Recipe Challenge Week four

Bread week!

First I made Cinnamon Bread Delight on Friday. Substitutions: buttermilk for milk, two small packages of pudding(one vanilla and one butterscotch) and the applesauce was homemade chunky. Mmm!

Sunday I made Chocolate Apple bread. I didn't make the topping but that was my only change to the recipe=) This was good but not enough so that I'd make it again.

Cinnamon Bread Delight

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two 5x9 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth.

Sprinkle the bottoms of the loaf pans with cinnamon sugar, and divide the batter between the 2 pans. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean.

Sweet Marie Bars

These were fun for something new but I wouldn't make them again... The rice krispy part has corn syrup, peanut butter and brown sugar. The icing is chocolate.

"Riblets"

I don't buy frozen dinners but I've decided to try different vegetarian ones...I'm going to record it here because I won't remember which ones I liked and which ones I didn't unless I make note of it. (my memory is shot)
First off is Gardenburger's BBQ Riblets. These are vegan and so good. $2.46 a box with two riblets per box.

Black olive hummus

This is sooo good and making it myself will save a fortune over the price of a little container at the store! I haven't figured out how to cut the cost down on pita yet...still working on that.
Okay so I took a can of chickpeas and three cloves garlic and threw them in the food processor-pulsed until the chickpeas were lightly ground. Then I added 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 cup tahini, some salt, 1/2 cup water and turned it on for 3 minutes. Added in some black olives and pulsed it again until they were just chopped. Topped with a little paprika and wala my dinner! Everyone else likes it okay but noone would eat it as a meal except me.
I followed a recipe from Vegetarian Classics and added black olives.

This recipe I'm adding 7-4-09 and I like it even more

2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper
Drain beans and reserve the liquid when you do so.
Blend beans, along with the other ingredients and 1/4 cup of the liquid.
Process until the mixture is smooth.
Add liquid until the desired consistency is reached.
Adjust seasonings alongwith more cumin, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Shoofly Pie

My goal was to use up pancake mix...I was sure as I put it in the pie pan that it would be going to the birds or trash because it just looked "wrong"...but instead it's actually quite tasty especially with a morning coffee!

2 cups buttermilk pancake mix
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup milk(I used buttermilk)
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cold butter or
margarine
DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, combine the pancake mix, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside 1/3 cup for topping. In another bowl, combine milk and molasses. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Transfer to a greased 9-in. pie plate. In a small bowl, combine sugar and reserved pancake mix mixture. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Taco Casserole

I chose recipe #5 Taco Casserole

We really liked this! When we make it again we'll put in lots of black olives...we were stealing them out of our salad to put in it=)

The recipe doesn't say but we put in the diced tomatoes at the same time as the salsa.

Taco Casserole

3 c. uncooked bow tie pasta
1 lb ground beef
1/4 c chopped onion
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 c nacho cheese tortilla chips (doritos) crushed

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook beef and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the cheese, salsa, taco seasoning. Drain pasta; stir into the beef mixture. Transfer to a greased 11x7x2 inch baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 mins. Uncover and sprinkle with tortilla chips. Bake 10 minutes longer or until heated through

Pumpkin muffins

Since it's fall and the weather is beautiful I made pumpkin muffins...the recipe got rave reviews and it is quite good. Next time I would skip the chocolate chips, use pecans(I used walnuts this time) and use buttermilk(which I did this time). This recipe made 42.

3 C sugar

1 C oil

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Mix together until combined

3 1/2 C flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp baking soda

sift dry ingredients, then add wet to dry

2/3 cup milk

1 3/4 cups pumpkin (canned - just a regular size can)

add half the milk, mix, half the pumpkin, mix again, the rest of the milk, mix, the rest of the pumpkin, mix

optional:

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup chocolate chips

just fold these in

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean

Oatmeal Pie

The kids and I made oatmeal pie tonight. It's a lot like pecan pie...minus the pecans of course!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup margarine, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, combine corn syrup, sugar, eggs, melted margarine and vanilla.

