Date Nut Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 regular loaves or 8 small loaves
  • 2 tbl butter melted
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups stoned dates (12 oz) cut in small pieces
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 3 ½-4 cups flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp salt

Pour boiling water over dates and baking soda in large bowl. Cool. (The dates absorb some of the water during this process). Blend in remaining ingredients. Grease and flour pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes for large loaves. Check doneness with toothpick. Cook small loaves for only 35 minutes.

“Vegetarian” Meatloaf

Ingredients

  • 1 can (6oz) no-salt tomato paste
  • ½ cup dry red wine (optional)
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp dried basil or 2 fresh basil leaves
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 16oz ground turkey
  • 1 cup oatmeal (we used gluten-free)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups zucchini, grated
  • 1 cup chopped mushrooms

In a small sauce pan combine first 7 ingredients (tomato paste through salt). Bring to a boil then let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a separate bowl combine next 5 ingredients (turkey through mushrooms) & ½ cup of the tomato mixture. Mix well.

Shape into loaves & place into an ungreased loaf pan. My loaf pans are packed away, so I just used tinfoil in a long glass pan.

Note: some parents will definitely let their kids combine the meat & veggies into a loaf, but I chose to do that part myself…I’m a bit squeamish about touching raw meat, so I haven’t yet let Addi.

Bake 45 minutes.

Discard drippings, then pour ½ of remaining tomato mixture over the top of the loaf.

Bake another 15 minutes.

Then place on serving platter, cool for 10 minutes, slice & serve with remaining tomato sauce.

Macaroni and Cheese

One Pot, Stove Top Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

The key to keeping this recipe creamy is to make sure the flame is low and to consistently stir the pot. The mac elbows need to be cooked slowly in the milk and any high heat will cause the milk to curdle. Don’t leave the pot unattended.

Obviously with the stove top, there won’t be that cheesy crust that forms on top. But toppings of toasted bread crumbs or bacon should be a nice exchange.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups large elbow Macaroni, uncooked (about ½ lb)
  • 2 cups Milk
  • if needed, additional ¼ cup milk or water for final cooking
  • 1 tablespoon Butter, for flavor
  • ½ teaspoon Mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt, plus additional for final season later
  • generous dash of Nutmeg
  • 1 cup Grated Cheese, any one or combination of ( jack, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, gouda, parmesan*, asiago*, pecorino*) *Hard cheeses are best combined with a secondary, softer, better melting cheese.
  • additional toppings: bacon bits, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, diced tomatoes (optional)
  • black pepper to taste (optional)

Directions

  1. Place raw elbow macaroni in colander and quickly rinse under water. Let drain.
  2. In medium sauce pan (about 3.5 qt), add milk, raw elbow macaroni, salt, butter, mustard powder and nutmeg.
  3. On medium heat, slowly bring milk/macaroni mixture to a simmer, stirring the macaroni frequently as it comes up to a simmer. This will separate macaroni and keep them from sticking together. DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE! The milk mixture will come to a boil very quickly and leaving it unattended will leave a big mess on your stove stop.
  4. Once mixture comes to a simmer, immediately turn down heat to LOW. Macaroni will slowly cook in the milk. Having your heat too high will evaporate the milk too quickly!
  5. Continue to stir the mixture frequently so that macaroni will cook evenly and absorb milk evenly. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until milk has been fully absorbed.
  6. If macaroni is not cooked fully, add a little more milk or water to mixture ( in small amounts) until macaroni is fully cooked. This will take about another 5 minutes.
  7. When milk has evaporated, stir in grated cheese of your choice. Stir the cheese evenly into the macaroni.
  8. Turn off heat. Place lid on top of pan and cover for about 5 minutes. This rest period will allow macaroni to plump up and absorb any excess milk.
  9. Take a final taste and add additional salt to taste. Before serving, stir one final time to mix everything together.

Serve immediately. Feeds about 3-4 people.

best stove top macaroni and cheese recipe

Toasted bread crumbs: I love toasted bread crumbs and it’s so easy to make. Just break up some old bread, heat it up on a skillet. Continue stirring until crumbs start to brown and become fragrant. Remove from heat and top off your macaroni and cheese!

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • One 12 oz can evaporated milk (I used skim, evaporated milk keeps the egg and milk from curdling)
  • ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled to room temp
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend, recipe calls for Italian fontina cheese)
  • ½ pound elbow macaroni or mini penne tubes, par cooked and drained (this means cook them for about five minutes until tender but not completely cooked)
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Spray the inside of your slow-cooker with cooking spray or grease it with olive oil. Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and salt in slow-cooker and whisk until until smooth (or you can use an immersion blender to do the whisking for you).

 

Add the shredded cheese (not the Parmesan) and macaroni, sprinkle with black pepper (and whatever other spices you want to use). Stir gently with a spatula to coat evenly.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to LOW and cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours, until custard is set in the center and the pasta is tender. The macaroni and cheese may sit in the cooker on the KEEP WARM setting for 30 minutes before serving. Before dishing it up, I sautéed some bread crumbs with olive oil and sprinkled them over the top to make it a little fancier.

Refried Beans

This recipe is one of my favorites. It makes massive amounts of refried beans, which I love eating plain for a snack. Yes, really. They can be used in burritos, as a side dish, or just about any way you want. They freeze and reheat well, so I always put some in the freezer in meal-sized portions. Technically, you can just eat these the way they are without mashing too. It’s up to you.

Ingredients:

6 cups dry beans (I usually do half pinto and half black beans)
2 T. canned green chilies (less if you don’t like it spicy)
2 T. salt
2 tsp. pepper
2 T. minced onion
garlic – lots of garlic (probably a tablespoon)
1 tsp. cumin (less if you don’t want it spicy)
15 c. hot water

Rinse the beans then toss everything in the crockpot (a very big crock pot, at least 5 quarts). Cook on HIGH for about 8 hours or until soft. Then drain off some liquid(and save it in a bowl in case you need it when mashing) and mash the whole pot of beans.

Wild Rice Chicken Soup

Wild Rice Soup
recipe by Jennifer Moore

¼ cup butter
1 medium onion
¼ cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup diced ham
½ cup finely shredded carrots
3 T. sliced almonds
½ t. salt
Pepper to taste
1 pint half and half
Snipped fresh parsley

Saute onion in butter. Blend in flour and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in broth and cook to a simmer, stirring. Add ham, rice, carrots, almonds, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add parsley and half & half. Heat to serving temperature.

Quiche

4 eggs
2 cups half and half
⅛ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
⅛ tsp. nutmeg
4 ounces Jarlsburg or Gouda
2 ounces Mozarella or Jack/Cheddar
1 9 inch pie shell

Whisk together eggs and half and half. Add seasonings. Place cheese in pie shell, pour mixture over cheese.

Bake for 15 min in preheated oven, reduce heat to 350° and bake f0r 25 min until crust golden and filling set. Allow to set 5-10 minutes before serving.

425°

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Total Time: 50 min

 

Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef Recipe:

makes 2 servings

You will need:

 

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise

¼ cup of cornstarch

3 teaspoons of canola oil

½ teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)

1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)

½ cup of water

½ cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes

3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

 

 

Prepare the meat:

First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch (see picture bellow).

Make the sauce:

Heat half of the oil in a large wok at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don’t worry if the sauce doesn’t look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later.

Cook the meat and assemble dish:

Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.

Serve it hot with rice.