Diabetic Friendly (no artificial anything) Peach Crisp

I made this as a dessert to share for our Easter dinner and it got rave reviews.  I don't think it hurt that I used peaches I had canned last summer (not in a sugar syrup obviously), fresh from the farmers market.  I'm not sure if store bought canned peaches can be bought without a horrible syrup, so you might want to use frozen peaches or stick to fresh.  One of the comments I got was that the peaches tasted fresh picked!  I guess I got that sealing in the freshness down!  If they were in season, I would have used fresh.

I made a larger batch of this, since it was for a family gathering, but it could be easily halved for a single family (or piggy individual).  Just stick it in a 8x8 baking dish rather than a 9x13.

For the batch I made this weekend, "to taste" on the seasonings meant that I handed the cinnamon to my 2 year old and the nutmeg to my 7 year old and told them both to "just put in a couple shakes", knowing full well that the 7 year old would probably listen and the 2 year old would get excited and just start shaking until I told him to stop!

Diabetic-friendly Peach Crisp

2 quarts canned peaches, drained, or about 7 cups fresh
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup whole wheat, nut (almond, acorn, etc), or other low-glycemic flour
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
2/3 cup agave syrup

Preheat oven to 375.  Arrange peaches evenly in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.  In a small mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir in agave.  Gently spoon mixture over peaches.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.  May be served warm or cold.

Spinach-Cheese Balls

Here's another goody I made for New Year's that I'm just now getting around to posting.  Even people that don't like spinach found themselves liking these snackable balls of yum. 

Spinach-Cheese Balls

3/4 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp butter

1 10-oz box of frozen spinach (or homegrown equivalent), thawed and squeezed to drain

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 egg

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried majoram

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried sage

1 cup tomato sauce, for dipping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease baking sheet.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Cut in butter until it resembles fine crumbs.  Mix in remaining ingredients except tomato sauce, using clean hands if necessary to blend well.  Form into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Immediately remove from baking sheet.  Serve with tomato sauce.

Venison Stuffed Mushrooms

I usually don't make this as stuffed mushrooms.  I'm too cheap to buy 2 whole pounds of mushrooms unless they are on really good sale, so I usually get two 12 oz packages of mushrooms and call that good enough, so I end up with smothered mushrooms, but they are still yummy like that! 

I love making these for special occasions or potlucks, but they aren't really pretty in a picture, so when I made them for New Year's, I didn't take a picture.  I'm still posting the recipe (finally) though, as part of my late New Year's resolution to try to post all my favored recipes, regardless of whether I have a decent picture or any picture at all.

Venison Stuffed Mushrooms

1 1/2 to 2 pounds fresh mushrooms, stems removed, chopped, and reserved
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pound ground venison (or ground meat or meat substitute of choice), browned
2/3 cup dry Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup soft bread crumbs
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place mushroom caps upside down in a 9x13 baking pan.  Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add chopped mushroom stems, bell pepper, and garlic powder.  Saute for about 5 minutes; remove from heat.  In a large bowl, mix ground venison, bread crumbs, cheese, and mushroom stem mixture.  Spoon mixture onto mushroom caps.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mexican Lasagna

Today's post is by Patricialynn of Allure of Hearth and Home because I am sick.  Hopefully, I will be up and around soon, because I just don't have time for this, but in the meantime, here ya go. 

My family loves Mexican food, so we usually always have the supplies on hand to make several Mexican dishes. But even if you don’t, this dish is worth buying all the individual ingredients for! It’s mouth-wateringly good, and remarkably filling. Best of all, it’s easy to adapt to your own tastes. For us, we usually make this dish near the end of the pay period, when leftovers from previous Mexican dishes are needing to be used up. Also, we live in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood, so I’ve become spoiled on homemade tortillas and refried beans from our lovely neighbors.

I’m not going to put down specific amounts, simply because the amount you use varies depending on the size of the dish you are cooking in, and the number of layers you are creating.  But here is what I use, in the order in which I layer the lasagna:

Whole wheat tortillas

Refried beans

Taco meat (my kids prefer beef, I prefer chicken)

Mexican rice

Black beans

Sweet corn

Cheese (either plain cheddar or a Mexican blend)

Bake at 350. If you have two layers, bake for about 25 minutes. For each additional layer, add seven minutes. If you are going with more than three layers, you may want to add the final layer, the cheese topping, part-way through the cooking time, so the cheese doesn’t dry out and get crusty.

