. capers, drained
2 Tbsp. butter
Fresh lemon slices

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Saute for 2/3 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan. Drain grease and deglaze pan with 1/4 cup broth. Add garlic and cook until most of the liquid is gone. Add remaining broth, lemon juice, and capers. Return chicken to pan and cook on each side for one minute. Remove chicken and add butter and fresh lemon. Once butter melts, pour sauce over chicken. 4 servings.