Jell-O Punch

Well I haven't posted anything on the RHMC blog since I first joined, but I have been taking advantage of many of your recipes - they are all delicious! I am going to try to make up for my lack of posts tonight.

My first addition for tonight is the Jell-O Punch that Amanda requested. This punch is great to make ahead, and then you have almost no work the day of your event. Our family got the recipe from one of my mom's school teacher friends, and we have used it for showers, holidays, retirement parties and weddings ever since. I think we even made it for an Ag Ed Society event in college. The best part about the punch is that you can make it any color without changing the flavor very much.



Mix together:


8 cups boiling water
4 cups sugar
2 (3 oz) packages Jell-O (any flavor, changes the color)
2 cans pineapple juice
1 (12 oz) can concentrated lemonade


Pour into 2 (1 gallon) Ziploc freezer bags (I usually double the bags). Freeze.

To serve, thaw a couple hours ahead of time. Pour one bag into punch bowl. Add a 2-liter bottle of 7-up, sprite, or Sierra Mist to bowl and mix. Will be a slushy mixture - no need to add ice or ice cream to make the punch cold. You will need 1 2-liter bottle of pop per bag of punch.

Pecan Sticky Muffins

I decided to do some baking tonight since Kurt and I are planning to head down to the Ohio Beef Expo on Saturday. This recipe has been hiding in Mom's recipe box on the back side of a scrap of paper for years. She jotted a few recipes down out of Taste of Home magazine while waiting at the eye doctor I believe. On the other side of the scrap of paper is Peanut Crunch Cake. We've made that countless times, but neglected on the side with these muffins were recipes for a breakfast skillet dish and a ham and swiss casserole.

Here's the link to Taste of Home's Pecan Sticky Muffins. They smelled so good while baking. Beware, your muffins tins will be quite full, but they seem to rise almost straight up. They take a little wiggling with a knife to get them out and then you need a spoon to save the sticky pecan goo that may stick in the muffin tins. When I made this, it made 15 muffins so be prepared to prep a few extra muffin cups in the muffin tins.

"Hit the Spot" Frozen Fruit

I was first introduced to this recipe at a graduation party for one of my high school classmates. It was a hot June day and the slushy fruit just hit the spot. Since then, my mom has used this recipe for our parties and many family get- togethers. Often, people say,"That fruit just hits the spot." It is good anytime of the year. The fresh fruits taste good on winter days and the chill cools one off in the summer.

Ingredients:
2 cartons of fresh strawberries (tops cut off and sliced into bite size pieces)
1 carton of fresh blueberries
1 carton of fresh black raspberries
1 bag of purple grapes (removed from vine)
6 bananas (sliced)
2 15 ounce cans of mandarin oranges
1 medium size jar of maraschino cherries
1 29 ounce can of peaches
1 29 ounce can of crushed pineapple
2 cans of frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cups of sugar

Combine all of the fruit into a large plastic bowl with lid. I like to use one of my 16 cup Tupperware bowls. Dump in frozen orange juice concentrate. Fill orange juice concentrate containers with water and dump the water into a saucer on the stove top. Add sugar to the water and heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the sugar water to the fruit mixture. Stir the mixture lightly, trying not to crush the fruit. When it seems mixed well place in freezer and keep there over night. Remove it from your freezer 2-3 hours prior to serving or as long you think it will take to get back to a slushy consistency depending on the temperature outside.

Please note: Feel free to cut this recipe in half. Also feel free to add or delete certain fruits.

Taco Soup

This recipe came from my sister, Lindsay. It is so easy to make and so tasty! Plus I can keep all of the ingredients on hand and always have a good, quick meal to serve in a pinch. Give it a try:

1 pound of hamburger- browned and drained

To the hamburger add: (for each one, add the entire contents from the can)
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of shoepeg corn (or white corn if you can't find it)
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 packet of ranch seasoning

Let it simmer together for at least 20 minutes (but the longer the better).

When we eat this, we crush up tortilla chips and put them in the bottom of the bowl and add shredded cheese and sour cream to the top.

Enjoy!

Miniature Coffee Cakes

I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box while searching for a coffee cake recipe. These are really good. I'm not sure why the recipe was buried in the back of the Bread sections. I don't remember making them before, but I'll definitely make them again.

Miniature Coffee Cakes
1 3/4 c. flour
1 T. baking powder

1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt

1 pkg. Instant pudding

1/3 c. oleo

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. nuts, optional

Mix and put in cupcake papers.

Topping:

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

2 T. melted oleo

1/2 c. nuts

Put topping over cakes. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 min. Makes 2 doz.

Santa Fe Enchilada Bake (That's the technical name. I call it tortilla casserole.)

I wish I had a great story about how I secured this recipe, but alas, it was on the back of a package of shredded cheese. Greg, who doesn't like Mexican food, liked it enough that I have permission to make it once a year. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 large onion and green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 pkg (10oz) frozen corn, thawed & drained (I used frozen sweet corn and didn't worry about the package size)
• 12 flour tortillas
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Directions

Cook and stir chicken, onion, and peppers in a sprayed skilled on medium heat for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in salsa and corn. Arrange 6 tortillas on the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking dish. Cover with layers of half of the chicken mixture, half of the sour cream, and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers; cover with foil. Bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove foil 30 minutes through baking. Cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Dumplings

Last year for Fathers Day, Kurt's family got together and grilled out for supper. Kurt's sister, Anita, brought Chicken and Dumplings as a side dish. Kurt and I both thought it was really good! I told Anita how much Kurt and I liked it and how Kurt thought I should learn how to make it. She said she received the recipe from either her mother-in-law or grandmother-in-law. The recipe was simple enough that I was able to remember it until I got back home to write it down.

Dumplings
Mix:
2 c. flour
2 eggs
2 T. lard
1 t. baking soda
salt & pepper to taste
milk to consistency (like a pie dough)

Roll out about 1/8" thick and cut into squares or rectangles.

Cook in broth for 20 min. Add canned meat and cook additional 20 min.

The first time I made the recipe, I made beef and dumplings because I'd been hungry for beef and noodles. I made a full batch of dough, divided it, and froze half. I wrapped the dough tightly in plastic wrap and then stuck it in a plastic bag. I labeled and dated the bag and stuck it in the freezer.

Start with a pint of broth and the broth off the meat, but you may need to add more broth or potato water while the dumplings are cooking. Potato water is the water your potatoes are boiling in while you are cooking them to be soft enough for mashing. (Hint: You should be making mashed potatoes as a side for the meat and dumplings unless you are taking this for a potluck or carry-in.) Later, add a pint of meat and cooked until the dumplings are cooked, firm is fine but not chewy.

The first time I made this, the dumplings were undercooked and slightly tough. The second time I made this, I rolled them out thinner and cut them in smaller pieces. The dumplings were much better then. The first ones would have been fine had I cooked them longer, but we were getting pressed for time.

A half batch of dumpling dough fed four adults, two men and two women, with a man-sized meal or better of leftovers when served with mashed potatoes and home-frozen sweet corn.

As I type this, I'm considering making a batch of dough and freezing both halves to have on hand for a meal later. However, I don't know how well the dough defrosts in the microwave, so it will probably needed thawed out in the frig ahead of time. You can always make more fresh dough if you don't have time for the portion in the freezer to thaw out and you are really craving a dumpling meal.

P.S. Amanda, this post was prompted by your lard post on Facebook.