Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice Soup!

This soup will come in handy for the cold days ahead! Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice Soup
3 cups of cooked wild rice
1 whole large onion, diced
1 whole carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
Dashes of salt and pepper to taste
1 whole dried bay leaf
¼ cup of olive oil
1 cup flour
8 cups of chicken broth
1 tbsp of Dry Sherry(optional)
1 cup fat-free half and half
-In a large soup pot, heat oil to medium-high. Add onion, carrot, celery, and chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add bay leaf. Sauté for about 3-5 minutes, or until the veggies are softened. Sprinkle in flour, a little bit at a time, stirring and cooking until flour is blended in. (Don’t let it brown.) Slowly add chicken broth, stirring until the broth and roux are blended. Add the wild rice and adjust your seasonings. Heat thoroughly. Add the sherry and the half-and-half. Reheat gently, but do not boil. Remove bay leaf before serving.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Fried Green Tomatoes!

Serving up today's recipe....a classic movie and appetizer.....Fried Green Tomatoes! Enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes
1/4 cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup of flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cornmeal
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
chipotle powder(optional)
2 whole Medium, Firm Green Tomatoes, Sliced 1/2-inch Thick
-Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
Place the flour, egg and cornmeal in separate bowls and season with salt and pepper. Add the chipotle powder, if using, to the cornmeal. Dredge tomato slices, one at a time, in the flour, shaking off excess. Then dip into the egg, shaking off the excess, and coat with cornmeal.
Place coated tomato slices in the skillet with heated oil and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until golden. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. Drain on a paper towel-lined dish, sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

We hope you all have a great weekend!
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Chocolate Cheese Ball Dip!

When you think of dips most of the time you think of salty/savory.....well today we have a dip that is sweet and filled with chocolate!! MMmm! Enjoy!

Chocolate Cheese Ball
1 - 8oz.. pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, divided
Graham crackers, butter cookies, pretzels (break graham crackers into fourths)
-In a bowl, combine cream cheese, conf. sugar, butter, brown sugar and vanilla, beating with an electric mixture until smooth. Add chocolate chips and 1/2 cup pecans. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Shape mixture into a ball and roll in remaining 1/4 cup pecans. Serve with crackers, cookies or pretzels.

Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Banana Pudding!

Today's dessert was sent in by Barbara Quinney(Becca's Mom) and is a classic dessert of Banana Pudding!

Banana Pudding
1 Lg. Box Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 8 oz. cream cheese
3 cups milk
1 large cool whip
1 can Eagle Brand milk
Vanilla Wafers
4-5 bananas
-Soften cream cheese. Mix in Eagle Brand milk. Add 3 cups milk and pudding mix. Mix in 1/2 cool whip and layer-wafers, pudding, bananas....end with cool whip on top.

Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Mexican Rice!

Today's side dish is a basic Mexican Rice that would pair great with tacos, quesadillas or enchiladas! Enjoy!

Mexican Rice
2 tbsp of canola oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of long grain rice
1 can of rotel(10oz)
2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp of cumin(or more to taste)
1 tsp salt
fresh cilantro, chopped
-Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and garlic, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add rice and garlic. Stir constantly, making sure the rice doesn’t burn. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Add Ro-tel. Stir to combine and let cook for 2 minutes. Finally, add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 additional minutes or until rice is done. Add more liquid as needed; rice shouldn’t be sticky. Just before serving, sprinkle lots of freshly chopped cilantro over the top.

Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Taco Crunch Casserole!

Good Morning Everyone! This week we are starting off with a Taco Crunch Casserole sent in by Jane Glover. Enjoy!

Taco Crunch Casserole
1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped (I only used half of a big onion)
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1 can sweet corn
1 packet of taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
8 oz of salsa
fritos (crunched)
1 pack of mexican blended cheese
-Preheat oven to 350. Brown ground beef with chopped onions. After browned, add the water, taco seasoning, salsa, sweet corn and green bell pepper and mix together. Let it simmer until it thickens a bit (about 5 minutes). Use casserole dish (any size) and layer 1/2 meat mixture, then cheese, then fritos, then the other half of meat mixure, cheese and fritos again. Cook for 20 minutes.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend!
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Pop..over for an appetizer! Ha! Get it?!

