French Toast

French Toast

cinnamon swirl bread slices
For each slice use one egg and a dab of milk. 
Vanilla Extract (optional)

I use a large container and make 8-10 at a time.  Beat eggs and milk, dunk bread.  I let it soak up as much as it can.  Cook until completely done.  Place on cooling rack.  

Add eggs to pan and cook in one piece.  Cut into amount of servings of bread you have.  IE, 8 slices of bread 8 pieces of scrambled egg flats.  

Also place on cooling rack.  FREEZE all!  When frozen place in freezer zip bag.  Take out a piece of French toast and a piece of egg scramble and place in toaster.  Pop down.  Egg usually takes just one turn and bread two. Easy easy!!  YES, I put eggs in my toaster!  It does require adult help to get the egg out with tongs. 

Cut into slices and the kids can dunk them in their syrup.  I prefer my French toast with butter spread on and cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on it, not that yucky syrup!  ;)

Yum Soup

This recipe is courtesy of my first grader.  They made this as part of a social studies project.  Some of the students in her class brought something to add to the pot and since it's made by kids you know it's easy and for it's simplicity it is tasty!  I use my homecanned vegetables, juice and broth in ours.

Yum Soup

1 pound cooked ground beef, drained

1 can mixed vegetables, undrained (2 if you want more veggies, drain the second one)

2 cans beef broth or ~4 cups homemade beef broth

3 cups tomato juice

salt and pepper to taste

saltine crackers 

Throw in a pot, heat, and eat!

Here is a scan of the recipe she brought home.  Luckily she was able to give me more details and measurements. 

Meringues

Meringues

3 large egg whites at room temp
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Separate eggs, one at a time into a small bowl making sure there is NO trace of egg yolk in the white.  If there is you must discard the egg white and start over.  If it is ok then dump it into a medium bowl.   After you have been successful with all 3 you can add the cream of tartar and beat on medium high speed until soft peaks form.  Slowly add sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar has been added.  Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy. Add vanilla and beat just 30 more seconds.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.   Fill frosting bag fitted with a large frosting tip of your choice with meringue.  Pipe meringue onto parchment in 1-1/2 inch cookies.  They won’t expand much so you can put them as close as 1/2”.  Sprinkle on crush almonds or finely chopped walnuts. Bake for 1-1/2 hours until dry and crisp.  Cool.  Keep in airtight container.  

Try to use them within a day or so if you can as they will soak up any humidity around them and become sticky.  If they do you can sprinkle powdered sugar on the serving dish before you place them and sprinkle a little more on top.  Even if they aren't sticky that makes a pretty presentation.  

These simply melt in your mouth!!

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

1 1/4 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup milk

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

8 tablespoons butter, melted --divided

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet inside.  Allow it to heat while you make the batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar,  baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl whisk the milk, buttermilk, eggs and almost all of the melted butter.  Keep back about 1 Tablespoon for the skillet.

Pour into dry 

and mix. 

Remove the hot skillet from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Dump the other tablespoon of butter into bottom of hot skillet. Use a pastry brush to brush it up on sides.  Pour the batter into the skillet and place in the oven.

Bake until the center is firm and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 25 minutes.  I found that 15 minutes was plenty for my 10" pan but each oven and pan can differ.

It is a really moist cornbread but not a very sweet cornbread so we drizzled honey on it.  YUM!!

Baked Potato Soup

Please see new posting here:

http://www.inthekitchenwithjenny.com/2014/11/loaded-baked-potato-soup.html

Thank you!!

Cheater's Guacamole

I love guacamole but don't always have the time to chop or want to make a mess.  This is a quick and easy way to cheat your way to guacamole!

Cheater's Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
salsa
sour cream

Mash avocado in small bowl, add about 2 Tablespoons or so of drained salsa and 1-2 Tablespoons of sour cream.

Mix and enjoy without all the chopping and mess!! 

Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake and Frosting

Easy Chocolate  Sheet Cake and Frosting

cake:
1 box Devil’s food cake mix (I use Pillsbury)

1 large pkg instant sugar free chocolate fudge pudding

1-3/4 cup water

3 egg whites

frosting:

1-1/4 cup milk

1 small pkg instant sugar free chocolate fudge pudding

8 ounces whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dump cake mix, pudding, water, and egg whites in large bowl.  Beat on low until incorporated, then on medium for 2 minutes.   Pour into a greased jelly roll pan. Bake for 13-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool.

When cake is cool and you are ready to frost place milk and pudding in medium bowl and whisk for 2 minutes. Let set for at least 15 minutes.  Fold in whipped topping.  Slice cake and then frost cake. I used a frosting top to make designs on each slice of cake.  Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Homemade Croutons

 Homemade Croutons

4 cups cubed bread, preferably starting to stale (I use my honey wheat bread)
2 Tablespoons (approximate) olive oil
salt or other seasoning of choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cubed bread in medium bowl, drizzle some of the olive oil, toss, drizzle rest on. If it is not coated as you like you can put a little more oil on but don't drench it.  If you want a little salt or other seasoning such as garlic or ranch then put it on here while the bread is wet.  Be sure to add a little, toss, then add more so your top pieces aren't what gets all the seasoning.

Dump onto cookie sheet and make sure they are in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes, toss/turn.  Go an additional 5, toss/turn.  Taste one of the croutons if they are not nearly crunchy and aren't too brown you can throw them in for another 5 minutes.  You don't want burns croutons but you do want the moisture out so they last. They will completely firm up when they cool.

 Put into a plastic container with an airtight lid or a zip shut bag.

 You can us them on salads or soups. 

Bierrocks

There are two options for dough here.  You can use my recipe or you can buy frozen dough rolls at the store and thaw them.  My mom uses this method quite successfully.  If you use those you will get less meat in them that I put it or you could combine two of the balls to make a larger dough circle.

Bierrocks

1 cup warm water (120*)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg (beaten and use just 1/2)

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

3 to 3-1/2 cups flour

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 cups finely chopped cabbage

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 slices American cheese

To make your own dough:  Mix together yeast, water, sugar, salt, egg, and butter. Add in most of the flour and mix. If you use your dough hook on your mixer you will add more flour in as it kneads and it will take 3-5 minutes. By hand you will knead 8-10 minutes. The dough starts out sticky but after kneading and incorporating the  flour it should be shiny and smooth. It shouldn't stick to your hands but shouldn't be dry and cracked either.  Place in large greased bowl turned dough over to coat. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

Meanwhile brown meat and onion.  I had some extra carrots so I threw them in too.  Drain as needed if it is very fatty.

Add cabbage, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook until cabbage is tender.  You may need to add a little water to keep mixture moist as you go.

Break your cheese slices into halves or quarters. You will use half a slice for each if you are making larger bierrocks as I do. Quarters if you are doing the frozen roll version.

Divide homemade dough into 12 pieces. Roll out fairly thin but not too thin that your hamburger mixture will poke through. Size is approximately 4-1/2 to 5". 

Using large cookie scoop (approx 1/4-1/3c) place hamburger mixture on the dough.

Top with cheese. (I learned that if you put the cheese first then meat it doesn't leak out! So flip flop your cheese and meat from these pictures.)

Pull up edges and pinch together.

Place pinched side down on greased cookie shieet.  Let rise for 15 minutes.

Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Any flour left on the dough can be brushed off with a pastry dough or... 

you can brush on a little butter. Look how they shine!

These are FREEZABLE!!  Freeze on a cooling rack and then put in a freezer gallon bag or vacuum seal bags.  To reheat place in a paper towel and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, then flip and do the same.  I have not tried baking them to reheat.  I would be afraid the outside would get to crispy before the middle was hot.

Basil Pesto

Chef Gaby showed me how to use the abundance of basil I had.  I'll never buy pesto in a jar again!

Basil Pesto

All ingredients are approximate and be changed up to suit your taste!  Double, triple or quadruple to make extra to freeze.

2 ounces fresh basil

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons pine nuts (we used and prefer macadamia nuts)

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons grated Romano cheese

salt, as needed

Throw all of your ingredients except salt into a food processor and whiz away. 

Scrape down sides as needed to be sure it all gets incorporated.  Taste as you go and add salt as needed.  The cheeses have a fair amount of salt in them.

Store in a jar in the fridge to use.  It will darken on top but it is still tasty. 

Freezes great too.  Scoop into an ice cube tray.  After they are frozen pop them into a freezer bag or vacuum sealed bag for use later.

During harvest I use our pesto for quick spicing up of my homemade marinara sauce.  To use in pasta: Cook some ravioli, gnocchi, or favorite pasta shape.  Drain but leave a little pasta water on them.  Add some pesto.  Stir, then sprinkle with Parmesan.  The little one calls this "green pasta."

Beef and Barley Soup/Stew

Hearty stew that can be cooked in a couple hours on the stove top or low and slow all day in a crock pot. The crock pot version creates a creamier stew while the stove top version is more of a soup.

Beef and Barley Soup/Stew

2 pound roast, trimmed and chunked (crock pot) or cut into 3/4" pieces (stove top)

olive oil

6 cups beef broth 

2 cups water*

1-1/4 cup chopped/sliced carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup quick barley (more or less as you change the dish's consistency)

1 cup frozen peas

CROCK POT VERSION:

In a stainless steel pan heat oil, then brown beef pieces.  It is not necessary to sear on all sides if you do not have the time.  Dump meat into a crock pot.  Add some of the broth to the pan to get all the bits and flavor off.  Pour it also into the crock pot.  Add the rest of the broth, (*1 cup only of water,) carrots, celery, onion, and salt/pepper.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours.  The beef should be tender.  I add  in the barley about an hour before serving.  It gives me a chance to see how much liquid is in the crock.  If I think it is too much I add more barley to soak it up a little. 

Break apart the pieces of beef if they are large and add frozen peas in and give a stir.  The heat from the stew will thaw the peas. 

STOVETOP VERSION:
In a large pot brown beef in oil.  Drain off any oil.  Stir in broth, water, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for at least an hour stirring occasionally. Add vegetables (except peas,) cover and simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour until vegetables are soft.  Stir in peas, again the heat from the soup will thaw the peas.

Carl's Wicked Awesome Bars

My husband wanted to make granola bars.  He searched for recipes that didn't contain white or brown sugar and found nothing the really suited him so he threw together this one based on several recipe ingredients he found.  He emailed me the recipe he had tested a couple times and titled the email "Carl's Wicked Awesome Bars :P" so the name stuck!  

Carl's Wicked Awesome Bars

4 cups regular oatmeal

1/4 cup milled flax seed

1/4 cup milled chia seed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup craisins

1 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1/3 cup sunbutter

(Feel free to change up the nuts, butters, and fruits to suit your taste!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Drizzle some olive oil on a paper towel and rub inside of 7 x 11" baking dish.

In medium bowl mix together oats, flax seed, chia seeds, and nuts.

In another bowl mix together craisins, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, cocoa,  sunbutter.  Yes it looks a little nasty but I promise it'll be fine once added to the oats!

Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients. 

Stir until dry ingredients are completely coated. 

Dump into prepared pan.  

Press firmly into pan. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. After you remove from oven, press them again. 

Allow them to completely cool before you cut them.  Store them in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap.