Chicken Noodle Soup

Fill a pot with 6 to 8 cups of water and bring to boil.

Grab 1 chicken boullion cube per cup and add to water.

Add 4 chicken breasts to the water. I always cut up the chicken into small bite-size pieces after it's all cooked.

Time for veggies...

4 stalks of celery cut up into small pieces

4 carrots, peeled and cut up into small pieces

and... whatever other veggies your family likes

Spices...

a bit of dried basil

a bit of dried parsley

a bit of dried powdered or granule garlic (NOT GARLIC SALT!)

pepper

Bring the water down to a simmer and cook. I like to start my soup in the early afternoon and let it simmer and fill the house with it's yummy aroma!

A half hour or so before time to eat...

-Cut up the chicken breasts into small bite-size pieces.

-Add a couple handfuls of dried noodles. Bring the soup up to a boil for about 5 minutes then back to simmer until serving time.

Enjoy!!!!

PS... You can substitute rice for noodles.

Basic PIzza Dough

Hi! I'm going to make either Calzone or Pizza for dinner tonight!

Here's a good recipe that I got from www.fabulousfoods.com.

Mitch's Pizza Dough Notes:

I know it's called "Basic Pizza Dough", but the only thing basic about it is how to make it. Most people say "this is the best crust I've ever had."

Many times with grocery store or take out pizza the edge of the crustis left on the plate. Well, that won't happen with this crust. Your family and friends are sure to eat the whole thing.

When all your friends ask you for the recipe, you can come to the top of this page and email it them at the click of a button (we figured this would save you a lot of time copying or printing it out. ;)

This dough is easiest to make in a food processor or bread maker. You can, however, make it by hand (there's just a lot of mixing and kneading that way). Feel free to add ingredients to the dough to make it more interesting. I've often added minced garlic or rosemary or basil. I've even added chopped peanuts for the Thai pizza. It's your pizza, be creative.

Imported From: www.fabulousfoods.com

Ingredients:

● 3 1/2 cups flour

● 1 cup warm water (between 95° and 115° F.)

● 2 T yeast (2 tablespoons, I like my dough a little yeasty. You can use less)

● 2 T honey

● 1/4 cup olive oil

● 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Bread Machine

Throw all the ingredients in, set to dough only setting, push start and walk away. That's it! No work, no hassle. If you don't work for something is it really worth having? In this case, you bet!

Once the machine "beeps" and your dough is ready, it's time to go on to the next step - Rolling Out The Dough.

This dough can also be made in advance and refrigerated for a day or so, or even frozen. Be sure to let the dough come to room temperature before using.

By Hand

Pour warm water into a bowl. The water should be about 85 to 115° F. Test it with your hand. It should feel very warm, but comfortable. Add the honey and salt. Mix on low until well blended. Add the yeast and mix. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour (and any other additions) and mix well. The dough should turn into a ball. If the dough does not ball up because it's too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If your mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Adding water or flour as needed to get the right consistency will assure you always get a perfect dough. Just remember to do it in small amounts.

Once the dough is balled up, place the ball on a floured board and knead for about a minute. This builds the gluten which helps the dough to rise and become fluffy when cooked. Place the dough in a plastic grocery bag or a covered bowl and store in a warm, dry area to rise.

After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size. Show it who's boss and punch it down. That's right, give it a good smack so it deflates. Let it rise for another hour to an hour and a half. The dough is now ready to be rolled out. You can punch the dough down one more time if you want and wait another hour or two before rolling out. The choice is yours.

You're now ready for the next step: Rolling out the dough!

This dough can also be made in advance and refrigerated for a day or so, or even frozen. Be sure to let it come to room temperature before using.

Spoon Burgers, a family favorite!

Spoon Burgers

My family loves this dish!!!

Ingredients:

Make bread dough (use your own recipe if desired)

1 1/2 C water

2 Tbsp. powdered milk

1 1/2 tsp. yeast

3 C. bread flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. butter

(Let rise about 60 minutes)

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 Tbsp. Onion

salt & pepper

1/2 C. ketchup (enough to coat the beef well, not sloppy)

1 C. mozzarella cheese

1 C cheddar or American cheese

Directions:

Cook and brown beef and onion (salt and pepper to taste). Add ketchup and stir. Roll out 1/2 of dough and stretch to fit a large cake pan. Top with beef mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Roll out remaining dough and stretch over the top. Tuck in edges and brush with butter. Let rise about 25 minutes. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Annie's Salsa (from Garden Web)

This is the Salsa recipe that I'm going to use this year. I've read rave reviews...

Annie posted this recipe on Garden Web

And it only took me five YEARS and countless batches before I got it to the point where I love it. Piece of cake.

Here's the recipe. Note that I cut the vinegar way, way down and pressure cook mine. If you want to HWB it you may, but the vinegar will have to be increased to one cup. You can also sub lemon juice or lime juice for the vinegar for a different flavor (although I tried taking out the cider vinegar altogether and that wasn't right either).

