Great Ghana Chocolate Cake

This recipe is from a missionary couple that is distantly related to Rob.

Ghana Chocolate Cake

1 Cup sugar

1 1/2 Cup flour (Whole wheat, white or a mix)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 Cup cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

Stir together and add

1 Cup water

1 Tbs. vinegar

1 Tbs. vanilla

1/3 cup oil

Bake at 350 or 25-30 minutes in a 9x9 greased pan

Frosting:

1/2 cup real butter

14 cup cocoa

2 Cups powdered sugar plus or minus

1 tbs hot water (add slowly, just amount needed)

1 tbs. vanilla or almond flavoring

Stir together and frost

Chicken & Broccoli Braid

Preheat oven to 375

1 cup cooked chicken (chopped) (sometimes I use a rotisserie chicken, or even canned chicken or tuna)
1 cup broccoli
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 tsp garlic
3/4 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all of these ingredients together in a bowl.
On a cookie sheet spread 2 pkgs of crescent rolls out.
Spread chicken mixture down the center, and braid over the top.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until dough is golden brown
Cut and serve

*When Julia was born a cute girl in the singles branch brought this to us for dinner. She was in cooking school at the time. Her recipie includes this-
Lab sequence
1. preheat oven
2. wash, chop broccoli
3. cut up chicken
4. prepare mixture
5. roll out dough onto cookie sheet
6. spread chicken mixture on dough (down center)
7. braid top
8. bake
9. clean kitchen
10. eat, evaluate, enjoy



This is a favorite in our house. Rob even requests this for his birthday dinner.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 pizza crust
3 chicken breasts
1 1/3 cups barbecue sauce, divided
6 ounces Provolone cheese, grated
6 ounces Gouda cheese, grated (I just use mozzarella)
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In large ziploc bag, combine chicken and 2/3 cup of barbecue sauce. Marinate in fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

To cook, place Chicken and marinade in small baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Let chicken cool, then slice into thin pieces.

Sprinkle half of the grated cheeses over crust. Spoon 2/3 cup barbecue sauce over cheese; cover with chicken and onion. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 450 degrees. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. Makes 1 12" pizza.


Pizza Crust
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand for 10 minutes. In mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, olive oil, honey and cold water. Add yeast mixture and knead with dough hook (or by hand) for 5 minutes. Form into ball and place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 1 hour. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a 12" round (I just put it all on a cookie sheet). Prebake crust for 10 minutes at 450 degrees before adding toppings. After topping pizza, bake again for 10 to 12 minutes.


*from "Favorites," everyone in my family loves this pizza!

Rachel Ray's Shepherd's Pie

I got this one off the internet and made it a few weeks ago...it was a hit with the boys in our house....i didn't follow it exactly but it was still yummy, i think i'll make it again for dinner tonight...

30 MINUTE SHEPHERD'S PIE

The ultimate in comfort food, this Shepherd's Pie is also a hit with kids. Serve with 5 Minute Bread Pudding.

Shepherd’s pie, a British invention, was originally created as a way to use up leftovers from Sunday dinners of lamb and potatoes. If dinner was roast beef, the leftovers were baked into a potato-crusted casserole and called cottage pie. –RR

by Rachael Ray | on 10/10/07

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup cream (for a lighter version, substitute vegetable or chicken broth)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  
• 1 3/4 pounds ground beef or ground lamb
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup beef stock or broth
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (a couple handfuls)
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Serves 4

PREPARATION

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk and cream. Add the cream mixture to potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.

While potatoes boil, pre-heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add EVOO to hot pan, about one turn of the pan, with beef or lamb. Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3-4 minutes. If you are using lamb and the pan is fatty, spoon away some of the drippings. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat for five minutes, stirring frequently.

In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together for two minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy, about one minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in peas.

Pre-heat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6-8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.

crock pot teriyaki chicken

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

- Chicken ( 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 T oil
(you can double the sauce recipe above)

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix all other ingredients together then pour over top of chicken. Cook on low eight hours. (or cook for about half that time at high since.) Once chicken is cooked, shred with two forks and mix with sauce. Sauce will seem too thin, but once the chicken is shredded and mixed in it will be perfect.

Serve over rice.

you can substitute – rice vinegar and and add white grape juice and don't add the oil.

*I got this recipe off a blog, I have not made it yet, but it sounds yummy and easy, so I wanted to save it. I'll report back after I try it.

