Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

 

Make normal pancakes, as directed.

In a small bowl, combine: 

• 1 stick butter softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon

Immediately after you have scooped the pancake batter onto the griddle as you would do for normal pancakes, use a baster or ketchup bottle to evenly squirt a swirl of the cinnamon mixture into the top of the pancake.

Then cook as normal. 

These are great with syrup, or you can make a cream cheese icing to drizzle over the top:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons milk

Mmm mmm mmm! Enjoy!

The Sweet Potato Casserole We All Love

Here's a solid Thanksgiving recipe we keep going back to, year after year.

* Preheat oven to 325.

SWEET POTATO FILLING:

• 4 cups sweet potato, cubed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 Tbsp softened butter
• 1/2 c. evaporated milk (or can substitute heavy cream)
• 1 tsp vanilla

TOPPING:

• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. flour
• 3 Tbsp softened butter
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans

ORDER OF EVENTS:

1. Preheat to 325.
2. Boil sweet potatoes - then drain and mash
3. In large bowl: mix filling ingredients together & spread in bottom of 9x13 pan
4. Medium bowl: mix brown sugar & flour. Then cut in butter and stir in pecans. Sprinkle topping over the sweet potatoes.
5. Bake 30 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned.

Easy peasy, and it cooks at the same temp as turkeys, so you can make ahead and slip in in the final 30 minutes. 

Salmon Fish Head Soup

Ingredients

• 2 salmon heads, or one salmon frame (head, tails, and scraps)
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1 large bunch fresh dill
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/2 cup cream, or to taste
• —
• To garnish:
• About 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

Directions

1. 1.
   Over medium heat, melt the butter in the sauté pan. Add the onions and sauté until softened but not browned, about 7 minutes. Add the salmon parts, the potatoes, bay leaves, salt, and all but a few stalk of the dill. Add enough water to just cover the fish. Bring the water to a steady simmer and cook until fish and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
2. 2.
   Using a slotted spoon, remove the fish parts from the liquid. When the fish is cool enough to handle, separate the meat and other edible parts (eyeballs, cartilage, etc.) from the skeleton. 
3. 3.
   Add the fish parts back to the soup. Reheat gently at a low simmer, taking care not to break up the fish flesh. Add the cream and the chopped fresh dill. Add more salt, if needed, and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately. Leftovers may be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days and reheated over a low simmer.

   
   

   from this site: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/salmon-head-soup-recipe.html 

Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Bake

YUM YUM YUM!!!

Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Bake 2 cups quinoa (or rice), cooked 2 large chicken breasts 1-2 heads broccoli 1 can cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup mayonnaise pepper squirt of lemon juice 1 stick butter, melted 1 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese Cook and spread 2 cups cooked quinoa (or rice) evenly across 9x13 baking dish. Cube and pan fry 2 large chicken breasts, set aside. Chop and steam 1-2 heads of broccoli, set aside. Combine broccoli, chicken, 1 can cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup, 1/2 cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup of mayo, pepper, and a squirt of lemon juice in a large bowl and mix. Spread the mixture on top of the rice/quinoa. Melt 1 stick of butter. in another small bowl combine melted butter, 1 cup bread crumbs, & 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese. Spread bread crumbs/cheese mixture on the top of casserole. Cover and freeze, or bake covered at 350 until heated through. Remove foil for last 10 minutes to crisp bread crumbs.

Laghman

(authentic/ from Sara W/ in XJ)

Dough: 
1 heaping C flour, 
1 scant tsp salt, 
1/2 C water

slowly mix water into the flour. When you push your finger into the dough and it leaves a small imprint, it is ready. Knead dough well until it slowly rises back after pushing on it with your finger. Let sit 10-15 minutes. When you notice bubbles in the dough, it is ready, but holes means it needs more time. Flatten dough about 1 1/2 in thick. Put oil on each side and cut into strips 1 in thick. Stretch each strip a little by squeezing in your hands. With one hand holding the strip, rub your other hand back and forth across the other end moving down the strip until it is long and about 1 cm in diameter. oil the plate. Coil each strip, coiling from the middle of the plate out. Rub oil on each layer. cover and set while preparing vegetables


topping: 
3Tbsp-1/2C oil, 
150-300g mutton, cut in strips, 
ginger, diced or 1/8tsp powder, 
1 small onion, cut thinly, 
2 tsp salt,
2 Tbsp soy sauce, 
green beans, cut in 2 cm pieces, 
1 potato, but in thin cubes, 
2 leaves Chinese cabbage, cut in narrow strips, 
1/2 large very red tomato, diced thinly, 
3 hot green peppers, seeds removed, cut in chunks, 
1 dried hot red pepper, soaked 10 minutes, sliced finely, 
3-5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced, black or white pepper
* Can substitute other veggies like spinach or eggplant if you want


cook the topping: 3 Tbsp oil in pan or wok and heat. Fry meat and then add chopped ginger and onion. Cook briefly and add salt and soy sauce. Add beans, potatoes, eggplant if using, red pepper, cabbage, and tomatoes, stirring a while in between each. When potatoes are almost cooked, add green peppers, garlic, pepper, and black vinegar if using. Add spinach if using, and some water. Bring to a boil. Taste. Remove from heat and cover while preparing noodles.


make and cook the noodles: boil water. Stretch the noodles (run through one hand and the other, roll to keep round as you stretch,) for stiff dough, do this twice, for soft, only once. Wrap around hands, one under, one over, until hands are covered and dough is used up. Stretch and slap several times. Boil 2-3 minutes. Lift the noodles from the pot and dip first into a basin of cold water. If you want your noodles hot, redip them in the hot water briefly. 

To serve: Put noodles in a bowl and then pour topping over the noodles. Make sure there are at least a couple of pieces of meat in each dish. Serve with chopsticks. Left over dough can be frozen, and dough can be made days in advance and frozen.

Tasty Egg Roll Rice

(Before starting the main dish, set your rice to cook.)


In a large soup pot, combine:

• 5 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 5 lbs. ground pork

Cook fully, until no pink remains.

Add:

• 1-2 large onions, chopped
• 1 head purple cabbage, thin-sliced & cut to bite-sized strips
• 1 head green cabbage, thin-sliced & cut to bite-sized strips
• 1-2 large carrots, shredded (I use a cheese shredder for this)
• 5 Tbsp. grated ginger
• 1/4 c. minced garlic
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 5 Tbsp. liquid aminos

Stir & cook for 3-7 minutes, until cabbage softens & onions are transparent.

Generously salt before serving. Serve over rice.

This was easy and EVERYONE in the family loved it. Various kiddos said: "tasty," "filling," "super-good.

Easy Crock Pot, Dump-and-Eat Taco Soup

I could already tell that today was gonna be one of those get-to-5-o-clock-with-no-dinner-plan days unless I took the bull by the horns. 

So I took the easy way out & dumped all these things in the crock pot and plugged it in. Easy. Tasty. No 5 o'clock rush. Win-win-win. 

Dinner will be ready at the time of my choosing and all I'll have to do is pull out the cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream. YUM! 

In the crock pot, dump these ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 pounds of ground beef (or pork) 
• 2 (15oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 envelop taco seasoning
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 lb. frozen corn
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• 2 c water or broth.

Set the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with crushed tortilla chips, cornbread, sliced avocado, or shredded cheese, & enjoy!!!