I had planned to make the chili in the crock pot as the original recipe does, but didn’t have all the ingredients in time to do that. I made it in a soup pot on the stove.

Chicken Taco Chili

To a large soup pot, add:

3 pounds of chicken breast, boneless and skinless (about four large breasts)
water to just cover the chicken in the pot
1 T. dry onion
2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. salt

Bring to a simmer and, once it begins to gently simmer, give it about 25 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the broth and let it rest for ten minutes or so before dicing or shredding. Return the chicken to the broth. Add:

1 16-oz. can black beans (do not drain)
1 16-oz. can kidney beans (do not drain)
29-oz. can tomato sauce (original recipe called for only 8-oz.)
29 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn
1 T. cumin
1 T. homemade taco seasoning (See recipe below.)
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

Bring to a simmer and serve.

The original recipe also added:
1 packet taco seasoning
1 T. chili powder
1/4 c. chopped cilantro. (I substituted parsley as I do NOT like the taste of cilantro.)

This is very good and a nice warm soup for a cold evening. It would be great served with cornbread, tortilla chips and celery sticks. Top with shredded cheese and sour cream, if you like. Could be served over rice, as well. It was even better the second day.

I doubled this taco seasoning recipe and used a tablespoon of it in the soup. I stored the rest in a glass spice jar. No more taco seasoning packets for us. Another small step in reducing excess packaging.

Taco Seasoning Mix

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Since making the seasoning, I’ve used it in Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken and to season homemade baked tortilla chips. Very good!

~~Rhonda

Spaghetti with Chicken and Broccoli (See? I’ve already changed it from linguine…)

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (I used thighs because that’s what I had on hand.)
water – just enough to cover the chicken in a large soup pot
1 T. dehydrated onion flakes
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
16 oz. spaghetti noodles (I would have used linguine if I’d had it. Next time. Was good with spaghetti, though!)
3 broccoli spears, diced
2 cups chicken broth reserved from cooking the chicken, divided into one cup each
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. lemon juice
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 chopped fresh parsley (Use a tablespoon of dried if you don’t have fresh.)

Place the chicken in a stock or soup pot and add just enough water to cover the chicken.

Add the onion, thyme and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 25 minutes.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes before dicing.

Bring to a boil the liquid left from cooking the chicken. No need to strain first. When it comes to a boil, add the noodles.

When the noodles are about half done, add the broccoli and cook together until noodles are al dente. Drain off the liquid, reserving two cups. Return the noodles to the pot.

Mix together one cup of stock, the cornstarch and the lemon juice. Whisk to combine well.

Add the diced chicken and the above mixture to the pot and cook on low to medium heat for a few minutes. Add some of the additional reserved liquid, if the noodles look like they need it.

Turn off the heat and stir in the freshly ground pepper and the parsley.

I served the spaghetti with a green salad, corn, steamed asparagus and homemade rolls.

I saved what was left of the reserved liquid and stirred it into the leftovers before putting them in the fridge. Noodles tend to absorb more moisture in storage, so adding a little extra liquid will help keep them loose.

I think this would be delicious made with sugar snap peas instead of broccoli. Or you could use asparagus. If I used asparagus, I would cook it separately and add it at the last with the chicken because it is so tender. Next time I make this recipe, I am going to add some minced garlic to it.

I had some of the leftover spaghetti for lunch today. Delicious. Definitely making this one again.

~~Rhonda

DH brought home four quart jars, like this one.

I decided to recan it in 8-oz. jelly jars. A better size for us. The only issue with recanning is to be sure the apple butter is heated to 212*F before filling the jars. So we poured the apple butter into a large pot. The larger the better, as the apple butter will sputter and splash when it boils. NOT fun to have it sputter and splash on your bare arm. As me how I know…

The emptied jars were placed upside-down in a container so the last bits of sticky goodness could drain out and be added to the cooking pot.

When canning, set up the entire process before you begin. Once started, you need to keep moving.

Then it was time to stir, stir, stir as the apple butter heated to the necessary 212*F.

With one load in the canner, I waited till it was almost done before filling the jars for the next load.

I processed the jars in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Now we have some nice sized jars for ourselves and some for gifts at Christmas.

Doesn’t it look delicious? I can tell you…it is!

~~Rhonda

If the kids don’t gobble it up first, I make cinnamon roses with it. Just for fun. Just because.

To make cinnamon roses, roll any leftover dough out as though you were making another pie crust. I found these pictures while browsing my older photos. Not sure why I had so much leftover this time, but I must have made enough dough for more pies than I actually needed.

You can spread butter over the dough if you like, but I skip that and just sprinkle it liberally with cinnamon and sugar. The blue shaker is our cinnamon sugar shaker. To fill that, I fill it with sugar, pour that into a small bowl, add a teaspoon of cinnamon and stir it with a fork to mix. Then I pour it back into the shaker and it’s good to go. It sits on the counter ledge, waiting for someone to crave cinnamon toast. Or for someone to make cinnamon roses…

Roll the dough so you have the longest roll possible.

Slice the dough into 1/2″ roses. Another good reason to roll dough between sheets of waxed paper…it saves the counter when you slice cinnamon roses…

Bake on any oven safe dish. 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

When cool enough, enjoy! Just for fun. Just because. …I can almost smell them…

Someone told me she made something similar, but didn’t call them cinnamon roses. I have a vague memory that my mother or grandmother made these for us…and she called them cinnamon roses. Sibs, cousins, anyone remember that??

~~Rhonda

I use a 13x18x1-inch pan (called a half sheet pan) for making cookie sheet pie. Forgive the well-used look of the pan in these pictures. I have four *well* used pans and three that still look brand new. Any time I’m making something that has to be cut in the pan, I use one of the older pans to save the wear and tear on the newer ones.

To make the pie, I follow the general recipe I use for fruit pies given in my post for raspberry pie. For the cookie sheet pie, I use the recipe for the sugar mixture, but add half again as much. The amount of sugar used is based on peaches in light syrup. If they were canned in heavy syrup, I think I’d cut the sugar back to 3/4 c.

For a cookie sheet pie, use this amount of the sugar mixture.

Mix the following together and set aside.
1 c. + 2 T. sugar
3 T. flour
3 T. instant tapioca
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
a few gratings of nutmeg (or a dash of ground nutmeg)

Make pie crust for two 2-crust pies. Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time. See the raspberry pie recipe link for my crust recipe. I always roll pie dough between two sheets of waxed paper, using flour to keep it from sticking. Works great and makes it easy to flip the crust into the pie plate. Also makes wiping the counter a breeze. I tend to flip flour everywhere, but I don’t have to scrape up little bits of dough.

Line the cookie sheet with two of the rolled pie crusts, trimming the middle where the crusts meet (see trimming the top crust below) and pressing the two pieces together to form a seal. I’d already finished this part when I decided to take pictures and post the procedure…

Sprinkle enough of the sugar mixture over the bottom crust to cover it. Add the peaches (or apples or berries, etc.) to fill the pan. Sprinkle the remainder of the sugar mixture evenly over the fruit.

Roll the top crusts and place on the pie.

Using waxed paper to roll the dough makes it easy to pick up the crust and flip it over onto the pie. Once placed, the waxed paper can be peeled off and used to roll the next crust.

The crusts should overlap near the middle of the pie. That needs to be trimmed.

Cut straight down through both pieces of top crust. Do not cut through the bottom crust.

Remove the cut edge from the top of the pie, then carefully lift the other side of the crust and remove the edge from underneath. I don’t bother to seal this cut, though you may if it makes you happy. I’ve never had a complaint.

The edges of the pie crust may overlap the edge of the pan. Use a sharp knife and trim the crust. I trim it by cutting straight down. If you want to leave a larger edge so you can easily crimp the pie crust, roll the crust large enough to leave the amount you need for crimping.

