Apple Crisp

Apples:
4 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water

Topping:
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350^F.  Butter a 2-quart baking dish.

In a bowl, stir the sliced apples with the lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, sugar and water and spoon into the buttered baking dish.

In another bowl, combine the oats, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt.  Stir in the butter until the mixture is crumbly and well mixed.  Sprinkle the topping mixture over the apples.

Bake at 350^ for about 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.  Remove from oven.  Serve warm.

Yum!

Chinese Pot Roast

4 pound boneless beef roast (chuck or eye of round)
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 325^F.  

Coat the roast with garlic salt, pepper and mustard powder.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the beef well on all sides.  

In a large oven proof casserole dish or baking pan, combine the water, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, ginger and celery seed and whisk until the honey is mixed in.  Place the browned beef in the soy mixture, cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until very tender.  

When the roast is done, remove it to a serving plate, tent with foil and keep warm.  Pour the soy sauce mixture into a large skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stir the cornstarch and cold water together to make a slurry and pour that into the boiling liquid.  Whisk until the mixture thickens, about 1 minute.  

Serve the gravy over the sliced beef.

Very good served with hot, cooked rice and broccoli.  Yum!  From allrecipes.com

If you use the Eye of Round and slice it thinly, this also makes great Roast Beef sandwiches!

Scottish Pancakes

So, whilst browsing on Pinterest the other day, I came across a recipe for Scottish Pancakes.  Here's the picture:

Wow!  Just look at those beautiful, fluffy, TALL pancakes!  These are the most beautiful pancakes I've ever seen!!  Made my mouth water!  So, I tracked down the recipe at http://diethood.com/scottish-pancakes/ and made them for breakfast this morning.  

Here's the recipe:

Scottish Pancakes

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups milk

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Pinch salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Butter

Syrup or Honey and Berries, if desired for topping

Beat the eggs and milk until foamy.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Whisk the flour mixture into the milk mixture  just until combined.  Let stand 15 minutes.

Heat a griddle until it's hot, then coat the surface with a little butter.  Drop 1/8 cup of batter on the griddle to form the pancakes and cook until they start to rise up and bubble, then flip them over and cook until golden brown.  I made about 20 pancakes this way. 

And they didn't look anything at all like the beauties on Pinterest!  Very disappointing.  They tasted good....a little dense, but they were OK.  Here's a picture of mine:

They look like regular pancakes.  So, back to the original blog post I went to see what I did wrong.  Hmmm.  I followed the recipe exactly.  Then I read the reviews.  Ah hah!  If I had read the entire post (instead of just looking at the gorgeous pictures!) I would have seen that she cooked her pancakes in biscuit rings!  Light Bulb moment!!!

This recipe is not as good as some others I've made over the years...I bet I could use one of my favorites, cook them in my English Muffin rings and force them to rise up in fluffy gloriousness!  I'll try that one day.  Maybe.  We all know I'm a lazy cook and making them in rings sounds kinda time consuming.  

English Muffin Pizzas

The first time I ever had this for dinner was in 1981 at my sister Donna's apartment.  This is my take on her recipe and I've been making it for years.  It's fast, easy and very tasty and there are endless combinations for toppings so you can make your favorite very easily.  This version is very meaty!

ENGLISH MUFFIN PIZZAS - SAUSAGE, PEPPERONI & EXTRA CHEESE VERSION

1 package English Muffins (6 of 'em)
16 ounce package Jimmy Dean sausage
Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 jar Pizza Sauce (more or less)
8 ounce package shredded Mozzarella cheese
Sliced Pepperoni

Preheat the oven to 425^F. and line a baking sheet with some aluminum foil.

Split the English Muffins in half and arrange them on the baking sheet.  Bake in the hot oven for about 10 minutes or until they begin to look a little toasted.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Meanwhile, crumble the sausage in a large skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned. Drain any grease (Jimmy Dean won't have much!)

Spread a heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce on each muffin half.  Spoon the cooked sausage onto each one.  Pile the mozzarella cheese on top of the sausage and arrange the sliced pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Bake in the hot oven for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and begins to brown a little bit on top.

Good served with a nice Salad!  Feeds 4 to 6 people.

Tuna Sandwiches

Tuna Sandwiches

1 can Bumble Bee Prime Fillet Solid Light Tuna (Tonno) in Olive Oil, drained
8 Hamburger Dill Pickle chips, finely chopped
3 Mild Banana Pepper Rings, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dehydrated minced onion flakes
1 tsp mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (more or less) plus extra for bread
4 slices honey wheat bread
1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced
2 lettuce leaves or some shredded lettuce

Place the drained tuna in a small bowl.  Add the chopped pickles, pepper rings, onion flakes, mustard and 1 tablespoon (more or less) of tuna and stir until well combined.  You want just enough mayonnaise to hold the mixture together.  Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Spread mayonnaise on the bread slices.  Top 2 slices with the tuna mixture, then the sliced tomatoes and lettuce.  Top with the remaining bread to make 2 sandwiches.

Sunny's PB&J Pancakes

Sunny's PB&J Pancakes


1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, melted
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk + extra, if needed
Butter for the griddle
Boysenberry Syrup (or whatever fruity syrup you like)

Preheat a griddle.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  Slowly mix in the egg, milk, peanut butter,and melted butter until combined.  Add a little extra milk if the batter feels too thick.  Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.

Melt a little butter on the griddle and spoon 1/4 cup scoops of the batter to form each pancake.  Cook until the top starts to bubble then flip each one until browned and fully cooked.

Serve with the Boysenberry Syrup.

These were good, but a little dry I think.  I prefer my old recipe for PB&J Pancakes.  Adapted from Sunny Anderson's recipe on Food.com  Her recipe included instructions for Blackberry Syrup, which sounded great, but alas, I had no berries.  Smucker's is quite tasty though!

Chopped Cheeseburger Sliders

Chopped Cheeseburger Sliders


















1 lb ground sirloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dehydrated minced onions
Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste
3/4 cup chopped pickles
2 tablespoons pickle juice
1 1/2 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese (divided)
12 pack Hawaiian rolls
1 tablespoon melted butter

Preheat the oven to 325^F.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Keeping the Hawaiian rolls in one large piece (all the rolls are still attached to each other) carefully slice the tops off horizontally.  Place the bottom section of rolls on the baking sheet.

Meanwhile, brown and crumble the ground sirloin, Worcestershire, onions, garlic salt and pepper in a skillet.  When the meat is nicely browned, drain any fat and then reduce heat to low and stir in the pickles and juice and 1 cup of the cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes and remove from heat.

Spoon the meat mixture over the bottom half of the rolls and then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Place the top half of the rolls over the meat mixture and brush with melted butter.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until hot through.

These were the easiest Sliders I've ever made, but just OK taste-wise.  I probably will never make these again but if I did, I'd reduce the amount of pickles and the cheese by about half.

Adapted from a recipe found on Pinterest that linked to the Cooking For Keeps blog.