Buttermilk biscuits

I took this recipe from epicurious.com and was the first time I tried this recipe. I have to say it will probably be my new recipe for biscuits as these biscuits were quite tasty and so much better than the frozen or canned biscuits you can buy.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 tablespoon milk or cream for brushing biscuits

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda onto a sheet of wax paper, then sift again into a bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until a dough just forms (dough will be moist).

I rolled them out to about 3/4 of an inch thickness than used a glass to cut my biscuits.

Bake until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Guacamole

I've been making my gucamole like this for a couple of years now. I'm sure I had a recipe for this guacamole but I don't remember where I found it plus I've added and subracted items from it over the years. You can make it as spicy or as mild as you'd like. Again I didn't get a very good picture but will try again the next time I make it.

2 avocados

1/2 onion finely chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped and seeds removed

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced

1 jalapeno (optional), chopped

juice of two limes

kosher salt

pepper

Chopped avocados with two knives. Add all the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Chill for one hour to blend flavors before serving.

Haitian Rice and beans

From this months Cooking Light magazine. I was looking for something easy and nonmeat that I had all the ingredients for, I didn't have shallots so I used onion and I didn't have a green bell pepper but I used a yellow one. This was actually quite tasty and will probably join in the rotation of bean and rice dishes in our household.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped shallots (about 9 large)

1 1/2 cups chopped green bell pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup vegetable broth

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3 cups water

1 tablespoon minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots, bell pepper, oregano, and garlic to pan; cook 12 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in broth, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and set aside.
Bring three cups water and chile to boil in medium saucepan; add rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with fork. Stir in remaining salt and beans. Spoon one cup of rice mixture onto plate and top with about 1/2 cup of shallot mixture.

Apple Pie

1 quart of homemade apple pie filling (I'll post the recipe later)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup ice water

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl; cut in 6 tablespoons butter and vegetable shortening with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add lemon juice. Sprinkle surface with ice water, one tablespoon at a time, and toss with a fork until moist and crumbly. Shape dough into ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill one hour.

Divide dough into two balls. Roll one dough portion into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray, allow the dough to extend over the edge.

Roll the remaining dough portion into a 10 inch circle. Spoon pie filling into prepared pie plate. Top with the 10 inch dough circle. Press edges of dough together. Fold egdes under and flute. Bursh surface of dough with milk. Cut 3 slits in the top of dough. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until apples are tender.

Weekly Menu planner

Monday: Pasta
Tuesday: Chicken or Turkey
Wednesday: Beef or Pork
Thursday: Soup
Friday: Pizza and a movie night*Delivery or make your own, and rent a video
Saturday: Sub sandwiches for Lunch
"Family Favorite" for Dinner
Sunday: Crock-pot, or one dish skillet supper
Note: Family Favorites are things like hamburgers and fries, tacos, steak and cheese subs, more "casual style" food.

Frugal Weekly menu

Sunday-

Breakfast:

french toast made from homemade bread

juice

fruit (whatever is cheapest when I shopped)

Lunch:

leftovers from the night before's dinner

water/milk

veggie (2 kinds, whatever veggies are on sale)

fruit (1 again whatever is cheapest)

Dinner:

Beef or pork roast or a roasted chicken (whatever I have on hand that I bought cheap, I'm not buying organic beef or pork but if we have chicken it is)

salad

dinner rolls made at home

veggie (2 kinds)

water/milk

Desseret:

some sort of baked good that we make, like cake or muffins

Monday

Breakfast:

one egg

juice

toast from homemade bread

fresh fruit

Lunch:

soup made from leftover meat from last nights dinner

dinner roll

veggie

fruit

water/milk

Dinner:

beans and rice- there are so many different ways I make these I can usually go 3 months without making the same thing twice

2 veggies

water/milk

Desseret:fresh fruit

Tuesday-

Breakfast:

oatmeal

bacon

juice

fresh fruit

Lunch:

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or lunchmeat sandwiches

salad or 2 veggies

fresh fruit

water/milk

Dinner:pork chops or chicken

2 veggies or one and a salad

dinner roll

fruit

water/milk

Wednesday-

Breakfast:

pancakes

eggs

juice

fruit

Lunch:

salad made with last nights leftover meat or tuna salad

veggie

fruit

water/milk

dinner roll or bread

Dinner:a dish made with lenitls instead of meat, could be tacos or sloppy joes or something like that

