2 cups bread crumbs
2 1/2 cups stewed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter

1.  Cover the bottom of a greased baking dish with 1 cup bread crumbs.
2.  Add tomatoes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3.  Stir remaining crumbs in melted butter and cover tomatoes.
4.  Bake at 350 till well browned.

Variation:  Use flavored croutons instead of bread crumbs.

6 tart cooking apples
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or cinnamon

1.  Wash, peel, core, and slice apples.
2.  Put in saucepan.  Half cover with water.
3.  Sprinkle with sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg or cinnamon.
4.  Bring to a boil, stirring often.
5.  Reduce heat.  Cook uncovered till apples are tender, stirring often.
6.  Add more sugar if apples are too tart.

Can be served hot or cold plain or with syrup or a dollop of whipped cream.

6 or more apples
Butter or margarine

1.  Wash, peel, core, and slice apples.
2.  Melt butter or margarine in skillet over medium heat.
3.  Add enough apple slices to cover skillet, not piling up.
4.  Saute’ in melted butter until soft, turning occasionally to brown evenly.

1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
6 tart apples

1.  Mix and sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
2.  Add milk and egg, well-beaten.  Mix well.
3.  Pare and core apples.  Cut in sections.
4.  Dip each piece of apple in the batter and fry in deep hot oil till brown.
5.  Drain on paper towels.
6.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

2 pounds steak, fully cooked
3 cups canned or stewed tomatoes
3 large sliced onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar, if desired for the tomatoes

1.  Cut steak into 6 pieces
2.  Brown in oil or shortening in skillet.
3.  Arrange onions on top of meat.
4.  Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar.
5.  Simmer till heated through and vegetables are tender – about 20 minutes.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup melted butter or margarine

Instructions:

Beat the eggs well in a large bowl using an electric mixer.  Add the milk.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the milk/egg mixture.  Mix until just blended and add the melted butter, mix again.

Heat the waffle iron.  It will be ready once you a drop of water evaporates on it.  Spoon the batter into the waffle iron compartments.  Cover and cook until ready (your waffle iron may have a setting to let you know it’s finished) or watch for when it stops steaming.

Remove waffle and keep covered until you finish cooking remaining waffles.

5 cups of bread flour
4 TBSP sugar
2 tsp salt
3 tsp active dry yeast
4 tsp butter or margarine
2 cups warm water

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of water until foamy.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water and mix until soft dough forms. Cover in oil and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch down and knead again.

Roll the dough out and cut into appropriate size rounds and let rise again until doubled. Drop dough into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Turn over and boil for 3 more minutes. Take out of water and drain until dried. Brush the bagels with egg wash and bake in a 450-degree oven for 12 –15 minutes until golden brown.

2 lbs. stew meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, sliced
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1 large clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups beef stock
1, 8 oz. can tomatoes
1, 4 oz. can mushrooms
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Saute the pepper, onion and garlic in the olive oil. Next add all the ingredients, except the water and cornstarch, to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well. Cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours.

Just before serving, mix together the water and cornstarch. Add to the slow cooker and stir to thicken.

Serve over a bed of rice.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, melted
Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Place the yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the warm water and stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.  Mix together the flour, salt and sugar in a separate bowl.  Add the oil to the yeast and gradually add the flour mixture.  Mix until the dough becomes stiff.

Once the dough is stiff place it on a floured surface.  Knead until the dough become smooth.  Grease a bowl with a little canola oil on the bottom and up the sides.  Roll the dough into a ball and place it in the prepared bowl.  Cover with a towel and allow to sit 30 minutes.  Dough should double in size.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface roll the dough out with a rolling pin to form 2 circles about 12 inches wide.  Brush the dough with the melted butter.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  Cut into 2 inch strips.  Place the strips on a cookie sheet.  Bake 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Quite often, women feel they must be superwoman or supermom, regardless how difficult that may be to pull off.  One area where women struggle trying to do everything is cooking.  Follow these cooking tips for busy moms and give yourself a break!

If you’re like many women today, you’re working a full-time job during the day and then come home to put in at least another eight hours taking care of the home.  Finding things that will make your time at home less taxing would be great, especially when it comes to being able to feed your family nutritious meals that they will enjoy.

Truth be told, everyone prefers to eat a good, home cooked meal.  But if you’ve just spent a draining eight hours outside the home, you may not have the energy to cook from scratch.  You can create great meals that don’t take a long time; here’s how:

• Make a plan before going grocery shopping.  Creating a meal plan for at least a week at a time will solve two problems. Firstly, you’ll know what you’re going to fix so you won’t be racking your brain after you come home trying to figure out what to fix.  Secondly, you’ll be able to better control how much you spend because you’ll already know what ingredients you need.

• After you’ve done your shopping, wash all the vegetables and cut them up into the sizes you’ll need for each meal.  This may take a while on the front, but will save you a lot of time when you’re preparing each meal later.  Don’t forget to ask for help from those that are old enough to use a sharp knife.  This will greatly lessen the time you need to spend.

• Make your crock pot your best friend.  This one cooking tool can make your life so much easier, and your family much more satisfied with the meal.  Put your ingredients into the crock pot, turn it on, and leave it alone.  By the time you return home, you’ll have the makings for a great home-cooked meal!

• When you plan a family favorite, prepare more than one meal’s worth.  You can double, triple, or quadruple the amount that you make.  Freeze the separate meals for later use.  When you’re craving a particular meal and don’t have time to fix it, you’ll have one in the freezer; all you have to do is take it out and reheat it.

• If you don’t want to spend an entire day cooking extra meals, plan on cooking enough for one extra meal that you can use as a planned leftover one night.  If you’re using making chili one night, make a little extra that you can add to baked potatoes on another night.

