Christmas Breakfast

Christmas Wife Saver Breakfast
adapted from a friend's recipe.
I made this recipe a lot smaller than that which was given. I'll post what I did. It's easy enough to modify for your own family.

Ingredients
4 slices bread, crusts removed and set aside
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup corn flakes (rice krispies work too... maybe do the Christmas colored ones!)
Shredded cheddar Cheese (about 1/4 cup... more if you like)
Ham (about 2 slices works)
1/4 cup chopped onion (saute it first. I didn't and wish I had) OR use onion powder... I just shake it in.

Place de-crusted bread on the bottom of a 8" square baking pan. Place crusts in corners to fill. Chop up the ham and arrange over bread. Add shredded cheese. Mix onions, eggs and milk and pour over the whole thing. Place in the fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chopped tomato on top of casserole, and spread the cereal on top of that. Place in the oven for one hour. And you are done!!

Toffee

This is another one of my holiday favorites. A great recipe... I found this specific one online at Better Homes and Gardens.

It takes a long time on the stove, but it is well worth it. And it is a good idea to invest in a candy thermometer for this one.

Toffee Butter Crunch
Makes about 40 servings
prep 20 minutes, chill 15 minutes, cook 20 minutes (or longer, depending)

Ingredients

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds or pecans, toasted
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans, toasted.

Toast your pecans/almonds. I do mine in the oven, allowing the oven to heat up to 350F with the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Do them whole... you don't want them to burn. It only takes 5-10 minutes (watch them, you'll know they are toasted when you can start to smell them a bit)

Line a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with foil. Extend foil over sides of pan. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts. Set aside

Butter the sides of a 2 quart saucepan. In it, melt the butter, adding the sugar, water, and corn syrup when melted. Cook and stir over med-high heat until the mixture boils. Clip on a candy thermometer (don't let the bottom of it touch the bottom of the pot, or you won't get an accurate reading) and boil, stirring frequently, on medium heat until it reaches 290 degrees F (or soft crack stage). Watch carefully after the 280 degree mark to prevent scorching (I stir the entire time to make sure it won't burn). Remove from heat, remove thermometer, and pour into prepared pan.

Let candy stand about 5 minutes and sprinkle with chocolate. Allow chocolate to melt/soften, then spread over the candy (about 1-2 minutes). Sprinkle with the finely chopped nuts. Chill until firm. Chen firm, use the foil to lift it out of the pan and break it into pieces. Store tightly covered. Makes 1.5 lbs.

... and in my house, it doesn't last long. I may need to make another batch.

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

I found this recipe online at http://www.make-stuff.com/cooking/peanutbutter_cup.html.

I changed it a bit as I found it a bit more difficult to do. Trial and error, right? It is a nice recipe, but very sweet.

Peanut Butter Cups



(Note: Recipe asks for 1lb powdered sugar, which is about 3.5 cups... but I found this to be too much. I could only get 2.5 cups into it, and so I think it should probably be 1/2 lb, or 2 cups of the stuff)


Ingredients
1 lb powdered sugar (use 2-2.5 cups instead of 3.5)
1/4 lb margarine (1/2 cup)
6 oz milk chocolate (1 cup of choc chips)
1 cup peanut butter

Melt margarine in a medium or large saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Gradually add the powdered sugar (it says to transfer to a mixing bowl, but I hate doing extra dishes, ha ha). Stir until well mixed and press into a pie pan... or in my case into about 3 dozen mini cupcake tins lined with mini cupcake papers. Melt chocolate and spread over top. Chill.

Note: Takes about 10 minutes to make, and 30 to press into the minis. Probably only 15 total if working with one pie pan, so that way would be quick and easy.

Banana Nut Bread

This is the banana bread recipe I make on a regular basis with any bananas that look like they're getting a little over-ripe. It is delish! And easy too! (adapted from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook)

Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour (I use 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
2-3 medium bananas, mashed
1 egg
1 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350F.
Grease bottom of loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.
Mix all ingredients, beat 30 seconds. Pour into pan(s)
Bake until wooden pick (inserted in the center) comes out clean... about 55-65 minutes.
Cool slightly, loosen sides of loaf from the pan and remove, cooling completely on wire rack before slicing. To store, wrap and refrigerate for 1 week. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Chocolate Crinkles

I found this recipe online at Better Homes and Gardens.

This recipe is rather sweet, but it is a good soft cookie. My husband says it reminds him of a cake/cookie. Another nice holiday gift idea.

Chocolate Crinkles

Makes about 6-10 dozen cookies... depending on size
Prep 25min, chill 2-24 hours, bake 8-10min/batch

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar (maybe cut this to 1 or 1 1/4 cup... very sweet)
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2/3 cup icing sugar

In a large bowl combine eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer, medium speed, until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Gradually beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half, cover and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Place icing sugar in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1/2 inch to 1 inch balls. Roll in the icing sugar to coat generously, and place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are dry. Do not over bake. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container. Store at room temp for up to 3 days, or freeze 3 months.

Schoene Kuchen

This is, for me, a classic Christmas Cookie. My mom made it for us every year, and we'd help decorate them with icing and sprinkles. They are rather time consuming... especially since one batch makes about 10 dozen cookies, but well worth it. They make great gifts as well! This recipe is adapted from the Mennonite Treasury of Recipes.

Schoene Kuchen

Time: about 10 minutes to mix, 15 to start with rolling and cutting, and 50 minutes to bake 5 pans. As for icing... add another hour or two.
Makes 10 dozen cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cream (I use whole milk, since I live on a farm and it is more accessible)
1/2 cup butter (make sure it is butter, not margarine, as the taste and texture will differ)
3 eggs
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups white sugar (you can add less... this recipe is rather sweet when iced)
4 1/2 cups flour, plus extra flour

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar. Add liquid ingredients. Mix together flour and baking powder, then add to the dough. Add flour until the dough is no longer sticky (best to be kneading with your hands). Roll dough out about 1/4 inch thick (I do it in portions... 1/2 the dough first, cut out my shapes, and then add more dough until it is all cut). Bake each pan for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom (may need less or more time, depending on the size of the cookies).

Butter Cream Icing
(adapted for cookies)

For every 2 1/2 dozen cookies, I need about 1 cup icing sugar mixed with a small amount of butter (I'd say 1/2 to 1 tsp) and about 1 Tablespoon of milk (again, using whole milk. May need less). Add only half the milk at a time until you reach the right consistency. To ice the entire batch I use 4.5 cups icing sugar with 1 Tbsp butter and 3-5 Tbsp milk. I also like to add about 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla... depending on the strength of your vanilla. The icing will remain a little bit soft, allowing for decorating a bit longer. They may squish, but if you use less butter it will be a stiffer icing. Also, if you substitute water for milk (or half water) it will also be stiffer.

Enjoy!

Cakes!

So, for my daughter's birthday party in September, I made a cake and decided to have some fun decorating it by making and using fondant. The following cakes were all decorated using ONE batch of the fondant. I still have a tiny bit left over, but I have to say that getting three really pretty cakes from one batch of fondant is pretty good, especially considering that making fondant only costs about $6, while buying the stuff from the craft stores easily runs you $15... for less than half the amount you get making it yourself.

The recipe I used for the fondant can be found on Amy's blog at Muddy Boots.

The birthday cake... I used the Wilton gel 8 icing color pack. They work wonders. A tip... after opening, place a bit of saran wrap on them before closing the lids to keep the colors a gel for longer... otherwise they dry out after a long period of time.

Cake for a gathering


Mmmm...

Cake for a baby shower.

Sugar baby... made from the fondant

One thing I recommend... I didn't do it with the first cake, and while it was good, the fondant didn't want to stick to the cake as easily when cutting it. The other two cakes were slathered with a layer of butter cream icing (I tend to put on less than they say to, mainly because I find the stuff sweet enough as is). Oh, and using my normal butter sponge cake recipe with the fondant was extremely sweet... the Never Fail Chocolate was a much tastier choice in my opinion.

Cookies and Salt

Something I have never understood was the 1/2 tsp salt that was required for a batch of cookies.

They always tasted salty to me.

I've added less salt than asked for, and still, for some recipes, it's too salty.

