3/25/09

German Pancakes

1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
6 eggs, beaten
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Melt butter in a 9x13 baking dish. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour the mixture into the baking dish with the butter. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pancake is puffy and golden brown. Cut it into squares and serve with buttermilk syrup or maple syrup and/or powdered sugar.

Buttermilk Pancake Syrup

Claire's mother-in-law gave me this recipe. It is so good with german pancakes (posted above) and french toast.

1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 cube butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring sugar, buttermilk and butter to a rolling boil. Then add baking soda and vanilla. It will get frothy. Serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

Delicious Rolls

1/2 cup warm water
2 T yeast
pinch of sugar

Dissolve yeast and sugar in lukewarm water; set aside.

2 cups water
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (can substitute 1/2 cup butter)
2 eggs
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup hot mashed potatoes
8 cups flour

Heat water and evaporated milk in microwave until super hot. Add sugar, applesauce, eggs, salt, baking powder, potatoes and 4 cups of flour to hot milk and mix together. Continue adding flour until you have a soft dough (but still a little sticky). Let dough knead 3 to 4 minutes. Allow dough raise for 15 minutes or until it doubles in size.

Either shape dough into small rolls (so they can grow) and place in pan or seperate the dough into four even sections. Roll the sections out one at a time into a perfect circle; brush with butter. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into 12 to 16 even "pizza slices". Starting at the thick end, roll each piece toward the small end and place on pan. Fill two pans with rolls, brush each roll with butter and let raise for 15 minutes, or until about double in size. Bake at 350-degrees for 15-20 minutes in center of oven.

Potato Soup

6 baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups skim milk
1/2 T salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/2 cup bacon bits, divided
4 green onions, chopped and divided
10 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 (8 oz.) cont. sour cream

Cube potatoes and boil for 15 -18 minutes, or until soft. Drain and set aside. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook about a minute. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup bacon bits, 2 T green onions and most of the cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Serve topped with remaining bacon, onions and cheese.

Note: I use rehydrated powdered milk instead of my "good" milk. You can't tell a taste difference either way!

Blueberry Angel Dessert

Plan ahead . . . this needs chilling time.

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 oz.) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 prepared angel food cake (14 oz.) cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cans (21 oz. ea.) blueberry pie filling

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar; fold in whipped topping and cake cubes. Spread evenly in ungreased 9x13 pan. Top with pie filling. Cover and regfrigerate for at least 2 hour before cutting into squares. Yield 12-15 servings.

3/24/09

Nieman-Marcus Cookies

I got this in an email and thought it was funny, and sounded delicious too! So I thought I would share. It is totally an urban legend, but the recipe sounds too good not to pass on. My mother-in-law said she has this recipe (also attributed to Neiman-Marcus) in a cookbook from the early 80's...Very yummy!

When decent people get screwed over, this is the result!
A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is
a very expensive store; I.e., they sell your typical $8.00 T-shirt for
$50.00.

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus
Cafe In Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because
both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the 'Neiman-
Marcus cookie.' It was So excellent that I asked if they would give
me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid
not, but you can buy The Recipe.' Well, I asked how much, jnd
she responded, ' Only two fifty - it's a Great deal!' I agreed to that,
and told her to just add it to my Tab.
Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-
Marcus Charge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I
had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf.
As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said,
'Cookie Recipe-$250. 00.' That was Outrageous! I called Neiman's
Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it was
'two-fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fifty
dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.
Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money
because, according to them, 'What the waitress told you is not our
problem. You have already seen the Recipe. We absolutely will not
refund your money at this point.' I explained to the Accounting
Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the State
of Texas . I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau
and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. I was
basicall y told, 'Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you
can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money Back.'
I just said, Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have
$250 worth of fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every
Cookie Lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250
cookie recipe From Neiman-Marcus. ..for free. She replied, 'I wish you
wouldn't do this.' I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of
that before you ripped me off!' and slammed down the phone.
So here it is!
Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of.
I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make
another penny off of this recipe!

NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
2 cups butter
24 oz. Chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups sugar
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream
the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with
flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda . Add chocolate chips,
Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart
on a cookie Sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Makes 112 cookies.

3/23/09

Healthier (?) REAL burgers

I did something that I NEVER do... I bought real ground beef as the super lean was on sale at Fry's for 1.99/pound.

