Chocolate Coconut Filled Muffins

In a bowl, combine the following.
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons baking cocoa
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Wisk together in another bowl the following:
1 cup milk
l egg
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into 12 greased or paper lined muffin cups.

In a small bowl blend together:
1 1/4 cup flaked coconut
(I like to chop the coconut in my food processor for finer flakes)
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract.

Place 2 teaspoonful on coconut mixture in the center of each cup(do not spread). Top with remaining batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Coconut Oatmeal Pancakes

Growing up my mother always ground her own whole wheat flour for her pancakes and always added chocolate chips to the batter. She spoiled my husband, who now will only eat pancakes with chocolate chips ...and his favorite shredded coconut too.

With the oatmeal, whole wheat flour, and flax meal, these pancakes are healthier than most and when you add the chocolate and coconut you will include all the food in the food pyramid that we need to sustain life! You know that a day without Chocolate just isn't complete.
This coconut syrup has got to be the BEST way to eat any pancake! Try it. You're going to love it.

Coconut Syrup:
7-8 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Combine butter, buttermilk, and sugar in a sauce pan. Heat until butter melts and sugar is dissolved. Boil one minute. Remove from heat and add baking soda and extract. It will foam up...just continue to stir. Let set a few minutes for the foam to reduce before serving.If you make the syrup and then the pancakes, the syrup will be ready to serve when the pancakes are done.

Oatmeal Pancakes

3/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Wisk together milk, vanilla, and egg. Add brown sugar and rolled oats to the liquid mixture and set aside.(I like to chop the rolled oats in my food processor slightly to reduce the size of the flakes)

Heat griddle to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine:
1 cup flour (I like to use Whole Wheat Pastry flour)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/3 cup flax meal

Stir milk and oatmeal mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until all ingredients are moistened.

Add:
1/2 cup chocolate chips*
1/2 cup shredded coconut*

For each pancake, pour scant 1/4 cup batter onto griddle and cook 1- 1/2 minutes or until bubbly. Turn and cook 1 minute longer or until browned.

Serve with Coconut Syrup

*Chocolate chips and coconut can be optional. This syrup is divine on just regular pancakes too.

Mexican Shredded Beef

4 lbs chuck roast
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
1 cup beef stock (broth)
2 Tablespoons tomato sauce
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced
1 large onion diced
8 cloves garlic minced

Combine the spices in a bowl. Rub spices into the beef, covering all the nooks and crannies and each side evenly.

In a skillet, heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil until shimmering. Sear the meat on each side. Remove and place in a large slow cooker.

With the skillet remaining over the heat, deglaze with the beef stock and scrape up any brown bits. Whisk in the tomato paste and chipotle peppers. Boil for a 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the onion and garlic to the top of the beef in the slow cooker.

Add the broth mixture to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Once the meat is fork tender, remove and shred with two forks.

Pour a portion of the sauce, including the onions, over top of the meat and let it cook in the slow cooker for 1-2 hours to soak up the sauce and enhance the flavor.

Remove from slow cooker and drain.

Use this meat to make Chimichangas, Tacos, Burritos,Enchiladas, or Taco Salad

To make the pepper tomato sauce, I used a well drained pint of canned diced tomatoes and one 7 oz. can peppers in adobo sauce. I blended them together in my Vitamix blender so they were a paste. I used half of this sauce in the recipe and put the other half in a freezer bag to use the next time I make this meat.

Bread Sticks

1 Tbsp yeast
1 ½ c warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
3 -3 ½ c flour
½ tsp salt
Mix water, yeast, and sugar and set aside. Mix flour and salt. Add water mixture. Knead for 3 minutes. Let rise for 10 minutes. Roll out. Spread Garlic Topping over dough and cut in strips.


Twist and place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Let rise for 10 minutes. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.



I have also used my Frozen Dough recipe here, to make these so I can make the ahead of time.

Garlic Topping
½ cup butter(softened)
½ cup mayonnaise
2-3 Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan cheese
3-4 large cloves garlic (I grated it on my microplane grater so it is very fine)

Croissant Rolls

I have wanted to make some croissants for a long time. So I decide to give myself a birthday present and make something I had never made before... I know that sounds crazy but I really had a fun birthday doing this. I think it was, what I call the Vera (grandma Egan) side of me coming out. When I get in these moods, my thoughts go back to my childhood of watching my Mom cooking new recipes in her black and pink kitchen with dishes and ingredients scattered everywhere. She always said that Grandma Page chided her about never cleaning up as she cooked. I don't care, I just love the memories...and there are many! Love you Mom.

