LRH in the Kitchen

Juliana's Broccoli Cheese Soup

2012-02-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Juliana's Broccoli Cheese Soup

8 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 bay leaf
1/2 chopped onion
2-4 carrots peeled and chopped as chunky or small as you like it
2 sticks of celery chopped
2 bunches broccoli. I use both heads and one stem, but you can put it all in if you want to. I chop the heads down very small and then peel and chop the stem into smallish chunks.
1 can evaporated milk
pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon parsley
1-2 cups of shredded cheese. (I usually use medium because it is what I have in the fridge.)
Add fresh garlic if desired.

Start the stock boiling and then chop the veggies and add them in as you go. I add the seasonings after the vegetables are all in. Once the vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the milk and cheese. I never thicken it, but you can if you like it thicker.

Laura's notes: I made this with 2 large bunches of broccoli (stem and all) and 2 cups shredded cheese and it turned out well. David and I really like it. It made about 3.5 quarts.

Turkey Noodle Soup

2012-02-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from Erin Farr when I was in college.

2 cans chicken broth (10 3/4 oz size)
2 cans water
2 cups turkey
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
10 sage leaves, chopped (~1 Tbsp) or 1 tsp powdered
1 can cream of chicken soup
11 oz package Grandma's noodles (frozen uncooked egg noodles)

Heat broth and water. Add turkey, celery, carrots, sage, and noodles. Simmer until noodles and veges are done. Add cream of chicken soup and heat through. Does not do well in crockpot.

I often put in all broth and no water and use chicken bullion instead of canned broth. The noodles will soak up a lot of the liquid, so if it sits for a while then more water may need to be added so it has a soupy consistency and is not too thick.

When I double this recipe I often just use one can of cream of chicken soup and 1 package 16 oz grandma's noodles. Works great!

Turkey Enchiladas

2012-02-01T14:54:00.002-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-enchiladas/

This was a yummy dinner and a good way to use up frozen turkey leftover from thanksgiving.

Zucchini Bread

2012-01-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/

This was not quite as good as the recipe I usually make. But is still pretty well.

I adjusted the ingredients to this list:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce
1 cups white sugar

1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini (1 huge zucchini)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2012-01-26T15:38:00.001-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lanas-sweet-and-sour-meatballs/detail.aspx

David and I really enjoyed this. The meatballs are very tasty. I doubled the vegetables in the recipe, and the sauce should be doubled as well. To do so I would just add an extra 1.5 cups of water, and extra cornstarch.

This needs 8 cups of rice to go with it. 6 cups was not quite enough. This dish would serve 6 people generously, or 8 as a main course if there is something on the side or for dessert.

Banana Banana Bread

2012-01-15T11:55:00.002-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-banana-bread/

This bread is moist and good, but has too much banana for my tastes. It is not like the cakey bread I was given a few weeks ago that I am trying to replicate.

Reija's Mom's Lasagna

2011-12-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

http://vegetabletuesdays.blogspot.com/2011/10/moms-lasagna.html

I thought this was too cheesy. I like Marie's mom's lasagna better i think. This recipe has a lot more ricotta, while Marie's has less ricotta and some cottage cheese. We both liked it, but DH is more excited about cheesiness than I am.

helpful note: a 16 oz box of lasagna noodles has 16 noodles in it.

Sauteed Gnocchi

2011-12-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.food.com/recipe/sauteed-gnocchi-68317

This was pretty good. I used Parmesan cheese, 1 tsp butter, dried gnocchi, 1 garlic clove, and dried italian seasoning. Plus salt and pepper. I sauteed the gnocchi on high heat to try and get rid of some of the wetness. The gnocchi I used is more soggy than the kind I prefer, and the sauteing helped a lot. David thought adding some halved grape tomatoes would be a nice touch to add crunch. I will make this again---it is superfast and good.

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

2011-12-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/favorite-old-fashioned-gingerbread/

This can be made into a cake or loaf of bread. I poured it into 8 mini loaf pans and baked it for 20-something minutes. This is milder than the gingerbread loaf I made last year, but still has a strong flavor.

Candied White Fruit Cake

2011-12-10T12:21:00.001-07:00

Candied White FruitCake

6 cups sifted all purpose flour (mom never sifted it)

6 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 ½ cups (1 lb.) coarsely chopped candied pineapple

2 cups (1 lb.) whole candied cherries

3 ½ cups (1 ¼ lb.) pitted dates. Cut coarsely.

12 eggs

1 ounce of rum extract or 1 ounce of vanilla (2 Tablespoons)

3 cups sugar of 2 ½ cups granulated fructose

8 cups (2 lbs.) Pecan halves or chopped

Sift flour with baking powder and salt. (Mom just mixed)

Add fruits and mix well with hands to coat thoroughly eachpiece of fruit

Beat eggs until frothy (keep separate)

Gradually beat in sugar into eggs

With hands, mix nuts into egg mixture.

Pour egg mixture over floured fruit. Mix with hands. (Reachdown and turn from the bottom up. All flour needs to be contacting eggmixture.)

Grease 2 10 inchangel foodcake pans. Or 2 9inchspringform pans.

Line with unglazedbrown paper and grease again. (Mom didn’t do this. She wants a crust.)

Divide dough between pans. Press mixture down firmly withfingers.

Bake in preheated slow oven 275 degrees F. For 1 ¼ hours.(Mom says she baked it 1 ½ hours at Canyon Park.) Poke in toothpick to check ifcooked.

Let stand in pans for five minutes. Take a sharp knife, runit around the sides. Flip upside down on cooling rack. Take sides off. Leavecone in until cooled, if desired.

Wrap with ceran wrap tightly with two or more layers. Put incool place. (Mom put in storage room outside)

Makes 11 2 ¼ by 5 inch loaves. Or 7 one pound loavesbaked 55 -60 minutes.

Side Note: You can use dried pineapple. Put one cup waterover it in a pan. Bring it to a boil and turn it off.

Soak dried papaya in 1 cup of water for a couple of hours.

Mom’s Cheesecake Bar Cookies

2011-12-10T12:20:00.001-07:00

Mom’sCheesecake Bar Cookies

1/3 cupbutter

1/3 cupbrown sugar packed

1 cup flour

1/3 cupfinely chopped walnuts

Cream butterwith brown sugar. Add flour and walnutsto make a crumb mixture. Reserve 1 cup for toppings and press the remainderinto the bottom of an 8 inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes untillightly browned.

¼ cup sugar

8 oz creamcheese

1 egg

2 T milk

1 T lemonjuice

½ teaspoonvanilla

Blend sugarand cream cheese until smooth. Add egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beatwell. Spread over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 350for 25 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Mom’s Christmas Raspberry Bars

2011-12-10T12:19:00.001-07:00

Mom’s ChristmasRaspberry Bars

½ cup buttersoftened

1 cup packedbrown sugar

1 ½ cup allpurposed flour

½ teaspoonsalt

½ teaspoonbaking soda

1 ½ cupsquick cooking rolled oats

1 teaspoonjuice

2/3 cupraspberry jam

* * *

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

Stirtogether flour, salt, and soda.

Add tocreamed mixture.

Add oats and¼ cup water.

Mix tillcrumbly

Firmly pathalf of the crumbly mixture into a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

Stir lemonjuice into the jam and spread over the base.

Sprinklewith remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 350for 25 minutes.

Mom's Lemon Bars

2011-12-10T12:06:00.001-07:00

Lemon Bars

1 Cup allpurpose flour (mom uses unbleached flour)

¼ cup siftedpowdered sugar (mom never sifted it)

½ cup butter

2 eggs

¾ cupgranulated sugar

4Tablespoons lemon juice

2Tablespoons all purpose flour

¼ teaspoonbaking powder

Powderedsugar

Stir flourand ¼ cup powdered sugar together. Cut in butter until mixture clings together.Pat into an ungreased 8x8x2 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Beat eggs.Add granulated sugar and lemon juice. Beat until slightly thick and smooth.

