Molasses Sugar Cookies

These cookies won the best tasting cookie at this year's cookie exchange!!  They really are quite delectable!


Molasses Sugar Cookies
Makes 30 cookies

3/4 cup vegetable oil  (I use coconut oil, but NOT olive oil!)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour (can mix 1/2 white and 1/2 whole grain)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix oil, sugar, molasses and egg; beat well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. If dough is too soft to handle, refrigerate for 1 hour or more. Form into 1" balls (I use a scoop); roll in granulated sugar. Place 2" apart on un-greased cookie sheets. Do not flatten balls. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Potato Soup- The Ultimate Comfort Food!

Potato Soup

6-7 pieces of bacon, chopped up to about 1/2 inch pieces

2 ribs of celery, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

3 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed (about 3/4" cubes)

3 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup frozen sweet corn

1/4 tsp. dill weed

dash of marjoram

1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste-my broth was low sodium, so it needed a bit of salt)

2 cups whole raw milk

4 T whole wheat flour

1/2 stick of butter

Put the bacon in the bottom of a dutch-oven size pan on the stove and begin cooking. When some of the fat is tried out into the pan, add the celery and onion. Stir until tender, then add broth, potatoes, corn and seasonings. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are not crispy any more. Don't overcook or they turn to mush (unless that is what you want)

While the soup is cooking, make a white sauce with the butter flour and milk. Lightly brown the flour in the butter, then stir in the milk and heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add 3 oz. cream cheese and continue stirring until it is all mixed in. By this time, the potatoes should be just right, so stir in the white sauce and mix in thoroughly. When the soup is boiling again, it is ready--serve immediately.

This makes quite a big batch- at least six servings I think.  We served it for Christmas dinner this year, and it was a huge hit!

Cranberry Bread

Normally, the cranberry bread is one of the last to get eaten, but this year I made it a bit differently.  We chopped the cranberries fairly small (used the food chopper from Pampered Chef), and I used coconut oil for the shortening.  It was really the best cranberry bread I have ever had, and even Ornery, who has never liked it before, went for this before the pumpkin or banana bread!

Cranberry Bread

1 cup chopped cranberries

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 T grated orange peel (zest)

2 cups all purpose flour (can mix 1/2 and 1/2--white and whole grain)

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 T shortening (or coconut oil)

3/4 cup orange juice (juice the oranges used for peel)

1 beaten egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pan or line muffin cups. Prepare cranberries, nuts and orange peel; set aside. Mix dry ingredients; cut in shortening. Stir in juice, egg and orange peel until moist. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon into prepared loaf pan. Bake 60 minutes or until pick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove loaf after 15 minutes cooling on rack.

No Sugar Glazed Pecans

I had to delete the maple syrup due to the high fructose content, so I increased the cinnamon and used some English Toffee flavored liquid stevia for the sweetener. I overdosed on the cinnamon... I think less than half would have been plenty! BUT they are tasty, and sugar free, so I am happy!

1 lb. pecans

3 T. coconut oil

2 to 3 tsp. cinnamon (I used two TABLEspoons! wow, that was a lot of cinnamon!)

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla

about 1 full dropper of English Toffee stevia (or to taste)

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through to prevent burning, and to coat the nuts again. While they are cooling, continue to stir it occasionally to keep the "glaze" on the nuts.

My Favorite Egg Dish

I am a huge fan of scr-omelets. They are basically eggs scrambled with all the fillings of an omelet mixed in and cooked together. This is the general list of ingredients, although it varies from time to time depending on what I have on hand.

Scr-omelet

Serves 2

1 T organic extra virgin coconut oil, olive oil or butter

1/2 cup of fried sausage crumbles 

3-4 green onions, chopped with tops

1/4 red pepper, chopped fine

4 baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1/2 -3/4 cup chopped yellow summer squash OR grated zucchini

1 slice tomato

4 whole pasture raised eggs

1/4 cup shredded cheese (my favorite is havarti...)

Heat oil in a medium skillet until hot. Add all the veggies except the tomato. (I have even added green peas!) When the onion and pepper are soft, whisk the eggs and cheese into the veggie mix and cook until the eggs are cooked through, stirring fairly often.

Coconut Treat

These are a great sweet treat for programs that limit sugar intake.

1 T Coconut oil

2 t ground flax seeds

1 T finely chopped walnuts

1 T finely shredded unsweetened coconut

2-3 drops liquid stevia (any flavor)

1/4 t vanilla

1/8 t cinnamon

dash sea salt

dash nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together and chill till coconut oil hardens. You can shape into a flat "cookie" or just eat like dry cereal. Makes one serving.

Spaghetti Squash Dinner

No gluten means no pasta. Good thing there is spaghetti squash to fill in! Here is a new recipe I concocted last night--very tasty, filling, and healthy!

Prepare squash: pierce one end of a small spaghetti squash with a sharp knife. Bake at 375 degrees (I placed it in a loaf pan, but any shallow pan would work) for about 1 hour. Test with a knife to see if it is tender.

While the squash is cooking, prepare the sauce.

1 lb. ground bison

1-3 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup grated zucchini

4-5 chopped fresh mushrooms

1 T olive oil

Brown the meat mixed with the veggies in oil, and add seasonings to taste. (Kosher salt, Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, bay leaf etc.)

Add 1 small (4 oz) jar organic tomato paste and 2 cups distilled water. (the jar is the only way I have ever liked tomato paste as it does not have a tinny flavor to it. If you can find it you will be really pleased with the results.) Stir until well mixed, reduce heat to simmer until the squash is done. The longer it simmers the better the flavor. You can add a little more water if you prefer a runnier sauce, but taste to see if it needs more salt.

When the squash is done, carefully remove it from the pan to a cutting board and slice off the stem end. Cut in half length wise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon; discard seeds. Using a fork, scrape the meat of the squash away from the peeling and place into a bowl. Add a little butter and salt. Serve the sauce over the squash. (serves 4)