Perfect Cornbread

I love going out to eat and trying new restaurants. But I have to admit that if I find a good dinner roll, bread stick, garlic toast, or any bread in general you will HAVE ME HOOKED. That's all they need and I will be a repeat customer for life. I can always find something on the menu I like, but you have to have good bread I'm there. (and my waistline proves it). A particular favorite of mine that not many people get right is cornbread. It's either to dry or has to much stuff in it or not enough "corn" flavor. So I was especially excited to run across a recipe for Sweet Corn Bread  @ http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/10/sweet-cornbread/ . It was so PERFECT. It didn't need honey, it was even good without butter. It's not a recipe to add a bunch of extras too, you don't need to "spice it up". It was just perfect the way it was. And unfortunately VERY addicting. And since it makes a ton, if you don't get some into the freezer quick, you'll easily find yourself with a fork in the pan at 11:00 at night (not that it happened to me or anything). And it's so easy:

Ingredients

1 yellow cake mix

2 Jiffy cornbread mixes

Oil, milk, and eggs according to package directions

(Yes, all the eggs, milk(I used all milk no water), and oil)

Bake at 350 degrees and use the same cooking time as the cake box dictates. 20 minutes for muffins, 30 for cake, ect. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

 

I made a sm loaf and a 9x13 but feel free to make 24 muffins or a 9x13 and an 8x8, whatever is easiest for your family.

 

 

 

Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I love homemade chocolate chip cookies. The husband-not so much. So when I was craving them last night I wanted to make something yummy but something we would both like. I came up with these and they were sooooooo good!

Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
When combined add 2 eggs and mix well
Add
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
Mix
Add 1 cup quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour.
Mix well
Break 2-3 Hershey bars into chunks and stir into the batter

Spoon into ping pong sized balls and bake on a cookie sheet 9 minutes or till tops are slightly browned. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Stuffed Banana Peppers

To say that this years banana pepper crop is prevalent would definitely be an understatement. I've been picking for a month now and they don't seem to end, but no complaints here. Pickling them is the main reason we plant them. My husband loves them on almost anything and I love having them all year long, but I also like to try different ways to make them as well. Last night I took a mix of a couple stuffed pepper recipes I found on Pintrest (Oh how I love Pintrest) and came up with something pretty great.


Stuffed Banana Peppers

10-12 lg banana peppers sliced in half and seeded
1 pkg cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup shredded chicken
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

In a bowl combine all ingredients (except the peppers of course) and mix well. stuff peppers with mixture and insert a tooth pick through the middle to hold them( they need a little structure when they're on the grill). Grill on medium for 6-8 minutes or till warm, melty, charred, and delicious.

Change It Up A Little!!

 

 

 

 

Saucy Italian Meatloaf

1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
 1-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg 1/2 cup water 1 onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz.) pizza sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp chopped garlic




1 cup Finely Shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend

HEAT oven to 375°F.




MIX first 7 ingredients.

SHAPE into loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with sauce.

BAKE 55 min. to 1 hour or until done (160°F).

Top with cheese; bake 2 min. or until melted.

* I have also chopped up store bought pepperonis and green peppers and added to the meat mixture. Sooooo gooood!

I have been craving Red Lobsters "Cheddar Bay Biscuits" I found this recipe and it's the closest I've gotten to the real thing. I definitely recommend it!!

Ingredients:


2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix

¾ cup cold whole milk

4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Bush on Top:

4 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes

½ teaspoon garlic powder

pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don't want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

3. Drop approximately ¼-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

5. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter. Makes about one dozen biscuits.

My Freezer is My Friend

Every summer and fall I love to freeze vegetables and fruit as they become ripe. Apples, strawberries, zucchini, rhubarb, corn, the list could go on forever! I usually freeze them in 1 and 2 cup amounts so a recipe is easily followed or doubled. Make sure to mark on the outside of the freezer bag how much you've put in there! Then when we have a record-breaking Minnesota blizzard I can pull something out, like zucchini, and make some warm zucchini bread and it's like it's August all over again(if only for a minute). My favorite zucchini bread recipe is as follows:

WARM ZUCCHINI BREAD

Ingredients


1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini

1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Grease an 8 by 4 by 2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, oil, and sugar. Cream the mixture until smooth. Sift the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Add the egg to the creamed mixture and mix until incorporated. Add the sifted flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time until all is incorporated, and the batter is smooth.
Squeeze and drain the shredded zucchini. Fold zucchini, walnuts, and lemon zest into batter.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown or when skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the bread, warm, with butter.


ENJOY!!

Qucik Fix!

Hope every ones holiday was a great one! After a much needed rest and recuperation we settled in for supper last night at home. The kids of course wanted breakfast for supper, they would eat breakfast 3 times a day of I cooked it for them! They LOVE anything with syrup on it! I decided to try the new waffle maker I received from my grandparents for Christmas and and as I was making the batter when I realized I was short a 1/2 a cup of milk. The only thing i had in the fridge that even came close was french vanilla coffee creamer. I decided that it couldn't hurt the batter and poured it in. I have to say it was the BEST waffles I have ever made. I will definitely be picking up an extra bottle of French Vanilla creamer just for the purpose of waffles next time I'm grocery shopping. This of course makes my mind spin with the possibilities of what other "creamers" I could add and switch up the flavor, and of course what toppings could go along with it. The possibilities are endless! I hope you give this one a try and please share any other flavors you discover!

Left Over Holiday Ham??

This is the easiest and what I think is the best scalloped ppotatoes and ham recipe I've tried!





