In The Kitchen with Jenny

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

1 1/4 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup milk

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

8 tablespoons butter, melted --divided

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet inside. Allow it to heat while you make the batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl whisk the milk, buttermilk, eggs and almost all of the melted butter. Keep back about 1 Tablespoon for the skillet.

Pour into dry

and mix.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Dump the other tablespoon of butter into bottom of hot skillet. Use a pastry brush to brush it up on sides. Pour the batter into the skillet and place in the oven.

Bake until the center is firm and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 25 minutes. I found that 15 minutes was plenty for my 10" pan but each oven and pan can differ.

It is a really moist cornbread but not a very sweet cornbread so we drizzled honey on it. YUM!!

Baked Potato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:02:00 +0000

My mom lightens this up by replacing some of the milk with chicken broth.

Baked Potato Soup

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup flour

7 cups milk

4 large baking potatoes, cooked and cubed

1 pound bacon

8 ounces Velveeta

1 cup sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup shredded Mexi-blend cheese

1 bunch green onions, sliced

Cut up bacon and cook. I know this picture isn't necessary but it sure looks yummy!! Drain.

I used to bake my potatoes, then peel and chop. Now I use 4 cups of Yukon golds, chunked and cooked by boiling. Much less messy and you keep the nutrients of the skin.

Drain.

In a large pot melt the butter.

Stir in flour, heat and stir until smooth. Cook for 1 minute.

Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. I find it easier to have the milk warmed to prevent burning the milk on the bottom while it tries to warm up the rest of the milk.

This is with about half of the milk

Add potatoes and bacon.

Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir in sour cream.

TO FREEZE.....Omit potatoes (they will become gritty when you unthaw) cool and put in bags. When ready to use reheat and add potatoes.

Cheater's Guacamole

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:10:00 +0000

Cheater's Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
salsa
sour cream

Mash avocado in small bowl, add about 2 Tablespoons or so of drained salsa and 1-2 Tablespoons of sour cream.

Mix and enjoy without all the chopping and mess!!

Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake and Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:04:00 +0000

Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake and Frosting

cake:
1 box Devil’s food cake mix (I use Pillsbury)

1 large pkg instant sugar free chocolate fudge pudding

1-3/4 cup water

3 egg whites

frosting:

1-1/4 cup milk

1 small pkg instant sugar free chocolate fudge pudding

8 ounces whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dump cake mix, pudding, water, and egg whites in large bowl. Beat on low until incorporated, then on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan. Bake for 13-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool.

When cake is cool and you are ready to frost place milk and pudding in medium bowl and whisk for 2 minutes. Let set for at least 15 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Slice cake and then frost cake. I used a frosting top to make designs on each slice of cake. Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Homemade Croutons

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Mon, 06 May 2013 00:33:00 +0000

Homemade Croutons

4 cups cubed bread, preferably starting to stale (I use my honey wheat bread)
2 Tablespoons (approximate) olive oil
salt or other seasoning of choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cubed bread in medium bowl, drizzle some of the olive oil, toss, drizzle rest on. If it is not coated as you like you can put a little more oil on but don't drench it. If you want a little salt or other seasoning such as garlic or ranch then put it on here while the bread is wet. Be sure to add a little, toss, then add more so your top pieces aren't what gets all the seasoning.

Dump onto cookie sheet and make sure they are in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes, toss/turn. Go an additional 5, toss/turn. Taste one of the croutons if they are not nearly crunchy and aren't too brown you can throw them in for another 5 minutes. You don't want burns croutons but you do want the moisture out so they last. They will completely firm up when they cool.

Put into a plastic container with an airtight lid or a zip shut bag.

You can us them on salads or soups.

Bierrocks

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:06:00 +0000

There are two options for dough here. You can use my recipe or you can buy frozen dough rolls at the store and thaw them. My mom uses this method quite successfully. If you use those you will get less meat in them that I put it or you could combine two of the balls to make a larger dough circle.

Bierrocks

1 cup warm water (120*)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg (beaten and use just 1/2)

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

3 to 3-1/2 cups flour

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 cups finely chopped cabbage

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 slices American cheese

To make your own dough: Mix together yeast, water, sugar, salt, egg, and butter. Add in most of the flour and mix. If you use your dough hook on your mixer you will add more flour in as it kneads and it will take 3-5 minutes. By hand you will knead 8-10 minutes. The dough starts out sticky but after kneading and incorporating the flour it should be shiny and smooth. It shouldn't stick to your hands but shouldn't be dry and cracked either. Place in large greased bowl turned dough over to coat. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

Meanwhile brown meat and onion. I had some extra carrots so I threw them in too. Drain as needed if it is very fatty.

Add cabbage, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until cabbage is tender. You may need to add a little water to keep mixture moist as you go.

Break your cheese slices into halves or quarters. You will use half a slice for each if you are making larger bierrocks as I do. Quarters if you are doing the frozen roll version.

Divide homemade dough into 12 pieces. Roll out fairly thin but not too thin that your hamburger mixture will poke through. Size is approximately 4-1/2 to 5".

Using large cookie scoop (approx 1/4-1/3c) place hamburger mixture on the dough.

Top with cheese. (I learned that if you put the cheese first then meat it doesn't leak out! So flip flop your cheese and meat from these pictures.)

Pull up edges and pinch together.

Place pinched side down on greased cookie shieet. Let rise for 15 minutes.

Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Any flour left on the dough can be brushed off with a pastry dough or...

you can brush on a little butter. Look how they shine!

These are FREEZABLE!! Freeze on a cooling rack and then put in a freezer gallon bag or vacuum seal bags. To reheat place in a paper towel and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, then flip and do the same. I have not tried baking them to reheat. I would be afraid the outside would get to crispy before the middle was hot.

Basil Pesto

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:54:00 +0000

Chef Gaby showed me how to use the abundance of basil I had. I'll never buy pesto in a jar again!

Basil Pesto

All ingredients are approximate and be changed up to suit your taste! Double, triple or quadruple to make extra to freeze.

2 ounces fresh basil

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons pine nuts (we used and prefer macadamia nuts)

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons grated Romano cheese

salt, as needed

Throw all of your ingredients except salt into a food processor and whiz away.

Scrape down sides as needed to be sure it all gets incorporated. Taste as you go and add salt as needed. The cheeses have a fair amount of salt in them.

Store in a jar in the fridge to use. It will darken on top but it is still tasty.

Freezes great too. Scoop into an ice cube tray. After they are frozen pop them into a freezer bag or vacuum sealed bag for use later.

During harvest I use our pesto for quick spicing up of my homemade marinara sauce. To use in pasta: Cook some ravioli, gnocchi, or favorite pasta shape. Drain but leave a little pasta water on them. Add some pesto. Stir, then sprinkle with Parmesan. The little one calls this "green pasta."

Beef and Barley Soup/Stew

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:49:00 +0000

Hearty stew that can be cooked in a couple hours on the stove top or low and slow all day in a crock pot. The crock pot version creates a creamier stew while the stove top version is more of a soup.

Beef and Barley Soup/Stew

2 pound roast, trimmed and chunked (crock pot) or cut into 3/4" pieces (stove top)

olive oil

6 cups beef broth

2 cups water*

1-1/4 cup chopped/sliced carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup quick barley (more or less as you change the dish's consistency)

1 cup frozen peas

CROCK POT VERSION:

In a stainless steel pan heat oil, then brown beef pieces. It is not necessary to sear on all sides if you do not have the time. Dump meat into a crock pot. Add some of the broth to the pan to get all the bits and flavor off. Pour it also into the crock pot. Add the rest of the broth, (*1 cup only of water,) carrots, celery, onion, and salt/pepper.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours. The beef should be tender. I add in the barley about an hour before serving. It gives me a chance to see how much liquid is in the crock. If I think it is too much I add more barley to soak it up a little.

Break apart the pieces of beef if they are large and add frozen peas in and give a stir. The heat from the stew will thaw the peas.

STOVETOP VERSION:
In a large pot brown beef in oil. Drain off any oil. Stir in broth, water, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for at least an hour stirring occasionally. Add vegetables (except peas,) cover and simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour until vegetables are soft. Stir in peas, again the heat from the soup will thaw the peas.

