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Soft Gingerbread Cake

Soft Gingerbread Cake

Maybe you have a memory of soft gingerbread warm from the oven. I have such a memory but not from my childhood. When I lived in Reedsport, Oregon in 1984-1985 a friend invited us to dinner. I do not remember what she served for dinner. But for dessert, she served warm gingerbread with applesauce. It must have been VERY good because I still remember it today. Gingerbread does remind me of homey things and long ago days. I usually think of gingerbread in the winter but here I am home on a rainy stormy day and thinking of gingerbread. It is made from simple ingredients and ready to eat quickly. Because of this memory and my usual make do attitude, I went searching for a soft gingerbread cake recipe using ingredients I have on hand. I found a simple recipe at Once Upon a Chef. I adapted it a little. I used granulated sugar because I only had granulated sugar. I found it works well. I also love to use my flour sifter to sift the dry ingredients.  I chose to bake it in my small 13X9 cookie sheet pan so that it would be a bit thinner. I think you will like this recipe just as it is… My grandchildren happened along at the right time and shared in the sampling. We all agreed it tastes wonderful with a cold glass of milk.

You can find the recipe on the website below.

( Adapted from https://www.OnceUponaChef.com/recipes-Gingerbread-cake.html )

When I got ready to make a picture this is all that was left!

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What Do You Do With Leftover Turkey?

What to do with leftover turkey.
What to do with leftover turkey. Turkey butternut squash soup!

What do you do with leftover turkey? Do you need some ideas?  In my area, a turkey was .59 cents a pound leading up to Thanksgiving. So why do I mention that? Because my family will be eating a lot of turkeys even after Thanksgiving Day. I thought it might be interesting and helpful to share what I have made with leftover turkey and maybe just maybe if I am lucky a few of you will share what you make. With 8 turkeys in the freezer, I might need some help!

Turkey Tacos/ Nachos ( no recipe) I just shredded turkey and seasoned it with taco seasoning. We had a nacho bar for dinner.

No-name Mexican casserole in my large iron skillet. I chopped leftover turkey, added some homemade salsa, black beans, kidney beans, white hominy, and topped it with cheese. I baked it in the oven until it was hot and bubbly. It made a quick and easy meal.

Turkey Stir-fry. I chopped onions, peppers, garlic, carrots, broccoli, and turkey for a stir-fry meal. I used a bit of hoisin sauce and soy sauce to flavor it. One of my kids cooked rice to go with it using bone broth instead of water! Yummy!

White Turkey and Sausage Chili.  I used a Publix recipe for this. You can find it at http://www.publix.com/aprons-recipes/white-turkey-and-sausage-chili

Turkey Wild Rice Soup I started making this soup several years ago. The recipe is from http://www.kitchenparade.com/2010/03/chicken-turkey-wild-rice-soup-recipe.php 

Turkey Broccoli Casserole. This is very similar to the freezer meal that most of my friends and  I have made for years called Chicken Broccoli Casserole. You may top the mixture with cheese and serve over rice or top it with a boxed stove top stuffing mix and bake until hot and bubbly. If you really need a recipe for this I will be happy to share it.

My creative husband also made Turkey Cakes similar to Salmon Patties.

Homemade Bone Broth is easy to make and has many health benefits. We make ours in the crock-pot by covering the turkey (or chicken) bones with water, we add some celery leaves or a stalk or two, some onion, carrot, and a Tablespoon or two of vinegar. We cook it on low for almost 24 hours. Take out the bones and strain it with cheesecloth or a fine mesh colander. Put it in jars and refrigerate.

Let me know what you make with leftover turkey!

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Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup

 

Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup
Thai chicken vegetable soup is delicious!

Thai chicken vegetable soup is delicious! A couple of weeks ago I saw this Thai Ginger broth on the clearance rack at Publix. I found a wonderful recipe on the back for Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup! So I am sharing it with you right off the back of the box because I wouldn’t want you to miss out! It is very simple and quick to make. The broth is a bit spicier than I anticipated but suited our family very well. To accompany our soup we made rice. Using our homemade bone broth for the liquid in the rice adds a lot of flavors. I had a bit of onion and zucchini left from other cooking so I sauteed them in a bit of olive oil and then added the bone broth and the rice and covered it until it was done. Some of us ate ours over the rice and some ate the rice separately. Either way, it was all good.

Swanson’s Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 medium carrot, cut into 2-inch matchstick-thin strips

1 medium red pepper  cut into 2-inch matchstick-thin strips

1 cup mushrooms ( I used baby Bella)

1 quart Swanson’s Thai Ginger Flavor Infused Broth

2 cups shredded chicken

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 Tablespoons of lime juice

2 Tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add carrot and pepper and cook 5 minutes until slightly tender. Stir in mushrooms. Add broth to the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in chicken, cook 5 minutes until it is hot. Stir in coconut milk and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir in lime juice and cilantro.

