Jamie's Cranberry Salad

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com. Yum!

Ingredients:
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 3/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
* 1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
* 1 cup dried cranberries
* 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
* 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 teaspoons minced onion
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup cider vinegar
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

I don't remember where I got this recipe from, but I just had to share. If you love orange creamsicles, then you will love these cookies. They are delicious.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest (for me that was the zest of 2 oranges)
2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Pancakes

Here are a couple of fairly healthy (and yummy) pancake recipes. We especially like the pumpkin ones.

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 c. flour
3 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1 c. plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 c. canned pumpkin puree
2 Tbs. butter, melted and cooled

1. Preheat a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. In a bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg for 30 seconds. Add yogurt, pumpkin puree, and 2 Tbs. melted butter and beat well.
3. Stir in dry ingredients and beat just until combined.
4. Grease skillet lightly with butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake; flip with spatula when tops bubble and edges are slightly dry. Cook until other side is golden brown, 2 minutes per side.
*You may have to add a little milk to thin out the batter.
(4 servings)

Banana-Oatmeal Pancakes
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. wheat germ
1/3 c. quick cooking oats
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1 ripe banana, mashed
3 Tbs. maple syrup
1 Tbs. oil

1. In a large bowl, stir flour, wheat germ, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
2. In a bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add milk, mashed banana, maple syrup, and oil and whisk thoroughly.
3. Pour milk mixture over flour mixture and stir until combined.
4. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake. Flip with spatula when tops bubble and edges are slightly dry. Cook until other side is golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
(4 servings)

*I like to make large batches of pancakes and waffles and freeze the leftovers for those mornings when I don't have a lot of time. The best way to do this is place the pancake or waffle on a wire rack to cool. After they have cooled, arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer. Let freeze until they are slightly hard. This helps them so they won't stick together. Put them in a gallon-sized ziploc bag and back into the freezer. In the morning, pop a couple into the toaster to warm and crisp them.

Blueberry Cream Muffins

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com when I had some fresh blueberries I needed to use. I'm usually not a huge muffin fan, but I couldn't stop eating these. I did make a few adjustments to the original recipe. I added some lemon extract and a crumb topping. The second time I made these I didn't have enough sour cream for the full 1/2 cup so I substituted lemon yogurt for part of it. They were amazingly good. I'll have to play around with this recipe a bit more...

Blueberry Cream Muffins
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla and lemon extract.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream.
   
4. Gently fold in blueberries and transfer to muffin cups.
   
5. Top with crumb mixture. (see recipe below)
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

(12 servings)
Crumb Topping
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

This is Ben's all-time favorite cake. You can't go wrong with fudge filling!

Tunnel of Fudge Cake
1 1/2 cups milk
3 1/2 ounces cook & serve chocolate pudding
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tablespoons milk
chopped peanuts, optional

1. In medium pan, combine 1 1/2 cups milk and pudding mix. Cook as directed on package. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
3. Follow directions on cake mix box to make cake batter.
4. Pour 2 cups of the cake batter into greased and floured pan. Spoon filling in ring on top of batter, making sure it doesn't touch the sides of the pan. Pour remaining batter over filling.
5. Bake at 350 according to package directions for a bundt pan or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Cool 1 hour in pan, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.
6. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Add enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down the sides. Top with chopped peanuts, if desired.

A Yummy Marinade

I got this recipe several years ago from a friend in our ward. It's great for marinating chicken or beef.

1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. tomato juice
1/2 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 Tbs. garlic powder

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

1 c. flour
1/3 c. quick oats
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 Tbs. melted butter

Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until just moistened.