Our St. Patrick's Day Meal

I tried to come up with some green food to go with the green theme for the day. I added food coloring to my sister's cloud nine biscuits to make them green. They looked funny, but tasted good. We had green salad and made green punch by mixing blue and yellow Powerade (which I purchased at Smith's for $.25 each, thanks to another sister's phone call). The rest of the meal was Garlic Chicken Penne and Frosty Pistachio Delight.

Garlic Chicken Penne

8 oz uncooked penne pasta
1 1/2 cups frozen sugar snap peas
1 pkg (1.6 oz) garlic-herb pasta sauce mix (I used "creamy pesto" by Knorr)
1 pkg (6 oz) sliced cooked chicken

In a large saucepan, cook pasta in boiling water for 6 minutes. Add peas; return to boil. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until pasta is tender. Meanwhile, prepare sauce mix according to package directions.

Drain pasta mixture; add chicken. Drizzle with sauce and toss to coat. Yield: 4 servings.

Frosty Pistachio Delight

2 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 carton (1.75 qts) vanilla ice cream, softened
2 pkgs (3.4 oz each) instant pistachio pudding mix
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp pistachios, chopped, divided
3 drops green food coloring, optional
1 carton (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 jar (11.75 oz) hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed

In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and butter. Press into a greased 13x9" baking dish. Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, combine the ice cream, pudding mixes, 1 cup pistachios and food coloring if desired. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over crust. Cover and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Drizzle with fudge topping; sprinkle with remaining pistachios. Yield: 15 servings.

Meaty Mac 'n' Cheese

I recently purchased the cheap brand of Macaroni and Cheese at the store because it was on sale. My family hated it. (I guess good old Kraft is the best). Anyway, I decided to try this recipe to help use up the boxes of mac and cheese my family won't eat. It tastes pretty good, amazingly. Next time I'll probably try blending the salsa and pimiento and corn in the blender, so Logan won't complain about the little red things in the casserole.

1 package (7.25 oz) macaroni and cheese
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups salsa
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
3 tablespoons diced pimientos
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped tomato

Set aside cheese sauce mix from macaroni and cheese; cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the salsa, corn, olives and pimientos; heat through. Drain macaroni; add to beef mixture with contents of cheese sauce mix (don't use the milk and butter listed on macaroni and cheese box recipe). Mix well; heat through. Garnish with cheese and tomato. Yield: 4-6 servings.

April's Pancakes

These are pancakes my good friend April made for my family over the weekend. I made them tonight for dinner and my family ate them all. Very yummy!

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp oil
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups milk
Mix the above ingredients

Beat 2 egg whites and fold into mixture.

Fry on griddle and enjoy!

Buttermilk Pancakes

I made these for breakfast this morning, these were a HIT! I made these with Aunt Joyce's Buttermilk syrup but you can use any kind. Also I used sour milk not buttermilk and it turned out fine

1 3/4 cups flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 egg(it says to beat it but I didn't)
1 1/2 C Buttermilk
3 T cooking oil(I used vegetable)

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder,baking soda and salt. In another bowl use a fork to combine egg buttermilk and oil. Add egg mixture to four mixture. Stir until just moistened(batter should be lumpy) I had to put in extra milk because it was really thick
Fry as any pancake.


Sour Milk
for every cup measure 1 tablespoon of Vinegar or lemon juice into a glass measuring cup(lemon juice never did work for me, maybe you'll have better luck :) ) then pour milk in until it reaches the 1 cup line. Stir once(or twice). Let sit for 5 minutes before using. It looks and is as thick as buttermilk after standing.