Mint Chocolate Brownies

I just tried this one out today and it's pretty good. I found it on this site, and altered the pan and cooking time because I like my brownies to be thicker and fudgier than the original recipe would have given me :)
2/3 cup butter OR margarine

1 2/3 cups (10-ounce package) HERSHEY'S Mint Chocolate Chips, divided

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)


Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8x8-inch baking pan.
Place butter and 1 cup mint chocolate chips in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 20-sec intervals, stirring in between, until chips are melted.
Add sugar, flour, cocoa, vanilla, baking powder, salt and eggs; stir with spoon until smooth. Stir in remaining 2/3 cup chips. Spread batter into prepared pan; sprinkle walnuts over top.
Bake 25 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Cottage Pie

I kind of made this one up based on Steve telling me about meat pies and stuff that he had while he was in Australia, so it's really general, and open to lots of interpretation :)

2 tbsp oil
1 lb stew meat
1/2 cup water
2 beef boullion cubes
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp savory
1/4 tsp garlic powder (or more to taste)
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
frozen peas
mashed potatoes
grated cheddar

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker and brown the stew meat. Add in the boullion cubes, water, and seasoning; seal, bring to pressure, and cook for 10 minutes. After the pressure comes down, remove the meat to a small casserole dish (just big enough for the meat to cover the bottom) and leave the drippings in the pan on a medium-high heat. Combine the flour and milk until smooth and add to the drippings, stirring constantly. Since this is a gravy, you may need to add more milk or flour depending on how thick you want it to be. When the gravy is done, pour it over the top of the meat. Cover with the meat and gravy with peas, and cover those with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle a bit of cheese over it all and bake in the oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly around the edges.

Note: I love using my pressure cooker, because it cooks the meat up really tender so quickly. If you don't have one you can obviously just allow more time for it to simmer in a skillet on the stove instead. This can be done with any of your favorite meats (Steve really likes it with lamb) and vegetables.

Apple Butterscotch Tart

There's no memories or tradition behind this one yet, because I just made it this evening, but I was so good I just had to add it in here! I found it at the Cook's Recipe Index and was quite pleased, both with the taste and with the simplicity.

1 pie crust, ready and waiting in your dish

5 cups apple, thinly sliced

1 cup butterscotch morsels

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup margarine, chilled

Arrange the apples in the dish, and then sprinkle the butterscotch chips over the top. In a separate bowl combine the flour and brown sugar, cutting in the margarine, and then evenly cover the apples with this mixture. Bake in the oven at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping.

Cornbread

For most of us, the recipes that we grew up with will always hold a special place, and that is certainly true with this cornbread recipe. This is the recipe that my mother used all my growing up years, and I have never used any other, although I have tasted others! This is just always going to be my favorite cornbread recipe, bar none!

1/2 cup margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour

Melt margarine, add sugar, beat in eggs and salt - set aside. Combine buttermilk and soda - add to other ingredients. Combine flour and cornmeal. Add to the rest of the ingredients. Stir just until everything is moistened. Do not stir out your lumps or it will affect the texture of your cornbread. Pour into greased pan (I have a 6x10 glass pan that I like) and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the pan (which determines the thickness of your cornbread). You are looking for the cornbread to be golden brown on top and to have pulled away from the sides of the pan. If you are using an 8" square pan, be sure that it's done in the center before you pull it out :)

Steve's Chili

Steve showed me how to make chili this way when we were newlyweds and he was still in college. It's ultra-simple, which makes it great for the crock pot on a chilly day when you don't have a great deal of time.

3 cans beans, undrained (we usually make each can a different variety of bean)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey or stew meat)
2 Tbsp chili seasoning

Combine beans, tomato sauce, and chili seasoning in the crock pot. Brown meat and add to other ingredients. Do not add water or any other liquid, even if it looks a little thick to start with. Cook on low most of the day (or on high for about 4-6 hours) and then taste. You may need to adjust your chili seasoning depending on the kind that you have and how strong you like your chili to be.

