Making your own pie crust can be very intimidating. My mother has always made a perfect flaky crust, and I just now feel like I can measure up to that. This recipe was found in a 1971 Betty Crocker Cookbook that was my Grandma Mabel's. She passed away almost 15 years ago. She was known for her amazing pies. I love having a hard copy of this recipe book because in the pie section there are splotches of whatever pie she was literally whipping up. So, when I'm cooking from this book, I am reminded of her free spirit, giving, and accepting mentality. Most of all her love of cooking that I feel was genetically determined in myself.
Don't be afraid to try making your own crust. Practice makes perfect. Get the courage and just do it! (Double recipe for a 2 crust pie)
Mabel's Pie Crust
8 or 9 inch one-crust pie
1 c flour 1/2 rounded tsp salt 1/3 c plus 1 tbs shortening 2-3 tablespoons cold water
Measure flour, salt and shortening into a bowl. With a fork, cut the shortening into the flour until mixture resembles pea sized balls. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork each time, until dough comes together. Dough should not be too wet. When you push on the dough it should stick together. Lightly flour table surface and roll dough out to a 10-11 inch round. fold circle in half and transfer to pie plate, unfolding crust once it is in the plate. Trim excess pie dough if needed. Bake according to recipe that you are making. (If doing a pre-baked pie crust, prick pie crust all over with a fork, and bake at 475 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.)
Living in Hawaii, I have had a hard time being inspired by “fall weather” food.I live in the endless summer, where you never ever hear yourself saying, “Oooo, lets get our warm jammies on and cuddle underneath a blanket.”My house never has any windows closed, and when it is dumping rain, my boys are playing outside under our lanai. However, I love, love, love soups!They are easy, one-pot meals.My husband does not like soups, he says they make him sweat…especially in Hawaii.Anyways, this recipe is simply to die for.Not only is it WAY less fattening than the other recipes out there, but the flavor is amazing.I used to feel bad about eating creamy-based soups,but this recipe I don’t.I use skim milk, reduced fat sour cream, and way less butter than what normal cream based soups call for.Triumph! Granted this soup doesn’t have a gravy like thickness that the full fat version has, but that kind of “eeks” me out anyways. It gets thicker, the longer it sits, so I usually make it ahead, and leave it on the stove for a little bit. This was pretty fast to throw together as well, as long as you have all the ingredients in hand.
Light Loaded Potato Soup
6 slices bacon 1/2 c onion, chopped 4-5 russet potatoes, depending on size 2 tbs butter 2 tbs reserved bacon drippings 1/3 c flour 4 c skim milk (or whatever you have on hand) 1 can chicken broth 1 c reduced fat sour cream 1 1/4 c. medium or sharp cheddar cheese, grated 4-5 green onion, sliced thinly Salt and pepper to taste
Peel, and cube potatoes. In a large pot, bring potatoes to boil, salt water to flavor (should be almost like the ocean water). Cook until done, drain, and set aside. In same pot cook bacon until crispy and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pot. Add onion and butter, cook until translucent and soft. Add flour, to onions, and continue to stir and cook for about 1 minute. With a whisk, slowly add milk, whisking constantly to break up any lumps, add chicken broth. Over medium heat continue to stir, for about 5-7 minutes. Place about 2 cups of cooked potato into a bowl, and smash it with a fork, add this to the soup. Add remaining cooked potatoes, cheese, and bacon. Stir over medium/high heat until a slightly thick consistency. Turn off heat, add sour cream and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste.
This dressing so awesome! I love it! You could throw it on anything and it tastes good. You could drizzle it over any kind of meat for an Asian flare. The recipe doesn't make a ton as written, but could be dobled, or tripled. I love the strong sesame taste, and this tastes as good or even better than any Asian dressing I hvae had at a restaurant.
Sometimes I get a craving at night for cookies. Cookies are my 1st choice of dessert, and because they are so tempting to me I sometimes don't want alot of them around. I also sometimes don't want to cook a million batches late at night...it takes too much time. My sister Lana and I, most of the time resort to making a batch of No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookies (I need to post this one, recipe to come). We have dwindled down the recipe so that it makes only about four or five cookies. That recipe is easy to downsize because it has no eggs or baking soda in it. This cookie recipe is awesome for those times where you want a batch of chocolate chip cookies but don't want a ton..just enough to satisfy a craving. There are many variations to this recipe. Try putting whatever chips, nuts, or candy you want in them. For a peanut butter taste, add a tablespoon of peanut butter to the mix. If you want oats, add 2 tablespoons of oats. If you don't have a measuring spoon that measures out 1/8th of a tsp...eyeball it using the 1/4thmeasure.
The Smallest Batch of Cookies...EVER!
3 tbs butter, softened 3 tbs sugar 3 tbs brown sugar 1 tbs egg (crack egg into bowl, whisk it really good, and measure it into a measuring spoon.) 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/8 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt (just slightly under) 1/2 c flour however many chips or mix ins you want (about 1/3 c)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla and egg, mix well. Add baking soda, salt and flour, mix until combined. Add mix-ins. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes or until desired doneness. Makes about 8 cookies.
If you like lasagna, this a an excellent twist on a recipe that I found on Food Network. I changed it a little bit to fit my palate. Be aware, this is a decadent meal (so don't think about the calories), but tastes very restaurant quality. Surprisingly it is pretty quick to throw together, and my kids loved it. You could omit or add any extra ingredients that you have. You could put many other vegetables and call it a Lasagna Primavera! That would be awesome.To make it a little lighter, I'm sure you could use 1 percent milk, but I would not recommend using nonfat. Using no boil lasagna noodles also reduces clean up and time. This makes a ton of food!
Chicken, Mushroom and Spinach Alfredo Lasagna
1/2 c butter(1 stick) 1 pound of mushrooms, sliced thinly 1 c onion, finely chopped 3 tbs garlic, minced 1/2 c flour 7 c milk (I use 2 percent or whole) 2 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 pound of spinach (I bought the frozen leaves in a bag) 2 c Parmesan cheese, grated 1 c mozzarella cheese 2 pounds of chicken breast, cooked and cubed (season w/ salt and pepper) 1 pound of No boil lasagna noodles
Melt butter into a large saucepan. Add mushrooms and cook until browned. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent. Add flour and stir for about 1 minute to cook the raw flour taste out. With a whisk, slowly add the milk, making sure there are no lumps. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1 1/2 cups of the Parmesan cheese and spinach. Cook on medium high heat until thickened slightly. (5-10 minutes) Taste white sauce to make sure it is seasoned enough. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cooking spray on a 9x13x3 inch pan (make sure the pan is deep). Put a small layer of white sauce in the bottom of the pan. Layer noodles on top, then chicken, then parmesan cheese and mozzarella, then white sauce, and more noodles. repeat these layers until all ingredients have been used up. Sprinkle the top with the last of the mozzarella cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and back for 45 minute until brown and bubbly on top. Let sit for 20 minutes until serving.
Note: You may need slightly less than the entire package of lasagna noodles, depending on the pan used for the casserole. Also, you may be able to fit more than 3 pieces of pasta in each layer, depending. The pasta can be broken into smaller pieces to fill in the gaps.
