Apple-Pecan Sticky Buns

I got this recipe from a friend and tried them on Sunday.  It's one of those tastes that gets stuck in your head for days after eating it.  The dough is more pastry-like than a regular cinnamon roll.  Then add apples, pecans, and caramel sauce.  Yum!

Apple-Pecan Sticky Buns (Rachel Ray)

Makes: 9 Prep: 45 min Bake: 40 min

2 tart apples, such as granny smith-peeled, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick

1 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1 ½ sticks (6 oz.) butter, softened

2 cups flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup chopped pecans

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons honey

        Preheat oven to 400.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.  Place the apples, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter on a parchment paper lined baking sheet; toss to coat.  Cover loosely with aluminum foil and roast until tender, 15 min.  Lower the oven temperature to 350.

2.       Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, blend the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt at low speed.  Add 5 tablespoons butter and mix until crumbly.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with ½ cup cream, then mix into the dry ingredients.

3.       On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to form a 9-inch rectangle.  In a small bowl, mix ½ cup brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon.  Cut up 2 tablespoons butter and dot the dough.  Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top and cover evenly with the roasted apples.  Roll up the dough, jelly-roll style, and cut crosswise into 9 slices; place the slices cut side down in the prepared baking pan.  Bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool.

4.       Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup heavy cream, ½ teaspoon salt and the honey to a boil, stirring.  Whisk until reduced, about 2 minutes.  Let cool slightly.  Drizzle the sauce over the warm buns.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 lb ground beed
Medium Onion
Can of Diced Tomatoes
Worcestershire Sauce, to taste
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 cup water
Cheddar Cheese
4 Large Green Bell Peppers
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Brown the ground beef with onion. Drain the fat. Add tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, rice, and water. Bring to a boil. Simmer until rice is soft.

Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers and clean out the seeds. Place clean bell peppers in boiling water until the shade of the pepper is a darker green.

Stuff the peppers with ground beef mixture.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Enjoy.

Flour Tortillas

Flour Tortillas

2 c. flour
½ t. salt
1 heaping ¼ t. baking powder
¼ c. oil
2/3 c. hot water

Mix all ingredients in food processor. Mix until it forms a ball of dough. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Uncover and form until balls of dough just larger than a golf ball. Cover with damp cloth and allow to rest for 15 minutes – 1 hour. Flatten and roll out. Cook on hot skillet flipping when bubbles form.

(I found this recipe at http://everydayfoodstorage.net/. There are also videos of how to make these. I thought these tortillas had really good flavor and were really soft.)

Crock Pot Thai Chicken

4-6 Chicken Breasts
3/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger root (I've only ever used ground ginger)

Combine above ingredients into crock pot. Cook 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on low

Serve over brown rice (cooked in coconut milk and or water)

Top with
fresh chopped cilantro
Chopped peanuts
Plain yogurt (on the side)

Shepherd's Pie

1 pound Ground Beef
1 onion chopped
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Combine in Skillet and cook until meat is done.

Add:
1 can green beans drained
1 can tomato soup
Pour into glass pie dish or double recipe and pour into a 9x13 pan)
Top with mashed potatoes (this dinner is REALLY FAST if you have left over mashed potatoes from Sunday Dinner)
Sprinkle potatoes with Parmesan cheese

Bake 350 for 25 minutes. Serves 6, doubled serves 12

Taco Salad

1 pound Cooked ground beef
2 cans Chili with Beef
1 can tomato soup

Combine in large skillet and heat through.

Serve over corn chips (Fritos are delicious) but regular corn chips work great

Top with:
Cheddar Cheese
tomatoes
lettuce
avacadoes
olives

Hawaiian Haystacks

2 cans Cream Chicken Soup
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I cook the chicken breasts in the crock-pot with the broth and cream of chicken above)

Serve the chicken mixture over rice and top with:
diced tomatoes
drained crushed pineapple or pineapple chunks
grated cheese
coconut

And any of the following:

Chow mein noodles
chopped celery
chopped green pepper
chopped green onion
peanuts

Kate's Bread

*Note you need a big mixer for this recipe. A Bosch or a size 5 kitchen aid. Otherwise just cut the recipe in half!

