Gingerbread Dough & Frosting

This recipe is awesome for making a gingerbread house.  It's not THAT yummy to eat, but it's still pretty soft like a cookie if you want to eat it!

(this dough makes enough for 2 pretty decent sized houses.  Half the recipe if only making 1)

DOUGH
2 Cups Molasses
1 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Milk
Bring Molasses and Butter  to boil, and then let completely cool.  When cool add Milk

Sift together
6 Cups Flour
3 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon

Add molasses mixture to dry ingredients.
Let cool in refrigerator at least 1 hour.

Roll out dough 1/8inch thick ONTO TIN FOIL (this is so it doesn't lose it's shape when you transfer it to your pan).  Cut the shape of your house, using a pizza cutter.  Remove extra pieces.  Do this for all your house pieces.
Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes.

FOR WINDOWS- We like to use Jolly Ranchers or Life Savers for windows because when they melt they're see through.  You can use any hard candy.  Little circle peppermints are fun too because they're holiday ish.  To put windows in, before you bake your pieces, cut out the windows.  You can use cookie cutters or whatever you have.  After you bake it once, let it cool for a few minutes, then add your candy into the window spots.  Put it back in the over for another 5 minutes until it's all melted.  It will peel off of the foil just fine.

After you remove it from the oven let cool about a minute.  Then remove the piece from the pan, leaving it on the foil.  Let it cool on a cooling rack.  Remove from the foil when you are ready to put the house together.  I like to bake mine and let them sit out all night so they harden and are completely cool.

ICING FOR PASTING
1-2 Cups of Granulated Sugar

This is a trick my mother taught me, but it's a little harder than using royal icing.
Place the sugar in a large skillet over the stove on low heat.  Let it melt.  Don't let it burn.  Just keep it hot.  If it starts to smoke, turn the heat down.  Place the edge of your first piece of house in the melted sugar and very quickly attach it to the other piece.  Do this to all sides.

Attaching the roof can be very tricky.  Using a spoon, spoon the melted sugar onto the edges and carefully place your roof pieces on.

OR if you're not going to eat your house or enter it in a contest, just hot glue it together like we do! HAHAH

ROYAL ICING FOR DECORATING
2 Pounds Powdered sugar
6 Egg Whites
1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter

Beat sugar, egg whites, and cream of tarter until thick and fluffy.  If your frosting seems super runny, just add a little more powdered sugar until you get a thicker consistency that will work better.  Keep covered with a damp towel at room temperature.  Be sure to keep it covered and air tight so that it doesn't harden.
 Use for decorating, either with spoons or frosting bags.  I like to put mine in a frosting bag.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

3 Eggs
1 1/2 C Sugar
1 C Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
3 C flour
2 Cups peeled/seeded/grated Zucchini
1 Cup Chocolate Chips (optional)

Cream eggs and sugar.  Add oil, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Sift other dry ingredients together and add to mixture.  Add Zucchini and chocolate chips.   Grease and Flour 2 Bread Loaf pans.  Split into 2 pans.  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.  Check and pull out when knife inserted comes out clean.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
5 whole bell peppers
1 lb ground meat (I used ground chicken which was not so great)
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 small onion, chopped (I always use dried chopped onion)
1 cup cooked potatoes, diced (I used leftover french fries, you could use frozen hash browns or cooked rice)
Salt and pepper to taste
Minced garlic to taste
Cheese (optional)

Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Chop edible part of tops and set aside (I omitted this step). Rinse peppers under cold water. Place peppers in a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.

In a skillet begin to cook the meat, add salt and pepper. When the meat is practically done, add the remaining ingredients (save some cheese for the top). Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Cook on medium heat (mix when needed) until potatoes are tender.

Spoon filling into peppers; place in casserole dish. Place extra filling, if any, around stuffed peppers. Top with cheese. Bake stuffed peppers at 350° for 20 minutes.

I am going to try using this chimichanga filling next time.

Recipe adapted from this and this.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2 cups pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
4 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes.

White Sauce/Gravy

This is just a simple white sauce that is from the Better Homes and Gardens cook book.  It's what I grew up putting on Biscuits for Biscuits and Gravy.  You can add more flavor or sausage or bacon or whatever you want to it.  I usually do sausage or cut up chunks of meat.

4 Tbls butter
4 Tbls flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 Cups Milk

Melt Butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in flour, salt, and pepper.  Stir in milk immediately.  Cook and stir over medium heat until sauce boils and thickens.  Continue to cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and serve.  I usually add the meat right as the sauce is thickening.

Serves 4-6.  Perfect amount of sauce for  THESE biscuits.

Healthy Mexican Sweet Potato Skins

 

These are SOOOOOO yummy.  Kinda spicy, but oh so good and FILLING!

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 can corn, rinsed and patted dry 

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2-4 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced or pureed

1 ounce light cream cheese

1/4 cup light sour cream

1 teaspoon salt (+ more to taste)

1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

6 tablespoons shredded cheese (Pepperjack, Cheddar, Colby Jack… anything will work)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45-60 minutes.
2. While
   sweet potatoes are baking, place corn in a heavy cast-iron skillet over
   medium-high heat with no butter or oil. Sprinkle with salt and other
   Mexican seasoning (as much as you want). Do not stir! Let corn roast for
   several minutes before stirring. Let it roast for a few more minutes
   before stirring again. Continue this for about 10 minutes, until corn is
   browned and roasted on the outside. Set aside in a small bowl with the
   black beans.
3. Saute the onion in the butter over medium heat until soft and translucent. Set aside.
4. Remove
   sweet potatoes from the oven when fork-tender. Let cool for 5-10
   minutes. Cut the sweet potatoes in half. Scrape the flesh of the sweet
   potatoes out, leaving the skins intact. Sometimes leaving a thin layer
   of potato inside of the skins helps them hold together better.
5. Mix
   the flesh of the sweet potatoes with the cream cheese, sour cream,
   chipotle peppers, and salt. You can use a mixer or just a spoon,
   depending on how soft the potatoes are. When well-mixed, gently stir in
   the black beans, roasted corn, sauteed onions, and cilantro.
6. Scoop
   the filling into the skins and top each with 1 tablespoon shredded
   cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

One serving size is 1 potato skin.

No Peek Chicken

This is super fast and super easy to get ready... just have to plan ahead a few hours!

1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice (original recipe)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

2 cans water

In a greased 9 x 13 pan, mix the box of rice, cans of celery and mushroom soup and water.  Arrange the raw chicken on top of the rice mixture, cover and seal with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours and "Don't Peek!"