Pumpkin Crisp

Mom made this for dessert tonight. It was so good. We all ate so much that we felt sick. It is super rich and really good with whipped cream on top. It is like a tastier, more flavorful, more moist pumpkin pie. I would prefer this to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving anyday.

2 16 oz cans pumpkin
4 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 (2-layer) yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter melted
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine all but last three ingredients. Pour into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle pecans on top of cake mixture.
Drizzle melted butter over top.
Bake 350°F for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,178,131180-254198,00.html

Quicker-to-Make 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Makes about 2 loaves...might want to cut recipe in half!
3 cups hot tap water (hot to touch, not hot enough to burn)
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey
1 Tbs. dough enhancer
1 Tbs. instant yeast
1 Tbs. salt
1 Tbs. vital wheat gluten
6-8 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour ( could use half wheat and half white?)

Pour warm water in mixing bowl. Add approximately 3c. flour on top of liquid. Then add dough enhancer, oil, honey, yeast, and gluten. Mix well.

Add approximately 3+ additional cups flour and salt. Knead , continuing to ad flour 1/4 c. at a time until the dough pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Knead for another 5 minutes.

Oil or grease hands and counter. (I would probably use flour!) Divide dough into equal portions and shape into loaves. Putinto well-greased pans. Let rise till double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or till golden brown on top. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Brush top of loaves with butter or water for a shiny appearance. Dough can be used for pizza crust of cinnamon rolls.

Zucchini Apple Pie

I know what you're thinking...because Dave thinks it whenever I try and sneak zucchini into my spaghetti sauce. But this REALLY tastes like apple pie. Try it and don't tell your hubby. I swear, they will never know. That's thanks to a little miracle I like to call sugar. :)

4 cups large zucchini
2 T lemon juice
Dash of salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Dash of nutmeg
3 T flour

Peel zucchini (be sure to remove all of the dark green color). Cut in quarters lengthwise and remove seeds. Slice crosswise. Cook until tender crisp and drain very well.

Toss together zucchini, lemon juice, and salt.

Mix in bowl sugar, cinnamon, cream of tartar, nutmeg, and flour.

Add zucchini to above mixture and mix well (it willbe slightly runny). Place in 9" pie crust and dot with butter befoer adding top crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Apple Butter Jam

Apple Butter

10-12 Diced/peeled apples (about 14 cups)
2 c. apple cidar
3 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Place apples and cidar in crock pot, add sugar. Can fill pot with more apples, if they will fit. Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 4 hours. Blend crock pot contents, along with cinnamon & cloves, until smooth. Return contents to crock pot and cook on low for 1 hour. Fill pint jars and process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Chicken Bacon Salad

Chicken Bacon Salad

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breast, cooked & cubed
1/2 lb. bacon
1/2-1 cup craisins
1/2-1 cup nuts, chopped
1 C. Mozzarella cheese, grated
Mixed greens (I used 1 bag spring mix & 1 bag of chopped romaine)

Dressing: (this usually makes a little more than you need)
1/4 of red onion, chopped
1/2 c. Red wine vinegar
1 c oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard

Serves 8-10. This is a very filling salad and can be served for a brunch or light lunch with rolls.

Wheat Bread w/hard white wheat

Wheat Bread

**I half this recipe since my mixer doesn't accomodate 10+ cups of flour. And when it's halved it makes 2 loaves.

6 c hot tap water
sprinkle 6 c. wheat

2 T salt
2T yeast
2T gluten
2T bread enchancer

2/3 c oil
2/3 c honey

Start adding more flour (abt 5-7 cups) until dough easily pulls off sides
* I realized that I was making this recipe with a little too little wheat, so add more until it's a doughy consistency.

knead with dough hook 5 min (if you have a kneading function, you don't need to knead on counter or place on counter).

oil counter (INSTEAD OF FLOUR), place dough on counter and divide into loaves. Spray pans, let dough double in pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Easy Way Cinnamon Rolls

2 3/4 c. warm water
pinch of sugar
2 pkg dry yeast
1 pkg of yellow/cake mix
2 eggs
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water w/pinch of sugar. Add cake mix and 2 eggs and mix well. Add enough flour to create a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes, then let rise in a large, greased bowl on the counter for 2-3 hours, overnite in the frig, or quick-rise in a preheated oven for about an hour till doubled in size. More later.....

Fool Proof Crescent Rolls

Makes 16 rolls

Combine 1/2 c. warm H2O, 1 Tblsp yeast (1 pkg.), & 1 tsp sugar. Set aside.

In a small bowl or glass measuring, cup, heat 1/2 c. water & 4 Tbl butter till melted. Put in large bowl & mix in 1/2 c. milk, 1/4 c. sugar, 1 tsp of salt, & 2 eggs. Stir in the yeast mixture.

Beat in 3 1/2 - 4 c. flour. Knead for a few minutes. Dough should still be sticky. Let raise until double in size either on the counter (2-3 hours) or overnite in the frig.

