French Apple Breakfast Casserole

I love collecting cute/pretty cookbooks, even if only for their covers! I found this good recipe in here.

4 Tbsp. butter
3 lg. Gala apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (Sometimes I leave the peels on for the nutritional value and time constraints)
1/2 c. raisins
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
8 to 10 1-inch-thick slices of French bread, trimmed of crusts
4 lg. eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tsp. vanilla

1. The evening before serving, melt butter in a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add apples and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Add raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to skillet. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until apples are tender, 10 minutes.
3. Spread apple mixture evenly over the bottome of a 13x9 baking dish. Layer bread slices over apples until completely covered.
4. In a med. mixing bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over the bread slices. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. In the morning, preheat over to 375 degrees. Remove casserole from refrigerator, uncover, and bring to room temperature. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes, or until bread is golden and firm. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

"Special Pancakes"

This is one of the original Snow family's favorite treats. (as in Grandma Snow :)

2 cups flour
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
8 eggs
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)

(recipe can be halved and put in a smaller pan)

Preheat oven to 425 F. Put butter in 9 x 13 pan and let melt in oven. Meanwhile, put rest of ingredients in a bowl and blend. When butter is melted pour egg mixture into pan. Cook twenty minutes or until puffy and golden-brown. Cut into squares and serve with powdered sugar or lemon, syrup, jam, etc.

Pork Chops with Orange-Dijon Sauce

(This is from the crockpot Supper Club a couple of months ago. Got it from "Biggest Book of Slow-Cooker Recipes")

6 boneless pork sirloin chops (I used beef steaks)
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried, crushed thyme
1 cup orange marmalade (I didn't have enough marmalade, so I used 1/2 cup marmalade, 1/2 cup blackberry preserves.)
1/3 cup Dijon-style mustard

Sprinkle both sides of chops lightly with salt and pepper and thyme. Place chops in slow cooker. In a bowl combine marmalade and mustard. Remove 2 tablespoons of the mixture; cover and refrigerate. Combine remaining mixture and 1/4 cup water. Pour over chops. Cook on low setting 6 to 7 hours or high setting 3 to 3 1/2 hours. (Optional- spread reserved marmalade mixture over finished chops)

Crockpot Chicken Parmesan

My sis gave me this recipe and I thought it was yummy, so thought I would share.

1 T Olive Oil

1 Beaten Egg

1/2 c. Bread crumbs or crushed croutons

1/2 tsp Italian Season

1/4 tsp Pepper

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded

4 Chicken Breasts, halved

Slices of Mozzarella cheese

1 Jar Marinara Sauce

Put olive oil in bottom of crockpot. Beat egg in one bowl, and mix bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning in another. dip chicken in egg then crumbs, and place in crockpot. Place slices on mozzarella cheese over the chicken and pour Marina sauce on top. Cook for 4-6 hours and serve on your choice of pasta!

Deceptively Delicious Doughnuts

Here's the "healthy" version from our doughnut night. I baked them in a doughnut pan which made them look very cute but these would also be yummy muffins.

1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C canned pumpkin
1/2 C sweet potato puree
1/2 nonfat milk, or lowfat buttermilk
1 large egg white
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 C all-purpose flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/4 C powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a doughnut mold or 12 cup mini-muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, pumpkin and sweet potato purees, milk, egg whit, butter, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spice, and mix until completely incorporated.

3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups or fill the doughnut mold. Bake until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, 20 - 25 minutes. Turn the doughnuts out onto a rack to cool. When cool, dust with powdered sugar.

4. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Homemade Doughnuts

Supper Club was a huge success last night. Many thanks to my cousin Steph and her mad skills of doughnut making. We missed you all who couldn't make it. Here's Steph's recipe she so kindly agreed to share on our site.

This is the 1/2 recipe which makes 6 dozen doughnuts.

1 C water
2 Tbsp yeast
3 C milk (1 can evaporated water plus enough water to make 3 cups)
1 C sugar
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp salt
10 - 12 C all-purpose flour
1 C shortening
4 eggs

Mix all together by hand. Let rise twice. Roll out onto floured surface to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with round cutter. With fingers push down the center. Cut out a middle round (save for doughnut holes if desired) Stretch doughnuts out and lay on floured surface. Let rise till light and airy (dimpled).

