Cyndi's Recipes

[Cyndi]

Steamed Pork Dumplings


1 package bulk Jimmy Dean pork sausage***
2-3 Tablespoons Low Sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons finely chopped green onions
3 Tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced

Mix all together in a bowl.

1 package square wonton wrappers

small amount of warm water in a bowl

1 bottle Potsticker Dipping Sauce



Bring a pot (that has a steamer insert) with a couple inches of water in it to a boil. Spray the bottom of the steamer insert or basket with non-stick cooking spray. Take one wonton wrapper, moisten your fingers in the warm water, and and then moisten the wonton wrapper all along the edges of one side. Place approx. 1 teaspoon of pork mixture in the center of the wonton wrapper. Pinch the opposite corners of the wonton wrapper together to form a little pouch/package. Set aside and continue to fill wonton wrappers.

When the water comes to a boil, place filled dumplings inside steamer basket. Cover pot and steam for 10 minutes. Serve with potsticker dipping sauce. Makes approx 24 dumplings.

***If you don't have any Jimmy Dean Sausage, you can use regular ground pork sausage. Just add garlic, Asian 5 Spice Powder, ginger, etc. to spice it up the way you like it.

[Cyndi]

Crazy Crust Pizza

Nora gave me this recipe, so you may see her post it too. We tried it and my family loved it!



CRAZY CRUST PIZZA

1 1/2 lb. ground beef or sausage or 1 cup thinly sliced pepperoni*

In medium fry pan, brown ground beef of sausage, seasoning to taste. (No need to brown pepperoni.) Drain well and set aside.

Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. Italian seasoning or leaf oregano
2/3 cup milk

Topping:
Meat mixture
1 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion (if desired)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces
(well drained) (I use fresh mushrooms)

In a bowl, prepare batter by combining flour, salt, Italian seasoning, pepper, eggs, and milk. Mix until smooth.

Lightly grease and dust with flour or cornmeal a 12 or 14 inch pizza pan or a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan. Pour batter into pan, tilting pan so batter covers entire bottom of pan. Arrange topping of meat, onion, and mushrooms over batter.

Bake on low rack in oven at 425 F for 25 to 30 minutes until pizza is deep golden brown. (Deep brown gives a crisper crust.) (Mine took less time to bake, perhaps my oven is hotter.) Remove from oven. Drizzle with pizza sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

*For variation, use 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 lb. sausage along with the pepperoni. Chopped green peppers and sliced black olives may also be used as part of the topping ingredients

[Cyndi]

MANDARIN ORANGE/PINEAPPLE DELIGHT CAKE

1 box Duncan Hines butter cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. Crisco oil
1 can mandarin oranges with juice

Frosting
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip
1 sm. pkg. instant vanilla pudding or instant coconut pudding
1 can crushed pineapple, drained

Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and mandarin oranges, undrained. Save a few mandarin orange pieces to decorate the top of the cake. Pour into greased and floured 2 or 3 (8") round cake pans, or one 15" rectangular pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. After cake is cool, frost with Cool Whip, pudding and crushed pineapple mixed all together. I mix the pudding and pineapple togther very well first, and then fold in the cool whip.

[Cyndi]

House Chicken Salad

Cooked, cooled and shredded boneless, skinless chicken breasts
chopped celery
chopped walnut pieces
chopped green onions
red seedless grapes, halved
mayonaise
yellow curry powder
salt and pepper

I don't have exact measurements for this recipe, I just throw whatever I have on hand together. Yum.

[Cyndi]

Jalapeno Chicken Salad

Cooked, cooled and shredded boneless skinless chicken breasts
chopped green onion
chopped celery
1 small can diced jalapenos
mayonaise
salt and pepper

Mix all together in whatever quantities you want. Use less jalapenos if you don't like spicy.

[KimJ]

Okay Sin, I know my elevator doesn't always go to the top but.....do I cook the sausage before stuffing?

[Cyndi]

No, you don't cook the sausage, Kimmie. There is a small amount put into the wrapper, and it steams itself done very well in the ten minutes. :-)

Hope this helps!

Hugs,
Cyndi

KimJ said:

Okay Sin, I know my elevator doesn't always go to the top but.....do I cook the sausage before stuffing?

[JeanneM]

Hi Cindi! I tried your curry chicken salad last night and it was great! It's very hot (100 degrees!) and humid here in Chicagoland and I was looking for something cold to serve. I didn't have walnuts so used pecans and I didn't have red grapes so I used green (the red grapes would have looked nicer!). I served it over rice which I had cooled in the fridge. I also had some curry naan from Trader Joes which really complemented the curried chicken salad. Thanks so much for posting your recipe!! My best, Jeanne.