I do not make the layers very thick. The taco meat, black beans and sweet corn are only sprinkled on. I think thick layers of those ingredients would be overkill.

Of course, the best way to enjoy this dish is to top it off with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sour cream, but that will add to the overall price of the dish.

Molasses Glazed Carrots--a holiday season side

This is the second in a series of posts dedicated to fancier-schmancier holiday sides, for those that don't like to keep it basic like I do for more versatile leftovers. My husband didn't care for the crisp-tender texture of these carrots--he prefers carrots that have been boiled, so next time, I may cook them like that and make the glaze separately and pour it over the carrots before serving, just to make him happy.

Molasses Glazed Carrots

 2 tbsp butter

about 1 lb of carrots, peeled, quartered, & cut in 2-3 in lengths

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp molasses

1/2-1 cup water

In a large skillet, melt the butter.  Add the carrots.  Stir the carrots to coat them in butter.  Cook for about 5 minutes; stir in brown sugar and molasses.  Add water to prevent burning the sugar.  Continue to cook until crisp-tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. 

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes--a holiday season side

As part of my continued effort to make the world a tastier yet healthier place (although, I admit, this is of questionable healthiness, but at least it is from scratch and not boxes or mixes!), I am starting a new series of posts highlighting side dishes that would be a wonderful addition to holiday meals, whether it be Thanksgiving, Christmas, or what-have-you.

If I was hosting such a dinner, I'd actually prefer to keep holiday meals basic, just a big bird or chunk of roast or something, with fairly plan mashed potatoes (with gravy of course), veggies, etc, to allow for more versatility in the utilization of leftovers (which I will probably post about at some point, like the day after Thanksgiving), but some people like to have some fancy-schmancy holiday sides too and others may wish to just have these sides whenever.  We had these potatoes last night with venison steak and glazed carrots and it was good!  Definitely one I'll be making over and over!

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

about 1 1/2 lbs potatoes

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp chives, finely chopped

1/3 cup sour cream

2 tbsp-1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

salt to taste

Peel potatoes, rinse, and cut into chunks.  Place in a saucepan with water just to cover.  Place over high heat and boil until soft, about 20 minutes.  Pour potatoes into a colander and set aside.  In the same saucepan, place butter and chives and heat over medium heat until butter melts, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Return potatoes to pan.  Add sour cream, 2 tbsp of milk, and the cheese.  Mash with a potato masher until fairly smooth.  Add more milk if necessary.  Salt to taste and serve.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies--Week #6 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

You read that right: Strawberry. Cheesecake. Cookies.

I have discovered the food of the gods!  (You can thank me by clicking that little "donation" button over there-----> and giving me all your worldly wealth.  This recipe is worth it!)

I'll say it again: Strawberry.  Cheesecake.  Cookies.

Tiny, little bites of cheesecake flavor, in a portable, hand-held pick-up-able form.

Strawberry.  Cheesecake.  Cookies.

These definitely should grace your holiday dessert table or are worthy of being given as a gift for your cooking challenged friends and family.

Yum.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup finely ground whole wheat flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

strawberry jam

Cream butter, cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt until fluffy.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar and flour.  Chill for 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Roll dough into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter.  Roll balls in graham cracker crumbs and place on an ungreased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Use your thumb to make an indentation in each cookie.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Fill each cookie's indentation with a dollop of strawberry jam.  Let cool before removing from baking sheet.

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Here's what others are baking for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies (I can't believe it is half over already):

Great Aunt Marguarite's Johnnie Cake

My johnnie cakes (aka cornbread) had a greenish tinge to them since I used cornmeal made from the green dent corn of my garden.

I'm considering undertaking a project of archiving family recipes on here.  Some of them will be in the handwriting of the person that I got them from, but this is not one of those recipes.  It is a family recipe (Great Aunt Marguarite was my grandpa's sister), but I'm copying this from a typed up (by me) version of the original.  When I make it, I use whole wheat flour in place of the white flour and sea salt instead of "regular" salt (because that's how I roll) and I use milk and butter, rather than the buttermilk and shortening option, but in the interest of preserving family history, I'm copying the recipe exactly as it appears on my copy (where ever I got it from.  I'm not even sure where I got my copy from!).

