Misty Francom's Lime Cilantro Rice

This recipe is incredible and easy to make. Serves four.

1 T. olive oil
1 c. rice
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. fresh lime juice (Just use the juice of one lime. It is a bit more.)
Zest from one lime
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
1 t. salt

Add the oil to pan and heat on low. Add garlic and rice to the oil and saute fro 2 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently. Add chicken broth, salt, and lime juice, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes (or follow package directions).

When rice is done add lime zest and chopped cilantro. Stir to mix in. Serve immediately.

Julie Ehlers' Carrot Cake

This carrot cake is di-vine. Supermoist and delicious.

Combine these dry ingredients:

2 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 t. cinnamon

In a separate bowl, beat the following until smooth:

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. vegetable oil

3/4 c. buttermilk (or regular milk with a little lemon juice in it)

2 t. vanilla

Add the dry ingredients to the wet at low speed until blended. Fold in the following:

2 c. grated carrots

1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 c. flaked coconut

1 c. chopped pecans

Bake in a greased and floured pan at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean. 30-35 minutes for a 9"x13" pan. 35 min for a sheetcake. Makes 3 round layers as well.

Our Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

2 Tb. butter

2 t. vanilla

4 c. powdered sugar

Dash of salt

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add sugar and salt. If necessary, add milk.

Publix Yummy Fresh Pizza

They were giving samples of this one day as they were trying to get people to buy their premade pizza crusts, and I grilled the lady and made her tell me exactly how they made it because it was sooooo good. This is pizza for grownups. Our kids like it too though.

1 premade pizza crust (like DiGiorno)

Olive oil and garlic powder (no sauce!)

Provolone cheese, sliced (1/2 package)

Tomatoes, thinly sliced

Chopped fresh basil

Mushrooms

Pepperoni

Fresh mozzerella (the very moist, soft kind, if you're not familiar), sliced

Salt, pepper, olive oil, and parsley

Basically, put it together in the order listed. Make it according to the crust's package directions until the top looks bubbly and good.

Jennifer Eyring's Slush

This was my FAVORITE summertime treat, and I still crave it every summer. I've tried a few tiny changes to make it a tad healthier. Still is better than popsicles of course.

1 12 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate

1 12 oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate

1 46 oz. can pineapple juice

5-6 ripe bananas, mashed

2 c. sugar (can be reduced or omitted entirely)

6 c. water (I reduce this to about 4 if I'm leaving out the sugar)

Mix this all up and freeze it. When it is frozen, scoop it into a glass with an ice cream scooper. Pour lemon/lime soda over the top or mineral water (just a little) if you want the little bit of fizz but less sugar. Or the slush is good just plain. Enjoy!

Swedish Pancakes

This is a traditional recipe from my mom's side of the family. These are so yummy. They are very much (ok, almost exactly) like a crepe, but they are thicker and have a little more flavor and we didn't eat them in the same way. We would put butter on them, then a little jam or syrup or just sprinkled sugar. Then the roll them up and slice them and eat them. Yum! And single batch serves 2-4 depending on how hungry people are. It's not very big.

4 eggs well beaten

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. nutmeg

2 T. sugar

1 c. + 1 T. flour

2 c. milk

Beat eggs well. Add dry ingredients. Add the milk last and mix in slowly. (Avoid overbeating or it will get tough.)

Lightly grease a pan and pour in a little batter (1/4 cup?) and tilt the pan to spread the batter around the bottom. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for a minute until you can lift up the edges and flip it with the spatula. Cook the other side lightly and serve.

Cinnamon Yam Biscuits

This is actually off of a recipe card from Walmart. I like this recipe better than other versions I've tried. I'm pretty sure regular salted butter has about 1/2 t. of salt in it, maybe it has more. Anyway, I think I just used regular butter and omitted the extra.

2 c. flour

2 T. sugar

4 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. allspice

1/2 c. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 c. mashed cooked yam

6-7 T. milk, or more as needed

Combine dry ingredients and mix. Cut in butter until crumbly. Beat yam and milk together and stir into flour mixture. Add more milk if needed to form a soft dough. Roll or pat 3/4" thick and cut into circles. Bake 18-21 min or until golden brown at 425.