Spiced Carrot Muffins

I made these muffins with some leftover carrot puree I had and everyone in my family loved them!  They thought they were pumpkin muffins because of the color and the spice, and you can also add shredded carrots as well if you don't have pureed.  A great way to sneak in some vegetables!

Ingredients:
1 3/4 - cups all purpose flour
1/2- cup sugar
1/2 - cup brown sugar
2 - teaspoons baking powder
3/4 - teaspoon baking soda
1/2 - teaspoon salt
2 - teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4 - cup plain or greek yogurt
4 - tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 - teaspoon vanilla extract
1 - large egg
1/4 - cup milk
2 - cups peeled, shredded carrots or
3/4 - cup pureed carrots
1/2 - cup raisins, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Line 12 cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. If not using muffin liners spray each muffin tin with baking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugars, pumpkin-pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, butter, egg and vanilla. If using pureed carrots add the pureed carrots to the wet ingredients.

If using shredded carrots fold into the batter last. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add yogurt mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in shredded carrots and raisins if using.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

If you want to use less sugar in this muffin recipe you can decrease the sugar amounts to 1/4 cup each.

Cook's Note: You can also use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour.

Personalized Peanut Butter Pancakes

This is a great recipe for kids, this would be really cute to do for their birthday or if they're having another important event to "cheer them on" or just to make them feel special.

2 cups original Bisquick
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs

Stir Bisquick, milk, peanut butter, and eggs until blended.  Pour about 1/2 cup batter into plastic squeeze bottle with narrow opening.  Squeeze batter from bottle onto hot griddle to form a letter.  (Make letters backward so they will appear "right" when pancakes are served.)  When bottom side of letter is brown, pour 1/4 cup batter in circular motion over letter to form pancake.  Cook until edges are dry.  Turn, cook until golden brown.  Serve with peanut butter maple syrup if desired.

Peanut Butter Maple Syrup:
1 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
Heat ingredients to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently.  Boil and stir 3 minutes.

Gingerbread Pancakes

For my spring cleaning I am getting rid of some cookbooks, one of them being "Betty Crocker's Bisquick Cookbook" which I've only maybe used like 3 times.  But before I do, I am going to copy a few recipes.

2 1/2 cups original Bisquick
3/4 cup apple butter
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 eggs

Heat griddle or skillet; grease if necessary.  Stir all ingredients until blended.  Pour batter by a little less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle.  Cook until edges are dry.  Makes 6 servings.  1 serving of 3 pancakes=350 calories, 14g fat

Shea's Seriously Addicting Homemade Salsa

My good friend Shea has many talents:  crafting, reading, singing, and being an overall awesome mom to her four kids.  She usually brings this salsa to craft night or book club, and I tell you, I have to wait til the end of the night to eat it because if not I will eat the whole bowl!  Sooo good!

1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can diced green chiles
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 onion, chopped (add more to taste)
Fresh cilantro to taste
About 1 tsp white vinegar or lime juice (add more to taste)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
Red pepper flakes to taste

Combine in your food processor or magic bullet, whatever you have.  Play around with the seasonings to taste as to what you prefer.

Creamed Squash with Cheese Au Gratin

My mother found this recipe in a Bon Appetit magazine years ago and clipped it.  We made it once and it is sooo good!  I love it in the fall.  

In a saucepan, bring to boil 1 cup water, 2 lbs. yellow squash, 1 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. sugar.  Cook the squash covered over moderate heat for 20 min. or until tender.  Drain the squash (and redrain) and return to pan.  Add ½ stick of butter (softened) and with a potato masher, mash the squash with the butter until the mixture is well blended.  Mix in 1 ¼ cup cheddar cheese, 1 cup sour cream, ½ cup chopped onion, 1/3 cup fresh parmesan, ¼ c. dry white wine, salt and pepper  to taste.  Pour into 11” gratin dish and toss with either 1 cup cheddar cheese or 1 cup fresh bread crumbs combined with 3 Tbsp. melted butter.  Bake 350 for 20-30 min or until bubbling and golden on top.  

Notes:  When we made this, we noticed that you need to drain the squash like 2 or 3 times because the squash retains so much water.  Also, we tried it with some Jiffy Cornbread mix (about half a box) with some melted butter and used that for the topping instead of the breadcrumbs and it was so good.  The cornbread mix gave it a sweetness with the butter squash, and the flavors were fantastic.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas with Gooey Jack Cheese

This one is thanks to Robin Miller at the Food Network.

Serves 4

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces *see cook's note
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
1/3 cup prepared salsa, mild, medium or hot
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 1/3 cups shredded Monterey jack and or Cheddar
*Cook's note: this is enough chicken to make this meal and another meal. If you are only making this meal, use 1 pound chicken.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes. Add chicken and saute 5 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove half of the chicken and reserve for another use.

Stir in black beans, green chiles, and salsa and simmer 5 minutes, until sauce thickens and reduces. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Arrange 4 tortillas on a flat surface. Top each tortilla with an equal amount of chicken mixture. Roll up tortillas and place side by side in a shallow baking dish. Top tortillas with shredded cheese (1/3 cup per tortilla).

Bake enchiladas 15 minutes, until cheese is golden and gooey!

World's Best Potato Salad

This one is definitely one of my favorite recipes. It is simple, and doesn't have a lot of funky ingredients (unless you hate eggs in your potato salad, as my mother does.) Handed down from a Bishop's wife in our Salt Lake City ward, it always gets compliments.

8-10 medium red new potatoes
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. chives
1 tsp. celery seed
1 Tbsp. prepared mustard
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2/3 cup miracle whip
2/3 cup mayonnaise
3-4 eggs, hard boiled


Cook potatoes about 45 minutes. Cool completely. Scrape off skin and chop into bite-sized pieces. Combine the rest of the ingredients and then add to chopped potatoes. Best flavor when you make this the day ahead.

Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

This recipe comes from the "Real Simple: Meals Made Easy" cookbook (as in the magazine.) It is a great way to sneak in vegetables into your meal, and has a wonderful flavor. Also, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. It calls for white wine, but you can use alcohol-removed cooking wine from any gourmet grocery store, and it works great. It also calls for pancetta, but I have never put it in due to how expensive it is! I also use ground turkey instead of ground beef, but you can use whichever according to your preference. 

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 pound pancetta, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup whole milk
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 pound dry fettucine
Grated parmesan


Heat the oil in a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beef and cook, crumbling it with a spoon, until no trace of pink remains, about 7 minutes. Spoon off and discard any excess fat. Add the wine, milk, tomato paste, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, oregano, parsley, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg and bring to a simmer. Cover partially, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and transfer to individual bowls. Top with the sauce and parmesan.
To freeze...Omit the pasta and parmesan. Let the sauce cool, then ladle it into resealable freezer bags. Store up to 3 months.
To reheat...Thaw the sauce overnight in the refrigerator or thaw partially in the microwave. Warm in a covered saucepan over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Spoon the sauce over it and sprinkle with the parmesan.

Chocolate Chip Date Cake

This cake has been a Dunn family favorite for many years. When I was little, I thought it was called "Chocolate Chip Date Cake" because it was something to eat when you went out on a date. As I got older, I realized that there are actually dates in the batter, and they are the secret to its moist consistency and good taste. It is a great chocolate cake that is delicious, and not super-sweet. I've added pictures to my recipe (a la "Pioneer Woman Cooks") because I had made this cake wrong for so many years, and then finally, after talking to my mom one day after another failed attempt, I realized what I was doing that was making it not quite as I remembered it growing up. So, forgive my feeble attempts to be creative or funny with my pictures, but I didn't want the same mistake to happen to anyone else! Ok, so let's get started!

The "cast of characters": sugar, flour, vanilla, chopped pecans, chopped dates (found by the raisins in the grocery store), chocolate chips, cocoa, eggs, butter, baking soda, and boiling water (not pictured.)

