Club HM Contests

Have you seen the good times we’re having on the Club HM Facebook page? If not, you’re missing out on a boatload of fun! This Monday, we’ll announce our “Firsts” winner, but right now, let’s get started with this week’s challenge. How about a “2011 HM Souper Bowl” project? We’re not looking for pictures of your family in front of the TV.  What we want are pages and projects that show off and preserve your favorite RECIPES. From onion dip, to pulled-pork sandwiches, to brownies – show us what your fans are cheering about this weekend! Visit the Club HM Facebook page for details. ~ Betty

Yummy Squash Casserole Recipe

My mom and dad gave me some squash fresh from the garden yesterday.  I took it home, sliced it up, steamed it and made a Baked Squash - Southern Style casserole.  Now, I've made this casserole before, but I really must have done something right because my hubby went back for seconds!  And if you know him...he's pretty picky about his food. Here's the recipe:

Baked Squash - Southern Style
2 - 10 oz packages of frozen yellow summer squash (or use fresh like I did)
1 TBS minced onion flakes
2 TBS + 2 TSP low cal margarine (I used butter)
2 egg whites (I used one egg)
1 1/2 TSP sweetener (I used sugar)
1/2 TSP salt
1/8 TSP pepper
3 TBS dry bread crumbs

Cook squash according to package instructions. Drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash in large bowl and mash well. Add onion flakes, 2 TBS margarine, egg whites, sugar, salt, pepper and 1/2 of the bread crumbs. Mix well. Pour mixture into a 1 qt baking dish that has been sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray.  Sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs.
Dot with remaining margarine.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

Each serving provides:
90 calories
1/4 bread serving            4 grams protein
2 veggie servings             4 grams fat
1 fat serving                    10 grams carbs
10 additional calories*    426 mg sodium
0 mg cholesterol
*Add 6 calories if sugar or fructose is used as sweetener.

Enjoy!

Success Story: The Best Kept Secret

What is the best kept secret? Last Christmas Heritage Makers  consultant Tricia Carleton learned exactly what the best kept secret is as she helped a mother and daughter make recipe books for each other as a surprise. Can you imagine how they felt as they opened each other’s gifts on Christmas morning? These two women truly knew how to celebrate each other.

By Tricia Carleton

A couple of years ago a friend of mine, Cara, introduced me to her daughter, Julie, saying
that she might be interested in making a book. Several months later, I met her, Julie, again at a networking event. I had a sample of my cookbook there. She told me she might want to make one, but said I couldn’t tell her mother because she wanted to make it for her.

Later I contacted her and she bought three cookbook credits. It took her a little while to get the recipes, photos, and other info she needed together. She called to set up a time with me to help her get started. After about an hour or so, with the assistance of her tiny dog, I felt she was good to go. She felt comfortable, too, and only had a few questions along the way. (She was also making one for her mother-in-law.) I had to be careful, every time I saw her mother, not to inadvertently say something that would let her know I’d seen her in any way connected to Heritage Makers so she wouldn’t get suspicious. 

About two weeks before the Christmas deadline, Cara called me. Julie had been at her house for dinner the night before and was asking her questions about recipes and relatives. Julie wouldn’t tell her anything she wanted for Christmas, so she thought a cookbook would be perfect. I asked what she had in mind, to be sure it wouldn’t be exactly the same, and was satisfied it wouldn’t. 

I proceeded to help her, praying their paths wouldn’t cross and they wouldn’t both want to come to the same Digicrop!  Julie was set on her own, so I proceeded to help Cara at my home. Cara had just left and Julie called, ready to publish hers! I walked her through the process and we were good to go. I told Cara that I would proof hers and order it for her, as she was pressed for time. Then we waited. 

I kept thinking it would be great to be a fly on the wall on Christmas morning when they opened their gifts.  Then, I started wondering if it would be possible to get photos. I tried to get a message to Julie’s husband through a mutual friend about what was about to happen, but it did no good! Cara said he didn’t take photos, but it was perfect anyway!  She said she opened hers and then Julie opened hers, not knowing as Cara did the irony involved. She said she was very pleasantly surprised and they both laughed at the coincidence. Cara also said there were only about ten recipes in the two books that were the same! They both did a great job and were pleased I’d kept their secret so well.

