Roasted Potato Soup

Ingredients
5 whole garlic heads
2 bacon slices, diced
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups diced baking potato (about 2 pounds)
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup 2% low-fat milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
Remove white papery skin from each garlic head (do not peel or separate cloves). Wrap each head separately in aluminum foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; let cool for 10 minutes. Separate cloves, and squeeze to extract 1/4 cup of garlic pulp; discard the skins.
Cook bacon in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until crisp. Add onion, carrot, and minced garlic, and sauté 5 minutes. Add potato, broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender; remove bay leaf.
Combine garlic pulp and 2 cups potato mixture in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return purée to pan; stir in milk, and cook over low heat until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat, and stir in chopped parsley

Cranberry Spinach Salad

1 Tb. butter
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1 lb. spinach, rinsed and torn into pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
2 Tb. poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
2 t. minced onion
1/4 t. paprika
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup vegtable oil

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and sir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and let cool. In a large bowl comine spinach almonds, and cranberries. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Toss with spinach just before serving.

Easy Pasta Salad

Spiral pasta
Any combonation of the following
broccoli
tomatoes
cubed cheese
olives
cucumbers
pepperoni slices
onion
green pepper
artichoke hearts
1 bottle of italian dressing
Cook pasta. Add vegtables and cover with dressing.

Chicken Cabbage Salad

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped
4 green onions, sliced
1 pkg. ramen noodles, uncooked
1/2 cup sliced roasted almonds
2 chicken breasts cooked and cubed

Mix all together in a large bowl

Dressing
2 TB. sugar
3 TB. vinegar
3 TB. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
seasoning packet from noodles

Mix all together. Pour over salad 1 hour before serving. Put in refrigerator until ready to serve

Poppy Seed Dressing

1 small finally grated onion

1½ cup sugar

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp. dry mustard or regular

1½ tsp. salt

2 cups vegetable oil

2 tsp. poppy seeds

Wisk thoroughly, (it will be thick). Refrigerate, stir to use. Keep in tight container. Makes one quart.

I put this over some romaine lettuce, tomatoes, mandrain oranges,

Chicken Fajitas

4 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/2 red pepper, julienned
1/2 green pepper, julienned
1/2 cup chopped onion
Flour tortillas
Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, lime juice or taco sauce

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tbsp oil, lemon juice, and seasonings. Add chicken. Seal and turn to coat; refrigerate for 1-4 hours. In a large skillet, saute peppers and onion in remaining oil until crisp tender. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, cook chicken and marinade over med-high heat until no longer pink. Return pepper mixture to pan; heat through. Spoon filling into tortillas. Serve with cheese and other desired toppings.

Best Ever BBQ Chicken

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup Heinz ketchup
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup Heinz chili sauce
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbsp celery salt
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
2 dashes Frank's Red Hot sauce
Chicken breasts, cut into strips

Combine everything, but chicken strips, in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, set aside. Salt & pepper and then grill chicken strips. Baste chicken strips with BBQ sauce during the last few minutes of grilling. Serve with extra BBQ sauce for dipping.

Note: Strongly recommend using Heinz brand, its the only brand of ketchup we'll buy. We add a little extra hot sauce (we like ours a little spicier).