Italian Ricotta Cookies

Italian Ricotta Cookies

Cookies:

2 sticks of softened butter

1 ¾ cups sugar

15 oz Ricotta Cheese

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla

4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Glaze:

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

4-5 tablespoons milk

Sprinkles

Instructions:

Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined. Add in the ricotta, eggs, and vanilla and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix your flour, baking powder, and baking soda together – mix well before adding it to the wet ingredients. Add about ½ cup of the flour into the wet mixture, and mix until combined. Repeat, until all of the flour is mixed into the wet ingredients. The original recipe says to use a small cookie scoop to make balls roughly 1 teaspoon in size. I used my medium sized scoop so they are slightly larger. The 1 tsp size baking time is 8-10 minutes, and for my larger ones it’s about 15 minutes – I have a gas oven which tends to need a little more time than electric ovens. You want the cookies to just barely be brown on the bottom… just lightly brown. 

After they are all cool, mix your ingredients for the glaze. Use a cookie rack, and dip the tops of each cookie in the glaze – then top them with sprinkles. Work quickly, and sprinkle after glazing because it dries really quickly. Enjoy!

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Christmas Punch

Christmas Punch

1 bag fresh cranberries (frozen)
1 container frozen limeade concentrate
2 liters ginger ale
64 oz cranberry apple juice
1 bottle of sparkling apple cranberry cider

Mix all together. We used our punch decanter rather than the punch bowl I used last year. The entire thing was gone by the end of the day - with just 6 people in the house. If you're making for a larger group, I'd double or triple everything. The cranberries are really festive, and help keep everything cool.
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Wild Rice Stuffed Pork Chops

 

Wild Rice Stuffed Pork Chops

Adaped From: Betty Crocker.com

1 teaspoon butter or margarine

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

1 medium green onion, finely chopped (1 tablespoon)

1 cup cooked wild rice

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

4 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick (2 1/2 lb)

1/3 cup apricot preserves

1 tablespoon dry white wine or apple juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

 

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In 8-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery and onion in butter, stirring frequently, until celery is crisp-tender. Stir in rice, almonds, salt and pepper until well blended.
• Cut a deep pocket horizontally in each pork chop on the meatiest side of the bone. Press about 1/3 cup stuffing into each pocket. Secure openings with toothpicks. In small bowl, mix apricot preserves, wine and cinnamon.
• Bake for about 30-45 minutes or until it reaches 160 degrees internally, brushing occasionally with preserves mixture and turning 2 or 3 times, until pork is tender and slightly pink when cut near bone on the unstuffed sides of chops. Remove toothpicks. Discard any remaining preserves mixture. 
• We served it with the extra wild rice because we only made 2 chops, and a side of sauteed spinach and mushrooms with a little bit of garlic and balsamic vinegar.

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Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

1 – 15 OZ Can of Black Beans (drained & rinsed)

1 – 15 OZ Can of Whole Kernel Corn (drained)

1 – 10.5 OZ Can of Rotel (drained)

¼ c. Red Bell Pepper - Minced

½ c. Red Onion - Minced

¼ c. Fresh Cilantro – Finely Chopped

¼ c. Jalapeno – Minced (optional)

Salt, Pepper & Garlic Powder to taste

Dressing:

1/3 c. Red Wine Vinegar

1/3 c. Vegetable Oil

1/3 c. Lime Juice

Instructions:

Mince the Red Bell Pepper, Red Onion & Jalapeno (if using) and place them in a mixing bowl.  Next, chop up the cilantro and leave it on the cutting board – we will add this later.  Open all cans and begin by draining and rinsing the black beans.  Once the black beans are drained and rinsed, add them to the mixing bowl.  Continue with the corn & the Rotel in the same manner until all 3 cans of ingredients are in the mixing bowl.

Measure all of your liquids for the dressing into a 2 cup measuring cup and once they are all in (1/3 c. of each), use a small whisk or a fork to mix them together well.  Pour the mixture over the bowl of ingredients.

Add the cilantro to the top and stir to mix all ingredients and incorporate the cilantro and dressing.  Taste and add salt/pepper/garlic powder as desired.  Enjoy by the spoonful, or on a corn tortilla chip.

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Italian Chicken Pasta with a Smoked Mozzarella and Tomato Cream Sauce

 

2 pounds chicken tenders

3 teaspoons Wildtree Italian Salad Dressing Mix

2 Tablespoon Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil

OR

1 Tablespoon Wildtree Zesty Lemon Grapeseed Oil (if you have both the Garlic and Lemon)

Mix all ingredients in a freezer bag and either marinate for 2 hours or throw it in the freezer for a later time.

At cooking time: 

1 bag thin spaghetti or linguini

1 14oz can of fire roasted tomatoes

1 teaspoon Wildtree Italian Dressing Mix 

2 teaspoons Wildtree Smoked Mozarella & Tomato Blend

1 Tablespoon Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Cook your pasta according to the package directions. In a separate skillet (preferably one with sides), add the 1 Tablespoon of the Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil - brown and cook your chicken tenders completely over medium-low heat. After your chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, build the sauce by adding your remaining ingredients and letting them cook down together to combine the flavors. After a few minutes, I threw in the pasta and mixed everything together -- allowing the pasta to soak up the sauce as much as possible. 

It wasn't very liquid sauce, which was what I was going for. Serve with a nice Caesar Salad and some garlic bread.

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Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

Makes 4 servings

3 Split Chicken Breasts with the skin

1 Medium Onion, diced

1 Minced Garlic Clove or the equivalent of the jarred kind

1 can of Green Chiles

1 can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes

2-3 Limes

4 cups of Chicken Stock

1 tablespoon of Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil

2 1/4 teaspoons of Wildtree Chiplote Lime Rub

1 teaspoon of Wildtree Taco Seasoning

1-2 teaspoon(s) Kosher Salt

Cilantro (optional)

Toppings: Lime Tortilla Chips, Plain Tortilla Chips, Cubed Avocado, Cliantro

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. I gently lifted the skin off of the chicken to season it. Under the skin I sprinkled some salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the Wildtree Chile Lime Rub replace the skin on the meat - then repeat the same seasonings on the bottom side of the chicken. You can sprinkle some of the Garlic Grapeseed Oil on the chicken before you roast it. Roast for 20 minutes or until the internal temp is 160 degrees. Set it aside to cool. Once it is cooled, discard the skin and bones. Then shred the meat or cut it into cubes.

To start the soup, add 1 tablespoon of the Wildtree Garlic Grapeseed Oil to a large stock pot. Heat it over medium low heat, and add in the onion. Let the onion sautee lightly to get translucent - it'll take about 8 minutes. Add in the can of Garlic, Green Chiles, Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken Stock, remaining 1 teaspoon of the Wildtree Chile Lime Rub, Taco Seasoning, Lime juice, 1-2 teaspoons Kosher salt, and Cilantro if you are using it. We put in 2 halves of the lime into the soup for an extra punch of flavor. Let it all simmer covered for about 30-45 minutes. 

My husband, John, and I served ours differently. My version was the picture at the top -- with Plain Tortilla Chips and Cubed Avocado. John's is to add in Cilantro and Lime Tortilla Chips.

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Cookies and Cream Cakeballs

This year at my kids' school - I've used cake pops as their incentive to be good and not cry at drop offs. Since it has been a big help for the teachers too - I thought I needed to make them a treat as well. 

Cookies & Cream Cakeballs

1 white cake mix

1 vanilla cake icing

1 package of Oreos

2 packages of dipping chocolate 

Make the cake according to the package instructions, bake, and cool completely. In gallon sized zip bag or good processor, crush 3/4 of the package I cookies. 

Add the cookie crumbs to a very large bowl, and crumble the cake into the same bowl. Mix the cookie and cake crumbs together. Add in the icing and mix until everything is combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

Use a cookie scoop to measure out the cake mixture into balls - you could also do this by hand if you want. Place on a wax paper lined baking sheet, and freeze for 30 minutes to an hour. 

Melt your dipping chocolate: you can use the microwave, a double boiler, or a Velata warmer. 

Dip each ball into the chocolate using a fork or lollipop stick - you want the cake ball to be completely coated so that it I sealed and keeps the cake fresh. Place on wax paper to cool an harden. You can refrigerate the balls after they are cooled or they can be left at room temperature in a sealed container. 

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