See Cara’s book to her daughter here

See Julie’s book to her mom here.

Celebrate the women in your life with a recipe book, photo book, or storybook. Try one of our many templates and get started today at http://MyStoryBookLady.com.

from blog.heritagemakers.com

Recipe Books

Remember all the recipes on the blog last month? Now you can get them in a cookbook. In the Template Gallery at http://MyStoryBookLady.com search for:

Cook It Up
designed by: Sara Holman
Spiral Bound Book
Template ID: 29767

And don’t forget about the cookbook(s) you can make with your own recipes and/or photos.  Call me if you need help getting started. ~ Betty

Impossibly Easy Spinach-Parmesan Pie

Submitted by Debbi Heaps, HR/Executive Admin.

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 58 min
Makes: 6 servings

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
4 medium green onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
½ cup small curd creamed cottage cheese
½ cup Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 eggs
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic in butter 2 – 3 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in spinach; spread mixture in pie plate. Spread with cottage cheese.

Stir Bisquick® mix, milk, lemon juice, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into pie plate; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and nutmeg.

Bake about 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

From blog.heritagemakers.com

Better Pancakes Recipe

Make that breakfast favorite just a little bit healthier. Still not exactly healthy, but an improvement. Mix in some berries to add a little something more. You can use other fruits as a topping, with whipped cream or syrup if you need that sweet taste.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon common granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
additional oil for frying

Oil a frying pan. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, scramble the egg, then add the milk and the 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, well enough to eliminate dry spots, but no more.

Heat the frying pan to medium temperature. Pour a pancake. The pancake will bubble. When the bubbling settles down and the edges are slightly dry, flip the pancake. When the pancake looks done, remove it and start another one.

It is my favorite with a little bit of natural peanut butter and sugar free syrup! Yum, yum!

Make a recipe book with a swatch book. Try a template at http://MyStoryBookLady.com like Holiday Recipes designed by Michelle Wolfley (Template ID: 20591). This one is holiday based, but you can adapt it to work for any season.

From blog.heritagemakers.com

National Nutrition Month: Fun Recipes

March brings a fun celebration: National Nutrition Month. And that means recipes!

This month, we’ll be posting some more nutritional recipes right here. Go ahead and try them out! (They all look so yummy!) And if you want to include them in a cookbook or make recipe cards with them, I assure you I don’t have any objections.

Today’s recipe:
"Healthified" Impossibly Easy Chicken n Broccoli Pie
Submitted by Debbi Heaps, HR/Executive Admin.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Makes: 6 servings


1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed, drained (from 12-oz bag)
1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken breast
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup Bisquick mix (I use the HeartSmart Bisquick) 
1 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 eggs or 1/3 cup fat-free egg product

Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Layer broccoli, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the chicken, and onion in pie plate.

 

In medium bowl, stir Bisquick® mix, milk, salt, pepper, and eggs with wire whisk or fork until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 3 – 4 minutes longer or just until cheese is melted. Cool 5 minutes.

Make a cookbook at http://MyStoryBookLady.com with a template: Cherry Family Cookbook designed by Shelley Pettis. Template ID: 28545.

From blog.heritagemakers.com

Recipe For A Happy New Year

~Author Unknown~

Take twelve whole months, Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, hate, and jealousy,
Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or thirty-one different parts, but don't make up the whole batch at once.
Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients.

Mix well into each day one part of faith, one part of patience, one part of courage, and one part of work.

Add to each day one part of hope, faithfulness, generosity, and kindness.
Blend with one part prayer, one part meditation, and one good deed.
Season the whole with a dash of good spirits, a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play, and a cupful of good humor.

Pour all of this into a vessel of love.
Cook thoroughly over radiant joy, garnish with a smile, and serve with quietness, unselfishness, and cheerfulness.

You're bound to have a happy new year.

Betty Miller

Betty@MyStoryBookLady.com

404.729.0388