• Stretch your home-made meal with a great tossed or pasta salad.  Salads are quick, easy, and nutritious.  They’re also good to add when you’re having leftovers.  They’ll stretch the meal quite nicely.

You may not be able to be supermom or superwoman, but you can accomplish your goal of providing nutritious, home-made meals even after working outside of the home all day long.  By using these tips, you’ll reduce some of the time you need to prepare those meals.  You might actually find that you have a chance to enjoy your meal, as well, and that should make you feel super!

A slow cooker in the kitchen will pay for itself in no time. The time it saves when preparing meals makes it priceless. But, if you plan on using your slow cooker quite often, there are a few staples you may want to keep on hand to enhance your dishes.

1.    Beans – Beans are a cheap source of protein that cooks well. Each bean has its own flavor which is enhanced by the spices you use to cook them. Beans can be used as a meal base when meat is present or if you are a vegetarian looking to create an easy dish without much fuss. Whether navy, lentil, Northern, or black, beans create some amazing slow cooker meals.

2.    Fibrous Vegetables – The average household has at least a few potatoes lurking around. They are a versatile food. Mash them, fry them, stew them, or throw them in the crock pot. Potatoes add density to soups, stews, and meals with meat. Because they, and other fibrous veggies like turnips and carrots, take longer to cook, they can be thrown in the cooker with the meat and allowed to cook all day.

3.    Fresh Herbs – Herbs can dramatically change the flavor of almost any meal. Herbs come dried, but release a better flavor if they are fresh. You can grow your own herbs in the house in small pots. All you need is a sunny spot, good soil, and water. Home grown herbs can be dried to extend their life, making them easy to keep around without worrying about wasting them. Herbs are added near the end of the crock pot cooking cycle so their flavor infiltrates the cooked meal.

4.    Broth – Anything cooked in the slow cooker needs a liquid to start the process. Instead of always adding water, try broth. Chicken, beef, and vegetable broth are available in most grocery stores for very little money. Many varieties come already seasoned and it’s a quick and easy way to add flavor to meat dishes.

5.    Flour or Cornstarch – Flour and cornstarch are used for thickening and sautéing. Applying a light coating of flour to meats and sautéing them in a little olive oil will create flavorful bits of essence that can be added to the slow cooker. At the end of a meal, adding cornstarch to the remaining liquid can create creamy gravy for dishes like rice or potatoes. Flour can also be used as a thickener, however cornstarch makes smoother gravies.

6.    Meat – This article is about pantry staples, but since meat is the centerpiece of most crock pot meals, be sure to have some of your favorites on hand (in the freezer of course). It can be any meat you choose. A tougher cut of meat will cook better and almost melt in your mouth when the dish is ready. Slow cooking will add moisture and tenderize meat that would otherwise dry out and be tough when cooked in the oven.

With these ingredients on hand, you can create any number of basic meals in the slow cooker. By keeping them on hand, you’ll have a variety of dinner ideas without the hassle of running to the store or searching for an answer when asked “What’s for dinner?”

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage, shredded
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced in strips
1 large tomato, cut in wedges
1/2 fresh pineapple, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons milk

Instructions:

Place the cabbage in a large bowl.  Add the celery, green peppers, tomatoes and pineapple.  Toss together well.  Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and toss one more time to incorporate.  Place yogurt in a mixing bowl.  Add the sour cream and stir a couple of times to incorporate.  Place the milk into the mixture.  Use an electric mixer on low speed to blend together.  When finished you should have a heavy cream.  Pour enough dressing over the salad to give it a creamy consistency.  Allow to set 5 minutes before serving.

1 cup of warm milk (warmed at 110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 (.25 oz.) packages of active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups of grated Romano cheese
1 tablespoon of softened butter

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a small bowl; let it stand for about 10 minutes till it becomes creamy. Mix the yeast with flour, eggs, cheese and butter in a large bowl and beat them well. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans lightly and scoop the dough into them. Cover the dough and let it rise for 30 minutes or until nearly doubled. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. and bake the loaves for 60 minutes, or until loaves turn golden brown and sound hollow when their bottoms are tapped. Remove loaves from pans and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Pastry
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cold butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. finely grated orange peel

Filling
2 1/2 lb. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup sugar
5 eggs
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
1/4 cup cream
1 1/2 tsp. finely grated orange peel

To prepare the pastry, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then cut in the butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla until it forms a soft dough. Chill the dough, wrapped in wax paper, in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  After the hour is up, preheat the oven to 400F. Roll the pastry on a floured board until it is a 1/8 inch thick, 9 inch circle. Save the trimmings and put in the refrigerator. Put the crust in the bottom of a greased 9 inch spring form pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

For the filling, beat the cream cheese and dry ingredients with an electric mixer.  Add one egg, and yolks, at a time into the cream cheese mixture, beating well between eggs. Adjust the oven temperature to 550F. Take out the dough trimmings and roll them out, cutting out a 2 inch wide that you can place in the greased sides of the pan. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pan and bake for 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200F and bake for 1 hour. Remove it from the oven and allow to completely cool, refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

This recipe is a standard recipe for puffs. The filling is what makes it special

1 Cup of water
1 cup of flour
1 stick of butter – it is critical that you use real butter. The recipe will not work with butter substitutes or margarine
4 jumbo eggs

Bring water and butter to a boil in a saucepot. Add the flour all at once and remove from heat and stir constantly until well mixed and a ball is formed. Incorporate one egg at a time until all are incorporated.

Put the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Pipe the dough in medium sized drops and bake in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Take out of the oven and let cool.

The filling is fairly simple. Prepare a box of instant mousse using and add ¼ cup of powdered sugar and 1 tsp of almond extract. Put into a pastry bag and fill the pastries. Drizzle chocolate over the top of pastries.