May Recipe Club

Anna Kate's Greek Layered Dip

8 oz cream cheese with chives

8 oz hummus

1 medium cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped 

3 medium Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped

1 (2 1/4 oz) can sliced olives, drained

1 (4 oz) container feta cheese

4 medium green onions chopped

Pita or tortilla chips

Spread cream cheese evenly in bottom of dish.  Stop small spoonfuls of hummus over cream cheese and spread evenly.  Top with remaining ingredients in order listed.

Ashley's Tossed Salad

Sarah's Green Beans with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Four slices bacon

One shallot (or onion)

Package of steam in bag green beans

Blue cheese and sliced almonds for topping

Cooked about four pieces of bacon

Chopped a shallot in a small dice and cooked it in some of the bacon grease about 2tbls

I bought a bag of the steam in bag green beans, follow package directions for microwave, I cut it a bit short then finished then in the pan with the bacon and shallots

Salt and pepper to taste.

Top with blue cheese and almonds 

Melanie's Slaw

Dede's Baked Honey BBQ Chicken Fingers

1 and 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts or tenders

3/4 cup your favorite BBQ sauce

1/4 cup honey*

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika*

2 large eggs

1 and 1/2 cup Panko (or more, as needed)

nonstick spray like PAM, olive oil spray, or coconut oil spray (found mine at Trader Joes)

Directions:

Combine barbecue sauce and honey in a large bowl. If using chicken breasts, pound down and cut into strips. If using boneless, skinless chicken tenders (chicken tenders are the lean strips of meat found attached to the underside of chicken breasts - they can also be purchased separately.) - cut in half lengthwise. Add the chicken strips to the bowl and stir to coat. Cover tightly and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and up to 4-6 hours. The longer, the more flavorful your chicken.

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or coat heavily with nonstick spray.

Combine flour, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika in a shallow dish. Beat eggs in another shallow dish. Pour Panko breadcrumbs into a third shallow dish. Coat each chicken strip in flour, shaking off any excess. Then, dip in egg and let any excess drip off. Then generously roll in the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess. Add more Panko to the dish if you are running low. Place the chicken strips on the prepared baking sheet. Spray each with nonstick spray to "seal" the breading, which will prevent the breading from staying raw and allows it to bake onto the chicken fingers.

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn each piece over and continue baking until the outside is crisp and the centers are cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Baking times may vary, just make sure yours are cooked through. If you like them more brown, bake longer.

Serve chicken fingers with more BBQ sauce. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Chicken fingers freeze well, up to 2 months. Bake frozen for about 18 minutes (flipping once) at 300F degrees.

Virginia's Blueberry Yum Yum

1 1/2 cup self rising flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cup chopped peacans

12 oz. container of cool whip, thawed

8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Stir together the first 4 ingredients with a fork until crumbly.  Press into a lightly greased 13 x 9 pan.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  Cool in pan.

Beat cool whip, cream cheese, and powdered sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.  Spoon mixture over prepared crust.  Cover and chill.

Stir together 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan; whisk in 1 cup water until smooth.  Stir in blueberries (thawed if using frozen) and bring to  boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and cool.  Pour over cream cheese mixture.  

Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Caron's Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies

1 tbsp flaxseed meal

3 tbsp water

1 cup hazelnut meal/flour

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2tsp baking soda

1/4tsp salt

3/4 cup almond butter

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips- I used stevia sweetened choc chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flaxseed and water Ina. Owl and let is sit to thicken a bit. In another bowl whisk together all other dry ingredients. In a larger bowl mix all wet ingredients together, including the flaxseed mixture. Then combine the wet and dry ingredients together and stir in chocolate chips. Scoop approx 1.5 tbsps of mixture onto cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until set, about 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Amy's Butterfinger Delight

Angel food cake
16 ounces of Cool Whip
One stick of butter
Four egg yolks
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Five Butterfinger bars

Whip egg whites and stir in butter mix well. Add sugar mix well. Add cool whip mix well.

Tear apart angel food cake into bite-size bites. Layer angel food cake, Butterfinger, cool Whip mixture. 

Rhonda's Lasagna (pictured on plate) DELISH!

