Recipes, Finally…

I posted these meals a while ago and I was asked for the recipes.  Things got busy, I kind of forgot so here they are:

The first comes from a dear, old lady at church.  Fern often brings her chicken pot pie for potluck lunches.  It’s always the first to go.

This picture is only a half-batch.

Chicken Pot Pie

leftover chicken and good, hot, fairly thick gravy

2 cup flour                                   1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp bk. powder                          1 Tbsp butter

1 cup milk (almond works too)

Make batter and spoon over very hot chicken and gravy.

Bake 400F for 15 minutes

 

Tomato Sauce 

makes about 9 cups

4 (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup oil                                    3 garlic, crushed

1 cup red wine                              1 Tbsp oregano

1 onion, finely chopped                pinch basil

salt & pepper

Saute onions and garlic in oil.  Add everything else.  Simmer 1 1/2-2 hours to thicken.

I use this sauce for a lot of things, including lasagna.

 

Spaghetti and Meatballs

1 lb ground beef                                 1 small onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs                   1/2 cup milk (almond is fine)

salt & pepper

Saute onions.  Add everything else and make into balls (I make appetizer sized ones).  Drop into spaghetti sauce (above or store-bought) and simmer for 1 hour.

 

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Pork Chops and French Toast

 

No Yarn Along this week.  Still working on the custom sweater but it’s at that stage where there doesn’t seem to be much progress, regardless of how many rows I knit.  I have a thing on Saturday so I started a new pair of purse knitting socks that will eventually be for Grandma for Christmas.  Thought I’d share a couple of recipes instead.

 

Ella Safe French Toast  -serves 1

2 Tbsp custard powder

2 Tbs sugar

1/2 cup ‘milk’ of choice

These turned out pretty good.  Certainly a better colour than the other recipe we tried.  Ella enjoyed these.  She’s been missing French toast.  They even passed the Daddy test.

 

Breaded Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops

1 cup vinegar                                                           flour

1 egg + 1 Tbsp water                                              3/4 cup bread crumbs

salt & pepper                                                           1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp parsley                                                             1 1/2 Tbsp butter and oil

Marinate chops in vinegar for a while.

Pat dry and dredge in flour.  Dip in egg/water, then in seasoned bread crumbs.  Press crumbs onto chops.  Let stand a few minutes (or longer in the fridge), this helps the crumbs stay on.

Heat oil/butter and brown chops.  Lower heat and cover.  Cook for 45 minutes (flip half way through).  Uncover for the last 5 minutes to crisp.

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Happy New Year!

How is 2018 starting for you?  Things are fairly quiet around here.  Ella caught her tradition ‘I’ve been to Toronto’ cold and has had a miserable few days.  I really should buy stock in Royale.   We have basically been house-bound since we came home from Toronto and I’m starting to go stir-crazy.  I think today is the worst yet.  It’s 2pm and it’s -20C and -40C /F with the windchill and the wind is blowing like crazy!  I love winter but weeks of -20/-40 get tiring.  I need to get out to get January groceries but I’m certainly not going out in this weather.

I’ve tried a few new recipes lately that I thought I’d share with you.  I’ll share the links, if they stop working let me know.  I’ve got the recipes written in my cookbook too.  The first is a delicious way to use up the last of the turkey, turkey and biscuit casserole.  Found Colin’s new favourite pizza crust, pizza crust.

OK, apparently I’ve lost the link for the next recipe.  We had steak the other day and ended up with some leftover (they were huge).  Pinterest to the rescue again and I found Steak Soup.   It was good with fresh garlic buns.

Steak Soup

serves 6

2 Tbsp oil                               4 cloves garlic, minced                                  1 onion, minced

5 small potatoes, diced       2 large carrots, diced                                     2 cups steak, diced

1 tsp salt                                 1 tsp pepper                                                     1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup tomato sauce          4 cups beef broth

Saute onions and garlic.  Add the rest of the veg. for a couple of minutes.  Add everything else.  Boil, then simmer (covered) for an hour.

 

I used some home canned tomato sauce in the soup so I had to find something else to do with the leftover tomato sauce.  Enter home-made ‘condensed tomato soup‘ and chili mac.  I really liked the chili mac recipe because it only made 4 servings, we won’t have to eat leftover pasta for days.

So that’s how I’ve been spending my days, what have you been doing to stay warm?

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Spring Guide Camp 2016

Baked up a storm getting ready for Guide camp.  Made apple muffins, rhubarb muffins (first rhubarb of the season), cinnamon doughnut muffins, and chocolate chip muffins.  I made some granola bars too and some pizza sliders.

CINNAMON DOUGHNUT MUFFINS

(the author calls them Snickerdoodle but that implies a different texture (like the cookie), these taste more like a cinnamon doughnut)

1 1/2 cup flour                                             3/4 cup white sugar

1/8 tsp cream of tartar                          1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder                          1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted                               3/4 cup water

Mix the dry ingredients.  Then add all the wet ingredients.  Don’t over mix.  Pour into 12 regular sized, greased muffin cups.   Bake 350F for 18-20

While cooling, melt another 1/2 c butter.  In a container with a lid, mix 1/2 c sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  Then dip the muffins in the butter.  Put in the container and gently shake to cover in cinnamon sugar.  Yum!

The next recipe comes from my favourite author Edna Staebler.  It’s in her Muffins and Quick Breads with Schmecks Appeal book.  But I’ve adapted it to make it Ella safe.

APPLE CINNAMON OR RHUBARB MUFFINS

1 Tbsp flax meal                                              3 Tbsp water

1 1/2 cup flour                                                      1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder                                       1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon                                            1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup water                                                       1/4 cup oil

1 cup finely chopped apples or 1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb

Mix the flax and 3 T of water together and set aside.

Mix all the dry ingredients.  Then add all the wet ingredients (including the flax mixture) and the chopped fruit.  Don’t over mix.  Fill 12 greased, regular sized muffin cups.  Bake 350F for 20-25 minutes.

And of course, we need some chocolate.

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

(the author is vegetarian and has lots of egg-less recipes)

2 cup flour                               1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder         1/4 tsp salt

1 cup water                              1 tsp vinegar

1/2 cup oil                          1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup chocolate chips

Same instructions.  Mix dry then add wet (and chips).  Makes 12 muffins

Bake 375F for 20 min.

GRANOLA BARS

1 Tbsp ground flax                 1 cup flour

3 Tbsp hot water                   1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder             1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar                         1  3/4 cup quick oats

1 cup Rice Krispies               2 Tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla                            1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix the flax and the water and let sit 5 minutes.  Mix the dry ingredients, then combine with all the wet ingredients including the flax and water.  Press firmly into a greased or lined 8×8 inch pan.  Bake 350F for 17-20 min.

We used this Pizza Slider ‘recipe’.  They were delicious but a little burnt.  I was having trouble with the fire in the BBQ.  These would be great done in the oven.

We had great weather this weekend.  The Victoria Day weekend can be questionable some years.  I remember many years waiting out the rain to set off our fireworks.  But it was sunny and warm.

The mosquitoes were rather bad, so it was a good thing that one of the mom’s had a screen tent for us to borrow.

Ella had a good time but needed to be picked up Saturday after supper.  She just doesn’t seem to do well with 2 nights at camp -even with Momma there.  Personally, I think most of the other girls would have been just as happy to go home then too.  Guides are so much younger/immature than when I was in Guides.  But at least this is the first camp she’s gone to where she wants to do it again.

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