Crockpot Salsa Chicken

3-4 Tbs Lime juice
Skinless boneless chicken breast (however much you want)
1 Tbs Chili powder
Salsa (about 1 C)

Place chicken on bottom of crockpot.  Squeeze lemon juice over chicken.  Sprinkle chili powder over chicken.  Pour in as much salsa as desired.  Set crockpot on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hrs depending on when you want to eat.  (Chicken will cook thoroughly and not burn, even with the small amount of 'liquid' in the crockpot)
     *This chicken is best added to other recipes (tacos, taquitos, soup, etc)

Corn and Cheddar Chowder

3 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon dried sage

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup dry white wine  (I omitted this and it was fine)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter and stir in the onion, potato, bay leaf, cumin, and sage. Saute about 5 minutes, until the onion is tender. Mix in the flour, coating the onion and potato. Pour in the chicken stock and milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potato is tender.               
Mix the corn, parsley, chives, and wine into the saucepan, and cook about 5 minutes, until heated through. Remove the bay leaf, and stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted and blended. Season with salt and pepper.               

*You can omit the cheese if you want plain corn chowder, it is plenty thick before adding the cheese.

Fast Muffins

Basic Recipe
1-3/4 C flour
1/3 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 C milk
1/4 C cooking oil

1.  Grease twelve 2-1/2 inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups; set aside.  In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  make a well in the center of dry mixtrue; set aside.
2.  In another mixing bowl combine egg, milk, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture.  Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy).
3.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or till golden.  Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups;  serve warm.  Makes 10-12 muffins.

For more exciting muffins...
Banana: use basic recipe, reduce milk to 1/2 C, addd 3/4 C mashed banana and 1/2 C chopped nuts. (Do not use paper baking cups)
Blueberry: add 3/4 C fresh or frozen blueberries and optional 1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
Cheese: add 1/2 C shredded cheddar or Monderey Jack cheese.
Cranberry:  add 1 C chopped cranberries and 2 Tbs additional sugar
Oatmeal:  reduce flour to 1-1/3 C and add 3/4 C rolled oats.
Poppy Seed:  increase sugar to 1/2 C and add 1 Tbs poppy seed.

Texan Ranch Chicken Casserole

1 large onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped
1 Tbls canola oil
1 garlic clove, minced
3 C cubed chooked chiken breast (Mom used leftover chicken from another dish)
1 can (10-3/4 oz) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
1 can (10-3/4 oz) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 Tbls chili powder
12 corn tortillas (6 inches), cut into 1-inch strips
2 C (8oz) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided
In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, saute the onion, celery and peppers in oil until crisp-tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in the chicken, soups, tomatoes, and chili powder.

Line the bottom of a 3-qt. baking dish with half of the tortilla strips; top with half of chicken mixture and 1 C cheese.  Repeat the layers.  Bake, uncovered, at 450 for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.
Yield: 8 servings  (1 C = 329 calories)

Barbecue Jack Chicken

Taste of Home, Simple and Delicious Cookbook

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz each)
4 slices pepper Jack cheese
1 C barbecue sauce

Carefully cut a pocket in each chicken breast half.  Fill with cheese; secure with metal or soaked wooden skewers.  Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from the heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until juices run clear, basting frequently with barbecue sauce.  Remove skewers before serving. (4 servings, total prep/cooking time: 25min.)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (Betty Crocker Recipe)

My new go-to CCC recipe. I like these chocolate chip cookies even better than the regular ones.

3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 c. whole wheat flour (I use the white wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 oz. bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

Barbequed Steelhead Trout

Even my kids gobbled this up!

2 lbs. steelhead trout fillets
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 c. barbeque sauce

OVEN METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the trout fillets and arrange in a casserole dish. Whisk together the butter, lemon juice, paprika, and cayenne pepper; brush the mixture onto the fillets. Bake for 15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with fork, then brush the fillets with barbeque sauce. Bake another 3-5 minutes.

GRILL METHOD:
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate. Arrange trout fillets on large piece of aluminum foil. Whisk together the butter, lemon juice, paprika, and cayenne pepper; brush the mixture onto the fillets. Cook on the preheated grill until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Brush the fillets with the barbeque sauce; cook another 2 minutes.