Butternut Squash Soup

I know, I know, squash is one of those scary tasting vegetables, but this soup is really good.  It uses basic ingredients, and is a tasty was to use up some of Mom and Dad's plethora of butternut squash  : P

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped (optional, but you can't even taste it)
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 or 3 potatoes, cubed (use more if they're the small kind)
• 1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed (stab it with a fork and bake it in the oven before you peel it)
• 4 cups chicken stock or broth
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (red pepper if you like the heat)
• sour cream

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock and sour cream to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, basil, garlic etc.

Easy Roasted Potatoes

This is a pretty easy side dish that tastes really good.  I bet you could make pretty much the same thing on a stovetop if you wanted to.  This would also be really good if you threw some chicken or beef in with it

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 5 medium potatoes, diced with peel
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon seasoning salt
• basil, parsley, italian seasoning, etc
• 2 teaspoons chili powder, or taco seasoning if you don't like it spicy
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 cup cheese (optional)
• mushrooms, peppers -- i didn't have any, but these would be great with this

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Arrange the potatoes and onions in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish so that they are evenly distributed. Season everything, then drizzle with olive oil. Stir to coat potatoes and onions with oil and spices.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until potatoes are fork tender and slightly crispy. Stir every 10 minutes. When done, sprinkle with cheese. Wait about 5 minutes for the cheese to melt before serving.

Beef and Veggie Stew

Its getting colder, and i had a bunch of stewing beef to use, so i made this beef and veggie soup.  It takes a little while to make, but not as long as most soups.  You could also make this one pretty easily in a slow cooker.

Servings: 12
Prep time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed beef broth, undiluted (i just added more bullion and water)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 6 medium potatoes, quartered
• 6 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (you could use any kind of pepper really)
• mushrooms, celery, etc
• red pepper, curry (if you want to spice it up a bit)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)
• 3 tablespoons cold water

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, brown meat in salad dressing over medium heat. Add the next 10 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until meat is tender.  Skim the fat off that boils to the top. Add the potatoes, carrots, green pepper, onion, mushrooms and spices. 
2. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Combine flour and cold water until smooth; stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Discard bay leaf before serving.

granola bars

• Im sick of paying for expensive granola bars from the store, so I decided to try making some.
• These are tasty, and theres a lot of room for experimentation when you make them.
• Enjoy!
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• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)
• cocoa or chocolate chips (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey (you can use sugar if you don't have honey)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, coconut, cocoa, walnuts, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands or a fork. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

Coffee Cake

If you want to make this coffee cake in a bunt pan, I would recommend doubling the recipe 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar, butter and eggs until smooth. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Finally, stir in the sour cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the nuts, confectioners' sugar and cinnamon.
3. Spread half of the batter into the 9x9 inch pan. Sprinkle a layer of the nut mixture, then spread the remaining batter and top with the rest of the nut mixture. Spread the melted butter over the top.
4. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, until cake springs back to the touch.

Oatmeal Cookies

These are tasty cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal (I used chex)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• peanut butter and/or chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, oats, cereal, baking soda and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture. Roll into 3/4-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets; flatten with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Baked Beans

Don't know what to do with those cans of pork and beans you've had forever? I had that problem until I found this.  Its a tasty, inexpensive, easy recipe, and it is really good with rice. You can also adjust the ingredients however you want and it will still be good

Servings: 3

Ingredients

• 1 can baked beans with pork
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard (i used dijon)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 
• salt and pepper to taste
• sliced bacon (optional, but tasty  :)
• ground spicy pepper (i used chipolte)
• barbeque sauce 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a 9x9 inch baking dish, combine the pork and beans, brown sugar, onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with the bacon slices.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until sauce is thickened and bacon is cooked.