Thank you, Swanson’s for making a great broth meal starter!

Swanson's Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup
Swanson’s Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup
Swanson's Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup
Swanson’s Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup

 

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Easy Communion Bread – 4 Recipes

Learning to Make Communion Bread is Easy

Easy Communion Bread? Yes, it is easy. Today, I will share recipes I have collected over the years. It all started with Campaigns Northwest 1979 and a special sister, Madge. I was blessed to be a part of Campaigns Northwest. Little did I know that this would be a life-changing experience for me!  I worked in West Seattle, Washington for 3 weeks.

After our mission was over I stayed an extra day to spend time with a couple of the ladies from the church. One was Madge Boubonik (I am sure the spelling is butchered). I remember this day very well. I was so excited. Madge and I walked around her sunny yard with flowers growing and some rhubarb too! We talked and visited but I was there for a purpose.

Madge made the communion bread for the church and she had agreed to teach me how to make it! I was very excited to spend the day with her. She treated this with great respect and thoughtfulness. She used olive oil because she felt that was most likely what was used in making unleaved bread. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with her and that was almost 40 years ago. I  never saw her after this day but she lives on in my memory and I hope to walk in heaven with her one day.

Aberdeen Washington

In 2011 we moved from Spanaway to Aberdeen, Washington to work with the Aberdeen Church of Christ. We hosted a VBS day which was about the Tabernacle. We had loaves of unleavened bread leftover from that day. One of the ladies asked if we could use that for communion and so we did. Our son James started making it for the church after that. He was 11 years old. He enjoyed making the bread and helping to fix communion each Sunday.

Today I am sharing three recipes * that have been used in various places I have worshipped (from homes to buildings to church camps). The first one is the one our family has used for many years. I am not sure it is the original one I received from Madge, if not it is very similar.

Our Family Communion Bread
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup olive oil
1 cup of water
pinch of salt

Mix the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients and knead a little until it easily forms a ball to roll out. I roll mine out into about 6-inch circles. This recipe makes about 16 small loaves! You may want to half the recipe. Bake at 350° for 10 – 15 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom. I usually do mine by smell 🙂

Our family recipe

Delano Bay Christian Camp Communion Bread
1-quart whipping cream
¾ lb. of butter
5 cups flour

Mix ingredients and divide into 4 sections and roll them about 1 inch thick each. Poke holes in batter with a fork, and bake at 325° until no longer doughy. This makes a big batch of communion bread. Enough for 100 campers at least.

Susan’s Unleaved Bread
1 cup all-purpose flour ( use ½ whole wheat)
1 Tablespoon sugar (brown or honey)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup of warm water

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in 2 Tablespoons olive oil and ¼ cup warm water, Knead. Roll into a circle. Next, you prick with a fork and fry in a nonstick pan until both sides are light brown.

Communion Bread
Communion bread

*A Fourth ADDED (3/15/2020) Lee’s Communion Bread

Here is a fourth recipe I received from my friend Lee. With her notes.

1 cup of unleavened flour (all-purpose)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tablespoons cold water

Preheat oven to 400°. Be sure to wash and dry your hands first. This is holy bread. Use clean utensils and a mixing bowl to mix the ingredients. Gently knead the dough and roll out flat to about 1/16 inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or other round object cut out circles of bread. Lay on an ungreased cookie sheet and score with a fork or rolling piercing tool. This represents the body of Christ. Bake for about 20 minutes. They should not be sticky or brown. Let them cool completely. Store in an airtight container and they can be kept in the freezer.

Please send me your communion bread recipes and I will update this collection as time allows.

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Chicken Enchiladas

 

My First Chicken Enchilada Recipe from the 90’s

1 whole chicken, cooked and cubed (or to save time and maybe money buy a rotisserie chicken already cooked)
4 ounce can of chopped green chilies                                                                                         1 teaspoon salt
20 ounces green enchilada sauce
6 ounces of evaporated milk
1 can cream chicken soup
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar, grated
12-24 flour tortillas or gluten-free tortillas(SEE NOTE)
Rotel tomatoes, chopped

Mix chicken, chilies, salt, enchilada sauce, evaporated milk, soup and 1 cup of cheese. Warm tortillas. Fill with 1/4 c. chicken mixture. Roll up, seam down and place in baking dish sprayed lightly with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Pour Rotel tomatoes into the remaining mixture (if there is any); pour over enchiladas. Sprinkle with 2 cups of cheese. Bake in preheated oven 425° for 20 minutes, until bubbly. It is best to put them in the oven immediately to avoid the bottoms becoming soggy.

