Oatmeal Bread

1 1/4 cups water
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats or ground flax seed
2 tablespoons butter or margarine or apple sauce
3 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add these ingredients into bread machine. First add liquids, then dry ingredients with yeast last. Makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf.

Easy Date Filled Cookies

Filling:
3/4 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup sugar
3 oz. water

Cook in pot on stove until thickened. Be careful not to burn the filling.

Cookie:
1/2 cup margarine
2/3 cup brown sugar (original recipe calls for 1 cup but I used less and it tastes just fine!)
1 egg
1/4 cup water or buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 3/4 cup flour

Cream margarine, sugar and egg. Add water. Mix well and add other ingredients. Drop by spoonful on cookie sheet. Add 1/2 to 1 tsp. date filling and cover with 1/2 tsp. dough. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Yield: 2-3 dozen cookies. This recipe is extremely easy and very quick to make cookies with filling inside! No rolling out of dough and spreading filling between two cookies!

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Beat together all ingredients. Let sit approximately 30 minutes. Set oven at 425 degrees. Put small amount of butter into muffin cups, heat until melted in oven. Add batter to 2/3's full. Bake about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Pirate Stew

3/4 cup chopped onion
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked, long grain rice
3 cups diced raw potatoes
1 cup diced celery or carrots
2 cups canned kidney beans, drained
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 small jar canned tomatoes - optional (I used canned tomatoes as the above recipe seemed to dry and not enough sauce)

Brown onions and ground beef. Drain. Layer ingredients in slow cooker in order given. Cover. Cook on low 6 hours or until potatoes and rice are cooked.

The Great Pumpkin Loaf

4 oz. softened cream cheese
1/4 cup margarine
3/4-1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (no spice)
1 3/4 cup flour (I used 1 cup white and 3/4 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine cheese, butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream together well. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. Mix in pumpkin. In another bowl combine all 7 remaining ingredients. Stir until mixed well. Pour all at once over batter. Stir just enough to moisten. Spoon into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove to rack to finish cooling.

Hot Chocolate Mix

* 3 cups powdered milk
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 cups cocoa
* dash of salt

Combine ingredients and store in air tight container.

To prepare: ad 4 Tbsp of choclate mix to 1 cup of boiling water. Mix and serve.

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it's one of the only ones I found that didn't use non-dairy creamer.

Granola Bars

2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup peanuts, crushed (I used 3/4 cup sliced almonds, 1/8 - 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut and 1/4 cup ground flax seed. I roasted the almonds but not the flax seed or coconut)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit (I used dried cranberries)

Mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Oh, and turn off your oven, because you’re finished with it now.

Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.

Then, open the waxed paper …

And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper. Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.

Feel free to add whatever add ins your family likes, ie: chocolate chips, raisins, and other fruit or nuts.