Eggnog Muffins

I love eggnog. I won't drink it any time of the year except Christmas. Somehow, it seems wrong to drink eggnog in July, but once Thanksgiving dinner is cleaned up, I break it out! I use it to make a lot of stuff too: fudge, cookies, muffins...

Eggnog Muffins
2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. eggnog
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the melted (and cooled) butter, eggnog, eggs, and vanilla. Stir just to combine - the batter should still be a little lumpy. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper liners. Divide batter into the muffin tin and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

You can make a glaze for the muffins with 1 c. powdered sugar and enough eggnog to make a thin glaze. Pour it over the muffins. I don't do this, really ever, because I make my muffins ahead of time and freeze them. Plus, we eat these for Saturday morning breakfast and without the glaze I can pretend they are nutritious. :-)

Eggnog Fudge

I love fudge. Love it. Chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, now eggnog fudge. It is an integral part of Christmas for me. Yum!

Eggnog Fudge
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. eggnog
2 c. sugar
2 c. white chocolate
1 small jar marshmallow cream
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Line a 9x9 inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. 
In a medium pan, combine the butter, eggnog, and sugar. Bring it to a boil. Add a candy thermometer and cook until the mixture reaches 234 degrees. Remove from the heat. Carefully add the white chocolate - if it gets clumpy, keep stirring. Stir until melted, then add the marshmallow cream, vanilla, and nutmeg. Pour into pan and allow to set.

Orange Cranberry Muffins

And yet another muffin recipe for Saturday mornings...

 

Orange Cranberry Muffins

2 c. flour

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. orange juice***

2 eggs

1/3 c. oil

1 c. chopped cranberries

Combine the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the orange juice, eggs, and oil. Mix just until blended, then fold in the cranberries. Either grease a muffin tin or use paper liners. Fill 2/3 full with batter and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

*** For the orange juice I used frozen orange concentrate, then mixed it with only ONE can of water. It makes the orange a little more pronounced without overpowering the muffin.

Apple Strudel

I love things with apples in them, but they can be such a pain to peel, slice, etc to get them ready to cook with. So I give my boys the opportunity to help me - they are all capable ot peeling apples and using the slicer. A little less tedium encourages me to bake more yummy things so they don't complain too much! And who doesn't like delicious apple strudel? Especially when it's warm, right out of the oven?

 

 Apple Strudel

1 sheet of puff pastry

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tart apples (like Granny Smith)

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the puff pastry in the center of the cookie sheet and roll it thin - about 16x12 inches. I rolled mine until it almost touched the sides of the cookie sheet. Peel and slice the apple thin. I had my son use our apple slicer (cuts into 8 slices) then I cut each slice into thirds. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the apples. Use your hands to toss to coat. Place the apples down the center of the puff pastry lengthwise. Cut slits in the puff pastry about 1 inch apart on each side of the apples, starting about 1/2 inch away from the apples and going through the edge. Use these to fold over the apples at an angle, alternating sides so it appears to be braided. Tuck the ends under and bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or unti golden brown.

I used  glaze of 1 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 3/4 Tbsp. milk once the strudel had cooled a little.

Corn Cakes

Pancakes are a popular dinner at our house but sometimes you want something with a Mexican twist. Enter, corn cakes! It is a corn batter that you cook like pancakes and top with cheese, salsa, guacamole, whatever you like. Yum!

 

Corn Cakes

2 cans cream corn

2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Heat a frying pan or skillet to medium. Pour 1/4-1/3 cup batter for each cake. Allow to cook until the bottom is firm and the bubbles pop or the batter goes everywhere when you turn it to cook the other side. Cook both sides. Top with your toppings: salsa, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, beans, etc.

Jam Bars

These jam bars are amazing! Wow! My kids kept cutting off little pieces and eating them when they thought I wasn't looking... which I was but, for the first time, I ignored because I was doing the same thing! We used homemade peach jam and it was delicious! Make two pans of it because one goes too quickly!

