Home made Peanut Butter (cookies too)

My friends' sister used to teach kindergarten at our elementary school.
She quit to stay home when she had her first baby.
Now she has a website called "Make and Takes" where she posts all kinds of fun things.

She recently posted a video where she makes homemade peanut butter (and then uses it in cookies). I tried making peanut butter in the blender when I was little and it didn't work out too well - after watching her video I think it was more a lack of scraping
and letting the blender do it's work than anything.
Well, maybe it was the butter that made the peanuts stick to the sides of the blender.

She uses a food processor and it looks pretty easy.
I just happend to be roasting some almonds this morning and tried it with warm fresh roasted almonds in my food processor and it worked great!
I wonder if almond butter cookies would be good...
maybe with chocolate chips - everything's good with chocolate

Edited: I made some cookies Friday and they were awesome!

No tortilla chips? No problem

I really like tortilla chips, especially with salsa but when I started Weight Watchers I just couldn't justify the points/calories. So I set out to find a better alternative and this is what I came up with, all you need is corn tortillas and Pam (Lisa and I discovered that White corn Tortillas have less calories than yellow ones... go figure).

1st... Put the rack in your oven close to the top and turn the oven on Low Broil... don't panic, you don't need to hunt down your broiler pan just grab a cookie sheet.

Get out the number of tortillas you want and leave them stacked up. Lifting one at at time spray the bottom of one and the top of the next with pam. When you are done with the stack cut the whole stack at once.

For tortilla chips - I like to cut it into 8 wedges - I feel like I'm getting more.

For these babies:I cut the tortilla in half first and then cut them into thin strips - the thinner the better

Spread your cut tortilla on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. Put under the broiler for a few minutes... watch it closely as you want them golden and they tend to burn easily. For my oven I know it's time to "stir" them when "thick steam" or a tiny bit of smoke comes out of the vent. Stir and return to the oven for a few more minutes. NOTE: We tried to speed it up once by doing it on high and ended up taking the flaming tortillas outside to finish burning. I would suggest that you be very attentive the first time or two while you figure out what works best for your particular oven. If you still have some soft ones and most are golden brown just turn off you oven and put the cookie sheet on a lower oven shelf and they will crisp up quickly.

My kids prefer these over the kind you buy and they are cheaper and better for you. We use the little strips for Taco salad and tortilla soup.

Easy Lasagna AND Breadsticks

My family loves lasagna and now I love to make it. Not cooking the noodles really speeds things up... and don't chicken out like I did my first few times making it... it really does work! Not cooking the noodles first also allows you to make it all in the serving dish minimizing clean up.

If you want bread sticks start the bread dough before you start the Lasagna. I used my Whole Wheat Bread recipe (what else would I use?) I used half a recipe to make the basket full above and made the other half into bread. We fed 8 adults and had a few left over.

Prep time 15- 20 min. Cook time 90 min. Set 10 min.
Lasagna Ingredients
1 bottle/can of your favorite spaghetti sauce (my family likes Hunts)
1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 lb ground beef, cooked and drained*
10 1/2 regular lasagna noodles
24 oz container fat free cottage cheese (substitute higher fat if desired) undrained
4 cups (ish) grated cheese (mozzarella or jack/cheddar, whatever I have on hand.)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x12 pan with pam.

Pour about 2/3 of the crushed tomatoes in the bottom of the 9x12 pan.
Place three dry lasagna noodles on top of the tomatoes with a half one across the end.
Top noodles with half of the cottage cheese, a cup and a half shredded cheese and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Put cooked hamburger meat on top of the cheese. Top with remainder of the crushed tomatoes and enough of the spaghetti sauce to barely cover the cheese. Top with more noodles and repeat the layers once more. Place noodles on top of the cheese once more, top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese. Cover with foil making it higher in the middle so it does not stick to the cheese. Cook for 1 hour in the center of the oven (I often put a cookie sheet under the pan just in case it boils over). Remove the foil and continue to bake for 30 more minutes. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

For the Bread Sticks
Start dough 2 - 2 1/2 hours before you want to eat. (I have done it in less time and it still works but don't skimp on your rising time) About 1 hour before you want to eat spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Roll half a batch of dough out until it's a little smaller than the cookie sheet. Use a large knife to cut the dough in about 1 inch strips (going the short way if you want more bread sticks or the long way if you want to be fancy). Place the strips on the cookie sheet, spray the tops liberally with Pam and sprinkle with Garlic Seasoning, or leave plain. Set in warm place and allow to rise for about 30 min. Bake in a 350 oven for 15 to 20 min. (I have put it in with the Lasagna for the last 10 min of "Lasagna cooking time" and it works just fine.) You can also sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar after cooking and/or drizzle with frosting.

*I usually buy the 91% lean ground beef "yesterday's grind" in bulk (way cheaper per pound), cook it all that day with dried onion and then drain it and freeze it in a ziploc sandwich sized bag. When I need ground beef I just pull out a baggie, microwave for 2 min and wallah!

Tips on storing veggies

This came from a recent Deseret News article shared by my Sweet heart:

Storage tips Not all produce should be stored in the same place, according to an August 2008 Cook's Illustrated article.

These should go in the front of the fridge where temperatures are warmer: berries, citrus, corn on the cob, melons, peas.

These do best in the crisper's humid environment: Artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chiles, cucumbers, eggplant, fresh herbs, green beans, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, peppers, radishes, scallions, summer squash, turnips, zucchini.

Store anywhere in the fridge, provided it's not freezing: Apples, cherries, grapes.

Leave these on the counter, as they are subject to chill-injury: Apricots, avocados, bananas, kiwis, mangos, nectarines, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums and tomatoes.

Keep at cool room temperatures to prolong shelf life: Garlic, onions, potatoes, shallots, sweet potatoes, winter squash.