Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

We had frozen strawberries and rhubarb stalks in our kitchen basket this week.  I saw a great recipe on Skinny Taste for strawberry rhubarb compote and I decided it would be a great way to use of the rhubarb.  It was realllllly easy and now I can't wait to make compote out of other fruits.

Ingredients:

• 1lb of strawberries, fresh or frozen
• 3 large rhubarb stalks
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp sugar (I used raw)
• 1 tbsp water

Directions:

1. Chop the strawberries and rhubarb.
2. Combine everything in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Turn it down to low-med and simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. With a stick-blender, purée the contents of the pot for a bit.  I didn't blend mine perfectly smooth, I just broke it down a little.
4. Serve with yogurt or over frozen yogurt, either hot or cold.

Banana Carrot Muffins

Source: Combined several internet recipes and added my own spice!
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

• 2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 small carrots, grated
• 1/4 c. butter, room temperature
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. almond milk (or regular milk)
• 2 c. whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 12 muffin tin.
2. Mash bananas and grate carrots. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
4. Cream butter and brown sugar, until fluffy.
5. Beat in an egg.
6. Just mix in milk and banana.
7. In thirds, add flour mixture until just mixed in.
8. Hand stir in in the carrots.
9. Divide equally in the muffin tin to make 12 muffins. Bake at 350 F for about 25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

**Do not over mix! That's the key to nice muffins :)

Comments:

These were very good and quite healthy for baked goods! They are about 160 cals, 3.5 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber per muffin. You could add nuts, coconut or raisins too.

I think these will make a great pre-gym snack or a quick breakfast with a piece of fruit.

Thanksgiving!

We have our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday evening. This way, everyone can go to their in-laws on Sunday. The last couple of years, we have gotten the best turnout doing it this way. With 16 adults and a toddler, this year was no exception! We did the meat, potatoes and a carrot cake. Everyone else brought the sides. We had pork, hot potato salad, turnip casserole, sweet potato casserole, green been casserole, salad and homemade rolls. For dessert, there was apple pie, pumpkin pie and carrot cake. Thanks for the pies Barb!

I think everyone enjoyed the meal, considering we were all sacked out on couches and on the floor in the family room for about 2 hrs after!

The pork was a new recipe and didn't disappoint! The carrot cake was too, but not quite as risky as a new main course recipe for a crowd!

Apple-Cranberry Stuffed and Glazed Pork Roast
Source: The internet! Link in the post below.


I doubled this recipe to make it for a crowd of 16 adults. One pork roast will feed around 8-10 people quite nicely. This was really good! The glaze was delicious and the stuffing had a strong, sweet and savoury flavour.





Ingredients:

• 1 2.5lbs pork roast (double butterflied)
• 1 c. apple cider
• 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 c. dried apples
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ginger
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. When you buy your pork roast, get them to double butterfly it for you at the meat counter. It is so much easier then trying to do it yourself! Basically, you want it to be 1.5 inches thick the whole way across. When you get it home, before you stuff it, unroll it and pound it out so it will roll up easily. The website below has really good pictures of the pork prep.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 mins. The apples should be soft.
3. Drain the mixture using a fine mesh stainer. Set the liquid aside, you will use this for a glaze. When you strain it, use a spatula to push the mixture down really well getting as much liquid out as possible.
4. Put the strained apple/cran mixture in the food processor and puree. This is the stuffing for the pork.
5. Spread out the pork, pound it and season both sides with salt and pepper. Cover it in the filling. You want an edge with no filling about an inch all the way around. Roll it up and tie it with twine.
6. Bake at 350 F for 45-60 mins in a roast pan on a rack. You want the internal temp at around 135-140 F.
7. Glaze the pork with about 1/3 c. of the liquid. Put back in the oven on around 400 for 5 mins or so. This will brown the exterior.
8. Remove from the oven and put it on the cutting board. Cover it in foil for around 15 mins.
9. During this time, put the remaining liquid back on the stove. Bring to a boil then turn down to low and simmer it until it reduces a bit and thickens. Mine didn't thicken a lot.
10. Slice the pork in 1/2 inch thick slices. Pour remaining glaze over the pork and serve!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Better Homes and Gardens, Best New Baking Book

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 c. oil
• 3 c. finely shredded carrots
• 2 c. flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 c. coconut

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients.
2. Beat eggs. Mix in oil and carrots.
3. Add flour mixture and stir in.
4. Bake in 2 layer cake pans at 350 F for 30-35 mins. Take out of oven and cool in pan for 10 mins. Remove from pan and cool for an hour, then frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 6 oz block of cream cheese
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 1/2 c. icing sugar

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. Add 2 c. icing sugar and beat. Continue adding icing sugar 1/2 c. at a time until icing is a good consistency.
3. Ice the cake!

