Moroni’s BBQ Turkey

5 lbs. boneless turkey breast cut into smaller pieces (or chicken)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup soy sauce
2 cans 7-Up
1 1/2 tsp. horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Marinate meat for 18-24 hours in a large container with a lid.

**I put 4-5 lbs. of chicken tenders in a gallon-sized ziploc bag, poured in the marinade and placed it in the freezer until Monday morning when I moved it to the cooler before we left for Spring Break. It slowly thawed in the cooler and was ready to cook on Tuesday night.

The outside grill was being used by the dutch oven so we grilled this inside. An outdoor grill is preferable if possible.

Slowly grill and turn to cook other side. You can baste with the sauce as you grill if desired, but NOT if you do this indoors.

There you go. Easy Peasy and Delicous. Enjoy!

Moroni’s BBQ Turkey

5 lbs. boneless turkey breast cut into smaller pieces (or chicken)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup soy sauce
2 cans 7-Up
1 1/2 tsp. horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Marinate meat for 18-24 hours in a large container with a lid. Barbeque slowly.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 lg. cans pork and beans
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup catsup
2 T. mustard
2 T. vinegar
2 T. molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
Worcestershire Sauce
Tobasco Sauce
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced

Plus:

1 lb. italian sausage, browned

Drain the sausage and stir in all other ingredients.

Cook until hot. How easy is that! You can also combine all ingredients in a slow cooker for 4-5 hours. This really lets the flavors out!

It serves about 15 people. Now, because I was making this batch for our spring break, I divided the batch in half and froze it in gallon-sized ziploc bags. Then the morning we left, I grabbed a frozen bag from the freezer and tossed it into the cooler. All I had to do was heat it up the night we ate it for dinner.  I’d cooked and frozen sloppy joe meat and taco meat beforehand as well. I like dinners to be ready fast when we’re camping–a little trick I learned from my mom.

My favorite way to eat Killer Beans is with this BBQ turkey/chicken. Delicious. Recipe coming. Enjoy!

Killer Beans

2 lg. cans pork and beans
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup catsup
2 T. mustard
2 T. vinegar
2 T. molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
Worcestershire Sauce, to taste (at least 2 T.)
Tobasco Sauce, to taste (at least 2 T., okay you can try just 1 T. if you have to)
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 lb. italian sausage, browned
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced

Brown and drain sausage. Add all ingredients together and cook until hot. How easy is that! You can also combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 4-5 hours. This really lets the flavors meld and makes it a little spicier. My mother-in-law likes to throw in some salsa, too. (1/2-1 cup)

2 large cans pie filling or 2 quarts of bottled fruit (The birthday girl chose raspberry pie filling.)
1 cake mix, you choose the flavor (I convinced the birthday girl that chocolate would be a good choice.)
1 cube butter, melted
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Pour pie filling/bottled fruit into bottom of dutch oven (or 9 x13 pan).

Sprinkle cake mix to cover. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top.

Put lid on dutch oven and scatter coals on top and bottom. I used to know how many cooking degrees each briquette equaled, but that tidbit of useful info leaked out of my head some time ago so now I just scatter till it looks good. I could probably do a Google search and find it, but I’ve got to get this posted so I can have some writing time while the boys are still asleep. (However, maybe one of you know off hand and could leave it in the comments section.) Cook for 45 minutes while you make and eat dinner. (Those recipes will be coming later.)

It’s been 45 minutes so tear yourself away from the scrumptious BBQ Turkey and Killer Beans (recipes coming) to check on the Dump Cake. Yep. It’s done. Now take some pictures while a couple of campers pass by and wonder why you are taking pictures of something that smells so good instead of eating it.

Serve with ice cream if you didn’t run out of room in your coolers and have to leave it home in the freezer.

Stick one candle in–not the full fourteen–and sing Happy Birthday.

Let the Birthday Girl blow out the candle. Pull the candle out of the cake to see that the BOTTOM end is more melted than the wick end. Now all the siblings want to put a candle in their cake, blow it out, and see if the bottom of the candle melted. May as well let them since you only used the one candle.

And that’s it!  So easy and tastes so good. You have to try this. Once I added a layer of marshmallows between the fruit and cake mix–very tasty. Enjoy!

2 large cans pie filling or 2 quarts of bottled fruit (The birthday girl chose raspberry pie filling.)
1 cake mix, you choose the flavor (I convinced the birthday girl that chocolate would be a good choice.)
1 cube butter, melted
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Pour pie filling/bottled fruit into bottom of dutch oven (or 9 x13 pan). Sprinkle cake mix to cover. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top. Put lid on dutch oven and scatter coals on top and bottom. Cook for 45 minutes. (Place 9 x 13 pan in 350° oven and bake for 45-60 minutes.) Serve hot topped with ice cream if desired.

