Apple (or Pear) Crisp

So I combined a couple of recipes for this one. Half from my sis-inlaw and half from my grandma.
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This makes a 9x13 pan full with plenty of yummy crust!
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Crust-
1 cup margarine (room temp)
1.5 cups oats
1.5 cups brown sugar
1.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt

Mix all ingredients, set aside.
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Fruit mixture- (can use apples, I just chose to use pears)
7-10 pears, sliced (depends on size, just get enough to at least fill the bottom of the pan, plus a little is good)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cinnabites (optional)

Slice pears. Mix fruit with all other ingredients in mixture. Pour into 9x13 pan. Press crust lightly on top of fruit mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. Eat with ice cream or milk while it is hot!

The cinnabites add just a bit more cinnamon flavor to the dessert. Super yummy!

Cinnabites-

Sugar, wheat flour, corn cereal, cinnamon, and soybean oil.

Chicken Noodle Soup

So with cooler weather coming along, I have been into making soups and yummy autumn foods. I don't have exact measurements for this soup, but I have a general list and hope you like to experiment! :)

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This makes a lot. (Define that how you will. :))

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Water

6-8 red potatoes (scrubbed and cut in large chunk)

2-3 carrots (peeled and cut into 2" sticks)

2 celery stalks (washed and cut in large chunks)

1/2 medium onion (cut in medium chunks)

1/2 pckg uncooked pasta (8 oz., I used Rotini)

2 cans chicken breast (10 oz. ea, sooo much easier!)

salt/pepper to taste

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Add all vegetables and chicken in large pan of water (make sure you have plenty of water, since you will be cooking your pasta in it too.) Bring to a boil. Turn temp down to medium and add pasta, salt, and pepper. Cook for 20-30 min until tender. Really yummy! (I bet it may be good to add a chicken bullion cube or some chicken broth, I just didn't have any on hand.)

Fresh Salsa

(Large batch)

12-14 large tomatoes
1 large green pepper
4 celery stalks
1/2 medium white onion (or 1 bunch green onion)
2 medium jalepeno
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tsp salt (add more to taste if needed)
1 tsp pepper

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Medium/large-sized diced tomatoes. Medium/small diced green pepper and celery. Small dice onion and jalepeno pepper. Fine chop cilantro. Combine all vegetables, stir in vinegar, salt and pepper. Eat on tortilla chips. (It is also really yummy to melt cheese on your chips first, then eat them with the salsa.) So good! Enjoy!

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By the way...
...if you don't have one of these (see photo above), you MUST HAVE one. It saves so much time! I know it still takes a lot of time to prepare vegetables before you dice them (washing and cutting out bad parts, etc), but this little tool makes it so easy after that! I used the larger sized dice for the tomatoes and the smaller one for everything else. I only had to chop the cilantro by hand and go over the jalepenos a little extra to make them a little smaller. Love it!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cubes butter
2 eggs

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Cream sugars, butter, and eggs. Add and mix all dry ingredients and vanilla. Add chocolate chips. Drop scoops on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-9 min.

Vegetable Chunk Soup

Ok, so I don't have specific measurements for most of the items in this soup, but I will give you the general idea and you can experiment.

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Water
1 can beef broth (optional)
8-10 red potatoes (scrubbed and quartered)
3-4 carrots (peeled and sliced into thick rounds)
2-3 celery stalks (washed and sliced into chunks)
1/2 large onion (large dice)
ham (cut into medium sized chunks)
-I buy cooked/frozen spiral cut ham, reheat it, put the glaze on it, and then refreeze it in smaller freezer baggies to use in different meals.
salt/pepper to taste

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I pretty much add all of the above listed ingredients into a large pot of water, bring to a boil, then turn down to medium and let it cook for 20-30 min until tender. It doesn't take a lot of time because I kept everything in large chunks and threw them in. It turned out great!