Random Cooking Experiences

Easy Tortilla Pizza

2011-05-19T10:55:00.000-06:00

It has been so long since I have posted that I don't know that I remember how.

Last night for dinner I decided to make Pizza, but I didn't feel like making dough. So I grabbed the flour tortilllas off the counter and used them. I really wish I had gotten a picture, but I didn't. I decided to post the "recipe" anyway.

Tortilla Pizza

1 can Tomato Paste
Spices to taste ( I used Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper)
1 tomato paste can of Water
Flour Tortillas (at least one per person)
Pizza Toppings. (we used bell peppers, red onion, tomatoes, pepperoni, ham, pineapple, green chile, and cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. If you desire put pizza stone in as you preheat the oven.
Mix tomato paste with water. (Of course you can use your pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce of choice. This is just what I had on hand.)Add spices to taste. Spread 1 to 2 Tablespoons of sauce on a flour tortilla, add cheese and toppings of choice. Place pizza on the preheated pizza stone for about 3 to 5 minutes. When cheese is melted and tortilla is crisp around the edges, pull out. Cut with pizza cutter and serve.

For a extra crispy crust, place pizza directly on oven rack. (Careful to not dump the toppings... I can warn you from experience that they burn well on the bottom of the oven) I used a wire mesh splatter screen as a paddle to slide the pizza's in and out. Also a long spatula works well. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes. Take out, cut and serve.

Not a fancy recipe, but quick and easy for everyone to make their own.

Enjoy!

Spice Oatmeal Cookies

2010-07-16T09:13:00.002-06:00

I love cake mix cookies. They are fast and easy, and I can throw them together before the kids go to school to put in their lunches. I usually make chocolate using a devil's food cake mix. That for sure is my favorite. But I have also used yellow cake mix with chocolate chips, or even strawberry cake mix for something different.

Last Christmas I needed cookies for something, I don't remember what, so I used a spice cake mix.

Here is a picture of the ingredients (minus the chocolate chips because I forgot to put them out for the picture).

You really can't get any easier than this. You mix it all together and bake them. YUM. I was going to post this a long time ago, but somehow it didn't happen! I guess it is better late than never.

I love easy. You can jazz up your cake mix cookies anyway you want. The possibilities are endless.

Spice Oatmeal Cookies

1 Spice Cake Mix
1/3 c. vegetable oil*
2 eggs
3/4 c. oatmeal - can add more or less depending on how moist the dough is
1 c. chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together. Can add a little milk or water if it is too dry, but I wouldn't add too much. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

*Another thing you can do is to puree some cooked white beans and replace the oil with 1/3 c white bean puree. Then you have cookies with no additional fat, and more protein. It is amazing that you don't taste the beans, but you don't. It just increases the nutritional value of the cookie, and who can't justify eating one extra cookie because there is no fat!

10 Minute Strawberry Refrigerator Jam

2010-05-21T10:37:00.000-06:00

This is a recipe I got from my friend Margaret at a Relief Society homemaking meeting a long time ago. I hadn't ever tried it. The other day another friend asked about stawberry jam, and I remembered this recipe. I got some strawberries yesterday and decided I would try the jam before my kids inhaled all the berries.

Oh man! This is good stuff. I like being able to make a small amount. I really don't want to do a large batch and have to find freezer space, or can them. So this is perfect. It made just a little more than 1 pint.

Here is a picture of 2 cups of strawberries, hulled, washed and sliced.

The next step is to mash them well. I used my potato masher. Worked well and the kids fought over who got to help.

Here is a picture of the pectin and sugar. My pectin was a little past the best use by date (only by 5 years) so I wasn't exactly sure it would gel up correctly, but is worked beautifully.

Look are Erin's beautiful hands mixing in the sugar and pectin. Mix it well and then put in the microwave on high for 4 to 5 minutes. Watch it! I took it out at about 4 minutes 10 seconds because it was getting ready to boil over, and who wants to clean out the microwave?

Here is the mixture after cooking the first time. It does get foamy and that is normal. I stirred it, but don't know if that is necessary. Cook again for 5 minutes on the 6 power setting of your microwave. It was fun watching it cook this time. My kids were all glued to the microwave. At 6 power my microwave cooks for about 10 seconds and then rests for 6 seconds or so. When it would be in the cook phase, the jam would boil and come right to the top of the bowl, and then it would drop as the cook feature turned off. The kids thought this was great to see, each cook cycle it would get closer to the top of the bowl. I think it ended just perfectly. One more cook cycle and I think it would have overflowed. Again you might want to watch just in case.

Here is the finished jam in the jars. As you can see it made one full pint jar with just a little more. That is probably a function of how closely you measure the berries. I measured before slicing, so maybe I had a little too many strawberries, but the taste wasn't affected if there were more than 2 cups.