Stirtogether 2 T flour and baking powder. Add to egg mixture. Blend until all ismoistened. Pour over baked layer. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Sift powderedsugar over the top. Cool and cut into bars.

Worlds Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-12-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Worlds Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.food.com/recipe/worlds-best-chocolate-chip-cookies-26849

This is a better cookie recipe than what I made last week. I would reduce the choc chips to 2 cups though. It made 60 cookies.

Chocolate Chip cookies - one dozen

2011-12-01T07:41:00.001-07:00

http://www.dessertfortwo.com/2011/04/1-dozen-chocolate-chip-cookies/

I've never made choc chip cookies much so have never established a favorite recipe. I tried this one yesterday and it wasn't my favorite. I think it is lacking flavor of some kind. I did add 1/3 cup chopped pecans to the dough. So this recipe was ok but I won't repeat it.

Turkey Broth / Soup

2011-12-01T07:26:00.001-07:00

I made turkey soup with a leftover turkey carcass. To do that you need to make broth first.

To make broth, I first pull off whatever meat I can and put it in the fridge to add to the soup later. Then I use a cleaver and hack the bones apart a little if possible. I put the bones, skin, tendons and other stuff (except the meat I put aside) into a 6 qt slow cooker to make the broth. Then I covered it with water, probably 2-3 qts of it. Then I cooked it on low for nearly 24 hrs. After that, I pour it all through a sieve and into a stock pot. I pulled off some chunks of meat I'd missed from the bones, and put it with the other meat. There was about 2 quarts of broth. I put it in the fridge so the fat goes to the top. Then I can pick the fat off the top easily and reheat the stock for use in soup.

To make the soup I chopped 2 onions, a small celery bunch, and 3 large carrots and simmered for 45 minutes. Add the turkey meat and cook until hot again. I also season with 1 tsp salt, pepper, and italian seasoning.

Quinoa Con Queso

2011-11-29T17:51:00.001-07:00

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quinoa_con_queso/
Quinoa Con Queso

DH isn't a big fan of quinoa, but he liked the topping for this dish. He gives it 3.5 overall, and 4.0 for the topping. The poblano pepper was a great addition. Poblano (also called Pasilla) peppers are pretty mild for being a hot pepper. Also I adore queso fresco, so that really makes the dish as well.

Raspberry Gelatin

2011-11-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Raspberry Gelatin or Jello (from scratch, sweetened with fruit juice)

I made this for thanksgiving this year. It is my mothers recipe (via juliana. hi!).

2 12-oz cans frozen apple-raspberry 100% juice concentrate
5 envelopes Knox gelatin
1 juice-can of water
10 oz package frozen raspberries (unsweetened)
20 oz can crushed pineapple in own juice

Thaw juice concentrate. Soak gelatin in cool, thawed juice for 1 minute. Then dissolve by heating on stove and stirring gently for 5 minutes. Check if dissolved by quickly dipping finger and thumb into mixture and rubbing together to see if it’s smooth - careful, it's hot. Remove from heat. Add can of water, frozen berries, and entire can of pineapple including juice. Chill until set in 9 x 13 pan.

Notes:

I was already using the 9x13 pan for yams, so had put the jello in a 2.5 quart casserole dish (a white oval one with a glass lid). It fit with probably 1 or 2 cm to spare. I topped it with 1/2 pint of whipping cream whipped with 3 tablespoons of sugar and a little vanilla.

This turned out well. It was definitely very gelatinous, sort of jiggler-like. And it was very sweet. I think putting 2 T sugar in the topping would be fine. I might try using only 4 envelopes of gelatin next time.

White Bean Chicken Chili

2011-11-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/white-bean-chicken-chili/detail.aspx
White Bean Chicken Chili

This is another easy soup. Very tasty. I probably doubled the broth because I used the water I boiled the chicken in as broth. I also added the juice of 5 limes I had in the fridge that needed to be used. And I used a can of corn (undrained) instead of 2 fresh cobs. It was all very good! I happened to have only chicken thighs and it worked well.

Italian Minestrone Soup

2011-11-23T15:17:00.001-07:00

Italian Minestrone Soup
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/11/italian-minestrone-soup-in-slow-cooker.html

David really liked this. And me too. And it was easy. It barely fit into my 3 quart crockpot, except I transferred it to another pot on the stove when I added the pasta. It MIGHT have held the pasta, but I was in a rush to finish so didn't want to wait for it to cook in the slow cooker.

Mustard Short Ribs

2011-11-23T15:13:00.001-07:00

I made the recipe for mustard short ribs from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Recipe to be added later.

Even though this was very meaty, DH only rated it 3.5. I did not marinade it for 24 hrs, only for 4, so the mustard flavor was milder than I wanted. Also, the ribs were hard to eat and very fatty. This is the first time I've done short ribs. The meat was still attached to the bone and some sinewy stuff. I'll have to do short ribs again with another butcher brand and see if it is similar.

Almond Paste

2011-11-13T14:07:00.001-07:00

Based on: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/almond-paste/detail.aspx

I made almond pasted based on the above recipe, but with alterations suggested by merriwether9 (1 lb almonds, 3 cups powdered sugar, 2 egg whites). It was too sweet based on almond paste I have had in the past.

I had trouble getting the almonds to grind fine enough. My blender sort of gave up because it was sticking together, and it was like coarse sand. If I had a full size food processor that might have helped, but I don't have one so I'm not sure.

I will try this next time:
1 lb blanched almonds (just buy slivered almonds, they are pre-blanched)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp almond extract

Chicken Tinga

2011-11-05T11:34:00.001-06:00

2 chicken breasts. Boil with garlic and chunk of onion, and chicken boullion, and salt. Shred chicken when done.

1 medium onion, sliced onions really fine
1/2 can chipotles con adobo (1/2 of 7oz can, or 4-5 chipotles)

Blend as sauce in blender:
2 large red tomatoes
1 garlic clove
add chipotles if you don't want chunks

Fry onion in oil in skillet until clear, add sauce, then add shredded chicken. Let cook for 5 minutes on low. And that's it!

Serve with tostadas, sour cream, and green salsa. Put sour cream on first, then tinga, then salsa on top.

Recipe from Cynthia Thompson, learned from her Mexican grandmother.

Pot Roast

2011-10-28T19:12:00.003-06:00

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pot_roast/

This did not work well. I followed the directions and cooked it in the oven, at 200 degrees. The meat was cooked. I added potatoes and carrots an hour before I took it out of the oven. They were nearly raw. The recipe said to add carrots only 10 minutes before taking it out of the oven so I thought an hour would be plenty. I had to dump out all the liquid into a pot and move the carrots/potatoes into it and boil it for a long time for it to be cooked. Clearly the vegetables should have been put in much earlier. I'll have to look for a better recipe for an oven pot roast. The pressure cooker pot roast worked so well, so I might just do that again. I'd have to cut the meat into sections to make it fit though, if it is a larger roast.

French Toast II

2011-10-25T08:27:00.001-06:00

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/french_toast/
This is another recipe for french toast. I like the egg to milk ratio. I do add a little vanilla to it. I used thick soft bread, which worked really well and gave a good texture. AND it worked for exactly 8 pieces of bread which was nice for planning. I think I like this better than my other french toast recipe and DH did too.

Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake

2011-10-23T20:09:00.002-06:00

Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/bittersweet-chocolate-and-pear-cake/

This was so good. I did just what the recipe said, except I used a cake pan instead of a springform pan. I'm not sure if browning the butter really makes a difference, but I did it anyway. The butter bubbled for a while, but then quieted down and I thought maybe it needed higher heat. But within a couple minutes the butter had turned brown suddenly. So make sure to watch it the whole time so it doesn't burn during the bubbling phase (you'll need to push it around the pot to prevent that) or get too brown. It really did smell a bit nutty when it was browned. I used extra dark chocolate chips that was 63% chocolate. David and I really liked it.

