My Pizza Perfect Pizza Sauce...

Items Needed:

Large Stock Pot
Blender
Freezer Containers
2 cans crushed tomatoes each size: 6 lbs. 6 oz.
3 cans tomato paste
4 large carrots
3 white onions
4 stalks celery
1 whole head of garlic
Olive Oil
Sugar
Italian Seasoning
Red Pepper Flakes
Oregano
Thyme
Basil
Salt
Pepper

Chop Carrots, Onions and Celery. Clean and roughly chop the entire head of garlic.

In large stock pot, add enough olive oil to cover bottom and toss all chopped vegetables into pot to sweat and cook down. When soft, add the two cans of crushed tomatoes, stir.

Put heat on med/high; then ADD: 1 cap full (I use cap the seasoning comes in) of Italian Seasoning, 1 TBS. Oregano, 1 TBS. Basil, 1 TBS. of Thyme and 2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes. Add Salt and Pepper to taste (I use approximately 1 TBS of sea salt and 1/2 tsp of Black Pepper). Stir Well.

Add 1 c. sugar and the three cans of tomato paste and stir well.

Cooking approximately 1 hour for all flavors to meld. Paying attention to stir frequently so sauce doesn't burn.

When cooking time is up. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature (or when pot is just warm to touch).

Take hand blender or a regular blender and blend the entire pot of sauce to consistency that you prefer. I like my sauce pretty smooth.

Using freezer containers, divide the sauce into quantities you need. (Approximately 6-8 cups of sauce for four 12 inch pizzas is what I allow).

Use immediately or freeze. Good in freezer for 3 months.

Perfect Pizza Crust...

Items Needed:
Wheat Flour
All-Purpose Flour
Kosher Salt
Olive Oil
Bread Machine Yeast
Water
Sugar
Bread Machine with Pasta/Dough button

Add 1 1/2 cups of very warm water to bucket of bread machine. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of yeast over water top. Sprinkle 1 TBS. of sugar over top. Let set a few minutes.

While that is percolating...measure out:
2 c. of Wheat Flour
2 c. of All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. of Kosher Salt
(sift together)

Add the flour to the water in the bread machine bucket.
Turn the Bread Machine on using the Pasta/Dough setting.
Let it run for about a minute and then slowly drizzle 1/3 c. of Olive Oil over the dough mixture. (it won't be completely mixed at this point.)

Let the machine run, making sure that all the flour, etc is mixed in and it forms a ball. When it is ready for the "rising" stage. Pull the dough ball out, put in a gallon zip-lock bag, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil so it won't stick, toss in the refrigerator until ready to use. Can be used immediately, although dough is best if used 24 hours prior to mixing. (Good for up to 72 hours in refrigerator)

Halve dough to make two 12 inch pizzas.
(Also good to make calzones)

Angel Food Cake Dessert...

Ingredients:
2 store purchased angel food cakes
1 tub strawberries
1 tub blueberries
2 8 oz. cream cheese
2 16 oz. cool whip
2 c. powdered sugar

In a mixer mix together the cream cheese, cool whip and sugar, scrape down the sides frequently, mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Take the cakes and pull apart into bite size pieces. In a large bowl combine the cake and the cream cheese mixture until thoroughly coated. Press cake mixture into a large glass casserole dish (at least 13 x 9 in).

Wash strawberries and slice. Rinse blueberries and layer on top of cake in "strips".

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until "set". Cut with a knife and serve. Be prepared to pass out recipe because people go nuts for this dessert!

German Potato Salad

Ingredients List:
5 lbs. potatoes; boiled until fork tender; peeled and sliced bite sized
1 large green pepper; diced
1 large onion; diced
4 hard boiled eggs; sliced
1 lb. bacon fried, drained (reserve the drippings); crumbled
1 small jar of pimentos
2 c. apple cider vinegar
2 c. sugar
2 Tbls. corn starch
salt/pepper to taste


STEP ONE:
Prepare all the vegetables and eggs as above, put into large mixing bowl; set aside.

STEP TWO:
Make the salad dressing by taking about 3 large spoon fulls of the bacon drippings and placing in a skillet. Add 2 c. apple cider vinegar, 2 c. of sugar and the corn startch into skillet and heat over high heat until boiling and thickening occurs. I use a whisk to incorporate the corn startch into the liquids.


STEP FOUR: Pour boiling, thickened prepared dressing over the vegetables, adding the pimentos after you add the dressing

MIX WELL; serve hot! Refrigerate leftovers and heat to eat. This is DELICIOUS! You'll get rave reviews!

Vonna's Baked Beans

Move over Boston....these baked beans will make you a star of your church pitch in and gain you the love and admiration of your family! They ROCK!

