I have been so busy with playing Call of Duty Black Ops that I keep forgetting to post some of my latest concoctions! 🙂

While I love specialty breads (I still haven’t found a good-enough-for-me recipe for jalapeño cheese bread) I have been wanting to find a good every day bread and I think I found it! Why do I like this recipe so much? Well, this is the first one I found without brown sugar, honey, or molasses. Also, it’s not too dense but heavy enough to not break apart when spreading natural peanut butter on it. This makes fantastic sandwiches, toast, french toast, etc.

Oat Bread

I would post the recipe web page but I can’t find the link to it!)

• 5 3/4 – 6 1/4 c. flour
• 2 1/2 c. oats
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 pkg. dry active yeast
• 2 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/4 c. milk (I used buttermilk)
• 1/4 c. butter

Combine 3 cups flour, oats, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix well.

In a small saucepan, heat milk, water, and butter until very warm (just until butter is melted). Add to flour mixture and blend on low speed of mixer until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the medium speed and beat for 3 minutes (I did this by hand and it was not fun).

By hand, stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead in the rest of the flour for about 5 to 8 minutes.

Shape into ball, cover with bowl (or in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap) and let rise until doubled (about an hour). Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half and shape into loaves. Place in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise until almost doubled (recipe said 15 minutes but I let it go for 30).

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, or until dark golden brown. Remove from pans and let cool before slicing (which I can never do!).

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Now, meatloaf. Hubby has hated meatloaf all his life but I was getting pretty desperate trying to find inexpensive recipes. I figured he could suffer this once (actually, with my cooking he suffers more than that!). I was reading through my cookbooks and found in one (Loyalty Cook Book – Native Daughters of the Golden West, published in 1953) a tip for leftover stuffing: use it to replace breadcrumbs (or crackers) in meatloaf! I made a basic meatloaf (yes, I used an actual recipe for this because it’s been so long that I knew it would either end up too dry or too wet if I went by memory) with the leftover stuffing from Thanksgiving and it was a hit! Hubby actually had seconds AND we ate the rest for sandwiches! It was moist and actually tasted better cold (unless it’s because I prefer meatloaf sandwiches anyway).

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Last (but not least) was dinner last night. I found a recipe in another cookbook (The Border Cookbook) that was similar to this one but I did it the lazy way. I just added a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes and a 28 ounce can of diced Ortega chiles. I also let it cook for 6 hours. Served with rice and heated flour tortillas, this was a fantastic meal!

http://www.simply-best-recipes.com/recipes-beef-pork-dishes.html

Chile Verde (Green Chile and Pork Stew)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork shoulder, pork butt, or boneless pork ribs – cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4-6 jalapeño peppers or 4 Anaheim or New Mexico chiles fresh, (green)
• 1-2 (8-oz) cans whole tomatoes, crushed (use 2nd can if stew is too spicy!)
• 1-2 cups water or chicken broth
• Salt
• Spices: oregano, cumin (optional)
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped – for garnish

Toast chiles in a cast-iron skillet or comal (Mexican griddle); until blackened. Wrap in damp paper towel and place in plastic bag for about 20 minutes to steam. Peel off blackened skin and remove stems and seeds. Chop all chiles. If you prefer your Chile milder, you can use cans of chopped chiles.

Crush tomatoes.

If using pork shoulder, remove fat from shoulder and chop into small pieces. Render fat in large pot and then remove fat pieces. If you don’t use the pork fat, use 2 tablespoons oil or lard. Heat over medium-high heat and brown pork pieces well. Don’t crowd pot; brown in batches, if needed.

Add the onions and garlic and stir well, cooking until onions are soft. Add the chopped chiles, spices (if using) and crushed tomatoes. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes until well-blended. Add water or broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 1-½ to 2 hours until pork is very tender. Taste for seasoning, and adjust as necessary. Serve with rice and beans, and warm soft tortillas.