#20 Suey Choy Salad

Ok according to the poll so far it looks like there is a need for some salad recipes...some roughage to balance off the meats and the sweets!

I found this salad recipe in my hometown centennial cookbook and it was submitted by K. Block. I like to make this one when I am going to a potluck or feeding a crowd but in my notes I talk about scaling it back as well so it can also be enjoyed by fewer people for more days!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Almonds, sliced
• 6 tbsp Margarine
• 2 pkg Ichiban noodles (beef)
• 1 cup Oil
• 1/2 cup White sugar
• 1/2 cup Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 head Suey Choy, shredded
• 3 Green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Open up Ichiban noodle packages and take out beef seasoning.

2. Fry almonds and noodles in margarine until slightly brown. When finished cool.

3. Combine oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and beef flavour packages from the Ichiban noodles. Refrigerate fro 3 to 4 hours.

4. When ready to serve, combine suey choy and green onions. Then toss with sauce and almond / noodle mixture.

NOTES

This makes a large salad. Unfortunately once combined this salad does not keep well. I liked to just mix what I need. It is easy to always mix more and if the almond mixture, suey choy mixture, and dressing are all kept separate...you can enjoy this salad for several days by just mixing what you need.

#18 Layered Carrot Cake

This recipe comes from Taste of Home (August/September 2005, p. 27) and it is the ultimate carrot cake recipe.

Should you make extra cream cheese icing? Hell to the yeah!

I made this cake for my grandma's birthday this year.

Ingredients:

• CAKE
• 1 package yellow or golden cake mix
• 1 3.4 oz or 102 g package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• ⅔ cup orange juice
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated carrots
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix and cinnamon.

2. Whisk the eggs, orange juice and oil; add to dry ingredients. Beat until well blended. Stir in the carrots, raisins and nuts (batter will be thick).

3. Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

4. For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, orange juice and peel; beat until smooth. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Store in the refrigerator.

(Serves 12)

NOTES This recipe can be found online at http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Layered-Carrot-Cake Instead of raisins I add dried cranberries or Craisins. I also like lots of icing so sometimes I double the recipe.

#17 Six Layer Dessert

This dessert is sometimes called Sex in a Pan. Make it and see for yourself!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• ½ cup pecans (optional), finely chopped
• 1 250g or 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup icing Sugar
• 1 envelope whipped Topping, prepared according to package
• 1 4 serving size instant chocolate pudding, prepared according to package
• 1 4 serving size instant vanilla pudding, prepared according to package

Directions:

1. CRUST: Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan. Stir in flour, sugar, and nuts. Press into 9 x 13 pan. bake in 325 degree Celsius oven for about 15 minutes. Cool.

2. FILLING: Blend cream cheese and icing sugar together well. Spread over cool crust. Spread half of the whipped topping over the cream cheese layer. Cover with all chocolate pudding. Then layer the vanilla pudding. Finally top with remaining whipped topping.

#16 Salsa Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I am not sure where I found this recipe but it is easy to put together and tastes great!

Ingredients:

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 cup chunky salsa, divided
• ½ cup orange juice or apple juice
• ½ cup water
• 2 green onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Celsius.

2. Combine 1/2 cup salsa, juice, and water. Add green onion and garlic and pour into a baking dish.

3. Place the tenderloin in the baking dish and top with remaining 1/2 cup of salsa.

4. Bake uncovered for 30 - 45 minutes or until meat thermometer indicates a done temperature for pork.

NOTES This is really good with rice.

#15 Oreo Mini Cheesecakes

This recipe comes from Kraft Canada and can be found online at http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/oreo-mini-cheesecakes-86923.aspx

My mom and I chose to make these for dessert at Christmas. They were so easy to make and so good!

Ingredients:

• 2 pkg. (250 g each) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 12 Oreo Cookies
• 3 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• 1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended.

3. Place 1 cookie in bottom of each of 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Fill with batter.

4. Bake 20 min. or until centres are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours. Melt chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over cheesecakes. Top with Cool Whip.

(Serves 12)

NOTES

Try freezing the cookies before to soften them more.

#14 Lazy Casserole Cabbage Rolls

Another recipe from home. This recipe allows you to experience cabbage rolls without the hassle of making them. Enjoy!

P.S. At some point in time I will be posting a recipe for making "real" cabbage rolls.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground beef
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp Rice
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1 can Tomato soup
• 1 can Water
• 3 cups Cabbage, coarsey shredded

Directions:

1. BROWN beef.

2. ADD onions, rice, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.

3. ADD soup and water and mix.

4. LAYER cabbage in greased casserole.

5. POUR meat mixture evenly over cabbage. DO NOT STIR!

6. BAKE covered for 1 1/4 hrs at 325 degree oven.

NOTES

Sometimes I add extra cabbage and beef. If I do this I add an extra can of tomato soup so the casserole will not be dry.

