This is the perfect season for soups and I made this for the first time last night and it was SO delicious. While it has a few more ingredients than I normally like to use (I generally like to use 10 or less) it is still super easy.

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup white hominy
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped green onions

Directions
In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, and chopped green onion.

So this is a recipe from Gannon’s wife, Jen. These are the cookies he brought on the morning show Tuesday. The newsroom loved them and they went fast! Again, please send me some Halloween recipes while there is still time, I would love to share them… and try them myself :)

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

3/4 c. butter, softened           2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. white sugar                 1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs                         1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking powder and salt.  Cover, and chill dough for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll out half the dough on floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out with cookie cutters.  Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven.  Cool completely.  Frost or ice, if desired.
Makes 3-4 dozens, depending on size of cookie cutters.

So I’ve got some new Halloween recipes from people that I would like to share!! What I love about these recipes is that are so few ingredients. Nothing beats a fast, easy and delicious recipe. I hope you and your family have a fun and safe Halloween. Please keep sending your recipes too!!

“Witches’ Hats” — Thank you to viewer Janice!

Yield
32 cookies

Ingredients
1 (4.25-ounce) tube orange or red decorating frosting
1 (11 1/2-ounce) package fudge-striped shortbread cookies (32 cookies)
1/2 (13-ounce) package milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped (32) Preparation Pipe a small mound of frosting in center of each chocolate-covered cookie bottom; press a chocolate kiss on frosting. Pipe a frosting band and bow around base of each kiss.

These next recipes are from my sister Tiffany!
“Pizza Mummies”
Ingredients:

English muffins
Pizza sauce
Black olives
Scallions
Red or green pepper
Cheese sticks or slices
 
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 350º F. For each mummy, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce onto half of an English muffin
2. Set olive slices in place for eyes and add round slices of green onion or bits of red or green pepper for pupils.
3. Lay strips of cheese (I used a pulled-apart cheese stick) across the muffin for the mummy’s wrappings.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is toasty.

“Pretzel Spiders”
Ingredients:
2 round crackers
2 teaspoons smooth peanut butter
8 small pretzel sticks
2 raisins
Instructions
1. Make a sandwich of the crackers filled with peanut butter. Insert eight pretzel “legs” into the filling. With a dab of peanut butter, stick two raisin eyes on top. Makes 1 spider.

These are the Halloween recipes featured on the morning show. I got the recipes from a website called brightideas.com. They were VERY easy and a lot fun to make. I would love to see and YOUR recipe ideas. Please send them my way!!!

Spider Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 box (18.25 oz.) Devil’s Food cake mix
1 can (16 oz.) dark chocolate frosting
1 can (10.5 oz.) chocolate sprinkles 24 large marshmallows ¼ cup M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies
48 red or black licorice laces 1 toothpick

Directions:
1. Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.
2. Line cupcake pans with paper-liners. Fill each cup with 2/3 cup of batter.
3. Bake in a preheated 350°F for 18-21 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely.
4. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the chocolate frosting in a resealable plastic bag.
5. Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the remaining frosting. Then, coat the tops with the chocolate sprinkles.
6. Cut the marshmallows in half crosswise. Using the reserved frosting, attach two marshmallow pieces to each cupcake as eyes. Dot the center of each marshmallow piece with frosting and attach M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies. Then, attach another marshmallow piece with frosting and attach M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies for the mouth.
7. Cut each licorice lace into four equal pieces. Press four holes into 2 sides of each cupcake using the toothpick. Insert a licorice piece into each hole for each spider’s legs, 8 pieces per cupcake.

Eye Ball Cupcakes

1 box (18.25 oz.) your favorite cake mix (I used red velvet)
1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting
1 tube (6 oz.) blue decorating icing
1 tube (0.68 oz.) red decorating gel
24 M&M’S® Brand Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies
24 paper cupcake liners 2 regular-size cupcake pans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the cupcake pans with the paper cupcake liners.
2. Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions. Fill cups with 2/3 cup of batter. Bake for 18-21 minutes.
3. Remove pans from oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
4. To decorate: Frost the cupcake tops with the vanilla icing. Use the blue icing to pipe a 1-1/2 inch circle in the middle of each cupcake. Place one M&M’S® Brand Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies in the center of each blue circle.
5. Make squiggly lines using the red gel, starting at the blue circle and going to the edge of each cupcake.

Summer time is the best time of year for seafood! The recipe below reminds me of a low country boil but is so simple and so delicious!!! I ended up using a spicy sausage but feel free to try others as well. I also threw in some Old Bay Seasoning. It’s served best with some good bread too. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
12 ounces uncooked penne
1 (14-ounce) package low-fat smoked sausage
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups frozen corn kernels
2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
1 bunch green onions, sliced

Directions:
Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions; drain. Transfer to a large serving bowl, set aside, and keep warm.

Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet 5 minutes or until browned. Stir in broth and corn. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until corn is crisp-tender.