It is runny when it just comes out of the microwave, but it thickened up as it cooled in the refrigerator. It was good runny too. I had just made bread, and so we enjoyed the partially full jar right away on fresh bread. YUMMY! I will definitely do this again. We may even have to try peaches or plums or apricots. I think it would work. I will let you know.

YUM!

Microwave (10 minute) Strawberry Refrigerator Jam

2 cups (1 pint) Strawberries, washed and hulled

1 1/2 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons powdered fruit pectin

Slice strawberries into a 2 quart bowl. Mash well. Stir in sugar and pectin thoroughly. Microwave 4-5 minutes on HIGH, or until mixture comes to a full rolling boil.

Reduce setting. Microwave 5 minutes on '6' power setting. It will thicken as it cools. Pour into glasses, or jars. Cover with plastic wrap (or lid). Store in refrigerator. For a thicker jam add an extra teaspoon of pectin. (from the kitchen of Margaret Aragon)

Fun Blog Find

2010-04-22T19:50:00.001-06:00

I don't really remember what blog I followed to find this link, but I am glad I did. The authors are all mothers of large families, and this week their blogs focus on how they feed them. Their blogs are Raising Olives, Smockity Frocks, The Common Roomand Life in a Shoe.

I think I can learn a lot from their posts on menu planning, budgeting and cooking. I really liked the post on one of them, I think it was The Common Room, but I couldn't find the direct link, that talked about picky eaters. It is required that they try some of everything offered, even if it is microscopic. Then they can eat more of what they like and who knows their tastes may change. She made a comment that really made me think. She said that being picky is a form of ingratitude for the person who made the food. I never thought of it this way, but I do agree.

Now to apply the great new things I learn (well really the great old things I am being reminded of in some instances).

I hope to post a new recipe soon.

One of their recent posts was on Cooking for a Crowd. The recipes are great. Follow the link from this blog to the other four to fully benefit form the recipes posted.

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

2010-02-28T18:55:00.003-07:00

This recipe rocks! A slightly healthier version than what I use. They were loved and I gave this recipe to a lot (and I mean a lot) of people at the baby shower.

Suffed Cherry Tomatoes

2 pt. cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1t lemon juice
1/4C mayonnaise
8 cooked bacon slices, crumbled
2 green onions, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Cut a small slice from the top of each tomato; scoop out pulp with a small spoon or melon baller, and discard pulp. Place tomatoes, cut sides down, on paper towels, and let drain 15 min. Combine avocado and lemon juice in a small bowl, stirring gently; drain. Stir together mayonnaise, bacon, and green onions; add avocado mixture, and stir gently until combined. Spoon avocado mixture evenly into tomato shells. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste just before serving.

Chocolate Covered Cherries!

2010-02-03T22:44:00.001-07:00

So tonight at my cooking class, I taught how to make Chocolate Covered Cherries. There are several different recipes, but I have only tried this one. They are really easy, and not as sickeningly sweet as store bought cordial cherries. It was a hands on class, and so we got done quickly. When making them alone, it is a time consuming process, but worth it a few times a year. I usually make them at Christmas. This is my first time to make them for Valentines day. I don't think they will even last until Valentines day, but oh well. It's the thought that counts isn't it?

Here are the ingredients for Chocolate Covered cherries. I buy the dipping chocolate at Sam's at Christmas time, but you can use Chocolate candy coating, or chocolate chips mixed with paraffin wax if you need to (16 oz chocolate chips, 1 bar paraffin). It just needs to harden after it has been dipped. I buy the big jar of Cherries at Sam's, it is more cost effective, but there are about 200 cherries, which is a lot!

I had already drained the cherries, so I don't have pictures of that process.

Drain the liquid off the cherries (we save and pour on ice cream). Place the cherries on several layers of paper towels (on a cookie sheet or baking pan) to dry out. May want to let them dry for an hour or more.

While they are drying, mix other ingredients.

This is the softened butter and the corn syrup and salt before powdered sugar was added.

Here I have mixed in 1/2 of the sugar with a spoon.

It is most effective to mix the last of the sugar with your hands until it is like play dough.

Here is the completed fondant/dough.

Take about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the dough and flatten it out.

Wrap around the cherry and set on wax paper on a cookie sheet. As the fondant warms up, or you get cherry juice on your fingers, the dough gets very sticky. It was much better with gloves, but you may have to wash and dry your hands a few times. Also you can put the dough in the refrigerator if it gets to sticky and warm. It is a little easier do deal with when it is cooler.

Break up the chocolate into small pieces and melt in microwave according to instructions, or in a double boiler on stove.

I forgot to get pictures while we were dipping, but you just hold the stem of the cherry and dip in chocolate. You can use a spoon to pour over cherry. Place on wax paper and let harden. Make sure the cherries are completely covered in chocolate. Check the bottoms of the cherries after they have hardened, and make sure there is no white showing. Anywhere there is an opening, juice will start to seep out. You may have to add a little more chocolate to the bottoms of the candies.

