Soft Pretzels!!!

I just made these, and they are AMAZING!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttery-soft-pretzels/detail.aspx


Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•  
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

The baking soda helps it brown...much better than egg whites!! It doesn't alter the flavor at all either. These are so yummy!!

Kristen's Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cups chicken broth
1 recipe Enchilada Sauce
4 oz. can diced green chilis
2 large chicken breasts (I cut them into thirds width wise)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 bag frozen corn

Place all ingredients in crock pot except the corn. Cook on High for 4 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return the chicken to crock pot and add corn. Heat through. (About 10 minutes.)
You can top with cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, or avocado (a fav!).

Serves 4-6.
This is an amaingly easy recipe and full of flavor like we Anderson's like it!!!!!!!!!!

Chili Chicken Chowder

3 chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
2 cups frozen Hash Browns
3 cups Chicken Broth
3/4 tsp.Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin
1 can Cream Style Corn
1 can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 (7 oz.) can chopped green chilis
3/4 cup half & half

Stir together all ingredients except half and half until combined in crockpot.
Cover and cook on High for 4-5 hours.
Stir in half and half and serve. Simple dish and delicious!

Easy Chicken Zucchini Bake

This was a very simple, quick, and tasty meal.  It was great served with rice. The recipe was discovered on SparkRecipes.

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of lean skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup raw Zucchini
• 2 tablespoons of any kind of shredded cheese (more never hurts)
• 1 raw onion
• salt
• pepper
• oregano
• (You may want to experiment with some different spices)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450
Cut Zucchini and Onion into slices
2. Arrange Chicken breast onto non-stick baking pan
3. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and oregano
4. Sprinkle cheese onto chicken
5. Arrange sliced Zucchini so that it's covering the chicken
6. Arrange onions onto Zucchini (feel free to add some more seasonings or cheese on top of the veggies)
7. Bake for 30 minutes covered

Yields: 4 servings.

Heymee Haystacks

I made up the name for this. It goes back to when Josh always greeted my with "Hey Aimee" but he talked really fast and it became "Heymee." This is just a variation on Hawaiian Haystacks that takes 10 minutes to prepare

Ingredients

• Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soup
• Can of Mandarin Oranges
• Can of Pineapple (any variation works)
• Canned chicken
• Minute Rice 

Directions

1. Boil the water for minute rice or cook regular rice (or reheat left over rice)
2. In a pot mix can of soup, all the mandarin oranges, half the juice from the can, a quarter of the pineapple and juice.
3. Mix on hi heat.
4. When rice is done, serve and enjoy!

Yields: 4 servings

Pasta Pie

This is a fast an easy recipe. If you cook everything at the same time you can finish in the microwave in just a few minutes or if you make beforehand stick in the over for probably 45-60 min (I've always done the microwave.)

For 2-4 people, use a glass 8x8 pan

Ingredients

• I box (8 oz) Cream cheese 
• Pasta (I use macaroni, but my friends use spaghetti, it will be fine with whatever noodle you have)
• 1 lb ground beef
• Spaghetti sauce 
• Mozerella Cheese (enough to cover the top)

Directions

1. Cook pasta
2. While the pasta is cooking, brown the beef. You can season it if you want. I never have and it's always tasted great. If you do want to season, I recommend oregeno or something that compliments your spaghetti sauce.
3. Soften the cream cheese and spread evenly on the bottom of the pan.
4. Drain the pasta, put the noodles on top of the cream cheese, the hamburger on top of that, pour spaghetti sauce enough to cover, then sprinkle the mozerella on top. (can refrigerate at his point and heat up later)
5. Put in microwave or oven until cheese is melted. 

Yields: 4 servings

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These are amazing! So full of flavor, and they are baked! You can serve them with guacamole, chile con queso, or salsa. Right before you get to the baking part you can even freeze them to have on hand for a quick meal.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup softened cream cheese
• 1/4 cup green salsa (Salsa Verde)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
• 20 small (6 inch) flour tortillas

Directions

1. Mix seasonings, salsa, and cream cheese, add chicken and cheese.
2. Heat oven to 425 and soften tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds.
3. Place two tablespoons of mixture on the bottom third of the tortilla and roll up very tight. Place seam side down on baking sheet, and continue until all your mixture is gone.
4. At this point you can place the pan in the freezer, and after they are hardened place them in a freezer bag--if you would like to save the taquitos for later. If you are using them tonight spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle them with salt and bake for 15 to 20 minutes!

Yields: 5 to 6 servings

Best Flan EVER

[I got this recipe from the internet and it is FABULOUS!]

Flan Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 2 - 12oz cans of Evaporated Skim Milk
• 1 1/2 cups of Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Caramel Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Sugar

Making the Caramel

1. Put the 2 cups of sugar into a pan (frying pan or pot). 
2. Cook over med-high heat until the sugar melts and becomes a nice golden brown. (You need to watch this carefully and adjust the heat as needed. The sugar will boil as it melts, this is normal. don't let it scorch or it will have a bitter taste)
3. Put the caramel in a 9x9 cake pan. Allow it to cool slightly while you make the flan.

**WARNING: Most plastic utensils will melt before the sugar does. It is best to use a wooden spoon or some sort of metal utensil.

Making the Flan

1. Crack 6 eggs into a large bowl. Mix the eggs together using a fork or a whisk.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. You (Jou) can use a mixer, but all you really need is a fork or whisk.
3. Pour this over the caramel in the cake pan.

Cooking the Flan

1. This flan must be cooked in a water bath. Find a pan that will fit your flan pan. Make sure there is space around all sides of the flan pan. I usually use a roaster pan or lasagna pan for this.
2. Put the flan pan with the flan ingredients into the outer pan. Put water into the outer pan high enough to come about 3/4 of the way up on the flan pan.
3. Place the pans in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven and cook for 1 hour. Check the flan with a toothpick in the middle to ensure it is done. The flan may not look exactly firm, but if the toothpick is clean it is done.

Eat the Flan
Let the flan sit until mostly cool. Put a plate over the top of the flan pan. Make sure the plate is big enough for the flan and the caramel.

Turn the flan pan and plate over quickly, holding the plate over the top of the flan pan. Let the flan cool, the caramel will not harden. Jou now have a wonderful, delicious treat to serve! ( I refrigerated mine.)