Bran Flax Muffins

1 1/2 c. flour (I use half wheat, half white)
3/4 c. flax meal
3/4 c. oat bran (I had wheat bran on hand, and it worked fine)
1 c. brown sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 carrots, shredded
2 apples, peeled and shredded
1/2 c. raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
1 c. nuts, chopped
3/4 c milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 t. vanilla

Mix together flour, flax, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in apples, carrots and nuts. In separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour liquid into dry mixture, and stir to just mixed. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Makes 15 muffins.
*I also added some wheat germ to these, so I added just a little extra milk to the mix to make it not too dry. Could also sub 1/2 c. honey for 1/2 c. sugar and applesauce for apples, I'm sure. These are yummy and not too sweet. Good treats for the kiddies! Sorry it took me so long to post this!

Raspberry-Almond Thumbprints

Cream together:
¾ cup softened butter
½ cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
Gradually add 1 ¾ - 2 cups flour until you get a soft dough. Roll into 1" balls. (If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 20 minutes) Using your finger, or similar shaped utensil (wooden spoon handle?) form "thumbprints" in each cookie. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. (The bottoms of the cookies will only be starting to brown.) While cookies are still warm, re-indent each thumbprint. Cool and fill with raspberry jam. Drizzle the following glaze over cookies:
2 tsp soft butter
½ tsp almond extract (or vanilla)
1-2 Tbsp milk
enough icing sugar to make a thin icing

If you really only make the balls 1", you will get about 5 dozen. I think half a recipe of glaze is plenty for the cookies, and half the amount almond extract that the recipe asks for is enough, in my opinion.

Pumpkin Donuts

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening, butter, or margarine, softened

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda. Add pumpkin, eggs, milk, and shortening, butter, or margarine; beat with an electric mixer on low speed till mixed.

Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a very large star tip with a 1/2-inch opening (can be purchased at any specialty kitchen store and most craft stores. Pipe onto 2 greased baking sheets in 3-inch circles. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for 10 minutes, or till golden brown. Cool doughnuts on a rack over waxed paper.

Baked donuts??? That's not how Renee and Karla roll, so instead we spooned small amounts of the dough into hot oil and fried them. Then we rolled them in the following mixture:

1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

You will want to make them very small so they cook all of the way through. At first I used a medium cookie scoop, but that was way too big. I ended up doing about a teaspoon of dough for each one by the end.

The original recipe is from here.

Orzo Wild Rice Salad

You will need to eyeball these:

Orzo, 2 cups-ish, cooked to al dente
red, orange or yellow pepper, diced finely (or a combo)
red onion, diced finely
currents or craisins
corn
sliced almonds
wild rice, cooked

Dressing:
1/2 c Olive Oil
1/4 c white wine vinegar
2 T lemon juice
2 T sugar
2 T honey
1 T sesame oil
1/2 t salt
1/2 t garlic powder

*So several months later, I just noticed that I forgot to included the wild rice in the list of ingredients for this dish. DUH!
Cook your pasta, anything will work and whole grain pasta is great in this! Be sure you don't over cook it, and then rinse it in very cold water.
Combine your "dry" ingredients. Make the dressing. You can sub regular white vinegar for white wine vinegar, if you don't have it on hand, and olive oil for sesame oil. It still tastes great, but if you have those things, use them. It makes for a very yummy salad! Salt and pepper it to your own taste.
And the reason you have to eyeball the amounts is that I was not given amounts so I eyeball it and have no idea how much of each thing I use! It changes each time. Enjoy!

Emma's Corn Salsa

Drain these:

15 oz shoe peg white corn (works with regular too!)
15 oz. black eyed peas or black beans

1 large red pepper, diced small
1 red onion, diced fine
1/2 c fresh or frozen cilantro, finely diced
Combine all.

Sauce: 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
2 T Tiger Sauce

Combine sauce ingredients, let sugar dissolve, then pour over salsa and mix. Serve with tortilla chips.
I had this at the campout, and I am finally getting it added!

PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

25 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 2 -3

* 3 tablespoons oil
* 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
* 1 cup water chestnut
* 2/3 cup mushroom
* 3 tablespoons chopped onions
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce

* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
* 2 tablespoons ketchup
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
* 1 tablespoon hot mustard
* 2 teaspoons water
* 1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce

* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

1. Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
2. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
3. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
4. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
5. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
6. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
7. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
8. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
9. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
10. As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
11. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
12. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
13. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
14. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
15. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
16. Top with"Special Sauce".

When i made these i cut out the sugar on the stir fry sauce because the other sauce is sweet enough. I even cut that sugar in half in the sauce... we love these... we will make these about every other week from now on... to get everything ground like they do at PF Changs i use my pampered chef food chopper to chop all the veggies and chicken. i know you will all love this for dinner. i always make extra cause it is great reheated the next day for left overs. Enjoy!

Shrimp Saute Orzo Pasta

Serves 4

* 1 cup uncooked orzo
* 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
* 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
* Juice and zest of 1 lemon
* 1 cup dry white wine
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

Directions

1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add orzo; cook until al dente, using cooking time suggested on package. Drain; toss with 1 teaspoon oil, and add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large skillet. Add garlic; cook over low heat for 1 minute. Add shrimp, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 tablespoons parsley; cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn, and cook for 3 minutes more, or until opaque. Remove from pan, and keep warm.
3. Add lemon juice and wine to skillet. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add remaining parsley; stir in butter, lemon zest, and capers. Adjust seasonings. Pour over shrimp, and serve on a bed of orzo.

Mediterranian Couscous Salad

1 C. couscous
1 chopped cucumber (seeded)
1/2 c. feta
1 c. tomato chopped
1/2 c. sliced green onion
1/4 c. cilantro chopped
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Cook couscous according to directions and add the rest of ingredients and mix. Serve hot or cold.

This is also one of our favorite salads. it is so good you can eat it just by itself for a meal.

Craisin Couscous Salad

This is my own concoction for stuff and really you can not mess it up. It is one of our favorite easy meals.

1 c. couscous
1/2 c. craisins
1 chopped cucumber (seeded)
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. feta
1/4 c. sliced Almonds
Add to taste:
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Basil

Cook couscous according to instructions. Mix with everything else in bowl and mix. You can eat either hot or cold. We like it cold. It is great served with Chicken or pork.

New Orleans Style Shrimp and Rice

1 stick of butter
1 T. plus 1 tsp. flour
2 bell peppers
1 onion
2 celery stalks
1 28 oz. can tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1 lb. of raw shrimp

In dutch oven melt butter add flour and stir until lightly browned. Then add everything but shrimp and bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then add shrimp and cook for 3-5 minutes. Serve over Rice. This is Christina's recipe but i loved it so much i wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Fresh Fruit Dessert

Crust:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 stick of butter (melted)
1 c. finely chopped pecans
Bake @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes in a 9x13 pan.

Cream Cheese Layer:
8oz. cream cheese
8oz. cool whip
1 c. powdered sugar
Beat together in mixer and spread over top of cooled crust.

Fruit Topping:
2 c. sugar
2 c. water
6 T. cornstarch
pinch of salt
Bring to boil stirring constantly until thick. Take off of heat and add 1 box of jello (whatever flavor of fruit you are using) and cool. After it has cooled add 2 quarts of fresh fruit. The spread fruit topping over the cream cheese layer. Cool in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

sweet potato black bean salad

2 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 in. cubes
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
2T. fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 med. red onion
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

preheat oven to 450. Place sweet potatoes on rimmed baking sheet - drizzle with 2 T. oil. sprinkle with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, toss to coat. Roast on lower rack until tender, tossing once during cooking, 25-30 min.
In large bowl whisk lime juice with 2 T. olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Add sweet potatoes, onion, beans and cilantro. mix to combine.

cocoa and chili rubbed pork chops

2 quarts water
1 1/2 t. crushed red pepper
Kosher salt
4 Pork loin chops
1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T. light brown sugar
1 T. pure ancho chili powder
Extra virgin olive oil

