Lactose or Dairy Free Free Ice Cream - IBS

I made "custard" for Lactose free Ice Cream this evening. I customized a regular 4 cup recipe. Here's my recipe:

LACTOSE FREE OR DAIRY FREE ICE CREAM

4 Cups Lactose Free Milk. (If you have IBS use Almond or Rice Milk.)

1 Cup sugar

3-5 Egg Yolks

1 and 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Pinch of salt

1. Place the egg yolks and pinch of salt in a medium bowl and stir.

2. Pour the milk into a medium sauce pan over medium low heat, stir until hot but not boiling, stir in sugar.

3. Take 2 cups of the hot milk/sugar mixture and slowly pour as you stir it quickly into the egg yolks. Now pour the egg yolk/milk mixture into the rest if the milk/sugar mixture in the saucepan.

4. Cook and stir until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and add the vanilla. Strain through a fine sieve into a large bowl to get any lumps out. Allow to cool to room temperature before placing in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days before placing in your ice cream maker- following ice cream freezer directions.

NOTE: The original recipe was not lactose free. It had 8 egg yolks and used 3 Cups heavy cream and one cup whole milk and 2 plump vanilla beans split in half lengthwise and scraped of the seeds and cooked in the custard before straining it. If I had enough eggs I would have used 5 yolks instead of 8 which seems too rich, but if it's creamy enough, I'll keep it at 3 yolks.

Sour Cream Banana Bread

I had four old over-ripe bananas smelling up my kitchen and instead of trashing them like I usually do I mashed them up and made four small loaves of banana bread. My customized recipe called for buttermilk, but I had none. Since I had an unopened container of sour cream left over from Christmas I decided to use it before the Feb. 1, 2010 "use before" date.

I personally HATE baking powder as a levener in cake products, so instead I use baking soda and a sour to make it react. I usually use buttermilk or make my own sour milk with regular milk and a TB of vinegar. I decided to use the sour cream instead and let me tell you it make a nice high batter bread! I will definitely use it again! It'll make nice muffins, in fact it'll make nice scones too! I'm gonna try making scones sometime soon! Scones are just like Irish Soda Bread all dressed up.

Hamburger Soup

Yesterday I made a pot of Hamburger Soup for my husband. I tried making it in the crock pot, but I started rather late in the day so i had to finish cooking it on the gas stove in the stainless steel Dutch Oven. It's a simple recipe:

HAMBURGER SOUP

1 and 1/2 pounds browned ground beef

2 Cans Beef or Chicken Broth plus 2 Cans Water
                  OR
8 cups of water plus soup base powder to make 8 cups of broth.

2 cans Pureed Tomatoes

3 medium Potatoes cubed in 1/2" pieces (2 cups)

3-4 Cups frozen mixed Vegetables (Or as much as you like) I use at least a 16 OZ bag

1/2 cup barley

2 tsp Mrs. Dash Original

1 TB Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder (I should have used 3 cloves fresh I suppose)

1/2 tsp Pepper

Salt if you think the soup base wasn't salty enough

1 tsp Thyme

I just throw everything into the pot and let it simmer or slow cook until it's done. Of course this recipe can be made much better if you add celery and fresh cut carrots and whatever other veggie you like. My husband doesn't like celery but the Mrs. Dash has celery seed in it, (you can smell it too), so I do get some of the flavor. I prefer Hamburger or beef soup without any tomatoes, but I add them just for my husband.

NOTE: I used to add QUAKER 10 Minute Barley but after getting BARLEY BUGS in the remainder even though stored in a zip lock freezer bag for 6 months or so until I made soup again the last two times I bought it I don't even keep it in the house.

Lavender Cookies

1/2 Cup Butter softened

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 large Egg

1 TB fresh or dried Lavender

1 Cup Unbleached Flour

1 tsp baking powder, (I'm gonna use baking soda)LB

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour and baking powder or baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

In a bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the lavender, stirring well.

Slowly stir in the flour and baking powder, combining well. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a lightly oil sprayed baking sheet. (I will use Pampered Chef's smallest cookie scoop and I use air bake pans) LB

Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Makes two dozen.

*Untried recipe.

