KATE'S TAMALE PIE

Kate, my dear friend, I cannot tell you thanks enough for sending me the recipe for Tamale Pie. I'm always looking for good crock pot recipes and this one is definitely a keeper. Quint gives it two thumbs up too.

Filling:
2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed*
2 cups diced tomatoes*
2 cups corn, drained*
1 T. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

*can use 15 oz cans of vegetables.

Cornbread topping:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 large egg (I used 2 medium eggs mainly because I get them for $1.19 a dozen)
1/2 cup onion flakes (optional)
1 T. red pepper flakes (optional)

Spray inside of 4 quart crock pot with cooking spray. Combine all the filling ingredients, stir well.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the cornbread topping, including the optional items if you're going to add these in. Then add the milk and eggs which have been whisked together.

Pour the cornbread mixture over the top of the vegetable mixture. Spread it out with a spatula if you need to.

Cook on low for 4 - 7 hours; on high for 2 - 4 hours.

This is a great recipe to put on after breakfast.

SPICY SMOKY HONEY BARBECUE PULLED BEEF

I use my crock pot and cook for 5 hours on high. If you use a low setting, then it will take about 10 hours. Since tenderness depends on breaking down the tough membranes that hold muscles together, you can't really hurry this recipe. It is well worth taking the extra time to make this tender enough to pull apart with a fork.

4 lbs. boneless beef roast (since you're going to be cooking this for a long time, you can get a roast that's on sale -- cut the roast into one inch slices, then one inch strips, and put into sauce made from the following:

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 T. brown sugar, 2 T. brown sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Add these seasonings:
1 1/2 T. liquid smoke
2 T. southwest seasoning mix (recipe follows)
1 1/2 tsp. each: garlic salt, cinnamon

Stir well so that all the meat is swimming in spiced tomato mixture.Then cook in crock pot. Stir every once in a while. Serve with rolls. I like to use a good bakery roll, rather than a hamburger roll. The bakery rolls don't fall apart with the sauce mixture and beef.

We usually can't wait to get the first serving from this recipe, then I freeze 2-serving-portion sizes for later. This recipe also works really, really well for pulled pork. And it also makes a great barbecued chicken if you want to use drumsticks instead of the beef.

Southwest Seasoning Mix:

Equal parts: onion flakes, cumin, red pepper flakes, paprika, basil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, dried mustard

Mix together and store in a glass jar.

SMOKED SAUSAGE-ZUCCHINI BAKE

This recipe uses 3 cups shredded zucchini. I'm thinking it's going to travel to our next church potluck.

3 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 lb. smoked sausage, cut into generous slices
2 cups bread crumbs
Pam to spray the bread crumb crust
3 eggs
1 small onion, grated
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup shredded 2% cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with Pam.

2. Press bread crumbs on bottom of baking dish to form a crust.

3. Spoon zucchini on top.

4. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until fluffy. Stir in onion, milk, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. Pour over zucchini, add smoked sausage slices and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes, or until edges turn a golden brown.

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups white sugar (I use 2-/2 cups Splenda)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10 inch baking dish with Pam.

2. In the large bowl of electric mixer, mix the oil and Splenda together, add vanilla. Continue to mix until well blended.

3. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the sugar mixture.

4. Add the zucchini and chopped nuts to the above mixture and continue to mix until blended. It will be a very stiff dough.

5. Turn out into your baking dish. I had to pat the dough mixture down into the pan and kind of spread it around. But since the zucchini gives up some of its moisture during the baking, it all worked out well. Bake for 30 minutes.

I didn't frost the brownies. Instead I put one in the bottom of a dessert dish, then added a generous portion of sugar-free hot fudge sauce (Hershey makes this). Then I added two scoops of sugar-free chocolate ice cream that I made yesterday and drizzled a sugar-free caramel sauce onto the ice cream.

The recipe comes from http://allrecipes.com and was submitted by Marian.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

5 large eggs
3-1/2 to 4 cups Splenda
2 tablespoons vanilla

Mix that really really well in the large bowl of your electric mixer. I mixed the above at medium speed for about 5 minutes.

To that mixture, add 4 cups of warm milk that has been scalded. Add this warm milk very slowly so that the egg mixture doesn't clot up on you. Turn the mixer speed back to low and add 1 pint whipping cream, and one quart of Half and Half.

Then put all of that into the canister of your ice cream maker and make according to the manufacturer's directions.

While the ice cream mixer was doing its thing, I peeled peaches, about ten medium size peaches which I then blended to a pulp. This actually made too much peach pulp. I only used about two cups of the peach mixture because I only wanted one quart of peach ice cream. The rest of the peach pulp will be peach preserves. And the rest of the vanilla ice cream will have a variety of toppings, like sugar free caramel that I get from Wal-Mart.

