Baby it's cold Outside!

Here's a Soup that we love....

Tortellini Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil or butter
4 cloves of garlic
4 c. chicken broth (or 4 bouillon cubes & water)
1 -14. oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup parm cheese (powder kind works best)
10 oz. package cheese tortellini
1/2 bag fresh spinach
1 Tbsp dry basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter or olive oil cook garlic 1 min. Stir in tomatoes, broth, basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med add Tortellini. Cook until tortellini is tender (5- 10 min). Then add Parm, stir until mixed stir in Spinach and cook two more minutes.Enjoy!

www.simplifysupper.com

For anyone that didn't watch Good Things Utah today ... this is for you. A web site called simplify supper.com is done by two young ladies that seem to have a great thing going. The site gives simple recipes and a months worth of ideas on a calendar. What a fabulous idea. All the recipes are for 4 people so you could easily double or have left overs depending on your situation. Gosh ... I wish this had been around when I had a young family. Check it out!! Melanie Butler

Buttermilk Refigerator Rolls

I tried these this last week and they turned out pretty good. I like them because once you mix the dough it can last up to 7 days in your fridge and you can have rolls whenever you want! Enjoy

3 cups Buttermilk (room temperature)
3 cups flour
1 T. yeast dissolved in ¼ cup warm water (first let rise a few minutes)
½ cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten with a fork
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour (sometimes you need a cup more--it should not be too sticky)
½ cup oil
1 tsp baking soda

Dissolve yeast in ¼ c. warm water and let proof a few minutes. Mix the buttermilk, flour and yeast together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl. Let this stand at room temperature until double in size, about 2 hours.
Add sugar, eggs, salt, flour, oil, and baking soda. Mix well and kneed for 7-10 minutes. Roll out what you want and place the rest in the refrigerator, covered. The next time you want some fresh baked rolls, take from the bowl what you want and again put the rest back in the refrigerator. It will keep for 7 days. (This is perfect for Sunday meals because you don’t have a lot of mess to clean up and it’s quick.)
Let rolls rise on baking sheets until double in size. Time depends on the room temperature, usually 1½ - 2 hours. Dough from the refrigerator will take longer because the dough is cold.
Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. Brush with melted butter if you like.

Freezer Meals Group

The South Weber 1st Ward has been doing a few "freezer groups" which I have been wanting to get into for almost a year now, but am still on the waiting list. So instead of waiting another year, I thought I'd propose the idea to our ward/neighborhood and see if enough sisters were interested to get one started. Here's the general idea of what they do, but of course we could do it any way we wanted:

Myrt Hyer (if any of you remember her) made copies of her recipe book which has freezer meal ingredients, instructions, recipes etc. and I've got it to use.
They do six gals in a group and get together once a month. I believe they have a daytime group and a nighttime group for people that work during the day. Each person picks a recipe and buys the ingredients to make six of that particular recipe. All of the prep work (which is usually minor) is done at home, then they get together at someone's house and each person assembles their six meals using the ingredients that everyone brought. All of the recipes are meant to be stored in the freezer and then go straight into the oven or crockpot. One recipe feeds a family of six, so if you have a large family you go home with six freezer meals but if your family is smaller then it could be twelve or more meals if you divide them up. They split the costs evenly and on average spend about $50 a month.

I have more details of course, but that is the gist of it. If you're interested, email me at mollycollings@gmail.com

Molly Collings

Back to School Tip

I thought I'd share this time saving tip with you guys. I'm sure none of you are as busy as me right? Okay, so I'm going to preach nutrition for a minute. We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day right? Well, it really is, that's why it's called breakfast. "Breaking" the "fast" from the energy you burn during your sleep. It's especially important for all these kids going back to school. Here is a great recipe for pancakes that have protien to keep their energy up until lunch. Here's the tip to make our mornings easier. Make a batch (or 3) and freeze them. On those crazy mornings, just take them out, pop them in the microwave and you have breakfast in seconds. We made a batch last week and we've had them almost every morning since. They freeze great! Here they are:

Peanut Butter Pancakes
1 1/4 cup flour (I used half wheat, half white)
2 T. sugar
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 cup milk ( you can add a little more to make the batter thinner)
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 T. melted butter
1 egg
Combine the dry ingredients and set aside. Beat the egg and then add the milk and peanut butter until well moistened. Butter a pan or griddle, heated to medium high. Spoon by quarter cupfuls onto your griddle. Makes about 20 regular size pancakes.

Citrus Toss Salad

Citrus Toss Salad

I have seen this salad on two websites and it looked so good I had to try for myself. I have to say it has to be one of my favs.......YUMMY! Okay, enough posts from me for a while :)

Romaine or spring mix
1 red onion, sliced
1 large orange, peeled and sliced
1 pt. strawberries, cut up
2 kiwis
2 avocados, cut up
sugared pecans

Dressing:
1/3 - 1/2 cup oil (I thought 1/3) was enough
2 limes zest and juice
juice and zest from 1 orange
2 T sugar

Carribean Tacos : courtesy of Shari Goodman

This has been our favorite recipe this summer! Try it even if you don't want to add all the extra stuff. It's a keeper for sure!

4 T. Honey

3 T. Fresh Lime Juice

1 T. Oil

2 tsp. Chili Powder (I only use 1 tsp)

1/4 tsp. Garlic powder

1 - 1 1/2 pounds shredded and cooked chicken

Toppings:

little flour tortillas (Neighborhood Walmart has them fresh daily in the deli)

Shredded green cabbage
diced avocado

cilantro

Salsa

diced mangoes (or you can use the mango salsa)

diced tomatoes

Shred chicken and toss into chili powder, garlic powder, oil, honey, and lime mixture.

Whole Wheat Blender Waffles with Coconut Syrup

I got this recipe off the internet recently and I've made it already a few times. These are sooo good and a great way to use up some of that wheat in your food storage. I know the syrup sounds interesting, but I'm telling you the waffles are amazing with it! I didn't have any buttermilk one time, so we just put jam on the waffles and they are good without the coconut, but not nearly as much as an indulgence. Try these, I don't think you'll be disappointed.


Whole Wheat Blender Waffles
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp whole wheat berries (these are just the wheat kernels you get)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
4 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp sugar (or honey)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Blend wheat berries and milk on high for 4-5 minutes, until batter is smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend on low for a minute or until incorporated. Cook on hot waffle iron. (stir batter before pouring into waffle iron, because the heavier wheat particles will settle at the bottom) makes about 10 waffles. (to make pancakes instead of waffles, use 1 cup wheat berries and 2 Tbsp oil)

Coconut Syrup
7-8 Tbsp butter
4/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract

Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the 'fizz' to reduce before serving.

Homemade Clif Bars

These power bars are great and We made seven batches ( I know sounds crazy huh?) this past week so I thought I'd share! I love love love these and they are no bake! If you are going to make them double it and put into a 9x13 pan. We made one batch with chocolate chips and one batch with craisins, raisins and almonds.
Enjoy girls!


Courtesy of Enlightened Cooking:
There is plenty of room for variation.

1 and 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal (e.g., Rice Krispies)
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
1/4 cup finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (preferably roasted or toasted)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (or honey, maple syrup, or light molasses)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/3 cup nut butter (e.g., peanut, almond, cashew, soynut)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.

Bring the syrup and brown sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in nut butter and vanilla until blended.

Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (mixture will be stiff). Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 12 bars. (Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator).

Variations:
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Replace the dried fruit with an equal amount of semisweet miniature chocolate chips (or carob chips). Combine the cereal mixture with the syrup mixture, then let the combined mixture stand 10 minutes before adding the chips.

Peanut Butter Cookie
Use chopped dates for the dried fruit and dry roasted peanuts for the nuts. Use honey, or half honey-half molasses for the syrup and peanut butter for the nut butter.

Will You Cherry Me?
Use chopped dried tart cherries for the fruit and lightly salted roasted almonds for the nuts. Use any nut butter (almond butter is great, but I know, very expensive, and add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.

Apple Pie
Use chopped dried apples for the fruit and rice syrup or honey for the syrup. Be sure to add the cinnamon option, and use toasted walnuts or pecans for the nuts.

Watchamacallits

1 c. Karo syrup (found with other syrups)

1 c. sugar

1 c. peanut butter

3 c. Rice Krispies

1/2 pkg. chocolate chips

1/2 pkg. butterscotch chips

Stir together Karo syrup, sugar, and peanut butter in a large pan. Cook on med heat until mixture is creamy. Add 3 cups of Rice Krispies (I use a big enough pan and add it right into the creamy mixture) . Spread into a greased 9" x 13" pan. Combine chocolate chips (on bottom) and butterscotch chips in a bowl and microwave for a minute until smooth. Spread over krispie mixture. Cool in the refrigerator. Remove and cut into 1-inch squares.

Happy 4th of July!

Okay, I'm going to start things off. Hope everyone had a great holiday. I printed this off the Kraft website a few years ago, but I've never done it. My mother-in-law asked me to bring a Jello salad to the BBQ and I thought it was a easy, cute and patriotic way to celebrate the fourth. You can use it on top of anything that has cool whip or frosting I'm sure. I just have Jello under my cool whip, but I have two other versions... one's a cheesecake and one is a pound cake. Great way to spice up the traditional Jello !