ANNIE’S SALSA (from Garden Web)

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 ½ cups chopped onion
1 ½ cups chopped green pepper
3 – 5 chopped jalapenos
6 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar (per Annie, increase to 1 cup when processing via hot water bath)
16 oz. tomato sauce
16 oz tomato paste
Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process at 10 lbs of pressure for 30 minutes for pints.

Makes 6 pints

Enjoy this, and happy canning.

Annie (blushing)

Notes from Annie:

For hot water bath processing: increase vinegar to 1 cup, process pints 15

Ann's Rhubarb Crunch

I was to a church potluck recently where Ann brought some Rhubarb Crunch. It was absolutely TO DIE FOR! Each bite was sweet and sour... and crunchy. She graciously shared her recipe with me!

Ann's Rhubarb Crunch

1 C flour

3/4 C Oatmeal

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together until crumbly. Press half of this mixture into a well greased 8x8 square pan.

Cover with 4 to 5 C diced rhubard.

Combine in saucepan:

1 C sugar

2 Tbl cornstarch

1 C water

1 tsp vanilla

Cook until thick and clear.

Pour over rhubarb.

Top with remaining crumbly mixture. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve warm plain or with whipped cream.

(Ann uses 1 1/2 recipes in a 9x12 pan)

Homemade Pancakes.. yummy... filling...

I found this recipe in our church recipe book. It can be made into waffles or pancakes. They are sooooo gooood!

Waffles or Pancakes.. the home made kind!

2 cups sifted flour (I like to use whole wheat... and sometimes I do a mixture of whole wheat & oats)

3 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups milk

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter

(last time I made these, I also added a dash of black strap molasses for coloring and flavor!)

Directions:

Preheat waffle iron. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into large bowl. Beat eggs until foamy. Blend in milk, add butter. Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture beat with rotary beater (I use either my Vita Mix or my Kitchen Aid mixer) until smooth.

Pour batter onto center of waffle iron. Batter should be spread to within one inch from edge. Bake until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown. Loosen with fork. Makes 8 waffles. Serve hot with syrup, confectioners sugar, or ice cream. Can be doubled... freeze them for quick breakfast!

I love to use this recipe for pancakes! My kids love them... and so do I!

A big thank you to Mildred Snelders for sharing this recipe in... The Friendly Favorites Cookbook, recipes Old & New, Tried & True from Cowley 1st Ward.

Spoon Burgers

Ham and Bean Soup

For supper tonight on this overcast blustery day in late December...

Ham and Bean Soup
From Diana Rattray,Your Guide to Southern U.S. Cuisine.
A recipe for ham bean soup with Great Northern beans and chopped vegetables.
Prep Time : Cook Time : 2hr Type of Prep : SimmerCuisine : Southern, U.S. RegionalOccasion :
INGREDIENTS:
8 cups water
1 pound Great Northern beans or navy beans
2 cups cubed ham
1 ham bone or ham hock, optional
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped or sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

PREPARATION:
Bring water and beans to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour.
Stir in ham, ham bone or hock, pepper, bay leaf, carrot and celery. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender (skim foam from top), about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If soup is too thick, add a little water.Remove ham bone or ham hock (if used) and trim meat from bone. Return meat to soup with tomato sauce and salt; simmer for about 15 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf.Ham and bean soup serves 6.
More Bean Soup Recipes

http://southernfood.about.com/od/beansoups/r/bl30621l_p.htm

Best Ever Potato Soup

Best Ever Potato Soup
From Lovell Chronicle 2/5/04 Clara’s column
(Matthew called this clam chowda without the clams.)

4 bacon strips,diced
3 Cups cubed peeled potatoes
1 can (14 ½ oz) chicken broth fat-free
1 small carrot, grated
½ C chopped onion
1 Tbs dried parsley flakes
½ tsp each celery seed, salt, and pepper
3 Tbl flour
3 C milk
8 oz processed American cheese, cubed
(I used cheddar cheese)
2 green onions, thinly sliced (for garnish)

In Dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp; drain. Add potatoes, broth, carrot, onion, parsley, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Combine flour and milk until smooth. Add to soup. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes.

Add cheese; stir until cheese is melted and the soup is heated through.

Garnish with green onions, if desired. Makes about 8 servings.

Valentines Day treat!

Here's a simple Valentines desert for your sweeties... big and small!

Picture this..
On a pretty plate is a heart shaped piece of chocolate cake topped with sprinkled powdered sugar and a few whole raspberries... but surrounded in a pool of pureed raspberries.

The combination of sweet chocolate cake and tartness of the raspberries is just wonderful!

Here's what to do...

• Bake a chocolate cake using parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Let cool.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the cake.
• Using various sizes of Heart Shaped cookie cutters, cut out heart shapes and plate the cake for your sweeties.
• Thaw out some frozen strawberries if you can't find fresh... Save some of the more shapely ones for topping this treat. The others can be pureed in the blender.
• Pool the pured raspberries around the heart shaped cake on the plate.
• Top desert with shapely raspberries and ENJOY!

Let me know how you like it! Toni