Party Time Beans

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c Ketchup
1 md Onion; chopped
1 md Green pepper; chopped
1 md Red pepper; chopped
1/2 c Water
1/2 c Packed brown sugar
2 Bay leaves
2 ts Cider vinegar; to 3 tsp.
1 ts Ground mustard
1/8 ts Pepper
1 cn Kidney beans; 16-oz.
1 cn Great northern beans; 15-1/2 -oz.
1 cn Lima beans; 15-oz.
1 cn Black beans; 15-oz.
1 cn Black-eyed peas; 15-1/2 oz.

In a slow cooker, combine the first 10 ingredients; mix well. Drain and rinse the beans and peas. Add the beans and peas to the crockpot and mix well. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours or until onion and peppers are tender. Remove bay leaves. Yield: 14 to 16 servings. Nutritional Analysis: one 1/2-cup serving (prepared with no-salt- added-ketchup) equals 211 calories, 138mg sodium, 0 cholesterol, 32gm carbohydrate, 11gm protein, 5gm fat. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 meat. Formatted by Lynn Thomas dcqp82a@prodigy.com. Source: Taste of Home February/March 1998. Lynn's notes: Made this on 2-2-98; a very easy recipe to do and it tasted wonderful. I cooked it for 6-1/2 hours and that was plenty of time! Recipe by: Taste of Home

Chiles Rellenos Tostadas

I'm trying to come up with low-fat, healthy versions of some of my favorite foods. I love, love, love, LOVE chiles rellenos, but my metabolism doesn't like fried food anymore.

So, here's what I've come up with. It's kind of a combination of Chile Rellenos and Tostadas.

you need:
4 anaheim or poblano peppers
4 chunks of chihuahua, jack, or even swiss cheese (small enough to fit inside peppers)
2 cups refried beans
4 corn tortillas
2 cups enchilada sauce
lettuce, sour cream, or other favorite Mexican toppngs

1. Char, bag, and then peel peppers (I do it on the grill, but you can also do it in the broiler or even on a gas stovetop. You just place peppers near an open flame until they blister all over, then let them steam inside a plastic bag for 15 minutes. Then, you gently peel the skin off and rinse carefully.) Note, this is how you do any hot peppers for Mexican cooking.

2. Carefully, slit one side of the pepper. Gently remove the seeds and membranes, or leave them in for more heat.

3. Place chunk of cheese inside pepper. Use toothpick to close pepper.

4. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, then cook tortillas, flipping to cook both sides, until crispy.

5. Assemble "rellenos." Place tortillas on a plate, then top with beans, pepper, and then enchilada sauce.

6. Place under broiler for 5 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly.

7. Top with sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, or whatever else you like.

This is actually pretty good for a healthier version of a favorite dish. You get the crunchiness from the tortilla, the heat from the pepper, and the creamy smooth melted cheese, minus the fried part.

Jemput Jumput (Indonesian Banana Fritters)

(From Allrecipes.com)

Prep Time: 10 MinutesCook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 25 MinutesYields: 18 servings

INGREDIENTS:
5/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 ripe bananas
3 tablespoons white sugar
oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:
1.Heat oil in a deep fryer or heavy bottomed pan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2.Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a medium bowl.

3.In a separate bowl, mash together the bananas and sugar. Gradually mix flour mixture into mashed bananas, stirring until well combined.

4.Drop batter by spoonfuls into hot oil, and cook, turning once, until browned, 2 to 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

3 recipes from the weekend

Potato Casserole

you need:

1 bag frozen hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients together, bake @ 350 for 45 minutes.


No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

12 strawberries
12 oz softened cream cheese
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 individual or 1 graham cracker crust

Coarsely chop 6 strawberries, place in food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Fill pie tins. Garnish with remaining strawberries.



Special Bananna Nut Bread

2/4 cup butter, softened
1 pack cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banannas (about 4 medium)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped pecans, divided

Orange glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons OJ
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

In large mixing bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla; mix well. Combine four, baking powder, baking soda annd salt. Add to creamed mixture. Fold in 1 cup pecans. Transfer to two greased 8" X 4" X 2" loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves.

