Clean Eating

Eating as fresh as possible! 

Good afternoon everyone. I hope you have had a safe day indoors. During this rainy, stormy time of year, it's a great time to cook up some fresh farm stand produce to put up for winter! 

I am asked all the time how to eat healthy, on a budget, and feed a family that is picky. Here are some starters, get them all in the kitchen to help.

1.  Kids will eat more of what they prepare, they take pride in what they do themselves! 
2. Make gardening, grocery shopping, going to local farm stands, orchards a family affair. 
3. Plan your menu for the week, don't eat on impulse.
4. Buy in bulk, it's cheaper and it will last you a lot longer. 
5. If you have picky eaters and they don't like veggies- sub hamburger meat in any casserole or sauce with "Morning Star" Meal Starter, tastes like beef, cooks like beef. Great substitute for tacos, spaghetti, etc. 
6. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Stay away from anything processed, in a can, or "easy, convenient" foods such as frozen dinners, boxed meals, snack foods. 
7. Be careful of "diet" foods- it's filled with stuff you don't need, nor should you consume it. It's a HUGE marketing tool and people spend millions of dollars annually for the quick fix. Eating healthy is eating what God provided us. Lean meats, fresh produce and fruit. If you stick to those foods, you should do okay.
8. My last advise- STAY AWAY from margarine! You are better off eating a small amount of the real thing! Also use real sugar, there is nothing wrong with these things in moderation. 

Here are some great places to shop in the DFW area

1. Farmer's market- 5507 E Belknap Street, Haltom City, TX, 76117-4614. Phone: (817) 838-8526
2. Dallas Farmers market- 1010 S Pearl Expy  Dallas, TX 75201 (214) 939-2808
3. Hamm's Orchards- 11939 County Road 309 Terrell, Texas 75161972-524-2028

Things that freeze well, place all in freezer safe bags and label with the date

Summer squash and Zucchini, boil lightly and allow to cool. 

Tomatoes- dice and freeze or blanch and freeze

Peas and Beans

fresh corn- take off the cob, cook lightly in seasonings and a little butter

Cranberry, White Chocolate and Almond Cookies

Hello everyone, Here is one of my favorite cookie recipes.. Sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Some baking tips; If you want thin crispy cookies use butter. If you want soft, fat, chewy cookies use shortening.
Always use a stone and parchment paper. This makes sliding them off onto a counter top to cool very easy!

Now for this yummy recipe~

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup butter flavored shortening
2 TB milk
1 TB vanilla
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup slivered almonds

Heat oven to 350. Line your stone with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat on medium speed sugar, shortening and egg until creamy and light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla, continue beating.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda- add into the creamed mixture until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips, cranberries and almonds until all combined.

Place spoon fulls of dough onto the lined stone and bake until golden brown. Approximately 13 minutes.

Enjoy~

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1 cup of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
8 oz sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Topping
1 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tsp sugar
1 TB ground cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture by spoonfuls into the wet ingredients until just combined, don't over mix.

Make topping by mixing together the chopped pecans, sugar and cinnamon.

Grease a tube pan, put about 1/3 of the topping mixture on the bottom, layer with batter, topping, batter  and ending with more topping.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack before turning out onto a platter.

Enjoy~

My Easter favorite, Millionaire Pie

2 cups sifted powdered sugar
 1/4 lb butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (9 inch) pie crusts, baked
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions:


Cream 2 cups powdered sugar and butter with electric mixer until fluffy.

Add eggs, salt and vanilla.

Beat until light and fluffy.

Spread mixture evenly into baked pie crusts. Chill.
Whip cream until stiff.

Blend in powdered sugar; fold in pineapple and pecans.
Spread mixture on top of filling and chill thoroughly.

Chocolate Cobbler

Chocolate Cobbler
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups self rising flour
¾ cups milk
2 sticks butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup + 1 TB cocoa powder
2 cups boiling water


1)Melt 2 sticks butter in a 9 X 13 pan.

2)Mix together in bowl- 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour, 1 teas. vanilla, 3/4 cup milk.Pour this over the melted butter. Just drizzle over the butter.

3) In another bowl-Mix 1 cup sugar, 1 cup + 1 Table spoon cocoa. Now sprinkle this over the mixture in pan. DON'T STIR! Just sprinkle.