Presser Cooker Roast Beef

23 years ago when I married my second husband I received an aluminum PRESTO pressure cooker for a shower gift. Mom knew how much I enjoyed the pressure cooked venison roasts that we all ate since dad is a hunter. Still and all I didn't use the pressure cooker very often at first.
Of course I have a hard time getting a hold of a venison roast so I buy the typical beef roast in the grocery store. In the beginning I used to buy a good cut of beef. It was a thick rolled roast. I kept buying those expensive cuts of beef, but my husband said they were too tough when I roasted them in the oven like HIS mother used to do. So I dragged out my aluminum pressure cooker and started using it faithfully when I cooked a roast, yet I frowned upon the prices of the beef. Along the way I switched to London Broil for roast beef. It had very little fat and it cooked up nice and tender in the pressure cooker, but it was so dry. Recently I bought a nice thick CHUCK ROAST, and it was nice and tender and juicer than any other cut of beef I used for roast beef. A few weeks ago WEIS had BUY ONE GET ONE FREE, so I did!
A short time ago I browned the beef in olive oil in the pressure cooker before adding 2 cans of beef broth and plenty of onion powder, some garlic powder, salt and pepper. It just came up to steam so i turned it down to a lower flame and it has to cook for one hour! As soon as it's done I will place the cooker under cold running water to bring down the pressure so I can open the lid. Then I will remove the beef, and add 2 pounds of carrots cut into sticks to the broth and replace the lid and bring the pressure cooker back up to steam and cook them for a mere 4 minutes. Then I will again bring the pressure down under cold running water and remove the lid and I will remove all the carrot sticks and make a nice gravy and some instant mashed potatoes... INSTANT POTATOES?! Yes I do use them when I run out of fresh ones for mashed potatoes to go with the gravy.
Of course I MUST remove all visible fat from the meat or my husband won't eat it.. SHEESH! He's a grown man and he can do it himself, right? True, but I just wanna shut him up before he starts whining.. : (

Pressure cookers make a very flavorful gravy because it condenses the broth you make it with. I added 1 cup of sieved flour/water to make my gravy and it was superb- delicious!

NOTE: About 10 years ago I had to buy myself a new pressure cooker because the handles broke off the old aluminum one. This time I bought a $79.00 PRESTO PRIDE stainless steel pressure cooker with short side handles that most likely won't break off.

Delmonicos or Rib Eye Steak?

Here's two Rib Eye/Delmonico steaks I tenderized and now they marinate in some Montreal Meat Marinade. They LOOK like Delmonicos to me, but the butcher at Wegman's informed me years ago that they are the same cut of meat. The sticker on the package at Weis, where I bought them called them Rib Eyes.

NOTE: The marinade is too salty and they could have marinated another hour at least! I need to get some Balsamic vinegar and make my own marinades.

I LOVE my Meat Tenderizer!

I actually bought this new gadget at a flea market for $8.00 over a year ago, and I absolutely LOVE it!

Oatmeal Water Bagels or Pretzels - IBS

1 and 1/2 Cups Warm Water

1 tsp Salt

1 pkg Yeast

3 TB plus 1 tsp Brown Sugar

3 -4 Cups Flour

1 and 1/2 Cups Oatmeal

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 Cup water add 1 Tsp Sugar let sit for a minute to proof yeast- let it bubble up at least an inch.

Soften oatmeal in 1 Cup water add 1 tsp salt, and 3 Tb sugar.

Pour both mixtures in to a bowl and start adding the flour a cup at a time until sticky yet knead-able and leaves the sides of the bowl. I like a wet dough. Now knead in small handfuls of flour as needed on the counter. You will want a slightly sticky soft dough. If it's too stiff you have to knead in some water a TB at a time and that is truly a pain! I knead for 10 minutes or 200 quarter turns.

Let raise until doubled in bulk in a oil sprayed bowl covered with a dish cloth or plastic wrap.

Right before you are ready to shape the bagels fill a dutch oven or chicken fryer with water and let it come to a boil, and let it simmer as you shape the dough into bagels.

Do NOT punch down dough, just turn the bowl over and cut the dough in half, then quarters, then eighths. Or tenths for smaller bagels.
Form dough into balls, and flatten out or squeeze to remove bubbles, then push your finger into the center to form a hole and stretch the dough to form a 2 " hole.

Allow bagels to rise a short time on a lightly greased cookie sheet as you preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Now you can add a TB sugar to the boiling water and start boiling the bagels a few at a time. as soon as they rise to the surface turn them over and allow to cook for 1 minute.
Now place boiled bagels on a dishtowel to drain. You can add the toppings you choose at this time.

Place the bagels on a greased baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes turn over bagels 20 minutes through baking process. Place on metal rack too cool.

NOTE: You can make pretzels with this recipe if you shape the dough the right way and brush some beaten egg to the dough before sprinkling with coarse salt. If you don't want to add the oatmeal just add more flour to the recipe. Usually I have added 2 tsp onion powder to the dough. I could have sprinkled minced onion on top too before baking, but I never did.

I have a cookbook with the exact same recipe but it uses all flour and adds 2 pkg yeast and 1 TB salt. You need extra salt if you have 2 pkgs yeast but not THAT much. Just one tsp salt for every pkg yeast or cup of water is my motto.

Soft Ginger Cookies- Grandma French

6 to 8 Cups of Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Crisco

1 Egg beaten

2 Cups Molasses

2 TB Vinegar

4 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

1 and 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

2 TB Ginger

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1 Cup Boiling Water

Cream Crisco and sugar.
Mix four, spices and salt in a separate bowl.
Add egg to Crisco mixture and beat well. Add Molasses and vinegar and mix well before adding the dry ingredients.

Lastly add baking soda dissolved in boiling water. Add more flour if necessary. Chill and roll into balls, and pat into cakes.

Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees on greased cookie sheets.

NOTE: I know this seems to be a strange way to make a cookie. I guess the water is still boiling hot when you add it to the dough mixture. When Mom was growing up this was her favorite cookie.

Creamed Spinach

16 OZ bag Frozen Spinach

1 TB Vegetable oil (I use olive, canola or safflower)

1 & 1/2 Tb Flour

1 Cup Milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the spinach as directed and drain off the water.

Meanwhile mix the flour and oil in a small saucepan over low heat, when it starts to turn golden brown add the cup of milk, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened for at least a minute using a wire whisk and a silicone scraper. Serve immediately, with some butter or margarine. It reheats real nice too.

NOTE: I found this recipe in a old paperback German cookbook. Of course I used oil instead of butter in the white sauce to make it healthier.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Cricso

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar packed

2 Eggs beaten

2 & 1/2 Cups Flour

1 & 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt. (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Mix sugars with fats and eggs until smooth.

Mix flour, b. soda and salt together before adding to the peanut butter mixture. At this point you can refrigerate this dough for a few days if need be, as long as you wrap it in plastic wrap. Form into 1" balls. (I use the smallest Pampered Chef cookie scoop.)

Place dough balls on a lightly oil sprayed cookie sheet and flatten with a flour coated fork.

Bake 12 minutes at 375 degrees.

NOTE: This is my family's favorite cookie. Add a bag of chocolate chips to make this recipe even better! This is a double recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook. I always omit the baking powder from all recipes, it's too bitter. Sometimes I add extra baking soda in it's place, but not with cookies.

THIS RECIPE MAKES ABOUT 80 COOKIES

Foundation Sweet Dough- 100 year old recipe- Great Grandma Jones

1 Cup Scalded Milk

1 Cup Lukewarm Water

1/2 Cup Sugar

6 Tb Crisco (I usually do rounded)

1 tsp salt

3 Eggs Beaten

1 small yeast cake (the square ones, Do they still make them?) Or 2 Pkg Dry yeast

6 or more cups Flour. (I use Unbleached)

Proof yeast in the water with a tsp sugar.
Scald milk and add Crisco, salt and sugar, stir and let cool to lukewarm.

Pour milk mixture into a large bowl and add 2 cups flour to make a batter. Then add yeast mixture and eggs. Mix well and add remaining flour one cup at a time until stiff enough to knead- the dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead 15 minutes or until smooth. (I knead quarter turns until I count to 150 to 200 turns, I never time the process and I don't get anxiety over it if it's not real smooth either)

Place the dough ball in a greased bowl and grease top of the dough ball. (I use oil spray nowadays.) Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap. let rise until doubled in volume.

Punch down dough and divide into three equal balls. (I know it says to do that but I just tip the dough out of the bowl and cut it into 2 equal pie shaped wedges, and form it lightly into a squarish shape. I leave as much air in the dough ball as possible to make it easier to roll the dough into a rectangle for cinnamon buns or raisin bread.

For Cinnamon buns I roll out the dough as thin as I can and brush on a 1/2 stick of melted butter, then I sprinkle on about 1/2 cup (more or less) of packed brown sugar and rub it into the dough make sure it's all over it, then heavily sprinkle on the cinnamon, and raisins and or nuts if you wish. Roll up and place in a greased square pan or a cake pan. whatever a round one will do. I usually drizzle a plain icing glaze on top (10 X sugar, milk and vanilla).

If making sticky buns I use less brown sugar on the inside but lots of cinnamon. Now place a 1/2 cup of brown sugar in the bottom of the baking pan and add a 1/2 stick of melted butter and a TB water! Now place the sliced buns on top and let rise until nearly doubled before baking at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

NOTE: This recipe is at least 100 years old. I'm sure Flora Jones used lard as a new bride in the late 1870's

Deviled Crab Casserole

2 Cups Crab Meat- or Immitation Crab.

1/2 Cup Scalded Milk

1/3 Cup Melted Butter

2 Eggs - well beaten

1/2 Cup soft Bread Crumbs

1 tsp salt (I'll use 1/2 tsp)

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tb minced Green Pepper

1 Tb Parsley

1/2 tsp dry Mustard

1/2 tsp Paprika

TOPPING:

1 cup Soft bread Crumbs

2 TB melted Butter

Combine all ingredients except topping ones.
Spoon into greased baking dish.

Mix topping ingredients and spread on top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.


NOTE: This is not very DEVILED, is it?

Crock Pot Broccoli Casserole*

2- 10 OZ pkgs Frozen Broccoli- partially thawed

1 Can Cream of Celery Soup

8 OZ Shredded Cheese divided

1/4 Cup Chopped Onion- sauteed until tender

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp pepper

1 Cup Finely crushed Ritz Crackers

2 Tb Butter melted

Mix all the ingredients except for the cracker crumbs and melted butter.Pour into greased crock pot.

Toss cracker crumbs with melted butter and sprinkle on top of Broccoli mixture.

Cover and cook on High for 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours. Then sprinkle remianing cheese on top and cook until melted about 15 minutes.

* Untried Recipe

Rice Salad- (Unusual)

4 Cups Cooked Long Grain Rice

8 Radishes sliced

4 Hard Cooked Eggs

1 Medium Cucumber Chopped

2 Cups diced Celery

1/2 Cup chopped Onion

1 and 1/2 Cups Mayonnaise

3 Tb Mustard

1 tsp Salt

Combine mayo, mustard and salt, and mix in with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

NOTE: I would not use the radishes or cucumbers so what would I replace them with? Shredded carrots? I bet half a finely chopped red or green pepper would be good in this.

Peaches and Cream Dessert

3/4 Cup Flour

1- 4 OZ pkg Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Egg beaten

1/2 Cup Milk

3 Tb Melted Margarine

Mix together and pour into a greased 9" Square baking dish.

1- 16 ounce Can Sliced Peaches drained and chopped. Sprinkle on top of batter.

Now mix these three ingredients and pour over peaches:

1/3 Cup Peach Juice

1/2 Cup Sugar

8 OZ Cream Cheese

Mix 1 TB sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle over cream cheese mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.

NOTE: I have yet to make this one but it sounds delicious. In all honesty I'm not sure what size pan should be used. It sounds like a small cake with only 3/4 Cup flour.

Creamy Fish Chowder*

1 Envelope Leek Soup Mix

2 Cups Water

8 OZ Cod or haddock or canned salmon

1 Cup 1/2 and 1/2 or Evaporated milk.

Instructions:

Mix soup mix in water cook in crock pot for 1 hour.

Add Cod and cook on high another hour.

Add 1/2 and 1/2 or evaporated milk and any seasonings you prefer. Let cook another 1/2 hour or so.

NOTE: I bet this is delicious with any other fish or shellfish substitute and a potato cubed small can be added.

* Untried Recipe

Pull Apart Bacon Bread

12 Bacon strips diced. (Just cut a 1/2 pound bacon in half down the middle and cut that in 1/2 inch dice.)

1 Loaf Frozen Bread dough thawed.

2 Tb Olive Oil

1 Cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 Envelope Ranch Salad Dressing Mix

Cook bacon until partially cooked and drain.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick, brush with oil. Cut into 1" pieces. Place in a large bowl and add bacon, ranch dressing mix and cheese, toss to coat.

Arrange pieces in a 9" X 5 " oval or circle on a greased baking sheet, layering as needed. Cover and let rise until doubled on bulk.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes- cover with foil and bake 5-10 minutes. longer.

NOTE: I haven't made this recipe yet so I'm not sure about the baking process. I bake cinnamon rolls from scratch for a 1/2 hour but never use foil. I think some minced garlic mixed with the oil would be great.

Hash Brown Casserole

1- 2 Lb package Frozen Hash Browns thawed

1/2 Cup chopped onion

1/2 Cup Butter or margarine melted

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Cups Sour Cream

2 Cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Salt and pepper to taste or any other seasoning you like.

TOPPING

1/4 cup melted margarine

2 Cups crushed Cornflakes or cracker crumbs or stove top stuffing- just grind in the blender or processor.

Mix well to coat crumbs with butter.

Saute onion in 1/2 cup butter until tender. Combine sour cream and soup mix. Stir in the hash browns, cheese and seasoning.

Pour into a greased 9" X 13" baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for a half hour.

Meanwhile melt 1/4 Cup butter and toss with cracker crumbs. Remove dish from from oven and sprinkle topping over it. Return to oven for another 1/2 hour.

NOTE I have seen similar recipes with 2 cans of soup and one cup sour cream. The first time I made this I used one can of soup and 1 Cup sour cream and sauteed the onion in 1/4 Cup butter.

Raine's Hot Dog Sauce

This is a meat only sauce, no beans, my husband and son love it. I supposedly have the original Coney Island Hot Dog Sauce recipe which was obtained by a step cousin of mine who used to work at a Coney Island Hot Dog stand in the 1950's. But let me tell you it's a VERY BLAND sauce so I made some spicy improvements! It used finely ground beef, and although I didn't have any I pureed the finished sauce instead.

RAINE'S HOT DOG SAUCE (Improved)

1 lb hamburger

1 medium to small onion finely chopped OR 1 Tbs onion powder

6 oz can tomato paste plus 4 cans water.

2 Tbs chili powder

1/2 to tsp red hot or at least 1/2 tsp cayenne red pepper

2 tsp sugar

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp thyme

slat and pepper optional.

1. Brown the ground beef and add the chopped onion- let it cook until onion is soft.

2. Add the minced or pressed garlic, sugar and spices. Let simmer on low heat for 1/2 hour, adding a small amount of water if it cooks down too fast.

3. Puree the mixture in a food processor or Bullet Blender. Mixture has a fine grind.

This mixture freezes well.

NOTE: The original version had noticeable bits of onion in it because it was not pureed. You could cook and drain the meat, puree it in some of the reconstituted tomato paste and then add the onions and spices before it cooks down for a half hour.

Mandarin Orange Dessert - Very Light

CRUST:

60 Ritz crackers crushed (2 packages minus 10) So why not use the other ten? I would..LB

1/3 Cup melted butter/margarine - (I'd use 1/2 Cup with 2 complete packages crackers. LB)

1/4 Cup sugar

Mix first three ingredients and press into 9" X 13" cake pan.

FILLING:

6 OZ Orange Juice concentrate

10 OZ can Sweetened Condensed Milk

12 OZ Cool Whip

(2) 11 OZ cans Mandarin Oranges drained

Mix the orange juice with the Sweetened Condensed milk, then fold in the Cool Whip. Add the drained oranges last and pour over crust and make it look pretty. : ) Place in fridge until ready to serve.

Lemon Ice

6 Large Lemons

2 Cups Sugar

4 Cups Water

1 Cup fresh Lemon Juice

Zest from 2 lemons (2 tsp)

Heat lemons for 60 seconds in microwave and press down and roll on table top to loosen up the juice.
Wash the rinds of the lemons, and remove the zest from two of them. I don't usually measure out the zest.

Place the water and sugar in a large saucepan and add the lemon zest. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. then boil 5 minutes. Remove lemon zest with a sieve, and let it cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile cut the lemons in half and juice them all,then pour the juice through a sieve to remove pulp and seeds. Mix the sugar water with the lemon juice and pour into 4-5 ice cube trays or a plastic freezer container. Freeze overnight.

