Easy dinner #3

So, the last two posts have been on recent easy dinners. I had another one tonight, so I thought I would tell you about it.

For my birthday, one of my friends got me one of those slider pans. I hadn't used it because I wasn't really sure about making sliders at home, but I am so glad I finally tried it out.

I just took a pound of ground chuck, sprinkled it with a little salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce and cooked it up. I will say it took more than four minutes to cook. Other than that, the instructions were great.

I served them with some crinkle fries and mac and cheese.

I also cooked up Betty Crocker's pumpkin-praline cake for my work Thanksgiving tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be pretty tasty. One of the layers cracked a little, but it's nothing I can't cover up with icing.

"Practically homemade" clam chowder

Prepare a package of Bear Creek Potato Soup mix according to the instructions.

Add 1 can of corn and 1 can of minced clams. (I didn't drain them; the clam chowder thickens as it cooks).

Heat clear through. Add fresh-ground black pepper.

Enjoy.

Ranch "fried" chicken

We stumbled on this recipe accidentally. My roommate and I saw it on a Hidden Valley Ranch commercial, and we tried it. Excellent. I served it with pasta salad and cole slaw.

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch original dressing
1 cup bread crumbs
1 whole chicken, cut into frying parts

Mix the bread crumbs and dressing in a ziploc bag. Shake the chicken up.

Bake it on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees until it is finished. It took over 30 minutes in my oven. Turn the chicken about mid-point in the baking.

Hillary Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies

The perfect election night treat! All the Dems love Hillary's cookies!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 (12-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease baking sheets.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda.
Beat together shortening, sugars and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beating until light and fluffy.
Gradually beat in flour mixture and rolled oats. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop batter by well-rounded teaspoonsful on to greased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.
Cool cookies on sheets on wire rack for 2 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

It must be a great recipe (It is; I've made these cookies hundreds of times since I got the recipe in 1997), because you can still access it on the White House website.