Dark Chocolate Jumble Cookies (With Whole Wheat)

My daughter was begging for chocolate chip cookies today. I thought it might be fun to try some made with only whole wheat flour. We pulled out the wheat grinder and threw together these yummy cookies in a very short time. They were a hit! I'll definitely make them again.

You'll need:

1 cup softened butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

(Yeah, okay I never said they were health food...)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 cups whole oats, blended in the blender (measurement BEFORE blended.)

1 cup extra dark chocolate chips (with at least 60% cocoa.) My new favorite.

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup shredded coconut

and next time I'm going to add 1 teaspoon almond extract. I think it's a secret ingredient for perfect cookies, but I forgot this time.

Cream together butter, eggs, and sugars. Sift together dry ingredients and combine it all together. Stir in chips, nuts, and coconut at the end. And remember the almond extract. You can thank me later.

Here's the dough. And you can just stop right there if you aren't opposed to consuming raw eggs, because the cookie dough is always superior to the cookies. And this dough doesn't disappoint.

Make the cookie balls small because these babies can really grow.

I shape them and flatten slightly.

Bake at 375 degrees for eleven and a half minutes. Well, if you have my oven.

Somewhere between 10 and 12 minutes should do the trick.

I'm at a high altitude that makes it difficult for trying new cookie recipes, and this one did just fine. They are a *tiny* bit crumbly, but plenty chewy and nearly a perfect texture. Especially for not having ANY white flour. Give them a try!

Oh my! I gained 5 pounds just reading your blog tonight! Just plain awesome. . .

Tomorrow morning we are trying the buttermilk syrup. I have never been a fan of maple syrup. I usually eat my pancakes, waffles, etc. with fruit only. This may be my new favorite.

I'll let you know.

Thanks for the blog. By the way, you girls are just down right beautiful--inside and out!

Salsa Bar for Dinner

Sometimes it's nice to have options. We had a lot of these ingredients sitting around, and I decided to make them all at once. Why not? One nice thing is that they share a lot of the same ingredients, so you only have to chop once. Love that!

Clockwise from the top we have pintos and cheese, salsa cruda, mango salsa, and guacamole.

(all completely from scratch)

These are all so easy to make, delicious, and healthy to boot. We ate them on tortillas and dipped with corn chips. (The not-so-healthy part.) But I can't complain when the kids are gobbling down this many good things.

[By the way, you may notice that the traditional peppers are missing from my recipes. I have a hard time digesting bell peppers, so we rarely use them, but if you love peppers, feel free to throw them in the mix. We find that omitting the peppers also makes it more "kid-friendly".]

Here are my recipes:

Pintos and cheese

Soak about 1 1/2 pounds of dry pinto beans overnight. Wash and rinse them well. Place them in the crockpot covered with plenty of water. Turn the crockpot on HIGH for about 4 hours. Sometimes I add a can of green chili's here for some extra flavor.

[*Sidenote* This particular batch of beans was getting old and had what we call RHB (Really Hard Beans). They were cooking for about 18 hours, but that is another story. They did eventually soften and worked great for the refried beans. Usually it works much faster.]

After your beans are pretty soft, drain off most of the water and use a stick blender (immersion blender) and blend those little darlin's to bits. A regular blender would probably work well too, but you might have to leave a little more water. After the beans are thoroughly mushed I season with cumin, garlic salt, salt, and pepper. Then top with cheese and leave your crockpot on warm until everything is ready to go. Easy as can be.

Guacamole

2 mashed avocados

juice from 1 lime

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

1/4 cup finely chopped white onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon cumin

black and red pepper to taste

Combine and enjoy! Cover tightly and refrigerate if there are any leftovers, but there won't be.

Salsa Cruda

4 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

3-4 cloves minced garlic

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

juice from 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 jalapeno, finely diced (We left it out this time.)

Stir, mix, and enjoy.

Mango Salsa

2 fresh mangoes, diced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup white onion, finely diced (or red onion is beautiful! But we used white this time.)

