Sweet and Sour Meatballs

  This is the same recipe as the lion house. I always double the sauce and I like to only do 1 lb of meat because I line to taste the other flavors of the other ingredients mixed in the meat. She is right on not wanting fatty meat. This always makes more than 12 for me.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/02/sweet-and-sour-meatballs.html

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

I have made this a couple of times now and it makes me love squash. It is  yummy how you broil it at the end. I think in the past I also added peas to it but I can't remember for sure.
http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2013/03/skinny-spaghetti-squash-alfredo.html

Skillet Chili Mac

  We really liked this. next time it would be good to chop up a green pepper and put it in. I also loved a lot of cilantro in it. I was excited to use some of my food storage elbow pasta for this.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion (minced)
• 3/4 tbsp chili powder (add more if you want more heat)
• 1/2 tbsp ground coriander (substitute ground cumin for a smokier flavor)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 16 ozs tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 8 ozs elbow macaroni (2 C.)
• chopped green pepper (Bethany adds)                       
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 41/2 ozs green chile (chopped)
• 2 tbsps fresh cilantro (chopped)
• 2 cups cheese (shredded, I used a combination of cheddar and monterey jack but you can use pepper jack or a mexican shredded cheese blend)
•                

Directions:Heat the oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef, onion, chili powder, coriander, and cumin. Cook the beef until it is no longer pink, then drain off any accumulated grease, if necessary. (Whether or not you have any excess grease will depend on how lean your beef is. My beef was pretty lean, so I did not need to drain it.)
Add the garlic and brown sugar. Stir constantly for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, and macaroni. Cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the macaroni is cooked through.
Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in 1 cup of the cheese and the corn and green chiles and a chopped green pepper if you are Bethany. Top with the remaining cup of cheese, and cover the skillet. Let the skillet sit for a minute or two, until the cheese melts, then sprinkle the cilantro over the top. Serve hot.
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/skillet-chili-mac-with-corn-and-green-chiles.html

Freezer Pizza Dough

  This was a recipe I tried for Jenny's Christmas meals. It turned out great after being frozen. I only used white flour.

http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-freezer-friendly-pizza-dough-day-13.html

Blendtec Easy Salsa

I actually used my food processor intead of my blendtec, because it was already "dirty" from shredding some lettuce. So i've yet to see how the blendtec would change it, but it was a good option if you only have these common ingredients at home. I'd give it a 6 or 7 out of 10.

Easy Salsa

Serve this slightly chunky salsa with homemade baked tortilla chips. To move this mild salsa up on the Scoville scale, add a little cayenne pepper or fresh jalapeños.

Ingredients

4   oz

canned green chilies, not drained

1   tbsp

fresh lime juice

1   clove

garlic, quartered

¹⁄₂   tsp

kosher salt

¹⁄₄   tsp

ground cumin

14¹⁄₂   oz can

diced tomatoes, not drained

2   tbsp

onion

¹⁄₄   c

fresh cilantro leaves

- See more at: http://www.blendtec.com/recipes/easy_salsa#sthash.fuEV1Vzv.dpuf

Easy Salsa

Serve this slightly chunky salsa with homemade baked tortilla chips. To move this mild salsa up on the Scoville scale, add a little cayenne pepper or fresh jalapeños.

Ingredients

4   oz

canned green chilies, not drained

1   tbsp

fresh lime juice

1   clove

garlic, quartered

¹⁄₂   tsp

kosher salt

¹⁄₄   tsp

ground cumin

14¹⁄₂   oz can

diced tomatoes, not drained

2   tbsp

onion

¹⁄₄   c

fresh cilantro leaves

- See more at: http://www.blendtec.com/recipes/easy_salsa#sthash.fuEV1Vzv.dpuf

HERE

Easy Salsa

Serve this slightly chunky salsa with homemade baked tortilla chips. To move this mild salsa up on the Scoville scale, add a little cayenne pepper or fresh jalapeños.

Ingredients

4   oz

canned green chilies, not drained

1   tbsp

fresh lime juice

1   clove

garlic, quartered

¹⁄₂   tsp

kosher salt

¹⁄₄   tsp

ground cumin

14¹⁄₂   oz can

diced tomatoes, not drained

2   tbsp

onion

¹⁄₄   c

fresh cilantro leaves

- See more at: http://www.blendtec.com/recipes/easy_salsa#sthash.fuEV1Vzv.dpuf

Caleb's Birthday Scones

Ok. Before I post the recipe, you have to appreciate how much I treasure it. One day I was looking for a great scone recipe. I was searching and searching and don't know why, but picked this one. I made it, and my family and I were in heaven. Then I went to make it again, and spent literally TWO DAYS trying to find it again on the internet, searching through my search history, etc. You can imagine my relief when I found it. SO!  lesson learned: post anything you love to "Caldwell Cooks." :)

Today, I am fasting but made these for the kids (which was cruel to myself) and I asked the kids if they liked them...I did 100% whole wheat this time so I wasn't too confident...and Caleb comes up and hugs me and says, "I want these on my birthday!" and the recipe's name was born. It's adapted from here but I opted for a whole wheat/canola oil version fried in coconut oil/olive oil instead of the original choices. Thus, I took the liberty of giving it my own name :) (pictures are not mine)

 
Caleb's Birthday Scones

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 Tbs yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 beaten egg
• 4 cups flour (can use any combination including 100% whole white wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs sugar

1. Scald vegetable oil and milk. Turn off heat. Immediately add salt.Let the mixture cool.
2. Dissolve yeast in water and sugar.(I put it in my mixer)
3. When milk and oil mixture are cool, add beaten egg, flour, and yeast/water/sugar mixture.
4. Put dough in a large greased bowl(already in mixer) and cover. Let rise for 30 minutes.(or I just kneaded it for 5 minutes and let it rise for 10 instead on my warming plate)
5. Remove and knead lightly on floured board(or in mixer a couple more minutes if needed). Roll out to about 1/4" thick and use a circular cookie cutter or a pizza cutter, and cut the dough into shapes.
6. Place on floured cookie sheet and let rise for 10 more minutes.(or less. while the oil is heating up)
7. Fry in hot oil (I used any combination of olive oil/coconut oil)on both sides until golden brown.
8. Drain on paper towels and then place in a plastic bag full of powdered sugar and/or cinnamon-sugar. Shake and enjoy. OR leave a few plain and top with whipped cream and the best strawberry glaze ever. (I've never made that glaze so post if you do...) Or go crazy and add your own toppings. Anyone else thinking Nutella?

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

 This was so yummy! I made this for thanksgiving dinner and everyone wanted to know how it was done. It was so easy and so healthy! I was so mad I forgot the kiwis I had sitting on my counter, but it was still that good even forgetting them. Can't imagine what it would be WITH the kiwis.  Just very yummy. 

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

Yield: Serves 4

Note: This fruit salad is best served right away (or at least within an hour of making) because the strawberries tend to stain the light colored fruit. It doesn’t affect the taste at all but is a slight bummer for presentation.

Ingredients

• 1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained well
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained well
• 2-3 ripe kiwi, peeled and sliced into thick half moons
• 1 cup green grapes, halved- looks like from the pic, you can use red grapes
• 1 cup strawberries, quartered
• Zest from one lime, about 1 tablespoon
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the fruit in a medium-large serving bowl. Add the lime zest and poppy seeds, if using, and gently toss.
2. Drizzle the honey over the fruit and again, gently mix until the fruit is evenly coated with the honey. Serve.