Mix in the oatmeal. Pour filling into pie shell. (I cover with foil until near the end)

Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

Mam's Black Cake

I wanted to use the blackberries the kids had picked earlier this year so I found this recipe and as much as it sounded really questionable it was really quite good! I used two cups blackberries and no raisins.

Mam's Black Cake
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white sugar
1 cup fresh blackberries
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake layer pans.
2.Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk.
3.Combine the sugar, 3 1/2 cups of the flour, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cinnamon and the butter. Stir in the buttermilk mixture.
4.Toss the blackberries and raisins with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour to coat. Mix in the blackberries and the raisins into the batter and stir until evenly distributed. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
5.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Persimmon Jam

Persimmon Jam

Ginger beef

I chose recipe #5, Ginger Beef. I've seen a lot of recipes call for peanut butter and it never sounded appealing so I went out on a limb and chose this one...never know when something that doesn't sound good will be terrific. I don't see us making this again...ever. We rate this a 5 out of 10.

Cheese...glorious cheese

I was in the area so I ran by Cheesemakers today (cheesemakers.com). They work well into my "support the local economy" goal and they have delicious cheeses!
The top left I grate and use in place of fresh parmesan, the top right in place of feta, bottom left on crackers and the bottom right is a cow string cheese for the kiddos. Delicious!
Another bonus(and something most people don't know) is that the lactose interolant person can eat goat cheese without health issues!

Recipe Challenge!

Out of the six recipes I chose recipe #1

Cheddar crusted chicken with applesauce

I chose this one because I have never before bought and cooked with fresh ginger!

The applesauce smelled delicious cooking!

And the finished product. It was quite good! We all gave it a collective 8 out of 10.
CHEDDAR-CRUSTED CHICKEN WITH APPLESAUCE

5 apples--peeled, quartered, and chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup apple cider
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 one inch piece peeled ginger
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4-6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 cup salted pretzels--crushed
1 cup plain bread crumbs--crushed
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
ground pepper
1 large egg
flour
vegetable oil for frying
salt

Preheat a medium saucepan over med. heat. Add apples, lemon juice, cider, brown sugar, ginger, and cinnamon and stir. Cook, stirring frequently until mushy, about 15 min. Remove the ginger.
While the applesauce is cooking, sprinkle water into each quart size plastic bags and place one chicken in each bag. Pound chicken breast until evenly thin.
Place pretzels, bread crumbs, cheese, thyme, nutmeg, and pepper mixture into shallow dish.
Crack egg into a second dish and beat.
Place flour into third dish.
Coat the chicken first in flour, then egg, and finally in cheese/pretzel mixture.
In large skillet, heat oil over med. heat and add coated chicken breasts in single layer. Cook until juices run clear and evenly browned.
Serve with apple sauce.

Colorful Lunch

Breaded Chicken Onion Bagel Burgers with Mixed Fruit Smoothies

Each bagel burger has onion sprouts, fresh picked lettuce and cheddar cheese .

Saaaaaaaalad

A quick lunch after a busy morning. The lettuce is our very own gift from the earth. There are also some onion sprouts(much more nutritious than alfalfa I learned!), cheddar, black olives and to make it not so "healthy" so the boys would eat it- chicken tenders.

Pan Seared Tuna croquettes

With bell peppers from mom's garden and chives from mine.

Meatball Sandwiches

I've been cooking quite simple meals since Justin was born so it's nothing fancy but here is last night's dinner. Fresh crusty french bread with meatballs, tons of mozzarella, sauce and black olives.

Lemons!

E Double G S

My current favorite breakfast. I make the eggs with cheese daily for Hunter and I. Corrine makes herself cereal or an apple because she does not in any way like eggs.
I like mine with Pace picante(only Pace) and o.j. with my apple cider vinegar and Hunter has his with ketchup and milk or water.

Yum!