Yummy Chocolate Frosting a Nestle Toll House Recipe

Use on cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and graham crackers!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, divided
• 2/3 cup (I only use 1/3 cup) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 5 to 6 tablespoons milk, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
BEAT 1 cup powdered sugar, cocoa, butter, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in remaining sugar and milk until smooth. Makes 2 cups total.

Catalina Chicken

1 (8oz.) bottle of Catalina -I always use light dressing
1 env. dry onion soup
1 can whole cranberry sauce
4-6 chicken breasts

mix all ingredients together and pour over the chicken breasts. Cook at 350 for 45 minutes. You can cover with foil if you want.

Serve with rice. I like to use brown rice to make it more healthy.

Angel Chicken Pasta

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and LOVED it. It can be cooked in the oven or in a crockpot.

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup butter
1/2 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
4 ounces cream cheese with chives
1 pound angel hair pasta (I used thin Spaghetti because it holds better)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in half the package of dressing mix. Blend in chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Mix in cream cheese, and stir until smooth. Heat through, but do not boil. Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour sauce over.
Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Twenty minutes before the chicken is done, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta until done, about 5 minutes. Drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

If cooking for crockpot, which I did, melt butter in microwave and then stir in the dressing. Make sure to only use half the package, as most the reviews I read on this said if using the whole package it's too salty. Mix in everything together in the crockpot till smooth and then put chicken (I sliced it into thin strips) and cook till chicken is cooked through. I think it was 2 hours for me, my crockpot heats fast and high. Cook pasta till done, drain, and mix in with the chicken.

Cashew Chicken Salad

Pefect for a nice lunch!

Combine:
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 can water chestnuts
1 cup grapes, I usually slice in half
1 cup pinapple tidbits
1/2 cup diced apples
1 cup shell macaroni, cooked
2 hardboiled eggs, diced (optional)
1/2 cup chopped cashews
1/2 tsp grated onion

Mix Dressing:
1/2 cup coleslaw dressing
1/2 cup mayonaise

Combine all salad ingredients and then add dressing and fold. Use enough dressing to make salad a bit wet as it will be absorbed some. If you are not eating right away do not add cashews until just before serving. Place chicken on a salad leaf. Serve with a slice of cantalope and a roll.

Thai It, You'll Like It Shrimp or Chicken (Rachael Ray's Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth, divided (I used water with chicken bouillon)
  
• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used chicken, since I don't like shrimp)
  
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 fresh red chili, seeded and thinly sliced or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1-1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce or 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 cups basil, torn (a couple of handfuls) (I used dried basil and just added about 2 tsp)
  
• Zest and juice of 1 lime (I used lemon juice, a 1-2 cap fulls)
  

Preparation

Toast the coconut in a saucepan over medium heat until it turns golden brown. Reserve 1/2 cup of the toasted coconut for garnish. To the remaining coconut, add the chicken stock, rice and salt, then bring to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, place a lid on top and cook for 15 minutes. Let the mixture stand for five minutes off the heat, then fluff with a fork.

While the rice is cooking, pre-heat a large, nonstick skillet over high heat with the canola oil. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp, red bell peppers and chili or red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes.

Add the fish sauce or soy sauce and basil and toss to combine. Serve the shrimp and some of the sauce over the coconut rice and squeeze some lime juice over everything. Garnish with the reserved toasted coconut and the lime zest.

Rice Patties

I got this idea off of Rachael Ray, it is yummy!

Makes about 4 patties - depending on the size I guess!

2 c. Chicken Stock (I have just done water too)
1/2 c. uncooked rice (I like to use brown, it is a bit healthier)
1 pkg. Bacon (I have also used chicken, but I like it better with bacon)
2 eggs
bread crumbs ( I have used italian breadcrumbs, also whole wheat crackers crushed)
hot sauce (whatever is your favorite)
little garlic salt or powder
salt
pepper
(I usually just throw whatever kind of seasoning sounds good at the time)

cook rice in chicken stock. Let cool until you can put your hand in it. cook bacon, drain fat. combine all ingrediants in bowl and mix, I use my hand. make patties (like you would with hamburger) fry in frying pan with a little bit of Olive Oil.

serve with salsa, sour cream, and we like to put a little monterey jack cheese on ours too!

Mexican Noodles

Mexican Dry Soup - Sopa Seca

I love this! It's a classic of my mom's. It is nice to have a side dish other then refried beans and Spanish rice when its a mexican night. It is fresh and so good, a nice change at least. And don't worry it tastes very Mexican, not Italian at all!

1 to3 TB oil
18 to 14 oz package of Mexican broken vermicelli
1 can petite diced tomatoes
chicken bullion to taste
pepper
Basil 1/4 tsp maybe
1/2 onion chopped in small pieces
1/2 green bell pepper chopped in small pieces
2 cups chicken broth
Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet. When hot add the vermicelli. Saute until the noddles start to brown to a light golden brown. can burn so watch carefully. then add onion and bell pepper. let that saute some more to slightly cook the veggies and continue browning noodles. when the noddles are a nice light brown and the veggies are a little soft add the can of tomatoes. stir in the pepper, Basil, and bullion. Then add the chicken broth. reduce the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer 10 minutes or until the soupiness is gone and the noddles are tender. Remove from heat and sprinkle generously with Parmesan and recover until ready to serve. This is one of our favorites!

Banana Bread

1 c. sugar
2 c. flour
2 eggs
1 c. mashed bananas
4 tbsp. sour milk
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. margarine
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional) - I have never put nuts in mine and it is still oh so yummy!

Mix all together and bake in a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

If it is still gooey on the top after the hour, I cover it in foil so it won't get any more brown and let it finishing cooking for about 10-15 min.

Also I like using lemon juice instead of vinegar to make my milk sour for this recipe.

I have also been told this recipe doesn't work to double it...I haven't ever tried it, so let me know if you try it and it works!