Corn Macque Choux

2011-10-17T19:22:00.002-06:00

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/08/corn-macque-choux-recipe.html

Corn Macque Choux

This was a fun way to prepare corn. The corn I used was sort of old and had been frozen a bit in the fridge, but it still tasted great. This would be a good way to use corn on the cob that is not so fresh anymore. David thought it was "monotone" as a main dish but a good side dish. You say the name like "corn mock shoe."

In the recipe directions, I skipped the tomato blanching and just peeled it using a peeler.

Chunky Celery Soup

2011-10-17T19:17:00.001-06:00

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/chunky-celery-soup-recipe.html

Chunky Celery Soup

While this soup was good, the celery was overwhelming to me. David liked it more than I did. The wild rice did add a nice flavor, but I would have liked this soup much more if I'd used only half the amount of celery and added some roasted chicken to it. I will do that next time.

Pineapple Carrot Cake

2011-10-13T14:34:00.004-06:00

Pineapple Carrot Cake (Combined from Aunt Marianne and Nana's versions)

2 c sugar
1/2 c oil
add 4 eggs 1 at a time. Beat at High speed
Sift and add to above:
2 c flour
2 tsp soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Add 2 c shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c crushed pineapple with juice (not drained)

Bake in 9x13 or 10x13 pan. Oven 375 F. Bake 35-50 min. Batter is wet

Frosting
Cream together:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese or neufshatel
1 lb powdered sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla

Variants:
Nana's Frosting, add 1 cup walnuts to frosting.
Aunt Marianne's cake:
3 c carrots (instead of 2)
1/2 c drained crushed pineapple (instead of 1 1/2 c undrained)
1/2 c walnuts in cake itself.

Carnitas or Pork Tacos

2011-10-02T20:23:00.002-06:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Slow-Cooked-Carnitas-Tacos-241855

Carnitas or Pork Tacos

I used a 3 lb pork shoulder roast for this recipe. It turned out really great! My roast was not boneless, so I had to de-bone it after cooking it for a couple hours. I didn't have tomatillos or avocado on hand, and it was still really good with bell pepper, cheddar cheese, and sour cream in a warm corn tortilla.

Next time I'll be sure to have the other ingredients, as well as queso fresco on hand to make it even better.

Pot Roast in the pressure cooker

2011-09-25T20:23:00.003-06:00

This is based somewhat on this recipe:http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/perfect-pressure-cooker-pot-roast/detail.aspx with some modifications from caseykees.

I used a 4 qt cooker for this and a 2 3/4 lb chuck roast. The roast barely fit in the bottom. I put in 1/2 cup red wine (a pinot noir I think) and let it simmer in the pot while I seared the roast on all sides in another pan. I used 2 medium onions and cut them in quarters. I added 1 1/2 cups beef broth and 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce to the pot. I sprinkled seasoned salt, pepper, and onion powder all over the roast after searing. Next I put the roast in the pot and put the onions on the top and sides (wherever it fit).

I put the lid on and cooked it for 30 minutes after pressurizing. After that I did a quick release (cool water over the pot in the sink) and added the contents of a brown gravy packet to the liquid and mixed it in. Then I put in 5 or 6 (peeled) carrots that were cut in thirds as well as 3 large (unpeeled) potatoes cut into 4-6 pieces. The pot was almost totally packed at that point. The meat had shrunk some, and was about 140 F (rare). Then I put locked the lid back on cooked it for 15 more minutes after pressurizing. Then I did another quick release (pulled the cap off and let the steam escape).

Pressurizing takes at least 10 minutes, so doing it twice added at least 20 minutes of additional cooking time. Dinner was really late, but it was SO good. This would feed 5 hungry adults, probably 6 if the roast had been a full 3 lbs. The meat, potatoes and carrots were all perfect and tender.

It probably took 1 3/4 hrs to do the whole thing. It will be faster next time for sure now that I know better what I'm doing.

Brown Rice Pudding

2011-09-25T20:10:00.003-06:00

Brown Rice Pudding
http://massaorganics.blogspot.com/2008/10/rice-pudding-with-pistachios-raisins.html

This was really great. I used short grain brown rice and cooked it using water recommended on the package. I probably stopped it a few minutes early and added the milk and spices since I was rushing. I did not have cardamom pods so I used 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom. I did use whole milk, and it was great. I'm not sure if it was necessary though to have the extra milkfat. Also, I did not saute the golden raisins and pistachios since the pistachios were already roasted (and salted). I fed this to Sarah and Jed. Sarah loved the saltiness of the nuts. I put half the raisins in the pudding and let it cool. Then when ready to serve (after being in the fridge for a bit), I garnished bowls of it with the nuts and more raisins.

Chicken Mole

2011-09-21T20:42:00.001-06:00

I made this using mole from the store. It was really delicious. I followed instructions here: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/2009/06/mexican-mole-chicken.html

And the product pictured there is the same that I used. I recommend using skinless and perhaps boneless for this since the skin gets all soggy and just adds grease. The boneless part makes it easier to eat so you don't get sauce all over your hands, but whatever works! I love dark meat, so bone-in might go hand in hand sometimes.

The hot water really needs to be boiling in order for the mole to dissolve. I put 4 oz mole with 2 cups chicken broth and had a hard time. I think if i'd boiled the broth first and then put the mole in it would have worked better.

Mexican Rice

2011-09-21T20:37:00.000-06:00

http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/2011/03/mexican-rice.html

This was my first attempt at mexican rice, and it was so-so. I used brown rice. Maybe the brand wasn't the best (I used Dynasty, Extra Fancy, Brown Rice). I'm not sure if it is the recipe or the rice, but I think this rice tends to be very wet. But it tasted a little odd rice withstanding. I'll try this again with another kind of rice.

Also, I used 1 Tablespoon tomato paste in the recipe instead of the 1/2 cup sauce, which is one of the options. And just over 2 cups water.

BLT Turkey/Avocado/Cheese Melt

2011-09-20T19:33:00.000-06:00

BLT Turkey/Avocado/Cheese Melt

So I have a "Snackster" and I adore it. It is one of those sandwich pocket things, that turns out two sandwiches that look like this:

So anyway, tonight I used it. I put turkey, cheese, and miracle whip (because DH is of that variety) on two sandwiches and toasted them in the snackster. I had cooked bacon as well, and when the sandwiches were toasted I pulled them out and put bacon, avocado, tomato, and lettuce in them. They were great! I like doing a hot sandwich dinner each week because it is quick but interesting. Toasting it makes it seem like it goes beyond lunch food somehow.

I also just saw this website that has ideas for a bunch of fillings. I'll have to check it out.

Red Currant Sauce for Pork Chops

2011-09-19T21:13:00.000-06:00

I made pork chops using this recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pork_chops/ and it wasn't that great. I don't think jelly worked well, and it ended up getting really thick like hot candy. I used strawberry jelly since I couldn't find red currant, but I don't think it would have made it any better to use red currant.

It would have been much better with just the vinegar and mustard.

Stuffed Shells

2011-09-18T20:23:00.003-06:00

Stuffed Shells
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/stuffed-shells-recipe.html

This was so good. It is like lasagna but in shell form. I added a half pound of ground beef to the tomato sauce which was a great addition. The lemon zest was very good with it.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

2011-09-17T10:01:00.002-06:00

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2011/07/roasted-tomato-basil-soup.html

Finally, a tomato soup I love! This was SO tasty. It is very important to use garden fresh tomatoes, and roast them with garlic. I think that's why it was so good. I pureed it with an immersion blender but left it a little chunky for texture. This is great with grilled cheese sandwiches or garlic breadsticks.

