Berry Berry Streusel Bars

1 1/2 cups quick or old fashioned uncooked oats
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks) melted
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/3 cup strawberry or raspberry preserves (or homemade jam :)
1 teaspoon flour
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)

Heat oven to 350. Combine oats, flour, sugar and butter; mix until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup oat mixture for streusel; set aside. Press remaining oat mixture onto bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Bake 13 - 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool slightly. In medium bowl, combine blueberries, jam, flour and lemon peel; mix gently. Spread over crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture, patting gently. Bake 20-22 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely; cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

I thought of Brayden and his love for blueberries when I saw this recipe! I didn't add the lemon peel and I used our homemade freezer strawberry jam. Very berry good!
Recipe found in a 1994 Quaker Oats booklet.

Orange Cream Cookies

I adapted this recipe from a recipe on the Betty Crocker web site. It called for a pouch of cookie mix and I usually don't buy those so I just made my favorite sugar cookies and tweaked them with the orange flavoring instead of lemon. I suppose you could use lemon extract and call them Lemon Cream Cookies. But they're supposed to remind you of a frozen cream sickle.

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 (12 oz.) pkg. white vanilla baking chips
2 drops red food coloring (optional)
4 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Heat oven to 375. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, eggs and flavoring. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt, mix well. Add food coloring if you're using it, and vanilla chips. Drop by teaspoons onto baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes. Cool a minute or so on the pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Rotis

Finally! We've been trying to find a real recipe for Rotis for quite some time so Jeremy was pretty skeptical when I suggested this recipe. Once he took one bite, though, he smiled and said "it's a roti!":) These are sold all over Thailand by street vendors but they are originally from India. I'm not sure if it's one of those things where you have to try them in Thailand first to appreciate their deliciousness, but really you can't go wrong any time sweetened condensed milk and sugar is involved right?

Banana Rotis

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Method
In a bowl, combine water, egg, condensed milk, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a large bowl, and form a crater in the sifted flour. Pour the water/egg mixture into the flour, and mix well. Add melted butter. Knead this until the bowl is clean and you have a nice ball of dough. Lightly coat the dough ball with vegetable oil. Let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Next, knead your dough a bit more, and form it into several balls (about the size of a golf ball). Coat them with vegetable oil.

Roll a ball of dough flat with a rolling pin and tie it in a knot and set aside.

Now roll the dough ball into a very flat square sheet (the thin dough is important for the rotis to cook all the way through) and place it on a hot (highest setting) pancake griddle that has melted butter on it.

(I poured a bit of oil directly onto my cutting board and that helped me get the dough to a really thin sheet without ripping it).

Add banana slices to the middle of the uncooked dough and then fold edges over to seal. After a minute or two flip it over and cook until sides are a bit darker than golden brown.


Once roti is cooked, drizzle with sweetened condensed milk and sprinkle with sugar. Slice into bite size pieces.

Thanks for letting me know about the website with the recipe Becky!:)

Frozen Fruit Cups

These are another find for my lunches (I get soooo tired of apples) - and they are divine!! So easy to make and you can play around with fruit combinations but really I'm in love with this particular combo. I made 8 of these small cups (with lids that screw on so they don't spill in my backpack as they thaw) and then put the rest in one big bowl and served it with dinner. They'd also be great for breakfasts.

Frozen Fruit Cups

16 oz frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed

12 oz pineapple-orange juice concentrate, thawed

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 (20oz) can pineapple tidbits, undrained

2 (11 oz) cans mandarin oranges, undrained

6 bananas, diced (yellow but not too ripe)

1/3 C lemon juice (bottled is fine)

16 oz frozen blueberries

Combine all ingredients in a very large bowl. Freeze in 1-cup increments.

Thaw slightly before serving, to a slushy consistency.

Original recipe from www.recipezaar.com

Sloppy Joes

This makes for a simple freezer meal. The sandwiches are wrapped individually so you can serve one or several according to your need.

Sloppy Joes

1 1/2 lb ground beef (or 1 lb ground beef & 1/2 lb ground pork sausage)

1 medium onion, chopped

6-7 sandwich rolls

2 cans (8 oz) tomato sauce

2 Tbsp prepared mustard

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp dried oregano

In a large skillet, brown meat and onion. Remove from heat; drain.

While the meat is cooking slice rolls in half and set tops aside. Remove the centers from the bottom of the rolls (careful not to tear out the bottom). Set aside.

Stir remaining ingredients into meat mixture and cook until it bubbles.

Spoon a generous 1/3 cup of meat mixture into each roll bottom. Replace tops. Wrap each sandwich individually in heavy duty foil.

If you are freezing these place the wrapped sandwiches in a large (labeled) freezer bag.

To eat immediately:

Bake sandwiches, wrapped in foil, at 350˚ for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Frozen:

Keep frozen and wrapped in foil. Bake at 350˚ for 35 minutes or until heated through.

Thai Chicken Salad Wrap

I've been looking for some new lunch ideas and this is an easy and tasty wrap. Hey, by the way, do I get a prize for posting the 100th post on our blog?? hee, hee.

Thai Chicken Salad Wrap

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded chicken breast

• 1 cup thinly sliced cabbage*

• 2 green onions, cut into slivers

• 1 small carrot, shredded*

• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro (optional)

• 2 tbsp. chopped peanuts

• 4 large (10-inch/25 cm) flour tortillas

Peanut dressing:

• 2 tbsp. peanut butter

• 2 tbsp. soy sauce

• 2 tbsp. lime juice

• 1 tbsp. brown sugar

• 1 tbsp. sesame oil

• 1 small clove garlic (or less — to taste)

• Dash hot red pepper flakes (optional)

Cooking Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, green onions, carrot and cilantro and toss to mix.

In a blender or food processor, blend together all the ingredients for the peanut dressing until smooth and creamy. Pour this mixture into the chicken salad and toss to coat.

Lay a tortilla on a plate and spoon 1/4 of the chicken mixture onto the middle of the tortilla. Sprinkle with some of the chopped peanuts, fold in the bottom and top, and then fold over the sides as tightly as possible. If you're eating immediately, cut the wrap diagonally in half and serve. If you're planning to eat it later, wrap securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving time.

Servings: 4

*Or use 1 to 1-1/2 Cups coleslaw mix

Tiernan's Favorite Roast Beast

I made this scrumptious roast for dinner tonight, and Tiernan just couldn't stop talking about how much he liked it. "Dis is my favorite roast beast!" and "Mm....I LOVE dis roast beast!" and then, "I wanna have dis roast beast every dinner!" Since the original recipe was only titled "Cross Rib Roast", I figured I'd rename it. : )

Tiernan's Favorite Roast Beast

4 lb cross-rib roast
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp minced garlic
3 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp crushed dried rosemary
1/2 Tbsp salt*
1 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Brush roast with balsamic vinegar.
Make a paste with remaining ingredients and rub all over meat.
Cover with foil and roast at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, remove foil and roast for 60-90 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 140. Remove from oven; cover loosely with foil and let stand 15 to 25 minutes before carving.

*The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of salt but I thought that sounded like a bit much, so I just did 1 tablespoon. It was still just a bit too much, so I listed the salt at 1/2 tbsp, but you can use less if you'd like.
Also, this roast was nice and pink inside - slightly more done than "medium rare". If you like it cooked all the way (blah!) then of course you'll have to leave it in the oven longer.

Recipe from recipezaar.com

Finnish Cardamom Bread

I discovered cardamom a few years ago and fell in love with it so I was excited to try this bread. It makes three loaves but it's quite easy to make. Now, I'm not sure how bakers make beautiful braided breads that are smooth and even and so forth but I'm fairly pleased with the way these came out. :)

Finnish Cardamom Bread

1/4 C warm water

3 Tbsp yeast

2 C luke-warm milk

3/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp ground cardamom

6-7 C flour

Melted butter

Powdered sugar

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup warm water, yeast, a pinch of flour, and a pinch of sugar; set aside. In mixers bowl, combine warm milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and cardamom. Add yeast mixture and 5 cups flour; mix well. Gradually add more flour to the dough until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Cover dough and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

Punch dough down. Divide into 3 parts. Separate each part into 3 balls and shape each ball into a rope. Braid 3 ropes together and place on greased baking sheets. (You will have 3 braids.) Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and a clean towel and let rise until doubled.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from pan to cool on a wire rack and brush immediately with butter. Dust with powdered sugar. Once bread is cooled, dust again with powdered sugar.

If you prefer, you can omit powdered sugar and frost the cooled bread and sprinkle with cherries and nuts.

(Apparently, the secret to this bread is not to use too much flour.)

