Best EVER Cream Cheese Frosting!!!

Holy stinking cow this is AMAZING!!! For me, frosting is one of those things that has to taste just right to eat it (and there are very few I like). I found this recipe on notsohumblepie.blogspot.com and just the ingredients told me it was a keeper. But then I made it, and I kid you not, I took a bowl of it and sprinkled it with teddy grahams and had myself one awesome treat! It's THAT good!

Ms. Humble's Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

16oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cold cream

Beat the cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks, then add the whipped cream into the cheese mixture and quickly and briefly beat to combine. Do not over beat.

Amazing Potato Soup

This stuff is GOOD! Like, "dang good" good! My sweet friend Kim made this for me for a birthday luncheon and I most certainly ate my fair share of birthday lunch haha! This recipe is ridiculously simple but full of flavor with the added in bacon bits and shredded cheese! So yummy!! (She got this recipe from Paula Dean).

Combine 1 bag frozen hash browns (I used the southern style: cubed) 

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth 

1 can cream of chicken soup 

1/2 c chopped onion 

1/3 tsp black pepper

Cook in crock pot on low for 5 hours. Stir in 8 oz block of cream cheese, cook 30 minutes, stir occasionally. Serve with bacon bits and shredded cheese in a bread bowl :)

Best Chicken Noodle Soup Ever!

Ahh... Chicken Noodle Soup. The epitome of comfort food. Unless it's nasty haha... then it can only be equated with desperation i.e. quick and easy and well, I don't make it THAT often, so the kids can't complain too much. Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who HATED chicken noodle soup growing up. Seriously, how exciting can veggies you don't like and dried noodles be in a broth? But then when I was a Junior in High School my friend brought a mug of the most amazingly creamy yummy soup I had ever tasted, and my opinion was forever changed that chicken noodle soup could not only be good, but the amazing comfort food it was supposed to be. I begged my mom to get the recipe from my friend Ashley and her mom (also my friend) Myalin. Thankfully, they were happy to oblige :) Unfortunately, however, it was all guess work... a little of this and a little of that, so I was super excited when I got this recipe from my friend Christy.. the same exact recipe but with measurements!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do :)

1 chicken –boiled & boned (or about 3 breasts)

8 cups of water or the stock

1 cup celery

1 cup carrots

1 cup onions

2 cans Cream of Chicken soup

3 bouillon cubes

1 16 oz sour cream

1 pkg Old Fashioned Grandma’s Noodles (in the freezer section)

In a crock pot cook chicken, water/stock, veggies, chicken soup and bouillon cubes. One hour before serving add the noodles and right before you serve add the sour cream.

If cooking on the stove, boil chicken, water, veggies, noodles and bouillon til tender. Then add sour cream and chicken soup.

Blueberry Dessert

So this is what I've always called this dessert since I first tried it at a Young Women in Excellence meeting back when I was around 13, and I begged my mom to get the recipe from whomever made it. But it is just so dang good, it really should be renamed.... something with "awesome" in it (I'm thinking of Ivan the Terrible who wanted to be named "Ivan the Awesome"  in Night at the Museum 2 haha). Because it is AWESOME! I only make it about once a year, because I have a tendency to sneak half the pan when no one is looking or to eat it just as a meal. It's that good!

1 white cake mix

1 ¼ cup quick cooking oats

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup chopped nuts (I always omit this because nuts don't belong in sweets haha ;)

1 egg

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

21 oz can blueberry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. In large bowl combine cake mix, 1 cup oats, and 6 tbsp margarine. Cut it in until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup crumbs for topping. To remaining crumbs blend in the egg. Press into prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, to reserved crumbs add remaining ¼ cup oats, 2 tbsp margarine, nuts and sugar and cinnamon. Beat til well mixed. Spread base with pie filling and sprinkle remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and then keep refrigerated.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

Mel from melskitchencafe.com did it again! These were a huge hit in my house (don't you just love all that color!). This recipe is super versatile, add or omit anything you want to!

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese (I use a combination of Monterey jack and sharp cheddar)
Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open and slightly flatten the wraps with the palm of your hand. Spray seam-side of the wrap lightly with cooking spray. Cook on a griddle, each side, until browned.

Cheesy Wild Rice Soup

The first time I tried this amazing soup of Jen's, I watched it disappear before I could even think about a second helping. It was so delicious that I was very tempted to go and lick the saucepan (but I didn't :)!! I made it a few weeks ago for my family, and I got the same reaction... everyone wanted more! Another dang good Jen recipe makes the list!

1 cup uncooked wild rice

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 lb of bacon

1 med onion

2 pints of ½ & ½

1 lb cheddar or Fiesta blend cheese

Cook rice as directed, set aside. Fry bacon in a large saucepan. Remove and crumble. Saute onion in grease. Combine and add soup and ½ and ½ and mix well. Add in the rice and bacon. Add cheese and cook until melted.

Roasted Cauliflower & Aged White Cheddar Soup (So Good!)

This is to die for! I found this on closetcooking.com and that guy got it right! Just the name of it made my mouth water. I didn't know how my family would react, but it got 5 stars! Mr. Amazing kept saying it was something he would expect to be served in an upscale restaurant. The aged white cheddar is a key ingredient. It's hard to find. I found it at our local Smith's made by Private Selection. It costs a pretty penny (6 oz is $4) but it is a must! :) I hope you like it as much as we do!