I used coarse sea salt as the seasoning for roasting, but put on a bit too much. I forgot that it would all end up in the soup! So be careful how much salt you put on. A teaspoon or so is probably fine and you can add more salt later if needed. Also, I used prechopped fresh basil that comes in a plastic tube since getting fresh basil (that is a good price) is hard. It turned out great.

Apple Crisp

2011-09-11T21:29:00.000-06:00

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-crisp-ii/detail.aspx

Apple crisp is one of my favorite desserts. Any kind of crisp actually, but apple is always great. I have a recipe I normally use in Best Desserts cookbook but that is in a box somewhere at the moment, so I used a different one. It turned out really well. I took it to a family dinner and everyone loved it. My modifications are in red below.

Ingredients:

10 cups granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used 8 medium, but it could have done with more. Also, peeling is optional. I only peeled half of them and the skin was fine.)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water

1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
Place the sliced apples in a bowl and toss with the white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, ground cinnamon, and water. Spread out in a 9x13 glass dish.
Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. (I did more like an hour, just to make sure the apples were cooked. And they were.)

Corn and Chicken Chowder

2011-09-10T07:40:00.000-06:00

Corn and Chicken Chowder
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2011/02/18/corn-and-chicken-chowder/

This was good soup. I used 1% milk and ww flour to thicken,which turned out well. There was WAY to much corn with the 6 cobs and I had to add an extra 3 cups of liquid. Some milk and some broth. Maybe add less corn next time.

Zucchini Corn and Bacon Pesto Pasta

2011-09-07T20:21:00.000-06:00

Zucchini Corn and Bacon Pesto Pasta
http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2011/08/zucchini-corn-and-bacon-fusilli-with.html

This was so delicious. I used whole wheat fusilli pasta and did everything it said in the recipe. The only difference was that instead of using fresh basil, I used a 4 oz container of chopped basil (comes in the plastic tube in the produce area) since it was cheaper. I'm not sure if it equates to her "1 1/2 cup" of basil, which I think she means to be packed, but the pesto turned out really well. I liked it a lot. Even DH liked it and he is not the biggest pesto fan. I think the bacon was important for him in this dish though. It definitely added a nice touch.

I think we sauteed the veg longer than what it said. More like 15-20 minutes. David wanted the squash cooked a bit more. It turned out just right. It was getting a little soft in the middle where the seeds are, but otherwise was still firm and good.

Next time I will try this with store bought pesto I think--it might be cheaper. The original Gourmet recipe has that instead of homemade--a 5-7 oz container of it. Pine nuts and fresh basil are expensive. (but sooo good). And it saves a bit of prep. Maybe someday I'll have my own herb garden and can harvest a ton of basil in the summer and freeze it for uses like this.

Egg & Corn Unda-Style Quesadillas

2011-09-06T19:26:00.000-06:00

Egg & Corn Unda-Style Quesadillas
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/quesadillas-recipe.html

This was very quick and tasty. I made it with capers and used lemon juice instead of lemon zest. Also used greek yogurt. DH chose that over sour cream, which surprised me. I think I will try variants on this with avocado and beans, like the author describes.

This is also very quick to make which was great!

BELT Sandwich

2011-08-31T19:39:00.000-06:00

The BELT sandwich is bacon, eggs, lettuce, and tomato. You fry an egg and put it on. DH thought it didn't enhance the BLT at all, but didn't detract from it. I think it is still fun, and a nice way to get extra protein in a sandwich.

http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2010/09/belt-bacon-egg-lettuce-tomato-sandwich.html

Easy Little Bread

2011-08-30T21:50:00.000-06:00

Easy Little Bread

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/easy-little-bread-recipe.html

This was quick and very tasty. It is only 10 minutes prep, 30 minutes rise, and 35 minutes in the oven. So you don't need to do much advance planning. I really liked it and loved how it used old fashioned oats.

Chicken Rice Casserole

2011-08-28T21:23:00.001-06:00

Chicken Rice Casserole
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-chicken-rice-casserole/detail.aspx

I halved this recipe and put it in a square glass dish to bake. I used brown rice and stirred it twice during baking time to make sure the rice and liquid were mixed well. It took 2 hours total. I used about 12 oz of chicken, which was one huge chicken breast that I cut into strips. The chicken was sort of tough after baking 2 hours. I added about a 1/3 cup extra milk (for the half recipe) since brown rice needs more liquid, but I think I would put in even more liquid next time. Like for every cup the recipe calls for, put in an extra half cup or 2/3 cup of milk or water. Also, the milk bubbled over and got onto the oven, so I recommend putting a pan under it to catch drips.

So the changes I made include:
brown rice
cream of chicken & mushroom soup
dill
thyme
salt free garlic pepper
onion powder
salt

I would have used seasoned salt if I'd had any. This is one of the few recipes where I like to use cream of blank soup. Normally I avoid it.

Cake Mix

2011-08-08T12:01:00.001-06:00

Cake Mix

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-yellow-cake-mix/

I haven't made this on its own yet, only as part of another recipe. So no ratings yet.

Pink Cake

2011-08-08T11:59:00.000-06:00

Pink Cake
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pink-princess-cake/detail.aspx

Cake Mix
http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-yellow-cake-mix/

I followed the cake recipe (which calls for cake mix, hence the cake mix recipe) but used about 4.5 oz raspberry jello gelatin. The cake was very dense. Whipped cream topping was absolutely essential. This was fun for the color, but not the best textured cake.

I wanted to make it because I am found out I am pregnant with a girl, and the cake was served at a party.

Black Bean Chili

2011-08-05T16:22:00.000-06:00

Black bean chili
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/fantastic-black-bean-chili/detail.aspx

This was good chili. We ate it with chips, cheese, and sour cream.

Julia Child Savory (or sweet) Crepe Batter

2011-07-15T23:00:00.001-06:00

Making Savory Crepes
Makes two dozen or so crepes:
1 cup cold water
1 cup cold milk
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
4 tbsp melted butter

Julia places the liquids, egg and salt into a blender, and then adds the flour and then butter. I just whisk it together (in that order) by hand. You might be surprised at how thin the batter is, but that is correct -- to quote Julia, it should just "coat a wooden spoon." Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Chicken, Ham and Mushroom Crepe filling

2011-07-15T22:59:00.000-06:00

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/savory-crepes-with-creamy-chicken-ham-and-mushroom-filling-recipe/index.html

This was good, but very fattening. I substituted half and half for the creme. David didn't love it, but liked it fine. I don't think I'll make this exact recipe again, its a lot of work for only a 3.5 rating.

Boneless country-style pork ribs - barbecue

2011-07-01T08:28:00.000-06:00

I have been trying to use up some frozen meat lately. Or think of trying. Anyway, last night I tried.

I used 2 boneless country-style pork ribs, they were pretty long. I trimmed some fat off and put them in an 8x8 baking pan. It fit well without touching other pieces much. I put some Jack Daniels barbecue sauce on it (maybe 1/4 cup in all, at most), and rolled the raw meat in it. Then I covered it with tin foil and baked it at 350 for about an hour 20 minutes. I checked the temperature to make sure it was over 165, and it was about 180.

We ate it with baked potatoes and broccoli. It was pretty good. The barbecue sauce mixed in with meat juices so it wasn't as strongly sweet. I would make this again.

Honey Carrot Cake

2011-06-11T23:03:00.001-06:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Carrot-Cake/Detail.aspx

This was a moist and tasty cake. It was less sweet than the average carrot cake and that was nice. I did not put frosting on top, but unsweetened whip cream. It calls for honey and no sugar.

Potato and Leek Soup

2011-06-10T22:19:00.000-06:00

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/potato-and-leek-soup-recipe2/index.html

This soup was really good. I didn't bother with the "bouquet garni" thing and just put in some dried thyme (a bit less than 1 tsp), ground fresh pepper, and bay leaves loose. Remember to remove the bay leaves at the end before mixing though. Also, I used only 1/3 cup cream, and 2 leeks. I used a stick blender to puree. I left it with some rough texture, which was nice. My mother-in-law ate it too and we all loved it.