Recently I looked up the reason salt is required in many cookie recipes. I found this - salt merely is used to enhance certain flavors in the recipe.

Makes sense. Growing up, we would add salt to watermelon and it would taste sweeter and juicier. My dad would add salt to his coffee and it would remove any bitter flavour that may have been there.

But still... salt in cookies?

I've started cutting way back on the salt in my baking, especially since learning it is just a flavour enhancer. Obviously, if it tastes like there is too much, there is too much. Instead of measuring out any salt, I just shake a little in. I haven't had a problem yet.

Then there is the issue of butter.

Now, I like salted butter. Always have. But I've noticed that the recipes usually do not specify salted or unsalted butter. If so, and there is salt in the recipe, I don't bother adding it. Why? The salt in the butter is MORE than enough.

There you have it. A little random food for thought.

Dinner for One

Today my hubby went out with a friend for supper, so I was on my own. So, to make something simple for myself, all I did was put a bunch of stuff in the oven for 40 minutes and voila... dinner served!

Spray a small baking pan with cooking spray. Add a piece of chicken. You can shake n bake it if you wish, but I like mine plain. Add one chopped potato and other various veggies, sprinkle your favorite salad dressing over top (I used Italian), about 1/4 cup. After it's done, sprinkle some shredded cheese on top. Voila.

Make Baby Food: Step by Step

Today I was all excited to spend some time doing some craft projects after I put Baby M down for her nap, when I suddenly realized... no time for that, I need to bake, and make baby food, and exercise (plus, 5 minutes into the project I found out I didn't have the right colored thread anyway). I didn't exercise yet, but no matter. I figured I'd tell you all how to make your own baby food step by step. Make sure to read all the instructions first before you start (remember? They always tell you to do that for tests... and I never did, anyway...)

How to Make Baby Food: Apples

What you need:
6 apples
a steamer
a blender
an ice cube tray
sanity

Step 1: Pull out the steamer and 6 medium apples.

Step 2: Start to core, peel, and chop apples.

Step 3: Look at pile of apples left to do vs. pile of apples done and mentally try not to look at how much is left.

Step 4: Excitedly think how fast this is taking only to realize that instead of 4 apples, you've only done 4 quarters of an apple, meaning you still have 5 left to go.

Step 5: Grab another apple from the fridge upon realizing you've eaten about that much of your freshly chopped baby food.

Step 6: Put that apple back after almost giving your nails an impromptu trim, chalking it up to taste testing the baby food instead. After all, that's important to make sure it's good for baby, right?

Step 7: Wonder if all this work is really worth it. Try to consider how much money you are saving.

Step 8: Arrange all the chopped apples in the steamer as per directions. Turn steamer on.

Step 9: Make rice krispie square in the time it takes for the apples to steam (this'll make the man happy, right? It's kinda like baking). Realize that rice krispie square is quicker and easier than even steaming apples!

Step 10: Steamer is done. Treat yourself to some square while you let the apples cool.

Step 11: Get out blender and place apples inside (use the water runoff in the steamer tray to help get the puree thin enough). Blend/chop/puree them like a mad woman (which doesn't take much since the blender probably doesn't wish to cooperate anyway and is making you mad) until a nice baby food consistency.

Step 12: Pour applesauce into ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze.

Step 13: Wonder why you didn't just buy the stuff in the first place, then proceed to look up all sorts of crafts you could make with baby food jars to help you justify buying them later on.

Step 14: Do it all over again next month.

Notes: Make sure to label the container you put the frozen cubes of food into with the type of baby food and the date you made it. Also, instead of steaming the apples you could boil or bake or microwave them if you wish. I just love to use my steamer.

BBQ Season! BBQ'd Potatoes

So, it's been awhile since I've posted anything new! How sad is that! I never stopped cooking, so exactly what happened?


Anyway, it's BBQ SEASON! YIPPEE! That means all I need to do is prep food and clean up food, and hubby can do the 'cooking', hahaha.


We got a brand new BBQ on monday. I got it for my hubby as a late anniversary and early father's day gift. Yeah... real early... Anyway, it's stainless steel, has 3 burners (countem, 3, woah!), and it cooks evenly! Posted is the picture of our first meal cooked on the grill...

