Strawberry bread

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It is amazing!!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries


Directions:
Preheat oven
to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the middle position. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-cup loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inch) with nonstick cooking spray.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1
minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as
needed. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and
ground cinnamon. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and sour cream (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until
combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries and walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 1 hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.
Makes 1 loaf

Chili Cornbread Casserole

Well, it's been a very long time since I last posted a recipe! I'm going to try to post a new recipe a lot more often. I've been trying a lot of new recipes lately, so I already have lots to post!

We tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and all LOVED it. It's very easy and so yummy!

I made a big pot of chili for dinner one night and just used the leftover chili for this dish. Here's my recipe for chili. Or you could just use whatever chili recipe you like! Just pour the chili into an 8x8 baking dish and spread cornbread mix evenly over the top. A store bought mix would work, but I prefer homemade (I'll include my favorite cornbread recipe at the end). Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10-20 minutes, or until cornbread is golden brown. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Honey Cornbread

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Granola bars

These granola bars are AMAZING! Once you try these, you wont want to eat the store bought ones any more. My boys absolutely LOVED these and told me over and over how delicious they are.

Here is the original recipe... I made a few changes.

• 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla, butter or margarine, honey and brown sugar. Stir in the 2 cups assorted chocolate chips, raisins, nuts etc.
3. Lightly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.

I used 4 cups of oatmeal and 3/4 cup of honey. I also left out the brown sugar. The first time I made them, I had forgotten to add the brown sugar. Now I leave just leave it out. I think the honey sweetens them enough. I've made cinnamon apple granola bars using 1 cup finely chopped apple and 1 tsp cinnamon. I also made banana chocolate chip using 1 ripened, mashed banana and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. You could get creative with this recipe and make any variation you like. I really want to try using crasins and white chocolate chips.

Three Cheese Garlic Chicken Pasta

My boys LOVE mac and cheese of any kind so this was a big hit at our house.

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (great way to use leftover chicken, leftover turkey works great too!)
1 clove of garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or more if you like a lot of garlic, I do so I use 3-4 cloves)
1-2 Tbs olive oil
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups milk
3 Tbs butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup shredded white cheddar
3 oz cream cheese
grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, saute chicken and garlic in olive oil. Turn to low heat to keep warm. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a big pot with the milk, butter and salt. Stir almost constantly, especially as the pasta is becoming tender and the milk is beginning to boil. Cook and stir over medium heat until pasta is tender and the starch from the pasta has thickened the milk, creating a creamy sauce. Remove from heat and add the shredded and cream cheeses. Stir until the cheese has melted. Add the chicken and serve with grated Parm cheese.

Blueberry Granola Bake

I made this a couple weeks ago. It is soooo yummy!!!

6 cups granola (I used homemade granola)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup brown sugar (you can cut this back if you have really sweet granola. I used 1/3 cup)
3 cups frozen blueberries (or you could use your favorite frozen fruit)

Mix granola, milk and brown sugar. Carefully stir in blueberries. Place in a greased 9X13 pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, cover with foil and bake about 25 minutes , then remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

Chicken tacos

This recipe is so simple and so yummy!

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
garlic powder
black pepper
paprika
parsley
chicken bouillon

Place the chicken in a crock pot, add enough water to cover the bottom of the crock pot. Add 1 chicken bouillon (or 1 tsp better than bouillon, which is what I use). Season liberally with garlic powder, black pepper, paprika and parsley. Cook on low 6-8 hrs. About half way through or so, break the meat apart with a fork. Serve on tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

Use the leftover meat to make quesadillas. I add shredded mexican cheese, the chicken, and sauteed onions and bell peppers.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I made this last night and it turned out really yummy!

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3-4stalks celery, diced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 4 potatoes, peeled and diced
  
• 1 tsp dried parsley
  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
  
• 4 quarts low-fat, low sodium chicken broth
• 3 1/2 cups cubed skinless, boneless chicken breast meat
• 1/2 package egg noodles

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook onions in oil until translucent. Stir in celery, carrot, parsley and pepper and cook, covered, until vegetables are soft, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Transfer vegetable mixture to a large pot and pour in chicken broth. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 30 minutes.
3. Stir in chicken breast pieces and egg noodles and simmer, covered, 30 minutes more.
   

English Muffins

I tried this recipe today and the muffins turned out soooo well! They are soo yummy and SO much better than store bought English muffins. The boys loved them, they both ate them plain as soon as they cooled down!

• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 cups flour (I used 1/2 white 1/2 whole wheat)
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 3 Tbs. softened butter
• Cornmeal

Mix together water, milk, honey and salt. Add 2 cups of flour and the yeast. Mix until you have a loose batter.

Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

Add the butter and remaining flour. Roll out dough on a surface sprinkled with cornmeal to about 1/2 inch thick and cut into circles.

Let rise until doubled ( I let mine rise for about 35 min.) Cook on a hot, well buttered griddle until they are light brown. Turning once while cooking.

I don't have a griddle so I just used a large frying pan.

Menu Plan Monday

We're having revival services tonight and tomorrow night at church. There's going to be pizza before the services so we'll probably just eat dinner at church tonight & tomorrow, just to make things easier for me! But here's a look at what we're planning for the rest of the week....

Wednesday- chili & rice
Thursday- Baked mac & cheese, salad and french bread
Friday- Toasted subs, salad, fruit
Saturday- Quesadillas, cut up veggies


I plan on doing some baking this week too. I'm going to try making my own English muffins. I've never made them before so we'll see how that goes. If they're any good, I'll post the recipe. I'd also like to make some bagels and I've got a ton of ripe bananas in my freezer so I'll be making banana bread or muffins too.

Granola

I just tried this recipe and it is sooooo good!!!! I will definitely be making this instead of buying it from now on. The boys love it too!

I left out the wheat germ because I didn't have any. You could easily add in chopped nuts or dried fruit too.

• 3 cups dry oatmeal
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup wheat germ

First melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt and briefly heat with the butter. Turn off the heat and add the oatmeal and wheat germ. Stir. Pour the mixture onto a cookie sheet. Spread the mixture out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. It will be a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's a look at what's on the menu this week....

Monday- Tuscan vegetable ziti bake, salad, french bread

Tuesday-Leftovers

Wednesday- Beef stew, homemade bread

Thursday- Aloha chicken, fresh veggies

Friday- Homemade pizza

Saturday- Toasted subs, fruit salad

Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are so easy to make and oh so yummy!!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 lemons, juiced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/12 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

Sweet Potato Muffins

I made these for breakfast this morning and they turned out really yummy!! I think I'll add some cinnamon next time and maybe some oats for a better streusel topping. I did the brown sugar and butter and it wasn't very streusel-ish.

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup all purpose)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1 egg
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup milk
3 T. melted butter

Topping:

3 T. brown sugar
1 T. butter, softened
2 T. chopped nuts (optional)

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a bowl. Add honey, raisins, eggs, sweet potato, milk and butter. Stir until just mixed. Scoop into 15 paper lined muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Garlic Chicken Pasta

This is another recipe from Heavenly Homemakers. We tried this last night and really liked it. It's super easy to make and very yummy. I added 4 cloves of garlic though.

Garlic Chicken Pasta

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (great way to use up leftover chicken)
1 clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or more if you like lots of garlic)
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 t. sea salt
grated parmesan cheese

In a skillet, saute chicken and garlic in olive oil. Turn to low heat to keep warm. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a big pot with the milk, butter and salt. Stir almost constantly, especially as the pasta is becoming tender and the milk is beginning to boil. Cook and stir over medium heat until pasta is tender and the starch from the pasta has thickened the milk, creating a creamy sauce. Stir in the chicken and serve immediately, sprinkling parmesan cheese on each serving.

Three Cheese Garlic Chicken Pasta:

Follow recipe as above, except before adding chicken to cooked pasta…remove from heat and add 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar and 3 oz. cream cheese. Stir until cheese has melted…add chicken and serve with parmesan cheese.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's a look at what's on the menu for this week....

Monday- Three cheese garlic chicken pasta, salad, french bread and honey dew melon
Tuesday- Salad and french bread
Wednesday- chili and cornbread
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Homemade pizza
Saturday- Sandwiches and salad

Homemade Graham Crackers

I got this recipe from Heavenly Homemaker's and we absolutely LOVE it! These graham crackers are soooo much better than store bought graham crackers! And so easy to make!!

I used all purpose flour today instead of the whole wheat flour. I really like the texture better than with the whole wheat. But, either works.

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup rapadura or sucanat (I always use organic sugar)
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
¼ t. cinnamon
4 T. honey
¼ c. water
1 t. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt stick of butter. Set aside

3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

4. Add the liquids: honey, water, vanilla and melted butter.

5. Stir well until a nice ball of dough is formed.

6. Cut two pieces of Parchment paper the size of the cookie sheet.

7. Lay one piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet.

8. Place the ball of dough on the parchment paper.

9. Lay the other piece of parchment paper on top of the ball of dough. Squish dough down a little with your fist.

10. Use the rolling pin to roll the dough between the pieces of parchment paper. Roll until the dough covers the whole cookie sheet.

11. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Cut rolled dough into 2 inch squares, or cut shapes with cookie cutters, being sure to separate the shapes from the surrounding dough a little.

12. Bake in oven for 18 minutes.

13. Turn oven off, but leave crackers in the oven to get crisp.

14. Remove from oven after 30 minutes to one hour. Break graham crackers apart.
Store in a air tight container.

This weeks menu

Here's a looks at what's on the menu for this week.... it's a few days late, but this week has been crazy!!!

Monday-Portobello mushroom burgers, asparagus, and salad
Tuesday-BBQ chicken sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and fruit salad
Wednesday-homemade pizzas
Thursday- French bread sandwiches, melon, chips
Friday- breakfast- french toast, sausage and fresh fruit
Saturday- quesadillas, fresh cut up veggies

Portobello-Prosciutto Burgers

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's website. We made these Monday night and they were SOOOOOO good!!! We skipped soaking the mushrooms in the red wine and the prosciutto. I will definitely be making these again! They were delish!

Ingredients

• ½ cups Mayonnaise
• 16 whole Basil Leaves
  
• 8 whole Large Portobello Mushrooms
• 1 cup Red Wine (optional)
• Olive Oil For Brushing
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 4 slices Provolone Cheese
• 4 slices Prosciutto
• 4 whole Kaiser Rolls, Split
• Extra Basil Leaves

Rinse mushrooms thoroughly. Soak in red wine for 20 to 30 minutes

Combine mayonnaise and basil in a food processor or blender (I used my magic bullet). Pulse until basil is totally mixed in with the mayonnaise. Set aside.

Grill mushrooms in a grill pan or on a charcoal grill, brushing lightly with olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Melt provolone cheese over the four largest mushrooms. Remove mushrooms from grill and stack the other four mushrooms on top of the cheese-topped mushrooms. (The mushrooms we had were pretty big so we just used one per bun)

Drizzle griddle with olive oil. Toast kaiser rolls over medium-low heat until very crispy and toasted.

Spread basil mayonnaise generously on both the top and bottom halves of the kaiser roll. Place the mushroom on the bottom half, then place the prosciutto slice on top. Finally, top with basil leaves and the other half of the roll.

*I think these would be really good topped with lettuce and tomato.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

I got this recipe from my Deceptively Delicious cookbook and it's one of our favorite fall breakfast meals! The boys absolutely LOVE this oatmeal!!

1 cup milk
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp natural peanut butter (optional)
Dried fruit and nuts (optional)
Pure maple syrup, for serving

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and spice. Bring to a gentle boil and stir in the oatmeal. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the oatmeal is soft and creamy. Stir in the peanut butter, if using.

Spoon the oatmeal into bowls, sprinkle with dried fruits and nuts and serve with warm maple syrup.

Veggie Casserole

Eggplant, chopped into bite-size pieces
fresh mushrooms, sliced
zucchini, and yellow squash , chopped into bite size pieces
red onions, diced
red peppers, diced
homemade marinara or store bought spaghetti sauce (I use one with chunky tomato, basil, and garlic)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to coat with the sauce. Spread into a casserole dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.