Here are the finished product.

If you can keep them around long enough - about 2 weeks- the fondant liquefies similar to the store bought candies. Well that is what the recipe says. We haven't made it long enough. It does start to liquefy fairly quickly though.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

60 Maraschino cherries,w/stem
3 tablespoons Butter or margarine,softened
3 tablespoons Light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 1/2 pound Dipping chocolate or white chocolate ( for coating)
Drain maraschino cherries thoroughly, Place on paper toweling. Combine butter or margarine, corn syrup and salt. Stir in sifted confectioner's sugar. Knead sugar mixture until smooth ( chill if mixture is too soft.) Shape 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the sugar mixture around each cherry. Place on a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet, chill. Melt chocolate according to package instruction in either microwave or in double boiler. Holding cherries by stems, dip one at a time into chocolate. Spoon chocolate over cherries to coat. Chill until chocolate is hardened. Store candy in a covered container in a cool place. Let candies ripen a week or two.

For a variation, you can also melt a small amount of white candy coating and add some food coloring and drizzle on the chocolates for a fancier look.

Hootenanies

2010-01-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Some days I don't have enough milk for everyone to eat cereal, or I don't have enough eggs to make everyone eggs. Usually when either is the case I make pancakes with powdered milk, and it only takes too eggs. But there are days when I don't want to take the time (or I don't have the time) to make pancakes. That is when I make Hootenanies. You can mix them up and get ready while they are baking. It is a very yummy and easy breakfast. My kids love them.

Here they are right out of the oven. The bubbles do fall after a minute.

Here is the way we eat them, with syrup. YUMMY!

Hootenanies

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

Dash salt (can add up to 1 tsp, but I don't add that much)

1 stick butter or margarine (I understand you can use 1/2 that, but I haven't tried)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Melt butter in 9 x 13 baking dish in oven (watch it so you don't burn it). While butter is melting mix together the eggs, milk, flour and salt. (I use the blender)

Pour egg mixture in melted butter and return to oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with syrup, or fruit jam. You can also serve this with meat and cheese for a savory dish, but again I haven't tried this.

New Fun Treat

2010-01-14T11:28:00.004-07:00

We found a new treat that is fun to make. Homemade Gummies. I found the recipe on OnePrettyThing.com, and followed the link to the original posting site. These are very easy and fun to make. In fact, Kelly has been making them regularly. They go fast, and all the kids eat them up.

The molds I used are silicone ice cube trays that I found. The yellow bullet shapes are from a regular ice cube tray that makes tiny ice. The were harder to get out of the rigid ice cube tray, but not impossible. I got some silicone trays at Hobby Lobby, and some at Wal Mart. I looked at candy molds, but they were much more expensive. We just put a little of the mixture in the mold, to get more candies.

Homemade Gummy Candies

1 3oz package flavored gelatin

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp water

In a small saucepan, Slowly mix gelatins in water. Let sit for 10 minutes. (It will resemble play dough when it is done). Melt gelatin over double boiler (don't want to cook the gelatin, just melt it). When gelatin is melted pour into molds. Let sit in freezer for 5 minutes or refrigerator for 10 minutes. Pop out of molds, and eat.

Side note: I found other recipes that call for 1 3 oz pkg of flavored, and 7 pkgs of unflavored gelatin. That recipe didn't have the 10 minute wait time. After you mix the gelatins, you cook over LOW heat until melted and then put in molds. I haven't tried this yet, but I will. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in final product.

Holiday Pies

2010-01-14T10:56:00.005-07:00

Well I am finally getting around to posting about my holiday food. I know, it is about time. For Thanksgiving last year (that sounds bad, since it has only been just over a month and a half), I made 3 kinds of pie. Pumpkin, Apple, and pecan. They all turned out fantastic, but I used different recipes than normal.

The Pumpkin Pie Recipe I got off of an add, it used sweetened condensed milk rather than evaporated milk and sugar. It was very easy, and I liked it. Kenna actually helped me mix it all up. It was a great recipe for cooking with kids.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

The Pecan Pie was the standard recipe that I always use out of the Better Homes and Garden's New Cook Book. (I don't know how new it is, we got it as a wedding gift 15 years ago!)

Erin made these pies for me.

Pecan Pie

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

dash salt

1 cup dark corn syrup (I didn't have dark, used light with good results)

1/3 cup butter or margarine melted

1 cup pecan halved

Pastry for single-crust pie

In a mixing bowl beat eggs slightly. Add sugar and salt; stir till dissolved. Stir in corn syrup and butter, mix well. Mix in pecans. Pour into pie shell, and cover edges with foil. Bake at 35o degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil; bake about 25 minutes more until a knife inserted off-center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

The Apple Pie was from a recipe on thepioneerwoman.com It is a great recipe that Kelly helped me make. It is very good! Rather than retype the recipe I am just sending you to the site where I got it. That way I make no mistakes. :-)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/scrumptous-and_i_do_mean_scrumptous-apple_pie/

All the pies were a hit. I even made my own crust, also from thepioneerwoman.com They were pretty good too. Cooking for Thanksgiving was a family affair this year. It was great to have all the help.

