Baked Pear Crisps

Baked Pear Crisps
from: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine, October 2010

I loved this recipe! Not too difficult and oh so good!

Makes 6 servings
Prep: 20 mins
Bake: 1 h 10 mins

Ingredients

1/3 C walnuts, chopped
1/3 C golden raisins
1/4 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 C rolled oats
1/4 C cold butter, cut into small cubes
6 medium, firm pears
1 1/2 C apple cider

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, combine walnuts, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, and oats. Add butter cubes and toss to combine.

Cut 1/3 off stem end of each pear. Using a melon baller or small spoon (I used a knife and spoon), scoop out core and pulp, leaving 1/2 " thick shell. Place pears and tops in a 2 quart baking dish.

Using a small spoon or your fingers, evenly stuff pears with walnut mixture, mounding extra filling on top. Pour cider into pan. Cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake 40-45 minutes. Remove foil and bake, basting every 10 mins, for 20-25 mins longer or until pears are easily pierced with a sharp knife. Serve pears with tops, and drizzle with remaining cider, if desired.

Note: I did not use walnuts, and used black raisins instead. We still loved them!

Sweet and Sour Chicken / Pork

Sweet and Sour Chicken (or Pork)
from: Brenda Ottesen (actually one of her books)

This dish is great! It's not that difficult and very tasty! Tonight my mom and Kendra said it would beat Panda, so I figure that's a compliment! I prepare mine with red and green bell pepper and pineapple!

Ingredients

1 lb chicken or pork cut up into chunks
1 t salt (I actually never use it though)
3 C oil for deep frying 375 F

Batter:
1/2 C flour
1/4 C cornstarch
1 t baking soda
3/4 C cold water

Sauce (double if necessary)*:
3/4 C water
2 T cornstarch
2 T rice vinegar
3 T ketchup
2/3 C granulated sugar

Garnish (optional):
1 tomato, wedged
1 small green pepper, wedged
1/2 C pineapple chunks
1 t toasted sesame seeds

Bone chicken (pork) and cut into 1/2" thick slices or chunks.

Heat oil in wok to 375F. (I just use a skillet and it works great!) Rub salt into meat pieces (remember I don't use salt). Dip into batter and fry until golden brown. Make sure meat is fully cooked before eating. I do it at least 5-7 minutes and then I still check one from each batch to make sure it's done. Place on plate with paper towel to absorb grease.

Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan over the stove. Bring sauce to a full boil stirring constantly. Arrange garnishes on top of fried meat. Pour sauce over and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

*Note: I find I need to double the sauce recipe if I use more than just 1 lb of meat.

Banana Pancakes

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Banana Pancakes
from: Allrecipes.com

Once again, Kelli recommended this recipe! Skyler loves bananas and the entire time he ate them he just said "nana" "nana" as he shoveled the pancakes into his mouth! They have a lot of flavor, are healthy, and so good. Jon said they were "edible" but I'm pretty sure he was understating the flavor!

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rolled oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons dry milk powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 banana, mashed

Directions

1. Place the rolled oats into the jar of a blender and blend until the texture resembles coarse flour. Whisk together the blended oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, dry milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Let the batter stand for 5 minutes.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp

So I had never made peach anything before, but decided to surprise Jon and make a peach cobbler for him. However, I couldn't find any good cobbler recipes, so I stuck to the basic peach crisp recipe from eHow.com, which will be my go to recipe for this from now on. I have made this 2 times in a week...very good!

How to peel the peaches: Boil water; add peaches and let sit for about 30 seconds in the water. Remove peaches and add to ice cold water. Skin should peel right off!

Ingredients

• 6 cups of fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
• 2 tsps. of ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 1/2 Cups of all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 tsp. of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar, firmly packed and divided
• 1/2 cup of softened butter
• Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for topping

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Put your prepared peaches into a mixing bowl.
3. Stir up in a mixture of 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp. of cinnamon.
4. Add the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon mixture to the prepared peaches and mix them well.

5. Lightly butter a 9-by-13 inch baking dish.
6. Place the peach mixture into the bottom of the baking dish and put it to the side.
7. Mix the rest of the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Add butter with a pastry blender until the mixture becomes coarse.
8. Drop this mixture over the peaches. Make sure it is spread evenly over the peaches.

9.Bake mixture until it is golden brown or for approximately 45 minutes.
10. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
from: Taste of Home

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

So my friend Kelli recommended these muffins and they are oh soo good! And very rich. You can substitute applesauce for the oil, and I will probably use less chocolate chips the next time!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Yield: about 1 dozen.

Raspberry-White Chocolate Muffins

Raspberry-White Chocolate Muffins
from: Betty Crocker website

So my mother-in-law makes these a lot, and they are really good. The other day I made a double batch and Jon ate a dozen on his own! They are very good...

1	egg
2	cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3	cup milk
1/2	cup white baking chips
1/3	cup sugar
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
1	cup raspberries

	Print these coupons...
	$0.55 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch® cereal Plus 70 more...
	About Concordance™

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups, or place paper baking cup in each muffin cup.
2. Beat egg slightly in medium bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except raspberries just until moistened. Gently stir in raspberries. Divide batter evenly among cups.
3. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.