Deep fry in canola oil heated to 375 degrees. Turn when barely brown with dowel or wooden spoon handle.

Glace with mixture of powdered sugar and hot water to consistency of thin pancake mix, add yellow food coloring and lemon extract if desired. Barely yellow.

Glaze while still warm.

Ratatouille- Finally!

3 Tbs. olive oil
4 medium cloves garlic
2 cups chopped onion
1 14-oz. can tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes)
2 medium bell peppers, in strips (optional)
1 medium zucchini squash, cubed
bay leaf
fresh black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano or marjoram
1 1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet. Add garlic, onion, and bay leaf, and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add eggplant, salt, and herbs, and stir. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft. Add zucchini, bell peppers, black peeper, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 10 more minutes, or until the zucchini and bell peppers are tender. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

There you go! This is one of many ratatouille variations out there. Enjoy!

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups Flour

2 Tbs Sugar

2 tsp Powder 

1 tsp Soda

Mix these all together.

In a separate bowl mix the following: 

2 cups Buttermilk

1/2 cup Milk -Sometimes I make it 3/4 to thin it out a bit

2 Eggs

1/4 cup Butter  

Whisk the two together just until blended, don't whisk away all the lumps

Let batter rest for 5-10 min. 

Pour on the griddle and enjoy! We LOVE these pancakes at our house

Aunt Heather's Rice Pudding

This is yum!

2 Tbsp. butter
20 dashes salt
1 qrt. whole milk
1 qrt. half and half
1 c. rice
2/3 - 1 c. sugar

Cook low on stove maybe 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
Top with cinnamon.

Hawaiian Shredded Pork with Coconut Rice

Shredded Pork

1 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. apple cider vinegar
3/4 c. ketchup
3/4 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
3/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 tsp. powdered ginger
3/4 tsp. pepper
3-4 lb. pork roast (you can get them in individually wrapped pkgs. of 3 at Costco)

Brown your pork roast. (I have never done this, just put it straight in the crock pot.)
Stick in crock pot for 5 hours on low with 4 c. of water. After 5 hours is up, shred your pork, but not too much. Make it so it's chunky, not tunafishy. Mix all of the above ingreidents in a saucepan on low. Pour this and mix around your pork roast still in the crockpot. Continue cooking on low for 2 more hours.

Coconut Rice

I use Jasmine Basmati rice and the normal water to rice ratios, but use coconut milk and skim milk instead of water. The recipe says to add 3 T. sugar, but I don't add it as it's already really flavorful. You can use lite coconut milk.

Ex. 4 cups of rice would need 6 cups of liquid. That's about 2 coconut milk cans and make up the difference with skim milk.

Dinner in One Pot

1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper

6 medium red new potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup white or brown rice, uncooked
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 can (10 3/4 oz) tomato soup mixed with two cans of water

In a large skillet, brown meat with seasoned salt, garlic powder, and pepper until no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
In a crockpot sprayed with cooking spray, layer half the potatoes, all the carrots, uncooked rice, beef mixture, onions, and the other half potatoes. Pour tomato soup mixture over top. Cook on low 8 hours.

The Complete Cafe Rio Salad

I told a few of you I'd post a link to these recipes for Cafe Rio salads. I've tried parts of it here and there and its pretty good. I'm sure you can find the same recipes if you care enough to google it, but here is the link:



http://favfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html

Cafe Rio Pork/Beef

I'm posting this the NIGHT OF SUPPERCLUB so I don't forget tomorrow!!! I'm so proud of myself.

3 1/2-4 lb Pork Roast or Beef Roast
2 T Brown Sugar
1 tsp Red Cayenne Pepper
2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Salt
1 Can Coke
1 cup Chicken Broth
2 cloves Garlic, minced
4 small onions, chopped
1 cup Brown Sugar

Night before: Mix together brown sugar (2 T), cayenne, cumin, and salt. Rub on roast. Put in crock pot on LOW all night. (I've never done this over night, just in the morning, and it's fine!)
Next morning: Add coke, chicken broth, garlic, and onions. Keep on LOW unitl ready to serve. About 1 hour before serving, shred roast and add 1 cup brown sugar. Use in Salads, tacos, or burritos. yummy! serves 12

Easy Pumpkin Cake

This recipe should have been posted a month ago. Sorry. It's from Amy H and so yummy.

