Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

One day I was in the mood for some oatmeal cookies. With the fall season coming in, there is something about oats that remind me the cooler season. Kind of funny I know. So I was searching though an old recipe holder and found this one. I believe it is from an old Crisco can, I'm not sure though. They turned out perfectly chewy. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. Crisco or All-Vegetable Shortening
1 1/4 c. Firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 c. Milk ( I used soymilk)
1 Egg
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3 c. Quick oats
1 c. All purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1 c. Raisins ( I used dried cranberries)
1 c. chopped Walnuts

Method:

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees and grease baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.

2) Combine Crisco, light brown sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl or stand alone mixer.

3) Combine oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.



4) Slowly combine dry mix with wet at a low speed.

5) Stir in raisins and nuts.

6) Bake one baking sheet at a time at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

7) Cool on a cooling rack.

Makes about 2 1/2 dz.

Canning Tomatoes

It has been requested from a couple people that I put up my canning method for tomatoes. I love doing tomatoes for my chili I make every fall, and I usually make a lot. Canning is a long process, but when it is complete you have a wonderfully preserved fresh tomatoes for future use.

Items needed:
Canning pot with rack.
2 Large pots
Citric acid or lemon juice
Tomatoes
Slotted spoon
Knife
Trash bowl
Canning jars ( I used quart jars)
Lids and rims

Method:

1) Examine canning jars for nicks, cracks, uneven rims or sharp edges that could prevent sealing or cause breakage.

2) Wash jars and two piece caps in hot soapy water. Rinse well. Heat lids in a saucepot of simmering water. Don't boil the lids. I washed my jars in the dishwasher and allowed the heating cycle to warm them up.

3) Fill canning pot with a little over half full of water. Elevate rack in canner and put the lid on. Make sure the water is simmering (180 degrees)

4) Select fresh tomatoes and place them in another pot of boiling water for 30-60 seconds to blanch. Remove them and place them in a sink full of cold water to stop the cooking process.

5) With each tomato slip the skins off and trim any green areas off and stems. With my first batch I cut my tomatoes into quarters.

Olivia peeling the skins off the tomatoes.

6) Place into an empty pot and boil gently for 5 minutes. (My first batch I used the tomato juice that came out of the tomatoes as I cut them. My second batch I kept the tomatoes whole and placed enough water to cover them and boiled for 5 minutes.)

7) Remove the canning jars from dishwasher or hot water. Set them on a towel. Add 2 Tbs of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 tsp. of citric acid to each jar.  (Half that for pint jars.)

8) Carefully pack tomatoes and cooking liquid into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

9) Run a nonmetallic spatula between the tomatoes to release trapped air bubbles.

10) Wipe rim and threads of jar with a clean, damp cloth. Remove lid from hot water and place it on the jar. Screw the band down evenly and firmly, just until resistance is met.

11) When jars are filled. Place them in the canning rack and lower into canner. The water level must cover the lids and caps of jars. Add boiling water if you need too.

12) Put lid on canner and process for 45 minutes. 40 minutes for pint jars.

13) When it is done processing take jars out of canner and set them on a towel 1-2 inches apart and let cool for 12-24 hours.

14) After they have cooled check the lids to make sure they have sealed. Label and store your tomatoes in a cool dark place.

Vegetarian Breakfast Sausage Patties

For those that love those Morningstar breakfast patties, here is a recipe that was given to me by a friend that comes pretty close. Not to mention that they are vegan which makes it nice for me since Morningstar uses nonfat milk in their products. I was quite suprised on how well these turned out. Though they are a little time consuming, I found that they are well worth the wait. I made about 40 patties, which will go really fast in this house. Below is the recipe. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

VEGETARIAN BREAKFAST SAUSAGE PATTIES

Ingredients:

(Garlic powder is missing here)

2c. water
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. olive oil (3/27- I decided to change this to coconut oil.) 
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. parsley flakes
2c. quick oats ( I didn't have quick oats so I blended the rolled in a food processor and it worked well.  I also used GF oats.) 
1/2c. pecan meal

Method:

1) Mix all ingredients except quick oats and pecan meal in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil.

2) Add quick oats and pecan meal.

