Homemade Crockpot Yogurt

Isn't that awesome? This is actually my crockpot with actual yogurt in it! I was SO excited that it worked. Especially since it failed the first time, but now I know why!

1. Pour ONLY milk into crockpot. Low for 2 hours 45 mins.
2. Turn OFF and let sit for 3 hours.
3. Take starter yogurt out of fridge to get to room temp if you choose, but don't have to.
4. When timer goes off, put 1 cup of starter yogurt in a bowl with some milk FROM THE CROCKPOT.
     Mix it thoroughly with a whisk. Then add all of it into the crockpot and mix thoroughly. *(this is why mine
     was all weird the first time I made it! Didn't mix in small amount first, or well enough in the big pot)
5. Lid on. Wrap whole thing in blankets for next 10 hours. Wha-la! Yogurt!

Lukas whooped for joy when he saw that it worked. We learned vocabulary like cultures, acidophilus, bacteria, as well as self-reliant and preservatives.

Green Spinach Frosting

• 1pint organic heavy whipping cream [or for a vegan version, try this]


• 1/4c sucanat


• 2c spinach

http://www.edibleperspective.com/home/2010/5/6/cinco-de-delicious.html

I mixed it all together first and it looked like ogre throw up. Then I let the yukkiness sit in a dish towel over night and the consistency was perfect after that. (And yes, that towel is perfectly white again, because it was just spinach- not food coloring!!)

Tastes awesome on sugar cookies!!

Authentic Korean Stir Fry (w/chicken)

Recipe is scribbled on a scrap of paper- will transfer soon if anyone's interested!
SO SO good! My family craves this now!!

Did you know that most Asian people "wash" the rice before cooking it? I had no idea. Yep, they fill the bowl with rice and water, then squish the rice with their hands to get all that filmy stuff off of it (didn't know it was there til I saw this-whoa) and then, and ONLY then does it get cooked! (And I recently read that it lessens the amount of arsenic that is apparently rampant in our food supply. Great.)

And to be Korean food, you use Sesame Oil. And Korean soy sauce. Not Kikkoman or another. It's not the same. (Thai food is mostly peanut oil- and coconut milk-- just change those things and BAM, you have thai food. Well, almost.)

First: Buy Korean noodles from Asian Market store (see picture). Soak them for 1/2 hour in cold water
Second: Cut any meat you're wanting to use, and put in bowl or ziplock with a swig of sesame oil and a big glug or 3 of Korean Soy Sauce.
Third: Stir fry/Steam any and ALL (tons) vegetables you desire (broccoli, caulif., carrots, bell peppers, onions usually at our house) I love them slightly browned. Mmmm.

Cook up meat til 'done' and throw in with veggies. Season veggies with salt and pepper.

Lastly cook noodles for about 5 mins & drain. Then add a small glug of Sesame Oil, and a few glugs of Korean Soy Sauce, and sugar (or agave, or cane syrup, etc) I use cane sugar.. Keep using a fork or tongs to mix greatly. Must be eaten fresh or they just soak up the taste and are bland.

Baking Powder Biscuits- Jan Walker Style

Baking Powder Biscuits.- (I probably should have said don't forget the honey and jam. :))
2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 c shortening
3/4 c milk
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until coarse crumb texture. Stir milk into mixture. Knead and roll out to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Use cup to cut into circles. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
for Family size times it all by 3 I think and put on 10x15 pan. (salt was just 1 1/2 though)

Chicken Pot Pie

Awesome for leftover turkey and mashed potatoes! (Thanks Jana for sending the recipe to me in Germany!!)

Chicken Pot Pie
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 c milk
2 c water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1and 1/2 c frozen peas and carrots
2-3 red potatoes, cashed(?) and thinly sliced
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly Remove from heat and stir in milk, water, and bouillon. Heat to boiling stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add pease and carrots, potatoes and chicken. Roll "super easy pi crust" pastry into 11x14 inch rectangle. Pour chicken mixture into 9x11 inch pan on the bottom crust. Place pastry over top and flute edges. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden.

Super Easy Pie Crust

1/2 c butter
2/3 c Crisco shortening
1 T. sugar
1 T nonfat dry milk
1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 c unsifted flour
1/2 c cold water

Pumpkin Bisque from Mormon Cookbook- SO GOOD!

1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups canned pumpkin (I used 2 butternut squashes and a leftover mini deco=-pumpkin)
2/3 cup sour cream
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups light cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sour cream, for garnishing
Chives, for garnishing

Sautee onion in butter. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine pumpkin, sour cream, chicken broth, cream, brown sugar, and salt.
Beat mixture until smooth.
Add onions and butter.
Cover and chill. (I stopped here and just ate it, but you can chill it)
When ready to serve, garnish with dollops of addt'l sour cream and chives.
If serving hot, warm slowly over low heat.
DO NOT BOIL.
Makes 6-8 servings.

