Oatmeal Wheat Pancakes

I got this recipe from my sister several months ago and these have quickly become my favorite pancakes. They taste delicious and are substantial with both oatmeal and whole wheat.

Ingredients
1 egg
1/3 C flour
1/3 C wheat flour
1/3 C oatmeal
3/4 C buttermilk (I use regular milk with 3/4 Tbs vinegar or lemon juice)
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
Beat egg until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients. Cook over medium low heat. Makes about 8 pancakes.

Pasta Salad

I was in the mood for a cold salad. Unfortunately, we did not have any lettuce/spinach in the house at the time. However, I threw this together and was quite satisfied. I didn't really measure the ingredients but you can easily throw things in until it "looks right".

Ingredients:

Bow-tie pasta

Frozen Mixed Vegetables

Ranch Dressing

Garlic Powder

Bacon crumbles

Directions:

Cook the pasta to al-dente. Drain and cool. Mix in frozen vegetables, enough ranch dressing to moisten noodles, 1 tsp garlic powder, and bacon crumbles. Stir gently and refrigerate. Serve cold. Add more ranch as needed.

Five Minute Prep Bread

I got this recipe from my mother in law. She has a cookbook called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I liked how the recipe made enough for several loaves but you don't have to make them all at once. That way you can enjoy fresh bread several times from the trouble of putting together just one dough. The bread tasted good the first day. The loaf I made a week later tasted even better! Both loaves tasted the best the day I made them but also stored tolerably well. I halved the recipe and ended up with two small loaves. The recipe as follows will make four.

Ingredients:
3 C warm water
1 1/2 Tbs yeast
1 1/2 Tbs Kosher Salt
6 1/2 C flour

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large plastic bowl with a loose-fitting lid. Mix until evenly moist. Let rise, loosely covered (it is important that the lid not be air-tight) for 2 hours. Refridgerate until you are ready to bake (up to two weeks).

Baking Day:
Sprinkle refrigerated dough with flour (to keep from sticking). Grab a handful of dough  and cut off a grapefruit sized piece. Quickly work the piece into a ball by tucking all four sides underneath. Place on floured parchment paper. Let rest 40 minutes. Meanwhile, place tray of water in bottom oven shelf (for steam). Heat oven to 450 degrees.

With a sharp knife, slash the loaf a few times. Slide dough onto pizza stone and bake for about 30 minutes.

Spinach Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite summer dishes.

Ingredients:
2 C cooked, cubed chicken
2 C grape halves
1 package of spinach leaves
2 C sliced celery
1 package of corkscrew pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 cucumber, sliced
3 green onions, sliced

Dressing:
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 C sugar
2 Tbs white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley

Directions:
Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar; mix well and refrigerate. Just before serving, pour dressing over salad and toss.

New York Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

I made a wonderful New York Cheesecake. The first time I made this, I used a sour cream topping. This time, I topped it with a chocolate ganache. I highly recommend both so go with whichever you are feeling at the time.

Recipe from Here

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 Cups of Graham Crackers, finely crushed
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C butter or margarine

Filling:
32 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced)
1 C sugar
3 Tbs flour
5 eggs
1/3 C heavy whipping cream
1 Tbs lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla

Ganache:
8 oz of semisweet chocolate (I used 1 1/3 C of chocolate chips)
3/4 C heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs butter or margarine


Directions:

Mix the crust ingredients. Pat into bottom of greased 9-in springform pan (be sure to grease the sides as well so the cake doesn't stick) and about an inch around the side. Put in refrigerator.

In electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. (About 2 minutes).
Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the lemon zest, vanilla and whipping cream.

Pour the filling into the crust. Place pan on larger baking pan to catch any leaks. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 250 and bake for another 60-90 minutes. Cheesecake is done when outer part is solid and just the center is a bit wet and wiggly. Let cool completely before covering and refrigerating. Refrigerate at least overnight before eating.
Don't worry if it gets a crack in it like mine did, that's what the topping is for!

Topping:
Place the chopped chocolate into a bowl. In a saucepan, heat whipping cream and butter until just boiling. Pour over chocolate. Let sit a few minutes then gently stir to melt chocolate. Try not to incorporate any air for a smooth ganache. Once chocolate is fully Incorporated place in fridge for 20-30 minutes until ganache thickens.

Remove sides from spring form pan. Place cheesecake on a wire rack over a baking sheet to catch any excess ganache. Poor the thickened ganache over the center of the cheesecake. Then, using a knife or a spatula, push ganache from center to edges of cake.

Put any extra ganache back into the fridge. Once it hardens, you can roll it into little truffles and dip in cocoa powder.

If you whip this recipe instead of gently stirring, it will become a fluffy icing.
I like to cut the slices with dental floss. It makes a smooth, clean cut.

Cinnamon Muffin

Made these for breakfast on Sunday. Delicious. Very sweet. There was more than enough batter, filling, and topping for a dozen muffins.

Adapted from here

Topping:
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C oats
1/2 C flour
3 Tbs butter, very soft

Filling:
2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbs butter, melted
1/2 C brown sugar

Batter:
1/2 C butter, melted
3/4 C milk
2 eggs
1 3/4 C flour
1/2 C oats
2 Tbs cornstarch
3/4 C sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
In a small bowl combine the topping ingredients. In a separate bowl combine the filling ingredients. For the batter, mix the butter, milk, and eggs well. In a large bowl mix together the remaining batter ingredients. Add the liquid part all at once and mix until moist. Fill your greased muffin tins as follows:
Put in half of the batter, then dollop a bit of the filling in each cup. Top with remaining batter. Put on streusel topping and lightly press. Do not over-fill the muffin tins.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

*Note: the original recipe called for 1/2 C cinnamon chips instead of the 1 tsp cinnamon in the batter. I would like to try this sometime
**Warning, the muffins were a bit on the crumbly side where the filling went. Be careful when removing from tin.

Lemon Cream Bars

This is the second time I have made these lemon cream bars. The original recipe calls for a 9x13 pan but I thought that was too big. The first time I made it in a medium sized pan that I borrowed. This time, I didn't have that size so I made it in a 9x9 dish. I preferred the size in between 9x13 and 9x9. It made a bar that was thick enough to enjoy but not too much. If you like lemon bars you will like these. And it was very easy.

Ingredients:
Filling:
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 C lemon juice
Streusel:
1 1/2 C flour
1 C Oats
1 C Brown Sugar
2/3 C butter, melted
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Stir together milk and lemon juice. Let sit. Meanwhile mix the streusel ingredients until crumbly. Pat half of the mixture into a greased baking dish. Pour the filling over it and sprinkle with remaining streusel. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool. Refrigerate leftovers.