French Puffs

Basically a muffin, rolled in butter, cinnamon and sugar! 

Easy to make and even easier to eat!

 Lets make a batch...

Muffins:

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 egg

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Topping

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat oven to 400*

Grease bottoms of muffin pan or line with paper liners.

Beat milk, oil and egg.

Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix just until flour is moistened, batter will be a little lumpy.

Divide batter in muffin cups.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

While muffins are baking, melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine, and in a separate bowl mix cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

Remove muffins from oven, and as soon as you are able to handle them, roll in butter then cinnamon and sugar mixture. 

Serve 'em up to hungry people!

Source: my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook!

SIXTEEN!

My favorite fifteen year old, is SIXTEEN today! Not sure where the years have gone, but I do know we have so many wonderful memories when we look back over time. Born a whopping 9lbs 3 oz, he burst into this world and stole all our hearts. He is the best little brother his big brothers could ask for and he has loved them from day one. As the youngest of the family, Doug and I have the good fortune to still have him at home while his brothers are away at school. We enjoy and love him so very much!

HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY J

love, MOM

Big Chocolate Chip Cookie cake recipe found here.

Chicken Rice a Roni Casserole

Plain Chicken is a great blog for tons of quick and tasty meals. I stumbled upon this one this weekend and knew I had to give it a try.  My old standby Chicken and Rice  recipe is loved by all my guys and requested often, so I wondered if I should even bother with trying a new one, but my enjoyment for trying new recipes got the best of me so here we go...

1 box chicken flavor Rice-A-Roni, I found a lower sodium choice
1 can cream of chicken soup, low fat/reduced sodium
1 cup sour cream, I used light
3-4 cups cooked, chopped chicken, I used Rotisserie Chicken
1 (6 oz) can French fried onions, I only used about 3/4 of the can

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Prepare Rice-A-Roni according to package directions.

Add soup, sour cream and chicken. Stir to combine.

Spread rice mixture in a lightly sprayed 9x13 pan.

Top rice with fried onions.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.


Super quick to put together, the most time consuming part was removing the chicken from the bones. Doug, J and I all enjoyed it. The recipe makes quite a bit, so it is definitely good for families.

Give it a try!

Source: Plain Chicken Blog

Hash Brown Potato Casserole

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 can cream of chicken soup, reduced sodium
8-10 oz of 2% Velveeta cheese, cubed,
1 cup sour cream, light
1 pkg hash brown potatoes, we like the southern style cubes

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups cornflakes, crushed
In a small bowl, mix the two together. 

Saute onions in butter in a large skillet over medium heat until onions are soft.

Add cream of chicken soup, combine well.

Add Velveeta cheese and stir until melted.

Remove from heat and add sour cream, stirring well to combine.

Add hash browns and stir to incorporate sauce through the potatoes.

Transfer potato mixture to a well greased 9 X 13 inch casserole dish.

Top with cornflake/butter topping.

Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes.

This dish is so good served with lots of main courses. It's great for brunch with an egg casserole, with turkey or ham for Christmas dinner or one of our favorite ways...a juicy cheeseburger with all the fixins! Where's my fork?

it's an "oldie but a goodie"


p.s. we might get another snow day this week! yippee! Jonah has requested 
 Snow Day Doughnuts
 if we do,  you should make them for your kiddos too...snow or no-snow!!

Snow Day Doughnuts!

How lucky are we to get a snow day? Actually it's an "ice" day, so...much...sleet! I should be doing house work instead of posting doughtnut recipes, but this is so much more fun!

These are so simple and really tasty. Oh, they don't compare to a good old fashioned homemade donut, but I promise your family will eat these up and you will be out of the kitchen in no time.

One can of canned biscuits, more if you have a big crew to feed!

Canola oil for frying...I know I hardly ever fry things!

cinnamon and sugar mixture 

or 

powdered sugar glaze (1 cup powdered sugar, and enough milk to make a smooth glaze, 1-2 tablespoons, mixed until smooth and creamy)

Heat oil in a small saucepan or skillet.

Meanwhile open biscuits and cut a small hole in center to make a doughnut or cut into quarters to make donut "holes".

Dip a slotted spoon into the hot oil, then sit one of the donuts on top of the spoon and gently lower it into the oil. Even if making "holes", just lower one at a time into the oil. It's okay to cook more than one at a time, but to keep them from sticking together, put them in individually.

Watch closely and when browned on the bottom, gently flip over to brown the other side.

When both sides are browned remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

If sprinkling with cinnamon and sugar, do so quickly after removing from hot oil. The mixture will stick better. 

If dipping in glaze, simply dip one side then flip over and dip the other. Remove to a plate to let the glaze set a bit, and the excess to drip off. 

Tips for cooking the doughnuts...

• Don't get your oil too hot, you want the doughnuts to immediately rise to the top of the oil and gently fry, not brown as soon as you lower them into the oil. Just be careful and adjust your heat as needed.
•  
• Make sure your oil is hot enough...you don't want to lower your doughnut into the oil and have it sink to the bottom.

• Between each set I fried, I left my burner on and just moved the pan off the heat so I could sprinkle with cinnamon/dip in glaze without being in a hurry and it kept the oil from becoming overly hot.
• Don't fret if the first few aren't just right. Canned biscuits are cheap and you can afford a few trial runs before you get it perfected.

