I can’t believe that I haven’t posted this recipe yet. This is one of my favorite things to throw together for a Sunday evening or an FHE treat. It only has a few ingredients that are basically always on hand, and it tastes divine.

They are similar to blondies or a snickerdoodle with a wonderful almond flavor. My family doesn’t like the slivered almonds on top so we leave them off.

It is good warm or cold. We had it last night for an FHE treat warm with cherry chip ice cream on top. My tastebuds were singing.

Warning: this is not a healthy recipe. I did make it with 1/2 of the flour whole wheat in a pretty futile attempt to healthify it, and actually forgot I had until I was putting all the ingredients away last night. I also made it with a stick of “I can’t believe it’s not butter.” Butter is the best for this one. No margarine. I’m serious.

Almond Cake

from my sister in-law Tiffany

2 slightly beaten eggs

1/2 cup melted butter (please use butter)

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp almond extract

Mix all ingredients together and pour in a pie plate. Sprinkle with sliced or slivered almonds. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Check with toothpick.

i want s’more

This is not a recipe really.  Just something new and yummy I wanted to recommend, so I thought it would still be a valid post.

If you haven’t tried the new flavors of marshmallows, you should. We have tried the caramel and vanilla, the strawberry, and the chocolate and vanilla all made by Kraft. They make some delicious s’mores.

I also like to make my s’mores with striped shortbread cookies instead of chocolate bars and realized that I could use a graham cracker base with a marshmallow and cookie on top and cut back the calories of the second chocolate striped cookie. Its just a little thing, but little things add up.

We love ‘em.

crock pot sweet and sour chicken

Despite what the recipe called it. I didn't think this tasted like sweet and sour chicken. It was a good saucy chicken in its own right, but not like any sweet and sour I have tasted.

The only changes I made was to cut the breasts in half so they would absorb more sauce, and after it was done I took some of the sauce out, added some corn starch, and brought it to a boil to make it thick. The kids really liked it with that sauce on top.

Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken

from the Ivory Family Favorites Cookbook

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tblsp. vinegar

2 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

4 Tblsp. Soy sauce

Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Combine other ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. Serve with rice.

chicken supreme

I know that this picture is not that appetizing. I really had no idea how to style this one for a picture. Let me just say this: three kinds of meat, one of which is BACON. That got Scott's attention. This was the main course of his Father's Day dinner.

I got this out of The Essential Mormon Cookbook, and we thought it was really good. Even the kids ate it. (I halved the recipe and baked it in a 8 inch square pan)

The recipe also called for 8 chicken breasts and then says to wrap bacon around the halves. I really think that it meant to call for 8 chicken breast halves in the ingredients.

This is also a great one for after church because it bakes while you are gone.

Chicken Supreme

2 (2.5- ounce) packages smoked, sliced pressed beef (lunch meat)

8 slices bacon

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves

2 cups sour cream (I used fat free)

2 (10 3/4 -ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup ( I used the reduced fat)

Put beef slices in a greased 9x13 inch pan. Roll a strip of bacon around each breast half. Fasten with toothpick. Layer over beef. Combine sour cream and concentrated soup. Pour over chicken. Cover. Refrigerate overnight. The next day bake, covered, at 300 for 3 to 4 hours. Serves 8.

buttermilk biscuits

I am not going to say that these biscuits will melt in your mouth or are like eating a cloud or any of the other things I have read about biscuits, but I will say they are pretty easy, pretty healthy, and pretty tasty. They are a lot better for you than those other biscuits that have shortening as a main ingredient so you can enjoy them more. At least I do.

It gives us a yummy bread addition to dinner, and gives me something to make with my cookie cutters besides cookies.

I tweaked a regular buttermilk biscuit recipe until I came up with this.

One more thing, when I use 100% whole wheat in a recipe it is whole wheat from hard white winter wheat as opposed to red. It is much lighter and better tasting than the red wheat.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup applesauce (instead of oil)

1 cup buttermilk (I always make sour milk made with lemon juice and skim milk)

Mix dry ingredients. Mix applesauce and buttermilk together in a separate bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients. barely moistening. Carefully roll out 1/2 inch thick; cut and bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. The less you handle the dough the lighter and fluffier the biscuits will be.

easy bbq pulled chicken

I love Lloyd's BBQ in the tubs. This recipe makes A LOT so you can freeze a bunch of it and have it ready to go for a lot less than Lloyd's. The picture above is some I pulled out of the freezer to reheat for dinner. This is also great to feed to a big group. It makes about 24 servings.

The best part is that it only has three ingredients, one of them is water, and you use a slow cooker. Can't get much easier.

My changes: We think it needs more sauce so after you shred it you can add another bottle of BBQ sauce, or everyone can just add some to taste on their own sandwiches.

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

(adapted from Ivory Family Favorites cookbook)

1 (4-pound) bag frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (16 ounce) bottle BBQ sauce

1/2 cup water (recipe called for 1 cup but it was too soupy, better with 1/2 cup)

2 dozen buns or rolls

In the morning, place chicken breasts in the crock pot, frozen. Pour barbecue sauce and water over the top and cook all day on low heat. Before serving, shred chicken with two forks to pull it apart and mix in sauce well. Spoon onto buns or rolls. (Add more barbecue sauce as needed, see above note.)

creamy pineapple popsicles

We ran out of popsicles. It wasn't too surprising because they are eaten at a very quick rate around here.

Cali and I did a search for a recipe to make our own popsicles since we had picked up some popiscle molds a while back. We found a plethora of recipes, but this recipe was very simple and we had everything, so we picked it.

This basically made a yummy smoothie that we froze. If you don't have popsicles molds you can just freeze it and then blend it up again for a good frosty treat.

Verdict: Thumbs up from everyone. It made a good fat-free dessert since we used skim milk. (not sugar-free though, pick your battles.) It also made A LOT. It filled my blender to the brim.

The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar. I cut it to 1 cup becuase I was using a can of crushed pineapple in heavy syrup that I had bought on accident, and they were so sweet I think that it could be a permanent cut even with regular crushed pineapple.

Creamy Pineapple Popsicles

1 quart of milk (we used skim)

1 cup of sugar

1 can of crushed pineapple (20 oz) drained

2 tsp vanilla

Add all ingredients to blender.

Blend until smooth.

Pour into popsicles molds.

Freeze.

Enjoy.