Great Aunt Marguarite's Johnnie Cake

1 cup freshly ground corn meal

1 cup white flour

1/4 -1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1/4 cup soft shortening or 1/2 cup butter

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 8" pan or muffin pan.  Beat together cornmeal, flour, sugar, and salt until just mixed.  Beat in baking powder, egg, milk, and shortening until just mixed.  Pour into pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Popcorn Chicken

Yes, I know this isn't the healthiest thing I've ever posted (and I'm kind of embarrassed by all the fried food I've posted), but it is tasty--and still healthier than buying the stuff you'd get if you eat out or buy the processed junk at the store.  If you try to avoid factory farmed meats (the meat pictured here was purchased at a farmers market), this also lets you do that and still enjoy the guilty pleasures you might otherwise enjoy.

At first, I was planning on making chicken tenders or strips, but then I realized that the meat would go farther in smaller pieces...and I had an interesting idea with what to do with leftovers (which I will try to post later in the week.  The recipe calls for 2 pounds of meat, but in my house that means I either halve the recipe or make planned leftovers.  I don't think we ever eat more than a pound of meat for one family meal!

Popcorn Chicken

1/2 cup finely ground whole wheat flour (stone ground will not work in this recipe)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 lbs chicken, cut to desired size

vegetable oil for frying

Mix flour, salt, paprika, onion powder, and pepper in a plastic baggy.  Add a few little pieces of chicken at a time, close bag, and shake to coat chicken.  Set coated pieces aside until they are all coated.  

Heat oil. 1/4 inch deep, in a large skillet.  Cook chicken until light brown, anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes depending on size of pieces.  Turn as needed to make sure they are evenly cooked.  Remove from heat and drain on paper towel before serving.

Apple Acorn Crumble

Just a quick recap from previous acorn posts:  this can be made gluten-free by substituting acorn flour for the whole wheat flour;  also, if you don't have any acorns but want to try this recipe, hazelnut flour could be substituted but it is a lot more expensive!

This recipe is for a larger sized crumble, like to feed my family or to take to a potluck, but could be halved for a less piggy family.

Apple Acorn Crumble

1/2 cup honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup apple cider

9 cups peeled, thinly sliced apples

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup acorn meal

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine honey, lemon juice, melted butter, and apple cider.  Pour mixture over apple slices and stir well, so each apple slice is coated.  Pour into a 9x13 baking pan.  

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, acorn meal, and cinnamon,  Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Spread crumb topping over apples.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is crispy and lightly browned.

Acorn Griddle Cakes (with gluten-free alternative)

I started to get a urge to make these the other day when I was looking over ideas for a possible unit study on pre-European-influenced Native Americans in the area (because, really, there are/were so many nations of Native Americans, it is kind of silly to try to cover all of them in any sort of general unit study like they used to, and I'm guessing they still do, in schools) and I came across mentions of dishes involving acorn flour and maple syrup.  Since I have both of these items in my house (doesn't everyone?  No?) and I remembered I had this recipe in my stack of recipes to try, I figured now would be a good time to try them out.  Yum!

One note on this recipe, as opposed to some I've posted, it really does need to be acorn flour, not acorn meal, since the meal would be too gritty for an ideal griddle cake experience.  Remember, all you have to do to transform acorn meal into flour is just grind it more finely, so no biggie.  Just make sure to do it.  Also remember that acorn flour can be used as wheat flour substitute, so you can easily make these gluten-free by omitting the whole wheat flour and upping the acorn flour to 1 cup.

I made these "fun sized" for the kids and of course served them with real butter and real maple syrup.  It would almost be a crime to serve such great, wholesome natural food with the abominations that are trans-fat-laden margarine or maple-flavored corn syrup marketed as "pancake syrup" or "breakfast syrup" or whatever it is they call that garbage!

Acorn Griddle Cakes

2/3 cup acorn flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp honey
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp butter, melted

Combine flours, baking powder, and salt.   In a separate bowl, combine honey, egg, and milk.  Mix liquid mixture into dry mixture, creating a smooth batter.   Add butter.  Drop batter onto a hot, greased griddle or skillet, by the tablespoon for "fun sized" or 1/4 cup for regular sized.  Cook, turning each griddle cake over when it is lightly browned on the bottom and puffed and slightly set on top.