I put the ice cream into quart sized plastic containers that get stored on the door of my refrigerator freezer. That way, they don't freeze solid as a rock and can be scooped easily later.

SUGAR FREE COCOA SORBET

1 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups water
3/4 cup honey (I use the sugar free honey from Wal-Mart)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place cocoa into small saucepan. Slowly whisk in water until there are no lumps. Whisk in honey and salt. Stir over medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. When cool, pour mixture into the canister of an ice cream maker, freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.* Store sorbet in freezer. Makes 8 servings.

*I put the cooled mixture in a bowl and put in the freezer. When the mixture was really slushy, I processed it with my handheld food processor and refroze it. It didn't get ice crystally either.

I'm going to try making a sorbet with watermelon. And peaches. And strawberries. And cantaloupe. I never realized sorbet was so easy to make!

YELLOW CAKE RECIPE (NO SUGAR ADDED)

Oven = 350 degrees
Makes one 9x12 pan, sprayed with a cooking spray

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups Splenda/Altern
1/2 cup butter flavor shortening (I use Crisco)
1 cup milk
3 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs

In large mixer bowl, cream Splenda and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, alternating with milk. Stir in vanilla.

Pur into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Variation: Instead of frosting this cake, I covered the cake when it had cooled a bit with a layer of peanut butter. (Next time I'll nuke the peanut butter to make it easier to spread.)

On top of the peanut butter, I spread one package of Sugar Free Hersheys Chocolate Chips that I melted in top of double boiler.

Eat a piece of this cake when it's warm and you'll feel smiles exploding all over your mouth.

SNICKERDOODLES (NO SUGAR ADDED, OF COURSE)

Oven: 400 degrees
Makes about 5 dozen one inch balls that are flattened to 1/2" cookie

First thing you do is mix 3 T. ground cinnamon with 1/4 cup Splenda. Set this aside to roll the dough balls in later.

1 cup butter flavored shortening (I use Crisco) at room temperature
2 cups Splenda or Altern
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 t. soda
2 t. cream of tartar
1/2 t. salt

Cream 2 cups Splenda or Altern and shortening until light and fluffy. About 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients. Blend well.

Roll 1 teaspoon size ball of dough into cinnamon/Splenda mixture. Space balls about 1" apart on cookie sheet that's been covered with parchment paper. Using the bottom of a small glass, press the cookie balls down to about a half inch. The cookies don't spread out when they're baked; instead, they puff up and make a moundy type cookie.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing.

Angel Toffee Dessert (from Country Store Catalog)
Yield: 6-8 servings

2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar (I use 1 cup Splenda + 1 tablespoon cornstarch)
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
5 cups cubed angel food cake
1/2 cup chocolate syrup (I use Smuckers sugar free hot fudge sauce warmed enough so that you can pour it out of the jar)
1/2 cup English toffee bits (I found Russell Stovers sugar free. Put in freezer for about a half hour and then take the candy pieces out of their individual wrappings. Put in a baggy and pound them into little chunks while they are brittle from being cold.) 

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and milk until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping. Arrange angel food cake cubes in an ungreased 7x2 inch dish. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Set aside 1 tablespoon of toffee bits; sprinkle the remaining toffee bits over chocolate. Spread cream cheese mixture over top. Sprinkle with remaining toffee bits. Cover and chill until serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY CAKE

preheat oven to 350 degrees

NOTE: This recipe uses one box of Pillsbury Reduced Sugar Devil's Food cake mix. There are 9 grams of sugar and 5 grams of sugar alcohol is a serving that is 1/12 of the package.

To make the cake, you will need the cake mix, plus 3 eggs beaten into 1/3 cup of oil. I use Wesson Oil.

Add to the cake mix and the oil/egg mixture one can of Wilnderness Sugar Free Cherry Pie Filling. Mix all these ingredients together. Do not add any other liquid. Mix by hand so you don't smoosh up the cherries in the cherry pie filling. The pie filling does have 4 grams of sugar per 1/3 cup serving, most likely owing to fructose from the fruit.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool before frosting. I use Pillsbury's Reduced Sugar Chocolate Frosting (in the can). It, too, has 9 grams of sugar and 5 grams of sugar alcohol in 2 tablespoons. If you absolutely need to curtail your intake of sugar, you probably ought not to eat the frosting.

Not only that, but I also like to put half of a Maraschino Cherry in the middle of each slice of cake. Those are really sugary. Don't eat them if you're diabetic.

Anyway, that's what I'm taking to the ice cream social at church this afternoon. The cake won't last long. It never does. Especially when it's still a bit warm.

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