Thursday, October 29, 2009

Another Crowd Pleaser

Having company? Looking for an easy recipe to make a fabulous dessert?

Here is a cake that will bring you rave reviews without a lot of work or a dirty kitchen. I found this recipe last week too when I was looking through the stacks of cards I have from long ago. I really need to get those organized...and share more with you. Still have all of my mom's cards to look through.

Applesauce Nut Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (3 3/4oz.) vanilla instant pudding & pie filling
1/2 cup chopped nuts (your choice)
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs
powder sugar for dusting

Mix all ingredients with a fork in an ungreased 13 x 9 pan, making sure to scrape corners, for 1 minute. Scrape sides of the pan with a spatula and even batter in the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 35 - 40 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched.

Dust with powder sugar.

I just love those mix in the pan cakes - not much clean up! Would be great served with cinnamon ice cream.

Enjoy!

Monday, October 26, 2009

And They All Fall Down


Mother Nature blanketed our back yard with the color of Fall. We have had lots of rain last week and I think all the leaves fell over night. Thanks to Bill's garden tractor, we were able to pick-up and chopped-up all these leaves in about 30 minutes. Now our yard waste container is full, the compost bin is full and we layered the garden beds.

Now waiting for the front yard tree to drop...

Friday, October 23, 2009

Enjoying an Autumn Treat


An apple a day...keeps the doctor away. Or so it is said...it did not say you could not enjoy an apple baked into a wonderful, tasty dessert...lol

As I was saying in my last post, I was searching my stack of old recipe cards from something different to make for my Bible study group. I wanted something that did not need a knife and fork (finger food), I'm not big on cookie baking but thought I might have a bar the fit the bill. I came across this recipe...I actually think it was from my high school cooking class - boy, does that take me back. Apples this year are very afforadable. We had lots of ran this summer which produced a bumper crop of apples.

The recipe made a nice little bar dessert, that was a hit at the Bible study this morning. I hope you will enjoy it too.


Applekuchen (Apple Cake)

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup butter

2 Tablespoon milk

2 eggs

3 cups sliced peeled apples - I used figi apples, but granny smith would be a good choice too

Sift dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar, add dry ingredients, milk and egg. Press the dough on bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan (I floured my hands to help keep the dough from sticking to my fingures). Press apple slices into dough so they over lap. Sprinkle with topping.


Topping:

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoon butter

Mix topping ingredients together, cut in butter until coarse crumbs appear.

Bake 375 degrees for 50 minutes.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Adding a Little Spice to a Kid Friendly Dinner

I was digging through my stacks of old recipe cards yesterday (what did we do before everything was on a computer...lol) - I am to make the treat for the Bible Study on Friday morning and wanted to find something different. (I'll share what I found for that in my next post.) While I was looking, I came across a recipe that I have not made in years. It is one that I made when Jason was little - fast, easy and kids will eat it - what more could a busy mother want. Today, we like our food a little more spicy, so I added Italian sausage to my original recipe and made it for dinner tonight. Give it a try, and you will have a new fix it fast dinner too.

Easy Macaroni Casserole

1 jar pasta sauce (your favorite flavor)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb. elbow macaroni - cooked
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 lb. Italian bulk sausage
1 - 3 oz. pkg. pepperoni - cut in halves
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped (or if you cheat like me - 2 heaping spoonfuls of jarred chopped garlic)
salt & pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, cook the sausage, onion, and green pepper to sausage is cooked through and onions and peppers begin to brown. Add pepperoni and garlic. Cook until pepperoni is warmed - be careful not to burn the garlic. In a dutch oven, add the cooked pasta, pasta sauce, meat mixture, mozzarella cheese and salt and pepper. Mix well. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake in 375 degrees for 30 minutes - until cheese is melted.

Serve with a toss salad and garlic bread.

Enjoy!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Experimenting With a New Twist

Have you ever made a recipe that sparked ideas to use it differently? That is what happen when I made the Tasty Meat Pie a few weeks ago. Bill suggested we try the meat pie filling in a cabbage roll.

Today, I decided to do a little experiment. Jan and Jean stopped by and we talked them into staying for dinner to help with the tasting. We all decided my experiment was a success!

I made the filling for the cabbage rolls the same way as the meat pie.

Tasty Meat Cabbage Rolls

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 can condensed beef with vegetables and barley soup
1 can beefy mushroom soup
3 medium uncooked potatoes, pealed and 1/2" cubed
4 medium carrots, sliced thin
1 Tablespoon of dried parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (about 3 shakes)
salt & pepper to taste
1 head of Cabbage
1 can condensed Tomato soup

In a skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink. Add carrots and potatoes. Continue to cook for a few minutes, until the potatoes and carrots begin to soften and brown just a little.

In a large mixing bowl, blend together the Beef Mushroom and Beef with vegetable soups, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. Add the meat and vegetable mixture. Combine together.

Carefully take the leaves off of the cabbage as much in whole form as possible (you will need around 16-18). I usually start by cutting out the core which will loosen the cabbage leaves at the base. Loosely chop up the remaining cabbage.

Bring a large pan of water to boil. You will use the water to wilt the cabbage leaves. Dip each whole leaves in the boiling for 2-3 minutes. Remove the leaves from the boiling water and drain.

