Parmesan Baked Potatoes

I love potatoes baked, mashed, fried, in salad, made into hash browns, etc. This is just one more way to make them and it's very easy and delicious. I got it from my Mom.

Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons butter
3-5 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
8 medium unpeeled red potatoes-halved lengthwise

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400 and put butter in a 9x13 pan. Put it in the oven to melt the butter (about 3 minutes). Sprinkle parmesan cheese over melted butter. Place potatoes-cut side down-over cheese. Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes.

I like to serve them with any meat, but fish is my favorite. They also make a nice lunch if you just serve them up with a salad.

Pavlova

Pavlova reminds me of the astronaut ice cream. It's light, crisp, and airy.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons corn starch

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
3. Gradually add sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until thick and glossy.
4. Fold in vanilla, lemon juice, and corn starch.
5. Pour into a pie pan or spread in any shape on a cookie sheet. It's thick, so you can do it however you want.
6. Bake 1 hour and then cool on a wire rack.
7. Eat! I spread whipped cream all over and then covered it with fresh strawberries. SO YUMMY!

Whipped Hot Chocolate Fluff

Is anyone else cold? Mix up the hot chocolate scene with this fluff. It's so unique and cool. My MIL (mother-in-law) and I did this for a relief society party when we were in charge of the food. It's like a thick mousse that you put in a cup and add hot milk. Anyway, like I said, it's super unique and everyone loved it and asked for the recipe!! I got it from Taste of Home's Celebrations Cookbook.

Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup baking cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
 4 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
8 cups heated milk

Directions:
In a large heavy saucepan, whisk the sugar, cocoa and water until smooth. Cook and whisk over medium-low heat until mixture forms soft peaks when whisk is lifted and resembles thick hot fudge sauce, about 35 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Transfer to a mixing bowl; refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (At this point you can put it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks if you want to prepare ahead for a party.)

After refrigerated, beat the chocolate mixture. Add 2 cups whipped cream; mix well. Fold in remaining whipped cream. For each serving, place about 1/2 cup chocolate cream in 2/3 cup hot milk; stir to blend.

Additional Tips: 

• The morning of your party, add the whipped cream and spoon into small serving bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• As a fancy garnish, place some of the chocolate cream in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and decorate the bowls just before serving.

Cashew Chicken

I love Chinese food but the stuff you get in Laramie isn't good. I got this recipe from Rasa Malaysia: Easy Asian Recipes. It's an awesome website. I changed it a little bit because of the ingredients I had, so if you want the original recipe, follow the link. My recipe is quadrupled to feed company or just a bigger family.

Cashew Chicken
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
16 oz celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped (bigger like in the restaurant dishes)
2 cups cashews

Marinades: (I'll explain later)
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons of cornstarch dissolved with 2 teaspoons water

Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce (found right by soy sauce in the grocery store)
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2-3/4 cup water
12 dashes white pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Marinate cubed chicken in 4 teaspoons of baking soda for 15 minutes to tenderize the meat. The girl on the website says this makes a huge difference. While it's marinating, I chop the vegetables and make the sauce. Now, rinse the baking soda off with water and pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
2. Dissolve the 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 2 teaspoons of water. Pour over the chicken and stir to coat.
3. Heat a large skillet and add some oil to the pan. Brown the chicken in the skillet and then set aside in a bowl.
4. Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the veggies until tender-crisp.
5. Add the nuts, chicken, and sauce into the pan. Stir to combine and heat through.
6. Serve and eat! I served with steamed brown rice and canned pineapple. I figured they always have canned food at the Chinese Buffets, so why not, right?

Peanut Butter Candy

Benjamin loves this candy and calls it caramel. It's a perfect little treat with lots of healthy nutrients and vitamins. It's so simple too and no kid has ever complained about getting honey and peanut butter!! :) Another great recipe from The Amazing Wheat Book.

Peanut Butter Candy
1 cup peanut butter, plain or crunchy
1 cup honey
1 cup powdered milk (I use non-instant)

Heat honey and peanut butter in heavy saucepan over low heat to a very soft, creamy texture, stir constantly. Add powdered milk and stir until well combined.

Roll into balls or pat down in a cookie sheet. Score into squared with a warm knife. Put in fridge or freezer until cool. For continued firm texture and freshness store in a cool place.

You can add other things to this recipe like chocolate chips, coconut, nuts, dried fruit, or rice crispies. Those would be added right after the dried milk is stirred in.

Black Bean and Corn Tortilla Enchiladas

This is a recipe I pulled together last summer and what we ate for dinner tonight. It's yummy yummy! It might seem a little involved at a glance, but it's really easy and tastes good even if you just kind of throw it all together in the pan.

Garlic Enchilada Sauce(from the Amazing Wheat Book)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup tomato sauce (4 of those little cans)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (opt.)
1/4 teaspoon cumin
dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:
Saute garlic in olive oil for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. This can be made ahead of time if you want.

Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger, browned
2-15 oz cans of black beans, drained
Seasonings: salt, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper
16 corn tortillas
some sour cream
1 recipe of Garlic Enchilada Sauce 
some cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 9x13 pan.
2. Make the sauce and brown hamburger.
3. Add drained black beans to hamburger meat and season to taste with shakes of the seasonings listed or ones of your choice.
4. Spread some sauce in the bottom of the 9x13 pan.
5. Build your enchiladas. For best results: warm the tortillas in the microwave or on skillet so they don't tear. Fill the tortillas with meat/bean mixture and a dollop of sour cream. Corn tortillas are small, so they don't roll up all that well, so just fold it over and put them seam side down in the pan (you can put a line of 12 lengthwise in the pan and then put 4 on the side or you can do 3 rows of 5 width-wise). I've even make it like a layered casserole. It doesn't really matter. It will taste good.
6. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the enchiladas and spread to cover. Shred cheese over the top.
7. Bake 10-20 minutes. The ingredients are all cooked, so just heat up until you reach your desire of cheesy meltiness.
8. Eat! I served it up with a fresh salsa. I just cut up one tomato, 1/4 of an onion, and a little chopped jalapeno. You could have rice, beans, salad, or whatever you normally eat with enchiladas.

100% Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love my wheat. I looked for a while for a recipe that actually has good texture for pizza. This is the one I found and I won't go back to other white crusts. You can do it thick or thin. I got it from a recipe book my friend, LeArta Moulton, wrote called The Amazing Wheat Book. It's also the book that I use when I make gluten meat, homemade cereal, honey candy, and seasoning mixes (all to be featured in future posts). Anyway, here's the pizza dough recipe.

Stir together and let sit 10 minutes:

4 cups warm water

4 tablespoons active dry yeast

4 tablespoons honey

Stir into water mixture and knead 10 minutes:

1/2 cup oil

4 tablespoons salt

10 cups whole wheat flour

Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick onto pans (this is enough dough for 4 pizzas). Put on any sauce, toppings, and cheese you want. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 or 8 minutes on 500.

Well, there it is. I usually make the whole batch, keep one out for that night and then divide the rest up into 3 balls and put them in quart-sized freezer bags. When I want to make pizza the next time, I just throw the bag in the microwave on auto defrost until I can roll it out. I works great!! Here's some things I like best on my pizza. I like ranch or seasoned tomato sauce and then just put on all the good stuff: mushrooms, tomato, spinach (for best results, put it in a bowl and toss it with some olive oil and seasonings before putting on the pizza), artichoke hearts, sausage, zucchini (I learned that from papa john's), etc. Then I use cheddar cheese, mozzarella, monterey, or whatever I've got at the time. I've found I like them all. 

Extra tip: I use this same dough to make my scones for navajo tacos. I just defrost the frozen dough and roll it out and then use my pizza slicer to cut it in good sized pieces and fry them up in oil. Serve with taco meat, black beans, tomato, lettuce, olives, cheese, sour cream, salsa, whatever you want/like!

Homemade Deoderant

So, while I was in the "make it myself" mood, I decided to try out making my own deodorant too. Here's the blog I found my recipe on:

http://recycleyourday.com/revisiting-the-homemade-deodorant-recipe/

So, I didn't have beeswax or arrowroot. I just stuck with what I did have at the time and it worked out great anyway. I would be interested in adding those things next time to see how it is. I used the following ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 drops peppermint essential oil (just for smell-I don't think it's necessary if you don't have it)

First, I put the coconut oil in the microwave for about 15 seconds to liquefy. Then I added the baking soda, corn starch, and peppermint essential oil and stirred it together until it was well mixed. As the mixture cooled back to room temperature it solidified again. You could even make it a cool shape if you wanted. Mine is just in a little plastic container. To apply, I just put some on my fingers and rub on my armpit. It's pretty cool and has kept me dry and fresh smelling all day! :)

Laundry Soap

So, Cami told me that she makes her own laundry soap, so I decided to try it out too. It's awesome!! Here is the website that I got the recipe from.

http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

I used the following recipe:

1 bar Ivory soap
1 cup baking soda
1 cup borax (can be found in the same isle as regular laundry detergent)

Shred ivory soap with a cheese grater and put into a container. Add the baking soda and borax and mix together. Use 1-2 tablespoons in your wash. I don't know if this is necessary or not, but I turn my water on hot right at first to make sure it is nice and dissolved and then switch it back to cold. It's awesome soap and took out gross odors. There are 9 other recipes on the site I posted, so you can make liquid soap or use other recipes to suit your needs. Have fun!

Cool Things I Make

This blog is for two purposes: 1) to share the fun things I find out how to make; 2) keep track of recipes and ideas so that I can easily find them later. I will post at least one for every day, so it should be fun. Anyway, enjoy!