Cheeseburger Soup

* 1/2 pound ground beef
* 3/4 cup chopped onion
* 3/4 cup shredded carrots
* 3/4 cup chopped celery
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 teaspoon dried parsley
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 3 cups chicken broth
* 4 cups cubed potatoes
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup sour cream


1. In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine over medium heat: cook and stir vegetables and beef , until beef is brown.
2. Stir in basil and parsley. Add broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
3. Melt the remainder of butter and stir in flour. Add the milk, stirring until smooth.
4. Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through. Do not boil.

Quick Potato Rolls

Makes 12 Rolls

3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 envelope Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup instant potato flakes or buds* (I used buds)
2 eggs

In large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, milk, and butter until very warm (120o to 130oF). Stir in potato flakes; let soften 1 minute. Stir into dry ingredients. Stir in 1 egg and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 12-inch rope. Coil each rope to make "snail" shape. Arrange rolls in a circle on large greased baking sheet with sides barely touching. Place large shallow pan on counter; half fill with boiling water. Place baking sheet on pan. Cover; let rise 15 minutes. Lightly beat remaining egg; brush over rolls. Bake at 375oF for 25 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet; let cool on wire rack.

*To use fresh potato: Follow above directions except decrease water to 1/2 cup and replace potato flakes with 1/3 cup cooked, mashed potato (at room temperature). Stir mashed potato into dough along with egg.

3 Envelope Roast

3 pound beef roast (such as chuck roast)
1 envelope of dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 envelope of dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 envelope of dry brown gravy mix
2 cups water

Put the water in a measuring cup that is larger then the amount of water you are using. Now add and mix all three envelopes of dry ingredients to the water. Mix until blended completely. Add the meat to your slow cooker. Pour the water, salad dressing mixture over the roast. Cook it on high for about 4 hours on low about 8 hours.

Vegetable Pizza

* 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
* 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
* 1 cup chopped tomatoes
* 1 cup chopped green bell pepper* 1 cup chopped cauliflower
* 1 cup shredded carrots
* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese




1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a 9x13 inch baking sheet, and pinch together edges to form the pizza crust.
3. Bake crust for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Once finished cooking, remove crust from oven and let cool 15 minutes without removing it from the baking sheet.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dry Ranch dressing. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, shredded carrots, and Cheddar cheese over the cream cheese layer. Chill for one hour, slice and serve.

Pinto Beans

4 cups Dried Pinto Beans
4 slices Thick Sliced Bacon
salt
pepper

Measure four cups of beans and rinse them under cool water. If you see any little strange looking bits in there, pick them out and discard. Throw the beans into the pot. Now put some water in the pot…cover the beans by a good two inches.
Now take four slices of thick-sliced bacon (or one slice per cup of dry beans.)
Slice them into 1-inch pieces. And throw ‘em in the pot. The bacon adds a nice flavor and a slight saltiness to the beans, but you could certainly leave it out if you want your beans to be more lowfat, though I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do that. Now bring pot to a boil. Then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. We’ll add seasoning later on. After the beans have been simmering now for about two hours. The bean juice will be thick and yummy. (Or is it gravy? Or sauce? I haven’t decided.) Now it’s time for seasoning.

Start with 1 teaspoon salt. You can always add more later. Now add 2 teaspoons black pepper.

Stir together well and check the seasoning. You might want to add a little more salt, but be aware the cornbread with which you’ll serve the beans contains salt. So don’t overdo it.

banana bread

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup mashed bananas (2 or 3 medium bananas)
1 3/4 cups flour (I sneak wheat flour in and nobody notices)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

optional:
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup chocolate chips (yum!)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Smash the bananas until they’re broken up but not completely smooth. Some lumps are OK.



Add in the applesauce, eggs, milk, and brown sugar.


Blend with a hand mixer until everything is incorporated. Again, small lumps are OK.


In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients (or gently shake them through a strainer, which works the same).


The cookbooks all say you don’t have to sift your flour any more, but you know why I do?

Because these lumps are *not* OK.

Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix gently with a spoon. When all the flour is mixed in, add any optional ingredients.

Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray, and pour in the batter. Bake at 350 until golden and a toothpick/piece of dry spaghetti comes out clean, about 60 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool to room temperature. OK, who am I kidding? As soon as it comes out of the pan, everybody in the house is going to grab a piece because it smells sooooo good.

Quick! Cut yourself off a piece and save it for breakfast tomorrow.

garlic fridge pickles

* 2 whole Cucumbers
* 2 cloves Garlic
* 1 cup Vinegar
* 1 cup Water
* ⅓ cups Sugar
* 1 tablespoon Salt
* 1 teaspoon Dill, Dried
* 1 pinch(es) Red Pepper Flakes
* 1 pinch(es) Coriander
* 6 whole Peppercorns


Use cucumbers with no wax residue on the peels.

Slice cucumbers in 1/4″-1/8″ slices.

Cut garlic cloves in quarters, then smash them a bit.

Put cucumbers and garlic in a bowl.

Heat vinegar (I like apple cider vinegar, but white works also), water, sugar, salt, dill, red pepper flakes, coriander and peppercorns in a small sauce pan until sugar and salt are dissolved.*

Pour over the cucumbers and garlic.

Cover and let marinate in refrigerator for at least two hours.

Serve cold.

* We don’t love sweet pickles around here, so next time I think I'll cut back on the sugar.