Wilkus Pie

This is my husbands favorite pie.  His mom makes it every year for his birthday.  The first time I made this pie I ruined it.  8 years later I tried it again and it came out great!

3/4 cup margarine

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

8oz. cream cheese

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

2- 3oz pkgs. of chocolate pudding

3 cups cold milk

16 oz. tub of cool whip

In a medium bowl combine margarine, walnuts, sugar and flour. Mix well.  Press into a 9x13 Pyrex dish.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20 mins.

  Let the crust completely cool.  This is where I messed up last time.  The crust has to be cool before you spread anything over it.  Lesson learned...the hard way.

 

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 cup of cool whip.  Spread on top of the cooled crust.

Combine chocolate pudding packages with 3 cups of cold milk.  Beat until firm.  Spread over the cream cheese layer.

Spread the remaining cool whip over the top.  Chill for 1 hour before serving.



Stuffed Baby Peppers

This is a new recipe I tried the other night.  They came out good.  Somewhat healthy.  So I thought I'd pass this along!

6 slices of bacon, cooked & crumbled

1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup frozen petite peas, thawed

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

24- 3 inch long sweet baby peppers

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a frying pan cook the bacon.  Remove bacon to let it cool and crumble it.  Add chopped onion to the leftover bacon grease in the pan.  Saute onion till translucent and soft (5 mins) Set aside and cool for 10 mins.

Using a paring knife cut off stems and hollow out peppers.  Remove seeds and veins.

In a medium bowl combine onion, bacon, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, peas, salt and pepper.  Stir gently together.  Fill each pepper with ricotta cheese mixture.  Place filled peppers on baking sheet.  Bake for 15-18 mins.  Remove and cool for 5 mins. before eating.



Mediterranean Chicken Empanadas

With the holidays fast approaching here's an appetizer idea.  I look for recipes around this time of year where the food can be made ahead and frozen.  Then easily reheated the day of a party.  For me, the key to a stress free holiday is planning ahead.  Way ahead! 

1 (15oz) pkg. refrigerated pie crusts 

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 (8oz.) pkg. shredded colby cheese

4 oz. cream cheese softened

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. mediterranean seasoning

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl combine chicken, cheese, cream cheese, bell pepper, artichoke and all the seasonings.  Mix together.  Unroll 1 pie crust onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll into a 15 inch circle.  Cut out rounds, using a 3 inch cookie cutter.  Re-roll dough as needed.  Repeat process with remaining pie crusts, making 12 to 15 circles.  Arrange 1 round on a flat surface.  Lightly brush edges of crust with water.  Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. 

Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal.  Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture.

At this point, you can freeze the empanadas for up to 1 month. 

Or arrange the empanadas on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake for 15 mins. in a 400 degree oven.



Clam Chowder

For the past 25 years or so, it has been a tradition on the Haynes side to make this Clam Chowder every Christmas Eve.  The ingredients and measurements have never been written down till today.  Every year my grandma made this and every year my dad made this it was from memory.  Funny, today while I was making it my house smelled like Christmas Eve to me.  Good memories!  These recipe portions are for 6 people.  When my dad makes this soup, he uses a gallon of milk and feeds 20 people. So you can definitely double or triple this recipe and make enough to feed everyone.  There is no low calorie version of this soup...maybe that's why we only have it once a year!

4 slices of bacon

1 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

1/4 tsp old bay

1 cup clam juice

1 cup chicken stock

4 cups of potatoes, bite size cubes

1 quart of whole milk (4 cups)

2 cups half & half

3 - 6.5oz cans of chopped clams

1/3 cup of flour

fresh sourdough bread

soup crackers

Chop the bacon up and place in hot stock pot to cook.  Bacon should be crispy but not burnt.  Remove bacon pieces.  Leave bacon grease.  Add 1 Tbsp of butter to the grease.  Add celery and onion to the butter mix.  Saute for 4 mins.  Add minced garlic and saute for 1 min.  Add salt, pepper, old bay (my idea, ingredient is not from the orignal recipe) and parsley to coat vegetables.  Add 1 cup of clam juice, 1 cup chicken stock and juice from the clams in a can. Bring to a boil.  Add potatoes, cover and boil for 25 mins. Soup broth will just cover the potatoes.

Once potatoes are cooked add milk and half and half.  Stir altogether.  Before the milk mixture gets warm scoop out 1 cup of broth into a shaker jar.  Add 1/3 cup of flour to the milk mix.  In the shaker jar shake milk and flour together to make a thickening rue.  Once there are no lumps add back to the soup.  Add the chopped clams and crumbled bacon to the stock pot.  Stir and simmer on low for 10-15 mins. till everything is blended and hot.  Soup will thicken slowly.  Make sure to serve this with fresh sourdough bread and or soup crackers. 



Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Are you ready for the best appetizer recipe ever?  This is my most requested appetizer dish.  This recipe originally came from Rachael Ray but I've tweaked a few things.  Mainly the portions.  If you are going to make these messy meatballs, you might as well make a lot.  This recipe will fill a 3 quart crock pot

4 lbs ground chicken

5 cloves of garlic , minced

1 large yellow onion, grated, minced

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 egg white

1 bottle of buffalo wing sauce

1 bottle of your favorite ranch dressing

Preheat your oven to 400.  Take your jewelry off.  In a large mixing bowl, using your hands mash together ground chicken, minced garlic, grated onion, parsley, egg white and 1 Tbsp of buffalo wing sauce.  Make spoonful size meatballs.  The ground chicken is very sticky and hard to work with.  They will not be smooth and pretty meatballs like beef.  That's okay.  Do the best you can to make them look like meatballs.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 mins.  When you pull them out there are 2 ways to deal with them. 

#1 Transfer hot meatballs to a warm crock pot and pour bottle of buffalo sauce over the meatballs.  Stir gently to coat.  Cover with lid and continue to keep crock pot on warm.  Serve with toothpicks and a side of blue cheese or ranch dressing.

#2  Cool meatballs completely and place in a freezer bag and freeze for a later date.  When the time comes, place in crock pot, pour bottle of buffalo sauce over the meatballs.  Stir gently to coat.  It will take almost 2 hours in a 3 qt. crock pot to get them hot.  Serve with toothpicks and a side of blue cheese or ranch dressing.

Rosemary Mustard Pork Chops

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon zest

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp. dijon mustard

2 tbsp. spicy mustard

2 tbsp. fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

Mix all of these ingredients together and marinate for 2-3 hours (over night is best). Grill your pork and enjoy! If you're like me and enjoy warm applesauce with your pork, it's delicious!!  

Spaghetti Sauce

 

I'm pretty sure from now on if I have the time...I will always make this sauce when having Spaghetti or Lasagna.  Oh My Goodness!!!  This was delicious!  Who needs noodles I could've just eaten the sauce by itself!  This recipe comes from my Aunt Colleen. 

2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey

(you can use 1/2 mild italian sausage for the meat portion)

1 large yellow onion (chopped)

5 or 6 cloves of garlic (minced)

2- 15oz. cans tomato sauce

1- 6oz. can of tomato paste

1- 28oz. can diced tomatoes

1 cup hearty red wine

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. thyme

Pinch of rosemary

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil till transparent.  Add meat and stir till meat is browned.  Add all other ingredients.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer sauce for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

This is good spaghetti or lasagna sauce.  Freezes well.  Makes a lot.  Enjoy!