Petunia Bloom

Pecan Tea Balls December 16, 2008

My husband wanted to take small gifts to work for Christmas, so he ordered to me to make cookies and chocolate dipped pretzels.  I told him I would make cookies, but we could buy the chocolate dipped pretzels at Target.

My grandma always makes Pecan Tea Balls at Christmas time, so that is what I made using the recipe she always uses.

1c. Butter
1c. Chopped Pecans
2c. Flour
1/4c. Sugar
2t vanilla
1/2 bag Powdered Sugar

Mix together all the ingredients.  Roll into balls the size of a marble.  Bake 350 degrees for 20 mins.  While hot, roll in powder sugar.  Roll in powder sugar again when cooled.  This will make around 27 cookies.  Mine were bigger than marbles, so you could probably get more than 27 out of a batch.  I almost always double the recipe, because these keep very well.

I used the wax paper for easy clean-up, but it is definitely not needed.

These cooled very quickly by my drafty window which was good since I wanted to bag them right away.

Here they are bagged with one chocolate-dipped pretzel each (that I didn’t have to make!).  I was pleased with how they turned out, and they should be well-received.  If not, I will never know.

Vegetable Soup with Lentils December 7, 2008

It seems that I have read several articles/books lately that have praised the nutritional value of lentils, so I bought a small bag of green ones.  After looking online, I decided I would make vegetable soup and add lentils to it.  To be honest, I didn’t think I would like lentils one bit but wanted to try them just in case.  They are VERY cheap and VERY healthy.  I couldn’t find a recipe online that fit my fancy so this is who I made it:

2 T Olive Oil (I don’t like olive oil so I always use grapeseed oil in its place…yes, I am weird)
1 small onion chopped
7-8 carrots, peeled and sliced
1.5 green pepper chopped
6-8 cups of water
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 can garbanzo beans
1 bag green lentils
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
2 bay leaves
1 t Italian seasoning (mine has marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, and basil in it)
1 T dried parsley flakes
Pepper and Salt to Taste (I don’t ever add salt but you could.  I love pepper so I added a lot of pepper.)

Use a large stock pot.  Saute onion, carrots, and green pepper until soft.  Add the the other ingredients except the spinach and stir.  Put the lid on and bring to a medium boil.  Let simmer for 30-40 mins until your lentils float to the top.  Turn the heat off, put the spinach on top, put the lid back on for five mins or until the spinach has wilted.  Then stir in the spinach.

This was so good!  It makes a lot.  I would say it makes 12 individual servings.  It freezes very well, so I like to freeze it individually for nice easy meals to pull out of the freezer at anytime.  I had never bought Italian seasoning before, but it was also very good.

You could use any vegetables that you like in place of what I used.

One of my Crockpot Go-To Recipes November 21, 2008

I shared this in Jazzercise tonight, so I thought I would blog about it!  This is the most simple crockpot recipe and it has turned out great time and time again.  Also, it is very healthy.

Place frozen chicken breats in the bottom of a crockpot.  Pour Salsa (diced tomatos for less spicy) over the top, pour a can of rinsed black beans on top and cook on low all day.  Serve with a dollop of sour creme.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Pound Cake November 17, 2008

Go to ThePioneerWoman.com and print out the recipe for Blueberry Pound Cake.  It was the most moist pound cake I have ever had!  It had a dipping sauce to go with it.  Normally, I would never make the sauce to go with a recipe but I was feeling happy and went ahead and made the sauce.  Yum…Yum…  It was worth it, and my guests loved the sauce!  The secret ingredient:  2 6oz cartons of yogurt

Before you make this recipe, go here and sign up to recieve a coupon for buy one, get one free of Rachel’s Yogurt.  I am not sure why, but I received two of these coupons in the mail.

Making Bread April 1, 2008

I made bread for the first time this week.  It looked like an easy recipe and I had all the ingredients on hand, so I did it!  My dough was really runny.  I had to add a lot of flour but it raised nicely and the bread was amazing.  It had a great texture and taste.  Ryan said it was the best cinnamon bread he had ever had.  He was amazed it turned out so well.  He was very concerned when he saw how runny the dough was at first.  He made me call his Nana.  With Nana telling me how to fix it over speaker phone, Ryan looking over my shoulder, and me doing what Nana was telling me, it was quiet the experience.  I ended up making a pan of cinnamon rolls and a loaf of cinnamon bread out of it.

Here is the recipe:  Feather Roll by Edna Gaugler (Ryan’s Papa’s Sister)

• 3 pkg dry yeast
• 1 t sugar
• 2 c warm milk
• 4 T melted butter
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 t salt
• 4 c flour + extra for dough and counter
• 3 eggs, beaten

Combine 1 tsp yeast, sugar and milk.  Beat with mixer until well blended and let stand 20 minutes.  Add rest of ingredients.  Beat with stand mixer.  Knead in more flour until dough is sticky.  Let rise in warm place.  Punch down and make rolls of second rising.  Good for cinnamon rolls and cinnamon bread.  Note:  I let them raise after I shaped them as well.

This is the recipe I used for the frosting on the cinnamon rolls.  It was SOO good.  It tasted just like the Rhodes Rolls frosting.

• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 1 c confectioner sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 1/2 t milk

Quick Meat Sauce and Shells March 26, 2008

In the April addition of Family Circle there were several good lean beef recipes. I tried this one last night and it was wonderful. The following recipe is not the exact same as in the magazine. It is modified to my tastes. I will definitely be making this again! Serves 6 – Prep: 15 mins – Cook: 23 mins

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 large sweet red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 1 pound whole wheat pasta shells
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella

1. In a skillet, cook crumbled ground beef, peppers, and onion for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over med-low for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.
3. Cook pasta following pgk directions. Drain.
4. Spoon sauce over pasta. Top with shredded cheese and serve.

If you make this, let me know what you think!  Here is the original recipe.