I made this a tutorial of sorts because these are not hard to make.... they just have many steps and it takes extra time because of the refrigeration time.

One warning....these are not low calorie....but the buttery flavor is something you never taste in the store bought kind.

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup barely warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups cold unsalted butter (3 1/2 sticks)

In a bowl, mix 1 cup flour, water and yeast until the lumps of flour are broken up. Set the bowl aside and let rise for 1 hour
While this mixture is rising, place the butter between two sheets of plastic wrap and using a rolling pin, roll the butter into an 8-inch square. (I used my plastic pastry mat and marked an 8 inch square for a guide. I cut all the squares of butter in half to make it easier to roll the butter out.)


















The flour –yeast mixture will look something like this after 1 hour.











To the flour-yeast mixture, add the remaining flour, cream, and salt and knead the mixture for 1 minute. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

Knead the mixture by hand for 10 minutes OR in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (on low speed) for about 20 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic by the time you finish kneading. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and on a lightly floured surface, roll it into a 9 x 17-inch rectangle. Place the square of butter on the bottom half of the rectangle.









Fold the top half of the rectangle of dough down over the bottom half so the square of butter is now enclosed. Press together the edges of the square to seal in the butter.









Gently roll the dough with a rolling pin to stretch the dough and the butter in it. Roll the dough into a 9 x 18-inch rectangle. Next, you want to fold the rectangle into thirds like a letter - start with a narrow end facing you.



















Then fold the top third down... You've now completed one "turn!"

Turn the dough so the single fold (like the spine of a book) is on your left.

You're now ready to start the second turn. Repeat the process shown above ..rolling the dough into a 9 x 18-inch rectangle, then folding the rectangle into thirds.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Once the dough has been refrigerated, remove it and repeat the above two "turns" - that will make for a total of four turns in all.
At this point, the dough is ready to be rolled out and used.
OR you can wrap in plastic and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours before you shape and proof.
(note, 12-24 hours in the fridge before proofing improves the flavor of the dough).

Before you begin to shape the dough, line two large baking sheets with parchment.

Cut the dough in half. Look at all the layers you have created when you turned and rolled the dough!











On a lightly floured surface, roll each half of the dough into a 6 1/2 x 20-inch rectangle. The dough should be about 1/8 - 1/4-inch thick and look something like this:




Transfer each large rectangle onto one of the prepared baking sheets and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.


Remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer it back to your work surface with one of the long ends facing you. The next step is to measure and cut the triangles from the dough that will be formed into individual croissants.

Start on the left side of the bottom edge of the rectangle, measure 5 inches from the end and make a tiny notch to mark the base of the first triangle. Measure another 5 inches from that notch and make a second notch to mark the base of the second triangle.
Finally, repeat one more time - measure another 5 inches and make a notch. You should now have marked off three 5-inch sections. There will be about a 2 inch waste piece on the right end. Turn the dough and repeat the process of measuring on the other side of the dough (note, that the 2 inch waste pieces are on opposite ends when you finish.)











Now you will cut the croissants triangles to form the rolls. Use a large knife to cut the triangles by connecting the notches on the near and far sides. Like this…










Repeat this measuring and cutting process with your second rectangle so you have a total of 12 triangles.

Make a small slit in the base of the center of each triangle. Begin to roll the triangles to form the croissants by curling the two sides of the triangle on each side of the slit away from each other. You want to roll tightly. Using both hands, continue to roll the base of the triangle - one hand working with the dough on each side of the slit. Point your hands away from each other - at about 45 degree angles from center - as you roll. Rolling in this manner will help make the classic croissant shape.































Roll each triangle so the tip is underneath and then bend the 2 ends toward each other to form a shape like a little crab. You can see 3 distinct layers as the dough curls to form the croissant.
Arrange the croissants on a sheet pan and cover them with plastic wrap to proof.

You have several options for proofing: overnight in the fridge,
~3 hours in a cool place or
~1 hour in a warm place. I
It is recommended that overnight proofing is best because the croissants develop more flavor due to the slow rising time. (I proofed by shaping the rolls and placing them on parchment lined cooking sheet and refrigerated them overnight. I then removed them from the refrigerator and let them set at room temperature for 3 hours, coated them with the egg mixture and then baked them at 375 F. for 35 minutes. (one pan at a time) They turned out perfect.)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine 1 egg with a splash of cream to form an egg wash and brush the proofed croissants. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the croissants are puffed and golden brown. Remove them to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

These are rolls ready for the egg wash. (Sorry, I did not get a picture of them with the egg wash before baking.)











Here are the same two rolls after baking 30 minutes. The rolls at the top of the post were baked for 35 minutes.

Freezer Dough

Want to have hot rolls for Sunday lunch without any mess?

Then just make these rolls on Saturday...place them in the refrigerator over night...take them out of the refrigerator and pre-heat your oven...bake rolls and...wahoo! Fresh hot rolls for lunch. Your family will think you are the best!

Use this basic freezer dough to make all sorts of bread dishes— Cinnamon Rolls, Orange rolls, Cinnamon Pull-aparts—Monkey bread, Pizza, Hamburger buns, Sandwich rollups, Bread etc.etc. etc.

You can even make this dough....shape into your desired shapes and freeze them to be used later. The crescent rolls and cinnamon rolls pictured, were made and frozen for 3 weeks before being baked.

Place in Large Mixing Bowl in the order listed:
2 c. flour
2 T. dry Yeast
½ c. sugar
2/3 c. dry powdered milk
1½ t. salt

In a 2 cup measuring cup pour in ½ cup oil and 1 ½ cups of hottest tap water. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and beat until well blended and smooth.
Add 2 eggs and 1 more cup of flour – Mix Well.
Add 2 more cups of flour and mix well. You may need to add ½ to 1 cup more of flour at this point – add about ¼ cup at a time. You want a soft smooth dough but not overly sticky.

Cover with saran wrap and let rest for 20-30
Punch down and shape.

Now you can:
cover the rolls with that same piece of saran wrap and place them in the refrigerator to bake within the next 24 hours
OR put them in the freezer to use in the next month
OR you can let them rise for a few minutes while the oven preheats and bake them.

Bake at 375 for 15-17 minutes.

If you put them in the refrigerator to bake later; when you take them out of refrigerator, remove the saran wrap, let them sit while the oven preheats, and then bake as directed above.

If they were in the freezer thaw and let rise (3 hours on the counter OR 8 hours in refrigerator) and then bake.


For Crescent rolls:

Punch the dough down and divide the dough into 3 even pieces. On a sprayed OR floured surface, roll each piece of dough into about a 10 inch circle (about ½ inch thick). Cut each circle into 8 pieces like cutting a pie. Then roll each piece starting at the widest edge to form a crescent roll. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Makes 24 rolls. (You can shape the dough in any way that you choose – crescent rolls are just my favorite shape.)

Zucchini Pizza

3-4 small zucchini or summer squash
1 small jar of spaghetti sauce
1- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 lb cooked sausage or pepperoni

At an angle, slice zucchini about 1/2 inch thick.
Place a single layer of zucchini on a greased foil lined cookie sheet.
Spread a small amount of spaghetti sauce on each slice of zucchini and top with sausage and cheese.

Place in oven under broiler and cook 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly toasted.

Serve zucchini pizza bites warm.

Strawberry Peach Salsa (Aubrey)

1 cup diced peaches (or peeled nectarines or mango)
2 cups diced strawberries
1/2 medium green bell pepper diced
1 sprig cilantro or parsley chopped
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar or splenda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large Roma tomatoes diced

Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving.
Serve with corn chips or Cinnamon toasted flour tortilla chips.

Cinnamon Tortilla Chips (Connie)

Spray Flour Tortillas with Pam. Sprinkle with Cinnamon and sugar.
Cut into wedges with pizza cutter.
Bake at 400 for 8 to 10 minutes.

Low Fat Master Baking Mix (Bisquick Substitute) (Marie)

Marie shared this recipe with me last year and it has become a favorite of mine so I decided to share it with you.

2 cups enriched all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 Tablespoons oat bran
1/2 cu nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cu canola oil
Mix dry ingredients in food processor using a metal blade or with an electric mixer. Slowly pour in the oil as the machine is running. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix thoroughly once again. Store in a covered container in the freezer. Makes 5 cups of mix., Use in recipes calling for Bisquick- type baking mix.

Here is one recipe to use with this mix.

Blueberry Scones
4 servings 1 WW point per serving
2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/3 cup Low Fat Master baking mix
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup fat-free(skim) milk
1/2 cup blueberries
Combine first 5 ingredients. Fold in berries. Form into r mounds and bake on oil sprayed baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Easy Eclair Cake

Cake
1 1lb. box graham crackers
2 (3-1/4 oz) boxes instant white chocolate pudding
3 cup milk
1 (8oz) container frozen whipped topping thawed

Grease the bottom of a 13X9 pan. Line with graham crackers squares.

In a bowl blend pudding and milk. Beat with mixer for approx.2 minutes.
Fold in whipped topping to pudding mixture.

Pour half the pudding mixture over graham crackers. Place another layer of graham crackers on top of pudding layer. Pour remaining pudding mixture over crackers and cover with another layer of a layer of crackers.

Frosting
Blend together:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
3 Tablespoon butter softened
3 Tablespoon milk
2 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whip until creamy.
Cover top layer of graham crackers with frosting and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving so the crackers can soften. (it is actually better if you wait 48 hours before serving)

Creamy Cheesy Ziti

In a skillet
1 lb ground beef
1 medium chopped onion
Set aside.(I like to add meat to this recipe but it is optional)

Blend together in a bowl:

2 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. cottage cheese

Boil salt water and add :

1 lb ziti (I used Trio Italiano pasta)

Cook until pasta is soft, but not cooked through. Drain pasta, rinse, and leave in colander.

Heat in a skillet:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
5 medium minced garlic cloves
Cook until fragrant but not browned.

Stir into skillet:
2 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz)can diced Italian Recipe tomatoes with garlic,oregano & basil
1 teaspoon dry oregano flakes
2 tablespoons dry basil flakes
Simmer until thick. Turn off heat and add:
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pan stir to blend:
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup half and half
Bring to simmer and cook until slightly thickened.

Remove pot from heat and add:
1 cup tomato sauce mixture
all of the cottage cheese mixture
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese cut into 1/4 inch chunks
Cooked ground beef
Stir to combine. Add mixture to cooked pasta and coat thoroughly with sauce.
Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Transfer pasta mixture to baking dish. Top with remaining tomato sauce mixture and 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese cut into 1/4 inch chunks
Cover pan tightly with foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown--30 to 45 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

Staci's Vinaigrette and Fruit Green Salad

Staci made this for Easter and we all really enjoyed it...so I'm posting it for her:




Vinaigrette dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar


Blend together.


Drizzle dressing on mix of 1/2 Romaine and 1/2 Fresh Spinach. Toss in some craisins and fresh fruit of your choice (she used fresh raspberries) Top with some honey roasted slivered almonds.



**She made a large bowl of this and still had half the dressing left, so the dressing goes a long way!

Lite English Trufle

l angel food cake mix baked according to package directions.
When cool. Cut into 2x2 inch squares.
l large pkg. sugar free vanilla pudding made according to directions for pie.
Make Royal Danish Dessert following directions here only make it with 1/2 cup Splenda and 1/2 cup sugar. (Make it with the directions for topping a cake.)
4-5 bananas sliced
2-4 cups berries any berry you choose or a mix of different berries
(I used strawberries and raspberries)
Lite Cool Whip Topping

Put 1/3 cake squares in a large glass bowl. Pour 1/3 cooled Danish Dessert over cake and layer with bananas and berries. Top with 1/3 pudding. Repeat layers. Top with whipped topping and garnish with nuts or fruit.
Refrigerate for 4 hour and serve cold

Betsy's Balsamic Salad Dressing (Marie)

3 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1 T. canola oil
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 servings


It is especially good on the mixed green mix lettuces (as Scott
calls them "weeds" :) Cut up an apple add some cranraisins,or raisins and chopped walnuts or pecans and this dressing drizzled over it. Sometimes Betsey uses pears cut up instead of apples. We served it at our women's conference and it was a hit.I think it would be great with avocado and the salad mix too.

Pumpkin Mallow Dessert (Marie)

Serves: 8
Ingredients:
• 12 (2 1/2-inch) graham cracker squares
• 2 cups (one 16-ounce can) pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 (4-serving) package JELL-O sugar-free vanilla cook-and-serve pudding mix
• 2/3 cup Carnation Nonfat Dry Milk Powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup (2 ounces) miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup Cool Whip Free
Directions:
1. Place 9 graham crackers in a 9-by-9-inch cake pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, dry pudding mix, dry milk powder, water, and marshmallows.
3. Cook over medium heat until mixture starts to boil and marsh-mallows are melted, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat. Place saucepan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
5. Gently fold Cool Whip Free into cooled pumpkin mixture. Carefully spread mixture evenly over graham crackers.
6. Crush remaining 3 graham crackers. Evenly sprinkle cracker crumbs over top.
7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cut into 8 servings.
Tips: A self-seal sandwich bag works great for crushing graham crackers.
Calories: 104 Fat: 0g Carbs: 23g Protein: 3g Fiber: 2g Sodium: 133mg

From COOKING HEALTHY WITH THE KIDS IN MIND by JoAnna Lund. Used by arrangement with Perigee, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright © 1998 by Healthy Exchanges, Inc.