 

Jam Bars

crust

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter, softened

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Combine all the above ingredients, beating with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is crumbly. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides as needed. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and bake 20 minutes or until it is golden brown.

filling

1 1/2 c. jam

Use strawberry, apricot, peach, or raspberry jam. When you take the crust out of the oven spread the jam over it immediately going almost all the way to the edges.

topping

3/4 c. flaked coconut

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine topping ingredients while the crust is baking. Sprinkle over the jam and return the bars to the oven, baking an additional 20 minutes or until the topping os golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting - but good luck waiting that long!

Apple Fritter Bread

It's officially fall so let the fall baking begin! We were sitting in church when the need to bake overcame me. Does that ever happen to you? Baking is my coping skill and I needed to bake. But I hadn't planned on a baking spree and I didn't have the marshmallow creme I needed to make the peanut butter fudge I desperately needed to make and the bag of marshmallows was needed to make rice krispy treats for the boys lunches. My husband came to the rescue! He wanted apple fritters. With glaze. Everything is better with glaze! I didn't want to fry anything so I made apple fritter bread instead. So good! Eat it! It's fall!

 

 

Apple Fritter Bread

1/2 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

2 apples

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Add the flour and baking powder, stirring to combine. Gently mix in the milk, stirring until it is smooth. Peel the apples and chop into small chunks. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. In a greased loaf pan, put half the batter in the bottom. Add half the apples. Cover the apples with half the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until the bread is baked through. 

Make a glaze with 1/2 c. powdered sugar and 1-2 Tbsp. milk. Pour over bread while still warm. Slice and enjoy!

*** I used homemade apple pie filling for my apples. I used about half the apples, chopping them into chunks before adding them to the bread. For the glaze I used some of the liquid from the pie filling instead of milk. So good!

Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins

And... more Saturday morning muffins. I like to pretend these are healthy since they have fruit and Greek yogurt. That counts, right?

 

Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

 1 c. white chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. raspberries - fresh or frozen 

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Add in the eggs, stirring well, then the yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon stirring just until combined. Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and raspberries. Divide into paper lined muffin tins. I always double my muffin recipes and this doubled made 36 muffins so it makes quite a few. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched.

Cinnamon Scones

  I used to make scones every Sunday for breakfast. That doesn't happen very often anymore, which is too bad because they are delicious and we all like them, but I work every third Sunday and when I don't work I like to sleep a little bit. Scones are a little time consuming, but they are worth the effort! Scones are the British version of biscuits but they are flavored and yummy! They are frequently served with jam or clotted cream, but we eat them plain.

 

Cinnamon Scones

2 c. flour

3 tsp. baking soda

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. butter, cold

3/4 c. milk

1 bag cinnamon chips

Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the milk slowly until a soft dough forms. Stir in the cinnamon chips. On a floured surface, form the dough into a thick circle that is about 7 inches across. Cut into wedges (I do 12 wedges, but you can do less if you want) using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.

Honey Spice Peaches

This is one of our favorite recipes for peaches. The honey really is amazing and then the spices... so good! I got the boys all helping me skin the peaches after blanching them so they ended up a little more mangled than if I had done them myself, but, hey, they eat them, too!

 

Honey Spice Peaches

8 lbs. freestone peaches

4 c. water

1 c. sugar

2 c. honey

whole cloves

cinnamon sticks

OK, before you start anything else, blanch the peaches. This entails a large pot of boiling water. Add the peaches a few at a time - not so many they are not covered with water. Let them sit in the water for one minutes, then remove and place in an ice water bath (a large bowl full of water and ice). This stops the cooking process - you don't want to cook the peaches, just get the skins off. Let them sit for a minute then you should be able to rub the skin a bit and it comes right off.  Once the skin is off, slice each peach in half and remove the pit. Slice into eighths and set aside. Do this for all the peaches. 

In another large pot, add the water, sugar, and honey. Stir and heat. Once it is hot (does not need to boil), add in some of the peaches. Let them heat, but don't wait until they are cooked. They should heat 2-3 minutes. remove from the syrup with a slotted spoon and pack into prepared** jars. Fill them up almost all the way, then add 3-4 whole cloves and a cinnamon stick. Finish packing to the top. Shake the jar a little to get the peaches to settle. The jars will hold a lot of peaches! Fill the jar with some of the syrup to 1/4 inch from the top, cover with a lid and screw band, and process in a water bath canner for 30 minutes. Repeat until all the peaches have been used to fill the jars (we eat any partial jars).

**Prepared jars means they have been washed and heated. I put mine in the dishwasher to wash, use heated dry, and take them out to use while still hot. Everything needs to be hot - jars, lids, fruit, canner. 

Honey Vanilla Peach Butter

My kids love various butters we can make from fruit. We have done apple butter from time to time and peach butter. I'm not always convinced it's worth all the effort, but they love it so I make it sometimes. This one is a favorite!

 

Honey Vanilla Peach Butter

18 peaches, smashed up

2 1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. honey

1 Tbsp. vanilla

In a large pot cook the peaches, sugar, honey, and vanilla until the peaches are soft. Use a blender to blend in batches until smooth. You can use a hand blender for this if you have one. At this point you can cook the peaches two ways. Option 1: Continue to cook on the stove until the water is boiled out and the peaches mound on a spoon. This will likely take hours. Option 2: As you blend the peaches in batches, pour the blended peaches into a crock pot and cook on low overnight with the lid off. They should be ready to can by morning. Once the peaches are as thick as you want them to be, ladle into canning jars and process 20 minutes in a water bath canner.

Peach Jam

Some more jam we've been working on. The boys had a bit of a disappointment this morning, but trying out all the peach recipes we are canning helped to perk them up again. We love our canning recipes!

 

Peach Jam

4 c. peaches, smashed up or cut into small chunks

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. butter

1 box Sure Jell

5 1/2 c. sugar

Place peaches, lemon juice, butter, and Sure Jell in a large pot and heat to boiling.  Add the sugar all at once and return to a rolling boil. Boil 1 minute. Put in prepared canning jars and process 20 minutes in a water bath canner.

Blueberry Jam

Nothing is better than fresh jam made from fresh fruit. We all love blueberries, too! So good!

 

Blueberry Jam

6 c. blueberries

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

4 c. sugar

1 box Sure Jell

1 tsp. butter

Crush the blueberries making sure there are still chucks of berry. Measure to get 4 cups of crushed fruit. Add to a large saucepan with the lemon juice, butter, and Sure Jell. Heat over medium high, stirring constantly, until boiling. Add is sugar all at once. Continue to stir and return to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and ladle into jars, leaving 1/4 inch at the top. Process 15 minutes.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

My son wanted to learn some basic cake decorating so he made cupcakes to begin to learn on. Well, we can't make just ANY cupcake, so we made some Boston Cream Cupcakes! Yum! He decided that custard isn't his thing, so if he makes these again we'll have to switch it for some pudding or something, but I thought they tasted great! Especially since an 11 year old made them pretty much on his own.

 

Boston Cream Cupcakes

Cake:

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
6 Tbsp. sour cream, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
3 large egg whites, room temperature (don't throw away the yolks!)
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. milk, room temperature
2 Tbsp. water, room temperature

Cream the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. This should take a couple of minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix. Add the egg white and mix well to combine. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and the beaters to get everything mixed in well. Add half the four and baking powder, then half the milk and water, mixing well after each addition. Repeat to use all ingredients. Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3 full (we get 15 from this recipe). Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the are beginning to turn golden brown on the top and the top springs back when touched. Allow to cool.

 

Custard:

2 egg yolks saved from cake
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. salted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

In a small bowl, beat the yolks together. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and milk in a large saucepan and stir until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken and just begins to boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook an additional two minutes. Remove from the heat. Add a small amount to the yolks and stir to combine. Once well combined, all the yolk mixture to the custard, return it to the heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil two minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. 

 

 

Frosting:

3 Tbsp. butter, room temperature

2 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. cocoa powder

2-3 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp milk. Stir to combine. Add additional milk slowly until the desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes as desired. 

 

 

To put the cupcakes together: core the cupcakes with a cupcake corer or a sharp knife.Pipe custard into each cupcake. Top with frosting. 

Hawaiian Punch Jelly

My mom canned when I was young. I remember picking fruit in the house at 510 Main Street in Clearfield, Utah (which has since been torn down) that belonged to my great-grandparents, built by my great-grandpa, I believe. I remember the cherries the most - mostly because I had to help pit them with this cool pitter thing my parents bought. You loaded cherries in one part, then slide down, you pushed the handle, and out came the pit! So cool to an 8 year old! I remember my mom canning all the fruit and making jam. My most vivid memory is of one day when she ran out of sugar and sent me across the street to the grocery store to get her some more. Well, it was a big, busy street and I was scared to death to cross it. I must have, but I really only remember being scared to cross the street.

When I was in high school I used to go to my friend Mary's house to hang out and her mom made jam. But she didn't just make jam and put it in canning jars - she did cool things to it. Like put it in wine glasses and cover it with whipped parafin wax with a straw so it looked cool. I never put it in anything besides canning jars myself, but she made canning seem cool to me and this is a recipe I got from her. Thanks Connie Beals! My family has declared this jelly to be the best jelly ever.

 

Hawaiian Punch Jelly

3 1/2 c. Hawaiian Punch

6 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 box Sure Jell

1 tsp. butter

6 1/2 c. sugar

In a large pot, heat the punch, lemon juice, Sure Jell, and butter. Cook to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar all at once and begin stirring again. Heat again to a rolling boil, boil one minute. Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars. Process jam for 15 minutes. Enjoy! Makes about 7 cups of jelly.

Potato Bacon Corn Chowder

There are days you just need soup. And how can you go wrong with a soup that has bacon in it? Except for my youngest - he has developed this distaste for all things soup, which I don't get. And with as picky an eater as I am, that is saying something. Oh well, more soup for me!

 

Potato Bacon Corn Chowder

1 pkg. real bacon bits

1/4 c. chopped onion (I use dried)

1 1/2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 can cream corn

12 oz. evaporated milk

salt

pepper

Put potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover them. Bring potatoes to a boil with the onion, reduce the heat, and cook until they are tender - about 10-15 minutes.  Drain the water, reserving 1 cup of the liquid. Add the corn, milk, potato water, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through then add the bacon. Serve.

**I like to sprinkle sharp cheddar cheese on top just before serving

Kourabiethes

My son found this recipe in a magazine and come home and made them for us. They were so good! I love that he enjoys baking and trying new recipes!

 

Kourabiethes

Greek Christmas Cookies

1 c. butter

1 c. powdered sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. almond extract

3 c. flour

1/2 tsp.cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

Beat butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond. Add the flour, cinnamon, and baking powder; stir to combine. Roll the dough into small balls. Form into crescent shapes if you want. My son thought that was too much effort so he baked them as is. Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes. Put a little additional powdered sugar in a baggie and shake a few cookies at a time to coat with sugar while still warm. Cool completely.

Sour Cream Cake

I teach all my boys to cook since they are going to want to eat for the rest of their lives. :-) #5 is one who has really taken to baking and likes to make cookies and other treats. I gave him his first cake making lesson with this cake and it turned out really well - although there was some drama over the frosting, but that's another story!

 

Sour Cream Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. water

1/3 c. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Use a hand mixer to mix, beating on low for 30 seconds or until everything is mixed, then turning to medium and mixing an additional 2 minutes. Pour the batter into either a greased 9"x13" pan or 2 greased 8" or 9" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Watch carefully as the time gets closer as the different pans will require different baking times. Cake is done when the top springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Chocolate frosting:

6 Tbsp. butter, softened

3 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. evaporated milk*

Cream butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and vanilla together. Slowly add the milk until you reach the desired consistency. Mix until it is smooth and creamy. Spread over cake.