Ham and Cheese Omelete

We had a very large ham given to us at Christmas time. Too big even for a family with 4 guys! I cut it up in different size pieces and slid it in the freezer to use later. I had plans to make Crockpot Ham and Potatoes , but didn't get going earlier enough in the day for it to have time to cook. So I changed last nights dinner plans to "plan b"....Ham and Cheese Omelets. Really easy to put together and we like to change things up once in a while and have breakfast for dinner.

Here's how I make them...

To make one omelet:

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup ham, diced

1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 tablespoon red onion, diced very small

In a skillet over medium high heat, rub a stick of butter over the bottom to prevent eggs from sticking. You can totally use a non-stick spray if you prefer.

Pour the eggs in the center of the skillet and if needed swirl the pan around or use the back of a spoon to spread the eggs out in a thin circle. Don't worry if it isn't a perfect circle...it will taste great no matter what the shape is!

Turn heat down to medium and let eggs cook until beginning to set on top. If you have never done this before, don't fret...it's easy and you won't mess it up. 

When eggs are almost set, sprinkle ham, cheese and onions down the center of the omelet. 

Using a spatula, flip one side over the middle, then flip the opposite side over the top of all, creating almost a burrito effect with the ends open. Make sense? 

Let cook for 30 seconds or so until the cheese begins to melt and the ham has had a chance to warm through.

Transfer to a plate and top with a little salsa for a little kick, or a little ketchup if you like.

I served this with some Hash Brown Potatoes and Pumpkin Bread. My Fruit Bowl fruit salad would be a delicious  addition, too.

You could make this a Lenten recipe by using only cheese and onion. Maybe use different cheeses to make a unique flavor...hmmm, I may have to try that this Friday!

Applesauce Bread

When Drew was home a of couple weekends ago, he took some pumpkin bread back to school that I had made ahead and popped in the freezer. He called a few days later to say how much he had enjoyed having a couple slices for breakfast. He likes  being able to have something in his room to eat and not go to the dining hall every morning. So, I decided to get back to baking and make a few loaves to send to him. He can keep them in the freezer until he is ready to cut into them. 

This is a new recipe and I think it turned out great. Wonderful with a cup of coffee, a tall glass of milk or in my case a Green Monster.

1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sweetened applesauce

Preheat oven to 350*

In a mixer bowl, mix the oil and sugar.

Add eggs and beat until well blended.

In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.

Mix in half the dry mixture with the batter mixture, then add half the applesauce.

Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and the last half of the applesauce, mixing well.

Pour into one regular size loaf pan, or two small loaf pans. If using a large pan bake for about an hour. For the smaller pans, about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Vegetable Lasagne

Doug bought me a new cookbook for Christmas and this weekend we decided to make a dish from it together. Tough choice as to what to make...it's an Italian cookbook and we love almost all Italian dishes.
We chose this lasagne recipe not even realizing it could also be a Lenten recipe. Whoo-Hoo...double duty recipes ROCK!

The real name of this recipe is Green Lasagne. But in our small town, no green lasagne noodles were to be found, so we're going to call it Vegetable Lasagne. Works for me!!

It looks a bit much at first, but really it's easy to put together. We chopped all the veggies earlier in the day and that helped speed things up. You could even make your sauces completely in advance and then you just have to assemble it and pop it in the oven. (If not making in advance, just be sure to give yourself plenty of time, the red sauce needs to simmer for 45 minutes.)

Here's what you need to get this started:

1 recipe Maria Rosa's sauce, recipe follows
12 Lasagne noodles, cooked, cooled and drained on a dish towel (I like to cook extra just in case some stick to the pan, I cooked 15)
1 recipe White sauce, recipe follows
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350*.

2. Ladle 1/2 cup Maria Rosa sauce on the bottom of a buttered 9 X 13 baking dish.

3. Place 3  lasagne noodles side by side over the sauce.

4. Top noodles with one quarter of the remaining Maria Rosa sauce.

5. Top Maria Rosa sauce with one quarter of the White sauce.

6. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese over all.

7. Place 3 more lasagne noodles over Parmesan and  repeat steps 4, 5 and 6.

8. Place 3 more lasange noodles on top and repeat steps 4,5 and 6 again.

9. Place last 3 lasagne noodles on top and repeat steps 4, 5 and 6, using all the remaining sauce for this layer.

10. Bake until bubbly and lightly browned on top, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.


Maria Rosa Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian, flat leaf parsley
4 cups canned whole plum tomatoes, about one 35 oz. can
(crush the tomatoes using your hands or chop with a knife before adding to the sauce, or puree them in a food processor if you like your sauce less chunky)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add carrots, celery and onion and garlic and cook until softened about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and tomatoes.Bring the sauce to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the tomatoes are sweetened and cooked about 45 minutes.

*********************************************************************************

White sauce:
6 tablespoons of butter
6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
3 cups skim milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Melt butter in medium size saucepan set over medium-low heat.When butter is foaming, whisk in the flour. Whisk in the milk.Cook, whisking frequently, until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes, more or less time as needed.Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper to taste and nutmeg.


This was a very tasty lasagne. Not a traditional "American" lasagne, and I think that's what I liked about it. You could definitely add some browned sausage or ground chuck to the red sauce and make it more hearty. Without the meat, it's a  great addition to our Lenten recipes, for sure! AND it heats up well the next day for leftovers! Does this make it a triple duty recipe???

According to the cookbook the Maria Rosa sauce is good on any type of long tubular pasta, like penne, ziti or rotini. I'll be trying that in the future!