Recipes to Share!

Here are the links to some recipes we have been enjoying lately!

Breakfast Cake - so yummy and healthy -- for the most part!  My husband LOVES this recipe and always asks for more!) :)

French Toast with Berry Butter - for the time when blackberries or raspberries just happen to go on sale; another winner with the husband!

Whole Wheat Cornbread - the perfect addition to chili, soups, and stews

Crustless Quiche - great for the day you don't want to mess with a pie crust and just use what you have in the fridge...very flexible!

Cheesy Beef and Rice - easy and nutritious!

THM Peppermint Chocolate Milkshake - I make ours without the chocolate chips since my husband doesn't like the crunch in his drink, but I have had it with the chocolate too, and both ways are delicious!

And one other new favorite:

German Apple Pancakes

4 eggs
3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 T. butter
2 medium apples thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400.  While it is heating up, place a glass 9x13 dish in the oven with the butter to heat.  Meanwhile, beat the eggs, flour, milk and salt together.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.  When the butter has melted, take the pan out of the oven and move the melted butter liquid around until it coats the sides and bottom of the pan.  Spread the apple slices on the bottom in a single layer.  Pour the batter on top.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  Serve immediately.

Katrina's Note: I usually halve this recipe for just the two of us and make it in a square 8x8 or 9x9 glass pan.  It is super simple to whip together (15 min. tops!) and makes for one happy husband!

A Healthier Cake

I went hunting for a whole-wheat-and-honey cake recipe this afternoon so I could have a healthier dessert ready for my husband when he arrived home tonight from being out of town.  We've been fighting a lot of sickness over here lately so I knew I didn't want any sugar entering the cake and thus compromising our immune systems further.  Truvia hasn't been working too well in recent recipes either, so that sugar substitute was out.  I have had great success baking with honey (the raw, local, good-for-you kind) in foods like banana bread, baked oatmeal, and cookies, but I've never been able to make a cake turn out wonderfully with honey.  Tonight, though, I decided to give it another go.

And I'm so glad I did!  This recipe proved to be just what I was looking for: healthy, delicious, and it called for ingredients I already had on hand.  Best of all, it passed the husband test!

We'll definitely be making this again! :)

More Recipes to Share

Some new recipes I tried over the last couple of weeks that we really enjoyed:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Best Chicken Enchiladas (with homemade sauce!)

One Hour Yeast Rolls (whole wheat)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Parsley Pesto:

(I know you usually make pesto with basil, but I have a pot of parsley growing on my window ledge and needed a way to use it.  I remember sometimes my mom would make pesto with parsley growing up, so I searched online for a recipe and found this one.  It is super delicious!  I'll speak for myself on this one, though, as pesto is not Nathan's favorite.) :)

Almond-Parsley Pesto:
1 packed cup fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds (or chopped)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a blender, combine the pesto ingredients and process until smooth, adding more oil if necessary to create a sauce-like consistency.

Passing On Some Yumminess...

I apologize for the quietness on the blog lately!  We have been extra busy, Isaac has been extra energetic and in need of more guidance in his daily activities, and I have been extra tired. :)  But here I am again, ready to share with you some yummy recipes we have tried these last couple of weeks.

Have you ever made green bean casserole with fresh, whole green beans and no cream-of-something soup?  I had not...until this lovely little recipe popped up on my computer screen.  Well, actually, I didn't even make this one; Nathan did.  But since I helped by finding it and buying the ingredients, we'll say I was part of it, 'k?  Anyway, this casserole was SO TASTY!  It seemed a bit laborious, but super delicious.  A great way to use green beans from the garden! (Note: you can totally use whole wheat bread for the topping if you want the fiber content!  We did, and it turned out just fine.)

Oh, and while we're on the subject, here is another recipe using fresh green beans that is my standard go-to when I need an easy way to prepare them.

With the start of an AWANA club at our church on Wednesday afternoons as well as the need for a quick and easy lunch right after church on most Sundays, I have been utilizing my crock pot a lot more than in the past. As a result, I've been scouring the internet for good crock pot recipes!

This honey mustard chicken dish was amazingly easy to throw together and only calls for 5 ingredients (if you don't count salt and pepper)!  Better yet, these five ingredients are ones I nearly always have on hand.  We really liked the flavor of this dish, although the chicken turned out a bit on the dry side.  I'm not sure if it was due to the altitude issue here or the time it cooked, or what exactly.  Regardless, I'm going to try it again sometime and slice the chicken up so the sauce can saturate it a bit more.  Even with slightly dry chicken though, there was plenty of extra sauce to smother it with, so all was well!  My husband even said, "This sauce is really good" - and he doesn't usually like mustard!  (score!)

Another crock pot recipe we tried from the same website is called Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  Seriously, I think my husband would be happy to eat pulled pork every day of his life.  It is his FAVORITE!  And this was a winning recipe.  Easy to make, easy to eat. :)

This week, we'll be trying a Brunswick stew in the crock pot, so if it's any good, I'll let you know.  In the meantime, if any of you have super yummy crock pot dishes, please pass them on!  I'm always looking for ideas in this department now that I need them at least twice a week. :)

Last night was Chinese night here.  Nathan is not a big fan of Chinese food, but he does like General Tso's Chicken, so when my sister-in-law shared this recipe, I thought I'd give it a try.  We also had two guy friends from church over, and the dish was a hit with everyone!  We all agreed that it didn't taste much like General Tso's Chicken from a Chinese restaurant, but it was definitely delicious and a recipe we'd eat again!  Everyone thought it fit more in the orange chicken/sesame chicken type of category (even though there was nothing orange in it...maybe just the sweetness factor?).  For sides, we had this recipe of fried rice (made with smoked turkey sausage instead of ham) and egg rolls.  So good!

Okay, I think that's all the recipes I'll inundate this blog post with for the time being.  But stay tuned!  More are sure to come in the following weeks as I have fun experimenting with new dishes! :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I finally figured out the secret to making "perfect" chocolate chip cookies at high altitude!  Before, when I would try to make chocolate chip cookies from a variety of recipes, I could never get the right texture, no matter how much extra flour I added or how much longer I cooked them.  My husband likes chewy cookies, but mine always came out on the crispy side and way too flat.

Enter the concept of cookie bars!
No more flat cookies.
No more crispy cookies that were supposed to be chewy.
No more long amounts of time spooning them out in little balls.

Just mix up the batter, press it into a 9x13 pan, bake according to directions, and whallah!  The perfect chocolate chip cookie taste and texture with every bite.

I found this recipe recently and have made it successfully on several occasions finding it to be an easy crowd pleaser.  The only adjustments I make are to use whole wheat flour (hello fiber!), less chocolate chips (strange confession for a chocoholic, but it's better when they don't overpower the batter), and to cooke it slightly longer here at 7,000 feet.

YUM-OLA!

Zucchini Anyone?

We have been receiving quite the bounty of zucchini and squash lately from a church member's gardens, which is a wonderful blessing!  I just so happened to stumble across this blog post the other day containing a whole bunch of yummy recipes for using zucchini and squash!

With a bit of extra time on my hands today, I decided to do some baking.  I made the Zucchini Tots and the Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.  Oh.my.word.  BOTH of these recipes are DELICIOUS!  The first batch of Zucchini Tots totally disappeared off the cooling rack in about three minutes.  They are that good!  And the chocolate muffins?...well, let's just say they that it's not likely they will have a very long life span outside of our tummies. :)

So if you have any extra zucchini sitting around, you might just want to hop over and take a look at the many different ways you can prepare it much to the satisfaction of your taste buds!

A Delicious Recipe to Share!

Last night, I had a hankering for soup.  We had opened the windows to air out the house and by the afternoon, things were a little chilly around here!  Soup just sounded like it would hit the spot.

After a bit of searching on the internet for a good recipe, I came across this one.  I just so happened to have some cabbage in the fridge that my mom had bought while she was here but I had never used (we just never eat cabbage!).  And I had a whole package of smoked turkey sausage begging to be eaten!  So Cabbage and Smoked Sausage soup it would be. :)

The results were DELICIOUS!  I had two heaping bowls full and easily could have eaten more, but I decided to be a good girl and stop there. :)  Even my husband, who is neither a big soup fan nor a cabbage eater thought the dish was yummy and full of flavor.  

I did make a few changes to the recipe:

- I did not have beans, but would not have used them if I had.  (Isaac doesn't do well if I eat beans!)

- I did not have tomato sauce

- I used a can of diced tomatoes instead of crushed, since that's what I had on hand

- I used "Better than Bouillon" chicken broth base out of a jar instead of a bouillon cube

- I had to add quite a bit more water than it called for to make up for the lack of bean liquid and tomato sauce...plus I think it would have needed more water anyway

If you are looking for a hearty and healthy soup recipe, I highly recommend trying this one out!

Recipes to Share!

I wanted to pass on some favorite recipes that have been on our menu this week and really tasted good!

Lentil Soup - an old favorite!

Katrina's notes: I love this recipe because it is super easy to make, tasty, and so good for you!  Lentils are a great source of protein, and if you are pregnant, you know it's all about eating enough protein each day!  This recipe makes quite a bit, so I usually halve it for our small family, and even then, we have leftovers.  You can easily freeze extra, though!  The measurements for the vegetables are very flexible.  Also, 2 tablespoons of salt is a little too much, in my opinion.  I usually start with 1 tablespoon and add more if needed.  Enjoy!

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 sticks celery, chopped
2-3 cups carrots, chopped
3 quarts water
3 cups lentils
1-2 tablespoons salt
pepper to taste

In a large stew pot, sauté onions, celery, and garlic.  Add the water, lentils, and carrots.  Bring to a boil. Simmer 45 minutes to an hour, or until tender.  Add seasonings at the end.


Angel Chicken - a new favorite!

Katrina's notes: This recipe is compliments of our friends, the Holt family.  They gave it to me when we got married, and we have found it to be super yummy!  Plus, I love good crock pot meals!  Last night, I made this recipe with only half the chicken (2 breasts) but the full amount of sauce.  I sliced the chicken up to stretch it further so it would feed three people and that worked well.  Having the full amount of sauce was perfect, so if you halve the recipe, don't skimp on the sauce!  It's what makes this recipe so delicious!  In fact, if you use the full amount of chicken, I would double the sauce ingredients.

4-6 boneless chicken breasts, frozen is okay
1/4 cup butter
1 Italian seasoning dressing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup white grape juice
1/2 tub cream cheese
1 package angel hair pasta

Put chicken in the crock pot.  Create the sauce: over the stove melt the butter, stir in the dressing mix.  Stir in soup, juice, and cream cheese.  Cook until combined.  Pour over the chicken and cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Serve over hot, cooked angel hair pasta.

Chicken - It's What's For Dinner!

We recently had these chicken strips for dinner, and I was reminded what a favorite they are with us!  I thought I would pass along the recipe just for fun.  They're super easy to make and very tasty!  Children love them as do "particular" husbands! ;)

Baked Chicken Strips

1 pound chicken tenders or boneless breast cut into strips
1 stick of butter
1 cup bread crumbs (easy to make by simply chopping up a slice or two of bread in a blender or food processor)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.
Melt the butter.
Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and salt in a flat bowl.
Dip chicken strips into the butter, then roll them in the crumb mixture to coat thoroughly.  (You may have to make a little extra of the crumb mixture if you run out; it just depends on how many chicken strips you end up having.)

Bake the chicken strips on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.

Yummy side dishes include green beans, salad, or mac n' cheese!

Apple Muffins

Just made a batch of these apple muffins and they were oh-so-yummy!!!!

Potato Pancakes

I made these potato pancakes for dinner (also called potato latkes) and they were SO good!!!  Just thought I'd pass the recipe along! :)

Both applesauce or sour cream make for great toppings...we tried them both (on separate pancakes, of course) and found that applesauce gives more of a breakfast taste whereas sour cream gives a more dinner-ish flavor.  Either one is a winner!

Here's What's Cookin'!

On Saturday, Nathan and I walked a couple blocks to our local farmer's market to buy produce.  At one of the vendor's we were given this giant zucchini squash for free!

I don't think I've ever seen a zucchini this big!

Considering that I have a husband who has a sweet tooth like no other, the best use for this giant squash was zucchini bread, of course!

