Recipes

Do you need some reading for the weekend?  Perhaps something else to mull over while you do laundry?  Over the past few days I’ve gotten completely lost in cancertutor.com.  I found it on a Google search after our friend Joy, who is battling breast cancer now, was talking the other night about how much diet affects/causes cancer. 

The site’s purpose seems to claim many alternative cures to cancer, AIDS and other diseases for which I can make no claims.  They seem legit but it’s a tough call to make a leap of faith on the kind of processes they are suggesting.  Many are quick to label it quackery.  On the other hand, I think all of us could agree there are natural solutions for our bodies’ health issues.

A small part of the site which I’ve been fascinated with though are the articles on how to Prevent Cancer and The Cancer Diet, which isn’t required for me but I think includes some interesting facts about how food and cancer are related.  Most of the the stuff we know…lots of fruits, veggies (heavy on the green ones, including grass), nuts, beans and little to no meat are best.  But there are many other nuggets (no McDonald’s pun intended) that I’ve found like how bad peanuts are for you.  As I’ve heard before, sugar feeds cancer cells.  Food like margarine, french fries and aspartame cause cancer. 

I don’t know what to think of the site but I do know at minimum it was a good reminder to eat a healthy diet which I have STUNK at the last few months.  Ugh!  Why is it so hard?  Why can’t blackberries taste like a banana split??  And many apologies for posting this on Super Bowl weekend!  How about a side of guilt with those wings?

I’m very curious if anyone is familiar with any of these treatments or is pretty smart about a cancer prevention diet.  Would love any information, stories and particularly any healthy recipes you have!

This is a super quick post tonight but I just have to share.  We had our small group over for our White Elephant Exchange.  At the last minute, I decided to make a Caramel Apple Cider recipe I saw in a blog post.  Well, it called for whipped cream and caramel on top. The problem was it was 30 minutes until go-time and I had neither whipped cream or caramel. Since the title is Caramel Apple Cider I figured it was pretty important to include.  Google to the rescue!  I made both the whipped cream and caramel sauce while the the cider was simmering and the whole deal was a huge success.  Everyone agreed it tasted like apple pie in drink form.  Seriously best cider I’ve ever had.  I thought I’d link to all three posts since I’m not responsible for any of them.

Caramel Apple Cider

Caramel Apple Cider Recipe from LeAnn at She Cooks.  You’ll know her as the Executive Director of Operations of Lysa TerKeurst’s Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Whipped Cream

I’ve actually made whipped cream several times.  The last time was a dud but this recipe was a winner.

Caramel Sauce

The caramel sauce was SUPER easy.  And I’m so proud I have a jar of it left in the fridge.

So there you go.  If you’re entertaining this year, this is a MUST . Thanks to LeAnn!

OK, to be fair, today’s post is not really a top 10 list.  It’s the top 10 steps if you want to make Butch’s Spaghetti Casserole. Actually, it’s not “Butch’s Spaghetti Casserole” but my father-in-law is the one I learned it from so to me it is.

There’s nothing much healthy about this, but it’s one of those meals that is super easy to make and feeds a huge crowd. For father’s day, it fed 6 adults, 2 kids and we had at least 5 servings left over. If you can make spaghetti you can certainly make this!

1 – Brown 2 lbs of hamburger and cook 1 lb of noodles. There are no noodles in this picture but, you know, I’m not Pioneer Woman!

2 – When the meat is done, mix in 2 jars of Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce. So ok, you could use a different kind. Or not. It really is the best.

3 – While the noodles finish, let the sauce simmer and put in two cans of Cream of Mushroom into a 9×13 baking dish. And if you don’t have a Pampered Chef stone one, find one RIGHT NOW.

4 – Drain the noodles. Yes, I really took a picture of that.

5 – Dump the noodles on top of the cream of mushroom in the baking dish

6 – Stir the noodles and soup and flatten out a tad.

7 – Pour the meat sauce that’s been simmering on top. No need to stir a thing.

8 – Sprinkle about 2 cups of shredded cheese on top. Freshly graded!

9 – Cook on 350 for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce begins to bubble on the side.

10 – Stick some garlic toast in the oven!

Be sure to give each serving a little stir and you’ll have some creamy spaghetti goodness! Throw it on top a piece of garlic toast for a few bites. Mmmm….

Find more Top 10 posts over at ohamanda.com

Who knew making hummus was so easy?  I guess I didn’t.  And with an ingredient like Tahini, it scared me off a bit!  I had NO CLUE what it was and in fact, when I was at the store this morning I had to Google a picture just so I would have a clue where to look.  When I read it was ground sesame seeds, I headed for the spice/baking aisle.  No dice.  A clerk pointed me to where they have the almond butter and Nutella with the peanut butter.  And ouch, at $8.95 for a bottle, I was really doubting whether it would be worth it.

I picked out this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa.  As the comments suggest, it’s strong on the garlic, but it’s just what I love.  I haven’t done a side by side cost comparison but I’m guessing it’s a pretty big savings as you could actually get 8 batches from the one jar of Tahini.  And there are NO chemicals in this one!  It made quite a bit and with a few carrot sticks, it made for a nice snack or even quick lunch.

I’m looking forward to trying different spices.  Have you ever made hummus?  Have any recipes I should try?

I totally missed the Soup Swap over at Southern Fairytale.  I thought it was Saturday yet I was a week late!  But no fear, it’s never too late to share a good recipe.  When we went a few weeks ago to talk to a couple from our church about adoption, she served baked potato soup and it was SO GOOD.  If you ever had Rafferty’s soup, the taste of this is so close, albeit a little thicker.  I made a bowl of this last week and it’s so easy and everyone, including the girls, loved it.  I have to thank our host for providing the recipe to me and hopefully she wouldn’t mind that I share it (she mentioned she got it from a magazine so I’m not sharing a personal recipe!).

 This is not the pic, but this is the closest thing I could find in a quick Google search.  Credit goes to this blog.

4 large baked potatoes, baked, skinned and smashed – leaving chunks
2/3c butter
2/3 c flour
6c milk
3/4tsalt
1/2t pepper
4 green onions (I left these out so the girls wouldn’t complain)
12 slices bacon, fried and crumbled (I use "real bacon pieces")
2c shredded cheddar
1c sour cream
1/2 lb Velveeta

Melt butter in stock pot, add flour and mix well, gradually add mil stir continuously until thickened and bubbly
stir in potato pulp, Velveeta, salt, pepper and 3/4 of the onions cheese and bacon. Cook until heated and add sour cream.
can put in crock-pot to keep warm and serve, top with remaining onions, cheese and bacon.

This gave us about 6 adult and 2 kid servings.

Heat up a loaf of French bread, slice on the diagonal and enjoy!