Set the ice cube trays out for 5 minutes and they should pop out so you can place them in a freezer bag or container. I usually smash the soft Lemon Ice cubes with a fork and eat them with a spoon. OR you can just scrape layers from the lemon ice surface if you freeze in a block in a plastic container.

Instant Cappuccino Recipe

INSTANT CAPPUCCINO

(1) 16 oz pkg Nestle's Quick

1 Cup Instant Coffee

2 Cups 10X Sugar

(2) 3 Quart Pkgs Nonfat Dry Milk

(1) 8 OZ Jar Non-Fat Dairy Creamer

Mix all ingredients well and store in airtight container.

Use 1/4 Cup per serving.

Sour Cherry Pie Recipe

SOUR CHERRY PIE (9 inch dish)

(3) 14.5 Ounce cans MUSSELMAN'S Red Tart Pitted Cherries (Water pack)

1/2 Cup Cornstarch

1 and 1/2 Cups Sugar, OR 3/4 each Sugar and Splenda

1 Cup Cherry Juice

Pie dough for a two crust pie. (Refrigerated Pillsbury works good too if you can't make dough very well).

Make the pie dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour before rolling out. Meanwhile you can drain the cherries and mix the sugar and corn starch.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees before you roll out the dough on a pastry cloth and place in the pie dish, trimming the edges to hang over the edges 1/4 inch. Then mix the cherries and juice with the sugar mixture and set aside.

Roll out the top crust to fit the dish and then pour the cherry pie mixture into the lined dish and dot with 2 TB butter.

Next wet the edges of the dough in the dish or pie pan with water and then fold the dough into quarters and transfer to the pie, centering the point of the dough in the middle of the pie, then unfold it and trim the edges to hang 1/4 over the edges.

Fold the dough under and crimp a pretty design into into it. Place the pie crust shield on top of the pie and place the pie in the oven. Bake 2o minutes on 425 degrees before turning down the temperature to 400 degrees and removing the pie saver. Continue to bake for 40 more minutes. It should be a beautiful golden brown and bubbling a little around the edges..

Spicy Cream of Chicken Soup- (My own recipe)

Two Pounds of Chicken thighs (or whatever parts you like.)

3 quarts of water

2 cans of Chicken Broth (Or mix Chicken Soup Base with hot water for broth)

I carrot chopped large

1 stalk of celery chopped large

1 onion quartered

Seasoning you like- or those mentioned below

Simmer all the above ingredients for at least an hour before you remove the chicken thighs and remove all bones, skin and gristle. Set aside. Pour the broth through a colander to catch all the big chunks and place back in the stock pot or in a Dutch oven. Then add the ingredients listed below:

********************************

3 carrots cubed small

1 cup frozen green beans

1 cup frozen mixed veggies

(Or just use 5 cups of frozen mixed veggies)

3 stalk of celery cubed small

3 medium potatoes cubed small. Add last half hour.

2 cans cream of chicken soup (add last)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Mrs Dash Original if you have it.

1 tsp Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning if you have it.

1 tsp Mrs. Dash Spicy Seasoning or use Emeril's original.

2-3 packs chicken bouillon or a few more tsp Chicken soup base.

Salt and pepper to taste

NOTE: Add whatever veggies your family loves.. Recipes are what you make them!

If you want a brothy soup add another can of broth or more water at the beginning.. it's all up yo you!

If you want a spicier soup add a drained can of ROTELL chilies and tomatoes, and a half a chopped green pepper too.

Vanilla Extract

Here's a cool website I found called Planet Green. www.planetgreen.discovery.com/ I went there to find the recipes for 45 HOMEMADE FOODS YOU CAN MAKE YOURSELF. The best one there is Vanilla Extract. Here's the recipe:

VANILLA EXTRACT

2 cups vodka

6 Vanilla beans

One quart Mason jar with ring and lid.

Scald the jar, lid and ring, and let airdry.

Pour vodka in the sterilized Mason jar. Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and place in the vodka. Make sure beans are covered with vodka. Store in a cool, dry and dark place for at least 6 weeks before you strain the vanilla extract with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Place in sterilized dark bottles and close lid tightly.

