Honey-Whole Wheat Bread

Makes 3 loaves or 6 mini loaves.
Adapted from Jamie Cooks it Up

5-7 cups Hard White Wheat, ground
3 cups Hot Water
1/3 cup Honey or Sugar- I prefer Honey
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1 Tbs. Dough Enhancer
2 1/2 Tbs. Vital Wheat Gluten
1 Tbs. Salt
1 1/2 Tbs. heaping Yeast
1 Tbs. Butter

1.Grind up your wheat and preheat your oven to 170 degrees.
2. Pour 3 cups of hot water into your heavy mixer. You want your water to be hot, but not so hot that you can't stand to touch it.
3. Add dough enhancer, vital wheat gluten, honey, oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix for 30 seconds then add your yeast while it's mixing.
4. Continue adding 1 cup of flour at a time until the dough is coming off the sides of your mixer. About 5-7 cups. It really depends on your elevation and time of year. I usually add 6 cups. Then mix on high for 8 minutes. If you are using a kitchen aid, you should not go past 2 on your mixer, otherwise it will overheat your motor and that would be really sad.
5. Spray your bread pans and separate the dough equally. Smack each dough ball to get the bubbles out and then shape it.
6. Place your dough in the oven at 170 degrees and proof your bread for about 15-25 minutes, just enough so the dough is about 1" above your pans. Then turn up your oven to 350 degrees while your bread is still in and cook for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom. Let rest for 5 minutes and spread softened butter over top decrease the hardness of the crust. I usually don't add the butter and my bread is fine. Enjoy!! You can freeze the bread for up to 3 weeks in your freezer.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fondue

Recipe from Taste of Home
Takes less than 10 minutes
Serves 12

1 cup of milk chocolate chips (semi-sweet if you like dark chocolate)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk

Place all ingredients in pot and place on stove top on low. Stir until nice and creamy. Transfer to a fondue pot and serve with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, pretzels, marshmallows and whatever else your heart desires.

Cream Based Soup

When you don't have cream of chicken or any cream condensed soup for that matter this recipe is an excellent substitute. I found it from Southern Food.com and it's a yummy substitute!!!! I bet it would be a great start to any cream based soup.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; keep stirring until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the chicken broth and milk, a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth. Return to heat. Bring sauce to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed to taste.

Use in casseroles in place of condensed cream soups.
This cream soup base can be varied by using vegetable broth, sauteéd chopped celery, celery seed, or sauteéd chopped mushrooms. Add herbs and or seasonings, as desired.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Krusteaz Recipe
1 pouch quick bread Krusteaz Pumpkin mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 Tbs water
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Place quickbread mix and butter in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add egg, oats, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and water. Continue to mix on medium speed until dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips. Used rounded tablespoon dough for each cookie, form balls. Place 2" apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 11-13 minutes. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Paula Dean's Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

 I wanted to make sure that I had this recipe. It's my favorite Butternut Squash Soup and I was afraid the Food Network would take it off their website. So here is this fabulous soup. Serves 4. Takes aprox. 15 minutes for prep and 40 minutes to cook. Enjoy!!

2 pounds butternut squash, halved, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups diced onion
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 (13 3/4-ounce) cans chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup light cream or heavy cream
Sour cream, for garnish

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine squash, onion, carrots, broth and salt. Simmer, uncovered, until squash is very tender, about 40 minutes. Puree soup in a blender or food processor with the butter. Whisk cream into soup. Serve in wide, shallow bowls with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/creamy-squash-soup-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Sweet Cafe Rio Pork

Recipe from http://jamiecooksitup.net/2010/01/sweet-cafe-rio-pork/

Time: 5-8 hours slow cooking

Yield: 8 servings 

1   3 lb pork loin roast (be sure the roast is completely thawed)
1   16 oz jar salsa (2 C salsa)
1 can green chilies
½ C brown sugar
1 can black beans, undrained
Tortillas
Cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
1. In the bottom of a large crock pot mix salsa, green chilies, brown sugar, and black beans.
2. Add the pork roast and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours depending on how hot your crock pot cooks things. 
3. Take the meat out of the Crockpot and shred it up with a fork.
4. Return meat to the Crockpot and cook 1 more hour.
5. Serve on tortillas with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

I like to serve this as a build your own salad/burrito. It's so yummy and I love this version of Cafe Rio Pork because it uses no soda. 

Black Bean Soup

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 T olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3/4 C diced carrots (about 2 med carrots)

3/4 C diced celery (about 2 ribs)

1 C diced onion (about 1 sm-med onion)

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained- I use dry beans.

1 3.5oz can green chilies

2 cans low-sodium beef broth

1 t kosher salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t cumin

1/2 t dry oregano leaves

1 bay leaf

Optional Toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped cilantro, etc.

**If you use dry black beans, make sure you prepare them in the morning, otherwise you'll need to use canned. What I usually do is take about 1/2 cup dried beans and rinse them. Then I place them in a pot and boil them for 10 minutes and then turn off the heat and let them sit covered  for the rest of the day. It usually takes 6 hours to soften the beans, if you want to speed it up, just boil them for another ten minutes after you let them sit for 3 hours. That should do the trick. 

Place a large stock pot on the stove-top and set to medium-high heat.  When pan is warm, add olive oil.  Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes.

 

Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup. 

Place soup in a blender. (You could use an immersion blender in place of this step) Place lid on blender, but remove the stopper in the lid to let heat escape. Place a paper towel over the hole to avoid splatters. 

Puree soup until completely smooth.  Optionally you could pulse until a semi-chunky soup is achieved. Squeeze in the juice from one lime and pulse to combine.

Ladle into bowls and top with desired toppings. Serve with extra lime wedges.  Makes about 8 C soup.

Nutritional Information (1 C soup, w/o toppings):

125 calories, 2g fat, 8g fiber

2 Weight Watcher points