Cherry Berry Breakfast Muffins

Original Recipe "They Won't Know Raspberry Coffee Cake " 

Ingredients:
2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg
1 cup sour milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 lb bag of cherry berry blend, thawed and de-juiced.

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine the eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla: add to dry ingredients just until moistened.
Combine the brown sugar and berries; mix into batter.
Pour into sprayed muffin tins.
Bake at 350*F for 15 - 30minutes or until golden brown.
Makes around 32 muffins

Chicken and Tomatillo Stew

Original Recipe
You can make the tomatillo salsa below and add to the stew or you can just buy a jar of tomatillo salsa and add it to the stew. For church I tripled the recipe and had 5 x too much left over tomatillo sauce. So I made salsa verde with cilatro and onions. I also may have used more chicken stock than the recipe calls for.

Ingredients

Tomatillo Sauce

• 1 lb tomatillos
• 1-2 jalapeño chile peppers, or 2-3 serrano chili peppers (include the seeds if you want the heat, remove them if you don't want the heat), stems discarded, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp lime (or lemon) juice
• Pinch of sugar

Stew

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 cup chicken stock
• Tomatillo sauce to taste (1 - 2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped
• 1/2 cup packed chopped cilantro (about one bunch, rinsed and chopped, stems and leaves)

1 Make the tomatillo sauce. Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse well. Cut the tomatillos in half and place them cut-side down on an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan. Broil for 5-7 minutes until blackened in spots. Let cool enough to handle. Place the tomatillos, any juice they have released, chile peppers, garlic, salt, lime juice and sugar in a blender, and pulse until well blended. If you make ahead, refrigerate until needed.


2 Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large, thick-bottomed pot on medium high heat until almost smoking. Pat dry the cubed chicken with paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper over them. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, and adding more olive oil when necessary, brown the chicken pieces on two sides. When you place the pieces in the pan, make sure there is room between them (otherwise they will steam and not brown), and don't move them until they are browned on one side. Then use tongs or a metal spatula to turn them over and don't move them again until they are browned on the other side. Do not cook through, but only brown. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and lower the heat to medium. There should be a nice layer of browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

3 Add the onions to the pan, and a tablespoon or two more olive oil if needed (likely). Add ground cumin and coriander. Cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are softened and the browned bits from the chicken have been picked up by the onions and are no longer sticking to the pan. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more, until fragrant.


4 Add the browned chicken, chicken stock, and oregano to the pan. Add 1 cup of tomatillo sauce. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. If soup needs more flavor or sourness add more tomatillo sauce. Add the cilantro to the stew in the last minute or so of cooking.

Serve over white rice, accompanied with sour cream if needed to offset the heat from the chiles. The stew will thicken as it cools.

Serves 4.

Sweet Potato Soup (Vegetable Soup)

Original Recipe
For church I doubled the ingredients below which produced a full crockpot. Next time I will make the recipe listed below which feeds six. I also wanted more spiciness and after adding the spices the recipe called for and tasting it, I shook in more cumin and chili powder and black pepper to taste.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped 1 onion, chopped 1/2 cup lentils 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper a pinch of cinnamon 4 cups vegetable stock plain yogurt or sour cream for garnish

Directions:

1.	Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook a few minutes then place the chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, and apple in the pot. Stir and cook the apples and vegetables about 10 minutes.
2.	Stir the lentils, ginger, spices and vegetable broth into the pot with the apple and vegetable mixture. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.
3.	Puree 2/3 of the soup in batches until smooth, using a food processor or blender.
4.	Return the pureed soup to the cooking pot with remaining chunky stew. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Add water or more vegetable stock as needed to thin the soup to your preferred consistency. Serve with yogurt or sour cream for garnish.

Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients

1 pint of whipping cream
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of granulated sugar sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions

Beat the whipping cream until frothy. Add the sugar and vanilla, and beat until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over beat or it will turn into butter. Fold in the sour cream. If not frosting immediately, refrigerate. Must refrigerate cake after application. 

 

Caramel Sauce for Apple Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of milk
1/2 stick or 4 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions

Melt the butter over low heat. Add other ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes and pour over cooled cake. 

Fresh Apple Cake

One of my Granny Baker's recipes.

Ingredients

1 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups of sugar
2 eggs, well-beaten
4 apples, grated
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions

Mix together the oil, sugar, and eggs. Grate the apples, you can leave the peel on, and add to the mixture.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to the apple mixture and then add the vanilla.

