Category Archives: Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Beef and Chorizo Chili

 This is a thick chili with 3 kinds of beans and jalapeno that is sure to warm you up!
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 12 oz. ground chorizo
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper chopped
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 can diced petite tomatoes (14-16 oz.)
  • 1 can drained and rinsed black beans (14-16 oz.)
  • 1 can drained and rinsed kidney beans (14-16 oz.)
  • 1 can drained pinto beans (14-16 oz.)
  • 1 fresh jalapeno, chopped or 1/2  of a 4oz. can of chopped jalapeno
  • 1 can corn (approx. 15 oz.)
  • Fresh  diced tomatoes and grated cheese for serving
  1. Heat oil in large heavy bottomed pot.
  2. Add onion and saute for 2 minutes.
  3. Add bell pepper and saute for 2 minutes.
  4. Add beef and chorizo and season well.
  5. Cook till meat is no longer pink.
  6. Add the tomatoes, 3 kinds of beans, jalapeno, and corn.
  7. Bring to a boil and simmer for up to an hour. If you like thinner chili you can add some broth to the pot.
  8. Serve topped with fresh tomatoes, grated cheese, sour cream, avocado or your favorite toppings. We always love to have corn bread with our chili.

This recipe will probably serve 8-10 people.

It is still that time of year where a nice warm bowl of soup or chili hits the spot! Chili is such a simple meal and we enjoy it in many forms. Many times it’s a matter of just mixing together what we have in the fridge and cupboard.

Eggs a la Goldenrod

Eggs a la Goldenrod

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • A pinch of white pepper (you can substitute black pepper if you’d like)
  • 2 tablespoons snipped chives
  • A tablespoon or more of prepared mustard according to taste (We enjoyed the country mustard with horseradish added)
  • 8 hard boiled eggs
  • 4 slices of toasted bread cut into triangles

Method:

  1. Peel the hard boiled eggs and separate the yolk from the white.
  2. Slice the egg whites into bite size portions.
  3. Press the yolks through a sieve and set aside.
  4. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over low heat.
  5. Add the flour and blend well.
  6. Add the salt and the pepper.
  7. After about 4 minutes of cooking over low heat add the 2 cups of milk and turn up the heat to medium.
  8. Stir constantly until the milk begins to thicken.
  9. Whisk in the mustard.
  10. Add the chives and the eggs whites and heat through.
  11. Toast the bread and cut each piece into 4 triangles or whatever shape you’d like.
  12. Place bread on a plate and scoop a good portion of the prepared white sauce mixture over the bread. Garnish with the egg yolk that was pressed through a sieve.

Note:  I think this recipe would work well with some cooked crumbled sausage or bacon added to the white sauce.
This recipe will make at least 4 generous servings.

Creamy Pear Bake

Our internet is acting weird right now so I’ll have to postpone posting some great photos from our family weekend. We are having a wonderful time and enjoying so many great photos from Auntie Lolo. In the meantime here’s a recipe to enjoy. Happy President’s Day Weekend here in the USA and Happy Family Day in Canada!

This is a simple recipe with a nice creamy result. If you really enjoy creamy, you can serve it with ice cream or whip cream, too.

Creamy Pear Bake

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups cored and sliced fresh pears ( I did not peel mine but you could if you prefer)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Topping:

  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Prepare a medium sized baking dish.
  3. Mix sugar, flour and salt.
  4. Gently toss and incorporate this mixture with the pears.
  5. Mix the sour cream and extracts together.
  6. Add this mixture to the pears and gently toss till incorporated.
  7. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
  8. Mix the topping ingredients till crumbly.
  9. Dot the top of the pear mixture with the topping.
  10. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the topping is browned and mixture is bubbling.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream Pie

This is a make ahead dessert that will finish off any meal well. It’s rich and creamy with a nice crunch. Quick and easy to prepare but it needs a good three hours to set well before serving.
~
Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup chopped nuts
  • 1 lightly baked 9-inch pie shell
  • 1-1/2 cups cold milk
  • 1 cup Butter Pecan Ice Cream, softened
  • 1 package (6-serving) instant pudding-vanilla flavor
Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Combine brown sugar, butter and nuts in saucepan and heat until the butter is melted.
  3. Pour this mixture into the lightly baked pie shell and bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes, cool.
  4. Blend milk and ice cream in a medium sized bowl thoroughly.
  5. Add the pudding mix to the blended ice cream and milk.
  6. Beat slowly at lowest speed of electric mixer until blended for one minute.
  7. Pour immediately into prepared and cooled pie shell.
  8. Chill in refrigerator until set, approx. 3 hours.
  9. Garnish with whipped cream and additional nuts, if desired.
  10. Serves 4-8 depending on appetite or sweet tooth.

I posted this back in 2016 on the MGCC Blog and wanted to include it on my own.

You can choose a different flavor of ice cream for this recipe.

Land That We Love Tour ~ October 7th

We start on our home stretch on our Land That We Love Tour.

After two and a half great days with our brother’s family we left Dallas on Thursday October 7th at O’dark’thirty heading north to Oklahoma and Kansas. I posted a short post on that day here. We got a few gallons of gas at Central Truck Stop in Oklahoma City at $3.199 per gallon. Later that day we filled up our tank at the Costco in Wichita, Kansas for $2.729 per gallon.

After our gas and shopping stop at the Costco in Wichita Kansas we continued North and noticed the sign on the highway about the Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas. We took the exit and enjoyed our time on these backroads checking out the church and museum.

Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church

Here’s a link to the museum for more information. It is a well thought out museum with a great collection of history and historical artifacts and other objects that tell stories of the Mennonite people in Kansas.

When we walked into the museum we noticed the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Cookbook. Woohoo!

Schroeder Barn

One room schoolhouse

Goessel State Bank

It was quite warm on this day and we were parched after walking around the museum out buildings.

Back on the road we made our way to McPherson, Kansas where we stayed at Fairfield Inn and Suites. We used our accumulated points to stay here for free. We ate at La Fiesta Restaurant and ate well for less than we had at any other Mexican restaurant.

McPherson has developed into one of the most industrialized small communities in the nation. Centered in one of the largest wheat producing areas of the United States, McPherson is also ranked among the top agricultural centers of Kansas.

On this Thursday we traveled 416 miles for approximately six and a quarter hours not counting our shopping and time at the museum.

 

Hodgepodge History

Time to go back to the beginning of Hodgepodge with Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? 

When my brother told me he was going to start a blog for me I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle the technology. He convinced me everything would be ok. We then started brain storming about what I should name it. We came up with a few fun names but the way I came up with my keeper is…

a. I’m generally a very happy person.

b. I’m also someone who wonders about a lot of things and have a deep need to know.

So as we were discussing point a and b my husband came up with The Happy Wonderer.

As far as the purpose of my blog I chose “to Honor and Encourage”. I’m an encourager to people around me and I wanted that reflected in the relationships I’d develop on my blog. It is very important to me to Honor Jesus Christ my King.  I want my words and posts to be things that will encourage people and be something that won’t reflect poorly on my King. My blog was born on March 3, 2007.

I would not change my blog name.

My blog header has changed over the years. The photo at the top of this post was my header for awhile. It was taken at a photo shoot for our 2nd Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook, Celebrations, that was published in 2013.

2. What bill do you least like to pay? 

Our Tax Bill.

3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words? 

Favorite word, Hope. I also like sweet, redeemed and cheers!

4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate. 

Half full and I’ll refer you back to my blog name for the elaboration.

5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010? 

I’m a bit surprised that I didn’t join in to the Hodgepodge until August of 2016. I put a link to my first post in the random thought section.  I was a big ABC Wednesday participant from the early days of my blog.

Our lives were very busy in November of 2010:

Our daughter was engaged at the end of September and we started wedding dress shopping and making wedding plans that overlapped into November.

Our son came home from a 6 month training in Arizona and was establishing his new digs with his new job in Northeastern Washington.

We had an early Thanksgiving celebration before our son moved to Eastern Washington.

My brother Tim and Letty flew up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving day we had our meal with 40 others at a friends home.

On Black Friday we had our annual tea day with my sister, sister-in-law, and daughter-in-law and shopping at Goodwill and Country Village. Laura took this photo.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I believe this was my first Hodgepodge post.

https://happywonderer.com/2016/08/08/summer-olympics-hodgepodge/

Thank you Jo for all the years and all the questions!

Granola Chews

Granola Chews

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups white flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 cups granola
  • 2 cups dry oatmeal
  • 1 cup walnuts chopped

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Combine flour, soda and salt and set aside.
  3. Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla till creamy.
  4. Add one egg at a time to the creamed mixture beating after each egg.
  5. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
  6. Stir in granola, oatmeal and walnuts.
  7. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, watch after 10 minutes.

I like to use a dough scoop because the dough is easy to drop onto the baking sheet and the cookies are uniform.

Apple Raspberry Bars

These bars have a nice shortbread like base with an almond flavor. I saw this recipe in my grocery store flyer and cut down on the sugar and spices from the original recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced very thin
  • 6 ounces raspberries
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Grease a 9×9 inch baking dish.
  3. In large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, salt, baking powder and 1/3 cup of the sugar.
  4. In small bowl, whisk melted butter, egg, lemon zest, and almond extract until smooth.
  5. Pour this mixture over the flour mixture and work with hands to make a soft dough.
  6. Pat 2/3 of the dough in pan, pricking it all over with a fork.
  7. Bake until browned, 15-20 minutes.
  8. In large bowl, toss fruit with spices and 1/3 cup sugar.
  9. Drop the sugared fruit evenly over the bottom crust that has just browned.
  10. Crumble remaining dough on top of the fruit.
  11. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.
  12. Bake until top is golden brown, 30-35 minutes.
  13. Cut into bars.
  14. Store any leftovers in airtight container.

Yield: 9-12 bars

Honey Raisin Bran Muffins

This is a recipe from the Kellogg’s page and the reason I chose to do this recipe is because it’s easy and I don’t keep bran in my cupboard. We enjoy this cereal and usually have a box of it in the cupboard. All the rest of the ingredients are always in my pantry.

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups Kellogg’s Raisin Bran® cereal
  • 1 1/4 cups fat-free milk, I used 2%.
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, combine Kellog’s Raisin Bran cereal, milk and honey. Let stand 3 minutes or until cereal softens.
4. Add egg and oil. Beat well.
5. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined.
6. Portion batter evenly into twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin-pan cups coated with cooking spray, or use muffin paper liners.
7. Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Serves 6-12

Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are easy to make and they aren’t overly sweet. Enjoy them any time of the day.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 well beaten egg
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Combine the oats with the milk and let stand for 15 minutes.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
  4. Combine the beaten egg, oil, sugar and oatmeal mixture.
  5. Add all at once to the sifted dry ingredients stirring just to moisten.
  6. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. I used muffin cup liners.
  7. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins.