Orange Julius

One of my favorite mall snacks is an Orange Julius. I just love them! So it is handy to be able to make this at-home version. I love it, my kids love it, so we often have Orange Juliuses for lunch on no-school days. The last time I made this recipe we had it with homemade soft pretzels. What is better than a soft pretzel and a sweet and tangy Orange Julius?? Such a yummy combination.

Orange Julius

6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
10-12 ice cubes

In a blender combine orange juice concentrate, milk, water, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth and frothy. Add ice and blend until smooth. Makes 4-5 servings.

Favorite Chicken Broccoli Casserole

I have tried so many chicken broccoli/chicken divan casseroles through the years and I've finally found my favorite. It is just the perfect mixture of creamy and cheesy and I love the Ritz crumb topping. It's just a great comfort food casserole. I served it with rice and carrots and my whole family enjoyed it. Yum!

Favorite Chicken Broccoli Casserole

3 cups cooked and cubed chicken
2 cups cooked broccoli florets
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl combine chicken, cooked broccoli, soups, sour cream, and 1 cup cheddar cheese. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cup of shredded cheddar. In a separate bowl combine cracker crumbs and melted butter; sprinkle cracker crumb mixture over the casserole. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and crumbs are golden. Serve over rice.

Pudding Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies

I finally got around to trying this recipe, which has been all over Pinterest and on lots of cooking blogs, and I'm so happy I did! These little cookies are delightful in every way. They are soft, pillowy, and incredibly tasty! These cookies are firmly in the cakey chocolate chip cookie camp, so if that's your style you must give them a try. My kids absolutely loved them. Fabulous cookies! A big bonus was that they stayed soft and tasty for 2 days (maybe even longer, but they were all gobbled up within 2 days!).

Pudding Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1, 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour (plus 1 1/2 tablespoons for high altitude)
*Only for high altitude: 1/2 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl stir together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer (or you can use a hand mixer) cream together butter and sugars. Add in the instant pudding mix and beat until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. At this point if you live at a high altitude also add the 1/2 tablespoon of water and mix. Add flour mixture slowly until well incorporated. Add chocolate chips and stir in well by hand. Using a small cookie scoop or 2 teaspoons drop dough onto greased cookie sheets (makes about 4 dozen small cookies). Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool.

See the soft, moist center - YUM!

Pineapple Glazed Ham with Gravy

This really is the perfect glazed ham in my opinion. I love pineapple with ham; they are the perfect compliment to each other. I got the ham glaze recipe from Pinterest. originally from the blog "The Life of Faith". The gravy is slightly sweet because it's made from the ham and glaze drippings and I thought it turned out great. I made this ham for our Easter dinner and everyone loved it. Our Easter dinner was nice and simple this year: glazed ham, gravy, this cheesy potato casserole, and green beans. Easy and delicious.

Pineapple Glazed Ham with Gravy

Ham & Glaze:
7-10 lb spiral sliced ham
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1, 20 oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
3 tablespoons lemon juice (bottled works fine)
1 tablespoon Dijon or spicy brown mustard

Gravy:
1/3 - 1/2 cup strained juices from baked ham
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 - 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Place ham flat side down in a large baking dish or roasting pan. Cook uncovered at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile in a sauce pan combine brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, crushed pineapple with juices, lemon juice, and mustard. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for about a minute stirring constantly until thickened. Once ham has baked for 45 minutes pour this glaze over the ham and use a basting brush to coat the ham well with the glaze. Return to oven and bake an additional 45 minutes or until ham is heated completely through.

To Make Gravy:
Place ham on a serving platter. Strain all juices and bits from the baking dish into a saucepan. You should end up with about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of juices. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the juices in saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk well. Slowly add 1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken broth depending on how thick you like your gravy and heat until boiling whisking constantly. Remove from heat and serve with ham.

French Bread Pizza with Homemade Pizza Sauce

This is a fun switch up for pizza night - French bread pizza. I love the crispiness of the toasted bread with the gooey cheese and toppings. It is a great fast dinner that my family loved. This recipe uses 2 loaves of store bakery French bread, but you could also use homemade French or Italian bread and it would be wonderful. I also love the homemade pizza sauce included in this recipe - it's made in a blender so it's super fast. It has great flavor and is just the right thickness for a pizza sauce. The recipe is from Jamie Cooks It Up.

French Bread Pizza

2 loaves store bakery French bread
pizza sauce (recipe below)
shredded mozzarella cheese
grated Parmesan
toppings of choice: pepperoni, cooked & crumbled sausage, green peppers, olives, red onion, mushrooms, etc.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Slice French bread loaves in half through the center. Place on foil lined sheet pans. Spoon prepared pizza sauce over halved loaves, then top with shredded mozzarella and other toppings of choice ending with a good sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for about 7 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and edges of bread are golden. Let pizzas rest a couple minutes then cut into slices (a pizza cutter works the best here).

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1, 14 oz can Italian stewed tomatoes
1, 6 oz can tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch red pepper flakes

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and well combined. I used the "smoothie" setting on my blender and it worked great.

Food Nanny's Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

I love this hearty and delicious Italian classic! The Food Nanny (Liz Edmunds) has still never let me down; all of her recipes are simply fabulous. This meat sauce is slow cooked on the stove and will make your house smell fantastic as it bubbles away. Serve the sauce over spaghetti or any other type of pasta with a sprinkling of shredded Parmesan.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

3, 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1/3 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
6 oz can tomato paste
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed bay leaves
2 cups hot water
1 lb dry spaghetti
Parmesan

Put the tomatoes and their liquid in a blender and pulse 4-5 times until crushed a little. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is softened but not browned. Increase heat to medium high and add the meat. Continue to cook, stirring until the meat is browned. Stir in the tomato paste. Cook until the mixture starts sticking to the pan, about 5 minutes. Add reserved tomatoes, brown sugar, oregano, salt, basil, thyme, and bay leaf. Mix well. Stir in the water. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat, and simmer uncovered about 2 hours, stirring periodically and add more hot water if the sauce gets too thick.

Twenty minutes before serving, cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.

Pu the spaghetti in a bowl, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and combine. Serve spaghetti with sauce over and Parmesan on top. This dinner goes great with a green salad and some crusty bread.

Lunch Lady Brownies

I found this recipe on Pinterest, originally from The Salt Box House cooking exchange blog. These brownies are super good. They are rich, dense, chocolaty and tasty - kind of a cross between cakey and fudgy. These are said to be the brownies that have been served at Bonneville Jr. High in Idaho Falls for generations. Having never eaten at Bonneville Jr. High I can't be sure that's true, but if they are, those are a bunch of lucky kids in Idaho Falls.:) They do remind me of the brownies served in my elementary school if that gives any validation to the story. Wherever the recipe came from it's great, with basic ingredients I always have on hand, and my family loved them - what more can you ask for. You can double the recipe and cook it in a half sheet pan to feed a crowd.

Lunch Lady Brownies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla

Melt butter in microwave. Add melted butter and cocoa powder to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat together until smooth. Add flour and sugar and beat until combined. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined, but don't over mix. The batter will be stiff. Spread into a greased and floured 9x13 baking dish. Smooth out with a rubber spatula.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until done (start checking around 20 minutes). It is hard to tell when brownies are done, but these are done when a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Remove from oven and cool for about 15 minutes before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer until smooth and combined.