BBQ Potatoes

You can BBQ just about anything. A friend of mine showed me how to do potatoes on the grill a few summers ago and we've been doing this ever since.

First, chop your potatoes (and other veggies). I like to stick them in the microwave for about 5 minutes to partially cook them so that they don't take quite so long on the grill. Get a large piece of tinfoil, spray it with cooking spray, and place the veggies in a row down the middle (works best if you do only 1-2 people's veggies per piece of foil and just have multiple foil pouches on the grill). Add your spices, whatever tickles your fancy, and a bit of butter (again, however much you want). Make a pouch from the foil by grabbing the long ends and wrapping them over the mixture, pinching and 'rolling' them together somewhat... (I wish I took pics, but this diagram should help... I hope...). You should have a tube of foil with veggies inside. Roll each of the ends tightly to close them. Place on the grill, seam side up, preferably over really low heat or on the 'warmer' section (unless you want charcoal potatoes). Voila! "Baked" potatoes and veggies on the grill!

Of course you could probably grill them seperately with tinfoil, but what's the fun in that?

Tips in the Kitchen

The kitchen is the busiest room in the house. Here are a few tips to help out with your cooking.

Reduce Potato Foam - Cooking potatoes? Spray a bit of Pam (or add a little oil) on the water to keep the foam at bay.

Rinsing Dishes - Use cold water to rinse egg, potato starches, dairy, and other difficult foods from dishes instead of hot, as hot water will set them. Hot water is best used for greasy foods.

Glassware - When using glass cookwear in your oven, decrease the oven temperature by 25F.

Clean your Counters - I hate cooking in a messy kitchen, so while things are going and I have little to do, I clean up the counter tops. Means less work after supper when I don't feel like doing anything. Another great thing to try to do is make sure the kitchen is cleaned up before bed... do the dishes, start the dishwasher, wipe out your sink and your counters/table... this will make cooking and doing anything in your kitchen a lot less stressful.

Soften Brown Sugar - Brown sugar tends to harden if it's not in a properly sealed container (Tupperware, oh how I love thee...). To soften it again, take a bun and place it into the container. Voila!

There you have it! Five tips for the kitchen!

Spritz Cookies

For St.Patty's day I decided to make some themed cookies... however I didn't have a cookie cutter that would work. I suddenly remembered the cookie press I got for Christmas and decided to give it a go! There was a disc that looked like a shamrock, so I started to get baking.

Classic Spritz Cookies

makes 7-8 dozen (although I made closer to 10)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375F. Cream butter and sugar, add egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat well. Stir together flour and baking powder. Gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing to make a smooth dough. DO NOT CHILL. Place dough into cookie press (I rolled out a 'tube' of it and plopped as much as would fit into the press) and press cookies onto un-greased cookie sheet (you'll need a LOT of these). Bake 10-12 minutes (I did mine for 10) or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on rack.

These were SO much fun to make! I love that cookie press! It is SUCH fun to use! Now I wanna have fun making all sorts of cookie shapes... Easter is coming up...

Carrot Ginger Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese

So, I wanted to make something a bit different for Thursday Night Dinners. I found this recipe online, and since I had a spice cake mix, I thought it perfect to use it!

Carrot Ginger Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese

Ingredients
1 pkg spice cake mix
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1 Tbsp ground ginger (do less if not fresh... I did 1 tsp)
1 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted (I omitted these since I don't have them)
1 pkg cream cheese
2 cups cool whip, thawed.

Heat oven 350F. Prepare cake batter as directed on the package. Stir in the carrots, ginger, and 3/4 tsp of the cinnamon, and walnuts.

Spoon batter into either 9x13 pan, or muffin tins, etc. Bake less than directed on the package... 15 minutes if 24 muffins, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely.

Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl with a wire whisk, or a fork, until smooth. Gently add whipped topping. Spread over the cake or cupcakes. Sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.

Refrigerate the cake before eating. It tastes best when it's been in the fridge awhile.

Apple Crisp

So, for dessert today I decided to make something with fruit since I hadn't had any fruit yet today... apple crisp seemed the best idea. I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook and adapted it for 2 single serving dishes instead of an 8x8 pan.

