spinach and cilantro dal

i have spinach and cilantro coming out my ears, so this was a good recipe.  i liked it, doug liked it, the kids just need to get used to cooked spinach and they would like it...maybe.

changes i made:  i have no garlic in my house.  (doug doesn't like it and i can't tolerate it while pregnant.)  so i used garlic powder.  i did have tumeric and mustard seed, but i didn't have fresh tomatoes so i used canned.

and i want to try this recipe for honey butter popovers.  yummy.

cheese puffs with chives

found this recipe on the back of a package of cheese. the kids liked it, doug liked it, i liked it-- rare when all three occur. plus the kids had fun cutting the chives from our garden.

cake balls

for last year's valentine's day, i made these cake balls. mine didn't turn out as pretty as hers. but man, did it ever taste good. i used this recipe for the cream cheese frosting. mmmm...i think i might just make some for this year.

of course, it was incredibly messy. and i should have taken off the wedding ring.

the kids had a lot fun licking the beaters and the bowl. sure made a mess on their faces too.

chicken glaze

used this for chicken wings.  but i don't really like chicken wings, so i think i will save this recipe for a marinade for chicken breasts:

1/2 cup mango nectar (i used apricot-pineapple preserves)
1/4 cup honey
1-2 T. red hot sauce (i used 1/2 cup.  the good kind with lime juice)
salt and pepper

rub for the 40 chicken wings:
1 T. salt
1 T. pepper
2 t. garlic powder
2 t. onion powder
2 t. ground tumeric

2 T. canola oil.


not sure how i'll put this together for chicken breasts, but i'll figure it out

Winco's Old Fashioned Oats

again, another recipe for winco bulk:

oatmeal

2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/8 tsp. salt

add oats to boiling salted water, cover, cook 5 minutes.

couscous

winco is great, bulk is great, but i have a tendency to lose the recipes/directions for their bulk food items. so here is winco's recipe for their bulk couscous so i can find it at 5:30 when i am making dinner.

bring 1 1/2 cups water or broth to a boil. add 2 tablespoons butter, 1 cup whole wheat couscous, 1/2 tsp. salt, stir. reduce hear, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. stir to fluff up and serve. makes 5 1/2 cup servings.

cream cheese frosting recipe

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Frosting-II-2/Detail.aspx

very good. five stars. i cut it in half and had enough for my needs. i have forgotten what my needs were at the time...

creamy chicken noodle soup

creamy chicken noodle soup.

5 cups water
3 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon or base
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups cream of chicken soup
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups dry egg noodles or country style noodles from recipe below.
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cold water

bring water to a boil in a large pot. add chicken, bouillon and stir until dissolved. cover and cook for 20-30 min until chicken is no longer pink in the center. remove chicken and cut in small pieces. return to broth and add carrots, celery, and onion. cover and cook until tender. add noodles and cook for ten minutes or until noodles are tender. mix creamm of chicken soup, evaporated milk, and spices together and add to vegetables. stir in chicken. whisk in flour and cold water together stirring until smooth. stir flour mixture into soup and cook until thickened.

country style noodles

3 cups flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water

combine eggs, water and salt in mixer. add flour a cup at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. add enough flour until dough is smooth and not sticky. divide into 2 parts. roll our each half until paper thin. cut into 1/2 inch wide and 4 inch length strips with pizza cutter. place in boiling water and cook for 7-10 min or until firm

CHANGE

i voted. but i must say, for two candidates who are saying they are for change, they missed. i mean, how long are we going to be repressed under an ancient system of measurement? i was cooking the other day, and i couldn't remember how many teaspoons were in a tablespoon (3) or how many tablespoons were in a cup (16). when i worked in a lab, i was surprised how easy the metric system was to work with...

anyway, until a candidate supports switching over the metric system, that's when i will put their bumper sticker on my car. or a sign on my lawn.


p.s. here is a great site for easy conversions. but if we had the metric system, you could do it in your head.

hmmm food...

http://www.hungryscientist.com/

the name says it all.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

from the back of a fred meyer black bean can. very delicious. (I am putting this up so i can throw away the can...sigh...)

1 15oz can black beans
1 12oz can whole kernel corn
1 med tomato, diced
1 sm red onion diced
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp cumin powder

drain and rinse beans and corn. combine in a medium bowl with tomato and onion. mix and add lime juice and cumin.

of course, i like more tomatoes. i have used canned tomatoes in it too.

fixed the bug

k, got the pictures to show up on the bug post. now if you know what it is, let me know? thanks.


oh and i tried this recipe yesterday with some squash and tomatoes from our garden. very good. 5 stars.

cantaloupe soup

it actually turned out pretty good (much better than the picture of it). isaac loved it. in fact, he ate most of it. it doesn't keep, though. i would eat it up pretty fast.

i looked up recipes online and decided to go free style. or actually combine recipes and use what i had on hand.
so here's how it went down:

1 cantaloupe pureed in a blender.
1 cup heavy cream added to the cantaloupe puree.
1 orange squeezed into the soup.
lots of sugar (3 Tbsp, at least) and some cinnamon and vanilla until it tasted good.

hmmm....cookies.....

off the back of reese's peanut butter chips:

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
3.4 cup Cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter softened (not too sure about that, think I would reduce the amount of butter)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups (10 oz pkg) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips


1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Stir together flour cocoa baking soda and salt. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips.
3. drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes. (do not overbake, cookies will be soft.)

about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

this makes very, very good cookies. but i definitely would use less butter.


tags: cookies

fruit salad, yummy yummy

doug brought this to a potluck. we got this idea from a girl who brought it to another potluck when we lived in another state. i thought it was a cute, fun idea.

so did doug, who did the carving. (anything with knives, and he is all over it.)

