Strawberry Cucumber Limonade

This stuff is the best lemonade I've ever sipped--seriously. I've been a fan of cucumber lemonade for over a year. And then I decided to mix two of my favorite flavors. The thought of adding cucumber and strawberry together was pure genius, if I may say so. It is totally worth the effort!!

Strawberry Cucumber Limonade (Lime-uh-nade)

by Alana Lee

Ingredients

3/4 c. sugar

2 T. lime juice

3/4 c. less 2 T lemon juice

3-3/4 c. cold water

few dashes salt (optional)

2 T. cucumber juice

1/2 c. strawberry puree.

a handful or two of ice cubes

Directions

1. Pour sugar and water into pitcher.

2. Pour 2 T of lime juice into a glass measuring cup. Now add lemon juice until lime-lemon mixture equals 3/4 c. Add to sugar water.

3. Add a dash or two of salt if desired. (Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't.)

4. Whisk well until sugar is dissolved.

5. Peel and slice half a cucumber and puree it in a mixer. Strain the pulp out using cloth or mesh fabric. Stir in cucumber juice

6. Cut of the stems of fresh, juicy strawberries and puree in mixer. Add 1/2 c. strawberry puree.

7. Whisk in ice cubes and serve.

Hint: Puree and drain pulp of one cucumber and store in fridge in a mason jar for easy mixing next time.

Recipe: Lala's Limonade #2

This is the easier version--no boiling water to dissolve the sugar.

LaLa's Limonade #2

Ingredients

3/4 c. sugar

2 T. lime juice

3/4 c. less 2 T. lemon juice (*see Step 2 under Directions)

3-3/4 c. cold water

few dashes salt

Directions

1. Pour sugar and water into pitcher. 
2. Pour 2 T. of lime juice into a glass measuring cup. Now add lemon juice until lime-lemon mixture equals 3/4 cup. Add to sugar water.
3. Add a dash or two of salt.
4. Whisk well until sugar is dissolved. 

Recipe: Chicken Enchilada Soup #1

Our good friends make the best chicken enchilada soup. I didn't have their recipe, so I created this one. My husband LOVED it, and so did the kids!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

by Mrs. Lee

Ingredients

1 lb. chicken breast, whole, sprinkled with Lawry's Garlic Salt

1 T. olive oil (optional)

1 c. water

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 T. minced onion

1/4-1/2 t. cumin

1 can red enchilada sauce, mild

1 small call green chilis, diced

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1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

1 c. sour cream

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Toppings:

1 can olives, sliced

sour cream

extra shredded cheese

tortilla chips

Directions

1. Cook chicken in a frying pan (in olive oil, if desired). Remove chicken and set on cutting board. Deglaze frying pan by adding 1 c. water; pour into large sauce pan. Dice chicken and add to sauce pan.

2. Add cream of chicken, minced onion, cumin and enchilada sauce to chicken. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

3. About 5 minutes before you plan to eat the soup, add sour cream and cheddar cheese to soup. Mix well until cheese is completely melted. (Do not bring to a boil or cook longer than 5 minutes once you add the cheese or sour cream since we don't want these ingredients to turn grainy or become curdled.)

4. Serve soup topped with olives, sour cream, cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.

Cook's Note: Many other recipes call for masa harina, a special corn dough that is dried and made into flour (NOT corn meal). This one is easy and you can make it without the masa harina. Also, other recipes call for green enchilada sauce. Use whatever your preference is.

Recipe: Grandma's Tomato Soup

This isn't MY grandma's recipe, someone else's grandma. You won't ever buy the canned stuff again! Not only is this cheaper than Tomato soup from a can, it is much tastier!

Grandma's Tomato Soup

Ingredients

2 T. butter

1 T. flour

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8 oz. can tomato sauce

1-1/4 c. water

1/8 t. salt

1 T. sugar

Directions:

Melt butter and flour together in a medium saucepan. Once melted, add rest of ingredients and whisk well. Bring to a boil and let simmer one minute.  Makes 2-3 servings.

Cook's Note: you can add 1 c. egg noodles if you wish.

Recipe: LaLa's Limonade#1

You are going to be so happy sipping your homemade limonade this summer--actually, this lemonade you can enjoy in any weather. It's costs less than half as much as buying frozen lemonade concentrate (which is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, a bad thing for your body), and it is much healthier for you. I've tested and tweaked this recipe a half dozen times to find the right balance of tart and sweet, and here it is....

Lala's Limonade (pronounced "lime-oh-nade")

Ingredients

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

Boil these ingredients together for one minute and then cool completely.

Then add:

3/4 c. lemon juice

1 T. lime juice

3-3/4 c. water

a few dashes salt (helps take away bitterness)

Mix together and serve chilled.

