Baked whole chicken

Making this for dinner is my favorite!

What you need:
1 oven stuffer whole chicken (perdue brand is good)
Season salt

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350
Open chicken and remove gizzards; rinse thoroughly.
Put the chicken in a glass baking pan (9x13 works well)
Bake for 21/2-3 hours depending on size
Enjoy

Tips and tricks:
You can use any type of seasoning you want but we use lawry's season salt.
If you have a recipe that calls for chicken gizzards, you can save them.
Most chickens come with a popper that tells you when it is done so you don't have to guess.

Cake batter chocolate chip cookies

Looking for a sweet treat? These are awesome. This is my best recipe. Everyone loves these cookies. They all ask me for the recipe so I decided to share it. These cookies smell and taste amazing. This was a recipe I got from my grandmother, but I don't know where she got it.

Things you need:
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 box cake mix (best to use yellow cake but if you want chocolate cake, use 3/4 cup oil because those cookies are drier)
Chips (no, not potato chips. Chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, whatever you like)

What to do:
Get a big bowl to mix in and preheat the oven to 350ºf.
Add your cake mix to the bowl, then the oil and eggs.
Mix using a scraping spatula until you have a thick dough.
Add your chips, use as little or as much as you want but only add a little at a time so that they are mixed in well.
Get out your cookie sheet and use a regular spoon to scoop balls of dough to make your cookies.
Put them into the oven for 8 minutes then check to make sure they are done. They might need more time to cook but don't cook them too long because the bottom will burn.

Tips and tricks:
Like most cookies, they won't look done on the top but they will be done on the bottom. When they are completely cooked on the bottom, it is time to take them out because if you wait for the tops to be done, the bottom will burn.
Don't make them too big because they expand while baking.
Do not use all the dough at once, this makes up to 2 dozen cookies.
Make the cookies somewhat small so you will have lots of them.
I have never tried these with any fruit or anything in these but that might be good too.
These cookies are totally customizable so try every combination of flavors possible. I've even seen sprinkles added into the dough to make festive birthday cookies.

Party punch

I usually try to post on Wednesday, sorry for the tardiness, and lack of pictures but this recipe is so easy you don't need them. I'm currently out of town so this week's Wednesday post may come late as well.

This is a no brainer. I always asked for this punch for my birthday parties when I was a kid and it was always a hit.

What you need :
1 2 liter bottle of sprite or ginger ale (not 12 liters...)
1 quart of vanilla ice cream
1/2 gallon of raspberry sherbert

What you do:
Pour contents into a punch bowl and mix gently
Enjoy

Tips and tricks:
You can try new flavors of sherbert, get funky with it.
Mix flavors of sherbert (and while doing so say "I do what I want")
You can also make rootbeer float punch in the same way, just use vanilla ice cream and rootbeer.

This picture isn't mine but this is basically what it looks like. 

Microwave quesadilla

My boyfriend gave me this recipe. Its a great snack, or quick lunch. There is a secret here that makes sure the cheese stays gooey and delicious.

What you need:
Tortillas
Shredded cheese
Other toppings (note: if you wish to add meat to your quesadilla, you have to use precooked meat, you can use raw veggies but they may not be completely cooked)
Optional: salsa and sour cream garnish

What you do:
Get a plate and put one tortilla on the plate
Sprinkle cheese and add toppings
Top it with another tortilla
Get a paper towel, wet it and wring it out or squeeze it so it is only damp (be careful not to rip the paper towel)
Place the paper towel on top of the quesadilla and microwave in 30 second intervals until the cheese is melted
Serve with salsa and sour cream

Tips and tricks:

To make the paper towel part easier, fold the paper towel first, then wet it. Once wet, squeeze excess water out and unfold.
This goes great with my 6 second guac recipe.
Mix it up (I swear this goes with most of my recipes) try differrent cheeses or fillings

You can make more than one quesadilla if you put one on the plate then make another wrapped in the damp paper towel and place it on top of the first one (basically covering both quesadillas)

Worms

This is called worms because of the noodles. We used tricolor noodles but spaghetti or angel hair works best (for the name)

What you need:
1 box of Pasta (it is totally your choice what kind of pasta to use but you can't call this worms if you use rotini or bowtie)
1/2 bottle italian dressing
1 cucumber (peeled and chopped)
1-2 tomatoes chopped
Salad supreme seasoning

What you do:
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box then drain
Pour in the whole bottle of italian dressing and add some salad supreme seasoning (its really up to you how much)
Stir in the vegetables (well, tomato is a fruit) and mix well
Serve warm or chill over night and serve cold

Tips and tricks:
You can try it with onion (I would say red onion)
Use more or less veggies for more or less crunch
Salad supreme is kinda hard to find in the store (its on the spice aisle)

This is what salad supreme looks like, in case you were wondering

Bacon for beginners

I have always hated making bacon. I dont want to get burned. Recently we started making bacon the smartest way possible. This is pure genius and most people will feel like idiots for not thinking of this.

What you need:
bacon
Cookie sheet
Foil

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350
Cover the cookie sheet with foil.
Lay bacon out on the sheet, they can overlap.
Bake until completely cooked
Remove bacon using tongs and place on a plate covered with paper towels (to absorb grease)

Tips and tricks:
Once you've mastered quick easy bacon, you can make BLTs or breakfast. The possibilities are endless.
There will be a lot of grease on the cookie sheet but the foil will make for an easier clean up.
If you like crispy bacon, cook longer.

Broccoli salad

Happy fourth of July to all my fellow Americans.  This is a great recipe for cookouts this summer!

This has the potential to be a no cook recipe if you buy pre-cooked bacon. For an easier way to make bacon, check my blog post on bacon here. This also has the potential to impress.

What you need:
Fresh broccoli (from a bag, I got mine as florets in a bag)
Red onion
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Bacon, crumbled
Mayo
Sugar
Red wine vinegar

What you do:
Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces (remove stems as much as possible)
Dice red onion and combine in a large bowl with broccoli
Add cheese ( as much as you want) and crumbled bacon
Mix 1/2 cup mayo and 3 tbs of red wine vinegar
Slowly add sugar to mayo mixture, dont let it get gritty.
Pour this mixture over the broccoli salad and stir.

Tips and tricks:
If the dressing (mayo mixture) does not look like enough, add some more of each ingredient. Some people (like me) like more sauce on my broccoli salad so I usually make more.
Make sure to taste the sauce and adjust the mayo to vinegar ratio to your liking.
The mixture should be smooth, not as thick as mayo and not gritty.
Use a wisk to mix the sauce so that the sugar gets dissolved.
This tastes better the next day.

Mix/stir before serving.

This is just a picture of the sauce, it is so good.