Carl's Wicked Awesome Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:08:00 +0000

My husband wanted to make granola bars. He searched for recipes that didn't contain white or brown sugar and found nothing the really suited him so he threw together this one based on several recipe ingredients he found. He emailed me the recipe he had tested a couple times and titled the email "Carl's Wicked Awesome Bars :P" so the name stuck!

Carl's Wicked Awesome Bars

4 cups regular oatmeal

1/4 cup milled flax seed

1/4 cup milled chia seed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup craisins

1 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1/3 cup sunbutter

(Feel free to change up the nuts, butters, and fruits to suit your taste!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Drizzle some olive oil on a paper towel and rub inside of 7 x 11" baking dish.

In medium bowl mix together oats, flax seed, chia seeds, and nuts.

In another bowl mix together craisins, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, cocoa, sunbutter. Yes it looks a little nasty but I promise it'll be fine once added to the oats!

Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients.

Stir until dry ingredients are completely coated.

Dump into prepared pan.

Press firmly into pan. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. After you remove from oven, press them again.

Allow them to completely cool before you cut them. Store them in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap.

Baked Cabbage

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:36:00 +0000

This recipe is my husband's mom's recipe.

Baked Cabbage

1 head of cabbage, cut up

8 ounces Velveeta, cubed

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 cup bread crumbs

2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil

Bring large pot of water to boil. Add cabbage. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile melt the butter and mix with breadcrumbs or mix the olive oil and breadcrumbs together. Set aside.

Make cheese sauce with butter, flour, salt, milk and Velveeta. Start by melting butter, adding in flour, then slowly adding milk, stirring until it begins to thicken. Melt in the cheese. It will seem runny but will thicken as it bakes.

Drain cabbage.

Dump half of the cabbage into a 9x13" baking dish. Pour 1/2 of the cheese sauce over. Repeat layers.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. It's ok to have color like this. It's flavor as my husband would say.

Top with buttered breadcrumbs and bake for 15 more minutes.

Honey Mustard Parmesan Baked Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Honey Mustard Parmesan Baked Chicken

3 Tablespoons homemade mustard
1-1/2 Tablespoons honey

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

olive oil or melted butter

Slice chicken breast halves into nice strips

or leave whole. (I slice off the back to make it even and take off the tip so it bakes more evenly.)

Dip in honey and mustard mixture.

Then in Parmesan and bread crumb mixture. (I used my homemade goat Parm which was shredded)

Lay on greased cookie sheet. Mist/drizzle with a little olive oil spray or drizzle with melted butter. Bake tenders at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. If you do whole pieces then bake for 25-30 minutes.

Homemade Mustard

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:35:00 +0000

I learned this recipe from a personal cooking class with Chef Gaby. Check her out!!

Homemade Mustard

2 Tablespoons ground mustard (start with whole seeds, toast (optional) and grind then measure)
6 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire (optional) - I did not use
1 Tablespoon malt vinegar (optional) - I did not use
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large egg yolks
2 Tablespoons sugar

Using a cast iron pan toast your seeds. The main picture above was made with toasted seeds (your mustard will be darker). This picture shows the seeds toasted. They turned from golden yellows to a much more brown color. Careful not to burn!!

This picture shows untoasted seeds. You can mix and match toasted and untoasted to your taste/time preference. Chef Gaby would use a mortar and pestle. I do not have one yet so I use a coffee grinder that I use for spices only and gently pulsed until the balls were gone but not too powdery.

Place all ingredients over a double boiler. The best is to use a round bottom metal bowl over a saucepan that has the water in it so you can whisk and get all the ingredients stirred Whisk continuously until it thickens. Takes only a short amount of time.

Store your mustard in the fridge. It will be very light and airy. If you like honey mustard add some honey to your mustard. Makes a great dip for chicken fingers.

Homemade Ricotta

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:01:00 +0000

Homemade Ricotta

Leftover whey from cheese

1/4 cup vinegar

1 gallon milk

LEFTOVER WHEY VERSION: Turn on fire and bring on the heat! I don't stir, I just walk off. You'll notice clumps and bits heading to the top. Drain into cheesecloth lined colander.

MILK VERSION: Heat milk until almost boiling, remove from heat and add vinegar. It should separate. Drain into cheesecloth lined colander.

Can be frozen and used later. Fantastic for lasagna or stuffed shells.

Homemade Mozzarella

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 02:34:00 +0000

You can easily double this recipe and save time!

