Aunt Thelma's Feather Bread

I've really been into home cooked meals, and more recently, family recipes from scratch. While visiting my Aunt over the 2012 Thanksgiving holiday, I had the opportunity to snatch a copy of her dinner roll recipe. I've made this recipe four times since. While the 3 x 5 hand written index card shows many years of use, it is still as awesome as the name.

Ingredients:
2 c. scalded milk
¼ c. shortening
¼ c. sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tbls yeast
½ c. warm water
2 eggs
5-6 c. flour

Directions:
Scald milk. Add to shortening, sugar and salt. Let cool. Soften yeast in water. (I use water that is between 115°F to 120°F). Once yeast is foamy, add to milk mix. Add beaten eggs. Add flour 1 cup at a time until a soft and only slightly sticky dough forms. (I kneaded the dough for five minutes in my KitchenAid mixer and the time I mixed by hand I only kneaded it until dough was completely mixed; no clumps of dry flour.) Let rise in large bowl until doubled in size. Roll into balls. Will fill two 13" x 9" glass pans. Let rise again. Bake at 350°F until tops are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Butter tops is necessary.

Paco's Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

I had recently received a quart jar of mixed ingredients with directions to make fresh baked bread. It was so easy, I only needed to add 3 wet ingredients plus the contents of the Jar into my KitchenAid mixer, mix and bake. Being very pleased with the outcome, I thought this would be a good idea as an auction item for our family reunion. We raise money for renting a space for my family to enjoy a weekend together once a year. 

Figuring since I didn't have the recipe, I went looking for a recipe and came up with something all together different. Cookies!

Yields about 4 dozen two inch cookies.

Dry Ingredients in Jar:
2 c. *fluffed flour
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ c. white sugar
½ c. packed brown sugar
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ c. old fashioned oats
½ c. chopped pecans

Wet Ingredients:
2 large eggs
¾ c. softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Use an oven thermometer to make sure temperature is correct.
In the KitchenAid mixer with the wisk attachment, mix eggs, vanilla and butter. With the dough hook, mix the rest of ingredients. Never use a dough hook on a speed larger than 2. Scrape sides of bowl if needed to mix well. Spoon tablespoon size amounts of dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes or until bottom sides of cookie are slightly brown. A larger size of cookie dough will require a longer cooking time. Let cookies set on cookie sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to wax paper to cool the rest of the way. Let cookies sit overnight in an air tight container for the best ever tasting cookies!

If you are making Jars as a gift:

Mix flour, white sugar and baking soda. Using a funnel, carefully pack flour mix into bottom of quart jar. Add brown sugar. I bent an old spoon to make it easier to pack the brown sugar. Add oats and shake the jar to settle them. Add chocolate chips and shake to settle them. Add pecans and shake to settle. Seal the jar with a lid and ring. Attach directions to the jar for the reciever to follow.

* To fluff the flour I take my measuring cup and scoop up the flour and drop it back into my canister. This process adds air. I repeat 2 or 3 times before I scoop a cup of flour and shake to level off. If flour is not fluffed, you will have trouble fitting all the dry ingredients into the quart jar. 

Low Carb Cauliflower Pizza

Looking for recipes with little carbs, I found one or pizza, but alas, I have made some changes... Here is my version.

Ingredients

For the Thin Crust:

2 1/2 cups of shredded cauliflower - I used my food processor(less mess)

1 pkg low fat cream cheese @ room temperature.

2 eggs

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Tomato Basil & Garlic Seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

For the Sauce
1 can -15oz of tomato sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1 c chopped spinach

Toppings I used (optional) or Use your favorite...
2 sm can of green chili-I don't like the watery substance they pack the green chili in, so I pour my chili into a strainer and rinse with water. (about 6 whole chopped)
3/4 c sliced mushrooms (chopped if you are trying to hide the taste & texture from the kids) Mushrooms have protein and many nutrients that are healthy.
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 pkg pepperoni

Optional Topping: Sauté the three ingredients below & use as a topping (nicely covers 1/2 of pizza)
1 medium onion sliced
1 lg tbl of minced onion
1 tsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350˚F.
For the crust: in a small microwave safe bowl, microwave the cauliflower for 5 minutes, stir, microwave for another 3. Do not add water. While microwaving the cauliflower, mix with electric mixer in medium bowl: cream cheese, eggs, Mrs. Dash, pepper, & garlic powder. Stir in cauliflower and parmesan cheese. Pour into a Pam sprayed 9x13 glass cake pan. Cook in oven for 25 minutes or until to is lightly browned. Let it cool for 10 minutes before adding toppings. When crust is finished, increase temperature of the oven to 400˚F.

