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)

Apricot Jam

You can't beat homemade jam! Just follow the recipe inside the pectin box :)