Table Time Tuesday

My Favorite Texas Sheet Cake

2011-08-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

Texas Sheet Cake is pretty much a staple in every home, right? And, there aren't very many variations to the recipe, that I found at least. But, the one ingredient that I love paired with any kind of chocolate baked good is in this recipe ... and I love it (hence the title of this post ... "my favorite"). That one ingredient is: Cinnamon! I just love the little spice it give to normal chocolate. This recipe is actually a few recipes that I combined to make it just right.

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

What you need:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 sticks butter
6 Tbsp. unsweetened baking cocoa
1 cup water
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, so I added 1 tsp. lemon juice to 1/2 cup milk and let it sit for a while ... turned into buttermilk in no time!)
1 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate Glaze

How you do it:

Sift together flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Bring to a boil butter, cocoa and water. Add to dry mixture and beat well. Mix together baking soda, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; add to chocolate-flour mixture. Pour into a greased 10x15 jelly roll pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. While it is baking, make the glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

What you need:

1 1/2 sticks butter
4 Tbsp. unsweetened baking cocoa
6 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 - 4 cups powdered sugar

Blend together butter, cocoa, milk, and vanilla in saucepan. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. (If there are clumps of powdered sugar, you can add a few pecan pieces to break them up.)

Sour Cream Waffles

2011-08-16T13:39:00.001-05:00

These are THE BEST waffles I've ever made. I will never go back to using Bisquick or Krusteaz pancake mix for waffles.

SOUR CREAM WAFFLES

What you need:

1 3/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
waffle iron

How you do it:

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; make a well in the center and set aside. Whisk together butter, milk, sour cream, and eggs; pour into well. (Don't worry if the butter sets again ... and don't mix it too much. The butter and sour cream should look like little clumps in the mixture.) Whisk just until wet; do not over mix. Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter onto bottom of waffle iron and close. Cook until no steam escapes, about 3 minutes.

(The waffles in the photo have peanut butter syrup on them. Just heat in the microwave 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 cup maple syrup. Yummy, but I still prefer buttermilk syrup.)

Zimmy Salsa

2011-02-08T00:22:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law. This is, by far, the best salsa ever! My little two-year-old sat in front of a cereal bowl filled with this salsa and shovelled it into her mouth. Literally. She ate the entire bowl! That's how good it is. And, that's not to say that it's is bland or not ver spicy. On the contrary, it is spicy and so full of flavor. Love it!

ZIMMY SALSA

What you need:

1 large white onion chopped into ½ inch pieces
6-8 green onions chopped
1 cup of green chilies chopped
1 bunch chopped cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp cumin
#10 can of whole tomatoes, plus liquid.

How you do it:

Combine and pulse these ingredients (except tomatoes, only liquid in this step) in blender until to your desired consistency (thick & chunky = less blending, smooth = more blending).

Pour mixture into a gallon sized container. Blend whole tomatoes to desired consistency and add to container. Mix and refrigerate.

Super easy, and super yummy!

Enchilada Casserole

2010-09-27T05:25:00.001-05:00

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe ... and we love it here!

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

What you need:
1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (20 oz.) can enchilada sauce***
tortillas
cheddar cheese, shredded

How you do it:
Mix together ground beef, tomato sauce, cream of mushroom soup, and enchilada sauce. Set aside. Cut tortillas into strips or squares. Pour 1/2 of meat mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish. Place tortillas atop sauce, covering the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese until covered. Repeat the process ending with cheese on top. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

***Notes from Marisa:
I have made this with several different brands of enchilada sauce. My favorite is Rosarita because it has a very subtle spice. If using Old El Paso, use corn tortillas. I favor corn tortillas anyway, but if you use flour tortillas, you will get a very musky flavor when using that specific brand of enchilada sauce. Old El Paso is also spicier than Rosarita. Just my two bits.

How you freeze it:
Assemble casserole in a disposable casserole dish, or line your casserole dish with foil to lift out of the dish after it is frozen. Cover and place in the freezer. (If using your glass casserole dish, remove the casserole from the dish once it is frozen. Cover the casserole and place in a large ziploc freezer bag.) When ready to serve, let thaw overnight in the fridge. Place directly in the oven and then turn the oven to 350°. Bake for 45 minutes.

Banana Bread

2010-09-21T05:20:00.002-05:00

My favorite banana bread recipe, with a tweak from my sister.

BANANA BREAD

What you need:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup bananas, smashed
1/3 tsp. salt
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup water
cinnamon-sugar

How you do it:
Mix together sugar and butter. Stir in eggs until blended. Add banans and water and beat for 30 seconds. Mix in rest of ingredients until moistened. Grease loaf pan with shortening, sprinkle pan with cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat sides and bottom of pan. Pour batter into pan, sprinkle top with cinnamon-sugar and lightly press. Bake at 350° for 1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes, loosen sides, remove from pan and serve.

Chicken Rolls

2010-09-14T05:09:00.002-05:00

One of my family's favorites! I usually serve these with rice and a gravy, the gravy I change just about every time. Use crescent rolls found in the cans at the store, or my favorite is my dinner roll recipe.

CHICKEN ROLLS

What you need:
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 pkg. cream cheese, chive and onion variety, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
crescent roll dough
2-3 Tbsp. butter, melted
bread crumbs

How you do it:
Combine shredded chicken, cream cheese, and 1/4 cup softened butter in a bowl. Roll out crescent roll dough. Place a small amount of chicken-cream cheese mixture at the large end of the roll and roll up. Dip rolls in 2-3 tablespoons melted butter, then coat in bread crumbs. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper, even better!), bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.

How I do:
I use my dinner roll recipe, let it rise first in a bowl for 1 hour, and then roll out my dough. Then, I use the mouth of a wide-mouthed glass and cut out circles. I place a about 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the center of the circle and cover it with another dough circle. Then, I take a fork and press the fork tines into the edges of the circles, dip the "pillow" in the butter, and then coat it in the bread crumbs. I stick them in the oven and bake them for about 16 minutes. Again, I serve mine with rice and gravy. Usually my gravy is just one can of cream of chicken soup, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and 1 cup chicken broth. But, I have used one can cream of chicken soup and 1 cup sour cream, or 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.

How you freeze them:
Par bake the rolls (bake them for about 10 minutes). Place cooked rolls on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for about 20 minutes. Place rolls in a Ziploc bag and freeze. When ready to eat, take rolls directly out of freezer and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Cheater's Tomato-Basil Soup

2010-09-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

I LOVE tomato-basil soup! I think one of the first time I had tomato-basil soup was right after my youngest daughter was born. My friend brought over a huge pot of the soup so neither my hubby nor I would have to make dinner. So, sweet ... thanks, Erin!

I've since made my friend's recipe a few times. But, recently, I've had the craving for tomato-basil soup and haven't been able to make it for one simple reason: my friend uses a blender to puree her soup, and my blender is packed away in storage. We don't own a food processor, so that doesn't help either. And, I'm not too keen on chunky tomato-basil soup ... it just needs to be smooth in texture for me. One day, I decided to just "doctor" good old Campbell's tomato soup. And, it wasn't too bad.

CHEATER'S TOMATO-BASIL SOUP

What you need:
2 cans tomato soup (Campbell's is the best, IMO)
1 tsp. olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp. onion, minced
1 1/2 tsp. basil, dried
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cans water

How you do it:
Heat oil in saucepan, add garlic and onion; stir until tender, 1-2 minutes. Add soup and water; when blended, add cream. When soup is warm, add basil and simmer for 8-15 minutes. (We like to ours with floating Texas toast croutons.)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-08-24T09:49:00.000-05:00

These are the chocolate chip cookies my roommate in college made to attract all the young men to our apartment. They are so divine ... even if they are simple.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

What you need:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
1 pkg. milk chocolate chips

How you do it:
Cream together sugars, butter, and shortening. Add vanilla (I sometimes add extra vanilla, depending on my mood) and eggs. Blend well. In medium-sized bowl, stir together rest of ingredients. Mix the flour mixure into the sugar mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Roll into 2-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 9-13 minutes.

Creamy Crock-Pot Italian Chicken

2010-08-17T16:18:00.001-05:00

My sister-in-law first introduced this to me served over baked potatoes. Over the years I've tweaked it (of course), but we still love it best over baked potatoes!

CREAMY CROCK-POT ITALIAN CHICKEN

What you need:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 pkgs. Italian dressing mix
2-3 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2-1 cup sour cream
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2-1 cup whipping cream
1/2-1 cup chicken broth

How you do it:
Place chicken in crock-pot, or slow cooker. (I always either par boil my chicken or cook it completely before placing it in the crock-pot. I don't like the fat floating around in my gravy. I know, laugh if you want, I'm okay with being weird.) Mix remaining ingredients together, adjusting measurements according to desired taste, consistency, and yield. Pour gravy over chicken. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. Can also be baked in a 9x13 casserole dish for 1 hour at 350°. One hour before serving, take chicken out and shred; return to crock-pot/slow cooker for remaining cook time. Serve over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, etc.

How you freeze it:
Place chicken in a ziploc bag instead of the crock-pot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour into bag. Lay bag flat in freezer until frozen, then stand up to conserve space. When ready to use: take out of freezer, allow to thaw in fridge overnight. Place in crock-pot and follow above cooking directions.

Swedish Meatballs

2010-08-02T04:34:00.003-05:00

My mom made these meatballs while I was growing up. Over time, I've played with the basic recipe and made alterations to it to make it something that we really enjoy. This last time I made it, my husband thanked me no less than twice for the meal, and said that it was really, really good. Just hit the spot, I guess.

So, since my goal is to print all these recipes for my daughters when they go to college, or get married, I am going to include my mom's original recipe (because my eldest daughter loves the meatballs made her way), and my altered recipe.

MOM'S SWEDISH MEATBALLS

What you need:
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup minute rice, or cooked long-grain rice
1/4 cup milk
1 slice bread, torn into little pieces;
or 1/3 cup oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can milk (not evaporated, just fill one of the empty soup cans with milk)

How you do it:
Combine ground beef, rice, milk, bread, salt, baking powder, and egg in a bowl; use your hands to mix well. Form meat into balls and brown in skillet on all sides. Pour in soups and can of milk. Mix well. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve over rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes.

MARISA'S SWEDISH MEATBALLS

What you need:
1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2/3 cups bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 small onion, chopped finely
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 small can evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 large can evaporated milk, or one cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste
small splash Worcestershire sauce

How to do it:
Combine ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and small can of evaporated milk; mix with hands. Roll into balls. Warm olive oil in large skillet. Place meatballs in oil and brown on all sides. (These can also be baked in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes, then turn and continue baking for 10-15 minutes.) Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Wipe remaining oil out of skillet. Pour soups and large can of evaporated milk into skillet. Add salt and pepper (I usually add at least 1/4 tsp. pepper), and splash of Worcestershire sauce. Whisk together until combined. Place meatballs in sauce and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Serve over rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes.

How to freeze it:
Cook meatballs as described above. Combine soups, milk, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Pour sauce into Ziploc bag; add meatballs. Lay flat and freeze. Or, double meatballs and lay on a cookie sheet to flash freeze. Place in freezer for 25 minutes or until hard to the touch. Divide them up and place in two to three freezer-safe bags. Return to freezer until ready for use. (Use the meatballs in spaghetti, barbecue, or Swedish cream sauces.) Place sauce in a separate bag, lay flat and freeze until use.

When ready to cook, let thaw and pour meatballs and sauce into crock-pot, or skillet. Cover and cook in crock-pot for four hours, or in skillet for 40-60 minutes (better, and more tender if longer). Serve as described above.

Luscious Layered Dessert

2010-07-27T00:34:00.000-05:00

I love this stuff ... and could seriously eat the entire pan myself if given the time.

LUSCIOUS LAYERED DESSERT

What you need:
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup nuts, chopped
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipped topping
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
1 small pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cup milk
whipped topping

How you do it:
Mix together flour, butter, and nuts. Press into 9x13 dish; bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes, until slightly browned. Let cool. Blend together sugar, cream cheese, and 1 cup whipped topping until smooth. Pour atop crust. Mix together vanilla pudding and 1 1/2 cups milk until slightly thickened. Pour atop cream cheese layer. Let rest 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together chocolate pudding and 1 1/2 cup milk until slightly thickened. Pour atop vanilla layer; let rest 3-5 minutes. Top with whipped topping. Refrigerate. Garnish with chopped nuts, cherries, or shaved chocolate.

Variations:
Use lemon pudding in place of chocolate and vanilla.

Taco Soup

2010-07-20T00:25:00.001-05:00

TACO SOUP

What you need:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cans dark red kidney beans
1 can corn
2-3 cans diced tomatoes (I use petite diced)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1-2 beef bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 cup ketchup
water, to consistency
cheddar cheese, shredded
tortilla chips (we prefer Fritos)

How you do it:
Brown ground beef with onion. Add taco seasoning and water according to package diretions. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, bouillon cubes, chili powder, ketchup, and water (if needed for desired consistency). Let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serve with cheese and chips.

