Hope everyone has

a great day!!!

"So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture

 will give thee thanks forever:

we will shew forth thy praise

to all generations."

Psalm 79:13

Fried Fish:

We very rarely fry anything, but my dad bought a lot of Walleye Fish and no matter how I cook it, no one but him likes it! It's such a salty tasting fish, and we just don't care for it. So in an effort to try to use up this fish, I decided to at least try frying it. We found a a great fish fry coating, and so we gave it a try. Everyone actually really liked, except my dad!!!! Oh, well! You can't always please everyone! I hope you give it a try!

8 fish fillets, any fish you want
2 cups breading
1 egg
2 tsp. water
Oil for Frying
Tartar Sauce for serving (click here for my recipe)

Heat oil to 350 degrees. Rinse fish with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Place breading in one dish and set aside. Place eggs and water in a separate dish and beat well. Dip fish in egg and then roll in breading, pressing to make it stick really well. Carefully place in the oil, two fillets at a time. Cook until golden brown, and fish flakes easily. Drain on paper towels. Serve with tartar sauce!

Note:
-Click here for the recipe for some awesome onion rings that we served with this!
-Although my dad did not care for this breading, the rest of us really liked it, so I wanted to share it with you. We got it at Walmart in the baking isle with other flour and breading.

Onion Rings:

Onion rings are one of my mom's favorite things and I absolutely love them too!

Until this evening, I thought I would probably never have a decent onion ring again,

since they are all made with flour. But that has all changed,

 thanks to a surprising "batter" we finally came up with!!!

Ingredients: (amounts vary depending on how much you want to make)
Some pancake batter (click here for my recipe)
Onions, sliced into 1/2-inch rings
Oil for frying

Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Dip onions in the batter, making sure they are well coated. Carefully place a few onion rings at a time into the hot oil. Cook until the underneath is golden brown and then flip the rings over so the other side can cook. Remove from the oil when the rings are dark golden brown all the way around. Drain on a paper towel lined dish. If you are making a lot of rings, place the cooked ones on a cookie sheet lined with several paper towels. Keep warm in a 200 degree oven, until ready to serve. Enjoy!!!

Chicken Veggie Casserole:

This was great for a chilly day!

It was easy to put together and was pretty yummy!

I hope you give it a try!

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 (15 oz) can of whole potatoes, drained and sliced
4 cups canned green beans
2 cups frozen corn
1 batch of cream of chicken soup (recipe here) prepared and cooled
             or just one can of cream of chicken soup, if you are not making this gluten-free
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine the soup, milk, thyme and pepper. Mix well. Add the chicken, potatoes, green beans and corn. Stir until well combined. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through. OR, you can cover the dish, and place in a 200 degree oven for several hours, until heated through and your ready to serve.

Note:
-Feel free to adjust the amounts of each ingredient to your tastes. You can add more potatoes and less veggies, or leave out the potatoes and add more veggies, leave out the chicken....whatever you want!!
-If you are making my recipe for a can of cream of chicken soup, it would be best to make it in advance and chill it for several hours so that it really thickens up. You can make this casserole right after you make the soup, of course, I just like it better after the soup has chilled, but it's not absolutely necessary!
-This is a good dish to make ahead of time, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake it. Just allow about 10 extra minutes of baking time, since the casserole will be much colder.

Quick and Easy Apple Salad:

5 minutes before dinner was ready last night, I thought it would be great to have a sweet side dish. 5 minutes later, this recipe was found, made and on the table! Now that's what I call quick! And it tasted really yummy! I hope you give it a try!

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 tblsp. sugar
3 medium-large Apples, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp. cinnamon or apple pie spice

Whip cream in a mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in apples and spice. Serve!

Note:
-I made this recipe as is, but I really think it would be a great base for tons of add-ins. Chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter chips, chopped nuts of any kind, raisins, chopped candy bars....the list goes on and on, so be creative and I would love to know what you come up with!!

Don't forget to

get out and vote!!!

Dreamy S'more Pie:

My sister celebrated her 20th birthday on Sunday and this is the dessert that she picked out. I hadn't made it before, but 2 of Kelley's favorite things are cream cheese and hazelnut spread, so I gave it a try for her! It turned out pretty amazing and she loved it! I thought it was okay, but 2 of my least favorite things are cream cheese and hazelnut spread, so if you like those things, then I'm sure you'll love this!
Since we have both gluten-free and gluten-filled eaters in our home, I made one pie with a graham cracker crust and one without a crust. I hope you try it out!!

-With a graham cracker crust-

-Without a crust-

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 & 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 (13 oz.) container chocolate hazelnut spread
3 cups mini marshmallows
1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust (omit if you are making this gluten-free)

In a mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese and whipping cream until well mixed and very thick. Add hazelnut spread and mix well. Pour into prepared crust, or a serving dish. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. Right before serving, top with marshmallows - press gently into the filling. Broil about 6 inches from the heat 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are golden. Serve!!!

Note:
-This is NOT a healthy dish in any way. I just wanted to make sure everyone understood that!!
-Philadelphia cream cheese would be the best for this. I used a generic brand, and was left with little tiny lumps that wouldn't really mix in. Philadelphia cream cheese would mix much better.
-If you don't know, Hazelnut spread is found with the peanut butter in most grocery stores.
-Make sure you DO NOT walk away while the marshmallows are in the oven! They turn really fast and you have to watch them closely (unless of course you like your s'mores made with burnt marshmallows!).

Grandma Wagner's Pumpkin Roll:

My grandma was an amazing cook!

We used to eat dinner at her house every Sunday after church

and I will never forget all the amazing meals she made,

but mostly I won't forget her desserts!!!

Among a HUGE list of desserts she made, is Pumpkin Roll.

I really enjoy making them and I hope you will give them a try!

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum (omitt if not making gluten-free)
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
Finely chopped walnuts, optional

Filling:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 cup powder sugar
1 tblsp. butter, slightly softened

Beat eggs in a mixing bowl. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and lemon juice and mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Spray a jelly-roll pan with cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper (longer than the pan) and press into the pan. Spray the paper generously with cooking spray. Pour batter onto parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread out evenly all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together filling ingredients; set aside. Lay out a kitchen towel. Place a piece of wax paper on the towel. Sprinkle wax paper with powder sugar.

 Carefully, flip the cake out onto the wax paper - parchment paper up. Slowly, pull the parchment paper off the cake. Let stand for about 2 minutes. Roll up the cake, wax paper, and towel together, starting at the short end. Let stand 5 minutes.

Unroll, and spread the filling over the cake to within 1-inch of the edges. Spread carefully, or else you might tear the cake. Roll the cake, starting at the short end, carefully pulling away the wax paper from the cake as you roll. When you reach the end of the cake, leave on the wax paper. Place in a 9x13 baking dish. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until chilled firm. Remove from the wax paper and gently wrap in foil. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice in 1/2-inch slices to serve.

Note:

-It is best if the cream cheese for the filling has NOT been frozen....once it's thawed, it tends to make the filling runnier and that's not what your looking for!