1-2 cloves minced garlic

2 Tb fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 avocado, diced

juice from 1 lime

1/2 Tb sugar

dash of salt

Sweet and Sassy!

Favorite Marinade

This favorite marinade came from my favorite aunt! And it's fabulous on chicken and beef...

Give it a try...you won't be sorry!

½ c soy sauce
¼ c red wine vinegar
¼ c olive oil
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp Basil
¼ tsp Pepper

Marinade for 2-4 hours.

Tea time, anyone??

My sisters and I have always dreamed of traveling to the British Isles together and doing the castles, history, and literary tours there. Since we haven't been able to do that yet, we dream of doing it by watching Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown. Boy, does she have the life or what? Anyway, in one of the episodes she was in England and they are famous for their multiple time outs for tea. They eat cucumber sandwiches, shortbread, and scones with clotted cream, lemond curd and jams. We had to try them out. It's all as wonderful as it looked on Samantha Brown. It might not be the healthiest habit, but it sure brightens my day when I can sink my teeth into it's creamy goodness.

Clotted Cream:
1/2 cup heavy cream OR 8 oz. cream cheese or neufchatel (do not use light or fat-free)
2-4 T. powdered sugar (or to taste)
1/2 cup sour cream (do not use light or fat-free)
1 tsp. vanilla

If using heavy cream, beat until stiff. If using cream cheese, beat until smooth. Fold in sugar until dissolved. Fold in sour cream and vanilla. Chill. Keep refrigerated.

Lemon Curd:
Juice of 4 lemons OR 1 cup lemon juice
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter (do not use margarine), cut into cubes
2 cups sugar

Combine ingredients in a double boiler and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth and translucent. If you do not have a double boiler, use a heavy-duty saucepan and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. This mixture can burn easily. Microwave is not recommended. For a stronger lemon flavor, add the grated zest of the 4 lemons. Pour mixture into a Mason jar with a tight lid and keep refrigerated. Use within two weeks.

Sorry, the picture didn't turn out very well.

English Scones:
2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
2-4 T. sugar (depending on add-ins)
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. butter (do not use margarine), cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter using a pastry blender. Blend in buttermilk. Knead lightly a few times. Do not over-knead. Roll dough into a circle (not too thin). Cut into wedges, as if cutting a pizza. Place wedges on greased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes, depending on oven variations. Scones are done when golden brown on the outside, but fluffy on the inside.
Add-ins: apples, currants, ginger, orange or almond flavorings, vanilla, cinnamon, dried apricots, fresh blueberries, cranberries, chocolate chips, candied ginger, walnuts. Experiment with the add-ins, adjusting the sugar as necessary. If a bold ginger flavor is desired, add finely-chopped fresh ginger. If a mild ginger flavor is desired, use candied ginger. You can also try sauteing the chopped fresh ginger lightly in a little butter and sprinkling with sugar before adding to dough. If a bold nutty flavor is desired, try using toasted walnuts. Toast in a warm oven, stirring occasionally, until the nuts have softened slightly and have a strong scent. If using fresh blueberries, drain VERY WELL before adding to dough.

This picture happens to be some ginger scones. The smell of fresh ginger is absolute bliss. I could sniff it all day...but that wouldn't be very productive now would it :)
The clotted cream and lemon curd are also good on toasted English Muffins. Oh, and you don't have to serve them together. They stand on their own as well.

Sticky Rice with Mango

This is my sister's recipe. I haven't actually tried it yet but she sent it to me and it sounded delicious and she said it was, so I'm posting it in hopes she is correct :)

Sticky Rice with Mango

1 c. rice
1-13.5 oz can coconut milk
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 ripe mangoes

Combine coconut milk, sugar and salt. Boil 3 minutes- stirring frequently.
Remove from heat. Add coconut milk to rice. Stir until mixed.
Press plastic wrap onto mixture in saucepan to cover. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature. Garnish with peeled and sliced mangoes.
Top with Coconut Syrup. DELICIOUS!