#13 Breadmaker Buns

This recipe was given to me by my husband's aunt/godmother.

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups Water
• 1 large Egg white
• 3 tbsp Margarine or butter
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ cup Sugar
• 3 ½ cups Flour
• 3 tsp Breadmaker yeast

Directions:

1. In the order provided, add all the igredients to a breakmaker bread pan.

2. Put the bread pan in your bread machine and select the dough setting.

3. Once the dough setting is complete arrange the dough in 12 to 20 balls on a greased cookie sheet.

4. Cover and let rise for one hour in a warm place.

5. Bake at 325 degree Celsius oven for 15 to 25 minutes (depending on the size of the buns). They will be finished when the tops of the buns are browned.

6. One out of the oven, brush the tops of the buns with margarine or butter.

NOTES

If you would like to use whole wheat or multi-grain flour use 2 cups of whole wheat or multi-grain flour and 1 1/2 coups of white flour. For some reason a this recipe needs some white flour. Measure the ingredients carefully by spooning the ingredients into the measuring tools and levelling with a knife. Feel free to add chopped fresh herbs to the dough while it is mixing in the bread machine!

#12 Hamburger Soup

Another favourite from home!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs. ground hamburger, browned
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 2 beef bullion cubes
• 1 tomato soup
• 1 28 oz can whole or diced tomatoes
• 4 cups water
• 8 tsp pot barley
• to taste salt and black pepper
• 1 bayleaf

Directions:

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a slow cooker.

2. SIMMER all day on low.

NOTES

This soup tastes better the day after being cooked. It also freezes nicely.

I like chunky soups so I sometimes add extra carrots or celery. I also sometimes add kernel corn, peas, or lentils. For some reason this soup is better the next day.

#11 Death by Chocolate

Prepare at your own risk!

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate fudge cake mix, bake in 9 x 13 pan as directed on package and then cube it
• ½ cup kahlua (optional but well worth it!), divided
• 2 -16 oz container frozen Dessert Topping, thawed
• 2 - 6 oz pkgs instant chocolate pudding, prepare as directed on package
• 6 skor bars, crushed

Directions:

1. Separate cake cubes into two portions. Soak each portion with 1/4 cup of Kahlua.

2. In a large bowl pour in one portion of the cake mixture.

3. Spread1/2 of the pudding over the cake followed by 1/2 of the dessert topping.

4. Now cover dessert topping with 1/2 of the crumbled toffee bars.

5. Repeat with another layer of remaining cake, pudding, whipped topping, and crushed bars.

6. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

# 10 Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Mmmm....muffins. These are definitely a family favourite and a good way to use bananas that are at the end of their life!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup margarine or butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)
• ¾ cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius.

2. Cream margarine or butter, vanilla, and sugar.

3. Beat in eggs.

4. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix well.

5. Add mashed bananas and mix well again.

6. Finally add chocolate chips.

7. Spoon into greased cupcake tins or cupcake papers, filling 3/4 full. This should make 12 to 15 muffins.

8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until firm.

NOTES For moister muffins add 1/2 cup sourcream to the mixture before adding dry ingredients. Instead of adding chocolate chips, feel free to add blueberries, cranberries, or saskatoon berries. When I have bananas that are coming to the end of their life I throw them in the freezer (peel and all)! The peels turn black in the freezer but when they thaw they are easy to mash and I think they make the muffins moister. Plus you are not throwing out bananas anymore! Once of my Taste of Home magazines says to fill empty muffins tins with water so that the muffins bake more evenly. I have done this and I think it works. These muffins freeze nicely!

#9 The Best Lasagna

This is another meaty pasta dish! This is another recipe my mom sent with me to University.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 - 20 oz cans whole or diced tomatoes
• 1 - 12 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 of a 750 g brick of mozzarella cheese
• 12 Lasagna noodles

Directions:

1. Cook hamburger and onion until meat is brown.

2. Add all ingredients but cheese and lasagna noodles. If using whole tomatoes, break them up with a potato masher.

3. Simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. In the meantime cook lasagna noodles. Drain and lay one layer of 6 noodles on bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

5. After the sauce has finished simmering, discard the bay leaf.

6. Layer 1/3 of the meat sauce over the noodles. Top with slices of mozzarella cheese. Add another 1/3 of the sauce over the cheese. Then top with the remaining 6 noodles. Finish off the lasagna with a layer of some of the remaining 1/3 sauce, then cheese slices, and any remaining sauce.

