Temple Bread (Whole Wheat)

I guess this is the recipe used in the Chicago Temple Cafeteria. I sized it down for two loaves:

2 cups very warm water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. salt
1 T yeast - I use 2 yeast packets
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups white flour

Mix very warm water with honey. Pour yeast packets into water and let dissolve. Add oil and salt. Add three cups of wheat flour. Mix well. Add the rest of four and knead dough. Let dough rise 1 hour. Punch down. Shape into two loaves. Let rise another hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 22 minutes.

The original recipe says to mix the water, honey, oil, salt, and three cups of flour before adding the yeast. I'm too scared to try that... but maybe it would work better that way. I have a way of killing the yeast and I'm afraid that would make it easier for me to do that.

Ham and Corn Chowder

We had this soup last night to use up some leftover ham and Claire even liked it, so we are sharing... Great with fresh homemade bread or rolls.

2 ribs of celery, diced
1/4 cup diced onions
2 T butter
2 T flour
3 cups milk
2 cups cooked ham, diced
2 cups potatoes, cooked and diced
1 can corn
1 can cream style corn
1 cup diced carrots
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

Two ways to make this - on the stove top or in the crock pot. In the crockpot the milk will curdle, but it still tastes great. We didn't have creamed corn and it turned out fine too.

1. In a large sauce pan, saute the onion, celery, and butter until softened.
2. Add flour and stir until well blended, then gradually add the milk.
3. bring to a boil while stirring and it should thicken up.

4. This is where you can either transfer the mixture to the crockpot and add the rest of the ingredients and let it go for 4 hours on low. OR You can add the rest of the ingredients (but you would need to cook the carrots and potatoes ahead of time) and bring to a boil. Then you reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes. I prefer crock-pot way...

easy chicken broccoli casserole

This is one recipe that makes for an easy dinner. I don't use specific measurements for this one, so I'll estimate. This works perfect if you have left over rice that you don't know what to do with.

1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1/4 cup mayo (you can also use sour cream if your not a mayo fan)
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t curry powder
2 small chicken breasts (cooked and diced)
1 lb of frozen broccoli
2 cups of cooked rice
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
breadcrumbs

Cook rice or use leftover rice. Cook chicken either on stovetop or boil. While waiting for rice and chicken, mix the remaining ingredients except 1/2 cup cheese and breadcrumbs in a 9x9 baking dish. Mix in rice and chicken once ready. It should be creamy and the rice should be well coated. If it seems too dry you can add milk until it's a nice creamy mixture. Top the remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cheesy Potatoes

Also known as Party Potatoes or Funeral Potatoes. This is my version:

7 or 8 medium potatoes diced (or you can buy frozen hash browns - enough to fill a 9x13 inch pan)
12 oz. sour cream
1 can of cream of celery soup (you can also use cream of chicken/mushroom/broccoli, I prefer the celery
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 stick of butter (you can dice or melt)
1/4 cup of finely chopped onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup of crushed corn flakes or bread crumbs

1. Dice potatoes and cook in boiling water until tender - about 20 minutes, then drain- or you can just defrost the frozen hash browns
2. In large bow, stir together soup, sour cream, 1 cup of cheese, butter, onion, salt and pepper.
3. Stir in potatoes
4. Pour into 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with cornflakes or bread crumbs
5. Bake, covered with foil, for 40 minutes
6. Uncover and bake about 10 more minutes until topping is golden and sides are bubbling.

This goes great with ham or chicken dinners. We love it!

Puffy Oven Pancakes (German pancakes)

2 T of butter
2 Large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 t salt
lemon juice and powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in 9X9 pan in oven. Try not to let the butter brown.
2. Beat eggs and then beat in flour, milk, and salt until smooth, a little lumpy is o.k. but the smoother the better
3. Pour batter into pan over the melted butter and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar (optional)

We eat this with maple syrup or jam on top. You can also easily double the recipe and put it into a 13/9 pan.

Apple variation:

Make just like above except-- sprinkle 2 T of brown sugar and 1/4 t of cinnamon evenly over melted butter then arrange 1 medium apple sliced over the sugar. Pour batter on top and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Loosen edge with knife and turn upside down onto serving plate to serve.

