Olive Garden alfredo sauce

1 pt heavy cream
1 stick butter ( don't use margarine)
2 T cream cheese
1/4-3/4 c parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder

In a sauce pan, combine butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese. Simmer this until it is all melted and mixed well. Add parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Simmer 15-20 minutes on low. Season with salt and pepper.

sticky chicken

1/2 cups flour
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ginger
2 T worcestershire sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup water

Bread chicken in mixture of flour and paprika and ginger. Place in a 9x13 pan. Mix worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, and water and pour over chicken. Bake 350 for 45 minutes

Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped

1 tablespoons olive oil3 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3 tablespoons raw minced garlic)

3 cups of chicken broth (make sure there it's 99% fat free & no MSG)

1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed & drained

1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin

1/2 lb extra lean ground beef

1/4-1/2 lb Italian turkey sausage

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg "Darn Good Chili" mix - follow directions to prepare basic recipe (3 cups water to boil, whisk in 4 oz tomato paste & chili mix, simmer)

2-3 teaspoons McCormick Cocoa Chile Blend

1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1-2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit if you don't want it hot!)



Directions:

1. Prepare "Darn Good Chili" mix per instructions, place in crock pot when finished.

2.  In a large skillet, saute onion & yellow pepper in olive oil until tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Transfer to slow cooker/crock pot.

3.  Add tomatoes, beans & pumpkin to slow cooker/crock pot, mix well.

4.  Mix turkey sausage & beef together until well blended - salt lightly while cooking.  Cook in skillet, drain and transfer to slow cooker/crock pot.

5.  Add seasonings to chili ingredients in slow cooker/crock pot.

6.  Cook on "low" for 4-5 hours or until heated through.

 Basically, you can use whatever spices/seasonings you want depending on the flavor and how hot you want to make it.  The pumpkin really thickens the chili and adds a nice, smooth texture.

crab and cream cheese wantons

1 pkg cream cheese
1 can crab meat
2 T flour
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 egg beaten
wanton wrappers

Combine cream cheese, crab meat, and flour. Put cream cheese mixture in wanton wrappers seal with beaten egg. Boil oul and fry wantons about 2-3 minutes ( oil temp 350 degrees)

chilled corn and bacon soup

4 slices thick cut bacon cut into peices
3 cups corn
1 potato
1/8 tsp paprika
2/3 cup water
4 cups milk
salt and pepper

cook bacon. Put on a towel add 2 1/2 cups corn, shredded potato and paprika. Cook 2 minutes. Add water and cook 7 minutes. Remove from skillet and transfer corn mixture to blender. Add milk and blend. ( the recipe says to eat it cold, but I like it hot) use paprika and salt and pepper t0 taste.

Chai Cupcakes

These incredibly tasty grown-up cupcakes are inspired by Indian Chai tea, but you can make them with or without the actual tea bags. They're very similar in taste to spice cake.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup of milk
2 black chai tea bags (to make without tea, omit step 2 and increase all spices by 1/2)
Cinnamon or cocoa powder for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pan with liners or a light coat of cooking spray.
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk or sift dry ingredients (flour -- cloves) and set aside.
3. In glass measuring cup, bring milk to a low simmer in the microwave. Add tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, reserving egg whites in a separate bowl.
5. Add applesauce and vanilla.
6. While mixing, alternate adding milk mixture and dry ingredients; mix until smooth.
7. In separate bowl, whisk egg whites into soft peaks and fold into cupcake batter.
8. Gently spoon mixture into cupcake pan, filling cups to 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10. Let cakes cool completely.
11. Frost with vanilla or cinnamon frosting and dust with cinnamon or cocoa powder.

Baked Potstickers with Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

For the potstickers
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions
1/4 c. grated carrot
1 t. peeled and finely grated fresh gingerroot
1 can (10 oz.) chunk white chicken, drained and flaked
1 T. soy sauce
1 egg white
1/4 c. mayo
1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
24 wonton wrappers

For the sauce
1/2 c. jalapeno jelly (red fruit jelly works okay if you want to avoid the touch of heat)
1/4 c. rice vinegar
2 T. soy sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Combine ingredients from water chestnuts through garlic in a mixing bowl and mix well.

2. Bring a small cup of water to your work surface. Work with 6 wonton wrappers at a time. Leave the rest in the package and cover with a towel to keep them from drying out. Place a scoop of filling in the center of each wrapper. (I use a small spring-loaded scoop to make sure the size is uniform.) Dip your finger in the water and brush it along the edges of the wrapper. Pull the sides up to form the shape, and pinch the edges firmly where the water is to enclose the filling. You can form lots of different shapes. I've included a picture to get you started, but you can find many more images and even some videos if you google "folding wontons."

3. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place potstickers on it and coat them with cooking spray. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

4. While poststickers bake, place the jelly in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 30-40 seconds or until warm. Add vinegar and soy sauce. Whisk until well blended.

Yield: 24 Potstickers