Brunswick Stew

Here is another one for the crock pot!

1 T Chicken Soup Base (or bouillon)
3 T Dried Chopped Onion
1 T Cornstarch
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Dried Oragano
Salt and Pepper to taste
10 to 12 oz of precooked Chicken
6 oz Diced Ham
1 (15 oz) Can Green Beans, undrained
1 (15 oz) Can Whole Kernel Corn, undrained
1 (15 oz) Can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
2 (15 oz) Cans Chicken Broth

I like to combine everything down to the salt and pepper in a small bowl. Put all the rest of the ingredients in and then the dry mixture on top. Then stir every thing together.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.(more or less, 6 hours or 10, not a problem)

Again, you can use any leftover meats that you like or have. Use different canned vegetables that your family prefers.

I have this in the crock pot for supper tonight. It smells so good! I love the smell of oragano!

Black Bean and Corn Soup for the Crock Pot

I like beans. Ron, however does not. Too bad for him!

Add meat to this if you want. Like smoked turkey, leftover turkey, chicken, ham, beef, any meat you like. Leftovers are great for this. Add what ever you want of pre-cooked meat.

This is so quick and easy. You can dump it all in the crock pot, stir and leave it to cook all day.

2 (14.5 oz) Cans Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) Can Whole Kernel Corn (not drained)
1 (14.5 oz) Can Mexican Style Diced Tomatoes (not drained)
1 (14.5 oz) Chicken Broth
1 Bag Spice Mixture

Spice Bag: (make up ahead to have on hand)

1 T Ground Cumin
1 T Dried Chopped Onion
1 tsp Dried Minced Garlic
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Combine spice ingredients in a small bowl and put in a small zip top bag. Label it and keep it on hand with the canned goods. When you have some leftover meat throw it all in the crock pot.

Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. (More or less.) Serve with cornbread, tortilla chips, warm buttered tortillas... whatever you like.

I made this one Sunday. We left for some reason and didn't get back for supper. So I put it in single serve containers. 3 went in the freezer and 2 in the refrigerator to take to work. Perfect!

See what you think.

Pumpkin Raisin Scones

Well, the original recipe for this is just too much like a muffin for me. If I wanted a muffin I would make muffins. Scones are different.

Scones are glorified baking powder biscuits. I love plain BP biscuits if we are going to have sausage gravy to pour over them, or turkey and noodle gravy, or any kind of gravy. Scones are generally sweetened and have nuts and/or dried fruit mixed in, or made with sweet spices. Scones are meant to be eaten with a hot drink. (TEA) When you have time to relax and enjoy. At least that's what they are to me. How about you?

Having said that though, they were good. The next time I make them they will be scones; less sugar, more fat, less moisture.

Here is the original:
(Verla Carlson, Webster City IA)

3 Cups Flour
2/3 Cup Sugar, plus 1 T Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
4 T cold Butter, cut into cubes
1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
3/4 Cup Raisins

Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt and 1/2 tsp spice. Add butter and mix in with a pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk pumpkin, buttermilk and egg. Gently stir into dough with raisins. Drop by 1/2 cupfuls onto baking sheet.In a small bowl, mix 1 T sugar and 1/2 tsp spice. Sprinkle over scones. Bake at 400 degrees for 16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack.

My version:


3 Cups Flour
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
8 T Cold Unsalted Butter, sliced
1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/3 Cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
1 Cup Dried Cranberries or Raisins
Topping:
2T Sugar
1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the first 6 ingredients. With the mixer running on low, add the butter in one piece at a time. Let the mixer do the work of breaking down the butter and flour till you have what looks like crumbs. In another small bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Dump all at once into the mixer, still running on low, with the cranberries until just combined. Dump out on a well floured counter space and knead just enough for it to hang together. Pat out into a circle not quite an inch thick and cut into 12 wedges. Place the wedges on the baking sheet so they are not touching, evenly spaced. Pour 2 T of buttermilk into the bowl you whisked the wet ingredients in and brush the buttermilk onto the tops of the scones. Combine the 2 topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the buttermilk. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven 15 to 20 minutes or golden brown.

Cool and EAT! Yummy!

I Found It! Coffee Cake!

I found the coffee cake recipe I was looking for a week ago! Oh happy day!

