When I had to change my diet, one of the things I had to start eating was oatmeal.  In the mornings, waiting on oats to cook just wasn’t possible and instant oatmeal had other things in it I didn’t want.  So, I’ve ended up going with granola.  At first, I added it my cereal.  Now, I add a little cereal, usually bran flakes, to my granola.  top it with some blueberries and a banana, maybe just a touch of honey, some milk, and you’re set.

Ingredients

8 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups wheat or oat bran or a combination of both

1 cup flax seed, ground (Use my Bullet, but a blender or chopper would work fine.)

1 cup sunflower seeds

*1 cup chopped almonds

*1 cup chopped pecans

*1 cup chopped walnuts

*I usually cut back on the nuts a bit and use a combination of pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, roasted soybeans, and cashew pieces.

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup crystallized brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup molasses (We use a combination of blackstrap and sorghum.)

1/4 cup maple syrup (can increase the amount of honey and molasses if you don’t have this.  Just make sure you have a cup altogether.)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extact

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Reduce to about 275 if you’re using a gas oven.  Line two large baking sheets with aluminum foil.

2.  Combine oats, bran, flax, and nuts in a large bowl.

3.  Stir together salt, brown sugar, syrup, honey, molasses, oil, cinnamon and vanilla in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over dry ingredients, and stir to coat.

4.  Spread the mixture evenly on the baking sheets.

5.  Bake until crisp and toasted.  Takes about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through.  Cool, then stir in raisins, dates, or craisins, if you’d like before storing in an airtight container.

A friend of mine makes brushcetta and I decided to try it myself.  I’ve altered mine just a bit, as usual, from the recipe I found, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much.  We like it on crackers, chips, toasted French or Italian bread.  Basically, anything we can find to put it on.

I’m slowly switching my family to whole wheat.  Not completely, just partially.  I’ve learned just to do it and not talk about it.  They’ll tolerate a slight change, so converting the biscuits was fairly easy.  They actually taste sweeter with the whole wheat flour and as long as I keep it a split flour, rather than complete change, I think we’ll do fine. I’ve done this recipe with half white, half wheat, but to be honest, it’s better the way it’s written.  I’ll keep playing with it, though.

I also wanted a recipe that called for butter instead of shortening.  We don’t keep the stuff and substituting sometimes changes the consistency too much.  This one works really well.

Whole wheat Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 C. whole wheat
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 C. butter, cut into small chunks
3/4 C. buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk, try adding about a tablespoon of vinegar to 3/4 c. of regular milk.  It’s not that different.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees
2. Mix together dry ingredients.First, cut the butter into chunks, and place chunks of butter into a small bowl and return it to the fridge. Now measure out the buttermilk and set it aside. Sprinkle some flour on a work surface and have extra flour nearby for your hands and the biscuit cutter. Have the biscuit cutter and an ungreased baking sheet handy near by.
3. Add the butter and cut into flour using a pastry blender,or fork, or your hands if you choose, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the buttermilk and stir lightly until dough comes together into a ball.
4. Dump dough mixture out onto floured work surface. With floured hands, lightly knead dough a few times until it is fairly well blended. Pat out into a circle, 3/4 – 1 inch thick, or use your rolling pin. Dip cutter into flour and cut biscuits without twisting the cutter. Place cut biscuits together on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. Brush tops with melted butter, if desired.
5. Place baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 500 degree oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until buttermilk biscuits are golden brown.

The original recipe says to let them cool a bit, but they’re better still hot from the oven with some homemade jam.

I’ve sort of played around with this recipe some to suit.

7 cups or 7 envelopes nonfat dried milk

1 box powdered sugar (If you buy it in 2 pound bags like I do, it’s half the bag.

2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups creamer

2 cups mini marshmallows

1 cup mini chocolate chips (I’ve started leaving these out and adding more sugar and cocoa.  The chocolate chips all go to the bottom of your cup, which is fine if you like it, but I’d rather mine were in the drink, not stuck at the bottom.)

Mix everything together and store it in a large jar.  Takes 1/3 cup of mix to 3/4 cup hot water.

A few years ago, my ex-husband and I took the boys to a local restaurant one summer.  When we were ordering our drinks, the waitress suggested some fruit tea, which she proudly announced as her own creation.  I told her I didn’t like the white grape stuff and she said it wasn’t that at all.  So, we ordered it.  While the ex wasn’t too fond of it, no surprise since he doesn’t like fruit, the boys and I loved it.  I asked her what was in it, and she smiled secretively and said she couldn’t tell.

We went back a couple of times that summer, and always ordered the tea.  But the next time we went in the fall, it wasn’t on the menu and we were told it wouldn’t be served again.  The story we got was that it was expensive to make and they just couldn’t charge the same price for it as they did other beverages on the menu, so they weren’t offering it any more.

Not a problem.  The boys and I set out to make our own.  It took a few trials and some rather nasty errors, but we finally got it right.  I’m sharing the recipe after years of keeping it to myself

This is more of a fruit drink with a little tea than a tea with a little fruit.  You’ve been warned….

Ingredients

2 2/3 cup pineapple juice

2 2/3 cup tea

1 1/3 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Directions

Easy.  Mix it all together and stir.  It’s better cold and iced.  Too much melting ice sort of messes with the flavor.

I’m adding this before I lose it, plus, it’s my mom’s recipe and I really want to hold on to it, although I’m sure there are others just like it out there.  I have other recipes of hers I want to add as well.  I’ll get around to it.  But this one is on my computer desktop and I want to make it go away.

STARTER

FEED EVERY 3 – 5 DAYS

3 TBLS. POTATO FLAKES

3/4 C SUGAR

1 C BREAD FLOUR

1 C HOT WATER

IN THE MORNING PUT STARTER IN A LARGE BOWL AND FEED WITH INGREDIENTS LISTED ABOVE. STIR WELL, COVER WITH A CLEAN DISHCLOTH AND LET SET ON COUNTER ALL DAY. THAT NIGHT, MEASURE OUT ONE CUP OF STARTER AND STORE IN REFRIGERATOR. USE ONE CUP TO MAKE BREAD USING RECIPE BELOW. DISCARD ANY EXCESS STARTER.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve learned that biscotti means twice baked.  Interesting, no?  I always wanted to make it but I was afraid it was too hard. Silly me.  Wasn’t hard at all.

I found a biscotti recipe I like, but I changed it some to suit me.  Actually, I change it all of the time because I add different things to it.  Just a simple base recipe, I’ve put in carob chips, dried cranberries with cinnamon and cloves, white chocolate, macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts, you get the idea.  Play around with it a bit.  I find that a teaspoon of cinnamon adds alot to the carob chip.  You could cut back on the flour and add oats instead.  Like I said, it’s a base recipe that leaves you plenty of room for play.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup white sugar

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use 1 1/4 cups whole wheat and 2 cups all-purpose.  You can change it around a bit, but more whole wheat makes your biscotti crumbly and hard to work with.

3 eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

1  tablespoon anise, vanilla, or almond extract.  I like vanilla or almond myself

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F .
2. In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and anise flavoring until well blended. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Divide dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2 inch thickness.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When The cookies are cool enough to handle, slice each one crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to 10 minutes on each side. Slices should be lightly toasted.

We decided a while back we’d try some different soups.  This is one I found when I wanted something new.  There are other recipes out there, but this one was quick and easy.  I have a habit of changing recipes, so I’ve added some notes.

1 lb. hamburger

1/2 c. onion

3 c. water

2 (16 oz.) cans stewed tomatoes (I used a quart of tomatoes I had done back in last summer.  I’ve also used a can of rotel.  Makes it a little spicier.)

Salt to taste (I didn’t add any.  There’s enough in the taco seasoning)

2 (16 oz.) cans kidney beans, not drained (I’ve also made it with chili beans)

2(18 oz.) cans tomato sauce

1 pkg. taco seasoning

*We’ve added a can of corn as well.

On side:

1 pkg tortilla chips

Cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

Brown hamburger and onion.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.  Now, here’s where I differ again from the directions.  It says to put the chips on the bottom, but we put them on top, then top that with cheese.  Makes a nice little topping.

I found this recipe when I decided to go back to making banana pudding from scratch.  We’ve gotten so bad about preservatives and things, we really thought we’d give this a try.  I’ve made it twice and don’t think I’ll go back to making it with pudding mix again.  It’s easier than I thought it would be and the taste is incredible.

Ingredients

* 3/4 cup granulated sugar

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

* 3 cups milk, low fat or whole

* 3 large egg yolks

* 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature

* 2 teaspoons vanilla

* vanilla wafer cookies

* 3 to 4 bananas, ripe but firm

* sweetened whipped cream or whipped topping

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt, and flour; stir to blend. Slowly stir in milk until smooth. Pour into the top of a double boiler over simmering water.

2. Cook, whisking frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks; gradually whisk in about 1 cup of the slightly thickened hot milk mixture.

4. Return egg mixture to the double boiler, stir in the vanilla and butter, and continue whisking and cooking until well thickened. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

5. In a 2-quart serving dish, make a layer of vanilla wafers then sliced banana.

6. Spoon some of the pudding over the banana layer then layer more vanilla wafers and banana slices, topping with more pudding. Serve with whipped cream topping.

7. Garnish each serving with a few slices of banana if desired.

Now, I don’t make meringue typically but this would be a good time to do so.  Mine’s just always been egg whites, a little sugar.  I add a little cream of tartar to my meringue to make it rise well.  Then some sugar.  But I did find directions on how to make meringue.  Adding the link below.

Meringue Directions

This is yet another Cranberry Salad Recipe I got while I was searching.  My aunt gave this one to my mother.  My mother sent it to me.  Haven’t made it yet.  I knew we’d have alot of leftovers and I was worried about how the bananas would hold up in the salad.  So I stuck with the recipe I’d already found.

Ingredients

6 oz. cherry jello or any red jello

2 ½ cups boiling water

1 bag cranberries (Chopped fine)

1 large or 2 medium apples diced

4-6 bananas sliced

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup of sugar (can use a little more if you want) I just used 1 cup

Directions

1. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water set aside
2. Chop cranberries and pour into mixing bowl
3. Add apples, bananas, nuts and sugar
4. Mix well and let stand 10 minutes
5. Add gelatin to fruit mixture
6. Pour into pyrex container
7. Let set overnight in refrigerator