{Post 1,149} It Only Takes a Little Homemade Bread

I love homemade bread.  I love the smell when it's baking.  I love touching the unbaked dough.  I love watching the yeast bubble.  I love watching my family gather around and devour it.  I have a new love:

It's the homemade bagel.  Love, love, love.  Here is the recipe.  Here are the steps in pictures, once the loveliness was mixed, shaped, and risen.

From top to bottom, it's risen,

boiling,

drying,

waiting,

baked.  Mmm-mmm.

{Post #956} God's Candy

Part of lunch today.  I think of fruit as God's candy!

If you have an Aldi grocery store near you, I would highly recommend you give them a try.  All the fruit was from a sale last week...strawberries and fresh pineapples were 99 cents each!  I think the kiwi were about 25 cents each.  Yummy!! 

{Post #938} Granola Bars

GRANOLA BARS


2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup pecans chopped 
1/2 cup almonds, slivered
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup raisins


Spread oats, wheat germ, sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds and pecans on a jelly roll pan.  Toast at 325 for 12 minutes.


Meanwhile, put almonds, coconut, and raisins in a large bowl.


In a saucepan, bring to a boil:


1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt.  


Simmer 5 minutes.


Add toasted ingredients to bowl.  Pour "syrup" over it.  Stir very thoroughly.  Dump into a 9 x 13 pan.  With non-stick-sprayed sandwich bag, press ingredients down into pan firmly.  Allow to cool.


***The original recipe called for peanuts, but Susie is allergic, so I subbed pecans.***


These were the first ones I made that I liked so much as far as flavor.  Plus--they stick together really well.  Of course we tried them as soon as they were cool enough.  They kept their shape even better after they were completely cool.  These would be great for traveling.


  

{Post #922} Winner Recipe!

The potatoes were a definite winner!  I will have to make more if there are more people eating.  I made 7 medium-sized potatoes and 5 of us ate...we all would have eaten more of them if there had been any.  I also made sauteed bella mushrooms and a separate dish of sauteed cabbage and carrots.


Here are some pictures:

{Post #921} New Recipe in Oven

Trying a new recipe tonight...Accordion Potatoes.  Got it through Pinterest.  I am not a Pinterest addict, but I have found lots of good ideas on there.


Here is the before-going-in-the-oven picture.  They still have 30 minutes to bake, so I'll try to remember to take an after picture.  I bought an inexpensive mandoline for slicing years ago.  I love using it.  Makes perfectly even slices for so many things.  That's how I got the potatoes so even.  Then I picked up slices from various piles of potato to make sure they weren't the exact same size as their neighbor.  Hope the family likes them.  I personally LOVE potatoes.

You just stack the potates around the edge and then the middle, brush with a mix of butter and olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.  One can add herbs, but we're trying them like this first. I will also have some sauteed cabbage and carrots.  Mmm-mmm.


~Joan

{Post #869} Supper Tonight

If you would ask "how was supper tonight"?  I'd have to answer GRATE!

Here are some pictures from preparation and my husband's plate at the end.

First I scrubbed some small Russet potatoes for a new recipe, Hasselback Potatoes.  I dried them and set them in the bowl of a large spoon, then made parallel cuts down to the spoon about 1/8" apart.  I spritzed them with canola oil spray and sprinkled a little kosher salt on each of them.  Put them on parchment paper on a baking sheet and baked them for 40 minutes. 

In the meantime...

Take a butternut squash and cut the ends off, then cut it in half down the middle.  Cut off the skin (the skin is tough to get off, BTW).  Remove the seeds and the little bit of soft skin around them.  Grate it into a bowl.

Wash and grate 3 unpeeled sweet potatoes into the same bowl.  Heat a cup of water in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, then dump in the squash and sweet potatoes.  Saute for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently and adding water as necessary to keep from sticking.

Susie trying a potato right out of the oven.   Hasselback bliss...

My husband added some turnip greens and black-eyed peas to his plate.  Here it is...

My husband just told me that he is at his all-time low weight since starting our new way of eating back on September 17 at 6:22 PM (not that I've been keeping track of when this whole thing started or anything!).  So happy for him.

~Joan

Cookie Ice Cream Cake

This recipe is for Sara...the new mother-to-be!!

Cookie Ice Cream Cake (not really any cake involved)

One package regular Oreos
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup hot fudge topping

2 quarts Fudge ripple ice cream

Whiz 20 cookies in the food processor to make crumbs.  Combine crumbs with melted butter and press into bottom of 9" springform pan.  Spread 3/4 cup topping over crust.  Stand remaining cookies around edge of pan.  FREEZE 15 minutes.

Spread 1 quart softened ice cream evenly over fudge layer.  FREEZE 30 minutes.  Scoop remaining ice cream into balls and arrange over ice cream layer.  FREEZE 4 hours. 

Garnish each slice with more warmed topping and whipped cream.

You can switch out different kinds of cookies and different flavors of ice cream. 

Scrumptiousness

This is a new recipe I tried for supper. It's a pizza braid. I used cubed ham, browned pork sausage, pizza sauce, and 2 cups of mozzerella cheese for the filling.

The recipe is from a blog (that I can't remember visiting...). It's http://amysfinerthings.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/pizza-braid. Your family will appreciate it.

I mixed the dough in my bread machine and it. turned. out. perfect.

~Joan

Self-Filling Pumpkin Muffins

I was surfing and stumbled upon this AMAZING link for pumpkin recipes. The picture is Self-Filling Pumpkin Muffins (last on the list under cakes and cupcakes). I made them exactly like the recipe except that I used mini chocolate chips. Mmm-mmm. We were all self-filling that night!

I highly recommend them. I used one can of pumpkin and doubled the recipe. One recipe is supposed to make 12, but mine made 14. Otherwise they would have spilled over. A definite keeper for us!

We had company the night I made them (my DH cringes when I try out new recipes on company). I told one of the guests he could have a second one. He replied, "I've already had five." So much for me thinking I was being generous!

~Joan

Behold--Bountiful, Beautiful Beef Barley

Hopefully you can see past the reddish-colored oil slick to the barley on the spoon here. This is my first barley-cooking experience. My friend, Diane, sent me a beef/barley soup recipe at my request. We're having this barley-rich food for supper. Did I use "barley" in every sentence? I'll stop now.

I just tried a tiny bowl of this to make sure it is palatable. It is not as thick as many of our favorites, but it is so tasty. BTW, the oil was just a smidgen used to saute the onion, garlic, and celery. Just don't tell my children.

Here's the recipe...

Diane's Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

7 cups water

1 - 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup Quaker Barley

1/2 cup sliced celery (optional)

1/2 cup sliced carrots

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp. basil

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 9 ounce pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

Brown ground beef. Add onion and garlic. Cook until onion is tender, drain. Add remaining ingredients except frozen vegetables. Cover, bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 50 min., stirring occasionally. Add frozen veggies; cook 10 min. until veggies are tender. You can add water if it is too thick.

Number of Servings: 12

That was the original recipe. I changed mine just a little bit. I hate, hate, hate canned tomatoes except for sauce, so I subbed an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce for the chopped tomatoes. The ground beef I had in the freezer was already browned, so I just defrosted that and put it in a non-stick skillet. Then I whizzed the garlic, celery, and onion in a food processer and added that to the meat. I sauted the whole she-bang for a few minutes. Then I added the tomato sauce. I dumped it all into a medium-sized crock pot and added the water, spices, and everything else that wasn't already in there. Cooked on high for about 4 hours.

~Joan

Eagle Eyes

Susanna had fun making Eagle Eyes tonight. They are a wonderful candy treat. My aunt first made them for my family on a long-ago visit. You lay out the square "waffle" pretzels, put one Hershey kiss on them, and place them carefully in a 375-degree oven for a minute or so. Remove them and immediately push one M & M candy in the center, then let them cool. Yummy!

We were laughing insanely at this picture. To us it looked like instead of someone propping their eyes open with the proverbial toothpicks, they used pretzels.

We made these once with Hershey hugs, which were swirled milk and white chocolate. Those we dubbed "Zebra Eyeballs". We never had a name for these, but we put our heads together tonight and came up with Eagle Eyes. Now you can enjoy them, too.

Happy new year!

~Joan

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's a...

Pizzelle.

It rhymes with gazelle.

Making pizzelles is one of our family Christmas traditions. We get the pizzelle iron out the day we put up our Christmas tree and decorations. The traditional flavor is anise (black licorice), but we always make them with vanilla.

Below is the pizzelle iron. It is similar to a waffle iron. You put a dollop of batter on each side and clamp it shut. About 45-60 seconds later, two pizzelles are ready to cool.

Our pizzelle iron has done this since we got it...the one on the right always sticks to the lid and the one on the left always stays on the bottom. Once it's "baked", you just transfer it to a cooling rack, then stack them up. They are somewhat fragile. They don't last very long around here. Emily will be making another batch today to take to a friend's house. Mmm-mmm.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas. Remember the birth of Jesus as we celebrate this special day.

~Joan

Crock Pot Love

I love crock pot cooking! My DH's grandmother gave us a crock pot when we got married, but I did not use it for y-e-a-r-s because I was always home when I was cooking. I had not experienced the perfect blending of flavors that slow cooking gives foods. We use one frequently now because of the fantastic flavors and the way it cooks meats especially...tender and tasty!

Crock pots are also great for long cooking periods w/o any stirring or meddling. Case in point...I had a few apples (about 8, I think) that were getting soft. I wanted to make applesauce, but there wasn't anyone who could stay in the kitchen and tend the pot. My crock pot volunteered! I used an apple peeler/corer/slicer and had the 8 apples in the pot within 10 minutes. I cut the pieces into small sections and sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon on top. I added about 1/4 cup water and put it on high. That is the top picture.

Three hours later it looked like it would be a long time before it was ready. The apples still had a lot of texture. I stirred it and checked again the next time I was in the kitchen, 30 minutes later. It was perfect! (Bottom picture)

This is a great side dish to make when you have company, especially families with young children. The aroma is fantastic even if (like me) one doesn't like to eat applesauce!! It makes the whole kitchen smell fantastically apple-icious!

~Joan

4-Layer Dessert Recipe

Here is the most-requested recipe we have at Parker Ranchero. I don't remember where I got it. Much gratitude to whoever it was though.

FOUR-LAYER DESSERT

Mix 1/2 cup softened butter (do not use melted butter), 1 cup flour, and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans. Spread evenly in 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely.

Mix 8 oz. softened cream cheese, 1 cup Cool Whip (out of a 12 oz. container) and 1 cup powdered sugar. Spread over cooled crust.

Mix 3 cups milk and 2 small packages INSTANT pudding (any flavor...our favorites are chocolate and banana cream) for 2 minutes or use 1 can (21 oz.) pie filling. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 15 minutes minimum if using pudding.

Spread remaining Cool Whip on top. Garnish with additional chopped nuts if desired.

Enjoy!

We've got much company in the next 3 days. That means lots of food preparation for us. We're having a family of 11 for supper tomorrow (and we can hardly wait!!), 1-3 college young men (we haven't heard back from 2 of them yet), then a family of 5 for lunch Sunday afternoon. Then the family of 11 again (same family!) possibly Monday or Tuesday, or BOTH!

I overheard my WH talking to his sister on the phone tonight (we are in NC, and she lives in TN) and inviting her family to spend part of the weekend with us. He told her of the plans we had already for guests, and I was thinking, "What's five more??" She can't make it this trip however. Too bad...the house will seem empty without them.

~Joan, from the home that never seems to have a dull moment

Cheesy Bacon Chicken & Rice Unleashed

Cheesy Bacon Chicken Rice...that pretty much sums up our lunch (with the addition of fresh salad and cucumber slices). We all heartily agreed that this is the perfect marriage of cheese, bacon, chicken, and rice...hence the catchy name!

Emily made this for the first time today because we had all the ingredients thanks to sale shopping. I asked her where she got the recipe. Mysteriously enough, this recipe was in my recipe box (thank you, Dad, for the box) in my own handwriting on one of my recipe cards. Less mysterious is that I don't recall WHERE I got it or WHEN I wrote it. The little grey cells are not always firing on all cylinders.

But back to the recipe. You layer uncooked bacon in the bottom, then sprinkle long-grain white rice over that. The rice picks up the bacon flavor and is sooooo moist and tasty. The chicken and cheddar cheese on top are just bonus. Here it is in all its glory...try it soon. Gratitude to whomsoever I got it from in the first place.

CHEESY BACON CHICKEN & RICE

12-16 oz. bacon, cut into thirds

1-1/4 cups white long-grain rice, uncooked

1 can cream of chicken soup

1-1/2 cups water

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange bacon in one or two layers in a 9 x 13 baking dish, fully covering bottom of pan. Sprinkle rice over bacon. Combine soup and water in a separate bowl. Pour 1/3 over rice. Arrange chicken in dish. Top with soup mixture.

Cover with foil and bake one hour 15 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted.

You're welcome! Let me know if you try this and like it.

~Joan

Apple Pan Dowdy Recipe

I have had many requests for this recipe. So here goes...

APPLE PAN DOWDY

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup milk

Mix the flour, powder and salt well. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until small "peas" form. Add milk and mix lightly. Form into two balls. Roll each ball into a 7" x 12" rectangle.

Sprinkle each lightly with cinnamon. Cover with a layer of apples (Granny Smith are best) which have been cut into small chunks (we slice them, then cut each slice into 4-5 pieces). Sprinkle with brown sugar followed by more cinnamon. Roll up from long side like jelly rolls or cinnamon buns. Cut into 1-1/2" wide pieces, place cut side down in a 10" x 15" baking dish.

Mix these ingredients in a separate bowl...

1 cup brown sugar
2 cups very hot water
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour over the apple rolls. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Makes about 16 servings (pieces/rolls).