Pie Crust

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup margarine

1/4 cup milk

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter. Mix in milk. Try not to touch. Roll out, etc.

You can also add some spices (garlic, oregano, basil, etc.) with the salt, if you're making a salty dish (chicken pot pie, egg casserole).

Fried Vegetables

3/4 cup dried black eyed peas (soaked in water overnight)

1 pound cubed beef

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 liter water

1 can fried vegetables

5 dried lemons

oil to cook the meat and onions in

Brown onions and beef in oil. Add black eyed peas and water. Poke holes in dried lemons and add to pot. Cook until the black eyed peas are tender. Add can of fried vegetables. Simmer for 30 minutes or longer to allow flavors to meld together. Serve over rice.

* serve with yogurt salad on the side. Mix plain yogurt, grated cucumber, salt and garlic (to taste).

Fajita Seasoning Mix

Ingredients:

3 T cornstarch

2 T chili powder

1 T salt

1 T paprika

1 T sugar

2 1/2 tsp. crushed chicken bouillon cube

1 1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. cumin

Mix together and store in a cool, dry place. Makes 3 commercial packets worth.

* Recipe from: http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/fajitaseasonmix.htm

Poppy Seed Chicken

Ingredients

• 5 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups crushed buttery round crackers
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the chicken into a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. Pour over the chicken. In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly.

* recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Poppy-Seed-Chicken-II/Detail.aspx

** Serve with Rice

Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup oil

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1 tea. vanilla

1 cup + 4-5T flour

1 tea. salt

1 tea. cinnamon

1/2 tea. soda

3 cups oatmeal

Mix all together and drop by teaspoonfuls to cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned

* recipe compliments of Kathy R

Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve.

* recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Alfredo-Sauce-2/Detail.aspx

** We typically leave out the parsley and add chicken and broccoli and serve over penne pasta

Beef sausage

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 teaspoon mustard

2 teaspoons sage

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Mix together well. Shape in patties or crumbles and cook.

* recipe compliments of Darlene L.

Maple Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon maple flavoring

Bring water to a boil. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add flavoring. Turn off heat and allow to cool before refridgerating.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 4 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

* Recipe adapted from: http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/Original-NESTL%C3%89-TOLL-HOUSE-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/detail.aspx

Spaghetti Sauce

Equal parts basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary and thyme

Beef

Onion

Garlic Powder

Olive Oil

Tomato Paste

Tomato Sauce

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Remove from skillet and put in a pot. Saute meat and add to pot. Mix in water, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. All more garlic and salt as needed, and maybe a little sugar to cut the tomato paste taste. Cook 1/2 hour or more.

Chai tea mix

Ingredients

• 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
• 1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.
2. To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.

* recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chai-Tea-Mix/Detail.aspx

Lasagna

Sauce Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1-2 yellow onions

olive oil

1 garlic head

5-8 large tomatoes (or 28 oz. in cans)

6 oz. tomato paste

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped basil)

1 bay leaf

2 cups water

1. Chop up your onions and garlic. Onions can be diced... garlic needs to be minced.
2. Sautee your onions in olive oil in the frying pan, just enough to coat the onions. Once softened, add in your beef and brown the meat.
3. While meat is browning, chop up your tomatoes.
4. Once meat is browned, add in everything else on the list above: (garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, red pepper flakes, sugar, basil, bay leaf, and water). Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to lowest setting. Simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Sauce will reduce and thicken.

While sauce is cooking, make the following:

Ricotta cheese filling:

8-10 ounces ricotta cheese (leave undrained)

2 large eggs, beaten

whole milk (maybe)

parsley (if you have it)

• Combine ricotta cheese with 2 beaten eggs. If thick, add a Tbsp or so of milk until it is a smooshable consistency. That's right, I said smooshable.
• If you have parsley, add in about 1 tsp of parsley. Fresh is even better. If not, don't sweat it!

Also, you'll need 1 box lasagna noodles (specifically, you'll need 12 noodles), 1 cup of water and roughly 1 pound shredded mozzerella.

Once the sauce is ready, you'll want to have all your ingredients around your 9 x 13 baking dish. To make your lasagna, do the following:

• First, take a serving spoon-ful of the liquidy sauce at the top of the sauce pan, and use it to coat the bottom of the baking dish. This will serve as your greasing of the pan.
• Then, you'll want to proceed in the following order, repeating yourself 4 times (so for each layer, you'll want to use approximately 1/4th of whatever ingredient you're pulling from.):

1. Lasagna noodles-- 3 across
2. Ricotta cheese-- use approximately one heaping forkful on each noodle. Then use your fork to smash down and spread across the noodles. It won't cover it, and that's fine, just get it to where it's evened out throughout the pan, across the noodles.
3. Sauce-- A few serving-spoon-fuls across the cheese mixture. Try to spread it out, but remember to just use about 1/4th of the sauce for each layer. It should almost cover the layer below. (This is where you get to be Madam Chef. If things look a bit dry, use some of that 1 cup of water to just pour over this layer. We want the noodles to fully cook, and so you can just add a splash of water here or there as needed in this layer. Have confidence in yourself... it won't likely mess up either way!)
4. Shredded cheese. Use slightly less than 1/4th of the cheese for each layer, so that you can completely cover the dish on the top layer.