Scalloped Potatoes and Ham


6-8 large potatoes sliced thinly

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can milk

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

½ tsp chopped garlic

2 cups cooked ham, diced

1 cup shredded Cheddar of Monterrey Jack cheese

½ tsp salt and pepper.

Lay potatoes in a 9x 13 pan, In a sauce pan mix rest of ingredients and stir together over medium heat until smooth. Pour over potatoes. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. Uncover and bake 10-15 more minutes. (place pan on a cookie sheet to prevent boil-over’s)

I Don't Like Peanut Brittle!!

BUT I LOVE Popcorn Brittle!!! It's a recipe that I just tried this year and gave it away as gifts. My family really enjoys it. It's a little different but a lot good!

1 bag (3.3 oz each) Microwave Popcorn 1 cup M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies 1½ cups firmly packed brown sugar ½ cup unsalted butter (½ cup = 1 stick) ½ cup light corn syrup ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup lightly salted peanuts ½ teaspoon baking soda 1. Prepare popcorn according to package directions. Remove all unpopped kernels. Spread popped corn evenly in 15x10-inch nonstick shallow baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies; set aside.


2. Place sugar, butter, corn syrup and vanilla in medium heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly with wooden spoon. Add peanuts. Cook an additional 2 minutes or to the hard-crack stage, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add baking soda and mix well.

3. Immediately pour caramel mixture evenly over popped corn and candy until coated. Do not stir. Let stand 30 minutes or until caramel has cooled and hardened.

4. Break into pieces. Store in tightly sealed container.

Tip: Hard-crack stage, 300 to 310°F on a candy thermometer, is when a small amount of boiling sugar syrup, dropped into very cold water, separates into hard brittle threads.

ENJOY!! and Merry Christmas to you all!

Save Yourself a Little Time

When I have some extra time, like a snow day for example, I like to make large amounts of things and freeze them. One of my favorites is meatballs. They are so versitile. I make about 30-60 meatballs, depending on how much hamburger I have, divide them up in to serving sizes and freeze them for later. Then I'm ready for Meatball sandwiches, meatballs and gravy, whatever you want.

Meatballs
2 pounds of ground beef (2 pounds makes about 30 1 inch meatballs, you could double the whole recipe and get about 60)
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tsp chopped Garlic
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp dried Basil
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 tbls Worcestershire sauce

Add all ingredients to a large bowl EXCEPT ground beef, mix ingredients together and add add ground beef on top of that and lightly mix, this will help to not over mix and toughen your meat. I use a 1 inch cookie or ice cream scoop to make sure all my meatballs are the same size and ensure even cooking. I also bake my meatballs in muffin pans to make for even browning and to cut back on the fat you would have from frying. I bake them in a 35o dregree oven for 20-25 minutes. Take them out of the oven and cool . I place them in freezer bags in the desired serving size then I always have a quick lunch or dinner when I need it.

A fast idea is to cook the frozen meatballs in a saucepan with 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 3/4 can of water, 1/2 tsp chopped garlic and cook on med heat for 30 minutes, at the end stir in 1 lg tbls of sourcream and serve over noodles for a quick stroganoff.

Banana Bread Makes Everyone Feel Better

My husband's cousin lost her sister-in-law over the weekend in a tragic car accident. It has left a huge black cloud over our whole community. I can't believe that somthing like this could happen. It's devastating. It leaves you at a loss for words. Immediatly you think-what can I do? What do they need? I brought Banana Bread. And just for Erin I'll give you recipe.
Banana Bread
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup White Sugar
2 Eggs, beaten
3 Bananas, mashed
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 3/4 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

1 Cup Blueberries or Rhubarb(optional)

Cream softened butter, sugar, add eggs, and sour cream. Mix till well incorperated. Add bananas, mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Beat well. Pour into a lg loaf pan or 2 medium loaf pans.
Bake a 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

Not that banana bread is going to take away any of the excruciating pain that this family is feeling right now, but I'll try anything. May you rest peacefully in Gods arms Afton. You will greatly missed by us all.

My First Post!

I decided that after a horrible weekend of distinct reminders as to how short life can really be, I thought I would start somthing I have been thinking about for a long time. Cooking and communication are two of my favorite things in life, and I can't wait to start somthing that includes them both. I hope someone will find this blog helpful and maybe a little entertaining.
As a wife and mother to two beautiful children there is one thing I've learned-we all have to eat-so why not enjoy it. I'm constantly searching for new ideas and new recipes and experamenting with new ideas and ingredients. I love hear what other families are doing as well. It just seems like one day you stop and look at your dining room table and all you see is tater-tot hotdish. Nothing against tater-tots, in fact my husband could eat them everyday if he had to, I just want to give my family the widest variety and healthies options I can. Like last night for example a friend of mine told me that she cooks chicken breasts in a crock pot with a can of chicken broth and a package of taco seasoning. Brilliant!! I never thought of that! As soon as she said that 100 diffrent ideas went through my head. The one I decided on was Taco Pizza.

4 chicken brests cooked in the crock pot (on high for 2-4 hours or on low for 6-8) with 1 can of chicken broth and 1 package of taco seasoning and shredded.
2 packages of corn muffin mix (following package directions)
1 can diced tomotoes
1 can black beans
1Tbls can green chillies
1 sm can sliced black olives
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbls chopped green onions

Prepare muffin mix according to directions and spread in a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and layer rest of ingredients with chicken first and ending with shredded cheese. Cover and bake an additional 15-20 minutes till heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream, taco sauce, salsa, and shredded lettuce.

It was DELICIOUS! I also thought about using the same recipe but taking a couple inexpensive steaks and cooking them the same way and having a steak taco pizza. I hope you try this one oout on your family and enjoy!