[Cyndi]

Hi Jeanne, glad you liked it! Nothing wrong with making substitutions, you still get the "right" end result! The curry powder really adds a nice flavor, doesn't it? Stay cool!

:-)
Cyndi

JeanneM said:

Hi Cindi! I tried your curry chicken salad last night and it was great! It's very hot (100 degrees!) and humid here in Chicagoland and I was looking for something cold to serve. I didn't have walnuts so used pecans and I didn't have red grapes so I used green (the red grapes would have looked nicer!). I served it over rice which I had cooled in the fridge. I also had some curry naan from Trader Joes which really complemented the curried chicken salad. Thanks so much for posting your recipe!! My best, Jeanne.

[TerriNB]

Hi Cyndi, I tried your pizza recipe yesterday and my family and I loved it! We also found that it took less time and we're going to try it on a lower heat next time too. Thank you so much for sharing!

Cyndi said:

Crazy Crust Pizza

Nora gave me this recipe, so you may see her post it too. We tried it and my family loved it!



CRAZY CRUST PIZZA

1 1/2 lb. ground beef or sausage or 1 cup thinly sliced pepperoni*

In medium fry pan, brown ground beef of sausage, seasoning to taste. (No need to brown pepperoni.) Drain well and set aside.

Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. Italian seasoning or leaf oregano
2/3 cup milk

Topping:
Meat mixture
1 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion (if desired)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces
(well drained) (I use fresh mushrooms)

In a bowl, prepare batter by combining flour, salt, Italian seasoning, pepper, eggs, and milk. Mix until smooth.

Lightly grease and dust with flour or cornmeal a 12 or 14 inch pizza pan or a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan. Pour batter into pan, tilting pan so batter covers entire bottom of pan. Arrange topping of meat, onion, and mushrooms over batter.

Bake on low rack in oven at 425 F for 25 to 30 minutes until pizza is deep golden brown. (Deep brown gives a crisper crust.) (Mine took less time to bake, perhaps my oven is hotter.) Remove from oven. Drizzle with pizza sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

*For variation, use 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 lb. sausage along with the pepperoni. Chopped green peppers and sliced black olives may also be used as part of the topping ingredients

[Cyndi]

I'm glad you enjoyed it Terri! It has quickly become a family favorite here too! :-)
Cyndi



TerriNB said:

Hi Cyndi, I tried your pizza recipe yesterday and my family and I loved it! We also found that it took less time and we're going to try it on a lower heat next time too. Thank you so much for sharing!

Cyndi said:

Crazy Crust Pizza

Nora gave me this recipe, so you may see her post it too. We tried it and my family loved it!



CRAZY CRUST PIZZA

1 1/2 lb. ground beef or sausage or 1 cup thinly sliced pepperoni*

In medium fry pan, brown ground beef of sausage, seasoning to taste. (No need to brown pepperoni.) Drain well and set aside.

Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. Italian seasoning or leaf oregano
2/3 cup milk

Topping:
Meat mixture
1 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion (if desired)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces
(well drained) (I use fresh mushrooms)

In a bowl, prepare batter by combining flour, salt, Italian seasoning, pepper, eggs, and milk. Mix until smooth.

Lightly grease and dust with flour or cornmeal a 12 or 14 inch pizza pan or a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan. Pour batter into pan, tilting pan so batter covers entire bottom of pan. Arrange topping of meat, onion, and mushrooms over batter.

Bake on low rack in oven at 425 F for 25 to 30 minutes until pizza is deep golden brown. (Deep brown gives a crisper crust.) (Mine took less time to bake, perhaps my oven is hotter.) Remove from oven. Drizzle with pizza sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

*For variation, use 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 lb. sausage along with the pepperoni. Chopped green peppers and sliced black olives may also be used as part of the topping ingredients

[Cyndi]

Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:


1 clove garlic, mashed and minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
dash red pepper, optional

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients. I like to put it in a small saucepan and heat it thru before I use it, but you don't have to.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 2 pizzas.

[Cyndi]

Triple Chocolate Mess***

1 pkg chocolate cake mix
1 pint sour cream
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding ***SEE NOTE
1 small bag chocolate chips, about 6 oz.
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 C water


Spray Crock Pot with non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients WELL. Pour into crock pot. Cook on low for 5- 5 1/2 hours. Any longer and it starts to burn around the edges (which I kind of like!)

Use a paper towel under the lid. It absorbs come of the condensation and keeps it from running back into the Mess. Check and replace if needed after about 4 hours.

Serve with ice cream.

***NOTE: If you want it to be more pudding-y, use the larger size box of pudding. If you want it to be more cake-y, use the smaller size box of pudding.

***Variations:Try low-fat chocolate, peanut butter chips, carrot cake versions, etc. All are good!