Today's appetizer is a cheesy garlic popover that will melt in your mouth! Feel free to mix different cheeses in to these mini's too! Why? Because cheese is good any way!

Mini Cheesy Garlic Popovers
3 tsp oil
1 whole egg, plus 1 egg white
1/4 cups milk
3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp garlic seasoning
3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1. Spray a 24-count muffin tin (or 2 12-counts, or 4 six-counts) with cooking spray. (A popover tin would work also.) Add a few drops of oil, about 1/8 teaspoon, to each cup. Pop the tin into a 425-degree oven and heat for 5 minutes. Whisk together milk, egg and egg white. Stir in flour and seasoning. Once everything is incorporated, dump in the cheese! Divide batter between preheated cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until only slightly brown. Immediately remove popovers from the pan and serve warm. Yum.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend! Good Luck to the Auburn Tigers! It's their Homecoming weekend!
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Chunky Bean Salsa Dip!

Dip Day Oh Yeah! Today we have a chunky bean salsa brought to you by April Barnette. Enjoy!

Chunky Bean Salsa
2 cans black beans-drained and rinsed
1 can whole corn-drained
1 can Rotel-drained ORIGINAL
1 can Rotel-drained HOT
1/2 large purple onion-chopped
1 bunch cilantro-chopped
2 TB olive oil
1 TB red wine vinegar
3-4 TB lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
-Mix all and refrigerate at least 24 hours. Best served with organic white corn and blue corn tortilla chips. Optional: Chop and add avocado before serving.

It's healthy and yummy!
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

A Festive Fall Dessert!

It's Fall so we've GoT to have some kind of pumpkin dessert right?! What better than a super simple pumpkin muffin!?!? Enjoy!

Easy Pumpkin Muffins
1 package of yellow cake mix
1 can of pumpkin pie filling
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp ginger
dash of nutmeg
-Preheat oven to 350 and grease paper liners in muffin tin. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin pie filling and spices until smooth. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. *You could even put a little cream cheese icing on top for a little treat!*

Please remember to send any Fall or Christmas recipes to two.hungryhippos@yahoo.com
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

A Side of Risotto!

This cheesy risotto dish will warm your belly and serve up great with grilled or baked chicken! Enjoy!

Risotto with Spring Peas & Asparagus
5 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped leak
1 cup chopped yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
4 cups hot chicken broth divided
1 pound asparagus, cut in to ¾ inch pieces
1 ½ cups frozen peas
¾ cup grated asiago cheese
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
garnish with cheese too!
-heat butter, leek, onion and garlic. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes-stirring. Add rice and cook, stirring. Add 2 cups of chicken broth, ¼ cup at a time, allow liquid to be absorbed, cook until rice becomes creamy(20-25min). Add peas and cook for 3 minutes, remove from heat and add cheese & cream. Stir and garnish with cheese!

Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)

Serving Up a Main Dish!

Today's recipe is a yummy Italian dish with a twist! You are surely going to LoVe these Lasagna Rolls!

Lasagna Rolls
1 lb. ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup(8oz) of ricotta cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
-preheat oven to 350. brown meat in skillet, drain. Stir half of the jar of spaghetti sauce into skillet with meat. Set remaining sauce aside for later use. Mix egg, ricotta cheese and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Spread each noodle with 2 heaping tbsp full of ricotta mixture. Top evenly with ¼ cup meat mixture and 2 heaping tbsp mozzarella cheese. Roll up each noodle, starting at one of the short ends. Place in greased 8-inch square baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and mozzarella cheeses; cover with foil. Bake 45min. or until hot and bubbly.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend!
Cupcake Wishes and Cookie Dreams! :)