Meatballs

This is also a recipe from my wonderful mother-in-law, Louise.  They are so delicious!

1 pound ground beef*
1 pound ground pork*
1 pound ground veal*
2 1/4 cups bread crumbs**
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup fresh chopped parsley or 1/2 cup dry parsley
3 eggs
4 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
4 1/2 tsp granulated onion
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp pepper

Mix all ingredients together and shape into uniform balls.  Place on cookie sheet with sides (like a jelly roll pan or 9"x13" pan) and bake at 350F for 30 to 45 minutes, until cooked through (length of bake time will depend on size of meatballs).

*Optional:  Use 3 pounds meatloaf mixture or 3 pounds ground beef (the meatballs are more flavorful using all of the different meats or a meatloaf mixture).

**I make my own Italian-flavored bread crumbs, but you can use store-bought.

Italian Bread Crumbs

This is a recipe that my mother-in-law came up with.  It goes great in homemade meatballs!

2 cups plain bread slices and/or crumbs
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup grated Parmesan

Dry bread in 200°F oven for about 20 minutes or till dry.  Allow to cool.  Place dried bread in food processor; pulse to fine crumbs.  Add remaining ingredients; pulse to blend.  Store in air-tight container in refrigerator.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 8

1/2 to 1 cup sugar
1/2 to 1 cup cocoa powder
8 cups milk (1 1/2 cup non-instant dry milk and 8 cups water)
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in 3-quart (or larger) saucepan.  Whisk in milk (or water if using dry milk) and heat over medium heat, stirring often.  Remove from heat when steamy and add heavy cream and vanilla.

Adjust sugar and cocoa powder amounts to your liking, keeping sugar and cocoa powder measurements equal.

Variations:
*Italian: put a few small chunks of sharp provolone cheese in each mug with the hot chocolate (Michael's mom made it this way)
*Extra chocolatey: add a small handful of chocolate chips to your mug of hot chocolate and stir until melted
*Mint: substitute mint extract for vanilla
*Raspberry: add a couple tablespoons raspberry syrup to each mug

Drinkable Milk Made from Dry Milk

This is Crystal's Drinkable Milk "recipe" that I adapted a little.  I use non-instant dry milk from the LDS Family Storage Center. To find a Storage Center click here and to view an order form click here.

To make a gallon of milk, you need:
Water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla, optional
1 tablespoon sugar, optional
3 cups non-instant dry milk
About 4 cups crushed ice
1 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream (adds milk fat to help it taste more like store bought)


1. Fill a gallon-size pitcher about half full with lukewarm water.

2. Add vanilla, sugar, and dry milk.

3. Mix with a hand mixer (or wire whisk) until well blended.

4. Add 4 to 6 cups crushed ice and fill to the gallon mark with cold water (I usually pour it in with a measuring cup instead of using the tap to help decrease the bubbles.)

5. Stir in heavy cream carefully with a spoon so as not to spill.  It is ready to use almost immediately because the ice helps to cool it down quickly.


Editor's Note 1/4/2014:
At first, we always used the vanilla and sugar, but then we tried it without and liked it just as well (as long as we use the heavy cream) and it was a lot easier to use the milk in recipes that use milk (such as macaroni and cheese).

Chocolate Muffins

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Another recipe from my wonderful mother-in-law...

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
3/4 to 1 c sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c milk
1/2 c oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 c chocolate chips
1/2 c finely chopped nuts, optional

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then mix together just until blended.  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 to 3/4 full and bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Lemony Chicken Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8 to 10

1 pound acini de pepe pasta, uncooked
2 cubes Knorr(R) chicken bouillon (or 4 regular cubes)
2 c cooked chicken, chopped*
1 c red onion, chopped
1 c green bell pepper, chopped
1 c red bell pepper, chopped
1 c mayonnaise
1/4 c fresh lemon juice

Cook acini di pepe in water with bouillon according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water when done cooking.

Add pasta and remaining ingredients to large bowl and mix well.

Note: It can get a little dry when refrigerated.  Instead of adding extra mayonnaise, I prefer to mix in a little bit of milk until it's the desired consistency.

*I use the leftovers from a rotisserie chicken.

