Pepperoni Calzones

My husband is a HUGE pizza fan. I believe that he would eat pizza for every meal, if he could. So any time that I can make something that is pizza-like it is sure to be a big hit with him. Tonight I made Pepperoni Calzones (BCC - 319). I was a little intimidated with the idea of making my own pizza crust. It has been over 20 years since I have made any type of yeast bread or dough, but I decided it was time to give it a try. The crust turned out a little tough and tasted a little floury to me. I'm not sure if I kneaded it too much, put too much flour in, or if it was due to the fact that I used a naturally white flour instead of all-purpose flour. I will be trying the dough again as there is another recipe for calzones that I will be trying. I think I will try all-purpose flour next time to see if that makes a difference. It's times like these that I really wish I had more knowledge of the chemistry of cooking. It sure would help me to understand how different flours etc. affect a recipe. The sauce (which included mushrooms), pepperoni, green pepper and mozzarella cheese inside the calzones was delicious! If I can get the issues with the crust figured out, I think this could become a Cox family favorite!

Chocolate Drop Cookies

This week's treat for the youth group was Chocolate Drop Cookies (BCC - 99). These cookies were really not difficult to make and my baking assistant, my daughter, was able to join me just in time to make the icing and ice them. I was happy for the help because the icing ingredients include two squares of baking chocolate, two tablespoons of butter, and two cups of powdered sugar. For a chocolate lover like me that spells TROUBLE when your trying to watch the sweets. My daughter has a lot more self control than I do in this area and I'm proud of her for resisting the temptation. I did try just one before they left the house and they were delicious! The feedback was that the youth group enjoyed them. We even have a request for the recipe!

Hearty Tomato Soup

Anyone who knows me well knows that I DON'T LIKE TOMATOES! But in the spirit of this challenge I made Hearty Tomato Soup (BCC - 311) and my daughter assisted with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches for dinner last night. I made a few modifications of my own to the recipe. I felt that 6 oz. of cram cheese would make the soup to rich not to mention all the fat and calories it would add. So, instead at the end of cooking the onion in margarine I added enough all-purpose flour to make a roué. Instead of 1 1/4 cups of milk I used 1 cup and instead of 2 cans (16 oz. each) whole tomatoes I used 1 can
(16 oz.) of diced tomatoes. The result was really quiet delicious! Served with warm grilled cheese sandwiches it was the perfect meal for a cold and rainy evening!

Dinner Casserole

Now we're caught up to last night's dinner. Dinner Casserole (BCC - 254) is easy to prepare. However, I don't think the creators of this recipe were counting on the home cook using Healthy Request soup (which is reduced salt) or Baked Potato Chips. My family found this casserole to be lacking in flavor. However, I think that adding a little salt (if using a soup that is low salt) would help the flavor a bit. This was served with a tossed salad for a quick and easy Monday night meal.

I actually did the family grocery shopping yesterday (a rare occasion) and found a sugar free graham cracker crust. So, I also picked up a box of sugar free pudding and made a pudding pie for dessert. Pudding pie is always good served with Cool Whip, but I chose to serve it without. My family protested that decision. So, next time I'll get to Cool Whip!

Candy (M&M) Cookies

My daughter made the Candy (M&M) Cookies (BCC - 97) for her youth group. There was very little talking and a lot of eating going on. They ate the whole thing! I don't think you can go wrong with a cookie that involves some chocolate when you're dealing with a group of teenagers.

Salmon Loaf

Salmon Loaf (BCC - 185) is a meat loaf made with Salmon. However, I believe that there are some typos or something with this recipe. The loaf is to be baked in a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. There is no way the ingredients will fit into this size loaf pan. Also, the loaf mixed as the recipe instructs is very dry. I would like to try making this recipe again, but using less Salmon (recipe calls for 2 15 1/2 oz. cans), and cracker crumbs (recipe calls for 3 cups) and adjusting the porportions of the other ingredients. My goal would be to achieve a smaller, moister loaf.

Taco Dinner. . . YUM!

