Amish Friendship Bread - No Starter needed

I like Amish Friendship Bread. The only thing I don't like about it is taking care of the starter and ending up with 6 loaves of bread everytime I make it. So this recipe is all the goodness of Amish Friendship Bread without the worry. The measurements are kind of weird because I halved the recipe to just make one loaf.

Ingredients:
3/8 C sugar
1/4 C milk
3/8 C flour
1/2 C oil
1 1/2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 C flour
1/2 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 box instant pudding mix (whatever flavor)
Chocolate Chips (optional)

Directions:

Combine the first six ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients. Combine, stirring until just blended. Add the chocolate chips if you desire. (I can never make a dessert without chocolate!).
Pour batter into a bread pan. Bake at 325 for an hour. Let cool 10 min in pan, then remove from pan to finish cooling.



I used butterscotch pudding because that was the only pudding mix I had in the house. But I have also used chocolate before and I believe vanilla or any other flavor would turn out wonderfully.

Gourmet Caramel Apples

This is the second time we have made caramel apples. The first time we invited some friends over and the apples turned out tasting delicious. This time they also looked good. Wish I had taken pictures of the better ones before we ate them!

Ingredients:
5 Large Granny Smith Apples
1 package of kraft caramels
2 Tbs milk
1 Cup chocolate chips
1 Tbs oil
Candy of your choice

Directions:
First thing you want to do, is stick the apples in boiling water one at a time for 2-3 seconds. Take them out with a slotted spoon and carefully dry them. This will help get the wax off and help the caramel stick to the apples. (We did not do this our first time and had trouble with the caramel sliding off). Don't worry if the apples get these funny white spots on them, you will be dipping them in caramel soon.

Put the apples in the fridge to keep cool. Meanwhile, melt the caramels together with 2 Tbs milk in a saucepan over medium low heat, stirring constantly. Prepare a cookie sheet with wax paper and spray with pam to avoid having your apples stick. Stick a Popsicle stick into each apple (the sticks should come in the caramel bag). Carefully roll the apple in the melted caramel, coating evenly. Hold over pot and let excess caramel drip off. Turn the apple upside down and hold for a few seconds to let the caramel harden on the outside instead of pooling at the bottom. Place the apple on the cookie sheet.

Once all of your apples are dipped, place the cookie sheet in the fridge. Let caramel harden for about twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare bowls of crushed candy to roll the apples in. Jeff and I crushed reeses pieces and oreos this time. Anything you like will work fine. You might have to start with cold or frozen candy bars for them to crush well.

Melt 1 Cup of chocolate chips with 1 Tbs oil. Dip the apples in the chocolate just as you did with the caramel. Or you can simply drizzle a small amount of chocolate on your apple if you don't want it chocolate covered. Immediately roll the apples in the crushed candy. Place back on cookie sheet and let cool in fridge for 20 minutes.

Cut into slices and serve. The sweet outside pairs with the tart granny smith apple and they balance out wonderfully. Keep the leftovers in the fridge. Let sit at room temperature 5-10 minutes before slicing to soften.

Steak Marinade

I don't make steak very often so I didn't really know what to do with the one I bought. I used this marinade and the steak turned out delicious! It was juicy, tender, and flavorful. It sort of caramelized on the outside too.

This is supposedly a Teriyaki Steak Marinade but it wasn't overwhelmingly teriyaki flavored to me.

Ingredients:
1/3 C soy sauce (I used half soy sauce and half Bragg's Amino sauce)
3 Tbs honey
3 Tbs white wine vinegar
3/4 C vegetable oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a plastic bag. Place steak in bag. Ziploc and let marinate in refrigerator for several hours, preferably overnight. Be sure to flip the meat regularly so each side gets a good soaking. Grill the steaks. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Sorry, no picture this time. This is a quick sweet and sour sauce I made to pour over some leftover rice and chicken. Made a good Chinese meal. I have also heard sweet and sour sauce is good over meatballs.

Ingredients:
Juice from a medium can of pineapples (15.25 oz)
1/4 C ketchup
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Heat in a saucepan, stirring until thickened. Make sure to cook until thick or the sauce will taste like cornstarch. Serve over chicken and rice.

Butterhorns

These buttery crescent rolls are tasty and not very difficult to make. I am creating my second batch right now, hoping to freeze half of it so I can bake them at a shorter notice.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs active dry yeast
1 tsp plus 1/3 C sugar
1/2 C warm water
1/2 C butter (or margarine), softened
1/2 warm milk
1 egg
3/4 tsp salt
4 C flour

Directions:

Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar with water in a large mixer. Add the butter, milk, egg, salt, 1/3 cup sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until well mixed. Add the remaining flour. Knead in mixer for 3-4 minutes or by hand for 6-8 until a smooth, soft dough is formed.

Let rise in greased bowl until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Punch down and divide dough into two balls. Roll the balls into 12 inch circles. Cut each circle into 12 wedges and roll to form crescent shapes (start with wide end).

At this point, flash freeze the ones you want to save. Once frozen, place them in a freezer bag.

For those you are cooking now, cover and let rise on baking sheet for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

PS: Freezing worked out great. I thawed them in the fridge overnight and they were ready to go into the oven that evening. Tasted great.

Mexican Lasagna

This one I am proud of because I made it up myself. Okay, so maybe it isn't that hard to make a taco casserole but hey, you've got to start somewhere.

Ingredients
Tortillas
1 can black beans
1 1/2 C rice (uncooked measure)
1 lbs ground beef
1 C salsa
1 packet (3 Tbs) Taco Seasoning
Cheddar Cheese

Directions
Cook the rice as you normally would. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef and add the packed of taco seasoning and 2/3 c of water (or whatever it says on your packet). Let this simmer for a few minutes. Then add the rinsed and drained can of black beans, letting them heat up with the taco meat.

When the rice is done, add the salsa and mix together.

Line the bottom of the casserole with tortillas. Put down a layer of rice, then meat/beans, then sprinkle some cheese. Cover with another layer of tortillas. Layer on the rest of the ingredients in the same order.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly. Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

Watermelon Cake

I was in charge of dessert at my family's 4th of July Barbecue. I thought this festive watermelon cake would be fun to make. It was also very simple.

Ingredients:
1 white cake mix
ingredients on cake mix box
cream cheese or vanilla frosting
watermelon jello
a few chocolate chips
food coloring

Directions:

Prepare cake mix as directed on box. Add in the watermelon jello mix (I went to three grocery stores and could not find watermelon jello so had to use strawberry. It worked just fine). Bake according to directions in two round cake pans. Let cool completely. Frost with dyed food coloring. Be sure to reserve some as a white border between the red and green. Add chocolate chips to center as seeds. Enjoy!