German Chocolate Cake

Last Sunday, we had sweet and sour meatballs in the crock, over egg noodles with broccoli salad. All of these recipes had already been posted, so I had to make something new and amazing for dessert! This german chocolate cake recipe fit the bill. It looked sort of fancy and was DELICIOUS! Honestly, if I were to make it again, I think I would double the recipe and make it a 4 layer cake or at least 3 thicker layers. I made two kinds of icing: coconut-pecan frosting and classic chocolate butter frosting. I frosted the entire thing in the chocolate butter, plus added the coconut pecan between the layers and on the very top. I was also really excited because the chocolate butter frosting actually turned out!! Last time I attempted homemade frosting, it wasn't so great, so this was a huge accomplishment!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
Source: Better Homes and Gardens, Best New Baking Book (Where else?!)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 4-ounce package of sweet baking chocolate
• 1 c. shortening
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 recipe of coconut-pecan frosting
• 1 chocolate butter frosting

Directions:

1. Grease and lightly flour two round layer cake pans. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a saucepan, combine chocolate and 1/2 c. water. Cook and stir over low heat until melted; cool.
4. Beat sugar and shortening with an electric mixer on medium until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat on low speed until combined, then beat on medium for about a minute. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately to the mixing bowl, beating on low.
5. Pour batter into pans. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes or until toothpick is clean. Cool layers well.

Now, you need to make the coconut-pecan frosting. It starts hot, so you need to let it cool before it goes on the cake. I ended up putting this in the freezer to cool, since I didn't make it right away while the cakes were cooling.

Coconut-Pecan Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 2/3 c. evaporated milk
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1 1/3 c. flaked coconut
• 1/2 c. pecans

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, lightly beat the egg. Stir in the milk, sugar and butter.
2. Cook and stir over medium heat for about 12 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and the pecans.
4. Cover and cool.

Once the cakes and the coconut-pecan is cooled, make the butter frosting so you can assemble to whole thing!

Chocolate Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 c. icing sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c. milk (and keep the milk handy!)

Directions:

1. Beat butter until fluffy. Add the cocoa and 1 1/2 c. of the icing sugar. Beat well. Add 1/4 c. milk and vanilla.
2. Gradually add the rest of the powdered sugar, continuously beating and add more milk if necessary.

Now assemble the cake! Put the bottom layer on the cake plate, front with a layer of chocolate and a layer of coconut-pecan. Add the 2nd layer of cake and frost the whole thing in chocolate. Put the remaining coconut-pecan to the top.

Cut and serve!

Best Ever Big Soft Ginger Cookies

I have been on a real baking kick lately. Over the past couple of years, I have learned to cook pretty well. I like the freedom of cooking, you can just toss things in to suit your fancy and it will likely turn out. Baking is a completely different beast and the discipline scares me. My sister (who is also a great cook) is an excellent baker, so in the true spirit of sibling rivalry, I have decided that if she can do it, so can I!

These cookies were fabulous. They reminded me of my grandmother and the times where she would let us have tea, before we were really old enough to be allowed tea, with her excellent soft ginger cookies. I have a feeling these will be an "heirloom" recipe.

BIG SOFT GINGER COOKIES
Source: Better Homes and Gardens, New Baking Book

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 c. butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 2 tablespoons of sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix up the flour, spices and soda. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat butter with the mixer for 30 seconds. Beat in the sugar. Add the egg and molasses and beat well.
3. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture. This part was tough, because it didn't seem like there was enough liquid for all that flour, but if you keep working it, it will mix in. It will be a bit crummy though.
4. Make 1 1/2 inch balls out of the dough. It takes about about a heaping tbsp for each ball. Roll the balls in the extra sugar and put on a cookie sheet with a good amount of space between them. I thought it was strange to sit them on the pan in balls, but they will flatten out.
5. Bake them on 350 F for 10 minutes. They will still feel soft and puffed when you take them out, but do not be alarmed (I know, you were freaking out), they should not be over cooked! Let them cool for a couple of minutes, until they fall and firm up a bit, then put them on a cooling wrack. Voila!

