Made from Scratch Bread

Oh, how I love fresh home made bread. I would make it every day if it didn't go strait to the hips. I love making it, eating it, finding recipes for it, waiting for it to rise, every little part of it. I must say, I am obsessed. (I am obsessed with a few different things these days, huh!)

How delighted I was when my pal Tammie gave me this little recipe. The easiest bread ever! Takes 1 hour from start to finish, and tastes so amazing. It makes 2 very large loaves, so far I have only made a half batch because its just the 2.75 of us, and it turns out great!!

I am NOT going to re-post the recipe, but will just post the link. This gal is great! She gives a very helpful video tutorial, too. And, I think she lives just down the hill (I will keep city names off to avoid any issues!) which is even better.

Ok. Here is the link. Check it out!

White Chip Bars

***I started this post last week, but never finished it!! ***
I seriously think I have a problem. I am OBSESSED with making desserts. Like, I have to make something every week!! And I can't just use the good old stand by's. I have to try something new. The Missionaries are coming over for dinner tonight and although I have some cherry dump cake from FHE left over, I had to make something else. Mainly because there wasn't much left.

I scored and bought cookie dough for really cheap the other day ($1 for a tube of sugar cookie.Sweet deal, huh!) and searched the Pillsbury site for something yummy to do with it. This is what I found. The pan is siting in front of me, with one piece alredy missing. That's the beauty of making up bars like this- I can cut them up and arrange on a plate and nobody (ie Chris) will ever know just how much I have scarffed down!!

Here is the recipe-
1 16oz (or around there) pkg sugar cookie dough
1 can sweetend condensed milk
1 1/2 cup coconut
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds

*preheat oven to 350.
*In a greased 9x13 pan press the cookie dough down, making sure there are no holes, and try to make it even. Press the chips down firmly, into the dough.
*Sprinkle the coconut and almonds, then pour the sweetend condensed milk over all.
*Bake for 30 minutes, or until the middle is a little brown. I have a fear of buring or even over cooking things, so I took mine out a bit too soon, like before the middle was starting to brown.
*You can take an additional 1/3 c white chips, melt them, then drizzle on top after they cool a bit for a nice look.
*These are a 'white' version of magic cookie bars, so if you like those you should love these!!
 Here is the link to the official recipe, which you might want to use for reference.!!
I often buy the dry packaged cookie dough when its on sale. I am sure if you add the ingredients listed on the back, you could use that too. Or any cookie dough recipe you like! Enjoy!!

Candy

I LOVE CANDY!! This girl could live on candy alone. My favorite??

PEANUT BRITTLE!! Especially See's. The great part?? Chris likes it too, but not See's, so I get the whole box to myself! And, He always buys me some for my stocking at Christmas.

This past holiday season, we made lots of candy; peanut butter fudge, Oreo Fudge, English Toffee, but the very best thing we made was this heavenly candy you make in a crock pot! It turns out like a Pay Day candy bar. Divine. Kade is waking up. . . don't want to wake Zander. . .post recipe later!

Thank goodness you can edit posts! Ok, boys happy, here is the link. I didn't take pictures of it, but there is one on the site, I think. Actually, I will just post the recipe so you don't have to go too it.


--3 cups of sugar (Baker's sugar has finer granules and will dissolve well)
--1 cup light corn syrup
--4 cups of your favorite nuts (I only used peanuts, because at that time my almonds and pecans were spoken for for other recipes, but will try a mix next time!)
--4 Tbl butter
--2 tsp vanilla extract
--2 tsp baking soda

--parchment paper or Release foil

The Directions.

I used my 6 quart crock for this.

Drop the 4 tablespoons of butter into your crockpot. Add the sugar and the corn syrup on top of the butter. Pour in the vanilla.

Cover your crockpot and turn to high for one hour.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or release foil.

After an hour, stir well to mix everything around. Add the baking soda. It will sizzle and make fun noises.
Your sugar mixture will be kind of milky-yellow and the sugar might still look granulated.

Cover again and cook on high for another 30 minutes. Check and stir. Cover and cook again for another 15-30 minutes, or until the sugar mixture is brown and looks the color of peanut brittle. Or a payday candy bar.**These are her directions, when I made it It was the 'right' color after the first 30 minute increment; I didn't want to cook it too much, although thinking about it, it would have probably been ok, its only a crock pot, not direct heat.)

Stir in your nuts.

