Crock-Pot Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken Teriyaki
1 yellow onion, sliced into rings
2 large chicken breasts, I cubed them into 1 inch pieces, you can use chicken tenders or just leave the breasts whole, it is up to you.
1 bag baby cut carrots
1 can pineapple chunks with juice
3/4 c. Teriyaki sauce
Put it all in a freezer bag, freeze it and save it for a rainy day.  You can also leave out the pineapple chunks, and just add them when you throw it in the Crock-Pot, since they are canned.

8 hours on low or 4 hours on high

Serve over rice.

Zucchini Bread

I got the recipe from a friend, and of course I tweaked it a bit when I made it. 

Bonnie's Zucchini bread
3 eggs
1 c oil
2 c sugar
2 c blended zucchini (peeled and seeded)
3 t vanilla
Beat eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla. When blending zucchini, you may add a little water if needed.
3 c flour
3 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients; mix well. Bake at 1 hour @325. Makes 2 5x8 pans. Freezes well.

Jana's Version of Bonnie's Zucchini Bread
3 eggs
1 c oil
1 1/2 c sugar
2 c blended zucchini (seeded, not peeled)
1 T. vanilla
Beat eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla. I used a food processor to blend up the zucchini, I didn't have to add any water.
2 c flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. cinnamon
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients; mix well. Bake at 1 hour @325. Makes 2 5x8 pans. Freezes well.

 My little helper, what a goof

 1 good sized zucchini

 take out the seeds and the spongey area surrounding them

 cube up zucchini and put it in the trusty food processor

 scrape down sides and blend again

 measure out the 2 c you need 

* I made two batches, so I measured 4 c. here

 My helpers! Cook with your kids, they will love it!

 Add 3 eggs 

 Add 1 c. oil

 Add 1 T. vanilla

*Note: 3 t. vanilla is the same as 1 T. vanilla, 

so save yourself measuring 3 times and measure once!

 Add 1 1/2 c. sugar

* I cut out 1/2 c. sugar, it is still plenty sweet

 Mix

 Add 2 c. flour and 1 c. whole wheat flour

* I like to add a little whole wheat flour when I can,

It gives it more texture and added goodness

 Add 1 T. cinnamon, 1 t. salt, 1 t. baking powder and 1 t. baking soda

(what a silly girl!)

 Mix well

 Place in two 5x8 inch bread pans

TIP OF THE DAY: cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the bread pan, lay it in the bottom, spray sides and bottom with cooking spray, add dough.  When you go to take the bread out of the pan, you will not have any problem with it sticking on the bottom, and the sides come loose with just a quick once around with a bread knife.

 Bake at 325 for about 1 hour

 The mess! 

And this doesn't even include all the food processor pieces.

 Baked up and ready to eat, YUM!

 It is so good and moist, it doesn't even need butter!

Master Muffin Mix

I found this recipe on Pinterest and ended up making some tweeks of my own to it.

One place I found it was
Home Joys: http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2010/01/master-muffin-mix.html
Another was
Super Healthy Kids: http://www.superhealthykids.com/mastermuffinmix.html

Original Master Muffin Mix
6 c. whole wheat flour
6 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
4 T. baking powder
1 T. salt

Master Muffin Mix - sweeter
6 c. whole wheat flour
6 c. all purpose flour
4 c. sugar
4 T. baking powder
1 T. salt

I doubled the sugar from the original recipe.  If you want to have muffins that taste more like bread, stick with less sugar.  If you have a sweet-tooth like me, you probably want to go with more sugar, even with 4 cups, it is not overly sweet. 

Mix up all the dry ingredients with a whisk and store the mix for up to -- weeks.


Muffin Recipes:

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk - yum, yum, yum!
2 3/4 c. Master Muffin Mix
1/3 c. melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. Nestle mini chocolate chips
Mix until just blended, bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.  Yields 18 muffins.
  