That's it.

Then stick it in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is nice and browned, and the sauce is no longer liquidy.

* off of a friend's blog: http://makinghomefood.blogspot.com/2011/01/lasagna-worth-making.html

Sesame Chicken

• 1 pound chicken, chopped
• Coat in 1 part flour/1 part cornstarch
• Fry on stovetop in small amount of oil
• Brown sesame seeds in pan in small amount of oil
• Mix together the following for sauce:
  

  - 1 c. water
  - 1 c. sugar
  - 1/4 c. vinegar
  - 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
  - 2 Tbsp. cornstarch

• Add to fried chicken pieces, and stir until thickened.
• Add sesame seeds, and serve over rice.

* off of a friend's blog: http://makinghomefood.blogspot.com/2011/01/sesame-chicken.html

French Dip Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 (4 pound) boneless beef roast
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 20 slices French bread

Directions

1. Remove and discard all visible fat from the roast. Place trimmed roast in a slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, bouillon, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour mixture over roast, and add enough water to almost cover roast. Cover, and cook on Low heat for 10 to 12 hours, or until meat is very tender.
3. Remove meat from broth, reserving broth. Shred meat with a fork, and distribute on bread for sandwiches. Used reserved broth for dipping.

* recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Dip-Sandwiches/Detail.aspx

Mile High Chocolate Cake

RECIPE INGREDIENTS For Cake: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 3/4 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup milk For Frosting: 2 cups heavy cream 15 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract DIRECTIONS Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch cake pans. FOR CAKE: In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In the top pan of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over (not touching) simmering water in a pan, melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add the cooled chocolate and the vanilla and mix until blended. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Tap them on a countertop to rid the batter of any air pockets. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the racks to cool completely. FOR FROSTING: In a heavy saucepan over high heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, butter and vanilla, stirring constantly until both the chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth. Place the pan in the refrigerator and stir every 15 minutes. The frosting will begin to set after about 50 minutes and will be quite thick. Check every 5 minutes near this point for a spreadable consistency. (If the frosting becomes too thick, let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it softens to a spreadable consistency.) TO ASSEMBLE: Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on a 12-inch cake plate. Spread the top with one-fourth of the frosting. Place the second cake layer, flat side up, on top of the first, and flatten gently with your hand. Spread the top of the second layer with one-third of the remaining frosting. Place the third layer, flat side up, on top and again flatten gently. Frost the top and sides of the cake quickly, using all of the remaining frosting. Using a flat-edged knife or icing spatula, make quick movements to create swirls on the top and sides of the cake. Let stand for about 1 hour to set the frosting, then serve at room temperature. * recipe from http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Mile-High-Chocolate-Layer-Cake-recipe-23.aspx

Homemade Bagels

Yield:

8-12 bagels

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (112-115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 1/4 cups bread flour (all purpose works fine)
8 cups of water, for boiling
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Additionally, you can add one of the following (or be creative and come up with your own delicious addition to the recipe!):

cinnamon and/or raisins
poppy seeds
onions or garlic
sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.

2. Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl; then add the yeast mixture. Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour.

3. Knead dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Dough should be fairly smooth and somewhat firm. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.

4. Punch dough down (if making cinnamon raisin bagels, add the cinnamon and raisins now -- knead just enough to swirl the cinnamon through the dough). Divide and shape into 12 balls. (For larger bagels, make only 8 balls.) Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape. Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.

7. Drain cooked bagels on a wire rack. Mix egg white and water; brush tops with egg white mixture and top with optional toppings, if using. Place bagels on greased baking sheets.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, turning once half-way through baking. (If making plain bagels, you can flip the bagels; otherwise, just rotate.) Bagels will be lightly browned and shiny.

* recipe off of http://www.tammysrecipes.com

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
1 cup oats
1 cup total of any combination of: sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips

In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil. Remove from heat and add one cup of oats. Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP. (I just got out my one cup measuring cup and poured in the ingredients until the cup was full.) Pour in and stir well, then spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.

Chill for two hours, then cut into bars. Wrap in plastic wrap for a quick grab and go snack!

* off of heavenlyhomemakers.com

Salsa Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4 teaspoons taco seasoning mix
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2. Place chicken breasts in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle taco seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts, and pour salsa over all.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juicy and its juices run clear.
4. Sprinkle chicken evenly with cheese, and continue baking for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with sour cream if desired, and serve.

* off of allrecipes.com

** I serve this with rice and seasoned corn