Grandma Johnson's Scones

I don't have a Grandma Johnson but these scones are really good. I usually put chocolate chips in half of them. We just eat them plain, no need for butter or jam.

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 
  

1. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Naan Bread

I made Betsy's Butter chicken and decided that I needed some bread to go with it. I have been wanting to make this bread for quite a while. It isn't the greatest picture but the bread was delicious. I would do it again. This is what I did. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com

1 TB yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tb. milk
1 egg
2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

In my mixer bowl I dissolved the yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch down dough and pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls and place on a tray. Cover and let rise until doubled about 1/2 an hour.

Roll the balls of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil pre heated grill. Place dough on grill and cook for 2-3 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter and cook until browned. Remove from grill and continue until all the balls have been cooked. I have to tell you that I had a hard time getting the bar b que at the right temperature but it was worth the work. They were so yummy. I am going to try to make them in my pannini maker next time and I wonder if a George Foreman would also work. Anyway, experiment and enjoy.

Corn Cakes with tomato and avocado salsa

I got this recipe from http://www.ezrapoundcake.com and it was super yummy. The only thing I would change is to add some sugar to the corn cake recipe. I just used frozen corn instead of fresh and it still tasted delicious.

2 cups of corn

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal (If you can only find cornmeal mix, skip the baking powder.)

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Canola oil, for frying

Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag.

Cut the corn from the cobs into a large bowl, and scrape the stripped cobs with the back of the knife (or a spoon) to release the juices into the bowl.

Place 2 cups of the corn kernels into a food processor, and pulse several times, until the corn is slightly pureed but still chunky. Scrape into the bowl with the remaining corn kernels.

Add flour, cornmeal, onion, basil, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper to the corn. Stir to mix.

Add the eggs, buttermilk and butter, and stir just to combine. (Do not overmix.)

Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add just enough canola oil to barely cover the bottom, and heat until sizzling hot.

One heaping tablespoon at a time, scoop the batter into the skillet. Cooking in batches of 4 to 5 to avoid overcrowding, fry the cakes 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.

Drain on the lined baking sheet, and place in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining corn cakes. Serve warm topped with a heap of Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa.

Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

1 large tomato, cored and chopped

1 scallion, trimmed and minced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded and diced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Place all of the ingredients (except the avocado) in a bowl, and stir to mix. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve, for up to 2 days.

Just before serving, add the avocado, and mix gently.

Zucchini Blueberry Streusel Bread

I don’t even have a garden and I still have zucchini coming out my ears! I love it! We have been eating zucchini everything. I LOVE zucchini fries, I enjoyed baked zucchini with mozzarella, I eat enough zucchini bread to gain at few pounds at least, I pan fry it with garlic as a simple side dish and this year my zucchini obsession lead me to make zucchini soup (which was actually pretty yummy!)

And just when I thought I could eat no more zucchini I found this recipe for blueberry zucchini bread and I knew I had to try it. I changed a few things and it turned out INCREDIBLE!  The zucchini makes the bread moist, the blueberries add incredible nuggets of flavor and the streusel tops it off perfectly. I have eaten an entire loaf myself! YUMMY!

Zucchini Blueberry Streusel Bread

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1  3/4 cups white sugar
3 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 pint fresh blueberries (I used frozen and it turned out great!)

Topping
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. oatmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil,applesauce, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix lightly into batter. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.

To make streusel combine all dry ingredients and mix. Cut in butter until mixture resembles small crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in pans.

Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

I have had this recipe for years, it is one of my favorite summer time snacks. It is effortless to make and stays deliciously fresh for days! (well minus the avocado) Enjoy the last few days of sunny weather, grab some chips and dig in!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

2 15oz. cans of black beans
1 avocado, diced
1/3 c. lime juice
1 sm. Red pepper, diced
1/4 c. olive oil
2 med. Tomatoes, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1 hot chili pepper, minced (optional)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
½ c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 ½ c. corn

Combine lime juice, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside

Combine all other ingredients and pour sauce over until well coated.  If making ahead, do not add avocado until ready to serve.

Spaghetti Sauce

This is for anyone of you out there that doesn't know what to do with all those tomatoes growing out in your garden. This is homemade spaghetti sauce. I can't take credit for the recipe, I got it from my nephew's wife Brittany and it is delicious. I made it last year and made two batches of it this year. I have changed a couple of things. We plan to eat it on pasta but also as soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and really if you just had some garlic bread it would be great to dip it in. It is yummy and has lots of veggies in it so it is good for you and also your kids.

1 1/2 gallons of blended tomatoes
3 large onion, finely chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped or grated
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3 grated carrots
3 cans of tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, if I don't have it I just add some dried.
1 TB. dried oregano
5 cloves garlic
4 beef bouillon cube, or equivalent( like "Better than Bouillon")
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 - 1 red pepper finely diced (or any color you want)
1/3 cup olive oil

Blend/ chop all the ingredients and add to a large stockpot, with a thick bottom. I actually used my two crock pots and they were full but then I didn't have to stir it.

Simmer about 3 hours on medium heat stirring regularly. You want a very gentle simmer. When it starts to thicken, you will know it is ready. In my crock pot I just let it cook on high all day and only had to stir it occasionally.

When it is done allow it to cool off. I then used my hand blender and blended it one more time to make it really smooth with no chunks. I don't like chunks and this hides everything from your kids. Then scoop it into your zip lock bags. I lay all the bags on my jelly roll pan and put them in the freezer. When they are frozen you can stack them flat and they don't take up much space.

Enjoy and change anything you like. I love this recipe Brittany!

Breakfast Casserole

Excuse the bad picture, I was having some issues with my camera.

4 cups frozen hashbrowns

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

3 cups cheese

1 lb bacon, cooked and choppped

1 onion, chopped

12 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. Beat eggs for a bit. Through everything in the pan and mix it together. Reserve some cheese to put on top. Cook for 40 minutes or until the egg is firm.

Chili's Southwest Eggrolls

So Marshall and I went to Chili's and couple of days ago with a gift card we got as a wedding present. I have been to Chili's maybe twice in my life, but Marshall has been several. As soon as we sat down he said that we were going to order their Southwest Eggrollls, so we did. And they were amazing. When we got home we decided to look up a copy cat recipe and we found one, and they were just as good as Chili's, this recipe is adapted from www.copykat.com.

1/2 chicken breast

1 tablesppon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons minced red pepper

2 tablespoons minced green onions

1/3 cup corn

1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups spinach

2 tablespoons diced canned jalapeno peppers

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon salt 1 dash cayenne pepper

3/4 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese

5 7-inch flour tortillas

Dipping sauce

1/4 cup smashed fresh avocados(about half of an avocado)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablesppon buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon dried parsley

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1 dash dried dill weed

1 dash garlic powder

1 dash pepper

1. Preheat barbecue grill to high heat. ( I cooked my chicken on a george forman)

2. Rub the chicken breast with some vegetable oil then grill it on the barbecue for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done.

3. Lightly salt and pepper each side of the chicken while it cooks.

4. Set chicken aside until it cools down enough to handle.

5. Preheat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat.

6. Add the red pepper and onion to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes until tender.

7. Dice the cooked chicken into small cubes and add it to the pan.

8. Add the corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to the pan.

9. Cook for another 4 minutes.

10. Stir well so that the spinach separates and is incorporated into the mixture.

11. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese.

12. Stir until the cheese is melted.

13. Wrap the tortillas in a moist cloth and microwave on high temperature for 1 1/2 minutes or until hot.

14. Spoon approximately one-fifth of the mixture into the center of a tortilla.

15. Fold in the ends and then roll the tortilla over the mixture.

16. Roll the tortilla very tight, then pierce with a toothpick to hold together.

17. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have five eggrolls.

18. Arrange the eggrolls on a plate, cover the plate with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours.

19. Overnight is best.(I think overnight or all day is necessary)

20. While the eggrolls freeze prepare the avocado-ranch dipping sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.

21. Preheat 4-6 cups of oil to 375 degrees.

22. Deep fry the eggrolls in the hot oil for 12-15 minutes and remove to paper towels or a rack to drain for about 2 minutes. (I think they only need like 10 or 11 minutes)

23. Slice each eggroll diagonally lengthwise and arrange on a plate around a small bowl of the dipping sauce.