Taco Seasoning

I just dumped this crockpot dinner into the magic cooker for tonight and it called for taco seasoning and I realized maybe I should post another recipe. My aunt taught me this and I love it! It's not much different than the kind you buy in the packet at the store, it's just cheaper! I mix it up and put it in an old shaker with the label "taco seasoning" on it. So here goes....

Ingredients:
2 t. onion (powder or flakes)
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 t. red pepper
1/2 t. garlic
1/4 t. oregano
1/2 t. cumin

Mix and season.

Egg Salad for One

Are you having a hard time figuring out what you should do with all of those hard boiled eggs?

This afternoon I realized that we had no more bread for a sandwich and no more lunch meat. Yikes, my easy fix for lunch was gone. So, I got a little more creative. (That's rare for me, usually my lunches are pretty boring.)

Thus came ... the egg salad sandwich on a bagel. I cheated a little and walked over to Panera bread for the bagel.

I'm sure you all have already made some of this delicious egg salad after Easter, but just in case you haven't ventured out there yet ... here's the (sort of) recipe I used:

1 hard boiled egg (smashed up in a bowl)
1/4 cup miracle whip (that's probably more than most people would use for one egg, but I like mine pretty creamy)
3-4 squirts of mustard
pepper to taste

It tasted really good, I might just have it for lunch again tomorrow!

Milky Way Cake

This is our Great-Grandmother Helen's recipe. It is so incredibly rich that you have to make this to share. I made it for Easter and worried it wouldn't be enough for everyone, but with the three layers and all the sugar, it was plenty to have a sliver-of a piece. Delicious.

Ingredients

8 Milky Way Candy bars

3 Sticks Margarine

2 cups cugar

4 eggs, beaten

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Melt Milky Way bars in double boiler or microwave with one stick of margarine. Cream remaining margarine with sugar. Add eggs, milky way mixture and remaining ingredients. Bake in three layers at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Icing

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

1 stick margarine

6 ounce package of chocolate pieces ( I used half a bag of chocolate chips)

1 cup marshmallow cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar and evaporated milk and cook to soft ball stage. Add remaining ingredients. Beat until thick. Spread between and on top of cake.

(I didn't cook to the soft ball stage on purpose/accident. Instead I poured it over the cake while hot and thin and it melted down the side and wasn't as thick as normal frosting, which I like.)

Marshmallow Easter Eggs

These are really good! They take some time to make, but they are worth the effort. If you're looking for a low-sugar food for your diet...this is definitely not the one. But, they're a great Easter treat. I found the recipe at this site. Check it out!

Marshmallow Ingredients:
2 Envelopes Unflavored-Gelatin

2 tbsp -Cold Water

1/2 cup -Boiling Water

2 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Vanilla

Flour

3/4 lb Chocolate for dipping

Regal Icing (Royal Icing)

Marshmallow Easter Eggs Preparation: Put gelatin in top of double boiler; add cold water. When gelatin softens, add boiling water and stir well. Add sugar and salt. Put over boiling water and stir until sugar dissolves completely.

Pour into large bowl of electric mixer and beat at high speed until mixture is thick but not as stiff as beaten egg whites. Add vanilla.

Meanwhile, spread flour 2" deep in a large pan. Push an egg (in shell) into the flour at intervals, making hollow spaces in which to mold the marshmallow mixture.

Drop marshmallow mixture into the flour molds. Sprinkle flour lightly over top and put in cold place until set. (If you're thinking, "No way! The marshmallow goo will just stick to the flour and make a mess!" Nope. It's awesome! I had them in the freezer for probably 20 minutes and when I checked them they were stiff and SUPER easy to take out of the flour. I just dusted off the flour and dipped 'em in!) Remove mixture from one mold and you have a half-egg. Trim the flat side of marshmallow half-egg to make it even.

Mix up some melting chocolate to dip the marshmallows in. The best bet is to use baking chocolate or semi-sweet baking chocolate and melt it in a double-boiler. I thought first that chocolate chips would work just fine and be cheaper? Nope. Not for me anyways, any suggestions? This is what my first batch o' chocolate looked like. Not so pretty...

There, that's better!

You can dip it in melted chocolate to cover and decorate with Regal Icing.

Or you can put two halves together to make an egg, as follows: Dip the rounded part of a half-egg in melted chocolate; set aside to cool, flat (uncoated) side down. Trim flat side of second half-egg (to make it even), lift from mold and completely coat with chocolate. Quickly press its flat side against the flat side of the cooled half-egg and you have a whole egg. The chocolate will hold it together.
When chocolate-coated eggs are cool, trim with Regal Icing put through cake decorator tube. Make ruffles around them to cover seam where the two halves join and to provide decoration. Write names of children on their eggs with the icing, or decorate with tiny designs pressed through fine tips of a cake decorator tube. Makes 13 eggs (or 26 half-eggs).

