Crock pot Mushrooms

3 lbs of mushrooms (button, baby Bella's, morels)
2 pkg of dry ranch dressing
1 cup milk
1 cup butter melted
1/2 cup white wine - optional
1/2-1 tsp. garlic powder
few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
few shakes of Franks Red Hot- optional


In a microwave safe bowl melt 2 sticks of butter, add milk and ranch dressing mix, mix well, add remaining ingredients. Put mushrooms in a large crock pot and pour on the ranch mixture and turn on high until the mushrooms are soft then turn on low, this takes about 2 hours. The mushrooms will disappear very quickly! My friend Chris gave me the recipe and I added a few things that I thought would be good in it, enjoy!!!

Chicken Pot Pie

3Tablespoons of butter
3-4 T of flour
1 can of chicken broth or stock
half and half
2 celery stalks chopped
1/2 cup of carrots chopped
1 small onion
1 bay leaf
1 can of green beans or fresh
2 cups cooked chicken chopped
salt and pepper
1 ready made pie crust
1 egg- for brushing onto crust


Melt butter in a fry pan and saute the celery, carrots, onion and bay leaf for about 5 Min's. Add the flour and stir until absorbed, cook the flour for a min or 2, slowly add the chicken broth stirring until well blended. The mixture will be thick but shouldn't be too thick and gummy looking, if you find it is add more broth or some water. Stir in just enough half and half to get the consistency you like, it should resemble the chicken pot pie mixture you have eaten before, thick but creamy. Take out bay leaf, add chicken, green beans, salt and pepper to taste. Preheat oven at 400, spray a pie plate with non stick cooking spray, pour mixture into plate, unroll crust and position over the mixture, crimp edges and with a knife cut 4 slits on the top of the crust. In a bowl crack egg and scramble, add a little half and half, brush the egg mixture onto on the crust to brown up nicely. Bake until golden, about 20-30 Min's. If the edges start to brown faster use some aluminum foil just around the edges. Be careful the pot pie will be really hot when you take it out, let cool for 5 Min's. Enjoy!!

Mom's Oven Roasted Vegetables

10-12 whole baby red potatoes
1 cup baby carrots
1 small red or yellow onion cut into wedges
2 small yams or sweet potatoes, quartered
1 small zucchini and summer squash, cut 1/2 inch pieces
1 red,orange, or yellow pepper, cut into strips

Marinade:
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, or oregano- use 1 Tbsp if using fresh
hefty tsp. of Lawry's seasoned salt
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
whisk together
Preheat oven to 450, in a roaster or large pan combine all veggies together and drizzle 1/2 or little more of the marinade over the vegetables and toss to coat.
Roast uncovered stirring occasionally for 30 mins, check the Tatars for done-ness.
Remove from oven and drizzle with remaining marinade and toss, return to over for 15 mins more until the veggies are tender.
Makes 6-8 side dish servings, easily doubled if you use a large roaster. :)

Shrimp and Corn with Basil

2 tbsp. butter
1/2-3/4 cup of frozen extra sweet corn
1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled
4 green onions chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil
for some richness use 1/4-1/2 cup of cream or half and half.
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a fry pan, add shrimp and saute for 3-4 mins until shrimp is almost cooked. Add in corn, onions, basil and continue until corn is heated. Add in the cream at this point and season and enjoy!

This serves 2 adults for a meal, or it could be used as a side dish.
Could also serve over rice and if you want to spice it up you could add in some Franks Red Hot sauce to you liking.

Dutch Baby

1/3 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs
pinch of salt

Using a 9x13 pan, preheat oven at 350.
Put pan in the oven with the butter and let the butter melt.
In a blender mix all ingredients together.
Pour the batter into the pan over the melted butter and bake for 30 mins.
It will get golden and come up the sides of the pan, but don't worry it won't overflow in your oven.
Serve with butter and any syrup you wish to use.
It is so good you may have to make more!

