Great White Punch

This is another recipe that I often get asked for. It is great for any kind of party or get together because besides it being REALLY good, it is also REALLY cheap. My family and I have made this for wedding receptions, missionary farewells, baby and bridal showers and neighborhood get-togethers and it never gets old. Since the color is very light as well, I have added food coloring to make it blue for a boy baby shower or green for St. Patrick's Day, etc.

Great White Punch

1- 6 oz frozen limeade
11 cups of water
2 cups sugar
2 quarts 7-up or sprite
3-4 limes, sliced

Combine 6 oz frozen limeade, 11 cups water and 2 cups sugar. Pour into gallon Ziploc freezer bags and freeze. Two hours before serving, thaw frozen juice in punch bowl. Mash. You want to make it look a little slushy. Add the sprite and lime slices.

My take: I have tried many ways of freezing the juice and the Ziploc bags work the best since you can massacre them while getting the punch out. I can no longer find the little 6 ounce limeades at the store anymore, so I just double the first part of the recipe and freeze for a later date. Watch out though, once I was trying to get something out of the bottom of the freezer and a huge block of the frozen punch fell on my head and knocked me out for a few seconds. Freaked Logan out, as you can imagine. I should probably just blame all my mental problems on the "Frozen Punch Incident of 2007." Can I get away with that?

Chicken Divan

Here is another recipe I grew up with. My family used to call it Chicken Diane, and maybe that is why I liked it so much. If you are trying to get your kids to try curry, this is a recipe that eases them into it since it only has 1/2 tsp curry powder in the sauce. We had this tonight and Reagan told me "Mommy, I love this!" She ate her serving and Chase's serving (since anything that does not resemble pizza is not worthy of his notice). My mom served this with broccoli cut into large spears and big pieces of chicken on a platter, but since I have smaller children I cut the chicken and broccoli into smaller pieces and assemble it more like a casserole. I serve this with rice, but I have heard some eat Chicken Divan with egg noodles.

Chicken Divan

3-4 chicken breasts

1-2 broccoli heads (depends on size)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

breadcrumbs (optional)

Cook the chicken breasts. Cool and cut into chunks. Cook broccoli until just done. I put the chicken and broccoli together in a 9x9 or 13x9 pan. Stir together the cream of chicken, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder and pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top with the cheese and put into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

My take: I make dishes a lot that call for pre-cooked, cut-up chicken like this one. I will try to cook a large amount of chicken breasts ahead of time, cut them up and freeze them. Since this is my least favorite part of the recipe, it is nice to have it already done. I cook thawed chicken breasts in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. In this recipe, I steam the broccoli, but I am sure you could microwave it as well. I also sometimes mix in pureed veggies like cauliflower with Chicken Divan, but I find it just doesn't work as well as some other recipes since the sauce is supposed to be thick.

The Cupcakes I Dream About at Night....

My friend Rita had a birthday party for her cute little girl Jemma last night and I helped with some of the food. She made these cupcakes with a raspberry cream filling that were delicious. Blake loved them and he usually never eats a dessert that is not chocolate. The best part is that they are so easy!

First, just bake a yellow cake into cupcakes, following the directions on the box. Once they are done and cooled, cut off the tops and put in the following filling. Put the top back on and top with a shake of powdered sugar. YUM! YUM!

Raspberry Filling:

1 16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar (more or less to taste)
1 pkg Frozen Raspberries

Thaw the raspberries and mash thoroughly. Using beaters whip the cream and the powdered sugar together until the cream forms stiff peaks. Then fold the raspberry mash into the whipped cream. That's it!

Jenn's Lime Chicken Tacos

I saw this on my friend's blog. It was a recipe that her whole family loved and it sounded so good I wanted to try it. (Not to mention the fact that I was able to just throw frozen chicken breasts in the slow cooker and have yummy tacos at the end of the day.)

Jenn's Lime Chicken Tacos

1 1/2 lb. boneless chicken breasts

3 T. lime juice

1 T. chili powder

1 c. frozen corn

1 c. chunky salsa

12 flour tortillas (6 in), warmed

Sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and shredded lettuce

Place chicken in a slow cooker. Combine lime juice and chili powder; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken; cool slightly. Shred and return to slow cooker. Stir in corn and salsa. Cover and cook on low for 30 min. or until heated through. Serve in tortillas with sour cream, cheese, and lettuce.

Like I said, I used frozen breasts and the first time I did the recipe, the lime juice blackened on the bottom of the slow cooker and was hard to clean. The second time, I used a slow cooker plastic bag and problem solved!

