Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Refrigerator Dill Pickles


3   quarts  water
1   quart white vinegar
1   cup pickling salt
4 – 5   lbs cucumbers
1 bunch fresh dill
1 head garlic

Combine water, vinegar, and salt.  Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. You can refrigerate overnight in glass or plastic jars.

Scrub cucumbers.  Put dill weed or flowerets and about 4-5 garlic cloves into each jar.  (you may like to add some hot peppers or banana peppers)  pack cucumbers into jar nice and tight, cover with the cold brine, secure lids and refrigerate for at least 1 week.

As you take out and devour pickles put new fresh cucumbers in your now empty jar and let stand a week and you now have more pickles so you can keep the cycle going for about 6 months.  This allows you to stretch your dill and garlic brine.

Thanks to Samantha Dale you can enjoy making your own!

Chicken Enchiladas

Enchilada Sauce:

2 Tbsp. Oil

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 Tbsp. Chili Powder (you can add more if you like)

1 tsp. ground Cumin

1 can (14 oz) chicken broth

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. garlic powder

Rest of ingredients:

2 c. shredded cooked chicken

½ c. thinly sliced green onions

¾ c. cheddar cheese (divided)

¾ c. Monterey jack cheese (divided)

¼ c. sour cream

1 can (4 oz) green chilies

Salt and pepper to taste

12  6-in corn tortillas

1. Enchilada sauce:  heat oil in large sauce pan:  stir in flour and chili powder.  Cook for one minute.  Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. In a bowl mix together chicken, green onions, ½ c. cheddar, ½ c. Monterey jack, sour cream, chilies.  Stir in ½ c. of the enchilada sauce, stir until blended and season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat corn tortillas (both sides) in a frying pan.  I don’t use oil or anything.  You just need to get them soft so they don’t crack.  They usually bubble up a little when they are ready. Or you can heat a few of them at a time in the microwave between wet paper towels for 20-30 seconds.
4. Put a little bit of sauce in a 9X13 inch pan.
5. Spread about 2 Tbsp. (heaping) of mixture into each tortilla and roll up and place side by side (seam side down) in pan.
6. Pour remaining sauce over the top and top with remaining cheese.
7. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly (about 15-20 minutes)

Ice Cream Dessert a.k.a. Fourth of July Dessert.

(This is one of our all time favorite desserts).

½ gallon vanilla ice cream
½ gallon chocolate ice cream
6 heath bars, or heath toffee bits (1 bag)
1 pkg mothers macaroon cookies or Chips Ahoy (You can use any kind of hard crunchy cookies.  My kids like Chips Ahoy much better while Coy and I prefer the macaroons.)
1 bottle chocolate fudge sauce (smuckers)

1. Crush the cookies and heath bars into chunks. Let the ice cream sit on the counter to soften (really soft).
2. Sprinkle the bottom of a 9 inch spring form or 9x13 in pan with a 1/3 of the cookies, then layer all of the chocolate ice cream on top of the cookies.
3. Next sprinkle a 1/3 more of the cookies and ½ of the heath bars on top of the chocolate ice cream. Next pour ½ bottle of the chocolate sauce on the heath bars.
4. For the next layers add the vanilla ice cream, then the rest of the cookies, and then the rest of the heath bars.
5. For the last layer drizzle the rest of the chocolate sauce on top.

***You need a deep 9x13 for this.  It fills up the whole thing.  If you aren't patient, then instead of waiting for the ice cream to get soft you can open up the whole container and just cut slabs off and lay them in the pan. 

Grilled Pineapple

1 large ripe pineapple

3 Tbs. honey

1 Tbs. freshly-squeezed lemon or lime juice

1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

Trim, core and peel pineapple. Cut into quarters from top to bottom. Slice out the core from each quarter. Cut each quarter slice into four pieces, once lengthwise and once crosswise. you should have 16 wedges of pineapple about 1 inch by 3 inches.

In small bowl combine honey, lemon or lime juice and black pepper. Brush glaze on each slice of pineapple coating completely.

Preheat grill and spray with a non stick spray. Place wedges on the grill and cook approx. 4 minutes on each side, turning so that grill marks are on all sides, until pineapple becomes fragrant and starts to dry on the surface. Do not overcook or they will by mushy.

Remove and brush with any remaining glaze and enjoy.

Christmas Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 head romaine lettuce

2 c. thinly sliced celery

4 green onions, thinly sliced

2 - 11 oz. cans of mandarin oranges

1 large pomegranate (seeds of)

3/4 c. sliced almonds

1/3 c. sugar

 Dressing 

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. sugar

6 drops of Tabasco sauce

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley, fresh (optional)

1 dash pepper

1/4 c. rice vinegar

1/2 c. vegetable oil

 1.  In a small pan on med. low heat, mix sugar and almonds.  Melt (this takes a while and I end up adding a little water) then spread out to cool on a plate.

 2.  Mix all dressings ingredients in blender.

 3.  Mix salad ingredients.  *(Add, oranges, pomegranates, sugar almonds, and dressing just before serving) Salad will go down considerably with dressing on it.

Cheese Bread

1 Round loaf of Sourdough Bread (large one)

1 lb. Monterey Jack Cheese

¼ c. Chopped green onion

½ c. Melted butter

1 T. Poppy Seeds

Slice bread almost but not completely through.  Turn one quarter turn and slice again being careful not to cut through.  (It should look like a grid with squares an inch or even smaller).  Insert cheese slices into the openings.  Put them in every cut you can.  Melt butter in dish and add onions.  Pour over bread.  Wrap in foil and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Unwrap and bake 10 minutes more.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Recipe by OurBestBites.com

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

You can dip the salsa, sour cream, or any favorite dip.