2 veggies

fruit

water/milk

Thursday-

Breakfast:

waffles

sausage

fruit juice

Lunch:

bean and cheese burritos

guacamole and chips

veggie

fruit

water/milk

Dinner:

meatless pasta dish

salad

bread

fruit

water/milk

Friday-

Breakfast:

yogurt and granola

fruit juice

Lunch:

leftover pasta from last night

bread

salad or soup

veggie (if soup)

fruit

water/milk

Dinner:

homemade pizza

salad

cheese straws

fruit

water/milk

Saturday-

Breakfast:

leftover breakfast items from the week, or 9 grain cereal

juice

fruit

Lunch:

sometimes we go out for lunch on this day or we have leftover pizza from the night before

salad or soup

fruit

water/milk

Dinner:

something grilled, maybe veggie/chicken/beef kabobs

rolls

salad

fruit

water/milk

Homemade Pizza

I've been searching for the perfect pizza dough and sauce recipe for years now. While I still haven't found the perfect combo for me yet this one is close. I think I'll be playing around with this pizza sauce recipe some to make it perfect for me. I thought this recipe was slightly too sweet (so maybe use less honey) and need some extra spices. The dough was almost perfect but cooking it at 425 degrees didn't produce the dough I wanted so I'll play with it a few more times and see if I can't perfect the dough to our tastes. I did add some herbs to the pizza dough to give it some flavor but I think it would have been fine without the added herbs. I found the recipes on allrecipes.com. My pepperoni I place in the microwave for about 40 seconds (on a paper towel) for two reasons, one to get rid of some of the oil and the second to crisp the pepperoni so it tastes like the crispy pepperoni from a pizza place.

Exquisite Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese.
Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

Jay's Signature Pizza Crust

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Spaghetti Sauce

I've been making my own sauce for several years now. I prefer the taste of homemade to the junk in the jars. Dh refuses to eat sauce from a jar nowdays. I just free form the recipe each time I make it and cater it to what I'm using it for or what I have on hand.

Yesterday I used the following:

1 onion chopped finely

1 green pepper chopped

2 swirls in the pot of evvo

I cooked the onion and peppers for about 3 minutes. Then added

5 cloves of garlic crushed and minced

Cook another minute or so

added

2 29 oz can of tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatos (should have used more since I used so much tomato sauce)

about 3 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar

about 1/4 cup sugar (don't add all at once, taste test through out the cooking)

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon garlic salt

2 bay leaves

simmer over low heat for 30 minutes or longer. I let yesterdays simmer for 5 hours.

Refried Beans

Recipe #1
Crockpot refried Beans (from someone on Pinchingyourpennies)
Soak your dried pinto beans in your crockpot in the fridge overnight. (Fill it half full with beans and cover to top with water. For a yummy variation add 2 handfulls of black beans.) Drain water and rinse beans. Put back in crockpot and fill to top with water. Cook on high for 8 hours--make sure it never runs out of water. Drain some of the excess liquid, but keep liquid in a separate container. Add 1-2 tsp. salt and 1-3 TBS butter and about 1 cup mild salsa. Blend with hand mixer until mostly smooth. Add additional reserved liquid if it is not desired consistency. Serve with tacos, burritos, eggs or any other dishes you eat beans with. Delicious and so very, very cheap. You will never buy refried beans again!

Recipe #2
I found this on allrecipes and we really love this recipe.

1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
5 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
9 cups water
DIRECTIONS
Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Recipe #3
I just throw this together and have no clue if I got the recipe from anywhere.
2 cups of cooked pinto beans or 2 cans of rinsed pinto beans
enough water to make the beans the thickness I want
salt to taste
pepper to taste
Mash the beans with a potato masher. I don't mash completely just until I get the consistency I'm looking for that day. Add water until I have the beans the consistency I want. Season.

Beef Taco Bake

I know this isn't the best picture but I forgot to take a picture before I served the food. Next time I'll remember to get a picture right from the oven.

I used the last of my packaged taco shells which makes me happy because I'm going to make my own taco shells from here on out. This recipe also called for canned refried beans but I made my own. Also I used my own taco seasoning mix since we are trying to avoid msg and almost all packaged taco seasoning has msg. This recipe took me about 35 minutes from start to finish.

Here's the recipe, which I took from Cook's Country October/November 2007 issue:

2 (10 ounce) cans of Ro-tel tomatoes (or you can use one 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes and one 4 ounce can chopped green chiles), drained, 1/2 cup juice reserved

1 (16 ounce) can of refried beans

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 1/2 pounds 90 percent lean ground beef

1 package low sodium taco seasoning mix

12 taco shells

3 scallions, sliced thin

1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Combine half of tomatoes, beans, hot sauce, and cilantro in bowl. Spread evenly in 13X9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with one cup cheese.

2. Cook beef in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Pour off fat, then stir in taco seasoning, remaining tomatoes, and reserved tomato juice. Simmer over medium low heat until thickened and nearly dry, 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Spoon 1 tablespoon cheese into each taco shell and top with beef mixture. Arrange tacos upright in bean mixture, cover with foil, and bake until bubbling, about 10 minutes. Remove foil, top with remaining cheese, and bake until cheese is melted, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.