Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

 Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4735-old-fashioned-beef-stew

1/4 c flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

5 tsp veg oil

2 T red wine vinegar

1 c red wine

3.5 c beef broth (added extra later too)

2 bay leaves

1 T herbs de province

1 med onion, chopped

5 med carrots, peeled and cut into 1.4 inch rounds

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

2 tsp salt

Mix flour and pepper and coat beef. Fry in oil in two batches until browned, adding extra oil inbetween batches if needed. Remove beef, add vinegar and wine over med-high heat and scrape away bottom of pan. Add beef, broth,  herbs de province, and bay leaves and bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.

Cover and cook for 1.5 hours. Add onion and carrots and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add potatoes and simmer until all veg are tender, 30 minutes more. Add extra broth if stew is dry.

Pumpkin Pancakes

 https://cookieandkate.com/pumpkin-pancakes-recipe/

Pumpkin Pancakes

I doubled this recipe for Ila's birthday breakfast and it was a perfect amount.

Cheesy Potatoes

 https://www.spendwithpennies.com/easy-cheesy-potatoes/

Cheesy Potatoes

Made these to go with ham on christmas, used real potatoes (peeled and diced, then boiled). I used an entire can of cream of mushroom, and reduced sour cream by half or more. Likely did not use all the cheese either. Split between two pans and froze one half. The other half I put 1 cup cornflakes and 1 T butter on top in lieu of cheese.

Easy Lasagna

 I really liked this lasagna. It was easy and Ila helped me, did practically everything herself except browning ground beef. The wavy style of the creamette no-boil noodle was helpful for spreading the cheese over since there were ridges to smash it into.

This is enough for 2 meals.

Gooey Swedish Chocolate Cake Kladdkaka

 https://scrummylane.com/6-ingredient-gooey-swedish-chocolate-cake-kladdkaka/

Gooey Swedish Chocolate Cake Kladdkaka

I made this by lining my 10 in tart pan with parchment, sprayed the parchment, didn't push in the edges much. It took 30 minutes to get the top crusty like the recipe describes. It was gooey and perfect when inverted.  We ate half of it tonight, cut in 5, and the other half tomorrow. So delicious and really easy.

Apple Pancakes

 https://lilluna.com/apple-pancakes/

Shredded Apple pancakes on halloween

We used halloween cookie cutter shapes (ghost, pumpkin, bat) to cut shapes in these pancakes on halloween for fun. The kids liked them.

Butter Vodka Pie Dough

 https://bakingthegoods.com/2014/01/17/butter-vodka-pie-dough-recipe/

Butter Vodka pie dough

This pie dough makes 2 crusts. I only make a half recipe when I need just a bottom crust. I use a pastry cutter and refrigerate only for 15 min or so, then roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap.

I like this better than my "no fail" recipe. It is much more convenient to use butter than shortening (which I never have on hand), and I don't have to go find lard either. I think the sugar made it like a shortbread cookie on it's own, because I found myself wanting to eat the crust of my apple pie for the first time in a very long time. I will try to remember to use this recipe as my standard from now on.

Open face Tomato Sandwich

In order of layers:

Mayonnaise

Sandwich sprinkle

Shredded cheese

Thin sliced tomato, marinated in olive oil & balsamic vinegar

Salt on top

Broil sandwiches without tomatoes until cheese is melted, then add tomatoes and broil a little longer.

Tuna Melts

 https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/tuna-melt-recipe-2125452

Tuna melts

Make with 6-8 pieces of bread.

This is a favorite meal for Laura that David makes frequently.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

 https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/double-chocolate-zucchini-bread.html

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This was delicious. I am sure I used more than two cups of zucchini, more like 3 probably. It was very wet but worked in a bowl with ice cream when hot. 

When cooled it was dense but still very good. Definitely keeping this recipe, and recommend extra zucchini for the same level of moist.

Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal

 https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/265168/instant-pot-apple-pie-steel-cut-oats/

Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal

1.5 times this recipe. Use dried apples, added extra 1 cup liquid (or 1/2 cup for 1x recipe). Did part milk, let sit overnight on delayed start mode. 

Magic Custard Cake

https://omgchocolatedesserts.com/vanilla-magic-custard-cake/
Magic Custard Cake

This was ok. It was not as cakey as I'd hoped, not cakey at all actually. The top was mostly egg whites and the heavy bottom overcooked german pancake consistency. The kids really liked it but it wasn't worth the effort.

Ginger Pear Puff Pastry Tart

https://www.forkknifeswoon.com/ginger-pear-puff-pastry-tart/
Ginger Pear Puff Pastry Tart

Ginger is important. Use medium firm pears. Don't bother with pretty slice arrangement. Slice and chop, no need to peel.

This is delicious. A winner with apples too.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/hot-fudge-pudding-cake/

Definitely one to repeat. It was very dark and a little bitter with regular cocoa, will try dutch processed cocoa next time. Perfect with ice cream.

Sourdough Pizza

Night before, mix 75 grams sourdough starter + 75 grams white flour + 75g water
Cover overnight.

In the morning, add 75g white flour + 75g water. Mix and cover.

Then, either lunchtime or early afternoonish, add 125 g whole wheat flour, 1 tbsp oil, and 1 tsp salt. I stir the oil and salt in first before adding the flour since it's easier. You may need to knead it a bit to get it to mix well. Then cover until needed for pizza.

