Daddy’s famous meat loaf with a twist!

Meat Loaf

• 3 #’s lean ground beef
• 2 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 to 2 cups of oats
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup of zucchini relish
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp of cayenne
• 1 tbsp of spicy mustard
• 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper

Topping

• 1 c of BBQ sauce
• 1/2c of brown sugar

You can use:

• 1 c catsup
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard

Mix together all meat loaf ingredients. Work meat loaf like you would knead bread dough. Place meat loaf in a pan. Bake meat loaf at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. While the meat loaf is baking, mix together topping and set aside. After 1 hour of baking meat loaf, pour topping over meat loaf and bake another 30 min.

Enjoy!

Nan’s Potato Chowder!

Potato chowder

•  6 potatoes
•  1 c carrots
•  1 c celery
•  1 onion
•  2 c water (you may need 1 c more)
• 1 tsp salt
•  1 tsp pepper

Combine water and all in pot and boil until veggies are tender.

White sauce:

• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c flour(or little more)
•  2 c milk
• 3 c cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 c of cooked ham, bacon or sausage, chopped up

In sauce pan melt butter, then add flour. Stir until smooth. Slowly add the milk, then the cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Then add to drained, veggies, you might want to add a little more milk at this point if you want it a little thinner.  Top with cheese and bacon crumbles! Yummy stuff!!

Peppermint “Patties” …yum!

 

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Update:

Improved this recipe..by adding.. 1/4 of coconut oil to the recipe.. and just a little more.. cacao power..   spoon by tsp fulls and flatten or pipe on to parchment paper ..  set in frig for 30 minutes or so..  you will have little dark chocolate looking peppermints!  Enjoy!

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Yesterday, my dear sweet Hubby and equally sweet daughter brought me home some peppermint patties.  They were so yummy!  I have been off sugar since the first of the year.. these were not only sugar-free but dairy free as well.. and gluten-free! Yeah!   These wonderful little candies were made of just three things.. chocolate(dark), honey and peppermint oil..   Well as I ate my three little patties through the evening.. I thought ….. I can make these..and I set out to make them this morning.  Now mine look nothing like the ones I had last night. But they are just as good!   The ones last night even looked like regular peppermint patties.

Here is the recipe!

Peppermint “Cow Patties”

1 1/8 cup of raw cacao powder( 1 c for the recipe and the 1/8 c for rolling the little patties in)

1 cup of raw honey(we love Really Raw, brand)

4 drops of peppermint essential oil( you want a good brand for this)

Mix all ingredient together in a bowl with a spoon. Taking a measuring teaspoon, scoop out some dough and roll in a bowl with well dusted cacao powder fingers.  Then press into a patty! (We are still working on this to make it look, prettier.. but really they aren’t going to last long enough to make them … pretty! ) So Yummy!!!

Makes a little of 50..depending how much dough you eat while you are making them.   They are about 30 calories for each patty (using the teaspoon measuring spoon to make them).

 Please click on the red words.. each has a different link to it.. even though it might be the same word!

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Cowboy cookies

Cowboy cookies

2 C. oats                                                 1 1/2 sticks of butter

1C flour(unbleached white flour)             1 egg

1 tsp baking powder                                 1 tsp or little extra of vanilla

1 tsp baking soda                                     1/2 C sugar

1/4 tsp salt                                               1/2 C brown sugar

1C chopped walnuts                                1C choc. chips or a little more

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix up like  you would regular cookies. Bake about 10-12 minutes. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

Oatmeal chocolate chews

• 1 1/2 cups of raw sugar( you can use white sugar)
• 1 cup butter softened
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 2/3 cups oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Heat overn to 350 degrees. Beat egg, sugar, butter, and milk in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches part onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 min. or until almost no indentation remains when touched in center. Cool 1 to 2 min. remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Enjoy!!

**Note to make gluten free.. use the gluten free flour mix.  To make dairy free.. use coconut milk instead of regular milk.

Easy fudge

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk(14 oz)
• 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips(12 oz(about 2 cups))
• 1 tsp vanilla

Grease bottom and sides of a square pan(8×8).  Heat milk and chocolate chips in a 2 quart sauce pan over low heat. Stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth; remove from heat.  Quickly stir in vanilla. Speak in pan. Refrigerate about 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm. cut 1 inch squares.  

Enjoy!

**Note: to make dairy free..use Enjoy life chocolate chips and coconut milk.

Toffee

• 1 cup of raw sugar(you can use white sugar, would be same amount)
• 1 cup of butter
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of pecans(opt. if you don’t use them. You can use another 1/2 cup of chocolate chips)

In a 2 quart saucepan on medium heat cook the first three ingredients.  Stirring consistently until mixture reaches 300 degrees on candy thermometer. Be careful not to let it burn.

As soon as it reaches 300 degrees, pour toffee onto an ungreased large cookie sheet.  You might need to spread mixture out to about 1/4 in. thick.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips right away. Let them melt for 1 minute, then spread and top with nuts.