Eggnog Bread

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter melted
1 cup good eggnog
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. or less of fresh nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350
Mix wet ingredients together in a bowl and in a separate bowl mix dry ingredients.
Combine the two together well.
Grease a large bread pan with non-stick cooking spray and for extra protection use flour too.
Bake in the oven for 45-60 Min's, test the bread like you would for a cake and check to see that it is done using a toothpick.
I have never tried this, but I bet you could even put the batter into muffin tins or use smaller bread pans to share with friends. Cooking times would change so you would have to keep your eye on it.
This is good with butter or on it's own, Enjoy!!

Mom's Popovers

1 cup Milk
1 cup Flour
3 eggs
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

When preparing this recipe use a blender, and you'll need a popover pan that you have sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray.
Preheat the popover pan in a 450 oven
Put all ingredients into blender and blend on med/high speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Let batter rest for 15 Min's or not, it's up to you.
Pour the batter evenly into each well, usually about 1/2 full, reduce oven to 425 and bake popovers for 20 Min's, then reduce again to 350 for another 20 Min's. I always use my microwave timer so I don't forget.
When time is up pull them out and enjoy while they are warm with butter, or what I like to do is mix honey into my butter, it just adds the right amount of sweetness.
Makes 6 large popovers

Russ's Bacon Wrapped Water-Chestnuts

1 pound bacon, cut into thirds
2-3 cans of whole water-chestnuts drained
toothpicks

BBQ Sauce-

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons of white vinegar
3/4-1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon of worceshire sauce
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes or more (optional)
few good cranks of fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350
Wrap the water-chestnuts with the bacon and use a toothpick to fasten, put on cookie sheet that has sides, bake for 25-30 mins until the bacon is cooked and slightly crispy. Meanwhile make sauce in a small saucepan and simmer 15 mins. When the water-chestnuts are done put them along with the sauce in a casserole dish and bake 10 mins more. If using a crockpot put everything in together and put on low until ready to serve, they will not last long so double the recipe!

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed, drained and chopped
2 cans artichoke hearts drained and chopped
1-8 oz. block of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Hellman's Mayo
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 green onion finely chopped(optional)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
few quick turns of fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder


For mixing all the ingredients up I use my Kitchen-Aid mixer, if you don't have one, mixing with whatever you have will do. Mix everything together except the spinach and hearts, once the other ingredients are mixed well toss in the spinach and the hearts and mix until well combined.
For serving I put this in a crock pot or you can hollow out a sourdough bread loaf and put the dip inside and wrap in foil and bake at 350 for 20-25 Min's.
Serve with cut up bread of any kind you like or crackers.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1-32 oz. box of chicken stock like Kitchen Basics
8 oz. sour cream
2 cups monterey jack cheese shredded
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 oz. green Chile's
1 tsp. ground cumin
10-8 inch flour tortillas


In a fry pan melt butter and saute onions until they are translucent, add the flour and stir with a whisk and cook for about 1 min. Stir in chicken stock and continue whisking until the liquid has come to a boil. Once the liquid has thickened remove from the heat and add the sour cream. In a bowl add the chicken, Chile's, 1 cup cheese, 2 cups of sauce and cumin and mix well. Lay out tortillas and fill each with about 1/3 of the mixture, roll up and place into a well greased 9x13 pan, top with remaining liquid and bake in the oven at 375 for 20-25 Min's, remove and top with cheese and bake for 5 Min's more until the cheese has melted.

I make this recipe quite often and love it! Feel free to use tomatoes, sour cream, salsa when serving this dish and remember to ENJOY!!

Zippy Sauce

3/4 cup Ketchup 4 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup White Vinegar 1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 small onion chopped super fine
4 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
few cranks for fresh black pepper
6 drops of Franks Red Hot Sauce(or more it you like)

Mix everything in a saucepan and simmer for 15 mins or so

Hello! I'm Lisa Behsman and I am married with 2 children who are 6 and 9 years of age. I live in a small town in Southern Minnesota and I really enjoy cooking for my family and friends. I thought it would be great to share some of my recipes that I have made and enjoyed.

Both of my parents are great cooks and I guess you could say that I have inherited the passion for cooking from them. I love trying new recipes but nothing beats the tried and true recipes, recipes that you can use everyday. I'm excited to share these recipes with you and I hope that when you try them you enjoy them and even add your own flair to them.