This is my basic dough with a couple of variations. Again I have no idea where I started from for this one. I know it started with the dough and then I found a different recipe that was similar so I just adjusted this one to make it work. Then I tried different toppings. The Cinnamon one is my favorite.

I love to experiment. In high school I loved 9th grade science class. We got to go into the lab and do experiments at least once a week or more. Very basic stuff but Mr. Tuttle let us figure it all out on our own. He always answered a question with a question. It was frustrating to talk to him but we learned to figure it out. And no one got hurt, that I remember.

So this is one of my experiments that came out very well.

I use a bread machine for the dough most of the time. My shoulders have gotten bad so the machine saves me from a lot of pain. You can use a stand mixer if you don't have a bread machine or do it by hand. What ever works for you.

7 Ounces of Milk (this really is an important measurement)
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 Egg (slightly beaten)
2 T Butter (Softened)
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 Cups Bread Flour

If using a bread machine, put it into the pan in the order recommended by your machine. If you are doing it by hand you already know how to make a dough. So you can figure it out for yourself. If using a stand mixer use the instruction that are in the book that came with your machine, kneading till smooth and elastic.

This is a very sticky dough. That's a good thing. You want as much of the topping to stick to it as possible.

After letting the dough rise the first time, knead it for a minute to get the large air bubbles out. Now you have the 'cake' part of the coffee cake. The good part is next!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Mix together to make a crumb topping:

3/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I use dark brown sugar. It has more flavor)
1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon (Penzey's)
Dash of salt
6 T Cold Butter cut into pieces

Cut in the butter until the whole mixture is "crumbly".

Grease a 9x13 pan. Place the dough in the pan and stretch it to fit as best you can. It's bumpy and uneven. It will not fit very well and seem like it's never gonna work. Trust me! Sprinkle with the topping (all over, let it fall down the sides)and set aside to raise covered with a dish towel. After about 45 minutes pop it into a 375 degree preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Allow to cool but still warm and serve. It's really good like this but you can also drizzle with icing made from 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla and 1 T milk.

Enjoy!

Should I give you the Chocolate version now or wait for another time? I think I'll wait. Just to see if any one is paying attention! Now I have to go make some to get a picture for you! oh darn!

Egg Bake

I have several Egg Bake recipes that I use. This first one is good for large groups, but can be cut down if needed. I'm not sure where it came from, but like all of my recipes, it's not exactly the same as when it came to me. Lets just say I modified it.

24 Eggs
3 to 4 Cups Milk
1 T Pepper Blend
1 T Salt
3 to 4 Cups Meat (diced ham or sausage)
2 lb Frozen Hash Browns, thawed
4 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or any mixture of shredded cheeses)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the pan(s) with cooking spray and set aside.

Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl. If you want to use 2 9x13 pans, make this in two batches; 12 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, etc. Beat the eggs enough to bust up the yolks. Then add the milk, salt and pepper blend. Whisk together until well blended. Spread the hash browns in the pan(s). Layer the meat on top of the hash browns. Gently pour the egg mixture into the pan. Top with the shredded cheese.

Bake for about an hour or until set. The cheese should be golden and not too dark. If it looks like it's getting darker than you want or like, cover with foil to finish baking.

This should feed 15 to 20 people, depending on what else you serve with it.

So... I'm a Pile-It

Ron calls me a Pile-It. He says I'm the best one there has ever been. OK, so I have a problem. Like no one else ever does it. But apparently I belong in the hall of fame. (If there even is one?)

I make piles of recipes. Be it cookbooks or hand written or printed off the computer, there's a pile for it. Sometimes they even sit on the counter for days. Ron says weeks, but I beg to differ. Anyway, I'm a Pile-It. There, I admitted it. Isn't admitting you have a problem the bigger share of fixing it? Not that I need to fix it, mind you.

The only reason I bring this up is because I lost a recipe. No, I misplaced a recipe. It must have gotten in the wrong pile. Now that I want to get my hands on it I can't find it. It's for a coffee cake that I like to make for the guys at Allied. (I bake for their coffee brake in the mornings.) It's one that is easy and good. One that I made up by combining several recipes into one. It is frustrating not to be able to get my hands on it when I want it. It'll turn up eventually.

The good thing is... I found so many more that I want to get on here, that I want to share with the world! (Yes, I now have a new pile!) Where would you like me to begin? Main dishes, sides, breads, deserts? Cookies, bars or muffins?

