Welcome

Welcome Friends!! This little blog is for all my friends and family that have requested I share my recipes and other homemaking ideas… As most of you know, we moved onto a 64 acre farm about two years ago… we still have our Family Nights, but now many of us live up here on the farm: Mom and Dad live with Lanny and I, Paula built her house in one of the existing barns, Robbie and Molly built inside the big barn by us… You can check it all out on our blog the Johnson Gap Chronicles… Anyway, I am still fermenting and brewing all over my kitchen, but our Tuesday night dinners are not as large as they used to be. All the grands except 2 are grown, have jobs, live in other cities, and with the recent Covid insanity (and our daughter-in-laws heart transplant) James and Tasha are not out much lately. We just move on and look forward to better days. Thanks for peeking in… check back now and then and I promise to add new recipes and ideas as I am inspired :-) God bless!!

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Corn Casserole





















Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with Cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.

Broccoli Casserole





















Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, mayonnaise, cheese, soup and eggs. Mix well with a metal spoon. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Top with the crushed crackers and pour the melted butter evenly over the crackers. Bake for 35 minutes or until set and browned.

Peanut Dressing





















Directions:
Place peanut butter and ¼ cup of the orange-pineapple juice in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the rest of the juice and all remaining ingredients and whisk together. Serve as a sauce, dip, or salad dressing.

Condensed Cream Soup Base
















Directions:
Heat butter and oil then add flour and salt, stirring to make a roux. Add mushrooms and cook about a minute, just to soften. Add milk and stir until thickened. This is a substitute (and a great one at that!) for two 10 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup. To make cream of chicken, simply omit mushrooms, add 1 tsp. chicken base (a paste, like bouillon but without the MSG) and substitute half the milk with chicken broth or stock. To make cream of celery, substitute celery for the mushrooms and proceed as listed above.

Old Fashioned Pancakes














Directions: 
1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately ¼ cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Easy Fruit Salad



















Directions:
Put yogurt in coffee filter or cheese cloth and let drain for a few hours. You can also greek yogurt instead which does not need to be drained. Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend; set dressing aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Cover dressing and fruit separately and chill until ready to serve, up to 6 hours.

Mix ½ the dressing into fruit. Let stand 15 minutes to blend flavors. Serve remaining dressing on the side. 

Have it Your Way, Every Way

1. Use Greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt. Greek yogurt does not need to be drained.

2. Use sour cream instead of yogurt for the dressing. Very Yummy

3. Substitute other fruits. I have used bananas, blackberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapple, kiwi, apple, strawberries, etc.

4. Make with vanilla yogurt

Black Bean Salad
























Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss. Let stand at least 15 minutes for flavors to combine, then toss again and serve. No need to refrigerate this salad! It makes a great addition to a tailgate party. 

Have It Your Way, Every Way

1. Include cubes of avocado

2. Use 2 cups frozen corn or canned corn in place of fresh corn. if using frozen corn mix all ingredients and let sit until corn is defrosted.

3. Add chopped fresh jalapenos.

4. Substitute Chipotle Tabasco or another favorite hot sauce for the plain Tabasco.

5. Use as a side dish with chili. It is also one of those great party dip recipes that can be served with tortilla chips and Frito chips.

6. Serve it as a burrito. Put in tortilla , add sour cream and cheese.

7. Serve it with fresh veggies and scoop it up. Use red, yellow and/or green bell pepper, endive, wrap in butter lettuce, etc.

8. It goes great as a side dish to other foods, like grilled chicken breast recipes or fish.

Excellent Oatmeal Cookies



















Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats and nuts until just blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be at least 2 inches apart.

3. Bake for about 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Banana Bread















Directions:
No need for a mixer for this recipe - preheat oven to 350 - mix butter into mashed bananas - mix in sugar, egg and vanilla - sprinkle the soda and salt over the mixture and blend in along with the flour - pour into buttered 4x8 loaf pan - bake 1 hour - cool on rack and remove from pan. 

Ramen Noodle Salad





























Directions:
Mix together lettuce and green onions. Add all other ingredients except noodles and almonds and set aside in an airtight container until serving. Blend together dressing. Just before

Hot Cheesy Spinach Dip



















Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in lg. saucepan, add onion and garlic; cook & stir until mixture boils and thickens, about 2 min.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach,water chestnuts, cheese and vegie soup mix. Spoon dip into a 1 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake until bubbly 10-15 min. Serve warm.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute














Directions:

Mix all ingredients and use as a substitute for sweetened condensed milk in recipes for pies, bars and desserts.

Mimi's Oriental Stirfry



















Description: A Recipe by Debbie Walden Lewis

Directions:
Using a large carbon steel wok, saute chicken, onions, garlic, bell pepper and mushrooms in oil blend until chicken is done and vegetables are tender. Remove from wok and keep warm. Wipe the wok if necessary  and add more oil to scramble the eggs. Remove from wok, slice into bite sized pieces and keep warn. Add more oil to wok and pour in the cooked rice. Toss to break it up and add veggies, meat and eggs. Toss and fry to blend, adding soy sauce, salt and pepper as desired. 

Baked Chicken Casserole













Directions:
Place chicken breasts in buttered casserole and sprinkle rice on top. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken and rice. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 2 hours.