Smoked Chicken Salad

2009-12-29T11:01:00.003-07:00

We had our story telling party a little over a week ago. The kids are ready to move on to an open house for Christmas but my husband still enjoys the story sharing. It is always a lot of fun.

I made 3 different appetizers, 3 types of cookies, 3 different dips, fudge, white chocolate party mix, and there were the fruit, veggie & cheese/cracker trays. We ended up having just under 50 people come. The smoked Chicken Salad and the lemon-spice swirl cookies were new recipes that I tried and they were a hit.

Smoked Chicken Salad

1 (3.5-4 lb.) rotisserie chicken
2 (15 oz.) cans black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
3/4C chopped chives
1/2C mayonnaise
1/2C sour cream
1/2t salt
1/2t pepper
1/2t liquid smoke
1 (7 oz.) pkg. miniature pita bread, cut in half
2C spring salad mix

Pull meat off of rotisserie chicken and put in work bowl of food processor. Pulse until meat is coarsely chopped, about 10 sec. In a large bowl, combine chicken, peas, tomatoes, and chives. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper and liquid smoke, stirring until well-combined. Line each pita half with a few leaves of salad mix and stuff with chicken salad. Yield: 40 pita halves.

Ground Beef

2009-12-02T10:19:00.001-07:00

Ok, so life got crazy and I have not been an active poster and actually there are no guarantees about the coming future but I shared a tip last night with someone at the activity formerly known as Enrichment and thought it would be a good tip to share....

When browning ground beef put some water in the pan with it. (Do you already do this?) I read about this a couple of years ago and I LOVE the results. It creates a much softer meat than just browning it normally. So easy and can be poured off when you dump the grease. You can add up to a cup for a pound and remember you will dump it off, it changes the texture and makes it light and lovely. If you have not tried this, I would highly suggest it! Let me know what you think!

Trisha

Pasta with Chicken and Squash

2009-10-28T19:51:00.005-06:00

I've had this recipe for a long time but I never made it because I knew the kids wouldn't be thrilled with the zucchini and summer squash. I've been making a couple of dishes each week that are new to us, trying to get some new dishes in the mix that everyone likes. I loved this dish, probably more than everyone else. Of the 4 kids, the 11 yr. old didn't like the flavor and picked at it. The other three kids (13, 9 & 9) had seconds.

While it got top ratings with 5 out of 6, I'm still sharing it because it is delicious. The noodles are covered in a creamy cheese sauce with julienned squash and chicken.

Pasta with Chicken and Squash

1 pkg. (16 oz.) spiral pasta
2C whipping cream
1T butter or margarine
2C (8 oz.) shredded Mexican cheese blend or cheddar cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5T olive or vegetable oil, divided
2 med. zucchini, julienned
2 med yellow summer squash, julienned
1-1/4t salt, divided
1/8t pepper
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, julienned
1/4t each dried basil, marjoram and savory
1/4t dried rosemary, crushed
1/8t rubbed sage

Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, heat cream and butter in a saucepan until butter melts. Add cheese; cook and stir until melted. Rinse and drain pasta; add to cheese mixture. Cover and keep warm. In a skillet over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in 3T oil until onion is tender. Add squash; cook until tender. Add 1t of salt and pepper; remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil to skillet; cook chicken with herbs and remaining salt until juices run clear. Place pasta on a serving platter; top with chicken and squash.

Homemade Pop Tarts

2009-10-07T23:12:00.004-06:00

My kids like pop tarts, but they get expensive. I decided to make my own. They are actually really easy, and they taste so much better than store bought. Now the trick is making some and actually getting them in the freezer for the kids for breakfast. This batch didn't last that long. I got the recipe from the internet (oops I forgot to keep the link). The dough was very flaky. I am pretty sure any pie crust dough will work. We like the brown sugar cinnamon kind, so I made a paste of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and spread in the middle. I will attach the recipe I used.

Homemade Pop Tarts

4 cups Flour
1 3/4 cups Vegetable Shortening
2 tablespoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1/2 cup Cold Water
16 tablespoons Jam -- any flavor divided

In a large bowl, cut flour and shortening together (I added all the dry ingredients together then wet) with pastry blender or two butter knives, until completely blended (mixture will resemble crumbs). Add sugar, baking powder, salt, egg, vinegar and cold water. Mix with hands until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide dough into fourths, refrigerating the portions you are not working with yet.

