Recipes

Homemade Apple Oatmeal

Butterscotch Pecan Cookies - Click to go to recipe

Cranberry Fluff - Click to go to recipe

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham Click to go to recipe

Curry Chicken Click to go to recipe

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Click to go to recipe

Oven Roasted Chicken Click to go to recipe

Papaya Sorbet Click to go to recipe

Barbecued Baby Back Ribs Click to go to recipe

Coconut Chicken with Pina Colada Sauce Click to go to recipe

Beef Enchiladas Click to go to recipe

Chicken Pot Pie Click to go to recipe

Cheese Wontons  Click to go to recipe

Buttermilk Pecan Pancakes Click to go to recipe

Lemon Blueberry and Cranberry Bread

Bread:

1 1/2 Cups + 1 Tablespoon Flour, divided                        2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt                                                                1 Cup plain yogurt OR 8oz cream cheese
1 Cup  + 2 teaspoons sugar, divided                                  3 eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest                                           1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 Cup vegetable oil                                                         3/4 Cup fresh blueberries
3/4 Cup cranberries, cut into quarters

Lemon Syrup:

1/3 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice                                   1/3 Cup sugar

Lemon Glaze:

1 Cup powdered sugar                                                         2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease bottom and sides of a 9x5 loaf pan and dust with flour.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk yogurt (if using cream cheese, make sure it is softened enough to whip easily), sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, toss the blueberries with the 1 Tablespoon of flour and the cranberries in the 2 teaspoons of sugar. Fold them gently into the batter. Pour into pan and bake for 50-55 or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf. Let cool in pan 10 minutes and then remove to wire rack on a baking sheet. While cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir lemon juice and sugar until sugar is dissolved and it has thickened into a syrup, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Use a toothpick and poke holes into the top and sides. Brush top and sides with syrup. Let it soak in and brush with remainder lemon syrup. Let the loaf cool completely.

For the lemon glaze, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice until it is thick yet pourable. Pour over top of the loaf and let drip down the sides. Let the glaze harden before serving.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 medium white or vidalia onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1 Tbsp Butter

4 Tomatoes seeded and diced

1 Tbsp sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 Cup fresh basil, chopped

2 chicken breasts, cleaned and butterflied

1 1/2 Cups flour

1 Cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 tsp each of thyme, basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder and sage

1/2 tsp celery seed or salt

4 eggs

1/4 cup of milk

Fresh Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Oil for frying

Begin by sauteeing the onion and garlic in the butter in a saucepan until tender

Add the tomatoes, sugar and salt and pepper. This takes about 20 minutes to cook down. Cook it to your desired consistency. I like mine thicker like the picture below.

While the tomato sauce is cooking down, combine the eggs and milk in one shallow pan and the flour, seasonings, breadcrumbs and salt and pepper on another shallow pan or plate.

Dust the chicken in the flour then coat in the egg batter.

Coat with flour mixture one more time and shake excess off

Continue with remaining chicken pieces then start heating up your oil. I heat mine on medium for about 3-5 minutes before adding the chicken.

Fry each piece of chicken until done. Use a meat thermometer to make sure its done or cut into the chicken to make sure it is cooked through and golden brown. As you go you may need to turn the heat slightly down so you don't burn the outside of the chicken.

Add basil to the tomato sauce and stir well. Put your chicken in a 13x9 glass pan and top with the tomato sauce and with the sliced mozzarella. Bake at 275 until cheese is melted.

I served mine with homemade garlic toast! Fabulous and seriously it is the best chicken parmesan in my opinion! Fresh and tasty! Enjoy!

Serves Approx 4

Monster Cookies

Sorry I don't have a pic! But here is the recipe!

2 Cups M&M's

6 eggs

2 1/2 Cups brown sugar

4 sticks butter

2 Tablespoons vanilla

3 Cups creamy Peanut Butter

4 teaspoons baking powder

9 Cups Oatmeal

2 Cups flour

1 Cup chocolate chips

1 Cup walnuts, crushed

Cream eggs, sugar and butter together. Mix in vanilla and peanut butter. Combine baking powder and flour in a separate bowl and add to PB mixture. Then add the oatmeal a little at a time. Stir in the chocolate chips, M&M's and walnuts. 

Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Cool completely before eating. 

 YIELDS 6 dozen - Recipe CAN be halved! That's what I do!

Chocolate PB Popcorn

Okay, I don't have much of a sweet tooth but tonight I did and this is what I made! I didn't really measure so I will use pictures. But it is the perfect combo of sweet and salty! Enjoy!

Get your salt & PB & chocolate ready. I used Semi-Sweet chocolate chips about 1/2 cup & a little over 1/4 C PB

Cover bottom of pan w/vegetable oil, not to much, & add enough popcorn seeds to cover bottom of pan

Melt PB & chocolate in microwave for 30 seconds. When popcorn stops popping, remove from heat and place in bowl.

Salt popcorn then add melted PB and chocolate

Stir until evenly coated, then eat! YUMMY! I used a spoon because it was sticky :)

Spaghetti Sauce

After making your own spaghetti sauce, you will never want to buy it again! So much cheaper and MUCH more tasty! Here is my recipe:

1 large (29 oz) can of tomato sauce

1 small (6 oz) can of tomato paste

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsps oregano

1 1/2 tsps rubbed sage

1 1/2 tsps basil

1 1/2 tsps thyme

1 tsp rosemary

1 large garlic clove, minced

In a saucepan put in the tomato sauce and tomato paste and the salt and pepper. Turn on medium low heat until the mixture combines, stirring occasionally. Add all the spices, and with the rosemary break it up with your fingers so you don't have giant sticks, as my son would call them, in your sauce. Combine this and then add the garlic and either serve immediately or let cool and store in mason jars in the fridge for about 1 to 2 weeks. 

You can obviously play with the ingredients a little to your own preference as well. Personally I don't even measure the spices, I just throw them in. So the above is just my best guess-timate on how much of the spices are in it. 

For a PIZZA SAUCE, do the same as the above except don't add sage or rosemary or garlic. Makes a great pizza sauce! 

Tips for making bread without a machine: 

• Invest in a stoneware bread pan - it cooks more evenly than metal. Mine is a Pampered Chef one from my mom. Click Here to see the one I have. For the price, it is SO worth it to make loaf upon loaf of homemade bread!
• Do not use to much flour when kneading! Use the bare minimum when you knead the dough, yes it will be slightly sticky but as long as when you push it into the counter or cutting board you are kneading on without it sticking you don't need any more flour. 
• During the first rise, do not let it over-rise. Even if you punch it down a little to early, it is better than to late. The bread will be softer and less crumbly this way.
• Practice, practice, practice! I was horrible at making bread at first. In fact my first few loaves were nasty and I threw away. They were hard and dense. My mom always told me I would "know" when the bread was good enough after kneading it. I didn't get what that meant until I made a dozen or so loaves. 

Now for my personal recipe for bread:

White Bread with Flax Seed

Ingredients

3 tsps yeast or 1 package

1/4 Cup warm water

1 Cup milk

1/4 Cup shortening

1/2 Cup dark brown sugar (light can be used instead)

1/4 Cup honey

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/2 Cup finely ground flax seed (I grind mine in my coffee grinder)

1 Cup warm water

5-6 Cups Bread Flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 Cup warm water. While that's dissolving, put the milk and shortening in a small sauce pan and put on low-medium heat. When the shortening melts, add the honey, brown sugar and salt into it. Add the flax seed to the yeast/water liquid, then add the milk mixture to it. Add the 1 Cup of warm water to this and 2 cups of the bread flour. Mix until smooth. Gradually add more bread flour until it is firm enough to knead. Take out of bowl and put on the flat surface to knead. Knead until smooth and elastic, between 6-8 minutes or until you know it is good to go. Place in greased bowl, turn to grease top and cover and let rise for about an hour, until almost doubled. 

Punch down dough and divide in half. With one half, flatten it out into a rectangle and roll it up tight. Push the sides up to make it look like a fat roll. Place in stoneware pan and cover and let rise until it is higher than the pan by about 2 inches. 

While this one rises, take the remaining dough and do the same thing to cook same day, or what I do is flatten and roll it like above, but wrap it in cling wrap until sealed and freeze it until I need it. I have left bread in the freezer for no more than 2 weeks. To cook the frozen bread, take it out of the freezer and cling wrap and place in stoneware. Cover and let rise throughout the day until it is about 2 inches higher than the pan. 

Frozen Loaf

Cook at 325 degrees for about 35 minutes or until golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped on the top. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. To get the bread out without it ripping anywhere, I shake my pan until the bread loosens from the sides then tip it upside down to get the bread out. Let cool on wire rack completely before storing. You can also butter the top when it comes out of the oven if you like. I like my crust crunchy though. 

Finished Product

My Go-To Bread Recipe

This is the easiest recipe for bread that can be used as pizza crust, the base for breadsticks, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls or pretty much anything you use bread for. It makes for great fried bread too! Or grilled! 

3 tsps or 1 package of yeast

1 Cup warm water, divided

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar or honey

3-4 Cups flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 Cup of water. Once it is dissolved and foamy add the sugar and salt, other 1/2 Cup of water and 2 Cups of flour. Mix until smooth. Add enough flour so you can knead it. Knead for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn to grease top and cover and let rise for about a half hour, until doubled. Punch down and for a crust and use for whatever you need it for! For pizza crust, push it down into a cookie sheet, about medium sized. You can cover it and let it rise a little so it is fluffier. Then make your pizza on it! YUMMY!

For breadsticks, form into sticks, usually makes about 6-8 depending on how big you make them. Dip in butter and garlic mixture (1/2 stick butter melted & 1 tsp garlic powder) or brush the mix onto breadsticks. Sprinkle with dried oregano and bake until golden brown.

Fried bread: This is my favorite!!! I use it instead of tortillas for taco's! Section dough into 6 pieces. Flatten one piece at a time or as needed and place into hot oil and cook until golden on one side, usually 30 seconds to 1 minutes, then flip and cook on opposite side. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Cook the rest the same way. This makes for such chewy and delicious bread! 

Next time I make any of the above I will take pictures and add them to this page :) Thanks for reading!