Here's what you need:
4 cans of pork baked beans
1 onion minced
ketchup
yellow mustard
brown sugar
6 pieces of bacon cut into small pieces

Dump the beans in a large mixing bowl. I never measure, but I would say: add 1 c. ketchup and 1/2 cup of mustard, 3/4 c. brown sugar and the onion. Mix together.

Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Evenly sprinkle the bacon pieces over the top.

Bake at 350 until the top is carmelized and bubbling.

DIG IN! But don't forget to take some Bean-o ;o)

Diet Sweet Tea!

If you are a sweet tea drinker like me...you'll LOVE this ZERO calorie Southern Sweet Tea.
Recipe courtousy of Splenda Sugar Substitute.

Bring 3 cups of cold water to boil. Add 1 large Family Sized Tea Bag to the boiling water and let steep for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes have passed, take out the tea bag and add:
2 cups of cold water
1 cup of Splenda

Mix and enjoy!

DELICIOUS! Tried and true recipe in our house ;)

Pineapple Bread Pudding

(If you like traditional bread pudding, you'll love this pineapple version - DELICIOUS! and a lovely ending to any meal! Given to me by my friend Jennifer S.- because I nearly tackled someone to get the last bit!)

3 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained *

* I use a can of crushed pineapple, and don’t drain as much - use some of the liquid in place of the ¼ cup of milk below

1 ¼ cups milk

4 cups bread, torn up (including crusts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 X 13 pan with pan spray (or grease w/ some of the butter before melting)
Mix all of the above items together.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes (until middle is set and nicely browned on top and around the edges).

Refrigerate leftovers.

Vonna's Vinegar Slaw

2 packages of prepared slaw cabbage (the bags I get usually already have carrots in it too, if yours doesn't include 2 large carrots grated)
1 lg. glass jar of Pimentos; drained
1 lg. green pepper; seeded and diced
2 c. sugar
2 c. apple cider vinegar

In a large plastic container (like those rubbermaid take alongs with a lid), put all of the vegetables: cabbage, carrots, pimentos and green peppers layered in the container. *I usually layer in the container (cabbage, peppers, pimentoes) and don't mix until I add the slaw "juice". Put lid on the container and put in refrigerator.

Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer) slowly mix the sugar/vinegar solution. This is *key* mixing these two things together until you get like an oily consistency...you actually can tell it is like a syrup. I usually put it on low in my kitchen aid stand mixer and turn it on low and mix for about 20 minutes. Pour this vinegar syrup into a clean glass jar or plastic bottle and put in the refrigerator to chill.

When you are ready to serve the slaw pour the juice over the vegetables and mix well making sure that the juice touches all vegetables. Serve as an appetizer salad with crackers or on your bratwurst or knockwurst. DELICIOUS! Everyone will want to know your recipe ;)

ENJOY!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

My husband and I are a huge fan of the Olive Garden's unlimited salad, soup and breadsticks and like to eat there once a month or so. The last time were there, I said, I think I can replicate this soup....so I tasted and tasted and rolled it around in my mouth and came home and got to work. A few tries later and some research on the web and I came up with my own version of Chicken Gnocchi Soup and it is pretty close to the real thing! My version is a bit "healthier" (I use half and half instead of real cream which I'm pretty sure OG uses) and I made mine "heartier" stuffed full of the vegetables and chicken. I think you'll love this!

Ingredients List:
(I double this for my large family and then have left overs for lunch boxes the next day)
4 flash frozen chicken breasts; thawed
4 cups of chicken broth (I use Swanson)
2 1/2 cups of half and half
1 rib of celery; diced
1 clove garlic; diced
10 baby carrots; diced
1/2 onion; diced
2 lg. handfuls of fresh spinach; chiffonade
1 Tbls. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teas. thyme; dried
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. potato gnocchi (I used Clavata brand)
2 Tbls. flour

STEP ONE: Cook your chicken breasts; I spray dutch oven with Pam and put the breasts in, flip once and after about 5 mins. cook time, I pour some chicken broth over them, cover with a lid and let cook until done. This makes the chicken moist and delicious, plus makes some yummy juice to add to the soup.


STEP TWO: While your breasts are cooking; saute the onion, celery, carrot and garlic in 1 Tbls. of EVOO until soft; set aside.

STEP THREE: Dice the cooked chicken breasts into nice bite sized pieces.

STEP FOUR: Chiffonade the spinach and have it ready at the stove side.

SOUP ASSEMBLY: Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt, pepper, thyme, flour (acts as a stablizer to keep the half and half and broth from separating and also to thicken the soup a bit) and vegetables to the pot. Stirring frequently - Heat on high until boiling. Once the soup begins to boil add the gnocchi. Boil for 4 minutes and then turn down the heat to medium. Simmer for 10 additional minutes.

After 10 minutes of simmering is complete; add the spinach to the pot. Continue simmering an additional 10 minutes on medium heat. The spinach should be wilted. Keep warm until serving. Ladle into bowls and dive in!