How you freeze it:
Combine ingredients as in above directions. Do not let simmer; instead, pour it all into a freezer ziploc bag (or more than one), lay flat in freezer and let freeze before standing on side for storage in freezer. When ready to cook, let thaw in refrigerator overnight, pour into pot or crock-pot and let heat until warmed through.

Monster Pancakes

2010-07-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

When I was younger, a lady in my neighborhood held a summer cooking class for some of the neighborhood children. I didn't attend it, but my older brother did and this was one of the recipes he brought home. These are really "German" pancakes, but because of the way the batter "grows," we always called them Monster Pancakes.

MONSTER PANCAKES

What you need:
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. sugar
dash of salt
4 Tbsp butter

Beat all ingredients together, except butter, in a blender. Melt butter in dripper pan (I place mine in my 9x13 dish and then put it in the over while it is preheating). Pour in egg mixture. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR WHILE BAKING. When finished baking, let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

My family used to eat this with powdered sugar on top and maple syrup. And, recently we tried it with fresh raspberries and whipped cream, which was also really yummy.

Slow Cooker Lemon-Lime Chicken

2010-07-06T00:10:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe from a friend before we moved from our home in Minnesota to Arizona. So yummy, and I love how easy it is!

SLOW COOKER LEMON-LIME CHICKEN WITH RICE

What you need:
1 1/4 lbs. chicken breasts
1/6 cup lime juice
1/6 cup lemon juice
1 can chicken broth
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups instant rice

How you do it:
Place chicken in crock-pot. (I always cook my chicken before placing it in the crock-pot.) Pour in lime and lemon juice (I fill up a 1/3 cup halfway with lime juice and the rest of the way with lemon juice.), and chicken broth. Add garlic, thyme, pepper and butter. Cover and cook on low until chicken is very tender, 8-10 hours. (Because I cook my chicken ahead of time, I've made this on high for as little as 4 hours and it still turns out tender.) Stir in rice during last 15 minutes of cooking time (if using regular long grain white rice, add it during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.). The rice will soak up a lot of the juice and contain a lot of the flavor, so if you'd rather limit the flavor, cook the rice separately and then drizzle it with the left over juice from the pot. Yum!

How you freeze it:
Cook chicken. Place chicken and remaining ingredients in a ziploc baggie. Seal and freeze, laying it flat. When ready to cook, let thaw completely in fridge overnight. Pour contents of bag in crock pot and follow cooking directions, adding the rice during the last 15 minutes.

Salsa chicken

2010-06-30T14:54:00.001-05:00

My sister told me about this recipe. It's super easy to make and tastes so good!

SALSA CHICKEN

What you need:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
Shredded cheddar cheese
12-14 tortillas
Butter, melted

How you do it:

Place chicken in crock pot. (I prefer to cook it first.) Pour jar of salsa over chicken. Cover and cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 8-10 hours on low. When one hour remains of cook time, remove chicken and shred, then return to crock pot. When chicken is finished cooking, place a small amount of chicken and cheese in a tortilla and roll up the tortilla, place it in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Repeat until all chicken is used. Brush tops of tortillas with melted butter and bake for 20 minutes at 350°.

Hamburger Skillet Casserole

2010-05-04T06:55:00.000-05:00

HAMBURGER SKILLET CASSEROLE

What you need:
1 lb. hamburger
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. curry
1/4 tsp. cumin
3 large stalks celery, sliced
3 medium potatoes, sliced think
4 medium carrots, sliced thick
1 can string beans
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

How you do it:
Brown hamburger and onion and drain off grease. Add salt, oregano, pepper, curry, and cumin to cooked meat. Add celery, potatoes, and carrots on top of meat in layers. Add juice of string beans, and cook about 15 minutes covered. Cook slowly (I cook mine for another 15 minutes). Add can of string beans and cans of cream of mushroom soup over top. Cook 5 minutes more. May need to add a little water. Freezes well. Serves 8.

Notes from me:
I have never had to add water. I also omit the celery; not because we don't like it but because I usually don't have it on hand. And, finally, I stir it all together before serving.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2009-11-24T15:02:00.001-06:00

I had this soup at a church meeting at the end of September ... and have since made it three times. It is so yummy!

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

What you need:

2-3 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 or 2 cans cream of chicken soup (I've always used two)
1 cup favorite salsa
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can black beans (you can rinse, but it's not necessary; I also used two cans)
1 can mild green chiles (once I didn't have this, so I put in an extra 1/2 cup of salsa and the soup was much spicier)
1 can corn
sour cream
tortillas, or tortilla chips

Put everything but sour cream and tortillas/tortilla chips in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken from soup after 8 hours and shred. Return shredded chiken to soup and serve with sour cream, tortillas/tortilla chips or fresh salsa. To make a thicker soup add more chicken.

I've always added the sour cream to the whole pot before serving. We also recently had this over baked potatoes and that was equally yummy!

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

2009-10-20T10:32:00.000-05:00

Just had to include pictures of my little girl enjoying this soup.

This is a soup that we were introduced to when we moved here five years ago. It is so yummy! We actually were served this at a friend's house, then we were brought two different versions after our first son was born. And, all three recipes were so different. After we tried all of them, we decided on one that would make it onto "the list." If you have no idea was wild rice is, it is the rice that is almost black in color, and slightly longer than white rice. After it is cooked, it almost looks like cooked shrimp ... the shell splits and the soft flesh pokes out of one side of the grain. When I first had wild rice I literally thought it looked like there were bugs in my soup. The texture is a little chewy because the hull is still in tact. And, while it is cooking, there is a definite smell that is not similar to regular white rice. But, it has more nutritional value that white rice because of the hull. (Plus, my little 10mo LOVED this soup. She was literally crying and screaming when I couldn't get it to her fast enough.)

CHICKEN WILD RICE SOUP

What you need:
1 cup wild rice
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 pkg. fresh mushrooms, sliced
chicken, cooked & diced or shredded
(choose how much chicken you want, I use about 4-6 chicken breasts)
1 1/2 cans chicken broth
8 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups half & half
2 cups whipping cream
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1/2 - 1 cup sliced almonds

How you do it:
Cook rice in 1 1/2 cans chicken broth. In a large pot, saute veggies in butter. Add flour and cook for 5 minues, stirring constantly. Add half & half, and whipping cream; stir until slightly thickened. Add 8 1/2 cups chicken broth and Velveeta. When Velveeta is melted add rice, chicken, and almonds. Let simmer (without boiling) for 15 minutes or until warmed through.

Rocky Road Brownies

2009-09-01T05:57:00.000-05:00

I remember my mom making these brownies for family functions and church activities. They still go fast wherever I take them also. In fact, I took these to the church for refreshments after a baptism and meant to get a picture of one brownie so you would be able to see the different layers, but by the time I got back to the dish they were gone! One lady said that they were so good she took one bite and decided she had to save the rest until she could have milk with it. (I guess she only eats the "good" desserts with milk.) And, that's something I would highly suggest with these babies ... mmmm, milk.

ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES

What you need for the bar layer:

1/2 cup margarine, or butter
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional; I omit)

How you do the bar layer:

Melt margarine and chocolate over low heat. In bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add chocolate mixture and mix well. Spread into a greased 9x13-inch casserole dish. Set aside.

What you need for the filling layer:

1/2 cup sugar
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup margaine, or butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional; I used almonds)

How you do the filling layer:

Beat cream cheese; add remaning ingredients and beat for 1 minutes. Spread over bar layer. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes; do not under bake. Begin mixing frosting.

What you need for the frosting layer:

2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup margarine, or butter
1 square unsweetened baking chocolate
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
2 oz. cream cheese

How you do the frosting layer:

Take brownies out of oven and psrinkle marshmallows on top. Put back into oven for about 2-5 minutes (or until marshmallows begin to be golden brown; see picture above). Melt margaine, chocolate, cream cheese, and milk over low heat. Removed from heat, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour immediately over marshmallows and swirl together (be careful not to get into the filling layer when swirling). Cool completely before cutting. Store in fridge.

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup

2009-08-25T20:17:00.001-05:00

As with most of my recipes, I can only alter or combine recipes that I know I already like. Such is the case with this one. I was going to make White Chili, but didn't have the green chilies. So, I altered it and it tasted so much like Chicken Enchiladas, that I decided to keep it and share it.

CHEESY CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP

What you need:

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pkg. chicken taco seasoning
1 onion, chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans white beans
1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained really well
1 can chicken broth (I used homemade broth that I made using this method. I love that the veggies are in the broth since that's what my children mostly ate. Yum!)
1 lb. Velveeta, cut into cubes
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, mexican blend
Tortilla chips

How you do it:

Combine all ingredients. Let simmer until warm. Serve with tortilla chips.

Honey Wheat Bread

2009-08-18T20:39:00.000-05:00

It's taken me years to find a wheat bread recipe that I love. I initially found this one on AllRecipes. It was a bread machine recipe, and since I don't have a bread machine I altered the order of the mixing and added rise time to the recipe. I also added some special ingredients to help the dough to produce a fabulous bread texture. This bread is amazing! Especially if you want some wonderful sweet bread as a side to your dinner. (If you don't want it very sweet, just scale down how much honey you add.)

HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

What you need:

1 1/8 cups water (120-130°)
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbsp. dry milk powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. shortening
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 tsp. wheat gluten (optional, but definitely recommended)
1 tbsp. dough enhancer (optional, but definitely recommended)

How you do it:

(If using a bread machine, add ingredients in order listed [adding wheat gluten and dough enhancer with the flour], turn on wheat cycle and let the machine do its job!)

In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients. In mixer, pour water, add shortening and honey. Turn mixer to speed 1 and mix together. Mix all dry ingredients together, then add to wet ingredients one cup at a time. Knead for 8 minutes (add additional time if mulitiplying recipe to make more than one loaf). Place in greased bowl, turn to coat; cover and let rise until double (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours). Punch down and shape. Place in greased loaf pan; cover, and let rise until double (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours). Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.

Step-by-Step Hints:

You're probably wondering what these ingredients are. They are gold for wheat bread. The dough enhancer gives your bread/dough a nice smooth texture. The vital wheat gluten adds nutrition and helps the dough to rise. Gluten holds the gas in the dough which makes it rise. Wheat bread does not rise as well as white bread because white bread flour has a higher amount of protein with a strong gluten so it rises to double in about an hour. Since I typically grind my own wheat, I need to add the wheat gluten to help the bread rise a little bit better than without it. And, finally, the dry milk powder aids in making the bread softer.

Here's a little trick I've learned for my wheat bread: grind the wheat right before making the bread. The wheat flour will be warm after having been ground, which helps the yeast. This is the grinder my mom got for me for a birthday once. Love you, Mom!

Here's what my dough looks like after it's risen and it's ready to shape. Be patient! It takes a long time to rise, make sure to give your dough the time it needs.
Here's another tip: don't add too much flour, just enough to make the dough clean off the sides of the bowl. Then, start the kneading. Once you've started kneading, don't add any more flour.

Yummy, yummy bread! This smells fabulous ... and it's always too hard to wait to cut into this stuff! Enjoy!

Creamy Crock-Pot Potatoes

2009-08-04T20:05:00.002-05:00

CREAMY CROCK-POT POTATOES

What you need:

2 lbs. red potatoes (I've used 6-7 russets and liked that too)
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk, or half & half
1 pkg. ranch salad dressing mix

How you do it:

Cut potatoes (quarter red potatoes, cut into bite-size for russets). Place potatoes in crock-pot. Melt butter in small saucepan. Add flour and make into a roux (cook until bubbly, stirring constantly). Pour in milk (or half & half), and whisk together until sauce is thickened. Add cream cheese, and ranch dressing mix. Pour over potatoes and stir together. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until potatoes are soft.

Creamy Chocolate Chip Drops

2009-07-14T12:17:00.002-05:00

These will hit the spot when you are craving chocolate chip cookies on a day when you realize you don't have any eggs, and you don't want to go to the store. I like them rolled in powdered sugar, my husband likes them without the powdered sugar. Either way, they are yummy!

CREAMY CHOCOLATE CHIP DROPS

What you need:

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour*
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered sugar

*If you don't have cake flour, subsitute all-purpose flour and take out 2 tablespoons of flour from the 2 cups measured.

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 300°. IN a medium bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light nd fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add cake flour and salt and beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonsfuls 2-inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use parchment paper). Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until set but not browned. Let cookies cool on sheets 2 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar, transfer to a rack, and let cool completely.

Bubble Up Pizza Casserole

2009-07-07T16:26:00.002-05:00

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, and my children LOVE it! So easy, and so perfect for those pizza-craving-nights.