Sticky Chicken

When I was seven years old, Dad was transferred from Rantoul, IL to Edwards AFB in California. He was stationed there for the next 12 years. When I was in high school, I remember the Relief Society putting together a ward cookbook. I purchased a copy (or Mom bought it for me??) to put in my hope chest for when I got married. There are specific recipes from it that I use on a regular basis, even now. This one was pointed out to me a couple of years ago, by Mom, and it has since become one of our regulars. It was originally entered into the cookbook as Chicken Wings by Pam Woodburn.



chicken wings
2 beaten eggs with a little milk
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
3 tsp soy sauce
3 tsp water
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tsp accent
1/2 tsp salt


Mix flour, salt and pepper together in one bowl and the eggs and milk in another. Dip wings first in egg mixture and then coat chicken wings with flour mixture. Fry in oil until browned on both sides and put in a 9 x 13 pan (I line mine with foil for easy clean-up). Mix remaining ingredients to make a sauce and pour over thechicken. Bake at 324 for about 1 hr or until sticky, turning the chicken over 3-4 times during baking so that they are well-coated with the sauce.


Notes - Although this calls for wings, I like to use either chicken tenders or boneless skinless breasts cut to a similar size. Also, even though the picture shows it served with mashed potatoes and veggies, we have also really enoyed it as an Asian meal with a side of fried rice :)

There are definitely a few options out there for using your left over roast beef, but this is by far and away our favorite. Based on the concept of corned beef hash, it is a simple and satisfying breakfast item, found in our Cooking with Mickey cookbook.

roast beef, leftovers

2-3 potatoes, sufficient for your family, diced small

1 cup beef stock

1 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp butter

Pre-heat oven to 350. Melt butter in large frying pan and add diced potatoes. Chop up roast beef (I've been known to use leftover steaks, too) and combine with potatoes and onion powder in the frying pan just long enough to mix well. Spoon into a greased baking dish and bake uncovered for 1 hour. After this, you can go one of two ways. We have certainly served it just like this, topped with a fried or poached egg. The other option is to heat a little more butter in your frying pan and fry the cooked potatoes and meat before actually serving. We happen to like it more when it's been fried in the butter after the baking, but you could save a few calories by not :)

Note: The original recipe uses 1 medium onion finely chopped, instead of onion powder, sauteed in the frying pan before adding the potatoes and meat.

Peanut Butter Balls

Steve's mom makes these for him at Christmas time every year, and he would be quite thrilled if I made them a few times through the year. They are a prime example of the fact that he enjoys almost anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate. For most things I will go cheap on quite a few ingredients, but I wouldn't reccomend it on this one since the quality of the peanut butter and the Rice Krispies actually make a difference in how well the recipe works; I've tried. Also be aware that room temperature is bad for this recipe, since a room temperature dough will lend moisture to your Rice Krispies, depriving them of their crisp.

1 cube margarine, softened
1 cup peanut butter, Jif
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 - 12 oz pkg chocolate chips
1-2 tbsp parafin (you will find it in the canning area of your grocery store)
toothpicks (square is better than round)

Cream margarine and peanut butter. Add powdered sugar and carefully mix in Rice Krispies. Chill immediately in the fridge for 4 hours. Roll into 1/2 - 1" balls, but be careful not to crush the Rice Krispies. Freeze overnight. This is the part where the kids can have fun helping now, so melt your chocolate and paraffin together in a double boiler (or in a metal bowl set on top of a pan of water), being careful not to burn your chocolate. Stab frozen peanut butter balls with toothpicks and dip in melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper on a baking sheet. We usually use 4-6 toothpicks and rotate them as the chocolate cools, since they don't pull cleanly right away and we don't want to use the entire box :) As soon as all the balls have been dipped, place entire baking sheet in the freezer and leave over night. Yeah! You're done. We store ours in a ziploc bag, and they will keep for months.

Sloppy Joses

No, the Jose isn't a mis-spelling. Steve calls it a Sloppy Jose because he adds a dash of Tobasco sauce to make them a little spicy. I was quite stunned when we first made these because I had never had Sloppy Joes on anything but a burger bun, but Steve likes to have his on a single slice of bread and eat it open-faced with a fork. I will still use a burger bun if I have them on hand, but his method is by far the more common method in our house now.

1 lb hamburger
ketchup
Worcetershire sauce
Tobasco sauce
liquid smoke
1 egg

This recipe is almost entirely a 'feel it as you go' kind of thing so sharpen your cooking instincts and enjoy the ride :) Brown and drain the hamburger. Add a few generous shakes of Worcestershire, one to three dashes of Tobasco (depending on how much you want it to bite back), a cap-ful of liquid smoke, and then enough ketchup to bring it to your desired consistency. When all of that is well-mixed and thoroughly heated, push the meat mixture to the outer edges of the pan, leaving an empty space of hot pan in the middle. Crack your egg into this well and immediately begin scrambling it in, allowing it to mix into the meat as it cooks. Once your egg is mixed into the meat (you should just see small flecks through your Joses) it is ready to serve.

Worcestershire and Garlic Burgers

We were quite pleased with the results of this recipe, found on the back of a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, and have done it a few time since. Regretably, we don't often make our burgers from scratch, since it's so much easier to buy the Costco package of patties.

1 lb hamburger
1/4 cup Worcestershire
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt

Combine thoroughly, shape into patties and grill.

Bob's Swiss Steaks

We don't do this one as frequently as some others, but it came to us from Steve's dad and is still one that we really enjoy having when we can.

Sufficient portions of cube steak or well-tenderized round steak for your family
flour, salt, pepper mixture to dredge meat in
1/4 cup oil
1 envelope ionion soup mix
Worcestershire sauce
1 cup water

Heat 1/4 cup oil in frying pan. Dredge meat in flour mixture and brown in hot oil, removing to a 9x13 pan as they are browned. Sprinkle meat with the onion soup mix, a generous drizzle of Worcestershire (3-4 tbsp perhaps), and the water. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour.

Lasagna Enchiladas

I have actually adapted this from my crock pot cookbook, and it's an excellent option for really easy enchiladas.

4-6 corn tortillas
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 can refried or whole beans, your choice
1 large can olives, sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese of your choice
1 large can red enchilada sauce

Begin with a greased 6" round casserole dish (fits corn tortillas perfectly) and pour in just enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom. Place first corn tortilla on top of sauce and layer beans, meat, sauce, cheese, and olives; repeat until you reach the top of the casserole dish. Pour any remaining enchilada sauce over the top and around the sides. Bake uncovered at 350 for about a half hour, or until hot and bubbly. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before spooning out to serve.

Note: this can obviously be adapted for chicken enchiladas by using chicken and green enchilada sauce instead of beef and red sauce. And, per the original recipe, it can be made in the crock pot if you cross a couple of long, folded strips of foil in the bottom first, like an X. The strips should then extend up out of the crock pot so that you can hold onto the strips to pull out the enchiladas.

Bill's Biscuits

Originally, this recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Dad has been making them so long though that, to us, it will always be his recipe. The members of the Edwards Ward even took to calling them Bill's Biscuits, so that's how the recipe is listed.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk

Combine dry ingredients in mid-sized mixing bowl; cut in shortening, either with butter knives or with a pastry cutter. Use a fork to mix milk into flour mixture thoroughly but avoid over-mixing as this will make the dough tough. Press out onto lightly floured surface and use either biscuit cutter or a glass to cut biscuits into uniform circles. Place on a cookie sheet beginning with one biscuit at the center and working out, making sure that all biscuits are touching each other. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Beef Barley Soup

On one of our trips to Disneyland, we bought a cookbook called Cooking With Mickey. It is a book of the most-requested recipes from Walt Disney World and Disneyland, which means that most of them are fairly fancy, but we've definitely enjoyed them. I altered this one to include the potatoes and a few extra spices, so it's just slightly different from the one in the book.

1 cup carrots, diced small

1 cup celery, diced small

1 large potato, diced

1 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp beef base (or 4 boullion cubes)

2 tbsp chicken base (or 4 boullion cubes)

6 1/2 oz. pearl barley

3 qts water

1/2 lb ground beef

2 tbsp butter

salt

pepper

1/4 tsp savory

1/4 tsp basil

dash garlic

1/2 tsp parsley

In large pot combine water, onion powder, boullion cubes, barley, potato, and spices; begin heating. In another pan saute other vegetables in butter until tender; add to pot. In same pan brown hamburger and drain; add to pot. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Silver Dollar Pancakes

Steve and I had only known each other for about three months when he brought me to his parents' house to visit, and these pancakes were made for us for breakfast that first morning by his dad. After we were married, Steve told me that I just had to get the recipe for his mother's pancakes because they were better than anything else out there, and I'm inclined to think he was right. This recipe makes a very thin, light pancake. Steve's favorite topping is cinnamon sugar, as is Kellen's, but I happen to favor powdered sugar, and Madison will take anything sweet!
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp sugar
2 cups milk
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients together in medium bowl. In another, smaller bowl, combine the vinegar and milk; allow to sit for just a couple of minutes to sour. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients gradually, whisking continually to avoid lumps. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Choose either a large kitchen spoon for making 2" silver dollar pancakes, or a ladle for making larger pancakes. Cook on medium to medium-high heat (about 325 on your griddle). The first side should cook just until the bubbles stop and the edges of the pancake are dry, then flip to cook the second side just until golden brown. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!