Lemon Herb Chicken

Lemon herb chicken

Throw all of these items into your pot:

2-3 frozen chicken boneless breast...yes frozen!!
3 large peeled russet potatoes cut into quarters (or baby potatoes... Less peeling!)
3-4 carrots roughly chopped

In a bowl mix and pour all over:
1/4 cups of olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon of onion salt
2 cloves of minced garlic

Manual-- 25 minutes, quick release & enjoy! The veggies have a slow cooker melt in your mouth roasted quality, yum!

Hamburger Soup

Hamburger Soup

1 lb hamburger
¼ c chopped onion
2 cans cream of celery soup
3 c tomato juice
1 c water
1 c grated carrots
¼ t garlic salt
2 T brown sugar
¼ t pepper

Brown hamburger and onion together. Add remaining ingredients and heat through cooking at medium heat for ½ hour.

Grandma McCracken would always have a pot of this soup waiting for mom when she would go and visit her in Rigby Idaho when she was little.

Grain Free Granola

Grain Free Granola

2 cups sliced almonds

1 cup each sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (raw and unsalted)

3/4 cup each unsweetened coconut and raisins

1/2 cup each sesame seeds and ground flax meal

1/4 cup each honey and butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine nuts, seeds, flax meal, coconut and raisins. In a small saucepan, combine butter and honey and heat until melted. Add vanilla and almond extract to the butter and honey, and pour over the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Spread granola onto a large baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes. Let the granola cool, then break into small clusters. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Multigrain Bread using 7-Grain Hot Cereal Mix

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup (6 1/4 ounces) seven-grain hot cereal mix
2 1/2 cups boiling water
3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour (not bread flour)
1 1/2 cups (8 1/4 oz) whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled*
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 tablespoon salt
Optional (I omitted): 3/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats
*If you’re using salted butter, just decrease the additional salt by just a bit.
Instructions
Place cereal mix in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour.  Whisk flours together in separate bowl.
Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, butter, and yeast and mix on low speed until combined.  Add flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until cohesive mass starts to form, 1 1/2-2 minutes; cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 20 minutes.  Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3-4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2-3 tablespoons additional all-purpose flour and knead until it does.  Don’t add more!) continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes.  Add seeds (if using) and knead for another 15 seconds.  Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand until seeds are dispersed evenly and dough forms smooth, round ball.  Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 45-60 minutes.
Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans.  Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and divide in half.  Press 1 piece of dough into 9×6 inch rectangle, with short side facing you.  Roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go.  Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed.  Repeat with second piece of dough.  Spray loaves lightly with water or vegetable il spray.  Roll each loaf in oats to coat evenly and place seam side down in prepared pans, pressing gently into corners.  Cover loaves loosely with greased plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size 30-40 minutes.  Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.
Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake until loaves register 200 degrees, 35-40 minutes.  Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.  Remove loaves from pans, return to rack, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving.
Storage: Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.  Wrapped with additional layer of foil, bread can be frozen for up to a month.
For those without a stand mixer, Cook’s Illustrated recommends:  “Stir wet and dry ingredients together with a stiff rubber spatula until the dough comes together and looks shaggy.  Transfer the dough to a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, roughd ball, 15-25 minutes, adding additional flour, if necessary, to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter.  Proceed with recipe as directed.”

From: Our Best Bites

Oatmeal Cookies

1 pound of butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cup flour*
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 cups oatmeal
3 cups nuts
2 (12 oz) packages of chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars, add eggs, beating well. Add vanilla. Sift** together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture.

Add oatmeal, nuts and chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Do not over bake.

*I usually use whole-wheat flour for all of the flour. For each cup of whole-wheat flour you substitute, add 1 extra teaspoon full of baking powder.

**I NEVER sift while using this recipe, but it was included on the original recipe, so I thought I would pass it on to you.

***We never put nuts in it, but I'm sure they would be good with nuts.

****This makes a lot of dough and the baked cookies don't taste as good after a few days. We make a sheet or two of cookies and freeze the rest. Use a cookie scoop to make dough balls, place side by side on a cookie sheet with wax paper and put it in the freezer. Once they are frozen transfer them into freezer zip lock bags. We usually have enough dough to use two gallon size zip lock bags.

From: Amy Bishop

Make a Week of Steel-Cut Oats in 5 Minutes

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups steel-cut oats
4 cups water
Large pinch salt
Mix-Ins:
Milk or soy milk
Cinnamon or other spices
Raisins or other dried fruit
Walnuts or other nuts
Jam
Honey

Equipment
5 pint-sized Mason jars with lids (I used wide-mouth jars)
Large saucepan
Ladle

Instructions

1. Collect your jars and other equipment. I like pint-sized jars for this as they allow a little more room for adding nuts, raisins, and milk later. But you can also use half-pint jars.
2. Bring the oats, water and salt to a boil. Simmer for about 3 minutes then turn off the heat.
3. Ladle the oats and water into the jars. Cover the jars tightly with their caps and rings. Leave on the counter overnight. (This is how I make my oatmeal and I have had absolutely no problems with it, healthwise, but if for some reason you are not comfortable leaving hot oatmeal out overnight, you can also refrigerate the jars. The oatmeal won't be quite as well cooked in the morning; it will be a thinner, less creamy oatmeal. But it will still be fine.)
4. The next morning, put all but one of the jars in the refrigerator. Take the cap off one jar and stir up the oatmeal inside. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or until quite hot. Add any milk, raisins, or other mix-ins. Enjoy!
Additional Notes:
• You can also add your raisins, cinnamon, or other mix-ins to the rest of the jars before putting them away in the refrigerator. Then all you have to do is grab one and go on your way out the door.

From: http://www.thekitchn.com/

Hot Spiced Cranberry Cider

Ingredients

• 2 quarts apple cider
• 6 cups cranberry juice
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced

Directions

In a large pot, combine apple cider, cranberry juice, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves and lemon slices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove cinnamon, cloves, and lemon slices. Serve hot. 

From: Mary Jane Bryan