Chocolate Jelly Truffles

This recipe is thanks to Joanne Fluke except I changed the name. I wanted to open it up to more flavors than just raspberry. This is the easiest truffle recipe out there. I doubled her recipe for convienence but feel free to cut it back in half.

Chocolate Jelly Truffles
1 package chocolate chips (2 cups)
4 TBs fruit jelly
cocoa powder
Melt chocolate chips and jelly in a double boiler until thick and smooth. Let cool. Roll into balls and refrigerate. Remove and re-roll until small smooth balls (they will spread and soften when warm in the beginning but chilled they will hold their shape well). Roll in cocoa powder. Store in refrigerator.

Pancake Cookies

This is one of those recipes that we developed in our house from pancake mix. My mother found a multigrain pancake mix and for a few years these cookies were our standard treat. We gave them up when we went gluten free because we just didn't think about purchasing gluten free pancake mix until we reached the end of our GF diet. The other day my son asked about these cookies because he missed them. At this point in time we have homemade gluten free pancake mix that should go well with this recipe especially since we've been making so many applesauce treats. I apologize for the vagueness of this recipe but it's really easy - everything goes in the bowl and you mix it until it's all smooth (unless you add nuts or chocolate chips which you should wait until the batter is smooth before adding). This is so basic that you can experiment with all sorts of flavors. Tonight I am making these with some leftover apple pie filling that needs to be used up.

Cookies
2 cups pancake mix
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 egg or 1/2 cup oil or 1 cup peanut butter (or to taste)
1 tbs. molasses
1 teas vanilla
Goodies
Bake @ 350 for 10-15 minutes

Krispy Scotcharoos

This is one of those recipes that my mom made when I was growing up. As an adult I looked for the recipe because she had gotten off a box of rice krispies. The recipe had changed over the years so you will notice that there is an alternative to the recipe - that is how my mother made it all those years while the recipe I have is the one rice krispies had during my search. It's been years since I found it so there is the possibility it has changed again. The only problem with this recipe is that it doesn't hold together as nicely as a rice krispie treat but they taste so good it doesn't matter.

Krispy Scotcheroos
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies
6 oz chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
Melt sugar in corn syrup over med heat, stirring until begins to boil. Remove. Add peanut butter, mix, add krispies. Stir until well coated, press into greased pan. Melt chips together, stir well. Top cereal mixture, chill until firm.
-alternative: add butterscotch chips to cereal mixture with peanut butter, top with plain chocolate.

Peanut Soup

This is a weird recipe but the finished result is so good that my family just devours it. It's so easy that a kid can put this together and it doesn't take long to cook.

Peanut Soup
2 TB oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
4 lg tomatoes or 13 oz diced tomatoes
6 ½ oz peanut butter
3 ½ pint chicken stock
Sauté onions until tender but not brown. Add tomatoes, cook slightly. Add peanut butter and chicken stock. Cook until heated.

Lentil Chili

I plan on making this family favorite this week. It's easy to dump in a crockpot or cook over an open fire. My son used this recipe for his first Dutch Oven contest.

Lentil Chili
4 cups dried lentils
6-7 cups water (more as needed)
3-4 large tomatoes chopped or 1 pound canned diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
black pepper to taste
Place lentils and 6 cups water in Dutch oven. Bring to boil and let simmer until the lentils are tender. Add chopped tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, cumin, and thyme. Let cook 30 minutes, adding water as necessary. Add tomato sauce, stir and let simmer another 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar and black pepper.
Serve hot.

Holiday Squash Soup

I made this soup last Christmas and it was a hit. The entire family loved the flavor and the texture. This is a crockpot recipe but I made it on the stove and I did not use the blender. I got the recipe from a Joanne Fluke book.

HOLIDAY SQUASH SOUP
2 ten-ounce packages winter squash (the kind that’s in a solid block and already pureed)
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon beads (or whatever measure it gives to make 2 cups of chicken broth)
2 cups heavy cream
¼ teaspoon pepper
8-oz package cream cheese, unwrapped and softened in the microwave for 1 minute
sour cream and/or parsley for toppings
Cook the squash according to package directions, drain it and put it in a blender. Add the chopped onion and the chicken bouillon beads. Add the heavy cream. Zoop it up in the blender and make sure all the onion pieces are pureed and the mixture is smooth. Add the pepper and the softened cream cheese. Zoop it up again until it’s all smooth and then dump it in the crockpot you’ve sprayed with Pam. Once your soup is in the crockpot, give it a final stir and taste a little bit for seasoning. If it needs more salt, DON’T ADD IT. Add another teaspoon of bouillon beads instead to make it really chickeny. If you want to make your soup sinfully rich, this is the time to cut a half-stick of butter (4 ounces, ¼ pound) into little pieces and throw them in the crockpot. Turn the crockpot on LOW and cook for 4 hours. (This can go an hour or two longer if your company doesn’t arrive on time.) Check for seasonings again right before serving. When you dish it into the bowls, you can top it with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of fresh parsley if you like.
Yield: approximately 4 cups.

Evaporated Milk (dairy and dairy free)

My family has a bug and it's a doosy so my cooking has been rather limited. I hope to take some time tomorrow to rest up and gather my strength and do some cooking in the afternoon.
Last night I made two impossible pumpkin pies. As I am pulling out the ingredients I realize I don't have anymore evaporated milk. I thought this was a perfect time to pull out those substitution recipes I have been holding on to. The pies came out great and you couldn't tell I hadn't used real evaporated milk.
I used powdered milk this time but you can substitute soy milk powder for a dairy free version.

Evaporated milk
1 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup water
Blend well

I just added the milk with the dry and the water with the wet but the instructions for this recipe say to blend in a blender. The milk powder was very visible in the batter but completely gone in the final product.