Bagels

Here's everything you need. Nothing too strange, the only thing I had to buy was honey...we were all out , so I sucked it up and spent the $2.00.

Ingredients:

2 c. warm water (110F)
1 TBS. honey
1 TBS. molasses
1 TBS. yeast
2 tsp. salt
5 c. all purpose flour
1 egg white
desired toppings

Directions:
Let yeast melt into warm water and bubble (about 5-10 min). Add to mixer honey, molasses (or use just all honey or molasses if it's easier for you), salt and flour. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Auto knead for 10 - 12 min. Dough should be heavier than regular bread dough. Let rest and rise in bowl for 45-60 minutes. Take out and cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll into balls. Poke thumb in middle to create hole. Twirl dough around finger until you have a bagel. Let rest on lightly floured surface for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil. Add 3 TBS. sugar. Place bagels in boiling water for 1 minute, flipping once. Place on large cookie sheet with parchment paper, covered with ground cornmeal. Preheat oven to 400. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Brush bagels with whipped egg white. Sprinkle with desired toppings. I did 4 cinnamon sugar, 6 oat, and 2 cheese bagels. (Note: if you don't have cornmeal, sprinkling the pan with flour does NOT prevent sticking. Go ahead and use some cooking spray...I learned the hard way.)

I was trying to make these like the Panera Bread whole grain bagels. Of course, they weren't perfect, but they tasted really good. Especially right after they were baked!

On the left are the cinnamon sugar and the two on the right are the cheese bagels.

The man of the house chose to do PB and J on a whole grain bagel. No complaints from him!

Addition to Ande's Mint Cookies

I forgot to say that you can use whatever topping you enjoy on these cookies. I've used Hershey's Hugs and that was really good too. Anything that will melt down so you can swirl will be fabulous.

Layered Salad-courtesy of Ali Benefield

I don't have a picture of this because we ate it up too fast! I made an experimental dinner with steak in the crockpot and it was disgusting so the salad turned into the main dish and it was delicious!

Ingredients: (in whatever quantities you like)

Iceberg lettuce, chopped

Spinach

carrots, shredded or chopped

defrosted frozen peas

bacon, cooked and crumbled

olives

cheese, shredded

top with the yummiest dressing-

1 cup of mayo + 1/2 cup sugar

(you can use less sugar and it's still delicious)

If you have a clear bowl it is really pretty to show the layers and leave the dressing piled on top until you serve it.

New blog to check

I just came across a new "food" blog today, check it out!

Click HERE!

It has tons of recipes that are featured each day (with GREAT pictures) and you can click on the picture for the details.

Basic Bread with a twist

Remember the bread recipe that I use ALL the time? This is that same French bread recipe, with 1/3 white flour and 2/3 wheat flour. Instead of forming a French bread loaf, I used a larger loaf pan and sprinkled oats on top to try and mimic the whole grain bagels and bread from Panera Bread. It turned out great!!!

Banana Muffins

This recipe combines the great taste of banana bread and the fast results of muffins to make a great and easy snack!

Ingredients:

1 c sugar
1/2 c canola oil
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Directions:
Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs and mashed bananas and beat. Add flour, soda, and salt. Pour into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Makes 18-24 muffins. Also fun to make for kids in mini-muffin tins.

Ande's Mint Cookies

These are my favorite cookies. I'm not just saying that. They are my very very very favorite.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
-
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
-
2 tablespoons water
-
12 ounces chocolate chips
-
2 eggs
-
2 3/4 cups flour
-
1/2 teaspoon salt
-
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
-
24 Andes mints

( I prefer the Ande's mint baking chips you can buy next to the chocolate chips)

Directions:

In a medium-sized sauce pan, melt together the butter, brown sugar, and water, stirring occasionally.

Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Let stand 10 minutes to cool.

Add remaining ingredients. Chill dough at least 1 hour.

Roll into balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350° F. for 8 to 9 minutes.

Remove from the oven and on top of each cookie, place half an Andes mint (or some baking chips). Allow the mint to melt and then swirl the mint over the cookie with the back of a spoon or knife (I think a fork works best)

Fruit Dip

This is such a fast and easy way to make a side dish that much better.

Delicious Fruit Dip

1/4 cup lime juice (recipe calls for lemon, but it's so much better with lime)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tub (regular size) Cool Whip

Whisk the first two together, then fold in the Cool Whip. Wah-lah.

You can put food coloring in if you prefer pink fruit dip, or green for St. Patty's day

This is also perfect for a fruit pizza.