Potato Salad
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Greek Pasta Salad
Lasagna
Brown Sugar Bread
Barm Brack
Bread Pudding
Egg Bake
Grandma O's Sugar Cookies
Cream Cheese Cookies
House Seasoning
Granola Bars

Those are just a few I pulled off of the "pile" that needs to be sorted. I just realized that to post the recipes I will have to make them to get pictures. Oh Darn! Oh, and by the way, I'm not going to take a picture of my piles. That would be just a bit too revealing!

My daughter, Jodi, asked me for an Egg Bake recipe, so maybe I will start there. That may not get a picture until she makes it though. I'm not a big egg eater myself and Ron doesn't need to eat a whole egg bake himself. It starts with 24 eggs!

Please let me know what you would like to see for recipes here. I won't put in a recipe I haven't made myself. If it doesn't turn out for me I will let you know that too. I would love some feedback!

Low Fat Granola

As I said before I am going to work on making my own granola. Well here goes my first try. (How many do you think it will take?)

1 1/2 pounds Regular Rolled Oats
1 pound Quick Oats
1/2 Cup Flax Meal
1/2 Cup Spelt Flour (YES, I have this on hand)
3 Cup Crisp Rice Cereal
1 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup Brown Sugar

Combine all that stuff in a very large bowl. Oats are very light weight.

Next, in a small sauce pan on the stove top, not in the microwave, mix together 1/4 Cup of Canola Oil and 1/4 Cup Honey. Heat it just to warm. Do not let it boil!

Off the heat stir in 1 Tbsp of Vanilla. Pour over the ingredients in the bowl. Stir with a spoon until it's mixed in and not hot to the touch, then use your hands. At this point your hands will work the best for mixing.

Divide this mixture onto 3 or 4 sheet pans. I have 3 racks in my oven and large sheet pans so I used 3. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about an hour. Stirring at 10 minute intervals until toasty.

In my research on "Low Fat Granola", I discovered that granola is not 'low fat' always because of the ingredients that are in it. Nuts and seeds have fats and oils. Most of those fats and oils are good for you. So 10g of fat from nuts IS better for you that 10g of fat from the french fries you had for lunch. So as long as you don't add a bunch of oil to it, I'm not going to worry about the fat content. And 300 calories of a good granola is far better than 300 calories of candy. Am I making any sense?

Well I think it's toasty enough to take out of the oven now. I will let it cool and add a couple of cups of dried fruit. And it's ready to eat. Let's see, I have some bananas. Yep, there is some strawberry yogurt. Frozen blueberries, check. I could open a can of pineapple chunks, too. I'm looking forward to breakfast!

Impromptu Breakfast

This morning we had an impromptu breakfast in the garage. Not everybody can set up a restaurant in their garage at a moments notice.

Most people that bring home strays, bring home puppies or kittens. My husband brings home every stray refrigerator he comes across. I would think he would stop doing it because if there is a refrigerator, that works, and not full, I will fill it. He brings it home, I fill it. What can I say? The local grocery store, Wood's Supermarket, just loves us.

Anyway, I always have plenty of eggs (4 dozen at least) on hand. As well as many other things needed to make breakfast for Ron. Like: hashbrowns, onions, peppers, sausage gravy, biscuits... and if they aren't made up, it doesn't take long to make them... usually. Depending on the request we can make just about anything you might want for breakfast. (Even a breakfast banana split!)

We need a little practice on setting up for breakfast with the new (to us) griddle. We are planning on doing a large scale friends and family breakfast on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Even with just a small group we learned a lot of things. Like, Ron figured out he didn't want to try to do bacon on the griddle. I'll be making that in the oven like it should be done. (see post "Bacon") He also figured out what needs to go where. Placement is huge for efficiency. So the practice was a good thing.


Mom and Dad showed up as well as Courtney and Preston. Mary came with Justin and Danielle. I think that was it, besides Ron and I. So just a small group. I think everybody went home full,too!

Quesadilla for Supper

For supper tonight I made quesadilla. So simple, so easy, so gooooood!

Ingredients:
Tortillas
Chopped Cooked Chicken
Chopped Onion
Chopped Sweet Peppers
Chopped Bacon
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Those are the ingredients I used last night. When I was cooking at the bowling alley (Family Fun Zone) I used a few other things like Corn and Black Beans... You can use what ever you have on hand and like.

