Chocolate Pudding Cake

2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 T. cocoa (we like to use special dark)
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
4 T. oil
2 t. vanilla
2 c. nuts (optional)
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
3 1/2 c. hottest tap water
vanilla ice cream

Heat oven to 350°.
Mix flour, sugar, 4 T cocoa, baking powder and salt in ungreased 9x13 pan. Mix in milk, oil and vanilla with fork until smooth. Stir in nuts, if using. Spread in pan.
Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 c. cocoa. Pour hot water over batter.
Bake 40 minutes.
While warm, spoon into dessert dishes and top with ice cream. Spoon sauce from pan onto each serving.

Gordon's Balsamic Glaze for vegetables

~1/3 to 1/2 bottle of balsamic vinegar

2 or 3 tablespoons sugar or honey or both

~1/2 t salt

~2 T orange juice (or maybe lemon w/ more sugar)

Mix together and cook on the stove until it's reduced to about 1/2 the starting volume. Taste as you go and adjust ratios until you like it. There's a good chance I underestimated how much sugar I put in. 

Sage:

Lightly brown a little butter (~1/2 T), then add a handful of whole fresh sage leaves, fry until they're crisp

Vegetables:

I used brussels sprouts and special selection baby sweet potatoes. Chop into roughly equal sized pieces, spread on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and a little salt, stir so they're coated, and roast at 350 for 30-40 min until done, turning once midway through. Pour balsamic glaze on top, add the sage, and stir it all together. 

Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream

This recipe makes 1½ qts.

2 cups half-and-half
1½ cups sugar
½ cup baking cocoa (we like Hershey’s Special Dark- it's so tasty)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream

1 row of oreos, broken into rough pieces

Combine half-and-half, sugar, cocoa and vanilla in a blender; process on low until smooth.
Stir in heavy cream.
Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions.
When it's almost done, add in the oreos

Fast Sunday Soup

This is mostly a record for my own benefit, because I made up this soup, and it ended up being delicious. But it's similar enough to Beth's Harvest Soup recipe, that I imagine most people will use that one. But this one happens to be vegetarian, and it includes what I had in the kitchen on a Sunday.

7 cups vegetable broth
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 can tomatoes, with liquid

Get boiling in a large pot, then add:

1 package pasta

While that's cooking, heat some olive oil in a large frying pan, and saute (adding in order, so you don't overcook):

1 large onion, chopped
1-2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
fresh kernels cut off of 2 ears of corn
4 Morningstar breakfast sausage patties, chopped up

Then season the vegetables with:

Salt, pepper, garlic, italian seasoning, dash of nutmeg, (and a little milk if you want) to taste.

Combine the vegetables into the soup base, then throw a can of drained potatoes (use fresh if you have them) into the emptied frying pan, to brown them up a bit, before you toss them in the soup as well.

Enjoy with breadsticks, or garlic bread.

No Straining Necessary Tomato Basil Pasta

A friend of mine linked to this recipe on Facebook (Debbie's Skinny Friends). I've made just a few adjustments.

It's very easy, very tasty, and cuts waaaay down on the dishes, which was my favorite part, I think.

12 ounces pasta (spaghetti, linguine, fettucine, etc)
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid (I didn't have a can handy, so I just chopped up some fresh tomato, and salted and herbed it)
1 large sweet onion, cut in thin strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Top with oregano and oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil (stirring periodically to get al the pasta in the broth). Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Scones

These are the breakfast type scones, not the frybread type scones. And they're delicious.

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1.5 cups dried fruit/chocolate chips/cinnamon chips/nuts/whatever combination you want (don't use fresh fruit (especially if it's really juicy))

2 cups cold whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease baking sheets.

2. Combine dry ingredients, then mix in fillings. 

3. Whip the cream, so it's good and frothy. 

4. Fold the cream into the dry mix, and form the dough into two balls. Pat down to a thickness of about one inch and cut into 8 wedges (this can be done in different combinations, based on the size you want. One ball, or three balls, or 6 wedges. But remember, they grow). You may need a flour-dusted surface to do this, but be careful not to add too much flour.

4. Bake until just a bit golden on top, 18-20 minutes.

Blueberry Coffeecake Muffins

So, Levi has become more tolerant of dairy especially when cooked and then Beth sent me a recipe for no-egg chocolate chip cookies that had cream cheese and were delicious, and it made me start thinking about what else I could try.  I found this recipe and substituted cream cheese for the egg and they turned out great!  These muffins got a thumbs up from all parties. The only change I would make is: I think the crumble topping recipe makes too much and only ended up putting on 2/3 of it on top of the muffins. So next time I'm going to adjust accordingly.
Cream:
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c oil
1/3 c milk
4 oz cream cheese (softened)

Combine and add
1.5 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Add last
1 cup blueberries

topping
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
400 degrees for 15-20 mins