Taco Seasoning

We are doing a taco salad potluck tomorrow, but i have not bought taco seasoning in over a year. Instead I make my own, and it looks a little like this:

1Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red peper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper

Normally I brown my 'ground meat of choice' up with an onion. Afterwards, I add this to it with about a cup of water per pound. You may only need half of the mix per pound, depending on how spicy you like your food ;)

Brownie Pudding

For some reason, when I was little I thought this was the most amazing recipe to make, and remember making it a lot.. I think it was one of the first 'recipes' I remember trying to make...  lately it feels like I have gone to people's homes for dinner a lot, and last night I brought the dessert... here it is... because I did not know how many people would be there, I made one and a half batches...and baked it in one of those in between size pans...

Ingredients

1

cup all-purpose flour

3/4

cup granulated sugar

2

tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2

teaspoons baking powder

1/4

teaspoon salt

1/2

cup milk

2

tablespoons cooking oil

1

teaspoon vanilla

1/2

cup chopped walnuts

3/4

cup packed brown sugar

1/4

cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2

cups boiling water

 

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, granulated sugar, the 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, the baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir in the walnuts.
2. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar and the 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Stir in the boiling water. Slowly pour brown sugar mixture over batter.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 45 to 60 minutes. Serve warm. Spoon cake into dessert bowls; spoon pudding from the bottom of the pan over cake. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/brownie-pudding-cake/

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup with Chickpea Croutons

Emily and I got the squash pack from Bountiful Baskets a couple of months ago. Besides the spaghetti squash and acorn squash, we ended up with 7 butternut squash. This past week, we finally finished them off using this recipe. The original recipe came from My New Roots, but we adapted it to our tastes. I think the chickpeas really provide a good balance for the soup, so don't leave them out.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
1 large yellow onion
4 large cloves garlic
2 tsp. coconut oil or olive oil, plus olive oil for garnish
salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
4 cups vegetable broth
2 tsp. ground turmeric powder
1-2 tsp dried rosemary and thyme (optional)
Chickpea croutons (Recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut the butternut squash into even chunks and place on a baking sheet. Peel and cut onions into quarters, add to baking sheet. Peel whole cloves of garlic and add to baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss well to coat. Place in oven and roast until the squash is tender.

In a large blender pour 4 cups hot vegetable broth, turmeric, rosemary and thyme. Remove butternut squash from skin and add the roasted vegetables to the blender. Blend on high until completely smooth (let blender run for a minute or so). If the soup is too thick, add more broth to thin to desired consistency. Season to taste. Serve with croutons.

Croutons
3 cups or 2 cans cooked chickpeas – drained and well-rinsed
3 Tbsp. coconut oil or olive oil
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. smoked paprika or ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp. chili powder

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the chickpeas in a medium bowl and toss with oil and spices until coated. Spread the chickpeas on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put in oven until they turn golden and crisp up, stirring occasionally. It takes about 25-35 minutes. They will crisp a little more outside of the oven, so you may want to take them out before they are completely crisped.

New York Style Cheesecake

Every year for Heather's birthday we make this. I think it is probably my favorite cheesecake recipe I've ever made, but I would recommend having other people around to eat it. It's pretty rich. Most people use graham crackers for the crusts of their cheesecakes, but I think this crust is way better. It almost tastes like a sugar cookie. Combined with the smooth texture and flavor of the rest of the cheesecake this really is one of the best recipes out there. I originally got the recipe from Kyle.

½ C. Butter

¼ C Packed Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

1 ¼ C. Flour

4 8­oz pkg. Cream Cheese

1¼ C. Sugar

¼ C. Flour

1 TBS Vanilla

2 8 oz Sour Cream

¼ Sugar

1 t Vanilla

Preheat to 350. Beat butter 30 sec. Add brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add one egg; beat well. Slowly beat in 1 ¼ C flour. Divide in half. Cover and chill one portion.

Spread remaining portion of dough onto bottom of 10­inch spring­form pan with side removed. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Cool. Attach sides. Press chilled dough about 1¾ up the side of the pan.

Increase oven temp to 450. Combine cream cheese and sugar; beat until fluffy. Beat in ¼ C. flour until smooth. Add remaining eggs and 1 TBS vanilla; Beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in ½ C sour cream. Pour into pan. Place in shallow baking pan and bake 10 min.

Reduce temp to 300. Bake 30 minutes, or until center appears nearly set when gently shaken.

Remove from oven. Combine remaining sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Spread over cheesecake.

Bake 15 minutes more.

Cool on wire wrack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust; cool 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan. Cool completely. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours. Let stand 15 min at room temp.

Chicken Pot Pie

The original recipe I got from: http://www.blendtec.com/recipes/rosemary_veggie_pot_pie?utm_source=Blendtec+Recipe+Emails&utm_campaign=2182259ab5-Rosemary_Veggie_Pot_Pie_1_21_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8c09bd62ec-2182259ab5-216083825

I ended up flavoring it a little more and adding more veggies to it... so I know you guys do not have a blender but your food processor probably works...

1 1/ 8 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2tsp granulated sugar
5 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
4 tbsp ice-cold water

4 potato, diced
1 1/4 c carrots, diced
1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter
1/4 c whole wheat flour
2 c vegetable broth
1 stalk celery, diced
3/4 c frozen peas

1/2 onion, halved
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For the whole wheat pie crust: add first 4 ingredients to Twister jar and place Twister lid on jar. Hold Twister lid and with other hand, press "Pulse" 10-12 times until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water and replace Twister lid. Hold Twister lid and with other hand, press "Pulse" 8-10 times until dough is formed; do not over blend. Remember to turn Twister lid counter-clockwise during blending. Remove dough and pat into a smoothi disc, wrap disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours before rolling out dough. Makes one 9-inch pie crust or 8 tops for individual ramekins.

For the pot pie filling: Preheat over to 425°F. Spread out diced potatoes and carrots and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in oven for 10 minutes. 

Add onion, garlic, and fresh rosemary to Twister jar and secure gripper lid. Press "Pulse" 4-6 times until all ingredients are well chopped. 

Heat butter in medium saucepan until it starts to sizzle. Add flour to make a roux. When roux is heated and moisture is soaked into the flour, add broth, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients, including potatoes and carrots. Heat until filling is bubbly and thick. Pour into 9-inch pie plate or individual ramekins. Place pie crust over top of filling and press dough into dish with a fork. Make 3 slits along the top of the crust for steam to vent while baking.

Reduce heat to 400°F. If baking in pie plate, bake for 40-45 minutes. If baking in individual ramekins, place all ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is slightly browned.

I ended up baking it in an 8 x 10 pan for almost an hour... oh and I also sautéed some chicken w/ salt and pepper in a little olive oil at first, but then added water at the end of their cooking...

Lemon (or Grapefruit) Yogurt Cake

The base of this recipe is from one of my favorite cakes, which is a Grapefruit Yogurt Cake. However, Dad can not eat grapefruit because of his meds, so I switched it out to Lemon to see how it would turn out... and it worked... (from http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pink-grapefruit-yogurt-cake-recipe/)

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 1/2 pink grapefruits
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup canola oil

Grapefruit Syrup
1/4 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit
2 T granulated sugar

Grapefruit Glaze
1/3  cup powdered sugar
2-3 T freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Dust lightly with flour too. Set pan aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

In a small bowl, add the grapefruit zest to the sugar. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant, In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, sugar, and zest with large spoon or spatula. Whisk in the eggs- you can do all three at once. Mix until smooth and then add in the vanilla and stir again.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until flour is incorporated

Add the oil and mix well. It might take a minute to get the oil mixed in, but it will.

Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until your cake tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center.

Cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes and then remove from the pan. While cake is cooling make the syrup and glaze.

For the syrup, in a small sauce pan add the grapefruit juice and sugar. Whisk over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

For the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice. If it is too thick, add more juice, if it is too runny, add more sugar.

Poke little holes into the cake with a toothpick. Spoon the grapefruit syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Let the cake cool to room temperature and then add the glaze. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Favorite Coffee Cake

Carrie, one of my first roommates in Ogden made this coffee cake often... it's not healthy by any means, but I love that the streusel goes all the way through it and is soft....

1 1/5 C Flour
3/4 C Sugar
2 1/2 teas Baking Powder
1/4 C Oil (shortening or butter)
3/4 C Milk
1 Egg

Mix these ingredients and poor into a greased 8 x 8 inch square pan.

In smaller bowl mix:
1/3 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C Flour
1/2 teas Cinnamon
3 T Melted Butter

Sprinkle over batter in square pan, and bake at 375 for 25-30 min.