Orange Julius

Just like in the mall! This can be made with a variety of yogurts or added fruit to customize it.  I used strawberry yogurt this time.  I also cut the recipe in half, making half a container of orange juice with the left over concentrate.  A full batch makes 4 12 oz. servings. Ingredients: 1 c. frozen orange juice concentrate 8 oz. plain yogurt 2 1/2 c. milk 1 tsp. vanilla Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and...

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Grandma Johnson's Caramel Rolls

The difference between Johnson-cooking and Mikaela-cooking:  precision. Mac's mother and grandmother have some amazing recipes, there's no doubt about that!  But EVERY recipe I ever request from them goes a little something like this:  "well, I put some of this and that together, then you add a little more and whip it up real good, then throw in some of this, and bake it til it's done" Huh? Even I, semi-experience-amateur baker...

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Mediterranean Chopped Salad

New favorite salad! Sorry... forgot the photo! Ingredients: 2 c. cherry tomatoes (about 12 ounces), stemmed and quartered 1 cucumber (about 8 ounces), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed 1/3 c. pitted kalamata olives, chopped (we didn't use) 1/4 c. minced red onion 1 romaine lettuce heart (about 6 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces 3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese 1/2 c. chopped fresh...

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Spaghetti al Limone

I was too focused on the wonderful aromas filling my kitchen that I forgot to take pictures of both this dish and the salad for tomorrow's post.... as always when we have company, I wanted to try out a new recipe.  This was another great meal from America's Test Kitchen (from my subscription to Cook's Illustrated Magazine)!  It's hard to find a cream-sauce pasta that is still light.  This one was perfect.  I used whole wheat noodles and added baked herb chicken. Ingredients: 1 lb. spaghetti 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil 1...

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Strawberry Shortcake

Best. Shortcake. Ever. Hands down.  Strawberries were on sale, 4 lbs. for $4.98, so we just could not pass up the opportunity to indulge.  Enjoy! Ingredients: Strawberries: 2 qts. strawberries 6 T. sugar Shortcakes: 2 c. all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter 5 T. sugar 1 T. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 9 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled 2/3 c. half-and-half (I used part heavy cream and part 1%...

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Chicken Parmesan

So, I did some research on this recipe because I was confused at why it was called Chicken Parmesan when there is no parmesan cheese in it... turns out, I can't read recipes very well!  I completely forgot the parmesan but it still turned out great!  A lot of times chicken parmesan only uses mozzarella cheese.  This recipe is not one of those... unless you're me and don't read the recipe correctly until you go to post it on a blog! For...

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Cowboy Cookies

These are Mac's current go-to cookie.  So delicious, perfect texture, just the right amount of goods... they can be made with or without the pecans (but you can hardly tell they're in there!)  The recipe is meant to be a cookie-in-a-jar that you can give as gifts, so its a cinch to make!  Thanks, Felecia for the recipe! Ingredients:1 1/3 c. rolled oats1/2 c. packed brown sugar1/2 c. white sugar1/2 c. chopped pecans1 c. semisweet...

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Homemade Poptarts!

Novelty.  I'm not sold on the current state of this recipe, but simply the idea of a homemade pop-tart is solid in my book!  I plan to play with the ingredients a little more and see if I can create a slightly sweeter and flakier dough. Thanks to Heavenly Homemakers for the recipe! 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 cup melted butter 1 cup plain yogurt About 5 ounces of 100% fruit jelly or jam (I used my homemade blackberry)Begin...

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