Easy Pizza Dough

We have been craving pizza for a while so we finally decided to make our own. This recipe is so easy and quick. We think it tastes better than the take out stuff. It is definitely cheaper if you have the ingredients on hand already.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Ingredients for dough:

1 cup very warm water

1 packet of quickrise yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 1/2 cups flour

In a medium size bowl dissolve sugar in warm water. Pour yeast packet into bowl and let it dissolve on top. If there are lumps after a few seconds its o.k. to mix them in. After that is mixed well, add salt and oil. Add flour gradually until it becomes a soft dough. I like to knead the last 1/2 cup into the dough. Then cover the bowl with a cloth and set on stovetop for 15 minutes to rise. After its risen for 15 minutes, roll out the dough and place on pizza sheet. Spread on sauce (we use 8 oz. can tomato sauce with salt, a little sugar, garlic, and italian seasonings), toppings and cheese and bake on bottom rack of oven for 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Quick Jell-O Pie

2 Packs Sugar Free Jell-O-any flavor

2 Containers of low or fat free yogurt-something close to Jell-O flavor

1 Container Cool Whip-low fat

2 Pie crust (or 1 crust and pudding cups)

Empty Jell-O into large bowl. Add just enough hot water to dissolve Jell-O. Whip in yogurt. Add in container of thawed cool-whip. Mix until well blended. Put into pie crust. Cover. Place in fridge.

Set time--One Hour

Coconut Chicken

So this is one that we adapted from a recipe we found online and actually liked it enough to share. That doesn't always happen. Usually my experiments turn out badly. I just happened to have some coconut milk left over from a different recipe that I didn't want to waste. Lucky for us we have a new favorite dish at our place. It's probably not the most healthy dish, but it tastes pretty good. Serves 4.


2 T white sugar
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
dash of paprika
1/2 tsp of garlic powder or fresh garlic if you have
1 T red pepper (or to taste, however spicy you would like it)
2 T peanut butter
1T lime or lemon juice
2 cups of diced chicken
2 T butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup coconut milk (or 1 and 1/2 cups and omit reg milk)
1/2 cup light sour cream


Combine the first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl(will be sticky). Set aside about a tablespoon of the mixture for later. Add chicken pieces and make sure chicken is coated well. You can let this marinate for a while or get cooking. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. On medium to high heat cook the chicken mixture until coating is nice and golden brown. Then add the rest of the peanut butter mixture until it melts and blends in. Then add the milks. Once the milk seems to be warmed up add the sour cream. Mix in well and turn down the heat and let simmer for a few minutes. Served over rice. You can experiment with it too. Maybe you can make it even better.

Dreamy Guacamole

(This one is from a mission companion of mine who is thinking about joining the blog. I hope she does soon. This looks good! )

Dreamy Guacamole

6 avocados
1 bunch of cilantro
4-6 green onions
2 limes
3-4 roma tomatoes
Garlic salt (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
White vinegar (1/4-1/2 C)

This is usually the order that I do this in.

Juice of the 2 limes. (if you like more lime taste you could zest it)
Put in the avocados cut up. Mix the 2 together.
Finely chop the cilantro. (Use as much or as little as you like, I tend to like more)
Chop the onions as finely as you can.
De-seed and juice the tomatoes. Roughly chop.
Add the garlic salt, pepper and salt to your liking.
Add ¼ c of white vinegar.

Then depending on how soft the avocadoes are, mash with a potato masher or a pastry cutter until the consistency that you like. If they are not ripe enough, add the other ¼ C of vinegar and continue to mash.

Serve!

Enjoy!


Ally

Double Chocolate Cookies

1 package (18.25 oz) plain* devil's food cake mix
1/3 cup water
4 Tbl. (1/2 stick) butter, melted (do not substitute margerine or it won't taste the same)
1 large egg
6 oz (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

*Plain cake mix has no added pudding. Duncan Hines brand meets this criterion, and so do some store brands.

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets with solid shortening. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, water, melted butter, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat 1 more minute. Cookie dough will be thick. Fold in the chips and nuts.

3. Drop scoops of dough 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Place in oven. If both sheets won't fit on the center rack, place one sheet on top and one in the center and rotate them halfway through the baking time.

4. Bake until set but soft in the center, 10-12 minutes. Remove pans from oven, let cookies rest on the cookie sheets for 1 minute. Remove with a metal spatula to cooling racks, let cool for 20 minutes. (I don't think we have ever had enough self-restraint to let them cool that long.)

Gone All Afternoon Stew

Gone All Afternoon Stew from Mums

1 lb. lean round steak, trimmed of fat and cubed
1 Tbl. dry tapioca
5 medium carrots, cut in chunks
3 large ribs celery, thickly sliced
1 onion, cut in chunks
4 medium potatoes, cut in chunks (I scrub them but do not peel them)
1 can tomato soup
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Italian seasoning or equivalent (I just throw in basil, a little oregano, and thyme)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cup frozen peas

Layer all ingredients except peas in a heavy roaster or casserole dish. No need to brown the meat first. Cover tightly, use foil if your pan doesn't have a lid.

Bake at 275 degrees for 5 hours. Stir in peas just before serving.

Spicy Chicken and Rice Bake

This is a delicious dish that has a ton of flavor and just enough spice. Left overs are great too because the rice only gets better the next day!

1 to 2 Pounds meaty chicken pieces (I like to use 4 chicken breasts)
1/2 chopped onion (medium)
1/2 chopped sweet green pepper
2 cloves garlic,minced
1 Tble olive oil (or other cooking oil)
1 15 ounce can Black beans rinsed and drained
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup Chicken stock (add more if you think mixure needs more liquid)
1/2 cup Tomato juice
1 cup frozen corn, or 1 reg. size can of sweet corn
2/3 cup of uncooked long grain rice
1 tsp. Chili powder
1 tsp. Cumin
1/4 tsp. paprika
salt to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional, I think everything is better with cheese)

1. Skin Chicken and set aside.
2. In a large sausepan cook onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in Black beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken stock, corn, Cumin, chili powder, rice, and salt. Bring to boil. Transfer rice mixture to a 3 quart rectangular baking dish. Arrange chicken pieces on top of rice mixture. Sprinkle chicken with paprika.
3. Bake covered in a oven heated to 375 degrees for 40 mins, then uncover and sprinkle cheese over the chicken and rice if desired and cook until chicken is no longer pink and rice is tender. Then enjoy.

Gyoza/Pot Stickers

Ingredients:
One pack of pot sticker wrap round shape. No square

(filling) It doesn't has to be exact amount of things.

1 lbs. ground pork

1 egg

1/4 c Nira/Chinese Chive minced

1 c Napa Cabbage minced

1 clove of garlic

2 T soy sauce

2 T sesame oil

salt & pepper

some options:

Green onion, cabbege, shiitake mushrooms, leak, bok choy, ginger

(dipping sauce)

If you can find the dumpling sauce at the Chinese market, it's the best.

3 T soy sauce

1 T vinegar

some drops of chili oil

If you like white rice to go with gyoza, start making rice now.

Mince all the Vegetables by hand or use food processor.
Size of Ants!
Put all the filling ingredients in one bowl and need by hand.

You shouldn't see any grains of pork

Scoop one teaspoonful of filling onto one wrap
and put water around half circle.
water is for glueing.
If it's too much fillings adjust the amount.

Fold in half .

Make three fold at the curve
You shouldn't taste at this moment, so cook one in the boiling
water until it's done and try it.
Add more soy sauce if the filling needs more taste.

Stand them up on the well-floured Tupperware.
They should not touch each other.
They stick together easily when they sweat.
The folded edge should be on top.
I made about 85 gyoza, but still had some left over wraps.
I usually freeze some.The cooking instruction is the same for frozen gyoza.

~use non stick pan! ~

Heat the pan and add 3 Tablespoonfuls of oil.
They will stick to the pan if you don't put enough,
so add little more than usual.
Line Gyoza in the pan.
The folded edge should be standing.
Then, add water up to 1/3 of the gyoza's height and cover.
Steam for 5-8 minutes at medium heat.

Open the lid and evaporate the water and
brown the bottom.
You can tell the bottom color by looking at
residue on the pan. Some Gyoza will be connected with this residue at the bottom, but it's easy to separate when you eat.
The bottom should be brown but not burned.
Be careful not to break the skin when you take out of the pan.
When you serve, the bottoms of the Gyoza should be up.
That way, those gyoza will stay crunchy longer.

For less calories, I boil them instead of pan fry just like ravioli.
Sometimes I put some in soup.
You can also deep fry them.

Filling can be easily changed. It's not the end of the world if you cannot find some veggies. I had Mexican style goyza with ground chicken and cilantro filling. Also Italian gyoza with pork, basil and parmesean cheese. Dipping sauce is another fun thing to play around. Have some fun and invent the new potstickers and dips.

Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I made this the other night and it turned out really nicely. Much easier than rolling each individual tortilla. I only used one large chicken breast and it turned out fine. This recipe serves a small family, so you need to double if you are having company (I like using cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken when doubling). This is from memory so hopefully it works out allright.

Preheat oven: 350 dregees

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts
8 -10 small corn tortillas, broken up
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can of green chiles
8 oz. sour cream
1-2 cups shredded cheese (mild cheddar or colby mix)
1/4 cup chopped green onions (optional)
1/4 cup chopped olives (optional)

1. Boil chicken breasts or chop them and cook in olive oil. If you boil, you can shred the chicken after it has cooled and it goes much further.
2. Mix soup, chiles, sour cream, and cooked chopped/shredded chicken in a bowl.
3. Grease 8x8 pan, layer bottom with small amount of soup mixture, 1/3 of tortillas, then 1/3 of soup/chicken mixture, and 1/3 of cheese.
4. Continue to layer until you are out of ingredients, finish with cheese on top, garnish top with green onions and olives.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until sides are bubbling and cheese is melted.

We usually put lettuce and salsa on top. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

1 cup Shortening
2 cups sugar
6 bananas
4 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nut chopped

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs one at a time and mix. Add mashed bananas and mix well. Add flour, baking soda, salt and nuts. Mix well.

Bake 350 degrees in 2 well greased and floured loaf pans for 1 hour and 15mins.

Yo' Mama's Simple Bread

Great for Cinnamon Rolls and Dough Dodgers

2 1/2 cups warm (hot) water
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 packages yeast

Let yeast activate then add:

1/2 cup powered milk
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp. salt

Add 7 cups of flour one cup at a time mixing after each cup. Turn out onto counter and knead.
Let rise until double the size- about 1 hour (skip to cinnamon rolls and dough dodgers directions from here if desired)
Punch down, roll into loaves, put into loaf pans. Let rise again -1hour.
Bake 350-375 degrees-35mins

OR for Cinnamon rolls

Roll out dough, add butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Roll up and slice for cinnamon rolls, let rise and bake for 20-25 mins.

OR for Dough Dodgers

Pull off pieces and shape into small balls. Flatten the balls and cook in hot oil. Great with Soup.

Adams Family Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
1 bag of spinach
1 cup of chopped tomato or Cherry tomato (more if you like )
6 slices of Bacon cooked and cut into bite size pieces
1/4 medium Onions chopped (if you don't like onions, put less, but make sure to add . It is part of flavoring)

Dressing
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 T Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Dry mustard
2 T Lemon juice
1 T Ketchup
3 T Olive oil

Instructions:

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, heat 5-10 seconds in the microwave if the dry ingredients need to be dissolved.
Prepare the salad in a large bowl by putting spinach, tomato, onion and bacon.
Right before eating , mix dressing into the Salad and hand toss.

Picture of this salad coming soon!

Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes, seeded & chopped
1/2 C green onion - some tops included
4 T fresh cilantro, snipped
2 garlic clove, pressed
4 T lime juice
1 can (15oz) black beans, **RINSED & drained **
1 can S&W Carribean black beans
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground lack pepper

Instructions:

Chop and seed tomatoes. Chop green onions. Coasrsely snip cilantro using kitchen shears.
Combine tomatoes, green onions and cilantro in 2 qt. bowl.
press garlic and add lime juice to the mixture. Add beans ( make sure to rinse the black beans), salt and pepper; mix gently. Cover and refrigerate 1-2hours to blend flavors.
Serve with warm chips, crackers

Servings:6 cups
Recipe provided by Jan

Slow Cooker Lasagna

This may not look all that appetizing, but it's very tasty. It tastes just like baked lasagna. I can put this together during Claire's nap and I don't have to worry about it again until it's time to eat. Makes about 4 to 6 servings depending how hungry you are.

1/2 to 1 lb of Ground Beef or Turkey

1/4 cup of diced onions

1/4 cup of diced green peppers

12 oz. of Ricotta or cottage cheese

1 egg

1 and 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese (more or less, depending how cheesy you are :)

28 oz jar of prepared spaghetti sauce

1/2 to 1 cup water

9 uncooked lasagna noodles broken up in pieces to fit

1. Brown beef or Turkey and cook with onion and green pepper in a skillet

2. Add sauce and water.

3. Mix egg and ricotta/cottage with one cup of mozzarella in separate bowl

3. Spread 1/4th of meat sauce on bottom of greased crock pot

4. Break 1/3 of noodles to cover meat sauce

5. Cover meat sauce with 1/3 cheese mixture

6. Continue to layer and end with rest of meat sauce on top.

7. Cover and cook on low for about 3-4 hours. During last 1/2 hour cover with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

These sugar cookies are perfect for Christmas or whenever you need an excuse to get out the Cookie Cutters (Fourth of July, maybe)!

1/2 Butter (One Stick)

1 Cup White Sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

3 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

Chill dough at least an hour. Roll out 1/2 inch thick. Bake 400 degrees, 8-12 min.