BUBBLE-UP PIZZA CASSEROLE

What you need:

1 lb. ground beef
2 tsp. onion powder, or
1 onion, chopped
16 oz. tomato sauce, or
8 oz. tomato sauce, 12 oz. tomato paste & 12 oz. water
1/2 tsp. dried basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
15 oz. biscuits (I use just 10 oz. and cut them into fourths)
1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese (I use 1 part mozz, and 2 parts cheddar because the majority of my family is lactose intollerant)

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Brown ground beef. Add onion powder, garlic, tomato sauce, basil 7 Italian seasoning. Add biscuits; stir gently until giscuits are covered. Pour into prepared casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until biscuits are done. Allowt o cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Sugar Doughnut Muffins

2009-06-02T00:13:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe here a while ago and just made them. These muffins are YUMMY! Next time I'll try rolling them in cinnamon-sugar or glazing them. They would be great with a little jelly in the middle too. Really, the possibilities are endless! My little boy was the first to try them and they were a winner!

SUGAR DOUGHNUT MUFFINS

What you need:

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease muffin tin with cooking spray (I used my mini muffin tin). In a large bowl, beat together 3/4 cup sugar and egg until light in color. In a small bowl blend together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a measuring cup mix together oil, milk, and vanilla. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and stir together to combine. Make a well in the mixture and pour in milk/oil mixture. Stir until wet and blended thoroughly (may be a little lumpy). Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. (Again, I used 24 mini muffin cups and loved this size.) Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. While muffins are baking, melt butter. When muffins are finished baking, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter and remove from pan to roll in 1/3 cup sugar. Cool on a wire rack. (Or eat them right away like we did!)

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2009-05-28T09:19:00.000-05:00

Edited to add: I'm posting this one again because I added pictures. Like I said in the original post ... it's not the most aesthetically pleasing casserole when on the plate, but it sure is delicious!

For this one, I took the ingredients from one recipe and combined them with the method for a different recipe. And, it was a huge hit with my family ... seriously, we ate the whole pan even though we probably shouldn't have done so. That's why there aren't any pictures ... um, I didn't know it would be so good, and then it was gone before I thought to get pictures. Plus, it's not the most aesthetically pleasing casserole ... so, just trust me, it's really yummy!

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

What you need:
2 cups chicken, cooked and diced
1 pkg. chicken taco seasoning
1/2 to 1 cup water
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese, divided
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 (16 oz.) carton sour cream
5-6 flour tortillas, cut into strips or rectangles (also try with corn or wheat, yum!)

How you do it:
Cook together chicken, taco seasoning and water in pan on medium heat to cook off liquid. When liquid is almost gone, pour chicken into bowl and mix together with 1/2 cup cheese, cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish. Layer 1/2 of tortillas, 1 cup cheese, and 1/2 of chicken mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

How you freeze it:
Before casserole is combined, line pan with lightly sprayed foil. Be sure to extend foil over the handles or short ends of the pan to help with easy removal. Assemble casserole. Place in freezer until frozen. Remove from pan, cover top with lightly sprayed foil, place in 2 gallon freezer bag. When ready to cook, place casserole in pan and let thaw in refrigerator overnight. Place directly in oven, then turn on oven to 350° and bake for 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Marinated Grilled Steak

2009-05-26T10:22:00.000-05:00

This picture really doesn't do this any good ... but, trust me this was fantastic!

MARINATED GRILLED STEAK

What you need:

Steak (I used around 5.5 lbs. top sirloin)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. fajita seasoning
1 pkg. McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning
1 pkg. Italian dressing mix
1 can Sprite
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

How you do it:

Trim steak of any fat you don't want. Slice steak into strips about 1/2-inch thick. Be sure to cut cross-grain ... this tenderizes the meat so your teeth don't have to. In a gallon-size Ziploc bag, mix together garlic, and seasoning packets. Pour in Sprite and Worcestershire sauce. Shake to blend together. Add steak strips. Seal bag removing air as best as you can. Massage the steak for about 30 seconds. Place in fridge for at least six hours. Remove bag and massage steak every hour if possible. Heat grill and place steak on grill at low heat. Grill for about 3-5 minutes each side.

Chicken Casserole

2009-04-22T12:18:00.003-05:00

This is one of my all-time favs, even though it may not look so good. I remember grabbing some of this before heading to a football game in high school, and it hit the spot on a frosty fall night. Trust me, although the ingredients seem a little strange to put together, it is so yummy.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

What you need:

2 cups chicken, cooked and diced

1 to 1 1/2 cups rice, cooked

4-6 hard boiled eggs, diced

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup Miracle Whip (DO NOT use mayonnaise, there is a HUGE difference)

1 cup sliced almonds

How you do it:

Mix together all ingredients except almonds. Use more Miracle Whip if it seems a little dry. Use more rice to extend the casserole for more servings. Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until bubble and almonds are slightly browned. Serve.

How you freeze it:

Omit eggs. Mix together and place in freezer-safe ziploc bag. When ready to bake, let thaw completely. Make hard boiled eggs and fold into thawed casserole. Pour into 9x13-inch baking dish and sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.

Holiday #2: Happy Green!

2009-03-17T23:32:00.000-05:00

I don't usually do much for St. Patrick's Day other than wear green. But, this year I decided to do something fun. So, everything we ate was green! Afterward, I totally thought, "Oh, we could have had green beans, peas, kiwi, green grapes ..." Well, there's always next year.

This year I made green pancakes for breakfast. The trick to getting them a consistent color is to add the food coloring to the water/milk before adding it to the dry ingredients.

For lunch, I made green mac & cheese. Again, I added the food coloring to the water the macaroni cooked it in. My children don't like my homemade mac & cheese even though I think it's much better than Kraft. But, since it was a day for them, that's what I made. So, when it came time to mix it up the macaroni had been colored green from the water, but I needed to tint the cheese green too. So, I whisked together the milk and the cheese sauce mix with food coloring before adding it to the macaroni.

My two daughters who are in school all day wanted something green in their lunches too. Usually, I'll make green bread for their sandwiches, but I wasn't thinking far enough ahead this year. So, I cut their sandwiches into a clover puzzle, and added green food coloring to their ranch dip for their carrots. They thought that was great!

For an after-school snack I gave the children cereal with green milk. And, finally for dinner we had green eggs and ham. It was fun to think of ways to use green in our menu. What have you done?

Texas Cereal Cookies

2009-03-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

The picture I took of this didn't turn out very well. So, maybe next time I make these I'll update this with a picture. At any rate, these are really yummy ... but seriously full of sugar. The recipe makes several dozen (depending on size), so I would suggest only making these when you will be able to get rid or give away most of them so you don't end up eating them all!

What you need:

2 cups light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar marshmallow creme
2 cups peanut butter
1 (12 oz.) bag chocolate chips
1 large box cereal (Cheerios, Special K, Kix [my fav], Rice Krispies, etc.)

How to do it:

Bring sugar, syrup and salt to a rolling boil. Stir for one minutes and remove from heat. Add marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Add cereal and carefully mix. Shape into cookies or bars.

Tip: Be sure to mix it really well and pour it on the cereal while it is still somewhat warm. (I let it cool a little bit and the handle on my wooden spoon broke completely off while I was mixing it together.)

Alfredo Chicken

2009-02-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe in the mail. My husband raved and raved about the chicken. I just thought, "Thanks, but it was so easy and I didn't do anything special to it at all." It really was better than I anticipated.

CHICKEN ALFREDO

What you need:

1/4 cup flour
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. onion, minced
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh parsley

How to do it:

Preheat oven to 375°. Place flour in a shallow dish or pie plate. Sprinkle chicken with salt and coat with flour. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken; cook, turning once, until golden, 2-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from skillet; place in a 9x13 baking dish. Heat remaining oil (1 tsp) in same skillet over medium heat until hot. Add garlic and onion; cook until garlic is fragrant and onion is tender, 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add whipping cream, Parmesan and pepper. Cook until sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken in dish. Bake chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of chicken registers 180°, 8-12 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

Step by Step:

After coating the chicken in flour, and heating the oil, add the chicken to the skillet. Make sure the oil is good and hot; when the oil is hot enough the flour won't absorb the oil.

Now add the chicken to the dish. No need to spray the dish before adding the chicken.

Make the sauce in the same skillet in which you cooked the chicken. I doubled the sauce because we decided to serve our chicken with pasta. It's super good without the pasta.

Bake the chicken for 8-12 minutes (total time including prep is about 30-40 minutes), then serve. I omitted the parsley because we didn't have any, and I added some extra Alfredo sauce atop the chicken. Oh, and it is so good that my husband and I had to split the leftover chicken breast so we could each have some for lunch this week. (Okay, okay, we fought over it and ended up in a compromise.)

Pot Roast Test

2009-01-27T00:03:00.000-06:00

Recently, I saw a recipe for cooking a pot roast and thought I'd try it, comparing it to my favorite recipe. A few years ago I used to make pot roast very similar to this new recipe. I'd put my roast in the crock-pot, then toss some cut-up potatoes, carrots, and onions atop the roast. Let it cook, and voila! dinner in a pot. However, my roast was usually dry, and flavorless. And, forget about making a gravy ... everytime I did it was really gross!

My favorite recipe I found a while ago and I've been using it for some time now. But, like with any favorite recipe, it can get old, so I thought I'd try the recipe included with the box of slow cooker liners. Here are the differences between the two recipes and which way I liked best:

Recipe #1-Slow Cooker Liner Recipe

Okay, this recipe says to put 1/4 cup water into the crock-pot, then add the cut-up veggies. I added some green pepper and garlic to my crock-pot. Then it says to sprinkle on the dry onion soup mix.

Recipe #2-My Favorite Recipe

In my favorite recipe, I only put onions in the pot. Sometimes I'll put some celery in the pot first so the roast can rest on it. Then, I'll put in the roast and place the onions around and atop the roast. I'll slice up my garlic and place all of it atop the roast. (I prepare the roast differently too, and I'll get to that.)

Recipe #1

In the new recipe, it said to sprinkle salt, pepper, and thyme on the roast and rub it in. Which I did, then I deviated from the recipe and browned my roast on all sides to seal in the moisture. Then, place the roast atop the veggies and let it cook for 5-6 hours on high.

Recipe #2

What I do differently in my favorite recipe is brown the roast on all sides, then I sprinkle the salt and pepper, and rosemary and thyme on the roast after I've placed it in the pot atop the celery. After I put the onions and garlic in the pot, I pour in 1-2 cans of beef broth, or about 2-3 cups water and a few cubes of beef bouillon. And, I pour it down the side of the pot so as not to wash the seasonings off the meat.

The verdict:

Recipe #1

I love having the entire dinner in one pot and not having to do any extra work after cutting everything up. The veggies had a lot of flavor, although the potatoes had a bitter aftertaste that I wasn't a fan of. The children really liked the potatoes though, so that was a bonus. I thought the roast would have a lot of flavor, but I was disappointed. It was dry and had a little bit of flavor, but not as much as I thought it would

Recipe #2

By far, it is still my favorite. True, I end up making mashed potatoes and candied carrots when I make my roast this way, but it tastes much better. There is so much more flavor in my roast, and the gravy is always yummy. Plus, the meat is moist and not dry at all.

So, the next time I make a roast with veggies in the pot, I'll place the roast on the bottom of the pot with the veggies atop it. Then, I'll add some beef broth to the pot. I think my roast was so dry because my veggies soaked up all the liquid.

Anyone have another favorite way to make pot-roast?

Eclair Cake

2009-01-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

I love this stuff so much, I've made it three times in the last month! It is that yummy! My husband took some to work and came home requesting I make more for him to take again. So, out of the goodness of my heart (and the prospect of goodness in my mouth) I complied.

ECLAIR CAKE

What you need:

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

4 eggs

1 large pkg. vanilla pudding, instant or cook-n-serve

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 tub whipped topping

chocolate syrup

How you do it:

Bring water and butter to a rolling boil; whisk in flour until it forms a ball. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Beat in eggs one at a time. Press into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Meanwhile prepare pudding as directed on the package. Add cream cheese to pudding and mix well. Pour pudding into cake crust. When pudding is set, top with whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate syrup before serving. Keep refrigerated.

Step-by-Step:

Okay, so before you get to this point you've brought the water and butter to a boil, whisked in the flour, and then beat in the eggs until it's smooth. Now you can just press the "dough" into the lightly greased dish.

(If you want to see what the batter looks like before you put it in the pan, check out my post on Eclairs.)

Make the pudding while the cake shell bakes. I prefer to use cook-n-serve pudding because I think it tastes better and the texture is by far superb to the instant stuff (it's also easier to add the cream cheese because I just put it in the microwave until it's soft and the heat of pudding helps to blend it all together really well). But, use what you like!

When it's time, take out the cake shell. If you've used instant pudding, you'll need to let the shell cool a bit before added the pudding. If you used cook-n-serve pudding, just pour it right into the shell.

Now, that you've filled the cake shell, let it cool completely before adding the whipped topping.

I like to drizzle the chocolate syrup atop individual slices, but again do what you like best!

Chocolate Butter Balls

2009-01-06T15:51:00.000-06:00

This year I made one of my family's traditional holiday treats: Chocolate Butter Balls. I don't have a clue where my mom got the recipe, but as a child (and still today) I loved these things. In fact, my brother liked the dough so much that he would put it in a bowl in the fridge and eat out of it with a spoon. Who doesn't do that with cookie dough, though? (I don't have a picture because they are all gone. Sorry about that. Maybe I'll edit to add a picture later.)

I was telling my friend about them today, explaining that they are the perfect treat for a family night because there are enough ingredients for everyone to do something, and even the youngest child can help with these because you mix it together and roll it (there's no baking or cooking involved).

CHOCOLATE BUTTER BALLS

What you need:

2/3 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp. cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups quick oats
powdered sugar

How you do it:

Mix all ingredients except powdered sugar; chill for at least one hour. (Or, if you live in Minne-so-cold, like we do, you can flatten the dough out and wrap in plastic wrap, then place it out on your deck or porch for 10-15 minutes [just enough to make the dough workable]. That'll do the trick.) Roll into balls, then roll balls in powdered sugar. Keep leftovers in refrigerator.

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

2008-12-30T14:17:00.000-06:00

This week's Table Time Tuesday is a recipe I tried back in July when I got my Kraft Food & Family magazine. I used leftover grilled chicken for my filling. We also put sour cream atop our enchiladas and I really liked it that way. Anyway, here's the recipe:

What you need:

1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cooked small chicken breasts (about 1 lb.), shredded
1 cup salsa, divided
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup shredded cheddar & monterey jack Cheese, divided
8 flour tortillas

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat large skillet spayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min. Add chicken, 1/4 cup of the salsa, cream cheese, cilantro and cumin; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese; mix well. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla; roll up. Place, seam-side down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining 3/4 cup salsa and remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake 15 to 20 min. or until heated through.

Pasta!

2008-12-02T19:57:00.000-06:00

Today is Table Time Tuesday! I know, I know, I haven’t posted a new recipe is two weeks. That’s why this post is just called: Pasta!

A few years ago, my friend’s husband taught me how to make two different pasta sauces. I’ve already shared one (I call it: Chunky Red Pasta Sauce), and now I’ll share the other one (of course with my modifications), plus one of my own creation.

This first one is an alfredo sauce (or as my family calls it, “white sauce”). If you like alfredo sauce, this is the sauce for you! Well, that is if you want to gain a few pounds. It is rich, creamy, and THE BEST homemade alfredo sauce I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself. We prefer it over the bottled sauces you can buy in the store. And, when I’m in a time crunch, or I just can’t think of anything to make for dinner, I make this and it’s on the table in at least 20 minutes, sometimes sooner.
ALFREDO SAUCE

What you need:

¼ cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced or chopped finely
¼ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (fresh is best)
½ tsp. basil
Dash of pepper
¼ cup frozen peas, optional
¼ to ½ cup water from pasta, optional
Pasta (my favorites are linguine, mini penne, or mini farfalle)

How you do it:

Saute garlic in butter in saucepan until butter is melted and garlic is soft. Whisk in flour and salt, and cook until bubbly. Continue stirring the roux for 3-5 minutes. Slowly, pour in whipping cream, stir until thickened, then add Parmesan cheese. When cheese is melted, add basil, pepper and peas. If sauce is too thick, add water from the cooking pasta (be sure to reserve the water if your pasta is finished cooking before your sauce is ready). Serve over pasta.

Tips:
· Always, always, always taste this sauce before you serve it. My measurements aren’t exact because I usually make it according to taste, so you may want more parm or more salt.

· When you cook pasta, do not rinse it off after you have drained it. Rinsing it releases the starches and makes the pasta really sticky. All you need to do is drain it, then pour about 1-2 tsp. of olive oil (depending on how much pasta you cook) over the pasta and toss it. That keeps the pasta from sticking together.

· You can keep this sauce in the fridge for about a week. I haven’t tried freezing it yet; but, I think it will separate even more than it does when it is in the fridge. The trick to avoid major separation is to scrap reheating in the microwave and just heat it up on the stove on a low heat. Slowly reheating the sauce will prevent the fat from separating the sauce. (I do reheat it in the microwave sometimes and it seems to be fine … I think that’s because there is flour in this recipe as opposed to other recipes that just combine butter, cream and Parmesan cheese.)

· If you don’t have, or use, a garlic press (I prefer not to), here’s how to get that pesky peel off the garlic clove (which, btw, is just one little bulb off the head of garlic you’ll end up getting in the produce section at the store): Place the clove on the cutting board on one of its flat sides. Take a wide-bladed knife and place it atop the clove. Hit the knife with the heel of your hand really hard, and push down on the clove. This should smash the clove a little bit … and that separates the peel from the clove. The peel should come right off, then you can chop up the clove (fair warning: garlic is sticky when it’s chopped).

· Try adding chicken, or pork to this … it’s really yummy.

Now, onto sauce number two! This is one that I kind of made up. I’d gone to an Italian restaurant in our little Podunk town and the dinner I got was ravioli in a tomato-cream sauce. If you’ve not had tomato-cream sauce, you are totally missing out! It is so yummy! Anyway, when I asked what the sauce was like before ordering, the waitress told me that it was basically alfredo sauce mixed with marinara. So, I did some experimenting at home and came up with my Tomato-Cream Sauce (or “orange sauce” as my family calls it). My only problem is that I haven’t been able to scale down this recipe. I’ve tried other recipes for tomato-cream sauce, and I keep coming back to this one; so maybe one day I’ll figure out how to make a smaller amount.

TOMATO-CREAM SAUCE

What you need:

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 small onion, chopped; or
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic salt/powder (I use granulated garlic)
1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste
1 can tomato soup
½ can water
½ tsp. oregano, ground
½ tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
½ cup butter
2 garlic cloves, minced or chopped finely
½ cup flour
1 tsp. salt
4 cups heavy whipping cream
¾ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
½ cup water from pasta

How you do it:

Brown ground beef and onion until beef is no longer pink and onion is soft. Sprinkle ground beef with garlic salt (and onion powder if you don’t use an onion). Add tomato paste, soup, ½ can water, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add oregano and simmer 10 more minutes. While sauce simmers, melt butter in separate saucepan. Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in flour and salt and cook until bubbly, stirring constantly. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Pour in cream and whisk together. Stir until thickened. Add cheese and basil. Sauce will be very thick. Add water from cooked pasta. Combine white sauce and red sauce according to taste. Serve over pasta.

Freezer Meals

2008-11-12T12:03:00.000-06:00

My friend asked about freezer meals, which reminded me that I am planning on freezing a lot of the dinners that I'll be making in the next few weeks. So, I'm going to try to feature those as often as possible.

In the meantime, I've updated my Recipes entry with all of my old recipes (thanks goes to my little sis for saving my old blog: it made bringing back the old recipes a lot more efficient). I've also added astericks to the recipes that I've frozen before.

Here are some tips I learned for the recipes I've listed that I've frozen:

Let the dinner/bread thaw completely before warming it up. You can do this in the microwave, otherwise let it thaw completely in the fridge (which may mean taking it out of the freezer the morning of the day before you are going to eat it for dinner, make sense?).

When freezing a casserole, line the casserole dish with foil. After the casserole has cooled partly, place the dish in the freezer. When the casserole is frozen, lift the casserole out of the dish and wrap the casserole in foil. Then, place it in your freezer.

Soups can be frozen in freezer bags, or in rigid containers. These are great to have in the freezer because they are easily thawed and cooked in the microwave. (Tip: My Chunky Red Pasta Sauce can be dumped right into a crock-pot and cooked all day.)

Always, always, always label with the type of meal and the date! Never eat anything that has been in the freezer for more than three months.

When using a frozen cake, frost it before it thaws ... it cuts down on the amount of crumbs you get in your frosting.

If you use frozen chicken breasts, or frozen meatballs, just dump the meat into a freezer bag and pour the sauce on top.

If you can, flatten out what you put in freezer bags and place it on a shelf in the freezer. Once frozen, you can tilt them up on their sides to save space.

Do not freeze potatoes! You can freeze mashed potatoes okay, but any other kind of potatoes gets a little yucky. I wish I knew how they make frozen hashbrowns and such to turn out okay. Everything else I've tried doesn't. Oh, you can freeze twice-baked potatoes since you take the pulp of the potatoes out and mash it before you put it back in the skin.

Those are all the tips I can think of right now. If you have any tips, or if any I've put up here don't work for you, please let me know in the comments! And, if you have any freezer meal recipes you've tried, I want them!!! Send them my way! I would love this to be a place for idea sharing!

Also, this is one of my favorite websites for freezer meal recipes:

30 Day Gourmet

Fudge Sauce

2008-11-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

So, on Sunday it was our turn to feed our missionaries. And, for some reason I hate having them come for dinner and not serving them some form of a dessert. The best part about dessert on this particular Sunday was that I had a craving ... and was able to follow through, even if I had to make a substitution. I was craving my grandmother's fudge sauce on ice cream.

Occasionally when we'd visit with my grandmother she would give us ice cream (in some glass dishes that I inherited from her when she moved), then drizzle on her homemade fudge sauce. It seriously is the best fudge sauce, ever! (It even makes great chocolate milk!)

GRANDMA’S FUDGE SAUCE

What you need:

1 large can evaporated milk
2 cups sugar
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla

How to do it:

Bring to boil over medium heat milk, sugar, and chocolate. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring vigorously. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary type beater for 1 minute. Add additional evaporated milk for a thinner sauce.

Okay, so if you look closely at this picture, you will notice some cocoa powder on the range next to the saucepan. That is my substitute. When I opened my box of unsweetened chocolate squares I only had one square. So, I substituted with 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder and 1 Tbsp. butter (for each square I needed, so a total of 6 Tbsp. cocoa and 2 Tbsp. butter because I needed 2 squares). Trust me, the sauce tastes much better if you don’t have to substitute. Not that it tasted badly, there’s just a distinct flavor that was only an aftertaste, rather than tasting it the whole time.

Now this picture is just to show you that you can’t use a small saucepan very well. My mistake. I couldn’t stir the sauce very vigorously because it was threatening to spill over. So, I just cooked it a little longer because I like my sauce thicker rather than thin.

Tip: Fudge sauce is basically a syrup, and to make your syrup/sauce thicker you need to cook it until it reaches between 230-235° on a candy thermometer. At least, this is what helped me to cook my mom’s syrup to the right consistency.

And, here’s how much fudge sauce you’ll get in the end! Please excuse the attractive vacuumer in the background … our floor was pretty crumbly. (Side note: isn’t it awesome that my hubby will vacuum for me so I can have fun cooking things like fudge sauce without having to walk all over the crumbs on the floor?)

I don't think everyone who had this on their ice cream appreciated it as much as I did ... but, I will always remember times in my grandma's kitchen eating ice cream with her sauce ... YUM!

Cheesy Chicken Noodle Soup

2008-11-04T18:54:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I know I should probably wait until next Tuesday to post this recipe, but we had this tonight for dinner and it was so good I just couldn't wait to pass it along! You know when a recipe is good when your husband takes one bite and says, "Ooh, this is good." Anyway, enjoy!

CHEESY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

What you need:
4 chicken breasts
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. carrots, sliced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8-10 oz. Velveeta, cubed
16 oz. frozen peas
1 (12 oz.) bag Reemes frozen egg noodles

(Optional: 1-2 cans chicken broth)

How you do it:
Cook chicken in boiling water for 30 minutes. Remove chicken and strain cooking water, replacing the water in the pot. Add celery, onion, and carrots to pot. Let cook until tender. Add cut-up chicken, cream of chicken soup, egg noodles and Velveeta. Let simmer until Velveeta is melted. Throw in the peas before serving.

What I did differently than above:
I used 2 cans chicken broth instead of the chicken water. I also used probably 13 ounces of Velveeta, and instead of the frozen egg noodles I used some mini fusili. I cooked the fusili separate from the soup, then added it later ... this made the soup thinner and more like a soup. (The first time I had this soup it was at a soup potluck and it was pretty creamy, almost stew-like.)

White Chili

2008-11-04T11:29:00.000-06:00

I started a tradition a few years ago: chili for dinner on Halloween night. The first couple of times I did this, I tried two different recipes and we weren’t really keen on either. Then, I had this White Chili at my friend’s house during a card exchange. So, I got the recipe from my friend, and the last couple of years this is what we’ve had for our traditional Halloween Chili Dinner. It’s super yummy … you just have to try it.

