Butternut Squash Risotto

shared by Cori H. (This was a dish brought to us after Ruth was born. It was served with baked chicken and a spinach salad. Very delicious!)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth, mixed with 1/2 cup water and heated

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish

Directions:

1. In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add squash; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until edges soften, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Add rice; stir to coat. Add wine; cook until almost all liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low; add 1/2 cup hot broth mixture. Cook, stirring, until almost all liquid is absorbed. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until liquid is absorbed before adding more, 35 to 40 minutes total.
4. Stir in Parmesan, sage, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Serve immediately, garnished with more Parmesan and sage, if desired.

Note: This was a Martha Stewart recipe.

Coca-Cola Chicken

shared by Patty H. (OK, to those of you who know my weakness, this is not just another way to get around my one-per-day habit!)
Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used 8 chicken tenders)
1 12 oz. can of Coke
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey BBQ sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Cover and turn the heat to medium.
4. Cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes until done and tender.

Chicken Pot Pie

shared by Dara P.
Ingredients:
CRUST:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

 2/3 cup shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)

 8 tablespoons ice water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Mix 2 cups flour and salt with vegetable shortening using pastry blender.
3. Mix in 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water and stir until mixture forms a ball. Divide ball in half.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll one of balls to fit the bottom and sides of an 11x7 inch baking dish. Roll out the other half of dough to form top crust.
5. You can also use this pie crust as directed in your favorite pie recipe.

FOR THE FILLING:

1.  Boil and cube a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
2. In a saucepan put 1 cup cubed potatoes, 1/4 c chopped carrots, 1/4 c chopped celery, 1/4 c butter, a teaspoon of poultry seasoning and  salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes. You can also add dried minced onion of a little extra flavor. 
3. Pour vegetable mixture into a bowl and add 1/2 to 3/4 c flour and mix well.
4. Add 1 cup of chicken broth, 1 c heavy cream and 2 cups of milk and stir together.
5. Add the cooked, cubed chicken. You may need to add a little more milk if you think it will be too dry.
6. Pour into a baking dish and top with the remaining crust.
7. Bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until veggies are cooked through. ENJOY!

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

shared by Patty H.

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 (16 ounce) container Light Cool Whip
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 (5 ounce) package  instant  vanilla pudding
1 box cinnamon graham crackers

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the pudding mix, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice. 
2. Fold in the Cool Whip topping and chill for 10-15 minutes. 
3. Serve with cinnamon flavored graham crackers.

Serving size: ¼ cup; makes approximately 32 servings

Caramel Cream Cheese Dip

shared by Nancy H.(who confesses that she can almost eat all of this by herself)

Ingredients:
1 pkg. softened Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla

jar of caramel ice cream topping
Heath Bar toffee bits
apple slices

Directions:
1-Beat cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla together until smooth.
2-Place mixture in a circle on a plate.
3-Drizzle with caramel ice cream topping.
4-Sprinkle Heath Bar toffee bits on top.
5-Serve with cut up apple slices for dipping.

Hot Fudge Brownies

shared by Patty H. (If you are a chocolate lover, this one is for you. Don't even think about the calories.)
Ingredients for brownies:
1 cup flour
2 T. unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
½ cup milk at room temperature
3 T. vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ingredients for fudge sauce:
½ cup white sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ cups boiling water
Directions:
1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 – Combine flour, 2 T. unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, salt and ¾ cup sugar.
3 – Stir in milk, oil and vanilla. Stir just until mixed.
4 – Spread batter in a lightly greased 8-inch square pan.
For fudge sauce:
5 – Combine white sugar, brown sugar and cocoa.
6 – Sprinkle over the batter in the pan.
7 – Using a spoon, gently drizzle the boiling water over the batter, being careful not to disturb the layers. DO NOT STIR.
8 – Bake for 40-45 minutes until a cake layer forms on the top that springs back when touched.
This is one of those “magic” recipes where the cake rises to the top and the fudge sauce sinks to the bottom. Serve warm and ENJOY!

Carrot Cake Whoopee Pies

shared by Debi J.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
3 eggs
1 box carrot cake mix
1 shredded carrot, optional
1 cup raisins, optional

Directions:
1.Cream butter and eggs together with electric mixer.
2.Add 1 box carrot cake mix and mix well.
3.You can also add 1 shredded carrot and 1 cup of raisins at this point, if desired.
4.Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours until well chilled.
5.Prepare 2 cookie sheets with either cooking spray or parchment paper.
6.Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out 12 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. Try to make each of the 24 scoops as uniform in size as possible. Don’t smash them down. You want them to maintain their shape until you get them into the oven. (That’s why it is very important to let the batter get very cold.)
7.Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Icing/Frosting:
3 - 8oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Assembly directions:
1.Mix softened cream cheese and butter with electric mixer.
2.Add 2 tsp. of vanilla. Mix well.
3.Add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Mix well.
4.Frost the “flat” side of one cookie and top with the “flat” side of another cookie - making a “sandwich cookie” or whoopee pie.
5.If desired, roll completed cookies in chopped walnuts, pecans, or cooking candies (if using a different cake flavor - like chocolate).

This recipe would be very easy to adapt to just about any cake mix flavor. The icing/frosting recipe is for home-made cream cheese icing and is so much better than the store bought - rich and creamy without being way too sweet.