3) Cook until thickens. Wait until mixture cools off.

4) Make sausage patties.

5) Drop additional olive oil in a hot skillet. Cook until nicely browned on both sides.

That's it! Very tasty!

Homemade Gnocchi

The one thing I absolutely love is gnocchi. It has always been my favorite pasta. Something about that great potato filling makes me smile. What makes me smile even more is being able to make my favorite pasta with my girls. There was an evening that I didn't want the typical spaghetti and sauce meal. So I decided to look up the recipe for gnocchi. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I was amazed at how easy it looked. So, here we go folks! Time to try some of the best pasta around!

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg

Method

1)  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and add to pot. Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Olivia helping Mama.

2)  Combine 1 cup mashed potato, flour and egg in a large bowl. 

Note: Crack the egg in a separate bowl to keep shells out or bad eggs from ruining your dish. 

A little playtime in the flour never hurt anyone. 

Sissy (Juliana) wants in on the fun.

3) Knead until dough forms a ball. Shape small portions of the dough into long "snakes". On a floured surface, cut snakes into half-inch pieces.

 

My Gnocchi

 

 Olivia rolling her dough into a "snake".

 Juliana rolling her dough into a "snake."

 Olivia cutting her dough into pieces, making gnocchi.

 Juliana cutting her dough, making gnocchi.

 Juliana

 Olivia 

 Olivia rolling her pieces into little balls.

The Girls' Gnocchi (Not bad for 2 year olds!)

4)  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.

Final product. 

In the end the girls ended up eating their whole plates. So I would guess that they love gnocchi too. Like mother, like daughters. This was so much fun and the girls had a blast using a knife. They even learned the two sides of a knife (Dull and sharp). We hope that you will be able to try this recipe too. 

Zucchini Lasagna

My neighbor gave me some of his zucchini and they were huge. I have always wanted to try zucchini lasagna and I found a recipe on sparkpeople.com. As I looked at it, it really didn't have what I wanted in it, so I changed it a lot and made it my own. So this is my own recipe for zucchini lasagna. I hope you enjoy.

Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini (Or one huge one)

2 cups tomato sauce (1 can)1 medium carrot (or 8 small carrots)1 medium onion1 bag of Boca Vegan burger crumbles or you can use TVP for a gluten free option.2 Roma tomatoes, seeded
1 Green pepper

1 Garlic clove, minced

1 Tbs. fresh basil

1 Tbs. fresh sage

1/2 Tbs. fresh cilantro

4 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Method:

1) With a potato peeler, slice zucchini into long strips. 

2) Using a food processor, chop carrots, onion, green pepper and (seeded) tomatoes.

3) Thaw Boca burger cumbles or cook TVP in water, according to package directions. 

4) Mix the burger and chopped veggies,garlic, basil, sage, and cilantro with the tomato sauce.

5) In a baking pan, repeat layers of zucchini strips and sauce until ingredients are gone. 

6) Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top.

7) Bake a 425 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve warm!

Note: For those who like cheese you can add a cottage layer or Ricotta layer and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.  

Number of Servings: 4-6

Cucumber Sandwiches

As I was looking for something to make for supper, I decided that I would use some of my fresh herbs that I am growing on my back deck. I found a recipe that sounded great but I couldn't use half of the ingredients since they called for cheese or milk. So, I tore the recipe apart and created my own. This cucumber sandwich is wonderful and packing a lot of heat. I love things that are spicy hot and fresh. If you want, cut the herb portions in half to take down the heat. I hope you enjoy this sandwich as much as I do.

My Little Herb Garden.

Cucumber Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 Tbs. Lime juice
1 Banana pepper
1 Garlic clove
4 Slices of bread
1Tbs. dairy free butter
1 Tbs. Mayo dressing
1/2 Cucumber seeded and thinly sliced

Method:

1) In a food processor combine cilantro, mint, lime juice, banana pepper and garlic. Pulse until finely chopped.

2) Spread one slice of bread with butter and the other with Mayo.

3) Place cucumbers on buttered side and spread on the Mayo side.

4) This will chill for up to 4 hours.



Makes 2 sandwiches.

I apologize for the pictures as I could not find my camera and had to take them with my phone.