Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Recipes for Linda....

Goodness, I've been lax. I think you wanted Jodi's Garlic Pull Apart Rolls, here's my version of it...I think you can switch it easily enough to normal ingredients if I put strange things in it. I can't remember. Really, the technique and the garlic are the key - you could use any bread dough. You could also do this as cinnamon and sugar rolls...but then that doesn't fit well with my new resolve to lose weight. LOL

Yvonne's Lemon Chicken
Throw the whole chicken in the crock pot. Rub a bit of butter all over it. Sprinkle paprika, parsley, thyme, and salt over the chicken. Then squeeze a lemon over all. Cook on high for an hour and then low for four or five more hours. I cooked it on low for 8- 10 hours. I think I planned 8 and it was 10 before we sat down. ::snort::

And Buttery Parmesan Rice Mix
Yvonne directed me to Hillbilly Housewife's site for this recipe. This is meant to be made into a mix for quick dinners. I used it...but plan to make the mix to keep on my pantry.

1 C long grain brown rice or white rice (I used 3 Cups for our dinner).
2 tsp vegetable or chicken flavored bouillon (I used veg)
2 T dry milk powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder (I used way, way more)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese - from a can (I used fresh)

Combine all and put in a resealable plastic container. Label and seal. Store in the fridge or freezer because of the cheese. This is enough for 1 package of mix.

To Prepare:
2 T of margarine (I used butter)
1 package of above
2 C of water

In a 2 qt saucepan combine the butter, rice mix and water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Place a lid on the pot. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible flame. Simmer, covered until done or for about 45 minutes for brown rice or 20 minutes for white rice. Serve hot.

This was YUMMY!!!! Was really good for stir fries later too. I threw it all in the rice steamer. I had to triple this to get enough for dinner and some for lunch the next day. You may find one mix is not enough for your family - or it could be that I have three teen aged sons....

For BBQ Chicken Pizza: I use either Jamin's crust or the Deep Dish crust and the sauce from this recipe. This sauce IS our BBQ - I make extra and have it on hand.

Did I miss any recipe you'd like, Linda? ::snort::
Grams' Apple Cake

Cake:
1 C Sugar
1/4 C shortening
1 Egg
1 C Flour
1 tsp Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 C Nuts
1 C grated Apple

Mix all - put in a greased and floured 9 x 9 pan. Bake in 350* oven for 25-30 minutes.

Sauce:
1 T Cornstarch
1/2 C White Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C Butter
1/2 C Coffee Cream (I don't KNOW what this is - I just use cream and it's yummy)
I add vanilla - as much as I want ::snort::

Mix well. Cook until thick, serve hot over cake.

I LOVED this cake. Michael doesn't like caramel and the kids seem to follow his tastes on this one so this was a company cake. The thing is - I've not tried it with our healthier ingredients yet....now I'm going to have to...and the weight gain will be my friend, Michelle's fault! ::snort:: If any of you crunchy moms try this with things such as whole wheat, butter, honey or rapadura - do tell how it turns out and what you did. LOL I worked on the chocolate pecan pie last holiday. LOL
Wednesday

I'm exhausted! I must have done something today - it's only 8:24 p.m.

Hmmm....well I watched "Hanged on a Twisted Cross" from Netflix last night. It was a documentary about Dietrich Bonhoeffer (which I'm sure I spelled wrong). I enjoyed it. The children that attempted to watch it with me - did not. LOL

Today was a weigh in day at Curves. I have to do that weekly for the next 6 weeks. After voicing on Monday that I didn't think this was going to work for me; I was pleased to have lost 2 lbs this week. My fat percentage went UP - I don't get that....but I'm not going to fret just yet.

We did school.

We met a friend and her children at the park for a couple of hours.

I took Jamin, Arielle, and Nolan to that nasty store that is the cheapest around and bought tennis shoes, got hair cuts, and even found a few shirts, pants, and a DRESS that Arielle assures me she will try to wear.

Back at home we hustled Arielle and Nolan out the door with Deja and kids. Emma and Eric had invited them to AWANAS. This may have been their first experience at that? I forget that the younger ones haven't been at a base they remember where we had huge family programs. LOL They had fun. Michael is still out of town so it worked well for them to be out on one of our "family stay home" nights. Which is really a misnomer since the older boys rarely ARE home when the rest of us are. ::snort::

Jamin, Jared, Zander, Stacia and I ran out for a couple of more errands. We're getting the two young men ready to go to World View Academy on Sunday. Back at home Stacia and Zander bathed, Jamin lifted weights, and Jared went for a run. I cut both younger ones hair - sort of a progressive thing. I do as much as they can stand and then attack it again later. LOL

All are home now and I'm hoping to get Stacia down early. I'd love to catch Miss Potter tonight. LOL
Mummies for Michelle

::snort:: Don't you love the title? Michelle here's the link with photos from when we started the project. I first saw this in one of the library books we'd checked out. I didn't want to use baking soda so I googled "apple mummies" and came up with lots of instructions. Most said to use baking soda and salt mixed together. Two said it was optional; I left it out.

Cut your apples in 1/2.

Dig out the insides (talk about brains through the nose and internal organs if you have kids that like those sorts of things).

Put one apple on a plate.

Put an inch of salt in the bottom of an airtight container. Put the other apple on top of this. Cover with salt.

Cover container.

Set on a shelf.

Compare at 2, 4, and 6 weeks. I think it might be good to put them in a dark area - but ours are sitting on my fireplace mantel. It's working.

I really thought the apple on the plate would become ant bait but so far - all's well.