Here’s an inexpensive steak dish that my family enjoys. I’m quite picky about the ground beef recipes I like to eat, and I especially detest little bits of ground beef disguised in casseroles. I make vegetarian lasagna and spaghetti for that reason. (If I want some protein with my spaghetti, I’ll prepare chicken cacciatore instead of spaghetti with meat sauce.) I’m happy to say that Poor Man’s Steak is one of my favorite ways to eat ground beef. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (Blend 3-4 slices of bread.)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 of a 1 1/4-ounce package dry onion soup mix
egg
salt and pepper (optional)–I think I used 1 tsp. salt and 1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper

Combine the steak ingredients and mix well. Press into a 7 x 12-inch pan. Cover and chill 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Cut meat into 6 pieces.

Coat each piece with whole wheat flour.

Heat a small amount of oil and brown steaks on both sides.

While the steaks finish browning, make the sauce.

1 103/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of milk
1/2 of a 1 1/4-ounce package dry onion soup mix

Mix sauce ingredients together.

At this point you can transfer the steaks to a 9×13-inch dish and pour sauce over, or dirty one less dish and pour sauce into the browning pan with the browned steaks. I vote one less dish to wash. Cover pan and simmer on stove for about 45 minutes or until steaks are done. If baking in the oven, cover the 9 x 13-inch dish and bake in the oven at 325° for 1 hour.

This is what they look like when they’ve finished simmering. The recipe actually calls for 1 4-ounce can of mushrooms, drained. However, I much prefer to slice some fresh mushrooms, chop a little onion, and saute together in a bit of olive oil. Then top each serving with a spoonful of mushrooms and drizzle some sauce over the top. (The sauce also makes a nice gravy for baked potatoes.)

Yum! I hope you enjoy!

Poor Man’s Steak

Steaks:

1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (Blend 3-4 slices of bread.)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 of a 1 1/4-ounce package dry onion soup mix
egg
salt and pepper (optional)

Sauce:

1 103/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of milk
12/ of a 1 1/4-ounce package dry onion soup mix
1 4-ounce can mushrooms, drained (Or saute fresh, sliced mushrooms and chopped onion in a bit of olive oil and save for topping after cooking.)

Put bread in blender to make fine crumbs. Combine the steak ingredients and mix well. Press into a 7 x 12-inch pan. Cover and chill 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cut meat into 6 pieces. Coat each piece with whole wheat flour. Heat a small amount of oil and brown steaks on both sides. Transfer to  9 x 13-inch baking dish if baking in the oven. To make sauce, mix soup and milk. Add the remaining 1/2 package onion soup mix and mushrooms. Pour over meat and cover. Simmer on stove or bake in a 325° oven for 1 hour. (If you don’t have whole wheat bread crumbs and whole wheat flour, use white. It will turn out just fine.)

This recipe  comes from a cookbook compiled for the Sonberg family reunion held in 1999. I love recipes from these kinds of cookbooks for a few reasons. One being that people typically send their best and favorite recipes. Secondly, the stories behind them. The note with this recipe reads: “This is kinda interestin’ to fix, but a lot more interestin’ to eat.” This has become one my children’s favorite desserts partly because of the preparation method. This is a great cake to make if you’re out of milk, eggs, or butter. Let’s get started.

Put 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, 2 tsp. soda, and 1/2 tsp. salt into an ungreased 13x9x2″ metal baking pan. I’ve always wondered what would happen if I used a glass baking dish. Would the cake stick  to it? Hmmm …

Stir with a fork to mix. (I often use a wire whisk instead.) Form 3 wells in flour mixture. So I opened a new can of cocoa–a different brand than I usually buy. Those brown flecks are cocoa dots that didn’t mix. It turned out fine in the end; it just looks weird here.

Pour oil into one well, vinegar in one and vanilla in the last.

Pour cold water over all ingredients and stir with fork until well mixed. Do not beat.

Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Bake in 350° oven for 35 to 45 minutes. I baked mine at 325° in a convection oven for 30 minutes.

The cinnamon sugar makes a thin layer of crunchy topping.

Serve and enjoy! It tastes scrumptiously chocolatey with a hint of cinnamon. You don’t really need anything with this, but … when I skimmed the milk for dinner, the cream was so thick and perfect for whipping that …

it would have been a shame not to do this. You choose.

Stir Crazy Cake

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. cooking oil
2 T. vinegar
1 T. vanilla
2 c. cold water
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Put flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, soda, and salt into an ungreased 13x9x2″ metal baking pan. Stir with a fork to mix. Form 3 wells in flour mixture. Pour oil into one well, vinegar in one and vanilla in the last. Pour cold water over all ingredients and stir with fork until well mixed. Do not beat. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Bake in 350° oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Enjoy!