Then, USING OVEN MITTS, carefully (CAREFULLY! seriously---use the oven mitts) pour half of the pot onto each cookie sheet and spread out with a spatula.
It will be lumpy.
that's because there are nuts.**We only used one cookie sheet, with sides, and it fit perfectly!

Let cool at room temperature for about an hour, then cut into pieces. we cut ours in 2 inch squares and wrapped each piece in waxed paper.

Prepare to be amazed. SERIOUSLY, so good. We planned on giving it out to friends, but, we ate it all. Well, my family had some. I will blame it on them!!

Happy New Year!

Hello! I hope you had great Christmas and New Year Celebrations. We did. A little chaotic, but doesn't that make it more fun? We decided to have both our sides of the family over on Christmas day, and knowing we did not have room for 15 people to have a nice sit down Christmas dinner, we opted to have breakfast instead. It was delish! Chris and I made a breakfast casserole, biscuits, and cinnamon rolls and other family members brought drinks (Chocolate milk, Apple juice, egg nog and oj), bacon and sausage, and gravy. It was just, so good. I do love breakfast! Here is the recipe for the breakfast casserole- Its really easy:

24 oz shredded hashbrowns
1/2 c butter, melted
1 c chopped ham
2 c shredded cheese (I probably used more)
8 eggs, beaten
2 c milk
1/2 tsp salt

*Press hashbrowns in bottom of a 9x13 pan. Pour butter over evenly, bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.
*Mix eggs, salt, and milk together.
*Sprinkle ham over potatos, followed by the cheese.
*Pour egg mixture over all.
*Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 oven. ENJOY!!

The next morning I went to the store and bought some tortillas (and really cheap after Christmas candy) and we made breakfast buritos with the casserole and left over bacon and sausage. HEAVEN!

So, try it! Feel free to add onions, bell peppers, or other spices to your liking! We liked this so much I may just make it for dinner one night. Yum!

Cafe Rio Burritos

Wow, three posts in a row, I am on a roll!!

So, I have never been to Cafe Rio. Heard lots of good things about their food, though, so when I ran across this recipe I decided to try it. I am impressed! In talking to a few people who have been there, I think this is not exactly like a said burrito, but they are tasty, and worth the shot! Here goes:

Cafe Rio Burritos
1 1/2 lbs boneless pork loin
salt, pepper, garlic salt, to season
1 pkg burrito size tortillas
1 15 oz can (or 1 28 oz can) mild green chili enchilada sauce
1/2 c brown sugar
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 lb Monterrey jack cheese, grated
chicken broth or bouillon cubes
about 2 c prepared rice

*Cut pork into large cubes and place in slow cooker with 1/3 c water (you can use cola also, to add flavor). Season with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Remove from cooker and drain. Shred mean and place in a bowl. In another bowl mix together 1/2-3/4 c green chili sauce and 1/2 c brown sugar. Pour over pork and mix well.
*Prepare rice per directions. Add chicken bouillon cubes to water or use chicken broth instead of water to add flavor.
*Drain beans and warm up in microwave or on stove.
*Brown tortillas on a skillet or over flame (be careful!!)
*Assembly- Heat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan (If you have a larger one, use it!) with cooking spray. Pour 1/2 c enchilada sauce into pan. Sprinkle each tortilla with cheese, rice, 1-2 T cilantro, black beans and 1/3 c pork. Roll up burrito style, folding in all sides, and place in baking dish seam side down. After all burritos are made up, pour remaining sauce over burritos and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in oven until burritos are heated through and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Garnish with tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, or nothing at all!! Makes a LOT. We used the whole pack of tortillas, there was a ton. Fed us for a week!!

This is one of Chris' favorites!

Captian Jack's Corn Chowder

The original title of this recipe is 'Chef Jack's Corn Chowder' by Paula Dean. I read it wrong and titled it Captain Jack's Corn chowder, and since I made a few changes, that's what I call it. Here goes!
· 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
· 1 small onion, diced
· 1 small carrot, finely diced (or more!)
· 2 small celery stalks, diced
· 2 small or 1 large potato, cubed
· 2 clove garlic, minced
· 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
· 3 cups white corn kernels, fresh or frozen
· 4 cups chicken stock (2 cans broth)
· 4-5 slices crisp bacon
· 2 cups half-and-half
· 1 cup milk or more to thin a bit
· Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
· Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the corn, potato and chicken stock in saucepan, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Melt 1 stick of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and saute for 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Cook until the roux is lightly browned; set aside to cool to room temperature.
Pour the boiling stock with the corn (a little at a time) into the saucepan with the roux, whisking briskly so it doesn't lump. Return the skillet to the heat and bring to a boil. Add bacon The mixture should become very thick.
In a small saucepan, gently heat the half-and-half; stir it into the thick corn mixture. If needed add milk to thin. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.

