Beef Stew

1-2 lbs stew meat
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4-1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
4 carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
3 potatoes diced.

Place meat in slow cooker. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir into meat until coated thouroughly. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours or high 4-6 hours.

I put all mine in a pot and boiled it on the stove. I did add more water, maybe twice as much and brought to a boil and then simmered it for an hour until everthing in was cooked through.

Crispy Honey mustard Chicken

2/3 cup honey mustard
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup smashed cornflakes
1-2 pounds chicken- breasts- or tenderloins

Preheat oven to 425. Coat a pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl combine honey mustard, salt and pepper.

Place cornflake crumbs in a bowl. Dip chicken into dressing and then to cornflakes, place in pan.

Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink in the center. 15 minutes for strips 20-30 minutes for whole chicken breasts.

skillet lasagna

1 pound ground beef 1/4 cup onion 1/2 cup green pepper 1 1/2 cups mini bowtie noodles 1 1/4 cups water 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning 1 jar pasta sauce 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese 1. Cook beef, onion and pepers until browned. drain. 2. Stir remaining ingrediantes except cheese. Heat to a boil. reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes covered. Top with cheese.

Spaghetti and meatballs

Meatballs:
1 pound Ground Beef or other ground meat
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2- 3/4 cups Fine Bread Crumbs
2 whole Eggs
1/2 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
1/8 cup Parsley, you can use dried or fresh
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Olive Oil for browning the meatballs.

  Sauce:
1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 -28 Ounce Cans Crushed Tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

To make the meatballs, combine meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley in a mixing bowl. Mix together well with hands. Roll into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to firm up.
To brown the meatballs, heat olive oil in a heavy pot or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs turning to brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel after each batch.
In the same pot, add the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes, or until translucent. Pour in crushed tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, sugar, and parsley. Stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
Add meatballs to pot and stir in gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring very gently a couple of times during the simmer.
Just before serving, stir in basil if using.
Serve over cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

Adapted from thepioneerwomancooks.com

Leek and Potato Soup

2 leeks, trimmed, sliced in half lengthwise, coarsly chopped and rinsed
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and pressed
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 TBSP. olive oil
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 boullion cube
1/2 tsp sea salt
Black pepper

In a pot heat oil, add onions and leeks. Cook for 10 minutes stirring constantly or until they begin to soften. Add potatoes, salt, garlic and liquid. Bring to a boil. Add boullion cubes. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. You can leave the soup as it is or you can blend it. We blended half and left half as it was and combined.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Corn bread

1 cup milk 1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Heat oven to 400. Grease bottom and sides of round cake pan. Beat milk, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour into pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Chicken & Sugar Snap Stir Fry

4 chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion chopped
 6 carrots peeled and sliced
8 oz sugar snap peas
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
4 tsp light soy sauce
1 dash of pepper
2 tsp corn flour
1 egg white
2 tbsp sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 5 hours. Serve over rice.

Salmon with Herbed Garlic Butter

2 salmon fillets, weighing about 6 to 8 ounces each ½ stick butter 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon Lawry’s original seasoning salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning Juice of one lemon In a small bowl melt butter. Add garlic and microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients including lemon juice. Place salmon on a pan and drizzle butter sauce over salmon. If you have extra sauce you will want it to dip the salmon in after- this sauce is delicious! Put salmon in oven on 400 for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon. Adapted from: http://savoringtimeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/11/crispy-grilled-salmon-with-herbed.html

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese- I have always used the kind you grate yourself. 1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 3 boneless skinless chicken breast cut in half Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Mix cheese, dressing mix and garlic powder. 3. Moisten chicken breasts with water; coat with cheese mixture. Place in shallow baking dish. 4. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. from: http://www.momswhothink.com

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup white)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup blueberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Makes 12 muffins

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Set aside.

2. Mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Mix sour cream, milk, oil, egg, orange peel and vanilla in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Batter will be thick and slightly lumpy.) Gently stir in blueberries.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over muffins.

4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean. Serve warm with Honey Butter, if desired.

Tips

Apple Muffins: Prepare batter as directed. Use 1 cup peeled, cored and chopped apple in place of the blueberries.

Raspberry Muffins: Prepare batter as directed. Use 1 cup raspberries in place of the blueberries.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Garlic Fries

8 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges
3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1.Preheat oven to 225°C/440° F.
2.Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl, warming it until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
3.Transfer 5 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to the baking sheet, coating it well.
4.Add the potatoes to the bowl with the garlic mixture and toss to coat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and microwave on high power until the potatoes are translucent around the edges, 3 to 6 minutes, shaking the bowl to redistribute the potatoes halfway through cooking.
5.Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot potatoes and toss well to coat.
6.Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake, turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes.

from: http://purplefoodie.com/garlicky-baked-fries/

Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast in the Crockpot

3-4 pound boneless chuck roast or any kind of roast will work
1-2 T steak rub
black pepper to taste
1-2 T olive oil (depends on your pan)
1/4 cup water to deglaze pan
2-3 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced
1 cup beef stock, reduced to 1/2 cup (can use a can of beef broth, but be sure to reduce it)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Trim as much fat as you can from roast, and cut if necessary to fit into Crockpot. Rub meat well with steak seasoning and black pepper. Heat heavy pan with small amount of olive oil and brown roast well on both sides. This will take a few minutes; don't rush the browning step.