5 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons instant yeast
7 cups flour (wheat or white)
Mix for 2 minutes in mixer. Then add:

2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
5 cups white flour

Mix for 7 minutes in bread mixer. If dough is sticky, add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Divide dough into 4 sections. Knead (I just do that in the mixer) and shape into loaves on floured surface. Put into greased bread pans and let rise for 1 hour, or until double in size. Bake a 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from pan to cool and then enjoy!

Pugh Familia Pizza

Dough:
3 ½ cups hot water
1 T. salt
¼ cup sugar
2 T. yeast
7-9 cups flour (bread flour works best)

Mix the above ingredients. Knead (or beat in kitchen aid). Let rise for 10 minutes. Add toppings. Bake 5 minutes at 500 degrees. Add cheese then bake for 2 more minutes. The timing really depends on how thick you rolled out your dough so use the times mentioned above as basic guidelines. Sometimes you will need more time. This recipe yields 3 pizza crusts.

Taco Pizza: spread red taco sauce on the dough. Add cooked ground beef and chopped onion (Ground Sausage makes it even better. Jimmy Dean ground sausage; spicy or regular, in the rolled package works great.) Cook for 5 minutes. Add Mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. Cook another 2 minutes. Take pizza out of oven and top with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese.

BBQ Chicken Pizza spread your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Rays) on the dough, top with cooked shredded chicken (I cooked my chicken in BBQ sauce and a chopped onion in the crock-pot and then took it out of the sauce and shredded it). Cook for 5 minutes. Add Mozzarella cheese. Bake 2 more minutes. Optional, top cooked pizza with chopped, fresh cilantro.

Banana-Oatmeal Pancakes

1 ½ cups flour 1 ½ cups milk
1/3 cup wheat germ 1 ripe banana peeled and mashed
1/3 cup quick cooking oats 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon oil
½ teaspoon cinnamon 2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt

In large bowl mix dry ingredients. In small bowl beat eggs, add milk mashed banana, syrup, and oil. Mix thoroughly. Pour milk mixture in with dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour ¼ cup batter for each pancake on a greased skillet. Cook and enjoy! These are great pancakes for making shapes out of with cookie cutters!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

1 small can (15 oz) Pumpkin
2 ½ cups flour
2 cups sugar
½ cup oil or applesauce (oil is better, applesauce is better for you…but don’t cook it as long..about 15 minutes less)
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp each of: salt, cinnamon, crushed cloves, and nutmeg
1 ½ -2 cups Chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients together than add pumpkin, oil/applesauce, and chocolate chips. Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake 350 for 45 minutes. Check to see if center is done, may need 5-10 minutes more.

French Peasant Bread

1 package (about 1 tablespoon) dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour
1 ½ tablespoons rosemary (optional)
Oil
Cornmeal
Melted butter

Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended. Do no knead. Cover and let rise one hour or until double in size. Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. (Based on trial and error I found it works best to drop a tablespoonish about of oil in the center of the cookie sheet, spread it a little bit and sprinkle a small amount of corn mean on the oil…about the diameter of the dough once it is on the pan). Let rise one hour. Brush top with melted butter and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with butter. Serve warm!

Baked Potato Soup

3 Tbs butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 Tbs flour
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth (or use bullion cubes)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper ( I never have this and just use regular)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
dash Tabasco sauce ( I do more to spice things up)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 cup half and half (or just plain old milk)

Top with:
Grated cheese
sour cream
crumbled bacon
chopped green onions

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour on top and cook 5 more minutes, stirring often. Gradually add broth, then potatoes, salt, pepper, basil, Tabasco and garlic salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Stir in half and half (or milk) and warm through then serve!