**This is SO SO SO good! The original recipe says it serves 8-10. I made a double batch and had 8 adults over and there were hardly any left overs. Served it with bread bowls, and it was fabulous!!

Super Easy French Bread

A few weeks ago we decided to try out making bread bowls for soup. The Missionaries were coming over for dinner, and I thought it was the perfect time for experimenting! I found a great recipe for french bread and used that. The bread is so good and easy I make it a few times a month, at least, and since its just Chris and I, it lasts a while. The recipe rely on a bread machine to do most of the work, sweet, huh!! Here goes:

Place the following ingredients in order into your bread machine pan:

1 C warm water
2 1/2 C bread flour
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp quick rise yeast (also known as bread machine yeast. Regular yeast is fine, it will just rise slower!)

Turn your bread machine on to the dough cycle and press start. My machine takes 1 hour 20 min to go through this cycle.

After it is done, remove the dough from machine and place in an oiled bowl, turning over so all sides are coated. Let rise until doubled, which is at least 1 hour sometimes more. If I start this early, I just let it rise until I get the chance to do the next step. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched

Once doubled, place dough on a well floured surface. Roll out to a 12x16 rectangle. cut in half, making 2 12x8 rectangles. Roll each piece up, on the long side, like you were making cinnamon rolls. Place seam on the bottom, and pinch ends together. Place on a baking sheet and let rise again for another hour or so, or until they are nice and puffy. The longer they rise the more tender and light the bread will be.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. For a crispy crust, place a pan of ice water on the bottom rack of your oven as the bread bakes. Or if you have a food-safe spray bottle, every 5 minutes or so open your oven and spray water inside. This creates steam, which creates a nice crisp crust!

***Bread bowls*****
Instead of rolling the dough into loaves, I just made balls. I got 3 out of each recipe, they weighed 7 oz each (I like to weigh everything to make sure its even. Call me a dork. . . )Let them rise the second time, and bake for about the same amount of time, I think. Just keep checking. I let them cool, cut the tops off, dug a lot of the dough out, and pressed the insides so that it made the crust thicker. Filled with thicker soups and enjoy!!

Recipe

So. I was a bit of a rock star in the kitchen yesterday. Since it was a little cooler and I had a bit more energy, and we HAD to eat, I decided to try a new recipe for dinner. I am so glad I did, because this is one tasty dish!! Much like me. . . ha ha. So kidding. Anyway, its from the red and white checker Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Its low fat (kind of) and vegetarian. Not that we are by any means vegetarians. Chris's system gets a little out of wack if we eat too much meat. Plus, its healthy to eat more veggies and beans than fatty meat. Anyway, here is the recipe. Its called:

Black Bean Tortialla Casserole.
2 C chopped onion (2 large)
1 1/2 C chopped bell pepper (2 med)
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, undrained and cut up (I use the petite diced tomatoes)
3/4 C bottled picante sauce or green salsa (I used salsa)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 15 oz cans black beans and or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
12 6 in corn tortillas (Mine were a little bigger and I only needed 10)
8 oz reduced fat jack cheese (2 cups. i had some already shredded cheddar and used that with the jack. If you only had cheddar it would br fine! And my cheese was NOT reduced fat! hence the above coment about sort of low fat)
Sour cream, chopped up lettuce and tomatos, green onions, and chopped olives for garnish

1. In a large skillet combine onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, picante sauce (or salsa), cumin, and garlic. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir in beans.
2 Spread 1/3 of the bean mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 (3 quart) baking dish. Top with apx 6 tortillas, overlapping if necessary. Top tortillas with 1 cup cheese. and another 1/3 of the bean mixture, then more torillas, then the rest of the bean mixture.
3. Bake, covered, in a 350 oven for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with remaning cheese, recover, and let sit for 10 minutes so the cheese will melt. Serve with desired garnishes. we just used sour cream, and it was perfect. Maybe tonight we will have salad too.