Take first 1/4 of dough and roll out onto a floured surface. Cut into rectangles using a sharp knife. It is helpful to make a template the size you wish your poptarts to be, from cardboard or heavy plastic, so they will be a uniform size. Spread on tbsp. jam on one half of the rectangles, leaving a half inch or so on the edges without jam. Cover with the other half of the rectangles. Crimp edges with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 12 - 15 minutes or until the pie dough is evenly browned and cooked through. Cool completely and place into zip baggies for storage until you are ready to eat them. Repeat with remaining dough and jam until it is all completed.

Variation: Glaze poptarts with a simple glaze made from powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Be sure to let glaze dry hard before placing poptarts into storage baggies.

Pop-Tarts may be stored up to one week as you would store bread, or frozen for up to 3 months before use.

For the rest of the dough I used the circle cutter/sealer from pampered chef. It made them a little smaller, but it was easier than the rectangles. I cut the circles, put filling on one, covered and then sealed as best I could.

Laundry Soap

2009-09-15T06:58:00.006-06:00

I'm posting a different type of recipe today. In order to save money, I looked for a recipe to make my own laundry soap earlier this year. Who doesn't like to save money?

If I were to use Tide, I would spend $13.99 for 52 loads. I'm spending $3.79 for 128 loads of laundry (4 batches of the recipe - 1/4 of the supplies). I bought Mule Team Borax ($2.79), Arm & Hammer Washing Soda ($2.07) and 8 bars Fels Naptha soap ($1.29/ea) for a total of $15.18. For the same number of loads, I can spend $137.75 for Tide or $15.18 and make it myself. I think I'll make my own.

Laundry Soap

1/2C Borax

1/2C Washing Soda

1C Fels Naptha, grated

I use a box grater for the Fels Naptha, but you can use your food processor or other grater. Mix it all together and store in a plastic container. Use 1T (yes, that is 1 tablespoon) of soap in your laundry. I use 1/4C white vinegar for softener and I still use a dryer sheet for static cling in the dryer.

Don't expect bubbles like you get with detergents.

Microwave Warnings

2009-08-26T10:04:00.004-06:00

I decided that I would include a few of my failures in cooking just so no one would think I was perfect or anything of the sort.

Just so you know when trying to bake cookies in the microwave, 4 minutes is WAY to long.

The other day I was baking cookies. It got to the last bit of dough and there was enough for maybe 4 cookies. I decided that I would experiment and cook them in the microwave. I put them on a glass plate, and set the cooking time for 5 minutes. I checked the cookies after 2 1/2 minutes, and thought they would take a little longer. So I left the room for just a second. A minute later I smelled them burning. So I ran in the kitchen to stop them. Only to find smoke pouring out of my microwave. I quickly pulled the plate out and ran it outside to cool off. It took a while to air out our house.

It smelled very similar to popcorn burned in the microwave (which I have done also), but nothing like burned cracked wheat. (Which by the way cooks much better when you add water. That smell was horrible. I guess I don't know if it was the burning wheat that smelled so bad, or the plastic Pampered Chef Microwave bowl that melted at the time. I was making Marlin his breakfast, and was in such a hurry that I forgot the water. I think he ate granola that morning.) I guess, because of the sugar, it smelled similar to when Andrew put a bowl of fondant (for cakes) in the microwave for 50 minutes. We found that after about 5. It smelled kind of like burning marshmallow.

So for the most part I learned

1) to pay attention when you bake in the microwave - I think they would have been ok had I taken them out at 2 1/2 minutes.

2) I am prone to stupidity.

3) I will still focus my microwave use on reheating and defrosting. It doesn't smell nearly as bad.

Have fun cooking. I hope you learn from my mistakes, and don't have to put your nose through the trauma of burning food in the microwave.

Cobb Salad w/ Chili-Lime Dressing

2009-08-23T15:02:00.003-06:00

I love this salad because everyone in our family will eat it and likes it. I must admit that I scale back on the avocado if it is just us because it is not a favorite in the salad but in small doses, they will eat it.

I've found as we've lived around the country that cobb salads are different every where. There are some basic parts that are standard (i.e., chicken, tomato, bacon & avocado) and the rest is up to the chef.

Salad

10 oz. Romaine lettuce
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1C shredded cheese (I use Monterey/Colby mix)
1C chopped tomatoes
1/2 lb. chicken, cooked and cubed
1 avocado, peeled and cubed
1/2C chopped red onion
1/3C bacon, crumbled or chopped

Dressing

1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies, undrained
2/3C sour cream
1/4C cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
2T lime juice
1/2t pepper
1/3t hot sauce
1/4t salt

For salad, place lettuce in serving bowl. Make columns with remaining ingredients.