You'll be grabbing your chest and singing "That's Amore!"

You think it's good straight from the pot...wait until the next day! It's even better then!

~ENJOY!~

Vegetable Soup....

This is really good and its easy....my Granny Eileen came up with this idea of using Hamburger as the meat and I've eaten many a pot of her soup and my Mama's version too....but this is mine, that I have hoaned like a fine skill over the past 13 years of marriage :)

Ingredients List:
Family Size Package of frozen mixed vegetables
1 or 2 healthy tablespoons of Beef Stock Paste
1 envelope of Lipton French Onion Soup Mix (have you noticed that I use this a lot?)
1 lg. tomato cocktail juice (like V8)
2 lbs. of ground beef fried; drained
2 cans of tomatoes

Assembly:

Dump in the frozen vegetables, then the beef paste and the french onion soup mix.

Next pour in the tomato cocktail juice.

Add the tomatoes - I had home canned, but if I don't have these I use two cans of Rold Gold Tomatoes - just dump it in juice and all.

Add the beef.

Set on high and let it cook for 6-8 hours until the vegetables are tender.

Serve with warm out of the oven homemade butter bread. DELISH :)

E-Z Chicken Dumplings

Ingredients:
6 flash frozen chicken breasts
3 cans of regular size Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 lg. onion
3 3/4 c. water
4 cans of biscuits

In crock pot: put in the soup, chicken breasts, onion and water. Mix well. Put crock pot on low heat.

6-8 hours later: pull out the chicken breasts and cut into chunks (I use kitchen scissors). Put the chunked chicken back into the pot. Get out the biscuits, cut them into 4ths and put directly into crock pot. 30 - 45 minutes later. Dish up and enjoy!

This is EASY and sounds a little odd...but it is DEE-LISH! Kid friendly comfort food!

Vonna's Crockpot Chili

This is my own tried and true recipe that I came up with myself and my family LOVES it!

Ingredient List:

2 lbs. ground hamburger; cooked/drained

2 cans BUSH's Chili Beans (27 oz cans)

2 cans Tomatoes (crushed, diced, whole, etc. if whole or crushed I break them up with my hands as I put them in the pot)

1 package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 package of Chili Seasoning (whatever is your favorite - I use French's)

1 tin can of water (or more - we like ours pretty thick, not thin)

1. Dump everything (don't drain the tomatoes) into the crock pot.
2. STIR.
3. Put the heat on LOW.
4. 6 -8 hours later...ENJOY!

I serve big bowls of chili with our favorite Mexican Blend crumbled cheese on the top with corn muffins made by Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix.

DELICIOSO! MUY BUENO!

Vonna's Creamy Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

This delicious recipe came from I don't know where....but I think it was off of a Campbell's soup label. Over the years I've "tweaked" it to make it my own. You'll LOVE it! We do! :)

Ingredient List:

2 lbs. cubed stew beef

salt and pepper to taste

2 regular sized cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup

3 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

3 oz. Philly Cream Cheese

16 oz. Daisy Sour Cream

Egg Noodles (I prefer) or Rice (if you like)

In your crock pot:

put the beef, soup, salt/pepper and worcestershire sauce in. Turn the heat to low and forget it for 6 - 10 hours. (mine only takes 6 hours because it gets really HOT)

30 Minutes PRIOR to eating:

Add the cream cheese and the sour cream; mix well and let the mixture set at LOW for the remaining cook time.

While you're waiting:

boil your noodles (or your rice). Once they are done, so is your Stroganoff!

Plate 'er up!

Particularly good with a green salad and butter bread ;o)

EAT UP! YUM-O!

Meme's Sweet Tea

My Mama has the BEST sweet tea! Let's make some!

What you need:

Granulated Sugar

Family Size (gallon size) Tea bags (I like Lipton - Mama uses Luzianne)

Coffee Maker

Microwave

Quart Pyrex Measuring Cup

Gallon Pitcher

Glass to enjoy it in!

Step One:

get your family size tea bag and put it in the coffee basket on your coffee maker - fill 'er up with cold water and start the brew!

Step Two:
In a Pyrex quart size measuring cup, place 1 c. of granulated sugar; fill to the top with water and put into the microwave. Heat for 5 minutes on high.


Step Three:
Once 5 minutes is over - stir really well to incorporate the sugar; set aside.




Step Four:
pour the brewed tea from the coffee pot and the syrup water from the Pyrex measuring cup to the gallon sized pitcher. Then fill with cold water to the top of the gallon pitcher. MIX well!


Step Five:
Fill your favorite glass with ice cubes, pour the tea and enjoy a REFRESHING moment alone!

YUM-O!

Keep in refrigerator to keep fresh! Good for 1 week refrigerated.

Calories per 8 oz. serving: 50 calories