I can't wait to try this...

Southwestern Layer Salad

This is the salad that Rebekah made at the reunion! MMMMMMM


8 cups shredded romaine
8 hard cooked eggs, sliced
3 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 can corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup sliced green onions
2 ripe avocados, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon lime juice

Layer first 6 ingredients. Toss avocados with lime juice and spoon over top. Combine dressing ingredients and spoon over avocados.

Cilantro Dressing

1 ½ cups mayonnaise
2/3 cups salsa
2 tablespoons lime juice
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground chili powder
1 ¼ cups minced cilantro

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

for those of you sick of MSG ruining all of your canned soups...try this! I haven't yet, BUT, it looks cool!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/05/homemade-cream-of-mushroom-soup.html

Cute Cake Decorating!

There's nothing more cute than a cute cake. Check out this family fun website to find some cute decorating ideas. I really like this sand and shovel cake! It's cute!

More picnic ideas

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02mini.html?ex=1372824000&en=179dc652b9850366&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink


I like some of the ideas they give in this article! Picnics are always so tough to come up with things for anyway, a few more ideas can always help!

Montreal Steak Seasoning

Purely delicious!


2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons crushed black pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon granulated onion
1 tablespoon crushed coriander
1 tablespoon dill
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Light Carrot Muffins

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 egg whites or 3 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots
1 apple, grated
1/2 cup craisins
1/4 cup chopped nuts, toasted (in pan with no oil, stir constantly)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook 15 minutes Makes 18 muffins


These are very tasty

Key Lime Bars

Hi! I made these once at Randi's request for a family party the Nuilas had. They are super good! Loves!

Key Lime Bars
2007


Crust:
5 ounces animal crackers
3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
4 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
Filling:
2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 Tablespoon grated lime zest
pinch salt
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg yolk
½ cup Key lime or regular lime juice
Garnish (optional):
¾ cup shredded sweetened coconut
toasted until golden and crisp

1. Heat oven to 325 F. Line an 8-inch square pan with heavy-duty foil. (The foil should be the width of the pan but the length about 6 inches longer. Fit foil securely into bottom and up two of the sides of the pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with non-stick cooking spray.
2. To make the crust: Crush the animal crackers with a food processor or by hand until evenly fine. Add brown sugar and salt. Drizzle butter over crumbs and mix. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.
3. To make the filling: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).
4. To assemble and bake: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to 1 to 2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
5. Loosen edges with a knife and lift bars from pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, and serve.

Note: The recipe can be doubled and baked in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Increase baking times by a minute or two.

Variation: Triple-Citrus Bars Use 1 ½ teaspoons each grated lime zest, lemon zest, and orange zest. Use 6 Tablespoons lime juice, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 Tablespoon orange juice.

Soft Caramel Popcorn

From my good neighbor and friend from Wymount, Cindy Clark.

3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1/2 c. water
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vinegar
dash of almond & vanilla extracts
1/2 cube butter
about 1-1 1/2 c. unpopped kernels

Mix sugars, Karo syrup, water, salt, & vinegar in saucepan. Heat on high until it boils,stirring occasionally. Turn down to medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until a spoonful of caramel forms a ball in a cup of ice water. Remove from heat. Quickly stir in butter and extracts. Pour caramel over popped popcorn and stir until evenly coated.

Hard Carmel Popcorn

From my good friend and neighbor at Wymount, Cindy Clark.


This is excellent!



2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
2 sticks butter
1/4 t. cream of tarter
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
6 qt. popped popcorn
2 c. nuts (almonds or pecans)-optional

In saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tarter, and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring over medium heat. Stirring constantly, boil rapidly to hard ball stage.

Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda quickly, but throughly and pour at once over popcorn and nuts. Stir gently until all kernels are coated.

Spread on two sprayed cookie sheets. Bake at 200 for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Turn out on waxed paper, spread apart and allow to cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.

Crockpot Italian Chicken over Rice

2-4 chicken breasts (I used frozen)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup low fat or no fat sour cream
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 envelope of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
3-4 oz of cream cheese

Put everything except Sour cream and cream cheese in the crock pot.
Cook on low for 8 hours (or less on high, I'm sure, just needs to cook the chicken)
Add Sour Cream and Cream cheese in about an hour before serving (I cooked the sour cream with it all day, but turns out I was supposed to add it at the end, it was still amazingly delicious. I did put the cream cheese in about an hour before I served it)

Cook rice separately and serve together!

Variations:
*Serve over egg noodles. OR use cream of chicken soup.
*You don't have to use both sour cream and cream cheese.
*While putting the ingredients in the pot, dance and sing "The Salmon Colored Warehouse". It adds a zing...

Recipe for a Happy Marriage...

1 Cup love
1 Cup marriage
2 Cups kids
4 Cups date nights
10 gallons chocolate
20 gallons vacation
5 tsp tears
40 ml human kindness
20 qts gospel study

Cream love and marriage until nice and fluffy. Add kids one at a time (or two if you're really up for adventure). Add date nights to taste and don't skimp on the chocolate. Refrigerate until exhausted, then add vacation. Tears should be added throughout recipe, hopefully human kindness can be added precisely after the tears. Don't forget to sprinkle the gospel study on before eating...

(Sorry Rebekah, I couldn't resist.)

Martha Stewart's Banana Bread

My friend makes this for every baby shower. The crust turns out kind of dark but it is pretty moist and a nice alternative to my favorite Lion House Banana Bread. Enjoy
Ingredients

Makes 1 loaf

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

New Blog!

This is our new Robinson Recipe blog. You can put your favorite recipes, easy recipes, pretty displays on etc, etc. I'm really excited to know what you guys are making in your kitchens!