Friday, November 4, 2011

My New Journey begins!

I am off to start a new cooking adventure!  I am going to be trying to go natural.  It's kinda scary, but I am excited in what might be coming our way.

Here is a partial list of things that I am going to be trying:

*  Kefir
*  Kombucha
*  Vanilla Extract
*  Feta Cheese
*  Mozzarella Cheese

I will keep adding to this, as I come across new projects that I want to try!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Fruity Muffins

I found this awesome recipe that can be a base for any type of fruit muffin that you want to make.

Fruit Muffin
Tested by DH, DC, & YCGP

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup apple - peeled, cored and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Topping:
  • 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon of butter
  • 2 Tablespoons of flour

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, cream together sugar and shortening. Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture alternately with the milk. Fold in the fruit. Pour batter into prepared muffin pans. 
  4. In a small bowl, cut in the butter with the brown sugar and flour.  Sprinkle lightly over the muffins. 
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 
 Guinea Pig Rating:  **** (4/5)


This recipe is amazing!  You can substitute any fruit instead of the apples.  I cannot wait to try blueberries, raspberries (in the summer), peaches, and whatever else I can come up with!  Enjoy the recipe!
 

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Giant Spice Cookies

Giant Spice Cookies
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by DH, DC, BILs, & YCGP

Ingredients

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, baking soda and ginger. Make a well in the center and pour in the water, molasses and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly blended. Roll into 10 balls and place them 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten slightly.
  3. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are cracked and cookies are firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
 Guinea Pig rating:  **** (4/5)
 What I did:  I followed the recipe exactly as it is written!
What will I do differently next time:  Nothing!  The cookies were wonderful! 

Friday, January 28, 2011

Stuffed Mushrooms & Sloppy Joes

So, my family has been blessed lately with some free food resources lately.  With money growing tight throughout the winter, I have taken steps to resolve that!  I go (as often as I can) to a church that has a food ministry on Saturday mornings.  It helps off-set the growing grocery bill.  Here, they have fruits, veggies, breads, and desserts that will be going out-of-date from some of the local grocery store.  Also, my husband's parents and grandparents have some cows that occasionally will be sent away and come back as meat for the family.  This past month, for one reason or another, 3 cows have had to be sent off, which means now there is a MAJOR overflow in meat!  Perfect for my family!  So, all of that to say, I have 2 AWESOME recipes that I have used recently to use some of my resources!

 Marvelous Stuffed Mushrooms (No kidding, that's the name of the recipe)
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by DH and YCGP

Ingredients

  • 1 pound large fresh mushrooms
  • 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 dash ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

  1. Remove stems from mushrooms; set caps aside. Finely chop stems. In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, flour, onion, parsley, mustard, salt, cayenne, nutmeg and chopped stems. Fill mushroom caps. Place in a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Pour cream over mushrooms. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, basting twice.
 Guinea Pig Rating:  ***** (5/5)


What I did:  I used regular mustard instead of the Dijon and milk instead of heavy whipping cream.

What will I do differently next time:  Cook them a tad longer and baste them a few more times.  They were AWESOME!

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Sloppy Joes II
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by: DH, BILs, BIL F, DC, & YCGP 

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 3 teaspoons brown sugar
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
  2. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
 Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)


What I did:  I put everything in, except for the onion.  I have some BILs that do not like onions.  I think I added in onion powder instead.

What will I do next time:  Next time, I am going to put it over rice, instead of between hamburger buns!  :)