Apple Crisp

For one person (double or triple as necessary)
Ingredients
1 small apple
1 Tbsp (15mL) flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp quick rolled oats
dash each of cinnamon and nutmeg
2 tsp (10 mL) butter, softened

Peel, core and chop the apple and place in a small single serving dish (each should hold approximately 1 cup or more). Mix all the other ingredients together and place on top of the apple. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes or until the apples are tender. You can do it in the microwave for about 3-5 minutes (better for single servings... once you get to 6-8 servings though, go for the oven)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I got this recipe from Kraft as well. It's quite tasty! Perfect for when you need a little fish on the cheap.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

serves 3

Place a can of drained tuna, 2 cups water, 2 cups macaroni (or other small dry pasta), 1 cup milk and a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until the pasta is tender, stirring frequently.

Add 2 cups (I usually do much less) shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, or whatever you like) and a few spoons of grated parmesan. Stir until melted, then add 1 cup chopped celery and a dash of italian seasoning.

Food Saving Tips

I don't know about you, but there are various things that I often find we tend to throw out of our kitchens when they aren't necessarily bad and can still be salvaged in some way. So, here I have some tips that will hopefully save our food... and our money! (wink wink)

Homemade Shake n bake
So, I recently found something to do with those crumbs that always appear at the bottom of my cracker bags. I LOVE crackers, so they are a staple in our house. Now, they quite often have lots of crumbs at the bottom... not loving those so much, until now. I recently made some popcorn shrimp and wanted to make my own breading instead of using that shake n bake stuff. So... out come the bottom-of-the-bag crumbs. Just save them all (chips, crackers, you name it)! Put them in a ziplock and use the rolling pin on it. Then add spices as you like for your own homemade shake n bake!

Sour Cream
There are lots of recipes out there that use sour cream, and when you bake it into something it really doesn't matter if it's a bit past the expiry date. So, when getting a bit close to the expiration on the label, try baking it into something... like sour cream coffee cake!

Bananas
I find bananas quickly get overripe for me to eat... so I like to bake them into things. Well, you can freeze them easily for that purpose... I prefer to peel them first and put them into a bag so all I need to do is dump them right into the batter! And to keep the bananas from ripening too quickly, separate them. I don't know why, but it seems that when they aren't in as close contact to each other, they ripen a bit slower.

Bacon
Sometimes we have some bacon that isn't eaten after we've made it... so, turn it into bacon bits! Ready for the next salad... mmmm.

Bread Ends
How many of us really care for those bread crust end pieces (ok, besides me)? Dry them out and use them in recipes that ask for bread crumbs! You can also use them in making shake n bake. I like using them to make meatballs or hamburgers.

Old veggies/fruit
I haven't yet started doing this myself, but it IS in my 101 list. Compost it! Yup, all those veggies and fruits that don't look too edible in your fridge would make some great compost for your garden! Nothing like turning veggies into veggies... or flowers... haha.

Yogurt toppings
I love Shreddies, and they often have crumblies at the bottom that don't go so well with my milk (can you say soggy and gross?). Blech. So, I started saving these and putting them on my yogurt. Great to add a bit of crunch... and fiber.

So, I hope these little tidbits help!

Deep-Fried Breaded Shrimp

So, since we are not having any red meat on Wednesdays or Fridays for Lent, we wanted to still have something fun for our Friday night in, and pizza is always just the way for us. So, we had Margerita pizza, and wanted to have something else with it... but not chicken... something... fish. I thought, why not breaded shrimp!? Boo Yah!

Deep-Fried Breaded Shrimp

I'm not going to list ingredients here, mainly because it's super easy and didn't require a recipe in the first place. So, the meal here is a frozen margarita pizza from Costco, salad, and the shrimp.

To bread the shrimp, crush some crackers (or use bread crumbs) and add some spices to it, whatever you want (we used oregano, pepper, salt,). Put in a bowl. In a seperate bowl, put in some flour. In a third bowl, beat an egg till blended. Take the tail off the shrimp, dab dry, coat in flour, then egg, then the crackers. Deep fry until done! Now they're ready to eat. Make some of your favorite dips for it.