Applesauce Cookies- Grandma French's Recipe

APPLESAUCE COOKIES

1 Cup Crisco

2 Cups Sugar

2 Beaten Eggs

2 Cups Applesauce

1 Cup Chopped Nuts

1/2 box Raisins

4 Cups Flour

1 tspn cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg (I use 1/2 tsp)

1 tsp cloves (I use 1/2 tsp)

1 tspn salt (I use 1/2 tsp)

2 tsp baking soda

Cream sugar and Crisco.
Add eggs and applesauce- mix well.
Add nuts and raisins.
Mix dry ingredients and add to first mixture.
Chill overnight if possible so flavors mingle.
Drop by teaspoonfuls (I use small cookie scoop), on greased or oil sprayed baking sheets.
Bake at 350 to 375 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Omit nuts and or raisins if you want.

Note: Grandma French made these cookies in the 1970's as Christmas presents. She gave all us grandchildren a box on Christmas morning. (I LOVE eating the raw dough!)

Great Grandma Jones White Bread Recipe

WHITE BREAD- Grandma Jones Recipe

2 Cups scalded milk

2 Cups lukewarm water

1 large cake or 3 pk gs of Fleishmans yeast

5 Tbsp Lard or Crisco (I used heaping ones)

4 Tbsp sugar

4 tsp salt

12 Cups flour approx. (I use bread flour or unbleached.)

Mix the Crisco, sugar and salt in the scalded milk. Let it get cool to lukewarm.

Proof the yeast in one cup of the water, a tsp sugar to it to feed on.

Stir milk mixture, yeast mixture and the other cup of water into a large bowl. Add flour to form a batter, beat until smooth- adding flour 1 or 2 cups at a time until dough leaves sides of the bowl.

Knead on counter or a table until smooth- adding flour a hand full at a time on counter to knead into dough if too sticky. I prefer a slightly sticky dough.

Let rise until double in bulk in a greased bowl, with a clean towel or plastic wrap on top. Then you can punch down dough and turn out on a floured surface and cut the round dough into 4 equal quarters and form into 4 loaves. Knead each loaf before shaping. Bake in greased (Oil sprayed pans). If you wanted to make 5 loaves feel free to add another cup of water to the recipe, and another tsp salt, 1 Tbsp Sugar and 1 Tbsp Crisco. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until a nice medium brown on top, in the pan should be a nice light brown. It will sound hollow when tapped. let cool on a wire rack. Wrap when cool.

Aunt Annie's Pie Crust Recipe

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 Cup Crisco

7 TB Ice water

Mix flour and salt. Mix in half the Crisco at a time using pastry cutter or a mixer on medium speed. (I prefer rubbing the fat into the flour with my fingers as Aunt Annie taught me.

When it's well incorporated and crumbly I drizzle the ice water over the dough and toss well making sure the water is evenly distributed, and I might even add extra since I like a wet dough, because I refrigerate it at least an hour before rolling out. (I flatten it into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap). I roll out my dough on a pastry cloth and use a cloth covered rolling pin.

Pumpkin Pie

I had to remove a bag of frozen pumpkin puree from my freezer to make room for some Chuck roasts, so I decided to make a pumpkin pie with it today. Here's my filling recipe for a 9 " pie.

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING

2 Cups Pumpkin Puree

3/4 Cup Evaporated Milk

3/4 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

2 heaping Tb Flour

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ginger

3-4 shakes of Cloves

1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients including sugar. Beat eggs into the pumpkin puree, then add the dry ingredients, mixing well. Add the milk last stirring well before pouring into your favorite 9" pie crust.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees then turn down to 375 and bake another 40 minutes until center is set and no longer jiggles when gently shaken. Cool on wire rack.


NOTE: For a large pie I use 3 Cups Pumpkin, 1 Cup Sugar, 3 Tb flour, 3 eggs, and I use rounded measuring spoons of the spices. I might have to bake it 10 minutes longer.

Sausage Gravy

The first time I had sausage gravy I was in my forties. I don't know why I waited so long to try it, but I fell in love with it. So I looked online a few years ago and now I make my own about three times a year. It's too fattening to make it more often and I'm the only one who eats it! It's so simple to make too.

SAUSAGE GRAVY

A Roll of Jimmy Dean Regular Sausage

2 rounded TB Flour

2 Cups Milk or half and half or a can of Evaporated milk plus a half cup of water.

Crumble and fry up the sausage until it's browned.
Stir in 2 TB Flour until it is absorbed by the fat. Then stir in the milk and cook until thick gravy forms. If it's too thick thin with a little milk. Add any spices you like to spice it up. Serve over buttermilk biscuits, toast or English muffins.