 

Cook's Note: Do NOT be tempted to add the lemon and lime juice until the sugar water is cold! You can mix a bulk batch of sugar water ahead of time and store it in the fridge to make it more convenient to make. 

Bulk Batch Sugar Water (for 5 batches)

4 c. sugar

3 c. water

Bring to boil; boil one minute. Place pan dish of ice water to cool it down faster. Makes about 5-1/4 c. sugar water, or 5 batches. Store in fridge in a container that holds 3 pints (or even a left over 2-liter bottle or something). 

Recipe: Vita-Mix Bread Doubled in a KitchenAid

My dad was the Director of Marketing for Vita-Mix after years of making countless loaves of bread as a pitchman at fairs and other conventions. He's baked more bread than I can count. I love the taste of Vita-Mix bread, so I set out to create a recipe with a similar taste and texture that can be made in a KitchenAid or other stand mixer.

I love this bread recipe, especially if I just want white bread. I usually substitute about 2/3 of the bread flour with whole wheat for a healthy version. (See Cook's Note.)

Vita-Mix Bread Doubled in a KitchenAid

by Alana Lee


Ingredients: 

2 T. active dry yeast (1 pkg.)  

2-1/2 c. warm water

2 T. oil

1/4 c. gluten flour (can be omitted)

5-6 c. bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

2-3 T. sugar

2 t. salt

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch bread pans; set aside.

2. Place yeast and water in kitchen aid bowl. Proof 2-5 minutes. Once yeast mixture gets bubbly, add oil.

3. Add 4 c. flour, the salt, and the sugar. Mix using dough hook. Add more flour 1/2 c. at a time, as needed until dough reaches desired consistency. Knead just until dough forms a ball around dough hook and cleans the sides of the mixing bowl (the very bottom of the dough should still stick to bottom of bowl).

4. Shape dough into two equal loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise in a warm place (like on a heating pad or warm oven) until the sides of the dough come to the top of the pan, about 20-30 minutes. The dough should nearly double in size.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes. The top of the loaf should be a medium golden brown. If you knock on the top of the loaf once removed from the pan, it should sound more hollow than dense.

Cook's Note: The gluten flour makes your bread stay spongy for many days longer, like store-bought bread. It doesn't change the taste, it just keeps it from getting hard as fast. It also increases the protein content of your bread. For whole wheat, I use about 4 cups of whole wheat flour and 1-2 cups of bread flour. The ratio can be adapted according to your preferences. 

  

 

Loaves in pan and ready for 2nd rise.

Tiny Clarification

Here is the original recipe, which is owned by Vita-Mix and appeared in the 1993 cookbook The Versatile Vita-Mix. 

As you can see, my recipe is my own and is therefore not owned by Vita-Mix or their historical owners. Vita-Mix bread dough includes egg and is much more moist so that it can be easily flattened and pressed into a bread pan using a spatula, which gives it a slightly different texture than my recipe. This "doubled for a KitchenAid" recipe kneads well with a dough hook and has a better moisture content to knead by hand to form loaves for bread pans.

Recipe: Farmer's Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Farm Bread--I use this recipe most of the time to make my bread.
by Alana Lee

For 80% Whole Wheat
3-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1-1/2 T. salt
1/3 c. gluten flour
1-1/2 c. bread flour
3-1/2 c. whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine water and yeast and wheat flour. Let sit five minutes (whole wheat flour absorbs more water.) Add oil, honey, salt, gluten flour and bread flour.
2. Add whole wheat flour. Stir as much as you can and then begin kneading in bowl. Once most of flour is incorporated, transfer dough to counter and knead until fairly smooth. Clean the bowl, spray it with Pam, and return dough to bowl. Turn once to coat dough. Cover and let rise until doubled*.
3. Punch down and divide dough into thirds. Knead each and form into loaves; place in greased bread pans. Let raise until doubled. Bake for 24-27 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes three loaves.

Cook’s Note: I got this 80% recipe from the farmer’s wife from whom we buy our hard red wheat. Can be doubled. Also, if your whole wheat flour is warm from being freshly ground, the water you start with should be cold.

*I like to raise my dough on a heating pad. I place the bowl or pans directly on the heating pad, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a medium setting.

Variations
For 65% Whole Wheat
3-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1-1/2 T. salt
1/3 c. gluten flour
3-1/4 c. bread flour
1-3/4 c. whole wheat flour

For 50% Whole Wheat
3-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
3 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1-1/2 T. salt
1/3 c. gluten flour
4-1/2 c. bread flour
1-1/2 c. whole wheat flour

*The Farmer's wife usually made 80% whole wheat. She noticed that her son's asthma would worsen if she increased the percentage of whole wheat in her bread. Some people's tolerance for wheat is altered because of medical conditions. I suggest starting with 50% and then working your way up gradually. That's what I had to do after my appendix surgery. I actually had to start with white bread and then work my way up.