Zucchini Bread

(originally found online here)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I used half wheat and half white)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar (I used half brown and half turbinado, but any kind would work)

3 tsp. vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

Mix together dry ingredients on top of wet and stir to combine.

Add grated zucchini and mix well.

Pour batter into 2 greased bread pans.

Bake for 40-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Yummy!!!

And while we're on the subject of food, I've come across several delicious dinner recipes lately that I thought I would pass on.  Just click on the links for the recipes!

Crumb Coated Red Snapper

Twice Baked Potatoes

(Katrina's note: I like these better without the nutmeg, and we have yet to try them with scallions/green onions, so we can attest to the fact that these are just as good without them.)

The Olive Garden's Tuscan Garlic Chicken

(Katrina's Note: I made this recipe with green bell peppers instead of red, since that is what I had on hand, and I omitted the spinach. We both really liked it!  Thanks, Katelin, for passing the recipe along!)

More Delicious Recipes from Katrina's Kitchen

Last night, I tried making quiche (I think for the first time ever..?) and the children absolutely loved it! They devoured it and begged for more. Too bad I didn't make more than one! Served with a scrumptious fruit salad and healthy chocolate mousse for dessert, we had quite a feast!

Here are the recipes we used:

Quiche:

Prepare:

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (see recipe below)

Layer any combination of the following in the pie crust:

1/2-1 cup sliced mushrooms, cooked (I did not use these)

1/2 cup green peppers diced

1/2 cup green onions chopped (I used a regular onion and doubled the amount)

1 cup chopped spinach

1 cup chopped chicken (you could use bacon, ham, or sausage in place of chicken)

1 cup cheese, grated

Beat together and pour into crust:

2-3 eggs

1 1/2-2 cups light cream, evaporated milk, or milk (wouldn't you know, I used soy milk!)

half teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes, until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

*Substitute for light cream: yogurt, sour cream, whipping cream, or 1 1/4 cups cream of mushroom or chicken soup.

Single Pie Crust:

Combine:

1 1/3 cups flour (I used whole wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut in until fairly course:

1/2 cup shortening

Add a tablespoon at a time and toss with fork:

3 tablespoons water (I had to add a little extra)

Roll out dough to fit pie pan. (I had to knead it a little first.) For crust baked without filling, prick it first with fork. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. For uncooked crust follow the recipe for baking time and temperature.

Incredibly Rich and Healthy Chocolate Mousse

(Don't freak out when you see avocados on the ingredients list. This is the secret ingredient and is simply there for creamy-ness purposes. You can't taste it at all, as it absorbs the chocolate flavor! )

2-3 small, ripe avocados (or in my case, 1 big one)

3/4 cup honey or agave nectar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

dash of cinnamon (optional)

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until creamy and smooth. You may have to use a spoon or temper to keep it moving. Once blended, chill in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Apple Coffee Cake

This recipe was made for breakfast this morning and everyone seemed to enjoy it - me especially! :)

Combine:

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)

1 T. baking powder

2/3-1 cup sugar or honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup powdered milk

1/4 cup melted butter or shortening

Stir in:

1 egg

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples

Pour batter into greased 9x13 baking pan. Combine topping ingredients:

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon oil

Sprinkle topping over the batter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Delicious hot or room temperature!

Here's What's Cooking!

Just thought I'd post some tasty recipes I've encountered and made lately. Such yumminess was meant to be shared!

Gingerbread

Combine:

1/2 cup sour milk or water

1/3-1/2 cup oil

1 egg

Combine separately, add and beat thoroughly:

1 cup brown sugar or molasses (I used molasses)

1 1/2 teaspoons soda

2 teaspoons ginger

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon each of cloves and nutmeg (I used allspice in place of cloves)

Place in a greased and floured 9X13 pan. Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (I served with ice cream).

This was delicious gingerbread! The children loved it!