For dressing, place ingredients in food processor; blend. Chill until serving.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

2009-08-11T20:29:00.004-06:00

This is one of those quick dinners that is great to fall back on when you have a busy day and need to get dinner on the table. This is super easy with the water for the rice boiling and the rice cooking while the meatballs are simmering and they finish about the same time. My family likes it with egg noodles too.

I used to make the meatballs from scratch but things got busy for a while and I've been using the meatballs from the freezer section.

1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks
1/3C water
3T vinegar
1T soy sauce
1/2C brown sugar
3T cornstarch
1 batch of 30 meatballs
1 lg. green pepper, cut into 1" pieces
Hot, cooked rice

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add water to juice to measure 1 cup; pour into a large skillet. Add water, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch; stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Add pineapple chunks, meatballs and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice.

I like a little more sauce so I usually add water to bring it to 2C and double the vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar. I use 5T of cornstarch because I don't like it as thick. I leave it with one can of pineapple and one pepper because not all of my kids are fans of those items and I toss in more meatballs so there will be something left over for my husband to take for lunch the next day.

Yummy Breadsticks!

2009-08-05T08:49:00.005-06:00

These breadsticks are a favorite at my house, and they are fairly simple. I have to do a double batch every time just so no one feels like they didn't get enough. I guess the best thing is when I make these, I have to make less of everything else :-).

The recipe was given to me from a friend, and they are a welcome addition to any Italian meal.

2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp yeast

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp butter or margarine

garlic powder, dried parsley, parmesan cheese

Mix warm water, sugar and yeast in a measuring cup to activate yeast (this step is unnecessary if using instant yeast, just add to flour). Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add liquid mixture and mix for 5-8 minutes or so with the dough hook. The dough is soft, but it shouldn't be sticky. Let rise until double (when I am in a hurry I also just let it rise for 5 to 10 minutes). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in 9x13 baking dish and melt in oven, don't let it burn. Roll into a rectangle on to lightly floured surface. Cut into strips ( I use my pizza cutter and I cut the strips in half to make them shorter, to have "more" breadsticks for everyone to eat.) Twist each strip of dough by folding in half and wrapping around itself. Dip in butter and arrange in the hot baking dish. After all are in the dish, sprinkle on desired toppings. I use garlic powder, and dried parsley all the time, and occasionally I add parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom.

It is much easier to make than my instructions sound. Maybe I will try to make a video sometime to post. Enjoy.

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole

2009-07-26T17:11:00.005-06:00

I'm still in the middle of a move but I thought I would share something I made earlier this year. I'm one of those people that tears recipes out of magazines and tosses the magazine, which is how I came across this recipe.

I didn't quite use the 2 lbs. of broccoli that the recipe called for. I used all of the florets and 2/3 or so of the stems. I also increased the rice by 1/4C and added cream and broth to compensate for the addition. The cayenne pepper gives it just a hint of a kick, another thing I was a little liberal with. I added 5 min. in the oven for a crunchy topping.

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole

2 slices hearty white sandwich bread
3/4C grated Parmesan cheese
4T unsalted butter, melted; + 2T, chilled
1 garlic clove, minced
2 lbs. broccoli, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stems peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped fine
1-1/4C long-grain rice
1-1/4C half-and-half
1t salt
2C shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/8t cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 400. Grease 9x13 baking dish. Pulse bread, 1/4C Parmesan, and melted butter in food processor until coarsely ground. Add garlic.

Microwave broccoli florets, covered, until bright green and tender, 2-4 minutes; set aside. Melt remaining butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onion and broccoli stems until softened, 8-10 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is translucent, about 1 min. Stir in broth, half-and-half, and salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat to med.-low and cook, stirring often, until rice is tender, 20-25 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in cheddar, cayenne, remaining Parmesan and broccoli florets.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and top with bread crumb mixture. Bake until sauce is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Serve.

Delicate Pear Cake w/ Caramel Sauce

2009-07-13T02:14:00.010-06:00

A friend of mine had a birthday and instead of presents, she asked us to give her our favorite recipe. She bought a special scrapbook for the recipes and I just finished one of the pages I'm giving her.

This cake is so yummy! I've been making it for 20 years now and it always receives compliments and requests for the recipe. I have one friend who would be happy if I made the caramel sauce and didn't bother with the cake. She loves the sauce and spoons it on generously with her cake.

Delicate Pear Cake w/ Caramel Sauce

Cake:
16 oz. can pear halves in extra light syrup
1 pkg. white cake mix
1/3C oil
3 egg whites

Frosting:
1C whipping cream
2T sugar
1t vanilla
16 oz. can pear halves in extra light syrup, drained
1/2C finely chop

Sauce:
1C brown sugar
1C whipping cream
1/2C butter or margarine

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 10" tube pan. Drain pear halves, reserving 1/3C liquid. Place pear halves in food processor with metal blade, process until smooth. In large bowl combine cake mix, pureed pears, reserved liquid, oil and egg whites at low speed. Pour into pan. Bake 40-45 minutes. Cool upright in pan 15 minutes; invert onto serving plate, cool completely.

