Butter Cream Frosting

Submitted by Sharyn Sadler

Buttercream Frosting:

1 1/2 C. shortening 1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. butter or margarine (not spread) 2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. milk 2 1/2 C. powdered sugar
Put all ingredients into a large bowl and beat 10 minutes or until fluffy.



Richer Buttercream Frosting:

2/3 C. shortening 2 C. powdered sugar
1/3 C. butter or margarine (not spread) 1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. evaporated milk 1/8 tsp. salt
Beat all ingredients together until it reaches spreading consistency.

Frosting/Filler between layers:

Cook together:
2 Boxes cooking style pudding 2 C. milk
Immediately cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the pudding and let cool.
Cream together:
2 C. shortening 2 C. granulated sugar
Beat both mixes together until smooth and fluffy and the grittiness of the sugar disappears.

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Buttery Decorator Icing

Submitted by Jenny Pearson

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In large bowl, beat butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl. Add 2 tablespoons milk; beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add enough additional milk for desired spreading consistency. Makes 3 cups.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Submitted by Alyce Liber

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 squares baking chocolate
1 TB butter
1/3 c. boiling water
1 c. Splenda®
2 TB light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter over double boiler; add boiling water. Stir in Splenda and corn syrup. Bring to a boil. Maintain boil at lowest heat possible and cook for 7 minutes, DO NOT STIR. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve at once over ice cream or reserve for a later use.

Lemon Butter Frosting

Submitted by Kim Judd

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 pound (appr. 4 cups) powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Cream butter with lemon rind. Gradually beat in part of sugar, blending well. Add salt, then add remaining sugar alternately with lemon juice. (Can add small amount of additional lemon juice to reach desired spreading consistency, if necessary.)

Cranberry Sauce

Submitted by Cynthia Schkrohowsky

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups sugar
1 orange
4 cups cranberries
½ cup toasted pecans
½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Directions:

Grate orange peel and add to a pan with sugar and ginger. Add juice from orange and simmer over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and cook until they pop (about 5 minutes). Add pecans and cool.

APRICOT SYRUP

Submitted by Janene Cook
4 cup apricot puree*
1 cup water

3 Tbsp lemon juice
4 cups sugar

Mix all ingredients together in pan. Boil over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam.

Pour into jars and process in water bath.

*Make apricot puree by whipping apricots that have been pitted and sliced in a blender. (I did find it easier to put the fruit in the food processor first, then the blender.)

Apricot Salsa

Submitted by Janene Cook

I like this over BBQed pork chops!

Notes: If making ahead, cover and chill up to 4 hours. Serve salsa cold, or heat in the microwave oven until steaming. It goes well with meat and poultry.

Ingredients

1 pound firm-ripe apricots, pitted and chopped
1 red bell pepper (about 7 oz.), stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 fresh jalapeño chilies, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt

Preparation

Mix apricots with bell pepper, jalapeños, cilantro, and lime juice. Season to taste with salt.

Nutritional analysis per 1/4-cup serving.

Yield

Makes 3 cups

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 22(8.2% from fat); FAT 0.2g (sat 0.0g); CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CARBOHYDRATE 5.2g; SODIUM 1.2mg; PROTEIN 0.7g; FIBER 0.7g

Cauliflower Sauce

Submitted by Cynthia Schkrohowsky

Serves 6

½ cup olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, chopped

2 small heads cauliflower, cored and finely chopped

1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Two 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed with your hands

½ cup water

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 pound angel-hair pasta

Grated Parmesan or Romano (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pot over low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the cauliflower and parsley. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is softened. Add the tomatoes, water, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is tender and the sauce is cooked. Taste for seasoning.

Keep the sauce warm while cooking the pasta. Drain and turn into a serving bowl. Spoon ¼ of the sauce over the pasta and toss well. Spoon the remaining sauce over the pasta. Grind additional black pepper over the top if desired. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano if desired.

Poppyseed Salad Dressing

Submitted by Aliess Robison

1/2 Cup veg oil

2 Tbl minced onion

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp paprika

poppy seeds

shake well and store in the refrigerator. This is great with Green apple or grapes in a chicken salad and is awesome as a dressing for a pasta salad. (chicken, bow tie pasta, green apple) Enjoy!

Alyce's Very Low Fat Spicy Black Bean Soup

Submitted by Alyce Liber

ALYCE’S VERY LOW FAT VEGETARIAN SPICY BLACK BEAN SOUP *****
Makes about 4 1-cup servings
Dice:
1 small to medium onion 1 large carrot
2 medium cloves garlic ½ jalapeño pepper
1 large stalk celery + leaves, about 1 TB leaves, chopped
Sauté above ingredients together in 1 tsp. olive oil about 5 minutes.
Add:
2 beef boullion cubes (no MSG) or 2 cans low salt beef broth and skip water
2 cups water
½ cup V-8 (low salt)
½ tsp. each: cumin, oregano, chili powder, dried parsley, ground ginger
¼ tsp. each: thyme, freshly ground black pepper
10 dashes cayenne, about 1/8 tsp.
1. Simmer all together for about 1 hour, until vegetables are tender.
2. Add 2 cans well-rinsed black beans; cook for another 30 minutes.
3. Puree in blender or food processor and serve with toasted no-fat tortillas. Add more beef broth (dissolve a bullion cube in boiling water) if puree is too thick.

Optional, add a tablespoon of non-fat plain yogurt on top of each bowl before serving.

The Perfect Meatloaf Topping

Submitted by Janene Cook

Ingredients:

Equal parts of catsup and brown sugar

A squirt of mustard

Directions:

Blend together and poor over meatloaf.

Bake meatloaf per instructions.

Orange/Honey Syrup

Submitted by Therisia Smolovitz

Ingredients:

2 C honey (white clover is best)

3/4 C orange juice (or can use any flavor you prefer)

Directions:

Warm the honey and then slowly stir in the juice. Mix thoroughly. Use in place of maple syrup for pancakes and waffles. Especially good with whole wheat items.

Marinara Sauce

Submitted by Sue Mortensen

(This is wonderful – and freezes really well)

Ingredients:

Approximately 20 plum tomatoes (nice red ones, chopped)
1 onion, chopped
4 to 5 cloves of fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 32 oz. cans of Contadina tomato sauce (unseasoned)
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Handful of fresh basil, chopped and 2 tbsp dried basil
2 tbsp dried oregano

Directions:

Cut off stem ends of tomatoes. Scoop/squeeze out and discard seeds. Chop tomatoes and onion and sauté in small amount of olive oil. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes and add fresh chopped basil, dried basil and oregano. Cook mixture for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Cook for a least an hour. Don’t let the sauce boil too hard.
Boil water and cook pasta.

Marie's Curry Mayonnaise

Submitted by Marie Campbell

Ingredients:

½ mayonnaises
2 teaspoons concentrated bottled curry paste or good curry powder
½ teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons sieved apricot jam

Directions:

Mix with fresh cooked/chopped chicken or with a can a chicken to make a fabulous sandwich.

Lemon Butter Frosting

Submitted by Kim Judd

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 pound (appr. 4 cups) powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Cream butter with lemon rind. Gradually beat in part of sugar, blending well. Add salt, then add remaining sugar alternately with lemon juice. (Can add small amount of additional lemon juice to reach desired spreading consistency, if necessary.)

Hot Fudge Sauce

Submitted by Alyce Liber

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 squares baking chocolate
1 TB butter
1/3 c. boiling water
1 c. Splenda®
2 TB light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter over double boiler; add boiling water. Stir in Splenda and corn syrup. Bring to a boil. Maintain boil at lowest heat possible and cook for 7 minutes, DO NOT STIR. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve at once over ice cream or reserve for a later use.

Curry

Submitted by Cynthia Schrahowski

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds or dry mustard
2-3 jalapenos, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon curry powder
2 Tablespoons freshly ground ginger
3 onions, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
6 tomatoes chopped, (or 1 to 2 cans diced tomatoes)
1 can coconut milk
salt

Then any combination of the following:
8 ounces fish fillets, skinned and de-boned
2 to 4 chicken breasts, sliced into ½ inch strips
Fresh spinach
Canned beans or lentils
Chopped cilantro, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, peppers, onions, etc.

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, jalapenos, curry, and ginger. Saute for a few minutes. Add onions, cook until soft (5 minutes) then add chili powder. Add tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, then add one or two cups of water and the coconut milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes until it has the consistency of heavy cream, then season with salt.

From this base, add any of the additional ingredients. For the fish, add to sauce and simmer for about 6 minutes. For the chicken, stir-fry until nearly cooked, then add to sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. For the vegetables, add all but the cilantro and spinach to the sauce at the beginning with the onions. Continue to cook as normal and simmer until tender. Add cilantro and spinach at the end of the cooking time.

Cinnamon Syrup

Submitted by Amy Clark

(Great with pancakes)

ingredients:

1 cup sugar

2 TBS flour

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

2/3 cup water

3 TBS butter

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. It should be thick at this point, remove immediately.

Buttery Decorator Icing

Submitted by Jenny Pearson

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In large bowl, beat butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl. Add 2 tablespoons milk; beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add enough additional milk for desired spreading consistency. Makes 3 cups.

Butter Cream Frosting

Submitted by Sharyn Sadler

Buttercream Frosting:

1 1/2 C. shortening 1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. butter or margarine (not spread) 2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. milk 2 1/2 C. powdered sugar
Put all ingredients into a large bowl and beat 10 minutes or until fluffy.



Richer Buttercream Frosting:

2/3 C. shortening 2 C. powdered sugar
1/3 C. butter or margarine (not spread) 1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. evaporated milk 1/8 tsp. salt
Beat all ingredients together until it reaches spreading consistency.

Frosting/Filler between layers:

Cook together:
2 Boxes cooking style pudding 2 C. milk
Immediately cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the pudding and let cool.
Cream together:
2 C. shortening 2 C. granulated sugar
Beat both mixes together until smooth and fluffy and the grittiness of the sugar disappears.