Nacho Casserole

by

Morwen

  My humblest apologies all!  *bows so low my nose touches my knees*  Mairwen and I have been crazy busy and we just haven't had time to post.  Even my personal blog has suffered.  

  Today I will be sharing a family favorite.  I don't have a picture, but this is a delicious casserole.  It was originally a layered dish, but that became too much hassle, so we just mix everything together!

  3# Ground Turkey (you can use any meat you'd like.  I prefer Gr. Beef.)

  1 ¼ cups Chopped Onion

  2 cloves Garlic, minced

  1 cup Sour Cream

  8 oz. Tomato Sauce

  7 oz. Chopped Gr. Chilies

  6 oz. Tomato Paste

  4 oz. Black Olives, sliced

  20 oz. Tortilla Chips, coarsely crumbled

  12 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

  Brown the Gr. Meat, Onion and Garlic together, drain.  

  Mix together Sour Cream, Tomato Sauce, Gr. Chilies, Tomato Paste, Black Olives and Tortilla Chips.  Add drained Meat mixture.  Spread in a greased 9x13x2" glass baking dish.  Cover with Aluminum foil and bake on 350° for 20 minutes.  Remove Aluminum foil, sprinkle cheese on top and pop back in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Enjoy!!

Note: This is also a great freezer meal.  In that case, put the cheese on before freezing and bake for 1 ½ hours.

Tortillas

by

Morwen

  This recipe was given to us by a Mexican family ages ago.  Like ages ago!  I make them fairly regularly, and since we have such a large family, I make a lot each time!!  Each cup of Flour makes 4 tortillas.  Below are the recipes for a 1 cup batch (4 tortillas) and a 8 cup batch (32 tortillas) which is what I usually make.

  4 Tortilla Batch

  1 cup Flour

  1/4 tsp Salt

  1 TBSP Oil

  1/3 cup Warm Water

  32 Tortilla Batch

  8 cups Flour

  2 tsp Salt

  1/2 cup Oil

  2 2/3 cups Warm Water

  Measure Flour and Salt.  Stir together.  Add Oil.  Cut into Flour mixture.  Add Water, mix thoroughly.  Turn your skillets on to a medium heat.  THEY MUST PRE-HEAT.  Divide into the proper amount, knead (like you would with rolls) each ball of dough a few times before lining them up on a lightly floured counter.  Roll out on a floured surface and cook at for approx. 1 minute on each side.

Note: I don't know exactly how long they are cooked, I just know that I can roll out a whole tortilla while one side cooks.

  I also though I would share with you the music I enjoy listening to while I make them.  This collection last me through the entire making process of a 32 Tortilla Batch.  It is affectionately called "Morwen's Tortilla Music".

  

Peanut Butter & Coconut No Bakes

by

Morwen

  Hey guys!  I know it has been ages since Mairwen or I have posted.  Sorry 'bout that.  That lovely thing called Life got in the way.  But here I am again.  And with something utterly delicious as well.

  Our whole family loves No Bakes.  Generally I make Chocolate No Bakes, but the other night when we wanted some, we were out of Cocoa Powder.  So I hustled over to that lovely black..er..red hole named Pinterest, and looked for a Peanut Butter No Bake recipe.  I found one, looked at it, adjusted, changed and added ingredients, and now give you Morwen's Peanut Butter & Coconut No Bakes.

  1 cup Honey

  1/2 cup Butter

  3/8 cup Milk

  Place ingredients in a saucepan, heat on medium until all are melted, raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Cool slightly.

  3/4 cup Peanut Butter

  2 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

  1/2 cup Shredded Coconut

  Add to the syrup mixture, stir thoroughly.  Spoon on to cookie sheets and refrigerate until set.  Store in the fridge.  Enjoy!

30 Days of Pumpkin: Day 4 ~ Pumpkin Donut Muffins

by

Morwen

  We were going to make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, then discovered there was no sugar in the house for rolling them in, so switched to these muffins.  Now, they are supposed to have a sugar/cinnamon topping too, but we figured they would taste better without the topping then Snickerdoodles would.

  THIS is the recipe that we used.

30 Days of Pumpkin: Day 3 ~ Pupmkin Spritz Cookies

by

Morwen

  We love Spritz cookies.  I remember my grandma making them every Christmas.  I loved watching her frost them and put those little silver balls on them.  And then of course eating them.  That was the best part.  For a while, we didn't have a cookie press, so we were unable to make them.  Last Christmas, Mum bought another press and we are back in the Spritz business!  One of our little sisters, Jill, especially loves making them.  So, at her request, Mum found a Pumpkin Spritz cookie recipe on Pinterest.  We made them yesterday and they were amazing!

  You can find the recipe for these cookies HERE.  I topped them with melted White Chocolate Chips (Guittard's is the best) and it was sooooo amazing!!

30 Days of Pumpkin: Day 1 & 2 ~ Pupmkin Chocolate Chip Bread

by

Morwen

  During the month of November, my family makes 30 days of Pumpkin recipes.  We don't always have a different recipe everyday, but we eat Pumpkin something everyday.  This year on day 1 & 2, we had the same recipe.  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.  It is an absolutely amazing bread and very delicious.

  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread 

 4 1/2 cups Flour

1 TBSP Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

3/4 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

3/4 tsp Nutmeg

1 1/2 cups Honey

3 cups Pumpkin, pureed

3/4 cup Oil

3 Eggs

2 cups Semi-sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In a smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mix thoroughly.  Mix in Chocolate Chips.  Spread batter in 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake on 350 for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife/toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean.  Enjoy!!

A German Plum Cake ~ Zwetschgen Datschi

by

Morwen

  A few years ago, our family went to a  friends house to make and can applesauce.  They have a big orchard with all sorts of fruit trees.  Apple, Plum and I think Pear and Peach.  Any way, Ms. M made a very delicious plum cake while we were there.  She is German, and it was (I think) her grandmother's recipe.  This year, we received a lot of plums from another friend and I really, really wanted to make that cake again.  So Mum called up Ms. M and she translated and sent us the recipe.  I made it.  Oh my goodness was it ever good!!  Too good to not share!

  Now, there are two different versions of this recipe.  A Sugar version and  Honey version.  Ms. M uses Sugar, we use Honey.  I personally think the Sugar version tastes better.

  Sugar Version

  Dough

2 1/2 cup Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

2/3 cup Sour Cream

1/3 cup Butter, melted

1/3 cup Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

1/8 tsp Salt 

30 or so Plums

  Streusal

1 cup Flour

1/3 cup Sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

  Honey Version

  Dough

2 1/2 cup Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

2/3 cup Sour Cream

1/3c Butter, melted

3 TBSP Honey

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp Salt

Same amount of Plums

  Streusal

2 cup Flour

3 TBSP Honey, melted

1/2 cup Better, melted

  Dough

  Mix all until dough is smooth and shiny (will be a little sticky, has to be kneaded by hand)>  Roll out on greased and floured cookie sheet and bring dough up around edge of sheet.  (I used a 9x13x2" glass casserole and just pressed it in and up the sides.)

  Cut and pit Plums and layer onto dough (like putting shingles on a roof).

  Top with Streusal.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until dough edges are golden brown.

  Enjoy!!