Dump dough out onto a well-floured board. Knead enough flour into dough until it is soft & manageable and not sticky. Divide dough in half and roll each piece into a flat circle 1/4" thick or size of large dinner plate. Spread with softened (or melted) butter & cut into 8 wedges. Starting at the large end, roll up each piece and place on a greased cookie sheet. Rolls should be close together so they are just not touching. 16 rolls can be fit onto a large cookie sheet. Let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes till doubled. Preheat oven to 375 and bake rolls for 10 to 15 minutes, till golden. Check halfway through, maybe rotate cookie sheet, and be careful not let them burn. They can be left to cool on the cookie sheet till serving time.

To speed-raise these rolls, preheat oven to 250, turn off, loosely cover the dough with greased tin foil or plastic wrap, and place in the oven. Dough can raise this way for 40-60 minutes. The formed rolls can raise this way for 15-20 minues. Take out before doubled because they will continue to raise while the oven is preheating. Pre-heat oven to 375 and bake as above. Recipe can easily be doubled. If you want larger rolls, divide the doubled dough in to 3 pieces instead of 4.

Johnny Cake aka coconut muffins

This is a recipe I got from the chef at Cat Cay. After Scott treated him for kidney stones, he offered to help us in any way. Later in the week, I asked him for this recipe, which they often served for the dinner bread. I did scale it down quite a bit, so this is a manageable size. And I'm not totally sure of the cooking time since I was setting my timer 5 minutes at a time.

4 c. flour
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 3/4 T butter (room temp)
1/4 c. shortening
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 c. coconut
1 3/4 c. water
*And I added a can of drained crushed pineapple

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter
and shortening and then add water, coconut, & pineapple.

Fill muffin liners and/or tins about 2/3 full and I sprinkle each with a little sugar. Cook at 350 degrees. I'd start at 25 minutes and check it after every few minutes until tooth pick comes out clean.

Penne Pasta w/Mozzerella, Basil, & Tomato

Nicole requested that I post this recipe. It's one I found in a magazine and make it quite often since it's so simple. I ocassionally add sausage slices, but usually eat it veggie style. I'll note my alterations below.


1 lb penne pasta 8 oz. mozzerella cheese
2 T olive oil 2 pts. grape tomatoes, halved
1 T minced garlic 1/4 c. sliced fresh basil
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Cook pasta. Heat olive oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook for 30 sec. Stir in halved tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/3 c. water from pasta pot to skillet. Bring mixture to boil. Stir in salt and pepper. Drain past and stir in tomato mixture. Add basil and diced mozzerella last, so it doesn't melt too much.

**I usually just use string cheese and dried basil in this recipe. And I've also begun doubling the ingredients for the sauce (everything but the pasta) so there's more sauce to mix with the pasta.

Mom's Stuffed Zucchini

2 large to medium zucchini
1 lb hamburger
1/2 onion, chopped
italian seasonings to taste
salt
pepper
shredded cheese (cheddar or mozarrella or parmesan)


Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and pulp leaving a shell 1/2 inch thick. Chop half the pulp and discard the larger seeds. Saute hamburger and onions until cooked. Mix in spices and chopped zucchini. Optional: add some tomato sauce but not too juicy. Fill squash shells with meat mixture, sprinkle with cheese, place in shallow pan. Add 1/2 inch water to the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until squash is fork tender and heated through.

Breadsticks

These are almost a little sweet. And they are really nice because you don't have to wait for them to rise.

1 cup lukewarm water

3 T sugar

1 tsp salt

1 T yeast

2 1/2 cups flour

Mix water, yeast, and sugar with 1 cup flour. Add salt and four and knead 20 times. Roll into long pieces and spread with a mixture of butter, garlic salt, etc. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

Cashew Chicken

I came across this on Recipe Zaar. Dave loved it. It looks intimidating because it has so many ingredients, but I just substituted whatever frozen or fresh veggies I had on hand.

1/2 cup ketchup
4 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 T worcestershire sauce
3 T sugar
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more to taste)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 T cornstarch
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tspsalt
3 whole chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces (or chicken tenders)
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 T fresh gingerroot, minced (I used dry ginger)
1 T minced garlic 1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced thinly
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups snow peas
1 1/2 cups cashew
2 cups cooked white rice

Combine ketchup, soy sauce, salt, Worcestershire Sauce, sugar, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, and chicken broth and set aside. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Toss the chicken with cornstarch mixture. Heat a wok or frying pan to a high heat and add cooking oil. When oil is hot add chicken. Add ginger, garlic and onion. Stir fry mixture until chicken is cooked through and opaque. Add bell pepper and carrots, stir fry until tender crisp about 2-3 minutes, then add snow peas. Continue to stir fry until tender crisp. Add ketchup/soysauce mixture to chicken and vegetables and cook until it comes to a boil. Add the cashews and serve immediately over a bed of white rice.

Recipe Rules

There's only one. Please only post recipes that are tried and true. And add any notes that would be helpful, like if it freezes well, or if you substitute a certain ingredient, or if you half or double the recipe to feed your family, etc. You get the idea. And remember to add labels. Let's start with: Main Dish Chicken, Main Dish Beef, Soup, Side Dish, Dessert, Bread, Breakfast. Any other ideas?