MOCHA PUNCH

This punch is a tradition for our Christmas celebration.  It is cold and creamy and bursting with chocolate!  I doubled it because a single batch isn’t enough for our group. 

Start out with 1 1/2 quarts of water in a kettle.  Add 1/2 cup instant chocolate drink mix.

Add 1/2 cup of sugar

And finally add 1/4 cup of instant coffee granules.  Don’t make a mistake and use coffee grounds!  You need instant coffee granules.

Stir this all together and put on a medium / low burner.  Do not bring to a boil.  We just need to heat the water and dissolve the ingredients.

Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

Pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the punch.  I made this three days ahead of time.  This looks like a big jar but remember I was doubling the recipe so I have twice as much here as you would have. 

About half an hour before you want to serve the punch, scoop 1/2 gallon of vanilla and 1/2 gallon of chocolate ice cream into a large container.

Pour the drink mixture over the ice cream.  I asked this tall dark assistant to help me since I couldn’t pour and snap pictures at the same time.

And begin stirring.

And stirring every few minutes, breaking up the chunks of ice cream.

Until it looks like a chocolate shake.  You can serve it right from this container or dump it into a pretty punch bowl.

Dump in the whipped cream and stir.  You can use it to garnish too but I just dump it all in. It just makes the punch that much more creamy.

Ladle into cups and serve. 

For the adults, add a Tablespoon of Kahlua and it makes quite the yummy drink. 

MOCHA PUNCH
1 1/2 quarts water
1/2 cup instant chocolate drink mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup instant coffee granules
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
Put water into a large saucepan.  Add drink mix, sugar and coffee.  Heat until ingredients are dissolved.  Do not boil.  Let cool and then cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  About 30 minutes before serving, spoon ice creams into punch bowl.  Add drink mixture and stir until ice cream chunks are gone.  Garnish with whipped cream.
Makes about 5 quarts of punch. 

The Law of Use
For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  Matthew 25:29

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

I love making stuffed foods.  They are so all inclusive, meaning thats all you have to serve for a meal.  Along with some good crusty bread.  These peppers are so easy to prepare plus the ingredients are not too expensive.

Cut off the tops of the peppers.

 

 

Then remove the seeds.  Take the tops and dice into pieces.  You can either use these later in the recipe or put into a baggie to use for another recipe.

 

 

Bring a large kettle of water to a boil and drop the peppers in.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

 

Remove the peppers from the boiling water with a pair of tongs.

And drain them upside down on a paper towel.

 

Dice up 1/2 cup onion, 1/2 cup celery and 1/2 cup green pepper.  (This is where I use the tops)

Also chop up one medium sized tomato.  Set all of your chopped veggies aside.

 

You will need 2 cups of cooked rice.  I love using this organic long grain rice.  It has such a good flavor.  You can use minute rice or even brown or wild rice, just so you have two cups of cooked rice.

 

 

OK now to the meat.  Brown one pound of hamburger.

 

   

Add the chopped celery, onions and peppers.  I had about a half cup of shredded carrots in the fridge so I dumped them in.  They’re not called for but I needed to use them up.  Stir this together and let it cook for a few minutes.

 

   

Now add the diced tomatoes, the cooked rice and 1/4 cup of ketchup.  Salt & pepper to taste. 

Stir this all together and cook for a couple minutes.  Look at all those pretty colors!  This makes an awesome meal in itself!

 

Place the peppers into a deep baking dish so they don’t tip over.  This recipe makes four large peppers but I am doubling it, thus the reason for eight peppers in the dish.  Fill the peppers with the meat mixture and press down.

 

Top off each one with an extra spoonful.  The lighting here is terrible, I had lost my daylight.  But you get the drift of what to do.

 

In a small bowl, combine an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and  one Tablespoon of sugar. 

 

 

Add 1/2 tsp of dried basil leaves.  Stir this together.

 

 

Spoon half the sauce over the peppers.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

 

Spoon remaining sauce over peppers and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Bake another five minutes.  I made a double batch and froze the ones we didn’t eat.  They are so easy to take out of the freezer and warm up.  (And the carrots worked great in these)

 

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

4 large green peppers

2 cups cooked rice

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/4 cup ketchup

1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Parboil the peppers and drain on paper toweling.  Brown ground beef and add the onion, celery and peppers.  Let cook for about five minutes.  Add the tomato, cooked rice and ketchup.  Simmer for a couple of minutes. 