Baked Chicken With Tarragon, Mustard and Pear

I got this from the newspaper and tried it. i thought it was the best chicken i have had in a long time. it was very tender. now i don't know if this is because i cooked it with pear or because i beat the crapola out of it with a rolling pin...

2 chicken breast halves (boneless and skinless, of course. i don't like being reminded of where my food comes from. though i would like a badge made out of this...)

2 med Anjou pears
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 - 3/4 t cayenne pepper (i actually liked it better without, and i like spicy things)
1 t dried tarragon
2 t balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 T Dijon-style mustard
salt
pepper

preheat oven to 375 degrees

place chicken in plastic wrap and pound to an even thickness of 1/2-3/4 inch.
peel, core, and slice the pears
melt butter in lg ovenproof skillet over med. heat
add cayenne pepper to taste, tarragon, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper to taste
add chicken and quickly turn over so both sides are well coated.
remove from heat and arrange the pear slices around chicken
transfer to the oven and bake for about 15 min or just until chicken is cooked through.
serve hot

i like to serve it with cous cous.

doug liked the chicken, but really didn't like the pears. so they were all mine, baby. mallory and isaac loved the cous cous. it was all over the kitchen afterwards.

poor doug didn't have a good week with my cooking, after i made him this, the next day i made greek chicken and potatoes, which, besides the chicken and potatoes, didn't contain one ingredient that doug liked. but he said it tasted better than it smelled-- a compliment or not, i am still trying to figure out... then the day after that i made curry a little hotter than normal...the next day he said that he would make dinner. my evil plan is working...

Christmas goodies

Don't you wish you were our neighbor?

we, of course, filled it out a little more than that.

I got the recipe for these holly wreath cookies from my neighbor growing up. She would make them every Christmas for our neighborhood caroling party, and they were always my favorite.

Holly Wreath Cookies

30-40 lg Marshmallows
1 cube margarine
1 t. vanilla
2 t. green food coloring
4 1/2 c. corn flakes
Red cinnamon candies

Melt marshmallows and margarine in a large saucepan. Add vanilla and food coloring. Remove from heat and add corn flakes. Blend well. Drop by teaspoonfulls on waxed paper. Dot with red cinnamon candies.

This recipe is from a friend from when we lived in Pendleton, Or

Gingerbread Boys

mix thoroughly:

1/3 c. soft shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. dark molasses

stir in:

2/3 c. cold water

sift together and stir in:

4 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 t. salt
1 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
2 t. soda
1 t. all spice
1 t. cloves

Chill dough, roll out very thick (1/2 in)
Place apart on lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees until no imprint remains when touched lightly with finger.

Sugar cookies:

recipe from grandma in law. very very very good.

Toffee:

also from in laws, and also very very good. however, i recommend personal instruction in order to make it. doug is the toffee maker in our house.


Mallory helping make said goodies:

helping and eating

Susie's Sweet Potato Casserole

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

2 lbs sweet potatoes (4-6 potatoes, peeled, cut in 1" cubes)

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C butter

2 eggs

1/3 C milk or cream

1 tsp vanilla

Put potatoes in cold water and cook high to boiling; reduce and simmer until cooked; drain and mash with remaining ingredients. Preheat oven to 350

PECAN STRUDEL TOPPING

1 C pecans (coarsely chopped)

2/3 C brown sugar

1/2 C flour

1/3 C butter, melted

combine the first three, then add butter to the crumbs.

Bake for 40 mins.

pumpkin stains

I tried the pumpkin pie recipe that my sister posted. I switched the graham cracker crust to an crushed oreo crust (store bought, of course) to make it more halloweeny. we all liked it. except i am still trying to get out the pumpkin stains three weeks later. (i did get the chocolate out. i think i have a new winner of stains that i can't get out. i tried the pumpkin soup too (very good as well), and still working on those clothes as well.

apples

a friend just dropped off a bag of apples. yum. if i had time, this is what i would make with them. instead i will take the time to type it out? anyways, this is from my mom...and i think it is manna from heaven.

danish apple pastry

combine:
2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. salt

cut in 1 cup shortening. Beat 1 egg yolk with enough milk to make 2/3 cup liquid and stir into flour mixture. On floured surface, roll 1/2 dough to 17 x 12 inch rectangle. Fit into and up sides of 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch pan. sprinkle with 1 cup corn flakes. top with 8 to 10 tart apples, pared and sliced (8 cups). (my comment: the tarter the apples, the better, otherwise too sweet.)

combine:
3/4 to 1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

sprinkle over apples. roll remaining dough to 15 1/2 to 10 1/2 rectangle. Place over apples. seal edges. cut slits in top. beat 1 egg white till frothy; brush on crust. bake in 375 degree oven for 50 min.

combine:
1 c. sifted powdered sugar
3-4 tsp milk

drizzle on warm pastry. makes 3 dozen.