Replies

http://homemakingdreams.blogspot.com/search/label/Recipes

Now that I have tested and approved the recipe I will make a double batch next time for freezing purposes.

Here is the recipe which I received in a Denise Austin Diet and Exercise Newsletter:

Double-A Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil (I used regular vegetable oil)
2 medium Golden Delicious apples, grated
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup currants or other dried fruit in small pieces (I used golden raisins)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375. Coat an 18-cup muffin tray with cooking spray. (don’t use paper liners). In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, brown sugar, and oil until smooth. Stir in the apples, applesauce and dried fruit.

Pour the apple mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cups, filling them nearly to the top. Bake for 20to 25 minutes, or until springy to the touch and lightly browned. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Makes 18 muffins.

Per muffin: 100 calories, 19 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 2 g total fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber

So to sum up my kitchen tip for this week:

1. Start out small with freezer cooking
2. Test the recipe first before making large batches for the freezer

If you’ve never had a banana sandwich before, I urge you to use good old fashioned very fresh, soft white bread and real mayo the first time, so you can get the real deal. After that, if you want to, you can use the more healthy whole wheat bread and low fat mayo.

All you do is put mayo on your two pieces of bread, slice the bananas on there and eat! Another variation I love is to put peanut butter on one of the slices! Yum!

Being the frugal husband that he is, he noticed that pecans were falling from the huge old trees in the yard of his office and that people were just driving on them and ruining them. So he asked the owner if he could pick them up “on halves”. In the country that means that the land owner lets him pick them up and she gets half of what he picks up. We have a pecan pick up tool and he has been leaving for work a few mintues early to get the nuts before they are driven over.

In the grocery store pecans are about $8.00 a pound, if they are already shelled. The picture above shows some pecans my husband has cracked and will now pick out of the shells while watching football.

If you have access to some inexpensive or free pecans, this is a recipe for roasted pecans that is one of the best things I ever make, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we have a good pecan year I like to roast them and give them as gifts. One year I bought pint jars with ring lids. I cut Christmas fabric into circles which fits under the lid and makes a pretty and tasty gift. These were a hit with the people who received them.

ROASTED PECANS

Melt one stick of butter or margarine in a saucepan. Add one pound (3 or 4 cups) of shelled pecan halves and swirl them until they are well coated. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes or until the nuts begin to toast through and turn a darker shade of brown. Drain on paper towels. When they have cooled a bit sprinkle with salt to taste and when thoroughly cooled, store in tightly covered jars or tins.

I have plenty of pint jars and have saved some pretty Christmas tins from years gone by to store my roasted pecans in. Can’t wait to get that first batch done!

Chicken Crunch Bake

3 boneless chicken breasts (about 2 or 2 1/2 lbs)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream (mine is low fat)
1/2 regular size can or 1 small can of sweet peas (aka garden peas here in NC)
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 stick margarine or butter, melted
Small amount of cooking oil
8 oz of pasta (we used shells)
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and cook them in a frying pan in a small amount of cooking oil just until done. I sprinkled a little salt and pepper around. Remove and place in a baking dish. Combine the soup, sour cream and garden peas in a bowl and then pour over the chicken in the baking dish. Crush the sleeve of crackers and swirl them around in the melted margarine. Scatter this all over the top of the dish. Bake in the oven, uncovered, 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Serve the chicken crunch bake over the pasta.

Butterscotch Brownies

1/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I threw in a small packet of peanuts we had laying around)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

(If using self rising flour, omit the baking powder and salt)

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of square pan, 8 X 8 X 2 inches, with shortening. Melt shortening in 1 1/2 quart saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in pan. Bake 25 minutes. Cool slightly in pan on wire rack. Cut into about 2 inch squares while warm.

(Note to MLJW, is the same recipe that you call Blondies?)

Dilled Salmon Pasta Salad

Ingredients
1.5 cup tricolored spiral pasta
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped onion
2 Tablespoons minced fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dill weed
7.1 oz. Chicken of the Sea® Premium Skinless & Boneless Pink Salmon Pouch
Mixed salad greens

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, green peppers, red peppers, onions and fresh dill in a bowl. Drain and rinse pasta in cold water; add to sour cream mixture. Stir in salmon. Cover and refrigerate. Serve over salad greens.

Preparation Time: 10

1.5 cups of the pasta didn’t seem like enough to me so I used 2 and it was perfect. I think even 2.5 would work. Also, I didn’t have fresh dill, so I used the bottled dill weed, which I already had on hand. We are still getting some green pepper from our plants, so I used all green pepper. I also used light sour cream. You could also use light mayo, but we use regular old fashioned “Dukes” Mayo.

This dish was even better left over the next day and very good for you.

Honey Wheat Bread (for bread machine)

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups water
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup regular flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon dry milk powder
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select Whole Wheat setting, Light Crust, and press Start.

Chicken Thief Stew
For dinner today we had a variation of “Ernest T. Bass’s Chicken Thief Stew”. That’s a recipe from my “Aunt Bee’s Mayberry Cookbook”. The original recipe is much more trouble than the way I made it. Here’s how I made it.

1 whole chicken. 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup of water
salt to taste (you won’t need much)
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp sugar
1/2 medium onion cut into slices, separated
1 14.75 oz can whole kernel corn
1 14.5 oz can cut green beans
1 29 oz can whole potatoes

I bought a whole chicken on sale for .69 per pound and cut it up. You could use any kind of chicken you want. I put the chicken pieces (2 breasts, 2 leg quarters and 2 wings) in my crock pot, sprinkled a little salt and pepper and poured the can of crushed tomatoes on top. Add 1 cup of water. I cooked this on high for one hour and then turned it on low until I got back from church.

If your crock pot cooks as hot as mine, 4 hours on low should be long enough for the chicken to be tender. I usually turn the pot on high for the first hour and then turn it down to low before leaving the house at 8:00. Remove the chicken onto a plate to cool so you can remove the meat from the bones. While the chicken is cooling add the 3 cans of veggies and all other ingredients. Recover and turn crock pot on high so it can be getting hot again. As soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, tear into pieces and return to the crock pot.

Let this cook for about an hour and serve. We put ours in soup mugs and had saltine crackers. Corn muffins would be great or home made bread! YUM. I wasn’t quite that smart today!!!

I didn’t want to waste any of the chicken, so I put the remainder of the chicken, the back and any pieces of fat, in a stock pot on the stove and boiled it for about an hour to make broth. I removed the chicken parts, picked off any meat and returned this to the broth. There is some good white meat on the back! I will refrigerate this and add noodles to it later or make some chicken soup.