Healthy Banana Pudding

I found this recipe online and made some modifications to it to make it healthy. I could have eaten the whole pan myself, but I was nice and shared with the children. :) Here's my modified version:

2 eggs beaten

2 1/2 cups milk (I used soy milk)

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

vanilla wafers or a similar type cookie (original recipe calls for 32; depends on the size of your dish)

4 bananas sliced (again, you might have to change this amount as it depends on the size of your dish)

In a saucepan, combine eggs, milk, honey, cornstarch and salt. Cook until thick, stirring constantly; about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter. Cover the bottom of your glass dish with a layer of cookies. Top with bananas, then top with pudding. Repeat this step. (Or do as I did, and place bananas on top of the pudding, followed by cookies, so cookies are on the very top.) Chill thoroughly before serving.

Quick and Simple Corn Bread

For years, we have used a corn bread recipe my mom came up with that leans on the sweet side (using honey, of course). I love it! However, when making homemade stuffing for Thanksgiving, I needed a corn bread recipe that was not sweet. After quite a bit of searching, I found this one and it was perfect! I have made it several times since as a side to many a meal, and the children gobble it up (not to mention the cook herself)!

1 cup flour (I use whole wheat, but white flour works too!)

1 cup corn meal (or corn flour if you use the finely-milled variety)

1/4 cup sugar (I use brown sugar)

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil or butter

Combine all the wet ingredients; add the dry. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and bread tests done.

Wha-laa! So simple and healthy and yummy!

Rice and Bread Stuffing

Since I had volunteered to make stuffing for our Thanksgiving celebration, I experimented with a couple different recipes beforehand, to see which one was tastiest! (I also whipped up some imported Stovetop stuffing simply because I like it so much! But just serving Stovetop seemed to be cheating, so I was determined to make some actual homemade stuffing as well.)

This recipe has a number of unique ingredients like rice and orange juice, but it really is quite delicious! I made a number of changes to the recipe which I will note at the bottom, but here it is in its original form:

7 slices day old bread, torn (I used wheat bread)

1 cup torn corn bread (I used the above recipe)

2/3 cup hot water

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced, fresh mushrooms (I did not use these as they are hard to find here and very expensive if you do find them!)

1 cup firmly packed sliced, fresh spinach

1 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup cooked wild rice

1/2 cup orange juice

1 egg beaten

2 teaspoons rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon thyme (I used Italian seasoning)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a skillet, saute celery, onions, and mushrooms until tender. (I also added garlic.) In a large bowl, lightly toss bread and water. Stir in sauteed vegetables. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Place in a greased 2-quart baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I chose to double the onion and celery for added flavor. I also increased the amount of corn bread and decreased the regular bread, since I happen to like more corn bread in my stuffing. It was a little on the dry side the first time I made it, so the next time, I increased the water and orange juice to 1 cup each, and added an extra egg. I think the next time, I'll add even more water, simply because I like my stuffing a bit more moist. A very flavorful dish to be sure!

Green Bean Stir Fry

Last night, I wanted to make Fried Rice for a little variety added to our menu. However, I needed a good side dish to go with it that was still Oriental-ish. We have tons of green beans in the freezer right now, so I typed green beans into the search browser on allrecipes.com, and found this delicious recipe!

I really have no idea what 3/4 pound of green beans is, so I started out making one batch of the sauce, but found I needed to double it. I don't know if that is because I had way more than 3/4 pound of green beans, or if I just wanted them more flavorful.

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 garlic cloves minced

1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon peanut butter (or in my case, almond butter)

3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed (mine were fresh then frozen, so I had to boil them first to soften)

4 1/2 teaspoons oil

Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Stir-fry the green beans in the oil until crisp-tender. Add the sauce and stir to coat. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Chewy Molasses Ginger Cookies

A couple of weeks ago, the tía with whom I work here at House 3 told me she needed to take chewy molasses ginger cookies (as opposed to crisp ginger snaps) to a baby shower. I did an online search for a workable recipe and found this one. It was so tasty, I made these cookies again to give away at to our Thanksgiving guests as a take-home party favor.

3/4 cup butter or margarine melted

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (or all spice)

1/4 cup white sugar for rolling dough

In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, butter, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the wet. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and then roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.

This recipe yields between 30-40 cookies on average, depending on how big you make them. I found they were nice and chewy the first day, but on day 2, they do harden and become more crisp. A quick re-heating in oven or microwave returns them to being chewy once more! Definitely a winning recipe!

Saturday Morning Pancakes

Just for the record, I love gingerbread.

And ginger snaps.

And molasses cookies.

And spice cake.

And pretty much anything within this general family of autumn-ish spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice.

So, when I read on Facebook about a friend making gingerbread pancakes, it sounded like a recipe I would love to try!

And try them we did.

This morning.

Because Saturday is pancake-breakfast-day.

The verdict?

They were delicious.

Make that DELICIOUS.

And it's not just because I'm biased to anything with autumn spices.

Seriously.

Try them.

You'll see what I mean!

Gingerbread Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons each of:

baking soda

cinnamon

ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cloves

(I used nutmeg since I didn't have ground cloves on hand)

1 1/2 cups apple juice

(original recipe calls for a 12 oz. can of frozen apple juice concentrate, but since I don't have access to that, the apple juice worked just fine)

1/4 cup oil or melted butter

2 eggs

I like thick pancakes so this is how I made the batter and it came out beautifully. However, if you prefer thinner pancakes, the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup water as well.

We topped our pancakes with a combination of butter and honey melted together. I also added a splash of molasses on top and it added an extra punch that was scrumptious.

Enjoy this amazing and healthy taste of fall!

Recipe By Reader Request

As a follow-up to my post "A Long Walk for Apples," here is the recipe for the apple crisp to which I referred:

Autumn Crisp

Taken from the cookbook A Satisfying New Approach to Slimness, Vitality, and Health

Ingredients

8 large apples—peeled, cored, and sliced (Grannysmith work the best!)

¾ c. maple syrup (I didn't have any, so I used 3/4 c. honey and 1/4 c. molasses)

¼ c. honey

¼ c. whole wheat pastry flour

2 t. cinnamon

Topping

2 cups rolled oats

1 c. whole wheat flour

¾ c. cold unsalted butter

½ c. honey

2 t. cinnamon

Instructions

Grease 9x13 pan

Mix the ingredients together and turn into greased pan

Combine first 2 topping ingredients, working in butter with hands or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add honey and cinnamon, mix well

Spread over apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1—1 ½ hours

Disclaimer: I did not take the photo at the top of this post, so it is not actually a picture of this recipe of apple crisp. It does however look almost identical!

A Love Affair with Oats

Oats, oats, oats! They're so healthy and yummy and a wonderful addition to many baked goods! It seems nowadays everything I make has oats in it! Just passing along a few of my favorite recipes that I make regularly here...

Healthy-ish Oatmeal Cookies

3 T. butter (room temp.)

1 egg

1 T. water

1/4 c. honey

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. baking soda

1 1/2 c. rolled oats

chocolate chips or raisins to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. Grease cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Best Ever Granola Bars

4 1/2 c. oats

1 c. chopped nuts

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. honey

1 c. butter

1-2 c. chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar

(can add shredded coconut, seeds, raisins, etc. I also like to put in wheat germ or wheat bran for added nutrition!)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and place in a greased 9X13 pan. Press with a metal spatula or back of a wooden spoon. Bake 30-35 minutes until edges are light golden brown. Remove from oven press again to condense. Allow to cool. At this point, you can cut into bars and eat them and they will be sort of like cookie bars. But I prefer to chill them in the fridge until they're hard, then cut into bars and wrap individually with plastic. They're much harder to cut once they're chilled but they hold together well. I store them in the fridge and grab one for a snack or when I am on the go. Delicious!!!

Baked Oatmeal

3 c. oats

2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. milk

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. brown sugar or honey

1 tsp. salt.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a pan so batter is 2-4 inches deep. Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown. This is a big hit with the children of the household!

Katrina's Power Smoothie

Soy milk

Spinach (washed)

Frozen bananas

Wheat germ/bran

Oats

Honey

Flax seeds (sometimes)

Put into a blender whatever amounts of ingredients you like to get the taste and consistency you desire. Blend on high speed until the texture is creamy. Oh so delicious and super-duper healthy! A great way to start the day!

Chocolate Granola

(I make the half batch size for me and it usually lasts me about 2 weeks. If you have a big family, you can double these ingredients.)

