Salsa Roast

This recipe is super easy and super good. To me it seems when something is easy to make it is not always easy to eat. My MIL made this for dinner one night before Sean and I were married and I loved it. I make it a few times a year and each time there are no leftovers. Our family is growing so we have to find a pretty big roast to cook. The size of the roast is entirely up to you; the gravy the roast cooks in makes a lot so you won’t run short no matter how big your roast is. This is What’s Cookin tonight on Beaty’s Creek..

Needed:
1 beef roast-size depends on your family size
2 cans golden mushroom soup
1 large jar of Paul Newman's Medium Chunky Salsa

Place all of the ingredients in your crock-pot and cook on high all day. I start ours at 8am and we eat around 4:30. We eat ours with sour cream and chive scalloped potatoes and sweet cornbread muffins.

Baked Potato Soup

Another cold one here on Beaty's Creek, spring weather is predicted for the weekend and I am ready! This soup is yummy and it is worth all of the calories! We eat it with Gold Fish crackers but homemade bread would be yummy too! Well folks that is What's Cookin today.

Needed:
5 lbs. potatoes-peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Water to cover potatoes
2 lbs. bacon-cooked crisp
2 lbs. sharp cheddar-shredded
Sour Cream
Chives-chopped
2 pints 1/2 and 1/2
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 T cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup cold water

Boil potatoes in enough water to cover. Salt and pepper water to your taste. It takes quite a bit of salt to taste good, potatoes will really soak the salt up. Cook for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender, not any longer or you will end up with mush. This is the time to add your 1/2 and 1/2, cheese, and cornstarch mixture. Stir very well and bring to a rapid boil for 5 minutes but no longer or your 1/2 and 1/2 will spoil. Soup should be like a thick cream soup. We like to eat our soup with bacon, shredded cheese, chives and sour cream. Load it with whatever you like on baked potatoes and it will be good though. Regular saltines or Gold fish crackers are a must too! This is comfort food to me on a cold day.

Peach Pie

Sean really likes peach pie, I am not too crazy about it but this recipe is really good. I used my home canned Porter Peaches, which I think really make the difference but store bought canned peaches will do. It turned to Winter on Beaty's Creek today so I made peach pie to warm up the kitchen. Nice excuse to bake isn't it??? Give this one a try, you won't be sorry you did. That is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
For pie crust:
2 sticks COLD butter-cut into little pieces
1 t salt
1 T sugar
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup COLD water

Place flour, salt, and sugar in food processor and whirl around a little. Now add your butter and pulse until it looks like cornmeal. Once this is achieved add 1/4 cup of your water and pulse, add the last 1/4 cup and pulse until dough comes together. Form in to 2 equal balls and flatten between plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1 hour.

For the Pie Filling:
2 quarts of home canned peaches or 4 cans of store bought peaches-drained
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 T cornstarch

Mix all of the above ingredients together and set aside while you roll out your pie crust. Roll out crust and place into pie pan, fill with peach filling and top with rolled out top crust, make sure you seal the sides very well. Sprinkle with sugar and poke several small holes in top crust. Bake at 400' for 1 hour. If crust browns too quickly cover with foil.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

My mother loves peanut butter, I mean she can and will eat anything with peanut butter in, on or near it. Thank goodness none of my children have a peanut allergy or they would never be able to see their grandmother. Anyway I was looking through Martha Stewart's Cookie Cookbook and came across the Peanut Butter and Jelly bars and knew my mother would love them. I changed the recipe a little here and there to fit our tastes better. I admit it, I like Martha Stewart and really like to play around with her recipes. I cannot follow a recipe to the T and I have to make it the way I know will be good. Make these bars and you will forget just how cold it is. Hey what happened to Spring??? This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
1 cup of softened butter
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar-packed
2 eggs(I use free range)
1 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder(I use Rumford's)
1 t vanilla
2 cups preserves of your choice(I used Griffin's, an Oklahoma company that makes the BEST store bought Strawberry Preserves I have ever eaten.)


Preheat oven to 350'. Meanwhile beat in your Kitchen Aid mixer your butter, eggs, both sugars, and vanilla until they are light and fluffy. Now, sift flour, salt, and baking powder together add a cup at a time to butter mixture until mixed well. Now place 1/2 of the mixture on a parchment lined 9x13 pan, smooth evenly. I used a large metal spoon to achieve this and it worked very well. Now pour your preserves over the layer, spread the preserves evenly and crumb the rest of the peanut mixture on top. Bake for 45 minutes. I covered mine at about 25 minutes due to fast browning. Martha says to bake for 45-60 minutes and to cover if it is getting too brown. My oven is right on temperature and the bars were starting to brown at 25 minutes, so be careful.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I bet you have heard of twice baked potatoes haven't you??? Well here is one more for your recipe books. This is a child friendly one too, all chowed down last night. We had these with homemade rotisserie chicken and a nice salad. Can't wait until our garden starts producing and I won't have to buy all of my salad items. I have some really good recipes for garden items that I will share, stay tuned. Well that's "What's Cookin" on Beaty's Creek, well last night anyway.

Needed:
7 large potatoes(They don't have to be bakers.)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sharp cheddar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 minced garlic clove
Chives(chopped)

Bake your potatoes in a 425' oven for 1 hour or until fork tender and let cool. Once cooled cut as you would to add butter for a baked potato and scoop out potato into a bowl. Don't scrape too much, you will want to leave 1/8 inch of potato against the skin. Make sense? Now add to your scooped out potatoes the butter, sour cream, cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic. I mash this mixture like I would for mashed potatoes. Once mixed add back to your potato skins and place on a parchment lined pan, make sure you use parchment or you will have a messy clean up. Bake at 425' for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Top with chives and serve.

Pasta Salad

Feels like Spring today so I made pasta salad and plan to grill tonight! I love pasta salad with grilled food. This recipe is pretty simple but very good. Give this a try and you will make it again and again. Well, that is "What's Cookin" on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
1 English Cucumber-diced
1 container Cherry Tomatoes-slice in half
1 can black olives-drained and sliced in half
1 bunch green onions-sliced
1 pound pasta shape of your choice-boiled,drained and cooled
3 cups Paul Newman's Ranch Dressing
Salt and Pepper- to taste
2 T Lemon Pepper

Place cooled pasta in a large bowl and add all of the veggies and stir. Now add your seasoning and 2 cups of dressing, stir until well coated. Place in fridge for a couple of hours. Right before serving add remaining 1 cup of dressing to moisten it up. We like crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos on top of ours.

Real Whole Wheat Bread

I LOVE homemade whole wheat bread. I can eat it all day long with butter of course, have to make it a little bad don't I?? This bread takes a little work but is so worth it. It will give your Kitchen Aid a workout or your hands if you go that route. You will be so happy smelling this bread bake and eating it fresh from the oven though. The lady that gave me this recipe is a great vegetarian chef! I just love her meals. Her son use to have his lunch sandwiches made with this bread when we were young and I was always so jealous. Now I can make it and eat all I want. My MIL is making dinner tonight and she asked me to make the bread. She thinks I am making these hot rolls, bet she will be surprised! Take some time and make some GREAT homemade bread today and surprise your family! Well, that is What's Cookin tonight on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:

12 cups whole wheat flour
6 cups water
2 T yeast
1 cup of dates blended in food processor with 2 cups of the 6(above) cups of water
2 T Lecithin(available at most health food stores)
1/2 cup high gluten flour
2 t salt sifted in with flour

May need more or less flour depending on moisture of flour and humidity in your area. Mix date mixture, water, yeast, Lecithin, and salt in your Kitchen Aid, add flour cup by cup until all is added. I add the gluten a little at a time but you can add it all at once if you wish. Now, grease 3 loaf pans and break flour into 3 even pieces and form into loaves and place in loaf pans. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350' for 45 minutes or until golden brown.