recipes

Cooking

I’m not that great of a cook. I’m not terrible, either, but I find cooking to be very stressful, mainly because I have difficulty getting the timing of multi-course meals down correctly; I seem to never manage to get things all heated up at the same time in order to serve a meal.

I’m not a fan of cooking, or of doing dishes because they were my “chores” as a kid, and I always resented the fact that everyone else in my family got to see prime-time TV shows that I missed while I was cleaning up after the family dinner. My mom used to say that I had to learn to cook because I’d have a husband and kids to cook for someday, whereas my brothers needed to know how to mow the lawn. Heh. Yeah, right.

But I have been, since I’m home, doing some cooking and baking. It’s much less stressful to do when you’re at home all day, rather than racing home after work and then trying to figure out what to fix. Usually I’m so tired after work that I’d rather eat ravioli out of a can.

I made my mom’s peanut butter cookies the other day, which came out pretty well despite the fact that I had to make some substitutions because I didn’t have all the ingredients. I made a low-carb version of banana bread from a mix (which was TERRIBLE) and today I whipped up a batch of banana bread from scratch, my mom’s recipe. I’m anticipating it will be better, because my mom’s was always excellent. I used Splenda instead of sugar, so I hope that will turn out okay. The other day for book club I made some brownies from a mix, and the family favorite appetizer of cut-up sweet pickles, wrapped in cream cheese and corned beef.

Stephanie got me the ingredients for blonde brownies, and I’m also planning on whipping up another family favorite, lasagna after we go on a shopping excursion. I’ve been making some baked chicken breast entrees with various marinades, I cooked white rice without getting it clumpy, and the other day I made a really excellent chicken casserole from a campbell’s soup mixed with chicken and cut up tortillas. Very tasty. I’m becoming a regular little Bree Van De Kamp.

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Ginger Peanut Chicken Salad Wraps

From the kitchen of: Eileen Schnepff.

  • 1 tsp. olive oil
  • 6 chicken breasts
  • 1 cup chopped and seeded cucumber
  • 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
  • 3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp. sale
  • 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 2 Tbsp. water
  • 8 tortillas
  • 4 cups lettuce

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium/high heat. Add chicken and
cook 5 minutes on each side until done. Remove chicken and cool.
Shred into bite-sized pieces. Place chicken, cucumber, bell pepper in
a large bowl – set aside.
2. Place sugar and next six ingredients (sugar through garlic) in a
blender and process until smooth. Add peanut butter and water,
process until smooth, scraping sides. Add peanut butter mixture to
chicken mixture and stir well. Warm tortillas. Place lettuce on
warmed tortilla, spoon chicken salad on top and roll.
Yield: 8 servings (1 wrap = 1 serving)

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Deviled Eggs

From the kitchen of: Steph Mineart

  • 6 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • paprika for garnish

I compiled this recipe from several online sources, then edited it to my tastes. I regularly make this for pitch-in dinners and it seems to be popular.

Put eggs in a pot of cold water, put on high heat to boil. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to a medium boil for 10-12 minutes. Take eggs off heat, drain hot water. Fill pot with cold water to ensure that yolks stay yellow, let cool.

When eggs are cool, remove shells from eggs, and halve lengthwise with a knife. Carefully remove the yolks, and place in a medium bowl. Mash yolks with a fork, and add remaining ingredients except paprika. Very carefully spoon mixture back into the egg white halves.

Garnish with a light sprinkling of paprika.

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Curry Dip

From the kitchen of: Pat Mineart

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon horseradish
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

Mix together and chill.

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Fruit Dip

From the kitchen of: Pat Mineart

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese

Mix together, chill. Serve with sliced apples or other fruit.

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Grandma Katie’s Three Cheese Dip

From the kitchen of: Katie Mineart.

My grandmother makes this extraordinary dip every year for family gatherings, and we love it. It makes a huge amount of dip, though; about three times what one would typical expect to serve at a party. (That’s about right for my big Catholic family, but it might be too much for your party.) So halve the recipe, or freeze some.

  • 1/2 lb. of grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 lb. of grated swiss cheese
  • 1/2 lb. of Velveeta cheese
  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 teaspoon Ascent or Lowry’s seasoned salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon chopped onion or onion flakes
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Grate Velveeta cheese and mix with other grated cheeses, mayonnaise, sugar and spices. Chill before serving. Keeps well, freezes well.

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Laurie’s Famous Salsa

From the kitchen of: Laurie Pumphrey

Depends on how much you want to make.

  • 1 can of whole tomatoes crushed by hand
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • handful of green onions chopped up
  • handful of fresh cilantro chopped
  • garlic and salt to taste
  • 1/2 a regular white onion
  • jalepeno sauce if you want to make it hot

Note from Steph: This is an amazing salsa, because the freshness of the tomatoes and cilantro make it taste very light.

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Mexican Cheese Ball

From the kitchen of: Elsie the Cow

  • 1 pound velveeta cheese, cut in cubes
  • 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions
  • 1 (2 oz.) jar chopped pimento, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon chilit powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
  • bag tortilla chips

In large mixer bowl, combine all ingredients except chips, mix well. Shape into ball, roll in chips. Chill 3 hours.

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