(not my picture, don't make them this brown!)

Poppy Seed Muffins

• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted

1. Beat together the eggs, 2 1/2 cups white sugar and vegetable oil. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond flavoring, and flour. Mix well.
2. Bake in paper lined muffin cups (filled 3/4 full or 3 small greased loaf pans) at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes for muffins and 50-60 minutes for loaves. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
3. Remove muffins as soon as you can while still warm/hot and dunk tops into glaze. Turn right side up and cool on a cookie rack. With loaves just pour the glaze evenly over the three loaves while still in pans. Let cool to a warm temp. and remove from pans. Yes, it is a little messy but it is really good.
4. To Make Glaze: In a saucepan over low heat, combine 3/4 cup sugar, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring and 2 teaspoons melted butter. Warm in pan until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over loaf pans or dunk muffin tops into glaze when cooled to room temperature. (Omit the glaze altogether if you don't like the mess.)

The glaze is so good! These are great muffins. Make sure to only cook until muffins are pre-brown for best texture. Not raw of course, but they will be light colored. These take a little time, but they are worth it.

Fun summer cake

Orange Bundt Cake

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix (I used vanilla)
  
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

1. Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in 3/4 cup orange juice, oil, eggs and lemon extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 c. orange juice. Mix well and pour over cooled cake.

Great cake-mix cake! Addicting.

Crockpot Mexican night

(steamy)

Saucy Chicken, Rice and Bean Ensemble

• 2-3 chicken breasts
• 1 cup green enchilada sauce (I used green salsa verde)
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. rice, uncooked
• 1/2 can black beans (or the whole thing if you want more)

1. Combine all ingredients except rice in a crockpot.
   
2. Add rice halfway through cooking time and finish cooking.
   
3. I cooked on high for 4 hours and added rice after about 2 hours. Serve in tortillas (please the uncooked kind!) or over chips with cheese and sour cream.
4. The beans and rice bulked it up, along with the sauce. It was really good and we enjoyed leftovers the next day.

You can also make this on the stovetop if you want to use canned chicken and already cooked rice. We found a really good dressing we love- jalapeno ranch by Litehouse in the produce refrigerated section. Cheapest at Walmart. Great in place of sour cream, but also good over salad and with carrots dipped in.

Teriyaki Pasta Salad- great for summer!

Teriyaki Pasta Salad

• 3-4 chicken breast halves, cooked with Teriyaki sauce and cubed or shredded
• 1 lb box bowtie pasta, rotelle, or whatever you like
• 1-2 heads red or green leaf lettuce (or a bag of romaine like me)
• matchstick carrot pieces (in a bag or sliced yourself, about 1 cup)
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 lb snow peas, cut into thin slices
• toasted sesame seeds (optional)
  

Dressing:

• Very Very Teriyaki sauce, shake bottle well first (made by Soy Vay- cheapest at Walmart)
• 1/4 cup canola or olive oil

1. Marinate chicken for at least 1/2 hour in Teriyaki sauce. Bake in broiler or BBQ, or crockpot...however.
2. Cook pasta, drain. Tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces, place in large bowl. Add pasta when cooled.
3. Add remaining veggies. Cool chicken, slice and add to salad. Make dressing and add to salad, a little at a time until taste desired is achieved. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Makes a LOT of salad! Great for company.
   

Well, now I'm stealing recipes from my good ward cookbook. Thanks Hayley! This is a great tasting salad. This teriyaki sauce by Soy Vay is amazing. You can add extra to the salad to get the flavor you want. You can also make this salad with whatever veggies you want. It seems kind of strange to me to have lettuce in with pasta, but it tastes good. You could have it without as well, though! Nice change from your traditional pasta salad.

Pan Breadsticks

Pan Breadsticks
(from mrsdlightfulfood.blogspot.com)

• 1 T. yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 T. sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 3 1/2-4 cups flour

Breadstick Spread:

• 1/4 cup soft margarine
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp parsley flakes

1. Put yeast into warm water. Let sit until yeast dissolves.
   
2. Mix salt, sugar, and 3 1/2 cups flour in a separate bowl. Add yeast and water mixture.
3. Blend well adding enough remaining flour to form soft dough. Knead dough for 3 minutes.
   
4. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. After the 10 minute wait period is up, coat cookie sheet.
   
5. Put dough in the middle of the cookie sheet and press to outer edges. I usually flour my hands lightly so the dough doesn't stick to them.
6. Spread topping evenly over dough. Cut dough down the middle and across with a pizza cutter. Let rise to almost double.
   
7. Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes one pan of breadsticks.

These are great breadsticks that also double for sandwich rolls/slices for leftovers. Like focaccia bread. Not hard to make, and yummy.

Sweet and Sour Crockpot Style

Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Chicken

• handful carrots, sliced into matchsticks
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 2-3 chicken breasts (cut them up before serving, if desired)
• 15 oz. pineapple tidbits, drained
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 T. veg. oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup cider vinegar

Throw everything in crockpot. I didn't even bother stirring cornstarch in that well and it all worked out fine. The cornstarch helps the sauce thicken up nicely! Really delicious. Fruits and veggies in one dish! Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Serve over rice .

Chocolate Cookies with great dough

World Peace Cookies
Baking: From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli)
  

Makes about 36 cookies.

1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.
2. Working with a stand mixer beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.
3. Pour in the flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)
5. GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
6. Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.
7. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.
   

This is safe cookie dough to eat (no eggs) and let me tell you, this cookie dough rocks! The cookies are also really tasty, though I think they taste best cool when the chocolate chips aren't so melty.