YANKEE FROSTING

2 c. powdered sugar

2 1/2 T. cream or evaporated milk

4 T. butter

1 t. vanilla

1.  In a saucepan, over medium, heat cream and butter until butter is melted.  Stir in the vanilla nad powdered sugar.  Remove from heat, and beat with mixer until thick and smooth, about 3 minutes.

Use to "glue" ginger bread houses together or to just frost a cookie.Much better tasteing and less fussy than Royal Icing.

GRAMMY'S CRANBERRIES

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Bring to a boil. Add

1 bag cranberries (12 ounce)

Turn burner down,simmer 20-30 minutes(medium low, 3 on my stove).

Take off stove.  Add

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon nutmeg

11 oz. manderine oranges, drained

3 oz. orange jello

Stir 2 minutes.  Cool at room temperature then refrigerate.

Makes 3-4 cups.

This is Grammy's Cranberry Sauce recipe, Kelly's mother Varrel.  I think this recipe is from the 1950's.  After the war (1945) the most up-to-date, most exciting recipes used the newly minted, packaged foods.  Brands like Jello, General Mills, Campbells, were brought to you through the miracle of television.  It was even preached that babies should be feed pasturized canned milk from steralized baby bottles instead of feeding them the old fashioned unsanitary way.  When Varrel's family sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with green bean casserole, they felt gratitude for plentiful food, easily preserved and distributed around a now safe world.  The future was bright in America.

From the 1980's on Grammy would make gallons of this and pass out jars of it to the whole family every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was used all month and into January, like jam on toast and sandwiches.  It is one of Chad's favorites.

After Grammy died no recipe was found, for years she had made it from memory.  I had written it down several years earlier but there were different versions held by different family members.  I tried all combinations, letting Chad test each one until we found the most acurate recipe.  Thank you Grammy, you did good.

It's a Burger Night!!!

So...you begging for a Burger but without the cholesterol. Here are a few I found, both I tried out this week and really liked. Here they are:

Veggie Burger 
This recipe I got off my cousin's blog.  She is way into nutrition and a terrific cook.  I have piratically loved EVERYTHING she has posted.  Anyway, here is the recipe she posted that I tried (you can check it out on her blog too.  I didn't have any kidney beans so I just doubled the black beans and it still turned out great):

1 can Kidney beans, rinsed

1 can Black beans, rinsed

1 c. brown rice, cooked

1 c. rolled oats, dry

¼ c. ketchup, BBQ sauce or other sauce you enjoy

4 t. Mrs. Dash or other desired spice

(makes 8-10 burgers)

Mash beans in a bowl with potato masher or a fork.  Mash until beans are mixed together and sticky, but you can still see parts of the whole bean.  Add rice, oats, sauce, & spices and then stir until all the ingredients are mixed together well.

Roll appx. 1/3 c. of mixture into a patty & put on a pan lined with waxed paper.  Put in refrigerator for about 10 minutes to dry out a little.  Cook on a hot pan or grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until well cooked.  You don’t have to worry about under cooking because there aren’t any raw ingredients, but just cook until heated through.  Add cheese, if desired, and let melt on top.  Serve on a wheat bun with desired toppings (spinach, onion, tomato, pickle & sauces)

 

Here's also another winner of a recipe:

 

Black Bean Sloppy Joes

This Recipe I got off the vegkitchen.  Joel and I really liked it, but it might of had a little too much "KICK" for the kiddos. 

1 Bell Pepper, finely chopped

1 medium Onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (15oz) cans of black beans, drained

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

1 (15oz) can fire roasted diced Tomatoes

1 Tbs. Brown Sugar

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce or Soy Sauce

In a large sauce pan, saute bell pepper, onion and garlic.  Add beans, cumin, coriander and cook on medium low for 5 minutes.  

 

Meanwhile, in a blender, add tomatoes, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce) and blend until smooth.  Pour blended tomatoes into bean mixture.  Simmer for 3 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve on whole wheat buns with your favorite burger fixings. 

Then FINALLY, what goes GREAT with Burgers.  Well.... FRENCH FRIES of course.  But how about instead of frying them, we bake them.  Much better for the cholesterol. ;)

 

Baked Dill French Fries

6 medium Russet Potatoes

2 Tbs. olive oil

1-2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Pepper

1-2 tsp. Dill

Chives (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Rinse potatoes and then slice potatoes wedges, "french fry" style.

In a large bowl, add olive oil, salt, pepper, dill and chives.  Then toss to where all fries are covered.  Then on a greased cookie sheet, spread out fries on baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  Then flip fries over and bake another 15 minutes.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or just eat plain. 

Hurry Up Black Bean Soup

This is a "SOUP"ER (yes I'm that cheesy) easy and DELICIOUS Soup.  I tried this recipe out last week and it was a big hit, even with the kids, so it's definitely a keeper.  I found this recipe here, and then made some minor alterations.  Here is what I did:

Ingredients
 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon of paprika 
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 can tomato sauce
Approximately 1 Tbs. of orange juice
 4 15-ounce cans black beans, drained (I cooked 1lb of dried black beans and used about half to 3/4 of what I cooked)
3 cups chicken broth
salt
Plain Yogurt
Avocados (diced)
Frito Chips

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot and sauté the onion over medium heat until it's translucent, around 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and the spices and sauté another half a minute, until the pot is fragrant, then add the tomato sauce and orange juice and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the beans and broth or water, along with salt to taste, and bring back to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Use a potato masher or hand blender to puree some of the soup, then taste for salt and add more broth or water if the soup is too thick.
5. When served, add on top, a dollop of plain yogurt, some diced avocados, and Frito chips sprinkled on top.

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! ENJOY!

White Bean Chili With Andrew's Bread Sticks 

White Bean Chili(what David calls "Chili Chili Bang Bang")
2# ground beef
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1/2 onion chopped
2 cups small white beans(dry)
1 pkg. chili seasoning mix (1.25 oz.McCormick)
2 quarts water 

16 oz. tomato sauce
1 cup salsa

cheese

Brown ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic.  Drain.
Combine in crock-pot with onion, beans, seasoning, and water.
Cook on high 4-6 hours.  Add tomato sauce and salsa and cook additional 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with Cheese or stir in.     (Half recipe feeds 4 with no leftovers)


Andrew's Bread Sticks
Spray 2 loaf pans.  Put 2 loaves rhodes bread dough in and cover with sprayed plastic wrap.  Let thaw about 4 hours.  Roll about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut in half(pizza cutter work well)and then cut in strips about 3/4 inch thick.
Melt about 6 Tablespoons butter on a deep plate.
Roll bread sticks in butter and place close to each other on 14x17 inch cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with Salad Supreme Seasoning,
Laurys Seasoning Salt and parmasan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Bake 375 degrees 12-15 minutes.