Coconut Syrup
1-13.5 oz can coconut milk
1/2 c. confectioners sugar, firmly packed

Stir together. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat. Simmer about 10 minutes. Cool to lukewarm and serve. May keep in fridge up to one week.

Molten Chocolate Cookies

Molten Chocolate Cookies
These rich cookies are best eaten warm, while the crust is crispy and the centers are gooey. They can be reheated in the microwave to soften the centers. Yield: 16 3-inch cookies

2 c. Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Chips
3 T. Butter
2 large eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder

Melt chips and butter in top of double broiler over low heat, stirring until smooth but thick. (Or in microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds at a time after that.) Remove from heat; set aside to cool.

In large bowl of mixer beat eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla on high speed about 2-3 minutes until pale yellow and slightly thickened. Mix in chocolate on low speed. Stop and scrape bowl. Add flour and baking powder on low speed just until incorporated, stopping once to scrape bowl. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees F.

Scoop 8-2 inch mounds onto parchment lined cookie sheet leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes or until crusty on the outside but soft in center. Cool on cookie sheet 3-5 minutes. Best eaten warm. To reheat cookies, microwave on high power for about 10 seconds per cookie. Enjoy!

Shrimp alfredo with Angel hair pasta

I only have the recipe for the alfredo posted here.  You can use any kind of pasta Im sure.. but we love the angel hair.  We love garlic and onions so I mix it in with my Shrimp or chicken.  We had chicken lastnight, so it was Shrimp tonight..

(go here for original post)

This goes really good with homemade bread.. =)  yum.   

I boil my pasta according to directions.

Put some garlic and onions in a pan to sautee'
Add my cooked shrimp to the pan.. and simmer with a slight touch of lemon.

Making my sauce.

1 1/4 c. chicken broth (i use the organic and sodium free)

4 tsp. flour

4oz. cream cheese, cubed

3 Tbls parmesan cheese (i use more then this.. but whichever is fine)

some pepper.

mix broth and flour in skillet. Sirt in Cream cheese, and parmesan. Add pepper, cook for 2 min, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in Shrimp-onions-garlic.

Its Nummy!

Cheesecake Cookies

We're not big dessert people, but once in a while, on Sundays, we make treats. My son wanted to choose a dessert after dinner today.

His all time favorite is cheesecake, but I didn't have anything to make a crust. I told him to look up cheesecake cookies on the internet, and he found this recipe. It's really simple, and surprisingly delicious.

Not healthy, but delicious.

We will definitely make them again though.

Here's what we used:

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cube butter, softened

1 package cream cheese, softened (we only had a half a thing of regular cream cheese, so we used that and half a container of the whipped kind. It worked just fine.)

and we also added 1 teaspoon almond extract, because that just makes everything taste better. They smelled as yummy as they tasted. They would also be amazing with chopped almonds.

Cream all the ingredients together, and that's it! We rolled them into 1 inch balls, slightly squished and baked at 375 for 14-15 minutes.

An instant hit

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

I first heard of this recipe when my husband brought it home from a work party a couple of years ago. He didn't bring home the salsa....just the recipe. And he went on and on about how wonderful it was, so I thought I would give it a try. And it really is very wonderful. We like to either eat it with chips or grill chicken and make it an all out meal.

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1 can black beans (not drained)
1 10 oz package frozen corn, thawed (we like to use sweet corn)
1 cup chopped ripe mango (to learn how to chop the mango, go here)
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice


Mix all  ingredients together until well blended.  Cover. Refrigerate at least one hour (or best overnight). Serve with grilled chicken, chips or rice.

BBQ'd Turkey Pockets

I love comming on this blog and seeing what others are making.  I especially love the quick and easy meals. (don't we all)  This recipe I had never tried until this evening, and I was impressed. Its above all.. the easiest thing I have made in days. My kids even liked it, they usually think pita breads look foreign and refuse to eat pita.  haha.  But they didn't hesitate this time.  I didn't get a chance to post a pic of the outcome here.. but if you wish to see one, you can click here and go directly to my blog posting.



BBQ'd Turkey Pockets
1 can Tomato soup
1/4 cup water
2tbls packed brown sugar
2 tbls vinegar
1 tbls worcestershire sauce
1 lb thinly sliced cooked turkey breast
wheat pita breads cut in half
and sliced cheese of your choice. (optional)

heat soup, water, sugar, vinegar and worcestershire in a 12 inch skillet over med. heat to a boil.
Add the turkey. Reduce the heat to low. cook until the misture is hot and bubbling.
Spoon the turkey mixture into the pita halves.
Simple as that.

Cafe Rio Salad

For all you Cafe Rio lovers out there like me, this one's for you!

Cafe Rio Salad

CAFE RIO DRESSING

2 cups mayonaisse
2 cups sour cream
10 sprigs of cilantro
3 los tomates (green tomatoes-fresh or canned)
2 green onions (washed and chopped)
2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno pepper (seeds and all) *I used green chilis instead about 1/4 c.
juice of 1 lime
1 or 2 tsp. of salt (depends on how much salt you like)

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Dressing lasts for 2 weeks in refrigerator.

CAFE RIO PORK

1 cup Pace salsa
1 cup brown sugar
pork sirloin roast (about 3-4 lbs.)

Mix salsa and brown sugar together and pour over a pork roast.

I just put mine in the crockpot on low all day. It's pretty good.



CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.

BLACK BEANS

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cup tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP

click here to visit my blog

My family and I loved this.

I would have to say that I liked it MORE then the dip they have at Applebees and Chili's

Now thats amazing. haha

MmKay.. now back to the recipe.

I found this recipe and loved it. It makes a whole 13 X 9 casserole dish, so feel free to cut it in half if need be.

So What you see is what you get. 1 bag of Spinach - thawed and squeezed of any extra water. 2 cans of artichokes-chopped. 8oz of sour cream, and 1 or 1.5 bricks of cream cheese. then a bunch of shredded parmasan cheese. Yum. Mix it all together. Place in casserole dish. Bake at 350 for about 30 min. right before its done I put more cheese on top with chopped tomatoes. do not over cook or it will be dry. Serve hot! Enjoy!

I would love to know if you had time to make this, and how it turned out.  Anything that you may have added extra to it, to spice it up a bit, I would love to know.

SWEET RICE!

Sweet Rice.

Have you ever had Horchata, (its a sweet milk drink) from a Mexican resturant?

Well that drink comes from the juice of Sweet rice. Or so I've been told.

Here is my Recipe and my faimly loves it..

Warm or cold.

2 c. White rice (made accordingly to directions)
1 can Sweet n condenced milk
Tiny bit of milk for your consistancey according to your liking
Cinnamon to taste
and Raisens (optional)

And this picture is just the begginning.. to see more pictures of this wonderful recipe

{click here to go to MY BLOG}

Enjoy.. Id love to know what you think!

mexican chicken

(i don't know where i picked this up, so if it's yours, thanks...take credit in the comments!)


4-5 boneless/skinless chicken breast (I semi thaw and chunk them in approx 2 inch cubes, but you can leave whole frozen, I just found that if I leave them whole, we only get 2 meals out of this, if I chunk them, we get 4 meals)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans (I do not drain or rinse)
1 can ro-tel tomatoes (don’t drain)
cumin to taste (I love cumin so use approx 1 teaspoon)
garlic powder to taste (same note as above)
Option: If you have a lime hanging around, you can squeeze the lime juice in the pot too… or add a bit of the zest.

All in the pot.
Cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours in crockpot.
Serve over white rice with some shredded cheese, sour cream and diced avocados.
*notes in () are from the original author.

my notes: we quite liked this. i only used 1 chicken breast because that's all i had on hand, but it was still good. i did cut them into chunks, which i would do again, but i would also shred it about an hour before serving. i used frozen corn, just in case you were wondering. also, i served it over brown rice, just because that's what we prefer. i'll definitely make this again, mostly because it was super fast to throw together.

Lemon Velvet Cake

*So I realized that I started this post intending to get pictures to include and never did and the cake as been long gone, so I'll just post the recipe. It's been a week and a half ago already, so I might as well, right?

I think spring is nearly here to stay. I love this time of year. I love seeing the new life that comes and I love being able to open up my windows again after a long winter. The fresh air smells divine. Add the fresh air to the clean smell of lemon and I feel like I'm in heaven. Plus the simple elegance of this sunshiny yellow cake is perfect for the spring holiday of Easter. It's coming up, so put this on your menu. I think you'll be impressed!

1 pkg. lemon cake mix
1 3 oz. pkg lemon jello
1/2 c. oil
4 eggs
3/4 c. water


Mix the cake mix and the jello, then add oil, eggs and water. Mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. While hot, prick cake with fork and pour frosting over it.

*I usually use a bundt pan, as it adds to the elegance of the cake, but you can use whatever you'd like.


Frosting:
1 1/2-1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
Juice of 2-3 lemons


Frosting will be quite runny and will soak into the cake. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

Kumquat Oatmeal Bread

In my produce co-op basket this week I had a bunch of kumquats. "What are kumquats?," you ask. These are kumquats:

They are tiny little miniature citrus fruits with sweet rinds and sour centers. You can eat the whole thing, peel and all if you like sour fruit. They also have a seed in the middle. Most of the ones I opened had just one seed, but one had several.

Aren't they cute?

For this bread I used an oatmeal bread recipe and added some pureed kumquat with the seeds removed. And some cinnamon. I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy it turned out. The first loaf is already gone. The kids can't get enough.

I realize that most people don't have kumquats on hand, but I'm certain you could substitute about any citrus fruit and get roughly the same effect.

Here is the recipe:

Mix together and let sit 5 minutes:

2 cups hot water

1 Tb. yeast

1/4 cup brown sugar

In mixer or bread machine dump the remaining ingredients:

5 cups all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons vital wheat glutin

1 Tablespoon dough enhancer

2 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal (not quick cooking)

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup kumquat puree (or orange, or lemon)

Mix together with paddle attachment until well blended, then switch to bread hook and pour in yeast mixture. Mix on speed 2 until you get a nice smooth dough ball.

Cover for 1 hour and let it rise. Divide dough in half and knead lightly for 1-2 minutes by hand. Shape loaves and place in well greased loaf pans. Cover again and let rise for one more hour. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

We really need to get some smell-o-vision for these blogs. It smells SO amazing. A new favorite for sure.

Spinach Parmesan-Peppercorn Bread

Since it happens to be St. Patrick's Day, I decided to try experimenting with some green bread made with spinach. I used my parmesan-peppercorn bread recipe with several changes. Here is the recipe:

3 cups hot water

4 teaspoons yeast

2 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

4 cups all purpose flour

4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 Tablespoon dough enhancer

2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten

2/3 cups finely minced spinach

(I chopped this in the food processor. 2/3 cup is the measurement after chopped. It took about 3-4 cups of spinach leaves)

2/3 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons fresh ground peppercorns

and because it wasn't quite green enough for St. Patty's:

1/2 teaspoon green food coloring

First, proof yeast in the hot water with the sugar. Let rest about 5 minutes.

Dump flour and then all other ingredients in the mixer bowl and mix with the paddle mixer until well incorporated. Switch to bread hook and pour in yeast mixture. (I put the coloring in with the water right before dumping it in) Mix on speed 2, stopping occasionally to stir down the dough. Mix until you have a nice solid dough ball.

If you are using a bread machine, dump all ingredients in, then the yeast mixture and let it do its thing on the dough setting. I've recently switched to making bread with my stand mixer because I have more control over the dough consistency.

Let it rise covered with a cloth for one hour. Divide dough in half and knead it by hand for a minute or two, then shape it into the pan. Make sure to grease the pans really well because the cheese tends to stick a little.

Cover and let rise for another hour, then bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

This makes two 2-pound loaves. (quite large) If your mixer or machine can't handle this much flour at once, just half the recipe.

It has a really rich spinach flavor with a delicate taste of parmesan. It would make a fantastic sandwich and would be really delicious with a tuscan tomato soup.

Mmmm. Wish I had some fresh pesto to go on it.

Scalloped Cabbage with Ham and Cheese

I found this recipe online and decided to give it a go. It was simple, easy to make, and delicious. Two of the three kids gobbled it up. (My meat-eater just picked out the ham, but two out of three isn't bad around here.) I think I would have served it as a side dish rather than the main attraction, but it was a delicious recipe and I will definitely make it again.

Scalloped Cabbage with Ham and Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cabbage, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cooked ham, diced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• First: Steam cabbage and onion in a small amount of water until it turns just barely green.
• 
• Then layer in the ham:
• 
  
• Next: in a skillet, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Add milk, stirring until smooth. Add salt, cheese and stir until melted. Pour over the cabbage mixture. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and dot with butter. Bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.

Delish!

Hamburger Roll-Ups

Or at least that's what we call them. Several summers ago, my mom was visiting family in Vermont so my older sister was trying to get creative with some ingredients for our dinner. She's an excellent cook and often gets inventive in the kitchen. She came up with these, and we all loved them. In fact, I loved them so much they've become a favorite with my own little family as well. I hope you all enjoy them too.

First, you make biscuits. My favorite biscuit recipe is Baking Powder Biscuits from an old Betty Crocker cookbook.

1/3 cup shortening (or softened butter)

1 3/4 cup flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk

(I often double this recipe, as these make for good leftovers)

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut shortening into flour, baking powder and salt with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in just enough milk so dough leaves side of bowl and rounds up into a ball. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead lightly.

Filling:

1 lb. ground hamburger, browned and drained of fat. Add some onion and minced garlic and saute a bit with the hamburger.

Add some Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, salt, pepper (sometimes I use seasoned salt and sometimes some Steak Seasoning. It really just depends on your tastes. I don't really have an proportions, so I just suggest adding to taste.)

Optional: shredded carrots-cook in hamburger mixture until soft.

Roll dough out on cupboard, like you would with cinnamon rolls. Spread hamburger mixture onto dough, then sprinkle with either mozzarella, chedder or parmesan cheese. Depending on my mood depends on what I use, but my favorite is mozzarella or chedder, or a mix of both :)

Roll up, again, like you would a cinnamon roll and cut into 1-2 in. circles. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Top with your favorite white sauce or country gravy.

White Sauce:

I don't really have a recipe for this either, but it uses butter and flour and milk. melt the butter in a saucepan, then add enough flour that it makes a ball, then whisk in enough milk to make it smooth. Add a bit of salt and a bit of pepper and voila, you have your white sauce.

See, they even kind of look like cinnamon rolls, but believe me, these are far from sweet, although still quite savory.

Posole

I grew up in New Mexico. New Mexico is famous for green chilies. Famous like Idaho is famous for potatoes. To the locals, food is just not food without green chilies. All fast food restaurants - including McDonald's - carry a green chili cheeseburger on the menu. People even use green chilies as a pizza topping. It's good too. You should try it. I'm not really much of a hot and spicy kind of person, but the wonderful thing about green chili is you can have it hot or extremely mild. The flavor of mild green chili is really warm and yummy. One of my favorite green chili recipes is for Posole (you say it pa-sole-EEE) . It's actually a very traditional New Mexican Christmas soup. But, we like it any time of year. Especially during the winter.