The first thing I do is heat up some of the ingredients in a frying pan. Last night I had some bacon so I chopped that up and put it in the pan first to get some fat in there without adding any more than necessary. Once there was a bit of fat in the pan I added the onion and peppers. I prefer them cooked al dente, not raw but not mushy. Then add the chicken so it can get heated through.

In another pan you need to start the tortillas. I brush a very small amount of butter flavored oil (1/2 tsp) on one side of a tortilla. Place it oil side down in a hot pan. Then spread about a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on and let it start to melt. Add the chicken mixture from the other pan onto the cheese.

Take the second tortilla and place it in the hot pan that cooked the chicken. That's to warm it up, not to cook it. Place a small amount of cheese on top of the meat mixture then the warmed tortilla and allow them to heat through for a minute or two. After that, slide it out onto a cutting board. Cut into 4, 6 or 8 wedges like a pizza. Place on a serving plate and eat.

You can serve it with sour cream and salsa on the side. Guacamole too,if you have some.

There are so many ways to make this. Everyone has a different way of doing it. The general idea though is to at least put cheese between two tortillas and heat it to melt the cheese. From that basic idea comes a multitude of variations. Any meat, any vegetable, any cheese that melts, any toppings...

So play with your food and see what happens! Tell me what you end up with.

My birthday was fantastic!

Yes, it was my birthday. So why did I let Ron choose where we would go and what we would eat? Not sure, but he chose a very good place to go. The Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs is a great place to stay. The room was nice and the food was superb.

The room was just a basic room. It had a large flat screen TV. Ron liked that. Beds were comfortable. The water was soft and that you don't find just everywhere. It was quiet and that's huge for a light sleeper like me. Of course we were on the third floor and that helps. Basic but nice.

The slot machines were pretty tight. I never did see what the percentage was. My $20 went pretty fast as always. (last of the big time spenders here!) Ron played with $100 for quite a while and was only down $10 by the time we were done. So I guess it wasn't too bad, after all. It was fun.

Now about the food!

We got to the hotel about 2:00pm. It was too early to check in. So we wandered around to see what was available. The fancy restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday, the days we were there. So we checked out the sports bar. Typical sports bar food; burgers, fries and wings. Looked good but not what we were after. Next came the cafe and bakery. Right up my alley! It looked like a good place for breakfast. (and it was) Lastly came the buffet. All you can eat Prime Rib Buffet. Just what Ron was looking for!

The buffet itself was set up very well I thought, close but not crowded. A variety of cuisines were represented, the most popular ones. There was Yankee Pot Roast, Lasagna and some stir fry. Baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, steamed green beans and buttered corn for your choosing. There were salads, a beautiful spinach salad sat next to a Cesar salad. You could also put your own salad together with the fixins that were available. And the desert bar was right up front. Now that was a feast for the eyes. A chocolate fountain was the center of attention. Cheesecakes, pie and cupcakes...

Ron had 6, 1/2" slices of Prime Rib and 2 Baked potatoes. Oh ya, and a bit of ice-cream to fill in the cracks. (As if there were any cracks left!) I had 2 or 3 bites of... oh just a lot of things, so many I don't think I could name them all. It was all very good. Ron seemed to be in pain by the time he was done so we just went back to our room. Just like home, Ron watched football while I read. (maybe we are getting old?)

Most buffet have gotten to be prepackaged foods that someone just reheats. This one seemed to actually be prepared on site foods. I was impressed.


Breakfast! It was heaven! I was so wrapped up in my own breakfast I'm not sure what Ron did have. I'm sure it was eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and sausage gravy. That's his favorite. Mine was simple and Divine! They called it a Breakfast Banana Split. Vanilla Yogurt, sliced Banana, sliced Strawberries, Blueberries, Red Raspberries and Granola. Now how wonderful does that sound? It was scrumptious! Oh, I also had a toasted English muffin. Only ate half the muffin though.




If you ever get a chance to stay at the Ameristar Casino and hotel in Council Bluffs, do. We had a great time!

I know this is supposed to be about recipes. I'm working on a low fat granola recipe. most of them have so much fat in them as well as a bunch of sugar. I'll let you all know what I come up with. If you have a recipe for low fat granola please share!