1 large can solid pumpkin
3 tsp pumpkin spice
4 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar

Mix well and pour into a 9x13 cake pan. Melt one cube butter. Add one package yellow cake mix to butter and stir until crumbly. Sprinkle over pumpkin. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and top each piece with whipped cream.

Sweet Onion & Zucchini Bake

From Coming Home with Gooseberry Patch. I've tried this recipe twice now and it's been a hit both times. Plus, it's really quick and easy.

1/4 c. butter
3 c. sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 c. zucchini, thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. half-and-half
1 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/4 t. dry mustard
1 c. swiss cheese, shredded (I used the Italian blend pre-shredded in a bag)

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; saute onion and zucchini until tender. Arrange vegetables in a lightly greased 8x8 baking pan.
Comnbine eggs, half-and-half, salt, pepper, mustard, and 1/2 c. cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until center is set.
Makes 6-8 servings.

Nutty Brown Sugar Squash

This recipe comes from Get-Togethers with Gooseberry Patch. It's one of those cookbooks that is beautiful and I bought it and it's companion because they look so darn good. So it was really great when the recipes were really yummy too. Not just the pictures.

1 1/2 c. water
1 acorn squash, halved and seeded

Filling:
1 T. brown sugar, pakced and divided
2 t. butter, divided
salt and peper to taste
1/2 c. chopped peacans, divided

Pour water into a 13"x9" baking dish; add squash cut-side down and back at 350 for 45 minutes or until tender. Remove from pan and fill with sugar/butter/pecan filling.
Return to oven and back an additional 10 minutes.
Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Note: I doubled the filling above so, for example, 1 T. brown sugar is in each half. It didn't seem to go very far when it was divided.

Starla's Pumpkin Bars

For those of you who know the woman whom I named these bars after, you'll understand just how memorable they are. Two years ago when I had my third baby Starla brought these over as a dessert and since I don't eat chocolate for my babies' first few months of life these were the perfect treat. So perfect, in fact, that I have thought about them for two years and finally got the recipe from her a couple of weeks ago. They were just as good as I remembered.

Bars:

4 eggs
1 cup oil (or Starla suggested 1 cup applesauce and they turned out perfectly)
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 small can of pumpkin (I think it's about 14 oz)

Combine ingredients and bake on a greased jelly roll pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

When cooled spread on cream cheese frosting

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
6 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
Milk -- to make it the right consistency to spread

Beat with electric beaters and spread on bars.

**Be careful, this makes a big pan and they're addicting so you may want to have neighbors around to help you out. :)

Zucchini Enchiladas

Thanks to all who made it to Supper Club this week. We had a great time trying various squash recipes and hopefully those will be posted soon. We also were favored with a surprise guest (Sis Ashton) and had so much fun hearing her stories and her wisdom on mothering. It was so fun.

I brought a little concotion I've been making a lot lately with our zucchini crop. You really can do just about anything you want with this. It's a super fast dinner.

1 lb browned meat (I normally use ground turkey or cubed chicken), set aside
In a skillet cook

3 Cups shredded zucchini and yellow summer squash

When cooked squeeze out as much water as you can (I tilt the skillet up and squeeze the zucchini with a spatula until most of the water is out)

To cooked zucchini add:
1 can black beans, drained
1 - 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
browned meat
salt & pepper

Wrap filling in either corn or flour tortillas. Top with red enchilada sauce and cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with fresh tomatoes and avocado (if you have it)

Summer Fruit Slush

So it's not really an ice cream, but it's a refreshing summer treat!

Boil 6 cups water and dissolve 1-2 cups sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)

Add 6 more cups water

Add 1 can crushed pineapple and 3/4 cup lemon juice.

Put in freezer for about 8 hours or overnight.  Just before you are ready to serve, start stirring to create a slush.  If it is frozen solid, you may want to take it out earlier.  Add 6 cups frozen berries and stir.  

Simple Strawberry Ice Cream

This recipe does not require an ice cream maker of any kind.