7. Bake in 350 degree Celsius oven for 1 hour. Let sit out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving. NOTES

Oven ready noodles can be used in place of regular lasagna noodles. Also feel free to add a layer of fresh mushrooms or fresh or frozen spinach.

#8 Italian Spaghetti Sauce

Attention all carnivores: This spaghetti sauce is very meaty! This recipe was one of many recipes that my mom copied out for me in a cookbook to take with me when I moved away from home to attend university. It was these recipes that reminded me of home.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground beef
• 1 large Onion, chopped
• 1 - 8 oz can Tomato sauce
• 1 - 6 oz can Tomato paste
• 1 cup Water
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 3/4 tsp Basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp Marjoram leaves
• 1/4 tsp Rosemary leaves
• 1 Bay leaf
• 4 cups Spaghetti, cooked and hot

Directions:

1. Cook hamburger and onion until hamburger is light brown. Drain off extra fat.

2. Stir in remaining ingedients.

3. Heat sauce to boiling. The reduce heat and cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

4. Serve with hot cooked spaghetti.

NOTES Instead of adding oregano, basil, marjoram, rosemary, and bay leaf you can add 3 tsp of Italian seasoning. This spaghetti sauce freezes nicely.

Blogging is harder than I thought!

Ok...this blogging thing is harder than I thought! I am already 10 recipes behind. I have 10 recipes to post to my blog but unfortunately they do not have pictures yet which is too bad because I really do rely on pictures when choosing recipes. So I guess I will post the recipes for now and will add pictures once they come available :)

# 7 Mushroom Shrimp Creole

Another recipe from the Taste of Home magazine (August/September 2001, p. 27).

I made a double recipe tonight for supper and plan to freeze the leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 6 bacon strips, diced
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1-½ cups chopped green peppers
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 4-½ teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-½ lb. cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 jar whole mushrooms, drained
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon dried savory
• Hot cooked rice

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain.

2. In the drippings, saute onions, green peppers and garlic.

3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, basil and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

4. Add the shrimp, mushrooms, butter, lemon juice and savory. Cook 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through

5. Discard bay leaf. Stir in bacon. Serve with rice.

(Serves 6)

NOTES

Picture and recipe available at http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Mushroom-Shrimp-Creole This freezes nicely.

# 6 Stuffing Mix Meatloaf

I made this meatloaf when I visited my grandma last week. Meatloaf always seems to get a bad rap....something about the name doesn't sound appetizing but this is the best meatloaf ever...bar none. This recipe is adapted from a recipe off of an Uncle Ben's Stuffing Mix box.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Stuffing Mix
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Egg, lightly beaten
• ½ cup Milk
• 1 ½ lb Ground beef
• ½ cup Ketchup
• 2 tsp Prepared mustard
• 2 tbsp Brown sugar

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in the stuffing mix box with milk. Then add egg and worcestershire sauce and mix.

2. Add raw ground beef and combine. Then press in a 9 inch pie plate.

3. Blend ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard and pour over meatloaf.

4. Bake at 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes until cooked through.

# 5 Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce

This recipe was one of many recipes that my mom copied out for me in a cookbook to take with me when I moved away from home to attend university. To this day it is one of my favourite (and easiest) ways to prepare pork chops.

Ingredients:

• 4 Pork chops
• 1 Mushroom soup
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Layer raw pork chops in the bottom of a baking dish or roaster. Do not layer.

2. Mix mushroom soup and salt and pepper in a separate bowl.

3. Cover pork chops with mushroom sauce.

4. Bake covered in a 325 degree Celsius oven for 2 -3 hours.

NOTES

Add an extra mushroom soup to this recipe to make a nice mushroom gravy that is great on mashed potatoes!

# 4 Doney's Chili

Since we are on the topic of chili...here is the chili recipe my mom uses. It is one of my favourites. I used it in a chili cookoff one year and won first prize!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground beef
• 2 Celery stalks, chopped fine
• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 1 Green pepper, chopped fine
• 1 can Kidney beans
• 2 cans Tomato soup
• 1 can Mushrooms
• 2 tbsp Brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Vinegar
• 1 tsp Parsley flakes
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• Chili powder, to taste

Directions:

1. Brown beef, celery, onion, salt, and pepper. Drain off fat.

2. Add kidney beans, soup, and the rest of the ingredients.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes and then serve.

NOTES

This recipe freezes nicely.

Extra ingredients such as kernel corn or mixed beans can be added.

I asked my mom who Doney is but she didn't know. She found this recipe in a book many years ago.

#3 Hearty Bean Stew

OK...I am a week and a half into this project and I have only posted 2 recipes! Yikes! The good news is that I have been cooking and adding recipes to Macgourmet...just not posting.

Anyway I found this recipe in a 2006 Taste of Home magazine (February/March, 2006, p. 6). If you ever want to subscribe to a cooking magazine I would certainly recommend Taste of Home. The website is also really great: http://www.tasteofhome.com/

This was a great recipe to enjoy on a cold day at the lake!

Ingredients:

• 1-½ cups chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (28 ounces) Hunt’s® Original Diced Tomatoes, drained
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1-¼ cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, saute onions in oil until tender; add the garlic, cook 1 minute longer.

2. Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, broth and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Stir in the beans, tomato paste, chili powder and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

(Serves 6)

NOTES

See http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Hearty-Bean-Stew on the Taste of Home website.

I didn't have celery so I added peas instead! Feel free to add or substitute ingredients.

#2 Skor Bar Cake

This is a favourite! Even my brother who 'hates' chocolate requests this dessert.

Ingredients:

• 1 German or Devil's cake mix, prepared in 9 x 13 pan as directed
• 1 can Sweetened condensed milk
• 1 - 6 oz can Carmel ice cream topping
• 1 Frozen Dessert Topping, thawed
• 2 Skor Bars, crushed

Directions:

1. Once cake is baked and cooled, use the end of a wooden spoon covered in saran wrap to poke holes all over the cake.

2. Pour the sweetened condensed milk and carmel over the cake so that it enters the holes.

3. Cool in the fridge.

4. Cover with whipped topping and sprinke with crushed Skor bars.

(Serves 15)

NOTES

This recipe is similar to Toffee Poke Cake on the Taste of Home website: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Toffee-Poke-Cake Instead of crushing Skor bars you can buy Skor bits. The condensed milk and carmel will seem like a lot when you are pouring it but trust me....it will be all good!

#1 Catalina Cranberry Chicken

I found this recipe on the Kraft Canada website. I became a member of the Kraft Canada mailing list before Christmas. They send you a free publication in the mail and emails filled with recipes. Many of the recipes are really good. They are easy to make and they use ingredients that actually exist in regular grocery stores.

It looks like Kraft Canada is not taking any new subscriptions for the magazine but you can sign up for the recipe emails at: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/registration/contextualsignuplogin.aspx?redirect=1

Anyway this is a great recipe and extremely easy to put together. The recipe calls for 3lbs of chicken. The first time I made it I used 5 large boneless skinless chicken breasts and only 3/4 of the sauce which was more than enough. I froze the remaining sauce and will keep you posted if it turns out when I use it. The sauce from this chicken is good on rice. I made brown rice and added some chopped walnuts to it once it was finished cooking to add extra flavour. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. (1.4 kg) bone-in skinless chicken pieces (breasts and/or thighs)
• 1 can (398 mL) whole berry cranberry sauce
• ½ cup Kraft Catalina Dressing
• 1 envelope (39 g) onion soup mix

Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 350°F.

2. PLACE chicken in 2 (13x9-inch) baking dishes.

3. MIX remaining ingredients; pour over chicken.

4. BAKE 50 min. or until chicken is done (170°F).

(Serves 8)

The Quest Begins

Question: Do you have a cupboard that looks like this?

Do you have an entire cupboard full of cookbooks, cooking magazines, and recipe cards? Do you use all of those books, magazines, and cards? If you are like me you only actually use a few recipes in each resource and there are many recipes in that cupboard that you don't even know exist.

In an attempt to de-clutter I have decided to replace my cupboard full of cooking resources with one cookbook that will contain all the favourite recipes I actually use. To begin I purchased a computer program called MacGourmet that will help me record and organize all my favourite recipes on my computer. It will then help me put together a cookbook.

Since MacGourmet allows me to post recipes to a blog, I have decided to share my recipes as I enter them. In doing this I hope to share some of my favourite recipes with family and friends. In return I invite anyone who tries a recipe to post a comment on whether they enjoyed the recipe or not, whether there were any typos in the recipe or if the instructions were not clear, or if they made any changes that improved the recipe. If you have a recipe that would be better I also want to hear from you! I really want this to be a great cookbook!

How long will this project go on and how often will I post? A friend of mine finished a photography blog where she posted 365 photographs that she took....one per day for an entire year. Inspired by this I plan to post 365 recipes over the course of 365 days. I may not post a recipe everyday...but by January 14, 2012 I will have 365 recipes to put into a cookbook!

So....let the cooking begin!

PS...At this point in time, my blog can be openly viewed by anyone but if you would like to post a comment, you are required to create a blogger account which may require you to open a free google account and create a password.