Garlic Pull-Aparts

The instructions here are a little off in the bottom of the first paragraph where is says, “starting with the shortest side”-that is incorrect unless you want really fat rolls. Rather, roll the rectangle up on the longest side so it looks like cinnamon rolls before you slice them. Then cut into 3/4”-1” sections using kitchen scissors, but don’t cut all the way through. Next time I make them, I will take a picture and add it in here.

 

Carrot Soup

We often add way more carrots and veggies-this is more of a guideline. We substitute cornstarch for flour for a gluten free option-cut the amount in half for cornstarch. 

Graham Fingers

3 packs graham crackers broken, not crushed (start by taking out 2 or 3 whole crackers, otherwise too dry)
2 cubes of butter melted
1 1/4 cups sugar (we mix it part white and brown: 3/4 white, 1/2 brown)
1/2 cup heaping of cocoa powder (can adjust more or less to taste)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Break up graham crackers one more break than the partitions in the cracker.
Melt butter in microwave (so you're not adding the egg to a hot pan/boiling butter and frying it). Put melted butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and salt in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil while stirring with a whisk. Boil 1 minute only--stirring constantly during boiling to avoid scorching.
Remove from heat. Add vanilla.
Pour over broken graham crackers. Stir and pour onto buttered cookie sheet. Press down with wax paper. Using a rubber scraper, clean off excess chocolate mixture adhered to wax paper and spread on top of pressed graham fingers so there are no dry spots of crackers.

Coconut Cream Pie

Mix together:
1/3 cup sifted flour or 1/4 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Gradually add to 2 cups of scalded milk

Cook until it boils and thickens, stirring constantly so edges don't burn

Whisk small amount with:
3 eggs

Cook 1 more minute

Take off heat and add:
2 TBS butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-2 cups toasted sweetened coconut flakes

Pour in 1 9" pie crust

French Lemon Bars

Cream together:
3/4 cup cold butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Cut in:
1 1/2 cup sifted flour

Pat into 9x13 pan
Bake 20 minutes @ 350 until set, but not brown

Beat 3 eggs

Add:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 TBS flour
3 TBS lemon juice

Pour lemon mixture over crust
Return to oven for 20 more minutes

Let cool
Dust with powered sugar

Pecan Pie

I love the idea of pecan pie because I love pecans and I love caramel and nuts and pie crust, so really, pecan pie should be delicious! But the problem is that it is not. It is generally too sugary and lacking in pecans/pecan flavor. So I think I have found a few simple solutions to make delicious pecan pie :)

In a saucepan combine the following ingredients:
1 cube butter (you can get away with 3/4 cube)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar and I mean brown sugar, not the off brand white sugar with molasses stuff that most of the public think is brown sugar-though that will work.
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
Melt butter and mix together until smooth.  Remove from heat.
Whisk together
3 eggs
If the sugar/butter mixture is fairly hot, temper the eggs (whisk some sugar/butter mixture into the eggs so the eggs don't cook from the high heat of the sugar mixture) and then whisk into the butter/sugar mixture.
Mix in:
2-3 tsps vanilla
1/2-1 tsp salt
The above 2 ingredients are really to taste. The salt is one of the solutions to helping the pecan pie not be too sweet.  Start with the smaller portion and taste. Then add more if you want.
Chop a ton of pecans! 3-4 large handfuls-about
2-3 cups pecans (before chopping). 
This is the real solution-finely chopped pecans. If you want some large or whole pieces, that's fine, do that as well, but if you want a pecan pie, not a brown sugar pie, you will need to add finely chopped pecans.
Add pecans to raw pie crust. Pour butter/sugar mixture over the pecans. Cover the edge of the crust with strips of tinfoil otherwise it will burn.  Bake at 350° for 25 minutes and then remove tinfoil edges. Then bake for 20-25 minutes more.
Enjoy your delicious pecan pie!

Pepper Steak

**Warning**
This recipe is estimates.  It is very flexible and written out based on memory from making it.  

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-2 lbs steak (could use London broil as well)
1-2 Tbls butter or oil (unless there is plenty of fat on your meat)
1 sliced or chopped onion
2-4 green peppers, cleaned out and cut into large pieces
3-5 beef bullion cubes

Mix together flour, salt, & pepper.  Sprinkle onto meat and pound into meat, getting it all around the meat.  In a large skillet or fry pan (with a lid), heat oil and brown steak.  Add onion and saute for a few minutes.  Cover with water and add bullion cubes.  Bring to biol and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.  Add large chunks of green pepper.  Let continue to simmer until green peppers are cooked through and soft (another 30 minutes-1 hour).  Pull meat out and blend with immersion blender or take liquid out of pan along with pepper chunks and blend.  Then return with meat.  Add any remaining flour mixture to thicken.  Add more flour if needed (I would add this when I blended to prevent any flour chunks).  Salt & Pepper to taste.

Serve over cooked rice.

And the following is my favorite, favorite, favorite way to cook rice!!  I LOVE it!  And I LOVE the brown rice I get from our Costco.  It is delicious!

Baked Brown Rice 
3 cups brown rice
5 1/2 cups HOT water
1 Tbls butter
1 tsp salt

Add ingredients to a 9"x 13" pan.  Cover tightly with tinfoil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and fluff with fork.  Let sit 5 minutes before serving.