Lime Cheesecake

2011-06-05T22:49:00.000-06:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Key-Lime-Cheesecake-with-Tropical-Dried-Fruit-Chutney-234822

I didn't make the topping and changed the crust to be basic graham cracker:

24 squares graham cracker (12 rectangle sheets)

6 T butter

crush crackers (a food processor would make it faster) and add melted butter. Press into bottom of pan.

I made this for DH's b-day party. It was great! I cooked it for 1 hr 20 minutes with a pan of water on the shelf below it. I used a 9 inch cheesecake pan.

Beet Greens and White Beans Saute

2011-06-04T13:30:00.000-06:00

You can use beet greens, broccoli raab (aka rapini), kale, escarole, collard greens, or turnip greens. I used turnip greens. You can use any kind of white colored bean. This recipe is from the Culinary Institute of America: Vegetables cookbook. I altered it by adding ham.

It was very tasty.

chopped ham

2 T olive oil

2 T minced garlic

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional

10 cups coursely chopped beet greens (I didn't use near this much. Just a small bunch of turnip greens.

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste

2 cups cooked white beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp malt vinegar, or to taste (no clue what that is, I left it out)

Heat oil in pan and saute garlic until aromatic (about 1 min). Add red pepper, saute until aromatic (30 seconds).

Add greens and cook, stirring and tossing briskly with wooden spoon to coat the greens evenly with the oil. When the greens have cooked down and are a vivid green color, about 5 min, add broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring broth to a simmer, add beans (and ham) and cook, stirring frequently, until greens are fully wilted and dish is very hot. Season with vinegar.

Rhubarb Cream Pie

2011-06-04T13:20:00.000-06:00

I made this for easter. I think. It was a while ago:)

I put in twice the rhubarb it called for because I thought there wasn't enough. It turned out to be too much (in my opinion. Other eaters loved it, but it was too strong for me.) The recipe below is the original (unaltered) from Best Desserts cookbook, which is my favorite dessert cookbook.

I like regular rhubarb pie better. (without cream or meringue...)

1 crust pie.

Filling:

2 cups cut-up fresh rhubarb (do not use frozen)

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup half-and-half

1 cup sugar

2 T flour

1/2 tsp salt

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp vanilla

6 T sugar

1. Prepare pie crust for one crust pie in 9 inch pie pan.

2. Heat oven to 400. Put rhubarb in crust-lined pan. In small bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Stir in half-and-half. Add all remaining filling ingredients; blend well. Pour egg mixture over rhubarb.

3. Bake a 400F for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350F; bake an additional 40 minutes.

4. In small, deep bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla; beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add 6 tablespoons sugar 1 at a time, beating a high speed until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Spoon meringue onto hot filling; spread to edge of crust to seal well and prevent shrinkage.

5. Bake at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes or until meringue is light golden brown. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Store in fridge.

Apple Cake

2011-06-01T14:38:00.000-06:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/german-apple-cake-i/Detail.aspx

I halved the recipe and baked it in a 9x5 loaf pan (with an extra 5 minutes). It didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, based on the fantastic reviews it gets online. I chopped the apples up in very small pieces, less than 1 cm, so maybe bigger chunks would be better. All the fruit went to the top and since it was in a narrower container the fruit layer was thicker than it should have been (i think) and too wet.

Anyway, it was very tasty. I will make it again with the full recipe sometime and that might improve the current "3" rating.

Update 7/9/2011:
I made this recipe again using the original sized recipe (in a 9x13 pan). I didn't change anything except that I did not peel the apples. And I used tart green apples (which I highly recommend, the tartness was a nice companion to the sweet flavor.) One thing I did do is coat the apples with some of the flour before folding the apples into the cake mixture. I read somewhere recently that will help prevent them from rising to the top. I think it worked too.
The crust on top was so good. I adore this cake. Rating has gone up for sure!

Lowfat/lowsugar version 2/1/2012:
I made this recipe again with half the sugar and subsituting half the oil for applesauce. It did not have the awesome crust on top, and was more fluffy and cake like. David likes it better than the original. I think I will sprinkle sugar on top next time to get the crispy topping.

Striped Bass / Mushroom Risotto

2011-05-20T13:49:00.000-06:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/STRIPED-BASS-WITH-MUSHROOM-RISOTTO-50013575

The striped bass recipe here is fantastic. I made it with my friend Heather Majors from the Nov 2008 issue of Bon Appetit. We also made the risotto, but I like my porcini pressure cooker kind better. We made this about 2.5 years ago and she served it to me and David on her porch for our 6 month anniversary, if I remember right (it may have been another month.)

For dessert that night, we made this: http://lrhrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/07/almond-brownie-cake.html

Gingerbread Loaf

2011-05-07T22:33:00.001-06:00

http://www.chow.com/recipes/18658-gingerbread-loaf

This is a very dark and rich gingerbread loaf. It would be great with hot applesauce (especially if homemade) or unsweetened whipped cream on top. Or both. Make sure to use buttermilk and not soured milk. It just never works out as well when you substitute.

Makes 1 loaf. David and I really liked it.

quick mac and cheese

2011-04-28T20:25:00.000-06:00

I made this up tonight, looking for something simple and easy. It took about 30 minutes in all.

couple handfuls of cut up swiss chard leaves

8 oz whole wheat ziti (or other kind of pasta)

2 cups milk

2 Tab flour

4 oz cheddar, grated or cut in cubes

salt and pepper

Cook the pasta. meanwhile, mix cold milk with flour and bring to boil. Let simmer a few minutes until starts to thicken. Then add cheese and some salt and pepper. Add cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and stir, turn heat to low. Cook swiss chard in leftover pasta water for a minute until wilted and dark green. Drain and put into the pasta. Stir and serve.

Roasted Fava Beans

2011-04-27T17:48:00.001-06:00

I loved these. I had fresh fava beans from my CSA box. I saw this article http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/22/FD381IV24R.DTL

and decided to roast them.

I put 1 layer of fava bean pods on a baking sheet with a little oil. I intended to roast them at 450 for 25 minutes, but it began to smoke so I decreased the heat to 400 early on. They came out tender and good. I put salt on it afterward, (coarse sea salt), and then when I shelled them make sure to have salt on my fingers so I would get salt with the inner fava bean. David liked them with their shells still on (but out of the pod). This was very little effort and very tasty. I will definitely remember this. After they had cooled for a few minutes we just stood there and ate them all.

Veggie Pot Pie with Wine Sauce

2011-04-22T22:42:00.000-06:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vegetable-Pot-Pie-with-Wine-Sauce-and-Polenta-Crust-1549

This was so much better than the last Veggie Pot Pie I made. I didn't make the polenta crust, I used a trader joes pie pastry crust instead. I let it bake for like 30 min at 350, but it could have gone longer because the veggies were cold from roasting them the day before. This was really good!

Beef Stew with Turnips and Collard Greens

2011-04-22T08:25:00.000-06:00

So I have a cookbook called Greene on Greens. All the recipes I've made from it are really strange and need serious tweaking of prep instructions. The latest I made tonight. I modified the recipe significantly and so the modified version is shown below. With the modifications, it turned out really well and was quite tasty.

2 hr baking time, 30 min prep.

1-1.5 lb stew beef, cut in chunks

4 slices bacon, cut in pieces

1/3 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups beef broth (or more if needed)

1 cup dry white wine

1 lb turnips, peeled, cut into 1/4 inch chunks

bunch collard greens, stems removed, and greens cut into small pieces.

