Thursday, May 29, 2008

Blender Wheat Pancakes and Homemade Syrup

Blender Wheat Pancakes
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder

Blend wheat flour and 1 cup milk on high for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup milk and blend for another 2 minutes. Add rest of ingredients and blend until mixed. Really yummy served with this homemade syrup...

Homemade Syrup
I grew up in a house with only homemade syrup. I didn't know who Mrs. Butterworth was until I was in college! Anyway, if you haven't tried homemade, I'd recommend it.

2 cups white or brown sugar (matter of taste - my dad likes one cup of each)
1 cup water
Bring to a boil.

Add:
1/2 tsp maple
1 tsp vanilla
(I also like to add 1/2 tsp almond flavoring, but again, it's a matter of taste.)

If you like thick syrup allow it to cool a little before serving. It thickens as it cools.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Thank you, Rachel!

Thank you to Rachel D ... the woman behind the new template. It's simple, clean, and simply perfect!! I hope you all love it!! Thanks again, Rachel!!



Janette

Monday, May 19, 2008

Clone of a Cinnabon


I got this one from Allrecipes.com. It really is very good and very close to Cinnabon.

Ready in 3 hours, 12 servings

Ingredients:

dough:
1 Cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temp
1/3 Cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 Cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup white sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast

filling:
1 Cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/3 Cup butter, softened

icing:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

Mix milk and 1 Tbs of the sugar until dissolved, add yeast.

Mix dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in Kitchen Aide (or stand mixer of your choice that has a dough -hook). It should become a smooth ball.

Turn OFF oven. Cover dough with moist towel over bowl and put in warmed oven for 1 hour (it will double in size). Turn out dough on lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest 10 min.

In small bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll Dough into 16" by 21" rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 Cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. It will seem like overkill, but it's okay, use it all. Roll up dough and cut with floss into 12 rolls (you put the floss under and bring both ends around and cross the ends until it squeezes and cuts the dough).

Place rolls in lightly greased (or better yet, lined with parchment paper) 9" by 13" pan. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 30 mins).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake rolls in oven until golden brown, 15 minutes. While baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 Cup butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Turkey Marinade

I am not a big turkey fan...however, turkey marinated and cook THIS way is to die for. So good. So soft. So perfect. My aunt made this for her son's wedding luncheon (like 10 years ago) and my family was so excited to finally get their hands on this recipe...again (lost about 9 years ago). It's great on a grill but you could probably cook it another way. It's definitely a must try. And if you REALLY have turkey issues, you could just use chicken breasts. Probably be just as good.

1 quart 7-up or gingerale (diet probably works, too)
1 pint Canola oil
1 pint soy sauce
1 Tbsp horseradish
1 tsp garlic powder

Marinate turkey (I used sliced turkey breast) for 24 hours in a Ziploc. Grill or cook as desired.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Honey Cilantro Shrimp Tacos

Oh my gosh, these are the best, you've really got to try them. Way easy and super impressive. The Honey Cilantro sauce is the best!

These tacos are incredible; sweet, slightly spicy and flavorful!
25 Minutes to Prepare and Cook

Ingredients
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced into strips
2 bell peppers, sliced into strips
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno (remove seeds if you don't like it hot.)
1 1/2 lb. precooked cocktail shrimp, tails removed
4 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsp. coriander
2 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
8 tortillas, soft taco size




Directions
Warm oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, bell peppers, and jalapeno. Cook until onions are transparent, about 5-10 minutes. Add shrimp and cook only until warmed through. (The longer they cook, the more they lose water and shrink.)
Drain mixture in a colander, return to skillet and stove, lower the temperature of the stovetop to low. Add cumin and coriander, salt and pepper to taste.
In a small bowl, combine honey and chopped cilantro. Place shrimp mixture in tortilla and top with a spoonful of the honey mixture. You can top with salsa or sour cream if you wish. Enjoy!
*Note: these tacos can be pretty messy, so you may prefer to eat them with a fork and knife

Number of Servings: 4

Monday, May 12, 2008

Apple Pie

I'm sure everyone has their own favorite apple pie recipe, but I finally found one I really like..and can actually produce!