24 oz. container of frozen sweetened strawberries, cut into large chunks
Scant 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Place berries and sugar in blender and blend on medium speed. With blender going, slowly add cream through opening in lid, stopping to stir the mixture several times so the ice cream is smooth. Pour into a shallow pan (or a pretty bowl, or individual dishes) and freeze at least 3 hours. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if you like.

Makes 1 quart.

Strawberry Ice Cream

by: Macy Mauerman

I love this recipe!!! It is so easy and has such a great flavor! I make this in my old fashioned ice cream maker. So, I needed rock salt and a bag and a half of ice.

2 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups crushed strawberries
3 lemons squeezed
1/2 pt. whipping cream
3/4 tsp salt

1 quart milk

Blend together and then add milk (up to the line on your container). Freeze as always!!

Pineapple Cherry Pecan Ice Cream

This is Rebekah Westfall's Recipe.

Combine:
Juice from 3 lemons
3 cups pineapple juice
4 1/2 cups sugar

Add the above as well as the following to the freezer:
1 cup drained crushed pineapple
2 pints whipping cream
6-7 cups milk
8 oz marachino cherries
Chopped pecans

Add just enough milk to bring the mixture to within 3 inches of the top. allow mixture to stand 10-15 minutes before freezing.

(Soaking nuts allows them to distribute better in the ice cream.)

Plain Frozen Yogurt

Thanks to all of you who could make it last night. And thanks to Elisa for being such a great hostess. We had a great time trying out all kinds of yummy ice cream and I can't wait to see all of your posts. :)

I chose to do plain frozen yogurt last night because after trying it for the first time last fall in California it has become my newest favorite flavor. Apparently, I have been really out of the loop because I had NO idea there were so many yogurt places around here that serve it.

The recipe I found is really easy. I opted to take the even easier route and go with Greek yogurt rather than strain regular whole milk yogurt. Greek yogurt is very rich and creamy and not quite as tart as regular so I found that I didn't need as much sugar as the recipe called for. The result was exactly what I wanted. You can serve this with any kind of fresh fruit, granola, candy, etc. but for me, I'm a purist, I love it just the way it's name says it should be...plain.

RECIPE

2 16 oz cartons of Greek yogurt (found easily at Good Earth)
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar (taste to make sure you like it)

Stir in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Pour in ice cream maker and churn for about 1/2 hour. Freeze.

*You can buy my favorite ice cream make here and it comes with an extra bowl (definitely worth it).

Foil Dinners: Variations

I didn't attend the latest Supper Club, but found these recipes for Foil Dinner variations (Oriental Chicken, Baked Apples, etc.) from Marta. Enjoy.

Panna Cotta

I just tried this great recipe I got from a friend. I love this stuff. Certainly not low fat, but yummy.

1/3 cup milk (skim or reg)
1 envelope (.25 oz) unflavored gelatin (approx 2 teas)
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Pour milk into a small bowl and stir in the gelatin powder. Set aside for a least 5 min. While waiting for gelatin to soften, in a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Heat without boiling, to to completely dissolve sugar. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual ramekin dishes.

Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temp. When cool, cover w plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before serving. To serve, unmold from dishes upside down on a plate and top w fruit. (I do raspberries and drizzle homemade hot fudge on it.)

Hints:
1. If gelatin is separating in individual dishes in layers, cool entire mixture by stirring until closer to room temp, then poor into cups.
2. To unmold from dishes, dip dish in hot water for a few sec. run knife around edges.

Grandma Nellie's Surprise Cobbler

1 1/2 C flour
1 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C milk

Mix into a batter and pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan or dutch oven. Batter will be thin.

If fresh fruit is used - use 6 cups sliced peaches, set aside in bowl.

If using bottled fruit - drained fruit (save juice) and cut in pieces, set aside in bowl.

In saucepan mix
1 C sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch, heaping
2 C. water (I use the reserved juice to make up most of the liquid--1 1/2 C of juice + 1/2 C water)

Bring to boil, then add fresh fruit. Do not cook. Mix together and pour on top of batter. Batter will rise through the fruit.

Place dots of butter on top and sprinkle with 1 tsp cinnamon.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. (not sure on dutch oven cook time)

Ziploc Omelets

Ziploc Omelet
The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet!!

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.
Crack 2 eggs (large or extra large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.
Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shakes. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.
Place the bags into rolling boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.
Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece

Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready. And in 13 minutes, you got a nice omelet for a quick breakfast!!

