The Cooking Family

Nacho Dip

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Nacho Dip
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: dip recipe, nacho dip
Author: Linda
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. mild sausage
  • 1 1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese
  • 1 small jar green chilies
  • 1 small jar jalapeno relish
  • 1 Tbsp. sage
  • bag tortilla chips
Instructions

  1. In an electric skillet, cook the sausage, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks.

  2. Cube the cheese and add it to the cooked sausage mixture.

  3. Add chilies and jalapeno relish.

  4. Simmer for an hour. Serve with nacho chips.

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Cheesy Creamy Chicken

Cheesy Creamy Chicken
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Cheesy Creamy Chicken
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
 

This recipe includes two of my favorite things – cheese and cream. This recipe has changed over the past couple of months, improving each time. This recipe is pretty versatile, so you can add some of your favorite spices or use a different shredded cheese to change it up if you want.

Course: Main Course
Keyword: cheesy chicken, chicken with sauce, creamy chicken
Author: Tracy
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 lbs chicken
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/4 cup Italian cheese blend shredded cheese (can also use Mozzarella)
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Trim the excess fat off of your chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Pour olive oil into large skillet and heat on medium high. Brown your chicken 3-5 minutes on each side and place into a medium sized baking dish.

  4. In a saucepan add heavy cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, butter, smoked paprika, garlic and rosemary. Cook on medium heat until melted, stirring frequently. Reserve 1/4 cup of shredded cheese to top the chicken.

  5. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the chicken with the remaining shredded cheese.

  6. Cook for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.

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Swedish Turkey Meatballs

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Swedish Turkey Meatballs
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
 

I was looking for something to cook, but I wanted to add a new dish to our dining options. I had some ground turkey, so I decided to make Swedish meatballs. Now most Swedish meatballs recipes call for sour cream so, having a sour cream allergy, I came up with this recipe. It was a hit with my husband and the inlaws – always a plus in my book.

Note: While many recipes allow you to substitute half and half for heavy cream, this recipe produces a thinner sauce if you use half and half.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Swedish
Keyword: swedish meatballs
Servings: 6
Author: Tracy
Ingredients
Meatballs
  • 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Sauce
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions

  1. Mix the ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, Parmesan cheese, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning by hand in a large bowl. Form the mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs.

  2. Cover a tray with foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Place your meatballs on the tray and cook in the oven on 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes.

  3. Pour your beef broth in a microwave-safe container and microwave on high until hot, which is about 2 minutes depending on your microwave. Whisk the flour into your beef broth until smooth.

  4. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

  5. Once the butter is melted, reduce the heat to low. Pour in the beef broth slowly over the meatballs. Stir in the heavy cream, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper.

  6. Cook your sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

  7. Check your meatballs and add to the sauce. Spoon the sauce until it completely covers the meatballs.

  8. Serve with egg noddles, rice or mashed potatoes.

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Sweet and Savory Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops And Carrots
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Sweet and Savory Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
 

This is our favorite way to cook carrots. They are so sweet and savory. These pair well with our Sweet and Savory Glazed Pork Chops. It may take a little longer for the sauce to thicken so add time and continue stirring until sauce thickens.

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 10 minute prep, glazed carrots, savory carrots, sweet carrots
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Tracy Wimberly
Ingredients
  • 1 lb carrots (washed, peeled and cut)
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp water
Instructions

  1. Wash, peel and cut your carrots into 1 inch thick pieces.

  2. Melt your butter in a medium to large sized saucepan.

  3. Add your carrots, water, brown sugar and salt to the melted butter.

  4. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.

  5. Once it has reached boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the carrots are al dente and most of the liquid has reduced to a sauce. Stir frequently.

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Sweet and Savory Glazed Pork Chops

Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops And Carrots
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Sweet and Savory Glazed Pork Chops
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
 

This is a sweet and savory glazed pork chop that you cook in the skillet. If you have thick pork chops you might need to finish them in the oven at 350 degrees until they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. This pairs well with our Sweet and Savory Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 5 minute prep, pork chops glazed, savory pork chops
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Tracy
Ingredients
  • 4 boneless pork chops 1-2 inches thick
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt.

  2. Rub the seasoning mix over all sides of each pork chop.

  3. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven­ safe skillet over on medium heat. When your oil begins to shimmer, add your pork chops.

  4. Cook the pork chops for about 5 minutes on each side until nicely browned.

  5. If your pork chops are more than one inch thick, finish cooking the pork chops in the oven at 350 degrees for another 5­-10 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 145ºF.

  6. Dredge your pork chops through the sauce in the bottom of the pan just before serving.

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Ham Dinner

Recently we celebrated the birthday of our eldest son. As is our family tradition, the birthday person gets to request their meal. He opted for a spiral cut ham with the fixings, so here’s what we put together.

Main Course

Our main course was the ham of course. A nice addition to the standard ham you get from the store is to add a honey glaze to it. Now sure, you can find some with a sauce packet to add, or you can make your own as it’s not very expensive and easy to do.

Ham Glaze

Side Dishes

For our sides, we opted to keep it simple. Cinnamon apples and Beans. Now you can go a couple of different routes, like a Green Beans with Ham Bone (since you have the ham already) or something like a sweet baked beans.

Quick and Easy Cinnamon Apples

Both of these options will round out your meal nicely. We had hoped to have baked beans, but ended up with green beans this time.

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Little Smokies in Orange Sauce

Orange Glazed Little Smokies
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Little Smokies in Orange Sauce

This is a great great dish for buffet style or a church dinner. Also great for family gatherings.

Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: appetizer, little smokies appetizer
Author: Mildred
Ingredients
  • 1-2 lbs. Little Smokies (or generic)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 8 whole cloves (1/4 tsp. ground cloves may be substituted)
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
Instructions

  1. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and orange juice in sauce pan.

  2. Add cloves, cinnamon, and vinegar.

  3. Cut Little Smokies into 1 inch pieces. Add to sauce.

  4. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick.

  5. Serve in chaffing dish.

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A Sweet and Spicy Meal

Combining different flavors is at the heart of cooking. One of the most combinations is a Sweet and a Spicy.

In this simple meal, we combine two of our favorite sweet and spicy dishes. Simply add a favorite vegetable for a third and you’ll be good to go.

Sweet

Let’s start with the sweet, because we love our sweets. For this we go with a sweet cinnamon apples.

Quick and Easy Cinnamon Apples

Spicy

On the spice side (although not too spicy) we go for something like the tasty steak bites. These are nice and easy to make.

Tasty Steak Bites

Finish this meal with a helping of vegetables like our Ham Bone Green Beans or Sweet Carrots.

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Quick Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

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Quick Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cinnamon roll recipe, homemade cinnamon rolls, quick cinnamon rolls, Quick Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Author: Diane and Tracy
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 packets yeast
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 cups flour
  • softened margarine
  • brown sugar (to taste)
  • cinnamon (to taste)
  • chopped pecans (optional)
  • raisins (optional)
Icing
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 4 Tbsp. heavy cream (can substitute milk or half and half)
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls

  1. Mix all ingredients well. Let rise in same bowl.

  2. Roll out onto floured board. Dough will be very sticky, additional flour may be needed.

  3. Spread softened margarine over the top.

  4. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the top.

  5. Add pecans and/or raisins if desired.

  6. Roll up the dough and chill.

  7. Slice with serrated knife.

  8. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and 350 degrees.

Icing

  1. Combine your melted butter, vanilla and milk in a large mixing bowl. Mix until smooth while sifting in your powdered sugar.

  2. Drizzle icing over the top of your cinnamon rolls. Serve hot.

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Cheese and Sausage Balls

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Cheese and Sausage Balls
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
 

This three ingredient appetizer is great to make when you have unexpected company or a family gathering.

Sausage balls may be made ahead of time and frozen until ready to use. Reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or in the microwave on high power for 1 minute.

Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 3 ingredient recipe, 5 minute prep, easy appetizer, sausage appetizer
Servings: 6 dozen
Author: Linda
Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 cups Bisquick
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 lb. hot sausage
Instructions

  1. Blend all ingredients real well using your hands.

  2. Form into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

  4. NOTE: Sausage balls may be made ahead of time and frozen until ready to use. Reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or in the microwave on high power for 1 minute.

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