Chocolate Chip Acorn Bar Cookies--Week 3 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

I made a very exciting discovery when figuring out this week's cookie recipe.  Acorn flour can actually be used as a straight wheat flour substitute.  This is fantastic!  That means people on gluten-free diets don't have to be slaves to the super high grocery store prices for gluten-free products.  There is an alternative.  It is also fantastic since flour was one of the few things I was still feeling like I'd have to buy from the store until I get some fairly serious land to grow my own, and now that isn't true either.  I probably will still have to buy quite a bit this year, since I found out this miraculous tidbit so late into the acorn season, but next year, gathering acorns will definitely take more of a priority!  Acorn flour does make a denser baked product though, so for flavor/texture preference, I probably won't use anything stronger than a blend of acorn flour and wheat flour for now.  In theory though, you could make these cookies gluten-free by upping the acorn flour (at least some would have to be flour and not meal at that point) to 2 1/2 cups and omitting the whole wheat flour.

(Note:  if you're new here and haven't started gathering acorns for these great recipes, or you live in one of the few-ish places in the world that doesn't have acorn trees, but still want to make these cookies, you should be able to find hazelnut flour at a health food store.  It should give you a fairly similar flavor, I would think.  It is expensive though!)

So how do you make acorn flour?  Once you've made your acorn meal, as described in my previous post on this subject (or one of the many other ways floating around the internet), just grind it again to get a finer, flour-sized product.

Chocolate Chip Acorn Bar Cookies

1 cup butter

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup acorn meal or flour (or combination)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375.  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Remove from heat.  Beat in honey, sugar, and egg.  Stir in flour, acorn meal, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour into an ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x10 1/2 x 1 inch.  Bake 20 minutes.  Cool before cutting into desired sizes.

Here's what everyone else has been baking this week for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies:

Easy Caramel Apples + Cararmel Dipping Sauce

When I see what some people charge for caramel apples, my thought, just like chocolate covered frozen bananas, is you want how much for that?  It isn't like they are hard to make.  Sometimes you can even get caramels free (not to mention apples can sometimes be found free in someone's yard or along side the road) if you save enough from parades or something.  I used reusable popsicle sticks to eliminate the cost and waste of disposable wooden sticks. 

Caramel Apples

approximately 50 caramel cubes
2 tbsp water
4-6 apples, depending on size

Remove wrappers from candies and place in a small saucepan with the water.  Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the caramel is melted and smooth.  Cover a plate with wax paper; heavily butter the waxed paper and set aside.  Skewer apples on popsicle sticks.  Dip apples into melted caramel, spooning over the apple to coat as needed.  Let excess caramel drip off back into the pan.  Place apples on prepared plate.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.  Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

 I always end up not having enough caramel, because I try to do too many apples, or too much caramel, because I decide to play it safe and not do too many apples!  I figured out a way to use up the extra caramel though:  caramel dip!  I actually prefer dipping apple slices into caramel dip anyway, so I can leave the caramel apples for the kids.

Caramel Dip

1 part caramel
1 part milk

Melt caramel in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.  Stir in an equal amount of milk and keep stirring until smooth and creamy.  Can be served warm or cold.  Refrigerate any unused portions.

Whole Wheat Coffee Cake

Yesterday's breakfast: ww coffee cake, cheese omelet, & grapes

It was always a special morning growing up when my mom would make coffee cake.  Unfortunately, I'm so not a morning person, it happens even less frequently in my house as an adult, usually only for special occasions.  Sometimes I just want something though, and yesterday was one of those mornings.  This isn't the same exact recipe as my mom uses (I'm pretty sure anyway), but I like that most of the flour is whole wheat, since I try to sneak in whole grains instead of the more processed refined products whenever I can (in case you haven't noticed that from my recipes!).

Whole Wheat Coffee Cake

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp butter, firm
----
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x9x2 baking pan.  Combine brown sugar, 1/4 cup ww flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Cut in 3 tbsp butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.  In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the side of the bowl frequently.  Pour half of batter into the baking pan.  Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture into the pan.  Spread remaining batter in the pan and top with remaining brown sugar mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Mouthwatering Burritos--a new take on leftovers

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes.  Two kinds of recipes that especially appeal are super quick, easy recipes that still use real food, not a bunch of prepackaged convenience "food", and recipes that use random bits of leftovers in a new and delicious way.

