Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Danish Pastry Apple Bars II

This is a double pastry apple pie type of recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com. The almond flavor of the glaze is wonderful with the apples and the cornflakes turned into a kind of chewy sweet goo. The recipe says it serves 36, but I think that's a bit much. Just however many you usually feed with a 9x13 pan dessert.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup cold water
1 cup cornflakes cereal
10 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a cup, beat egg yolk, stir the cold water into the yolk. Gradually stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until dough can be packed into a ball. On a clean dry surface, roll out 1/2 of the dough large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch pan. Lay the dough in the pan.
3. Place the cornflakes over the dough in the pan. Arrange apple slices over the top of the corn flake layer. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the apples. Roll out the second half of the dough to cover the entire pan. Lay over the filling and pinch the edges of the two crusts together. Beat the egg white until foamy, and brush onto the top crust.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Drizzle with glaze while still warm.
5. To make the glaze: In a small bowl, beat the confectioners' sugar with the milk and almond extract until smooth.

Tangy Carrot Coins

Another good ole Taste of Home side dish. Very easy and tastes like candy!

Ingredients:
1 pound carrots, sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (we omit this)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Place carrots in a large saucepan. Add 1 in. of water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 7-9 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Add remaining ingredients; cook and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until sauce is thickened and carrots are coated.

Yield: 4 servings.

Hurry-Up Ham N Noodles


This is a 2000 Taste of Home recipe that I've slightly modified. It is inexpensive and tasty!

Ingredients:
5 to 6 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 cup Half and Half
1-1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Gradually whisk in cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir for 2 minutes longer or until thickened.

Add the ham, cheese, onions, salt and pepper; cook, uncovered, until heated through. Drain noodles; add to ham mixture. Toss to coat; heat through.

For OAMC: Cook sauce only and freeze in a ziplock freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw, heat on stove top while cooking noodles. Drain noodles; add to ham mixture. Toss to coat; heat through.

SERVINGS: 4

Monday, September 21, 2009

Meatball Subs

I made these meatballs for our small group, so I multiplied the recipe by 6! We froze a lot of the extras. These were surprisingly good! I found one recipe made about 15 meatballs. We used hoagie buns and put 3-4 balls per sandwich. I also cut the amount of green pepper in half, as they were getting a little "chunky". Also, we only used about 1/4 the amount of sauce.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup crushed butter-flavored crackers
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (26.5 ounce) can spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 dinner rolls, split

Directions:
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine ground beef, onion, green pepper, crackers, and egg in a large bowl. Season with Worcestershire sauce, garlic, seasoned salt, and pepper; mix well. Form mixture into 8 meatballs. Place meatballs in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake meatballs in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Pour the spaghetti sauce into a large saucepan; bring to a simmer over low heat. Stir baked meatballs into the simmering sauce. Do not turn oven off. Simmer sauce until meatballs are fully cooked, about 20 minutes.
4. Place one meatball, a sprinkle of mozzarella, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and a bit of sauce between each roll. Place sandwiches in hot oven; bake until cheeses melt, about 7 minutes.

Servings: 6-8

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Recipes from Aunt Karen

Below are a few tasty recipes courtesy of our Aunt Karen: a super aunt, stellar cook, and also a "Nye" Sista. I'm definitely making the Zucchini Cobbler to see if I can trick Greg into eating more zucchini.


