Easy peasy chicken quesadillas

2 cups chicken, chopped (great way to use up leftovers!)
3/4 cup ranch dressing
1 packet taco seasoning
2 cups Mexican blend cheese, shredded
6 large flour tortillas

Mix together chicken, taco seasoning, ranch dressing, and cheese.
Heat pan on medium and coat with cooking spray.
Put 1 tortilla on the bottom in the pan, 1 layer of chicken mixture, then top with another tortilla.
Brown one side, then carefully flip to brown other side. Cut into 1/4s and serve hot.

Chicken nugget sauce

This recipe closely imitates Guthrie's or Zaxby's sauce. If you're from the south, you know at least Zaxby's. If you're from around Athens, GA and some places in AL, you know of Guthrie's.

1/2 cup mayo (can use Miracle Whip also)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp pepper

Mix ingredients together and serve.

Creamy fruit salad

1 large can mixed fruit
1 can pineapple (can be chunks or bits)
1 can mandarin oranges
bananas, sliced (we did 3)
apples, chopped (we did 2)
1 small box vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
3 oz orange juice concentrate
3/4 cup sour cream

Open and drain fruit. In a large bowl, mix together the milk, pudding, sour cream, and oj concentrate. Pour drained fruit into mixture and stir well. Chill until ready to serve.

Double chocolate cake

I box of chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food)
1 small box chocolate pudding
2 cups sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup water
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients, down to the chips, in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Pour in chocolate chips, stirring thoroughly.
Pour batter into greased 9x13 inch pan/stone. Bake on 350 degrees for 45ish minutes, or until fork stuck into the middle comes out clean.
Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Beef Risotto

This turned out WAY better than I thought. Even the kids went back for at least 2nds!

2 lbs ground turkey
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups uncooked rice (we used Uncle Ben's)
5 cups beef broth
1 cup carrots, shredded

Brown turkey with onions, garlic, and pepper. When it's browned, add the broth, rice, and carrots. Cook until all broth is absorbed. Serve and enjoy!

Apple oat muffins

4 cups apples, shredded (we used Granny Smith's)
3 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
16oz vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
cooking spray

Peel, core and shred apples. Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Scoop batter into muffin stone/pan coated in cooking spray. Bake on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until edges brown slightly.

YIELD: 3 dozen muffins

FOR THE BODY: Proper sun salutaions

This is a video clip from Rodney Yee's Yoga for Beginners about how to do proper sun salutaions. Like any other exercise, it's important to get it right, so you avoid injury. ALWAYS warm up, even before yoga.

I cannot stress how much my whole family LOVES yoga. It's low impact and increases your flexibility, which makes more strenuous exercise easier (like biking). If you take some time daily, you'll be thanking yourself. Also, you can combine yoga with meditation, which I also cannot brag enough about.

Italian breadsticks

1 package of active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup hot water, divided
1/4 cup olive oil
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

TOPPING:
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shred
2 tsp basil, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp oregano, chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup water

Mix together all ingredients for dough. Cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen, that's free of drafts, for about an hour, or until dough doubles.

In another small bowl, mix together all ingredients for topping, making sure to mix very well. Set aside

Punch dough down, half it, and roll one half on a floured countertop, into a rectangle. Pour half of topping over top. Slice rectangle into strip. Twist each strip and place on baking pan/stone. Repeat with other half.

Place breadsticks in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Bake until slighly browned-about 15-20 minutes.

Chicken Chili

4 cans of white beans (pinto, great northern)
2 can chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce
2 cans corn
5 cups chicken, chopped (great way to use up leftovers)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 of each: green, yellow, and red bell peppers, chopped
1/3 cup chili powder

Place everything in a crockpot. Cook on low for 6ish hours, or until done.

Baked rice pudding

4 cups water
2 cups long grain rice
3 cups milk
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Put water and rice in a pot on the stove. Cook on medium heat until almost all water is gone. Mix in milk, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Pour mixture into 9x9 inch baking pan/stone. Bake on 350 degrees, stirring frequently, until mixture is thick. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top; serve warm.

Orange BBQ chicken

1 bottle BBQ sauce (we use Kraft original)
1 jar orange marmalade
1 small red onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
Various chicken pieces

Mix together BBQ sauce and marmalade with the onion and pepper. Pour mixture over various chicken pieces and let them marinate overnight. The next day, grill until done.

Peach cinnamon rolls

1 pkg dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup buttermilk (or milk) warmed
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
2 egg yolks
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
cooking spray
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup peach preserves (or any other fruit preserves you'd like to try)

Dissolve yeast in a mixing bowl with 1 tbsp sugar and warm milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In another bowl, mix together preserves, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
Mix egg yolks, vanilla, and melted butter to yeast mixture. Slowly mix in flour. When it's mixed very well, put dough mixture into a plastic bowl, coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and 2 towels and put in a warm place, free from drafts, in your kitchen. Let rise for an hour, or until it doubles in size.
When dough is done, turn onto floured surface. With a rolling pin, press dough into a large rectangle. Pour preserves mixture onto dough rectangle. Roll into large log. Cut each roll about 1/2 inch thick and place on greased baking stone/pan. (This part gets messy, so be prepared!)
After all rolls have been cut, scoop poured over preserve mixture on top of each bun. Bake on 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm!
Makes about 16 rolls.

Easy chicken and rice burritos

flour tortillas
1 cup water
1 cup rice
2 cups chopped chicken
1 envelope taco seasoning
salsa
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes

Mix together chicken, seasoning, rice, and water together in a pot. Keep it on medium heat until water is gone and mixture thickens. When it's done, put heaping spoonfuls on tortillas and top with salsa, lettuce, tomato, and salsa.

Grilled turkey club sandwiches

spicy mustard
Texas toast bread
sliced turkey breast (or I used leftover turkey)
sliced tomatoes
sliced cheese
bacon bits
lettuce
cooking spray

Spread spicy mustard on each slice of bread. Stack on turkey, cheese slice, tomato, lettuce, and bacon bits. Grill until each side of sandwich is browned.

GOING GREEN: Stop buying magazines!

This one is so simple, it's ridiculous. Many magazines can be researched online and you can read articles from them. For example: www.cookinglight.com and www.womensday.com. No need to buy when you can read for free, right?
So next time you see an article in a magazine that you'd like to read, make note of it, come home, google it, and save some trees!

Beer bread

Or "other bread", seeing as how you can substitute just about any other carbonated beverage in this recipe.

3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 can cream soda

Mix all ingredients together-WITH A SPATULA, NOT IN A MIXER-until all ingredients are equally moist. Put mixture into bread pan. Bake on 375 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until fork stuck in the middle comes out clean. Serve with your choice of dips.

Quick pumpkin pie

15 oz can of pumpkin
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
pie crusts

Mix together all ingredients for pie. Pour into pie crusts and bake on 375 degrees for about an hour.