Snobby Joes

They're better than the rest of the Joe's.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked lentils

4 cups water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced small

1/2 -1 Green bell pepper, diced small (Really small)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp chili powder (more to taste)

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 Tbsp maple syrup (or honey, in a pinch)

1 Tbsp yellow mustard (If you like gross things. I personally leave it out.)

Whole Wheat rolls or hamburger buns

Directions

Put the lentils in a small sauce pot and pour in 4 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft. Drain and set aside.

About 10 minutes before the lentils are done boiling, preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onion and pepper in the oil for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and saute a minute more.

Add the cooked lentils, the chili powder, oregano and salt and mix. Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup and mustard (yuck) and heat through.

Turn the heat off and let sit for about 10 minutes so that the flavors can meld. Or eat immediately if you can't wait.

Fae's (half) Whole Wheat Bread in a Bosch

We LOVED it when my mom made homemade bread when we were growing up.  We'd come home from school to a delicious smelling house and bread, butter and honey laid out on the kitchen counter for our after-school snack.  We usually got to eat about two of the five loaves, and the others were given away; to a friend, neighbor, sick person, whatever...This bread was pretty popular in the ol' hood.  

You're not going to get Fae's illustrations to help you make this (like I have on my hand written/drawn copy) but this should suffice!  

Mix in Bosch with lid on:

5 cups hot water

7 cups whole wheat flour

Add:

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey

2 TBSP. salt.  (Don't leave out the salt!  It's a flavor enhancer, you know!?!?) 

Mix well then add:

 2 TBSP. yeast

(to test your yeast, put it in 1/2 cup luke warm water with 1 Tbsp. sugar.  If it bubbles up after a few minutes, it's good.)

Add:  (optional)

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup powdered milk (if you're trying to use up some food storage)

Mix well

Add:

5-6 cups white flour (depending on if you added the 'optionals')

(put lid on Bosch)

Knead on medium (2) for 12 minutes.

After 2 minutes see if dough is pulling away from sides of bowl--if not add more flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough moves away from sides.

Dump dough on floured counter and separate into equal sized lumps.  (5 if you're making large loaves, 10 if you're making small loaves.)

Shape into loaves and place in greased pans.  Cover with a damp towel.  Let rise until double in size.

Bake large loaves @ 350 for 30-35 minutes

Bake small loaves @300 for 20-25 minutes

Enjoy!!!

Susan's Scrumptious Spinach Salad

I'll admit it. I'm a sugar addict. Always have been. Doesn't matter that too much sugar sends me spiralling into a hypoglycemic coma, I persist in over-indulging on a regular basis. So is it any wonder that my two favorite salads have sugar in the dressing? Yep, that's right. Even the healthy stuff I like to eat probably isn't THAT healthy, but oh well. You only live once...may as well die fat and happy.

Susan’s Scrumptious Spinach Salad

Salad:

1 large bag or 12-18 oz. of Spinach (It shrinks down a bit once the dressing is on it.)

2 cups Mozzarella or Swiss Cheese (I’ve never tried Swiss, but I hear it’s fab.)

1/3 portion of a Red Onion (Optional. I hate raw onions so this has never made it in.)

1 cup Craisens (Optional, but definitely recommended)

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1-2 cups Chopped Bacon or Bacon-Bits (I used Maple flavored bacon once, and it was super yummy. Haven’t tried Bacon-Bits, but that would eliminate a step.) Add just before serving

Dressing:

¾ cup Sugar (I think you can probably add less and still be fine. Try it and see what you think.)

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tbsp dry onion

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1 cup Canola oil

1 tsp. Poppy Seeds

In a very large bowl, add cheese, onion, and cranberries to Spinach. Mix first 5 dressing ingredients in blender until well combined. Slowly add oil until just combined. Add poppy seeds and stir. Pour on Salad. Add Bacon just before serving. Enjoy!

Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies

These cookies are so darn good. So.so.so.so good. So when I made the recipe, I decided to double it. BIG mistake. They're a little time consuming and a double batch took me FOR-E-VER to scoop, spread, bake, cool, coat, and combine. The other thing I learned was to over-cook them a tiny bit. Or just make sure the whole cookie is golden brown. Not just the edges. They're better when they're super crispy.


When you're done, try not to eat the whole batch. They're that good!



Chocolate Florentine Cookies
from Nestle Toll House Best-Loved Cookies

2/3 cup butter
2 cup quick oats
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup
14 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups Milk or Dark Chocolate chips

Melt butter in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in oats, granulated sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoon about 3 inches apart onto foil-lined baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks. Peel foil from cookies.

Microwave morsels in uncovered, medium, bowl on medium-high (70%) power for 1 minute; stir. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10-15 second intervals, stirring just until smooth.

Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, placing flat side against chocolate. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Texas Sheet Cake

For Maxwell's birthday this year he wanted a pirate cake. Originally, he wanted a Pirate SHIP cake and I was quite stressed about the amount of cake cutting and sculpting that was going to be involved. Then, a few days ago he asked for a Treasure Map cake. WAHOO! Something requiring a FLAT RECTANGLE! I immediately thought of using Texas Sheet Cake and found this recipe on AllRecipes.com. I believe it's called Texas Sheet Cake V. Anyway, it was super easy and tasted divine. Enjoy!


Texas Sheet Cake
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
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6 tablespoons milk
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch pan. (Cookie Sheet)
Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix in the sour cream, then beat in the eggs. Set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then stir in the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a bowl, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the PERFECT fall treat. I found this recipe via Stephanie's blog and it did NOT disappoint! They got rave reviews from friends and family alike!
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
chocolate chips (as many as you want)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients.
3. Bake for 22-24 minutes.

Chicken Gyro's

Courtesy of my friend Jenni who adapted it from Epicurious.

1 - 2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 - 1.5 t. dried oregano
juice of 1 lemon
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 t. fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Add all of the above to chicken, stir and marinate at least 1 hour, can do overnight. If you want to grill, it works great on the grill. Otherwise heat large skillet to medium high and cook until cooked through. Serve with tzatziki in pita bread. I used to make my own tzatziki, but Fage does a pretty good job.

Nice and easy!