Paula's Recipes

Hawaiian Snowballs

2009-06-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

So I had a recipe for these...and then I lost it...so I kind of made this up...I think it's pretty similar and they taste SUPER good! :-)

Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix
3 egg whites
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup macadamia nuts chopped
6 oz white chocolate chopped or white chocolate chips
cream cheese frosting
shredded coconut for topping

Preheat oven to 350°. In bowl mix cake mix, egg whites and oil. Add nuts and white chocolate. Roll into 1 inch balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with back of spoon. Bake for 7-10 mins. Cool on wire rack.

After the cookies have cooled, frost them with the cream cheese frosting.

After the cookies have been frosted, top with the shredded coconut. Press down lightly to make sure the coconut doesn't fall off.

Then enjoy! These don't take very long and they are definitely a cookie kids can help with!

Homemade Chicken Noodle soup...

2009-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

So this was an AWESOME crock pot soup! I just kind of threw in what I had in the house and it turned out GREAT!
1 - 4 or 5lb whole chicken (boiled and deboned)
3/4 to 1lb baby carrots (cut in thirds)
2 - cans cream of celery soup
2.5 - cans of water
1 - 14 oz can chicken broth
1 - bunch green onions
9 oz egg noodles of your choice (I used fettuccine egg noodles and broke them into thirds)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil the whole chicken ahead of time. I did it the night before while I was preparing dinner. Drain the chicken and let it set for about 10 mins to cool. Debone the chicken and store until the next day.
In your crock pot add the chicken broth, cream of celery soup. Use one of the cream of celery soup cans and add two and a half to three cans of water. Stir until broth, water and celery soup are combined. Chop green onions and cut carrots, add those to liquid.
Take chicken out of fridge and use your hands to break apart into smaller pieces into the crock pot. Salt and pepper to taste.
Set your crock pot to the time you need. The chicken is already cooked so you only need to make sure that the carrots are done. I started mine at 11am and wanted to eat by 6pm, so I set mine for 6 hours.
About 30 mins before you want to eat, add the noodles in. Stir occasionally. Serve with rolls or crackers.
I wish I would have taken a picture, because it was REALLY good! Hope you all enjoy!

Easy shortbread cookies

2008-12-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

This is SOOOO easy!!! And YUMMY!!!!

1 lb butter (real butter only) soften
1 cup sugar
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 275°

Cream butter and sugar together. Add in 2 1/2 cups of flour. Blend together. Knead remaining 1/2 cup flour into dough a little at a time until dough cracks during kneading. You might not use the full 1/2 cup flour. Roll out to 1/4" thick. Use cookie cutters to shape. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Prick with a fork. Bake for 20-25 mins or until very slightly browned. Let cool. Eat slightly warm or let cool completely and dip in chocolate or frost! SOOO good! :-) Enjoy!

Easy Yummy Cupcakes

2008-12-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

These are really easy to make and REALLY yummy! They are heavier than a regular cupcake. They have almost a spongey texture like an angel food cake. You can frost them or make a cinnamon sugar topping to put on it before baking.

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed.

Add eggs to the mixture. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Beat on high speed for 1minute 30 seconds until well mixed.

Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

This recipe can make anywhere from 20-24 cupcakes depending on how full you fill the cups. Enjoy!!

Oreo Cake

2008-12-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

A coworker of mine wanted an oreo cake for her birthday, so I just kind of made this up...hope you all like it!

This is really easy and SOOOOO yummy! :-)

White cake mix (or if you have a from scratch recipe, that'll work too!)
White Vanilla frosting...I like the "fluffy" kind
1 package of oreos (you only need like half the package, so if you eat the other half, you're still good!)

Crush up 1/4 of that package of oreos.
Prepare the white cake mix as directed, only add an extra 1/3 cup of water. Mix in the crushed up oreos. Split batter between two 8 or 9" round cake pans. Bake as directed.

Let cakes cool in pans for 5-8 mins. Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks completely. Crush another 1/4 of the package of oreos.

After cakes have cooled, level one layer by cutting off the rounded top. Frost with the frosting and then top with some of the crushed oreos. Set second layer on top and make sure it settles well. Frost the rest of the cake completely.

The easiest way I have found to get the crushed oreos on the outside is to just grab a handful and stick them on! :-)

Take four whole cookies and carefully cut them in half. Space them evenly on the top and put one whole cookie in the center. Voila! :-)

Dorito Casserole

2008-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is REALLY yummy and has a chicken enchilada taste...it's a nice quick meal too!

1 bag Nacho Cheese Doritos
1 1/4 cup medium cheddar cheese
1 can Rotel
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 large chicken breasts

Boil the chicken until it's cooked through. Cube it into small pieces. Combined 1 cup cheese, rotel, cream of chicken soup and chicken in a bowl.

Place a layer of doritos on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Use half of the chicken mixture and spoon over doritos. Add another layer of doritos and spoon remaing mixture over the second layer of doritos. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese over top. Bake for 18-20 mins at 350°.

Cheese should be melted and tips of chips should start to brown. Let it set for a few mins and then serve! Serves about 4. :-)

Chicken bake, breadsticks, garlic parsley potatoes

2008-11-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake

1 box Stove Top stuffing mix, Chicken.
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
1-14oz bag frozen broccoli florets, thawed, drained (I didn't put this in cause Josh doesn't like broccoli, and it still turned out great!)
1-10.5oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1.5 cups cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400°. Prepare stuffing mix as direct.
Mix chicken and broccoli in 13 x 9 pan. Stir in soup, milk and cheese.
Bake for 30 mins or until heated through.

Serves 6.

Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake

Soft breadsticks

10 Tbsp water
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1.5 tsp yeast

Add ingredients into breadmaker starting with the water, ending with yeast. Put on dough stage, should take 1.5 hrs.
Take egg white and 2 Tbsp water and make an egg wash for breadsticks, keep in fridge until needed.
Heat oven to 350°. Once dough is done separate into 12 balls. Roll ball between hands to make about a 6" rope.(They will seem small/thin, but when cooked, they puff up nicely!) Place breadsticks on greased cookie sheet, space about 1.5" apart.
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with garlic salt.
Bake 20-25 mins until golden brown.

Baked soft breadsticks, mine aren't as pretty, but seriously they tasted JUST like Olive Garden breadsticks!!

Garlic Parsley Potatoes

Wash and quarter 4-6 red potatoes. Boil for about 10 mins until just tender. You want them still a little firm, not mushy.
Drain potatoes, put in ziplock bag with approximately 4 tbsp of olive oil (I didn't measure, I just did it by sight, but they need to be well coated.) Add in garlic salt and parsley flakes. (Also did by sight, you want them to be well coated.) Close ziplock and mix well until potatoes are well covered with mixture. Spread potatoes out on a cookie sheet. Broil 10 mins, stir around so they don't burn. You will know they are done when they start to brown.

Ryan's plate

Layered Enchilada Bake

2008-09-28T18:44:00.001-07:00

My VT's brought this recipe to me...I modified it a little, but it was REALLY good!!! And it will freeze well too! Here you go!

1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion chopped
2 cups (or 16 oz jar) of any Thick and Chunky salsa
1 15 oz can of whole black beans, drained
6 6-8 inch flour tortillas
1 1/2 cup sour cream
12 oz shredded medium cheddar cheese (feel free to use your fav cheese or a mix!)

Preheat oven to 400°. Brown ground beef with onions on med-high.

Add salsa...

Add black beans, mix well.

Arrange three tortillas in a single layer on the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Tortillas will overlap.

Cover layer with 1/2 of beef mixture...

Then layer 1/2 of cheese...

And half of sour cream.

Repeat the layers again, cover with foil and bake for 30 mins. After first 30 mins, uncover and bake for another 5-10 mins until the cheese is all melted.

Let stand for at least five mins before serving...ENJOY!

Paula's Mac and Cheese

2008-07-05T18:52:00.001-07:00

Okay I love this recipe! It's a very RICH recipe though, so it works great as a side dish.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups mozzerella cheese
2 cups medium cheddar cheese
8 oz large elbow macaroni
1 cup classic caesar croutons (crushed)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350°, boil elbow macaroni until done. While it's boiling, heat heavy cream in a sauce pan slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Remove from heat and whisk in mozzerella and cheddar until smooth. Pour over macaroni and mix until covered. Stir in 3/4 cup of croutons. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup croutons over top. Bake uncovered for approx 10-15 mins or until top croutons are browned.

For a side dish, this can serve approx 6 people, for main dish approx 4 people.

Paula's Homemade Lasagna

2008-07-05T18:49:00.002-07:00

I love this recipe and everyone who has had it seems to love it too! :-) This recipe makes one 9x13 pan and one 9x9 pan. I usually put the 9x9 in the freezer for a dinner later. The 9x13 easily serves 6 and the 9x9 easily serves 4! I only took pics of the 9x13 pan, but make sure that you make both pans at the same time so you don't use too big of portions on the 9x13 pan.

2.25 lbs of ground beef (if you want to go a little healthier, use ground turkey)
2 lb container of ricotta cheese
1 lb monterey jack cheese
1 lb medium cheddar cheese
1 pack of lasagna noodles
1 26.5 oz can of spaghetti sause (I use Hunts Traditional cause it's cheap and good!)
1/3 cup chopped onion

Spices: I do all my spices to taste.
Garlic salt
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Season salt

Preheat oven to 350°

Step 1:

Start browing the ground beef, while starting this, begin to boil lasagna noodles and chop onions.

Step 2:

Add chopped onions and mix into ground beef. Season with spices to taste.

Step 3:

While beef is continuing to brown, shred the cheese.

