Those of us who cook know the satisfying feeling that comes to us when we place a delicious meal before our families, or even just giving pleasure with a simple batch of homemade cookies. I hope the recipes below will serve you well. I will be adding more recipes as they come along, and whenever a new recipe is posted, I will also post it on The Girlhood Gazette. Bon appetite!
Baked Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients:
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup honey
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Serve with maple syrup if desired.
Variations: Add cut apples, blueberries or other fruit to the mixture before baking for a different twist.
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking
soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup (1 stick)
butter – very soft
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed
ripe bananas
1 Tbsp. vinegar
plus milk to make ½ cup liquid
Instructions:
Sift flour,
baking soda and salt; set aside. Grease loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar until
smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture alternately with bananas and
liquid, beating well after each. Pour into loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes or until done.
Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
about 4 cloves (or more) garlic, pressed
1 small onion, chopped
(optional)
3 to 4 (14 ½ oz.) cans
diced tomatoes, NOT drained
1 to 2 (14 ½ oz.) cans
black beans, drained
about 2 to 3 Tbsp. of
chili powder
Instructions:
Brown beef with garlic and onion in a large pot over medium-high heat. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer till heated through, about 15-20 minutes.
Creamy Mandarin Pie
Ingredients:
1 graham cracker pie
crust
1 (8-oz.) package cream
cheese
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened
condensed milk (NOT evaporated)
1/3 cup lemon juice from concentrate
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 (15 oz. each) cans mandarin
orange segments, well drained
Instructions:
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in 1/3 cup lemon juice and vanilla. Slice 2 bananas and dip in the extra tablespoons of lemon juice. Line bottom of crust with bananas and 2/3 of oranges. Pour in cream cheese mixture. Chill 3 hours or until set. Before serving, slice remaining banana; dip in lemon juice and drain. Garnish top of pie with banana slices and remaining 1/3 of oranges. Refrigerate leftovers.
Easy Decadent Truffles
Ingredients:
1 8-oz.(eight ounce)
package cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners'
sugar, sifted
3 cups semisweet
chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 tsp. pure
vanilla extract (if you prefer to do half in vanilla, half in peppermint [or
almond] just use 3/4 tsp. of each)
Ground nuts for rolling,
optional
Sifted cocoa powder for
rolling, optional
Grated coconut for
rolling, optional
Instructions:
1. Beat cream cheese until smooth in a large bowl. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until well blended.
2. Stir in melted chocolate until no streaks remain. If using 2 different extracts, split the mixture in half, and mix in 3/4 tsp. of one extract to one half, and 3/4 tsp. of the other extract to the second half. If using only vanilla, mix in 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla without splitting the cream cheese/chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in ground nuts, cocoa, or coconut. Store in parchment-lined candy tins in a cool place. Makes about 60 truffles.
Great Grandpa Herald's Winter Potato Soup
Submitted by: Tiffany
Have a large iron soup pot nice and hot. Have a pound of thick sliced bacon
cut into quarters. Fry until crispy around the edges. Fry 1 large or two
medium onions in the bacon fat. Add garlic at the last if liked, last add 7
medium russet potatos cubed. Brown slightly and have 4 cups of hot water
ready to go. Add this to the pot, allow to boil up and add two cups scalded
milk. Stir down and season with lots of black pepper. Cover and simmer until
the soup is thick rich and bublly. Serve with good homemade bread and hot
cider.
Make this when the wind howls and the snow flies outside.
No Bakes (Mountain Bars)
Submitted by: Anonymous
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups quick oats
1 cup ground coconut (optional)
Instructions:
Boil sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa powder for one minute, then take off
stove. Add peanut butter, then add vanilla and oats. Stir, then scoop onto
cookie sheet(s). (Note: when you add the vanilla and oats, you can put some
coconut in it, too.. about 1 cup).
Potato Onion Focaccia
Bread
Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are done:
2 potatoes (the recipe says one large
potato, but I usually use 2 medium sized ones)
3 cups water - lightly salted
Mash potato and
cooking water with:
2 more cups water or milk (I often just stick it all in the blender for a minute)
When cooled to just warmer than room temperature, add:
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon yeast
5 cups of flour
Mix for 1 minute. Let sit for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute and cool:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
Knead onion into dough. Add another +/- 4 cups of flour. Knead for about 5 minutes. Divide dough into 3 parts and press into 3 greased 10" pans or pie plates. Let rise 20-30 minutes. With your fingers make a bunch (15?) indentations in each loaf. Brush or drizzle olive oil over each loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.
Raspberry Twists
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
½ cup milk
½ cup raspberry preserves
(or strawberry, apricot, or apple)
½ cup flaked coconut (or
a handful of finely chopped nuts)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
In a mixing bowl, combine
flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or
fork until crumbly. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add milk.
Stir with a fork until the dough clings together (this may take a while). Turn
the dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead for about 10-12 strokes. Roll
dough into an 8 x 15 inch rectangle.
Spread preserves over the
dough. Sprinkle with coconut or nuts. Fold dough in half to make a 4 x 15 inch
rectangle. Cut in 1-inch strips. Holding strips at both ends, twist twice.
Place on lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or
until golden brown.
Sausage Minestrone
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground
beef
1 c. chopped
onion 2 cloves garlic, minced
8 c. chicken
or beef broth
1 can diced
tomatoes
2 carrots,
coined
2 c. cooked
black beans
1 lb. frozen
green beans
1 c. uncooked
barley or quinoa
4 t. Italian
seasonings
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. red
pepper flakes
1/2 t. dried
sage
1/2 t. dried
parsley
1 t. fennel
seed
salt and
pepper
Instructions:
Brown beef,
onion, and garlic in a large pot. Add all remaining ingredients except
green beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer one hour, or until barley
is done. Add green beans and heat through.
Simple Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients:
1 (10 ¾ oz.) can cream of
mushroom soup
1 (14 ½ oz.) can beef
broth (chicken broth works too)
1 lb. beef stew meat, or
round steak, cut in 1" pieces
1 cup sour cream
3 to 4 cups cooked
noodles
Instructions:
Combine soup and broth in slow cooker (crock pot). Add meat; cover and cook on high 3-4 hours. Reduce heat to low and cook 3-4 more hours. Stir in sour cream and noodles. Cook on high for 20 more minutes.
The Best Apple Pie
Ingredients:
Filling
4 cups or more
sliced apples
½ cup sugar
4½ tsp.
cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
Juice of ½ a
lemon
Cinnamon, to
taste (optional)
Crust
¼ cup cool
water
2 cups flour
1 cup (2
sticks) butter
¼ tsp. salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to
450°F. Combine
sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl. Peel and slice apples, tossing as
you go with a spoonful of the sugar/cornstarch mixture and a squeeze of lemon
juice, until you have used it all. Add cinnamon if desired.
For the crust,
remove 1/3 cup flour from the 2 cups and mix the 1/3 cup in a bowl with the ¼
cup cool water, until it forms a paste. In a large bowl, cut the butter into
the remaining flour and salt with a pastry blender or fork. Mixture should be
crumbly. Add the paste to the flour/ butter mixture and stir using the back of
a fork (or a dough hook on a kitchen mixer) until dough forms a ball.
Divide dough
into 2 equal pieces. Heavily flour rolling surface and rolling pin. Roll out
bottom crust to 1/8 inch thick; place in a 9-inch pie plate. Fill with apples
and dot with butter (optional). Roll out top crust, place on top and crimp edge
with a fork. Pierce the top of the pie a dozen times. Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to
350° and bake
another 50 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.
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