Recipes

I stumbled upon a few delicious recipes lately and thought I would share them!  I also found a new website (new to me anyway!) called Ziplist where I can save recipes to my recipe box.  I haven't organized it or really explored it yet and if someone has a better way to organize recipes online, please let me know!  I was using Delicious, but we switched back to Internet Explorer and it doesn't work with IE as well as it did with Firefox. 

Anyway, on to the recipes:

Carmalized Butternut Squash (I also used sweet potatoes instead one time and it turned out delicious!)

Serves: 6

2	butternut squash (4 to 5 pounds total)
6-8 tbsp	unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
14 cup	light brown sugar (packed)
112 tsp	kosher salt
12-1 tsp	black pepper (fresh ground)

Method

1	Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2	Cut off the ends of each butternut squash and discard.
3	Peel the squash and cut in half lengthwise.
4	Using a spoon, remove the seeds.
5	Cut the squash into 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" cubes (large and uniform is best), and place them on a baking sheet.
6	Add the melted butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
7	With clean hands, toss all of the ingredients together and spread out in a single layer on the baking sheet.
8	Roast for 45 minutes to 55 minutes, until the squash is tender and the glaze begins to caramelize.
9	Turn the squash while roasting a few times with a spatula to be sure it browns evenly.
10	Adjust seasonings if needed.
11	Serve hot.
12	Enjoy!

Ham and Cheddar Chowder

6-8 ServingsPrep: 20 min. Cook: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups cubed peeled potatoes
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 can (15-3/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1-1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham

Directions

• In a large saucepan, bring the water, potatoes, carrots, celery,
• onion, salt and pepper to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for
• 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Remove from the
• heat; do not drain.
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in flour until
• smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2
• minutes or until thickened.
• Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir into the undrained vegetables;
• return large saucepan to the heat. Add corn and ham; heat through,

Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole (This was yummy, and will be going on our favorites list, but next time I plan to add some chopped apples into it to add some flavor!)
1/2 C Butter
12 slices White Bread
1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 – 1/2 c.  pumpkin
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
5 eggs
1 1/2 c Milk
Melt the margarine and pour into a 9×13 pan. Mix the brown sugar and the pumpkin spice seasoning. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk & vanilla together.
Spread a thin layer of pumpkin (as if you were buttering a piece of bread) on six of the slices of bread. Layer the bottom of the 9×13 pan with all six pieces. Next, sprinkle half of the brown sugar and pumpkin spice mixture over the top of the pumpkin that is spread on the bread. Spread a thin layer of the pumpkin over the next six pieces of bread the same way. Pour the egg mixture over the top of all of it and then sprinkle the remaining brown sugar/pumpkin spice mixture over the top.
Cover & refrigerate overnight or at least 6-8 hours. Honestly, the longer the better. In the morning, cover the dish with tinfoil and bake in a 350 degree over for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover the dish and bake an additional 15 more minutes. It should be golden and set.
Remove from oven and serve hot. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar if you want. This can also be served with syrup, butter, whipped cream or just eaten plain. It is delicious!
P.S. We are going to try it with some other “flavors” and I will let you know what we come up with, that actually works and tastes good.

Homemade Lemonade- without Lemons!

I just made some delicious lemonade without needing fresh squeezed lemons. It took me all of a few seconds and I had all the ingredients in the house!

The recipe is below.

Rich Simple Syrup for Lemonade

• 2 cups sugar (you can use any type of white sugar)
• 1 cups water

Bring one cup of water to a slight boil and whisk in sugar until dissolved. Store in a mason jar once cooled in the refrigerator for up to a month. Use to whip up a batch of lemonade in no time.

You can jazz up simple syrup by adding fresh chopped ginger or fresh chopped mint leaves during the whisking. Strain ginger or mint out before bottling in the fridge. Simple syrup can also be used to sweeten ice tea for a yummy treat!

Note: I always double or triple this so that I don’t have to make it as often.

Easy Homemade Lemonade

• 1 cup lemon juice (you can purchase this at Aldi or the grocery store)
• 1/2 to 1 cup Simple Syrup (depending upon your desired sweetness)
• 4 cups of water

In a pitcher combine lemon juice and simple syrup, stir in water. Serve immediately over ice or refrigerate until ready to use.

One Roast...Five Meals!

I'm always trying to stretch meat to reduce the cost of meals. My goal is to never pay more than $5 for a dinner for the five of us (granted that is 2 adults and 3 young children). I found a bottom round roast marked down at Hannaford the other day. I don't remember exactly what I paid for it, but it was definitely less than $1.99/lb as that is my target price for meat. I believe the roast was about 4 lb. I was able to stretch it to 5 meals doing the following:

Meal 1: Crockpot Roast Beef(adapted from a recipe on the back of Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion dry soup packets box)

4 lb Bottom Round Roast with fat removed
1/2 cup flour
2 envelopes of Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion Soup Mix (which I got free with coupons)
2 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (which I got for pennies with coupons)
1 cup red wine or water (I used the wine)

Place roast in the slow cooker; mix ingredients and pour over roast; set on low and cook for about 8 hours. The meat tasted so. good.!

I served this with a vegetable and oven roasted potatoes.

Meal 2: Sandwiches

I shredded part of the beef and made sandwiches out of the beef and cheese on hamburg buns marked down at the grocery store. Served this with chips and a veggie.

Meal 3/4: Beef Barley Soup

I used the remainder of the broth from the roast, shredded some of the beef and dumped it back in the broth, poured in a bag of frozen veggies, put in 1/4 cup of barley, filled up the remainder of the crockpot with water, set the crockpot on low for a few hours and voila....soup! We got at least 2 meals, if not 3 out of the soup (I have 2 jars of it in the freezer for later use!) This I served with drop biscuits.

Meal 5: Enchiladas

remainder of shredded beef- about a cup
1 can refried beans- free with coupon
1 package of guacamole- free with coupon
2 cup shredded cheese
1 package tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce- free with coupon
salsa (optional)

Lay the tortillas out and spread beans and guacamole on each. Place shredded beef on each and top with cheese or sour cream. Spread some salsa then wrap each tortilla. Place seam side down in a casserole dish or 9X13 pan. Pour can of enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for 30 min.

Serve with brown rice and corn.

And there you have it! One roast....5 meals!