Recipe of the Week #7

Hallie and Carter are at shcool, Jackson is at preschool and I laid Grace down for a nap. I have grand thoughts of all the things that I am going to get done; but what do I do? I bake. That is what you are suppose to do on a cold day. The east coast is under a winter weather advisory. Tonight is is suppose to be -5. That is unheard of in Georgia. So I better take advantage of it while I can. I put some Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Chowder in the crockpot and start thinking about what I can make with some zucchini that needs to be used. It has to be well hidden or the kids wont eat it. So I will make Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins.

3/4 cup whole wheat pasty flour (or all-purpose)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 shredded apple

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1/4 cup pecans or walnuts

Mix all dry ingredients together. In a bowl whisk egg, oil, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients. Fold in the zucchini, apple, chocolate chips, and nuts. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Grace woke up while I was making these. So I put her in her high chair and let her have some multi grain Cheerios. They are her new favorite. When I gave them to her so grabbed fistfulls and put them in her mouth as best she could.

Later she started scooting all over and come in the kitchen to wait paitently for the muffins to be done.

After the muffins were done I made Three Great Tastes Blond Brownies and Cornbread. (I am not going to eat all of this stuff. I am taking it to a girl in my ward that just had a baby.)

So I did not great any of the things I needed to do checked off my list, but I did have fun baking. Maybe tomorrow I will get those things done. Or maybe I will find another recipe that is calling my name and begging to be made!

Recipe of the Week #6

Here is an easy breakfast recipe that is in the crockpot. This is what we are having on Christmas morning. We eat these in tortillas with salsa like a breakfast burrito.

Crockpot Western Omelet Casserole
serves 12

32 ounces frozen hash browns
1 pound bacon, ham or sausage, cooked
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 dozen eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper


1. Place a layer of frozen hash browns in bottom of slow cooker, followed by a layer of bacon then onion, bell pepper and cheese. Repeat layering process two or three more times, ending with a layer of cheese.
2. Beat the eggs, milk and salt and pepper together. Pour over the mixture in the crockpot, cover and turn on low. Cook for about 8 hours.

Recipe of the Week #5

Here are 2 recipes that I used for our ward Christmas Enrichment. The Beef recipe makes a lot but freezes really well. The jello also makes a lot. I don't know what else to tell you to do with all of it other than eat it. I also think it should be renamed because Fruity Gelatin Salad just sounds boring. It is really good for the holidays because of the color and the cranberries; but I have also made it in the summer for girls camp and they really liked it. (Even the ones that swore they hated cranberries or jello). So give them a try.

Flavorful Beef in Gravy
serves 12
3 lbs beef stew meat
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can golden mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/3 cups milk
1 envelope onion soup mix
mashed potatoes or hot cooked noodles

Place beef in a 5 quart crock pot. Mix together soups and milk. Pour over beef and stir. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.


Fruity Gelatin Salad
serves 15-18

6 ounces cherry jello
1 cup boiling water
10 ounces frozen sweetened sliced strawberries
20 ounces crushed pineapple, undrained
16 ounces whole-berry cranberry sauce

In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in strawberries until berries are separated. Stir in the pineapple and cranberry sauce until blended. Transfer to 9x13 pan and refrigerate until firm.

Recipe of the Week #4

I bought a whole bunch of cranberries at the store during the week of Thanksgiving. So here are some muffins that I made with them.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons water
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 teaspoon orange extract
zest of 1 orange
1 cup cranberries, chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted


Preheat oven to 400. Mix first 6 ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together and slowly mix with dry ingredients. Chop cranberries and fold into batter. Toast almonds. Fill muffin cup and sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

If you dont want to use the whole wheat pastry flour you can use all purpose.
You also can replace the flax seed with another egg.

Recipe of the Week #3

Well maybe I should rename this post to recipe of the month, because I have not done one since Halloween. Oh well, I will try to be better at doing one every week. But here is one of my favorites. Pecan pie is probably my favorite pie. Especially if it is done correctly. (Done correctly to me is whole pecan pieces on the top and little chopped up pieces floating around in the heavenly filling. I think that my mouth is watering just thinking about it!) And if you really want to have a treat you can get a pecan cobbler a la mode from the Whistle Stop Cafe in Kennesaw, GA. Anyway back to the real reason I was posting. This is a recipe that you can use for Thanksgiving if you are wanting to limit your Pecan Pie intake. (But who would want to do that.)

Pecan Tassies
24 tarts

Shells
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c flour
Filling
2 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped

For tart shells, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add flour; mix until a soft dough forms. Cover; refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls of dough into ungreased cups of mini muffin pan. Dip a tart shaper in flour; press into dough to form tart shells. (If you dont have a tart shaper you can make an indention with your thumb or the back of a spoon.)
For filling, microwave butter on high for 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Chop pecans, stir into filling. Using a small scoop, fill each tart shell with a scoop of filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool in pan for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Recipe of the Week #2

Here are some Halloween/Fall recipes.

Pizza Dip in a Pumpkin
1 small pie pumpkin (about 2 ½ pounds)
½ cups finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 ½ cups pizza sauce
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup finely chopped pepperoni
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Breadsticks
Cut top off of pumpkin; scoop out seeds and fibers. Replace top; place pumpkin on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until hot. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, sauté onion and green pepper, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through and cheese is melted. Pour into hot pumpkin. Serve with breadsticks. Yield: 3 cups

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins with Streusel Topping
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups finely chopped peeled apples
Topping
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. Combine eggs, pumpkin and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups three-fourths full. For topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; sprinkle 1 teaspoon over each muffin. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: about 1 ½ dozen

Recipe of the Week #1

Well, when I started this blog I thought about putting a section of recipes and adding a new on each week. Never did it. But the other night I taught a class about crockpot cooking and the girls (women, but I like to call all women "girls") wanted more recipes so I thought I would start adding them on here and if they are that interested in getting my recipes then they will also have to read our somewhat boring blog. So here is my first recipe. They will not always be crockpot recipes; but maybe the first few since they were wanting more.

Fudgy Peanut Butter Cake
Category: Crock pot
Serves 4
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp baking cocoa
1 cup boiling water

In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of sugar, flour, and baking powder. In another bowl, combine the milk, peanut butter, oil and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until combined. Spread evenly into a slow cooker coated with nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine the cocoa and remaining sugar; stir in boiling water. Pour into slow cooker (do not stir). Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2-2 hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center of cake comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream.