Welcome to the Blog of Recipes! I've learned quit a deal from friends and the internet. Here, I will put up the recipes that I have used - especially simple recipes with few ingredients, for those (like me!) who don't normally keep a lot on hand! (Although that's starting to change now that I'm more into baking and cooking, lol). Also, one of my favourite sites to find new recipes is AllRecipes.com. It's where a lot of my skill has come from ^_^

Recipes

Alfredo Sauce
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Bread from Scratch
Chili
Chocolate Chip Muffins
Orange Awesomeness
Moussaka
Pancakes

Alfredo Sauce - takes about half an hour to make
Found @ AllRecipes.com

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 package cream cheese (this is equivalent to 8 ounces)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups milk
6 ounces grated parmesan cheese (use roughly 3/4 cup if you don't have a scale)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Melt butter or margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat (having the heat up too high will scorch your alfredo)
Add cream cheese and garlic powder; whisk until smooth.
Slowly add milk, and at the same time, whisk to get out any lumps.
Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper.
When sauce is at desired consistency, remove from heat; sauce will thicken rapidly. If you leave it too long and it becomes too thick, thin it out by adding a little bit of milk.
Serve with hot pasta.

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Black Bottom Cupcakes - takes between 45 min to an hour to make
Found @ AllRecipes.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (if using immitation vanilla flavoring, use a little bit more)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line with paper or grease two 12 cup muffin pans.
Sift together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup sugar, oil and water until blended. Stir in vinegar and vanilla.
Beat in the flour mixture until incorporated. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, egg, 1/3 up sugar and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with chocolate batter, then top with a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Bake cupcakes in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until done.

Alternative: If you're like me and you only own 1 muffin pan, you could make muffins and a mini cake. I take the leftover batter and put it into a bread pan, and then put the remaining cream cheese on top. I bake it a little longer than the muffins. Just be sure to keep checking to see when it's done.

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Bread - takes between 4 - 6 hours to make, depending on how long you let the bread rise
I have 2 different recipes for making bread. The first one is Kevin's favourite because it is fairly dense, whereas the second one is my favourite because it's light and fluffy ^_^. The first one was found @ AllRecipes.com, whereas the second one I took from the back of a "Rogers No Additive All Purpose Flour" bag.

Version #1
3 cups warm water (warm as in liveable for organisms)
3 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
8 cups bread or all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, salt, oil, sugar, and 4 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, and let sponge rise until doubled in size.
Gradually add about 4 cups flour, kneading until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn several times to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
Punch down the dough and leave it for a few minutes. Divide dough into three equal parts. Shape into loaves, and place in three 8x4" greased bread pans. Let rise until doubled (I let them rise a bit longer so that they get really big :D)
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes. The loaves may need to be covered for the last few minutes with foil to prevent excess browning. I've never had to do this, but perhaps it depends on the kind of oven you have.
Remove from pans and cool on wire rack. If you're like me and you don't have enough cooling racks (or any), simply place the loaves on an angle inside the pan so that the bottom doesn't get soggy.

Version # 2
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons yeast

3 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 teaspoons salt
10 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour

In a small bowl, dissolve first bit of honey and yeast in warm water. Leave it for 10 minutes.
In a separate, larger bowl, mix together the second ammount of warm water, honey, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir.
Add enough of the flour to make a soft, kneadable dough. On a lightly floured surface, kneed the dough for 10-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Form dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning it to grease all of it. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled.
Punch down and shape into 4 round balls. Cover and let rest 20 minutes.
Form the 4 balls into loaves and place them into 4x8" greased bread pans.
(optional) Brush tops with oil.
Cover and let rise for an hour, or until desired height (I let them rise for quite a while so they get really big ^^)
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 35-40 minutes, or until done.
Remove from pans and cool on wire rack. If you're like me and you don't have enough cooling racks (or any), simply place the loaves on an angle inside the pan so that the bottom doesn't get soggy.

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Chili - takes about half an hour to make

1 pound ground hamburger
1 can tomato soup
1 (small) can tomato paste
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can mushrooms (optional)
1 can beans (any kind is okay; also optional)
chopped onion, peppers, etc. (also optional - I usually don't put these in myself)
some chili pepper
other spices, such as garlic power, seasoning salt, onion powder, curry powder, etc.
hot sauce (if you like your chili spicy

In a large frying pan, brown the hamburger. Once it has been browned, you may have to drain the excess liquid.
Throw in all the canned ingredients (figuratively speaking; you'll want to open the cans and gently pour the ingredients in, haha)
Add chili powder and whatever spices/hot sauce you think would go good with your chili. SPICE TO TASTE. I really have no idea how much of what kinds of spices I use, because it always changes. Start with a little bit of everything, and taste it to see what you need. Add little bits of what you think might be missing, until you find that it tastes good ^_^. It's okay if you don't have a lot of spices, although you will definitely want chili powder for sure.
Chili is done when you've obtained the desired taste, and it is sufficiently hot.

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Chocolate Chip Muffins - takes about half an hour to make
From Home Ec. class in high school

2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cold margarine or butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 egg
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (make sour milk by measuring a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into the measuring cup and filling the rest up with milk. Let it stand for 5 minutes)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Stir flour and sugar together in a large mixing bowl
Cut margarine into flour/sugar mixture until the fat is the size of small peas (cutting in margarine just means that you mix it together. You have to break apart the margarine to do this, hence why they say "cut"). Stir in chocolate chips.
Beat the egg, add buttermilk, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir to combine.
Make a well in the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients and stir only enough to combine (mixing too much will cause your muffins to not turn out as well).
Fill greased or paper lined muffin pans about 2/3 full.
Bake at 190 degrees C or 375 degrees F for 15-20 min, or until lightly browned.

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Orange Awesomeness - takes a couple minutes
I don't actually know the real name of this, but Kevin's mom always makes it for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and it's soo good!

Light Cottage Cheese
Light Whipped Cream
Orange Jello Powder
Slices of Mandarine Oranges (optional)

I don't actually know the proportions for this, but I don't think that really matters. Just mix the above ingredients together, with about half cottage cheese and half whipped topping. If you're eating this right away, I found that you don't need as much jello powder - just enough to give it colour and that extra bit of sweetening. If you leave it in the fridge for a day, the jello taste becomes less distinct, so you can just add a bit more powder. Play around with it, and find what you think tastes good. It's not like you're going to wreck anything by putting too much of something - just even it out by putting more of the other stuff, lol.

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Moussaka - If made efficiently, takes about an hour and a half
From McCalls Cooking School

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 lb ground chuck or lamb [we used small chunks of lamb instead and it turned out good]
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
2 cups/8 oz tomato sauce

2 1-lb/4-oz size eggplants
Salt
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, dash pepper
2 cups milk
2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

In hot butter, saute (fry) onion, lamb, and garlic, stirring until brown - about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the oregano, basil, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. After the lamb is brown, add the tomato sauce mixture. Bring it to a boil, then reduce head and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes
While the meatsauce is simmering, Slice the eggplants lengthwise, then slice crosswise about 1/2 inch thick. Place on a baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt, and brush lightly with 1/2 cup melted butter [I used far less than that and it still turned out fine]. Turn your oven up to the BROIL setting (500 degrees F), and bake each side of the eggplant for 4 minutes or until golden brown.
To make the cream sauce, melt 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine in a medium sauce pan. Remove from heat, then add flour, salt, pepper, and milk. Whisk together, and return to heat. Bring it to a boil (remember to keep whisking it so that the milk doesn't burn). In a small bowl whisk together the eggs. After the milk mixture has come to a boil, add it slowly to the eggs, and mix well. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a casserole dish (approx 12 by 7 1/2 by 2 inches), layer half of the eggplant slices, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese and 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese. Stir bread crumbs into meat sauce, then spoon the meat sauce evenly over the first layer of eggplant. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons each of parmesan and cheddar cheese over meatsauce, then layer the rest of the eggplant slices over top. Pour the cream sauce all over, and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and top has set. Serve with garlic toast, salad, and wine, and you have yourself an awesome meal for 4 - 6 people (depending on how much they eat, haha).

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Pancakes - takes about 20 min - half an hour to make
Taken from Comany's Coming, Kids Cooking

1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2/3 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Optional: You can also add chocolate chips, berries, or whatever to flavour your pancakes. I personally prefer a mixture of saskatoon berries and blueberries.

Set the frying pan on the burner and turn on the element to a low-medium setting. If you have cast-iron or non-stick, you do not need to put oil in the pan. If not, just use very little oil (unless you like oily pancakes - I'm not a big fan myself).
Whisk together milk, egg, and oil.
Mix in the rest of the ingredients, and whisk until it is combined, and not lumpy. Add extras such as berries if desired.
Pour the batter onto the frying pan. If it's on a lower setting, it'll take a bit longer for the pancakes to cook, but that way you can still get that golden brown look while also cooking it all the way through. You can flip the pancake when the edges look dry.
Fry both sides of the pancake, and if you're like me and really paranoid, you can flip them a few times to make sure they're cooked, lol. This recipe is perfect for 2 people if you're also having other things for breakfast, or for one person if you're only having pancakes.