In large bowl, combine water with red pepper and 1 1'2 t. salt and stir until salt dissolves. Add the pork chops and let brine at room temp. for 1 hour.
Set up a grill with both direct and indirect heat. In a bowl, mix the cocoa, sugar, and chili powder with 1 T. salt.
Drain the pork chops and pat dry, removing any bits of crushed pepper. Brush generously with olive oil. Roll the pork chops in the cocoa rub and pat to hp it adhere. Grill over moderately high heat for 4 min,. turning the chops once or twice until lightly browned. Transfer chops to indirect heat, cover, and grill for about 15 min. until an instant read thermometer reads 135 for medium meat. Let chops rest 10 min. before serving.

notes -If you use regular salt, be sure to use about half of what's called for. I don't think you'd have to brine them for a whole hour, but it does make them nice and tender. And you could probably do them in the oven or on the stovetop, but the grill really adds some nice flavor that goes well with the cocoa.

Chili-sweet potato hash with fried eggs

(this is a rachel ray recipe)

2 T. olive oil
1/2 lb. maple breakfast sausage
1 med. sweet potato, scrubbed clean,
cut in half lengthwise, and thinly
sliced in half moons
1 large red onion
2 t. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
2 t. ground coriander
salt and pepper
3 vine-ripe yellow tomatoes
1 sm. jalepeno, seeded and chopped
2-3 T. chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 c. grated Manchego, or extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 T. unsalted butter
4 large eggs


Preheat a large nonstick skillet over med. heat with olive oil. Add the breakfast sausage, breaking it into small chunks with your spatula - brown sausage for three minutes. Add sweet potatoes and 3/4 of the chopped onion to the sausage, along with Chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Stir FREquently (I burnt mine once!), and cook for 10 - 12 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and tender.
While the hash is cooking, in a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, jalepeno, remaining onions, cilantro, lime juice and a little salt and pepper.
Once the hash is cooked, add the chopped parsley, stir to combine, and transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle with cheese and cover with aluminum foil. The cheese will melt while you make fried eggs.
Wipe clean the skillet, return to med. hi heat, and add butter. Once butter has melted, crack eggs into skillet, season with salt and pepper. Cook to desired doneness,, or scramble (a little runny egg is really good with this!).
Transfer fried eggs to top of hash, sprinkle with fresh tomato salsa, and serve.


****My notes - Yes, it looks like a lot of extra things to buy, but this is soo good, it's worth it. You can use red tomatoes, and I think a regular onion and any breakfast sausage would be fine. It does need a good strong cheese, I really like white cheddar on it, but yellow is sometimes cheaper, and just fine. And I leave out the parsley all together - RR puts it in everything, and I think it's a bit over done. Also, make sure your potatoes are soft - really slicing them thinly helps. Happy eating!

Tortilla Bites

8 oz cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
4 oz chopped green chiles, drained
1/2 cup chopped dried beef (or any meat)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
10 8-inch flour tortillas

Combine first 5 ingredients. Spread on each tortilla and roll up. Refrigerate to chill. When chilled, cut into 1-inch pieces. Serves 15.

They're not spicy with only green chiles, but I add my grandma's jalapeno salsa to add kick to it. I suppose you could add whatever peppers or hot sauce you want to make it as spicy as you want.

raspberry struesel muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Batter:
8 Tbsp. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 large egg
2 cups flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sour cream
1 t. vanilla
1 c. fresh raspberries
powdered sugar

Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. quick oats
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
6 Tbsp. butter

To prepare batter, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy in large bowl. Add egg and beat until blended. In med. bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a small bowl, combine milk, sour cream, and vanilla. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with milk mixture. Beat only until all ingredients are combined. Gently fold in raspberries.
To prepare topping combine all dry ingredients in a med. bowl. With a pastry blender or 2 knives cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Rub briefly between fingers to blend butter. Spoon muffin batter into greased tins, filling 2/3 full. Sprinkle top with streusel mix. Bake at 400 for 20-25 min. Cool on rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

From Favorite Recipes from Quilters cookbook. These are amazing right out of the oven!! If you're not going to eat them right away, don't add the powdered sugar at the end. It makes the tops kind of gooey after a day or so, and the muffins taste fine without it.