Fry bacon in dutch oven or skillet. Move bacon to bowl and drain fat. Combine flour (I used whole wheat), spices, and salt and use to coat meat. Saute onion and garlic, move to bowl. Add small amount of oil or butter to pan and brown beef so the sides are cooked, then move to bowl. Boil wine and reduce to half. Add broth and everything in bowl back into dutch oven. Heat on stove until boiling. Then cover and put in oven at 350F for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, Add chopped turnips and collard greens. Put back in the oven for another hour. If broth has boiled off too low, add another cup or two.

Eat when turnips are tender.

Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2011-04-20T18:26:00.000-06:00

http://greenlitebites.com/2008/03/11/thin-crust-whole-wheat-pizza-dough/

This was easy to put together and tasted good. I left out the flax seeds and soy flour. And I didn't need to add more water. This is good for one pizza.

Self-Saucing Ginger Pudding

2011-04-18T13:38:00.001-06:00

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/06/9-things-you-should-know-about-ginger-with-self-saucing-ginger-puddings-5-ingredients-simple-baking

This was tasty and easy. I used 4 10 oz capacity ramekins. 8 oz would work too, as the recipe says. David thought it was too sweet. Add the full amount of ginger. Grated ginger compresses a lot more than you think, so you'll need to grate more ginger root than what is intuitive. Also, the cakes didn't get crispy on top like in the picture and I'm not sure why.

If you have time to let it cool a bit (20 minutes?) then it is still warm but not so hot you need ice cream to cool it off in your mouth. The ice cream helped cut the sweetness of the cake and cooled it down, but I don't think it is necessary.

Next time, use only half the sugar and see how it is.

Chicken and Blue Chip Salad

2011-04-14T19:31:00.000-06:00

I ate something like this at a women's conference lunch given by my stake. I couldn't find the right person to get the recipe from, so I recreated it based on memory.

chicken, shredded into smallish pieces

pepitas

walnuts

blue chips (crunched up. you don't need that many per serving, like 4 chips maybe)

crumbly cheese. Was it feta? was it blue cheese? I know not. I think cheese is optional anyway since I made it without it.

vinaigrette as dressing. Something mild.

Put on top of salad. I like spring mix.

Anyway, we loved this! It was great.

Spicy Cauliflower

2011-04-14T19:26:00.000-06:00

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spicy-cauliflower-with-sesame-recipe.html

This recipe is a yummy way to eat cauliflower. We both enjoyed it. I had dried red chilies and put those in, but didn't have cilantro or jalapeños. It was still mildly spicy and good. It was mostly the seeds that came out of the chilies that made it spicy since we didn't eat the chilies themselves.

Anyway, I highly recommend. The ginger, garlic, and sesame seeds are really important. Make sure you have those!

Super Fast Taco Soup

2011-04-13T12:39:00.000-06:00

This the way my mother-in-law makes taco soup:

1 can chili

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

Mix and heat in a pot on the stove. Don't drain the corn or tomatoes (seriously, who drains tomatoes though?), just put it all in. I think she might not drain the beans either, but I do. I'm not entirely sure if it helps decrease gas, but it might.

Also, the kidney beans are not essential. The chili IS.

Serve with chips, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

This is a super fast meal. Hence, the title has super fast in it. I dubbed it so. Anyway, this soup tastes great!

11/29/2011:
DH wants this to be more spicy. Next time add cumin and chili powder and see if it is better.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2011-04-08T23:29:00.001-06:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-14478

This was a great cake, very dense and rich. And dark. Definitely dark. I put in just over 1/2 cup sugar, and it was plenty sweet. Next time I'll try with 1/2 cup honey instead.

I whipped some cream to go on top (added a very tiny amount of sugar, like a tsp) and that went really well with the dish.

powdered milk rice pudding

2011-03-30T22:46:00.000-06:00

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/fn_142.pdf

This was runny and not so great. I didn't let it simmer very long before adding an egg yolk so that might have made not be as creamy. I added an egg yolk to thicken it, but I should have added two. I might experiment with the powdered milk thing.

Next time: let it simmer for a while before adding anything to thicken it. The rice needed to break down more. Try it with short grain brown rice.

(note: if you thicken with egg yolk, make sure it doesn't boil. It will curdle. Just let it sit on heat for ~10 minutes stirring occasionally, but not boiling. Or bubbling.)

Update:

I've made this 3 times now. It isn't necessary to thicken with egg yolk if you let it simmer long enough. I cook it about an hour in all I think, or possibly more until it thickens. It is really obvious when it gets thick because the starch releases from the rice and makes it like porridge. Anyway, I like it.

Hamburgers

2011-03-24T12:21:00.001-06:00

So I know this might be stupid to make a post for hamburgers, but this is the first time I ever made them so I wanted to write it down.

I used 1 lb grass fed beef (which is actually affordable now thanks to the Milk Pail!) and cut it into 4 pieces. I shaped them so they were really thin and had a diameter of at least 6 inches. I did that because I know they shrink a lot and I didn't want to have tiny balls of beef left after cooking.

I cooked it in a non-stick skillet (heavy duty), which worked ok. It would be better to have used a ribbed cast iron pan so the grease has somewhere to go, or better yet, a grill! Also next time use the grease splash screen so it doesn't get all over the stove and floor...

But it turned out pretty well. I flipped them when the juices were coming out on top and still pink, so they weren't super well done but pretty close. I put cheese on the top after flipping them so that DH could have a cheeseburger.

Veggie Pot Pie

2011-03-24T12:08:00.000-06:00

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/veggie-pot-pie/Detail.aspx

I've been on a pot pie kick lately. Something to do with pie day perhaps. I made this pot pie for a vegetarian neighbor who just had a baby. I made one for DH and me too. It turned out pretty well. DH and I are definitely not vegetarian, but even so I think this dish could be improved by using a different kind of broth, and some porcini mushrooms for some depth of flavor. I used trader joes veggie broth, which is really carrotty I think. I actually made 1.5 times the recipe and it fit into 1 standard 9 inch pie dish and 1 deep dish 9 inch pie dish. I only did top crusts as well. I increased the cornstarch to 5 Tablespoons (for a 1x recipe, so for 1.5x I put in 7.5 T cornstarch). It helped make it a better thickness.

I followed the crust recipe recommended on the allrecipes link in the footnotes, which is here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crust-for-Veggie-Pot-Pie/Detail.aspx. (It makes a double crust). The crust was completely uninspiring. Don't make it again! I much prefer my crust recipe that goes with my chicken pot pie recipe.

Chicken Tikka Masala

2011-03-21T17:27:00.000-06:00

http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2011/03/chicken-tikka-masala.html

This was a bit runny, but had a great flavor. I used diced tomatoes instead of crushed, and that probably made it too runny. We ate it with warm homemade flatbread. This is a new favorite of mine.

Update:
I made this again and used crushed tomatoes. The consistency was perfect and it tasted delicious. I recommend just baking or boiling the chicken, and forgetting about all the steps/ingredients to do with chicken preparation. My broiler doesn't really work, but maybe the recipe would work fine if the broiler worked! Anyway, I think putting the chicken coating spices in the sauce works fine, or just putting them on the chicken and baking it works too.

Instant no ice cream maker banana ice cream

2011-03-20T21:49:00.000-06:00

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/instant-no-ice-cream-maker-banana-ice-cream/

this was great! I used an immersion blender to mix 1/4 cup cream with 3 frozen bananas. They were ripe, not black! Save black for banana bread...

Flatbread

2011-03-18T18:20:00.000-06:00

http://thisfoodthing.com/2008/11/28/quick-flatbread/

This was tasty and very fast. I want to try it with whole wheat flour next time. I made half a recipe and it was 4 medium sized flatbread sections. I rolled it out on my silpat and then cut it into 4 sections.

update: I made this again half whole wheat/half white flour. It was still good but not as chewy. I don't think using all whole wheat would work out. I made the whole recipe and put unused dough in the fridge. The dough rolled out easily and cooked nicely the next day, and the next...for about a week. It did oxidize and turn brown, but still tasted great.

