Jewish Challah Bread

My first attempt at real bread.  This is a sweet Jewish egg bread usually made for the Sabbath.  I made it on a Monday.  :)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)

Directions


1.In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.

2.Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4.Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.

5.Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.

This recipe will make 2 loaves like this.

Baked Potato Soup

This soup is to DIE FOR! I was craving it, even though I never liked Potato soup growing up. Anyways, this recipe was a huge hit, and was pronounced "better than Panera's" version by a few people. I got it on allrecipes, but you know me, I changed it quite a bit. I don't always measure my ingredients exact. Most of my recipes are eyeballing or to taste, so do what you judge to look right! It was good the first day, but even better the second day. So next time I will make it the day before I plan on serving it to let all the flavors set longer.

Baked Potato Soup

6 bacon strips, diced (I used turkey bacon.)

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup + 2 T. Flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp pepper

6 cups chicken broth ( I used 6 bouillon cubes)

4-5 large potatoes, cubed (the recipe calls for peeled, but i left the skins on)

1 can (small) cr. of chicken soup

1 1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)

1 tsp hot pepper sauce (I threw in a couple extra drops)

1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded

1. Add the potatoes to 6-7 cups of water in a big pot. Cook until potatoes are "done". Add the bouillon cubes and simmer.

2. Cook the bacon until almost crispy. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are clear and bacon is crispy (I added some olive oil since the bacon wasn't greasy enough.) Add the flour and mix well.

3. Add the bacon/onion mix, salt, basil, pepper, cr. of chicken soup, sour cream, hot pepper sauce, and cheese and cook until ready to eat or until whenever! (I cooked mine pretty much all day on low heat.) Serve with some shredded cheese on top. ENJOY!

Chicken and Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

9 lasagna noodles
1/2 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (low or fat free works well here too)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups ricotta cheese ( I used low fat ricotta)
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat (i used 2 small cans of chicken from my food storage)
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions


1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.

2.Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.

3.Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

4.Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.

delicious.  :) 

Mustard Chicken Bake

This is the easiest recipe ever.  REALLY.

Ingredients:
Chicken (breast or tenderloins)  I like tenderloins better because they cook faster
Yellow mustard
Frenchs' french fried onions crushed

Take the chicken and coat in mustard.  Both sides.  Then place the mustard coated chicken in crushed onions until covered on both sides.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for 30ish minutes - depending on how your oven cooks.

Delectible!!!!! 

Key Lime Pie

Here is a delicious recipe for Key Lime Pie (my favorite pie) on all recipes.com. I also made my own version of a crust (since we don't have graham crackers), modifying another recipe. Delicious!!
Key Lime PieI used 2 cans SCM (so glad I finally found it in this country!), and it took 13 limes to get enough juice. Low fat sour cream. I also didn't have any whip cream and it still tasted great!

Butter cookie crust I didn't use cinnamon, I cut the butter down to 5 tbsp.

Apple Crisp

I got a good deal on some apples the other day, and this was a great recipe. Sorry I took the picture after we had our dessert:-)

4 cups sliced apples (you can leave the peels on)
I used golden delicious, but you can use any kind.
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
3/4 cup flour

Grease 8X8 pan. Put in sliced apples. Sprinkle with some cinnamon. Pour water over all.
Cream sugars and butter together. Blend in flour and some cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples. Bake 45 min at 350 degrees F (175 C) until apples are tender and the crust is nice and crisp.
this picture doesn't look very appealing, but it is delicious, especially served with vanilla ice cream!

Amazing Chicken Enchiladas!

I've had chicken enchiladas on the brain for a few days, and pretty much just had to have them. I got this recipe a few years ago from Allrecipes.com, but have altered it since then and made it my own. It it one of our favorites!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken breast ( I use more to make it more filling.)
1 tablespoon margarine
1/2 onion, chopped (i omitted mine though. i don't care for onion too too much, so I used dried onion and onion powder instead)
1 tsp chili powder
1 4oz can chopped green chilies
1 can (10.75 oz) cr. of chicken soup
approx 2/3 cup sour cream
dash of cumin
1 cup shredded cheese of choice (I used Mexican mix)
8 flour tortillas




1. If you have a crock pot, use it for sure for the chicken. Cook the chicken with banana peppers rings and some juice from them, (if you have them) all day, and then shred the chicken. After that, add a forkful of chopped green chilies, a dash of cumin, couple dashes of dried onion, and a couple good spoonfuls of sour cream. ( I used fat free). Make sure you have 1/2 cup sour cream set aside. Cook the chicken for about another hour then. Melt the margarine in a frying pan, and add the chili powder and some more dried onion and also onion powder, or this is where you add the onion. If you use the onion, cook until onion is clear.

2. Add the chicken to the pan. If you don't have a crock pot, cut up the chicken in small pieces and cook it in with the onions until done. Add the rest of the can of green chilies. In a separate bowl, mix the 1/2 cup remaining sour cream, and the can of cr. of chicken soup together. Add about 3 Tbls of the soup mix into the cooked chicken.


3. In a greased 9x13 pan, spread enough of the soup mixture to make a nice layer on the bottom. Dish the cooked chicken mix into the tortillas, approx. 1/4 cup into each, and roll up, placing seam side down in the pan. (I cooked extra chicken so I could stuff the tortillas nice and full).


4. Cover the enchiladas in the remaining soup mix, using a spatula. Sprinkle the cheese on top. (I also use extra cheese.) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for about 25 min, or until cheese is bubbly.

Bon appetit!