New Eats!

Chicken Chimichangas and Guac

2011-08-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1/2 cup red enchilada sauce
1 1/2 onion, diced, divided
6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
4 cups diced cooked chicken breast, divided
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, divided
1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives
4 cups refried beans, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
TOPPING
3 avocados, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 green onions, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno chile peppers
1 tomato, diced
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

In a medium saucepan combine the broth, rice, sauce, and 1 diced onion. Mix and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.
Meanwhile, heat tortillas in a large skillet (so that they are soft enough to fold).
When rice mixture is ready, spoon equal amounts of the following onto each tortilla: Chicken, shredded Jack cheese, diced onion, olives, rice mixture and beans. Roll tortillas, tucking in sides to prevent filling from spilling over.
Pour melted butter over the folded Chims and bake at 350degrees for 20 minutes.
To Serve: In a medium bowl combine the avocados, cilantro, lemon juice, green onions, chile peppers and tomatoes. Mash together. Place shredded lettuce on a platter, topped with chimichangas, avocado mix, sour cream and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Pitas

2011-07-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Italian Baked Cannelloni

2011-07-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1LB Ground Beef
1 Onion (Sliced)
1/4 tsp dried Sage
1/4 tsp dried Rosemary
Salt to taste
1/2C of White Wine (1/4C White Vinegar + 1/4C Water + 1/2 TBSP Sugar)
12oz shredded Cheese
2 egg yokes

4TBSP Butter
4TBSP Flour
2 C Milk

2 (14.5oz) Cans Stewed Tomatoes
1 Onion (Sliced)
2 TBSP Butter
1/2C of White Wine (1/4C White Vinegar + 1/4C Water + 1/2 TBSP Sugar)
Salt and Pepper to taste
12 Cannelloni pasta shells

Directions:
1. In a Large skillet over medium heat, warm oil and saute ground beef with onion, sage and rosemary; Cook until meat is evenly brown. Add Salt and Wine cook until wine is evaporated. set aside

2. to make Bachamel sauce: Melt 4 TBSP Butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour and stir until well incorporated, stir in milk and bring to a slow boil until mixture thickens. Stir into Meat mixture and mix well. Stir in cheese and egg yokes; set aside.

3. In a medium Sauce pan over medium-low heat, melt 2TBSP butter and saute onion until soft and translucent and wine, let it cook down to evaporate; add tomato and salt. mix well; simmer for 15 min.

4. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. add pasta a few at a time, and cook for 8 to 10 min(DO NOT OVER COOK) or until al dente; using a slotted spoon. remove immediately to a pot filled with cold water. Lift pasta out with slotted spoon and arrange on a flat surface.

5. Preheat oven to 400degrees

6. Spoon a line of filling(meat mixture) into each shell, starting from one end and use finger to push the filling inside of each shell, place in a 9x13 dish and cover with tomato mixture.

7. Back in preheated oven for 15min or until heated through; when finished baking allow to stand for 5 min and serve.

* if you don't cook with wine use the vinegar water substitute it worked and tasted great when i made this
* Cooking the pasta too long will make it break when you try to fill them you might want to cook a few extra
just in case.
* I thought this meal tasted even better the next day reheated.
* I have started cutting all my onions when i get them from the store and freezing them and then i don't have to
cut onions every time i cook and they don't go bad before i get to them.

Best Chocolate Cake Ever

2010-12-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Charmingly Chocolate: from Food and Family

Ingredients:
1/2 C chocolate syrup
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 C water
1/3 C oil
7 eggs divided
1/2 C Sour cream
1 pkg. 8 oz cream cheese softened
1 C sugar
1 can(12oz) evaporated milk
4 squares baker's Semi-Sweet chocolate melted
1 cup whipped topping

1. Heat oven to 375, spray 12-cup bunt pan with cooking spray; pour in chocolate syrup

2. Beat cake mix, water, oil, and 3 eggs with mixer for 2 min. or until well blended; blend in sour cream.
   pour over syrup in pan.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add remaining eggs; mix well.
   blend in milk and chocolate; gently spoon over cake batter. Cover with foil sprayed with
   cooking spray, sprayed-side down.

4. Place bunt ban in large pan. Add 2 inches water to larger pan. Bake 1 hour 30 min. or until toothpick
   inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate 2 hours.
   invert cake onto plate; remove pan. Serve with Cool Whip.

Note: for a 10- cup fluted tube pan
   Prepare cake as directed except reserve 2 cups cake batter before pouring batter into pan. continue as directed. reserved cake batter will make 9 cupcakes. bake as directed on cake mix box.

Grandma Francisco's Pumpkin Cake

2010-12-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

Heat oven to 350degree - Grease and lightly flour a 9X13" baking pan
mix together for 4 min: 1 Yellow cake mix
   3/4C water
   2 eggs
   1t cinnamon
   1/2t cloves
   1/2t ginger
   1/2t nutmeg
   1/4 baking soda
   1 small(2oz) can pumpkin

Bake 30-35 min. Frost when cool

Frosting:
1/2pt real whipping cream. whip until it starts to stiffen. mix in until dissolved 1/2C brown sugar
blend in 8oz cool whip.

Pecan Log from Mary Heaton obtained from Jackie Francisco

2010-12-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

Center
   3 C. sugar
   1/4 C. Milk
   1/8 tsp. Salt
   1C. Cream
   1C. Butter
   3Tbsp. White Karo
Cook slowly till sugar is dissolved. Heat to medium(230 or soft ball stage)
Pour into glass cake pan. Cool quickly.
When you can touch and not burn hand start to beat for about 25 min.
When creamy make 9 small rolls. Cool.
Or use Dry Fondant

Caramel
   2C. Sugar
   2C. Cream
   1 sq. Butter
   1/2C. Milk
   1C. Karo
   1/8 tsp. Salt
   1/2 C. Flour

Mix 1/2 cream and milk. set aside. put 1 C. cream in pan. add sugar, Karo and salt.
Cook slowly for 25 min. until pale. add rest of cream and cook to 224 degrees or until thickened.
Mix butter and flour. add to mixture. cook to 230 degrees.

Grease cookie sheet, spread 5 C. chopped pecans over it. Pour caramel over nuts.
Cool and cut into 9 pieces. Roll around Centers.

IDAHO SPUDS
Mary Heaton

2lg. Cool Whip
1lg pkg. milk chocolate chips
1lg. Hershey bar with or without almonds
1pkg. Knox gelatin

Melt chips and candy bar, when add cool whip and dry gelatin.
Mix well. Drop by tsp. into coconut or chopped nuts;
cover well. Put on waxed paper.

Holiday Favorites

2010-12-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

Mint Oreo Truffles
1pkg(8oz) Cream Cheese
1pkg Mint Oreo Cookies
16 oz melted white chocolate melted

Mix: Cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended
Shape: into balls. Dip in melted chocolate, place on wax paper and sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm

Potato and Carrot Pudding
2C Grated Carrots
2C Grated Potatoes
2C Sugar
2C Flour
1TBS Cocoa
2t Salt
1C Raisins (or dried Cherries)
2t baking soda
1C Shortening
Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

Mix together and steam 3 hours

Butter Sauce for Carrot Pudding
1C Real Butter
3/4 c Heavy cream
1C sugar
1t Vanilla
Combine all but vanilla
Bring to a boil. simmer 10 minutes and vanilla and serve over carrot pudding

English Toffee

1Large (1/2 lb) Hershey Bar grated
Butter a cookie sheet and sprinkle 1/2 the chocolate on it.

1C Sugar
1/2lb butter
3TBS water
1t vanilla
Cook for about 10 min or until most of it loses its shine
stir constantly
pour over chocolate on cookie sheet and sprinkle remaining chocolate and chopped nuts on top

Creamless Tomato Soup given to us by Jan Francisco edited by: Blake Francisco

2010-12-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium onion, chopped medium (about 1 cup)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon) Pinch red pepper flakes (OPTIONAL)
1 bay leaf
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 large slices good quality white sandwich bread crusts removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons brandy (OPTIONAL) salt & ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh chives

1. 1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 1 minute. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, (if using), and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice. Using a potato masher, mash until no pieces bigger than2 inches remain. Stir in the sugar and bread; bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

2. 2. Remember to think about what a wonderful husband you have!

3. 3. Transfer half of the soup to a blender. Add 1 tablespoon more oil and process until the soup is smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining soup and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Rinse out the Dutch oven and return the soup to the pot. Stir in the chicken broth and brandy (if using). Return the soup to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup in individual bowls, each portion sprinkled with pepper and chopped chives and drizzled with olive oil.

4. 4. Enjoy! Use caution while eating quickly it may be extremely hot.

Well, there you have it, the recipe of the day. I hope it is fabulous; until next time.

Pasta Crab Casserole

2010-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

Living in the great North West you have to love the Seafood. Here is a great recipe. When i make it for just Blake and Myself i cut the recipe in half so keep that in mind when deciding how to prepare this meal for your family.

Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked spiral pasta
2 large onions, chopped(these may be a lot for some families)
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup butter
2 packages (8oz each) imitation crabmeat chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese

cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in a skillet sauté the onions, mushrooms, green pepper and garlic in butter until crisp-tender( in order for mushrooms to brown the need air so don't crowd them, use a pan that is big enough and gives you room. also stirring to often with a metal utensil can tant the flavor of your food so toss it instead. your food will taste better and your family will think you're pretty cool.) remove from heat.

Drain pasta; add to the vegetable mixture. Stir in the crab, sour cream, salt and basil.

Transfer to 13 X 9 baking dishes. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover bake 5 minutes longer or until heated through.

Makes 4-6 servings

Love it!!!
Enjoy!

Baked Southwest Sandwiches

2010-07-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

I hate sandwiches I have my entire life. Over the years i have learned to gag them down when necessary. Having said that i now present you with an opened faced sandwich that even i enjoy.

1 Can chopped black olives (them come precut but i have found that i am completely capable of cutting my own olives)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise (i use miracle whip lite, so use whatever you like)
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup chopped green onions
8 slices Italian or French bread (Italian bread is denser and holds up better)
3/4 to 1LB sliced turkey
2 tomatoes sliced
2 ripe avocados sliced
1 1/2 cups of the cheese of your liking.

In a bowl, combine the olives, chili powder, cumin and salt; set aside 2 tablespoons of this mixture.
add the mayonnaise, sour cream and onions to the remaining olive mixture.
Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet; spread 1 tablespoon of mayo mixture on each slice. Top with turkey and tomatoes. Spread with another tablespoon of mayonnaise mixture; top with avocados and cheese. sprinkle with reserved olive mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until heated through. makes about 8 pieces of yummy lunch!

Enjoy!

Home-made Oreos

2010-07-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

That is right folks Home-made Oreos and they are amazing!!!!
Now i am only putting this recipe out there with one stipulation...
I will not be held responsible for weight gain or Diet cheating.
Now i try my best to stay in a good weight and have found that if I allow myself a little bit of sugar a day I don't end up eating too much of it. But I do recommend making these for your husband, kids or neighbors so that they are not too much of a temptation for you.
ingredients for cookies:
1 box of Triple chocolate Fudge or Devil foods Cake box mix (Betty Crocker)
2 eggs
3/4 cup of Butter flavor Crisco

Mix these ingredients together
DON'T grease the cookie sheet
I use one of those cookie scooper so that they all come out the same size.
cook at 350 degrees for 8 minutes
when removing them from the oven let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes so that when you do remove them they keep there shape. place on wax paper to cool completely before frosting.
this recipe will make three dozen cookies or 18 finished cookies.

Icing Ingredients:
1/2 cup of margarine or butter
1/2 thing of cream cheese
an approx 1lb or powder sugar
and a splash of milk

Mix everything together slowly adding the powder sugar until it taste good and is the right consistency.
I make the frosting while the cookies are baking and then put it in the fridge to let it thicken while the cookies are cooling.

put it all together and what have you got?... Just kidding

Enjoy!

Great Thanksgiving Recipes

2009-11-24T22:41:00.000-08:00

Some of these are family recipes and others are going to be if they are good this year.

Candied Yams

3 good sized sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. brown sugar
1 sticks butter

Mini marshmallows

Cut potatoes into about 1 inch chunks. Put potatoes in a baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Dot potatoes with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 2 hours. Do not stir potatoes after they begin to get soft. Baste with butter every so often. They are finished when soft all the way through. Top with mini marshmallows and broil a few minutes until they start to brown.

Pecan Pie

Pastry for 9- inch One-crust pie

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 up margarine or butter, melted

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup pecan halves or broken pecans

Heat oven to 375°. Prepare pastry. Beat eggs, sugar, salt, margarine and syrup with hand beater. Stir in pecans. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.

Bake until set, 40-50- minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or refrigerate.

Do-ahead tip: After baking, cool pie 2 hours. Freeze uncovered at least 3 hours. Wrap and return to freezer. Store no longer than 1 month. Unwrap pie and thaw in refrigerator 20 minutes.

Cranberry Salad

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 bag mini marshmallows

Grate Cranberries. Add the sugar and marshmallows and refrigerate overnight. Drain 1 can crushed pineapple. Add to cranberry mixture and add 1 tub cool whip.