*** My note: Tastes amAZing with German RYE bread (Roggenbrot) MMMMMM!!

Sweet Chili

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 pounds 95% lean ground beef (If you leave it out, it's practically unnoticeable!)
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup thinly sliced celery
2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste (Tomaten Mark auf Deutsch)
2 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons dried sweet basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (or the real stuff)
1 dash ground cloves
1 dash baking soda

DIRECTIONS:
1. Brown ground beef
2. Drain and return to pan
3. Add bell pepper, parsley, onion and celery
4. Saute until onion is clear, approx 5 minutes
5. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1-1/2 to 2 hours

Add cheese?
Eat with cornbread?
YUM!!!

Apfel Streudel (APPLE STREUDEL)

Bust out an apple corer.
Core yourself 6 apples. I left the peels on. Mmmm.
Sautee em in about a half a stick of butter, lid on, till they're soft. I used a hamburger masher to break into smaller pieces.
-------------
Make a sauce to pour over the apples. It's the sauce I use for peach cobbler.
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. Flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
---- mash in 1 T. Butter-----
then add:
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. juice (apple juice from a jug is great)


Make a bread dough from Jan's "Fruit Filled Rolls" recipe:
2 c. sour cream, warmed
1/2 c. warm water
3 T. yeast dissolved in warm water
2/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 c. margarine
6 c. flour

Mix together, then divide into four balls.
Let rise until double.
Roll into oblong pieces- then lay two on a cookie sheet (fills 2 cookie sheets)
Fill each one with 1 cup filling.
Make 1 inch slits in sides of dough, about 1 inch apart from each other, on the long sides of dough.
Fold in ends then "braid" sides (cross or overlap).

Let rise again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins.

Eat with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream :)
SO GOOD!

APPLE MUFFINS-

Jan Walker's Awesome Recipe


Stir together:
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 cup grated apple

Blend dry ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 c. chopped nuts

Stir just til flour is moistened.
Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.
Sprinkle w/ topping just before baking.
Bake at 400 for 12-15 mins.
Makes about 18+ muffins.

Waffles without Waffle Iron

The Waffle Recipe is simple-
2c flour (feel free to do half wheat/half white or bread flour)
3tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
3 eggs, SEPARATED-
(save whites and food processor or blender them till peaks form)

Fold in egg whites

1 & 1/4 c. Milk
1/2 c. shortening

No waffle iron? Use a sandwich maker!

Easy baking powder biscuits

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
5 TBSP butter
1 (scant) cup milk

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until largest crumbs are the size of a pea. Add milk, toss with a fork to make a dough. Fold it over itself a few times, not really "kneading", just combining. You want to maintain the layers of butter and flour to get a light, flaky biscuit.

Break off chunks into circles or squares or whatever shapes and slap on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 425 degrees approximately 15 minutes.

I use whole wheat flour, and like the flavor. Remember, handling biscuit dough for too long makes dense, hard biscuits, so if you don't mind an "ugly" biscuit it will taste better for the less handling.

Homemade Hamburger Buns, Fries, Burgers

We made this Sunday dinner almost entirely from scratch! About a week ago, I used the apple cutter to make a ton of potato wedges. I put em in the freezer and today we just threw them in the Fry Daddy and fwa-la! French Fries! Jared made hamburgers from scratch (not premade frozen patties) and is now an advocate for the Tupperware hamburger press! LOL. And the tomatoes are from our garden (which we really have little time for, but it gives to us anyways!) The jam we made over a month ago together for a family night, and tonight we had no hamburger buns, so I thought, "I'll bet the Walker Family Cookbook has it and ta-da, it did! They were super easy for a bread recipe and are so good I want them again! I was so excited at how pretty they turned out.The eclairs are overkill, I know, but I'd just made them for the ward dessert contest, (and got second place!) and had TONS of filling left (can't let pudding and whipped cream go to pot!) so I whipped up some more to gobble up tonight!

Taco Salad Night

Do it right and make it pretty! SO delicious on these HOT summer nights!

Eggplant, Tomato, & Bell Pepper Sauce

1.Cut 3 eggplants in half. Slather butter on the halves and sprinkle generously with parmesan. Fry in pan on both sides of eggplant, just till browned a bit.
2. Add a little olive oil then add chopped bell peppers and lift eggplant up onto them as they cook.
3. Add some chopped up onion (at least half of one).
4. Cover the contents of the pan in tomatoes (all sixes work fine- my tomatoes are little).
5. Add a few BASIL leaves, some thyme, organo, italian seasoning, a little garlic.

This is awesome for PIZZA SAUCE, SPAGHETTI SAUCE, PUPUSA SAUCE, MOZZ. STICK SAUCE.

So I zip-lock bag the sauce, then freeze it all flattened out. It stacks well this way and thaws out much quicker than brick-form.

3. Dump in TONS of tomatoes and

German Pancakes

I never ate this in Germany. But they sure are delicious!


Coat 9x13 pan in 1/4 cup melted butter

In bowl mix:
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs

Pour ingredients into the pan & put into COLD oven. Turn oven on to 450 degrees & bake for 20 minutes.

Cut into slices and top with applesauce & whipped cream. Lukas loves these!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

This was to die for. And I winged it. HA!

I just dumped some corn starch in a bowl, then dumped in the raw chicken pieces (cut em with kitchen scissors ladies! Don't chop your fingers off!), coating them well.

The fry the chicken in some oil (4-5 T) on high with the lid on at first, then off at the end to brown it a bit. This keeps the meat moist.

Make the sauce in a separate pan while the chicken is searing:
Don't feel too restricted by these measurements! Do what you like best!
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. vinegar
1/2 c. chicken broth
3.5 T ketchup
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp worcestire sauce

Truthfully I just kind of dumped the soy sauce & Worc. sauce in! mmmm! Some people also add a little brown sugar and or garlic & ginger. I didn't. This time.


Then put the fried chicken into a bowl to the side, and just put in whatever vegetables you have on hand! I used things from my garden:
Tomatoes, green & orange bell peppers, green beans (blanch these first or just boil em for awhile and have them on hand ready to use), onion & pineapple!! Thinly sliced carrot would also be wonderful although I was out at the time!

Pupusa

This is EASY for a quick dinner that tastes AWESOME and is SO filling!
Get tortilla flour at WalMart. Follow the directions on the back for making the dough. (You knead it, let it sit for 15 mins, then roll out little balls, press em flat, fold up some CASO FRESCO inside, then fry em!

Whala! Dinner!

Just pile on your favorite Mexican toppings: taco-seasoned meat & tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, avacado, you name it!

Thank you Bonnie at prettydubs.blogspot.com for the great idea!

Salsa- from Garden to Chip in less than 30 mins!

I have a vivid memory of running outside through the hail in Utah to cover up my tomato plants. Later that summer, with 26 of those things producing juicy tomatoes faster than we could kill the pig weed, we decided it high time to buy a food processor.
With it came this dandy of a recipe for salsa which I've loved ever since!

1/2 Sm onion, cut into 1 in. pieces
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & cut into quarters
1 clove garlic
3/4 lb Roma tomatoes (about 5 tomatoes) SEEDED & CUT into eighths
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
1 T Olive Oil
1 T Lime Juice
1/2 salt

Put onion, pepper, & garlic in chopper- process 3-5 seconds

Add tomatoes, cilantro, oil, lime juice, & salt. - Pulse 6-8 times for 2 seconds each to chop (or until desired consistency)

Yields 1 1/2 cups, 12 servings (2 T/ serving)

Shish-ka-bobs & Corn on the Grill

Bring on the shish-ka-bobs!

These were phenominal with just a little salt & pepper! MMMMM!
From our garden we picked tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant and we added onion and anything else we could find that would stay on a skewer!

Quark (curd cheese) for desserts

Homemade Quark (Curd Cheese)
Ingredients
1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
3 1/2 cups full cream milk
Method
1. If your milk is not pasteurised you should bring it to the boil, then allow it to cool to room temperature (covered with a lid). (
Jess:I used mine right out of the fridge)
2. Stir the buttermilk into the milk in a container you can cover, or make the mixture in the insert of your yoghurt incubator.
Jess:(Or just put the buttermilk in first, then add milk and do NOTHING! HAHAHA!)
3. Put the container in your incubator, or wrap it in a towel and keep it in a warm place. One option is to preheat the oven to 50 ∘C and turn it off before placing the container inside.
Jess:(Or in Davis just put it outside in 100 degree weather for 24 hours!- on the asphalt pavement for an hour to get it going seemed to do the trick)
4. Allow the culture to proceed for ~24 hours, or until the curds and whey separate.
At first the milk will look grainy, and eventually the curds will float on the whey. The grainy stage is probably sufficient, but might give a lower yield.
Jess: This looks SO awesome!!
5. Dampen a clean tea towel and use it to line a sieve. Place the sieve over a basin. Pour the curds and whey into the strainer. Bring the tea towel together so that it covers your quark and do it up with a rubber band. Place the entire draining apparatus in the fridge.
Jess: Basically, use a thin dishtowel, you know, the kind you would usually hate because they don't soak up well but make a great palat for artwork? Yeah, just lay it in a collander over a bowl and dump the weird mix in! Don't forget to bring up the ends to the dishtowel together like a little gold sack. I tied mine together with a hair tie. I'm sure Julia Childs never thought of that!

6. Allow to drain in the fridge overnight, or for 24 hours. The drained quark should have a consistency similar to sour cream, but it has a more sour taste.


And when you make the cake, do make sure to borrow an awesome red springform pan from a friend. I think it improves it's "wow-power" and the taste of course!