Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is something that my mom made quite a bit when we were growing up.  It is a great way to use up bread that is not so fresh, or those icky end pieces. You can serve it warm or cold, and it is also perfect for breakfast or a dessert.

Bread Pudding

6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups milk
8 slices of bread
spreadable butter
cinnamon

Start with 6 eggs (aren't they so pretty?  They are darker blue and green than it shows in the picture.)

Crack the eggs in a 2 quart casserole dish and beat well.  Add sugar and vanilla...

Mix well and add 2 cups of milk.

Stir together.  Spread margarine or butter on the bread and cut it into quarters.

Push the bread pieces into the egg-milk mixture one at a time.

Sprinkle the top with cinnamon.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour... it will get all puffed up and nearly firm.

Pretty easy, right? Enjoy!

Chicken and Waffles

Chicken and waffles is a very common meal around these parts. I can remember the first time I met someone who was not a "local" and had never had chicken and waffles. I was shocked and horrified! I thought everyone ate chicken and waffles.

It is really just good, homemade waffles topped with cooked chicken and gravy. You can figure out how to make the cooked chicken and gravy on your own, but here is my awesome recipe for homemade waffles (seriously, only the best of my recipes for you guys!):

Waffles

1 cup flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup milk
3 eggs (separated)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix the dry ingredients together.  Add milk and egg yolks (beaten).  Stir in oil and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.  Fold the egg whites into the batter.  Pour batter onto hot waffle iron and cook until golden brown.

I suppose that you can make these for breakfast as well.  I bet they would be great to freeze and pull out on busy mornings.  Sadly, not too long ago one of my kids said, "You mean you can eat these with syrup?"  Umm... I guess we eat chicken and waffles more than syrup and waffles.  =)

Pin It

Tandy Cakes

Here is one for all of you chocolate/peanut butter lovers out there! ;)

I love homemade tandy cakes! I think these are so moist and delicious because I bake them in a greased 10" x 15" glass baking pan. Here is the recipe:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
12oz. bag milk chocolate chips

Beat eggs and sugar together. Add vanilla and milk; mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix again. Stir in melted butter. Batter will be a little lumpy.

Pour into a greased 10” x 15” glass pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the top and edges begin to turn golden brown. You will see popped air bubble marks all over the top, too.

Let cool about 15 minutes, then spread peanut butter over the cake. Melt chocolate chips in a microwavable plastic dish on 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour the melted chocolate over cake, spreading evenly. Cool completely and cut into squares. (You can freeze the plastic dish and then twist it to remove the bits of chocolate stuck to the sides- no wasting chocolate! That is just WRONG!)

***EDIT***Please note that this calls for a 10" x 15" pan! A regular 9" x 13" cake pan won't work, so please don't use that size and then call me to tell me that I have ruined your life with a failed recipe from my blog. (You know who you are! But I love you anyway!)

Cinnamon Rolls From SCRATCH!

Please do not lick your computer screen. I am not responsible for any dust on your tongue.

I get requests to make these delicious cinnamon rolls pretty often, but never requests for the recipe! I think it is too intimidating, but, REALLY, they are NOT hard to make! I got the recipe from an Amish cookbook, so a full batch makes 5 dozen. I am giving you the half batch recipe and much clearer directions than they included.

Soft Cinnamon Rolls

1 cups quick oats
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine
2/3 cups brown sugar
2 Tbsp. yeast- use the bread machine yeast that comes in a jar!
1/3 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. white sugar
5 cups bread flour
brown sugar
margarine spread
cinnamon
Icing (approximate measurements):
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. margarine

Combine oats and brown sugar in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the mixture and add margarine. In a separate bowl, mix yeast, sugar, and warm water. When the oat mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add the yeast mixture. Mix well and gradually add flour. Mixture will form a soft dough. Let rise until doubled in size. Knead and roll out to about 3/8" thickness- keeping it as rectangular as possible. Spread margarine over the dough, sprinkle with brown sugar so that the entire surface is lightly coated, then sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll the dough up into a long roll, and slice into 3/4" thick slices. Place in greased pan(s) and let rise again (about 1/2 hour). Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. For the icing, combine milk and margarine and microwave until the margarine is melted. Add powdered sugar until a thick glaze is formed (a little thinner than pancake batter) and pour over warm rolls. If you want to reheat them later, just pop them in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds! Mmmmm...

Pirogi Casserole

This is such a quick and easy recipe that I wanted to share it here. It is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes (or plan ahead and make a little extra!)

Pirogi Casserole

12 lasagna noodles, boiled
2 cups mashed potatoes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup butter

You can also add some chopped onions, salt, and pepper to the mashed potatoes, but I don’t.

Place 4 lasagna noodles on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Top with half of the mashed potatoes, dot with 1/3 of the butter, and sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top. Make another layer of noodles, top with remaining mashed potatoes, 1/3 of the butter, and mozzarella cheese. Put the rest of the noodles on the top. Put the remaining butter in microwavable cup, melt, and drizzle over the casserole. You can sprinkle it with parsley if you want to. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This is sooooo yummy! Definitely not a diet food, but…

Monster Cookies

Yummmmm...

I LOVE these cookies! I like to say that they are just about everything you could want in a cookie. Oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, m&m's,...

This is a modified Amish recipe, so you might want to cut it in half! This would make about 10 dozen cookies! It took FOREVER to make a full batch Saturday night, but hubby ate a lot of dough to help me out! :)

Monster Cookies

6 eggs

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups white sugar

4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup margerine

1 cup peanut butter

4 cups Quick Oats

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

1 bag chocolate chips (or more!)

1 medium bag m&m's (I like to save some to put on top before they go in the oven to make them prettier!)

Mix in order given. Drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Take them out even if they look a little underdone - if they get to be golden brown they will get hard and crunchy.

Orange Julius

Well, so much for making up school days! President's Day was a snow make-up day, but we got MORE snow so it was cancelled. So, I used up all my daily ambition first thing in the morning and made a nice breakfast for the kiddos. One of their FAVORITES is Orange Julius. I have also made this for brunch showers and the like and I get many requests for the recipe. So, here you go!

Orange Julius

6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (I use half of a standard 12 oz. can)

1 cup water

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (OK, I just dump this in- I never measure vanilla cause I saw Martha Stewart just dumping it in once)

10-12 ice cubes (I just use a whole tray)

Put all ingredients in your blender and combine (I usually use the ice crush mode) until smooth.

I would love to know if you try this- it is DELICIOUS!!!