Main Dishes
Cranberry Chicken
1-2 pounds chicken breasts or tenders
Dredge in flour and brown in 1/4 cup butter. Remove from pan.
To pan add:
1 pound bag cranberries
1 cup brown sugar
dash nutmeg
Cook and stir until berries pop.
Return Chicken to pan and simmer 20 minutes.
Serve with rice.
Bow Tie Casserole
Cook 1 pound bow tie noodles or whole wheat rotini.
Add Broccoli last couple minutes. Drain.
Mix:
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
Diced ham
Diced cheese (can use shredded, but it gets lost in casserole)
Mix together with noodles and broccoli. Heat through in microwave or in oven at 325 F covered.
White Chili
1-2 pounds chicken
1T olive oil
48 oz white beans
48 oz salsa
2 t cumin
8 oz cheddar cheese
Cook chicken in olive oil. Combine everything. Simmer on stove or in crock pot.
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Cheese sauce:
3 T butter
3 T flour
Melt butter and stir in flour till a paste.
Add: 1.5 cups milk. Whisk together to get flour lumps out. Simmer until thick.
Add 8 oz Cheese (sharp cheddar is really good!)
Add 1 pound cooked macaroni or desired noodle.
Chicken Pastaladas
4 chicken breasts, cut in 2 inch strips
Chopped onion and bell pepper to taste
1 can cream of onion soup with 1 cup milk (or 1 packet onion soup mix prepared with 2 cups milk instead of water)
1 packet taco seasoning
shredded cheese
whole wheat rotini
Preheat oven to 400F. Place chicken strips in baking dish. Sprinkle with onion and bell pepper. Mix onion soup with taco seasoning and pour over chicken. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes. In last 5 minutes, top with cheese. Serve over whole wheat rotini
Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal
6 eggs 1 tsp salt
1 cup oil 2 cups milk
1 cup sugar 2 t vanilla
3 2/3 cup oatmeal 1 t cinnamon
1 T baking powder maple and vanilla flavoring to taste
Mix ingredients together. Refrigerate overnight. Bake in a greased, uncovered 9x13 pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Warm additional milk and pour over individual servings of oatmeal. Cinnamon sugar, raisins, and brown sugar can be sprinkled on top to taste.
Granola
2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup raw almonds, chopped
1/4 -1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
(or any combination of nuts and seeds you have on hand. other good ones are: walnuts, cashews, pecans, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds).
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup olive (or canola) oil
Preheat oven to 300F. Stir dry ingredients. Combine honey and oil. Stir together with dry ingredients. Spread on parchment lined cookie sheet (for crunchy granola) or 9x13 pan (for chewy granola). Bake 30-40 minutes until light brown/toasty looking. After baked, you can add dried fruit to your mix or per serving. Store in airtight container.
*I usually triple this!
Some of my other favorite kitchen tip things
Spreadable Butter
1 pound butter, softened
1 cup oil (canola=no flavor; olive=some flavor)
shake of salt
Combine all until smooth. Refrigerate.
*This is easily cut in half and lasts us a couple weeks at least.
*For best results, store in glass container so oil doesn't soak into plastic.
Homemade Pedialyte
1 quart water
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
3 1/2 T raw honey
1 T flavored gelatin of choice or Juice
Heat and dissolve water, soda and salt. Stir in honey and gelatin. Dissolve all. Pour into a pitcher and chill. Serve cold.
* This cost about $6.00 at store and $0.60 to make and no middle of the night run to store when your kids are sick!
Hummus
2 (16oz) cans garbanzo beans (chick peas)* I don't like to drain it, like thinner texture.
--or 2 cups cooked dry beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t garlic powder
1 t cumin
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
1/4 c tahini
Place in a food processor or blender (I use Majic Bullet) and mix until smooth. Serve chilled with cut veggies, pita bread, or tortilla chips.
French Fries
Cut white or sweet potatoes in wedges or "fry" shapes.
Toss with a little oil. Season with any combination:
salt
pepper
garlic
italian seasoning
taco seasoning
"Mrs Dash" or equivalent premixed seasoning
Cajun seasoning
cinnamon (for sweet potatoes)
Bake at 425 F 25-30 minutes until desired crispiness, turning once.
LLL Baking Mix (like Bisquick)
8 cups whole wheat flour*
5 T baking powder
1 T salt
1-2 cups dry milk*
1 1/2 cups oil or butter
Combine Dry ingredients in large bowl. Work in oil with fingers or electric mixer until mixture is crumbly. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator. Recipe may be doubled. Use any way you would use Bisquick.
Substitutions:
*For 8 cups flour- use any combination of whole wheat flour, bran, wheat germ, cornmeal, oatmeal, rye flour, brown rice flour or other whole grain flours.
*Can also omit dry milk in case of allergy.
The LLL stands for La Leche League and this recipe come from their cookbook.
Biscuits from LLL Making Mix
3 cups LLL baking mix
2/3 cup milk or 1 cup for drop biscuits
optional: shredded cheese
herbs or spices
Stir mix and milk in bowl until just moistened. Knead briefly on floured surface. Roll or pat out to 1/2 inch thick, cut into biscuits. (or drop by spoonfuls if doing drop biscuits). Bake on greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes.
*May substitute water for milk
Pancakes or Waffles from LLL Baking Mix
3 cups LLL Baking mix
2 cups milk or water
2 eggs (Pancakes) or 2-4 eggs (waffles)
Beat together all ingredients in a bowl just until mixed. Bake on 375 degree griddle until bubbles appear. Turn and bake until no steam comes out. Same for waffles- just used greased waffle iron until steam no longer escapes.
Makes 18 (3 inch) pancakes
Dessert
Chocolate Eclair Cake
1 (3oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
1 (8oz) container whipped topping
1 box graham crackers
1 container whipped chocolate frosting, room temperature
Combine milk and pudding mix; then add whipped topping. Mix well. Lay the graham crackers side by side in a 9x9 inch dish. Spread 1 cup pudding mixture over crackers. Repeat layers, ending with graham crackers on top. Spread frosting evenly over top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Cut into squares to serve.