BAKED CAULIFLOWER
1 med onion minced
1 garlic clove minced
4 TBSP butter, divided
2 TBSP olive oil
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen cauliflower, thawed
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
¼ C dry bread crumbs
¼ C shredded cheddar cheese
In a large skillet sauté onion and garlic in 2 tbsp butter and olive oil until onion is tender. Add the cauliflower, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, sauté 2 minutes. Transfer to a greased 1 qt baking dish . Melt remaining 2 tbsp butter and toss with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over cauliflower mixture. Cover and bake 350° for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 3-5 minutes longer until cheese is melted.
*We love this recipe. I just made it the other night using a mixed bag of frozen broccoli/cauliflower. This version was also good. I love the nutmeg on it; in fact I increase it to ¼ tsp.
MACARONI COLESLAW
1 pkg (7 oz) macaroni
1 pkg (16 oz) coleslaw mix
2 med onions finely chopped
2 celery ribs finely chopped
1 med cucumber finely chopped
1 med green pepper finely chopped
1 can (8 oz) whole water chestnuts, drained and chopped.
Dressing: 1 ½ C reduced fat salad dressing (or regular if you wish)
1/3 C sugar
¼ C cider vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Cook macaroni according to pkg directions, drain and rinse in cold water. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the coleslaw, onions, celery, cucumber, green pepper and water chestnuts. In a small bowl whisk the dressing ingredients. Pour over salad, toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least one hour.
*I used a red pepper as I like their taste better and low fat mayo. It was good.
PARMESAN CORNFLAKE CHICKEN
½ c crushed cornflakes
1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
¼ c seasoned bread crumbs
1 ½ tsp dried parsley flakes
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
6 tbsp melted butter
1 cut up chicken (2-3 #), skin removed.
In a shallow bowl combine the first 6 ingredients. In another shallow bowl put the melted butter. Dip chicken in butter, and then roll in cornflake mixture. Place in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

ZUCCHINI COBBLER
8 C chopped, seeded, peeled zucchini (about 3#)
2/3 C lemon juice
1 C sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Crust: 4 C all purpose flour
2 C sugar
1 ½ C cold butter, cubed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
In a large saucepan over med-low heat, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice for 15-20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, simmer 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat, set aside. For crust, combine the flour and sugar in a bowl, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir ½ cup of dry mixture into zucchini mixture. Press half of the remaining crust mixture into a greased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan. Spread zucchini over top, crumble remaining crust mixture over zucchini. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
*This is a fooler and a great way to use those large zucchini. I did not take time to pick out seeds. I just peeled and chopped. We never noticed the seeds when we ate it. It makes a lot, so it was fun to cut it all up and Dan took some to work and made every one try to guess what the middle was. Everyone guessed apple.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Fall Comfort Muffins


I've had this recipe from The Finer Things in Life for a while and finally decided to make it. It was a hit! The pumpkin flavor is barely there, but I like that it adds some nutrition.

Ingredients:
1 c. melted butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. honey
4 eggs
1/3 c. water
1 c. mashed banana
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus (I used a CopyCat recipe) or pumpkin pie spice
2 c. white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. chocolate chips (or a few more)

Directions:
Blend sugar and butter. Add honey, eggs, and water. Mix well. Add banana and pumpkin. Mix well. Stir dry ingredients together, add to wet batter just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes 3 dozen muffins exactly (using my Pampered Chef large scoop).

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

Found this in the Kraft Family Food magazine - also online here.

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 pkg. frozen vegetable blend (16 oz.)
1/2 lb. VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product (8 oz.) cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 can reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup (10-3/4 oz.)
1 can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 oz.)

Directions:
1. HEAT oven to 375ºF.

2. COMBINE first 4 ingredients in 13x9-inch baking dish.

* If freezing, wrap with alum foil and freeze. Thaw before proceding with recipe.

3. UNROLL dough; place over chicken mixture.

4. BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until crust is golden brown.

Servings: 8

Aug/Sept OAMC Plan

I scored a great deal on chicken breasts - $0.97/lb! The catch is that they were skin-on, bone-in breasts. We bought 26 lbs and Doug (bless his heart) spent over an hour skinning and removing the meat for me.

I also got some ground chuck on sale this week, hence the chicken/beef only plan:

* 1 Southwestern Chicken Lasagna (Doug did NOT like this, but I really did!)
* 1 Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie
* 1 Chicken Enchilada Casserole
* 1 Chicken Lo Mein
* 2 Honey Lime Chicken
* 2 Dad's Chicken Parmesan
* 6 Homemade Meatballs
* 2 Lil Cheddar Meatloaves
* 1 All Purpose Taco Blend
* 2 Burrito Pie