1 Tbsp canola oil
2 lb pork loin roast, cut into 1" pieces
2 14.5 oz cans enchilada sauce (I use the green enchilada sauce)
2 15.5 oz cans white hominy, drained
1 onion, sliced
1/2 C green chilies, diced (or 2 4 oz cans will work too)
4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste (I always leave this out because I like it really mild)
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 C cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp salt

Brown pork in canola oil in a skillet. Next, place the meat in a slow cooker. Add enchilada sauce, hominy, onions, chilies, garlic, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Pour in enough water to fill the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 6-7 hours. Stir in the cilantro and salt. Cook on low for 30 minutes more.

Perfect Pizza

Lately, I've been on a huge pizza making experimenting kick.  I've wanted to find a really good pizza recipe. One that is tried and true and makes amazing pizza. Pizza that is even better (and of course cheaper) than take-out. Thanks to our friend Robyn, I think we've found not only a great recipe, but the right way to cook it.

So, I thought I would share some of our new found pizza making skills.

 

First of all, there are two huge secrets to making incredible homemade pizza - a baking stone (like the one's from Pampered Chef) and a pizza peel (those wooden paddle board looking things they have at those authentic brick oven pizza joints). Without those two things, you really can't get great pizza - trust me....I've tried.

Okay...with baking stone and pizza peel in hand, here is a recipe for super easy (and yummy) pizza dough:

1 1/2 C warm water

2 tsp yeast

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 C flour

Put the warm water in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Add sugar. Wait 10 minutes.  Add salt, then flour one cup at a time.  Knead for five minutes. Roll in olive oil.  Let sit 1 1/2 hours or until tripled in size. Punch down and let raise 15 more minutes. 

The next really important step is to preheat the oven WITH the pizza stone inside for 30 minutes.

Then, roll out the dough into round pizza shape. (The dough is enough to make two pizzas, but we do one at a time.) Once it's rolled out, transfer the dough to the pizza peel coated with cornmeal. Then, add sauce, cheese, and toppings. One secret we've found is don't add too much cheese. You really don't need more than about 1 1/2 cups of cheese. I put one cup on the bottom, then add the toppings and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup on last.

When your pizza is ready for baking, carefully slide the pizza from the peel to the hot baking stone. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Since the dough is homemade, this pizza is super filling. Our kids can rarely eat more than one slice. It's a really good and easy thing to share with friends. Another one of my favorite things about pizza is how versatile it is. Different toppings really make it a completely different experience every time. In addition to the regular fully loaded supreme style pizza, we also like chicken alfredo pizza. Instead of marinara sauce on the bottom, we put alfredo sauce. Then top with chicken, red onions, tomatoes, bacon and peppers. So yummy!!

Shredded Beef for Tacos

2.3# beef round roast
2 cloves pressed garlic
2 small cans green chilies
1/2 white onion, chopped*
2-3 t cumin
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 can beef broth**

Roast at 275F for 5+ hours***

And since this was just one of those "attempts" here are a few notes for next time:
*That's all I had, otherwise it would have been a whole onion.
**I would use additional fluid [water or beef broth], it was slightly dry, but still tasty.
***Though it was tender enough, if i had added more fluid, it could have cooked for another 45 minutes and been even more tender without being overdone.

To complete the taco add:
black beans
colby jack cheese
guacamole
salsa
lime juice
cilantro

Among the many things I love, I love shredded beef tacos. Pure Goodness.

Curried Butternut Soup

I found this recipe on THIS WEBSITE and decided to give it a try. I loved it. My family, not so much. But if you love curry, squash, or ginger you might like it too. I did tweak it a little bit.

Here are the ingredients:

1 large or two small butternut squash. Peeled and diced. Enough to make 6-8 cups.

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 Tb. fresh grated ginger root

6 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

4 teaspoons yellow curry powder

olive oil

salt to taste

chopped cilantro and sour cream for garnish

1. Cut both ends off the squash and peel it with a vegetable peeler. I was skeptical that this would work, but it was actually really easy. Half the squash and scoop out the "guts" with a spoon. Then dice the squash into small cubes.

