Peanut Butter Cookies

These are pretty much the easiest peanut butter cookies ever.  My Grandmother's recipe. Makes about 3 dozen if you do 1 inch balls. 

Preheat to 350

1 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Few tsp of flour for fork. 

Mix ingredients with hands until combined.  Roll into in inch balls and put on cookie sheet a few inches apart. Flatten with floured fork (make criss cross pattern). Bake 10-12 min. 

quick & easy stroganoff

I made a basic beef stroganoff for dinner tonight. It wasn't as yummy as the kind Mom used to make (sadly I don't have that recipe) but it fit the bill of beef and hearty. I used the base of this recipe from all recipes, Simple Hamburger Stroganoff, and tweaked it to what I had on hand. Overall impression is "meh", needs more flavor, even more than what I added to it. I had to add more garlic pepper and was tempted to add salt too while I was eating it (though I crave salt lately so its probably fine). Won't go out of my way to make it again but for a quick hearty dinner it was good. And I have leftovers for a few more meals since my hubby and Dad are both out of town this week.

Simple Beef Stroganoff
6 servings

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles
1 pound lean ground beef (I used 96/4 and it turned out well)
1 (.75 ounce) packet dry brown gravy mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 ounces water
1/2 cup milk
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
minced onion & garlic pepper
Directions
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until no pink shows; drain.
3.Mix brown gravy, cream cheese and mushrooms with hamburger until cream cheese has given the mixture a whitish look. Add milk and mushroom soup to beef mixture, season with garlic pepper and minced onion. Add sour cream to noodles and mix. Toss hamburger mixture with pasta until combined.

Pot Roast

This is how my Mom made pot roast. It's yummy, and pretty easy. My sister got the recipe from me at Christmas and then dropped the card behind her gas stove. I e-mailed her a copy but figured yet another place to store it would save me from copying it for her a 3rd time. You need an electric fry pan like this to make this, or you can attempt it with a large dutch oven or covered dish in the oven.

Pot Roast
Serves 4-8 (depending on roast size)

Ingredients:
Round bone pot roast or larger boneless roast
Garlic pepper
Minced onion
Parsley
Basil
Chives
Pinch of salt
1 tsp kitchen bouquet
Baby carrots
Red potatoes quartered/diced
4Tbsp flour
1 cup water

Directions:
Pam electric fry pan, set to 350*
Place meat in pan, season with spices. Brown. Flip and season again. Brown meat.
Turn heat down to 200-225* (slow simmer). Add at least 3 cups of water to pan (surround meat with water) and cover it. Keep an eye on water level and let it simmer a few hours. Add kitchen bouquet to water, add baby carrots. 30 min later add potatoes. Simmer about an hour. Take out veggies and put in bowl, remove meat. Tent both with tinfoil.
Make gravy in a gravy shaker or a jar. Add flour to cup of water, garlic pepper & basil to taste. Shake so that flour & water mix. Slowly add to base in pan until it thickens (slow boil). May need to turn up heat to thicken.

Alternate oven directions: Brown meat as directed. Place in dutch oven and cook at 325* for 2-3 hours. Add carrots & potatoes (watch liquid level) during the last hour in the oven.

If we have leftovers we usually toss in some peas & corn with the gravy, cut up meat, and leftover veggies and eat it as beef stew. It freezes well.

my favorite baked mac & cheese

About 5 years ago this was on Allrecipes, I'm glad I printed it off when I did because Kraft pulled it (was a Kraft recipe). It's also not on Kraft's website, they have one with the same name but different measurements/ingredients.

Down Home Macaroni and Cheese
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/4 lb Velveeta, diced up into cubes
8oz shredded cheddar, divided
2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked & drained
2 Tbsp seasoned dry bread crumbs

Preheat to 350.

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in large saucepan on low heat. Blend in the flour & salt; cook and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add prepared Velveeta cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheddar; stir until melted. Stir in macaroni.

Pour into lightly greased 1 1/2 qt casserole. Melt remaining 1Tbsp butter and combine with breadcrumbs. (optional, I've just sprinkled the breadcrumbs straight with the cheese). Sprinkle casserole with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar and bread crumb mixture.

Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.

Baked Potato Soup

This is another one of my Mom's recipes, so good :)

BAKED POTATO SOUP

4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
12 slices of bacon (drained & crumbled), or 8oz of small cubed ham
4 green onions, chopped, or 2 tsp of dried chives
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
7 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
6oz shredded cheddar cheese
6oz Velveeta, cubed
1 cup sour cream

In a stock pot or dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

Beef Stew & crusty bread

The beef stew recipe I make is based on my good old Betty Crocker cookbook, I have the bridal edition but it appears she also puts it on her website. Sneaky Betty. I of course change it ;) but the key is low heat and slow cooking time. Or I make a pot roast and then throw extra veggies in when reheating (shredded, with gravy) and viola, beef stew. I had some beef tips from Omaha beef and it made some very yummy stew.

Beef Stew

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cooking onions, diced
1 bag (16 oz) baby-cut carrots
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
32oz container beef broth
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1 teaspoon herbs de provence
1 teaspoon garlic pepper
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12 medium red potatoes (1 1/2 lb), cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup frozen peas

1.Heat oven to 325°F.
2.In a large ovenproof Dutch oven, mix all ingredients except potatoes and peas. Cover and bake 2 hours, stirring once.
3.Stir in potatoes and peas. Cover and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes longer or until beef and vegetables are tender.

YUM. It's so good.

Made it with this crusty italian bread baked on a pizza stone.

Hamburger Soup

Realized I hadn't shared Mom's Hamburger Soup recipe when I went to link it to my previous post. It's a super basic soup, can have elements changed to suit your tastes or what you have on hand. For example, tonight I didn't have shredded carrots so I just put a 32oz bag of frozen mixed veggies (corn, peas, carrots, green beans) in instead of the 2cups carrots and 16oz of peas & corn. In fact I usually cook it that way ;) and increase the barley by at least 1/4 cup and add a little more water and add garlic pepper.

caution: huge batch of soup, need a large pot.

HAMBURGER SOUP

2lb ground turkey or sirloin, browned/drained
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
1 46oz bottle low sodium V-8 juice
4 cans cream of celery soup
2 cups water
1/4 tsp marjoram
2 cups grated carrots
8oz frozen corn
8oz frozen peas
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of uncooked barley

Combine all ingredients in large soup pot, bring to a boil. Simmer 2 hours. More barley may be added to make it thicker. Can also be cooked in a (very large) crock pot all day.

shepherd's pie

Last night we had a nice fall dinner, I had ground turkey and wanted to do something in casserole format with it. Shepherd's Pie came to mind. Found this recipe on allrecipes, then tweaked it to my liking :)

Turkey Shepherd's Pie
serves 6

Ingredients
cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced 1 1/2 inches thick & cooked (or I used one bag of OreIda steam & mash redskins)
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
salt and garlic pepper, to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Pam
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
garlic, to taste
white pepper, to taste
dried chives, to taste
garlic pepper, to taste
2 (1 ounce) packages instant turkey gravy mix
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 (16 ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2.Mash potatoes with milk, butter, Parmesan & salt/garlic pepper.
3.Heat large skillet sprayed with Pam over medium high heat. Cook and stir turkey and onion until turkey is fully cooked. Add spices, tomato paste, gravy mix and broth; stir often, until gravy is thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper & spices.
4.Add turkey mixture to the baking dish. Next, layer the peas and carrots, and top with the mashed potatoes. Top with a layer of grated cheese. and bake 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted, the dish is heated through, and the potatoes are golden on the top.

Bubble Up pizza casserole

People have raved about this on the WW boards for years, tonight I'm finally trying it. Fat/Cal will vary based on how you prepare.

Basic Ingredients:
1 1/2 servings turkey pepperonis, cut into quarters - I am actually using 6oz of the diced ham cubes. Outta pepperoni.
One can of the smaller biscuits (10 biscuits per can)
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning
I also added 1/2 tsp minced onion
1 1/4 cups reduced fat cheese

You can put whatever you'd want in it, veggies, different meat (people on the boards seemed to like turkey italian sausage and ground beef as well). Some people also say it works well with the Pillsbury canned Italian loaf diced up.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl place whatever meats you use, seasonings, and sauce. Add biscuits and stir gently until covered in sauce. Pour into a treated 9x13 pan.
Bake 25 minutes.
Top with cheese, and bake 10 minutes or until the biscuits are done. Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.

Variation posted: Use leftover taco meat, refried beans, salsa instead of pizza sauce, low fat mexican cheese, chopped tomatoes, then shredded lettuce and a little sour cream once the whole pizza is cooked. yum!

apple sauce

Fall is upon us so its apple season :)

This is what I do for applesauce, thought I'd share since someone had asked me for the recipe recently anyways.