Beef Pot Pie

2011-03-14T22:19:00.000-06:00

I sort of made this up. It turned out well. Also, I literally took only 20 minutes to prep this dish. I was in a rush! I did use a pre-made crust, which is never as good. I used the Safeway brand, but really don't recommend it because the crusts are too thin. Pillsbury crusts are too thin as well.

1/2 lb ground beef

1 carrots

1 onion

handful green beans (or add another carrot, or 1/2 cup peas if you are a pea person (I am NOT one))

2 small potatoes

1 can of beef broth

1/4 cup flour

1 T paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 9-inch crust

Brown ground beef. While browning, chop carrots, onion, green beans, and potatoes. After beef is cooked, add chopped veg and saute with meat for 5-10 minutes. (add oil if skillet is very dry). Toss in flour, paprika, salt, and pepper and mix until distributed. Then add beef broth and simmer 3 or 4 minutes until thickened. Pour into 9 inch pie dish. Top with crust and seal. Cut a few slits in the crust. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F, until crust is deep gold.

Light Apple Crisp

2011-03-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

http://livingawholelife.blogspot.com/2009/09/fall-recipe-delicious-apple-crisp.html

This did not turn out as well as I'd hoped. It was not sweet enough, the apples were crunchy, and it was too liquidy at the bottom. I don't think I'll make this recipe again. I used agave nectar for the sweetener. I will stick with my regular recipe for next time--in the Best Desserts cookbook.

Pizza Sauce

2011-03-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from David's sister Sonrisa. I am not rating it since it doesn't go by itself, but it has a lovely smell.

Pizza Sauce

8 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp cayenne powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4-1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Yogurt Salad Dressing Base

2011-03-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

I met a woman during the Stake R.S. Conference lunch today who was telling me about a german boyfriend she'd had who taught her how to make a good base for salad dressing.

Yogurt

garlic

toasted lemon thyme

cardamom

salt & pepper

Puree those things, and then you can add more things to smaller portions to make more specific flavors.

You could add cilantro, lemon juice, or vinegar.

Enchilada Chicken Chili

2011-03-05T14:47:00.000-07:00

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2010/01/enchilada-chicken-chili.html

This was good, and I managed to fit it all into my 3 qt crock pot!

Eggplant and Garbanzo Bean Soup

2011-02-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

http://wegottaeat.com/mrhb114/recipes/roasted-eggplant-and-garbanzo-bean-soup-love-soup

This is from the Love Soup cookbook.

This soup had a good flavor and was sort of exotic tasting. David rated it pretty high for a vegetarian soup, so he must have liked it a lot. It was time consuming to make though, and I had to cook it for an extra hour because the beans weren't fully cooked. I soaked them overnight and meant to slow cook them but forgot to plug in the crockpot! So I ended up making it on the stove according to the directions, but it did take an extra hour. It could be my garbanzo beans were really old though. I can't remember when I bought them.

Split Pea Soup

2011-02-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Ever-Split-Pea/Detail.aspx

I added ~1 tsp oregano, ~3/4 lb chopped ham, 2 bay leaves. I used 3 large carrots, 5-6 stalks celery, and 2 onions. I cooked it for about 90 minutes after veggies were sauteed. I did not puree at all. DH and I prefer chunky soups and this was very good, especially considering my history of disliking most split pea soup.

Mandelhornchen

2011-02-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

http://confectionsofamasterbaker.blogspot.com/2008/07/almond-joy.html

Aka Almond Horseshoe cookies. This is really great. I adore all things almond.

Almond Cake

2011-02-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

http://sexfoodandwriting.donnageorgestorey.com/2009/07/moist-seductive-almond-cake-dessert-you.html

I halved this (one egg) and put in my 3 cup bundt pan. It was the perfect size (for the pan), and very good! I should have powdered the pan in addition to greasing it though.

Cottage Cheese Bread

2011-02-09T10:42:00.001-07:00

This is an old favorite of mine.

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

1/2 cup raisins

2 cup flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp caroway seeds

1/2 cup milk (3 oz if microwaving)

Mix all. Grease and flour an 8-in round cake pan.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 40 minutes.

Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then take it out and let finish cooling on a rack.

Lentil Soup

2011-02-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Originally based on http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000549829

3 slices bacon

2 quarts beef broth

(Add the water/oil from any containers of tuna or sardines you may have saved. It adds some complexity to the flavor.)

2 diced carrots

1 tsp dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 parsley sprigs

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons butter

3 cups chopped onion (2 onions)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 3/4 cups dried brown lentils (about 1 lb)

6 cups torn Swiss chard (or just torn leaves from 1 bunch of chard)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cut up bacon and drop into large pot. Saute until cooked. Add chopped onion, garlic, and carrot. (Keep bacon drippings for flavor). Saute for a couple minutes and then add broth and everything else but the last 4 ingredients. Cook on low.

30 minutes before you want to serve dinner, add lentils.

When lentils are cooked, turn off heat and add lemon juice, chard, and pepper and stir until chard is wilted. Remove bay leaves and parsley.

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I like this better than the Alton Brown recipe I've made in the past. I like the bacon and beef base.

Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

2011-01-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Boilermaker-Tailgate-Chili/Detail.aspx

This was very good. I did not used canned chili beans, but rather used dried kidney beans that I soaked ahead of time. I used 1 jalapeno pepper instead of the 2 chili peppers and left out the sugar.

Southwest Pork and Hominy Stew

2011-01-22T12:49:00.001-07:00

This is from the Pressure Perfect cookbook. It takes 1 hour to make, assuming a 15 minute time allowed for pressure drop.

1-2 cans white or golden hominy (I prefer two cans)

1 T olive oil

1.5 cups chopped onions

1 t whole cumin seeds

2 T tomato paste, catsup, or chili sauce (I used chili sauce)

1 cup chicken broth

1 T chili powder, plus more to taste (more was not necessary due to the chili sauce)

1/2 t salt, plus more to taste

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 lb boneless pork shoulder cut in 1-inch chunks

1 med zucchini, cut in 1/2 inch dice

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 t dried oregano

1/2 t dried sage

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Tortilla chips and lime wedges, for serving

Drain can of hominy and rinse kernels. heat oil in 4-quart or larger pressure cooker. Add the onions and cumin seeds and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to soften, about 1 minute. Blend in chili sauce. Stir in broth, chili powder, salt, bell pepper, and pork. Scatter hominy on top.

Lock lid in place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 8 minutes. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. Remove lid, stir in the zucchini, garlic, oregano, sage, cilantro, and any extra salt or chili powder if needed. Simmer uncovered until zucchini becomes tender and the stew thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

Serve with chips and lime wedges.

Chicken Posole

2011-01-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-chicken-posole/Detail.aspx

This was so good. I love chicken posole! I altered the recipe by leaving out the water and only adding 2 quarts of chicken broth. I added a chopped green bell pepper which was a fantastic addition. Also, I put in 6 raw, skinless chicken legs at the beginning instead of shredded chicken breast. I used two cans of hominy.

Removing the skin beforehand is important so it doesn't get too greasy. This would work well with chicken thighs as well.

For next time:

I think for 2 quarts of broth, using 10 chicken legs would be better. Putting in extra garlic, two onions, two bell peppers, and a third can of hominy would be great.

Variation:

I made half a recipe tonight. I used 1 qt broth, 1 can hominy, and halved the rest of the recipe. I put in 4 chicken legs with the skin removed. No green pepper. I had shredded green cabbage that we put into the soup as we ate it. It added a nice crunch and added some nutrition. I really liked the raw cabbage.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-01-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-iii/Detail.aspx

These cookies were good, but I didn't like so much chocolate in them. I doubled the nuts, which we both liked. Next time I make these I'll only put in half the chocolate it calls for. I think I put in some nutmeg as well, but it would probably be just as good without it.

