Poppy Seed Egg Noodles (Recipe 17)

Poppy Seed Egg Noodles

Ingredients:
16 ounces egg noodles
6 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Cook egg noodles in boiling water. Drain.

Melt butter in skillet. Add onions and cook until tender. Remove from heat. Pour butter mixture over egg noodles and add poppy seeds. Toss until thoroughly covered.

This went over fairly well at my house. Most of the family enjoyed the crunch of the poppy seeds, but the 4 year old refused to finish her portion because she didn't like the texture.

Italian Chicken Rolls (You Rock Chicken) Recipe 16

Italian Chicken Rolls
serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups bread crumbs
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 cups milk

Pound chicken breasts until about 1/4 inch thick. Set aside. In flat casserole, combine cheese, Italian seasoning, and bread crumbs. Mix well. Pour milk into another flat casserole dish. Dip flattened chicken into milk, drain excess milk. Dip milk covered chicken breast into crumb mixture. Turn chicken to cover both sides with crumb mixture. Roll chicken starting with a short side of the breast. Place on ungreased baking sheet, with seam side down. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, depending on breast size.

My kids love this dish. I received a chorus of "You Rock!" , so we decided to call this "You Rock Chicken" at our house.

Empanadas (Recipe 15)

We had a lot of fun making up these tasty meat pies! I needed to double the recipe to feed my crowd. The dough became difficult to handle when made into a double batch, so next time I'll make two separate batches of dough. These can be made ahead and heated up in the microwave or covered with foil in the oven. I think they would also freeze well, if not completely baked through.

Empanadas

Ingredients

Dough:
3-1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 sticks butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1-1/4 cups ice water
1 large egg

Filling:
1 tablespoon oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 pound ground beef (not lean)
3/4 cup beef broth
dash of sugar
salt and pepper
3 ounces shredded Colby-jack cheese


Heat oil in pan and cook onion until soft. Stir in garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, cayenne pepper. Cook briefly, then add ground beef. Cook until thoroughly cooked. Add beef broth, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook until beef is moist. Set aside.


In medium bowl, place dough flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in butter, using fingers or pastry blender. Dough should resemble coarse cornmeal. Add ice water by small amounts until dough joins together and forms ball. Cover and place bowl in refrigerator for 20-25 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll dough out to 1/4" on lightly floured surface. Cut dough into circles. Add 1 tablespoon of meal filling and small amount of cheese in center of circle. Top with another dough circle. Pinch edges together using fork. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush top with beaten egg.

Bake in 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Stromboli (Recipe 14)

I had planned to show pictures of the finished dish, but the family wiped out all the food before I had the opportunity.

Stromboli

Ingredients:

Bread choices:

White Bread Style
5 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoon yeast
2 cups very hot water

or Wheat Bread Style
1 cup flour
3 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoon yeast
2 cups very hot water

Filling:
Slices of your favorite deli meat and cheese. For my family of 9, I used 3/4 pound of salami and 3/4 pound of Colby-jack cheese. Both were thinly sliced.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all bread ingredients together and mix well. Place in large bowl and cover. Let rest in warm place for 30-45 minutes, until at least double. Split dough into two equal portions.

Roll one portion of dough into a 11" x 13" rectangle. Place a single layer of deli meat on top of dough, leaving a 1" border of dough on the outside of the rectangle. Repeat with a layer of cheese. Roll dough up, beginning with the long end. Seal the dough seam and ends by pinching. Place seam-side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with other portion of dough. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Cover with foil for first twenty minutes. Remove foil to allow browning.

My kids raved about this meal. While not a particularly healthy entree, it is an alternative to homemade pizza when we need comfort food. We all ate too much!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (recipe 13)

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars


Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and shortening with sugars. Add eggs and beat well. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. Mix well. Add oatmeal and raisins. Mix by hand until thoroughly mixed. Spread on ungreased 11"x 13" baking pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then cut into squares.

I will probably decrease the amount of white sugar to 1/2 a cup next time. My family is still becoming accustomed to the texture of whole wheat flour instead of white flour. Over time, I will be increasing the wheat flour to 1 1/2 cups, while only using 1/2 cup white flour.

A short break

My cupboard is bare and will not be restocked until Friday. Due to the strange items remaining in my pantry and refrigerator, I won't be able to try any good-tasting recipes until I have more food in the house. On a positive note, I fed our family of 9 for about $335 dollars for the month of January. Some of our recent meals have been a little strange, but the small grocery expense shocked me when I added up our food expenses.

I did try to make Baked Beans last week, but did not have any success. More beans are soaking now, so hopefully I'll have a new Baked Beans recipe to add Wednesday. In the new few weeks, the plan is to prepare 2 or more new items each day to catch up on my missing recipes.

Coffee Cake Muffins (recipe 12)

My 16 year old daughter wanted to make a walnut coffee cake for breakfast. She got up early and began her preparations only to discover that we were out of butter. I over-slept this morning. After a trip to the grocery store, we enjoyed this new recipe for coffee cake muffins.

Coffee Cake Muffins (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

topping:
6 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans

batter:
1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Line or grease muffin tin; set aside.

To make topping:
In small bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, brown sugar. Cut in butter. Add nuts. Set aside.


To make batter:
In large bowl place flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter, until mixture is crumbly. Add egg and milk. Stir until moistened. Spoon half of batter into bottom of prepared muffin cups.



Sprinkle on 1/2 the topping mixture. Cover with remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining topping mixture on top layer of batter.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes. Remove from pans and serve immediately.



These were delicious. My family really enjoys cinnamon. If you don't like a strong cinnamon flavor, cut back on the cinnamon.