Fooooood. Goooooood.

Happy Valentine's Day. For some reason food always comes to mind when I think of Valentine's Day. Sweet food. Good food. Red food. Green food. Cheesy food. All kinds of food! I feel like I'm starting to sound like Dr. Suess now, so I'll stop.

Kyle made me breakfast this morning. Raspberry coffee cake. It's a staple at our home. It got me thinking of the other staple meals that we make and so I thought I'd share some recipes since I love reading recipe blogs myself. I figure there's got to be more of you recipes readers somewhere!

I've been trying to make healthy recipes lately, but I usually fall off track on Wednesday or Thursday and then get back on the wagon again on Monday after a greasy, sugary weekend. The point of my former sentence: I have a nice little bunch of recipes to give you--some are healthy and some are not so much.

Enjoy!

P.S. None of these recipes are my own. I do not take credit for making up ANY of them.

Raspberry Coffee Cake
1 pkg. Jiffy Raspberry Muffin Mix
1/4 c. milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp melted butter
A handful of frozen or fresh raspberries
Topping:
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. chopped nuts (I leave these out)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir first 4 ingredients together. Spread in 8 x 8 pan. Sprinkle on the raspberries. Topping: Combine dry ingredients. Add butter and stir until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle on coffee cake batter.

Bake 20 minutes until light brown. Serve warm.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 c. chopped celery
4 Tbsp. miracle whip
2 Tbsp. mayo
20 red seedless grapes, quartered (I also use dried cranberries)
2 Tblsp. onion, minced
2 tsp. lemon juice
dash of salt and pepper

Mix together and serve on buns or croissants with tomato slice and lettuce leaves.

Strombli (AKA Kyle's Favorite Meal)
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni slices
sausage
jalapenos
mushrooms
green and black olives
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregeno
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
4 Tbsp. melted butter
pizza sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out bread dough into a recangle. Layer half the crust with the pepperoni, sausage, jalapenos, mushrooms, olives and sprinkle with cheese. Fold over crust and seal edges with fork. Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake for 30 minutes. Mix basil, oregano, and garlic powder with melted butter. Remove stromboli from oven and brush with butter and spices. Slice and serve with heated pizza sauce on the side.

I have found this next one of recent, but have eaten it non-stop for a week.
Asian Salad
Bag of Cabbage or Bok Choy
Green onions, chopped
Ramen noodles, unbaked
Nuts (I like cashews)
Dressing:
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Mix together cabbage and green onions and throw in a bowl. In a skillet, brown the ramen noodles and nuts in a Tbsp. butter over medium heat. Set aside and let cool. Mix together dressing. When you are ready to eat, combine cabbage mixture and ramen mixture and top with dressing.
Tip: If you aren't going to eat it all at one time, leave the cabbage mixture separate from the ramen mixture as well as from the dressing.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. quick oats
1 pkg. chocolate chips

Mix together. Start with the first ingredients (shortening and butter) and make your way down the list. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.


Butternut Squash Soup
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
4 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the water/bouillon cube to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with sour cream.


Lazy Lasagna Chili
1 cup coarsely chopped zucchini
½ cup coarsely chopped onion
1 pound hot Italian sausage
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
2 cans (14-14 ½ oz each) beef broth
1 cup water
1 ½ cups (4 oz) uncooked spiral pasta
2 tablespoons snipped basil (opt.)

Coarsely chop zucchini and onion; set zucchini aside. Remove casings from sausage; discard casings. Heat 4-qt. pan over medium heat until hot. Add sausage, onion and garlic; cook sausage 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking sausage into crumbles; drain.
Add spaghetti sauce, broth and water; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 7 minutes. Stir zucchini into chili; cook 2-4 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat; stir basil into soup, if desired.

Lime Dessert
2 c. crushed graham crackers
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
Filling:
1 pkg. (3 oz.) lime gelatin
2 pkgs. ( one 8 oz., one 3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 carton (16 oz.) whipped topping, thawed

Combine the first three ingredients; set aside 2 Tbsp for topping. Press remaining crumbs onto the bottom of an ungreased 9 x 9 or 9 x 13 pan; set aside. In a bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water; cool. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese abd sugar. Add vanilla; mix well. Slowly add gelatin unil combined. Fold in whiped topping. Spoon over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Cover abd refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

Cow Plops
8-9 oz chow mein noodles
Melt:
1 6 oz. pkg chocolate chips
1 6 oz pkg butterscotch chips
1 c. peanut butter

Pour melted mixture over chow mein noodles and "plop" cookie-sized sections onto wax paper.

Lentil and Sausage Soup (A little spicy)
2 tablespoons olive oil
7 ounces dry lentils
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup finely shredded green cabbage
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 lb sausage 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cubes beef bouillon
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sausage, onion, cabbage, and garlic; cook until tender. Stir in sausage and tomatoes. Crumble vegetable cubes over mixture and pour in water. Stir in bay leaf, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil; cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Egg Salad (We love olives. We even put them in our egg salad.)
8 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use half mayo and half miracle whip)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons chopped pimento-stuffed green olives

Place eggs in a medium saucepan with enough cold water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cover saucepan, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel, and chop.
In a large bowl, mix eggs, mayonnaise, pepper, and paprika. Mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth. Gently stir in the olives. Refrigerate until serving.

Dee's Health Bread

Sausage and Cranberry Rice Pilaf (Sounds weird but it's suprisingly good!)
Cooked rice (cooked with chicken broth or butter)
Sausage
Dried cranberries
Almonds
mushrooms
Chopped Celery

Cook sausage, celery and mushrooms. Combine with rice, almonds and dried cranberries. Leave out ingredients or add more. It's up to you!