Pieces of dough trimmed from the bottom crust before it is filled with sugar and fruit, as well as pieces from the top crust) can be used to fill gaps in either crust. Just press to seal. Don’t worry about cosmetics. This is a homemade pie. Rustic is OK.

I use a fork to make diagonal lines across the top of the pie, then sprinkle it with sugar. Why? Because that’s the way my Grandma Ruth always made her pie.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven to 325 and bake 25 more minutes. Your house will smell wonderful.

Cool and cover if transporting to another site. If you’re eating at home, it’s wonderful served warm with ice cream.

Enjoy! ~~Rhonda

Mix together:
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder

Add and mix until crumbled:
2 T. Crisco

Add and mix until well blended:
1 1/2 c. hot water (from the tap is fine)

You can mix it by hand, but I used the mixer. When all the ingredients were totally incorporated, I kneaded it with the dough hook for three or four minutes.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces. The recipe said it would make 24, but that would have made them too small. I formed each piece into a smooth ball, then used a rolling pin to make each one into a thin circle of about 8-10 inches.

Cook the tortillas, one at a time, on a preheated pan. A cast iron pan would be best, but I don’t have one, so I used DH’s pancake griddle. Worked well enough.

Each one will cook a minute or two on each side. I fiddled with the burner through a couple of tortillas before finding just the right temperature. A medium-high was perfect. Even though each tortilla cooks quickly, it does take some time to cook them all. If you plan to try them, start well ahead of dinner time. As the tortillas cooked, I put them on a plate inside a folded kitchen towel to keep them warm, soft, and pliable.

These are a whole different animal than the tortillas that come from the grocery store. Oh, so much better! DH and all three girls thought they were great and gave them a big thumbs up.

We’ll be having these again. I’ll probably cut the recipe in half next time and just make eight tortillas. I made eight for supper, then made the other eight afterward to use up the dough. I stored them in a square container and layered them between small pieces of waxed paper. We’ll see how they are tomorrow, warmed up, or perhaps we’ll cut them into wedges and bake them with a little cooking spray and some salt and garlic powder.

~~Rhonda

Here’s the recipe at Taste of Home online…South Carolina Cobbler. Interestingly, as I compared my magazine page to the online page, the amount of sugar was reduced online as well as the amount of butter. The recipes are for an 8×8 pan. Here’s my version for a 9×13 pan.

1/2 c. (1 stick) margarine or butter, melted

6 c. fresh, sliced peaches (or canned peaches in light syrup, drained)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (original recipe did not call for this)
pinch of freshly granted nutmeg (original recipe did not call for this)

1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 350*.

Melt the butter and pour it into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.

Combine the peaches, sugar, almond extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir well. Set aside.

Combine the milk, sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour. Stir to mix well. Batter will be runny. Pour over the butter. Do not stir.

Top with the peach mixture. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Here it is before the cinnamon was added to the top.

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, until golden brown.

Delicious served warm with ice cream! Also good cold for breakfast…ask me how I know…

The peach measurement doesn’t have to be exactly as given above. When I make this from peaches I’ve canned myself, I use two quart jars, drained. If you use store-bought, probably three large cans (are they about 29 oz.?) of sliced peaches in light syrup would be about right. And use ground nutmeg if you don’t have whole nutmeg to grate yourself. The taste of the two are not the same, but close enough. Freshly ground is better in my opinion, though. A brighter, fresher taste. I don’t measure it, just grate some in. Doesn’t take much.

~~Rhonda

I made strawberry jam last week, and plan to make more tomorrow. Strawberries are cheap right now. Aren’t they pretty?

All it took was a couple of pulses in the food processor and the strawberries were just right.

Filling jars with ruby red goodness.

Some folks just invert their jars and call them done. I prefer to give them a ten minute hot water bath.

36 jars of summer yum.

Jam and homemade bread. It’s sooo good!

The Pick Your Own site has great step-by-step instructions for canning and freezing your summer produce.

~~Rhonda

Rhonda’s Rolls

In the mixing bowl, mix together:

3 c. bread flour (all purpose flour works fine, too)
5 tsp. yeast

Add, and continue to mix:
3 c. milk, heated to 112-115 degrees (We use 1/2 buttermilk and half 2% milk. Buttermilk gives it a bit of a tang which is nice.)
3 eggs (I whisk them in the measuring cup I used for the milk…it’s still warm and takes a little chill off the eggs as I never remember to take them out of the fridge before I make bread, but you can just drop them into the mixing bowl.)
1/2 c. sugar (You can use less sugar if you like. If I decide I’ll make part of the recipe into a pizza crust, I’ll cut the sugar back to 1/4 c.)
2 T. unsulphered molasses
1/2 c. vegetable oil (I use 1/4 c. canola oil and 1/4 c. olive oil.)
2 tsp. salt
5-6 c. additional flour, added a cup at a time

After everything is incorporated, knead the dough for six minutes.

Then, place the dough into a large oiled bowl, flip the dough to coat it with oil to keep it from drying out, cover with a dishcloth and allow to rise until doubled in size. About 45-60 minutes. Punch the dough down, shape into rolls, buns, or loaves and allow to rise again.

Bake rolls and buns at 375* for 13 minutes. Loaves for 25-30 minutes. If you have an instant read thermometer, the loaf is done when the internal temperature is 195*.

I use a dough hook and do all the kneading in the mixer. When DH makes this recipe, he kneads the dough by hand.

You can add cheese, herbs, etc., to the dough near the end of kneading. This is a great addition for making flavored breads (rosemary is wonderful!) or hamburger buns (love cheese in these).

I hope you give the recipe a try. Let me know if you do. I’d love to have your feedback.

~~Rhonda

Pizza

1 c. warm water (Warm tap water is fine. If it’s too hot to put your *clean* finger in, it’s too hot to put your live yeast in.)
1 tsp. yeast
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. olive oil
3 c. flour (We use bread flour, but all-purpose flour is fine, if that’s what you have on hand.)

Preheat the oven to 400*.

This is too easy. Put all the dough ingredients into a mixer bowl. Use the dough hook and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Continue to mix on low for six minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Remove the dough hook. Leave the dough in the bowl. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise for an hour or so. Sometimes we make the dough at lunch time, then use it at supper time. It does just fine on the counter.

If you don’t have a mixer with a dough hook, mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated. Knead by hand until smooth and elastic. About six to eight minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise.

Oil a large cookie sheet or a large round pizza pan. Spread the dough to the edges. If it springs back, let it rest five minutes and spread again.

Cover the dough with tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce…whatever you have on hand. I use plain tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes.

Sprinkle on your favorite spices…basil, oregano, marjoram, parsley, garlic powder,…whatever. We use basil and oregano.

Top with your favorites. We like sausage (cook and crumble before adding to the pizza) and mushroom. And we like our mushrooms chunky.

I cook the sausage, then add the diced mushrooms and sauté them with the sausage until they just begin to brown.

Grate your own cheese if you have a food processor. SO easy and the cheese is much tastier and won’t have the additives that store-bought shredded cheese has in it. I use a mixture of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Use whatever you like on your pizza. Lots of opportunity for creativity here!

I’ve made pizza three times in the past few weeks, meaning to take pictures, and each time I forgot to take a picture of the pizza with the cheese before baking. So you’ll have to use your imagination now. I’ll wait while you conjure that image…….OK, moving on…

Bake the pizza, in a 400* preheated oven, for 18 minutes. Lift the corner and check the bottom of the crust. If it hasn’t browned, bake a few more minutes until the bottom of the crust is a lovely brown.

Enjoy! Leftovers can be reheated and enjoyed for lunch the next day. Ask me how I know.

~~Rhonda