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. peanut butter
  - Mix and add;
1 t. Karo syrup
1 t. vanilla
3 eggs
   - Mix and add;
4 c. oatmeal
2 t. baking soda
1 c. M&Ms  (instead of 1 c. m&ms and one c. choc. chips, I use 1 bag of mini M&Ms, it is about 1 1/2 c.)
1 c. chocolate chips

Bake at 325 for 12 minutes, I made mini cookies, bake for 9-10 minutes.  DO NOT OVERBAKE!!!  Take the cookies out of the oven when they are getting golden on the bottom edge and are still soft on top.  Leave cookies on sheet for 5 minutes to cool.

Oatmeal Scones - YUM!

Oatmeal Scones
3 c. Oatmeal
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 c. sour cream
1 c. melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together, then add sour cream and butter.

There are a couple ways you can bake these. Both use a round baking stone and are baked at 420 degrees.

1st - Grease the stone and pat all the dough out on the stone in a large circle that is about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, cut the dough into 12 pie shaped pieces and seperate the sections by 1/2 inch. They will bake back together, but if you skip this step, you will have doughy scones. Bake for 20 minutes.

2nd - Grease two baking stones, use the large pampered chef scoop and scoop out 12 individual scones per stone, 9 around the outside circle and 3 in the center. Makes 2 dozen scones. Bake for 15 minutes.

Mexican Lasagna

I know it has been ages since I have updated this blog, but I am back!

Here is what we had for supper last night, it is one of "Jana's Creations."  That is what my husband calls it when I cook with out a recipe, using the ingredients from the fridge and the cupboard. I am sure there are many recipes for similar dishes, but the great thing about cooking this way, is you can use what you have. Next time, you can make something similar, but change it up, you could add chicken or beef, possibilities are endless!

Mexican Lasagna
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 19 oz. can enchilada sauce ( I used mild, you could use medium for more kick)
2 c. frozen corn, thawed
2 roma tomatoes, diced
4 c. shredded cheese (I used a mix of Monterey Jack and Colby, you could also use cheddar)
6 flour tortillas (10 inch)
   Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non stick spray. Cut 3 of your tortillas into quarters. In a medium bowl mix the refried beans, black beans and 1/2 of the enchilada sauce. Put down your first layer of tortillas in the pan, use 4 quarter pieces with the points into the corners and one whole tortilla in the middle of the pan. On top of this smooth out 1/2 of the bean mixture, sprinkle with cheese. Put down another layer of tortillas, smooth out the second half of the bean mixture, sprinkle the corn evenly over top of the beans and then sprinkle with some more cheese. Top with the 3rd and final layer of tortillas, pour the last half of the enchilada sauce on top of the tortillas, sprinkle the diced tomatoes evenly on top and then add more cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so. 
*For faster cook time, I heated the bean mixture in the microwave and soaked the corn in warm water, then strained it. I baked it at 400 for 20 minutes.*

Tortilla layout

Ready to bake

 Just out of the oven

Plated and ready to enjoy!

Bran Muffins

Here is a great recipe for bran muffins that doesn't use bran cereal. All 'whole' ingredients, for those who want to stay away from processed foods!

Bran Muffins
1 c. bran
1/2 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. applesauce
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 T. oil
1 t. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together, add remaining ingredients, mix well. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

BBQ Beef Brisket

Here is a recipe requested by a friend from work. I will be making this in a few days for our annual Halloween bash, so I can add pictures then. This recipe is from my husbands step-grandmother, it is great!

BBQ Beef Brisket
1 3-7 lb. beef brisket
5 oz. lite soy sauce
2 - 10 oz. cans beef consomme soup
1 T. cider vinegar
3 T. liquid smoke
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. garlic powder

Combine marinade ingredients, trim brisket, marinate in covered dish for 24 hours, you can also use a gallon ziploc bag. Flip brisket at about 12 hours to redistribute marinade. Place brisket and marinade in a covered pan, bake for 3 hours @ 300, slice and return to pan for another 2 hours. Serve with beef juices, you can make a thin gravy with it if you like.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

Mmmmm. I have made these a couple of times now, great bars! Pictures will be added soon.

1 c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 c. oatmeal
2 c. chocolate chips
Cream shortening and sugars, add eggs and vanilla, add dry ingredients, add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake at 350, 20-25 min. for a 10 x 15 pan, or 35-40 min. for a 9 x 13. I like the 9 x 13.

Carrot Cake

I have no pictures for this one, I am putting the recipe out there for Mary Anne R. My mom made this cake, it is great if you like raisins in your carrot cake, I do not.

2 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1 c. lightly packed brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. butter, softened
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
3 c. grated carrots
1/2 c. crushed pineapple, drained
1 c. raisins
1 c. walnuts, chopped
Mix all ingredients together, begin with dry, add liquids, then fruit and nuts, pour into two 9 in. rounds and bake @ 350 for 60-70 minutes.
Icing:
6 oz. cream cheese, soft
1/2 c. butter
1 T. lemon juice
2 t. vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar

Cheesey Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Soup

4 c. water
2 c. chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 12.5 oz. can chicken, with water
1 12 oz. bag frozen broccoli florets, chopped
1 8 oz bag shredded cheese, cheddar or colby
2 c. cooked rice
1 t. onion powder
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. parsley

Combine, bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often, cheese and rice sink to the bottom and stick!

Healthy Vegetable Soup

This is a soup I made Friday night for supper, it turned out really good. It is based on this recipe that I got off of Shannon A.'s - We're Eating What? blog.

Shannon's recipe

Jana's Version
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
Saute until onions are golden, then add:
3 leeks, rinsed, chopped
6 cloves of garlic
Saute for another minute, then add to pot with:

1 bell pepper
3 roma tomatoes
4 large russet potatoes
2-3 carrots, I used about 1 1/2 cups
1 cup lentils
6 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
additional water to fill the pot
4 bay leaves
Lawry's season salt
ground pepper

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 min.
Remove bay leaves, then add:

1 c. frozen peas
3-4 handfuls of spinach
1 lb. crispy fried bacon, chopped

Simmer for another 5 minutes and serve.
Makes 7-8 quarts of soup.

All the ingredients, looks very healthy, doesn't it!

Peel onion

Slice one way

Then cross chop

rinse leeks

Lay leek flat and cut in half down the center

There will still be dirt between the leaves, even after rinsing

Bend the leaves backwards so the splay apart and you can easily rinse in between them

All the leeks cut and rinsed

cut the leaves off where they start to get dark green

cut off the root and check the first couple of layers for dirt, rinse if you find any

slice down the center

Cross chop

3 leeks makes about 5 cups of chopped leeks

Pretty bell pepper

Cut out the stem

Quarter and remove the white flesh and seeds

slice and then cross chop

3 roma tomatoes

Remove stem ends, cut in half, slice and then cross chop

Carrots, I used the baby cut carrots, all you have to do is chop

about 1 1/2 cups, you can use more if you want

4 big potatoes, peel

cut in half and then I sliced each half into 8 sticks,
cross chop and you get nice cubes.

If you cube potatoes ahead of time,
put in cold water to prevent oxidation, turning brown.

6 cups chicken broth, 4 bay leaves, Lawry's, ground pepper

Saute onions in olive oil

until golden brown,

6 peeled cloves of garlic

Add leeks and garlic to onions and saute for another minute

Add lentils, tomatoes and red bell pepper to pot

Add onions, leeks and garlic to the pot

Add potatoes and carrots to the pot

Cover, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes

Add peas, handfuls of spinach and bacon
(*bacon was unfortunately unable to make it to the photo shoot)

Mmmmm, the finished pot of soup

Served up

Enjoy with fresh bread and friends!