While roast browns put 1 cup beef stock in saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, then let cool slightly and mix in balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce. Peel onions and cut into thick slices. Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup water and add to sauce mixture.


(You can stop at this point and refrigerate browned roast, cut onions and mixed sauce ingredients and then put them in the Crockpot when you go to work in the morning. Don't refrigerate them in the crockery liner. Having the meat start out cold will add several hours to the cooking time, which will be good if you're cooking it all day while you're away.)



Place onions in bottom of Crockpot. Put meat on top of onions and pour beef stock mixture over. Set Crockpot to low and cook 6-8 hours, until beef is tender. The meat might be partly submerged in liquid after this much time. (If I am home, I might turn the meat once or twice.



Remove meat from crockpot and cover with foil to keep warm. Drain liquid from Crockpot and remove as much of the fat as you can with fat separator or skimmer. Cook down liquid by about 1/3, and serve sauce with meat and onions. - I added a tiny bit of sugar and cornstarch/water mixture to thicken it up.


Recipe from KalynsKitchen.com.

Creamy Potato Soup

6 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
6 cups chicken broth
6 potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1 tsp garlic
1 can corn
1 cup half-and-half or heavy whipping cream

Saute bacon and onions in a medium saute pan, until browned. Set aside.
Over low heat, in a medium sauce pan, cook flour and butter until pasty. Slowly add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in bacon and onion mixture, potatoes, garlic, corn and instant potatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes and then blend in half and half (optional). Serve.

Artisan loaf bread

The Master Recipe: Boule

(Artisan Free-Form Loaf)

Makes 4 1-pound loaves

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

Mixing and Storing the Dough

1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.

4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. We recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf. And relax! You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes.

5. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-sized) piece with a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four “sides,” rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn’t need to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf will flatten out during resting and baking.

6. Place the ball on a pan. Let it rest uncovered for about 40 minutes. Depending on the dough’s age, you may see little rise during this period; more rising will occur during baking.

7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on another shelf.

8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing, serrated knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1⁄4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tick-tack-toe pattern into the top. (This helps the bread expand during baking.)

9. Put pan in oven. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. With wet dough, there’s little risk of drying out the interior, despite the dark crust. When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will audibly crackle, or “sing,” when initially exposed to room temperature air. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing. The perfect crust may initially soften, but will firm up again when cooled.

10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks: You’ll find that even one day’s storage improves the flavor and texture of your bread. This maturation continues over the two-week period. Cut off and shape loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in an airtight container and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.



From: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

Honey and Spice glazed pork chops

Cooking spray
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves


Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.

Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned.

While pork is cooking, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl; set aside.

Reduce heat to medium-low; add honey mixture to the pork. Cook 10 minutes or until done, turning pork once.

Remove pork from the skillet and allow the sauce to boil until thickened and slightly reduced for a glaze, 3-5 minutes. Spoon glaze over the pork before serving.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Brown the pork as directed above and once browned, remove and allow to cool. Place cooled pork chops into a freezer storage bag. Add the remaining ingredients to the bag, seal and freeze. When reader to prepare, remove from the freezer and defrost, Transfer the contents into a crockpot, cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 3-5 hours. You might also like:

Cheddar and cracker chicken

16 buttery crackers (such as Ritz), crushed (about 3⁄4 cup)
6 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1-2 stalks scallions, thinly sliced
kosher salt and black pepper
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


Heat oven to 350° F.

In a bowl, combine the crackers, cheese, garlic, scallions and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Pound the chicken to about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness with a meat mallet. Dip the pounded chicken in the butter, then in the cracker mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere, and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle any remaining cracker mixture on the chicken and drizzle with any remaining butter. Bake until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, 20-25 minutes.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Prepare the chicken as directed above. After coating it in the cracker mixture, place chicken in a gallon sized freezer bag, seal and freeze flat in your freezer. When ready to prepare, place on a baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter. Bake as directed above from frozen until cooked through, possibly 30-35 minutes depending on thickness.

From: http://joelens.blogspot.com

No boil 3 cheese manicotti

Filling Ingredients (Place inside a gallon size freezer bag):
2 cups cottage cheese
1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1 ½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Combine filling ingredients and gently knead until thoroughly mixed.Clip a small corner, about 1/2"- just big enough to fit right inside the manacotti. The smaller the whole- the less the mess.

Remaining Ingredients:
1-8oz. package manicotti
½ cup mozzarella cheese
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Sauce recipe:

1 pound ground beef - browned with onion
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
2 cups tomato sauce
½ teaspoon basil
1 small onion, finely chopped.
Heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Spread 1/4 cup sauce in each pan. Pipe cheese filling into manicotti. Top with 1/4 cup mozzarella and 1/8 Parmesan cheese. Cover shells completely with sauce.

Bake covered with tinfoil at 375 for 1 hour.

If freezing: Thaw 24 hours. Bake covered with tinfoil at 375 for one hour until shells are tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

adapted from momonamission.me

carrot cake

2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c grated carrots
optional- 1/2 cup raisin or 1/2 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8X6 pan. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.