Step 4:

Spray pan with cooking spray and layer with one layer of lasagna noodles. Use a spoon to spread spaghetti sauce on top of the noodles. (Remember not to use too much sauce on each layer or it will make it too juicy and your layers won't stay together when cut.)

Step 5:

Drain ground beef and sprinkle evenly over noodles and sauce.

Step 6:

Use a spoon to dollop ricotta cheese.

Step 7:

Sprinkle a layer of cheddar and monterey cheese.

Step 8:

Add another layer of lasagna noodles.

Step 9:
Repeat steps 4-8 again.

Step 10:

Spread sauce and sprinkle remaining ground beef and cheeses to create the top of the lasagna. Bake for 20-25 mins at 350°. The internal temp should be about 130°. (If you are baking this from the freezer, cover with tin foil and bake for an hour at 350°. Check the internal temp, if it's to 120° to 130°, remove foil and bake for another 5-10 mins.)

Step 11:

This is what your final product should look like. Let it set for a few minutes and serve with salad and garlic bread! :-)

Mom's Meatloaf

2008-07-05T18:49:00.001-07:00

This is how my mom taught me to make meatloaf and it's fantastic! :-)

2.5lbs ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
5 eggs
12-15 saltine crackers crumbled
1 16oz can of tomato sauce
Spices to taste:
Oregano
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Put ground beef and spices in a bowl

Add chopped onions and crumbled saltines

Add eggs and 3/4 of the can of tomato sauce

Mix with hands until completely combined. The only way I have found to completely mix this is to actually use your hands...if anyone has a better idea let me know! :-)

Put mixture into baking pan and form into a loaf, use side of hand to create a 'canal' down the center. Bake at 350° for 45 mins. Use last 1/4 can of tomato sauce to drizzle over top. Bake another 15-20 mins or until internal temp is 160°.

Finished product

Slice and serve with your favorite sides! :-) Serves 6.

Tater Tot Casserole

2008-07-05T18:48:00.001-07:00

This is a yummy and easy recipe and VERY kid friendly...in fact, I don't think I've ever met a child who didn't like it! :-)

1.5lbs ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 12oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups medium cheddar cheese
1 bag tater tots

Spice to taste:
salt
pepper
garlic salt

Brown ground beef, season and add onions

Put ground beef in a 9x9 pan

Add cream of mushroom soup and 3/4 cup cheese

Cover with layer of tater tots

Sprinkle remaining cheese

Bake according to tater tot instructions. When complete, I like to broil for a few mins to make my tater tots nice and crunchy.

Remove from oven and let set for five mins. Serves 4. This also freezes up great! I usually make two at once, one for dinner, one for the freezer. :-)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

2008-07-05T18:47:00.001-07:00

I think I did pretty good with this. :-) Here is my journey making BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches. :-)

I used a 2.5 lb boneless pork loin roast. I cut up half a large onion into thin rings and spread them out on the bottom and then sprinkled about 2 tbsp of flour over the top. I placed the roast on top of the onions and flour and sprinkled the top with season salt, pepper, salt and chili powder. I do this all by sight, just be sure you don't over do the chili powder, unless you like it spicy! :-) Set your crock pot on 8-10 hours depending on when you start and when you would like to eat. :-)

This is what the pork looked like after about three hours.

At about 5 hours in the crock pot, I took half an 18 oz bottle of BBQ sauce (just pick your favorite sauce!) and covered the top of the pork roast. At about 6.5 hours you are going to want to flip the pork roast and make sure you cover the bottom with the sauce from the bottom of the crock pot.

At about 7.5 hours, use your meat therometer to make sure the internal temperature is at, at least 170°.

If the temp is right, you should be able to use two forks and the pork roast should shred VERY easily. You should take the time to make sure all the pieces are shredded.

This is how your pork should look after you have shredded it. At this time, add the rest of your BBQ sauce. Make sure you stir the shredded pork around to make sure it's fully covered. Cover crock pot and let it simmer for the last half hour. This will make sure that the BBQ sauce really soaks in to the pork.

Okay, so I didn't make rolls...but it wasn't my fault! I was totally ready, but then I realized since we moved I hadn't bought any yeast. :-( So we are having it on bread tonight. Trust me, it's good, but MUCH better on warm, fresh rolls. :-) I put a thin layer of butter on my bread just because. :-)
I like to load up my bread/roll with pork and eat it with a fork. However for smaller children or if you want to pick it up and eat it, I suggest using less pork per sandwich.

Here is the sandwich...serve with whatever sides you choose. Tonight, I just did green beans...cause I'm a slacker like that...and we had fruit with lunch. :-)

Here is Ryan enjoying his dinner! Please ignore all the crap on my table. :-) I hope you all liked reading about our dinner. :-) Feel free to try the recipe...it's SUPER easy because the crock pot does most of the work! Like I said before, I used a 2.5 lb pork roast, and it easily feeds 4 people. If you have more in your family or want to ensure leftovers...get a bigger roast! :-)