Granola

This makes a yummy breakfast with milk or mixed into yogurt. Also makes a yummy snack!

4 C rolled oats

3/4 C honey

1/4 C sliced or slivered almonds

1 C coconut

1/4 C wheat germ

1/4 C wheat bran

1/4 C cooking oil

1 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp vanilla or almond flavoring

Mix well. Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Tip: warm the honey and mix with the oil to get an even coating.

We always doubled this recipe for about a weeks worth of cereal.

Alfredo potatoes/cauliflower

This recipe is a tweak from A Taste of Home cookbook I have. We often serve it with a salad and call it a meal. It's a great version of twice-baked potatoes.

No real recipe, just general directions:

Potatoes

Alfredo sauce or packets to make sauce

Cheese, mozzarella or cheddar

Bake as many potatoes as you need, remembering that each potato will be halved. 

Bake potatoes, cool slightly, split in half and scoop out potato into a bowl (setting aside), leaving a 1/4 shell.

Make up a couple of cups of Alfredo sauce (or use canned sauce).

Mash up potato insides that were set aside and mix well with the Alfredo sauce. Add some salt/pepper and mozzarella or cheddar cheese. 

Refill each potato shell with Alfredo/potato mixture, top with a bit more cheese and bake again for 10-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is warm and bubbly. 

YUM!

*This same thing can be done with mashed cauliflower for a lower carb dish. Drain the cauliflower well after boiling or steaming and mashing.

Warm Black Bean Dip

I believe I got this recipe from A Taste of Home magazine. 

When we attend a potluck type of event this is often what we take. 

I usually double it for family and triple it when I take to a dinner event.

1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp veg oil
1 can (15 oz) black beans-rinsed and drained
1/2 C diced fresh tomato
1/3 C salsa
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 C shredded cheddar
1/3 C minced fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp lime juice

Saute' onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add beans, mash gently. Stir in tomato, salsa, cumin and chili powder. Cook and stir just til heated through. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, cilantro and lime juice. Serve warm with chips.

*If you can find S&W Caribbean beans you can omit the cilantro and lime juice as they are already in the beans.

*We often don't drain the beans and make it a bit soupier and eat it as a soup for supper.

Baked Ziti

From Taste Of Home magazine. Submitted by Eileen Anderson.

12 oz ziti or penne noodles

2 lbs ground beef

1 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce

2 eggs

1 15 oz carton ricotta cheese

2 1/2 C shredded mozzarella 

1/2 C grated Parmesan

Cook pasta, drain. Brown ground beef with some dried onion, drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce. In a large bowl combine eggs, ricotta, 1 1/2 C mozzarella and Parmesan.  Add drained pasta to cheese mixture and toss to coat. 

Layer 1/3 of meat mixture into a 9x13 pan or deep dish lasagna pan; too with 1/2 pasta mix. Repeat layers and top with remaining 1/3 meat mixture. 

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and bake 5-10 minutes more. Let stand 15 minutes before serving to allow it to set. 

Serve with salad and bread.

Taco Soup

from the Glenview Ward 1997 cookbook, submitted by Shelly Adams (my old VT companion)

1/2 lb grd beef
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 16 oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained (I sub pinto beans, since we live in the pinto bean belt, and I usually cook up 1 1/2-2 lbs instead of a can. Stretch that soup!)
1 16 oz can corn, drained
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1/4 C brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Brown beef with onion. Remove any grease. Stir in taco seasoning, tomatoes, beans, corn, tomato sauce, brown sugar and salt and pepper. Simmer til warmed through. Serve with tortilla chips. Add grated cheese and sour cream to your bowl of soup if desired.

My variations: I often use up leftover taco meat in this soup, makes it a snap to put together. I often leave out the sugar and stewed tomatoes. I have started putting stewed tomatoes through my blender to reduce the chunks and that helps. I don't get bothered by tomato acidity, hence no sugar added, but if tomatoes are too acidic for you, throw the sugar in.

looks better in the bowl with some cheese

Calzones

I tried to do Once-A-Month cooking a few times while living in Provo. This recipe is one I found in a Family Fun magazine article on once-a-month cooking. They are a bit of work, but so delicious, it's worth the work. 

Dough: 1 C water

             2 Tbsp olive oil

            1 tsp salt

            3 C flour

            1 1/4 tsp yeast

Mix ingredients together to form soft dough. Cover and set aside.

Filling: 1 C ricotta cheese

           1 egg, beaten

           1/4 C Parmesan cheese, grated

           1 C shredded mozzarella

           1 1/2 Tbsp Italian parsley(I just use Italian seasoning mix)

           1/8 tsp salt

           Pepperoni

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix filling ingredients, except pepperoni. Divide dough into 4 pieces, form 6 - 6 1/2 in circles. Put 1/4 of the filling (approx 1/2 C) on 1/2 of each circle, leaving a 1 inch border. Top with 5-7 pepperoni pieces. Dampen edges of dough with water - fold over and pinch seal. Place on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce or Simple Sauce.

*we often add other pizza-type toppings such as olives or peppers. We put a bit of those toppings on the top of the calzone before baking so we know what's in each one.

*for Once-A-Month cooking purposes these can be frozen for future use. After baking, let them cool and package individually. To serve later, put into a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes and then serve with sauce.

Slow cooker chicken noodle soup

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 cups chicken broth (3 - 15 oz cans)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 tsp celery seed, crushed (optional)
2 Bay leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
3 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp lemon juice

To a slow cooker, add chicken (un-cut), diced carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Drizzle olive oil over top then add in chicken broth, water, thyme, rosemary, celery seed, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low heat 6-7 hours.

Remove chicken and allow to rest 10 minutes then dice into bite sized pieces or shred. Meanwhile, add egg noodles and parsley to slow cooker. Increase temperature to high, cover and cook 10 minutes longer (or until noodles are tender). Stir in lemon juice and toss in cooked diced chicken. Serve warm with saltine crackers, if desired.

* I just crushed the rosemary in the palm of my hand then for the celery seed if using, I placed it in a ziploc bag and crushed it with the flat side of a meat mallet.