Carrot-Banana Cake

2 cups flour
1 tbls ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c applesauce
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 c finely grated carrots
1 c mashed ripe banana
Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12 cup Bundt pan. Combine first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Mix in oil, apple sauce, sugars and eggs. Add carrots and banana. Blend well. Pour into Bundt pan and bake about 1 hour. Let cake stand in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool.

This cake is very moist and pretty sweet. The recipe had a cream cheese frosting. We tried it and didn't like it. I scraped it off and made a powdered sugar glaze and drizzled that one the top. PERFECT!! You could also just sprinkle it with powdered sugar. I imagine this recipe would make great muffins. Also, I don't think I even put in 1/2 cup of oil. I had some left over applesauce and put all that I had of it into the measuring cup and filled the rest of the cup with oil. I think you could leave out the oil completely and just use applesauce. It would be a little healthier.

Monster Cookies

I got this recipe from my friend, Teri, and Brad said he thinks they just might be his new favorite!

12 oz peanut butter (1 1/2 c.)
1/2 c. butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 c., 2 Tbsp, & 2 tsp. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 c. quick oats
1 c. choc chips
1 c. M&M's

Bake 350º for 10-12 minutes. This makes a TON of cookies!

Apple Pinwheels

I got this recipe from my mom, Yum!! It's like apple pie in a cinnamon roll form :)

1 stick butter
2 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 1/2 c. self rising flour*
1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. milk
2 c. finely chopped apples
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter in 9x13" pan. In saucepan melt sugar and water. Cut shortening into flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Add milk and mix until it pulls away from the bowl. Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/4" thick rectangle. Put cinnamon in apples and put onto dough. Roll up like a jelly roll and slice. Put in pan and cover with sugar water. Bake 55-60 minutes.

*Note- if you don't have self rising flour, you can make it! For 1 cup of self rising: 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt

Cornmeal Enchilada Pancakes

Fun new twist for enchiladas :) Brad and Annie both liked this one. Annie called them "lada pizza" Whatever works to get her to eat it! :)

Enchilada sauce:
1 lb hamburger
1 can tomato soup
1 qt. stewed tomatoes
1 tsp chili powder
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced (I only used about 1/4 of a green pepper)
1 cube beef bouillon, dissolved in 1 c. water
1/2 pkg enchilada sauce mix (I used the whole thing)

Brown hamburger and onions; add remainder of ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve over cornmeal pancakes.

Cornmeal pancakes:
2 c. cornmeal
1 c. flour
2/3 c. oil
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
Add milk until thin (like crepes)

Fry on hot skillet and serve with enchilada sauce, shredded lettuce, sour cream and top with a black olive. Serves 6.

Sweet and Sour Meat Balls

Stacey had this for us when we went down to hike Mt. Timp. Chad made it and it was DELICIOUS!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 c. oatmeal
2 eggs
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix & form into bite sized balls. Brown in a frying pan. Put cooked meatballs into a 9X13 pan.

Sauce:
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 c BBQ sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Mix sauce, simmer for 10 min. Pour sauce over meatballs and cook for 30 min @ 350 degrees. Serve with rice.

Stacey's 3 Step Caramel Brownies

These are the brownies that Stacey made for the 4th of July....yummy!!!


First--
German Choco. Cake mix
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 stick margarine/butter

Mix together place 2/3 of batter in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes.


Second--
1/3 c. evaporated milk
50 caramels or 1 package
Heat till melted. Stir together.. (warm up in microwave until melted)

Third--
Sprinkle 1 c. choco chips over baked mix, right when it comes out of oven.
Spread melted caramel over top.
Drop remaining cake mix on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, watch sides for burning.

Craisins Salad

I got this from April but it hasn't been posted. My family loves it and wanted the recipe so....

Head of Red leaf lettuce
Head of green leaf lettuce
Head of iceburg lettuce
8 oz. pkg shredded mozzarella
8 oz pkg shredded parmesean
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 oz craisins (dried cranberries)
1 c. sliced toasted almonds

Toss together.

Dressing:
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1 c. sugar
1/2 onion chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp mustard
1 c. vegetable oil

Mix everything in a blender except for oil. Add oil, blend again.

Makes a HUGE salad! (At Bri's blessing I only made half of the salad, just to give you an idea :D)

Mexican Cinnamon Brownies

We tried these for Cinco de Mayo yesterday. Annie had a blast mixing the dry stuff together and then eating what she helped make :)

3 oz unsweetened chocolate squares
1/2 c. butter
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 350º. Melt chocolate and butter over medium heat. Let cool about 15 min. Whisk eggs until foamy, add sugars and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. Stir in chocolate. In medium bowl stir flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add dry to wet and beat until smooth. Cook in 9x13 pan for 25-30 min. Makes 24 brownies.

We got this off of Family Fun's site.

Spinach-Artichoke Hummus

I saw this on Rachel Ray a long time ago and finally got around to trying it. I didn't put in the tahini because I couldn't find any at Winco, I only put half the garlic, and I used regular parmesean cheese. Brad laughed that it's definately chick food but my brother Mark liked it so.... there you go :D

1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
2 Tbsp tahini
1 garlic clove
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 box chopped frozen spinach (10 oz) defrosted
1 can artichokes (15 oz) drained
1/4 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Asiago cheese

In food processor or blender combine chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, freshly ground pepper, & EVOO and puree until smooth. Add the spinach, artichoke and cheese and pulse until everything is just barely combined.

Serve with cheese toast, crackers or veggies. Better after it sits a few hours.

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup applesauce
4 c flour
1 pkg chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and fold in chocolate chips. Bake 10-12 min @ 350° F.

Note: This recipe is also good with raisins.

Mom's Cheesecake

1 pkg graham crackers
1/2 c. butter- melted
1/2 c. sugar

2 pkg cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 - 8oz pkg whipped topping
2 cans cherry pie filling (or your favorite fruit topping)

Roll crackers until fine. Mix crackers with butter and sugar. Press into a 9X13 pan. Bake crust at 350° F for 5 min. Cool completely.

Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over crust. Chill. Cover with pie filling or other fruit.

My favorite non-chocolate oatmeal cookies

These are my favorite oatmeal cookies that don't have chocolate, super yummy!

Robin's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 c. raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
3 c. flour
4 c. quick oats
2 Tbsp hot water
Nuts (optional)

Bake at 375º for 6 to 7 minutes. Take out of oven when very lightly brown. Will cook more as they cool. Makes a thick dough. Yield: 8 to 10 dozen

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

These are my new fav!! Mom C. used to make them when the kids were growing up but hasn't made them since I met Brad so make them and let your family or self go down memory lane :)

1 3/4 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. nuts (opt)
18 large marshmallows cut in half

Sift flour; sift again with soda, salt, and cocoa. Cream shortening; add sugar gradually. Add egg and beat well. Add flour mixture and milk alternately. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake at 350º for 8 minutes. Top with 1/2 large marshmallow and cook 2 minutes more. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Note: We add half a bag of chocolate chips to the cookie mix at the end and omit the frosting. YUM!!

Fudge Frosting

This is Stacey's recipe and Brad's favorite on yellow cake.

4-6 Tbsp milk
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp vanilla

Bring to a boil, remove from heat, then add powdered sugar until desired consistency.

Mujadarah (Arabic Lentils and Rice)

So I found this recipe on my friend Sunny's page and thought I would try it while Brad was gone today. I was kind of unsure if he would like it and thought I would do a trial run on just me and Annie first. Annie loved it! It's super easy and a good recipe to rotate through some food storage every once and awhile. If you go to Sunny's page there is also a salad to go with it but I didn't have any of the ingredients for that so we just ate some peas. (Definately have to have some sort of veggie as a side to give it some color :D) Oh, and I cut it in half and there was plenty of left overs with just 2 of us eating it today. Try it out and tell me how you like it :)

Mujadarah

1 c. brown rice
6-8 c. water
1 1/2 c. dried lentils
2 chicken boullion cubes
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 Tbsp olive oil or butter
1 large onion
salt to taste

* Place brown rice and water in saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 20 min.
* Add lentils, boullion, pepper, cumin, and cook another 25 min, or until rice and lentils are soft (add more water if needed)
* Meanwhile, sauté onions in oil or butter until brown and carmelized (allow a lot of time for them to carmelize).
* Add onions to the rice/lentil mixture a few minutes before it is finished.

Thanks Sunny for the fun recipe!