2 to 2.5 lbs ground beef

Box of lasagna noodles (uncooked)

Large or extra-large jar of Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce (I use x-large when I do 2.5 – 3lbs of ground beef)

Cottage cheese small curd (16oz)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese (2 cups)

Can of V8 (11-12 ounces) – sometimes I can only find the small cans in a six pack and they are 5.5 ounces each so I use two of them.  They keep a while so I just use the others the next time I make lasagna.

Italian seasoning (if you like it)

Parmesan cheese (the kind you sprinkle on pizza)

Brown your ground beef and drain.  Stir in your Prego and Italian seasoning (if you like), salt, pepper, etc. just get it to your liking.  This is your meat mixture to set aside.  You will now start to layer the ingredients in this order into your lasagna pan:

1/3 ground beef mixture into bottom of pan

Layer of lasagna noodles (uncooked)

Cottage cheese

1/3 ground beef mixture

Layer of lasagna noodles (uncooked)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/3 ground beef mixture

Pour V8 over entire pan

Sprinkle with pizza cheese (parmesan)

Cover with foil and let sit in fridge overnight (or at least 24 hours).  The V8 causes the noodles to soften overnight which is why you don’t need to cook them ahead of assembling the lasagna.  Remove from fridge and cook in a preheated oven at 350, covered with foil, for 1.5 hours.  Take the foil off the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Let stand about 5-10 minutes prior to eating.  It feeds a crowd and since you make it the night before it is less stress!  For our family gatherings I usually make two pans.  A salad and garlic bread and you are done.  The leftovers are even betterJ  If you use a disposable lasagna pan be careful when you transfer to/from fridge and to/from oven because the pan is very heavy.  And you will need to slide it from the oven onto a cookie sheet because the weight if you hold it on the sides can cause a disposable pan to bow.

April Recipe Club

Virginia's Seven Layer Refrigerator Salad

1/2 bowl lettuce, shredded

1/2 c. finely chopped onion

1/2 c. finely chopped celery

1/2 c. finely chopped green pepper

1 can small English peas, drained

mayonnaise (1 cup-2 cup)

1 t. sugar

8 oz. grated cheese

8 slices bacon, fried crisp

In a medium-sized bowl with a tight fitting lid, shred lettuce.  Mix together onion, celery, and pepper. Place these vegetables in a layer on top of lettuce.  Add English peas as next layer.  Beat enough mayonnaise to make a layer 1/4 inch deep over the peas.  Sprinkle the sugar over mayonnaise layer; add grated cheese layer and sprinkle bacon crumbs on top.  Cover rightly and refrigerate 24 hours.

Ashley's Dip 

Dee Dee's Aunt Maggie's Corn Casserole

2 (9 oz) cans white shoe peg corn, drained

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Pour corn into a 2 quart baking dish.  melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat and stir in the flour.  Cook until smooth and bubbly, stirring constantly.  Add the cream, salt and pepper and cook 10-12 mins or until thickened and consistency of a sauce, stirring frequently. Pour sauce over corn and stir to combine.  Bake 45-60 minutes or until bubbly.

Lauren's Corn

Caron's Buckwheat Fettuccine with Zucchini and Peppers

1/2 cup EVOO

6 large garlic cloves finely chopped

1lb small zucchini, cut julienne

1 red bell pepper cut julienne

salt

1/4lb fresh crumbled goal cheese, plus more for serving

1lb italian style dried buckwheat fettuccine

1/4 cup small flat leaf parsley

3tbsp fresh basil leaves

Bring large pot of salted water to rapid boil. While it is heating, in a frying pan large enough to accommodate the pasta later, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and salute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the zucchini and bell pepper, and salute, tossing, until the veggies are tender, about 10 minutes. Add 1.2 tsp salt and the 1/4lb goat cheese and toss together. the cheese will soften quickly in the heat of the pan. remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup of the water. Add the pasta tot he sauce in the pan and toss until well combined, adding some of the reserved water if necessary. Transfer the pasta to a warmed large, shallow serving bowl, scatter extra goat cheese and parsley and basil over the top and serve.

Jordan's Entree

Anna Kate's Olive Oil and Sea Salt Brownie Cookies

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup natural cocoa powder

1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp hot water

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the olive oil and sugar and mix until well combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each one.

Add the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and beat until a dough forms - it should be the consistency of a thick brownie batter.

In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda into the hot water. Add dissolved baking soda and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop out heaping tablespoons onto your prepared baking sheets and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are set.

Let cool completely on the baking sheets then transfer to a wire rack to cool.