Jelled Cranberry Apple Salad

Grandma Foxley made this every year for Thanksgiving and Mom did too.  I got this recipe from LeaAnn Foxley (grandma) and she got it from her Mom, Nona Bingham.  It is tart, delicious and great all year round!

It needs to be prepared the day before so it has time to set.  Also it is easily doubled or tripled (depending on how big a Turkey Day dinner you are attending!)  This will fit in a 9x9 dish (use glass, not metal, as this is acidic).

Ingredients:
1 small (3oz) box of red jello. Mom uses Cherry, Grandma Foxley uses Strawberry)
1 Orange
1 Apple
1 Cup raw cranberries

Directions:
-Dissolve Jello in 1 Cup boiling hot water per the instructions on the box.  Set aside. Do not add the additional water the Jello package calls for.  The fruit and the water added when blending will provide all that is needed.
-Blend fruit. First orange, then apple, then cranberries.  You may need to add a little water to get it blend.  Mom says she usually doesn't need to, but is she does it's no more than 1/4 cup. Mom blends the ingredients until smooth.  Grandma leaves some fruity texture to them. So do it however your family likes it best.
-Stir fruit into dissolved jello and place the salad in refrigerator to set overnight before serving.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

I made this blackberry lemonade and it was delicious I added more sugar just till it was as sweet as I wanted it to be.  I have found that I don't like lemonade recipes where the fruit has been cooked it is just not the same

Blackberry Lemonade

Ingredients

• 7 lemons (1 1/2 cups lemon juice)
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 + 5 cups water
• 1 pint blackberries

Instructions

1. Juice the lemons. Remove seeds, strain pulp if desired.
2. Heat sugar and 2 cups water to boiling and stir to dissolve all of the sugar. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Puree ~1 cup blackberries and strain seeds..
4. Mix lemon juice, sugar water, remaining water and blackberry puree and refrigerate until chilled.
5. Serve over ice. 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes 

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Yield 4 servings

The potatoes are so silky smooth in this delicious soup.  Our whole family likes it.

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk, or more, as needed
• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Heat stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Discard bacon fat.
• Add butter and melt over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes and green onions.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.  I like a nice and thick like a chowder.
• Serve immediately, garnish with green onion, cheese, bacon and sour cream if desired.

Adapted from damn delicious

Award Winning Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken Chili

 Award Winning Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken Chili

I made this for my ward Halloween Chili Cook Off and this was the winning chili.  I made this recipe up myself but my inspiration was from this recipe for Creamy Chicken Taquitos - Our Best Bites. 

1 ½ - 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

2-3 tbsp oil

½ cup green salsa (I used Herdez brand)

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic finely minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili Powder

2 cups water

2 tsp bouillon powder

2 cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

2 limes

½ cup fresh cilantro loosely packed, divided in half

4 oz cream cheese softened

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

Salt and Pepper chicken breasts brown both sides in a skillet with oil on med high heat.  Place chicken breasts in crock pot.  Cook onions in same skillet till translucent.  Add Cumin and Chili powder and garlic sauté until fragrant about 1 min.  Add garlic and onion mixture to crock pot.  Pour one cup of water in skillet and scrape the bottom of the pan to get anything stuck including spices to the skillet up.  Pour water from the skillet into the crock pot.  Add remaining water should be enough to cover the chicken breasts.  Add the chicken bouillon (or you could use chicken stock instead of water).  Add cannellini and black beans.  Add juice of one lime and ½ of the cilantro.  Cook on high for four hours.  Remove chicken.  Add some hot broth to the softened cream cheese and whisk until smooth and completely melted.  Pour cream cheese mixture into crock pot and stir until fully incorporated.  Shred chicken with 2 forks put back into crock pot.   Add juice of last lime and stir.  Top with pepper jack cheese and remaining cilantro.