Honey Dill Dip
Mix together some mayo, honey, and dill. Voila!

Milkshake
Mix some icecream and milk in a blender. For various variations (wow... that's some fun with english), try the following...
Berry berry - add strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt of berry flavors
Vanilla - add some vanilla! To taste
Chocolate - chocolate sauce in there... awesome
Chocolate peanutbutter - add some chocolate sauce, and some melted peanutbutter... SOOOO good.

Pancake Day

Tuesday was pancake day, and I'm sorry I didn't post this then... oops. Anyway, I have this 'from scratch' pancake recipe memorized and thought, why not put it on my blog? So here it is!

Pancakes

serves 2-4

Ingredients
1 cup flour (I use whole grain)
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
dash salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Drop onto frying pan, flip when bubbly on top. Serve with butter and syrup (maple is the best).

For variations, try the following:

• Add one mashed banana to the batter for banana pancakes.
• Add chocolate chips (1/2 cup should do) and a mashed banana for banana chocolate chip pancakes.
• Add 1 or 2 peeled and chopped apples and some cinnamon (to taste) for Apple cinnamon pancakes.
• Add blueberries or strawberries or a mix of both for berry pancakes. Blueberries will turn the batter blue... it looks pretty cool. Maybe have some fun with it and add some food coloring for the kids.
• Get creative in adding different fruits and other things from the pantry to your pancakes to make them all your own. You can even serve them with ice cream, whipped cream, or just sprinkle some sugar on top.

Mega Meal

So, today we are having people over to eat, and I'm in charge of meat. I recently made slow cooker spaghetti and meatballs, and loved them, so decided to make them again. I thought, why not try to triple the batch? See how it works?

It worked great!

So, now I have 68 meatballs (yup... I counted them... not often I make something in such large supply) in my brand new 7L crockpot (my old one was far too small for something of this size... you could make a meal for 4 in there, but not for more than that)! I'm one proud mama! And I don't have to do anything more with them! Isn't that awesome?

Oh, and I have to say I noticed I have 50+ recipes on my blog now! How awesome is that!

Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

Well, I found this recipe while looking through my Brand Name Cookbook for something to bake that involved bananas... and just my luck, I had a few walnuts left over from a previous recipe. So, I decided this would be the perfect thing to try as I've gotten tired of making the same old banana bread recipe already.

Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

Ingredients
2 cups flour (I did 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup white)
1/2 cup sugar (this is less than the recipe asks for)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 tbsp grated orange peel (oops... didn't have this)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 or 3)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup coconut (I halved this)
3/4 cup macadamia nuts or walnuts, chopped (again, I had less)

Heat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, salt, orange peel, and vanilla. Beat at low speed, scraping the bowl often, 2-3 minutes until well mixed. Add bananas and orange juice. Continue beating, scraping the bowl often, until well mixed (about 1 min). By hand stir in the coconut and nuts. The batter will be thick! Spread into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan (or 3 greased 5 1/2x3 inch mini loaf pans).

Bake 60-65 min for large loaf, or 35-45 min for minis, or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool ten minutes and remove from pan to cooling rack.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs

This is one recipe I plan to make again. I grabbed it from Canadian Living.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
salt
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I just omitted this)
1 lb spaghetti, cooked

Meatballs
1 egg
1/2 cup onion
garlic
1/4 cup each breadcrumbs (or use crushed crackers) and Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp each basil, oregano, salt, pepper
1 lb ground beef

Meatballs: Mix all except meat, then mix in beef. Shape into 16 balls. Bake 400F on foil lined sheet for 10 minutes. Put in slow cooker.
Meanwhile: In skillet heat olive oil over medium heat and cook onion, garlic, oregano, salt, stirring occasionally till onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
Stir in tomatoes. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours. Add parsley. Serve with spaghetti (and toast and salad).

Chocolate Truffles

I found this recipe in one of my Kraft magazines and thought it looked good! So, I made it and found it tasted really good! Made a great Valentines gift.

Chocolate Truffles (adapted from Kraft)

time: 2 1/2 hours or more, 2 hours chilling time

Ingredients

16 squares Baker's Chocolate (70% cacao dark, or maybe try using bittersweet or milk, or white!)

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 Tbsp butter

icing sugar, chopped walnuts, sprinkles, etc

Chop 8 squares of chocolate, place in a microwave safe bowl, add cream and butter, and microwave on medium heat for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (it needed longer, I ended up freezing it till solid, then nuked it for 30 seconds or so, stirred it again, and waited. It solidified to working consistency within minutes)

Shape into 24 balls and place on waxed paper covered tray.

Melt remaining chocolate (do only 2 squares to start, then 1 at a time till everything is done so you don't melt more than you need), use a toothpick (or fork) to dip the truffles into the chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts/sprinkles. Or instead of dipping and sprinkling, roll in icing sugar or cocoa or sprinkles. Chill for another hour in the fridge

Ugh

So, today I made 2 new things... one turned out great, and I will be making it again, and the other...

ugh...

I made S*x in a Pan (or Mississippi Mud for family friendliness) and it is FAR too sweet. I cannot emphasize it enough! I spent such a long time working on it too, and am super glad I only made a half recipe... blech. Hubby likes it, I could barf. I want to cry about my wasted cream cheese, the wasted tub of cool whip, the wasted almonds... the pudding doesn't bother me. I think it should have been made with whipping cream instead of already sweetened cool whip, and I should have put in way less sugar. I think this is one Valentine's flop... the recipe will be hitting the trash.

Spaghetti Squares

Ok, I found this recipe on Kraft and since I had some leftover green pepper and cottage cheese in my fridge I needed to use up before it went bad, I figured... why not? Of course, as usual, I modified it a bit. I divided the recipe into two containers and froze one for later...

Spaghetti Squares

serves 8

Ingredients
300g (1/3 pkg 900g) spaghetti, uncooked.
1 lb ground beef
red or green pepper
1 jar pasta sauce (700ml or 3 cup) OR, since I don't have that I used 2 cups worth of tomato sauce, some tomato paste and ketchup to make the remaining 200ml
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs beaten
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350F. Cook spaghetti. Brown meat in the pan, drain, add peppers and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add pasta sauce.
Drain spaghetti. Toss with Parmesan, butter, eggs, and place in a greased 13x9 pan (or two smaller pans). Top with cottage cheese, then meat mixture. Add mozza to the top.
Bake 20 minutes until heated through. Serve with salad
From frozen: Bake at 400F for 40 minutes until heated through.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I got this recipe from the Mennonite Cook Book. My mom made it quite often and it is great to make use of that cream that has gone sour, or maybe the sour cream that is past the expiry date but still 'good'... yet you don't want to eat it the way it is anymore... that sort of thing. Keeps us from trashing/dumping perfectly good cream! As my dad says, how does sour cream go bad? It's already sour!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 cups flour (I do half white, half whole wheat)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

dash salt

1 tsp vanilla

Mix in small bowl:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts (I usually omit these as I don't have them)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugar. Add well beaten eggs. Mix dry ingredients and add alternatively with the sour cream. Add vanilla.

Pour half the batter in a greased tube pan (flour it as well if you feel the need... I usually don't bother). Sprinkle half the sugar/cinnamon mixture over it. Add remaining batter, and sprinkle the remaining mixture over it.

Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

I got this recipe from Kraft. I really love their recipes as they are simple and delicious. Please note that I found this recipe to be really cheesy and will probably put in less Cheese Whiz next time. Much less. Maybe only about half. And then I'd add some flour to thicken it if I felt it necessary... although it's good being just plain soupy.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients
1 large bunch broccoli
1 large carrot
1 can chicken broth (condensed)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup Cheez Whiz

Cook 1 large bunch chopped broccoli and one large carrot (chopped) with 1 can each of chicken broth and water until veggies are tender. Let cool 10 minutes.

Pour into blender (or use a handheld in the pot itself to save on dishes). Process until smooth and return to saucepan.

Whisk in 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup Cheez Whiz. Warm over low heat to melt the cheese, and do not allow to boil.

Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole

I made this casserole for one of our Thursday night dinners. I was in charge of bringing veggies that week, and figured it'd be nice to do something a bit different. It went over quite well! I had hardly anything to take back home for later. (Adapted from Kraft)

Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole

Drain 2 packages (10 oz each) of frozen spinach (or use 2 bunches of fresh spinach for the package of frozen if you wish). Spread spinach in a shallow casserole dish, top with 1 cup each of cottage, shredded mozza, and shredded cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with 1 cup of bread crumbs (approx. 1 slice bread). Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Reese's Cookies

This is one of my husband's fave cookies that I've made. I've adapted this recipe from the Name Brand Cookbook (I use way less sugar than they ask for).

Reese's Cookies


Ingredients
2 cups flour (I use 1 white, 1 whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F.
Stir together flour and baking soda. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add in flour. Stir in chips.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoon fulls onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly, then remove from sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely. Makes 3-5 dozen cookies... depending on how big you make them... ;)

Slow Cooker Chops

So, here's an easy recipe that is great for the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops
serves 4

Ingredients
4-6 potatoes
1 onion
4 pork chops (remove bone)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper
carrots, mushrooms, or other veggies of choice

Peel and slice potatoes, and chop onion. Place potatoes and onion in slow cooker (onion can be at the bottom, or 'layer' it with the potatoes). Add veggies. Place chops on top. Pour can of soup over the chops, and add salt and pepper. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Voila... quick and easy!

Zesty Potato Soup

So, today for supper I decided to make soup... but I wanted to do something different so I checked my Kraft cookbook and found this recipe... I adjusted it a little (cutting it in half as well, so I'll post that instead) and found it quite good! It's yummy with fresh homemade biscuits.

Zesty Potato Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 stalk celery
1 large carrot (or 9 baby)
1 potato
1/4 onion
other veggie of your choice (1/2 red pepper, maybe some tomato...)
1 can condensed chicken broth (plus 1 can water)
pepper
1/4 each milk and cream (or 1/2 cup whole milk)
1/2 lb Velveeta cut in cubes (I used shredded cheddar cheese)

1. Peel and chop vegetables and combine with chicken broth and dash of pepper in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until veggies are tender. Stir occasionally.

2. Whisk in cream and milk gradually.

3. Reduce heat to low, add cheese. Simmer, stirring for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted in and soup is creamy.

Pomegranate Banana Bread

Apparently, November is national Pomegranate Month in the USA. I didn't know that before, but thought it interesting. I love pomegranates, a friend I met in university introduced the fruit to me... I had never actually seen one before. Anyway, we bought one for Christmas and with the hustle and bustle of the month, completely forgot about it. Not one to let a fruit that good go bad, I thought it best to try to bake it (otherwise we wouldn't eat it fast enough). Lo and behold, my hubby finds this recipe on POM Wonderful, and since we also had 2 over-ripe bananas, I thought it would be the perfect thing to try!


POM, Banana & Pistachio Bread
20min prep
1 1/2 hours baking and cooling
makes 1 loaf



Ingredients
1 cup arils from 1 large Pomegranate
2 cups flour (I did 1 white and 1 whole wheat)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2-3 bananas, mashed (1 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shelled pistachios or slivered almonds, chopped (I didn't have these so I omitted them)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

3. Score pomegranate, place in a bowl of water. Break open the pom under the water to free the arils or seed sacs. They will sink while the membranes will float (I didn't know this until reading this recipe... would have saved me lots of time pulling those seeds out like I usually do!). Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup to put aside (snack on the rest... yummers).

4. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, stir together bananas, oil, milk, and egg. Add liquids to flour (and arils and pistachios if used) until just moistened. Don't over mix.

5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. You can sprinkle leftover nuts/arils over top if you like. I didn't bother (didn't have any left over... oops...).

6. Bake 50-60minutes until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove onto a rack and cool completely. To store, wrap it tightly or you can freeze for up to 1 month by wrapping tightly in foil.



Nutrients per serving (1 slice... don't ask how big the slice is because it doesn't say)

162 calories
3g protein
24g carbs
6g total fat (1g saturated)
12mg cholesterol
139g sodium (if you do 1/2 tsp salt... I always do less)