2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a fry pan and cook the cubed squash in batches over medium high heat. You want them to brown, but not burn. Stir away until the pieces are tender. Salt to taste, then set aside.

*Just a side note: If I took nothing else from this recipe, I would be happy in knowing a new way to cook butternut squash. These panfried pieces were SO yummy. I kept sneaking pieces. I'll probably never bake squash again.

3. Now add a little move olive oil to a thick bottomed stock pot. Heat it up and add:

the chopped onion

the minced ginger

curry powder

mustard powder

Stir those around until the onions are nice and brown. (Oops. Forgot to take a picture.)

4. Now add your chicken broth and the cooked squash pieces into the stock pot. Pull out your immersion blender.

You have one don't you? NO?!? Well you should! Let me know if you don't and I'll buy you one for Christmas.

Just kidding. But seriously, you really should have an immersion blender in the kitchen. We got one for our wedding and I never used it until about two years ago because I didn't know what it was for. Now I use it weekly if not daily. How on Earth did I survive without it? Once you have one, you'll never go back. Trust me.

If you don't have one you can use a regular blender and just pour it in small batches. Messy though.

ANYWAY, assuming you have an immersion blender, immerse it in your soup and blend away until the entire thing is smooth as... well... something smooth. It will look like baby food. Don't be afraid though. It's very yummy.

It's even better if you put a dollop of sour cream and some chopped cilantro on top.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I think I want to have some more right now.

Good thing, because no one else seems to be eating it....

*sigh*

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to experiment in the kitchen at all.

Oh well. Looks like I'll be eating curried butternut soup all week long.

Cake-Mix Cookies

I got this recipe from a friend who, I was convinced, spent hours and hours making a variety of delicious delicacies.  The recipe ratted her out.

In her words:

Girl - those are the easiest cookies in the world to make. Take a cake mix - any kind. The yellow ones with the chocolate chips were a yellow cake mix with half a bag of mini chocolate chips added. The sprinkle ones were "funfetti" cake mix cookies. You take the cake mix, add in 1/3 c. oil and 2 eggs. Form small balls (the size of a walnut or a little bigger), put them on an ungreased pan and flatten them just a bit. Throw them in a preheated oven (375) for 6 to 8 minutes. Done. Lemon cake mixes make good ones too.

Since then, I have tried these with a variety of cake mix flavors and have been impressed every time.  My son's stuffed crayon (named John) turns 4 today (was just informed that) so I might make these in milk chocolate later.  (Alas, I unleashed a monster on Sunday when the same son's monkey [also named John] and bear had a birthday.  I tried to say that in celebrating their birthdays with brownies and ice cream, we were in essence celebrating the birthdays of All Stuffed Animals Everywhere, but that obviously didn't work when I was told a few minutes ago, "Mom, it's John the Crayon's birthday today.  We have to make him something!")  If I do end up making them, I'll try to remember to post a picture.

Highly recommended:  Carrot cake and lemon cake flavors, as well as the yellow cake with mini chocolate chips that my friend made.

Nana's Banana Nut Bread

This was my great-grandma's banana bread recipe and it's pretty much all I've known. I've tried a recipe here or there since being out of college, but I always come back to this one. It's so moist and full of flavor. I think adding the chocolate chips (and peanut butter chips on occasion) really helps. Yum. I love it!

1/2 c. shortening (I use either room temperature butter or softened butter most of the time, but shortening works just fine if I'm out of butter, which I seldom am, but it happens!)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. mashed bananas

1 c. sugar (I usually do 1/2 c. white and a 1/2 c. brown sugar, but you can use whatever you prefer)

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

2 eggs

1-2 cups chocolate chips (Guittard are the best!)

*today I added peanut butter chips as well. It compliments the banana so well

Mix shortening (or butter) and sugar. Beat in eggs, bananas, and flour that's been sifted with the soda and salt. Add nuts. Bake in a moderate oven (350 ) for 40-60 minutes.

Makes 1 loaf.