Try it…it really works!!!

Great for camp outs too!

Camping Ideas...

Since we are in the season of camping, and thanks to the great supper club at Paige's last month on this theme, I thought I share with you a few of the ideas we passed around.

• Tin Foil Dinner: classic--meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, zucchini all wrapped up in a little pouched and baked in coals to perfection. Elizabeth said they like to add a little gravy or creamed soup to add to the yumminess. She also said she and Brigham have cook offs to see who's is better.


• Perfect bite of steak: Paige buys cubed steak at the grocery store and then cooks each piece to perfect doneness. No mess or cutting and each bite is piping hot.


• Corn on the cob: Put entire corn cob into coals. Cut until the outside is nice and charred. Open and eat. Yummy, smokey corn.


• Dutch Oven Potatoes: I'm sure you all have a great recipe for this. We usually mix potatoes, onions, bacon and canola oil but I can't wait for Paige to post her recipe!


• S'mores: you have to have s'mores at any campout. For supper club we tried a few different varieties including graham crackers with almond joys and reese's peanut butter cups. Any candybar would work but we all agreed their much better when the chocolate is melted. Apparently there are s'more sticks out there than allow you to carefully warm your chocolate too. Fudge Stripe cookies are also always an easy solution. We also roasted starbursts which were yummy!


• Boiled Omelets. My sister-in-law Julie gave me this recipe and says its yummy and really easy. She says she did not write the recipe but it is too enthusiastic not to post it in it's original form. I'll post it above.


• Grandma Nellie's Surprise Cobbler: Eden shared this recipe with us and it is my all time favorite peach cobbler (perhaps I'm biased). I've only ever made it with homemade bottled peaches and it is SO worth the extra effort. Again, recipe above.

Any other camping favorites? Please post what you like to do in the comments.

Chicken Piccata

It's the last day of the month which typically for me means I've spent my monthly allotted budget for food and we are down to the bare minimum on fresh stuff. I've been wanting to try this recipe from Simply Recipes for a while but just haven't gotten around to it. Today as I was racking my brain for dinner ideas this came to mind and lucky for me it was all pantry ingredients (I skipped the fresh parsley). It was yummy and easy and I'm definitely making it again. I used chicken tenders instead of breasts which made it even faster and with Trader Joe's Rice Pilaf and frozen broccoli we had a quick and easy dinner that was amazing and no one would have known I have zero food in my fridge.

Thank you Elise!

Side Note: Spencer came home late last night and had to eat this reheated. He RAVED about it (he rarely raves about my cooking) we're definitely keeping this one.

Orange Julius

I didn't make this last night but this was our standard smoothie growing up. My kids love it.

1/2 can oj concentrate
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 cups ice
1/4 c sugar or 2 Tbsp agave nectar or honey
1 tsp vanilla

Blend til smooth. Very refreshing and great with popcorn.

Supper Club: April 2008

We had a great night last night at Meg's house sharing smoothie recipes and eating chips and salsa. Macy's Power Smoothie made me think of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and I think my strawberry almond smoothie was liked as well.

My favorite part of Supper Club--besides all the yummy, yummy food consumed--is just the chance to sit for a couple of hours unhindered and chat with friends. Last night the topics of conversation ranged from chocolate cake to Facebook to visiting teaching to embarrassing shopping trips. Each month seems to bring a different flavor and tone to the conversation but one that is filled with lots of laughter.

Our March 2008 club night was at Macy's cute house and I was amazed at how much conversational terrain we packed into just those couple of hours. Macy littered her table with Easter chocolates, so as we chatted I contributed my part to ridding the world of too much Easter candy by consuming all the chocolates within arm's reach. That was the night for talking about blogs and what books we were reading and I went away with a new bunch of books to read and a list of blogs to add to my Google Reader.

Our February 2008 club night was a busy, busy evening at Mary's house where we learned new bread-making skills and tried out all kinds of different sugars. I think we had 15 women crowded into Mary's new kitchen munching on fresh-from-the-oven bread with butter and honey. Hmmmm. So, so good. There were a host of new recipes we each walked away with and a multitude of conversations to choose from while we waited for the bread to bake. There is nothing like warm bread and hot butter on a cold February night when you are among friends.

Can't wait for the next month's night or to see what's on the menu.

Fruit Almond Smoothie

I discovered this smoothie a few months ago and I really like it. It is easy, quick and yummy---all characteristics of a great recipe to me.

I like to eyeball the amounts on a recipe like this and adjust for taste or sweetness, but for the sake of posting the recipe, I tried to come up with some general guidelines for amounts.

2 cups of fresh fruit (or frozen)
3/4 cup to 1 cup of almond milk (I use original or vanilla)
1 tsp. of honey
a handful of ice (if using fresh fruit)

I've made this smoothie with fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries and with frozen mixed berries. All of them turned out delicious. Enjoy!

Smoothies

Power Smoothie
Macy Mauerman

1/2 cup oatmeal (cook in the microwave with water for 50 sec.)
1 1/2 cups of ice
6 oz milk
1 big tbsp of peanut butter
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

Great for after a work out- to give your body some rebuilding power!


Banana Split

1 Banana
1/2 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
2 tbsp orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp whey powder (Natural or Vanilla)
6 cups crushed ice

Kilee's Salad

I'm titling this "Kilee's Salad" because I got the recipe from her and because I would be shocked if she ever got on and posted her own recipe. :) This is a great summer salad.

Mixed greens, spinach, etc

Sliced Strawberries

Fresh Blueberries

Sugared Almonds (1:1 almonds and sugar, slowly melt sugar in a pan, add almonds, spread thin on a cookies sheet to cool.)

Blue cheese (as much as desired)

Dressing

1/3 C olive oil

1/3 C sugar

1/3 C red wine vinegar

2 tsp salt

dash of garlic powder

Sam's Moist Chocolate Cake

We got this recipe from a family friend who is an amazing pastry chef on the side. This cake is seriously good and can be made a day or two in advance. This recipe is ALL Sam's.

Chocolate Cake

(from Gale Gand, modified for Utah's elevation)

Sugar 2 1/2 cups

All-purpose flour 2 3/4 cups

Cocoa powder, 1 1/8 cups (yep, that's CUPS)

preferably dutch-processed

Baking powder 2 tsp

Baking soda 2 1/4 tsp

Salt 1 1/2 tsp

Eggs 3

Milk 1 1/2 cups

Vegetable oil 3/4 cup

Vanilla extract 1 Tbsp

Very hot water 1 1/2 cups

Heat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour pans (3 - 8X8 OR 1 9X13 and 1 8X8 OR 3 8" rounds)

Add sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer(I used my bosch). Using the whisk attachment, whisk until dry ingredients are combined.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the hot water, mixing at low speed just until combined. The batter should be thin enough to pour.

Divide the batter into the prepared pans, making sure that it doesn't come more than halfway up the side of the pan.

Bake for 35+ (it can be as much as 50 minutes) until a toothpick in the center comes out completely clean. Cake can cool in pan. Frost with your favorite frosting or eat plain.

Sam's note: It actually gets even better on the second and third days. You can store it at room temperature covered with plastic wrap.

Chocolate Butter Frosting

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

1/3 cup real butter, room temperature

1/2 - 3/4 cup cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In bowl beat the butter until fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and beat until combined with the butter. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla. Slowly add in remaining sugar. Beat in additional milk if needed to make frosting spreading consistency.

*You'll need about 1 1/2 recipes to decorate a whole cake.

Julie's Pasta Salad

My sister-in-law shared this with us last summer and I really liked the different twist on the original chicken-grape-salad. I know no other name for it so I have named it after her!



3 cups cooked chicken cut into cubes
2 cups raw bowtie noodles (cooked)

Dressing:
1 - 8oz bottle Kraft Coleslaw dressing
1 cup mayo
1 dash thyme
1 pinch ginner

Mix chicken with dressing, gently add pasta. Before serving add:

1 C diced celery
2 C. apples slices or chunks (soaked in leftover pineapple juice so they don't turn brown)
2 C red grapes cut in half
1 - 20oz can pineapple tidbits, drained well.

Serve chilled.

Crockpot Honey-Glazed Ham

This is a really simple, yummy ham recipe that we have used for a couple of Easters. I found it on recipezaar, by "Meezer Girl". It's easily doubled or even tripled if you need to, and you have a big enough crockpot!

