Baby Apple Pies

The crust comes out nice and flakey. It tastes really good, but next time I will see if I can cut half the oil but substituting applesauce. I will also crumble the pieces of crust on top, instead of making little domes like I did in the pictures above.
Baby Apple Pies
Crust:
3 cups white flour
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp soy milk- Silk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
Filling:
4 apples, peeled, and chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

1) Mix flour sugar and Salt.
2) Beat soy milk and oil in a cup. Add to flour.
3) Make dough ball.
4) Press dough into large muffin tins.
5) Mix filling.
6) Fill tins a bit over the rim. Place any extra dough on top.
7) Bake at 375F for 30-40 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dairy Free Sinful Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup Vegetable Shortening
3/4 Cup Brown sugar
3/4 Cup White sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
2 eggs
8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1) Mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
2) Beat together shortening, sugars, and vanilla.
3) Beat in eggs.
4) Slowly add flour and mix in chocolate chips with a spoon.
5) Bake at 375F for 10-14 minutes.
Note: Do not over bake. Pull out of the oven as soon as they start to change color. They will finish cooking as they cool off. I like to bake them on a piece of foil over a cookie sheet. Then I let them cool off on that foil on the counter before I plate them.
Yeild: about 32 cookies: if you dont eat all the dough first.

Perfect Carrot Cake Muffins

I found this recipe on SparksRecipes website. It was perfect. It needs no oil or butter, and is great for people who cant have dairy. There is no need for frosting because they are perfectly sweetened.

Perfect Carrot Muffins
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2/3 cup applesauce (I used unsweetened)
1 egg
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

1) Mix together dry ingredients. Set aside.
2) Beat together wet ingredients in a cup. Stir in applesauce.
3) Add shredded carrot to dry ingredients and mix well.
4) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix till moistened. Do not beat or over mix the batter.
5) Pour into greased muffin cups and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. I got 6 large muffins from this batch

Pita Bread

Pita Bread

Makes 8
2 cups Whole Wheat flour (pastry kind works best)
1/2 cup White flour
1/4 cup Wheat Germ
1/4 cup Wheat Bran
1 teaspoons fine Sea Salt
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
1 packet of Yeast
1 1/4 warm water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1) Mix together 1/2 cup warm water, sugar and yeast. Set Aside.

2) Mix together flours, wheat bran, germ, salt, and oil. Rub together with your hands so oil is completely distributed.

3) Add in yeast/water mixture and the rest of the warm water, a little at a time. Use only as much as you need. If you add too much water and the dough is too sticky, add more white flour, little by little till dough is workable.

4) Kneed dough and place in a warm place (covered) to rise to double for 30 minutes.

5) Separate dough out into 8 balls, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

6) Heat oven to 500F, with cookies sheet inside the oven.

7) Roll out the dough balls and place two at a time in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Flip over and bake another 3-4 minutes.

8) Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Roasted Eggplant Spread

This is a spread I remember eating as a child. It goes well on bread or as a fancy dip.

Roasted Eggplant Spread
2 Eggplants
2 Tomatoes
1 Onion-Chopped
1/2 Cup Parsley- Chopped
1 Tbsp Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp Oil

1) Roast eggplants and tomatoes in the oven at 200F.
2) Remove tomatoes after 1 hour and cool off.
3) Peel tomato skin and blend in a blender with vinegar till smooth.
4) Remove eggplants after 2-3 hours total. Cool off.
5) Peel eggplant skins, drain water, and chop up into pieces.
6) Suate chopped onion in a large pan with oil till caramelized.
7) Add in the eggplant, parsley, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper (to taste).
8) Cook for another 5-10 minutes stirring constantly.
9) Store paste in a glass jar, sealed well, in the fridge.

No Bake Chocolate Vanilla Eclair Cake

This is a child-friendly recipe that requires no baking or cooking. It is fun and easy to make and tastes good too.

Chocolate Vanilla Eclair Cake
1/2 Box Graham Crackers
3.4oz package Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 ½ cup milk
8 oz tub of Whipped Topping
Chocolate Frosting (Nutella)

1) Whisk pudding and milk in a bowl. Let stand for 5 min.
2) Place a layer of Grahams in a 8x8 pan.
3) Mix in the whip crème with the pudding.
4) Make 3-4 layers of crème and 4-5 layers of crackers.
5) Spread chocolate frosting on top and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Elegant French Bread

French Bread
5-6 Cups White Flour
3 Tsp yeast (or 2 1/2 packages active dry yeast)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
cornmeal-to sprinkle

1) In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, yeast, and salt.
With a wisk, beat in warm water.
2) With a wooden spoon, mix in additional 3 cups of flour.
3) Kneed dough on a lightly floured surface with additional flour (up to 1 cup, if needed).
4) Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes (During cold months, I usually preheat my oven to 200F and turn it off. Then I set the dough to rise there).

5) Punch dough down, separate into two balls, cover, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
6) Grease a pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. In a small bowl, beat egg white and water. Preheat oven to 375F.
7) Roll each ball out into a rectangle, Roll up the rectangles and pinch ends in.

8) Place dough on a greased pan sprinkled with cornmeal.
9) Cover and let rise for 30 more minutes in a warm place.

10) Cut 3-4 diagonal slices on each loaf and brush on egg white.Bake for 20 min, brush more egg on, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

No Bake Cookies from scratch

I emphasize from scratch because I dont use maple syrup in the recipe (I make the syrup), and the peanut butter is freshly ground (nothing added). These cookies are dairy free, and vegan. But they are high in fat and sugar.

