Boiled-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

This is one of my husband's favorite treats his mom would make when he was a kid. He made them once before and then again this weekend. So here's the recipe, photo and my notes/thoughts!
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2 cups Sugar
4 cups rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups shortening
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350*.
Boil raisins in 2 cups water with 1 tsp soda for five minutes. Drain raisin water into a 2 cup measuring cup (add, if necessary enough water to make 1 cup liquid). Pour raisin water into a small pan and add shortening to it so it becomes all liquid. Remove from heat and pour into mixing bowl. Allow it to cool to a warm state and add sugar, oats, flour, spices and salt. Beat eggs and add them, and raisins. Mix well.
Drop large teaspoonfull on greased cookie sheet.
Bake 15 mins or until browned.

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I have no idea why some ended up all flat and spread out and other stayed snug and in a ball...they were put on the pan exactly the same!
I must add that we ran out of raisins after about 1 cup worth so he topped it off with craisins. He also put in 1/2 a cup or so of chocolate chips this time, which were a really nice touch.
They are sooo good warm, straight out of the oven!! The ones we put in the cookie jar stayed super soft, moist and crumble very easily. I like them firmer so I'm leaving the rest on the counter.

Ants on a Log!

Here's a quick and healthy little snack, perfect for summer!

just cut some celery stalks, fill it with peanut butter and stick little raisins on for ants!
(one of my kids don't really like ants....)

Waffles!

This recipe comes straight out of the Betty Crocker cook book, except tonight I remembered a variation! The recipe I have is this:

2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (or soured milk)
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp shortening or vegetable oil

Heat waffle iron. Beat eggs, beat in remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour batter onto hot waffle iron, bake about 5 minutes, remove carefully.
Makes about eight 7-inch waffles

But! You can also toss in a soft banana! or tonight's version- 1/4 cup of apple sauce!
We have a small Belgian waffle maker (two squares - size) and it takes 4.5 minutes to look like this:

Italian Cheesy Crepe Pillows

Here's a fabulous dinner my husband created last night! Its a twist on one of our favorites actually- stuffed manicotti shells! We didn't have any shells but since we had the ricotta he thought up something new and scrumptious!

So first he made the cheese filling, which again is what we put in manicotti shells usually.
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 clove pressed garlic
8oz frozen chopped spinach (squeeze it as dry as you can)
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 tsp minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper

Then he made the spaghetti sauce, minus the meat, which you can find HERE.
And then he made the crepes, which you can find HERE.
He put a little sauce on the bottom of an 8x11 baking dish. The cheese mixture went into a large ziploc bag and piped a few tablespoons into the middle of a crepe, wrapped it up burrito style and laid it in the sauce.

Ten fit into the pan, and then he put a little more sauce and topped it with cheddar cheese.

And here it is, yummy and fabulous!

lemon bars!

This is one of my favorite treats! My family doesn't really like it tho so I don't make them more than a couple times a year. Eating an entire 13x9 pan of lemon bars on your own is not so great for the tummy or the waist, no matter how great it is on the tongue! hahaha!

The recipe comes off the Imperial Margarine box! I'll save you a trip to the store* to look for it, here you go: (oh and pay attention to the measurements in the different steps...you can easily mess this up with tiny mistakes)

"Lemon Triangles"
2/3 cup margarine
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar - SEPARATED
2 1/3 all purpose flour - SEPARATED
4 eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbps grated lemon peel
confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350*. Line 13x9 inch baking pan with foil (so that I can lift the whole treat out at once, and then cut it into squares...or triangles) and spray with cooking spray.

In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat margarine, 1/2 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in 2 cups flour until fine crumbs. Press into pan, bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

I use the same bowl, spatula and beaters for the next step. 

While it's baking, with electric mixer, beat eggs, remaining 2 cups of granulated sugar, remaining 1/3 cup flour, lemon juice and lemon peel for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over the hot baked crust.
Bake an additional 25 minutes or until the lemon mixture is just set. Set pan on wire rack to cool completely. Spray knife with cooking spray to cut into bars or triangles. To serve, sprinkle generously with confectioners sugar.

My edits? I leave off the confectioners sugar, and leave out the lemon peel. Also, I use lemon juice from a bottle in the fridge!

*yes, I went to the store once just for that recipe- couldn't find it anywhere online and it wasn't the recipe on any of the boxes I had! hee hee!

ETA: I no longer use margarine, at all, and butter works great. 

Healthy Morning Muffins!

Okay so my favorite stranger-blog Meg (mentioned before) asked for ideas on feeding children during the summer. I know I've got one kid who is constantly claiming hunger (and her jeans are adjusted as tiny as they'll go!) so I was alllllll over these suggestions! One of her readers, Ariel, listed this recipe that was totally worth a try since I had everything in the house!
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Healthy Morning Muffins

1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I personally like a little bit more, and I add 2 tsp. cinnamon as well)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or veg. oil)
1 large egg
1/3 cup skim milk
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 ripe banana mashed up
Preheat oven to 400
Coat a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, b.s., b.p., nutmeg, (cinnamon) and salt until blended.
Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots and banana and stir till blended.
Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter...Bake for 20-23 minutes or till toothpick comes clean out of the center.
Serve warm or at room temp.

I add in about 2 tablespoons of wheat germ....just for kicks!
I want to try some variations of this recipe...like shredded pear, ginger and dried cranberries sounds good to me! Let me know if you try anything new!!
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*however, another reader responded that they use the same recipe BUT! she halves the brown sugar content, drop the raisins and throw in another banana. I had five bananas that needed used, and no raisins (tho I do have craisins) so I was totally good with the fruit change. Besides, I am truly trying to improve my eating so nixing sugar is a really good thing. Oh, and I used 1% milk because that's what we have.

Here's what they look like!

My thoughts?
They are drier than I expected but they are sweet and good.
This is a fabulous breakfast!
It totally smells like autumn in my kitchen (which is my favorite season).
I just wish it would come completely out of the muffin cup...next time I'll use foil cups. Will that make a difference??
Also, I think these would freeze well and can be taken out as needed, which is a great thing!

Burgers without a grill!

We do not own a grill. yet. but summer means burgers, so here's what we've got!

Pan-fried burgers with a slice of cheese melted on top, baked beans, chips, carrot sticks, and strawberries! mmmmmm!

Layered Bean Dip!

So this isn't typically DINNER, but on hot summer nights when no one is in the mood to cook, it works! It has protein, calcium, and a bit of produce if you make it right. Serve it with chips and some kind of fruit and you've got a meal!

This time my layers are as follows:
Refried beans (16 oz can)
home-mixed taco seasoning
little shredded cheese
3/4 cup-ish frozen corn, which I boiled in the microwave
homemade salsa
Black Beans, rinsed (16 oz can size)
sour cream
shredded cheese
(my actual recipe calls for other things like green onions, lettuce, chopped black olives, but I used what was in the house, and I think you could use any thing you like)

When I ate it, I added a dollop of some nuclear guacamole my husband had made, and just ate it all with tortilla chips! YUM!

To make the taco seasoning, I followed the link and used the same ingredients but I eye-balled it all. Also, I think the entire total seasoning wasn't a whole tablespoon. It was just fine like that.

Here's the finished product!