Hawaiian Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken pieces
1/2 package dry onion soup mix
2/3 cup pineapple apricot jam
2/3 cup Russian salad dressing

Arrange Chicken in greased baking dish.  Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Place in freezer bag.  Label and freeze.

To serve:  Thaw.  Heat until hot and bubbly.  Serve with rice.

*Another recipe from the Relief Society freezer meals.  This was so simple to put together, Ellen ate quite a bit.  I would make this again in a crunch, but I wouldn't give it to anyone else.

Heavenly Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie

Taken from This Week for Dinner

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter


Directions
1.  In small bowl blend flour, cocoa and baking soda. Mix until well blended.
2.  In large bowl beat sugar, butter or margarine and 1/4 cup peanut butter, until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, beat. Stir in flour mixture until blended. Set aside.
3.  To make Filling: Combine confectioner’s sugar and 3/4 cup peanut butter. Blend well.
4.  Roll filling into 30 – 1 inch balls. (I used my dough scraper to divide the dough and peanut butter, this made it easier to gage).

5.  For each cookie, with lightly floured hands if needed, shape about 1 Tablespoon of dough around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely.  (A hint:  flatten dough, then shape around peanut butter ball.  Piece as needed.)

6.  Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with glass.  Dip tops in sugar. 
7.  Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7-9 minutes. When cookies are done, they should be set and slightly cracked.


*Yummy and fun to make.  Do not overcook.  These didn't last long at our house!

Empanadas

Taken from allrecipes

Makes 12

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup fruit preserves

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1.  DAY BEFORE: Cream butter and cream cheese together until smoothly blended. Beat in the flour. Shape dough into a smooth ball, wrap in foil or cling wrap, and refrigerate overnight or up to a week.

2.  AT BAKING TIME: Remove dough from refrigerator 30 minutes before using. Start heating oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

3.  Roll chilled dough thin. Cut with 3 or 4 inch round cookie cutter. Place small spoonful of jam in center of each round, moisten edges with water.

4.  Fold round over and press edges together. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 15 to 20 minutes. Immediately roll in sugar mixed with cinnamon (traditional) OR in confectioners' sugar if preferred.

*I've always wanted a tortilla press, so that was what I chose as my souvenir on a recent trip south of the border.  We tried it out making empanadas--next time I'll have to double this recipe.  Jeff and Jacob didn't want to share!  I did have a bit of trouble with the dough sticking to the press.  Cooking spray helps, but the best thing I found to do was place a piece of plastic wrap on either side of the dough.  Then the dough was easy to peel off the wrap.  Of course, you can also just roll out the dough as directed above.

We made 2 kinds; six using cherry pie filling and six more using one fresh sliced apple, a dab of butter, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.  Both were delicious, but the apples were our favorite.  It was a little difficult to get all the fruit pressed inside the dough, but it didn't seem to hurt to have it spill out a little bit (especially with the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper).  The 1/3 cup sugar and 1 t cinnamon to roll the empanadas in would have been enough for double the recipe.

Teriyaki Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
¾ cup soy sauce
1 cup sugar
3 T red wine vinegar
2 t oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ t ground ginger
4 T cornstarch

Cut chicken into bite size pieces.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Bring to boil, cook and stir until thick and glossy.  Pour over Chicken in baking dish.  Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Place in freezer bag.  Label and freeze.

To serve:  Thaw.  Heat until hot and bubbly.  Serve with rice.

*Our Relief Society gave a set of "freezer" recipes.  Their hope is for us to make them and have them frozen for when someone needs a meal.  I thought I better try some of them out before I made them to give to other people.  We all liked this one--even better than the slow-cooker Teriyaki Chicken I usually make.  I really liked how the sauce was thicken up by the cornstarch.  This had wonderful flavor, sweet and not too soy sauce like.