Banana Bread May 4, 2012

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (I used whole white wheat flour.)

 

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken March 23, 2012

Ingredients:

• boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
• 1/3 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. ketchup
• 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
• 4 Tbsp.  brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.  Pour the flour in a small bowl.  Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.
The chicken doesn’t need to be fully cooked since it’s going in the crock pot.

After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot. Then cover the chicken with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.

Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies March 19, 2012

Ingredients:

½ cup of butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling the cookies
½ cup of pure pumpkin (I used Libby’s canned pumpkin)
¼ cup of molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Add the pumpkin, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract, mix until well combined.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour. The dough can be chilled for 2-3 days.

3. When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Place sugar in a small bowl. Roll tablespoon-sized balls of dough in sugar until well coated and place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until cookies look cracked and set at the edges. The cookies will still be soft. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a 2-3 minutes after removing them from the oven, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bob Evan’s Holiday Brunch Casserole January 20, 2011

• 16 oz. sausage, cooked, drained, and crumbled
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 ( 8 oz.) can crescent roll dough
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• mushrooms
• onion

Line bottom of 9×13 pan with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage, cheese, mushrooms, and onion. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares; serve hot.

Oven Roasted Vegetables October 29, 2010

• Onions
• Peppers
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Potatoes

Cut the vegetables into chunks. Sprinkle veggies with olive oil. Add one package of Savory Garlic and Herb Soup Mix. Toss with the veggies. Place in a 9×13 baking pan. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Baked French Toast May 12, 2010

• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• ½ cups Whipping (heavy) Cream
• ¾ cups Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• Topping
• ½ cups All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• Fresh Fruit (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Tear bread into chunks (or cut into cubes) and evenly distribute in the pan.

Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add nutmeg if desired. Add butter pieces and but into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.

When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. (If you’re using fruit, sprinkle on before the crumb mixture.) Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.

Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.

Chocolate Chip Cookies May 29, 2009

• 1 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 ( 3 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Cream the margarine, sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Add the rest of ingredients. Drop onto greased baking pan. Bake at 375 for about 7 minutes.

Ranch Potato Casserole April 25, 2009

• 6-8 med. potatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup bacon bits
• 2 T. parsley
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Cornflake mixture:

• 1/2 cup cheese
• 2 cups slightly crushed cornflakes
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Cook potatoes until tender. Drain. Combine other ingredients, toss with potatoes. Place in a baking dish. Top with cornflake mixture.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 min.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars April 18, 2009

• 1 c. canned pumpkin

• 1 c. sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/3 c. oil

• 1 c. flour

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp. ginger

• 1/2 c. chocolate chips

• 4 oz. cream cheese

• 1/4 c. sugar

• 1 egg

Mix together pumpkin, sugar, egg, and oil. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir into pumpkin mixture. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan.

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and egg. Drizzle mixture over batter. Cut through  batter with knife for marbled effect. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Baked Oatmeal March 6, 2009

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 beaten eggs
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk

Mix butter, sugar and eggs. Add rest of ingredients. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve warm with milk.