*I have used regular milk when I didn't have leftover evaporated milk or a small can of it. It came out fine.

Cookie Cakes

These are some cookie cakes I made recently for people at work. No, I am not the best decorator there is, I am well aware of my deficiencies, but here they are nonetheless. The cookie recipe is here.

 

Fruit Pizza

Sometimes you want a pizza that is a little healthy. Or that you can at least pretend is a little healthy. Or you simply want a cookie with cream cheese and fruit. Whatever the reason is, this is delicious!

 

Fruit Pizza

1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough ***

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 Tbsp. sugar

assorted fruit

Roll the cookie dough out on a cookie sheet until it is about 1/4" thick. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is nearly cooked. Allow to cool.

Once the cookie is cool, mix the cream cheese, butter, and sugar together until it is smooth. Spread over the cooled cookie. Alice fruits and add to the top. I used strawberries, kiwi, banana, blueberries, and raspberries, but you can use any fruits you like. If you use bananas either add them right before you serve the fruit pizza or keep them cover tightly with plastic wrap so they don't brown.

*** You can also use your homemade cookie dough, like these if you want to. This time, I was a little lazy and did it the easy way.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat

This dessert was not as well received as I might have liked. We had some company for dinner and it sounded really good so I made it and was so excited to serve it! Yum! Peanut butter and chocolate - how can you go wrong? Well, it's not so good if your company has peanut allergies. Oops! So we ate it after the company left and it was amazing! Just don't make it for people that are allergic!

 

 Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat

crust:

25 Oreos, divided

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

Crush 18-20 cookies and mix together with the butter. Press into an 8x8 square pan and set aside.

Cream cheese layer:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, divided

16 oz. Cool Whip, thawed and divided

1 bag mini peanut butter cups, chopped coarsely

Beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, and 1 c. powdered sugar together until smooth. Fold in half the Cool Whip, then spread over the crust. Sprinkle to peanut butter cups over the cream cheese layer.

1 c. milk

1 small box instant chocolate fudge pudding

Beat milk and pudding together with the remaining 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Fold in the remaining half of the Cool Whip. Spread over the cream cheese layer.

Roughly chop the remaining cookies and sprinkle them over the pudding layer. Refrigerate about 3 hours - or just eat it like we do. 

Homemade Guacamole

We are big Mexican food lovers but never really ate much guacamole until my husband joined the family. He loves it. Loves it. So when we have Mexican food at home, we usually have guacamole with it. Store bought guacamole isn't cheap so I figured I could make it for less than we buy it.Well, maybe it wasn't much cheaper but we got a lot more and it tasted better. So we're calling it a win!

 

Guacamole

4 ripe avacados

1 small Roma tomato

1/4 red onion

1 Tbsp. lime juice 

garlic salt

Cut the avacados in half, remove the pit, and scoop out the insides into a medium bowl. Mash them until they are the consistency you like. Chop the tomato into small pieces and mix. Dice the onion and add it with the lime juice and garlic salt to taste. Stir well to combine. I usually let mine sit in the fridge for an hour or two to let the flavors blend - but there is also plenty of tasting before we actually sit down to eat it!

Almond Cheesecake Cookies

Long ago, when I was still a teenager, a friend of mine introduced me to the wonders of pudding cookies. Wow - the things you could do with pudding and how it changed cookies! They are a softer cookie and all the flavors gives you so many possibilities with flavors! These cookies use almond flavoring (a favorite of mine!) and cheesecake pudding. Um, YUM! How can you go wrong with this combination?

 

 Almond Cheesecake Cookies

3/4 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

3.4 oz box instant cheesecake pudding

2 eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

2 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 bag. vanilla chips

Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Add the eggs, almond, and pudding and stir. Add the flour and baking soda; stir well until combined. Add the vanilla chips and fold in. Use a cookie scoop to drop balls of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes. I love to make soup in the colder months and, for me, this is real comfort food. Potatoes, sour cream, cheese... Yum! This is one that I will double or triple, then freeze for my family to eat on nights I work.