In small bowl, beat cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold in vanilla. Frost cake. Cut pear halves lengthwise into 32 slices. Arrange on top of cake slightly overlapping. Press nuts into sides of cake. Refrigerate until serving time.

In medium saucepan, combine sauce ingredients; bring to boil. Boil over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature. Drizzle 2T sauce over pear slices.

To serve, spoon about 2T sauce onto individual dessert plates. Place slice of cake on sauce. Store cake and sauce in refrigerator.

* High Altitude - above 3500 ft. Add 1/4C flour to dry cake mix. Bake as directed.

Oreo and Cake Balls

2009-07-11T14:19:00.004-06:00

Every Christmas, my family would do the 12 days. My mom would make treats for every day and then us kids would deliver them. I split my pants open on a barbed wire fence, hid in a muddy culvert and was discovered by a 80 something yr old that was about 4 ft tall. But those are the memories I treasure. Not only the fun of the sneaking but also of baking with my mom. We would make every Christmas treat known to man and loved every moment of it! Now with my mom gone, I still love to find new recipes to take to others at Christmas. Hopefully they love the treats as much as I do!
Here are two of my favorites. One I found in a Quick Cooking magazine and the other my friend with the Cinnamon Roll recipe gave to me.

Oreo Cream Cheese Drops

1 20 oz pkg. oreos
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
15 oz white or chocolate bark

Put all the cookies in the blender and process until finely crushed (a food processor works great too). Mix cream cheese and crumbs together well. Roll into ¾ in. balls and cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour (this makes a huge difference, when you dip them into the chocolate it will harden quickly). Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler and dip half the balls. Place on waxed paper or buttered dish. Melt the chocolate again if needed or a different color and dip the remaining balls. Drizzle with alternate colors of chocolate and store in refrigerator.

Makes about 7 dozen

Cake Balls

1 cake mix-made according to directions (I like chocolate best)
1/4 to 1/2 c. evaporated milk, coffee creamer or half and half
(what I have on hand is what I use)
1 pound dipping chocolate
Flavoring (optional)

Bake the cake according the directions on the box and let the cake cool completely. Crumble all of it into a large bowl. Add just enough milk and mix with your hands until you can squeeze some together and it doesn't fall apart. Add flavoring if wanted. My friend likes almond flavoring. Form into golf ball size balls and refrigerate about 30 minutes. Dip into melted chocolate and let harden. One of the yummiest things ever!

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-07-11T14:09:00.002-06:00

My Grandma Ola was a wonderful cook. My Grandpa Al would show up to the house at lunch time and would have told 5-10 guys he'd been working with that his "Blondie" would make lunch. My grandma was always ready to kill him but managed to lay a delicious spread. She loved to bake and perhaps that's where my love of it came to be.
I grew up with the idea that if someone could bake great cinnamon rolls, they had become someone to admire. I tried and tried to make them and finally managed pretty decent ones. Then a friend of mine gave me this recipe. Ohhhhh man! If I can make and they come out good, then anyone can. Anyway, here's the recipe.
Dodie

Cinnamon Rolls

1 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 Tbsp. water
½ (3.4 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding
4 cups bread flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ tsp. yeast

Filling:
½ c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Place all the ingredients in the breadmaker. Use the dough cycle. When it is finished, knead dough enough to punch down down and roll to a 17x10 inch rectangle. Mix filling recipe and spread over rolled out dough, getting as close to the edges as possible. Roll the dough into a tight log and cut into 12 pieces. Put into a lightly greased 9x13 pan and let rise until double, about 20-30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Frost with cream cheese icing.

My dang dad

2009-06-28T10:18:00.002-06:00

When I was 14, Mom tried to get me to learn to bake bread. I hated cooking, I hated homemaking, and if my parents wanted me to do anything, I generally hated whatever it was just on principle. (I resisted)

My dad was in the bishopric at that time, and spoke to the bishop about having me called as the ward sacrament baker. Bishop did extend that calling, and I was furious. I must have been a real darling to live with for a few weeks. My dad was such a jerk, that was so unfair, boy was I mad at him. (those of you without the blessing of puberty in your homes may have to use your imaginations on how sweet the age 14 can be)

I baked wonderful bread for the ward. I was so mad every Saturday when I kneaded that stupid bread, I about kneaded it to death. Well, really good kneading is what good bread takes! I'd bake it, then after it cooled I'd cut all the crust off, slice my bread and bag it up. Mother would make roast beef and gravy, and on Sunday we'd have bread crust with brown gravy over it. I began to enjoy the crust and gravy, and noticed that the family enjoyed it too.