Peach-filled Phyllo bundles

PEACH-FILLED PHYLLO BUNDLES

Source: Better Homes and Gardens, New Baking Book

Ingredients:

• Butter-flavour nonstick spray coating
• 12 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 c. chocolate chips
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 12 sheets of phyllo dough
• Optional: whipped cream, powdered sugar, fresh raspberries or peach slices

Directions:

1. Spray four 6-ounce custard cups and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine peaches, sugar, chocolate chips, flour and lemon juice. Set aside.
2. Unfold the phyllo dough. Take 1 sheet and spray with butter spray, lay a sheet on top and spray, continue until you have 4 sheets sprayed together. Cut the big rectangle into 4 smaller rectangles.
3. Put the phyllo in the cutard cup and gently push it down to the bottom. The phyllo will hang over the edges. Fill each cup with about 1/2 c. of the peach filling. Close the top up by just kind of bunching it up. They will look like little bags. Spray the fully formed bundles.
4. Bake at 375 F for around 20 minutes. Cool and serve. You can garnish them with whipped cream, powdered sugar or fresh fruit.

Comments:

I didn't have custard cups, so I used my spring form giant muffin pans and it worked just find! They were very tasty and light; the recipe book says they are only 164 cals! Everyone liked them and they looked sort of "fancy"!

Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting

SPICE CAKE WITH PENUCHE FROSTING

Spice cake:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 c. shortening
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk (I used 1 tbsp of vinegar and milk, set for 5 mins)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Grease 13x9x2 inch baking pan or 2 round layer cake pans.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices).
3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla and beat.
4. Alternatively beat in milk and flour mixture at low speed until well combined.
5. Pour into pan(s). Bake 30-35 mins for round pans or 35-40 mins for rectangle pan and until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 mins. Out of pan until well cooled and frost.

Penuche Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 3/4 -2 c. icing sugar

Directions:

1. Melt butter. Stir in brown sugar. Boil for 2 mins.
2. Remove from heat, cool to lukewarm. Stir or beat in icing sugar. Add more icing sugar or milk as needed.

Comments:

The cake was delicious! Light and airy with just the right amount of spice. The icing was very tasty, although maybe just a shade sweet. I also got the consistency all wrong. I added WAY too much icing sugar too quickly, so got almost a fudge-like consistency and the icing was drying out fast as I was using it on the cake. Next time: less icing sugar and add it more slowly, really giving it time to thicken.

Zucchini Bread

ZUCCHINI BREAD

Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini or apple (I probably used at least twice this much, just shredded up a medium sized zucchini, as pictures above)
• 1/4 c. cooking oil
• 1/4 tsp. shredded lemon peel (I didn't use this, didn't have any on hand)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:
1. Greas a loaf pan and set aside. I used two small loaf pans, which impacted my cooking time. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture; set aside.
2. In another mixing bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, oil and lemon peel. Add zucchini mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in the nuts.
3. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 F oven for 55-60 minutes for 1 loaf pan or 35-40 minutes for 2 loaf pans, or until wodden toothpick is clean. Cool on wrack, store overnight wrapped and slice.

Comments:
This was my very first experience working with zuccini. Allegedly, when my mother was pregnant my parents ate a lot of zucchini. She also had hideous morning/all day sickness and therefore, for many years our house was completely void of zucchini. I just ate a piece, still warm and it was very good! Full of veggies and whole grains too :)

Blueberry Buckle

This was dessert with the comfort food meal posted below. Topped with a little vanilla ice cream, this is an amazing old fashioned dessert.

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE
Source: Anglican Parish of Bright Church Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• salt
• 1 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 c. milk

Mix and spread in 8 x 8 pan. Spread 3 cups of blueberries over the mixture.

Crumb topping:

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/3 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and spread on top. Bake at 350 F until brown and blueberries are cooked, approximately 45 minutes.

Peanut Butter-Swirl Brownies

PEANUT BUTTER-SWIRL BROWNIES
Source: Better Homes and Gardens, New Baking Book

These suckers are AMAZING. I usually double the recipe when making for a crowd. Serve warm with icecream, chocolate sauce, crushed nuts and a little whipped cream. Seriously, restaurant quality! I can't say enough about their deliciousness.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. buter
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. flour
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1/3 c. peanut butter
• 1/4 c. semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions:

1. Grease a 9x9x2 pan, set aside. In a saucepan, heat butter until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in the sugar and eggs. Using a wooden spoon, lighly beat mixture just until combined. Stir in the flour. Remove 3/4 c. of the batter and set aside.

2. Stir the melted unsweetened chocolate into the remaining batter in the saucepan. Spread the chocolate batter in the prepared pan. Set aside.

3. Stir peanut butter into the reserved 3/4 c. batter. Dot the peanut butten atop the chocolate batter. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Using a knife, swirl the batter.

4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins or until the brownies appear set on the surface. Do not overbake. Cool the brownies in the pan. Cut into squares.