4)Now add 2 cups boiling water over the top of all of the above. DO NOT STIR! Just pour over all.

5)Bake 350- uncovered 30-45 min. May be runny when removed from oven-it's okay- let sit & liquid will be absorbed & thicken. Serve with ice cream- alone warm or cold.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

Ingredients


1 medium-size purple onion
1 (16-ounce) package fresh broccoli florets
1 (3.75-ounce) package sunflower kernels
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup mayonnaise
4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Preparation
Cut onion into thin slices; cut onion slices in half.
Stir together onion and remaining ingredients. Chill at least 2 hours.
NOTE: For a lighter version, substitute turkey bacon and low-fat mayonnaise

Cinnamon Rolls~ My Mom's recipe

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Dough1/3 cup warm water
2 packages yeast (active dry)
1 T sugar
¾ cup milk
½ butter
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
¾ cup sour cream
6 cups flour
Filling¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp nutmeg or cloves
½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
½ cup raisins (optional)
Frosting2 cups powdered sugar
4 TB butter
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple syrup
　

Directions for Cinnamon Rolls

In a large bowl, add yeast, water, and 1 TB sugar. Mix and let stand about 5 minutes. The mixture should start to bubble.
Melt ½ cup butter in a saucepan, add milk to warm and ½ cup sugar.
Beat eggs slightly with whisk and add to yeast mixture.
Add the butter, milk and sugar mixture, stir together.
Add sour cream.
Add 5 cups flour and mix in last cup as needed to form a soft dough. Knead about 10 minutes until dough is soft and elastic.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover. (spray bowl with cooking spray). Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Punch down dough to deflate. Let rest about 10 minutes.
Roll out dough to 18x20 inches on floured surface. Brush with ½ cup melted butter. Lightly brush far edge with water.
Boil 1 cup water and add raisins. Boil raisins for 2 minutes, drain and place on paper towel to absorb additional moisture.
Mix together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves.
Sprinkle sugar mixture over the butter on dough. Then sprinkle raisins and nuts over the sugar.
Roll dough into a jellyroll longways and seal the seam.
Cut dough into equal pieces 12 to 16 depending on thickness try not to exceed 1 ½ inches in width.
Place pieces in 9x13 inch greased baking dish (use cooking spray)
*** over night baking method*** cover dish with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight. Next morning, let rolls set at room temperature 30 minutes to 1 hour. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
***Regular baking method*** bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Let stand 5 minutes before frosting.
FrostingMix cream cheese and butter until smooth, add powdered sugar, mix until smooth add vanilla and syrup, continue to mix until smooth.

Pecan Praline Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

Crust
1 1/2 cups vanilla wafers- crushed
1/2 cup finely chopped pretzels
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350
In a medium bowl, combine vanilla wafers, pretzels, pecans, butter, egg and mix until well combined. press into a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake for 6 minutes- Let cool. Wrap with several layers of heavy duty foil (this will keep water from coming up the sides and into the cheesecake).

Pecan Praline Filling
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
2/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup melted butter
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, stirring constantly- reduce to simmer and cook 8-10 minutes until thickened. Pour into crust and let cool.

Cheesecake Filling
3 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups firmly placked dark brown sugar
2 TB all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy. Add sour cream, and beat until smooth. Add brown sugar and flour, beat until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time and mix until well combined. Stir in vanilla and and cream. Pour over the praline topping.

Place the spring form pan (wrapped in foil) into a large roasting pan. Pour cold water into roasting pan to come up half way. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the water for 1 hour. Remove spring form pan and place on cooling rack.  Run a knife around spring form pan to loosten the cheesecake/ remove the pan.

Chocolate Ganache
10 oz bittersweet chocolate chips, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 TB unsalted butter
1 TB light corn syrup

In a small sauce pan heat the cream, butter, and corn syrup over medium high heat until mixture boils. Pour over chocolate, whisking to comibine. Pour mixture over top of the cheesecake and use a spatula to spread if needed. Allow to cool 30 minutes.

Place in refrigirator over night ~ Enjoy~

Carolina Biscuits and Tomato Gravy

Yummy Carolina Biscuits (cream cheese biscuits)

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 and 1/3 cup butter, softened

2 Cups self rising Flour

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the cream cheese and butter until well combined. Add the flour and pulse until it forms a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill.

