Asian chicken soup

marked advanced because of the non-measurements. From my homey, Brandi.

chicken stock
LOTS of minced garlic and ginger (when you think it might be too much, add more)
sliced baby carrots and cooked
shredded chicken

Boil it until the carrots are soft. Then reduce the heat until it's no longer boiling at all.

Add sliced green onions (white and green parts), sesame oil (2 T), chopped cilantro and won ton wrappers sliced to noodle size. If the water is boiling, the wrappers turn to paste, and the onions and cilantro get brown.So, the not boiling is an important step. Depending on the strength of your stock may need to add water or salt.

**Add a sliced hot pepper if you wanted heat.**- optional

Vegan chili

From my friend, Kiley. Perfect for our meatless nights!

1 lb of firm tofu chopped into ½ inch cubes*
1 lb of dried black beans**
1 bag of frozen corn thawed
1 small white onion diced and sauted in olive oil
3 T minced garlic
½ T oregano
½ T basil
1 T sugar
2 T cumin
1 liberal sprinkle of crushed red peppers
Salt to taste
1 jar of salsa (I like to use a big jar of salsa or two little jars really.)
Water

1. Chop and sauté the onion until the onion pieces become clear. Add in the garlic, and cubed tofu. Once the tofu is added you may want to add a little bit more olive oil, but you are not frying the tofu so don’t add much oil. Add in other spices and sugar. Stir to coat the onions and tofu in seasonings.
2. Once the tofu seems to be heated through go ahead and add in the beans, corn, and salsa. Stir together. Add in as much water as you would like depending on how thick or soupy you want the chili to be. Salt to taste.
3. Let it simmer for awhile. Simmering for awhile really makes sure the tofu soaks up all of the spices.

Lisa's Pasties

These are my MIL's Pasties. The definition of comfort food.

Filling
2 lbs Hamburger - very lean and raw
1 large Onion - chopped
carrots (abt 4-5 reg sized ones) - grated
potatoes - diced in cubes
salt and pepper to taste.
pie crust

Mix all but pie crust together well. Be sure there is lots of each. Be generous on the pepper and reasonable on the salt. If using red potatoes leave the skin on if russets - peel first.

Pie Crust
(proportional recipe)

4 parts flour (4 cups)
2 parts Crisco (2 cups)
1 part water (1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt to the above amounts or adjust as increased.

Mix salt into flour first, then add in Crisco, mix well with mixer on low or by hand with a pastry blender. Then add in water. Cover mixer with a towel to catch flying stuff... :)
Chill dough before trying to work with it.
Any extra dough can be rolled into balls then some light flouring and put in a ziplock and store in freezer for later. They thaw really fast. Like in 15 minutes or so.

Roll out pie crust to about 6-8 inch diameters. Put meat mixture on one side then fold crust over top like a turnover. Pinch/fold ends. Put slits in top with a knife to vent. Place on a well greased/sprayed baking sheet. Bake about an hour at 375. Done when potatoes are tender. Test with a toothpick.
Eat with ketchup or gravy of choice.