Honey Baked Lentils

Ok this made a huge amount. I think next time I'll half it. It would be great for a potluck. I enjoyed it. It was good. Kids didn't. I don't see how they couldn't. Too bad for them. It reminds me of pork n beans in a can but way more healthier.

2 cups dry lentils
1 small bay leaf
2 cups water
2 (14.5 oz) chicken broth (I used homemade turkey stock)
2 tsp salt (I omitted)
1 tsp dry mustard (I used 2 tsp of mustard, didn't have any dry)
1/4 tsp ginger
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey

Place lentils, 2 cups water, chicken broth and salt together in large pot. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat to medium low and allow lentils to simmer 30 min. Discard bay leaf. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir dry mustard, ginger, soy sauce, onion and 1 c water together in bowl. Stir the mixture into the lentils. Place in casserole dish.  Drizzle honey over it. Bake for one hour until the lentils are tender. I served with brown rice and veggies.

Halloween Cookies

These are the cookies my youngest daughter and I made on the weekend. We had alot of fun making them. She helped in the making of the dough, not very patiently waiting for it to be ready in the fridge, cut them out and monitored them while baking. I did the decorating and she watched. I offered her to decorate some but she wanted me to do it this time so she could watch and learn. The recipe has been in my family for generations. We make them on special occasions like Christmas. All my cookie cutters are Christmas themed. I need to acquire some other ones so I can make them at other times of the year. My Mom has a better selection so I used her cutters.

Grandmothers Sugar Cookies
Combine in a large bowl
3 c sifted flour and 1 cup of shortening. Mix together with a pastry blender.
In another bowl mix 2 eggs slightly beaten and 1 cup of sugar. Beat until light. Add 3 tbsp milk, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix until well blended. Add to flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours. Overnight is good also. Roll out a section a a time to 1/4 inch thick. The surface you roll on and the rolling pin needs to be lightly floured.  Cut with a floured cutter. Return unused portions to fridge until ready to roll out. Bake at 375 for 8-10 min until the bottoms are lightly golden. Cool before icing.

Sugar Cookie Frosting
4 c icing sugar
1/2 c shortening
5 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix together well.
Divide and colour as needed.
I used a knife to spread it on the cookies. I smoothed it out by dipping my knife in hot water and spreading over cookies to get lines out. Keep dipping it in hot water and scrape excess frosting on knife on the side of the cup of hot water. I then used an icing bag and tip to add the coloured frosting on top of the cookies.

This made 6 ghosts and 6 pumpkins. My Mom usually doubles the recipe but I didn't have enough Crisco to double it. I also used half crisco and half butter for the icing as I ran out of crisco and it still turned out great. The sad thing was the cookies were gone by the next day and I only got to eat half of one. :(
And that is why treats like this are a rare occurrance in his house.

5 Crust Pie Dough

This is my pie dough recipe. I got it from my mom. Thanks mom. It's a great crust. Better than Crisco's if you ask me. The dough keeps in the fridge for a week and for a month or two in the freezer. Just wrap in saran wrap and defrost in the fridge overnight. The crisco is best used cold from the fridge when you make the dough and it's best to roll it when cold from the fridge. Don't bring to room temperature. Makes for a better crust when cold.

5 cups all purpose flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 lb of Crisco. Blend together well with a pastry blender.

1 tbsp vinegear, 1 egg slightly beaten. Add enough water to make 1 cup. Mix with dry ingredients until well mixed.

Divide into five balls and wrap with saran wrap. Store unused portions in fridge or freezer.

Ham and Cheese Quiche

We had ham for dinner Sunday. Complete with scalloped potatoes, corn and salad. With a lemon meringue pie for dessert. Family dinner...you know. It was great. I cut up the left over ham especially for the quiche and probably have enough left over I can make ham and potato soup. When I get the time. :) The pie dough recipe I use makes enough for 5 pies so all I had to do was take it out of the fridge and roll it. Saved time!

1 pie dough for 9 inch pie pan
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
4 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 c cooked ham, diced
3 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic salt.

Take the flour and mix in a bowl with the flour. Coat well. Sprinkle in bottom of pie crust. Top with ham. Spread over the cheese. In a bowl mix eggs slightly beaten with milk and spices. Place over ham. Cover edges of pie crust to prevent burning. Bake at 400 for one hour until set in middle. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

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Tofu Scramble

I just made the yummiest dish. And I was excited to take a pic and share it. I charged the battery and grabbed the camera. Someone took the battery out, put it in the camera and left the cover down...draining the battery yet again. I am going to hide the camera. I am tired of not having it when I want it.

Anyways onto this. I bought tofu at Zehrs a few weeks ago. Figure I better use it so I found a recipe and adapted it. I am good at that. LOL. It turned out really well. I loved it. My son ate it. The youngest daughter...nope. But she's a very picky eater. She complained right away about the smell. Its the spices I told her. I told her it tastes delicious but she still didn't like it. But she's still happy because were making sugar cookies. And the dough is in the fridge chillin. Got another hour and then we can make ghosts and pumpkin cookies for Halloween. Were going to decorate them tonight.

Tofu Scramble.
Use enough oil to cover the bottom of your frying pan. Cut up one green onion. Use the green stem part to. Dice one green pepper. And mince two cloves of garlic. Add to oil. Cook about 3-5 min until they soften. Add a TBSP soya sauce, dash of turmeric, dash of curry powder, dash of basil leaves. Mash one pkg of tofu. Add to pan. Stir to coat. Heat 4-5 min until heated thoroughly.

Raspberry Sourdough Muffins

OK these have been the best things I have made with the sourdough so far. I was impressed. They were better than what you'd get at Starbucks. My youngest helped me make them but she didn't like them. My son devoured them. I used local raspberries grown organically and froze them myself. I washed them, put them on a cookie sheet and stuck it in the freezer. When frozen I stuck in a ziploc bag and kept it in the freezer. I do the same thing with blueberries when they're in season. This is worth keeping the sourdough for. So is the zucchini bread recipe I'll post in a few days.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cups for 24 muffins.

Crumbles:

1/3 c.brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 T. butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

In a bowl, blend until crumbly. I used a hand mixer.

Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup butter milk (to make use 1 tbsp lemon juice and add enough milk to fill to 3/4 line. Let sit 5 min)
1/3 cup oil
1 cup frozen raspberries (I froze mine fresh and organic from the farmers market)

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine. In another bowl beat the egg. Then add sourdough starter, buttermilk and oil. Mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir until just mixed. Do not over mix. Add raspberries and spoon into muffin tins filling to 2/3 full. Sprinkle crumbles over the muffins. The spots in the muffin tins that you don't use (I believe I had like 4) fill 1/2 way with water. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from tin and let cool on wire rack before storing in air tight container.

Apple Bread Pudding

My mom got a basket of apples from a coworker who has an orchard. They had spots on them so you can't eat them plain but they are perfect for baking. I've made an apple pie, apple cinnamon buns, apple crisp and this. I also have 6 bags of milk that need to be used up. You know the bags that 3 come in a big bag. Well I have 2 of the big bags that need to be used up by Monday. So I'm trying to get rid of the milk. This recipe was perfect. I've never had bread pudding before and this was delicious. The kids liked it too. I'm saving the rest for an after school snack for them. I don't understand how they can be so hungry after school. LOL. I did add more raisins. I used 3/4 cup. But only because I love raisins.

8 slices of bread with the crust trimmed
Butter to butter the bread and 1 TBSP for the frying pan
3 apples, peeled cored and sliced
8 tbsp sugar
2cups milk
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.

In 8x8 dish layer 4 slices of bread butter side up. In sauce pan place 1 tbsp butter and melt. Add apples. Cook for 3-5 min. Sprinkle with 2 TBSP sugar. Cook for 5 min till golden brown. You do not want them mushy.
Combine eggs. Slightly beat. Add remaining sugar and cinnamon. Heat milk over medium low heat till warm. Combine with egg mixture.
Placed cooked apples on top of bread. Cover with 4 peices of bread buttered side down. Pour over egg and milk mixture. Let soak for 30 min to absorb most of the milk.
Place in roasting pan. Fill pan with enough water to come up half way of 8x8 dish. Bake at 375 for 40 min.
Serve room or at room temperature. I added milk to the serving bowl.

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