Let set for 1 hour or until chocolate is set.  Store in an airtight container.

** Note: if you don’t have a cookie sheet .. layer two towels on the counter and lay parchment paper over the top of it, the whole length of the towels.  You can pour the toffee out on this.

Enjoy!

Ketchup

Ketchup

19 c tomato pulp
1/2c sea salt
2 onions pureed
1/4c ketchup mixture(1tbsp cinnamon, 1tbs cloves, 1tbsp allspice, 1 tbsp papirka, 1tbsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp Red pepper) 5 1/2c sugar(raw)
5c aaple Cider vinegar

Wash tomatoes thoroughly, peel and quarter. Cook 15 minutes or until soft. Strain. Bring tomato puree to boil. Cook slowly until reduced to 3/4 bluk. Stir frequently. Add sugar, salt and vinegar. Add ketchup mixture and onion, then continue cooking to desired thickness. Pour the boiling hot ketchup into clean, sterile jars, and steal immediately. Makes 12 pints. Process as you would like.

MrsB’s Whole Wheat Bread

Mrs B’s Whole Wheat Bread

 

1 1/2 cups of sour milk or butter milk

1/4 c of butter or 1/2 a stick of butter(please use real butter)

2tbs of yeast

3 eggs

1/4c olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 -1/2c of honey ( this depends on how much of a honey taste you like in your bread)

6 cups of whole wheat flour(up to this.. you might.. might need a 1/2 c more but no more than that.)(I like to use Parrie Gold flour, or mill my whole wheat flour very fine.)

 

Melt butter in a pan then add milk and let it cook until the milk is about 115 degrees or so( or just before it starts to scald). I actually don’t use a thermometer.. I just eyeball it.. if it is too hot… I add another cup of the flour to it..before I add the yeast( you will see below).

 

While the butter and milk mixture is heating up. In bowl beat together eggs, olive oil, honey, and salt. When milk mixture is ready add to egg mixture and add one cup of flour and the yeast. Mix all together well. Next gradually mix in 4 cups of the flour. When the mixture is a soft dough, place on a floured counter and knead well. As needed you can use the last cup or so of the flour. Knead until, when you pinch off a piece of dough, and stretch that little piece of dough out like play dough. If it tears you need to put it back in with the big lump of dough and knead more. If when you spread it out.. you can see through a thin part of the dough.. You are ready to put your dough in a well olive oiled bowl and let it rise for one hour. Put it in a warm place with no drafts. I also place a wet warm towel on it.. if it is kinda cool in the room .. or I will place plastic wrap on top if it is warm. When it has risen to double in size or more. Punch down and place in well oil loaf pans. Put back in your warm place and let rise another hour. When the bread is over the top of the loaf pans. Place in a preheated oven of 350 and back until golden brown. I will also thump it, to see if I hear a hollow sound.. if so it is ready to come out. When it is down I will let it cool for about 10 min. or so in the pans. Then I will take it out of the pans and let it cool the rest of the way. Something I love to do it is  brush butter on the bread while it is still in the loaf pans, while it is hot. This gives it a nice buttery taste.

 Yummy!!

P.S. You can use white flour in this recipe too. I have used unbleached white flour instead a few times.. and it worked well too!

 

Pumpkin cookies and icing… Yummy!

Pumpkin Cookies

 

1 1/2 cs. lard or butter

3 c raw sugar

3 eggs

6 c flour(you can use ww pastry flour, ww flour or unbleached flour)

3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp of allspice ( I have also used ginger and or nutmeg here too)

3 tsp baking powder

3 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 (29oz) can of pumpkin or just measure out that much of your own canned pumpkin puree

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

 

Mix sugar and lard or butter together. Add eggs and beat until creamy.

 

Add cinnamon, salt and allspice.

 

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

 

Add pumpkin puree to flour mixture and alternating wet and dry. Mix just until nicely blended. Over beating will over develop the gluten and may make your cookies chewy.

 

Using cookie scoop, dish out the batter on ungreased cookie sheets. There should be one tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie.

 

Bake for 10-12 min. Every oven is different, so adjust the cooking time to suit the cookies so you will have soft cookies, not dried out..but thoroughly cooked.

 

While cookies are cooling, mix up the cream cheese icing.

 

 

Cream Cheese Icing

 

1 stick (1/2c) butter salted and softened to room temp

1 package ( 8oz) of cream cheese (or you could use a soft cheese you have made, like soft goat cheese)

2 #’s powder sugar( we have been making our own out of raw sugar)

1 tsp of vanilla (started making our own of this too)

 

Combine all together in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy and thick. If the icing is to thick..add a little milk to it.. one tsp at a time, be careful a little extra liquid goes a long way. If the icing is a little too runny, add a little more powder sugar.

 

This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies.

 

Enjoy!

MrsB