1 1/2 pounds ham (pre-cooked)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice (without pulp)
4 carrots (or as many as you want- I like a lot more than 4)

Peel and cut carrots into sections. Place ham in a crockpot with carrots all around. Mix honey and orange juice together and pour over ham and carrots. Cook on low 6-8 hours (or high 3-4 hours), or until carrots are tender, basting once an hour.

Lime Cream Cooler

This is a fun and easy St. Patrick's Day treat-- or any day! It makes a lot, so you might want to half the recipe if you have a small group.

4 cups vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
4 cups lime sherbet, slightly softened
4 cups milk
6 0z. frozen lemonade concentrate
6 oz. frozen limeade concentrate
2 cups water
4 cups ginger ale

In a large punch bowl stir together ice cream, sherbet, and milk. In a pitcher stir together lemonade concentrate, limeade concentrate, and water. Pour over ice cream mixture. Add ginger ale; stir until slightly mixed.

Cashew Chicken

I stole this from another cooking blog and thought I'd pass it along.  I tried it and it was quick, easy, and tasty.

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup oil (I used less)

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup cashews, unsalted

Cube the uncooked chicken.  Mix cornstarch, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and chicken broth in a bowl.  Heat wok or frying pan over medium heat.  Add oil, add chicken.  Saute until tender.  Add liquid mixture to chicken.  Simmer 2 minutes.  Add cashews.  Heat.  Serve over rice.

Karob Cookies

This recipe is from Melissa's sister-in-law Marianne and was included with the healthy recipes sent around. I was really wanting a treat today so we made these and they turned out wonderfully. I cut the recipe in half since I didn't want to deal with too many cookies, replaced the karob with semi-sweet chocolate chips I had on hand and made them really big. When my very picky brother commented that they were good I knew we had a keeper. I also think it's very fun that they have no flour and are gluten-free.

Karob Cookies
3 beaten eggs
¾ C honey
2/3 C blackstrap molasses
¾ tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
½ C butter
1½ C chunky PB
4¾ C oatmeal
8 oz. karob chips or 3 C raisins
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix eggs. Add honey, molasses, vanilla, soda and butter and mix until smooth. Mix in peanut butter, oatmeal, and karob chips. Spoon onto cookie sheets and bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Yield = 6 dozen cookies. Let cool, as they are really sticky and messy until cooled. Layer in storage container with wax paper on each level.

Garden Zucchini Bisque

I'm finally posting this from last month's soup supper club! This is a "Land O' Lakes" recipe.

2 tbs. butter
2 c. sliced (1/8 inch) zucchini
1 c. sliced ( ¼ inch) fresh mushrooms
½ c. (or 1 c.) chopped onion
¼ c. chopped fresh parsley
3 tbs. butter
3 tbs. flour
1 10 ¾-oz. can chicken broth
¾ c. whipping cream
pinch of pepper

In a saucepan, melt 2 tbs. butter; add zucchini, mushrooms, onion, and parsley. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisply tender. Meanwhile, in another saucepan melt 3 tbs. butter over medium heat; stir in flour until smooth and bubbly. Add chicken broth; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until soup is thickened. Stir in cream, pepper, and zucchini mixture. Continue cooking until heated through.

Tabouli Salad

I put this together from several different recipes. Since it's a salad, it is pretty flexible, so you can play around with the flavors and what different things you like to add to it. Here's what I used:

1 1/2 cups couscous (put in 1 1/2 to 2 cups boiling water, and optionally add some salt; cook until the couscous absorbs most of the water, then remove from heat and fluff with a fork)

Let couscous cool a bit; add 2 Tbs. olive oil and 2 Tbs. lemon juice; stir.
Add 1 clove garlic, minced. Add 1 or 2 diced tomatoes; 1 diced cucumber; a few chopped green onions; some fresh chopped mint; fresh chopped cilantro or parsley ( cilantro is my favorite). Top with crumbled feta cheese. Optionally add salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste. Cool in fridge or serve at room temperature.

There are a lot of different variations on this. You could add olives, garbanzo beans, red or green peppers, raisins, cinnamon, onions, etc. Or leave as many things out as you want to. You can also use bulgur instead of couscous. Happy Tabouli making!