WHITE CHILI

What you need:

2 lbs. chicken, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed
½ lb. Monterey Jack cheese, cubed
1 can white corn, or 1 cup frozen corn
1-3 cans tomatoes with green chilies, drained really well*
2 cans white beans (great northern)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth

*This is what makes it spicy; the more cans you use, the spicier it will be.

How you do it:

Combine all ingredients. Let simmer until warmed through. Serve with tortilla chips.

Semi-Step by Step:

I’ve combined my steps. The following are in the pot: chicken, onion, Velveeta, Monterey Jack cheese, and frozen corn.

Now I’ve added: 1 can petite diced tomatoes, 1 can diced green chilies (this is how I control the spiciness), 2 cans great northern beans, and 2 cans cream of chicken soup.

Note: The first time I made this I did not drain my tomatoes and the chili turned out a very orange color (not very aesthetically pleasing … totally made me lose my appetite). So, since then, I get out my strainer and get rid of as much liquid as possible (both the tomatoes and the chilies). Seriously, it makes a difference.

Then, I poured in the chicken broth and stirred it together.

I let it simmer for a few hours, then I couldn’t wait for the trick-or-treaters to come home before I dug in. My favorite chips with this are the scoop-like tortilla chips. My friend, who gave me the recipe, served this with Fritos.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2008-10-28T09:12:00.000-05:00

(*Side note: I apologize for the time stamp in all of the pictures ... I still haven't figured out how to get that to go away!)

I first had this shortly after my husband and I were married and my sister-in-law served it to us. I had no idea how to make it at home until then. My sister-in-law took her chicken breasts to the butcher at the grocery store and had him tenderize the chicken breasts for her. But, we liked it so much, we invested in a meat mallet so we could do it ourselves. (Yes, WE; my husband has made this before.) It's actually a lot of fun to make when I'm stressed out or upset about something! Hee hee.

What you need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 deli-thin ham slices
4 deli-thin Swiss cheese slices
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups cornflake crumbs (more or less)
toothpicks
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
rice

How you do it:

Tenderize the chicken breasts. Place one slice ham and one slice Swiss cheese in middle of chicken breast. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Beat egg and milk together; dip chicken in egg mixture, then roll in cornflake crumbs. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes, or until chicken is done. Meanwhile, make rice, and heat together soup and cream cheese. Serve chicken and rice with gravy.

Step By Step:

First, start by placing your chicken breast on a piece of parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper is large enough to fold over the chicken breasts. I have used waxed paper in the past, but it gets torn apart by the mallet much faster than the parchment paper, so I can usually only tenderize two chicken breasts for each sheet of wax paper, but on parchment paper I can get through four or so.

Fold over the parchment paper, hand the meat tenderizer mallet to your 8yo and let her go at it! Or, if you prefer (or don't have an 8yo to do it for you), start pounding away. Make sure you tenderize the thickest part of the chicken the most, and don't hit it too much in the super thin areas because you'll break apart the meat.

Once you've tenderized all your chicken breasts, place a thin slice of ham in the middle of each chicken breast.

Place a deli-thin slice of Swiss cheese atop the ham. And, I thought we took pictures of the next step, but I guess we didn't. I start by folding in the sides of the chicken, and the bottom. Then, you roll it up and secure it with two to three toothpicks. Set it aside.

Here's a trick to really good coating. Beat one egg in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup evaporated milk, and mix together really well. Set it aside. This mixture helps the crumbs to stick to the chicken better than just milk, melted butter, or a beaten egg.

Pour some cornflake crumbs in a dish. You can use bread crumbs if you prefer. I like the crunchiness of the cornflake crumbs. I used to find a box of cornflake crumbs at the grocery store when we lived in Utah, so for the last five years I've been crushing my own crumbs (which is fine, except the flakes are either not finely crushed enough, or they are too powdery). However, the last time I was at the store, I saw a box of cornflake crumbs in the baking aisle ... if you can't find them, be sure to check the bottom shelf (seems like all the goodies are down there).

Take your rolled up chicken and dip it into the egg-milk mixture.

Roll the chicken in the cornflake crumbs. This can get a little messy. I usually use my right hand for the dipping, and my left hand for the rolling. And, after I place the chicken in the pie dish (with my right hand), I roll it slightly on its side, then take a spoon (in my left hand) and scoop some crumbs on the top of the chicken, then I roll it with my left hand and pick it up to press the ends in the crumbs.

Place the chicken in a 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350° for 45 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

*Tip: I always use a foil-lined baking dish. Everyone has their own tricks to line the dish, but I've found this most effective: rinse the dish with water and semi-dry it before lining it with foil. The wetness left in the dish (not too much) will make the foil stick to the dish instead of moving around every time you place a chicken in there.

I like to serve my chicken cordon bleu with rice and a gravy. The gravy is so basic and yummy: one can cream of chicken soup, and one (8 oz.) package of cream cheese. Heat it up and pour it over the chicken and rice.

*Tip: It's easiest if you remove the toothpicks before you pour on the gravy or cut the chicken. Also, if you use colored toothpicks (like I did), your chicken will be slightly colored where the toothpicks were. Don't worry, it's not bad chicken, just food coloring!

Holiday Recipe #1: Mummy Dogs

2008-10-27T12:54:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, I try to make the holidays a little bit more fun for my children by using some holiday recipes. Just thought I'd post some of my favorites here, in case any of you want to try them out!

Today all of my children stayed home from school because we are all sick. So, since my girls were eating lunch with us, I decided to make one of our favorite Halloween lunches: Mummy Dogs.

So simple, and so entertaining.

What you need:

1 can crescent rolls
8 hot dogs
pizza cutter
mustard & ketchup

How to do it:

Press the crescent seams together to form two long rectangles. Using a pizza cutter, cut each of the rectangles into four strips, cutting from one short side to the other (the length of the rectangle). Take a hot dog and starting on one end of a dough strip, roll the hot dog in the dough making sure to not overlap the dough (except at the bottom, which you'll pinch together to seal the end of the mummy). Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes. Using a toothpick, make dots for eyes out of mustard or ketchup.

My Boschy Adventures: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

2008-10-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've been using my Boschy to make a lot of stuff. The most I've done is wheat bread ... I'm determined to find a good wheat bread recipe. But, I've also made white bread, rolls, pretzels (twice), and most recently Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread (Muffins).

I posted this recipe on my old blog, but I haven't been able to import all my old recipes here. So, I'm posting it again! I LOVE these muffins! I like to make them as mini muffins because they are perfect size for a snack (and less messy than cutting the bread). This recipe makes almost 100 mini muffins, about 50 regular-sized muffins, 8 mini bread loaves, or 3 regular-sized bread loaves. You'll have to adjust the baking time according to which pan you use. I don't usually make this recipe into regular-sized muffins, but I will tell you that I bake the mini muffins for 18 minutes each batch (I only have one 24-cup pan), and the mini loaves for about 45 minutes. Just about every time a friend of mine watches my children for me, I take a bag of these muffins for a snack (and a thank you). And, I don't think I've ever had a friend not ask for the recipe. So, I thought I'd spare all of you the chore of watching my children and just give you the recipe!

CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN BREAD

3 cups sugar

1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin puree

1 cup veggie oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour three 1 lb. size coffee cans, or three 9x5-inch loaf pans. In a large bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in dry ingredients, Fold in chips and nuts. Pour into cans/pans. Bake for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from cans/pans. (I actually immediately dump mine out and let them cool on the rack when I make mini muffins because I need the pan again.)

Zuppa Toscana Soup

2008-10-14T19:24:00.000-05:00

Our family went to a friend's soup pot luck on Saturday night. I wasn't in the mood to make any of my regular soup recipes. That's usually how I work ... either I get a recipe suggested from a friend, or I try out a new recipe on a bunch of people (just in case we don't like it so we won't have to keep a ton of leftovers in the fridge that we won't end up eating).

Anyway, for some reason I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find a recipe to replicate the Zuppa Toscana soup served at Olive Garden. So, I tried this recipe; and it turned out pretty similar and very yummy. (In fact, one of the guys there asked if I was trying to win a prize [we'd just won "most original chili" at a chili cook-off].) This is definitely worth trying if you like that spicy sausage and potato soup.

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. ground spicy Italian sausage, crumbled

1/2 lb. smoked bacon (6 slices), chopped

1 qt. water

2 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth (about 3 2/3 cups)

2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and sliced 1/4-inch thick

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups chopped kale or swiss chard (I couldn't find either at the grocery store, so I used spinach)

1 cup heavy whipping cream (I added probably about another 1/2 cup)

salt & pepper, to taste

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside. In the same skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside. Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes. Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.

Sweet Mingle Mix

2008-09-30T13:05:00.000-05:00

I feel very blessed to be in a school district that fits snack time into the school schedule. The catch is that we have to send our children with their snacks. I always try to have something salty with protein of some form for Una's snack because that combo seems to help her with her hypoglycemia. I would LOVE to send just plain regular chex mix because of the salty nuts and lack of sugar, but she HATES that stuff. In fact, this is the only snack mix I've been able to make (find) that Una will eat and thoroughly enjoy. And, although it is rather sweet, it's not something she'll get everyday. (Thanks, Jessica, for sharing this with me!)

SWEET MINGLE MIX
1 1/2 cups pretzel sticks (broken in half)
2 cups Chex
2 cups Cheerios (not honey-nut)
1 cup peanuts
1 cup M&Ms
10 oz. vanilla candy coating

Line driper pan with wax paper. Combine all ingredients, except candy coating in a large bowl. Melt candy coating in microwave. Pour over dry ingredients. Pour mixture into dripper pan to cool. When cool, break apart. Store in covered container.

So, let's make this together!

I don't use the same ingredients; but, I'm sure you can mix it up according to what your family likes best.

Start off with the pretzels.

Then add the Kix and Crispix.

Now add the Kissables and peanuts (which are not shown).

Don't forget to let the little ones taste it first!

Pour Vanilla Candy Coating over everything. (My microwave died on me, so I had to use my double boiler.

Stir everything until it is well coated. Una and Dos were my helpers.

Maybe they'll grow up to be hand models?

Dump it all out onto wax paper to cool. Then break it apart and store in ziploc baggies. And, if you're like me, you'll place those baggies in the freezer. That way, when you pull them out they can go into lunch boxes and not get all melted and messy (and neither will the hands that dig into the baggies).

Easy Zesty Chicken Pot Pie

2008-09-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

This week there are two TTT posts because I skipped out last week. This one is dedicated to a super easy chicken pot pie. Papa LOVES this pot pie for the flavor; I LOVE this pot pie for the simplicity.

ZESTY CHICKEN POT PIE

12 oz (1 1/2 [8 oz.] pkgs.) cream cheese, cubed

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cups choped cooked chicken

2 pkgs. (10 oz.) frozen mixed veggies, thawed*

1 pkg. Italian salad dressing mix

1 refrigerated ready-to-use pie crust**

Preheat oven to 425°. Place cream cheese in large saucepan. Add broth; cook on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently with wire whisk. Stir in chicken, veggies & salad dressing mix. Spoon into 9-inch pie plate. Cover wtih pie crust; seal and flute edges. Cut several slits in crust to allow steam to escape. Place pie plate on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 minuets or until golden brown.

Serves: 8

*I use a peas & carrots mixture for the veggies.

**The first time I made this, I used two pie crusts, placing one in the pie dish before pouring in the filling. I actually prefer it this way.

Una and I had fun using my mini cookie cutters (I originally got these to cut out marzipan shapes for a birthday cake) to make a design in the pie crust instead of just cutting slits.

I also skipped reading the part about placing the pie dish on a cookie sheet .... big OOPS! This is a must, unless you want to clean your oven at least three times over the next few days. (That's why my cookie sheet looks so clean ... I realized when I started smelling burned filling that I needed the cookie sheet and slid it under the pie a little bit too late.)

Farmhouse Chicken

2008-09-16T14:30:00.000-05:00

This week I'm posting one of my absolutely favorite dinners. Luckily for me, my sister was here while I made it, so she took pictures for you. (That's why they are so much better than the pictures I take!) She also said that she prefers step-by-step instructional photos, so that's what she took!

Originally I got this recipe from the Kraft Food & Family magazine a couple of years ago. Since then, I've altered it to my liking. (Actually, the original is much more health conscience: using things that say "reduced-fat," "light," "fat-free," and "reduced sodium." We're all about getting extra fat in our house [and flavor], so I just steer clear of such statements. But, to each their own; make it the way you want to make it!) So, I'll post the original recipe at the bottom in case you want that. Otherwise, this is the way I make it:

Start by heating about 1/3 cup Italian Salad Dressing in a skillet. Use more or less depending on how many chicken breasts you are using. I needed 6, so I used 1/3 cup dressing. Add your thawed chicken breasts to the heated dressing.

While your chicken in browning, start cooking some brown rice. I pour two cups brown rice into a pot, then fill the pot with water until the rice has about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water above it. Then, I boil the water down until craters form atop the rice. It usually takes a while to get to this point. So, we'll skip to the next thing I do after I start the rice:

Peel and slice diagonally 5-6 carrots. Again, the number varies according to how much you'll need. In my case, we LOVE these carrots, so I think I used 6.

Then, cut one onion into wedges. Put both the carrots and onions in a bowl and set them aside to use once the chicken is done browning.

At this point, the chicken has probably been browning for a few minutes. Turn it over. Let the other side cook until it turns a golden brown.

Add carrots and onions.

Pour in one can chicken broth. (Because I was feeding many people, I actually used 1 1/2 cans chicken broth in my rice instead of water, then I poured the left over 1/2 can of broth in with this one can of broth.)

Cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes; or until carrots are tender.

Check your rice. Do you have craters??? I did. So, I put a cover on my rice and reduced the heat to low. (Ten minutes from this point the rice is ready. This is how I make white rice as well, except the water is only 1-inch above the rice.)

Use this time to cut up one package of cream cheese into cubes. (Again, I used one and half packages because we LOVE the gravy for this dish, and I wanted to be sure to have enough.)

When your timer goes off, or your carrots are tender, remove everything from the broth. Cover it to keep it warm.

Add the cut-up cream cheese to the broth in the skillet. Whisk it together with the broth on high heat until the cream cheese is blended in. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 3-5 minutes or until it's thickened a little bit.

Pour cooked rice onto a platter.

Place chicken, carrots and onions atop rice.

Pour gravy over everything.

Take a good look at your very aesthetically pleasing dinner. Then, dig in and revel this yummy goodness.

FARMHOUSE CHICKEN DINNER

¼ cup flour
½ tsp. pepper
4 small bone-in chicken breast halves (1 ½ lb.), skin removed; or 4 skinless, boneless breasts
¼ cup light Italian dressing, reduced fat
2 cups Minute Brown Rice, uncooked
2 cups baby carrots
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 can (14.5 oz) fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth, divided
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese

Mix flour and pepper in shallow dish. Add chicken; turn to evenly coat both sides. Heat dressing in non-stick skillet and add chicken meat-side down; cook 5-6 minutes or until golden brown. Turn chicken over; add carrots, onions and 1 cup broth. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are tender and chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare rice as directed on package; spoon onto serving platter. Use slotted spoon to remove chicken and veggies from stew; place over rice. Cover to keep warm. Add Neufchatel cheese and remaining broth to skillet; increase heat to high. Cook until cheese is melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 3-5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spoon over chicken and veggies; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley.

Making Bread

2008-09-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, so my sister has been here visiting over the weekend and she decided she wanted to "help" me make bread so she could do it at her house. Little did I know that when she said "help" it really meant "you-make-the-bread-while-I-make-a-mini-movie!"

Anyway, she recorded me making bread and posted it on her blog. I figured that since the video was of me that I'd post the video on my blog too! So, here you go!

Ham & Cheddar Loaf

2008-09-09T09:34:00.000-05:00

I was looking online for something new to make the other day and came across this recipe. It reminded me so much of Hot Pockets that I just had to try it. I can't wait to try all the variations; although, I think next time I'll make individual sizes. Oh, the recipe says that it has six servings of one slice each; which I thought wasn't enough to feed my family of six for dinner (based on the picture of how big their slices were), so I made two loaves. Totally only needed one, so I froze the other for another day! I also needed to make bread, so I just used my favorite white bread recipe* in place of the frozen bread dough.

HAM & CHEDDAR LOAF

1 lb. frozen bread dough, thawed
1 pkg. (9 oz.) ham slices
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup Miracle Whip dressing
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oven to 350°. Flatten dough on lightly floured surface with hands. Roll into 12x8-inch rectangle with rolling pin. (If dough is difficult to roll, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling out.) Top with ham to within ½ inch of edges. Mix cheddar cheese and dressing; spread over ham.

Moisten edges of dough with water. Starting at one of the long sides, fold one-third of dough over filling; repeat with other long side. Pinch seams together to seal. Place seam-side down, on lightly greased baking sheet. Cut three diagonal slits in top of dough with kitchen shears. Brush with egg; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. (I baked mine for 35 minutes and it was too brown … I think 30 minutes is sufficient.) Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

*Here’s my favorite white bread recipe (anyone have a whole wheat bread recipe they LOVE?)

This is my favorite because it always turns out perfectly. Seriously, it does. I found it on a recipe card of my mom’s when I was typing up all her recipes (I promise, Mom, you’ll get them back soon). There was written on the card: Works every time. I thought that was a ridiculously arrogant statement, and was determined to prove it wrong. And, I can’t. This is THE PERFECT white bread recipe. I have made it by hand and in a mixer, and both times it has turned out fabulously.

It only takes about an hour and half to make this bread; and there’s very little kneading involved. If you use a mixer, you don’t really need to knead at all; if you make it by hand, you’ll probably have to knead just enough flour into the dough to make it soft and supple instead of sticky (once the dough starts to clean the flour off the counter, stop kneading).

I also love that this recipe is so easy to scale up and down according to how many loaves you want. I don’t like homemade bread that is 4 or more days old, so I usually make only 2 to 3 loaves at a time. But, because of the recipe, I’m able to make even just one loaf if I want, and it’s not hard to figure out the measurements for the ingredients. Seriously, if you’ve never made bread before, but have always wanted to … this is the recipe to get you going. It’s that easy! There weren’t any directions on my mom’s recipe card, so I made up my own and they’ve worked for me so far.

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients. Warm up your water in the microwave to the right temperature. (I usually test it with my pinky finger. If the water is close to burning my finger, then it’s just about right. Sometimes I check with a thermometer, just to be safe. But, if it feels super-duper hot, don’t pour it into your dry ingredients because you’ll kill the yeast. Also, if you've ever proofed your yeast before, you'll need the water to be hotter than the standard 105°-115° because the yeast is mixed in with the flour already.)

Add water and shortening. Stir together until you have a nice soft dough.

Place dough in a greased large bowl; turn to coat (or just turn, then flip the dough upside down). Cover, and place in a warm spot to rise. (I turn on my oven to 350° and set my bowl atop the range so the heat of the oven can keep my dough warm. This really helps out in winter.) Let rise until double, or about 30 minutes.

Divide your dough into desired number of loaves. Shape each loaf. I roll mine out into a rectangle just about the same width as my loaf pan. Then, I roll it away from me (starting at the short side) as I squeeze it together. Then, I pinch to seal the edges.

Place in lightly greased loaf pans. (You can let it rise again for 30 minutes, or just bake it. I usually just bake it.) Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Dinner Rolls

2008-08-27T10:27:00.000-05:00

This week I thought I'd post my favorite roll recipe. I got this recipe from my friend, who also, incidentally, showed me how to shape the rolls the easy way. There's no kneading necessary, which makes these super easy. These rolls freeze really well too, so make a batch and freeze some for later!

DINNER ROLLS

2 Tbsp. yeast

1/2 cup warm (105º-115º) water

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 cups hot (120º-130º) water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter shortening

2 eggs

2 tsp. salt

7-8 cups flour

butter, melted

Mix together yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 2 Tbsp. sugar. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to proof (get all fluffy). Whisk in large mixing bowl 2 cups hot water, 1/2 cup sugar, shortening, eggs, and salt. Add yeast mixture. Add flour one cup at a time. Let dough rise in greased bowl for one hour. Shape; bake at 350º for 16-22 minutes (I baked mine for 18 minutes). Brush with melted butter.

You could let the rolls rise for another hour after you shape them, but I was crunched for time and didn't let them rise again and they turned out just fine. It's just your personal preference.

Okay, here's how I shaped them. I put my left hand into an "OK" shape.

Then, I pinched off enough dough to make about a 1 1/2-inch ball. Instead of rolling the ball, I just put that dough atop the hole I made with my left hand, then pushed it through the hole with the pointer finger of my right hand, while slightly closing the hole. As the dough gets to the end, I pinched it shut and put the seam side down on the greased baking baking sheet. If you look in the top right-hand corner of the picture below, you can see the shaped rolls before they were baked. They look like little white domes. This method of shaping is so easy ... even my four-year-old can do it! (Although, the rolls he makes are quite a bit smaller.)

Oven-Baked Caramel French Toast

2008-08-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

I don't have a picture for this recipe, but I totally wanted to share it because I like it so much better than regular French toast with maple syrup. I've had this exactly as the recipe is, and then I made it according to my liking. First off ... if you make it exactly like the recipe, it is really yummy; but, it was a little bit soggy for my tastes. I like my French toast to be a little crispy. So, I just make regular french toast (out of the egg mixture of this recipe), then layer it in the 9x13 pan and bake it for about 8-10 minutes with the caramel sauce. But, I'm sure the baking is purely optional if you make it using this method. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think!

OVEN-BAKED CARAMEL FRENCH TOAST

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream (optional)
1 cup chopped pecans, divided
12 slices French or Italian-style bread (I like homemade bread)
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Pour sauce into a 9x13-inch baking dish and sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans. Place 6 slices of bread on top of the sauce, sprinkle with the remaining pecans and cover with the remaining 6 slices of bread. Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a blender. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread slices, cover the baking dish, and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350º. Remove the French toast from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until lightly brown. Drizzle sauce over the toast right before serving. To make the Caramel Sauce: In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, and 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

Grilled Potatoes & Crepes

2008-08-12T09:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I know those two types of food really don't sound good together ... so thankfully, I didn't make them at the same time! The first thing I want to put on here is some grilled red potatoes.

Before I prepared my potatoes I lined my grill with foil, and then turned it on to heat it to medium-high. First I cut my red potatoes into roughly 1-inch cubes. Then, I put them in a ziploc bag and poured about 1/4 cup of Kraft Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette (YUM!) and shook that around. Once those got coated well enough, and my grill was ready, I poured them onto the foil.
Just a few tips that I discovered while I was grilling the potatoes. DON'T keep opening the grill. I was also grilling some corn, so I was opening the grill around every three minutes or so to turn my corn. But, it took my potatoes much longer to cook because I was letting the heat out every time I opened the lid. DO turn the potatoes occasionally to prevent sticking to the foil, and burning. You want them to look grilled, not charred. There is a chart for grilling vegetables in the summer Kraft Food & Family magazine that says red potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes will only take around 20 minutes to cook. I cooked mine for around 20-30 minutes and they still weren't very tender. Still yummy, though. So, plan on a little extra time if you do potatoes.

(BTW, on this plate I have Country Salisbury Steaks with my potatoes and corn. They were pretty good. Basically like little meatloaf patties (made with stuffing mix instead of bread crumbs), baked then covered with a semi-barbecue sauce.)

Now, onto the crepes. I really wanted to share a recipe with you because I was out last week, and since I didn't really use a recipe for the potatoes, I thought I'd add this one.

Before we left for our trip we had to get rid of some milk and eggs, plus I had some leftover whipped cream from the chocolate pie we ate the week before; so, I made crepes one morning for breakfast. Not the most nutritional breakfast because my children won't eat them with fruit in them, but crepes are super tasty when you add any number of ingredients to their middles. I'm sure you've seen crepes with ham and cheese, turkey, raspberries and cream cheese, etc. Every Friday after Thanksgiving, as early as I can remember, my mom would make crepes and we'd roll up the left-over turkey in them. Sometimes even add the stuffing. Then, we'd pour gravy over the top ... and that was our dinner. (Maybe I'll show you those after Thanksgiving this year.) SO YUMMY! Alas, my husband isn't as thrilled with those crepes; he likes his crepes to be sweet. So, let's get started!
CREPES

1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk and remaining ingredients. Blend in blender to get smooth texture. Pour scant 1/3-cupfuls into lightly buttered skillet while turning pan to coat bottom. Fill and serve. Filling suggestions: sugar (my children's favorite), berries and fruit, cream, cream cheese, lunch meat, cheese.

My mom had a crepe maker, like this one that she used all the time while I was growing up. It was super easy to use. Basically, you pour the crepe batter into a pie plate (or a dipping dish, like the one that comes with this pan), then turn the crepe maker upside down and dip the top of it into the batter, then turn it right side up and it cooks really quickly -- no turning necessary. This kind of pan yields super thin crepes.

But, if you've ever eaten crepes at a restaurant like "Magic Pan Crepe Stand," or "European Connection," or "Village Inn" you know that the crepes you get there are kind of thick, yet not as thick as pancakes. Those are the kind of crepes that we can make at home with a standard skillet. So, first you pour the batter into the skillet, like so:

And after that, your crepe should look like this:

Now, here's the tricky part. You have to flip the crepe to fully cook the other side. The tricky part about it is making sure you turn it at the right time. I find that when the crepe's edges start to turn away from the sides of the pan that I can slide my spatula around the edges of the crepe, then lift it up and flip it over. This takes getting used to and knowing your pan really well. The first time I made crepes in my stainless steel pan I ruined the first few before I got used to it. (I'd been making them in a non-stick pan before.) So, after you flip the crepe, here's what it will look like:

Then, you turn the side that looks the best down on the plate and put your filling on the less-asthetically-pleasing side. Then, you can roll, or fold the crepe.

**Oh, one more hint: I usually make a double batch because I like to snack on them throughout the day when I make them. But, you can make a double batch and freeze the leftovers for up to three weeks. Just layer a sheet of wax paper (or parchment paper) between each crepe, and then wrap them in wax paper and foil before placing them in the freezer.

Linguini Alfredo with Grilled Chicken

2008-07-29T13:11:00.000-05:00

We eat a lot of pasta in our house. I mean, A LOT! Ever since we used to share dinners with a friend's family, who almost always served pasta, we have enjoyed the best pasta dishes ever! And, this one is just as good as any of the others. The chicken I grilled before I sliced it ... but, I think next time I'll slice it and then marinate and grill it. It was still pretty good as it was. I usually don't add chicken to my alfredo pasta .... but, it just seemed right. And, this is linguini ... one of my favs. I also LOVE penne, farfalle (the little bowties), and rotini. Choose your favorite ... my alfredo sauce is a little think, so you don't have to worry about choosing a pasta that will hold the sauce well. Marinara is different; penne is really good for that one because of the ridges.

So, start out by marinating your chicken (I used Lawry's Carribean Jerk marinade ... it was really, really good). Stick it in a bag in the fridge for 30 minutes before you serve the dish. After you take care of the chicken, start the water boiling for the pasta, and also start on the sauce.

ALFREDO PASTA SAUCE

4 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. dried basil

2 cups whipping cream

(or half and half, or milk)

1 to 2 Tbsp. milk, or some of the

water from cooking the pasta

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Start by making a roux: melt the butter, then add the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper; cook while stirring for about one minute. Slowly pour in the cream, and whisk together until it starts to thicken. Now, add the milk according to the thickness you'd like (I prefer the pasta water, and I usually just eyeball it, pouring in water and stirring until it is the right conistency). Toss in the parm; stir until melted. Add basil. Serve over pasta. (Add more or less salt according to your tastebuds.)

Sometimes I throw in a small handfull of frozen peas and just serve that over the pasta. But, on this night, I grilled the chicken for about 4-5 minutes on each side, then sliced it up and served that atop the pasta. I think I added the peas to this as well ... but I didn't see any in the picture, so I didn't want to trick everyone!

Let me know what you think!

Cheesy Chicken & Stuffing

2008-07-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

CHEESY CHICKEN & STUFFING CASSEROLE

4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pkg. stuffing mix, chicken flavored
1 2/3 cups hot water
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup plain yogurt (if you don't have this, just use sour cream; but, trust me, the yogurt makes it so creamy!)
3 Tbsp. milk
5 slices provolone cheese

Place chicken in bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Pour stuffing mix into medium-sized bowl and add water. Mix together until water is absorbed. Set aside. In separate medium-sized bowl combine soup, sour cream, yogurt, and milk. Place cheese slices atop chicken; pour soup mixture over chicken; and top with stuffing (fluffing with a fork before dropping it). Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly and stuffing is crispy. If stuffing gets too browned before the rest is bubbly, cover with foil for the remainder of baking time.

Eclairs

2008-07-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

This week's Table Time Tuesday is dedicated to the treats that I make as an annual tradition for the Fourth of July. Each year we are invited to our friend's family lake house for Independence Day ... if we bring the éclairs. The first year we were told to bring whatever we wanted. At the time I was experimenting and thought it would be fun to take homemade éclairs. From that day on, I was told we could only come if we brought them. So, for the last four years my preparations for the Fourth have begun on the Third.

Don't get intimidated .... These are super easy! Just really time consuming, if you make as many as I do. I make a quadruple batch every year, which gives me around 120 éclairs. But, I grew up eating these. My mom used to make these all the time ... only, they were cream puffs. That's the super-duper easy way to make them. I'll explain the difference as we continue through the recipe.

And, now, here's the recipe:

HOMEMADE ECLAIRS

1 cup water
½ cup butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding,
made according to pie filling directions & chilled
Chocolate Frosting
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1 tsp. butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Heat oven to 400°. Heat water and butter to a rolling boil in a 2½-quart saucepan. Stir in flour; reduce heat to low. Stir vigorously over low heat about one minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at once; continue beating until smooth. Shape ¼ cupful of dough into finger that is 4½-inches long and 1½-inches wide, using a spatula onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Fill the éclairs with the premade pudding. Frost with Chocolate Frosting.

Chocolate Frosting
Melt 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate and 1 tsp. butter in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar & milk. Beat until smooth and spreadable. Frost éclairs.

This is what the batter should look like when the eggs are all beaten in. It should kind of sticky. And, it gets harder and harder to stir together. When my Kitchen Aid mixer was working, I used to pour it all into the bowl and let my mixer do the work ... or I'd ask my strong husband to do the stirring when I'd do all four batches at once. This time I split it up into two, and I was still able to stir it okay.

Here's the shaping. Okay, here's where my inventive mind kicked in. The first time I made these, they kind of stuck to the pan. So, I always use parchment paper. There isn't any paper on this pan because I didn't have any ... and it was the only pan that I did this way. Right after I realized I didn't have any parchment paper, I went to the store to get some. That's how important that stuff is. Seriously, go get some, it's heavenly!

The other thing I did differently is scoop the batter into a disposable pastry bag. Then, I twist the top and cut off the point about 1½-inches from the end of the point, then squeeze the batter out in the "finger" formation. Super easy this way, and saves you a ton of time.

**If you want to just make cream puffs, drop the batter onto the cookie sheet, like you would chocolate chip cookies. And, instead of piping in the filling, just slice them in half and plop some pudding on there. Then, put the top back on. They are super messy and yummy this way: exactly the way children like them! I like mixing up the flavors of the pudding too, so that I use chocolate pudding with whipped cream inside.**

After I bake them, I place them on a cooling rack to cool, unless I want to fill them and serve them warm.

Pull out that chilled pudding, and fill the éclairs with it. Again, I use a pastry bag with a medium-size star tip. I also poke the tip into the top of the éclair because it will get covered with the chocolate frosting. Okay, look how I'm holding the bag. That's exactly how you want to hold the bag. Squeeze your big digit of your thumb against the side of your hand to hold the twisted part of the bad securely. Then, when you squeeze the bag to get the filling out, you'll squeeze your entire fist. This ensures that your hand doesn't get as tired, and all the pudding stays in the bag going the right direction, instead of coming out the open end.

*Tip: Place the filled éclairs in the fridge overnight. That way they are easier to hold on to when you frost them. And, the pudding is thicker so it doesn't spill out.

When I make these I always add a little more milk so the frosting is a little thinner and then I can dip the top of the éclairs into the frosting to save time. If you do it this way, just be sure to hold on pretty tight. I think three of mine were sacrificed because I accidentally dropped them in the frosting. (But, my tongue had no complaints about that one!) Here's what they look like finished.

Now, here's another tip. Before you frost those things, scrape off any excess pudding that came out when you filled them the night before. Otherwise, they will look like these little babies; not very aesthetically pleasing.

And, here's a picture of one child being subjected into eating one of these great éclairs to show you how yummy they are. Isn't he cute?

Again, these things are very yummy and make everyone happy. At the lake, I'm known as the "éclair lady;" and everyone asks my friend's mom if I am coming. (Long story, it's coming later.)

Ah, there's a happy éclair-eating-face!

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-07-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

APPLESAUCE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
1 pkg. chocolate chips

Mix together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and applesauce. Add the rest of the ingredients except flour and chocolate chips. Make sure the batter is mixed well. Add the flour a little at a time. The mixture will get harder to mix as you add flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

BTW, my cookie jar looked like that on Sunday ... and now it's empty. That's how good these are!

Mexican Lasagna

2008-06-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

MEXICAN LASAGNA
2 lbs. ground beef, browned
1 can refried beans
1 can green chilies
1 pkg. Taco seasoning (or ¼ cup, if you buy it in bulk)
2 Tbsp. hot salsa
4 cups Colby-jack, or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
12 oz. uncooked lasagna noodles
1 jar (16 oz.) mild salsa (I get my 2 Tbsp. hot salsa from this jar because my family doesn't like it too spicy)
2 cups water
2 cups sour cream
1 can sliced olives
3 green onions, chopped

Add beans, chilies, taco seasoning, and hot salsa to ground beef. (Again, I just dip my 1 Tbsp. into the jar of mild salsa and use that in place of the hot salsa.) Mix well. In greased 9x13 dish, layer 1/3 of noodles, meat mixture, and 1 cup of cheese. Again, here are the layers:

Noodles
Meat mixture
Cheese

Repeat the layers twice. Combine mild salsa and water; pour over top. Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until heated through. Uncover, top with sour cream, olives, onions, and remaining cheese. Bake for five more minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

(P.S. I apologize for the picture ... it doesn't do this lasagna justice. And, it probably doesn't make it look really, really good ... but, believe me, you won't regret trying this.)

Barbecue Ham Sandwiches

2008-06-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

BARBECUE HAM

2 Tbsp. butter
½ cup celery, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
¾ cup water
½ cup tomato soup
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire's sauce
¼ tsp. pepper
½ boneless ham, thinly sliced
Rolls, or buns

Sauté onion and celery in butter. Add remaining ingredients, except ham and rolls. Simmer for 15 minutes. Pour over ham. Simmer atop stove for 30-40 minutes; or, cook in crock-pot for 1 to 2 hours. Serve in rolls.

Now, I alter mine because my children wouldn't even dream of coming near this fabulous ham if they saw any little pieces of celery or onion. So, I omit those, and I don't taste too much of a difference. Of course, it's much better with them though. I also usually just mix everything together in a bowl, then without letting it simmer I pour it over the ham that I've placed in the crock-pot, and I let it cook in there for 4 hours. And, I usually leave out the water because it seems a little bit too runny for us when I put it in there. But, it's all personal preference. Seriously, this is good stuff; especially if you do let it cook longer because then it is more tender and yummy.

Marinated Grilled Chicken

2008-06-06T00:00:00.001-05:00

MARINATED GRILLED CHICKEN

8-9 chicken breasts, thawed (I always get the frozen, boneless, skinless at Costco)
3 parts Sprite
1 part Worcestershire sauce
2 pkgs. fajita seasoning mix (I only used one mix of each and my husband said that there could have been more seasoning, so I suggest using 1½ - 2pkgs)
2 pkgs. Italian dressing mix

Shake, or stir, everything together except chicken. Pour over chicken, and either place in large Ziploc bag, or in a COVERED dish. Then place the chicken in the fridge for at least 1 hour to marinade. The longer, the better.

This is very important: always, always, ALWAYS cover and place your marinated meat in the fridge. It prevents bacteria from growing on the meat. I've been to someone's house in which they had the meat marinating uncovered, ON THE COUNTER! Needless to say, I didn't eat any of it, and neither did anyone in my family. It's just not sanitary, or safe!

Anyway, I'm off my soap box now.

Now, I skewered some of my chicken and some of it I didn't. It's your preference. But, if you're going to cut the chicken and skewer it, do that before placing it in the marinade. It's just not as messy.

Preheat the grill to medium high, then place the chicken on the grill. Grill them for about 4-5 minutes each side, for breasts, and just watch the skewers, turning them as needed until they are browned to your liking (I prefer mine almost black, but that's me!).

We also grilled corn on the cob. So easy! Shuck the husks off the corn, then wrap them in foil. Place them on the preheated grill for 15-20 minutes. I would suggest drawing a line, or a little smiley face or a picture of some sort on the foil so you know how far you've turned them to make sure all the corn is cooked. We had some that on one side the corn wasn't cooked. But, they were so yummy!

Checkerboard Cake

2008-06-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

CHECKERBOARD CAKE

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar, divided
1/3 cup water
3 cups cake flour (or measure one cup of all-purpose flour, minus 2 tablespoons for each cup of cake flour)
1¼ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
2 egg whites
1 large egg
1½ cups plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour three 9-inch round baking pans. Whisk cocoa, ½ cup sugar and water; set aside. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat remaining sugar and butter until fluffy; add egg whites and egg. Beat in yogurt and flour mixture. Divide batter in half. Fold cocoa mixture into half of the batter. Spoon chocolate batter into a heavy plastic bag; cut hole at bottom corner. Pipe some chocolate batter in a ring around edges of two of the prepared pans. Fill another plastic bag with white batter. Pipe batter next to chocolate; finish with chocolate in the center; like so:

Pipe white batter around edge of remaining pan. Alternate piping the chocolate batter with the white until reaching center of pan; like so:

Bake about 25 minutes (I think I baked mine too long). Transfer pans to wire racks and cool slightly. Turn cakes onto racks; cool completely.