Pour into a greased 9'' x 13'' pan and bake at 300* for about an hour. The cake will be very brown when done. Use the toothpick test to determine when done.

You can eat plain or with a caramel sauce or whipped cream.

Turkey Black Bean Burgers

Original Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1/2 (15-ounce) can black beans
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Directions

Drain the can of beans, rinse, and then crush half of the beans into a paste using a potato masher or fork. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, beans, tortilla chips, chile powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use your hands to form the mixture into 4 giant patties. Cook 7 minutes on each side or until internal temp reaches 170 *F.

Honey Cornbread Muffins

Original Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1/2 can of yellow corn

Directions

Preheat oven to 400* F.

Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, melted butter, and honey.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
Pour batter into a well greased muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden on top and crispy around the edges.

p.s. I made this recipe and then made it again using the other half can of corn to make spicy corn muffins. I added one jalapeno and some black pepper and cut down the sugar to 1/4 cup and didn't use any honey.

Kickn Collard Greens

1 tablespoon of olive oil
5 slices of thick cut bacon
1 large onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of salt and pepper
2 good shakes of red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
~ half a box of chicken broth
3 bunches or 2 lbs of collard greens de-ribbed and sliced into 1 inch pieces.


Add oil to a big pot and fry bacon. After the bacon is crispy remove and add in the chopped onion. Season the onions with a little salt and pepper and cook until translucent. Add in the chopped garlic and the red pepper flakes.

Turn up the heat and add the brown sugar. Once the brown sugar is melted and is starting to look bubbly slowly add in some of the chicken broth stirring to get all of the bacon pieces off of the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the broth and salt and pepper and then add the collard greens. Cook over medium low heat. Add the reserved bacon and cook until desired wilting is reached.

I cooked mine with the lid on, stirring every 7 minutes or so, for 20 minutes then added the bacon and cooked for 10 minutes. Of course they also had a hour to sit in the pot before we ate dinner.

Chewy Lemon Crisps

Ingredients:

    * 1 cup butter, softened
    * 1-1/2 cups white sugar
    * 2 eggs
    * 2 tablespoons lemon zest
    * 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    * 1+1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    * 1 teaspoon baking powder
    * 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    * 2+1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    * 1/2 cup sugar
    * 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

   1.  Preheat oven to 350*
   2. Beat butter until light yellow. Add sugar and beat until fluffy.
   3. In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, and powder.
   4. Add lemon zest and juice to the butter mixture. 
   5. Add eggs.
   6. Add flour mixture. Mix just until blended.
   7. Mix sugar and lemon zest together on a plate.
   8. Drop spoonfuls of dough into sugar and roll.
   9. Place on cookie sheet, I can fit 8 balls of dough on mine.
  10. Bake for around 10 minutes. If edges are brown they will be more crispy than chewy.
  11.  Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes then transfer to wire cooling rack.

Makes around 48 cookies. :)

Butternut Squash Fettucini

Recipe originally found at: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/recipes/recipe-fettucini-with-butternut-squash-sage-brown-butter-013396

Ingredients
1 small butternut squash, about 1 pound
1 lb fettuccini noodles
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, diced
Olive oil
10-15 whole sage leaves
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook!
Roast and peel the squash. I did this but cutting the squash into quarters, drizzling with a little olive oil, and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Roasted in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Then I scooped the squash out of the skin and cut it into one-half inch cubes. Salt and pepper the squash again after it's chopped, if needed.
Cook the fettucini. In a small skillet, over low heat, warm the butter, garlic, and sage. Cook without stirring until butter turns a light caramel color. I added a little olive oil to the butter to make sure it didn't burn.

Drain the pasta and toss while still hot with the squash, butter and sage. Top each serving with Parmesan cheese (fresher is better!) and serve immediately. The leftovers are delicious, too!

Zucchini Pizza

This recipe is from eatliverun.com. It's super easy, and Z and I loved it, although it seems it's too zucchini-y for some people. :)

(pic from: eatliverun.com)

Ingredients
2 large zucchinis
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
sea salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
pizza dough or premade crust: either regular or whole wheat.

Cook!
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Grate the zucchinis and press with paper towels to soak up the liquid. (Sqeezing the mix through your hands or a towel works even better!) Mix the zucchini with the mozzarella cheese and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and garlic. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

Work the pizza dough into whatever shape your heart desires, if you're using dough. Spread the ricotta cheese on top and then top with the zucchini mixture. Add some pepper flakes if you like spice in your life. Reduce oven temperature to 450 and bake pizza for about 12 minutes, or until the crust begins to turn golden and the cheese has started to bubble.