Pat out biscuits to desired thickness/ cut with a biscuit cutter and place on a stone or cookie sheet. Bake at in a preheated oven at 425 until golden brown.



Tomato Gravy

Another favorite by my guests; This is an old recipe that my Grandmother use to make while I was growing up and visiting her in Florida. It's a southern recipe, most found in Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana and Florida. It's cream gravy/ with thinly sliced tomatoes in it.

For best results on gravy- Use bacon grease as your base/ aprox 3 TB grease to 3 TB flour. You want to make sure your grease is hot, add your flour and stir until it's all combined. If it's a really thick paste add a little more grease. You want to be able to stir this. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir until it's a nice golden color (this is called a roux). Add your milk/ I use half milk and half heavy cream (about 2 cups). Stir until well combined and let your gravy come to a boil, stirring often.. Now reduce to low and let it simmer while everything else is cooking.. Best resutls for gravy, the longer it cooks the better it is. Once you have it at the desired consistancy/ add thinly sliced tomatoes and let it simmer. Add milk if needed. Right before serving/ place 1TB butter in gravy and stir, this gives it the nice shiny, silky texture.

Gravy is one of those things that takes lots of practice. The more you make it, the better it becomes.

Baked Chicken with Stuffed Tomato

Good morning everyone,

Today is a day for family favorites! I have already posted a "must have" chicken salad recipe. Both of these recipes are ones that are requested most times at my retreat. This one is my Mom's recipe, she found it years ago and we have served it several times for family, friends and at the retreat. Now, like my Mom I don't always use or write down a recipe- so if you have any questions, please let me know.

Baked Chicken with a Stuffed Tomato

For best results- split your chicken breasts through the middle to make them thinner and pound them out.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split and pounded (enough for your family)
Velveeta cheese slices
Cream of chicken soup
Milk
Peperidge Farm Stuffing Mix (comes in a bag, use the seasoned variety)
Tomatoes, thick sliced (large tomato should give you 3 slices)
Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a 9x13 casserole dish, sprayed with cooking spray. Place Chicken breasts in casserole dish. Place 1 slice of cheese on top of each chicken breast. Mix together cream of chicken soup and just a little bit of milk, just spreadable consistancy. Spread the soup mixture over the top of each chicken breast. Place a tomato slice on top of each chicken breast. Place butter in microwavable dish (about 1 TB for every 2 chicken breasts), melt butter. Place peperidge farm stuffing mix in a bowl (about 1/4 cup per slice of tomato). Pour melted butter into the stuffing mix, stir until well coated. Spoon the stuffing mixture onto to the top of each tomato. Bake at 350 until done, aprox 25-30 minutes for thin breasts.

Again- no recipe, sorry! If you have any questions, let me know. Enjoy everyone!

Stacy's Chicken Salad

Good morning everyone,

I am sitting here watching Food Network while waiting on my next group to arrive. It's always fun planning the groups menu for the weekend. This is how my creativity comes through!

For today I thought I would share a family favorite.

Stacy's Chicken Salad

3 cans cooked chicken, drained and shredded (I like the Sam's Members Choice the best- it's less salty than others)
1 large can of pineapple crushed and drained
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
about 3 TB real mayonaise, more depending on taste (I use Hellman's)
1 tsp of kosher salt

Mix together and serve with croissants (again, I like Sam's croissants or Panera Breads the best/ no one comes close to either one and trust me I have eaten several)!

Now~ You can use any type of chicken- boiled, roasted, smoked, etc. I like the texture and the flavor with the canned chicken. Plus this makes a quick easy dish.

Hot Cocoa Mix

Here is a family favorite during the winter months. Enjoy~

Hot Cocoa Mix
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered creamer
1/8 tsp salt
Mix 3-4 tablespoons with boiling water
Makes 4 cups of mix

Glazed Orange Pound Cake

6 oz Unsalted butter, softened
1 cup orange juice, fresh or bottled (1/4 cup set aside for glaze)
9 oz (2 cups) all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp +a pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 oz (1 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 9x5 loaf pan with butter and flour

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachement- beat the butter and sugar until fluffy on medium high speed, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time until just incorporated, scraping down the sides, add vanilla. Add the flour and orange juice starting and ending with the flour. Mix until all combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, slightly drop onto counter to remove any air pockets.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool on wire rack.
Mix the remaining orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Drizzle over pound cake.

Enjoy~