Country Style Spare Ribs

Country style pork spare ribs (boneless) washed and placed in a 9" X 13" pan.

Mix sauce in medium mixing bowl:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup Colgin Hickory Liquid Smoke (I can't always find the Colgin brand and haven't noticed a difference)
2 dashes soy sauce
1/2 cup Pace Picante sauce -- mild
1/4 cup brown sugar (you can add a little more if you like)
1/2 tsp. pureed garlic

Pour part of the sauce over ribs in pan, cover, and bake at 350 degrees for 4 hours (make sure there is enough sauce so they don't burn. Pour off most of the liquid and add more sauce and return to oven for a little longer (20 minutes or so).

Tastes great paired with baked potatoes.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Craisins

Rich & Chewy Cranberry
White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup oats
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup Craisins

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, brown sugar,
and honey. Add egg and vanilla. In another bowl mix flour,
oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix two bowls together,
then add white chocolate chips and cranberries. Cook about
8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about
2 ½ dozen 2" cookies.

Feel-Good Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken and Rice Soup

1 rotisserie chicken
enough water to fill a pot
1 or 2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 onion, chopped
celery, chopped
carrots, chopped
minced garlic (to taste)
salt (to taste)
Baby Bam (to taste)
dry Italian seasonings (to taste)
1 bay leaf (optional)
crushed red pepper (to taste)
parsley (to taste)
rice (cooked)

Take a rotisserie chicken and put the whole thing (bones, drippings, everything) in a pot. Fill pot with water until chicken is covered; put on the stove and bring to a boil. Cook at a low boil for about an hour or so. Then put a strainer in a big bowl and pour contents of pot through the strainer. Pour the broth from the bowl back into the pot and put the chicken aside to cool a little bit. Put one or two bouillon cubes into the broth depending on how much flavor you want. Add the chopped onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Put in all of the seasonings and let that simmer all together while you sort through the chicken and bones and just take out the good stuff, which then goes in the pot. At the very end, add however much you want of the cooked rice ( I cooked my rice in a rice cooker).

NOTE: This is a variation of a recipe in Emiril's "There's a Chef in my Family!" called Feel-Good Chicken and Rice Soup. So, for those of you who prefer specific measurements for your ingredients would probably want to refer to that recipe. It's basically all the same ingredients, I just have my own methods for preparing this soup.

Also, this soup is awesome for kids because the rice is easy to eat (easier than noodles) and the vegetables are soft and tasty. Lastly, I find that this is very convenient dinner to make when you serve a rotisserie dinner for chicken by itself, then use the leftovers to make this soup. Make sure that there is enough chicken left on the chicken, if not, you may have to add more chicken.

Cupcake Surprise

1 pkg Devil's Food cake mix

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
dash salt
1 12-16 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare cake batter according to directions on box. For the filling, mix sugar, cream cheese, egg and salt until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill each cup 1/2-2/3 full, then top with rounded tablespoonful of filling. No need to add more cake batter on the top, it will mostly bake over on it's own (plus, they'll be frosted). Bake for 20-25 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting. Makes about 24.

Chicken Croissants...Super Delish!

4 cups cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup chopped celery (optional)
2 cups red seedless grapes (halved)
1 cup mayonnaise (best foods has the best flavor)
1/2 cup chopped green onions (optional)
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together and stir well. Refrigerate at least 1 to 2 hours before serving. Cut crossiants in half and place chicken "stuff"stuff inside. Serve. Makes approximately 8 crossiants.

*For best flavor chill in fridge overnight.

Italian Chicken

1 bag of chicken tenderloins (frozen, Costco or Sam's Club)
1 16 oz bottle of Italian Dressing (Fat Free is ok to use)
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes (regular or italian)
2 4 oz can mushrooms
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Place chicken in pan, dump everything (with juices) on top. Cover with foil. Bake at 325 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Serves about 15 people.

Lionhouse Cheesecake

CRUST
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter

In a 9x13 pan, mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Use fork and level well, then press firmly in bottom of pan.

FILLING
1 8oz package of softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix until smooth. Fold in: 2 cups whipped topping. Spread over graham cracker crust.

TOPPING
Cover with: 1 can cherry pie filling. Chill at least 2 hours. Makes 18 - 24 servings.