This is an old standby for a quick meal at my house. The prep is very easy and it cooks fairly quickly. My second daughter always requests BBQ Meatballs for her birthday dinner. So lets get started:

Crack 2 eggs into a bowl and add 3/4 cup oatmeal and 1 cup canned milk. Stir together and add 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and 1 1/2 lb. hamburger.

Mix altogether and form into walnut-sized balls. Place in a 9×13 casserole dish. Put in 400° oven for 10 minutes or until brown.

While the meatballs are browning mix up the sauce ingredients.

Measure 4 T. Worcestershire sauce, 2 T. sugar, 1/4 cup water, 3 T. vinegar, 1 cup catsup. Then coarsely chop an onion and green pepper.

Stir altogether. I love the colors in this sauce. Yum. Pour the sauce over the browned meatballs. Turn the oven down to 350°. (If you forget like I sometimes do, and leave your oven at 400°, your meatballs won’t be as tender as they should be.) So turn your oven down to 350°. Cook for 20 -30 minutes or until red disappears.

Here they are just out of the oven. Their tangy aroma makes me hungry!

Enjoy! I like to serve these over rice. My husband, not a rice lover, prefers them served over a baked potato. I hope you enjoy this quick and simple meal. If you’ve never bought frozen, petite peas, you must give them a try. They are the next best thing to frozen garden peas. We never have enough frozen garden peas so I have to resort to the grocery store freezer section. These are Western Family brand petite peas and are nice and sweet. My children gobble them up.

BBQ Meatballs

Meat Mixture
1 1/2 lb. hamburger
2 eggs
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup  canned milk (evaporated)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauce:
4 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. sugar
1/4 cup water
3 T. vinegar
1 cup catsup
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 green pepper, coarsely chopped (optional)

Mix meat mixture altogether.  Make into walnut-sized balls and place in casserole dish (9×13). Put in 400° oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Mix sauce and pour over meatballs. Reduce oven to 350° and cook for 20 -30 minutes or until red disappears.

I thought these bowls would be perfect for giving caramel popcorn to my children’s friends and teachers. Then I discovered I was out of corn syrup–and the desire to go out once more into the snow storm. So I did a google search for popcorn recipes and found this on cdkitchen.com. I even had all the ingredients on hand. My girls and I got to work and whipped this up before bedtime. It’s not as sugary as caramel popcorn, and the apples give it a nice tart flavor mixed with the cinnamon sweetness.

Here’s what you’ll need:

I dried a gazillion apples this fall so I had plenty for this recipe. We like them for lunch instead of potato chips.

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place 2 cups unsweetened dried apple rings, chopped in a single layer in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan and bake 20 minutes. Instead of chopping the apples, we broke them into small pieces.

Remove from oven and stir in 10 cups air-popped popcorn and
1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Set aside.

Whisk together 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

In a small bowl,  Drizzle evenly over popcorn mixture and toss well to coat.

Bake for 30 minutes (250°F), quickly opening the oven door and stirring every 10 minutes. Watch carefully during the last 10 minutes and remove from the oven if apples begin to turn dark brown. (Apples should be crisp, but not overcooked).

Pour onto waxed paper to cool for 30 minutes. I lined a cookie sheet with wax paper to better contain the popcorn mixture. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Apple-Cinnamon Popcorn Crunch
(Click to print recipe from cdkitchen.com)

2 cups unsweetened dried apple rings, chopped
10 cups air-popped popcorn
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place chopped apples in a single layer in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan and bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in popcorn and nuts. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together melted margarine, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle evenly over popcorn mixture and toss well to coat.

Bake for 30 minutes (250°F), quickly opening the oven door and stirring every 10 minutes. Watch carefully during the last 10 minutes and remove from the oven if apples begin to turn dark brown. (Apples should be crisp, but not overcooked).

Pour onto waxed paper to cool for 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Here is a fruit-filled, festive, jello salad. It can be eaten with or without the topping. Here’s what you’ll need:

The sour cream and cream cheese are for the optional topping.

Mix:

6 oz. pkg. raspberry jello
1 cup boiling water

(You may have noticed a few stray walnut pieces in the 9 x 13 casserole.

These things happen when you have little helpers.)

Add, stir, and chill:
16 oz. can whole cranberry sauce
2, 8 oz. cans crushed pineapple
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
3/4 cup cranberry juice

See the whole cranberries? Make sure you get the can that says whole cranberries in sauce. Just so you know–the canned cranberry sauce without whole cranberries will work, too. I tried it once and it tasted great. But it looks so pretty with the whole cranberries, and I love all the crunch and texture in this salad.

