Mini Pigs in a Blanket

This is a new twist on an old favorite and is SUPER kid friendly.

Ingredients:
1 Package of refrigerated pie crust (comes in pack of 2 crusts)
1 Package of lil' smokies
1-2 eggs
Water

Directions:
1 - Cut the pie crusts into as equal of pieces as you can. I usually get 16 out of one crust. I use a pizza cutter to slice the crust up, but a knife would work well too.


2 - Form pieces of crust around each smokie by wrapping and pinching the dough. Then, use a fork to press around the fold and make it look pretty (this also serves the double purpose of making sure it holds tight).

3 - Beat the egg in a bowl with a small amount of water. Then, using a pastry brush, spread the egg mixture onto each of the pigs. This will help the crust to be flaky and will keep the blanket closed over the pig.

4 - Place pigs on a LARGE cookie sheet (I use a jelly roll) that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

5 - Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes (times may vary depending on your oven).


Serve warm with ketchup and mustard. Watch out! They are hot. They also fall apart very easily because the crust is flaky.

Tips: Don't make your own pie crust - it WILL save you money, but homemade pie crusts are generally even flakier that refrigerated and I believe you'd have a hard time forming the dough around the franks.

You will have left over smokies. I like to keep them in the fridge and then cut them in half and put them in macaroni and cheese for lunch. They are also good just warmed up with ketchup for kids to eat as a snack.

Yield: 32 Pigs

Two for One!

I have been on the hunt lately for new recipes for my family to expand our repertoire of dinner meals. This chili recipe (slightly adapted) comes from the Weight Watchers cookbook that I happened upon at a family member's house. Dieting or not, they have some really tasty meals! I have also included a recipe for sweet cornbread, which comes from a friend I met in college.

SPICY CHILI

Ingredients:

4 t. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
3/4 lb ground beef
1 T chili powder
2 t ground cumin
1 t oregano
1/2 t ground coriander
1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1-16 oz. can pinto or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro

Garnishes to taste:
fresh cilantro, chopped
sour cream
chopped red onion


Directions:

1. Chop all the vegetables. This is easily the most intense part of this recipe.


2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute the onions, carrot, celery, peppers, and garlic until the onions are translucent, about 15 minutes.

3. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink.

Note: To save money, I generally buy higher fat hamburger. I prefer to cook the meat separately so I can drain the excess fat before adding the beef to the vegetables. I'll add the meat when it is still slightly pink so it can absorb some of the flavor of the vegetables before being fully cooked.

4. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and coriander. Cook for 1 minute longer to allow spices to soak in.

5. Add the tomatoes, beans, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro.

6. Serve, topped with sour cream and red onion and additional cilantro if you like.


This chili freezes very well, just don't add the cilantro until you're ready to serve it.

SWEET CORNBREAD
sorry, no pictures!

Ingredients:

1 c corn meal
3 c flour
1 1/3 c sugar
2 T baking powder
1 t salt
2/3 c oil
6 T butter, melted
4 eggs
2 1/2 c milk

Directions: preheat oven to 350

1. Combine all wet ingredients.

2. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

3. Pour batter into a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 min. Alternately, you may cook this as muffins instead, baking for only 12-18 minutes. Makes approx. 3 dozen muffins.

from the kitchen of laura w.

Cream Cheese French Toast

This is a new twist on an old favorite.

Ingrediants:
1 loaf French bred (sliced into 1/2-1 inch slices)
4 eggs
1/4-1/2 cup of milk
butter (for frying)

Topping:

1 package cream cheese (8oz) softened
1 cup powder sugar
Fresh or Frozen berries (sweetened with sugar if desired) or freezer jam


Beat your eggs and gradually add milk until egg batter reachers desired consistency (it depends on how eggy you like your French toast, so you decide how much milk to add). Hear skillet or frying pan and drop butter onto pan to grease. Dip both sides of French bread slices into egg and then put directly onto skillet. Fry on both sides until golden brown and no longer gooey (I find it a bit better to cook on a lower heat so that the egg can cook and the bread doesn't burn). Make as many pieces of French toast as desired (you can create more egg batter if needed), and place in a tupperware lined with papper towels to keep warm until ready to serve.

To make topping (I usually make this in advance). Make sure that the cream cheese is soft enough to stir with a spoon. Place it in a bowl and added powdered sugar gradually while stirring by hand (you can also do this with a hand mixer, but I find that I am faster when I don't have to get out extra equipment). Taste periodically and add more sugar to desired sweetness.

Top warm French toast with cream cheese and then berries or freezer jam (I usually use freezer jam in the winter when fresh berries are difficult to come by). Add more powdered sugar if desired. For little kids you can also use syrup like traditional French toast.

Tips:
I don't generally put any cinnamon in the egg batter like I would with traditional French toast since I use cream cheese and berries instead of syrup. If I have left over eggs I like to add a few more eggs and then fry them up like scrambled eggs in the pan (sometimes I'll top them with cheese). I've tried a couple different types of French Bread and I've found that bagged French breads taste the best (my favorite being Sam's Club, but Wal-Mart also carries bagged French bread) because they are a bit softer. Lee's French bread is a bit dryer and more brittle and doesn't turn as well for this French toast.

From the kitchen of Tannie.

Soft Pretzels

1 package of yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1 egg
Kosher Salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add flour and sugar. Knead until smooth. Make into pretzels. Spread egg white on top and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 18. We actually cut the dough into small pieces (about 1 inch) to make pretzel bites and baked them for twelve minutes.

Zucchini Bread

We've had our first reader submission! This zucchini bread recipe looks delicious:

3 c flour

1 Tbs cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c vegetable oil
1 Tbs vanilla
2 c zucchini, grated
½ c chopped nuts (optional)
I like to add chocolate chips to this recipe even though it doesn’t actually call for it!

Sift flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside In a large bowl, thoroughly beat eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir in sifted ingredients. (Mixture will be pretty thick until you mix in the zucchini) Blend in grated zucchini and nuts. Pour into 2 greased and lightly floured 4 ½ x 8 ½ inch loaf pans. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes.
Note: When zucchini is “plentiful,” I like to grate the zucchini and freeze in 2 cup quantities to be used all year long.