*Here's where I change it. I did what I do every time I bake a cake. I let the cakes stand in their pans and cool slightly on the rack, then when I turn it out I turn it out onto some prepared plastic wrap and wrap up the cakes. Then, they go directly in the freezer to freeze. This makes for nicely moistened cakes, and very few crumbs when frosting.*

Place a chocolate-edge layer on a serving plate; spread with vanilla frosting. Top with the white-edged cake layer. Spread with vanilla frosting; top with third cake layer. Spread top and sides of cake with vanilla frosting.

Saucy Au'Gratin Potatoes

2008-04-22T00:00:00.001-05:00

SAUCY AU'GRATIN POTATOES

5-7 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
3-4 hot dogs, sliced; or
1 pkg. cubed ham
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
12 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
½ - 1 tsp. seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups sour cream

Combine potatoes and hot dogs in a large bowl. In a saucepan, make a roux: melt butter; stir in flour, bouillon, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk and bring to a boil; cook and stir until bubble and thickened. Reduce heat; add cheese and sour cream. Stir until cheese is melted. Pour over potatoes, then pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (add more time if you use more potatoes).

Sour Cream Spice Cake

2008-04-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

SOUR CREAM SPICE CAKE

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup shortening
½ cup water
2 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground nutmeg

Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Pour into lightly greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes (round pans for 30-35 minutes), or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely (or immediate freeze to retain moisture). Frost with cream cheese frosting (below).

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
2 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
Meringue powder, optional

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients until smooth and spreadable. (Add meringue powder to give it a stiffer consistency for decorating.)

Lasagna

2008-04-15T00:00:00.001-05:00

LASAGNA

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. garlic salt
½ small onion, or
1 tsp. onion powder
1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste
1 can tomato soup
1 to 1 ¾ cans water
½ tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushroom (optional)
½ tsp. ground oregano
1 pkg. lasagna noodles
2 eggs
Parmesan cheese, grated
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
1 (12 oz.) container cottage cheese

Brown ground beef and onion. If you want spicier lasagna, try using ground Italian sausage. Sprinkle garlic salt (and onion powder if omitting the onion) on meat. Add tomato paste, tomato soup, water, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add oregano and mushrooms (add a little more water if sauce is too thick). Simmer for 10 more minutes. Combine cottage cheese and eggs in small bowl, set aside. Make two layers as follows:

1/3 meat sauce
Lasagna noodles
½ cottage cheese mixture
½ mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle with parmesan cheese

End with last 1/3 of meat sauce on top. Bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until set, before serving

Snickerdoodles

2008-04-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

SNICKERDOODLES

1 ½ cups sugar
2 sticks butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cream of tarter
3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

Cream together sugar and butter in large bowl. In medium bowl stir together baking soda, salt, cream of tarter, and flour. Add eggs and vanilla to sugar-butter mixture. Mix flour mixture into sugar mixture. Roll into 2-inch balls. In same bowl used for flour mixture combine ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon; roll balls in cinnamon-sugar and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 9 to 11 minutes.

Hamburger Pie

2008-04-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

HAMBURGER PIE

1 lb. ground beef
Chili powder
Salt and pepper
1 can condensed tomato soup, or
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can green beans
Ketchup, to taste
Mashed potatoes
Cheddar cheese, grated

Brown ground beef; add chili powder, salt & pepper. Stir together. Add tomato soup, green beans and ketchup. Pour meat mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Spread mashed potatoes atop meat mixture; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Cauliflower Casserole

2008-04-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE
1 head cauliflower, cut up; or,
1 pkg frozen cauliflower
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1½ cups cheese
1/3 - ½ cup sour cream
1 pkg. diced ham; or,
1½ cups cubed ham

Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. (Or, do what I do: just cut up the pieces enough to stick into a steamer.) Steam cauliflower until mostly tender. Spray a baking dish. Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and salt and stir together until bubbly. Pour in milk. Stir until mixture starts to thicken. Add cheese and sour cream, cook until cheese is melted. Place cooked cauliflower and ham in large mixing bowl. Pour cheese sauce over cauliflower and stir until it is all coated. Pour into baking dish. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes.

**If you are freezing it to eat later, use frozen cauliflower and do not cook it before coating it with the cheese sauce. Let it cool, then pour it into a gallon freezer zipper back. Freeze for up to four weeks. When you cook it, put it in the greased casserole dish, and bake at 350º for 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Beef & Cheese Bake

2008-03-18T00:00:00.001-05:00

BEEF & CHEESE BAKE

1 ½ lbs. ground beef
1 (8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 to 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. basil, divided
3 tsp. Italian seasoning, divided
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
12 oz. cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
8 to 16 oz. pasta (we like rotini; amount depends on how many you're feeding)
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350º. Cook pasta until slightly tender. Brown ground beef. Sprinkle with sugar, salt, 1 tsp. basil, 1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground black pepper; stir to mix seasonings well with beef. Pour in tomato sauces and Worcestershire sauce. Let simmer. Meanwhile, combine cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, remaining 1 tsp. basil, and remaining 1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning. Spray 9x13 pan. Spread half of pasta on the bottom of pan. Spoon half of the beef mixture over pasta. Cover with cheese mixture. Finish layering with remaining pasta and beef mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese (and, I sprinkle a little bit of Italian seasoning atop the parm). Bake at 350º for 45 minutes or until bubbly hot. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Rivka's Cinnamon Rolls

2008-03-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

RIVKA'S CINNAMON ROLLS
2 cups milk
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp salt
2 eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. yeast
½ cup butter, softened
½ - 3/4 cup brown sugar (the darker the better)
2 - 3 tsp. cinnamon

Combine milk, 1/2 cup butter, and sugar; warm in microwave until butter is softened and parly melted. If it gets too hot it can kill the yeast when you add it, so you may have to let it cool a bit. Add salt, eggs, flour, and yeast. Mix together until ingredients are well combined. Do NOT knead this dough for any length of time. The dough will be sticky. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the dough in a warm area and let rise for one hour, or until it doubles in size. Meanwhile, prepare cinnamon filling: Mix together softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. When dough is double, punch down the dough and place it onto a well-floured surface. Flour the top of the dough and roll into a rectangle about ¼ to ½-inch thick. Spread with cinnamon filling. Get it all the way out to the edges. Starting at one long side, roll the dough into a log shape. Cut into fifteen rolls. Place rolls cut side down in a greased 9x13 baking dish (three across, five down). Let the rolls rise in the pan for another hour (or skip this step as Rivka does, which is what I did). Bake at 325º for 20-25 minutes, until the tops or the middle rolls are beginning to turn golden. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before glazing (or frosting in my case; recipes below).

Rivka's Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar¼ - ½ c. milk½ tsp. vanilla (or almond/lemon/maple extract)

Or, my preference:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (3 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1½ cups powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
dash of salt

Beat together all ingredients. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Chunky Red Pasta Sauce

2008-02-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

RED PASTA

1 pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
20 baby carrots, or two carrots sliced
2 cans tomatoes, petite diced (my friend used whole tomatoes I think, but I like the smaller chunks in petite diced)
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste*
water, to consistency
3 cubes chicken bouillon (my friend used vegetable bouillon, I just don't have that here)
basil, to taste (I use about 1 Tbsp. or so, just smell the sauce to determine if there's enough: you don't want it to taste like peppers and tomatoes, and you don't want it to burn your nose with basil)
salt and pepper, to taste
pasta, cooked (I prefer penne or linguini, which is what we had)

In a large pot, combine butter and olive oil until butter is melted. Add pork cubes and stir to brown. When pork is lightly golden brown on one or two sides, add garlic and onion. Sauté for about one minute. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta. (*Only add about 2/3 of the can of tomato paste. Less if you want chunkier sauce, more if you want creamier sauce.) Let simmer for at least 2 hours, the longer it simmers the better is tastes (especially the carrots). (This smells heavenly!) Serve over pasta; sprinkle with parmesan.

Three-Cheese & Macaroni

2008-02-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

When I brought this over from my old blog I couldn't find the picture on my computer for it. I guess I'll have to make it again and take another picture! In the mean time, just imagine what it looks like!

THREE-CHEESE & MACARONI

1-1/2 cups uncooked macaroni
2 hot dogs, sliced; optional (see above comments)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt (like, Lawry's)
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 pkg. Ritz crackers, crushed
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Cook macaroni as directed on package. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in saucepan; add flour, seasoning salt, chicken bouillon granules, garlic powder, and pepper. Whisk together until bubbly. Pour in milk; whisk until combined and beginning to thicken. Add cheese. Stir until cheese in melted, then add hot dogs. Simmer for about one to two minutes. Add macaroni to saucepan and stir until evenly coated. Pour into 9x13 pan. Add cracker crumbs to melted butter, stir until crackers are moist. Sprinkle 1 cup cheddar cheese atop macaroni; sprinkle cracker crumbs atop cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly. (I was in a time crunch and baked it for 15 minutes at 375 degrees and it still was super yummy.)

Foil Dinners

2008-01-21T00:00:00.000-06:00

FOIL DINNERS

1 lb. ground beef, divided
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 carrots, peeled and sliced julienne
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, sliced with rings separated
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. Ranch dressing mix
salt and pepper
foil, cut into about 15-18" long by the width of the foil tube; you need one section of foil for each dinner you're making

Roll each portion of ground beef into a ball and place onto foil. (Be sure to divide the ground beef into the number of dinners you need. For, example, I need six dinners [one for each member of my family], so I divided my pound of ground beef into six portions. Use more than one pound if you like more meat.) Flatten out the meat, but not too thin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper according to your liking. Layer onions and garlic atop the ground beef.
Place potatoes and carrots in a gallon size ziploc bag. Pour oil and ranch dressing mix into the bag and give it a good shake; make sure the veggies are coated. Place a good amount of potatoes and carrots on top and around the ground beef.

Now's the fun part: folding the foil. Bring the two long sides together in the middle, matching the two edges with the inside part of the foil touching. Roll it down (like you would a brown paper sack) until you lightly touch the insides of the foil pack. Now do the ends. Roll them up. Don't roll them up too tightly because you'll need a little venitlation.

Place a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet; transfer foil dinners to the cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour (adjust the cooking time if needed; the smaller the foil dinner the fewer minutes you'll need cooking; check the inside of the meat before serving to be sure it is done, as well as the tenderness of the veggies). Enjoy!

Butterscotch Brownies

2007-10-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/3 cups flaked or shredded coconut
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup tiny marshmallows
caramel-flavored ice cream topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. In a small saucepan melt 1/3 cup butter; stir in 2/3 cup brown sugar, the coconut, and 3/4 cup pecans. Pat evenly in prepared pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat 1/2 cup butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup brown sugar, baking soda, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Add flour and beat until combined. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans and marshmallows. Spoon small mounds of mixture over coconut mixture in pan. Carefully spread to cover. Bake about 20 minutes* (mixture should be evenly browned; center may jiggle slightly when shaken). Cool in pan on a wire rack. To serve, cut into bars and drizzle with caramel topping.

*I baked mine for around 23 minutes or so and the middle still didn't seem done. So, next time I think I'll let it bake for 30 minutes.

Beefy One-Pot Dinner

2007-10-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

BEEFY ONE-POT DINNER

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup finely chopped potatoes
1 cup water
1 (14 oz.) can baked beans
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup cheese

Brown meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add vegetables; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in water. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add beans and barbecue sauce; sitir. Cook 5 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese.

Cream Cheese Clouds

2007-08-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

CREAM CHEESE CLOUDS

1 can (12 count) refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon, ground
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, cut into 12 cubes
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate dough into 12 biscuits; press or roll each to 1/4-inch thickness. Mix sugar & cinnamon in shallow dish. Dip cream cheese in butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar. Place 1 cream cheese cube in center of each dough circle; gather up sides of dough to enclose filling. Press edges of dough together to seal. Place seam side up in lightly greased muffin pan; drizzle with any remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

2007-08-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

BANANA BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 cups buttermilk
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 bananas, really ripe, mashed

Beat all ingredients together with mixer until light; you want to have some air in the batter. Drop onto griddle in 1/4 cup portions. Flip when bubbles appear and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Buttermilk Syrup

2007-08-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe from my friend, Tammy. So yummy! It's almost like eating candy.

BUTTERMILK SYRUP

1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
4 tsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla (2 if imitation)
1 tsp baking soda

Boil together butter, sugar, buttermilk, and corn syrup; boil for one minutes. Remove from heat, and add vanilla and baking soda; whisk until all blended. (You may have to hold the pan over the sink after you start whisking the baking soda in as it makes the syrup really bubble big.) Serve warm over pancakes.