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

2011-01-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

This is the recipe on the back of the Safeway Quick Oats container. Super good!

Oatmeal cookies are my favorite EVER. Which is why I make only half a recipe since I want to eat them all. (really I should make even less, but then there is the Egg Issue to worry about).

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, softened

1.5 cups packed brown sugar

2 t vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups quick oats

1.5 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350. Mix everything together. Drop batter onto cookie sheet (greased or lined) by heaping tablespoons 1.5 inches apart. Bake 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will feel soft but will furm up as they cool. Let stand on baking sheets 2 minutes before transferring to racks to cool. Makes about 45 cookies.

Portuguese Bean Soup

2010-12-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Portuguese-Bean-Soup-II/Detail.aspx

This was very tasty soup. I didn't know what portuguese sausage was though and couldn't find any where I looked, So I used spicy pork sausage instead.

Modifications:

1 lb hot ground pork sausage (instead of 2 lb portuguese sausage)

extra ham to make up for less meat

extra quart of water (though it really should be an extra 2 quarts since most of the liquid was absorbed during cooling)

1 tablespoon of chicken stock base (equivalent to 3 bullion cubes)

For next time:

Add 4 quarts water total.

Add 2 T chicken stock base.

Put in half the amount of pasta called for.

Hamburger and Macaroni

2010-12-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/hamburger_and_macaroni/

This was very tasty. I added a green bell pepper (chopped) and sauteed it with the onions since I had one I needed to use. David liked it quite a bit. We put grated cheese on top.

Rugelach (cream cheese cookies)

2010-12-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook.

THE DOUGH:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Confectioners' sugar

APRICOT FILLING:

1 cup thick apricot preserves

3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

CHOCOLATE FILLING:

1 cup (about 8 ounces) shaved bittersweet chocolate, preferably imported

1/4 cup sugar

CINNAMON-SUGAR FILLING:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. To make the dough, place the cream cheese and the butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle. Cream at a low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix until a very soft dough is formed, about 2 more minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with baking parchment.

3. Mix the ingredients for the apricot or chocolate filling and divide the dough into 4 balls. Roll the balls out into 4 circles about 1/8 inch thick and 9 inches in diameter. Spread the apricot or chocolate filling over the dough. If using the cinnamon-sugar filling, brush the melted butter on first, then the combined cinnamon and sugar.

4. Using a dull knife, cut each circle of dough into 16 pie-shaped pieces about 2 inches wide at the circumference. Roll up from the wide side to the center. Place the rugelach on the parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake in the oven on the middle and lower racks, switching after 12 minutes, also switching back to front. Continue baking about 13 more minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the rugelach to racks to cool. Sprinkle the apricot and chocolate rugelach with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

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DH and I made 1/4 this recipe and used the apricot filling. It was yummy, but the jam oozed out during baking and turned black and gummy, which gave it a burnt flavor. Next year we'll do the chocolate filling instead.

Potato Latkes (pancakes)

2010-12-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

This is from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook.

10 medium russet or baking potatoes

2 medium onions

2 large or 3 medium eggs

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, bread crumbs, or matzah meal

Salt and white pepper

Vegetable oil

Peel the potatoes if the skin is coarse; otherwise, just clean them well. Keep them in cold water until ready to prepare the latkes.

Starting with the onions, alternately grate some of the onions on the large holes of the grater and some of the potatoes on the smallest holes. This will keep the potato mixture from blackening. Press out as much liquid as possible and reserve the starchy sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Return the sediment to the mixture. (or use a food processor)

Blend the potato mixture with the eggs, flour, and salt and pepper to taste.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a frying pan. Drop about 1 tablespoon of mixture for each latke into the skillet and fry, turning once. When golden and crisp on both sides, drain on paper towels. Serve with yogurt, sour cream, sugar, or applesauce.

---

When I made this for DH and me, I used 4 potatoes (did not peel), 1 egg, 1 onion, and 2 T matzah meal. We ate it all in one sitting.

Goulash with Potatoes

2010-12-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from the Pressure Perfect cookbook.

3 slices bacon, finely chopped

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T tomato paste

1/4 cup sweet paprika

2 t caraway seeds

1.5 cups beer or broth

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt (omit if using salty broth)

3 lb beef chuck, veal shoulder, or pork shoulder cut into 1-inch chunks

2 lb medium red-skinned potatoes, peeled or scrubbed and halved

1/2 to 1 tsp dried thyme or marjoram

salt and freshly ground pepper

sour cream, for garnish

Heat a 4 qt or larger pressure cooker. Add the bacon and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to render some of its fat. Stir in the onions and continue cooking until they begin to soften, about 1 minute.

Stir in the vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, and caraway seeds. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in the beer, taking care to scrape up any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the cooker. Add the bay leaves, salt and meat. Set the potatoes on top.

Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 16 minutes (beef) or 8 minutes (veal or pork). Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally (takes like 20 min). Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Skim off fat from top if possible. Remove bay leaves. Stir in the thyme or marjoram and season well with salt and pepper. Let the stew rest for 5 minutes (The potatoes will absorb some of the liquid and thicken the stew.)

Put into bowls and top with dollop of sour cream.

---

This could use some carrots or green beans, and more seasoning. The recipe says you could put green beans in at the end during the resting phase, or put carrots in at the beginning and chop them up later (leaving them in larger sections will help them retain more flavor, apparently).

Anyway, it was good and we enjoyed it.

Gyros and Tzatziki Sauce

2010-12-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gyros-Burgers/Detail.aspx

http://greekfood.about.com/od/dipsspreadspures1/r/Tzatziki.htm

I used the two recipes posted above to make Gyros with Tzatziki sauce. I halved the sauce recipe. This was very tasty! It was a bit more involved to prepare since I had to make a sauce & meat mixture, but was really good. I also found some thin gyro style wraps (that look like pitas but don't have an air pocket) that were fabulous.

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

2010-12-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/butternut-squash-pasta-sauce

This was ok. I had butternut squash ravioli once at Trio in Salt Lake City, and this was my attempt to recreate it. It did not work. It would have been better if there had been chunks in it, like crunchy fried onion or garlic, or unseasoned croutons or something. I froze what we didn't use and hope to make it into soup another time.

Navy Bean Soup with Ham

2010-12-05T22:04:00.001-07:00

I baked a ham (no glaze). I saved the ham water and used it as stock in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb navy beans (or white..I really can't tell the difference)

4 T oil

2 large onions, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups chicken broth (or ham broth if you've got it)

3 cups water or broth ((use water if you are going to be clever and boil a ham bone in in the soup to get more flavor). I used chicken broth here. I might have added more so there was enough liquid. I forget.)

2 bay leaves

1 T italian seasoning

2 large potatoes, chopped

chopped ham (2 cups?)

directions:

I think I soaked the beans overnight and then made the beans in the crockpot. Cooked on low for 8 hrs I think, along with ham broth.

Saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until softish. Add beans (soaked or fully cooked) and the rest of ingredients. Boil until veges are cooked. (or for 2 hrs if beans were only soaked)

note: (I got this recipe off of the back of the Safeway Navy Beans wrapper. It says to use a 2 lb ham hock and cook it for 2 hrs with all the ingredients (and soaked beans). Then says to remove ham hock, cut ham off of it and return to soup.)

Turkey Chili with White Beans

2010-12-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Chili-with-White-Beans-3090

I have made this according to the directions, as well as in the pressure cooker. It is good either way.

For the pressure cooker:

I browned the turkey and soaked ~1.5 cups dried white beans for 6 hours (longer is fine for sure, soak at least 4 hrs I think though). Rinse the beans. Then I put it all in my 4 quart pressure cooker pot with the rest of ingredients (raw chopped onion) and brought it to pressure, then cooked for 15-20 min, then let sit for 10 minutes off heat (so to let it naturally depressurize), then pulled off the pressure regulator and let the rest of the steam escape. Turned out great.