 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

4 large potatoes, baked

10 Tbsp. butter

2/3 c. flour

6 c. milk

1 1/2 c. shredded cheese

1  tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 bag real bacon bits

1 c. sour cream

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir until it is smooth. Turn heat to medium and begin adding the milk very slowly, stirring as milk is added. I add a small amount of milk, stir it in, add a small amount of milk, stir, and repeat until all the milk is added. In a bowl, scoop out all the insides of the potatoes. Add some of the milk mixture from the pot and mash the potatoes. Add additional milk slowly, mashing potatoes until it makes a thick soup, then add it to the pot with the remaining milk mixture. This mixes the potatoes into the soup better and leave some chunks without huge chunks. Add the cheese, salt, pepper, and bacon bits. Stir. Heat through and add sour cream, stirring to mix it in really well. Sprinkle additional cheese on top when serving. 

To freeze: Cool the soup and divide into freezer bags. I prefer bags to rigid containers because you can stack them up in the freezer and save a lot of room. When you are ready to eat the soup - thaw it, heat, and serve.

Double Chocolate Banana Cookies

We had some more bananas sitting out that no one ate in time before they turned brown. Normally, I make muffins out of them for our Saturday muffin tradition, but I didn't feel like it. So I made cookies instead. With chocolate. Because chocolate makes everything better. 

 

Double Chocolate Banana Cookies

1 1/4 c. butter, melted

3-4 overripe bananas, mashed (about 2 cups mashed banana) 

2 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour

2 c. oats

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 c. chocolate chips

Combine the melted butter, banana, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Add in flour, oats, cocoa powder, baking soda, and chocolate chips. Stir to combine. Refrigerate batter for an hour. This is actually important or the batter will spread out too much on the pan and you will have one very large cookie rather than individual ones. Drop chilled dough on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. Remove from pan immediately or use parchment paper - they stick if you leave them on too long.

Spicy Honey Terriyaki Chicken

Our church time changed to 11 o'clock this year. I love it because I no longer have little kids at home where this time ruins their nap times. The best part is that I get to SLEEP IN! I LOVE this! With the long shifts I work plus working two jobs and going to school it never feels like I get enough sleep. However, this time also means we miss lunch and everyone comes home from church hungry. This is a meal I can throw in the crock pot in the morning and have ready to eat when we get home. It's a life saver to be able to do this - there is nothing more whiny than a bunch of hungry boys!

 

Spicy Honey Terriyaki Chicken 

1 medium onion, sliced thin

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

2 Tbsp. garlic paste

2 tsp. ginger paste 

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. honey

1 c. chicken broth

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 tsp. black pepper

3 Tbsp. corn starch

3 Tbsp. water

Put the chicken, garlic, and ginger in a large crock pot and cover with onions. Pour the soy sauce, honey, and chicken broth over the chicken. Sprinkle with the red and black pepper. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. In a small bowl, stir the corn starch and water together. Pour in the crock pot with the chicken and stir, shredding chicken into large pieces. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on high or until the mixture is thickened. Serve over rice or noodles. 

Waffles

My kids are in love with waffles. Especially these waffles, which kind of boggles my mind because they like them even more than the chocolate waffles. Go figure. It's what I get for having boys instead of girls.

 

Waffles

1 3/4 c. flour - I use half white flour and half whole wheat

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 3/4 c.milk

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

Combine the milk, oil, and eggs and a medium bowl. Add in flour and baking powder. Stir to combine just until the dry ingredients are mixed in. The batter should still be a little lumpy. Pour batter into a lightly greased waffle iron and bake following the manufacturer's instructions. 

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

I am not a great cookie decorator - I have a friend who does that for me. But once in awhile I get my stuff out and make my poor attempts. This time, I totally cheated. Let's face it: cleaning up all the decorating stuff is a pain, and a pain I'd rather not do. Even with disposable decorating bags... well, I cheated. For this, I put the frosting in a baggie, flooded the cookie, piped on the snowflake, and tossed the baggies away. Easy. Minimal clean up. Perfect. Even if I'm not that great at decorating.