Stir in shrimp; cover and cook 2 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are done. Remove from heat and stir in green onions. Toss shrimp mixture and pasta to combine.

Hello!! Because we are now getting into the wedding season (at least I think it is), I thought I would share a wedding/recipe story. One of my favorite things I got as a wedding gift was a bunch of recipes from friends and family that were given to me at a bridal shower. I use them often and the one below is good enough to share!!  If you have read any of my blogs, you know I am a fan of fast and easy recipes. I normally like to keep the ingredients at 10 or less!! This recipe is from the Hernandez family, one that’s very close to mine. What’s best about the recipes I was given at the shower is they are all hand written. So it’s almost like my friends and family are with me while I’m cooking (but I don’t have to share) :)…  I hope you enjoy!

Easy Cornbread Casserole

1 Box of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
½ stick of melted butter
2 eggs
1 8oz. can corn of whole kernel corn
1 8oz. can of cream corn
½ cup of sour cream

Mix all ingredients together and bake in greased 8x8 dish for 30 minutes at 375 !! Simple Simple!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and enjoyed some good food! The recipe below is messy but boy is it good. If you are a big fan of spinach dip than I think you will love this recipe too. I found this recipe of the Kraft website and made it a couple weeks ago. It is so delicious I can’t wait to make it again! I hope you enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 pkg.  (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1-1/4 cups KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
6 Tbsp.  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1   egg
10 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)
1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

DIRECTIONS:
HEAT oven to 375ºF. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan until well blended; spread onto chicken breasts. Starting at one short end of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.
BEAT egg in shallow dish. Mix remaining Parmesan and cracker crumbs in separate shallow dish. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with spaghetti sauce and remaining mozzarella.
Courtesy: KRAFT.COM

I made another trip to Savannah recently so I thought it was only fitting to share another Paula Deen recipe. I have been to Savannah several times before but this time I actually got to dine at Paula Deen’s restaurant “Lady and Sons”. Very good! My favorite was the mac’ and cheese (that recipe is on a previous blog) and the sweet tea. However, if you were born and raised in the south like I was, you might not be as impressed.  After all, the South can make some good country cookin’.
The recipe below is a great side dish and very easy to make. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients for Cheesy Squash Casserole:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced
1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sleeve crackers, crushed medium to fine (recommended: Ritz)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the squash, onion, and butter until soft. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan, Cheddar, and sour cream. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Place in the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the cracker crumbs evenly over the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.
Cook Time 30 min
Yield 6 to 8 servings

Hello! As I have said before I normally don’t like recipes that require more than 10 ingredients but this one is well worth it. It does take a little time to make but what is better than home-made Mexican food? This recipe was given to me by my friend Nicole and I’m sure you will find it super tasty! I hope you enjoy.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
(you can either boil the whole chicken and pick it off the bone, or buy a rotisserie chicken to speed things up!)
12 fajita size tortillas
8 oz. sour cream
1 onion
1 green pepper
4 oz can green chilies
Butter
Flour
Salt
Ground Coriander
Monterey Jack Cheese
*chicken bouillon cube or Swanson’s chicken broth

(cook together in small pan)
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped green pepper
2 tbsp butter

-Mix in 2 cups chopped chicken
-Add 4oz can of green chilies

(in separate larger pan)
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cups chicken broth (from boiled chicken, Swanson’s broth, OR 2 cups of water w/one chicken flavored bouillon cube)
Stir in 1 cup sour Cream
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
-After cheese is melted, mix ½ cup of sauce mixture with onions, peppers and chicken in separate bowl

Dip fajitas in remaining sauce and add ¼ cup of chicken mixture. Roll and place in greased baking dish. Repeat until chicken mixture is gone and pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. You can freeze one dish and cook next time! Bake at 350 for about 30 min. You can serve with sour cream.

Hello and Happy 2009! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed some good food. I apologize I haven’t added new recipes recently, but the good news is I tried some delicious food over the last couple weeks with friends and family. I look forward to sharing it with you. The recipe posted below is a great spin to your normal cheese ball. It’s a dessert ball and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever had. One of my best friends Jess is allowing me to share it and I think it’s just such a unique dessert idea. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Dessert Cheese Ball

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

½    cup butter, softened ( no substitutions, no margerine, no unsalted butter

¼    tsp. Vanilla

¾    cup powered sugar

2 tbsp.  Brown sugar

1   cup mini chocolate chips (divided ¾ cup and ¼ cup)

¾  cup chopped pecans

Cream together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy in a medium bowl.  Mix in powdered sugar and brown sugar until well blended.  Stir in ¾ cup mini chocolate chips.  Cover and refrigerate two hours.  Shape into ball on plastic wrap and refrigerate one hour or more in plastic wrap.  Then roll in chopped pecans and remaining chocolate chips.  Serve with graham crackers. 
Yields approximately one-lb. cheese ball.