Melinda's Cheesy Chicken Chowder

For years, on cold winter evenings, my mother would make homemade chicken noodle soup--vegetable chunks, chicken, and even handmade noodles!
I would crave this soup for days, wishing it would get cold so my mother would decide to make it and I know I wasn't the only member of the family with these feelings.
However, our world changed one day when our very cute neighbor, Melinda, offered to bring our sick family dinner. What she introduced to my family changed us forever.

It was Cheesy Chicken Chowder and
it was BETTER than mom's chicken noodle!

Melinda's Cheesy Chicken Chowder

3 cups chicken broth (about 2 cans)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups diced cooked chicken
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
garlic
-Put all of this in a big pot on the stove and begin boiling-
While that's cooking, in a separate smaller saucepan:
melt 1/4 cup butter
then mix in 1/3 cup flour
-stir together really well and then turn temperature to low-
slowly add: 2 cups milk mixing well after each addition.
When mixture is nice and thick slowly add 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
-stir until melted and smooth-
-stir cheese mixture into chicken/vegetable mixture and simmer until
the potatoes are cooked to your preference.-

Enjoy!

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

By a vote of 4 to 2 these cookies were chosen by our Primary Class as a reward for the kids bringing their scriptures every Sunday for three weeks.
Hopefully, when they get them tomorrow, it will all have been worth it.

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
-beat until super fluffy-
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
-add to mixture and beat until even fluffier-
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa
-mix super well and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours-

You'll need almost 2 bags of rolos to do this:
Unwrap each rolo and cover each one with just enough
dough so that you can't see the candy anymore.
After you've made a ball with a rolo and dough, roll the ball
into sugar and place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for about 8-10 min or until there's little cracks in the cookie.
Take them out and let cool on pan for a couple of minutes before you transfer to cooling rack
(or else the melty caramel with fall through the rack).

Enjoy!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

We first tried this for the BYU vs. Oklahoma game and it was as delicious as it was good luck! A definite hit with all the chocolate lovers at our party. Goes really well with whipped cream and strawberries. Recipe doesn't include chocolate drizzle, but once we get it figured out we'll let you know.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Let the cake cool ~2hrs before serving, falls apart easy when hot. But oh, so yummy!

Recipe:
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased bunt pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until top is spring to the touch and  toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least 2 hours before inverting onto plate.