Swedish Meatballs

Source: The Farrer Family

Servings: 6-8 (3-4 meatballs per person)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour


Ingredients:
Meatballs:
2 lbs ground beef
1 cup rolled oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup milk

Sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp mustard
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine all sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until bubble. Combine all meatball ingredients, roll into 1" balls, place in glass baking dish in a single layer, cover with sauce. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, covered with aluminum foil. Serve over rice.

Comments:
Yet another Farrer family favorite. The sauce is very unique - almost a blend of BBQ and sweet and sour sauces. I usually simplify by using frozen meatballs and not heating the sauce before pouring into the baking dish. (Doing so turns this into a 5-10 minute meal!)

Danish Pancakes

Source: The Farrer Family

Servings: 4-6 medium pancakes (or 2-3 large pancakes)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes (each pancake taking about 5 minutes)

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg

Directions:
Blend ingredients together until batter is thin and smooth. Pour a small amount of the batter into a hot, buttered frying pan - covering the surface of the frying pan with a thin layer of batter by tilting and turning the pan while pouring. Cook over medium-high heat until pancake is cooked through (about 2-3 minutes) and the underside is golden; flip over once and cook for additional 1-2 minutes until other side is golden.

Spread with desired filling and roll to serve.

Comments:
This is one of my favorite Farrer family recipes! We eat them at least once a week for breakfast or dinner - at least tripling the recipe. The pancakes are very similar to the Blanchard's famous Swedish Pancakes, but much thinner and more egg-y. Bret and his brothers traditionally serve the pancakes spread with butter and sprinkled with granulated sugar. To incorporate more nutrition into the meal, I like to prepare them with cottage cheese, yogurt, and/or fruit. We've also enjoyed them as a dessert filled with cream cheese, nutella, frosting, and/or fruit syrups.

Jumbleberry Pie

Source: Me - combining bits and pieces of various Jumbleberry Pie recipes I found via Google

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 15 minutes (excluding pie crust preparation)

Cook Time: 60 minutes 

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 unbaked pie crust
6 cups mixed berries (I used a frozen raspberry, blueberry, blackberry blend from Costco)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup half and half

Directions:
Mix berries, cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon together in large mixing bowl. Pour mixture into bottom pie crust. If using a top crust, dot surface of berries with diced butter. Place top crust and seal edges. Cut 3-5 small ventilation slits in crust, brush with half and half, then sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake at 425F for 20 minutes, then reduce heat for 375F and bake for additional 35-40 minutes.

Comments: This pie (that I made for Thanksgiving) was so easy and so delicious! Next time, I'll use a top and bottom crust and use closer to 1/2 cup of cornstarch to thicken the juices. I would suggest baking the night before your event to give it plenty of time to thicken. Most importantly, this MUST be served with vanilla ice cream! :)

Homemade Clif Bars

Source: original recipe comes from here but we’ve made some adjustments

1 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal – this stuff is basically amazing)
1/4 cup finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc … we even tried dried pineapple and it was delish)
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts or seeds (I hear pepitas (which are pumpkin seeds) are great, but we’ve never actually added nuts or seeds)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup brown rice syrup (that’s what the recipe calls for, but we just use the regular Western Family maple or “rich & buttery” syrup stuff that you put on pancakes)
1/2 cup nut butter (WF creamy PB works just great)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, nuts and cinnamon in a large bowl. Combine the syrup and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and well-blended (alternatively microwave in small microwave-safe bowl 30-60 seconds until melted). Stir in vanilla until blended. Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated. Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper (really tamp it down … Gregg even uses his handy-dandy French-style rolling pin from Ram Kitchen to really mash it in). Chill at least 30 minutes in fridge to help it set. Cut into 12 bars. Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

*Note, you can triple the recipe and it fits perfectly into a jelly roll pan. Cut it into 25 bars for about 200 calories per bar (he did the math).

Blanchard Note: Back when Gregg was training for LOTOJA (the bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole – you may have heard of it?) last year he did a lot of biking around the valley to train for such an adventure. A lot of biking results in a lot of calories burned, and he discovered this handy recipe for homemade clif bars (an energy bar that normally costs something close to $1.30 per bar) that are super tasty and a whole lot cheaper. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Apple Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

AKA "Reindeer Cookie Bars" -- I guess because Reindeer eat oats and apples? :)
Source: my mom, Peggy Elwood

½ cup butter
2 eggs
½ cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups oats
2-3 cups flour
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
(optional) shredded coconut and/or chopped walnuts, to taste -- I just kind of dump some in

Heat oven to 375. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, butter, shortening and eggs in large mixing bowl. Add salt, vanilla, baking soda and cinnamon. Add oats and mix. Add flour and mix. Then stir in chocolate chips, apple, coconut, and walnuts. Spread in 12 inch rimmed pizza pan (or cookie sheet with rim) and bake for 12-20 minutes. (Last time I cooked them long enough that they almost seem too dry, but when I cut them up and kept them in a tupperware container for a few days, they turned out perfect.)

Kim's note: These little morsels of goodness are my all-time favorite cookie to make and to eat. Hands down. Why, you ask? I will tell you why. First, they are delicious. (That is why I love to eat them.) Second, they only require forming and cooking one giant cookie. None of this batch after batch stuff. Spread it all in one pan and bake only once. That's my kind of cookie. :)

Apple Lemon Oat Muffins

Source: Allyson Jones, a good friend from Institute in Logan

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1-1/4 cups unsifted flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (about 1 medium) finely chopped apples
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Lemon Icing

Preheat oven to 400°F. In medium bowl, beat egg; stir in milk, oil then lemon juice. Add oats; mix well. In a separate bowl sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to oat mixture with apples and nuts. Mix only until moistened (batter will be thick). Spoon batter into greased or paper baking cup-lined muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Spoon Lemon Icing over muffins. Remove from pan.

Lemon Icing: Combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon melted butter. (Makes about 1/4 cup.)

Blanchard note: We LOVE these muffins. We've made them no less than five times in the last month or so that we've discovered the recipe. We love them so much we even made them to celebrate our 10 week anniversary, as pictured above. Just want to share the love with everyone here.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Source: Camilla Webb, my next door neighbor growing up, with some alterations/additions by me and my mom, Peggy

3 cans chicken broth (or ~4 cups H2O + 2 chicken bouillon cubes if that's what you have, like me -- and actually, now that I've done some more math, it turns out that it really should be more liquid than my calculations ... just add water if it's too thick for your liking)
2 cans cream o' chicken soup
1 med. onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large pepper, chopped (we prefer red bell pepper, but green works, too)
3-4 chicken breasts (we had tenders, and 4 of those is plenty)
1/2 cup salsa
1/2-3/4 cup uncooked rice
pepper, garlic powder and cumin, to taste

Boil the chicken. Remove from water and shred. Saute onion, pepper and celery (and season with a couple shakes of garlic powder) till barely crisp. Mix broth and soup in a large pan. Heat till boiling. Add onions, peppers, celery, chicken, rice and salsa. Add pepper and cumin to taste. Simmer until rice is cooked (or until your dishy husband gets home from class ... whichever comes last ;). Serve with avocado slices, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a handful of crushed tortilla chips. But it's even really awesome all by itself. Dig in!

Blanchard note: We LOVE this soup. Haven't made it as much as the muffins I just posted, but we love it a lot. The smell of it cooking and the anticipation of it warming my stomach is almost as great as actually eating it, especially on a cold and snowy day.

Great Ball o' Cheese

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
1- 5 oz. jar Roka Blue spread
2 cups (ish - I just grate it into the bowl till it looks yummy - can't go wrong with cheese, I say!) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. celery seed
Bacon bits, chopped nuts, etc.

Mix cream cheese and Roka Blue together until smooth. Add spices. Stir in grated cheese. (I like to refrigerate it in the bowl at this point for at least a half hour to let the cheese harden a bit, but if you're in a hurry, you can roll it right away.) Divide cheese mixture in half (to make the size pictured above, or just make one giant one - either way works) and wrap each portion in saran wrap. Form into ball. Remove from plastic and roll in bacon bits or chopped nuts, if desired. Serve with crackers (or I am a big fan of it squished down the center of a stick of celery).

Kim's note: This has been my little go-to contribution for holiday gatherings the last few years. Every good party needs a cheese ball, in my book, so I'm happy to oblige. And now that Kraft has decided to bring back (last year it was nowhere to be found - sad day!) the Roka Blue spread (at least for the holiday season, so buy some quick!) life is just too wonderful for words! :)

Light as a Feather Crescent Rolls

Source: My 10th grade foods class

Servings: 32 rolls

Prep Time: 30 min. + 90 mins of rising time
Cook Time: 12-15 min. per batch
Total Time:  2-3 hours

Ingredients/Directions:

1/2 c. warm water

2 Tbsp. yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

Sprinkle yeast over warm water, then sprinkle sugar over yeast. Set aside. 

Place the following in large mixing bowl:

1/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 cup water

Mix well and then add softened yeast mixture. 

Add 4 cups of flour and beat until dough is smooth.

Add: 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 3 more cups of flour. Beat until dough is blistery and smooth. Let dough rise until it doubles in size (about 1 hour)

Divide dough into 2 sections. Roll one section of dough into a large circle, like a pizza. Brush or spread with butter. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 12-16 triangles. Starting at the large end, roll each piece into a crescent and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise 15-20 minutes and then bake at 375 for 12-15 minute until golden. Serve hot. Makes 32 dinner rolls. 

Comments: 

This roll recipe really is the best, which is why we've used it for every holiday dinner for the past 5 years. I usually double or triple the ingredient amounts so that there are plenty of leftovers!