Heat oven to 500F.  Stretch out dough by hand and place on oiled half sheet. Add toppings, bake for 10-12 minutes.

Adapted from https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/sourdough-recipes/sourdough-pizza-crust/


Note: If you forget to start the night before, you can do the first feeding in the morning, second at lunch, and third an hour or more before it goes into the oven.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

https://www.averiecooks.com/soft-and-chewy-pumpkin-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beyond fabulous, my favorite. There is a non-oatmeal version as well that is wonderful.

Brown Sugar Granola

1/2 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
3 T butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

5 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups raw almonds


Mix oil and brown sugar in heavy saucepan. Heat at #6 (just above medium) until brown sugar starts to flow within the oil and bubble. (it will not dissolve). Separately microwave the butter, and mix in the cinnamon and vanilla.

Pour butter mixture over oats/almonds in very large bowl, mixing it well thoughout with rubber spatula. Then pour oil/sugar into bowl and stir quickly, taking care of the heat. Distribute into oats as well as possible.

Prepare two half sheet pans with parchment paper (both need to have paper. Do not use silicone for one as they will cook unevenly.)  Spread half the granola mixture onto each pan.

Put into oven, one on each side on different shelves. Bake at 325 for no more than 25 minutes. Stir granola every ten minutes, and rotate pans from upper to lower shelf. Do not let it burn. Let fully cool before transferring to storage.

Note: At 28 minutes one pan was getting quite dark so was too long.

Based on this recipe https://www.kitchentreaty.com/how-to-make-granola/. Using all brown sugar is much cheaper than honey or maple syrup. It might be easier to use white sugar and molasses, might experiment with that another time.

Notes: 6/7/2020 I tried half honey half brown sugar. I also realized that the black cookie sheet cooks the granola faster than the light cookie sheet. So I baked the granola in the black cookie sheet 20 minutes and the light cookie sheet was 30 minutes.

Cafe Rio Pork, instant pot method

3 lb pork roast
1/4 cup worcestershire
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tb dried minced onions
salt/pepper

Cut up roast into 4-5 chunks. Salt and pepper meat.  Add sugar and Worcestershire sauce and all other ingredients and toss, let marinade for a couple hours in instant pot, while off.

When ready to cook, add half cup water to pot and 4 oz tomato paste. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour, then let natural pressure release for 20 minutes.Then shred with forks.

Serve with trader joes cilantro dressing over salad, with beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, crunchy corn chips topping, flour tortillas, etc. Rice and beans recipe to potentially use is here http://www.melandboyskitchen.com/2009/02/16/shredded-sweet-pork-salad-2/

This was sweet enough but not too sweet. Store in cooking liquid and use fork to pull out pork as needed.

Acorn squash with brown sugar and butter

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/classic_baked_acorn_squash/
Acorn squash with brown sugar and butter

Mrs. Field's Cookies

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
2 cups butter
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

mix well

2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour

mix well

Mix all together

Then add 5 cups quick oats
20 oz choc chips

Bake 400 for 6 minutes, will be soft.

1/2 inch at most deep in sheet pan.

Jello Shamrock Cookies

Original:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 pkg 3 oz lime jello (mom revised to 6 oz jello)
1 cup shortening (mom revised to 1/2 cup)
3 eggs
1-2 tbsp milk

Add shortening to dry, then eggs, then roll out and cut into shapes. bake 350F for 8 minutes

Notes: better with lime extract added

3/13/2021: I made the original recipe using lard instead of shortening and 1 tbsp milk. I added a tsp of lime extract which boosted the lime flavor quite a bit and was very nice.

3/17/2024: By weight, three cups flour is not enough (i.e. 360 grams). Do cups by volume next time, or use 140 grams per cup rather than 120 grams.

Onion Dip with Veggie Sticks

This is a really nice dip for veggies. From the 100 Days of Real Food cookbook

16 ounce container sour cream
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1.5 tsp onion powder
1.25 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt

Mix and store in sour cream container.

For a serving option, divide the dip between 8 small serving cups and put carrots, cucumber, and celery sticks in the cups.

NOTE: This is great when you use 8 oz sour cream with 4 oz miracle whip (approximately). The kids liked the stronger seasonings and it made a better consistency.

Black Eyed Peas + Creole Okra side dish

https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-black-eyed-peas/

This was delicious, made it for new years with corn bread. Definitely add to rotation.

and a creole okra side dish:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/77400/creole-okra/
Tasted pretty well for okra that had been frozen over a year. Would make again if had okra that needed to be used. was maybe a 3.

Mung Bean curry soup

Based on this with alterations in parenthesis:
https://www.heynutritionlady.com/mung-bean-and-coconut-curry/

4 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 Tbsp whole cumin seeds
9 cloves garlic crushed (about 3 Tbsp crushed garlic)
14 oz can crushed tomatoes (i used stewed)
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (i used frozen cubes from trader joes)
2 Tbsp ground coriander (omitted, did not have)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper (1/8 tsp only)
4 cups water (only did 3 cups)
1 cup mung beans picked over for stones and well rinsed (I used less water because I used split yellow mung beans.)
14 oz can coconut milk
1-2 medium limes juiced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped (omit, did not have)

This turned out to be a very delicious soup. I served it with flatbread and it is really great. I used the instant pot to saute and did ~30 minutes on low after the beans went in. The beans still had some bite which was nice.