6 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. cocoa

1/2 c. sunflower or flax seeds

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. oil

2 T. cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Melt honey and oil in a saucepan and pour over mixture. Stir well. (I sometimes have to add a bit extra of the liquids to get the oats coated.) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Stir well. Bake another 10 minutes. Let sit to crunchify. (I made that word up.) :)

Modifications: I often add shredded coconut and wheat germ/bran. You can add whatever ingredients you are interested in including. Just make sure to compensate with more liquid and possibly more cocoa!

Voeller Family Granola

(Taken from the cookbok A Satisfying New Approach to Slimness, Vitality, and Health. This is the full version recipe but I only make a half batch.)

1 c. honey

3/4 c. oil

3/4 c. butter

3 T. molasses

4 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

11 c. oats

2 c. coconut

1 c. wheat germ

3/4 c. sunflower seeds

3/4 c. chopped nuts

1/2 c. sesame seeds (I omit these since I don't have them here in Bolivia)

(Just a note: I added chopped nuts to my granola for added protein. I highly recommend doing so!)

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients and pour over dry. (Again I cooked mine on the stove, but you don't have to!) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir. Bake another 10 minutes. Let sit. Store in an airtight container. Delicious with milk!

Leftover Cooked Oatmeal

We recently had a big batch of leftover cooked oatmeal (thanks to yours truly making way too much!), so I got online and looked up ways to use it. I tried a muffin recipe that was super yummy but way too crumbly. What ended up working best was to fry patties of the oatmeal like polenta in a greased skillet and eat with honey! It is super easy, VERY tasty, and had my kiddos coming back asking for more!

Best Ever Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my all-time favorite goodies to bake! This recipe, our family standard, has been a hit with tías and niños alike here at Casa de Amor House II. Yesterday, a little buddy and I made a double batch and it was delicious as usual! Just wanted to share the yumminess with you...

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1 cup brown sugar or honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. ripe bananas (or regular bananas cooked on the stove top)

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients. Pour into greased muffin tins or bread pan(s). Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes. Bread will take 45 minutes-1 hour usually. A knife inserted in the middle should come out clean when done.

Let cool and devour!

A Peek Into My Kitchen...

Today, the cooking adventures continued! I must say, for a girl who's never been particularly keen on spending time in the kitchen except when absolutely necessary, I have discovered a newly awakened joy in food preparation lately. Is it the desire to create a taste of home? The motivation for healthy goodies? The outlet cooking and baking provides for creativity? Perhaps all of the above.

This morning, as I (slowly) woke up and thought through the day's forthcoming activities, I felt a strong desire to take on the cooking duties for the day, thus freeing my partner tía for other responsibilities and making sure leftovers would get used effectively!

Considering that our leftovers consisted of a bowlful of pasta not quite generous enough to feed 16, pizza seemed like a logical (and not too complicated) lunch to prepare with it. I also knew we would need dinner, and since we are trying to feed the children something fairly light for supper, French toast casserole sounded like a new, tasty idea to try.

Having only one can of pizza sauce in the pantry, I got online to search for a sauce-from-scratch recipe. I was quite amused to find that the first three recipes I clicked on called for canned tomato products. Doesn't anybody else consider the words "from scratch" to mean from real, whole tomatoes? Finally, I found a recipe that looked promising and possible. Next, I searched for French Toast Casserole and quickly came upon a recipe using simple ingredients that even I have here in Cochabamaba.

Armed with these new recipes as well as one for our family's favorite pizza crust, I headed downstairs to begin operation pizza deluxe.

The sauce-from-scratch took awhile to prepare as skinning and de-seeding 12 tomatoes is no small task, I learned, but I must say, the effort was worth it! The sauce turned out scrumptiously! (I've included the recipe at the end of this post.)

Next, it was time to make the crust and sauté the veggies. [Note to self: when making anything with yeast, always remember to use warm water. It makes a difference! Okay, so maybe my crust didn't rise like it usually does at home, but it was still tasty.] On our veggie pizza, I included carrots, onions, garlic, bell peppers, spinach, cheese, and some leftover chicken I discovered in the fridge. Now that's what I call supreme! :)

I also discovered half a pineapple in the refrigerator desperately needing to be eaten, so it was only logical to make our second pizza a Hawaiian one. Let's here it for using up leftovers! With a personal stash of lunch meat ham thawed from the freezer, pizza number two was set to go!