Prepare a 9x12 dish with no-stick. Layer the bottom of the dish with the chopped cabbage (this cabbage does not need to be wilted).

To prepare cabbage rolls - take one wilted cabbage leaf, cut out the large vain at the base of the leaf. Spoon in one heaping spoonful of meat filling. Close leaf around filling, secure with toothpick. Place the cabbage roll, seam side down on top of the chopped cabbage. Repeat until all rolls are made.

Pour the tomato soup over the top of the cabbage rolls.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

I had some filling left over and used some puff pastry to make some Tasty Meat turnovers too!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Turning To An Old Faithful

Do you have one of those "go-to" recipes? Today I felt like making a casserole and decided to turn to one of my "go-to" recipes - Chicken and Rice Bake. I like this one better than the recipe my mom made when I was a child. I've used this recipe for almost 30 years - wow, putting that in writing just made me feel old..lol.

Hope your family enjoys this as much as my family does.

Chicken and Rice Bake

1 can Golden Mushroom Soup
1 cup milk
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 - 3 oz. can chopped mushrooms
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup regular rice (uncooked)
1 - 10oz. pkg. frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
Paprika

In bow stir together mushroom soup, milk, dry onion soup mix, undrained mushrooms, salt and pepper. Reserve 1/2 cup of the soup mixture and set aside. Stir uncooked rice and thawed vegetables into remaining soup mixture.

Turn rice mixture into a 12 x 7 1/2 x 2 - inch baking dish; arrange chicken pieces atop of rice mixture. Pour reserved soup mixture over chicken, sprinkle chicken pieces with paprika. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 375 degrees till rice is tender and chicken is cooked through, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Makes 4 to 6 serving.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

It Souper Weather Outside

They have already forecasted snow for Michigan! brrrrrrr! Time to get the soup pot on the stove. Nothing helps you forget about the weather outside than a warm dinner inside. This soup has become one of our favorites - it's both hearty and tasty; and has flavors I love - plus - it's pretty.

Potato and Sausage Soup with Peppers

3 medium potatoes, cubed (3 cups)
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 - 1 lb. pkg smoke sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups milk

In a medium saucepan combine potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Important: Do not drain.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan, cook the peppers, onions and sausage in hot butter until tender and just starting to brown. Stir in flour, salt and peppers. Add wine, continue to stir (make sure to stir up the bits in the bottom of the pan - there is alot of flavor in those bits). Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in undrained potatoes. Heat through.

Makes 4 servings.

Serve with a nice grainy bread and you have a complete meal.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Keeping the Home Fires Burning


I just love to have a fire in the fireplace. The smell and the popping of the wood is one of those things that relaxes me. We've started to stock up on wood for winter, thanks Aunt Judy and Uncle Butch! I've already burned some of it. When stacking wood, you should stack the wood by size small, medium, large. Placing a tarp over your stack will help keep it dry. I also pick up twigs from the yard and keep them in a basket to use as kindling.


Starting a fire can be a challenge. You could use one of the starter logs, but they are a little expensive, and what is the fun in that. I learned how to make these fire starters in Girl Scouts. They are called candle kisses. Easy to make and easy to use. I make several at a time.

Start with a piece of a tapered candle - around 2 inches long. I keep tappers that have burned down, or have broken to make these.


Tear a piece of wax paper and fold in half. Lay the candle on top.


Begin to roll the candle up in the wax paper

Twist the end together, it will resemble a candy kiss.


To build the fire, first - make sure the flew is open (I've smoked us a couple of times...lol). Stack your wood in the rack in your fireplace. I like to lay a couple of medium size logs on the bottom side by side. Place the candle kiss on top, then put some of the kindling twigs on the candle kiss, leaving the twisted ends accessible. Light both twisted ends of the kiss. As the kiss burns, it will light the wood. Start adding bigger wood as the kindling starts to burn, and before you know it, you have a blazing fire.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Jazzing up a Tasty Meat Pie

Looking for something new to do with ground beef? I was looking for the same a while back, and came across an interesting recipe. I've made it several times and have added my own spin to it. Serve with a toss salad and you have a complete meal - don't you just love that!

Theresa's Tasty Meat Pie

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 can condensed beef with vegetables and barley soup
1 can beefy mushroom soup
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained (I use the one with the stems - nothing fancy)
3 medium uncooked potatoes, pealed and 1/2" cubed
4 medium carrots, sliced thin
1 Tablespoon of dried parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (about 3 shakes)
salt & pepper to taste
pastry for double-crust pie (I use one box with 2 prepared pie crusts found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store)

In a skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink. Add carrots and potatoes. Continue to cook for a few minutes, until the potatoes and carrots begin to soften and brown just a little.

In a large mixing bowl, blend together the soup, mushrooms, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. Add the meat and vegetable mixture. Combine together.

Spray two pie plates with no-stick. Divide meat mixture between the two pie plates. Roll out pastry on a floured surface. Lay each pastry across filling. Trim to fit, seal and flute edges (I do an easy flute of pressing a fork around the edges - this will seal it at the same time).

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. Let the pies rest for 15 minutes before serving.

This will make 2 pies - each cut into 3 sections will serve 6 people.

I have found the pies are even better warmed up the next day, and they freeze well too.

Enjoy!!