Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the name of the recipe in the cookbook. I would have to agree. I really like when cookies are soft even after the first day. These stayed soft and tasty!

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening (I used marg...so I just added 1 cup total)
1/2 cup margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
6 oz. choc. chips
2 cups quick oats

Cream together sugars and margarine. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour, soda, salt, choc. chips, and oats. Bake 9 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to racks.

Tinfoil Dinner Casserole

My mom gave me an AWESOME cookbook for Christmas. It's a book that was compiled by the women in her church. These are always my favorite kind of cookbooks...recipes from people I know! I have to be honest...my first look through the cookbook I looked at who the recipe was from rather than what the recipes were. My sister has raved over this recipe so I thought I would give it a try. Three of the five of us enjoyed this dinner. My son is my pickiest eater and of course refused to eat it since he doesn't eat potatoes (I know...how can he be MY son since I'm from Idaho!) and the littlest is experiencing another ruptured ear drum so her eating habits are all crazy! It's a tasty twist on a tinfoil dinner :)

1 lb. ground beef
4-5 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 sm. onion, chopped fine
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can water
1 TBL Worchestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown beef with onion and Worcestershire sauce. Place meat in 9x13" pan. Layer with potatoes and carrots. Cover meat and veggies with soup, water, salt, and pepper. Mix together slightly. Top with grated cheese. Cover pan with foil. Bake at 375 for one hour. (I have to admit I had to cook it at 400 for 40 minutes...rushed day...and it still turned out tasty). Leftovers were even better the next day in my opinion.

Couponing

One of my goals for the year is to be a smarter shopper. Albertson's has had some GREAT deals to help me get stocked up some essentials. I loved the coupons on the back page of their ad last week so when I got the ad for this week yesterday and saw another page of coupons...I was even more excited. They have a good ad this week as well....can't wait for the 8-hour sale on Thursday! :) I'm going to get some GREAT deals. One of those will be the "Tailgate Party Pack Deal" even though we won't be watching the game :) In Albertson's this past week, I got a coupon/recipe book called "Game Day Greats" which included a coupon for $1 off 2 DiGiorno pizzas (which you have to buy 2 for the pack deal anyway)...then I just got the ads today for Family Foods and Food Land...guess what...there's a manufacturer's coupon in there for $2 off any 3 coke 12-pk....so I'll be saving another $3 off the Party Pack Deal! :) You can bet that I have coupons also for the General Mills Cereal that is only $1.50 a box anyway when you buy 4...I'll be saving another $2.55! :) What are your great deals for the week?

Ribs

When I bought this package of ribs, I didn't even pay attention that it was pork ribs. In December I went to a party we had for a friend. We had a potluck...one of things there was YUMMY ribs. I asked for the recipe and couldn't wait to try it out. Good thing to know it works just as great on pork ribs :) Thanks, Debbie!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Salt and pepper both sides of ribs. Place on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil). Cover ribs with foil. Bake for 3 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, take out of oven and spread one side of ribs with BBQ sauce. Put back in oven for 15 minutes. Take out, flip to cover other side of ribs with BBQ sauce, and put back in oven for last 15 minutes.

Pink Salad

This has always been one of my favorite salads. We had a potluck dinner last weekend so we took this salad.

The size of the ingredients depends on how much you want to make and your liking. I needed a big salad so I used large containers
1 container of cottage cheese
1 8 oz. container of cool whip
1 box of strawberry jello
strawberries

Mix cottage cheese and a box of jello...adding dry jello a little at a time. If you're making this for a small group you just need the small box of jello. Add cool whip and cut-up strawberries. I made this salad w/ frozen strawberries. It's very delicious with raspberries as well. Change the jello to orange jello and add mandarian oranges. Yum, yum! This salad always reminds me of summertime!

Caeser Salad

The week of Christmas some friends came over for dinner, and they brought salad...fresh Caesar salad. Since then, my hubby and I can't get enough caeser salad. We've eaten a ton of it in the past two weeks. Here's the basic recipe we use:

Romaine Lettuce
Parmesan Cheese
Caeser Salad Dressing
Croutons

Break lettuce into bite size pieces. Grate Parmesan cheese and add to lettuce. When ready to serve, add croutons and coat with dressing. Mix salad and ENJOY!

We even had leftover green salad from Christmas Day one of our guests brought. We used it just the same as the romaine lettuce, and it was just as delicious! It's been great to reminded of such a yummy salad.

Chicken Tamales

Around Thanksgiving time, the Albertson's ad had a recipe for tamales. I've always wanted to give tamales a try but haven't ever done it. This recipe inspired me so I gave it a try....not too bad considering it was my first attempt :) I halved the original recipe since I wasn't sure I wanted too many tamales leftover.

3 cups Maseca corn flour for tamales
1 can chicken broth (approx. 24 oz.)
1/2 cup veggie corn oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
shredded chicken (cooked)
1 can chile sauce (about 14 oz.)
1 bag corn husks

Soak the corn husks in warm water until soft. Blend with a mixer Maseca, oil, salt, baking powder, and chicken broth to obtain a consistent mixture (I think I made mine a little too runny). Shred the chicken and marinate in the chile sauce. Spread masa evenly over corn husks and spread a spoonful of marinated chicken on top of the masa.

Fold the sides of the corn husk to center over the masa so that they overlap to make a long package. Fold the empty part of the husk under so that it rests against the side of the tamale with a "seam." Place the tamales in a steamer and cook tamales for 35-40 minutes. Check every 20 minutes. The tamale is cooked when it separates easily from the corn husk.

Photo disclaimer: Don't judge this recipe by my pictures...this was my VERY first attempt at tamales :)

Bread Bowls

Last week I tried a different bread bowls recipe when we had guests over for dinner. They turned out perfectly! I will definitely make these again. I couldn't keep my kids out of the "stuffing" I had pulled out to create the bread bowls. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com but I changed it up a bit so...here's my version of the original recipe:

3 packages of active dry yeast (if you buy yeast like I do, you don't get them in individual packages...so you'll need about 3 TBL of yeast.)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups warm milk
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 sup sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp salt
9 cups flour

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, sugar, eggs, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. (Of course, I use my kitchen aid for all the mixing.) Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into eight pieces; shape each into a ball. Grease two baking sheets. Place four balls on each pan. Cover and let rise until doubled (I waited another hour). Bake at 350 degrees fro 20-25 minutes. Remove onto wire racks.

Slice off tops and pull out insides. Bake bowls again for 10 minutes to harden the edges to hold up to your soup, chowder, or stew.

BBQ Beef

This recipe came from my sister-in-law, Cara. We had it a few years back at a family gathering and it's become a family favorite. The best part is that you fix it and then forget it for the rest of the day.

3 lbs. boneless chuck roast
1 ½ cups ketchup
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup white vinegar
2 TBL Dijon-style or regular mustard
2 TBL Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder

Place chuck roast in Crockpot. Combine remaining ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour barbecue sauce mixture over chuck roast. Cover and cook LOW 8-10 hours. Remove roast and shred meat with fork. Place shredded meat back in Crockpot. Stir meat to evenly coat with sauce....usually best if it can sit for about 30 minutes after you've shreeded the meat. Spoon meat onto sandwich buns...or if you're picky like my kids, you can just eat the meat without the bread.

This seriously makes SO MUCH! We ate this twice this week, and I still had plenty to put another meal in the freezer.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Balls

This is a treat I remember my mom making almost every Christmas. Maybe this is why my favorite candy is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Sydney and I made the peanut butter balls while the kids were at school. We dipped them in the chocoloate later that night. When searching for the recipes, I found out they are actually called "Buckeyes"...who knew!? :)

1 1/2 cups peanut butter + 2 TBL
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 cups powdered sugar
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. The dough will look dry (VERY DRY!!!). Roll into 1" balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Press a toothpick into the top of each ball to be used later as the handle for dipping and chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. (I just put mine in the fridge since it was several hours until we would be dipping them...I should have put them in the freezer for a few minutes just before we started. A few balls fell off the toothpicks as we were dipping them.)

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth. When chocolate is melted, stir in 2 TBL of peanut butter. (This is my own addition to the original recipe :). Dip frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate holding onto toothpick. Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like buckeyes. Put back on cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving.

My mom always put the peanut butter balls in mini muffin cup liners and just spooned the chocolate over top.

Candy Cane Cookies

I wanted to make a cookie the kids could help with...and make something different than sugar cookies since we'll already make these w/ our nativity cookie scene next week. I remember these cookies from treat plates when I was little. I've always thought they were tasty and thought they would be fun and do-able for the kids. By far, they are not perfect candy cane shape but we had lots of fun! Here's the recipe I used. I made the recipe twice...once for the red dough and once for the white dough.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp almond extract (I didn't have to I just used more vanilla)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red food coloring

Cream together the shortening, butter, sugar, egg, and extracts. In a separate bowl, mix flour and salt and add to shortening mixture. Divide dough in half (or make another batch of dough:). Blend red food coloring into one half. Roll about 1 tsp of the red dough and 1 tsp of the white dough on a lightly floured surface into about 4" strips. Place strips side by side and press lightly together and twist like a rope. Curve top of rope down to look like the handle of a candy cane. Bake 9 minutes or until lightly browned at 350 degrees. Remove while still warm. Sprinkle w/ 1/2 cup of crushed candy cane and sugar...we used peppermint sprinkles mixed with sugar. When searching for a recipe of these cookies, I found a lot that just used a sugar cookie recipe w/ an extra 2 TBL of flour...think I'll give that a try next time.

Frog Eye Salad

This salad has always been a family favorite. I took this salad once for a preschool event and no one had EVER heard of it. They were all quick to try it out because of it's unique name. One of my friends likes it so much that she makes it before they go camping and takes it with them. Since it makes a HUGE salad, they eat it the whole camping trip. Dave loves to take it to work potlucks also because of the name...always a conversation starter. 'Tis the season for potlucks so I whipped up this batch of "Frog Eye Salad" yesterday. ETA: Can you believe there was another frog eye salad at his work lunch??? Needless to say, we ate this salad for a long time! The recipe comes directly from the Acini de Pepe box. Here is a picture of what the box looks like that the pasta, acini de pepe, looks like.

1 cup sugar
2 TBL flour
2 1/2 tsp salt (divided)
1 3/4 cup pineapple juice (from canned fruit)
2 eggs, beaten
1 TBL lemon juice

Combine sugar, flour, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Gradually stir in pineapple juice and beaten eggs. Cook over moderate heat, stirring until thickened. Add lemon juice and cool mixture to room temperature. Set aside.

3 quarts water
1 TBL cooking oil
1 pkg (16 oz) Acini de Pepe
3 cans (11 oz each) Mandarian Oranges (drained)
2 cans (20 oz each) Pineapple tidbits (drained, save)
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple (drained, save)
1 carton (9 oz) cool whip
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup coconut

Bring water and remaining 2 tsp of salt and oil to a boil. Add Acini de Pepe. Cook to a royal boil until done. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again and cool to room temp. Combine egg mixture, Acini de Pepe mixture lightly but thoroughly. Refrigerate overnight in air tight container. Add remaining ingredients. Mix lightly but thoroughly. Can be refrigerated up to one week. Serves at least 25.

Banana Bread

It's baking season at our house and yesterday was a busy day! I made two batches of this yummy banana bread. It's my mom's recipe so it's always the stand-by.

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3-5 bananas (did you know you can FREEZE over-ripe bananas? I just stick them in a ziplock until I have enough to make banana bread or have time to do it :)
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour
1 cup nuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add mashed bananas. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add nuts. Pour into 2 well greased bread pans (I usually do one large pan and then 5 mini loaf pans). Bake at 350 for 1 hour...the mini loafs usually only take about 35 minutes so keep an eye on them.

Cornbread Muffins

Last week I got to help Sierra's kindergarten class make these yummy muffins. The kids were so excited to help. It was fun to hear them talk about baking, although, it was a little sad to me that in each of the four groups only about one or two kids in each group had ever cooked with their mom or dad before. They were all so eager to help so hopefully they'll ask their parents if they can help in the kitchen...especially during the holiday season. Here is the recipe we used. Each of the kids gobbled them up!

¾ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup cornmeal
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Combine milk, oil, and egg with a fork. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix. Pour 2/3 cup full. Bake mini muffins for 8-10 minutes and regular muffins for 18-20 minutes.

Calzones

Tonight for dinner the kids wanted to make their own pizzas so we opted for the stuffed pizza choice. We had so much fun making them. I just used my regular pizza dough recipe.

Mix together:
1 ½ cups warm water 1 ½ TBL yeast
1/8 cup sugar

Then add:
1/6 cup oil 1 TBL salt
3 1/3 cup flour

Mix all together. Let dough rise for approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then knead onto pizza pan. Preheat oven to 400. Cook dough for 5 minutes. Take dough out of oven and then add toppings. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.

For the calzones, I didn't pre-cook the dough. After all the toppings were stuffed inside, I brushed the top of the dough with egg white and cooked it for 20 minutes. The kids gobbled them up!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

We tried a different cookie recipe for Halloween this year. I got the recipe from this blog.

1 cup unsalted butter (I used margarine)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
5 cups flour (can do half whole wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 cup raisins, chopped (can sub mini chocolate chips or other dried fruit)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. With mixer running on low, slowly add the honey and molasses. Beat well.

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add a cup at a time to the creamed mixture.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure there isn’t any flour left. Add the raisins. Transfer the dough to an airtight container or large Ziploc bag. Chill until very cold–about 4 hours or overnight.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets at 375 degrees F for 6-7 minutes (shorter for smaller cookies, longer for larger cookies) or until cookies are firm to the touch and lightly golden. (If you like crisp cookies, bake for longer.)

Decorate as desired.

Carmel Popcorn

To celebrate Sierra's special award today, we had this yummy Carmel Popcorn while we watched a movie tonight! This is our favorite Carmel recipe for popcorn.

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup dark Karo syrup

Boil 3 minutes. Add:

¼ lb butter (1 cube)
2 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Bring to a boil and pour over popped popcorn (enough for approximately 2 cups unpopped popcorn).

Country Captain Chicken Curry

Dave's been asking that I try a curry recipe. I told him it had to be kid-friendly so I visited this site and tried this recipe:

1/2 cup flour
2 - 3 tablespoons curry powder (plus a sprinkle to season flour)
1 tablespoon thyme (plus a sprinkle to season flour)
Salt and pepper
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, sliced into thin circles and halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1/2 cup golden raisins (or 1/2 cup currants)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour in a shallow baking or plastic bag. Season flour with salt, pepper along with a sprinkle of curry and thyme. Dredge chicken to coat lightly.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on each side, about 10 minutes. Do this in batches to not over crowd the pan. Remove chicken to paper towel to drain and place in a casserole pan.

To the same skillet, add onions and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add curry powder, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir to blend. Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour the tomato and onion sauce over the chicken and bake uncovered for 20 - 30 minutes until chicken tender and cooked through. During the last 5 minutes of baking, remove casserole from the oven, stir in raisins (I just couldn't bring myself to add raisins, so we skipped out on those) and return to the oven to finish cooking.

Garnish with parsley and almonds (since I have a child that refuses to eat nuts I did without the almonds). Serve over rice.

Over all, a very tasty dish! I need to try my hand at a few more curry dishes before I declare this one the winner, though :) Let me know if you have a delicious curry recipe your family enjoys!

G-Force Cookies

Saturday we enjoyed the movie "G-Force." I had seen these cookies in the Family Fun Magazine so we tried them out today. Fun for the kids to do :)
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Peanut halves
Mini chocolate chips
1. Cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then stir them into the wet mixture, just to blend. Cover and chill until firm, about 1 hour. (We didn't want to wait another hour, so we just went to the next step :))
2. Heat the oven to 350°. Form level tablespoons of dough into cylinders, pinching the ends a bit to make rough guinea pig body shapes. Use a knife to chop the peanut halves in half, then add peanut-piece ears and mini chocolate chip eyes to each cookie. Place the guinea pig cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until firm, about 8 minutes.

Malibu Chicken

While I was on vacation this summer, I kept seeing a commercial for Sizzler advertising their YUMMY Malibu Chicken. Of course, before I left, I had to go to Sizzler to eat :) I've been thinking about how it tasted for weeks now. So I went on a search to find the recipe. I found it at www.cdkitchen.com. I was so eager to taste it so I forgot to take a picture. It was tasty! I have one child who doesn't like cheese (except on pizza) so he's didn't have melted cheese on top...but everyone ate everything else! We'll definitely add this to the monthly menu!

1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 TBL water
6 chicken breasts, skinned, boned, pounded thin (I actually used chicken tenderloins)
3/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs (used the usual...Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs)
2 TBL vegetable oil
2 TBL butter
6 slices cooked ham
6 slices Swiss cheese (used Mozzarella...that's what's in the freezer)

Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Stir egg and water together with a fork. Coat each chicken piece with flour, dip into egg mixture, and then coat w/ crumbs. Press crumbs in firmly. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken 4-5 minutes on each side. Place browned chicken on oven-proof platter, (I just used a 9x13 baking dish) top each piece with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts.

Dipping sauce...mix 1 tsp prepared mustard with 1/4 cup mayonnaise.

Preschool Recipes

As I've attended the same preschool the past 5 years with my kiddos, I'm reminded of these FUN recipes for GUARANTEED fun with the kids by our AWESOME teacher. Just thought I would share :0

GLOOP
Water, White Glue, Borax, Food Coloring (optional)
Add 1 1/2 cups water to 2 cups white glue. Pour 1/3 cup warm water into 3 different cups. You may add 1-2 drops of food coloring into each cup. Stir 1 tsp of borax into each cup until dissolved. One at a time, pour the contents of each cup into the glue and water mixture. Mix until dissolved. Pour off any extra liquid and knead until smooth and no longer wet. Store in an airtight container.

PLAYDOUGH
3 cups flour
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups salt
3 TBL oil
6 tsp cream of tarter
Food coloring of choice
Optional: glitter, scents....use your imagination :)
Mix all ingredients in a large pan over medium heat until it forms a semi-sticky ball. Remove from heat and knead until smooth. Store in an airtight container.

BUBBLES
1 cup Dawn or other high quality dish sopa
1 TBL glycerine**
1 gallon water
Mix and let stand overnight or for several hours.
**Glycerine can be purchased at a pharmacy...for a less expensive alternative, try corn syrup.


PUD
Water, Cornstarch
Mix 1 cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Let the children play with it on the grass. Mixture will be hard until put in hands and then it becomes liquid again.

Crepes (Swedish Pancakes)

My friend Tiffany from Preschool shared this family recipe with me. They were VERY scrumptious! The kids devoured them :)

6 eggs
½ cup oleo (my friend uses soft butter...so that's what I did)
2 cups milk
1 ½ cups flour
1 TBS sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg

Mix in the blender until well blended. No need to grease griddle unless it sticks and only the first round. Heat the griddle at medium high, and pour about ¼ cup per crepe. Just after pouring try to swirl the pan around this thins them out better. Or use the back of a ladle to thin them out that way too.

We used frozen strawberries that I has smashed and added a little sugar. We also had fresh blueberries which were my favorite. Of course, we each had to a little whipped cream to the inside, too! The kids enjoyed them so much they asked if we could eat them every day! Thanks, Tiffany!!!

Cowboy Cookies

This recipe come from my MIL. Dave really enjoys these cookies. The original recipe calls for making them into bar cookies but we prefer them as regular cookies so I just scoop them and bake them for about 10 minutes on 350.

2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 lb margarine
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
4 cups oats
2 cups coconut
12 oz chocolate chips

Cream sugars, margarine, eggs & vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bake in 3 9x13 pans (or 1 cookie sheet + 1 9x13) at 350 for 15 minutes or less.

Chicken Fried Steak

Whenever we got out and the restaurant offers Chicken Fried Steak, it's my hubby's preference for dinner. So...for our anniversary (well, actually the night before) I thought I would give it a try. From all the recipes I found, you basically just make your own breading to go on the meat so this is what I did:

Mix 1 egg with about 1/4 cup milk. Stir well. Dip meat in mixture (I used round steak). Then dip your meat in breading. I chose to use Bread Crumbs Italian Style made by Progresso. Put meat in a hot skillet that has been heated with 1 TBL shortening. Brown meat on both sides until meat is done. I then made potatoes and gravy to go with our chicken fried steak. Not bad for my first attempt :)

Bottled Spaghetti Sauce

Some of our tomatoes survived our summer vacation so Sydney and I made Spaghetti Sauce today while the other two were at school. Here is the recipe that I use. It's one that I got last year from my mom who got it from my aunt who got it from a lady at church. I cut the recipe in half for the amount of tomatoes I had :)

1/2 bushel of tomatoes (10 quarts of juice)

Cook the tomatoes and then run them through a juicer and then you don't have the seeds and peelings. Personally, I just boil my tomatoes, pour off the water, and then puree the tomatoes in the blender.

8 - 8 oz. cans tomato sauce (I really think this is suppose to be tomato paste but we like the taste of it with the tomato sauce, although, it does make the end result more runny)
1 1/2 TBL oregano
1 cup sugar
1 tsp basil
1/2 cup salt
1 TBL parsley flakes
1/2 tsp thyme
3 TBL Italian seasoning

Mix all together and simmer. Add juiced tomatoes.

3/4 pint oil (about 1 1/2 cups should do it)
2 green peppers
3 stalks of celery (use less to avoid a strong celery taste)
3 lbs. onions
2 heads of garlic

Chop veggies and cook in oil until soft. Put through colander. Add veggie mixture to tomato mixutre and simmer until quite thick. Pour into jars. Process 20 minutes in boiling water bath. This sauce can be used for spaghetti, pizza, ravioli, lasanga, manicotti...just open and warm :)

Pineapple-Upside-Down Cake

Dave first tried this recipe out for a girls' camp for church. It was suggested by another leader so he gave it a try. He said it was delicious so we tried it again tonight...I have to agree...very delicious!

Topping
4 TBL butter
1 cup brown sugar
8 pineapple rings (SAVE the pineapple juice)...I used pineapple chunks tonight and it was just as good :)
8 maraschino cherries (Dave used these the first time...we didn't use them tonight...still tasty :)

Melt butter in bottom of a 12" dutch oven (we used a 10" tonight). Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter being careful not to touch the sugar once it has begun to dissolve into the butter. Carefully place pineapple rings on top of the brown sugar, 7 around the outside and 1 in the center. Place a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring.

Cake Batter
1 yellow cake mix
1 cup pineapple juice (that you save from the can of pineapple)
1/3 cup water
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pineapple juice, water, eggs, and oil; mix well. Spoon cake batter carefully over the top of the pineapple rings. Spread batter evenly to edges.

Cover Dutch oven and bake using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 45 mintues or until top of cake springs back when touched. (We didn't have to cook ours more than 20 minutes using coals from the fire.)

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes or so in the dutch oven with the lid cracked. Run a rubber spatula around the inside edge of the oven to loosen the cake. The recipe then tell you to lay a piece of parchment paper across the top of the oven so it lays flat and then replace the lid. Then tip it over so the cake falls onto the parchment paper on the lid...who has parchment paper when they're camping?!?!?! So after loosing the cake with the spatula, we just replaced the lid, turned over the dutch oven, tapped on the bottom, and ta-da....the cake is on the lid (it didn't even leave a mess :) Allow cake to cool slightly before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream as topping.

SO YUMMY!!!!! I love how moist this cake is :)

Dutch Oven Chicken

Dutch Oven Chicken is the BEST way to have chicken. Just a few tips that we've learned through experience...you must use bone-in chicken with skin...don't cook over a flame (coals only...yup, we learned this lesson tonight as you can tell from the pic :). We usually just buy a package of chicken drumsticks because we know the kids will for sure eat the chicken. In a gallon ziplock, add about 1 cup of flour, a sprinkle of salt, and a sprinkle of pepper. Add your chicken and shake. Heat dutch oven on coals and add 2 TBL of cooking oil. After the oil is hot, add your chicken. Chicken needs to be turned often so that browns evenly. You'll know the chicken is done when the chicken starts to fall off the bone.

Dutch Oven Potatoes

My Grandpa Roberts got me HOOKED on dutch oven cooking when I was a little girl. Whenever the family all got together, Grandpa always cooked up a feast for us...and I truly mean a feast...each family always went home with plenty of food for the next day or two :) Grandpa's potatoes were always perfectly done with plenty of cheese and onions. Here's the recipe for Grandpa's potatoes:
Slice potatoes and chop onions enough to feed an army.
Heat dutch oven in coals and add 2-3 TBL of cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, add the potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir often so they don't burn. When potatoes are done, remove from heat and stir in LOTS of cheddar cheese.

Fried Potatoes

One of the easiest side dishes to make is fried potatoes. I scrub 5-7 potatoes (depends on the size) and then chunk them. I usually leave on the skin but you can take it off if you choose. Add them to a hot skillet that has been about 1 TBL of hot vegetable oil in it. Fry up the potatoes--stirring occasionally. When they are brown, they're done :) Add shredded cheese if you choose.

Chocolate Sauce

While visiting my MIL we had ice cream (of course). Of course it was served with her famous chocolate sauce. I'm not really a fan of chocolate syrup on ice cream but this is very tasty! :) She received this recipe from a friend several years ago and gave me permission to share this yummy topping!

1/2 C corn syrup, light
1 C sugar
9 TB cocoa (equates to 0.56 cups)
3 TB butter/margaine
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C canned milk (evaporated milk)

Cook corn syrup and sugar in microwave on high for 4 minutes. (My MIL uses her 1 qt glass measuring bowl and a short handled wooden spoon. She mixes corn syrup and sugar together, leaving the spoon in the bowl. Next she puts it in the microwave for 4 min but stir it once at about 2 minutes.)
Add cocoa and butter and stir until blended.
Add vanilla and canned milk, blend. (gradually add canned milk until well blended)