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!

Mushroom Chicken

Source: BlogChef.net

Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cook Time: 10 min.
Total Time: 15 min.

Ingredients:

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
• cornstarch (for dusting)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 package fresh button mushrooms
• 4 small zucchini

Directions:

1. Cut chicken and zucchini into 1” chunks. Lightly dust chicken with a little bit of corn starch until lightly coated.
2. Add vegetable and sesame oil to the wok and fry chicken pieces until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
3. Add zucchini and mushrooms to the wok and stir fry for a few minutes. Add soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, minced fresh garlic, and ground ginger to the wok stirring to coat and stir fry until mushrooms and zucchini are fully cooked.
4. Return chicken pieces to the wok and coat with sauce, heat thoroughly and serve.

Comments:

I'd have to say my favorite entree at Panda Express is the Mushroom Chicken. (The Orange Chicken probably would be my favorite, but it has 3x as many calories!) I was at Panda Express the other night getting dinner for the missionaries, and ever since, I've been wanting Mushroom Chicken. I could really only find one recipe on the Internet, and this was it. . .luckily it is GOOD! (We doubled the amounts of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and ginger to make extra sauce.) Definitely going to be a regular at our house!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Source: Jodi Gallagher


Servings: 12+
Prep Time: 10 min.
Bake Time: 35-40 min.
Total Time: 45-50 min.


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c oil
• 2 c grated zucchini (packed, push all the water out of it)
• 4 T cocoa (heaping)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. soda
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c buttermilk ("make" buttermilk by adding 1 TBS lemon juice to one cup milk and then letting it sit for five minutes to sour. Then use 1/2 cup for the recipe).

(Healthier version: replace the oil with same amount of applesauce and do half wheat half white flour)

Directions:

1. Mix sugar, eggs, oil, zucchini and cocoa. Add salt and soda.
2. Then add flour alternating with buttermilk.
3. Pour in a greased and floured 9 x13 cake pan.
4. Then sprinkle chocolate chips over the top - cover it completely!
5. Bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes. (24 muffins bake for 18 minutes; two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans bake for 50-55 minutes)
6. Insert a toothpick in the center to see if done. Make sure it is not in a place where there is a choc chip because it will come out gooey.

Comments:

I stole this recipe off of Jodi's blog last week and it is a keeper! I've already made it twice with leftover zucchini; the first time it got eaten (mostly by me) in one sitting, the second time I took it to my 7th grade team meeting at school and my teacher friends didn't even leave a crumb left! (I had to steal Jodi's photo, too, since this stuff got devoured before I thought to document it on camera.) Thanks, Jodi. . .keep the yummy recipes coming!

I didn't have 2 cups' worth of zucchini either time I made it, so I just halved the recipe. . .worked just fine. The first time I did it in a 8x8 cake pan (baked for 35 minutes) and the second time I baked it as a loaf in a 8x4x2-inch pan (baked for 55 minutes).

Kim's Fruit Cobbler

The above cobbler is made with a combination of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.
I make this cobbler with all kinds of fruit: cherries, peaches or apricots etc

FRUIT MIXTURE:
Fruit – about a quart of fresh or frozen or drained canned fruit
Sugar – to taste, I usually add 1 – 1½ cups depending on sweetness of fruit
Water - small amount @ ½ cup don’t add too much because many kinds of fruit will become juicy when heated. You don’t want it to be too soupy
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 T cornstarch

In saucepan place fruit, sugar, salt, vanilla and water and bring just to a boil. Do not overcook. When bubbly add 2+ T. cornstarch mixed with small amount of water and cook only until thickened. For some fruit you might need more thickening agent.
Pour hot into 9 x 12 ceramic or glass baking dish

BATTER:
· 1 ½ cup flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· ½ teaspoon salt
· 1/3 cup melted butter
· 2/3 cup sugar
· 1 egg
· ¾ cup milk
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix batter thoroughly and pour evenly over hot fruit mixture in baking pan

TOPPING:
· Mix 2 Tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in small bowl
· Sprinkle on top of batter
· Carefully pour 1/3 cup of water over sugar and cornstarch mix, just to moisten. This kind of gives it a glaze when baking

Bake 350
30 – 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream

YUM!