Granola

Last night I made granola for this morning. There is nothing like yogurt, fresh berries and homemade granola. All of my kidos liked it, which is always a big accomplishment. Granola is very easy to make and you can freeze it so it will stay fresh. Here are a few of my recipes.

Best Granola
INGREDIENTS:
1 Box Zoom Hot Cereal
8 C. Old Fashion Oats
2 C. Brown sugar
2 tsp. Salt
Mix all together in a large bowl.
Mix together in a separate bowl:
1 ¼ C. Oil
1 ¼ C. Water
5 tsp. Vanilla
Pour over oat mixture. Place on two large cookie sheets. Bake for 2 hrs at 250. Stir every ½ hour and rotate baking racks. Note: For this recipe you can substitute honey for the brown sugar. However, add the honey with the wet ingredients before mixing with the oat mixture.
After baking add slivered almonds, craisins, raisins or what ever other creation you can come up with!

Homemade Granola
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 POUNDS:
7 C. Rolled Oats
2 C. Almonds
1 C. Sesame Seeds
2/3 C. Canola Oil
2/3 C. Brown Sugar
½ C. Maple Syrup
¼ -1/3 C. Honey
¼ C. Shelled Sunflower Seeds
¼ C. pumpkin Seeds
2 tsp. Sea Salt
4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 C. Dried Fruit and/or 1 C. Coconut Flakes (Optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. In a saucepan combine sugars, honey, salt, oil, and vanilla extract. Cook until sugar and salt are melted. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Heat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour onto baking sheets and spread until evenly distributed. Depending on the level of tastiness, bake for 20 to 35 minutes or up to 40 minutes; checking often until you achieve the color that you want. Stir once or twice and rotate positions. If adding fruit, add when it comes out of the oven or during the last 5 minutes. Let cool completely. Serve over yogurt and fresh berries or fruit.

The Art of Biscuits

Up until about the last year, I would just assume to buy the store bought biscuits sold in a tube. Homemade biscuits can be so dried out. Well, now I make my biscuits. I have found that I would rather just cut them into squares with a pizza cutter instead of cutting them with a round cutter. Here are a few recipes that I have tried that have been yummy!


This recipe is like the flaky biscuts that you can buy at the grocery store, only better and with out all of the preservatives that you find in premade food. I looks more complicated than it is.
Flaky Biscuits
INGREDEINTS FOR 10-12 SERVINGS:
2 ½ C. Flour
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbs. Shortening
1 ¼ C. Cold Buttermilk
8 Tbs. Unsalted Butter, Cut into 1/8 –inch Slices
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening to flour mixture in ½ inch chunks. Mix using your fingers until only pea sized pieces remain. Add all but 2 Tbs. of buttermilk to flour mixture and mix with fork. Add remaining buttermilk if needed. Dough should be sticky, but come off sides of bowl. Spray work surface and rolling pin with nonstick spray. If you continually sprinkle flour over the work area and rolling pin, you will add too much flour to the dough. Transfer dough onto center of prepared work surface and form dough into a ball. Pat down into a 10-inch square, then use a rolling pin to roll into an 18 X 14 inch rectangle. Think about how to fold a business letter into thirds to fit into an envelope. Thinking of the dough as a letter, place butter slices on center of third of dough. Using a scraper to pull the dough up, fold the bottom third onto the center third and then place butter slices on it. Next, fold the top third down. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the folding and butter placement. You should end up with a lumpy rectangle that is about 6 by 4 inches. Place dough in freezer for 15 minutes. Remove from freezer. Roll dough into 10-inch square about ½ inch thick. Cut dough into 3-inch squares using a pizza cutter. Transfer squares to an ungreased baking sheet placing 1-inch apart. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake until the tops are golden, about 15 minutes.
COMMENTS: This recipe came from the Black Bear Inn in Tahoe, Ca.


This recipe is very easy.
Cream Biscuits
INGREDIENTS FOR 1 DOZEN:
2 C. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Sugar
1 to 1 ½ C. Heavy Cream
1/3 C. Butter, Melted
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425. Use an un-greased baking sheet. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in dry ingredients with a fork to blend and lighten. Slowly add 1 cup of cream to the mixture, stirring constantly. Gather the dough together, when it holds together and feels tender, it is ready to knead. If the dough seems shaggy and pieces are dry and falling away then slowly add enough additional cream to make the dough hold together, Place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead for 1 minute. Pat the dough into a square that about 1 inch thick. Cut into 12 squares and dip each into the melted butter (or just brush the tops). Place the biscuits 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly brown. Serve hot with jam.

Warm Cherry Cobbler

We had Cherry Cobbler tonight for dessert and it just hit the spot. We had it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I found it on allrecipes.com.
Enjoy!!

Cherry Cobbler
INGREDEINTS FOR 8 SERVINGS:
3 Tbs. Butter, Melted
1 ¾ C. Sugar, Divided
1 C. Flour
1 Tbs. Cornstarch
¼ tsp. Salt
1 C. Boiling Water
1 tsp. Baking Powder
3 ½ C. Fresh Cherries, Pitted
½ C. Milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix ¾ C. sugar, butter, flour, salt, baking powder, and milk together. Place cherries in the bottom of a 9-inch square pan. Spread dough over cherries. In a small bowl, combine 1 C. sugar and cornstarch; stir in boiling water. Pour mixture over the dough. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve warm.

Cherry Ammond Muffins

So yesterday, I was up to my 'pits' with cherries. Some friends invited us over to pick cherries. My kidos loved it. The older ones love to climb the tree and get the high ones. We picked about 10 pounds. I went and bought a cherry pitter and it works wonders. I made two batches for Cherry preserves and I am going to make more. It turned out so yummy. I highly recommend it. Meanwhile, I went on the Internet to find some cherry recipes. I went to Taste of Home and found this muffin recipe. It was so yummy and it has been added to my collection of recipes. Hope you enjoy it.
Cherry Almond Muffins
By Melissa Maseda
INGREDIENTS FOR 7 SERVINGS:
1 ¾ C. Flour
½ C. Plus 1 Tbs. Sugar
½ tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
¼ tsp. Salt
½ C. Cold Butter
1 Egg
¾ C. Sour Cream
1 tsp. Almond Extract
Topping:
1/3 C. Flour
2 Tbs. Sugar
2 Tbs. Cold Butter
1/3 C. Chopped Sliced Almonds
Filling:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, Softened
1 Egg
¼ C. Sugar
½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
¾ C. Cherry Preserves, Warmed
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat the egg, sour cream and almond extract until smooth; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thick).
For the topping, combine flour and sugar in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in almonds; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla until smooth. In a saucepan over low heat, warm preserves. Fill grease jumbo muffin cups half full with batter. Divide cream cheese filling and preserves evenly between muffin cups; swirl gently. Cover with remaining batter. Sprinkle with topping. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Makes 7 jumbo muffins or 14 regular muffins.

Pure YUMMY!

I have always loved Country Fried Steak. This recipe is the best that I have ever had.

Country Fried Steak With White Gravy
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 SERVINGS:
1 C. Plus 1 ½ Tbs. Flour
3 tsp. Creole Seasoning
1 Egg
1 to 3 C. Milk, As Needed
4 (6-8oz.) Cube Steak
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
Canola Oil, For Frying, As Needed
½ C. Minced Yellow Onion
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine 1 C. flour with 1tsp. Creole Seasoning in a ziplock bag. Whisk the egg, ½ C. milk, and 1 tsp. Creole Seasoning in a shallow bowl. Season the steaks all over with 1 ¼ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Dredge the meat in the seasoned flour, then dip in the egg wash, letting the excess drip off, and then dredge in the flour a final time. Set steaks on a tray. Place ½ C oil in a large pan. Heat until it is hot but not smoking. Carefully add the steaks and fry until golden, 3 minutes per side. Transfer them to paper towels to drain. Add remaining steaks to the pan, and cook in the same manner. Add the 1 ½ Tbs. flour to the pan and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Add the onion and cook stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in 1 ½ C. of the milk, the remaining 1 tsp. Creole Seasoning, remaining ¼ tsp salt, and the remaining ½ tsp. pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, until the sauce had thickened and there is no raw flour taste. Add additional milk as necessary to achieve the desired consistency. Serve steaks with the hot gravy and mashed potatoes.
COMMENTS: for homemade Creole Seasoning combine 2 ½ Tbs. Paprika, 2 Tbs. Salt, 2 Tbs. Garlic Powder, 1 Tbs. Pepper, 1 Tbs. Onion Powder, 1 Tbs. Cayenne Pepper,1 Tbs. Dried Oregano, 1 Tbs. Dried Thyme. Makes 2/3 cups.

The Father's and Son's camp out is one weekend that our whole family looks forward to. the boy's camp and the girl's have a girl's only night. We always have fun. I really love the time that I get alone with my girls'. I stumbled across a link when I was browsing Homemaking Honeys. So, I thought that my girls would have fun making these.

You can find the Instructions at http://the-wilson-world.blogspot.com/2011/03/rainbow-waffles.html These would be great for St. Patrick's day as well.

Taco Chili

Today, in sunny California, it is not so sunny. It is cold and this day in May feels like a day in February. I wish the cold would fly away and not come back for a long time. I am ready for the heat! In the meantime, I can still make this yummy chili that is so easy. The first time that I had this, I was at a Releif Society meeting at church. It will help warm up up on this cold rainy day!

Taco Chili
INGREDIENTS:
1 Lb. Lean Ground Turkey
½ Yellow Onion, Diced
1 ½ C. Chopped Celery
15 oz. Can of Tomato Sauce
1 Small Can Diced Green Chilies
1 or 2- 15 oz. Cans of Sliced Stewed Tomatoes
4 -16 oz. Cans of Beans (2 kidney, 1 white, 1 pinto)
1 Packet Mild Taco Seasoning
1 Packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
½ tsp. of Cumin
16 oz. Bag of Frozen White Corn
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a skillet or large frying pan, brown the turkey. At half way through add the onions and celery, then transfer into a large stew pot. On medium high heat add one by one the remaining ingredients. Do not drain anything, just dump them in. Heat thoroughly on low heat for 30-40 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips or crunchy tostados, shredder cheddar cheese, sour cream, and sliced avocados.
COMMENTS: This makes a huge pot. WW point value is 1 per Cup.