Enjoy!

GLUTEN-FREE:

Since several family members have become gluten intolerant I tried a batch with Mission’s gluten-free tortillas they were a bit too soft on the bottom. Two ideas for making this better.  One would be to lightly char them or two to make the filling in a casserole dish or slow cooker and let each one fill their own tortilla shell.

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Peanut Butterfinger Bars

Sometimes good things come unexpectedly. Around 2:30 on Sunday afternoon I remembered that I needed to make cookies for the connect time after church. (Church starts at 5!)  I almost sent my kids to the store to get something for me to bake with but decided to use the ingredients I had on hand. This is what I created with what I had on hand. I was really surprised that so many people asked for the recipe. So here it is!

Peanut Butterfinger Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter crunchy

6 Tablespoons butter softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

6 oz. Butterfinger Baking Bits

Instructions:

Preheat your oven 350° and spray your 13X9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Cream peanut butter, butter, and sugars, then add extract and stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in the flour. ( IT DOES NOT HAVE BAKING SODA OR POWDER)

Spread batter in pan and sprinkle with the Butterfinger bits. Press them lightly into the batter. Bake 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

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A Stain Remover that Works!

Recently I was in the kitchen dishing up plates at Emily’s Mystery Menu Dinner when I got bumped and spilled coffee down the backside of Esther’s WHITE pants. She had also dropped blue jello on her pants. I had also worn my white apron and gotten berry stains on it.  I discovered someone had washed them both.  I am thankful I found them before they went in the dryer. I decided to try a combination I had seen on Facebook recently before throwing her pants away.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons of Dawn dish soap

4 Tablespoons of peroxide

2 teaspoons of baking soda

I mixed up these three ingredients in a small jar and rubbed it on the stains and waited for a while before washing them.  I am happy to report the stains came out! I am very excited to have made this new discovery!

Let me know if you try this out!

 

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Mixed Veggie Casserole

In 1980 when I was a new bride and a college student at Freed-Hardeman College I was part of the Preachers’ Wives’ Club. We had a cookbook and it included a recipe very similar to this one. I have long since lost it but I have tried to re-create the recipe here.

20-24 oz. frozen mixed veggies (steam in the bag) Steamed according to package directions

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 cup onion chopped

2 cups crushed crackers (Ritz or Saltines) Ritz crackers probably add more flavor but I use whatever I have on hand.

1/2 cup butter

 

Steam veggies, mix together in a large bowl veggies, mayo, cheese, and onion. Spread in buttered 13X9 pan. Crush crackers mix with melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake 350° for 30 minutes.

The picture below doesn’t do it justice. It is a creamy colorful dish. I wish I had taken a picture of the inside!

 

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Taffy Bars

I have been making taffy bars so long that I cannot remember where the recipe came from. Probably more than 30 years. One thing I like about this recipe is how fast it is! It mixes and bakes fast and uses just a few ingredients.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

Topping:

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4-1/2 cup of finely chopped nuts

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Directions:

Mix together and pat crust into a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with an edge.  Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. As soon as you remove it from the oven, pour 12 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips over the crust. Let it set for a few minutes until soft and spread over crust and sprinkle with nuts. Cut into squares. I get at least 32 squares. These are rich and you may wish to cut them smaller. The chocolate needs to set a bit before serving. You may wish to cool 5 minutes in the fridge or freezer to speed this process up. 

 

Update:  My favorite pan size is actually 17X11. Here is a picture of it with the taffy bars just made.

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Jumbo Semi-Sweet Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Jumbo Semi-sweet Chocolate Walnut Cookies

My local Publix store is having a clearance sale in their baking section. It is common for them to change items frequently so out with the old and in with the new.  I love chocolate so it was very obvious time for me to try new products and stock up instead of sticking with my old favorites! I purchased semi-sweet jumbo chips, Butterfinger crumbles, and mini Hershey’s kisses. So I came up with a new recipe!

My new favorite cookie! (this week)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
2 eggs
2 ¼ all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 bag of jumbo semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

I do the one bowl shortcut method of mixing. Cream butter with sugars and then add flavorings and eggs. Mix well. Dump the flour on top and dump the soda and salt on top and slightly stir them into the flour. Mix all together until well blended. Add the chips and walnuts. I use my medium scoop and put about a dozen balls onto my cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Depending on your oven it may require 2-3 minutes more or less. I remove them from the oven and let them stay on the cookie sheet a minute or two before removing them to the cooling rack.

Extra notes:

You may shape these as you wish. I have a very hard time timing baked goods. I can tell by smell and sight when they are done.