Vegetable Curry

I made this up, with inspiration from the Indian Chicken recipe in More With Less.

Chop up cabbage, onions, red bell pepper, potatoes and green beans. Fry in a mixture of olive oil and margarine until the cabbage starts to wilt. Add equal amounts of weak chicken broth and soy sauce, and about 1/3 as much honey. (That should make enough sauce to almost cover the vegetables.) Season with minced garlic, ginger (I don’t use real ginger), turmeric, cumin, curry and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in a bunch of chickpeas. Simmer till the potatoes are done. Serve on rice.

Crepes

These are so good just sprinkled with cinnamon sugar while they are hot, and then rolled up and eaten quickly. :) Another great way to serve them is with pie filling that has whipped cream folded into it. I tried it with peach sauce that we get here (like chunky applesauce) and it was great. In restaurants here you can get them with vanilla ice-cream inside and hot chocolate sauce over them.

Combine in blender:

5 eggs

1 ¼ cup flour

2 tbsp sugar

rounded ¼ tsp baking powder

1 ¼ cup milk

5 tbsp water

4 tsp melted butter

Blend for one minute, scrape down sides and blend 15-30 seconds longer. Heat buttered omelet pan and fry scant ¼ cup batter at a time. Tilt pan quickly to spread batter in a circle. Fry till the top appears almost dry, then flip the crepe. Stack on a plate or fill and roll immediately. Crepes should appear slightly ‘lacy’ around the edges and slightly thicker in the middle.

Makes about 14, I think.

Tomato Soup for One

Fill a large mug almost to the top with pure tomato juice. Add a bit of milk until it looks creamy enough (or you could add some water too to tone it down).
Add:
seasoning salt
garlic powder
basil
pepper
hot pepper sauce
Microwave on medium power (so the milk doesn't curdle, but even if it does it still tastes good). Drink it up with a slice of whole wheat toast, a slice of cheese, and you have a full meal deal. What a great way to get a big serving of veggies in! This will be my new handy lunch.

Stuffed Italian Meatloaf

1 lb. ground beef or turkey (I used turkey and it's fine if it's good quality)
1 egg
1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
Worcestershire sauce
ketchup
mustard
1/4 c. chopped onion
garlic powder
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

Mix together and put half the mixture into a loaf pan. Push some of it up the sides of the pan a bit to make room for the filling.

Filling:
1/2-3/4 c. ricotta cheese
Italian seasoning
garlic salt
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

Put filling on first layer of meat and then put the rest of the meat on top of the filling. Squirt a little ketchup on top and sprinkle on some garlic powder and a little more Italian seasoning. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Yes, I did make this up and I didn't measure so you're guess is almost as good as mine. Just make meatloaf like you know how, except use these general ingredients. You won't be sorry. If you are, just don't ever make it again. Also, treat it well by serving it with mashed potatoes.

Breakfast Casserole

3 cups hashbrowns (thawed, if using frozen)
1 1/2 cups ham or 1 lb. sausage
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby cheese
Onion flakes or onion to taste
6 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt

Mix hashbrowns, ham, cheese, and onion flakes together. Beat eggs and milk; add salt and mix together. Pour mixture in greased pan and bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Note: this is all the info the recipe gives. If you put this into a 9x13 it will be kind of thin, but it works. Also, it serves about 5 people. It works fine to double it, put it in a 9x13 and bake it just 5 or 10 minutes longer. And, last but not least, I've never bothered with onions of any sort and it still tastes great.

Indian Chicken

This recipe is from the More with Less cookbook. I change it a bit when I make it, so here is my slightly-altered version.

Heat in large skillet:
2 T margarine
1 T vegetable oil (basically enough of both/either to saute the onion in)
Saute 1 med. onion, chopped
Combine and add to onions:
3 T flour
2 T curry powder (I like madras curry for an extra kick, and I add extra)
1 t ground ginger
2 t salt
Combine and add to onion mixture:
1/3 c honey
1/4 c soy sauce
3 c chicken broth or bullion
3-4 c drained chick peas
approx. 1 lb. cooked, shredded chicken
Cook over high heat, stirring, until sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

In the original recipe it says to use a "3-lb fryer" for the chicken. I usually just cook a bunch of chicken legs and take the meat off the bones ahead of time. It's cheaper than using other chicken parts, I think. :)

Mocha Mousse Brownies

2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. butter
1 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c. hot water
2 tbsp instant coffee granules
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder

Mousse:
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
2 tbsp. instant coffee granules
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 c. heavy whipping cream

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chips and butter; pour into a mixing bowl. Beat in sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine hot water and coffee granules; add to chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; beat into chocolate mixture.
Spread into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min. until a toothpick comes out clean (brownies will be thin). Cool completely.
For mousse, in a saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 min. Cook and stir over low heat until gelatin in dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in coffee granules until dissolved.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth; beat in milk and melted chips. In a chilled mixing bowl, beat whipping cream and gelatin mixture until soft peaks form. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Spread over brownies. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm. Cut into squares. Yield: 2 dozen.

These take a little time to make, but they're worth it!

Eggnog

Obviously, this takes longer than buying a 2 litre at IGA. Well, on the other hand, that could get kind of expensive and time-consuming for me right now... Either way, I think it's worth making it. It is soooo good.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, stir together 3 large eggs, 1/3 cup sugar and dash of salt until well mixed. Gradually stir in 2 1/2 cups milk. Cook over medium heat 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture just coats a metal spoon. Remove from heat. Add 1 tsp vanilla. Refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

Just before serving, beat 1 cup whipping cream, 2 Tblsp icing sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla with electric mixer until stiff. Reserve some whipped cream for a garnish. Gently stir remaining whipped cream, 1/2 cup rum, and nutmeg (to taste) into chilled egg mixture.

Serve topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg. YUMMY!!!

If you don't have rum, or don't want to buy any, just use some rum flavouring. Also, I found it a bit thick and added some milk.

Maple-Pecan Cookies

4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp maple flavoring or extract
2 2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. Beat sugar and butter for 2 minutes or until creamy. Reduce speed to low and beat in eggs, one at a time. Add maple extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture until blended. Stir in coconut and pecans.
3. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a 9” by 2” log. Wrap each log tightly in waxed paper. Chill at least 3 hours or until dough is firm enough to slice.
4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut one log into scant ½-inch-thick slices. Place slices on ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until cookies become slightly firm. Cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining logs. Store cookies in tightly covered container for up to 2 weeks. (Up to 3 months in freezer.)

(I used regular flour, didn’t pack the brown sugar, used unsweetened coconut, and cut the recipe in half. It didn’t seem to hurt them any!)

Mocha Cookies

These are YUMMY for coffee/chocolate lovers.

Cookies:
Mix 1 egg and 2 Tblsp instant coffee granules until coffee is dissolved.

Add 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine, and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1/4 tsp EACH baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Cover and chill at least one hour.

Heat oven to 375 F. Roll dough 1/4" thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with 2" cookie cutters. Place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 5-7 minutes or until set. Cool completely.

Icing:
Mix 1 3/4 cups icing sugar, 1/4 cup caramel topping, 1/2 tsp vanilla. Add 1-2 Tblsp milk to make a smooth, thin icing.

Drizzle over cooled cookies.


I didn't have caramel topping, so I made a simple, thin icing with butter, water, instant coffee and icing sugar. Yum.