Burritos fit both of these criteria.  The other night when I didn't feel like cooking, I came up with this to use some leftover rice, some salsa that no one was eating and I was worried it would go bad soon, and a partial can of refried beans.  It is good enough that I might consider making up fresh rice, opening a jar of salsa specifically for it, and opening a can of refried beans as well! 

Burritos

cooked rice

salsa

refried beans

large flour tortillas

Cheddar, Monteray jack, colby or a "Mexican" cheese blend

sour cream (optional)

other fillings such as guacamole, seasoned meat, lettuce, etc (optional)

2 tbsp olive oil

Combine the rice with the salsa in desired proportions and heat through.  Spread a thin layer of refried beans on each tortilla.  Layer seasoned rice, cheese, and any other toppings onto the burrito and fold.  Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Place burrito on skillet and gently brown each side before serving.

Lemon Squares--Week #1 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

You read that right--12weeks of Christmas cookies.  This is an annual blog hop tradition, I believe to now be in its second year.  Last year, of course I didn't participate, since I didn't have a blog yet, but this year, it sounded like a ton of fun (and tasty!)!  Every Thursday, all participating bloggers are supposed to post a new cookie or other holiday treat recipe.  I then post this cute little icon to show it is part of the blog hop and to linky up at the bottom of the post so you can see what other goodies people have posted:

For the first week of this event, I decided to bake up some lemon squares.  I've been wanting some anyway, since they've been mentioned a couple times in the silly novel I'm currently reading (How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper, in case you were wondering what I'm reading.  They also mention chess squares in there quite a bit, which is apparently some sort of southern treat, but I don't know what they are really so reading about them didn't make me crave them.  Lemon squares I'm very familiar with!).

Lemon Squares

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, butter, and powdered sugar in a small bowl.  Press into an ungreased 8x8 or 9x9 pan.  Build up 1/2 inch edges on the sides.  Bake 20 minutes.  Beat remaining ingredients until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Pour onto hot crust.  Bake about 25 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched lightly on the center.  Cool completely & sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into 1 1/2 squares.

Here's what everyone else is baking for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies:

Child-friendly Homegrown Corn Dogs

Okay, the hot dogs weren't actually homegrown, but the cornmeal in them sure was!  My mom came over last week with her Vitamix and ground some of my green dent corn, that super tall corn that caused such a stir a while back, for corn meal.  So I took some of that great, super healthy organically grown corn...and fried it.  I mixed it into a batter, dipped quartered hot dogs into it and fried it into homemade, partially homegrown (nitrate free, turkey) corn dogs!  My husband took one bite and declared them to taste like corn dogs, so they were officially a success!  Even though they just "taste like corn dogs", these were a lot healthier than anything I've seen sold in a store since, like I mentioned, they contained organic ingredients, better quality wieners, and I even slipped in a little extra whole grains with no one being any the wiser.  Yes, they are still fried, so I'm not going to say they are healthy but it is a definite improvement.  Plus, they are a lot cheaper than the ones my husband would occasionally buy at the store, which are about $8 for a box of 16.  I got the hot dogs on sale for less than $2 a package of 8, and the cost of the other ingredients are fairly minimal, so they are almost half the cost! 

Unfortunately, my sloppy breading technique did not make for cute corn dogs, but here is a couple cute kids with mouthfuls of them!  As you can see, I balanced the fried corn dogs (and purple french fries) with raw, fresh vegetables, cucumbers and tomatoes to be exact, from the garden.

Another plus on my corn dogs was that I quartered the hot dogs lengthwise for the safety of the children.  I'm sure you are aware that small children are at enough of a choking risk from hot dogs that many think there should be a warning label on the package.  If you buy premade corn dogs, you can quarter the whole thing after it is cooked, but what fun is that for the kids?  I cut mine before breading them, so each one was safer, but still breaded on all sides!

Corn Dogs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup corn meal

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

hot dogs

oil for frying

Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Stir in eggs and milk and mix until lump free.  Quarter hot dogs lengthwise, if desired.  Dip hot dogs into batter to coat.  Deep fry in hot oil until light brown. 