In the middle of pizza making, the children needed their mid-morning snack, so I quickly whipped up a batch of stove-popped-popcorn. As you can see, my morning of cooking was turning the kitchen into quite the disaster-zone! I usually like to clean as I go, but alas! we had no running water inside for most of the day. That might help explain why it seemed like I used almost every dish in the house for my culinary adventures!

At last, lunch was ready! All this for the sake of using up a pot of pasta. :-)

And the verdict is...

delicious!

I got a kick out of watching the children's delight upon discovering that one of their pizzas actually had pineapple on it! Apparently, they've never seen that kind before. And the ham was a special treat!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I had a dinner casserole to prepare and a mountain of dishes to tackle!

If you would like to know the secret to cleaning a kitchen-turned-disaster-zone with no indoor running water, let me know. Believe it or not, it is possible! :) Welcome to missionary life.

A newly formed mountain of clean dishes...with a cherry on top for good measure!

French Toast Casserole ready for the dinner hour.

Feeling like a real Suzy-Homemaker, as my mom would say. :) And praising the Lord for the joy of preparing food for a household of precious kiddos!

Here are the recipes of the day:

Homemade Tomato Sauce from Scratch:

(makes enough for 1 large pizza)

About 12 plum tomatoes, seeded, skinned, and pureed in a food processor or blender
1 onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tablespoon red pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic

Heat your oil in an 8 quart pan. Add your onions–we want to sweat them until they are transparent. This should take about six minutes. Then, add your garlic. By now, your kitchen should be filling with a delectable aroma–excellent!

At this point, we want to add the tomato puree we made, along with the sugar, salt, and red pepper. Bring the whole mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, as the sauce thickens. The sauce should be pretty smooth when we finished, provided we did okay during the food-processing.

[Katrina's notes: I used black pepper in place of red and garlic powder in place of the minced garlic, since I had already included the 2 tablespoons chopped garlic. I also added Italian seasoning to taste. Lastly, I pureed the sauce after I had cooked it to give it a finer, less chunky effect.]

French Toast Casserole

1. 5 cups bread cubes
2. 4 eggs
3. 1 1/2 cups milk
4. 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 1 tablespoon butter, softened
8. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

[Katrina's Notes: I was not here for dinner, but from what I heard, this recipe was a winner with the children! They kept asking for more! We will definitely be making it again, only I think I might triple the batch next time instead of just doubling it. Oh-so-easy!]

Orange Sunrise Muffins

This morning it was my turn to bring a refreshment to the ladies' Bible study I am a part of. I thought about baking our family's favorite banana muffin recipe, but the hostess had baked banana bread two weeks ago, so I thought something a little different would be preferable. However, I love muffins and was excited to try out the new muffin tins I had purchased at the local supermarket! Orange muffins sounded like a winning idea, especially considering that we always have oranges on hand here at the house, so I went on the hunt for an orange muffin recipe on that trusty website, allrecipes.com.

As you can imagine, there were a multitude of recipe ideas listed. After reading ingredient lists and reviews, I settled on an old Mennonite recipe. It seemed to get the best reviews and it contained ingredients I could easily find here in Bolivia. Before making it for the ladies' Bible study, I whipped up a trial batch this past weekend for the children and tías here. The muffins were DELICIOUS and a big hit with all my eager taste-testers!

Since the recipe is so yummy and can be made quite healthfully, I thought it was worth sharing with you all!

Orange Sunrise Muffins

2 cups flour (I used white, but read a review saying wheat works too...looking forward to trying that!)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar (I used honey with great success)

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

2/3 cup orange juice

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs

Optional Topping (definitely delicious!):

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used white sugar since we don't have brown sugar here)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wet ingredients and orange peel. Dump flour on top and add dry ingredients. Mix everything together thoroughly. Pour into greased muffin tins or baking cups. Blend together topping and sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

I actually baked the muffins and then added the topping. The first time it worked beautifully. This morning though, as the pictures show, I couldn't get it quite right and even after three attempts, it turned out lumpy. So I think next time, I'll do as the recipe says and put it on before baking. :)

Hope you all enjoy these as much as we did!