Mom's Easy Brownies

 Mom's Easy Brownies

2 Sticks of butter

1 3/4 cups of sugar

6 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

4 eggs

2 cups Bisquick

Melt butter in saucepan. Add Sugar and cocoa and let cool a bit. Add eggs and incorporate well. Add Bisquick stir well. Pour into greased 9x15 pan. Bake at 350 for 40 min. (Watch edges, oven temps vary)

I have been making this Brownie recipe for 40 years! When I was little I wanted an "Easy Bake Oven". But my Mother would say "No... you can bake something a lot better in a real oven." And I'm glad she taught me to cook real recipes! (I heard Easy Bake Oven cookies turned harder that rocks a few hours after you made them.)

"The" old "Easy Brownies" recipe card. Use a 8x13 pan!

I got this Brownie pan from my daughter for Christmas so I had to try my old stand by recipe using the pan. Well, I had forgotten that I had doubled the recipe many years ago from an 8x8 pan to a 8x13 pan and I over flowed the brownies... After they settled a bit it was OK but next time I will only make half the recipe. Here are the photos! Its kinda funny, when I opened the oven to check on them I realized my mistake right away.

My Christmas present from my Daughter

Beautiful heavy pan

The right stuff

Uhhhhh oooo

The brownies settled a bit so it wasn't a disaster

You just can't mess up this recipe!

Gramma's Vanilla Bean Pancakes

(Recipe adapted from the back of the Bisquick box)

2 cups Bisquick

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 Tab Sugar

2 tea baking powder

2 Tab Lemon juice

1 vanilla bean opened and seeds scraped

Stir: all ingredients till well blended

Pour: 1/4 cup-fulls on a nonstick griddle

Cook: Slowly.... (Because of the sugar in the batter) Till edges are dry and golden brown

Serve: With REAL maple syrup 

Little vanilla beans bursting with flavor

Lighten up Bang Bang Shrimp!

12 oz. Frozen Shrimp -26/30-

1 heaping Tab. cornstarch 

Black sesame seeds OPTIONAL

2 Tab. coconut oil for the pan (or vegetable oil)

1/2 cup of Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce (or another brand as long as its "thai style")

A few dashes or more (to taste) of SRIRACHA hot chili sauce

Field greens

Shredded cabbage

Chopped green onions

Clean shrimp and put into a bowl with cornstarch to "marinate'. 

Mix Sweet Chili sauce and SRIRACHA in a small bowl and set aside.

Ready? This goes fast.

Heat coconut oil in cast iron skillet till HOT. Drop in shrimp and cook on med. heat just till tender and golden bits form on the shrimp. 

While its cooking.... watch it carefully...

Arrange lettuce and cabbage on 4 plates.

When the shrimp is done, turn down heat to low and pour in sauce mixture and let it thicken just a bit stirring to glaze the shrimp.

Divy up shrimp on the 4 plates and pour any extra sauce over the top of the shrimp. 

Garnish with green onion.

Serves 4

Apx. 3oz. of shrimp per serving

Chicken Enchiladas in white sauce

8 flour tortillas (taco size)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into large chunks

2 cups colby/Jack cheese shredded

4 oz softened cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 package taco seasoning

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken stock

3 tab olive oil

1 tab butter

3 tab flour

1 small can of chopped green chilies

Cilantro or green onions chopped (Optional)

In a non stick skillet heat the 3 Tab. olive oil add chicken and cook gently on one side. Then sprinkle on Taco seasoning packet and cook gently stirring in seasoning and chicken till just cooked. (careful not to over cook chicken at this point, it will get rubbery and dry) Remove chicken with tongs and set aside till cool enough to shred. In same skillet with olive oil and seasonings melt the 1 tab butter and add the 3 Tab flour and cook for a minute, stirring constantly, slowly, while whisking add milk and chicken broth and bring to a low boil. Sauce should thicken and become bubbly. Turn down heat to low and add sour cream and can of green chilies. one blended, take off heat.

Mix shredded chicken, one cup of shredded cheese and softened cream cheese in a bowl. Stuff and roll each enchilada and line them in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Pour sauce over enchiladas then top with remaining cheese and bake in a 350 oven for 25 minutes.

Serve with shredded iceberg lettuce lightly dressed oil and vinegar and garnish with chopped cilantro or green onions.

Excellent for lunch the next day!

Sorry for the blurry photo! Lightly saute chicken chunks in olive oil and taco seasoning.

Add butter and melt with oil and seasonings

Add flour, whisk and cook for at least a minute

Add milk and chicken broth and cook till thick and bubbly. Then add cream cheese and chilies and remove from heat.

Roll chicken mixture in tortillas and line in a sprayed baking dish

Bake for 25 minutes

Hot and cheesy and bubbly from the oven

Lots of delicious sauce

Serve over shredded lettuce, garnish with more cheese, cilantro, or sour cream and green onions.

When life throws tomatoes at you... 

Make 

Fresh Spagetti Sauce

Lots of tomatoes (4 pounds or more)

Dried basil- to taste

Oregano- to taste

Garlic powder- To taste

Salt and pepper- To taste

1 tab sugar

At the end I like to add fresh basil and 1/4 cup or more of parmesan cheese.

Wash tomatoes and cut into chunks and put them into a dutch oven (Large pot). Add all the spices and put heat to med low or med and start cooking. Simmer for a couple of hours till the tomatoes have cooked down and are soft. Then use your emulsion blender or CAREFULLY transfer to a food processor and blend to desired consistency. 

Ummmm That's it.

You can add meat if you want or add roasted veggies for meatless dishes.

NOT FROM A JAR tastes amazing and YOU know whats in it.

1) Add fresh chopped tomatoes to a large pot.

2) Add your spices and cook on med low for a couple hours

3) The tomatoes will cook down into a beautiful broth and look like that. Either leave it like that or...

4) Use your emulsion blender and make it thicker

 5) Its ready. You can add browned meat at this point or roasted vegetables and serve over pasta.

6) Or freeze for another time.