Homemade Mozzarella

1 gallon whole milk (not ultra high pasteurized*) - I use our own goat milk
1-1/4 teaspoons Citric Acid Powder (cow's milk recipe says 1-1/2 tsp)
1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet, liquid
1/2 cup cool water cool (divided in half)

salt to taste

Put the cool milk into a stainless pot, preferably a double boiler. Dissolve the citric acid into 1/4 cup of cool water. Stir into the milk. Bring the temperature of the milk to 88 degrees and remove from heat. Mix the rennet into ¼ cup cool water and stir into the milk for about 10 seconds. Use the spoon to slow down the turning of the milk so it can rest.

Allow the milk to set for 10-15 minutes to coagulate. You should be able to press down on it and it should bounce back a little. If you cut it with a knife it should break clean. I always start checking it at 8 minutes.

Using a large icing spatula cut into 1" grid vertically.

Then use a bent ladle to cut to cut 1" horizontally. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Place the pot of curds back onto heat and slowly bring the temperature of the curds to 108 degrees. Hold at 108 degrees for 35 minutes. Since I use a double boiler it doesn't require much if any heat to hold that.

Stir every 5-10 minutes to keep the curds from matting together.

They will slowly turn into a more curd like product.

Drain the curds into a colander for 15 minutes. SAVE THE WHEY for RICOTTA!!!
(While you are waiting fill a bowl with cool water. There needs to be enough to cover your cheese.)

Place colander on a plate, sprinkle with salt. I use about 1/2 teaspoon. Heat in the microwave for 50 seconds. Remove from microwave and work to mix the curds together. Return to microwave for another 25 seconds.

Divide mozzarella into the size you want. Shape into balls.

Place in cool water. Place in fridge until mozzarella is completely cool.

I pat mine dry, then freeze on wax paper lined cookie sheets. After they are frozen I use a vacuum seal system to put them in bags. When thawed they are just as good as fresh.

Shredding the cheese....

for pizza!!

*The proteins in ultra high pasteurized milk have lost their ability to set into curds.

Homemade Sauerkraut

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:41:00 +0000

Homemade Sauerkraut

In this ratio...

5 pounds cabbage

3 Tablespoons canning salt

As needed...Brine --> 1 quart water plus 1-1/2 Tablespoons salt (heated until salt dissolves, then cooled)

Slice your cabbage thinly and put in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss.

Smash and stir with potato masher. This will help the cabbage release it's water. You may have to do this for several minutes.

Place in a large vessel that is not plastic or metal. My husband bought me a small crock. Before that I used a large 8 cup measuring pitcher and made less kraut.

Put a plate on top of the cabbage and place an upside down plate on top. Weigh it down with something heavy, like a jar filled with water. You want the cabbage to be below the water surface. You may need to add you brine here if you didn't get enough liquid from your cabbage. My well water is salty so I add plain water to mine. The first time I did it I used brine and my husband said it was too salty.

Gas bubbles means the fermentation is happening. Remove and discard scum/mold formation often. This is what my first batch had on top if it after a week! A cool room, 70-75 degrees is best.

Sauerkraut is complete in 3 to 6 weeks. You can test it along the way to see what is best for your palate. I go 6 weeks. It will turn colors from bright green to an offwhite cloudy color.

TO CAN: Bring sauerkraut to a simmer. Pack hot cabbage into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Add caps. Process pints 15 minutes, quarts 20 minutes, in a boiling water canner also known as waterbath canning.

Buttermilk Waffles

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:19:00 +0000

Buttermilk Waffles

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs

In medium bowl whisk together dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix together liquid ingredients. Add liquid to dry and whisk until thoroughly blended (batter will be thick.) For my iron I use 2/3 cup of the waffle mixture. Each iron is different so check your directions to get a good idea how much to use.

Close lid and cook until it is as brown and crispy as you like it. This time I made it in a special iron. If I use a round one I break the waffles into quarters, cool them, and then freeze them. I toss them into a gallon freezer back and for a quick snack or breakfast pop in a toaster to heat.

