CHRISTmas Crunch

 

CHRISTmas Crunch
The perfect mix of sweet and salty!! YUMMMMM

1 lb white almond bark
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 cups (more if needed) broken pretzels pieces
1/2 cup Heath toffee pieces
kosher salt

melt almond park in double boiler stir in peanut butter. Add pretzel pieces and mix until all pretzels are coated. Spread thin on a cookie sheet covered with foil. Sprinkle with toffee bits and a very small amount of kosher salt use a spatula to smooth out ... put in fridge to harden for 15 to20 minutes. Break into pieces and store in a container.

Enjoy!

Mexican ground turkey tortilla casserole

1 1/2 lb ground turkey 
1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed 
1 4oz can green chopped chiles 
1 28oz can diced tomatoes 
1 package of taco seasoning (can use low sodium) 
12 corn tortillas 
1/2 to 1 cup chopped onion (more or less to your taste)
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper 
2 cups reduced fat fiesta blend cheese (use whatever cheese you like)

 Preheat oven to 350º. Brown ground turkey in large nonstick skillet with onion and bell pepper.
 Mix in beans, tomatoes, chiles and taco seasoning mix. Reduce heat; simmer 5 min. 
Spray 9 x 13 " baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. 
Place half of tortillas (6) in bottom of baking dish, overlapping. 
Spoon half of mixture evenly over tortillas, sprinkle with about 3/4 cup cheese (just guess lol). 
Cover with remaining tortillas and then remaining beef mixture. Top with cheese.
 Cover; bake 25 min.

Sicilian White Bread

2oz yeast
1 quart warm water
2 TBSP honey
1 lb flour
1/4 cup olive oil
3 TBSP salt
4 TSP garlic powder or fresh pureed garlic
2 lbs 8oz of Semolina flour or durum wheat
NOTE Semolina gives it more flavor!

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Mix the honey, flour, olive oil, salt, garlic and all but a handful of the durum wheat. Once the ingredients have formed a dough, continue to knead for about 10 minutes adding the remaining flour as necessary to form a smooth, soft dough.
2. Place the dough in an oil bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover and let it rise in a warm place until double in volume.
3. Punch the dough down. Let rise again until it doubled in volume the second time.
4. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Shape the pieces into loaves. put slights on the tops of them.
5. Let the loaves rise until they are 1 1/2 time the original size.
6. Bake at 410F using steam for the first 10 minutes until the loaves are golden brown.
NOTE: to create steam in your oven: place a cookie sheet or pot on the lower racks with water in it and allow you oven to fill with steam. The steam will give you a crispier crust

Artisan bread recipe

the recipe and directions it's a combimation of 2 recipes but really really easy!!

make this recipe for the dough (from the 5 minute Artisan bread book)

THE MASTER RECIPE: BOULE (ARTISAN FREE-FORM LOAF)
MAKES FOUR 1-POUND LOAVES (RECIPE IS EASILY DOUBLED OR HALVED)
......
3 cups lukewarm water (about 105 to 115 degrees)

2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt or other coarse salt

6 ½ cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour (measure with scoop and sweep method scoop from the bag and level off with a knife)

Cornmeal or parchment for pizza peel

and follow the directions for mixing and baking from this site http://www.aresrocket.com/bread/

you can make small loaves or big loaf like I did...you can also use it for pizza dough...I made pizzas on the grill with this dough...turned out wonderful!!


No Knead Bread - A Rustic Loaf!
www.aresrocket.com
A website on how to bake great rustic crusty bread at home. Simple directions with pictures to guide you through the process

Taco Soup

This is an AWESOME Chili recipe so easy it can be made in a hurry... or cook your meat drain add it and all the cans and the 2 packets to a crockpot cook on low while you're at work yummy dinner when you get home!!

1 lb lean ground turkey or extra lean ground beef

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

1 pkg low sodium taco seasoning (McCormicks)

2 cans corn

2 cans red beans

2 cans pinto beans

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans of black beans (rinsed)

2 cans petite diced tomatoes or you can use Rotel tomatoes(if you want it more spicy) or any type of tomatoes you have..

you can add whatever combination of beans that you want I don't use black beans

Brown meat and drain run under water to rinse fat off. put in a large pot add remaining items and simmer for about 30 minutes...
YUMMY!!

cans are all green bean size cans... this freezes really well I freeze in individual 1.5 cup servings.