The Best Bread... EVER!

Ok, so I am a little biased. I have been making this bread for as long as I can remember. My mom would make it all the time and my family would make it in large quantities for the holidays and pass them out. It is delicious and you don't have to be a baking wizard to do it right the first time.

Carolyn's Onion Bread
1 TBS yeast
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup milk
3 TBS sugar
2 TBS oil
2 tsp salt
2 cups flour (plus more)
2 - 3 TBS dried minced onion
1 tsp dill seed
egg white
poppy seeds


Put the yeast in water, milk, and sugar together in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Add oil, salt, 2 cups flour, dried minced onion, and dill seed. Beat with hand mixer. Then add more flour and knead until it is slightly sticky (for about 5 minutes). Let rise. If you have a breadmaker, just use the dough setting and let it go. Shape into braids or loaves. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Let rise. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. This recipe may be doubled.

Beef, Bacon and Spaghetti Casserole

Before you say, "Ewe, disgusting!", know that I said that too when I first read this recipe. Blake grew up with this casserole and loves it, so I made it for him once and I loved it too! All my kids love it also, which is rare and definitely makes it a keeper.

8 oz cooked spaghetti (or more, I am not exact on this)

5 slices of bacon cut into pieces

1 lb hamburger (I use ground turkey)

1 can tomato soup

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup grated cheese

oregano and black pepper to taste

Fry bacon in a large skillet until almost done. Add hamburger and cook until browned. Pour off the grease. Then add soup and water to the hamburger and bacon. Then season with black pepper and oregano... don't get stingy. You can also add salt, if you like. Layer casserole into casserole dish (or I always use the pot that I boiled the spaghetti in) spaghetti first then the soup/hamburger mixture and top with cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

This is a great recipe when you are trying to figure out what to to with all that leftover spaghetti from spaghetti night. I also add a nutritional punch by adding 1/2 cup of pureed veggies (butternut squash or carrot usually) and you can't taste it. More importantly, my kids can't!

Chicken Curry

The gals back in Clearfield will be happy about this one. I have been telling them forever that I would give them this recipe, but I am lazy... What can I say? This is a recipe I grew up with and that my kids love. I think it is super easy and fast, but then again I've been making it since I could help mom in the kitchen.

3 TBS butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

3 TBS flour

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp ginger

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp lemon juice

2 cups cooked diced chicken (I just use chicken I've taken from leftover roast chicken.)

Melt butter and add onion and curry powder. Saute. Add flour, salt, sugar, and ginger. Slowly add milk and chicken broth. Cook until thickened and add lemon juice and chicken. Heat through. Serve over rice with 4 or 5 condiments: slivered almonds, chopped hard-boiled eggs, pineapple chunks, pickle relish, shredded coconut, raisins, bacon-bits, red onion, etc. (Now here is a disclaimer. I will put all these condiments on my curry and Blake thinks I am crazy and is happy putting nothing on top which is how my kids eat it as well. I didn't realize I was weird until I saw it from the outside, so by all means eat it sans condiments!)

For those of you who are are aware of Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld I adapted it to her philosophy (which is "hiding" pureed veggies in your kids food to make sure they get enough vitamins). I only use about 1 TBS butter and change the milk to 1/2 cup and a 1/2 cup cauliflower puree. Can't taste the difference and it packs a great nututional punch.

Nancy's Chicken Marinade

This is a recipe I received from my mother-in-law (it is family favorite) and I have had more requests for this recipe than any other. It is awesome!

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sprite/7-up
1 cup water
6 finely chopped green onions (whole thing)
juice of 4 lemons or limes
3 or more jalapeno peppers



I put the chicken and ingredients all together in a large ziploc bag or large tupperware with the lid on (it will make your fridge stink otherwise) and let marinade overnight. Adding brown sugar or honey is great with pork or tri-tip but burns too quickly on the chicken.

Whole Wheat Bread

This is my favorite recipe for whole wheat bread. I make it all the time and have yet to have a bad loaf! I put all the ingredients in the breadmaker so I do have to mix and knead and find a nice warm place for the bread to rise. I add 4 teaspoons of wheat gluten to the recipe and it keeps soft for days (plus provides a nutritional boost!).

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast dissolved in 2 TBS water
1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dried milk
1 1/4 tsp salt

Put all the ingredients in the breadmaker and put it on dough setting. After the dough has risen, bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Then tent the bread with tin foil (don't skip this step!) and bake for another 20 minutes. Easy as that! I have always used molasses in this recipe, but you should be able to use honey or maple syrup.