 

Frosting

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

3 c. powdered sugar

2-3 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. almond extract

Mix the butter, powdered sugar, almond, and 1 Tbsp. milk together in a bowl. Add additional milk as needed to get it the consistency you want. If you are adding liquid coloring be sure to add it before all the milk as it will thin your frosting. I use gel coloring which doesn't thin. Just don't use very much because it can really color (this snowflake was intended to be a LIGHT blue...).

Cheesy Garlic Bread

My family loves to have pizza and movie night. We do it fairly frequently - like several times a month but not quite every week. I frequently make the pizza but we occasionally buy it from somewhere cheap. And then we get the cheesy, garlic bread, too. Yum! So, I was making pizza for us one night and figured that I could make the cheesy bread, too. It can't be that hard, right? Fortunately, I was right! And I had all that lovely pizza dough right there in front of me, so I used enough dough for one pizza (recipe here) and turned it into cheesy garlic bread.

 

Cheesy Garlic Bread 

dough for one pizza, recipe here

1/8 c. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. garlic paste

2 tsp. Pizza magic other seasoning you like

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Roll dough out onto greased jelly roll pan. Mine was on the thick side because that's how I like it but you can make it as thin or thick as you want. Cut the dough with a pizza cutter. This makes it easy to pull apart when it's baked. Don't separate the pieces, only cut the dough. Add garlic to melted butter and stir. My local grocery store sells garlic paste in the produce section and I love to use that, but you can use fresh garlic, garlic salt, whatever form of garlic you like. Spread the butter/ garlic mixture over the dough. Sprinkle the seasoning over the butter, then sprinkle the cheese over all. Bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes. Baking time will depend on how thick you rolled your dough - thinner dough will cook faster. Keep an eye on it while it's baking. It's done when the edges turn golden brown.

Peanut Brittle

I love peanut brittle but hate paying for it. Some places charge a small fortune for something that is pretty easy to make yourself. Ok, I like to make it myself and probably not everyone does, but this just takes a little time and is so yummy! I remember when I was young I would ask my mom if I could make various types of candy and she always told me no because candy was too tricky. Well, I haven't found it to be all that difficult but I can't say that I like having my own kids around the super hot liquids home made candy involves. And I do recommend using a good candy thermometer when you make candy. Anyway, give it a try and see what you think!

 

Peanut Brittle

2 c. sugar

1 c. Karo syrup

1/4 c. butter

1.2 c. water

2 1/2 c. peanuts

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

 Cover two cookie sheets with aluminum foil and coat with a light coating for cooking spray. Set aside. Use the butter to coat the sides of a heavy, large saucepan. Put the remaining butter in the pan and add the sugar, Karo, and water. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until it begins to boil. Once it boils, clip the candy thermometer to the side and continue stirring until the mixture reaches 275 degrees (soft-crack stage if you like the stages). Add the peanuts and stir. Continue stirring until the temperature reaches 295 degrees. Remove the pan from the heat and add baking soda. Stir it in quickly and pour the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheets. Allow the peanut brittle to cool and break into pieces. Store tightly covered (I use a ziplock bag). 

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Freezer dinners are a huge help to me and I usually have several in my freezer for my family to use on nights I work late or on days when I feel out of time. Freezer dinners to throw in the crock pot and let cook all day are even better! When I get home from church or running errands, dinner is done and ready to serve. Perfect!

 

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts - I usually use 2 large breasts and put them in the bag frozen

16 oz. bag frozen chopped broccoli

32 oz. Alfredo sauce

1 green pepper, chopped

Dump everything in a gallon sized freezer bag. Label the bag before you put everything in - it's much easier to write on BEFORE the food goes in it. Trust me. I've tried it the other way. Squeeze the bag to get as much air out as possible before putting it in your freezer. 

Directions to write on the bag:

Thaw. Place in crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours. Serve over noodles.

I serve this over egg noodles but any noodles will work. Shred the chicken while still in the crock pot before you serve it.