BEEF STROGANOFF, BROCCOLI CASSEROLE AND DELCIOUS DESSERTS


Beef Stroganoff
Source: kraft.com


Ingredients:

• 3 lbs stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1lb sliced mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 c. beef broth
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 c. sour cream
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1.5 pkgs of egg noodles
• 1 c. fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Place meat, mushrooms, onions and garlic in slow cooker. Add broth, paprika and salt. Cover with lid. Cook on low for 7-8 hrs.

2. Mix sour cream, flour and mustard. Add to meat micture and stir in. Cook on low for additional 15-30 mins. Cook noodles. Drain noodles and add to meat mixture in crook pot. Stir in parsley. Serve.

Comments: This was good. Nothing ground breaking and maybe a litle bland, but a solid beef stroganoff recipe. I had only ever eaten it made with ground beef, so the stew meat was a nice change. A couple of people who don't ordinarily even like stroganoff thought this was OK.

Broccoli Casserole
Source: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 large bag of frozen, chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
• 1 bag of pre-cut carrot waffers
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can cream soup (I used celery)
• 1/2 c. mayo
• 1/2 c. parm cheese
• 1 egg
• Optional: crushed cheezits or ritz crackers

Directions:

1. Mix it all up and top with crackers. Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins.

Comments: This was a very good veggie side. I used reduced fat soup, mayo and parm to make it a little more calorie friendly. I didn't pre-cook the carrots, so they were quite crisp. If you like them softer, cook them a little first.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake
Source: kraft.com

Ingredients:

• 1 oreo crust OR 1 1/2 c. crumbled oreos and butter to make crust
• 2 pkgs of cream cheese
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 c. cool whip, divided
• 2 milk chocolate bars, chopped, divided

Directions:

1. Mix crumbs and butter, press in pan, or be lazy like me and use a pre-made crust :)

2. Beat cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar. Stir in 1/2 of the cool whip. Stir in 1/2 chopped chocolate. Pour into crust. Refrigerate for 3 hrs.

3. Microwave remaining cool whip and chocolate. Pour over cake. Refrigerate.

Comments: This was AMAZING! I used reduced fat cream cheese and fat free cool whip to try to bring the cals down a little. I will definitely be making this again!

Coconut Cream Pie
Source: kraft.com

Ingredients:

• Graham cracker crust
• 2 boxes of vanilla pudding
• 2 c. milk
• 1 c. coconut
• 2 c. cool whip, divided.

Directions:

1. With a wisk, beat pudding and milk for 2 mins. Stir in 1 c. cool whip. Stir in 3/4 c. of cool whip. Pour into pie crust.

2. Refrigerate for 3 hrs. Top with remaining cool whip and coconut.

Comments: This tasted like real, restaurant pie! I was impressed. I even toasted the coconut for the top. Definitely a make again. Very easy!

Enchiladas, Spanish Rice and Chocolate Chocolate Trifle

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
Source: Barb Frame

Note: I made 17 large enchiladas with the ingredients below. You could half or even make a third of this recipe for a normal meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 rottisserie chickens (you can just cook up breasts and shred)
• 2 blocks of cream cheese (I used light)
• 1 pkg Kraft shredded mexican blend
• 2 red peppers, chopped
• 4 stalks of green onion, chopped
• Cumin (about 1 tbsp)
• Tortillas
• Salsa

-I pulled apart the two chickens and chopped up
-Chop red peppers and green onion
-Combine cream cheese, cumin, chicken and veggies, I used my hands to mix it up really well
-Put a dab of salsa, a spoonful of the chicken mixture and some cheese on a tortilla. Roll up and place in a greased pan.
-Spray the tops of the enchiladas or brush with olive oil, it makes them crispy
-Bake at 350 for around 25-30 mins, top with remaining cheese and chopped green onion. Put it back in the over for 5 mins, until cheese is melted.
-Serve with sour cream, extra salsa or any other toppings (Guac is good!)

Comments: These enchiladas are AWESOME. Always a crowd pleaser. The babies even liked them. Thanks for the recipe Barb (and Amanda!)

Chicken Mixture

Ready to go in the oven!

Finished Product

SPANISH RICE
Source: Me!

Note: Again, this was a HUGE batch and there were tons of leftovers. Adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:

• Instant brown rice (cooked according to directions on box, I made 4 c.)
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• Cumin
• Chili powder
• Garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• salsa

-Cook rice according to directions.
-Saute vegetables in olive oil and spices, to taste, depending on how spicey you like it.
-Add rice, salsa and can of diced tomatoes, combine and heat through.