Zesty Macaroni & Cheese

3 cups uncooked whole wheat macaroni
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
8 oz shredded Cheddar cheese
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup shallots
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 tsp olive oil

Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions.  Heat oven to 375.  Heat buttermilk, mustard, salt, and pepper to boiling.  Reduce heat; stir in  Cheddar and whisk until smooth.  Pour sauce over macaroni.  Stir in tomatoes and shallots.  Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.  In a small bowl, combine Parmesan and bread crumbs.  Stir in oil.  Sprinkle over top of macaroni mixture.  Bake uncovered 20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and top is golden brown.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Chocolate syrup is a staple in our house.  Not very healthy, I know, but we eat far, far less junk food than most, so I'm not too worried about it.  The kids like it in milk or on ice cream, my husband likes a more complex sundae, and I like it in coffee or on ice cream.  The ingredients on the typical store bought chocolate syrup are pretty scary, especially if you are trying to save money by buying generic.  Here are the ingredients from the generic chocolate syrup our regular grocery store carries:

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, WHEY, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), EMULSIFIER (MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, POLYSORBATE 60), PHOSPORIC ACID, XANTHAN GUM, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, PRESERVATIVE (SODIUM BENZOATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE), SALT.

Yuck!  Fortunately, I have firmly entered chocolate syrup into the list of things we won't buy any more.  Not when I can make it with much higher quality ingredients for much less money!  I was hoping when I was researching this that it could be canned for long term storage and gift giving, but apparently it can not be safely home canned.  It does require refrigeration.

Chocolate Syrup

1/2 to 2/3 cup cocoa powder, according to taste

1 cup water

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the cocoa powder, salt, and water in a saucepan.  Heat and whisk until cocoa is dissolved.  Add sugar and whisk to dissolve.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.  Add vanilla.  Remove from heat and continue to whisk mixture until it settles down.  Let cool for 1 to 2 hours.  Store in a flip top bottle or canning jar with screw top. 

 

Homemade Hot Pockets

Last night's dinner was a rare epic fail.  Last time I had my husband stop at the store for a few things on his way home from work, egg roll wrappers was on the list.  He apparently didn't remember that they would be found in the refrigerated produce section and looked in the shelf stable ethnic food area instead so he brought home spring roll wrappers instead.  Not. The. Same. Thing.  Rather than complaining, since I appreciated the effort, I figured out how to use them and attempted to make chicken spring rolls rather then my chicken egg rolls.

They exploded in the fryer.  

I'm grateful that A) it didn't cause a fire and B) I didn't have all the non-egg rolls in one basket.  I was able to extract the filling from the failed spring rolls to be frozen and saved for sometime when I have actual egg roll wrappers.

But what to do with dinner for that night?  My husband got sent off to work with an empty belly and leftovers from another night and some blueberry muffins, but what about the rest of us?  We needed to eat quickly so the kids could get their bath and get to bed since we needed to get up fairly early this morning to get my daughter in dance class, so making a whole 'nother meal was out of the question.

Frozen homemade "hot pockets" to the rescue!  I'd originally made them for my husband to take to work since they are something he could eat while working if he didn't get a chance to take a full lunch, but they came in handy for this situation too. 

These hot pockets contained some seasoned ground venison, mozzarella cheese, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes fresh from the garden.  The possibilities for what could go in them is endless:  broccoli and cheddar, provolone and tuna, pizza toppings, whatever strikes your fancy!  Because of the endless possibilities, in the actual recipe, the filling will just be referred to as "filling". 

Homemade Hot Pocket Sandwiches

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp yeast (or 1 pkg yeast)

1 cup + 2 tbsp very warm water

1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups filling

Mix the wheat flour, sugar, salt, butter and yeast in a large bowl.  Add water.  Beat quickly by hand (or on low speed using a mixer of some sort if you want to be like that) for 1 minute, scraping the bowl frequently.  Stir in all-purpose flour one cup at a time, to make the dough easy to handle.  

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead about 10 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl with the greased side of the dough up.  Cover and let rise 40 to 60 minutes or until double.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces.  Roll each piece into an approximately 6 inch circle.  Scoop about 1/2 cup filling into each circle.  Fold over and pinch tightly to shut.  Let rise in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  May be served immediately or frozen after cooled.  To reheat after frozen directly from frozen state, heat in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until hot or microwave.