1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets

2 tbsp oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp oil

1 med onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp thyme, chopped

3 cups vegetable broth

1 ½ cups aged white cheddar, shredded

1 cup milk or cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Toss the cauliflower florets in the oil along with the salt and pepper and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast the cauliflower in a preheated 400F oven until lightly golden brown, about 20-30 min. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, about 5-7 min. Add the garlic and thyme and sauté until fragrant, about a minute. Add the broth and cauliflower, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 20 min. Puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency with a stick blender. Mix in the cheese, let it melt and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the milk and remove from heat.

Actually Delicious Gingerbread House and Cookies!

Each year I make homemade gingerbread houses for my kids and preschoolers. For the life of myself I couldn't find my recipe, so I searched the internet for hours for a good recipe that didn't require any boiling or weird ingredients. After a few other recipe failures, I came upon these 2 recipes from allrecipes.com. They are the bomb!! The house recipe tastes like graham crackers. My kids begged me to make more just so they could eat them. And I had numerous requests from my preschool mommies for the cookie recipe... it's that good!! One thing to note is that I had to add more flour to both recipes. So if your dough is still too creamy and not stiff and rollable then keep adding flour! (I hesitate to say how much more because I live 6500 ft above sea level and so it's going to be different depending on where you live :)

Gingerbread Man Cookies

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

2/3 cup molasses

2 eggs

4 cups flour, divided

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, craem together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs Combine 1 ½ cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough. (I had to add a lot more flour). On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8” thickness. Cut out and place 1” apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 min in the oven.

Gingerbread House Dough

¾ cup butter

7/8 cup packed light brown sugar

1 ½ tsp lemon juice

½ cup molasses

2 eggs

3 cups flour (I had to add 2 ½ more cups)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp ginger

2 tsp allspice

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and molasses. Gradually beat in 2 eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices together; stir into creamed mixture. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out and cut out your house shapes. In a preheated 375F oven, bake for 10 min. Transfer to wire racks. Leave overnight to harden.

Hamburger Surprise!! :)

When we were first married and I told Mr. Amazing I was going to make "Hamburger Surprise" he got rather nervous. Usually any recipe with the word "surprise" is just another way to say "disgusting" haha. When I pulled them out of the oven and he tried one, he didn't like it. Then I added the MUST HAVE ingredient of Lawry's Season Salt. Bam! It instantly became one of his favorite meals. Which is a good thing, because I make them often!

Dough:

1 tbsp yeast

3 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1 egg

¼ c shortening 

1 cup warm water

Inside:

Browned, seasoned hamburger to taste

Cheese slices

Put warm water, egg, sugar, salt and shortening into mixer. Start mixing and add 1 cup of flour. Mix until blended then add the yeast. Finish adding flour until the texture is just right then let it raise.

Take a small amount of dough and pull it until very thin a little bigger than your palm. Put a small scoop of cooked hamburger and a small cheddar cheese slice (like the size you’d put on a saltine cracker). Roll up into a ball. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. When hot put butter on top and sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Zesty Italian Chicken (Easy Peazy!!)

Comfort food. That is how Mr. Amazing described this meal! So good. So easy. Perfect!! Another freezer meal from Jessi that turned out to be a family fav and for sure going on the monthly list!

1 8 oz cream cheese

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 pkg Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning (the packet)

3 chicken breasts

Put cream cheese, soup and Italian packet into the slow cooker on high for 30 minutes. This will soften it and make it easy to stir until well combined. Add the chicken and cook on low for 5-6 hours (this is a meal that you definitely don't want to overcook). You can serve the chicken breasts whole or do as we do and use 2 forks and pull into smaller chunks. Serve over hot rice! (We have to double this recipe for our family of 6). 

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

Oh my! This cheesecake is the real deal!!! Stacey is a rock on baker and this is just more proof of her incredible skills in the kitchen! Pumpkin only appeals to me in small amounts of flavor, and this recipe has it just right! This is the perfect recipe for Thanksgiving Dessert!!!

Crust:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

5 tbsp butter, melted

1 tbsp sugar

Filling:

3- 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

Whipped cream

Mix crust ingredients together, just til coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 cup the sides of an 8” spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Set aside. Combine cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl, mix smoothly with an electric mixer, add pumpkin, eggs and spices, beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 minutes or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temp and then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

Mini Fruit Pizzas

Oh I wish I would've taken my camera to recipe group last month! Every single item brought was delicious and all of them made the dang good list! So I'll post them for you even with no picture because you will totally want these recipes!! 

1 pkg Pillsbury refrigerator sugar cookie dough

8 oz cool whip

4 oz. cream cheese at room temp.

Roll dough into 48 ¾” balls. Place balls in mini cupcake pan. Bake for 6-7 min at 350. Let cool for a few minutes then remove from pan (dough will cave in while cooling). Whip softened cream cheese and then add in cool whip until nice and smooth. Place in baggie, cut off tip and pip into cookies. Decorate with fruit. (From Samantha).