Raspberry Smoothy

We have been enjoying raspberries freshly picked from our yard!
Yumm!





1/4 - 1/3 c. frozen raspberries*
1/3 frozen banana**
1 c. cold water
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 c vanilla yogurt

Put in blender and blend until smooth.
Enjoy!

* Put fresh raspberries in an even layer on a cookies sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer until the raspberries are frozen. Transfer frozen berries to freezer bags, remove air from bag, seal, and store in freezer for later use.

** Banana is a great natural sweetener. Peel ripe bananas, break banana into thirds, put in freezer baggies, and freeze for later use.

Carrot Cake With Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

This super moist carrot cake came from Mother Lynn's coveted recipe box.

The original recipe calls for shredded carrot. My youngest does not like the texture so we peel, chunk and boil the carrot until tender. Then drain and mash until the carrots are somewhat smooth.

2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. oil
4 eggs
3 c. shredded or mashed carrot (about a one pound bag)
2 c. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 c. crushed and drained pineapple

Stir together sugar and oil.
Add eggs to the mixture one at a time mixing well.
Add carrots. Mix well.

In a separate bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add flour mixture to the carrot mixture. Stir well.


Stir in nuts if desired

Stir in pineapple.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 glass baking pan.
Note: This cake tends to taste metallic when baked or stored in metal.

Bake in a 350 oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting


Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla (1 tsp. vanilla extract)
1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese, butter and vanilla with hand mixer for two minutes.
Add powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until sugar is moistened.
Mix on high speed for five minutes or more, until fluffy.

Spread evenly on cooled cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are the Nestly Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe spread in a baking dish and baked like brownies.

2 ¼ c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1 c shortening
¾ c sugar
¾ c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz. chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for 12 oz, but our family prefers more cookie)

Mix flour, salt and soda.
In a separate bowl cream together sugars and shortening.
Add eggs and vanilla andstir.
Add flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix well.
Stir in chocolate chips
Spread in a round or square cake pan
Bake 20 – 30 minutes or until golden brown in a 350 oven.
Let cool 10 minutes
Cut into squares and serve with a glass of milk.

Note: We use chocolate with natural vanilla flavor, not vanillin. Ghiradelli is not much more expensive than Nestle and does not have artificial additives.

Turkey Burger Nachos – Super Easy

1 lb ground turkey
¼ c. chunky salsa
Half bag corn tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Sour cream

Fry turkey burger until fully cooked.
Add salsa and continue to heat for several minutest
Lightly crunch tortilla chips in each bowl
Top with meat, salsa, cheese and sour cream.
Toss to mix ingredients and lightly coat chips with sauces.
Enjoy!

Note:
The ground turkey we used was injected with natural flavors and water, and was cleaned so there was no bones or any gross stuff.
The rest of the items are store brands and have no artificial additives.

Hershey 5-Minute Brownie Recipe-Neat Baking Soda Reaction Is Fun For Kids!

3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. boiling water
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. unsifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.
1)Stir cocoa and baking powder in mixing bowl.
2)Blend 1/3 c. vegetable oil.
3)Add boiling water, stir until mixture thickens. (This is where the neat reaction takes place with the baking soda!)
4)Stir in sugar, eggs, remaining 1/3 c. vegetable oil until smooth.
5)Add flour, vanilla and salt. Stir until blended.
6)Grease the bottom only of a 9x13 baking dish.
7)Pour batter in pan.
8)Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the outer edge of the pan comes out clean.
9)Let cool for at least 20 minutes.

Bonus Baking Tip:
A metal knife will stick to brownies when cutting. To avoid this sticky situation use a plastic knife instead.

Easy Kettle Corn

This recipe is fantastic!
The last time I went up-north my friend made some sort of nutty-sweet popcorn treat. It tasted like it had pecans and brown sugar and the sugar was sort of carmalized and coated the popcorn like candy. Yummy!
As I was inquiring as to how to make something like this she announced that she had finally mastered the art of making fabulous kettle corn and shared the secret. Here it is:


1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c popcorn kernels
1/4 tsp. salt

Pour oil in a large heavy pot with a lid.
Place 3 kernels in pan and heat on medium-high heat.
When kernels pop the oil is ready.
Add popcorn evenly on the bottom of the pan and quickly pour sugar evenly on popcorn.
Immediately put lid on pan and shake continuously, while holding the pan over the heat for 3 seconds, then away from the heat for 3 seconds until the popping slows down to every 2 or 3 seconds. (You must move away from the heat source every 3 seconds or the sugar will scorch.)
Remove from heat, pour into a large bowl, toss with salt and enjoy!
Yumm!