Corn Chowder

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8

Jonathon made this chowder for dinner yesterday.   It was delicious!  He used this recipe and changed it to this:

2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 c. dried onion flakes
1 Tbsp. dried minced garlic
1 tsp. dried crushed thyme
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
6 c. water
3 cubes Knorr chicken bouillon (or 6 regular-size cubes)
2 cups heavy cream (or 2 c. evaporated milk)
1/4 c. dried diced potatoes
2 c. freeze-dried corn
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes

Heat butter and olive oil in soup pot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and thyme and cook for about 2 minutes.  Dust the vegetables with flour and stir to coat everything well.  Add water, chicken bouillon, and potatoes; bring to a boil over high heat.  Add heavy cream and boil for 7 minutes; add corn, salt, pepper, and parsley; simmer until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 to 12 minutes.  Ladle soup into bowls and serve.

Optional toppings:
2 c. cooked, chopped chicken
1/4 c. cooked, crumbled bacon
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

We ate this with homemade bread and cooked green peas.  Yum!

EZ Wheat Bread

Prep Time: About 2 1/2 - 3 hours

I got this recipe from Crystal's blog, everydayfoodstorage.net/blog and fell in love with it - she even has videos to help you along.  I recently bought this Make-a-Mix cookbook again since mine fell apart and I lost some of the pages.  I was excited about making the mixes in the cookbook again and was going to make bread too, so I decided to try making a mix using Crystal's bread recipe.

This is her original recipe (the first amount is for 1 loaf and the second amount is for 2 loaves):

EZ Wheat Bread
1 loaf - 2 loaves
1 1/4 c - 2 1/2 c warm water
1/4 c - 1/2 c honey OR 1/3 c - 2/3 c sugar
1/4 c - 1/2 c wheat gluten
1 tsp - 2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp - 1/4 c non-instant dry milk
1 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp butter or oil
1 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 c - 1/2 c potato flakes
1 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS:
Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment on low speed (level 2 on a Kitchen Aid) for 12 to 15 minutes.  Let rise until double, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Punch down, roll out, and shape into loaves or rolls.  Let rise again until double and bake at 375F for 20 to 30 minutes (covering with foil after 10 minutes), until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.


For the Bread Mix:

Mix all ingredients in the Bread Mix in a large bowl.  Label and store in a large air-tight container in the freezer and use within 6 months or store in the refrigerator and use within 3 months.

EZ Wheat Bread Mix
Makes 6 loaves - Makes 8 loaves
2 c - 2 2/3 c sugar
16 1/2 c  - 22 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c - 2 c wheat gluten
2 Tbsp  - 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp salt
3/4 c - 1 c non-instant dry milk
1 1/2 c - 2 c potato flakes

Six loaves recipe makes about 23 cups of mix.  Eight loaves recipe makes about 30 cups of mix.

To make EZ Wheat Bread:
1 loaf - 2 loaves
1 1/4 c - 2 1/2 warm water (more if needed, adding 1 Tbsp at a time)
3 3/4 c  - 7 1/2 c EZ Wheat Bread Mix
1 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp butter or oil
1 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp instant yeast (if using active dry, add after water)

Make bread according to directions above.


Variation:
EZ Honey Wheat Bread Mix
Don't add sugar to EZ Wheat Bread Mix.  When making 1 loaf of bread, add 1/4 c. honey and use 3 1/3 c Bread Mix.  For 2 loaves, add 1/2 c. honey and use 6 3/4 c. Bread Mix.


Tips:
*I made the mix for 6 loaves and noticed that a #10 can of white wheat ground into flour is pretty close to the amount of flour needed for the recipe.
*I ALWAYS scoop flour into a measuring cup and then level it off with a straight edge. I do the same thing when measuring the mix.  You may not think this makes much of a difference, but it does.  It doesn't take too much longer and you end up with a lighter, more moist product.

Notes:
*I made 2 loaves of bread using the EZ Bread Mix and used 7 1/2 cups of mix, but the dough was too dry.  It should be fairly soft and a little tacky.  I added about 1/2 c. of water a tablespoon at a time and it turned out perfect.  I will be experimenting some more to find the perfect recipe...