Chilies Rellenos


I have been craving chiles rellenos from my favorite Mexican restauraunt, Cozumel, really bad today. So I decided to try to make them. I tried another recipe before, but the batter was a little off. I found this recipe online and learned that the secret is the whipped egg batter. The rellenos turned out perfectly! My mouth is on fire, and I'm a happy girl. I just wish I had the ingredients on hand for a good margarita!

You need:
4 poblano peppers
1 cup shredded chihuahua or jack cheese, shredded (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
1 cup flour
4 eggs
cooking oil
red sauce

1. First you blister the peppers. You can do this by placing them under the broiler or on a grill. Allow the skin of the pepper to char and blister, then rotate to get all the sides. When pepper is fully blistered, place them into a gallon-sized ziploc baggie and let sit for 15 minutes. This steams the skin and makes it easy to peel it off. After you peel the skin off, rinse well under running cold water.

2. Heat the oil in a skillet.

3. While oil is heating, separate eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold in 2 egg yolks.

4. Make a slit in each pepper. You can leave the seeds in for heat, or you can wipe them out. I personally like the heat but hate crunching down on hard seeds. It's a personal judgement call. Fill peppers with shredded cheese.

5. Dredge peppers in flour, then dip in egg batter.

6. Test oil by dropping a little batter into the pan. If it turns golden brown and floats quickly, it's hot enough.

7. Place pepper in oil until golden brown. Splash oil up on the sides of the pepper to cook them a little, then flip using a skillet and the stem of the pepper. Flip away from you so you don't splash hot oil on yourself.

8. When cooked on both sides, place rellenos on a plate covered in paper towels to drain. Then place on another plate, top with red sauce and a little sprinkle of cheese, and broil until sauce and cheese are bubbly. Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Bars

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons baking soda

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9 x 13 pans.
2. Mix all ingredients until well blended.
3. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool and frost bars with Cream Cheese Frosting.

The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies EVAR

(Notice there's one missing in the photo! I couldn't wait!)

You need:

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar (I used demerara, but you can use white)

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

2 3/4 cups rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375*F

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs, then add vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt, then add dry mixture gradually into the butter mixture. Stir in oats and raisins gradually -- mixture will be THICK!

Drop by teaspoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool about 5 minutes, then move cookies to wire rack to finish cooling.

Chinese Takeout-style Fried Rice



You need:

• 2 cups leftover white rice*
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 small onion, chopped up
• 2 cups of thawed frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, green beans)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 4 tbsp oil

Heat wok over high flame** until it is smoking. Add 2 tbsp oil, swirl to coat wok surface. Add eggs. Eggs will poof up quickly -- stir to make sure the uncooked egg goes down and gets cooked, too. Remove eggs and set aside.

Add rest of oil. Dump diced onions into the oil, and let cook until barely transparent, stirring often. When onions start to turn transparent, add rice, and stir, breaking up chunks of rice as you go. Cook for about 2 minutes, until rice starts to turn golden-brown, then add veggies. Continue to stir until veggies are tender and rice is fluffy. Chop eggs up slightly, and return them to the wok. Add white pepper and soy sauce. Continue cooking and stirring for another minute or two to allow flavors to meld. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

* It is important to use leftover rice. Freshly-cooked rice is too moist and the result will be tasty but not fluffy like fried rice. If you are really jonesing for some fried rice and have to use freshly-cooked rice, use a 1:1 ratio of water to rice.

** I use a gas stove. I have heard that it is difficult to get a wok hot enough on an electric stove, but I don't have any personal experience with this. I know you can buy electric woks, and I am assuming that they get hot enough to make fried rice. You can also use a large skillet on any kind of stove.

*** If you want pork fried rice, ask your local Chinese restaurant if you can buy some Char Sieu -- Chinese barbecued pork. If you can keep from eating it all in the car on the way home, it's great in fried rice!