Nutritional info- 295 calories, 8 g total fat per serving. These figures are with reduced fat cheese, and probably very little if any sour cream. Still not bad. The recipe lists 8 servings, which allows for good size pieces! Told you it was pretty healthy! Enjoy!

This Week's Favorite Desert

I have decided I REALLY enjoy desert. So much so that I can't say I have only one favorite. I thought the orange one a few posts ago was it, then I tried this. Thinking back, I can browse through cookbooks all day looking for my favorite and I only get more excited to try new things! We had an Enrichment activity at Church last week and had cold deserts for refreshments. I practically begged Angie (the leader) to let me make something, because I was dying to find the next best thing! I found this recipe and am SOO grateful for it. SOOo amazingly good, and you can totally alter it to your preferences. Here goes the original recipe:

Butterscotch Ice Cream Squares
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c oats (uncooked)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c (2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted
1 c chopped nuts (I like pecans)
1 12 oz jar butterscotch topping (I used a 16 oz jar of Mrs. Richardson's Carmel)
1/2 gallon English Toffee or Butter Brickle ice cream, softened (I used Pecan Praline)

* Mix the flour, oats, and brown sugar together in a 9x13 baking dish. Add butter and continue to mix well. Add nuts. Press mixture into pan evenly, making a crust.
*Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Stir while warm to crumble mixture then let cool. It will look like granola.
*After crum mix is cool, press down half the mixture into a 9x13 pan, I used the same one I baked it in.
* Pour half the carmel/ butterscotch topping over the crumbs.
* Spread the softened ice cream over the topping.
* Pour the rest of the carmel/butterscotch topping over the ice cream, followed by the rest of the crumb mix.
*Freeze for several hours, and serve!

** I used too much carmel topping, but didn't want to waste it!! 12 oz would have been pleanty. The recipe says you can use hot fudge or chocolate syrup and any flavor of icecream. Really its the crumb mix that makes this wonderful! I didn't freeze my desert long enough, so when we ate it at the activity it was kind of soupy. Then, after it had more time to freeze, it froze weird beacuse it had kind of melted. So it wasn't the prettiest desert, but so tasty!!

KFC Coleslaw Recipe

This is my grandma Patsy's favorite thing, and I was thrilled when I found the recipe for her. I made it last night and Chris liked it a lot. I am not a huge fan of the stuff, so its just ok in my opinion. Here goes:

8 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teas. salt
1/8 teas. pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tbls. white vinegar
2 1/2 tbls. lemon juice
Combine cabbage and carrots in a large salad bowl. Mix remaining
ingredients together and combine thoroughly. Pour liquid ingredients
over cabbage and carrots and stir. Refrigerate at least two hours
before serving (overnight is better). Stir well before serving.

** I think of myself as a pretty good cook, but do NOT know how to shred cabbage!! Do you use a grater? I just chopped it up pretty fine (well, I thought it was pretty fine until i was done and had bigger than planned pieces of cabbage). Also, I just used my peeler and peeled the carrots, when i should have grated them. So, the texture was a little off, but the taste was good according to Chris. And hey, if he is happy, I am happy!!

Current Favorite Dessert

Hi all. My mom made the BEST dessert yesterday for my Dad's birthday/Memorial day. It was amazing. Seriously. If I wasn't worried about my blood sugars I probably would have eaten the whole thing. Its a recipe from Kraft, and for those of you who get their quarterly magazine, its in there! Here is the recipe:

No baking, and very few ingredients, perfect for the summer!

Check it out!

Recipe

I am thinking about food right now. Partly because I just ate, and it was good, and partly because I am organizing my recipes. My mom made me a really neat cookbook filled with recipes contributed by family and friends for our wedding, and I have added to it and used it as 'home base' for all the recipes I collect, which is a bunch.I have a ton of strays that need to go back to home base.
I love a good recipe. Last night I made kickin' enchiladas and I thought I would share the recipe. It is my mom's recipe, but kicked into higher gear to please my saucy, spicy lovin' husband. (although he thinks your enchiladas are great, mom!!) Here it goes. This will make a 9x13 pan, which is plenty for Chris, Zander and I to have two meals. You can double if needed to fit your family!