Start by taking 1 cup chopped dates and putting it in a bowl

then add 1 tsp. baking soda

and 1 cup boiling water

and let stand for 40 minutes. Go for a walk, go play with your kids, watch some "Oprah", whatever.

In the meantime, add 1 Tbsp. cocoa to 1 cup sugar.

Mix well.

Then cream the sugar/cocoa mixture with 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter. Don't even think about substituting it with something else, and heaven forbid, lower in fat.

Add 2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Then add 1 & 3/4 cups flour, gradually.

Your batter should be pretty thick after you've added the flour.

Now, here comes the key part (and the thing I had been doing wrong for so long): Add the dates, with the liquid, to the batter. For so long I had been just adding the dates, sometimes straining it, and wondering why my cake was so dry and didn't ever taste like my mom's. The liquid and the plump dates make your cake so moist and good. Oh, and don't worry if you're not a big date fan; you can't even taste them in the cake, they just help with the consistency of the cake.
Now add 1 tsp. real vanilla

and 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the batter. Mix gently.

Now grease and flour an oblong cake pan, this one is 13x9.


Spread the gooey yummy batter in the pan evenly.

Now add another 1/2 cup chocolate chips to the top,

and 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the top.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean.

Let cool and cut into pieces and serve. This cake is really good warm with some vanilla ice cream, and needs no icing! Enjoy!

Amy's Apple Dip

My mom got this recipe from our cousin Amy Dunn Jacobsen, or so the story goes, and we've been calling it "Amy's Apple Dip" ever since. But seeing that none of you know Amy (or me, for that matter) I thought I'd call it what it is. 

1 can sweetened condensed milk
6-8 oz. butterscotch chips
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vinegar
Melt in a double doiler on low heat. Serve warm with granny smith apples, or any other apples you prefer, but, the more tart the better!

Pumpkin Pancakes

This recipe is thanks to Martha Stewart.

1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon, ginger, and salt
pinch cloves
1 cup milk
6 Tbsp. pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 egg
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and spices. In a seperate bowl, mix the milk, pumpkin, butter and egg. Fold together and cook on a greased griddle over medium-to-medium-high heat. Use about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.

Easter Story Cookie

While Easter has since past, I thought I would share this cute idea I found a few years ago to do with your kids around Easter time. It's also a perfect FHE idea.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
I cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape and Bible

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces.

Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him.
Read John 19: 1-3.
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life for us.
Read John 10:10-11.
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.
Add 1 cup sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.
Beat with a mixer on high speed the egg white mixture for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a wax-paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven. Close the door and turn the oven to OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they must feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were also in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20 & 22.
On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matt. 28:1-9. HE IS RISEN!

Chicken Waikiki Beach

This is one of those great tried-and-true recipes from a ward cookbook. The recipe calls for whole chicken legs and breasts, but you can also use like 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts instead, just eyeball it. It also says to bake it for a total of 1 hour, but you can skip the first step and add all the ingredients together and bake it about 40 minutes, or until the chicken and pineapple and pepper are tender.

2 whole chicken legs
2 whole chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 large can pineapple chunks
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 chicken boullion cube
1 large green pepper cut into cubes

Heat oven to 350. Wash chicken, pat dry. Coat chicken with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet, add chicken, and brown on all sides. Remove as browned to shallow roasting pan, skin side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Sauce: Drain pineapple, pouring syrup into 2-cup measuring cup. Add water to make 1 1/2 cups. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, pineapple syrup, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and boullion cube. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 2 minutes. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Add pineapple and green pepper. Bake 30 minutes longer or until chicken and vegetables are tender. Serve with fluffy white rice (jasmine is my favorite.)

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Again, from Stephanie at www.nieniedialogues.com

ingredients:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup hershey's cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
powdered sugar

directions:
in a large mixing bowl, combine sugar & oil. add cocoa; blend well. beat in eggs and vanilla. combine flour, baking powder & salt; add to cocoa mixture blending well. cover; chill at least 6 hours. heat oven to 350. shape dough into 1 inch balls. roll in powdered sugar. place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. bake 12 to 14 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched. remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack. makes 4 dozen.