My husband was so excited to get real hamburgers... he was nearly drooling when he came to the table.

I told him after he LOVED the first one that I added Kashi "7 whole Grain Pilaf (flavor: Fiery Fiesta)" to the meat. He didn't even notice!

I found this right next to the rice and sides at the grocery store. It is not in a box, but a vacuum sealed pouch. It is a mixture of oats, long grain brown rice, rye, red wheat, buckwheat, barley and sesame seeds, corn, black beans, tomato paste, red pepper, cilantro, and green chiles.

I just opened the pouch, poured it in the bowl with two pounds of ground burger (I am sure that the NEXT time I do it - it will be with my usual Turkey, and it will taste just as good!)... mixed that up and formed the burgers. Then grilled them. It made eight HUGE burgers.

3/21/09

Hawaiian Chicken

Note: I found this recipe on the Freezer Co-op Blog. It is very, very yummy!! A huge hit!

6 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2-16 oz. cans pineapple slices, drained
2-15 oz cans mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground red pepper

Place chicken in freezer bag. mix together fruit, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, salt, ginger and ground red pepper. Pour over the chicken in bag. Freeze.

Serving Day Instructions

Thaw chicken mixture. Place in Crock-Pot, cover, and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. Add green pepper to Crock-Pot one hour before serving , if desired. To serve, spoon over steamed rice and top with toasted Almonds.

Notes: I did not add green pepper or the almonds. Didn't have them, and it was just fine without them.

I did nine pounds of chicken. I increased everything else by 50% too, but if I do that again, I will still only use two cans of pineapple and two cans of mandarin oranges. (Three cans of each was too much.)

I did not freeze it. Assembled it the same day I baked it.

I served it with rice and green beans.

3/18/09

Oh Henry Bars

My grandma used to make these all the time when I was a kid. They are super yummy!

Oh Henry Bars

1/2 c. corn syrup
2/3 c. melted margarine
4 c. oatmeal
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chocolate chips
2/3 c. smooth peanut butter

Melt margarine in a large saucepan. Add oatmeal, sugar, vanilla, and corn syrup. Mix well. Spread in greased 9x13 in pan. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely.

In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Add peanut butter mixing well. Spread evenly on the oatmeal mixture. Let set until the chocolate mixture is firm.

Enjoy!

3/12/09

The easiest cookies ever

1 cake mix (flavor of your choice)
1/3 C oil
2 eggs

Mix, spoon (or use Pampered Chef scoop -even easier) onto cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Done!

This is how I make my sugar cookies (white or yellow cake mix) for the kids' class parties. The kids love them!

Try experimenting with different add ins... like oatmeal in a spice cake mix (would need more oil)...chocolate chips...whatever your fancy!

3/9/09

Stir Fried Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These are super delicious and super easy to make. The only really odd ingredient is hoisin, which can be found in most grocery stores right by the soy sauce. It's a must for Asian recipes! This is my version of this recipe - which looks yummy too, I just didn't have all of the ingredients!

1 Cup rice
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
salt and pepper
2 T. olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 t. hoisin (careful - a little goes a long way)
1 t. chili powder
3 t. soy sauce
3 t. rice vinegar
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. corn starch dissolved in 1 T. water
1 peeled and grated carrot
12- 16 lettuce leaves, rinsed

Start the rice to cook (1 cup rice, 2 cups water) while you prepare the rest of the stir fry. In a large frying pan, season with salt and pepper and cook the chicken in 1T of the oil. Once the juices run clear, remove the chicken to a separate bowl. Put the last 1T. oil in the pan, and cook the onion and garlic until softened and browned. Add the hoisin, chili powder, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and dissolved corn starch. Stir well, and remove from heat. Add the cooked rice, grated carrot, and chicken along with any accumulated juices. If it seems dry, add a T. of water. Toss to coat. Serve in lettuce cups (or steamed cabbage) rolled up like burritos.

3/1/09

BBQ Pork Ribs

When I was growing up, we always got to choose our Birthday dinner. Without fail, I chose these. They're still a favorite!

Pork Ribs - Bone in OR out, as much as your fam will eat (I'm doing 5#'s today)

Cover ribs with water in a large pot. Boil on medium heat for 2 hours. Drain and place in 9x13 pan(s). Smother with a bottle of prepared BBQ sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove foil, and bake 5 more minutes.