Just a website

I found a website with tons of scratch-cooking recipes. Just follow the link.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index1.htm

Dehydrating onions

Cut onions into 1/4" slices. Put in dehydrator at 160F for 1-2 hours, then 130F until dry. They will easily break when they are dry. Store in air tight container.

Homemade croutons

Use day-old breadmaker bread or other old bread. Cut bread into cubes. Pour seasoned butter over bread cubes, mix until evenly coated. Bake at 325F until toasted and dry (about 15 minutes).

seasoning ideas: garlic, oregano, onion powder, italian spices, etc. (really anything that you want that sounds a little yummy)

For seasoned bread crumbs, put prepared croutons in blender until ground fine.

replace oil in baking

You can replace the oil or butter in a baking recipe with an equal amount of applesauce.

Powdered milk

If you have a recipe that calls for milk and you will be cooking the food (pancakes, bread, sauce), put powdered milk in instead of regular milk. You can't take the difference at all! My kids never know I do this.
I haven't tried it on uncooked foods like milk shakes or pudding, can't think of anything else right now. If you try it and it works let me know!

Jammin' Joe Bake

I got this recipe from my friend Christy Sharp in Indiana.

Jammin' Joe Bake

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 (8oz can) tomato sauce
¼ cup ketchup
2 tsp mustard
1 cup flour
1½ tsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:
Brown and drain ground beef. Stir tomato sauce, ketchup, and mustard into beef. Pour into 8x8 pan. Combine flour, baking powder, milk, butter and egg with fork until mixed. Pour over beef mixture, spreading evenly. Bake at 450° for 18-22 minutes or until crust is light golden.

*I end up making more of the topping because it just doesn't seem to be enough. (1.5 times. 2x is too much)

Slow Cooker Chicken

Yum! This stuff just melts in your mouth!!

Slow Cooker Chicken

1 (3lb) whole chicken
½ cup chicken broth
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ honey
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp garlic, minced

DIRECTIONS:
Remove skin from chicken and empty inner cavity of contents. Pat dry with a paper towel and place inside slow cooker. In a bowl, stir together the chicken broth, soy sauce, olive oil, honey, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Pour over chicken and cover. Cook chicken on low for 8 hours or 4 hours on high.

Granola

I got this recipe from Heather a few years back when I put together my recipe book. It's so good and you can change it up a bit to make it just how you like it.


Granola

6 cups rolled oats
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup raisins or other dried fruit (I use Craisins)
1 cup coconut
1 cup nuts, chopped
⅓ cup sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients except raisins. Stir in and coat thoroughly with:

½ cup oil
⅓ cup honey
2 tsp vanilla

Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Add raisins or other dried fruit and bake 5 more minutes.

*notes:
-I use sliced almonds, but have used walnuts before too. I like the almonds because they are thin and crunchy.
-this last time I added some molasses, so using the 1/3 cup alotted for honey I put in about 2 Tablespoons of molasses, can't taste the difference and I use the mollasses in my year supply!
-normally I put it all in one big pan and it takes a while to cook, this time I put it in 2 cookie sheets and it only cooked for about 17 minutes total. Make sure to switch the pans every 5 minutes so they all get cooked the same.