No Molasses Gingerbread Men

 

      Every holiday season I find myself wanting to make gingerbread men. It is a conundrum because I don't really like the taste of gingerbread. I am not sure what it is but have suspected molasses is the culprit. Call me childish but I think the flavor is too strong. So when I found this recipe for gingerbread men that did not call for molasses, I had to try it. I was very pleased with the result. It is a mild gingerbread cookie with a very kid-friendly taste while still reminding me of Christmas. And I got to decorate cute gingerbread men!

Recipe Source

Ingredients:

1 (3.5 oz) package butterscotch pudding mix

½ C butter

½ C brown sugar

1 egg

1 ½ C flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

 In a medium bowl, cream butterscotch mix, butter, and brown sugar. Stir in the egg. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover and chill until firm (1 hour).

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into desired shape. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks.

I used regular cake icing in a plastic bag to pipe on the decorations.

Ranch Dressing

 

       Just a warning before you make this: YOU WILL NEVER GO BACK. This is amazing homemade ranch dressing. Don't make it unless you want to never be satisfied with the Hidden Valley stuff again. So yummy! Credit goes to my sister Katie for the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 C. Mayo
1 1/4 C. Buttermilk
1/2 TBS onion powder
1/2 TBS Accent (you can omit if you don't have)
1/2 TBS garlic salt
1/2 TBS pepper
1/2 TBS parsley flakes
1/2 tsp onion salt (note that's 1/2 teaspoon!! Don't put too much in or it will be gross)

Directions:

Mix together and enjoy. You can half the recipe if you don't go through ranch dressing very fast.

Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie

YUMMMM!!! This is an amazing cookie. I had purchased about a cup of unsweetened shredded coconut from the bulk bins at my local grocery store. I had been planning on blending it up to make coconut butter as I had seen from several online sources. However, my blender was clearly not powerful enough for the said transformation. I did not want the coconut to go to waste so I began looking for a cookie recipe.

I found this recipe and was a little skeptical because there was no picture. And the recipe called for oil instead of butter, making it sound more like a muffin recipe than a cookie one. Add to all this that I do not particularly care for a strong coconut flavor and I am surprised I even tried it. But I am soo glad I did. This might be my new favorite cookie recipe. I kid you not, the dough is to die for. Maybe even better than plain chocolate chip cookie dough (if that is even possible). I think next time I might even fore-go the chocolate chips because this cookie has enough flavor and texture without them.

The dough was a little crumbly when I was scooping it out to put on the cookie sheet. I ended up using my hands to press the balls together. But the cookies came out moist and chewy. Please try this recipe if you ever find yourself with some shredded coconut! I only baked up a dozen cookies and saved the rest as dough to eat or bake later. However, I am pretty confident that I could have made 30 cookies total from the recipe.

Ingredients 
1 1/4 C oatmeal 
1 C flour 
1/2 C sugar 
1/2 C brown sugar 
1 C. flake coconut (mine was blended up into really small pieces) 
1/2 C. chocolate chips (I consider this optional) 
1/2 tsp. baking soda 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/2 C oil 
1 egg 
1 tsp. vanilla 


Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then mix in egg, oil, and vanilla. Drop onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 12 to 15 minutes.

Dairy Free Banana "Ice Cream"

I have been on a dairy free diet for about two months now since my nursing baby is sensitive to the protein in cow's milk. One thing I have missed the most is ice cream. There really is just no substitute for the cold creamy texture and delicious flavor.

I found this recipe on a vegan website and decided it was worth a try. I kept my expectations low so that might have influence how successful I think this recipe was. It was the closest to "ice cream" that I have managed to come in my weeks of experimentation (and I have tried several things). It was very cold and the texture was great (thick and creamy). I ate it right out of the mixer! If they sold banana flavored ice cream (do they?) this would be it. I think next time I make it I will experiment with different mix-ins to try to tone down the banana flavor...I might try adding some strawberries! Maybe some cocoa powder (1/2 Tbs) to make it chocolate...

Anyway, this one is worth a try even if you can eat ice cream. I think it is a fairly healthy alternative (think a serving a fruit instead of cream) and quite tasty to boot!

Ingredients: (Makes 1 serving)
1 frozen banana
1 tsp almond milk (or regular milk)
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 Tbs peanut butter
chocolate chips, if desired (or other mix in)

Directions:
Cut the frozen banana into small slices and place in small food processor. Add milk, vanilla, and salt. Pulse until broken into small pieces. Add peanut butter and chocolate chips or any other flavoring. Pulse until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!

If you try it, let me know what mix ins you used!

Pumpkin Muffin Doughnut Holes

While Pumpkin Muffin Doughnut Holes is a long name for a recipe, I like to know what I am dealing with from the beginning. It is fall and so I am making a lot of pumpkin foods lately. I have been wanting to try these for a while but never got around to it until today. As I ate them I was wondering why I had waited so long. These were AMAZING! They were so delicious that I couldn't stop myself before I ate *six* of them. They definitely satisfied my doughnut craving and were so much easier than doughnuts - no deep frying!

I adapted the recipe from here. Sorry for the weird measurements again. I halved the recipe and still easily got 2 dozen doughnut holes.

Ingredients:

Scant 3/4 C Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 tsp Allspice

1/6 C Vegetable Oil

1/4 C  Brown Sugar

1/2 Egg

1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

scant 1/2 C canned Plain Pumpkin Puree

1/4 cup Milk

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

3-4 Tbs melted butter

1/4 C of cinnamon sugar mixture

Directions:

In a medium bowl stir together first six ingredients. In a larger bowl, whisk oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth. Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just mixed. Spoon into a greased mini-muffin tin. Cook at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean.

Let rest two minutes before dipping.

While the muffins are baking, melt your butter in one bowl and create a cinnamon sugar mix in another. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, dip in butter and then in cinnamon sugar mix to coat. 

I did some calculations and each muffin is about 40 calories if you don't dip them. If you dip them (and I highly recommend you do) you are looking at closer to 60 calories a piece. So go ahead, eat a couple!

Pumpkin Pancakes

I have been on a breakfast food kick lately. Today I made these pumpkin pancakes and was blown away with how good they were. These were some of the fluffiest pancakes I have ever had. I think the secret is in the egg-white step. The recipe said to beat the egg whites until they were stiff. I did not want to dirty my electric mixer because this recipe had already used up several bowls (I don't like dishes). So I just whipped them by hand until they were frothy. I think it worked great though because the pancakes were delicious.

I used soy milk and vegan butter because I am on a dairy-free diet but I am sure it would taste just as delicious (or even more so) with the "real" stuff.

My only complaint: it was a bit of work for just 8 pancakes. I will probably double the recipe next time and freeze the leftovers so I can enjoy them for many days!

Original recipe here.

Ingredients:

1/4 C flour
1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C milk
1/2 C pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, separated
2 Tbs butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla

*I mixed my own pumpkin pie spice: 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ground allspice. Makes 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.

Directions:
In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, butter and vanilla until smooth. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones until just combined. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold in to batter.

Cook 1/4 cup scoops of batter. Makes 8 pancakes. Serve with butter and cinnamon.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

 

I found this recipe via Pinterest and decided to give it a whirl this Sunday. It was fun to make because it had real strawberries in it and came out a great color without food coloring. I only wish my food processor was bigger than 21 oz so I could have made the whole thing in it like the directions called for. Unfortunately, my baby was napping so I didn't want to get the blender out. I used my somewhat quieter stand mixer and I think that things didn't get blended well enough. With that said, this was still an enjoyable twist on the classic lemon bar.

Recipe source. 

Ingredients:

Crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Filling

1 C lemon juice
2-3 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup pureed strawberries (about 3/4 cup berries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

 

Directions:

Grease a 13x9 inch pan and preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar for the crust. Slowly add the flour and salt until crumbly. Press into pan and bake for about 17 minutes.

Meanwhile make the filling: In a food processor, blend lemon juice, zest, strawberries, sugar, and eggs until smooth. Pulse in flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour over the hot crust and put back in oven for another 23-26 minutes. Cool completely before slicing. Sprinkle powdered sugar over just before serving.

Makes 24 bars.

Hour Bread for French Toast

I like this bread recipe because it only takes one hour to make start to finish. It isn't quite right for sandwich bread but I LOVE it for french toast. I will often make a batch and cook the whole loaf into french toast so I can eat it for breakfast all week. (Or freeze some for later).

This recipe is very versatile and can be used as a pizza crust or even turned into cinnamon rolls.

The measurements are kind of weird because the original recipe made four loaves and I like just one at a time.

Ingredients:
2 5/8 C flour
3 Tbs sugar
1/4 Tbs salt
3/4 Tbs yeast
3/4 Tbs vital wheat gluten
1 C water

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixer. Add water and knead for 5 minutes. Roll out and then roll up into proper loaf size. Place in greased pan and let rise for 25 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350. Bake for 25 minutes.

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.

Pizza Factory Breadsticks

These bread sticks turned out really good and were pretty easy to make. I think the butter in the middle of the dough and the kosher salt make this stand out.

(Recipe from here)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C warm water
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs yeast
3 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
butter
Parmesan cheese
garlic powder
kosher salt

Directions:
Mix water, sugar, and yeast. Let proof for five minutes. Add flour and salt. Mix until smooth. Let rest ten minutes. Roll out into a large rectangle. Melt butter and add garlic powder. Brush over dough. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt. Fold dough in half and cut into strips. Twist and place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise 15 to 20 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 17 minutes or until golden brown. Brush immediately with more garlic butter. Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese and kosher salt.

The original recipe said to use "real" butter and I did. I usually use margarine and am not sure how much of a difference this would make on the final taste.

Homemade Oreos

Nothing can replace a real Oreo but these were fun to make and tasty. I thought they were going to be a softer, whoopie pie sort of cookie but the wafers were on the crunchy side, making a dip in milk essential.

(Recipe from this site)

Ingredients:
Wafers:
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 C cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C plus 2 Tbs butter, room temperature
1 egg

Filling:
1/4 C butter, room temp
1/4 C shortening
2 C powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients for the wafers. Beat in butter and egg. Keep mixing until dough balls together (this took a few minutes for me). Place desired sized balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly with fingers or glass. Bake for 9 minutes at 375. Let cool on cooling rack.

Meanwhile, put butter and shortening in a small bowl. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla.

To put the cookies together, you can use a piping bag to squeeze the filling into the center of a cookie. Squeeze the two cookies together to get the filling to spread to edges. Alternately, you can simply use a knife to spread filling onto cookies.

This recipe make plenty of filling for the number of cookies. I thought they actually tasted better a few hours after I made them, once they were completely cool and crunchy. They stored well for several days.

Homemade Yogurt and Granola

I have made several attempts at homemade yogurt. This was the easiest and most successful try. The secret? Crockpot! Yes, a few years ago I wasn't even aware that you could make your own yogurt at home. Once I found out, I thought it was so neat I would give it a try. My first few attempts came out runny and/or did not work at all. But I think this crockpot method is pretty foolproof. You don't even need a thermometer. All you need is a crockpot, milk, a small amount of yogurt, and time.

Ingredients:
8 Cups of milk (or really any amount, I just used a half gallon)
1 starter yogurt (any plain store bought yogurt cup as long as it has "live and active cultures". I used brown cow this time and it turned out great)
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs vanilla - optional

Directions:
Pour the milk into your crockpot. Turn it on low for 2-3 hours depending on how hot your crock pot gets (you want the milk to reach 180 degrees). Then turn your crock pot off for 3 hours to let the milk cool a bit. Next, take a few cups of the milk and mix it with your starter, the vanilla, and sugar. Then pour back into the crock pot and stir. Put on the lid, cover with a towel to insulate. Let sit for 8-12 hours.

That is it, just leave it alone and the live and active cultures will do their work. The longer you wait, the thicker your yogurt will be. I accidentally let mine sit for 14 hours. It was almost a bit too thick for me - turning into more of a cottage cheese. I think 12 hours might suit me best.

Then here is another secret I learned this time. If your yogurt is still too runny for your liking, line a strainer with paper towels and set over a bowl. Pour your yogurt in and let it drain (in the fridge) for a few hours. Hey Presto! Now you have thicker yogurt and whey. You can save the whey to use as a substitute for water when baking. Apparently really healthy. I am going to try mine out today.

Additional options:

• You can leave out the vanilla and sugar until you have finished. That way you can set aside some unflavored yogurt to use as a sour cream substitute.
• You can add any sort of flavoring you want. Jams and jellies. Maple syrup, honey. I blended in some fresh strawberries to make strawberry yogurt.
• You can freeze in an ice tray to use for smoothies
• Whey can also be a substitute for buttermilk
  

Granola Recipe:
Yogurt and Granola! What a delicious breakfast combination. Here is my favorite peanut butter granola recipe:

Ingredients:
3 Tbs butter
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
3 Tbs milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbs peanut butter
2-3 C oats

Directions:
On the stove, melt butter. Stir in sugars and milk. Bring to a boil and stir for two more minutes. Remove from heat. Add in peanut butter and vanilla. Then stir in 2-3 cups of oats until well coated. If you want it crunchier, you can spread on a pan and broil in the oven. Eat as a snack or over yogurt.

Blonde Brownies

I have always loved blonde brownies. In my opinion, people do not make them nearly enough. I think I probably enjoy them more that chocolate chip cookies. Let's face it, a blonde brownie is just a really thick, chewy chocolate chip cookie anyway. So if you are ever craving such a thing (and when are you not?), this is the perfect recipe to make. The dough/batter was delicious as well.

Also, a shout out to dehydrated eggs. I used them in this recipe and in every recipe I have tried them with so far, I cannot taste the difference. Makes for guilt free tasting of the dough!

While I am shouting out, I might as well thank real butter too. I bought some genuine butter to make my lemon bars and wow, I think it makes a big difference. Everything I have baked with the leftover butter has turned out so wonderful! Too bad butter is about 4 times more expensive than margarine. Oh well, I guess I have to keep using margarine in some things so I can appreciate the difference when I use butter.

Ingredients:
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C butter (melted)
1 C brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbs vanilla (yes, I thought it was a lot but it tasted great)
2/3 C chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a small bowl. Combine brown sugar and melted butter in a separate mixing bowl until smooth. Add in the beaten egg and vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a greased 9x9 pan. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes*.

*Note: I had to bake mine the full 25. Then I turned the oven off and left them in for a few minutes longer to finish cooking the inside without burning the outside.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

My neighbor made this for us after we brought our baby home. It was delicious. I made it for dinner yesterday. I am turning into a big crockpot fan! So quick and easy but then you actually have a nice home cooked meal at the end of the day.

This is kind of like a Hawaiian haystack with a Mexican twist.

Ingredients:
2-4 Chicken breasts
seasonings for chicken (I used Mrs. Dash but you could use anything, salt pepper, or garlic powder)
1 can black beans (drained)
15 oz salsa
1 can corn (drained)
8 oz cream cheese

Directions:
Put blackbeans and half of salsa in crockpot. Put chicken on top, seasoned as you will. Pour remaining salsa on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken with a fork and add corn and cream cheese. Cook on high for 30 minutes. Serve over rice. Leftovers can be eaten in a tortilla with tomatoes and lettuce.

I was going to half this recipe and cook it in a smaller receptacle like the barbecue chicken. But I had two large chicken breasts frozen together and didn't know what to do with half a can of black beans and corn so I just made the whole thing. It looks like it would probably freeze well though so if you don't like to eat leftovers for a week you could try that.

Crumpets and Scones

In honor of Prince William and Kate's wedding, Jeff and I had crumpets and scones for dinner. Actually, the day before we were having a conversation and I said something about crumpets for tea and we both realized that neither of us was quite sure what a crumpet was. With a little research, I learned that it is similar to an English muffin.

I found a recipe and we were pleasantly surprised with how tasty crumpets are. I think it was the butter you fry them in! They are a mix between English muffins and pancakes I think. I have never had them before but can definitely see myself doubling this recipe and using these for breakfast.

With the scones, I decided on a chocolate chip version (from Joyofbaking) because, let's face it, everything is better with a little chocolate. Although I was very tempted by a recipe with a cinnamon streusel on it. The scones were great because they didn't have to rise at all: so I can easily make them again without much planning/thought beforehand.

Crumpets:
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp SAF instant yeast
1/4 C warm water
1 tsp sugar
1/3 C warm milk
1 Tbs butter, melted
1 egg
1 C flour
1/2 tsp salt





Directions:
Mix yeast and water. Add sugar and let proof 5 minutes. Mix in milk, butter, and egg. Add flour and salt and mix until smooth. Cover and let rise 45 minutes in a warm place. Fold over and let rise 15 more minutes.

Heat pan on low. Add some butter to the pan (let melt). Spoon batter onto pan (enough to make the size of crumpet you want). Cook on medium low for about 5-7 minutes until the bottom is browned and the top has bubbles and appears dry. Flip and cook another 2 minutes or until the other side is browned. Add more butter to pan as needed.

Serve with butter, jam, nutella, or other suitable topping. Eat warm or save and toast at a later time.

Scone:

Ingredients:
2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C butter
1/2 C chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C milk*
3/4 Tbs vinegar*

*you can substitute 3/4 C of buttermilk for the milk and vinegar

Directions:
Mix the milk and vinegar, let sit 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Cut in the butter with two knifes or a pastry blender (just as if you were making biscuits). When it looks crumbly, stir in the chocolate chips. Add the vanilla to the milk mixture. Slowly add 2/3 C of the milk to the bowl. Stir just until dough comes together. Add the remaining milk if necessary. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead a few times and then flatten out into a 1 1/2 inch thick circle. Cut the dough into 8 wedges (like a pizza). Place on a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Lemon Bars

I am a chocolate lover. So I rarely make a dessert that doesn't involve some form of chocolate. I especially seldom make lemon bars because they just aren't my favorite. But a co-worker brought these in my last day of work and they were so good I started craving more! That is impressive for a lemon bar. So I asked her for the recipe. I was pleasantly surprised to know that I already had all the ingredients at home.

I made these in a small rectangular dish (I think 7 by 11). The original recipe called for an 8 inch square pan. So my dish was slightly bigger. But the lemon bars turned out quite thick so if you prefer a thinner crust, you can make it in an even bigger dish.

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 C butter, softened
1 1/3 C flour
1/4 C sugar

Filling:
3 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
3 Tbs flour
3/8 tsp baking powder
5 Tbs lemon juice

Directions:
Mix butter, flour, and sugar until crumbly. Press into bottom of pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Don't worry if it doesn't seem like a dough. It should be crumbly. Take out of oven while still white (should not have browned).

Meanwhile, mix the filling ingredients. Pour over the crust. Bake again for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You will have to wait for the bars to cool before you cut them because the filling has to set.

These are delicious cold out of the refrigerator!

Crockpot Barbecue Chicken

Here is a deliciously simple recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I was a little wary of adding the italian dressing to it but it turned out absolutely wonderful.

Stick it in the crockpot and enjoy a few hours later. Works great with my bread machine hamburger buns.

I always get so excited to eat, I forget pictures! So I took one from allrecipes.

Since there are only two of us to eat, I like to be stingy on the meat to make our food budget last longer. However, our crockpot is quite large so I often burn whatever food I put in it because there is not enough. This time, I learned that you can put a smaller oven safe dish inside the crockpot and cook successfully in that. It was great! I put a little ceramic bowl in an covered it with foil to keep the moisture inside. My chicken cooked perfectly.Ingredients:
One large chicken breast
1/3 bottle of barbecue sauce
1/4 C italian salad dressing
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs soy sauce

Directions:
Put the chicken breast in the small container inside your crockpot. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover with foil. Cook on low for five hours. Open up crockpot and shred chicken with a fork. Cover and cook one more hour. Serve on buns.

This recipe makes a small amount - only two servings. It can easily be adjusted for larger groups.

Bread Machine Hamburger Buns

Today I wanted to actually make something for dinner since it has been a while (the arrival of a new baby will do that!). But I knew it needed to be something that wouldn't take too much work because I never know when I will be interrupted by his cries.

I decided to make crock pot barbecue chicken and homemade buns. I found this recipe at Food.com

These were very easy to make and taste delicious. I will use them as dinner rolls as well. And since they are made in the bread machine, hands on prep time is really only about 15 minutes total. The original recipe called for bread flour but I used all purpose flour and added wheat gluten.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 C milk, slightly warm
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbs butter
1/4 C white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3 3/4 C flour
1 Tbs + 1 tsp vital wheat gluten (optional)
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast


Directions:
Mix all ingredients into bread machine according to manufacturer's directions. Run the "dough" cycle. Turn out onto floured surface and split dough into two pieces. Roll out each piece until 3/4 inch thick. Using an inverted cup, cut out 6 rolls from each piece (I chose to freeze half the dough). Place dough disks onto greased pan. Brush with melted butter and let rise until double (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

These would make excellent dinner rolls as well. Just size them a bit smaller or bake in a muffin tin!

Cake Balls

(Photo courtesy of Mel)

I am sure most of you have heard of cake balls. I hadn't heard of them until around Christmas time when I tried one at a family party. It was delicious! So this weekend when we were in charge of bringing dessert to a get together, I decided to try out making these truffle-like treats. I made some with white chocolate dyed green for St. Patrick's Day and others dipped in normal chocolate because that is the best!

They were easy to make and turned out delicious. However, they took me waaayyy too long, as almost anything does when you have to dip it. I think it will be a while before I make these again. And sorry I am a slacker and forgot to take a picture before they were all gone!

Ingredients:
1 box of cake mix (any flavor you want)
1 can of frosting
melting chocolate

Directions:
Follow the instructions for baking the cake. When it is finished, let it cool for 30 minutes. Then scrape the cake out into a bowl and stir in the can of frosting until the mixture becomes a dough like texture. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into round balls and place on cookie sheet. Freeze for about 2 hours.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Add some crisco if needed to thin it out. One at a time, dip the cake balls into the chocolate, let excess chocolate drip off, and them place on a cookie sheet with some wax paper. When finished, place in fridge or freezer to harden. I liked serving them cold out of the fridge with a glass of milk!

Breakfast Casserole

This is a casserole I had at a church Christmas breakfast. It was delicious so I got the recipe. I made it for dinner and even though the recipe said to refrigerate overnight, I just stuck it in the fridge for about an hour and it was great. Leftovers reheat well for breakfast!

Ingredients:
1 lb sausage
6 eggs
2 C milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground mustard
6 slices of white bread, cut in 1/2 in. pieces
1 C cheese

Directions:
Brown sausage and drain. Set aside. Beat together eggs, milk, salt, and mustard. Add bread, sausage, and cheese. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight if desired. Take out of fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until cooked through.