--Ginger

OVEN FRIED POTATO WEDGES

This is from Holly Reynolds (BTW, if anyone else would like to type up their recipes and have me put it on the blog I am happy to do so.)

¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon ground mustard
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
3 medium baking potatoes
Cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Mix salt, sugar, paprika, mustard and garlic powder. Gently scrub potatoes but don’t peel them. Cut into long thin wedges. Place potato wedges, skin sides down, in ungreased rectangular pan. Spray potatoes with cooking spray until lightly coated. Sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Baked Pears

This is from my sister-in-law Cherisse.

6 ripe pears, peeled, cut in half and cored
1/2 C orange juice
1 C brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Combine juice, sugar and spice and put in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Place pears on top with cut side facing up. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serve with ice cream.

Cherisse likes to double the sauce and then after the pears are done baking boil the sauce in a pot until it reduces down. I didn't have time for this but I'm sure it would be yummy.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Revised 10/9/11

2 Cooked Chicken Breasts, shredded (I gently boiled mine with a little season salt)

In a large pot saute:

1/2 C minced onion
1/2 C minced celery
1/2 C carrots, chopped

Add:

8 oz of chopped mushroom

1 package of Rice with Wild Rice minus the seasoning pkg (like Rice-A-Roni brand or Farmhouse)

6 C Chicken Broth

Bring to boil and cook for 20 minutes.

In a large saute pan melt

1/2 cup butter

stir in 3/4 cup flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Seasoning package from rice

Cook for a couple of minutes making a thick roux, then stir in

3 cups half and half

Cook for a couple of minutes and add to broth and veggies, add chicken, stir and serve.

Cinnamon Streusel Cake

Here's a quick easy way to dress up a yellow cake mix.  It's really yummy!

Crumb Topping:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup butter or margarine (I usually cut this back)

Mix dry ingredients together.  Melt margarine and mix with dry to make crumbs.

Cake:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1 cup water

1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

In a 9 x 13 cake pan (spray with nonstick cooking spray) spread 1/2 of cake mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 of crumbs.  Spread other half of cake mixture and sprinkle with rest of crumbs.  Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until done.  Cool and drizzle with glaze.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 Tbsp. water

Cheese Potato Soup

I was beginning to wonder if anyone ever checked this site so I'm glad that some of you are out there. Annie, thanks for the post and the motivation to finally get this thing up here. Sorry it took so long.

This recipe is, of course, from my mother and is really fast. You could substitue fat free canned milk if you wanted to lighten it.

Saute:
1 C onion
1 C celery
Add:
dash white pepper
2 Tbsp parsely flakes
3 C chicken broth
6-8 large diced potatoes
Cover and cook 20 minutes

White Sauce:
3/4 C butter

1/2 C flour
1 can evaporated milk
3 C milk (or you can do 2 C cream and 2 1/2 C milk)

Bring to boil to thicken careful not to burn the bottom. Add to potatoes, last stir in 3 C cheese. Do not bring to a boil after cheese is added.

For Broccoli Soup:
Leave out parsley and potatoes
Add frozen broccoli

Turkey Chili

1 pound of ground turkey breast (can also use lean ground beef or chicken, if desired)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
14 oz. pinto beans, drained
28 oz. diced tomatoes (sodium-free)
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

Brown ground turkey breast in large pot over medium heat along with onion, garlic and green pepper. Add spices and beans. Stir for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

You can also add chopped mushrooms or red onions to the chili, if you desire. I add a touch of Real Salt (brand) to this as well. I like it low sodium though.

This makes a yummy, hearty soup that will last for several days and gives you a great intake of veggies every time you eat it.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This is one of those recipes that is to taste...here goes as best I can:
Coming to you from me from my Aunt Heather in Santa Clara, Utah

Boil 2-3 chicken breasts in water with about 1/2 of a chopped onion. (My aunt will also just put the whole onion in the pot to flavor the broth, as one of her children will not eat onion in any form) Add as much sliced carrots and celery as you would like.
Take the chicken out after it's cooked and shred it. Add it back to the broth along with a can of Swanson's low sodium chicken broth. Sometimes I will add bullion cubes if I think it needs more flavor.
Add a can of cream of chicken soup and a big dollup of sour cream. Typically at our house we use low-fat of both products.
Add egg noodles.
Eat it up!