1 1/2 Cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup water
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Olive Oil
5 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp cinnamon

1)Boil down water, sugars, and salt till thick and bubbly.
2) Add in vanilla, oil, cinnamon, cocoa powder and stir.
3) Add in peanut butter and mix well.
4) Add in the oatmeal and mix well.
5) Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

Roasted Chicken

I like to make roasted chicken and the potatoes all in one swoop. This lets the potatoes cook in the chicken juices and spices added to the chicken. I also remove the chicken skin because I think its kinda gross and fatty. Its an optional thing.

1 Whole Chicken
1 Onion
2 Potatoes
2 Carrots
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
1 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp pepper
1 TBsp Salt
3-4 Cloves minced garlic

1) Mix together the oil, lemon juice, spices, and garlic in a small dish.
2) Prepare the chicken-remove skin, extra fat, and rinse in cold water.
3) Peel potatoes, carrots, onions, and chop.
4) Lay down a thin layer of onion in a large baking dish.
5) Set Chicken on top of onion layer.
6) Pour and rub spice mix all over chicken, including the back.
7) Sprinkle the rest of the veggies all over the baking dish.
8) Cover with Foil and bake for about an hour (depending on chicken size).
9) Remove foil and let chicken complete baking uncovered for another 15-30 minutes to get crispy.

Quick Potato Cakes

These go great as a side dish, and anyone can make them. This is just the basic recipe, but you can add a whole bunch of other items to these cakes such as parsley, onion, garlic, pieces of cooked meat, whatever. They are very versatile.

Basic Potato Cakes
2-3 Potatoes
Salt and Pepper
1-2 Eggs
2-3 TBSP oil (or more as needed)

1) Peel Potatoes. Shred with carrot shredder.
2) With your hand, squeeze out water from the potatoes one fist full at a time.
3) Add eggs, salt and pepper to the squeezed potatoes.
4) Add some oil to a pan and drop small balls of potato cakes onto it. Flatten the balls.
5) Fry on medium-high till crisp on both sides.
6) Makes 8 cakes.

Simple Salmon

Simple Salmon
Ingredients
Wild Caught Salmon
Garlic
Onion
Lemon
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Thyme
Rosemary
Brown Rice

1) In a small dish, mix garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and all spices.
2) lay out onions over the fish and pour over the spice mixture.
3) Bake at 400F for 20 minutes (depending on size of fish).
4) Serve with brown rice.

Sweet Whole Wheat Bread - Homemade!

I made this bread in hopes of eating something more natural than the stuff they sell at the store packed with all kinds of additives. I was surprised how tasty it was. I was not expecting such good results.

Sweet Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
2 Cups White Flour
3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 packet of Dry Yeast
1 1/3 Cup water
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar Packed
1 Tbsp Honey
3 Tbsp Butter
1 1/4 tsp Salt


1) In a large bowl, mix together Whole Wheat Flour and Dry Yeast. Set aside.
2) Lightly heat water, sugar, honey, butter and salt in a sauce pan unitll butter is dissolve.
3) Add water mixture to flour mixture and blend with a whisk or hand beater.
4) Slowly add the white flour, more or less if needed until you have a soft dough. It will be slightly sticky. Do NOT add so much flour that the dough is completely dry.
5) Place dough in a bowl and cover with a towel. Set in a warm place for 1 hour.
6) Punch dough down, divide into 2 pieces. Shape into loaves and place into greased loaf pans.
7) Let down rise for another 30-45 minutes in a warm place.
8) Bake at 375F for 35 minutes. Once baked, cover with a towel and cool on a wire rack.

Steak Dinner

Ingredients:
Several Thick Slices of Beef
1/2 small onion
3 cloves of garlic minced
salt n' pepper
paprika
Garlic Bread
Fresh Salad

1) Chop up onions.


2)Cut meat slices and mince garlic.


3) Toss meat in garlic and all the spices. Put some olive oil on a pan and brown meat on medium high for a couple minutes on each side.


4) Add onions, lower heat to low, cover and cook till meat is cooked through.

Sweet Moroccan Chicken: One pot Recipes

I love this recipe because it is so fool proof. It tastes really fancy and looks like it too a long time to make. But in fact, it is one of the easiest recipes and only requires one pot. It is a mildly sweet chicken cooked with spices and some dried fruit like apricots or prunes. It is usually served with some warm french bread to dip into the sauce, but I used to eat this dish with a side of basmati rice. The entire recipe is cooked in one pot, so it eliminates some extra dish washing. To save some prep time, I like to measure out a bunch of little bags of the spice mixture so I dont have to measure when I actually make the recipe. This chicken and sauce are great to serve for any dinner party or just to make for your family.

Sweet Moroccan Chicken
If you use the saffron, it will give the chicken a very beautiful yellow color. I ran out, so mine looks a bit pale :(
2 lbs of Chicken
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup water
1 Minced Onion
1 cup chopped Cilantro
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of Saffron (optional)
Dry Apricots or prunes

1) Mix the spices and set aside.
2) Remove any extra skin from the chicken. You can use a whole chicken, chicken thighs, or chicken breast.
3) In a medium pot, pour in the oil, honey, butter,water, and spices. Heat the pot to medium heat.
4) Once the mixture is simmering, add in the onion, cilantro, chicken, and dried fruit.
5) Mix everything well, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or till chicken is done through. You dont have to mix while its cooking, but do check on it once in awhile to make sure the heat is not to high or too low. It should be at a constant simmer and stay covered.

Chop up the onion and cilantro.

Skin the chicken.

Bring butter, oil, water,honey, and spices to a simmer.

Toss in the chicken, cilantro, onions, and apricots.

Mix well.

COVER and cook.