Comments: This is a great side for any mexican dish. It makes great leftovers too. You can add some black beans, top with cheese and sour cream for a complete meal.

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE TRIFLE
Source: kraft.com

Ingredients:

• 2 pkgs of fat free chocolate pudding, prepared according to directions
• 1 pan of brownies
• Raspberry pie filling
• 1 container of cool whip

-Layer crumbled brownie, raspberry pie filling, pudding and cool whip in a large bowl.
-Place in fridge to set.

Comments: Delicious! I put some extra leftover pie filling on the table, so people could add more if they liked. Really easy and tasty. I used fat free pudding and fat free coolwhip, so this was actually not that bad for you either.

Meatballs, veggies and my first chocolate cake!

SWEET AND SOUR MEATBALLS
Source: allrecipes.com

1 pkg of prepared meatball or make your own!

Meatballs:

• Ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp worcester sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion salt
• bread crumbs (start with 1/2 a cup)
• Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Crack your egg and beat it. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it together. I prefer to use my hands. Start with 1/2 a cup of breadcrumbs and add more until you get the right consistency to make the meatballs stick together. Roll up your meatballs (I like them pretty small, around a walnut) and put them on a greased baking sheet. Pop them in the over for a few minutes, just to brown them, otherwise they can crumble in the crockpot. I made enough meatballs to fill the crock. I made up about 3lbs worth of beef into balls. We had 10 adults and 2 babies, a few people had seconds and there were still some leftovers.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 1 can cranberry sauce
• 2 jars chili sauce
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. ketchup
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Mix the sauce up and pour over the meatballs in the crockpot. Stir it up so the meatballs are coated. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs, stirring every couple of hours. Serve over egg noodles.

COMMENTS: These were delicious! I know the ingredients sound a bit strange, but the cranberry sauce gives the chili sauce the perfect sweet taste without actually tasting like cranberries. Everyone loved these, even the little ones. I would definitely make these again, 2 thumbs up, 5 stars!

CARROT AND BROCCOLI BAKE
Source: allrecipes.com

• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 lb of mushrooms, quartered
• 3 cups chopped carrots
• 1 large head or two small heads of broccoli, cut into bit size pieces
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• Shredded cheddar cheese (the recipe called from 1 1/2 cups I think, but I just covered it in cheese... after all, you can never really have too much cheese!)
• butter
• spices (garlic, onion salt, parsley, Mrs. Dash, veggie spice salt, pepper or whatever seasoning or combination of seasoning you like!)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt some butter in a large skillet. Add whatever seasoning you like. I used garlic salt, onion salt and parsley. Soften onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms. Remember, you are going to bake this concoction later, so the veggies should still be a bit firm (unless you like veggiemush, of course!) Once the veggies have reached their desired consistency, put them in a greased casserole dish. I used a rectangular lasagna-type pan. Cover with shredded cheddar. Now, soften the broccoli. Put broccoli on top of cheese. Pour chicken broth over. Bake for 25 mins, remove and sprinkle with more cheddar and a little parm. Bake 5 more minutes, or until cheese melts.

COMMENTS: This was OK. It wasn't like an out of the park homerun hit, but it is a good way to use up some veggies on hand and sneak a serving of vegetables into the fussy. I mean, cheese makes everything better! I will probably make this again when I am lacking a veggie side. I think I would add more seasoning to spice it up a bit.

CHOCOLATE CAKE
Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book

This was my first ever homemade, not from a box chocolate cake. I was afraid. Afraid the box cake would be better than my homemade cake and I would feel like a huge failure. While I did make a cake from scratch, I cheaped out and used icing from a container. Baby steps, right?

• 2/3 c. butter
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 1/4 c. water

-Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease one large cake pan or two small layer cake pans.
-Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
-Beat butter for 30 seconds, until softened.
-Add sugar and beat until mixed in.
-Add eggs one at a time and mix in before adding the other.
-Melt chocolate squares in the micro. Heat for about a minute, then stir every 20 seconds until smooth. Probably will take around a minute and a half, maybe more.
-Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix.
-Add the flour mixture and water in quarters, fully mixing each time, before adding more flour and/or water.
-Pour into cake pans and bake. The recipe said 30-35 mins, mine took more like 45 mins for a wooden toothpick to come out clean. I just kept checking them every 5 mins or so.
-Cool for 10-15 minutes before taking out of the pan to cool on wire wrack.
-Frost and enjoy!

COMMENTS: Thankfully, the cake did not disappoint. It was great! I frosted it with creamy chocolate icing. It was fluffy, light and had a nice chocolate taste, not too sweet. I will be making this recipe again and again. Definitely a classic.