Guest Blogger #13 - Darcie

I met Darcie on WAHM.com and invited her to stop by as my Guest Blogger today. She has lots of great German recipes that she shared over at WAHM and she has a couple of really cool recipes to share today that I think you will enjoy. Frugal and fun, now those are recipes that I like! Thanks for sharing Darcie!

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I was so excited when Michele invited me to be a guest blogger. I have never done this before and would not consider myself a chef or a writer but I do love to eat!

I am what I call a “Closet Cooker”. I don’t tell many people I enjoy cooking/baking and I certainly don’t like them watching me or looking over my shoulder while I am in the kitchen. For some reason, people make fun of me; I don’t look like someone who cooks. What? I used to act like Julia Childs and when I was in my 20’s, I even video taped my impression of her. We can talk about that some other time, let’s move on!

Over the years, I have collected a lot of recipes from friends and family and made some up along the way. I don’t mind spending an hour on a great meal but then there are those days, you know, those days where McDonald’s can make a better burger than you. Then you eat it and wish you would have used that leftover ham for something. But it doesn’t end there; you want an apple pie because that sweet tooth is killing you. Darn, the pie was made 4 hours ago and doesn’t really taste that great. Then you wish you would have just dumped the bag of chocolate chips down your throat. If you ever feel that way, then I have two recipes that are made up to satisfy those darn sweet and salty cravings.

When I was a little girl my Mom would make me chocolate covered Cheerios. I am not sure why or where she got the idea, but I love them! I think it is a great alternative to a candy bar; kids love them and do have some health benefits, right? I mean, there are Cheerios under that chocolate! My Grandmother “made up” the other recipe. She likes to call it Haloopsie (pronounced ha-loop-see). Odds are a million other people make it in their own way but no one makes it like my Grandma! But we all know that moms and grandmas never use a recipe. They just say “Oh, I don’t know how much to add, just keep adding until it tastes right”. Well, I did that over and over until it tasted right and not once did I write it down. So, I too, shall carry on that tradition. I will tell you what I was told, if it doesn’t taste right, add more salt and pepper.

My last recipe is a family favorite. Fleishkuekle is a German/Germans from Russia recipe that where I was raised can often be ordered right along with your Knoephla soup. If you have the time, try out Fleishkuekle.

Chocolate Covered Cheerios

Cheerios
Chocolate chips

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. If do not have one, melt on low heat. After the chocolate is melted, add a dash of salt and a splash of milk. Stir. Pour the Cheerios into boiler and stir until completely coated. With your tablespoon, scoop up a spoonful of chocolate covered Cheerios. Place spoonful on wax paper, sprinkle with salt and let cool. Repeat process until all of the chocolate is gone.


Haloopsie

1 small head of cabbage, cut into chunks
1 small onion, finely diced
1½ cups rice
Leftover ham, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Boil rice until almost done, rinse with cold water and strain.
Microwave chunks of cabbage until soft, probably a minute or so. Mix all ingredients together.
Salt and pepper to taste. Butter or spray cooking oil on the bottom of your casserole dish or 8x8 pan. Place mixture in dish/pan; add a few dollops of butter on top. Cover and bake for about 20-25- minutes.


Fleishkuekle

Dough:

3 cups flour
1¼ cup Carnation Milk
1 teaspoon salt

Make dough and set aside.


Filling:

1 small onion, cut fine
2 lb. ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup cold water


Mix all together

Roll out dough into individual 6 inch circles (¼ inch thickness); spread about 2 or 3 tablespoons of meat mixture on half of circle. Moisten edges with water. Fold over other half of dough and seal with fork. Deep fry in shortening, 400 degrees until done, takes about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

*Can be prepared in advance and frozen. If frozen, thaw before deep frying.