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.