Meat and Veggie Spaghetti

I use this recipe as a guide a lot, usually substituting whatever vegetables we have on hand and also whatever kind of meat we have. Here is the original recipe though:

1 Cup chopped cabbage

1 grated zucchini

1 grated carrot

1/2 Cup onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

Saute until tender

Separately brown 1/2 lb ground turkey or beef

then add:

1 spaghetti seasoning pkg(i usually just add italian seasoning spices...oregano, basil, thyme...whatever)

2 8 oz cans tomato sauce

1 4oz can italian diced tomatoes(or i sometimes use fresh tomatoes)

Add sauteed veggies to the meat mixture and simmer for 10 min. Serve over pasta. It's really yummy. We usually use whole wheat or whole grain linguine noodles.

Old Fashioned sour cream cookies

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies {Christina Lund's recipe, a friend from Cleavland days}

1/2 c. shortening (or butter)

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. sour cream

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and vanilla thoroughly. blend dry ingredients together, add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream. Divide dough; roll out to 1/4 in. thick on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutter, place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar or leave plain if you want to frost them.

Bake 8 to 10 min- or until lightly browned. These bake up super moist, thick, and delicious!


*this is an old picture of Jules from Feb. 2010, when we made these cookies

Recipes from The Africa West Area Wives

The following are from Delores Dickson:

Baked Spaghetti

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 TBS butter or margarine

1 can (28 oz) chopped tomatoes with liquid

1 can mushroom stems & pieces (4 oz)

1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives drained

2 tsp dried oregano

12 oz spaghetti, cooked and drained

2 cups shredded cheese

1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained (optional out of Ghana)

In a large skillet, saute onion and green pepper until tender. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, olives and oregano. Add ground beef . Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Place half of the spaghetti in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Top with half of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Mix the soup and water until smooth, pour over the casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered, at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until heated through.

Beef Stroganoff

Cut 1 pound of beef sirloin into 1/4 inch strips. Brown in skillet with a little oil.

Add a can of sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup chopped onion, and one clove of minced garlic. Cook until soft and meat is cooked through 4-5 minutes.

Add 1 can beef stock, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and heat through. Adjust seasonings with garlic, salt and pepper.

Just before serving add 1/2 cups dairy sour cream according to taste. Serve over rice or noodles.

She said these are her family favorites when not in Ghana. If you try them let me know if they are good. She is a great person.

The following are favorites of Gladys Sitati, one of my all time favorite people:

Barbeque Chicken

6 chicken pieces skinned

3 tsp vinegar

3 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tabasco sauce, or 1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp. paprika, 1 cup catsup, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups water

Mix and heat all ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 325 F. for 2 hours. Do not cover. Serve with baked potatoes

Grilled Island Chicken

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 table soy sauce

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a mixing bowl or large airtight plastic bag. Whisk or shake well until the marinade is well mixed. Add the chicken breasts to beh bowl or plastic bag so that they are covered by the marinade. Refrigerate and marinate up to 10 hours

Grill or bake in 350 oven for about 45 minutes.

From Jane Curtis - They just came so I don't really know her but I thought her favorites sounded good.

Granola Recipe

Mix in very big bowl:

8 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 12 cup untoasted wheat germ

1 to 1 1/2 cup unsweetened, wide coconut

1 cup raw almonds-slivered sliced or chopped

1 cup raw cashews

13 cup raw sunflower seeds

Mix together and heat enough to melt peanut butter, then poour over above mixture:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup p-nut butter chunky

2 tsp vanilla

Mix thoroughly the dry and wet ingredients. Spread onto 2 large jelly roll cookie sheets. Bake at 250 for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. More for crunch. Stir every 30 minutes. Let cool and store in air tight bags. Can add raisins or cranraisins.

one pot salmon with snap peas and rice

hands-on time: 25 minutes Serves 4

This is a great salmon dish, I can't remember where the recipe came from. I think I may have found it in the Real Simple magazine years ago. This is an old picture, but I was just thinking this sounds yummy. I usually double it because when I cook I always want to have lots of leftovers. The cooking times seemed to stay the same except the salmon needed just a few more minutes.

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed

salt and pepper

4 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

4 scallions, trimmed and sliced

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Mix: the rice and 2 1/3 cups water in a medium skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Slice: the salmon on a diagonal into four 3/4 inch thick pieces. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place on top of the partially cooked rice. Cover and cook 7 minutes.

Scatter: the peas over the salmon and rice. Cover and cook until the rice and peas are tender and the salmon is opaque and beginning to flake, 3 to 5 minutes.

Mix: the soy sauce, scallions, vinegar, ginger, and sugar in a small bowl.

Spoon: the sauce over the salmon, rice, and peas and serve.