Hamburger Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c butter
2 T flour
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 4 oz can mushrooms (drained)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 c sour cream
2-3 c cooked egg noodles


Brown meat and onions in butter.
Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and mushrooms. Cook stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Stir in soup. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Stir in sour cream. Heat through.

Serve over hot noodles.

I usually do this recipe more like a casserole and mix it all together and reheat in the oven when it is time to eat, and use my more formal recipe like the traditional stroganoff sauce, served over noodles.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Mmm...these turned out DELICIOUS! They were worth every minute of waiting.

1 C sugar
2 T softened butter or margarine
1 t vanilla
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled*
2 eggs
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c powdered sugar

Cream sugar, butter, vanilla and chocolate together in mixer. Add eggs one at a time. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Chill in fridge for 3 hours. Remove from fridge, roll in powdered sugar, and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

*2 T melted shortening with 6 T cocoa mixed in is equivalent to 2 oz. baking chocolate

NOTE TO SELF: Don't make these cookies for a road trip. Try something without the messy powdered sugar, or you'll have to start over just as you finish them up. :)

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

I've never made this kind of cookie before, but they have sounded SO yummy lately, that I thought I'd give it a try and see if they are as good as the commercial ones that I have had. I just pulled this recipe off of a blog that came up when I googled it.

1 C butter, softened

1 C sugar

3/4 C brown sugar

2 t vanilla

1/2 t salt

2 eggs

2 1/2 c flour

1 t baking soda

10 oz white chocolate

1 c macadamia nuts coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter, sugars, vanilla and salt until creamy. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour and baking soda gradually until well blended.

Stir in white chocolate and nuts. Drop by teaspoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until set (edges are golden brown and center is set). Remove to wire rack and cool.

The dough is pretty tasty. And the finished cookies were to die for.

This is definitely a recipe that I will make again!

Applesauce Banana Oat Muffins

At our house we love muffins. But I just can't justify the cost or the amount of fat in store bought muffins. So we make our own. Ever few months, I make several batches of different kinds and then freeze them. My husband takes out one or two each night for breakfast the next morning. Because he gets up at about 5:30 to swim, he eats as soon as he gets to work, so things that travel well, reheat well, and that have some variation, but are also semi-healthy are important.

This is a variation that I tried today on the previous banana bread recipe. I tried to make it a little healthier, although removing most of the shortening would have helped a lot too.

1 C shortening
2 C sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 C bananas (blended)
1 1/2 C sugar free applesauce
1 t vanilla
2 C white flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1 C rolled oats
2 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt

Cream together shortening, sugar, eggs, bananas, applesauce, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients just until moistened. Scoop into sprayed or lined muffin cups or small loaf pans. Cook at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or longer if needed.


I love these small bread loaves that I got from my mother-in-law. They are about the size of 2 muffins.
For this recipe, I blended the 3 bananas that I had and then just added enough of my homemade applesauce (that I bottled last fall) to make 3 C total. This recipe also calls for 4 C flour, so I combined flour and oats to make 4 C. Any combination of these to equal 4 C will work, but I suggest more flour than oats.

Remove finished muffins to a cooling rack.

ENJOY!

Banana Bread

This is an old family recipe that came to us from my uncle's mother, Helen Jones. It is likely an old pioneer recipe, although I really don't know where she got it from. It has always been a family favorite. My mom swears that the older and browner the bananas the better. With three kids at home, my bananas don't usually last that long.

1 C shortening
2 C sugar
4 eggs
3 C bananas (about 5 bananas)
1 t vanilla
4 C flour
2 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 C walnuts (optional)

Cream together the shortening, sugar, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients until just mixed. Spoon into 2 paper lined (or spray with no-stick spray) loaf pans. Cook at 300 degrees for 1 hour or longer if necessary.

ENJOY!

Things I take for granted

Do you ever get a slap in the face when you realize that you are being a big baby over something that you should cherish and respect, and that you are taking for granted? This happened to me this week. Every year, as summer ends, I am ready for the kids and Brian to go back to school, and get back to my schedule, and me time. With our big project in our house this year, Brian and I have spent a lot of time closely working together on the project, and expressing our different views of how things should get done. We don't always agree, and since we do things very differently, sometimes, we get frustrated with each other. The last few weeks, I have not been the nicest person to be around.

Then, on Saturday, Brian did a charity race, and I got online to try to get the results from his race. As I was browsing through all the web pages that came up when I googled the race name, I came across a blog that touched me deeply.

An acquaintance of our was killed one year ago in a plane crash in Guatemala while on a humanitarian mission with the company that he worked for. At first, all I could think of was that it was supposed to be one of our very dear friends on the plane. Then, I realized that the person who went instead was someone that I knew too. I cried for his dear wife and children that were left behind to continue this mortal life without him.

As I was searching for race results, I came across the blog of this wife. Although I have only met her, and don't know her well, she inspired me greatly. She continues on in life, caring for her children, and loving her husband deeply. All the while, looking for the good in life and trying to be positive and happy. Realizing that her Heavenly Father is guiding her life and sending angels to her and her children to help them through the hard times.

It was for her husband and 3 others killed in the plane crash that Brian raced on Saturday.

I realized then that I am taking for granted the most important person in my life. I have not been a loving wife to Brian the last few days. I am being a big baby because he is around too much. Instead, I should cherish every minute that I have with him. Not everyone has that blessing in their life.

Taco's

Tonight for dinner is one of my very favorite foods...tacos. I don't know why I like tacos so much, but I always have. It's easy to make, I always have the things on hand, and the kids rarely complain about it, although it's not one of Brian's favorites. Last month, he actually asked for tacos because he loves the uncooked tortillas that I have started buying at Costco.

Browned, crumbled hamburger
Taco seasoning
Refried beans
Cheese
Salsa
Taco Sauce
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Warm Tortillas
Onions

Recently, after I had made pork tacos, I had some black beans, pico de gallo, and tomatillo ranch dressing left, so I used it on this taco recipe. It was amazing, but I don't usually have those things prepared and on hand, and they go too far for one dinner of tacos, so I just use those when they are handy.

I always make my tacos the same...tortilla, beans, hamburger, cheese, sour cream, salsa, taco sauce, onions, guacamole, and lettuce. It just doesn't taste the same in a different order. I can't wait for dinner tonight.