Hershey's Scones

• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or butterscotch chips
  
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)
• 2 cups chilled whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• Additional granulated sugar

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

2. Stir together flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired.

3. Stir whipping cream into flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are moistened.

4. Turn mixture out onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently until soft dough forms (about 2 minutes). Divide dough into three equal balls. One ball at a time, flatten into 7-inch circle; cut into 8 triangles. Transfer triangles to prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with additional granulated sugar.

5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar, if desired. 24 scones.

I had never made scones before so this was a little different for me. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty this is a good treat. It is sweet without being overpowering and has a lightness that reminds me of shortbread cookies. I deviated from the recipe because I used butterscotch chips. I didn't have any chocolate chips on hand. They were decadent. I think any flavor of chips would work in this recipe and still be wonderful.

Enjoy

Frito Enchilada Casserole

Frito Enchilada Casserole

1lb cubed chicken/ground beef
1 package taco seasoning-low sodium
1 can cream of chicken soup-low sodium
1 can cream of celery soup-low sodium
3/4 bag of Frito style corn chips
2c shredded cheddar cheese

Cook meat and taco seasoning. Add soup and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Add Fritos and stir. Put in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbling around edges.

The kids and I love this by itself. Hubby eats it as a burrito. I generally serve it with a side of beans and rice. It is amazing with either the beef or chicken.

What I really love about this is that it serves 8 to 10 people depending on how many sides you add. It is perfect for all sorts of social occasions, church gatherings and party night with the friends.

Enjoy

Smothered Meatloaf with O'Brien Potatoes

Smothered Meatloaf

Recipe courtesy of Sandra Lee

Ingredients

• 4 cups Potatoes O'Brien
  
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 1/4 pounds ground pork, turkey or chicken
• 1 (5.29-ounce) box Garlic Herb Shake and Bake (Italian bread crumbs with 2t garlic powder works well too)
• 1 (1.1-ounce) envelope Beefy Onion Soup Mix
  
• 1 (4.5-ounce) jar Sliced Mushrooms, drained (jarred mushroom pieces works for this too)
  
• 1 egg
• 1 (12-ounce) can condensed Cheddar soup, divided
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 (10-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms

Directions

Place potatoes in the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, shake and bake, onion soup mix, sliced mushrooms, and egg. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup Cheddar soup and evaporated milk. Add to meat mixture. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands mix thoroughly and form into a loaf. Place in slow cooker on top of the potatoes. Make sure meatloaf does not touch the sides of the slow cooker.

Stir together remaining cheddar soup with cream of mushroom soup. Pour over meatloaf. Top with onions and mushrooms.

Cover and cook on HIGH setting for 1 hour. Reduce the temperature to LOW setting and cook for an additional 5 to 6 hours.

My experience: This has an extremely good flavor. The texture leaves much to be desired. Both my kids, hubby, mother and uncle liked this recipe but all complained about the texture of the meal. I love meat that you can bite into not that mushes in your mouth. I like potatoes to have a bit of form when they are not intended to be mashed potatoes.

My tips: Do not cook this in the crockpot! Ground meat does not need a slow cook process. Prepare the meatloaf as described in the directions and cook the meatloaf in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 45-55 min. Spoon the grease off the gravy as best as possible. Cover your meatloaf with foil so it can rest and soak up more of the gravy flavors. Cook the potatoes and any other vegetables while the meatloaf rests. Serve the meatloaf and potatoes smothered in the gravy.

Hope you enjoy:0)

Rosemary Chicken Breasts, Brown Butter and Balsamic Ravioli, Warm Spinach Salad with Pancetta and Sweet Vinaigrette

Recipes courtesy Rachael Ray

This is an amazing recipe! My husband is alreay asking for it again and we just had it last night. I have never had such amazing spinach. My 3 year old asked to try it and 1 year old almost made himself sick eating so much of it.

My tip: The cooking goes pretty fast and there isn't alot of in between time for prepping. Wash and destem your spinach and rosemary first then go on to your chicken.

Happy eating!

Ingredients

Chicken:

• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast, 6 to 8 ounces each
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, eyeball it, just enough to coat chicken lightly
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 stems rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped, about 2 tablespoons
• Salt and coarse black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, cracked away from skin with a whack against the flat of your knife

Ravioli:

• 1 package, 12 to 16 ounces, fresh ravioli, any flavor filling
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls

Spinach Salad:

• 6 slices pancetta, chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, eyeball it
• 1 bunch, about 10 ounces flat-leaf spinach
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Coat chicken in balsamic vinegar, then olive oil. Season chicken with rosemary, salt and pepper and let stand 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for ravioli. Salt water and drop ravioli in water. Cook 8 minutes or until raviolis expand, float to top of water, and are al dente.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken breasts and cracked garlic to the pan. Cook chicken 12 minutes, or until juices run clear, turning occasionally. The balsamic vinegar will produce a deep brown, sweet finish on the chicken as it cooks.

When the chicken is 2 or 3 minutes away from done, heat a second skillet over medium low to medium heat. To the second skillet, add butter to the pan and let it begin to brown.

Remove chicken from the first skillet and transfer to a warm platter. In a skillet over medium high heat and add the pancetta. Brown the pancetta bits, about 2 or 3 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain and return pan to heat, reducing heat to medium. Add oil and shallots to the pan and let the shallots saute 2 minutes.

When the butter for the ravioli has browned, add cooked ravioli to the pan and turn in butter to heat through. Add balsamic vinegar to the ravioli and cook a minute or 2 longer to reduce the vinegar and glaze the ravioli. The vinegar will become thick and syrup like. Add cheese, parsley, salt and pepper to the pasta and remove the pan from the heat.

To the sauteed shallots for the spinach salad, add sugar and cook sugar with shallots 1 minute. Add vinegar to the pan, scraping up pan drippings. Add spinach to the dressing and turn to wilt and coat it evenly in sweet vinaigrette. Add crisp pancetta to the salad.

Serve chicken along side ravioli and spinach salad, all on the same dinner plate.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Even the baby ate this one.

3 cans chicken broth
1 can water
1 large boneless/skinless chicken breast
1/2 bag egg noodles
1 small onion OR 1/2c dried onion flakes
1/2 bag frozen carrots
1/2 bag frozen corn
1 pint Half and Half
1T garlic powder
1t paprika
1t ground mustard
1T Nature's Seasoning (yellow and blue bottle)

Boil chicken breast in broth, water, onion and seasonings for 20 min. Pull chicken breast out and cube. While cubing chicken add egg noodles to broth/water and cook for 10 min. Add chicken, veggies and half and half. Boil additional 5 -10 min or until veggies are cooked and pasta is tender. This is awesome the next day too!

Julie/Julia redo?

I watched the Julie/Julia movie with my husband and he joked I should do that. My response was, "I am not about to tackle Julia Childs while I have 2 small children running around. I will save that for later." I shrugged it off at the time but it did get me thinking.

I do a lot of the social cooking in my family. I thought a cookbook of my recipes for those social events would be fun to put together. That brought up what recipes to put in it. I didn't want to put in my mac and cheese and sausage cheese balls. Those are too easy to find. I wanted to do something I had never done before.

So here's the deal. I am going to try one new dinner recipe each week for my husband and our kids. I will also try one new dessert for our weekly Sunday social. My family and I will let you know how they turn out and show some pictures of the final product. I figure if my super picky three year old and one year old like it most kids will. If the recipe is a winner I'll post it.

I love to cook so this should be fun. Hope you have some fun too.

Carrie