Baked Mashed Potatoes

1 tablespoon butter

4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

8oz Pancetta cooked, diced and drained

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside. Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan and Pancetta. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill. Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole

Kosher salt

1 1/2 pounds fresh French green beans, ends trimmed

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons finely chopped Vidalia onion

4 ounces baby Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

Freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups Corn Flakes

1/2 pound grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the beans and cook for until just tender but still firm, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the beans from the water to a large bowl of ice water to preserve color and stop the cooking. Drain the beans and set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Stir in the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and sauté about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir for another minute, to cook out the raw flour taste, and then whisk in the sour cream. Simmer for just a couple of minutes to bring the flavors together and taste for seasoning. Cut the green beans into 2-inch pieces. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan. Crush the cereal flakes in a resalable plastic bag and add them to the pan with the butter. Toss to coat. Spread the green beans over the bottom of a 9-inch casserole dish. Pour all of the mushroom sauce mixture over the beans and top with the grated cheese. Sprinkle with the buttered cereal flakes and bake in the preheated 400 degree F oven, until light golden brown and bubbly, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Pumpkin Banana Pie

2 whole sugar pumpkins

6 bananas

3 large eggs, plus 1 egg white

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Split the pumpkins down the middle and scoop out the seeds. Arrange on a roasting tray, cut side up, and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the pumpkins from the oven and lay bananas (in their skins) around and between the pumpkin halves. Return to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before handling, about 5 minutes. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh and add to a food processor. Peel the bananas and add the flesh to food processor as well. Add the 3 eggs, sugar, cinnamon, 2 tablespoons butter, nutmeg, heavy cream and salt. Puree until smooth. Put a baking sheet on the bottom oven rack and preheat to 375 degrees F. Pour the filing into the prepared pie shell. Lightly beat the egg white. Brush the pastry edges with the egg white and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Carefully arrange the pie on the preheated baking sheet, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake it until the pie is set but still jiggles slightly, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!! Send me(Tympanielf@gmail.com) or post your favorite holiday recipe in the comment section.

Jamie

Spring Rolls

2009-10-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

My Family is not inclined to eat sandwiches day after day. We get tired of them, learn to dislike them emensly. For me it is the bread. I just get tired of the texture, the heavy feel in my mouth espessially homemade bread, which is what we live on. So.... Spring rolls is a good alternative, lots of vegitables a little meat and no bread and believe it or not they are cheap.

Now if you buy them allready made at you grocery store they are $2.50 each. If you make them yourself they are $.50 each. That may be cheaper then a sandwich.

What is in a spring roll? In mine there is Chicken, Lettuce, carrots, cucumber, onion and Sweat chili sauce, All rolled up in Rice Paper. All you have to do is soak your rice paper for 2 minutes in water then pat them dry, Place them on a dry cutting board, cover with leatuce and fill with ingrediants then roll it up like a burrito. This will take practice to perfect. Refiridgerate and enjoy they are great to pack for lunches.

Notes: make sure you don't soak your paper to long it will tear when you roll it. also for the same reason your lettuce should be slightly limp.

You will want two for a meal.
$1 for lunch i will take it.

Greek!!!!

2009-09-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

For all you who love greek food as much as i do here it is the recipe for that sauce on Gyros that we all drool over now you can make it at home. Put it on your hamburgers, Salads or just eat it with pita bread. What ever you do with it remember to put your lips together and Say MMMMMM!

Tzatziki

1 (32 oz) Container of plain yogurt
1/2 a cucumber with peel grated (make sure to use the larger side of your grater)
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely chopped
2 TBs fresh lemon juice
2 TBs extra-virgin olive oil (or what ever kind of veg oil you can get)
2 tps grated lemon zest (use the same lemon for the juice)
3 TBs fresh dill chopped
1 tsp salt and pepper (really whatever looks good i'm not one to measure every little thing out)

Mix everything together and refrigerate for 8 hours. This means we have to think ahead people. Which is something i did not do and am now eating Canned soup for dinner tonight and waiting until tomorrow for Greek style Hamburgers.

MMMMMMMM!

All about Pie

2009-09-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

My young women's group wants to have a pie making class in November. They wanted to learn to make pumpkin pie from a can and from an actual pumpkin. Not knowing how to make a pie from an actual pumpkin i started my quest to find out.

First for the pie crust:
Did you know that all you need to make a pie crust is four things in the right ratio. Three parts flour, two parts fat, one part liquid and a pinch of salt.

Flour: you can use flour from all purpose flour to cake flour. Sence we all have all purpose flour i think this is the thing to use. (you can do part wheat flour if you want)

Fat: This is wear it gets interesting. the kind of fat you use will determine flavor and flakyness of your crust. Using Butter will make it very flavorful but not as flaky. Using Shortening will make your dough easier to work with but won't be as flavorfull. Lard will make the flakiest crust, But who really want to use that i can just feel my hips growing bigger. So what is the anwser... Use a combination half butter, for tast and half shortening for texture. Note: if you want your crust crispier melt your butter before using it.

Liquid: can be a number of things, Ice water, fruit juice, egg yolks, sour cream, milk or cream. The trick is that when adding liquid to the dough it sould be ice-cold this keeps the pieces of fat, we have just discussed, cool and separate. We want to leave pea sized bits of fat in our dough. Also add liquid a tablesppon at a time, so you don't add to much. if the dough gets to wet you will need more flour throwing off your ratio and resulting in tough crust.

Salt: Don't forget to add it.

Other things you could add: spices, and wheat germ (this gives your crust a nutty flavor, but i tried it and it was good.)

As for the Pumpkin part of this pie, Blake said it was great. I think Blake is full of it and has to be nice and sweat about everything. It tasted squashy and needs some revamping before i would feed it to guests.

Happy creating and i will update you on my search for actual pumpkin pie.

Thai Basil Chicken

2009-09-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Can you say HOT!
We had some problems with this dish but i think i got them worked out. Besides the dish being a little on the too spicy side of things the flavors are great and it's not to hard.

2 tablespoons chili oil (I have no idea where to find this i used veg oil worked great)

2 cloves garlic
3 hot chile peppers
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 cup fresh mushrooms
1 cup chopped onions
1 bunch fresh basil leaves

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the garlic and chile peppers until golden brown. Mix in chicken and sugar, and season with garlic salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is no longer pink, but not done.

Stir oyster sauce into the skillet. Mix in mushrooms and onions, and continue cooking until onions are tender and chicken juices run clear. Remove from heat, and mix in basil. Let sit 2 minutes before serving.

Notes:
The question was once asked "What makes Peppers Hot?"
Then the answer was given: The hottest part of a pepper is the placental material surrounding the seeds. The seeds themselves are not hot, although capsaicin typically gets on the surface of the seeds from contact with the surrounding tissue.
In other words if you don't want this dish to be overly spicy Remove the seeds and some of the placental material from the peppers before adding them to the dish.
(found on Hotpepper.com)

We served this over rice and drank milk with it. If you like Thai food. You will enjoy the flavors of this dish.

Chicken Parmigiana

2009-09-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

I served this last night for dinner with friends. Everyone loved it and the funny thing is I forgot to buy the Parmesan cheese. It still worked hope you enjoy.

2 eggs Beaten
1/4lb dry bread crumbs
4(or how ever many you are making) Skinless chicken breasts
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese to cover
Parmesan cheese to cover and Optionally add to Bread crumbs (Yumm)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Pour egg into a small shallow bowl, and bread crumbs in another bowl. Dip Chicken into egg, then into the bread crumbs. Place coated chicken on a cookie cooling rack that is set on a baking sheet (this helps the bottom of the chicken to get nice and crispy). Place in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until no longer pink and juices run clear (40 minutes was plenty for my chicken)

Pour 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce into a 7x11 inch baking dish(7x11 who has heard of that i used a 13x9 worked great) place the now lovely cooked chicken over sauce, and cover with remaining sauce. sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses on top and return to the preheated oven for 20minutes.

This dish was great. some additional ideas would be to add parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs before coating. also you don't have to pour the second half of the spaghetti over the chicken you could just have it warming on the stove to pour over your choice of noodles to go with the chicken. This would help your chicken to stay more crisp. (that's what i did but i like it crispy).

Yumm enjoy this with a green salad.

Granola

2009-09-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Granola is an easy way to give yourself a good start in the morning.

4 cups rolled oats (quick oats work fine too)
1 ½ c wheat germ
¾ cup slivered Almonds
¾ cup flaked coconut
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup cooking oil
2 TBSP milk
2 tsp vanilla

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl and set aside. Warm cooking oil and milk. Add sugar Pour over other ingredients. Add vanilla. Mix well. Spread in jelly roll pan. Bake 350 degrees 20-25 minutes. Cool; Store in tightly covered container Makes about 10 cups. Add ½ c dried fruit if desired.

Wheat germ is found in the Hot cereal Isle of your grocery store and has some great health benefits. Listed here are a few.

Lowers cholesterol
Improves muscular energy and provides endurance
Provides longevity and vitality
improves reflexes
adjust the body during stress.

I think this Breakfast cereal is something we could all use.