Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I got this recipe from the Mennonite Cook Book. My mom made it quite often and it is great to make use of that cream that has gone sour, or maybe the sour cream that is past the expiry date but still 'good'... yet you don't want to eat it the way it is anymore... that sort of thing. Keeps us from trashing/dumping perfectly good cream! As my dad says, how does sour cream go bad? It's already sour!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 cups flour (I do half white, half whole wheat)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

dash salt

1 tsp vanilla

Mix in small bowl:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts (I usually omit these as I don't have them)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugar. Add well beaten eggs. Mix dry ingredients and add alternatively with the sour cream. Add vanilla.

Pour half the batter in a greased tube pan (flour it as well if you feel the need... I usually don't bother). Sprinkle half the sugar/cinnamon mixture over it. Add remaining batter, and sprinkle the remaining mixture over it.

Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

I got this recipe from Kraft. I really love their recipes as they are simple and delicious. Please note that I found this recipe to be really cheesy and will probably put in less Cheese Whiz next time. Much less. Maybe only about half. And then I'd add some flour to thicken it if I felt it necessary... although it's good being just plain soupy.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients
1 large bunch broccoli
1 large carrot
1 can chicken broth (condensed)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup Cheez Whiz

Cook 1 large bunch chopped broccoli and one large carrot (chopped) with 1 can each of chicken broth and water until veggies are tender. Let cool 10 minutes.

Pour into blender (or use a handheld in the pot itself to save on dishes). Process until smooth and return to saucepan.

Whisk in 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup Cheez Whiz. Warm over low heat to melt the cheese, and do not allow to boil.

Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole

I made this casserole for one of our Thursday night dinners. I was in charge of bringing veggies that week, and figured it'd be nice to do something a bit different. It went over quite well! I had hardly anything to take back home for later. (Adapted from Kraft)

Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole

Drain 2 packages (10 oz each) of frozen spinach (or use 2 bunches of fresh spinach for the package of frozen if you wish). Spread spinach in a shallow casserole dish, top with 1 cup each of cottage, shredded mozza, and shredded cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with 1 cup of bread crumbs (approx. 1 slice bread). Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Reese's Cookies

This is one of my husband's fave cookies that I've made. I've adapted this recipe from the Name Brand Cookbook (I use way less sugar than they ask for).

Reese's Cookies


Ingredients
2 cups flour (I use 1 white, 1 whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F.
Stir together flour and baking soda. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add in flour. Stir in chips.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoon fulls onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly, then remove from sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely. Makes 3-5 dozen cookies... depending on how big you make them... ;)

Slow Cooker Chops

So, here's an easy recipe that is great for the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops
serves 4

Ingredients
4-6 potatoes
1 onion
4 pork chops (remove bone)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper
carrots, mushrooms, or other veggies of choice

Peel and slice potatoes, and chop onion. Place potatoes and onion in slow cooker (onion can be at the bottom, or 'layer' it with the potatoes). Add veggies. Place chops on top. Pour can of soup over the chops, and add salt and pepper. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Voila... quick and easy!

Zesty Potato Soup

So, today for supper I decided to make soup... but I wanted to do something different so I checked my Kraft cookbook and found this recipe... I adjusted it a little (cutting it in half as well, so I'll post that instead) and found it quite good! It's yummy with fresh homemade biscuits.

Zesty Potato Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 stalk celery
1 large carrot (or 9 baby)
1 potato
1/4 onion
other veggie of your choice (1/2 red pepper, maybe some tomato...)
1 can condensed chicken broth (plus 1 can water)
pepper
1/4 each milk and cream (or 1/2 cup whole milk)
1/2 lb Velveeta cut in cubes (I used shredded cheddar cheese)

1. Peel and chop vegetables and combine with chicken broth and dash of pepper in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until veggies are tender. Stir occasionally.

2. Whisk in cream and milk gradually.

3. Reduce heat to low, add cheese. Simmer, stirring for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted in and soup is creamy.

Pomegranate Banana Bread

Apparently, November is national Pomegranate Month in the USA. I didn't know that before, but thought it interesting. I love pomegranates, a friend I met in university introduced the fruit to me... I had never actually seen one before. Anyway, we bought one for Christmas and with the hustle and bustle of the month, completely forgot about it. Not one to let a fruit that good go bad, I thought it best to try to bake it (otherwise we wouldn't eat it fast enough). Lo and behold, my hubby finds this recipe on POM Wonderful, and since we also had 2 over-ripe bananas, I thought it would be the perfect thing to try!


POM, Banana & Pistachio Bread
20min prep
1 1/2 hours baking and cooling
makes 1 loaf



Ingredients
1 cup arils from 1 large Pomegranate
2 cups flour (I did 1 white and 1 whole wheat)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2-3 bananas, mashed (1 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shelled pistachios or slivered almonds, chopped (I didn't have these so I omitted them)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

3. Score pomegranate, place in a bowl of water. Break open the pom under the water to free the arils or seed sacs. They will sink while the membranes will float (I didn't know this until reading this recipe... would have saved me lots of time pulling those seeds out like I usually do!). Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup to put aside (snack on the rest... yummers).

4. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, stir together bananas, oil, milk, and egg. Add liquids to flour (and arils and pistachios if used) until just moistened. Don't over mix.

5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. You can sprinkle leftover nuts/arils over top if you like. I didn't bother (didn't have any left over... oops...).

6. Bake 50-60minutes until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove onto a rack and cool completely. To store, wrap it tightly or you can freeze for up to 1 month by wrapping tightly in foil.



Nutrients per serving (1 slice... don't ask how big the slice is because it doesn't say)

162 calories
3g protein
24g carbs
6g total fat (1g saturated)
12mg cholesterol
139g sodium (if you do 1/2 tsp salt... I always do less)