APPLESAUCE

3lbs of apples (granny smith or another cooking apple work best), peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup water or cider
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or to taste)
Nutmeg, allspice and cloves may be added to taste

Put everything in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and cook until the apples are very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the apples to a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher. Allow sauce to cool and place in a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the fridge, can be kept up to a week.

new chili recipe

Ever since I had my daughter in 2007 I can't seem to stomach my old chili recipe that would make your eyes water and slap you around a bit as you ate it. ;) So I went on the hunt for a new one, and this chili recipe on allrecipes.com has good reviews, and the name is pretty awesome :) Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

BUT true to form I decided to start making it during naptime and didn't have everything... so I'll copy/paste the ingredients, to show what I changed, and then review it after dinner. I hope to make the original at some point. I also halved the recipe because we didn't need 12 servings of chili for 3 people.

INGREDIENTS (bold are changes)
1 1/2 lbs stew beef, browned/drained and diced up
1 30oz can chili beans, drained
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes with juice
2 (10 ounce) cans rotel (tomatoes & chili peppers)
1 slightly larger than a golfball yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (was frozen)
1 tablespoon bacon bits
beef base powder (had about 1 1/2 tbsp left so thats what went in)
1/4 cup beer
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar

we'll be using tostitos and whatever shredded cheese I have that will go with chili, it will be either cheddar or mexican blend. It smells really good :) Will review later.

after dinner:
It did have a lot of bite, Chris loved it with the stew beef instead of ground beef, Dad and I thought it was a bit too spicy. I will make it again and tweak to make it more my own. But if you don't like super spicy you may want to tone down the tabasco sauce and/or chili powder or cayenne pepper.

Amazing snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles
They were great! I didn't change a thing. I have to keep myself from eating them all.

two new recipes I'll be trying this week

This will be Wednesday's dinner, Chicken & Wild Rice soup. I have some roasted chicken frozen I need to use up and it sounded good. :)

This one is one of the infamous weightwatchers-friendly crockpot recipes from the big file that circulates the internet. I'm making this tomorrow while I'm at my all day quilting class. Good way to use up leftover ham I had frozen too.

Corn, Ham and Potato Scallop

6 cups peeled baking potatoes -- cut in 1" cubes
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham
1 15.25oz. can Green Giant Whole Kernel Sweet Corn -- drained
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 teaspoons instant minced onion
1 10 3/4oz.can condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In 3 1/2 to 4-quart Crock-Pot slow cooker, combine potatoes, ham, corn, bell pepper and onion; mix well. In small bowl, combine soup, milk and flour; beat with wire whisk until smooth. Pour soup mixture over potato mixture; stir gently to mix. Cover; cook on low setting for 7-9 hours or until potatoes are tender.

Info: Potatoes cook more quickly when cut into small pieces; cubed potatoes will cook faster than quartered potatoes. The 1-inch chunks of potato in our recipe work well as they do not get too soft during the long cooking time. Also, leftover cooked roast beef or turkey can be used in place of the ham.

6(1 1/2-cup)servings. Per serving: Cal 320; Total fat 7g; (sat 4g); Choles 30mg; Sod 1010mg; Total Carbs 49g; Fiber 5g; Sugars 6g; Pro 14g. POINTS: 6

let the fall cooking begin!

It's in the upper 50s here in Michigan so that means fall cooking! Yay! We are also going to an apple orchard / cider mill this weekend so I hope to pick up some apples to make some tasty things with (in addition to cider & doughnuts, and pumpkins).

First up on the fall foods list is homemade sloppy joes. This was my Mom's recipe, my Dad and I love it, Chris doesn't (scary veggies! he prefers Manwhich) so since he's out of town its the perfect time to make it!

BEST EVER SLOPPY JOES

1 – 14 oz can petite-diced tomato
1 cup celery stalk chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 garlic cloves, diced
1/3 cup ketchup
1-2 Tbsp. Chili powder (to taste)
2-3 Tbsp. Brown sugar
1 tsp. diced leaf oregano
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 1bs ground sirloin

Mix together the tomatoes, vinegar, ketchup and brown sugar until the sugar are dissolved – set aside. Brown the meat together with the remaining ingredients. Drain and add to the tomato mixture in a Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Serve with buns. Makes approximately 5-1/2 cups.