Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

2 lbs potatoes (russet) made into mashed potatoes (however you prefer)

1.5 lbs ground beef

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 TBS butter

4 TBS flour

1 cup beef stock or broth

2 tsp Worcestershire

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 teaspoon paprika

2 TBS fresh parsley

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated cheese (cheddar or whatever kind you like best)

Directions:

Make mashed potatoes however you like them (I usually add butter and sour cream until the consistency is to my liking). While potatoes are cooking, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Add chopped carrots and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together for 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy for 1 minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in peas.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vege mix. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with cheese and paprika and broil 8 inches away from heat until cheese and potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.

Recipe by Rachel Ray - modified by Haley Rencher;

Photo by Haley Rencher

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 (4oz) package instant vanilla pudding

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and baking soda. In a large bowl beat brown sugar, sugar, butter, shortening, & pudding. Mix vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Beat in the flour mixture and stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls and bake 10-12 minutes.

Recipe provided by Haley Rencher

photo by Haley Rencher

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:
5 chicken breast halves
2 heads of broccoli, cut up
10 medium sized red potatoes
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups grated cheese (cheddar or whatever you prefer)
1 1/2 cup mayo (or sour cream if you prefer)
1 bag croutons

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Slice potatoes and boil until soft. Cut up broccoli and boil until softened. Cut up chicken breast into cubes and fry in frying pan. In another bowl mix soup, cheese and mayo. Strain potatoes and broccoli. In a casserole dish layer potatoes, chicken and broccoli with the cheese sauce on top. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top the casserole with croutons and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Recipe by Jolene Johnson
Photo by Haley Rencher

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 - 2/3 cups sour cream
1 can mild diced green chiles
1 cup grated cheddar or jack cheddar cheese
1 can mild red enchilada sauce
6 flour tortillas
2 TBS salsa

Directions
Boil chicken until cooked through. Shred the chicken into a bowl. Combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, green chiles, grated cheese, and salsa and mix. Stuff tortillas and line them up in a casserole dish. Pour enchilada Sauce over the top and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Bake in oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

Recipe from Jolene Johnson; photo from Emily Henrie

Angel Hair Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 oz onion and chive cream cheese
1 packet dry Italian dressing
1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions:
Combine all above ingredients in a crock pot and cook for about 5 hours. Serve over angel hair pasta.

Recipe from Rowena Carter

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 onion

1 cup tomato juice

1/2 cup catsup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1 TBS vinegar

5 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp salt

Directions

Brown meat and vegetables. Combine remaining ingredients and simmer. Serve on rolls.

Recipe from Cherie Rencher

Cinnamon Rolls

DOUGH INGREDIENTS
(makes about 65 rolls)

2 squares margarine (1 cup)

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups warm water or milk

2 yeast packages in 1/2 cup warm water

1 TBS sugar in yeast water

1 tsp salt

3 eggs beaten

6 to 7 cups flour (more or less depending on the texture of dough)

CINNAMON / SUGAR MIXTURE

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 TBS cinnamon

1/2 cup butter (for spreading on the dough)

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, put 2 packages of yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp) into 1/2 cup warm water with 1 TBS sugar. Allow yeast to sit in warm water and sugar until it become foamy (about 5-10 minutes).

In your mixer, beat margarine and sugar until sticky and pour warm milk over. Add eggs and yeast. Add salt and flour. Beat together and kneed. The dough should be sticky, but workable - it shouldn't stick to your fingers if you touch it, but it should be very soft. Put the dough in a greased bowl and allow it to rise 1-2 hours. (until it doubles in size)

Punch down the dough and let rise 45 more minutes. (a little trick I use is to heat the oven to 200 degrees while I am mixing the dough. As soon as the oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off and continue mixing the dough. That speeds up the rising process - it just needs to double in size)

Split dough into 4 balls. On a greased surface, roll one ball at a time out in a rectangle. Make the rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread softened margarine or butter on the rolled out dough and generously put the cinnamon/sugar mixture on. Roll the dough along the long side of the rectangle, so that it is one big long roll.

Use string or dental floss to cut the dough into individual cinnamon rolls (about 1 inch thick). Like this.

*Set rolls out on greased cookie sheet and let them rise until they have doubled in size (about 30 - 45 minutes). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (This dough also makes good dinner rolls!) Once the rolls have cooled a bit, spread frosting generously on top and serve.

**If you want to pre-make the dough and bake them fresh in the morning, you can roll out the cinnamon rolls and put them on the pan, cover them with plastic wrap and immediately put them in the fridge overnight. Once they are removed from the fridge, allow them to rise about 1 hour. Then bake and frost them as instructed above. 

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 oz container cool whip

8 oz package cream cheese

1 cup powder sugar

Beat sugar and cream cheese together until creamy. Fold in the cool whip. refrigerate until ready to frost.

Dough Recipe given to Haley Rencher by Rosemarie Deppe, 
Frosting recipe from Laura Johnson.
Photo by Haley Rencher

Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans, rinsed & drained

1 bag frozen, super sweet, petite corn

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 small purple onion (chopped finely)

1/2 bunch of cilantro (chopped finely)

3-4 avocados, diced

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lime juice

2-3 cloves of minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1-2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Prep all ingredients except avocados & lime juice in large bowl (the colors make this dish very decorative, so I ususally serve in a glass bowl). Stir together & refrigerate until ready to serve. Add avocados right before serving with lime juice on top to help avoid browning of avocados. This is great with "Hint of Lime" tortilla chips.

This recipe was given to the Rencher Family by Renee Craigo.