easy as pie

Once a month we have a “PIE” night. I’ll explain that in my blog sometime.

This recipe is for our family’s favorite pie I’ve made so far.

RAZZLEBERRY PIE:

Go to the store. (I like Smith’s; they have good sales.)

Buy a Razzleberry Pie (you could substitute another pie at this step)

Take the pie home and put it in your freezer

Bake it according to the box when you want it.

Enjoy!

Turkey Noodle Soup

This is a fabulous post-Thanksgiving recipe. You can combine several of your leftovers, including the gravy (what do you do what leftover gravy?)! I altered the recipe just slightly to accommodate what we had in our fridge, but you get the general idea.

Oh, and yes, it tastes delicious.

Ingredients
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (I made 30 ozs of broth using bullion)
3 cups water
1 3/4 cups slices carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 (12 ounce) package frozen egg noodles (I used Country Pasta from the pantry)
3 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas
2 (1 ounce) packages instant chicken gravy mix (I just poured in what I had left over)

Directions
1. In a large saucepan, bring the broth, water, carrots, onion and celery to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 4-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add the noodles. Simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes or until noodles are tender.
2. Stir in turkey and peas. Combine gravy mixes and cold water until smooth; stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

kid-friendly cranberry sauce

This stuff isn’t pretty but it sure tastes good.

Was I a weird kid to love cranberry sauce?

Am I still weird because I take cranberry sauce to Thanksgiving dinner and am the only one who eats any?

I had a complete can, minus one serving, of cranberry sauce to use up and looked for some recipes.

After finding a few that said kids would eat it I adapted them to use stuff I already had.

I thought it turned out really yummy and actually has kind of a pudding texture.

With some whipped cream on top it would make a nice light dessert.

Orange Cranberry Sauce

1 can of jellied cranberry sauce

1 small box of orange jello (sugar free worked great)

1 cup of sour cream or yogurt (I used Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt)

1 cup boiling water

(I used my immersion blender to mix everything together and it worked like a charm.)

Blend orange jello mix with boiling water.

Blend in cranberry sauce.

Blend in sour cream or yogurt.

Pour into bowl and refrigerate until set. (5 hours or overnight.)

apple crisp

this is just a really good recipe for

Apple Crisp

(from The Essential Mormon Cookbook)

3 large apples (Golden Delicious or Rome Beauty)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup rolled oats

Ice cream or whipped cream, if desired

Peel, core, and thinly slice apples. Arrange in buttered 9-inch-round baking dish. Combine brown sugar and flour. Cut butter into mixture as for pastry. Stir in rolled oats. Spoon topping over apples, pressing down lightly. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes. Sere warm with ice cream or whipped cream. Makes 4 servings. (Those are some pretty generous servings. I would say 6 servings)

soft whole-wheat breadsticks

I got a cookbook from the library called Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy. It is filled with lots of good tips and recipes and I decided to try this recipe out.

The breadsticks were good. The thing I liked best about them is that they were faster to make than other breadstick recipes that I have made. The only changes I made was that I used 1/4 cup pf melted butter instead of a 1/2 cup, and I left off the cheese. The butter seemed like enough, but if you don’t care about the extra calories I am sure the extra butter would make them even better.

Soft Whole-Wheat Breadsticks

1 Tbsp. yeast

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 cups hot water

1/2 cup butter

Garlic Salt

Italian Seasonings

Parmesan Cheese

Sift first 3 ingredients together with 2 C. flour. Add hot water and beat until well blended. Mix in remaining flour. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise 15 minutes. Knead on lightly floured surface. Spread dough evenly on sheet-cake pan. (I used a 10x15 and it was perfect) Using a pizza cutter, cut lengthwise down center and then crosswise every 2 inches to make breadsticks. Spread melted butter over tops. Sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasonings, and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Crock-Pot Apple Butter

This apple butter is a little different than what I grew up eating, but it is simply delicious.

The apple cook so long they turn into a spicy, mooshy, spread. mmmm.

And besides, your house smells heavenly for a day.

I can’t remember where I originally found this recipe.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

yield: 4 pints

5 1/2 lbs of peeled and finely chopped apples (about 16 1/2 cups)

4 cups of sugar

2-3 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1. Place apples in a LARGE bowl.

2. Combine sugar & spices in a separate bowl.

3. Pour over apples & mix.

4. Place in crock pot (it fills my 7 quart)

5. Cook on high 1 hour

6. Turn it to low and cook it for 9-11 more hours

7. Stir occasionally

8. Uncover and cook 1 more hour

9. Whisk until smooth

10. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch head space

(Its also good to just eat at this point, very yummy on top of oatmeal. Not that I would know. . .)

ham and fresh tomato quiche

We have a great crop of tomatoes and I did an internet search for something new to put them in. We love quiche and this was savory and yummy.

My changes: I used a little skim milk instead of the half and half. I was out of parsley so I left it out. I used some onion powder instead of onions because the kids don’t eat things when they can see the onions. And I used a mexican blend shredded cheese because it was already shredded.

Ham and Fresh tomato quiche

Total Time: about 60 minutes Source: about.com

Ingredients:

• 1, 9-inch pie crust, unbaked (I just made my own)
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• dash nutmeg
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar or Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped ham

Preheat oven to 400° F.
Pierce unbaked pie crust several times with fork; set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, and seasonings. Sprinkle cheese, vegetables, and ham over unfilled pie crust. Pour in egg mixture. Bake at 400° for 45 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned.
Serves 6 to 8.