Thursday, October 9, 2008

Using your Food Storage

Oh Harry Bars
½ c melted margarine
½ c Karo syrup
1 t vanilla
½ c peanut butter
1 c brown sugar
4 c oats
1 pkg chocolate chips
Mix together first 5 ingredients. Heat until dissolved. Stir in oats and chips. Press into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 375 for 15 min. Don’t overbake. Cut in bars.

Taco Soup:
1 lb hamburger or turkey burger
1 onion, chopped
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
2 cans petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg Taco mix
1 pkg Ranch
Directions: brown the hamburger with the onion, put into a crockpot with the rest of the ingredients and cook 4 hours on High, or 6-8 hours on Low.Modifications with food storage (I actually make it this way all the time, since I don't like meat very much, and it's also much faster to throw together in the morning):1. Replace the Hamburger with 1 cup dry TVP and 1 cup water with 1 tsp. beef bouillon granules.2. Replace the chopped onion with 1/4 c minced, dry onion.

HARVEST RICE
1/2 c. slivered almonds
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. uncooked brown rice
1/2 c. uncooked wild rice
4 T. butter
3 onions, sliced in to 1/2 inch wedges
1 T. brown sugar
1 c. dried cranberries
Toast almonds in microwave for about 2-3 minutes, in one minute increments, stirring in between. Place chicken broth and rices in rice cooker and start. (Or cook the traditional way.) In medium skillet, melt butter over med-high heat. Add onions and brown sugar. Sauté until butter is absorbed and onions are translucent and soft. Reduce heat, and cook onions for another 20 minutes until they are caramelized.Stir in cranberries, cover, and cook about 10 minutes or until berries start to swell. Stir in almonds and cooked rice. Eat!When I use my rice cooker, I have to double this recipe.

Cheesy Wheat Casserole
3 cups cooked wheat
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated sharp cheese
Mix ingredients and pour into 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned.

Old Woman in the Shoe Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour (note: 1 1/4 cup whole wheat = about 2 cups ground)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Any or all of the following:1 cup quick oats, 1 cup rice cereal, 1 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch chips, 1 cup nuts. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugars, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt then add to the butter mixture. Stir in the other ingredients you've chosen and blend well. Drop by teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow the cookies to set a few minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Choc. Chip Oatmeal Cookies (makes 3 dozen)
1 c. melted shortening, butter or margarine
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
2 c. rolled oats
1 pkg (6 oz) chocolate chips
1/2 c. nuts (optional)

In large bowl cream shortening. Add sugars and cream until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, salt, and soda that has been dissolved in the hot water; blend. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet about 1 1/2" apart. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until barely brown and still a little puffy. For crisper cookies, bake until cookies flatten.

Apple Crisp
4 cups sliced apples (place dehydrated apples in large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them set for a few minutes to rehydrate, then use as fresh apples)

Place apples in a buttered baking pan.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup water (use the water used to pour over dry apples)
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar
Sprinkle with 1 Tbls. lemon juice
Sprinkle with cinnamon (as much as you prefer)
Cover with crumb topping

Crumb Topping:
7 Tbls. butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
cinnamon

Mix with electric mixer until crumbly. Spread over apples.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees, or until apples are tender.

POTATO ROLLS
4 eggs
3/4 cup potato flakes or pearls
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs. salt
3 cups warm milk (microwave for 5 min.)
8 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbs. yeast
Mix potato flakes, shortening, sugar and warm milk. Add yeast, salt and 1 cup flour.Mix for 2 minutes. Add rest of flour slowly until dough is soft and moist. Let rise 1 hour.Roll out dough and shape into balls or your favorite shape. Let rise 1 hour. Bake @375for 12-15 minutes.

Homemade Salsa:
2 cans petite diced tomatoes (Or 2 pints homemade)
5-6 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. lime juice
1/2 bunch of cilantro

seasoning salt of choice
lemon pepper
dried oregano
3 ingredients above are to taste
Mix all ingredients together and chill to blend flavors.

June Recipes

Summer Squash Recipe

Ingredients
2 lbs squash and/or zucchini, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 small tomatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
(I used a can of Garlic and Onion diced tomatoes)
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Olive Oil
5 or 6 slices of Jack or Cheddar cheese
(I used shredded)
Basil, either dry or chopped fresh
Salt and pepper
Pasta (optional)

Put onion, garlic, squash/zucchini, bell pepper into a large saucepan with a couple tablespoons of Olive Oil. Put on high heat and brown the veggies slightly. While browning, sprinkle basil on veggies. When veggies are slightly remove from heat and add cheese. Cover pan.

In a separate stick-free pan, put the tomatoes and cook at medium to hi heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the juice from the tomatoes evaporate some. After five minutes, add the tomatoes to the rest of the vegetables and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve over pasta or as is.


Slow-cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 pound shredded, cooked chicken* (please look below for shortcut tip)
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed*
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chili peppers (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.
*Please note: Above is the complete recipe but where it is starred (*), I make some modifications. First of all, I do not precook and shred the chicken. I add two frozen chicken breasts and let it cook all day in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. At the end of cooking, I then shred and put back into the crock pot. Second, I buy a can of crushed tomatoes rather than whole and mashing myself. These two modifications cut my preparation time down quite a bit and I'm all about having things be easy!

Pizza Dough

2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. active dry (or instant) yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
5-6 c. all purpose flour

Place water, sugar, salt, and half of flour in mixing bowl. Mix slightly. Add yeast. Mix 1 minute. Add rest of flour a little at a time until dough leaves the sides of the bowl and is a bit drier than bread dough. Knead for about 8 minutes. Prepare pans with cornmeal and Pam. Makes about two 11x15 inch pans.

Cook at 375 for 20 minutes.


Spinach Salad

A bunch of spinach. Mine was fresh from my garden so I just threw a bunch in a bowl.

1 can mandarin oranges
1 cup dried Craisins
about 1 cup sliced toasted almonds
1 hard boiled egg, sliced

Dressing:

Apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and bacon.
I cut the bacon and fry it up then add a splash of the vinegar and as much brown sugar as you like to sweeten it. Add on salad before serving. Tastes great.