Stuff peppers with hamburger mixture.  Combine the tomato sauce, sugar and basil leaves.  Spoon half of the sauce over peppers and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Spoon remaining sauce over them and top with the shredded cheese.  Bake an additional five minutes.

 

THE LAW OF RECIPROCITY

Judge not and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you.  Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.  For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.    Luke 6:37-38

FROZEN CREAM CORN

Corn on the cob season is here!  When you’ve had your fill of eating it fresh this is a great way to eat it all winter. If you are a fan of cream corn you will love this!  You will never buy a can of that mystery corn again.

You will need 3 dozen cobs of corn.  If the cobs are small you may need more.  These were large so it was the perfect amount.  Shuck (peel) the corn and remove as much of the “hair” as possible.

In a very large kettle, bring water to a boil.   I use my canner, it is the perfect size.  Add about a dozen cobs to the water and cover.  This is called blanching and it is necessary to stop the enzymes.  All fruits and vegetables contain enzymes that, over time, break down the destroy nutrients and change the color, flavor, and texture of food during frozen storage. Corn requires a brief heat treatment, called blanching, in boiling water or steam, to destroy the enzymes before freezing.  Set a timer for five minutes.  I like to do this outside on my gas burners because my stovetop cannot handle these large kettles.

After five minutes, remove the corn.  To keep the process going. add another dozen cobs and set your timer again for 5 minutes.  You will be very busy during this process so don’t be trying to run and change the laundry.

Immediately dump the corn into very cold water.  Rub the cobs to remove any hair left.  Your next pot of cobs should be done so get them and repeat.

I like to add ice to the cobs to get them very cold.  They need to be cold to the centers before you can cut the kernels off.  If you do it when it is still warm your corn will get a funky taste.

Cut the kernels from the cob.  I like to use a very sharp knife.   Be careful not to cut into the cob.  You don’t want that tough cob in your corn.

Then scrape the cob with your knife to get all the good juicy stuff!

If you’re not comfortable with a knife, they make these corn cutters.  This one is from Pampered Chef.  I tried it and it really works!  But I went back to my knife because I guess I’m old school.

You will end up with about 24 cups of corn.  I use my black turkey roaster pan for this.  It seems to be the perfect size.  If you don’t have one, you may have to use a couple of smaller roaster pans.  Add one pound of cut up butter. 

And then pour in one quart of half and half.  You must use the half and half and not milk! 

Give this a good stir and then put into the oven at 325 degrees for one hour.  Stir every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir one last time.  It should have thickened up a bit.  Go ahead and eat a spoonful, you won’t regret it!  Now this must cool to room temperature.  Stir every once in awhile to speed the cooling process.

Spoon into freezer containers.  Use whatever size is suitable for your family.  For just us two, I do about a cup.

Label and freeze.  When next January rolls around and you pull one of these from the freezer, you won’t regret the work it took to make it!

FROZEN CREAM CORN
3 dozen corn cobs   (about 24 cups cut up corn)
1 quart half & half
1 pound butter,cubed
Blanche corn and cool.  Cut corn from cobs.  Add butter and half & half to corn and mix.  Bake at 325 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.  Put into freezer containers and label.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do
good, evil is right there with me. – Romans 7:21

HONEY GLAZED CARROTS

The carrots in the garden are ready to start eating and this is one of my favorite ways to fix them. 

Start with some fresh carrots.  You can certainly use store bought carrots too. 

Scrub the carrots and then slice about 1/4 inch thick.  You will need 4 cups of sliced carrots.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a skillet.

Add 1/3 cup brown sugar.

And a tablespoon of maple syrup

A few drops of vanilla and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Stir this all together and simmer for a minute on very low heat.

I like to put the carrots in boiling water for about 4-5 minutes to start the cooking process. Drain off the water.

Add the carrots to the sauce and stir.  Let simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat.  Do not cover the pan because you want the liquids to escape.

Keep the temperature as low as possible but you want it to simmer.  Try not to overcook the carrots, you don’t want them to get mushy.

These are so good.  This was just enough for the two of us. 


HONEY GLAZED CARROTS
4 cups sliced carrots
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla
salt
Boil carrots for 4-5 minutes, drain.  Melt butter in saucepan.  Add brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.  Stir together and let simmer over low heat for a minute.  Add carrots and let simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.Isaiah 40:26