1 lb of chicken breasts
1 15 oz can green chile enchilada sauce (I am not actually sure of the can size, I bought the large can (28 oz) because it was cheaper and saved half of it.)
1 4 oz can diced green chillies
diced onion, how much is your discretion!!!
1 15 oz can cream of chicken soup (low sodium, low fat is best, in my opinion!)
1/2 c sour cream (more if you like)
2 c shredded jack cheese (more if you like)
1 dzn corn tortillas

*Cook chicken preferred way, I boiled it because I didn't want to turn the oven on twice and it allowed me to do other things while it cooked. You can also bake it! Let cool and then shred.
* Mix together enchilada sauce, sour cream, soup, onion and green chilies. Add salt and pepper to taste, and taste to get flavor/creamieness right. Save some for top, apx 1/2 c or so. (you might have left overs anyway!!)
* Cook up tortillas. NORMALLY, I soft fry them, but its so time consuming, and greasy, so I experimented and placed 4 between two damp paper towels and microwaved them for 45 seconds. PERFECT!! I cooked 4, filled them, then cooked 4 more.
* Take one tortilla (warning, they are HOT!) place a bit of chicken, some sauce and cheese in middle, roll up and place in the bottom of baking dish, seems down. Continue until you have all your tortillas rolled up. Spread reserved/leftover sauce over all and top with left over (or more!) cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so. We like ours a little crispy around the edges.

I know EVERYONE has a chicken enchilada recipe they love, and so this is mine. If you use low fat cream of chick soup it really cuts down on the fat in these. The green chile sauce adds ton of flavor without much fat.

This is a recipe for my Grandma Patsy's corn casserole, which we had with tacos last week and the left overs tonight. It tastes like the corn stuff they put on the side of your plate at El Torito, but way better. I will share, cause its sooooo good!!

1 15 can whole kernel corn, drained well
1 15 oz can cream corn
1 box Jiffy mix (7 oz or so)
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 stick of margarine (1/2 c) melted
1 c sour cream

Mix all ingredients well and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake 45-60 minutes until center is firm. You can make this ahead of time by mixing it all together and putting it in the fridge until time to bake. Its a great, quick side.

Girl Scout Cookies

I was sad to see this morning our supply of GS cookies is running low. And I think they are done selling them for the year. . . whine. HOWEVER- today while perusing the lovely world of blogging, I ran across a lady who figured out the recipes for some of our favorites!! I am SOO thrilled!! I am very tempted to try one of these recipes, like, right now, but need a few ingredients. I think I am going to make the Samoas tomorrow, as a suprise for Chris. They are by far his very favorite, and will totally dig them! Here is the site. Enjoy!

Mincemeat Pie

Ever since I was young, I would hear my Dad rave about my Great Aunt Marion's Mincemeat pie. When my mom told me it had meat and fruit in it, I refused to eat it as a kid! Great Aunt Marion died a few years ago, and I know that is one thing my Dad really misses about her. She would make him one any time he worked on his car or for birthdays, and always brought them to holiday gatherings. In my quest to be a great pie maker, I thought I would try one this Thanksgiving. It helped that Chris liked a little taste of one he had before. I went on line, found a recipe from Alton Brown, but it required a TON of work. I wasn't that adventurous. I have a great cookbook from Good Housekeeping titled "Great Baking". There are some tasty recipes and how too's. The recipe was one of thos semi-homemade ones, my specialty, so I went for it. Here are some photos of the filling:



And here is one of the finished product:



My Dad loved it, and my cousin Karen, Aunt Marion's daughter, said it tasted just like her Mothers. Score!! My Grandma Patsy, Aunt Marions sister, really liked it too.
Here is the recipe. Try it out!

1 28 oz jar ready-to-use mincemeat (there is brand Nonesuch that worked well. Found it at Albertsons.)
1 large granny smith apple, pealed, cored, and finely chopped
1 C. Walnuts coarsly broken
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
Double pie crust (I cheated and used Pillsbury. Haven't mastered crust yet!)

1. Prepare dough.
2. Preheat oven to 425. In a medium bowl stir mincemeat, apple, walnuts, brown sugar and lemon juice until well mixed.
3. Roll out bottom pie crust and place in pie plate. Fill with mixture. Dot butter (about 2 TBSP total) over filling. Roll out top dough and place on top of fillling. Crease two crusts together. Using a knife, make a few slits in top crust of pie.
4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Tripple Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

These are the best. I made pan last week for FHE and Chris and I just finished them yesterday. They are from the Kraft Foods website. I should have taken a picture of them for the blog before I gobbled them all up! Oh well. Check them out!

kraftfoods.com