Tag: nani’s favorite

Wheat Germ Muffins

Here is a healthy favorite recipe. These muffins are delicious and very filling. You will love them.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup wheat germ
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon soda
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions
Mix dry ingredients. Stir well. Add the other ingredients. Pour into muffin tins. Bake 15 to 18 minutes at 400 degrees.

Monica’s Mexican Beans

Mexican Beans
Mexican Beans
My daughter has a friend, Monica, who is from Mexico and cooks totally awesome and authentic Mexican food. She shared her favorite bean recipe with us. It is simple and plain, but delicious. It has taken my daughter and I quite a few attempts to perfect these beans. One of the secrets is using the right kind of beans. You must use Peruano bean (also know as mayo coba). Pinto beans don’t work. You can sometimes find these beans in your local supermarket or at a Mexican market. Another tip is to slightly overcook the beans. This makes them smoother and creamier. (see my updated tips below)

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of Peruano beans (Mayo Coba)
  • 3 serrano chiles, (more or less depending on preference)
  • olive oil
  • salt

Directions
Cook beans according to package, add salt to taste. As mentioned before, slightly overcook beans. Don’t drain them unless you have an excess of water. Remove the stem from the peppers and fry the whole peppers in a skillet in a small amount of oil until they are brown and soft. Add beans to hot pan with chiles and smash together. Add more water if needed to make the beans smooth and creamy. They should be the consistency of apple sauce. Monica recommends mashing them a little in the pan before pouring into the skillet, this helps reduce splattering.

Nani Tip:
I have been cooking my beans in the crock pot. Put the beans in the crock pot and cover with at least 3 inches of water over the top. Add more water as they cook to keep about an inch of water on the top. Cooking time will vary with crockpot. You can use high or low. My crock pot takes about 8 hours on high. Just be sure to cook them til they are very well done. They shouldn’t be hard at all. Do not drain off excess water. I was having trouble getting the beans mashed up, so I have been using my electric mixer and mixing the beans in the crock pot until they are fairly smooth. Then I pour them into the frying pan and mix them with the peppers. Add more water if necessary, they shouldn’t be too thick. They will thicken when they set.

Nani Tip
Cooking peppers in the pan can create some unpleasant fumes, so you can roast them in the oven. I then just add some olive oil to the pan along with the peppers and beans and heat through.

Nani Tip
As mentioned the Mayo Coba beans aren’t sold in all stores. In the midwest Cub Foods carries them and in the Southwest Safeway carries them.

Old Fashioned Grapefruit Pie

Grapefruit Pie
Grapefruit Pie
My parents and in-laws both spent their winter months in warm climates; one in Texas, one in Arizona. Grapefruit was plentiful and they both enjoyed making this pie in hopes of using up some of their many grapefruit. So if you have lots of grapefruit and don’t know what to do with them, give this pie a try.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups water
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 3 ounce box strawberry or cherry jello
  • 3 grapefruit, sectioned and strained
  • 1 9″ pie crust, baked
  • Whipped topping

Directions
Cook sugar, water and cornstarch until thick and clear. Add box of Jello and stir until dissolved. Chill until mixture begins to set. Add grapefruit sections and pour into baked pie shell. Chill. Serve with whipped topping.

Morning Glory Muffins

Morning Glory Muffins
Morning Glory Muffins
This is certainly one of my favorite recipes for muffins. I am sure it will be one of yours too. With all the good ingredients in them I like to think that they are somewhat healthy as well as delicious.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups grated carrots
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup nuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup coconut
  • 1 1/2 apple, peeled and chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Combine flour, soda, salt and sugar in large bowl. To this add carrots, raisins, nuts, coconut and apples. Stir. Combine eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla in separate bowl. Add this mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Bake in prepared muffing pan for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tomato Basil Pasta

Tomato Basil Pasta
Tomato Basil Pasta
This favorite recipe is great for potlucks.

Ingredients

  • 1 box penne pasta, cooked
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 ounces prosciutto, chopped
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
  • 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
  • 2 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Directions
Heat oil in skillet, add garlic and prosciutto and saute for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in olives, vinegar, salt and pepper. Transfer drained pasta to a serving bowl, gently toss sauce and basil to the pasta. Garnish with pine nuts and serve at room temperature.

Nani Tip
To toast pine nuts, put them in a small dry skillet over medium heat and toss frequently until golden brown.

Tunisian Tagine

Tunisian Tagine
Tunisian Tagine
I have a son-in-law who is from Tunisia. At Christmas he brought this dish to share with us. It is one of his favorite Tunisian recipes and he needed a little of his own comfort food for the Holidays. He got the recipe from his mother. We all liked the dish, but I think many Americans might douse it in catsup or salsa!

Ingredients and Directions

  • 2-3 chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 2-3 potatoes cut in 8
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup of parsley
  • 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 onion, finely chopped

Directions
Put the chicken breasts and potatoes in a 9×13 inch pan. Cover with the water and olive oil and bake at 350 degrees until chicken and potatoes are tender. Shred the chicken. Mix all rest of the ingredients and add the shredded chicken and potatoes to it. Add several tablespoons of the juices from pan that chicken was cooked in. Pour everything back into the 9×13 dish and bake until set, about 35 to 45 minutes.

 

Tex-Mex Black Bean Crockpot Soup

Here is a super easy favorite recipe that you can put in the crockpot in the morning and forget about it until dinner time. Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth and you have a great vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 cans (15 ounce each) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) tomatoes
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth
  • 2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic

Directions
Place all ingredients in crockpot, cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream, cheese or tortilla chips if desired.

Impossible Taco Pie

This is another of those old fashioned favorite recipes from my Mom. She got it from McCall’s magazine, so who knows how long ago that was. It is an easy and family friendly recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 envelope taco seasoning mix
  • 1 4 ounce can chopped green chilies, drained
  • 1 1 /4 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup Bisquick
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 cup cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Directions
Brown ground beef and onion then drain. Stir in seasoning mix. Spread into a greased pie plate and top with chilies. Beat milk, Bisquick and eggs until smooth. Pour over ingredients in pie plate. Bake @ 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and top with tomatoes and cheese. Return to oven and cook for 10 more minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes if desired.

Swedish Kringler Coffee Cake

You don’t know what you are missing if you haven’t had Swedish Kringler Coffee Cake. Some people call it kringle or kringa, whatever you call it, it is one of my favorites. My husband’s Danish Grandmother used to make this and it was always a treat when she did.

Almond extract and sliced almonds are available at [ad#Myspice Hyperlink].

Ingredients
Crust

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 to 2 Tablespoons water

Filling

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

Icing

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons cream
  • 1 Tablespoon butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions
Mix flour, butter and water as for pie crust. Press onto a jelly roll pan (11×14) or use cookie sheets and press into two 4 inch wide strips the length of the cookie sheet. For the filling: heat the water and butter to boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in flour, beating until smooth. Add the 3 eggs, 1 at a time and beat until smooth after each egg. Add almond extract. Spread over crust. Bake @ 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Beat icing ingredients. Spread on top of cake. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.