6 cups of water
1/4 cup peeled/chopped ginger
1/3 cup lemon juice (usually 1 lemon is about right)
1/2 cup firmly packed mint leaves
6 Tbs honey (or to taste)

Place water, lemon juice, and ginger in a stock pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes
Remove from heat, add mint. Cover and let steep for 5 minutes.
Strain out the leaves, ginger, etc
Stir in honey and serve or place in container and refrigerate

I don’t actually add the honey before serving. Rather, I add honey to taste as I use it or serve with a honey so everyone can adjust as they like.

1 1/2 cups and 2 Tbs All Purpose Flour

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup water

your choice of herbs (I like rosemary, but any, including powdered garlic would do. Might be fun to try folding in roasted garlic…)

sea salt

olive oil

1. Wisk together the dry ingredients, including a tsp or 2 of dried herbs

2. Add water till dough comes together. Be careful not to over mix. This will be a rough and sticky dough. No kneading.

3. Coat with olive oil, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise. You can leave it a long time, especially if you pop it in the fridge. 24 hours even. The flavor becomes more developed

4. Choose a baking tray. I prefer non-stick, or lined with parchment paper. Dump dough out on tray and lightly pat and stretch into shape – maybe 1/4 inch thick?  Don’t over-stretch it and get thin places. If it springs back on you while you’re stretching it out, cover it and let it rest for 10 min. It should be easy to work after that. It fills my, albeit English sized, baking sheet.

5. Cover (I use plastic wrap) and let rise again, till nice and puffy, and maybe an inch high. Maybe an hour or so. Depends on how hot your house is.

6. Preheat oven to 475F. While oven heats up, remove plastic wrap and gently press your fingers into the dough, making dimples on the surface. It doesn’t take much pressure and you don’t want to deflate the whole thing, so try a few singles to get the idea. They appear a moment or two after you’ve removed your fingers. I oil my fingers to keep from sticking and pulling on the dough.

7. Drizzle olive oil on the top so that the dimples get a little oil in them. Then, sprinkle the top with herbs and sea salt.

8. Bake at 475F for 5-10 minutes, till the top is golden.

Cooked rice (1-2 cups dry) Day old is best. It needs to at least be cooled a bit. This keeps it from clumping up and lets the oil coat it nicely. Also, choose a good rice. There is a flavor difference. Try Jasmine or Basmati)

2-3 of the large shallots (or 1 small yellow onion if that’s what you’ve got), diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

chicken (we use leftovers, thanksgiving turkey even). Maybe a cup?

2 eggs

vegetable oil (peanut oil is best, but I never have it)

frozen peas

chopped carrots if you like. Cut them small so they’ll cook quickly

Dark soy sauce

In your wok or large frying pan, scramble the eggs in oil and set aside

Fry meat in oil, salt, set aside

Saute garlic and shallots in a few Tbs of oil. Salt a bit. The goal is to flavor the oil, which will in turn, coat the rice.

Add veggies, peas while still frozen. Cook till tender.

Add rice and coat, mixing in the veggies.

Return the eggs and meat to the pan, mix well. Adjust salt.

Add soy sauce to taste.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) cold butter
approx. 2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup dried fruit if desired (the typical choice is raisins)

Preheat oven to 400F

So, from what I read, the “trick” is in how you mix the dough. 1st, combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

Next, “cut” the butter into the dry ingredients till it’s all well mixed and crumbly. I just use my hands. It’s so much easier.

If you are adding dried fruit, mix them in now.

Combine milk and vanilla, then add it to the dry ingredients slowly. Only add enough to bring the dough together. For me, this last time, I used much less than the stated amount, but I had also doubled the recipe. So, I suggest just be ready for anything.

The big warning in this step is to not overwork the dough. Just do enough to make a ball.

Once it comes together into a ball, put it out on your floured surface and pat it into a 1 inch thick shape. If you like the triangle shaped scones, a circle is best so that you can cut it pizza-style.

Cut your shapes with a sharp knife or biscuit cutter (rotate while pressing down in order to get a higher rise while baking)

Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar or apply an egg wash (I’m never this fussy)

Bake about 20 min. in center of oven, or till browned.

2 Tbs tomato paste

14.5 ounces beef broth (1 can)

7 ounces salsa

14.5 ounces crushed or chopped tomatoes (1 can)

chopped green chiles to taste

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

3 medium zucchini, chopped

1 lbs ground turkey, cooked

1-2 cans of beans (I used kidney beans) if desired

garnish – sour cream, green onions, cheddar cheese, as you like

Cook the ground turkey in a skillet, drain. In stock pot, briefly fry the peppers, chiles and onion in a tiny bit of vegetable oil to wake up the flavors, then add all ingredients and cook on low heat maybe 20 minutes or so, till flavors combine and vegetables are soft. May need to add water, depending on desired consistency.

1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans – they’re the same thing, you know. (I’m not sure how much this is if you start from dry beans)
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas (or the cooking liquid if you started from dry beans)
3.5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed – (SERIOUSLY NO MORE THAN THIS!!! Vern added half a head the first time…)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2.5 tablespoons olive oil

Blend it all up in a food processor and blender. Some people even like it a bit chunky, so you could do it by hand if you needed to. I mean, who needs all those gadgets?

Once you’re set up with the basic ingredients (many of which you likely already have) they last a long time. Now we just go through 2 cans of beans a week. Not bad. And if you’re feeling creative,  you can add all kinds of fun stuff. Sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, olives…

This is enough for Vernon for a few days, but he eats an inordinate amount… A couple ounces of this, plus a cucumber and a bell pepper is a good lunch once you’re used to thinking this way.

1/2 – 1 head cabbage, shredded

3-6 green onions, sliced

sunflower seeds, sesame seeds

package dry ramen noodles, broken up

For dressing:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

sugar to taste

ramen noodles chicken flavor packet or chicken boullion

sesame oil (optional) to taste

Toss and let the noodles soften

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

2 tsp vegetable oil

3/4 cups milk

1. Mix dry ingredients. Add oil, then slowly add milk till dough comes together. Knead till smooth. Let rest 20 min.

2. Break into 8-10 balls. Let rest 10 minutes.

3. Roll out, cook in dry skillet on high heat. Approximately 30 seconds per side.

2-4 eggs

bread crumbs

salt, italian seasoning

tomato sauce

lasagna noodles

parmesan cheese

1. Slice eggplant and salt. set aside to drain

2. mix bread crumbs to desired flavor, cook noodles (or use no-cook noodles)

3. wash eggplant off and dry. dip each slice in egg and bread crumbs. fry in oil

4. Drain fried eggplant on paper towels.

5. Layer eggplant, noodles, sauce, and parmesan cheese to fill a lasagna pan

6. bake  (350 F?) till top is brown and bubbly

2 large cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each)

2 medium yellow onions, diced

1/2 head garlic, minced

2-3 carrots, diced

oregano, thyme, sugar, salt

1. sweat the veggies in butter in a stock pot. When tender, add tomatoes and season to taste.