Bowtie Zucchini
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 small zucchini, cut into thin strips
1 cup whipping cream
1 package (16 ounces) bowtie pasta, cooked and drained
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese.
Salt and black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is translucent. Add zucchini; cook and stir until tender. Add cream; cook and stir until thickened. Add pasta and cheese to skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to 2-quart casserole. Cover and bake 15 minutes or until heated through. Makes 8 servings.
-Alicia
Wassail
3 qt. water
3 cup sugar
8 sticks cinnamon
8 allspice berries
3/4 tsp. whole cloves
6 cups orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 gal. apple cider
Boil water, sugar and spices about 30 minutes. Add orange juice, lemon juice and apple cider. Heat through. Makes about 2 gallons.
-Alicia
Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 pkg. spice cake mix
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 to 2 cup chocolate chips
Stir together cake mix and pumpkin until well blended. Add chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes or till cookies are cooked all the way through. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
-Alicia
Tortillas/African Chapatis (made May 4, 2011 by Molly)
3 cups of flour
small handful of sugar
~1/8 tsp. salt
~1/2 tsp. dried seasonings of choice
1/3 c. oil (can be slightly increased if desired but not decreased)
1 cup of VERY hot water
Whisk together dry ingredients. Add oil and with hands work it into the dry mixture until completely incorporated. Add hot water and mix with hands until dough ball forms (should be slightly sticky). Separate into 8 pieces. Form the ball into round disc and on a floured surface roll out to thin tortilla. Over medium heat cook each side for about a minute (more or less depending on preference). Place on plate and cover completely with plastic wrap (<-important to keep the chapatis from hardening and drying out). Enjoy!
Chili Sauce
-Amanda
- 1 quart jar home-canned tomatoes (or 7-10 fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled)
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 4 tsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- dash hot sauce
Saute peppers, onions, and garlic in a little butter or oil until softened. Puree with tomatoes in blender, in batches if necessary, and return to pan. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Continue on a medium boil uncovered (use a screen to reduce splatter) for 30 minutes or until well reduced.
Use on fries or hamburgers, as a sloppy joe base, in BBQ pork, on meatloaf, even as a pizza sauce!
Sandy Godfrey made some yummy meatballs at an enrichment activity using costco meatballs in a crockpot with chili sauce and ginger ale. My mom-in-law likes chili sauce on her eggs and on white beans and ham.
Pizza Dough
9 oz warm water
5 tsp yeast
2 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 tsp Salt
3 c. bread flour
Dissolve yeast in water, add the next ingredients one at a time until all mixed. Knead until good and pizza dough-like. Let rise, oh, I don't know, 1 hour. Or, throw it all into a bread maker and set on the dough setting.
Put toppings on pizza and cook at at least 450 (higher if possible) until done.
Makes 2 pizzas
-Kathryn
P.S. Amanda, you MUST post your chili sauce recipe. We put that on the pizza today in place of red sauce and it was SO GOOD.
P.P.S. You can brush olive oil onto the crust and it will brown nicely. Also, if you put toppings on somewhat sparingly the crust turns out better. Yum!!
Smoothies
The basic recipe is pretty simple, just a couple cups of fruit (if you use frozen, then you don't have to use ice) and about a cup and a half of juice. I usually use old orchard juices because they have a lot of flavors that I like with a apple juice base with blends in with anything.
Use fresh fruit when you can, but cut it into chunks and freeze on wax paper, then remove to freezer bags. I especially love to do this with melons! I add a little sugar if I'm using tart fruits like strawberries or raspberries.
If you have sherbet on hand, a couple of scoops smooths out the texture of your smoothie and adds sweetness. Use a little less fruit if you are doing sherbet, and put the fruit in the blender before the sherbet.
Here are some favorite flavor combinations just to give you some ideas. We served the first two at mom's group. But smoothies are very versatile so do whatever you like!
- strawberries, peaches, passion fruit juice (orange or pineapple sherbet)
- mangos, passion fruit juice (pineapple sherbet - or just throw in some pineapple)
- strawberries, raspberries, raspberry juice, lime sherbet or lime-ade concentrate
- pineapple (and strawberries), 1 cup pineapple juice, 1 cup milk (or 1/2 cup milk and 1 container coconut yogurt), (pineapple sherbet or vanilla frozen yogurt if you want)
- strawberries, blueberries, orange juice, (pineapple sherbet or just use pineapple orange juice)
- strawberries, blueberries, cranberry juice (raspberry sherbet or use cran-rasp juice)
- watermelon, strawberries, apple juice (rasp sherbet or apple rasp juice, you get the idea)
- honeydew, lemonade, lime sherbet
America's Test Kitchen Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hints for these cookies: If using salted butter half the salt. Avoid using a dark nonstick skillet to brown the butter as it is more difficult to gauge when it has browned. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway through the cooking process and take them out just before they are still a little doughy in the center (browned around the edges). Then let them sit on the pan for 10 min before you put them on a plate. Reserve a few chocolate chips to place on top of the cookie ball just before baking.
1 cup of flour + 2 Tbsp
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (I totally put it the wrong amount when we made these at the church! It was still good though:)
1 large egg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl.
2. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in 8 inch skillet until browned and has a nutty flavor 3-5 min (DO NOT BURN). Transfer the browned butter to a large bowl and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of remaining butter until completely melted.
3. Whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla into the melted butter until incorporated. Whisk in the egg until the mixture is smooth with no lumps, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk vigorously for 30 seconds. Repeat this process of resting and whisking twice more until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Stir in the flour mixture and 6 tablespoons of chips until combined.
4. Working with one heaping tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Press the remaining 2 tablespoons chips into the tops of the cookies.
5. Bake one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but centers are soft, puffy and underdone, 8 to 11 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through baking.
6. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
**The dough can also be prepared until step 4 but then the cookie sheet is placed in the freezer. Once frozen the cookies can be placed in a freezer ziplock bag. To bake (do not thaw) increase the baking time to 13 to 16 minutes.**