NOTE: You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe and keep warm in a crock pot for large crowds.

Cracker Candy

I got this recipe from a fellow blogspot blogger- Mom2-2Goodboys Loves to Cook!

CRACKER CANDY

1 cup butter, (2 sticks) melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp almond extract
Saltine crackers
5 LARGE Hershey Candy Bars***
1 cup roasted and coarsely chopped Almonds

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper being sure to cover the sides. Spray the surface with cooking spray. This helps when removing the candy after it has cooled. Cover the bottom of the pan with saltine crackers.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter and sugar. Bing to a boil. While constantly stirring allow to boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add almond extract. Be careful when you add the extract, the mixture will bubble up and burn if it comes in contact with your skin.

Pour sugar mixture over crackers and spread with spatula to evenly cover. Place cookie sheet in oven and bake the crackers for 4-6 minutes. At this time remove the wrappers from the candy bars and break into pieces.

Remove the tray of crackers from oven and spread broken chocolate pieces over top. Allow to melt. Then with a spatula, spread chocolate over the entire cracker/sugar mixture. After you spread the chocolate, sprinkle the chopped almonds on top and press them firmly into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then place the whole tray in the freezer. After the cracker candy has set break apart into smaller pieces and arrange on a serving tray.

I originally found this recipe over at Many Little Blessings.

***The original recipe over at Angie's Blog calls for 4 - 5 OZ. bars of Hershey chocolate. This year however, Hershey's has reduced the size of their large chocolate bars. They are now 4.4 OZ. You will need to purchase 5 large bars instead of 4.

What Do You Do With Cubed Steak?

So my friends, what do YOU do with cubed steak? I bought cubed steak for the very first time last November, (I'm 51 years old). The reason I bought it was because I watched The NEELY'S make Chicken Fried Steak on Food Network! So I copied their recipe and made some myself. I bought a large package of steaks- enough for 2 meals for the three of us. Chicken Fried Steak was VERY fattening being fried and all, so I decided that next time I would marinate it and grill it.. well I had my husband grill it actually. Well let me tell you it was delicious! And an odd entree. It was like eating a medium rare steak, but it was also like eating a burger. The texture was different in the mouth. Nonetheless, I keep buying CUBED STEAK now, usually on sale for $10.00 a pack and I get two meals out of it.

Homemade Shout Stain Remover

OKay so I just made the SHOUT..Remember the recipe?

1 Cup Ammonia,
1 Cup Dishwashing Liquid
2 Cups water.

At first I tried to Halve the recipe from memory, and I used the wrong measurements. I used:

1/2 Cup Ammonia,
1/2 Cup Dawn Dish washing Liquid
2 Cups Water

As you may have noticed I used an extra cup of water for half a recipe, so I had to add another half cup of ammonia and Dawn to the bottle.
Well it seems awful thick.. Is the real Shout that thick? Here's much it costs to make- approximately. The ammonia was $1.12 for 64 oz, a mere $.14 for one cup! So say the 16 oz Dawn is $1.39.. That's about 35 cents a cup.. So the 32 ounces of Homemade SHOUT costs me $.49 more or less!! Shout is on sale 2 for $5.00 at Weis right now! So I'm saving at least $2.00 if not more, right?

Oatmeal Pecan Shortbread

I borrowed this from another blog. ALL THAT, AND SHE COOKS TOO. She borrowed it from another blog too! Haw haw

OATMEAL PECAN SHORTBREAD

2 cups flour
2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
6 tablespoons sugar
1 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix flour, sugar and oats.
Cut in butter. I use my hands. it is messy, but that way I get a good mix.
Mix in pecans.
Mix until it resembles fine crumbs and starts to hold together.
Form mixture into a ball.
On floured surface, roll dough out to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut into rounds (or whatever shape you fancy). I used 1.5 inch scalloped circles.
Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until bottoms just start to brown.

Bread Crumbs

I need bread crumbs for my chicken nuggets I'm making today. I saved up left over bread heels and hamburger buns and dinner rolls (which I froze). I will cube and bake the bread for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy, then I will grind the dried cubes in my Bullet food processor. That way the bread doesn't go to waste, and I save a few cents.. I'll just have to add some Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning.