Cajun Sausage, Rice & Beans

A very talented lady cooked this for us and it's been a favorite in our family.  It's super easy and very tasty.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. smoked sausage
• 1 diced onion
• 1 can diced green chilis
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• salt
• pepper
• cajun seasoning
• garlic powder
• dash of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Brown sausage
2. Add vegetables and seasoning to taste
3. Add water if necessary
4. Simmer 30 min
5. Serve over rice

Yields: 6-8 servings

French Bread

A wonderful aunt shared this recipe with us.  It's super delicious!

Ingredients

• 2.5 c. very warm water
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 T. yeast
• 1 T. salt
• 2 T. cooking oil
• 6 c. flour
• corn meal
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Pour warm water, sugar, salt, oil, 1/2 the flour and yeast into a large mixing bowl.
2. Beat vigorously 2-3 minutes
3. Stir in remaining flour until all dry ingredients are completely mixed
4. Repeat the following 5 times
1. Allow dough to rest 10 min
2. Stir down
5. Turn dough onto floured board
6. Knead only enough to coat dough with flour so it can be handled (2-3 times)
7. Divide dough into 2 parts
8. Roll each part into a 9x12 inch rectangle and roll like a jellyroll
9. Pinch edge of loaf to seal dough
10. Arrange lengthwise on cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal
11. Let rise at room temperature for 30 min
12. Slice 3 gashes along top of each loaf
13. Brush surface with slightly beaten whole egg
14. Bake at 400 F for 25-30 min or until brown
15. Remove and cool on rack

Yields: 2 loaves

Nana's Homemade Bread

Ingredients

For 6 loaves:

• 7 c. warm water
• 2 T. yeast
• 2 T. salt
• 1 c. honey
• 1 ⅓ c. powdered milk
• 2 T.  dough enhancer*
• 18-19 c. whole wheat flour** (sub in 1 cup regular white flour)

For 2 loaves:

• 2 ⅓ c. warm water
• 2 t. yeast
• ⅓ c. dry milk
• ⅓ c. honey
• 2 t. salt
• 2 t. dough enhancer*
• 7 c. whole wheat flour** (sub in ⅓ c. regular white flour)

*Dough Enhancer

• 1 c. lecithin
• 1 T. fruit-fresh (or vitamin C powder)
• 1 T. ginger

**Only let wheat grinder get filled ½-¾ full to prevent motor burn out (less than half #10 can). Ground flour must be put in fridge or freezer after grinding to keep it from going rancid.

Instructions

1. Mix water and yeast together
2. Add honey and milk.
3. Add salt.
4. Add 2 cups of flour and mix in dough enhancer
5. Add flour until cleaning sides
6. Knead for 7 minutes
7. Cover with greased saran wrap and let rise to double size
8. Pour oil on counter and form dough into loaves to fill ¾ of bread pan (try to eliminate seams on top
9. Let dough rise a second time
10. Bake at ???F for ??? min

Mexican Pulled Pork

This is a great filling for any type of Mexican food.

Ingredients

• 2 - 2 lb. pork roasts
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 t. cumin
• garlic salt (to taste)
• 1 jar green salsa

Directions

1. Put roasts and chicken broth in slow cooker (4 hrs on high, 8 on low)
2. When roasts are done, pull apart with forks
3. Saute onion in olive oil until transparent
4. Add cumin, garlic salt, and green salsa to onion
5. Pour salsa mixture over pork and mix in
6. Serve as filling for flautas, taquitos, tacos, burritos, etc.

Spicy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

This was surprisingly simple and extremely good.  Just make sure to use the meat listed (not pork loin!) if you want it moist and tasty.

Ingredients

• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (1 worked for our 6 qt. crockpot)
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 c. chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 T. packed dark brown sugar
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 T. kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/2 t. ground cumin
• 1/4 t.ground cinnamon
• 1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (also known as pork butt), twine or netting removed
• 2 c. barbecue sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. 
2. Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. 
3. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. 
4. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. 
5. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.
6. Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. 
7. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.
8. If the pork has a bone, remove and discard it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, if using, and mix to combine. 
9. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Yields: At least 14 servings

Discovered at - http://www.chow.com/recipes/30356-easy-slow-cooker-pulled-pork

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Found this recipe that was easy to remember and easy to make!

Ingredients

• 2 c. watermelon chopped, seeded, no rinds
• 2 c. water
• 2 T. sugar (optional)
• Juice from half a lime

Directions

1. Blend ingredients in blender
2. (Optional) Strain pulp and chopped seeds
3. Serve chilled

Yields: 2 servings

Giant Ginger Cookies

From the recipe - "These irresistible cookies are giant in size and huge in snappy ginger flavor.  To create the chewy texture, be sure to make them with shortening, not butter or margarine."  Mom has always used butter and they've always tasted great.

Ingredients

• 4.5 c. all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• .25 tsp. salt
• 1.5 cups shortening (or butter)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• .5 c. molasses
• .75 c. coarse sugar or granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Cream sugar and butter
3. Mix in eggs and molasses
4. Mix dry ingredients separately
5. Add dry ingredients to the cream sugars
6. Roll into balls (golf-ball size for giant cookies)
7. Roll balls in coarse or granulated sugar
8. Place on cookie sheet 2.5 in. apart
9. Bake for 12-14 min
10. Once done, let stand for 2 min before transferring to rack

Yields: 25 - 4 in. cookies

Mexican Baked Hake Loins

Costco has Wild Caught Hake Loins on sale this month, and we were looking for a little variation on our typical recipe (oven baked with Great American seasoning).  I searched for a Mexican recipe and hit the jackpot with the following super easy and delectable recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 Hake Loins
• 1 c. Salsa
• 1 c. broken corn tortilla chips
• 1 c. Shredded/Grated cheese (cheddar tastes great)
• 1 Avocado
• Sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Fahrenheit
2. Defrost and pat dry Hake loins (try to extract as much water as possible without breaking them)
3. Place in lightly greased baking dish
4. Pour salsa over Hake loins, sprinkle cheese and broken tortilla chips
5. Bake on middle rack (uncovered) for 15-18 min (or until fish flakes apart)
6. Serve with sliced avocado and sour cream on top

Yields: 3 servings

Perfect Pork Chops

We were frustrated with tough pork, so looked for an alternative way of preparing it.  We came across the following recipe and were quite pleased with the results (inspired from thekitchn.com).  This should work for 2-4 < 1 in. pork chops.  We used boneless pork chops and because they were > 1 in. we just cut them in half so they were only about 3/4 in. thick.

Ingredients

• 3 c. cold water
• 3 T. salt
• garlic cloves or powder
• peppercorns (optional)
• bay leaf (optional)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Boil 1 c. of water with 3 T. salt, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf until salt is dissolved.
2. Add remaining cold water to brine to lower the temperature
3. Place pork chops in baking dish and pour brine over the top (pork chops should be completely submerged).
4. Cover dish and refrigerate for 30 min. to 4 hours (when we let it sit for 2-3 hours the meat was almost too salty; we also tried it for 30 min and it was perfect for our taste)
5. Remove pork chops and pat dry with paper towel/napkin
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit with roasting pan/skillet inside oven (oven rack in the middle)
7. Rub chops with olive oil and add salt and pepper; set on stove to warm up
8. Once stove and skillet are preheated, remove skillet and place on med-high burner and sear first side of chops for about 3 min (turn on oven vent to catch smoke!)
9. Flip chops over and place pan in oven for 6-10 min (until cooked, meat should be about 140 degrees, but we can never get an accurate read)
10. Remove from skillet and tent with foil, let rest for 5 minutes
11. Eat up!  Throw some rice and vegetables in your rice cooker and you'll have a complete meal!

Yields: 2-4 pork chops

Pizza Bread

This is a great alternative to pizza.  I grew up having this rotated into our weekly pizza nights.  I recently discovered that this bread tastes even better with homemade pizza sauce.  We've tried Canadian bacon with this recipe too, but pepperoni definitely tastes the best.  To speed up raising process, you may want to turn your oven into a proof box.

Bread Ingredients

• 2 t. yeast
• 2.25 c. warm water
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 t. salt
• 2/3 c. powdered milk
• 1 T. softened butter
• 5.5-6 c. flour

Toppings

• Sliced pepperoni (or other pizza topping)
• Grated Mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Prepare yeast according to package instructions (e.g., add to water, mix, let stand for 5-10 min)
2. Mix in remaining bread ingredients, stir until bread dough consistency
3. Let raise until double it's size (may help to coat dough with oil)
4. Divide dough into two halves
5. Roll out one half into a rectangle (wide as a bread pan) on a lightly floured surface
6. Layer dough with cheese and pepperoni
7. Roll up dough, making sure to fold in the ends as you roll, so that the cheese doesn't melt out when cooking
8. Place in bread pan with seam down (if cheese leaks out, it will be very hard to remove after cooked, non-stick spray may help)
9. Follow steps 4-7 for second half of dough
10. Let both loaves raise again
11. Bake in oven at 350 F for 30-45 minutes

Yields: 2 Loaves

Soft Pretzels!!!

I just made these, and they are AMAZING!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttery-soft-pretzels/detail.aspx


Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•  
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

The baking soda helps it brown...much better than egg whites!! It doesn't alter the flavor at all either. These are so yummy!!

Kristen's Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cups chicken broth
1 recipe Enchilada Sauce
4 oz. can diced green chilis
2 large chicken breasts (I cut them into thirds width wise)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 bag frozen corn

Place all ingredients in crock pot except the corn. Cook on High for 4 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return the chicken to crock pot and add corn. Heat through. (About 10 minutes.)
You can top with cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, or avocado (a fav!).

Serves 4-6.
This is an amaingly easy recipe and full of flavor like we Anderson's like it!!!!!!!!!!

Chili Chicken Chowder

3 chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
2 cups frozen Hash Browns
3 cups Chicken Broth
3/4 tsp.Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin
1 can Cream Style Corn
1 can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 (7 oz.) can chopped green chilis
3/4 cup half & half

Stir together all ingredients except half and half until combined in crockpot.
Cover and cook on High for 4-5 hours.
Stir in half and half and serve. Simple dish and delicious!

Easy Chicken Zucchini Bake

This was a very simple, quick, and tasty meal.  It was great served with rice. The recipe was discovered on SparkRecipes.

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of lean skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup raw Zucchini
• 2 tablespoons of any kind of shredded cheese (more never hurts)
• 1 raw onion
• salt
• pepper
• oregano
• (You may want to experiment with some different spices)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450
Cut Zucchini and Onion into slices
2. Arrange Chicken breast onto non-stick baking pan
3. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and oregano
4. Sprinkle cheese onto chicken
5. Arrange sliced Zucchini so that it's covering the chicken
6. Arrange onions onto Zucchini (feel free to add some more seasonings or cheese on top of the veggies)
7. Bake for 30 minutes covered

Yields: 4 servings.

Heymee Haystacks

I made up the name for this. It goes back to when Josh always greeted my with "Hey Aimee" but he talked really fast and it became "Heymee." This is just a variation on Hawaiian Haystacks that takes 10 minutes to prepare

Ingredients

• Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soup
• Can of Mandarin Oranges
• Can of Pineapple (any variation works)
• Canned chicken
• Minute Rice 

Directions

1. Boil the water for minute rice or cook regular rice (or reheat left over rice)
2. In a pot mix can of soup, all the mandarin oranges, half the juice from the can, a quarter of the pineapple and juice.
3. Mix on hi heat.
4. When rice is done, serve and enjoy!

Yields: 4 servings

Pasta Pie

This is a fast an easy recipe. If you cook everything at the same time you can finish in the microwave in just a few minutes or if you make beforehand stick in the over for probably 45-60 min (I've always done the microwave.)

For 2-4 people, use a glass 8x8 pan

Ingredients

• I box (8 oz) Cream cheese 
• Pasta (I use macaroni, but my friends use spaghetti, it will be fine with whatever noodle you have)
• 1 lb ground beef
• Spaghetti sauce 
• Mozerella Cheese (enough to cover the top)

Directions

1. Cook pasta
2. While the pasta is cooking, brown the beef. You can season it if you want. I never have and it's always tasted great. If you do want to season, I recommend oregeno or something that compliments your spaghetti sauce.
3. Soften the cream cheese and spread evenly on the bottom of the pan.
4. Drain the pasta, put the noodles on top of the cream cheese, the hamburger on top of that, pour spaghetti sauce enough to cover, then sprinkle the mozerella on top. (can refrigerate at his point and heat up later)
5. Put in microwave or oven until cheese is melted. 

Yields: 4 servings

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These are amazing! So full of flavor, and they are baked! You can serve them with guacamole, chile con queso, or salsa. Right before you get to the baking part you can even freeze them to have on hand for a quick meal.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup softened cream cheese
• 1/4 cup green salsa (Salsa Verde)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
• 20 small (6 inch) flour tortillas

Directions

1. Mix seasonings, salsa, and cream cheese, add chicken and cheese.
2. Heat oven to 425 and soften tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds.
3. Place two tablespoons of mixture on the bottom third of the tortilla and roll up very tight. Place seam side down on baking sheet, and continue until all your mixture is gone.
4. At this point you can place the pan in the freezer, and after they are hardened place them in a freezer bag--if you would like to save the taquitos for later. If you are using them tonight spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle them with salt and bake for 15 to 20 minutes!

Yields: 5 to 6 servings

Best Flan EVER

[I got this recipe from the internet and it is FABULOUS!]

Flan Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 2 - 12oz cans of Evaporated Skim Milk
• 1 1/2 cups of Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Caramel Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Sugar

Making the Caramel

1. Put the 2 cups of sugar into a pan (frying pan or pot). 
2. Cook over med-high heat until the sugar melts and becomes a nice golden brown. (You need to watch this carefully and adjust the heat as needed. The sugar will boil as it melts, this is normal. don't let it scorch or it will have a bitter taste)
3. Put the caramel in a 9x9 cake pan. Allow it to cool slightly while you make the flan.

**WARNING: Most plastic utensils will melt before the sugar does. It is best to use a wooden spoon or some sort of metal utensil.

Making the Flan

1. Crack 6 eggs into a large bowl. Mix the eggs together using a fork or a whisk.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. You (Jou) can use a mixer, but all you really need is a fork or whisk.
3. Pour this over the caramel in the cake pan.

Cooking the Flan

1. This flan must be cooked in a water bath. Find a pan that will fit your flan pan. Make sure there is space around all sides of the flan pan. I usually use a roaster pan or lasagna pan for this.
2. Put the flan pan with the flan ingredients into the outer pan. Put water into the outer pan high enough to come about 3/4 of the way up on the flan pan.
3. Place the pans in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven and cook for 1 hour. Check the flan with a toothpick in the middle to ensure it is done. The flan may not look exactly firm, but if the toothpick is clean it is done.

Eat the Flan
Let the flan sit until mostly cool. Put a plate over the top of the flan pan. Make sure the plate is big enough for the flan and the caramel.

Turn the flan pan and plate over quickly, holding the plate over the top of the flan pan. Let the flan cool, the caramel will not harden. Jou now have a wonderful, delicious treat to serve! ( I refrigerated mine.)

Home Made Pizza Sauce (Updated)

We didn't have any pizza sauce, and we had some leftover tomato sauce in the fridge, but no tomato paste.  We enjoyed a recipe from Frank Sweterlitsch on AllRecipes.com, and were able to adapt the recipe to be a lot simpler and still very tasty.

Ingredients

• 1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon dried basil (optional, since the Italian Seasoning already has some)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed (optional, since the Italian Seasoning already has some)

Directions

Mix together all ingredients and let stand several hours to let flavors blend (20 minutes worked well enough for us). No cooking necessary, just spread on dough.

Frozen Fruit Smoothie

A modified version of what Dad and Mom made for us.  Thanks for the inspiration, we now have one every day too!

Ingredients

• 2 c. frozen fruit (the blends and Sam's and Costco are perfect)
• 2 c. fruit juice (we prefer prepared orange juice from concentrate, apple is good, or you can use the juice from some opened canned fruit)
• 1 banana (essential to get a smooth consistency and flavor)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Yields: Enough for two adults and two very small kids.