Cream Cheese Chicken Filling

Serves 8 – 10

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

4 stalks celery (finely chopped)

1 green onion (finely chopped)

2 cans or 1 pint jar of chicken (drained)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and serve.

This is good with scones, on sandwiches or on crackers.  I use the low fat cream cheese.

Scones

Serves 4 - 6

1 Tbs instant yeast

1 cup warm water

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

¼ cup oil

3 ½ - 4 cups flour (whole wheat or white)

Mix yeast, water and 1½ cups flour with dough hook. Cover and let rest 5 – 10 min.  Add rest of ingredients except flour and mix. Turn on low speed and add rest of flour until dough pulls clean from sides of bowl. Knead for 5 minutes.

Spray counter with Pam and roll out dough until ½ inch thick. Cut into scone sized pieces with pizza cutter, then move the pieces a little apart from each other so they are not touching and let rise for one hour.

Ready to rise

Heat oil in pan at medium heat. Add scones and cook one side until lightly browned, then turn and cook the other side.

Second side cooking

Serve with chicken filling, peanut butter, honey, jam or jelly, butter, cinnamon sugar, tuna, or nutella.

Other options:

You can fry this scone dough right after it is mixed. Just take pieces and stretch and flatten them into a circle and fry. They are a little different, but faster.

You can also bake these scones instead of fry them. Bake on greased or silicone lined cookie sheet at 350° for 12 – 15 min.

How to Dice a Mango

Mango should be soft enough to give a little when squeezed. That is when it is ripe. You can't tell by color.

Peel mango with knife, then make slices toward the pit horizontally and vertically. Then cut the sliced sections away from the pit.

Melon Salad

So many melons on sale this week. Here is what I made.

Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Mango

Cut them into small pieces, mix and serve. It makes a big salad and this is such a good snack also. Guilt free goodness!

Spaghetti

Serves 4 – 6

spaghetti noodles (about 1" diameter  when held tightly in hand)

5 cups water

½ tsp salt

Bring water and salt to boil in saucepan. Break spaghetti in half and add to water. Bring back to boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Water should just cover spaghetti, add more if needed.

½ lb hamburger

½ chopped onion

½ chopped bell pepper (optional)

1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 – 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp granulated garlic

½ tsp salt

pinch of sugar

Brown hamburger with onion and pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until spaghetti noodles are done.

Simmering sauce

Come and get it

Mix noodles and sauce together to serve.

Parmesan rolls or breadsticks are good with this. And of course a green salad.

Parmesan Rolls

Makes 12 rolls
1/2 batch roll dough (half white and half wheat flour)
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs melted butter
2 Tbs raw sunflower seeds

Roll out one half of the dough into about a 12 inch circle. Brush melted butter on, then sprinkle cheese and sunflower seeds. Cut into 12 triangles with pizza cutter. Roll into rolls.
Place on cookie sheet. Let rise 1 hour, then bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Cut into 12 pieces

Roll up

I only used 1/2 the dough so I made cinnamon rolls with the rest.

Potato Soup

Still soup weather here! Is it really May?

Water is just about equal height with potatoes

Serves 4

Scrub and dice 5 medium potatoes. I leave the skin on. Cook in saucepan with 2 cups water and ½ tsp salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes.

2 Tbs butter

¼ cup chopped onion

2 Tbs flour

2 cups milk (can use ½ cup cream for ½ cup of the milk)

½ tsp salt (or garlic salt if desired)

pepper to taste

¼ cup shredded cheese

In another saucepan heat butter until melted. Add onions and sauté for a minute or two. Mix milk and flour together in shaker and add to butter and onions. Add salt and pepper. Stir until bubbly and slightly thickened.

Drain potatoes and add milk mixture. Stir. Sprinkle cheese on top and stir in just before serving.

Note: I like to add other vegetables sometimes. This is how I do it. When I am sautéing the onion, I add the other veggie too.

Some options are carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, spinach, peas.

Another option: Add chopped ham or bacon to the soup.

This soup has red bell pepper added

I served this with parmesan rolls.

Breakfast Sandwiches

For each sandwich you will need:
2 pieces of toast
1 fried egg ( I break the yolk while cooking so it won't run)
1 or 2 pieces of bacon or ham
a few hash brown potatoes (cooked)
Slice of cheese if desired

Make the sandwich with mayo and ketchup.

Note: Last night I put avocado on mine and skipped the mayo and ketchup. Yum!

Cornbread

From Boarding the Ark Today

This is not exactly what their recipe says, it is what I really did.

½ cup yellow cornmeal

½ cup whole wheat or white flour

1 Tbs. honey or sugar

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup milk (or 1 Tbs milk powder and ½ cup water, or ½ cup canned milk)

1 egg

1 Tbs oil

1 Tbs applesauce, optional

Mix cornmeal, flour, honey, salt and baking powder. If using powdered milk add powder with dry ingredients. Whisk in milk, egg, oil and applesauce just until smooth. Fill muffin papers about half full.

Tip: Applesauce keeps cornbread moist.

Note: I left out the oil and put 2 Tbs applesauce.

Bake 400° for 10 min. Makes 10 muffins.

Taco Soup

The weather outside still has me turning to warm comfort food. I am grateful for my warm house.

½  lb. ground beef (cooked and rinsed)

1 - 15 oz can whole kernel corn (drained)

1 - 15 oz can Mexican style tomatoes (or regular diced tomatoes)

1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce

2 – 15 oz  cans beans, drained (black, pinto, white, kidney, whatever you like)

1 pkg. taco seasoning (or 1 Tbs chili powder and 1 tsp cumin)

½ tsp salt

1 – 4 oz can diced green chilies (if desired)

Add all ingredients to pot and let simmer for 20 min. (or more) on stove.

Serve with sour cream (or plain yogurt), grated cheese and tortilla chips.

Note: I had a bell pepper that needed to be used, so I left out the chilies and added ½ chopped bell pepper and ¼ chopped onion. It gave the soup a fresh taste.

I served cornbread with it and it was a nice change from chips, although some of the family still had chips too.