Yield: 3 loaves

Honey BBQ Ribs

The BBQ sauce on these ribs is sooo good! It reminds me of Smokehouse in Utah (but maybe it's just been too long since I've been there...) - either way - I'm in love with the sauce. And I even ate some pork ribs so you know it's gotta be good. The meat was really tender and falling apart. I was intending to use this as a freezer meal but decided we'd have it for dinner tonight which made the J happy because it was ready before he had to leave for work.

Honey BBQ Ribs

3 lbs boneless pork ribs

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 C ketchup

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C honey

1/4 C dijon mustard

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 Tbsp liquid smoke

Place ribs in slow cooker; cover and cook on high for 3 hours. Drain and discard liquid and put ribs back in slow cooker. Reduce heat to low. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour over ribs. Cover and cook on low for 3 - 4 hours until meat is nice and tender.

To freeze:

Remove ribs and sauce from slow cooker and allow to cool. Place in a freezer bag. Label and freeze. When serving, thaw completely and heat on stovetop until hot throughout.

To serve immediately - eat and enjoy.

Altered slightly from original recipe in "Dinner is Ready."

Lemon Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Sauce

This is a light, delicious dessert we made sometime around Christmas! I, of course, am a lemon lover so it's right up my ally but I think it can be enjoyed by everyone. :) We had lots of raspberry sauce leftover so you could cut that part in half or use the leftovers over ice cream.

Lemon Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Sauce

1 (3 oz) pkg lemon flavor gelatin

3/4 C boiling water

2 C ice cubes

2 tsp grated lemon peel

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 C frozen light whipped topping, thawed

1 (10 oz) pkg frozen raspberries in syrup*, thawed

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add ice cubes; stir about 2 minutes or until gelatin begins to thicken. With slotted spoon, remove any unmelted ice. Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice. With wire whisk or electric mixer at low speed, thoroughly blend whipped topping into gelatin. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until set.

Meanwhile, in blender container or food processor bowl with metal blade, combine raspberries and powdered sugar. Cover; blend until smooth. Press raspberry mixture through strainer into bowl to remove seeds; discard seeds.

To serve, spoon about 1/2 cup lemon mixture into each of 6 dessert dishes. Top each with 2-3 tablespoons raspberry sauce. If desired, garnish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves.

*If you can't find raspberries in syrup just mix the thawed raspberries with about 1/2 C sugar and let it sit while you make the rest.

We used a medium cookie scoop and put three small scoops in each bowl - darling. ;)

Recipe is from a Pillsbury Holiday cookbook.

Texas Crabgrass

We first made this dip when Tyler was moving to Texas because obviously it only made sense to throw a party with "Texan" food.

Texas Crabgrass

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped onion (or 1/4 tsp onion powder)
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
1/2 pound fresh crabmeat or 1 (7 ounce) can crabmeat, drained
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a small skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onions for 4 to 5 minutes. In a saucepan, bring the spinach to a boil, cook for 1 minute or until the block is no longer frozen together, drain well, and add to the butter mixture. Add the crabmeat and cheese; stir until cheese is melted. Heat and serve in a chafing dish with crackers, Melba toast rounds or tortilla chips.

Creamy Broccoli and Walnut Pasta

Creamy Broccoli and Walnut Pasta

4 cloves garlic, diced/crushed
1 T olive oil
1 pint whipping cream
1 tsp salt
8 oz frozen broccoli florets
1/4 C walnuts, toasted and chopped

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add garlic and saute until browned. Add cream and salt and cook until bubbling. Meanwhile, toast walnuts. Add broccoli and walnuts and cook until heated through. Serve over linguini or fettucini pasta.

This sauce doesn't ever really thicken but it's really yummy. The original recipe calls for sauteed mushrooms rather than broccoli and walnuts, which is also super delish. Also, I don't like the sauce itself to taste too walnutty, but it doesn't really have time to pick up the flavor when you put them in last. One last thing... this makes a lot of sauce!:)

Layered Jello Salad

This is the pretzel jello of the Kunz family holidays. It's really very delicious... it takes a long time to actually finish but it's definitely not a lot of work, just a lot of waiting.

Layered Jello Salad

6 small pkgs jello (3oz, different flavors)
1 16 oz container sour cream

Prepare only one package of jello at a time. To first package, add 1 C boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Divide in 2 equal parts. Add 1/3 C sour cream to one part of the jello and mix with a wire wisk. Pour into a 9x13 pan and allow to cool until set (about 25 min). To other half, add 3 tablespoons cold water and pour on top of first layer. Allow to set. Repeat until all six flavors are used.