Taco Dinner (BCC - 211) is easy to prepare and delicious! The main ingredients are a pound of ground beef, chopped onion, an envelope of taco seasoning mix, and a bag of tortilla chips. The recipe includes a list of suggested toppings. I suggest anything the family enjoys. For example we left off the olives and included re-fried beans and guacamole. This recipe could really be considered a nacho like dish or perhaps a taco salad depending on the toppings used. This will be a Cox family favorite. In fact, we've already had it twice!!

Oven-Fried Chicken

Oven-Fried Chicken (BCC - 242) calls for 1/4 cup margarine or butter melted in the pan the chicken is cooked in. Well, I decided to save on calories and to lightly grease the pan with a little oil. I don't recommend that approach. With this approach the breading stuck to the pan. The chicken was good, but I would have liked to have the breading on my chicken not stuck in the pan. A Tossed Salad and Whole Kernel Corn finished out this delicious meal.

Lentil-Spinach Soup

Lentil-Spinach Soup (BCC - 313) received mixed reviews. My husband loved it! My daughter took one nibble and said "yuck"! I was OK with it, but not eager for more. I must confess that I have eaten Spinach in salads, but never cooked and have never eaten Lentils. My expectations were pretty low for this soup. It was better than I expected, but is not one of my favorites. I will probably make it again as a special treat for my husband (he says this is his favorite soup so far), but I will cut the recipe in half and he can have it all to himself. I recommend serving this soup over cornbread.

Zucchini Bread . . . YUMMY!!!!

Zucchini Bread (BCC - 36) is WONDERFUL!! Given a choice between Zucchini Bread and Pumpkin Bread, I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite. They are both good eating. One word of caution use a mixer when mixing this bread. I didn't and thought I mixed everything well. However, I was treated to a mouth full of cloves a couple of times while eating this bread. Mixing with a mixer to ensure that the ingredients are mixed well will solve this problem. No one else complained while chowing down. So, maybe I managed to eat all the pieces with the unmixed cloves. :)

Ham Loaf

Ham Loaf (BCC - 231) is like a meat loaf made with ground ham. I used ground pork. Ham Loaf is easy to make for a week night dinner, but I prefer meat loaf. I would make it again if I had ground pork in the freezer. I served it with Sweet Potatoes and it was a delicious week night meal!

Creamy Tuna Casserole

I made the Creamy Tuna Casserole (BCC - 184) on an evening that my daughter was out for dinner. The recipe is easy to prepare, but rich due to the 1 1/2 cups of sour cream. I found the Tuna flavor to be stronger than what I like. I realize that Tuna is a strongly flavored fish, but this was little overpowering. My daughter, who usually eats anything with fish in it, refused to try the leftovers because of my husbands comment that it was "OK, but not great." So, this recipe does not qualify as a Cox family favorite.

Applesauce Cookies. . . YUM!

I made a batch of Applesauce Cookies (BCC - 100) for my daughter's youth group. These cookies were in competition with a batch of Chocolate Chip that someone else brought that night. I must admit the Chocolate Chip won the attention of the teenagers. However, these cookies are delicious! They are soft and they have the perfect combination of apple and spice flavor that makes a great cookie for a cool fall day!

Tortilla Casserole

Tortilla Casserole (BCC - 212) is easy to make for a week night dinner. It is rich due to the 1/2 cup sour cream and the can of cream of chicken soup. However, it is lacking in the Tex-Mex flavors that my family enjoys. So, while it is easy to make and is good, it is not a Cox family favorite.

Still Cooking!

It's about time to catch up! I knew I was behind, but I didn't realize that it had been almost a month since I've written. I've been cooking, but not writing. So, today I'll write a series of short blogs to catch up.

First Corn Chowder (BCC - 311) and Baking Powder Biscuits (BCC - 29). The resulting Corn Chowder was a little disappointing. I think I know why. First, I used Turkey Bacon instead of real Bacon. I really think that this recipe needs the drippings created by real Bacon. Also, the recipe calls for one can of cream-style corn. I really think the Chowder would be better if one can of cream-style and one can of whole kernal corn were used.

This time when I made the Biscuits I followed the recipe and used all-purpose flour. I discovered that I can make good biscuits! I was very pleased with the results and good biscuits really aren't that hard to make! I think I've just gotten lazy and used to taking the easy way out (opening a can). My next expreiment with biscuits will be to use a naturally white flour that is actually healthier than all-purpose flour.