For sauce: In a small sauce pan over low-medium heat, add sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic salt & spinach. Once it starts to bubble, place on lowest heat setting & let simmer for 12 minutes stirring occasionally.

Once crust is cooled slightly, pour & spread sauce on top, add toppings, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, top with pepperoni. Place in oven for an additional 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Lazy Cream Cheese Peach Cobbler

Prep-time: 5-10min Cook time: 25-35min Preheat oven: 350°

1 c Flour

1 c Sugar

¾ c Milk

1 tbl baking powder

½ c melted butter or margarine -if you don’t want a cake like crust top, use 1 c melted butter

2-3 c fruit -about 2 cans of peaches

1 lg egg

8 oz cream cheese

1/3 c fruit juice from peaches

1 tsp vanilla extract

Spray 9”x13” glass casserole dish with cooking spray. In you pan, add flour, sugar, baking powder & milk. With a wire whisk, mix ingredients in the pan.

In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, egg, fruit juice & vanilla extract. Drop spoon fulls of cheese mixture over the batter in pan. Do NOT mix!

Spoon fruit evenly over the top of liquid mixture & cream cheese but do NOT mix (while baking, the fruit will sink and dough will rise).

Pour melted butter over the top. If you have juice from the fruit left over, pour that in too! Again, do NOT mix.

Place in center of the oven. Cook for 25-35 minutes or untill the top is a golden brown.

If you’re using fresh fruit, mix ½ cup of sugar, and ¼ c water in with the fruit

Mini Lasagnas (adapted with Patty Pan Squash)

As easy as it should seem, I never follow a recipe to the dot.  I always have to change something up with the recipe. I found through Pinterest a cute little picture of Petite Lasagnas, taken from Can You Stay For Dinner?
Since my son & I are working on being aware of how many carbohydrates we consume per meal (60 or less), I was ecstatic these were only 15 carbs per mini. I thought my son would have some fun making these. These definitely are a new family favorite! They didn't even notice a big difference between the won ton wraps & when we have had lasagna noodles in the past.

The changes I made were only slight, so I won't go into much detail with this post as you can follow the well written recipe on the link above.

I have issues with ground turkey, yes - yes, I know it is all in my head... I used extra lean ground beef instead.  My beef comes in 16oz packages instead of 12oz, but I cooked it all anyways. Probably worked out for the better since it spread my sauce thinner which in turn made it not so runny. Had a little left over, but my partner will eat it up as it is for her lunch at work.

I also cut down on the onion to 3/4 c., since I wanted to add squash. So I did three equal parts of each: onion, mushrooms, & patty pan squash. I suppose you could add as much anyhoo since there would be leftover meat sauce mix anyways.

I do not regularly keep ricotta cheese at home but I did happen to have some cottage cheese, which I used in place of the ricotta.

I do not keep basil or oregano either... maybe next year I will grow some, I am still learning about growing herbs this summer... So I replaced those with a generic Italian seasoning.

Crouton Substitute-Dehydrated Squash

I really like croutons on my salads, a lot, but I needed to find an alternative that was a bit healthier for me.  I had tried some dried zucchini chips with garlic, & loved how crispy it was so I thought I would try drying strips of zucchini & patty pan squash with a garlic & herb seasoning. One squash covered one tray - 4 trays total.

Set them on the dehydrator yesterday, woke up this morning & found they were super crispy & tasted delish! I could eat them plain - without the salad!



Patty Pan Squash Pleasure

I found a new love! Patty Pan Squash! Now I've only had the pleasure of trying the white ones with a hint of green, but they are still awesome!

The squash itself is sweeter than a zucchini & fewer seeds, but any recipe I have used with Zucchini has been interchangeable with Patty Pans. Cutting up the squash alone is even fun to do. 

With the plants my mom is growing, I've noticed a difference between the squash from two different plants. One is whiter with stripes of light green, bumpier too with more ball like edges and the other is more of a solid white with green tint, and smoother with flat ball like edges. The smoother ones tended to have a tougher outside. Not sure how that happened since the seeds came from the same packet.

With all this squash I have been prepping, I'm beginning to think I also have a secrete love for garlic & onions...... :o)

Ingredients

1 sliced patty pan squash - 4-5 inches in diameter
1-2 tomatoes diced

1/2 c mild green chili

1/2 c onions

2 tbl minced garlic

pinch of pepper

pinch of salt

1 tsp Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Extra Spicy seasoning
1/2 tsp olive oil
Mozzarella cheese to put on top (optional)

In a medium sauce pan or skillet, sauté garlic & onions in olive oil. Add squash sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cook 5-10 minutes until squash is tender, may need to cover to speed up the cook. Add seasons & tomatoes and green chili & cook an addition minute or two until the tomatoes and chili are warm.

Serve with mozzarella cheese.