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Friday, January 23, 2009

Apple Cinnamon Cake

Apple Cinnamon Cake (Bethany)

1 pkg. spice cake mix
1 21-oz. can apple pie filling
3 eggs
3 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
whipped topping or Cool Whip (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of 9x13-inch or 11x7-inch pan. Beat dry mix, pie filling and eggs. Spread half of batter in pan. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of mixture over batter in pan. Repeat layers. Bake 30-35 minutes for 9x13-inch pan or 40-45 minutes for 11x7-inch pan, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool. Serve with whipped topping if desired.


Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Meatballs...

I love this meatball recipe I got from a friend. I make a ton of these meatballs to use in spaghetti, meatball subs or as an appetizer. They are great!

MAKE-AHEAD MEATBALLS
Ruth Andrewson – Quick Cooking Collector’s Edition


4 eggs
2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 T. salt
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t. white pepper
4 lbs. lean ground beef

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the next five ingredients. Add beef; mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls, about 12 dozen. Place in single layers in ungreased 15x10-inch baking pans. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning often; drain. Cool. Place about 30 meatballs each into freezer containers. May be frozen up to 3 months.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Instant Oatmeal...

I got this recipe from a friend on the Sonlight forum I visit regularly. It is great! You can adjust the amounts of sugar and spices to your liking. Add in some raisins and nuts if you like. It is quite good and supper easy!

Instant Oatmeal Mix

12 c (one round container) quick oats
1 2/3 heaping cups powdered milk
4 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp salt
5 Tbls. Sugar
2 Tbls. nutmeg

Run half the oats through the food processor or blender - but do not powder them completely. Combine with the rest of the oats and the other ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix together. You can store this in the original oatmeal container. Shake up the container to mix each time you are going to make oatmeal.

Use 1/3 c oatmeal with 2/3 c boiling water. Add your raisins and nuts, if desired.

To cook in the microwave, mix the oatmeal with water and cook for 90 seconds. Adjust to your desire consistency.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Pizza dough and sauce...

Here's the crust recipe:

1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar

Combine those three ingredients and let stand for 10 min.

Then, stir in
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup oil
2.5 cups flour.

Knead well. Let rest for about 15 min. Spread into baking sheet. This makes enough for two regular size round pizza pans, or one large baking sheet. We usually triple this recipe. We then will get 2 large pizzas and 3-4 small pizzas that we para bake for 8 mins, let cool and then place then if a large freezer bag. They freeze very nicely. You can also use whole wheat flour if you'd like for all the flour or just half of the flour.

Once you've put on your toppings, bake the pizza at 425* for about 20 min.
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Pizza Sauce (Cat Cora on Food Network)

Ingredients
1 (4-ounce) can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves (I use dried)
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves (I use dried)
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I omit this)

Directions
Mix together the tomato paste, water, and olive oil. Mix well. Add garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, oregano, basil, and rosemary. Mix well and let stand several hours to let flavors blend. No cooking necessary, just spread on dough. Add toppings and bake!

This makes enough for 2 meals for us...that would be 4 large pizzas and 2 small. I just put the leftovers in a storage container and it stays fresh for about 5-7 days in the fridge.


Saturday, January 17, 2009

Muffins for breakfast or snack

Apple Muffins

3/4 C canola oil
2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C unsweetened applesauce
4 C all purpose flour (half whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the canola oil and stir until creamy.
Add the egg and the vanilla. Stir until mixed well. Gently fold in the applesauce.

In another large mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Slowly add them to the sugar mixture and mix just until moistened.

Spray the muffin tin with a non stick cooking spray. Pour each cup 3/4 full of batter.
Bake 20 minutes and test with a toothpick before removing.
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Plain/Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/4 cup oil
1 medium egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder (3 teaspoons)
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl combine the oil, egg, milk, sugar and salt. Mix it very well with a fork or wire whisk. Measure in the baking powder and flour. Mix again until all of the dough particles are moistened. Do not over mix. The whole thing should take about 20 to 30 strokes. Spoon the batter into a dozen well oiled muffin cups. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before removing from the pan.
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Lemon Blueberry Muffin

2 C all purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 C skim milk (from powder is fine)
1/4 C canola oil
2 T lemon juice
1 egg white
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 C frozen blueberries, unthawed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray muffin tin cups well with a non stick cooking spray.

In a small mixing bowl stir together the milk, canola oil, lemon juice, egg white, lemon rind and vanilla extract.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just moist.
Fold in the blueberries. Pour batter into the muffin cups filling each 3/4 full.
Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Using extra large eggs can cause your muffins to be a little runny. If using extra large eggs increase the flour by adding 1 T to the batter. This will ensure the muffins turn out just right.
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These muffins are our favorites! They freeze really well. Just let them cool and put them in a freezer bag. Take out however many you need/want and pop in the microwave for 15 seconds...hot and fresh they come out...yum!

I got the above recipes from The Hillbilly Housewife.

Enjoy!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Welcome to Cookin' Cheap

I've started this blog because I think it will be helpful for me to have all of the recipes I use regularly in one place. This blog is a spin-off of my No Spend Month blog where I am blogging about becoming debt-free whilst not spending money. You should check it out.:)

I am not planning to actually blog here. Think of this like a cookbook, except in a blog format. The recipes I'll post will be economical and yummy. Having 7 children ages 6mo-15 years old has made me learn how to prepare healthy, cheap meals that are yummy all at the same time. Some of the recipes are mine that I've created and others are from friends or websites that I like.

Enjoy Cookin' Cheap...