I took some secret pride in the bread I was making, secret I say because to let on to Dad would be to give the man some victory. (I spent my whole youth being careful never to let him win if I could help it) When the deacons skipped Sunday School to sneak into the sacrament prep room and eat all the sacrament bread, I was very flattered! (I think the bishopric had to speed to the Circle K for more) The other kids noticed the good bread and it gave me some small status with the very mature older kids, who never gave me the time of day because they were so magically mature! (I could hardly wait to be that old)

As a young mother I needed desperately to paint and express myself creatively. With a zillion kids trying to help, painting was a joke. I felt I was getting lost to all of those wonderful little people. We were also pretty broke those years, and couldn't afford storebought bread. I began to bake again. As I read, and experimented and began to really understand my new art Tom got involved and built me an adobe oven so that I could replicate European artisan breads. That oven and that bread saved my sanity. I loved my dad for seeing that I learned to bake bread. I still do!

Every Saturday I'd bake the bread I needed for the coming week. After the baking was done, I'd line all the breads out on my table and just watch them cool off. To see the rustic breads, the sophisticated breads, the golden loaves full of nutrition (24 of them) for my family all in rows fed some thing needy inside my spirit. The scriptures about bread are still some of my favorites.

Here is what I learned. Don't laugh. When you make food for your loved ones with your own hands, with a desire to feed and nourish them, using the best ingredients you can afford the Lord blesses it and makes it into an offering for them which, I believe, has more nutrition temporally and passes on the love you feel for them, increasing the bonds between their hearts and yours. I love to bake bread. I love to pass it to others warm and fresh. I love to smell it, feel it and taste it. It is an expression of myself, and a heart offering to others. Especially my dad.

Cheddar Biscuits

2009-06-20T22:40:00.006-06:00

Once a month I get together with friends for dinner. It is a fun night that I look forward to each month, not only for the friendship we share, but to sample some new recipes and to have the recipe so I can make it for my family. This month I was assigned a bread and due to my busy schedule today, I chose to make Cheddar Biscuits. Biscuits are great when you don't have the time for a bread that needs to rise and they remind me of my grandmother who made biscuits every day.

This recipe calls for buttermilk, which I don't always have hand. I do have powdered buttermilk in the pantry but there are times I have had to make my own substitution, which works just well using two ingredients.

Buttermilk Substitute:

milk (just under 1C)
1T vinegar or lemon juice (I've always used lemon juice)

Place 1T of the vinegar or lemon juice in measuring cup and add the milk to bring it up to 1C. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then use the amount your recipe needs.

Cheese Biscuits

1-2/3C flour
2t baking powder
1/2t salt
1/4t baking soda
1/4C shortening
1C (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
3/4C buttermilk

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese. Add buttermilk; stir just until dough clings together. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough lightly until easy to handle. Roll into a 12-in. circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Begin at wide end of wedge and roll toward point; place biscuits, point side down, on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Yield: 8 biscuits

Whole Wheat Bread

2009-06-19T17:03:00.008-06:00

I am "teaching" a cooking class at my house, and the last lesson was on making bread. I made whole wheat bread to share, and also made some to demonstrate. This is a picture of a loaf, as well as 4 slices. The two slices on the top are made with 100% hard red wheat, and the two on the bottom are made with 100% hard white wheat. The red wheat creates a much denser loaf with a slightly nutty flavor. The white wheat bread is very mild, and tastes more like white bread, but with the benefit of 100% whole wheat bread.

I grind my own flour, and then made the bread with the fresh ground flour.

The recipe is from a bread handout off of everydayfoodstorage.net

EZ Wheat Bread recipe
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)
Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
If you are making this recipe in a bread machine, follow your bread machine’s directions for wheat or whole grain selection and add the ingredients in the order listed for their recommendations. (only one loaf will fit in a bread maker)

Home Cooking a Lost Skill

2009-06-18T12:17:00.001-06:00

Lately I have noticed that many younger women get married with little or no skill of cooking at home.

With the disentigration of the family, and mothers working outside the home, the art of home cooking is getting lost. Girls (and boys) aren't being taught how to cook. They can open cans, microwave frozen dinners, or maybe make Ramen, but that is about it.

I have decided to try to make a difference in the lives of some women at church and started a basic cooking class. Attendance is sparce, but those who have come seemed to learn some and have a good time. I invited anyone with interest. It is fun to get women with more skill than I have to come and help to improve my skill.

I found that it is hard for me to share actuall recipes. I don't know where I learned, but I many times just mix without measuring (when cooking, not baking!). So it is good for me to think and write things down. That way I can share my recipes with others including my children.

My older children bake and do some cooking. I am hoping to have them be self sufficient when they some day move out on their own. It is fun to watch them learn. They really get a kick out of making their own birthday cakes. That doesn't hurt my feelings. We have a birthday this weekend. I will post their birthday cake creation.