Filling:
5 or 6 tart apples (I used Granny Smith)
3/4 c. apple juice
1 C. brown sugar (scant)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs = 2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter

1) Pare apples and cut into slices (about 6 cups)
2) Mix together apple juice, sugar, and salt together in medium saucepan. Add Apples and heat to boil. Reduce heat and simmer just until apples are tender.
3) Drain and measure liquid. (Set apples aside) Add more juice, if necessary to make 1 1/4 cups.
4) Blend lemmon juice and corn starch; add spices and blend with the 1 1/4 cups liquid. Add butter. Simmer until thickened.
5)Combine apples and juice and place carefully in unbaked pie shell.
6) place top crust and cut slits for steam to escape. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes.
***Make sure to add tinfoil around edges to prevent them from burning***
Tip: put a cookie sheet lined with tin foil on the bottom rack of your oven to catch spills from pie to help with clean up.

Crust
**This is grandma's crust recipe***

makes double crust for 9" pans

2 C. sifted flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 C. shortening
1/4 cup COLD water

1) Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl
2) Cut in crisco with pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs
3) Sprinkle cold water, TBLS at a time, and toss lightly with a for. When all the water is added, for dough into a ball
4) Divide ball into two halves, One for bottom crust and one for top.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Breakfast/Brunch Casserole (Fay Croxford via my friend Adri)

I made this casserole for our Teacher Appreciation Breakfast this morning and it was a huge hit! It is one of the yummiest breakfast casseroles I have ever had. It can be altered however you'd like by adding different kinds of cheeses, meats and veggies. I didn't take a picture of it because I was in a hurry, but trust me it looked good! I put the ingredients I used in bold letters.

1 pkg. frozen diced hash browns
1lb cooked ground sausage, diced links or diced ham
1 dozen eggs
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1/3 cup mayonnaise or miracle whip
1 lb shredded cheese (cheddar/jack mix)
diced onions or onion flakes
diced green peppers (optional)
sliced mushrooms (optional)

Layer frozen potatoes, meat, and onions in a sprayed 9X13 baking dish. Mix together soup, eggs, mayonnaise, cheese and any veggies you desire (pretty much anything you may want in an omelet) and pour over layers. Cover and let sit in refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350˚ for an hour or until fluffy and bubbly. Slice and serve hot.

ROTTEN TOMATOES: Twilight Video

ROTTEN TOMATOES: Twilight Video

Quiche

INGREDIENTS:

6 large eggs
1.5 cups milk
8 ounces Swiss-type cheese (I did a mix of swiss cheese and cheddar cheese)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg - optional
1 pie or quiche crust (in the frozen or refrigerated section of the grocery store)
Ideas for other tasty ingredients: cooked bacon and/or ham, red orange or/and green peppers, onion, etc. Lightly sautee the veggies before you add them to the egg/milk/cheese mixture below.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk until thoroughly blended. Season with the salt and pepper, then add the cheese and stir until it is blended. Turn the mixture into the pre-baked pastry, and spread out the cheese evenly over the bottom of the pastry. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg if you've used a Swiss-type cheese, and bake in the center of the oven until the filling is golden and puffed, and is completely baked through, about 30 minutes. To test for doneness, shake the quiche - if it is solid without a pool of uncooked filling in the center, it is done. You may also stick a sharp knife blade into the center of the filling and if it comes out clean, the quiche is baked through.

Remove the quiche from the oven and serve immediately.
This actually made 2 quiches for us. You can wrap it in foil and freeze it or give it away. Delicious!

Monday, May 5, 2008

I wish I Had a Picture of this Banana-Cream- Syrup Waffle!!

These waffles are seriously the best- they are Brian's FAVORITE post-church (especially on Fast Sunday) indulgence.  You really do have to try them for yourself.  I know they may seem a bit heavy, but they are just simply amazingly delicious!


Waffle mix (I use Bisquick, but use your favorite recipe if you have one)
Heavy Whipping Cream, powdered sugar, vanilla
Bananas, sliced thin
Butter
Homemade Syrup 

Make up the waffle mix and cook as directed.  In the meantime, whip up the cream and add desired amount of sugar and a touch of vanilla after the cream is whipped.  Cut up the bananas. You can make the syrup ahead of time.  Here's the recipe I use:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

Boil water, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Heat until sugar dissolves.

After the waffles are done, slather desired amount of butter on top, followed by syrup (please use homemade- it really does make a big difference), then cream and finally the bananas. Enjoy!