Thanksgiving cranberry sauce

1 package cranberries (12 oz)
1/3 c. orange juice
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
1/4 zest of lemon
1/2 zest of orange

Wash cranberries well. Combine water, sugar, cranberries, and orange juice in pot, bring to a boil. Turn down heat, simmer. Add zest of orange and lemon to put. Simmer on low for 30 min. Cool for one hour.

Turtle pumpkin pie

1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp carmel ice cream topping, divided
1 graham cracker crust
1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp chopped pecans, divided
2 pkg. JELLO vanilla plavor instant pudding
1 c. cold milk
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip, thawed, divided

Pour 1/4 c. carmel topping into crust, sprinkle with 1/2 c. nuts
Beat dry pudding mixes, milk, pumpkin, and spices with whisk until well blended. Stir in 1 1/2 c. cool whip. Spoon into crust.
Refrigerate 1 hour. Top with remaining cool whip, carmel topping and nuts just before serving.

Cilantro Lime Chicken

I found this recipe in the newspaper, it's way good!

3/4 of 10 oz bag of tortilla chips
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 c. honey
zest of 2 limes and juice of of one lime, divided
6 chicken breast halves
3/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. cilantro, finely chopped
3/4 c. mango salsa
6 slices Monterey Jack cheese

Crush tortilla chips in bag with a rolling pin; add garlic powder and black pepper, then shake bag to mix. In a bowl, mix together honey, zest of one lime and half the juice of one lime. Pound chicken breasts generously in honey-lime mixture, then coat well in crushed tortilla chips. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is almost, but not thoroughly, cooked. Remove from oven and turn broiler to low. Mix together sour cream, cilantro, the zest of the second lime and remaining lime juice. Place evenly atop chicken breasts: sour cream mixture, then mango salsa, and finally the slices of monterey jack cheese. Place chicken in middle rack of oven and broil until cheese is golden brown and chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 5-7 min.

(I don't like mango salsa so I didn't use it, and we also put them in tortillas and it was delish!)

Homemade white bread

Jared and I are poor so we decided one day to make our bread instead of buying it because it is a TON cheaper! I actually just found this recipe online, it's pretty easy.

5-6 c flour
3 T sugar
2 tsp salt
2 packages dry yeast
2 c water
1/4 vegetable oil

Mix together all dry ingredients except half of the flour. Add warm water and oil, blend for 3 min. Add rest of flour, mix well and then knead for about 10 min. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in bowl in a warm place until double in size (about an hour). Punch down, then divide into two balls and let them rise under the bowl for 15 min. Put each ball into a greased loaf pan and shape into bread loaf. Let rise for one more hour, until the dough is about an inch higher than the top of the pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 min. (makes 2 loaves- if you're only making one loaf, I suggest only baking for about 30-35 min) Take bread out of pan and let cool on a cooling rack and brush with butter. YUM! Nothing better than warm bread fresh from the oven topped with butter and apricot jam!

Italian Zucchini and Turkey Casserole

2 small zucchini, sliced thin
4 tomatoes, chopped ( or one 14 oz. can diced tomatoes)
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
1 clove garlic, minced
fresh or dried herbs- such as basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary
1 lb. ground turkey, browned
1 stack Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 cup Swiss Cheese, grated
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

Mix together the veggies, meat and seasonings in a 9 x 12 glass pan. Spread cracker crumbs, then the two cheeses on top. Bake at 350 for 40 min.

Brazilian Limeade

I got this recipe from Casha, and it is very addictive!

3 cups cold water
1/2 lime
2 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
a couple handfuls of ice

Blend all together. Yep, just throw the lime in whole. Be sure to use a strainer when pouring into each glass so it catches the big chunks of lime. Serve with lots of ice.
Sorry, no pic for this one.

Chicken veggie pitas

I got this recipe from one of the other recipe blogs we have a link to, but I can't remember which one. I did add chicken to it though because Jared is one of those people that has to have meat in everything

whole wheat pitas
1 can chicken
Use any veggies you want, I used:
1 stock broccoli
baby arulugula with spinach mix
sugar snap peas
yellow pepper
mix in kalamata olives and feta cheese

dressing:
1 small container of plain yogurt
garlic salt and dill to taste

Smear the dressing on the inside of the pita and put all the veggies inside. As you can see in my picture, I accidentally bought the flat bread pitas so I just rolled it up. Still way yummy!