V7 Vegetable Juice Blend

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 03:42:00 +0000

Make your own vegetable juice blend full of Vitamins A, C and E, potassium, iron, and magnesium to name a few. Nothing added like the "natural flavoring" or citric acid that the store sold juice shows as ingredients. You control the salt. Notice mine is called V7 not V 8 as I did not use watercress which is listed as one of their ingredients.

V7 Vegetable Juice Blend

2 quarts canned crushed tomatoes or approximately 2-28 ounce cans (use low sodium so you can control your own salt)*
4 celery stalks
2 carrots
1/2 beet (or 2 Tablespoons beet juice)
2 Small handfuls of spinach
4 small handfuls of iceberg lettuce
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
salt, as needed

Send all through juicer. (If you are using already juiced beets then just add that to the juice at the end.) Mix, add salt to taste, and enjoy!

That is a 1/2 gallon canning jar in the top picture so that is how much what my juicing made.

*You could use fresh tomatoes but I have not worked out the pound/quart ratio yet. I hope to make some when our garden is ready to harvest and can some for later.

White Chicken Chili

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:11:00 +0000

Play with the seasonings as you like. If you like it spicier add more chilies and/or cayenne. If I were making fajitas I would add lime juice and onion powder so it's nearly the same chicken meat and you could use the same here

White Chicken Chili

olive oil

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

1-1/2 t cumin

couple dashes dried red pepper (cayenne) (more as you like)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 - 15 ounce cans Great Northern beans (white), undrained
2 cups chicken broth
4 ounce can green chilies, undrained
up to 1/2 cup sour cream

In a medium bowl add about 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil, seasonings, and chicken. Turn to mix and coat. For best flavor grill chicken. Cut into nice size chunks.

Meanwhile, cook onions in a little bit of olive oil until soft. Add broth and beans.

Stir in chunked chicken and cook for 20 minutes. This will soften the beans a bit more and thicken your soup.

Stir in sour cream.

To serve, top with tortilla strips and more sour cream if you like.

Fauxy Sauce (Soy Sauce Substitute)

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:01:00 +0000

I had a chef come teach me about spices and herbs and one of the recipes called for soy sauce. My husband can't have soy so rather than have her come up with a new recipe I scoured the internet to find out what people subbed soy sauce with and worked out this combination of ingredients. Rather than call it Soy Sauce Substitute I thought it would be more fun to play on the word faux (meaning false) and call it Fauxy Sauce.

Fauxy Sauce - (said foh-ee)

2 Tablespoons chicken or beef broth
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
dash white pepper
1-1/2 cups water
salt to taste - I used 1 teaspoon to start then added 1/2 teaspoon at the end as my broth was not very salty since it was homemade

Stir together all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to boil and cook until reduced. I reduced mine by about half. That is when I tasted it and added the last 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Crock Pot French Onion Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:34:00 +0000

Crock Pot French Onion Soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil

8 cups sliced onions

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup white Chardonnay wine

7 cups beef broth

salt, as needed

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Bay leaf

1 teaspoon Kitchen bouquet (optional for color)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water

Heat oil in large non stick skillet over medium heat.

Cook and stir until they begin to turn translucent, about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with sugar, reduce to simmer and cook for, stirring often until brown and soft. Should take about 30-40 minutes. At first it won't seem like they are browning and then the color comes. Stir wine into onion mixture and cook for a minute or so.

Pour beef broth into crock pot, add onions, bay leaf, thyme and Kitchen bouquet*. Stir. You can add salt here or wait until the end after the soup has time to cook and mix flavors.

Cover and set on low for about 8 hrs or high for 4. When you are near serving time gently stir in your cornstarch slurry to thicken the soup.

We served ours with grilled cheese sandwiches. You could float a crispy piece of bread sprinkled with cheese on top and broil it.

* I needed the Kitchen bouquet as my homemade broth wasn't very dark and I wanted more color.

Mollie's Tender Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:13:00 +0000

Mollie Tender Chicken (originally known as Parmesan Chicken but renamed by my niece)

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons white flour

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup milk

6-8 chicken breast strips (1/2 inch thick)

Oil for frying

Mix breadcrumbs, flour and Parmesan cheese together. Put milk into a dish deep enough for dipping the chicken pieces. Dip chicken in breadcrumb mixture, then in the milk and then back into the breading mixture. Press the chicken pieces with your hands at this point to flatten them a little.