Look how pretty that is. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for four to five hours.

It is delicious served like this, or you can make the topping.

Topping:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
chopped nuts for sprinkling

Mix the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar with an electric beater until smooth. (This will take at least seven minutes and likely longer if you forget to soften the cream cheese.)

Spread over chilled jello salad and sprinkle with nuts.

Cut into squares, serve, and enjoy!

Cranberry Salad

Mix:
6 oz. pkg. raspberry jello
1 cup boiling water

In a 9 x 13 dish, add the following ingredients and stir:
16 oz. can whole cranberry sauce
2, 8 oz. cans crushed pineapple
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
3/4 cup cranberry juice

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for four to five hours.

Topping:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
chopped nuts for sprinkling

Mix the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar with an electric beater until smooth. Spread over chilled jello salad and sprinkle with nuts.

This tradition began eleven years ago when our two young children would not settle down to go to sleep one Friday night after our ward Christmas Party. My husband and I decided not to fight it and made it a night where we played whatever games the children wanted. We all put our pajamas on and took a picture with the Christmas tree. Around one in the morning we got hungry and made german pancakes. With a little something in our tummies, everyone was finally ready for bed.

We’ve  had an all night Christmas party every year since that incorporates all of the original fun and  some new traditions we’ve added through the years. Here’s a peek at this year’s all night party.

These days our all night party starts in the afternoon when go get our Christmas tree. Everyone jumps on the tractor and we drive back up into the hills of my in-law’s property.

The first trip was for a load of firewood. With that done, we left the chainsaw and climbed back on the tractor for a trek into the woods. When the trees were too thick for the tractor to pass through, we took off on foot.

About a mile later we found it–the perfect tree.

Nate set to work with the bow saw.

Then these two dragged it the mile back to the tractor (with some occasional help from Nate).

And we were on our way back to the truck.

Back home and after dinner with everyone in their pajamas, the party began in earnest. We made my husband’s great-grandmother’s famous fruitcake which I still consider a misnomer considering the bulk of ingredients are chocolate derivatives and gumddrops. It is a great tradition and one the children look forward to each year. It is literally a recipe where you open up a package of something and throw the entire thing into the boiling water canner–the only pot big enough to hold it all. What’s more fun than that for children in the kitchen?

The family story says that Nate’s grandpa wanted to know how to make his mother’s fruitcake so he sat down with pen and paper and converted her handfuls of ingredients into a recipe.

We used our grill spatula to stir because it’s the sturdiest and longest utensil we own. A spoon would be nicer–maybe Nate will have to carve one someday.

The batter is poured/glopped into pans and put in the oven to bake.

While the fruitcake baked, we decorated the tree.

Then we took a family PJ picture under the tree.

Next the children opened one gift to the family. It’s always a game.

The timer for the fruitcake went off while the children were opening the present.

This is a really fun game of simultaneous play. My five year-old got a little lost, but everyone else thought is was really fun. While Nate explained how to play the new game, I mixed up some German Pancakes.

Then it was time for our early morning breakfast and bed!

German Pancakes

4 T. butter
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt

Place margarine in 9×13 pan. Put in 400° oven for 3-5 minutes or until butter melts.

In a bowl beat eggs with an electric hand mixer till combined. Add flour, milk, and salt. Beat till smooth. Immediately pour into hot 9 x 13 dish. Bake about 25 minutes or till puffed and well browned.

Serve with powdered sugar and/or maple syrup. Enjoy!

]]> http://www.katrinapalmer.com/2009/12/14/all-night-christmas-party-2009/feed/ 9 http://www.katrinapalmer.com/2009/12/04/hasty-pudding/ http://www.katrinapalmer.com/2009/12/04/hasty-pudding/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:18:08 +0000 Kate http://www.katrinapalmer.com/?p=1612

This recipe comes from my Grandma Hoth. It’s very English as was she. (My parents have a small three-ring binder of her handwritten recipes–at least my Dad’s favorites. Things like this are family treasures!) This steaming dessert is perfect for a cold day and so simple to make.

Let’s get started.

Mix together to make a paste:
1 T. butter
1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Add:
1/2 tsp. vanilla,
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped nuts.
Spread in small greased casserole.

For the sauce, stir together:
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. boiling water
2 T. butter

Pour over batter and bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes.

And there you have a delicious pudding cake. It’s good topped with a drizzling of fresh cream. (I was out of cream on this day–a very rare occurrence in this house.) Enjoy!

Hasty Pudding

Mix together to make a paste:
1 T. butter
1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Add:
1/2 tsp. vanilla,
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped nuts.
Spread in small greased casserole.

For the sauce, stir together:
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. boiling water
2 T. butter

Pour over batter and bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes.