Baked Oatmeal

Willow has been waking up VERY early and I have been half awake as I try to get her food...this was a great way to have a hot breakfast without a lot of thinking by me!

From Money Saving Mom:

Freezer-Friendly Baked Oatmeal

• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk
• 3 cups oats (regular or quick oats)

Beat eggs, sugar and butter together. Mix in baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.

Stir in milk and oats. Pour into a greased 9×13 foil pan or baking dish and cover well. (Can use a Ziploc freezer bag, if freezing). Freeze.

To serve: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until set in the middle. Serve warm with milk. (We like to sprinkle sugar on top before pouring the milk on.)

If you want to serve it without freezing it first, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight and then bake it at 350 degrees for 35-45minutes in the morning.

Serves 6-8.

Hoe Cake

I have found heaven on earth...  Finally I have found a recipe for those elusive awesome, fluffy, buttery, soft as pillows biscuits and it's SO easy since there's no rolling or cutting!  Thank you so much Christy(Southern Plate)!!!!

1/2 Cup vegetable shortening

2 Cups self rising flour(or add 3 tsp baking powder and 2 tsp salt to regular flour)

1 Cup milk

Preheat the oven to 425.  Pour a thin layer of oil to cover the bottom of an 8 inch round cake pan(I used my cast iron skillet) and place in the oven to heat.

In a large bowl, thoroughly cut the shortening into the flour.  Pour the milk in and stir until wet.  The batter will be lumpy.  (don't overstir!!!!!)  Pour into the well-heated pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, until browned.  Invert onto a plate.  (I didn't invert it...we cut it and it was gone so fast there wasn't time)

Chocolate Pie

Mmm this was so good!  Now to try it out on my mom when she comes to visit next!  This is from Southern Plate.

1 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 Cup self-rising flour
2 egg yolks
2 Cups milk
2 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 baked pie shell

Meringue
3 egg whits
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325.  In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa powder and flour.  mix well.  Beat in the egg yolks and add the milk  Place over medium heat and cook until thickened, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  Stir in the butter, vanill and salt.  Pour into the baked pie shell and top with meringue, if desired, or whipped cream.

To make the meringue, whip the egg whits until foamy with anelectric mixer on high speed.  Add the sugar.  Continue beating on high speed until soft peaks form.  pour onto the top of the pie and spread to the edges to seal well.  Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until the top is golden.  Allow to cool completely and refrigerate before serving if you like.

Peanut butter icing

This made an easy, frugal icing for our cake!  Yum!  Another recipe from Southern Plate.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 Cups sugar
7 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp shortening
2 Tbsp margarine(I used butter)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C creamy peanut butter

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions, baking it in a 9x13 inch pan.

While the cake is cooling, combine the sugar, milk, shortening, margarine, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  Once it reaches a rolling boil, stop stirring and let boil for 1 to 2 minutes or until it reaches the soft-ball stage.  Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla and peanut butter.  Beat until smooth and quickly spread onto the cake.

Lemon Jello Cake

I love lemon desserts and this one was finally lemony enough for me!

1 (18 1/2 ounce) yellow cake mix
1(5 ounce-family size) lemon jello
4 eggs
3/4 Cup water
3/4 Cup vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients and bake at 350 for as long as the cake mix says for your pan size.  I used a bundt pan and it took 45 minutes.  Pull out of the oven and poke with holes.  While hot pour the glaze over the top(recipe below).

Glaze
2 Cups powdered sugar
2 lemons-juice

Mix together well.

Paula Deen Cornbread

This is Paula's Deen's recipe doubled which makes the perfect amount for my cast iron skillet.  The BEST cornbread of all the recipes I've tried!

2 Cups cornmeal
1 Cup flour
1 1/2 Cups buttermilk
4 eggs
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
 2 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Oil cast iron skillet and put on stove on medium low while you mix together the ingredients for the cornbread.  Do not overstir--just until the mixture has no dry flour/cornmeal.  Pour batter into heated skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Serve with lots of real butter.

BBQ Cowboy Beans & Biscuits

Mandi sent this in August and I finally got around to making it.  So good and easy!  I made the biscuits in my cast iron skillet...love that thing!!!  

I did throw some quinoa in just because I'm trying to use it up:o)  Oh and an onion with the meat...Texas onions are so cheap right now and yummmmy!

BBQ Cowboy Beans & Biscuits

From: 5 dollar dinners

Ingredients

1.3 lb ground beef
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups cooked black beans or Substitute 1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked pinto beans or Substitute 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
Drop biscuits (see recipe below)
1/2 bag frozen corn

Directions

1. Brown the ground beef with the crushed garlic cloves. Drain and return to skillet. Add the black and pinto beans, as well as the BBQ sauce, diced tomatoes…and stir through. Let simmer over low heat for 5-10 minutes.
2. Make drop biscuits.
3. Prepare the corn as directed on package.

4. Serve BBQ Cowboy Beans over Drop Biscuits with Corn.

Drop Biscuits
-----------------
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup milk

Directions
1. In mixing bowl, combine wheat flour, white flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Cut in 4 Tbsp of butter with pastry blender or 2 knives.
3. Slowly mix in milk and stir with fork. Mix until thick batter forms.
4. Drop biscuits onto greased cooking sheet or into greased muffin tins. Makes 12 biscuits.
5. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool on cooling rack.
6. Serve warm with Cinnamon Honey Butter.

Cream Soup Substitute

I would have sworn I had this recipe on here but I can't find it by searching so I'm putting it on again.

Ingredients:
2 cups dry milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon granules
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes, optional
1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil, optional
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, optional
1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram, optional
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 to 3 teaspoons butter
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except butter together and store in airtight container. To use, mix 1/2 cup dry soup mix with 1 1/4 cups water and cook until thick; add butter. This is equal to one can cream soup. The mix makes enough to equal 9 to 10 cans. For cream of mushroom or celery soup, add chopped sauteé mushrooms or celery along with the butter while cooking.

Skillet biscuits

These were pretty good...still looking for the perfect recipe though. I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour so they would have a small bit of nutrition...


Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, cubed
3/4 cup milk
Directions
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut butter into mixture until it begins to look likecornmeal.
Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle.Knead dough with your fingers and add milk when necessary. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter.
Butter bottom of skillet and place biscuits in pan. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Salsa Verde in the crockpot

We loved this!!  And the leftover meat I cut up and put in a beef pot pie along with some other steak a few nights later.  This is another eatathomecooks.com recipe.  I used a huge steak from our freezer of local beef and cooked it overnight with all the ingredients but the onions(which I added and let cook another 4 hours or so until they were soft).

Salsa Verde in the crockpot

boneless rounds steak or another cut of beef

1 small can of salsa verde
1/2 cup chicken broth, beef broth or water
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
flour tortillas
cheddar cheese
lettuce, tomato, sour cream etc
Put the steak and onions in the crockpot.  Combine the salsa, broth and seasonings.  Pour over the steak.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
Shred the meat and serve in the tortillas with the fixings.

Whole Wheat Soft "pretzel" Rolls

I made these following the recipe at goodcheapeats but I didn't do the soda bath and then I made them more "roll" like in shape than a pretzel.  They went with our black bean soup and were fabulous!

Whole Wheat Rolls


Dough:

1/2 cup water
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon yeast

For topping:

melted butter & coarse salt
melted butter & cinnamon sugar

Throw dough ingredients into bread machine as directed(by machine manual) on a dough setting. When the cycle ends, remove the dough to a lightly oiled surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll each portion into a long snake, about 18 inches long. Shape the snake into a horseshoe. Twist the sides of the horseshoe, about halfway up, around each other twice. Flip the ends over onto the U of the horseshoe. Press to seal. Continue until all the pretzels are shaped.

Bake for about 9 minutes.  Brush with butter and sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired.

If you prefer sweet pretzels, brush the baked pretzels with melted butter and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar before serving.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This was a cookie recipe but Willow was having a rough day so I knew I wouldn't have the time to keep switching cookies in and out of the oven.  Instead it went into a pie pan(sprayed with baking spray) and I baked it at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  It was delicious!
This recipe is from allrecipes here and is for cookies.

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups peanut butter chips(I used half a bag of pb/chocolate chip mix)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, fold in the peanut butter chips. Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until set. Cool on wire racks.

Penne with Sausage, Onion and Cranberry Sauce

I got this recipe here when trying to find easy recipes using fresh cranberries.  It is SO good!!!!!  You'd never guess there's cranberry in it until you run into a little piece of one and I used double the amount called for even!  I used orange juice in place of the sherry just because it was what I had on hand.

Click here for the original.

Penne with Sausage, Onion and Cranberries
1/2 pound dried penne or other small pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen and thawed
5 links sweet Italian sausage, sliced or crumbled
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 cup dry Sherry
3/4 cup chicken stock, preferably low-sodium or homemade
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pasta water

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat and add the onion. When the onion is soft and translucent, add the cranberries, sausage, basil and oregano.
2. Cook until the sausage begins to brown and the cranberries are popping. Add the Sherry and turn the heat up to medium. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove and cooked-on bits. Once the Sherry is reduced by at least half, add the chicken stock and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the sauce is a bit tart for your taste, you can add 1/2-1 tablespoon of sugar to sweeten it.
3. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, add the pasta water to thin the sauce. Toss the pasta and the sauce and serve.

Easy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

This was SO good!!!  I tripled the recipe and we had very little leftover.  I used round steak.

The recipe is from food.com.  Everyone in the family loved it--even Willow(almost 2 years old now).

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1/2 cup water, plus
2 tablespoons water, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless round steak or 1 lb charcoal chuck steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 cups broccoli florets
1 small onion, cut into wedges
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
hot cooked rice

Directions:
1 In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.
2 Add beef and toss.
3 In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.
4 Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes.
5 Return beef to pan.
6 Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.
7 Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
8 Serve over rice.

Pumpkin Soup

Last year, for the first time, I cooked and canned our jack-o-lantern pumpkins.  It was a huge job to do three big pumpkins and I thought I'd never do it again...but all winter we've had delicious things made with this pumpkin and now I am sure I will.

Today I made pumpkin soup.  I'm eating meatless for awhile so this will also make a good meal for me on the nights I'm cooking meat for the rest of the family.  I didn't use heavy whipping cream but instead used evaporated milk.  This was from allrecipes but I made changes and am putting that recipe below.  

Ingredients

6 cups vegetable stock
3 teaspoons salt
4 cups pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions
Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.
Return to pan, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir in heavy cream. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

Liver and Onions

Let me say first off that I know a majority of people think liver and onions are not edible. I was raised eating a lot of strange things and I'm thankful that I was!  While I won't eat some of the things I did as a kid(froglegs for example) some are still favorites....liver, brie, smoked oysters, oysters on the halfshell to name a few.

We still have a freezer full of organic local beef and in there was liver.  I was so excited when I brought the meat home and saw it!

Then I went searching for recipes and went with one with high ratings on allrecipes.com  Totally awesome!  I highly recommend it.  I did make a gravy to go with it just with pan drippings and milk which is not in the picture:o)

• 2 pounds sliced beef liver
• 1 1/2 cups milk, or as needed
• 1/4 cup butter, divided
• 2 large Vidalia onions, sliced into rings
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Gently rinse liver slices under cold water, and place in a medium bowl. Pour in enough milk to cover. Let stand while preparing onions. (I like to soak up to an hour or two - whatever you have time for.) This step is SO important in taking the bitter taste of the liver out.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Separate onion rings, and saute them in butter until soft. Remove onions, and melt remaining butter in the skillet. Season the flour with salt and pepper, and put it in a shallow dish or on a plate. Drain milk from liver, and coat slices in the flour mixture.
3. When the butter has melted, turn the heat up to medium-high, and place the coated liver slices in the pan. Cook until nice and brown on the bottom. Turn, and cook on the other side until browned. Add onions, and reduce heat to medium. Cook a bit longer to taste. Our family prefers the liver to just barely retain a pinkness on the inside when you cut to check. Enjoy!

Basic Corn Muffins

This recipe came from here and the only change I made was using free flowing brown sugar(coupon deal that I needed to use up).  It worked perfectly!

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl, mix together corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add egg, oil and milk; stir gently to combine. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
 

Jiffy Cornbread Box Mix Clone

This is the recipe I use when a recipe calls for a box of Jiffy brand cornbread mix.  It works out great:o)

2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp veg. oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes

Pork Steamed Dumplings

It's been a long time since we've had a new family favorite/top rated recipe but this one is getting that title.  They are absolutely fabulous!  I used regular soy sauce and 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger since I had these on hand.  I needed two packages of wonton wrappers eventhough I stuffed them quite full.  They did stick together after steaming but not too bad:)
I found this recipe on the Mom's Plan's blog here.

Pork Steamed Dumplings2 lbs. ground pork
1/3 c. cornstarch
2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 c. chopped green onions
60-90 won ton wrappers (depending on how full you stuff them)

-Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

-Place about 1 tsp of the pork mixture in the center of each won ton wrapper and gather up the corners, pinching them together at the top. Pat the edges with water to make them stick.

To prepare and eat now:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and arrange dumplings in steamer basket over the boiling water. Cover and steam about 20 to 25 minutes or until the pork mixture is entirely cooked.

To freeze:Freeze for one hour on a cookie pan and then place in a Ziploc bag.

To prepare after freezing:Bring a pot of water to boil and arrange dumplings directly from the freezer in the steam basket over the boiling water. Cover and steam about 25 to 28 minutes or until the pork mixture is entirely cooked.

Spicy Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups

This is another Kraft recipe found here.  I made it with whole wheat lasagna noodles and to make it again I'd use regular plus lots more sauce.

what you need
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 tsp.  Italian seasoning
1 tsp. Crushed red pepper
3 cups  shredded or chopped cooked chicken
2 cups KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/2 cup  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Eggs, beaten
12   Lasagna noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained
make it
HEAT oven to 375ºF.

MIX first 3 ingredients; combine 1/2 cup with chicken, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and eggs. Spread 1/4 cup onto each noodle; roll up.

SPREAD 1/2 cup of the remaining sauce mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with lasagna rolls (seam-sides down), remaining sauce mixture and mozzarella.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through.