Pockets

To make a pizza pocket:

Mix bisquick according to recipe for biscuits on back of box. (or use any other biscuit recipe you like)
Roll out the biscuits very flat.
Place on top of half of the biscuits pizza ingredients (e.g. sauce, cheese, pepperoni, pepper).
Place second half of biscuits on top, pinch sides together.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until they look like done biscuits.

Tonight, we made taco pockets. We had leftover taco meat mozzarella cheese, and spinach to put in them. Yeah, I guess that's kind of weird. But yummy.

The other great thing is that you can make a bunch and freeze the leftovers and reheat them later in the toaster oven. Much cheaper and yummier than a store bought hot pocket.

And they can be packed for picnics.

I'm thinking I should make some peanut butter and jelly pockets for lunches sometime.

As you wish...

Heather posted a princess bride meme, asking blog readers to post there favorite line from the princess bride.

Mine is:

"He's only mostly dead!"

Now let's see yours.



Lots going on lately.

I've made 8 jars of applesauce.

I finished reading little house on the prairie to the children.

And I am so exhausted!

Banana Muffins

So, this recipe is a modified version of one I found on the all recipes site (I think):
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
3 bananas, mashed (it will work with fewer bananas)
3/4 c sugar (the recipe calls for white, I've used a combination of white and brown)
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven 375 F
Mix wet ingredients == bananas, sugar, oil
Mix dry ingredients == everything else
Mix wet into dry

Put into greased muffin tins and bake 18-20 minutes

In addition to experimenting with different types of sugar and quantity of bananas and cinnamon, I've also added a little bit of flax seed with the flour, or this last time I used half wheat flour and half white flour.

I baked!

Yes, believe it or not, I have been using some of the recipes on this blog!
Here, let me pause for a moment while you faint.

Tonight I tried jg's chili recipe (slightly modified) and the black bean brownie recipe. I have yet to try either, but they both look good, or at least like what they are supposed to be. I'll have to write another post as to my cooking skills.

Just before Labor Day I tried making the no-bake cookies. I think initially I managed to heat up the liquid for too long, because it didn't properly saturate the oats. So I added some extra water. At first the cookies still seemed gloppy. So I heated the mixture again until the consistency seemed better. They turned out alright, very sweet.

I've also used the bread recipe twice.

In addition to the post as to my recent cooking adventure, I will have to put my recipe for banana bread/muffins on here soon.

What's missing???

I've nearly got a recipe worked out for a really simple, fast and hearty cold oatmeal dish (perfect for summer) I had a few years ago, and I thought I'd share it and see if you guys could help me fine-tune it - and enjoy it, of course!

1 c. oatmeal (uncooked)
1 c. water
1/2 c. plain yogurt
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 green apple, diced
dried cranberries (?)
chopped walnuts
???

Mix the oatmeal and water together, and let it sit for a few minutes, while you dig out everything else and dice the apple. Mix in the yogurt, vanilla and brown sugar (vanilla and brown sugar to taste - it should be very slightly sweet) Then add in the diced apple, a handful of what I think should be dried cranberries (Craisins were too sweet), maybe a handful of chopped walnuts, and ???. There's at least one spice missing - something with bite. I've tried cinnamon, and that definitely wasn't what was missing. Any other ideas for my next batch?

Anyway, this is a really good recipe - you've got the brown sugar and the sour apple and the tart cranberries and whatever spice is missing really giving it a nice balance of flavors. You've also got carbs, dairy, nuts and fruit all in one go. Enjoy!!!

Chicken Tikka Masala Casserole

Chopped Veggies (whatever you have on hand)
1 can pinto beans
One can tomato sauce
2 cups cooked rice
4 chicken breasts
1 jar Tikka Masala simmer sauce

Mix veggies beans and tomato sauce. Spread in a thin layer on bottom of casserole pan. Spread rice over veggie mixture. Place chicken breasts over rice. Pour sauce on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Serve with pancakes (umm... I mean naan).

Enjoy!