Heat oil in a frying pan and heat to a medium high temperature. Place chicken pieces into the pan and lower temperature to medium. Fry pieces until chicken is done and pieces are a crispy golden color.

Baked Chicken Tenders

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:07:00 +0000

Baked Chicken Tenders

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or a heaping 1/2 Tablespoon of dry

salt and pepper, optional

1/4 cup milk

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

olive oil or melted butter

(Additional ingredients for Garlic Lover's Version)

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Slice chicken breast halves into nice strips or leave whole.

Dip in milk.

Then in mixture of bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, and salt/pepper. For a thicker crust you could dip in dry, then wet, then back in dry.

Lay on greased cookie sheet. Mist/drizzle with a little olive oil spray or drizzle with melted butter.
(If you are doing the garlic lovers version mix melted butter, garlic, and lemon to drizzle over instead.)

Bake tenders at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. If you do whole halves then bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy on a salad or dipped in your favorite dipping sauce (like Honey BBQ ) Great cold for school lunches.

Sausage Stuffed Squash

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:54:00 +0000

Sausage Stuffed Squash

1 butternut squash

Olive Oil

Salt

1 pound sausage (breakfast, pork, or Italian) You can even de-case brats to use.

1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced

1/3 - 1/2 cup diced onion

1 Tablespoon orange juice

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Cut squash in 1/2 removing seeds. Core out the neck by scoring and using a spoon to remove to a cutting board to dice. You will use this in the stuffing. Place large halves on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until soft.

You are only going to reheat so be sure squash is as soft as you like.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, drizzle olive oil, add in onions, apple, diced squash, orange juice, and syrup. Cook until soft.

Add in sausage and cook thoroughly. Be sure to break apart the meat. Drain or pat off the oil if necessary.

"Stuff" into squash halves. I sprinkled Parmesan on the one on the left. They enjoyed them both ways. Return to oven and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until heated through. Careful not to burn your sausage.

The little one enjoyed it enough to ask for it as leftovers to eat in her lunch she takes to school.

Granola

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Granola

8 cups regular oats
1 pkg dried mixed berries (about 6 oz)
1 cup sweet shredded coconut
1/2 cup wheat germ
4 oz sliced almonds
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons vanilla

That is the original recipe. It can be switched up many ways. My photos reflect a granola made without the berries, coconut, or almonds. I instead used pecans and left out the others. You can add milled flax, raisins, craisins, walnuts, whatever your heart/taste desires!

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separate the mix together. Make sure all the dry ingredients are coated well. Dump onto 2 large jelly roll pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 325 degrees stirring every 5-10 minutes. If you don't stirs parts of it will want to burn.

Your granola should be a nice golden brown. It will still seem sticky but will dry out as it cools. As it cools I continue to stir it now and then. We store in the cupboard in a half gallon jar.

My husband eats his with our homemade vanilla goat yogurt and frozen blueberries.

Ham and Corn Chowder

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny.U) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Ham and Corn Chowder

drizzle of olive oil

1 cup onion diced

1-1/2 - 2 lbs ham, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

2 cans creamed corn

2 cups whole corn, drained (or you can use 1 can drained)

3-4 cups Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and chopped (use more or less as you like)

4 cups milk (or half and half)

6 Tablespoons butter

8 Tablespoons flour

Fresh parsley

Salt/Pepper (to taste)

Drizzle olive oil into soup pot and cook onions until translucent. I try not to brown mine but it's ok if it does. Add ham and stir to heat through.

Add broth, both corns, and potatoes. Bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are done. My Yukons take longer than russet potatoes and seem to differ each time. You'll need to pull a piece out and test it.

Add milk. I use our goat's milk which is very creamy so you could use half and half or whole milk if you want a richer soup. Otherwise 2% or less would be ok as well.

While the milk in the soup is heating up make a roux in a small sauce pan. This is done by melting the butter and whisking in the flour. Let it cook for about a minute then whisk into the soup. This will thicken your soup. If you use russets you could leave out some or all of the roux and just smash your potatoes with a potato masher. Yukon golds don't break down much so I needed the roux in mine.

I added a sprinkle of fresh parsley on my soup the first time we make it and after that I added it to the whole soup. I didn't add salt to ours as the ham had enough.

Feel free to experiment with flavors as you like!