nachos

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My lovely friend Diane Bernal made these delicious nachos for a party once, and I was dying over its deliciousness. A few days later, I couldn’t get it off my mind, so we made it for dinner. When I called her to ask for her recipe, these were the notes I jotted down on my phone. I’ve made it this way several times since, so I figure it’s good enough to publish.

Nacho Sauce

Sautéed onions/garlic w butter (med heat)

Salsa, blitzed up 

Milk/evaporated milk (start low)

Then add chunks of velveeta 

Add reg cheese at end - milk

Can season with: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika 

Do on cooktop then put in pre-warmed crockpot.

** Edited to add: Serve over/with your favorite tortilla chips (obvs) and add some fun toppings — ie. salsa / sliced black olives / jalapeño slices / ground beef (I brown with diced onion) / sour cream / tomatoes / green onions /whatev!

corn bread muffins

Original recipe from AllRecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-corn-bread-2/detail.aspx). This is a halved recipe, basically. It's moist and delicious. Yum.

RECIPE: Corn Bread Muffins

Yield: 8 muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 c flour

1/2 c cornmeal

1/2 c sour cream

1 Tbsp white sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 an egg, beaten

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp milk

2 tsp butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. 

Measure and put all ingredients into a mixer/bowl. Whip until incorporated and kinda fluffy. 

Drop batter into greased muffin tin. Bake at 400F for 15 min.

Serve warm with butter and honey. 

angel toast with homemade maple syrup, fresh berries, and cream

We had a loaf of angel food cake that needed to be eaten. But it was only breakfast time. So I improvised. And it was delicious!! At least there were fresh berries involved. That makes it kiiinnda healthy, right? ;)

RECIPE: Angel Toast (Angel Food Cake French Toast)

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

6 1-cm slices of angel food cake

2 eggs

1-2 Tbsp milk

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla together in a pie tin or plate with a good ledge, etc. Dredge the cake slices through the egg mixture, getting both sides and letting it soak in a bit. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place the prepared cake slices in the pan and cook (flipping half way) until golden on both sides and the egg mixture is cooked through. 

Serve with Homemade Maple Syrup, fresh strawberries and cool whip. And enjoy!! Mmm.

RECIPE: Homemade Maple Syrup

Ingredients:

1 c water

1 c sugar*

1/2 tsp maple extract

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, bring the water to a boil.  Then add sugar and whisk over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat, whisk in maple extract.  Serve warm.

*Note: You can do 1 cup water with 2 cups sugar as per the original recipe.  But I think 1 cup of sugar makes it plenty sweet and delicious.  And it's maybe a tad bit better for you.  You know, as far as sugar water goes.

cheesy garlic biscuits

I made jambalaya the other day and wanted something yummy to go with it.  I already planned to serve it with green beans (somehow that is a logical side dish to me, not sure why), but I wanted something more.  I saw a picture of jambalaya served with what looked like a cheesy biscuit and knew that's what I wanted to make.  I googled a recipe for cheesy biscuits and ended up combining several that looked promising to create my own.  Here's what I came up with.



RECIPE: Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Yield: 12 large biscuits
Calories: 227

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 tsp salt
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder*
3/4 c butter
1 c milk
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
(opt) dash of dill

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients (flour down to garlic powder) in a medium bowl.  Cut in butter.  Add milk, adjusting if necessary (if it's too wet, add more flour- just a tbsp or so at a time).  Stir in the cheddar cheese (and dill, if you want it).  Drop onto a baking stone/sheet in 12 large mounds.  Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes.

*Would also be good with actual minced garlic in it.  Mmm.

chocolate pudding

If you're craving a quick, easy, and satisfying treat...



RECIPE: Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:
Chocolate pudding mix (instant)
2 c cold milk, as per instructions
Brick of chocolate (opt)

Directions:
Make pudding according to box directions. Pour into ramekins. Shave a little chocolate on top. Refrigerate until ready to eat (at least 5 minutes). Enjoy!

from scratch pancakes

My friend Brittney makes the best pancakes! Every time we sleep over, we wake up to the smell and taste of pancakes with homemade maple syrup. Mmm. So yummy! Her pancakes are always so fluffy and perfect. I finally asked her for the recipe, and she told me it was basically a dairy-free rendition of one found in the classic Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. This is the easy and amazingly delicious recipe.



RECIPE: From Scratch Pancakes

Yield: 10 pancakes
Calories: 100 each

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 c vanilla almond/coconut milk**
** soy or cow milk would also work

Directions:
Whisk together all ingredients until combined. Cook pancakes (use about 1/4-1/3 c batter for each) on a skillet over medium (to medium high) heat, flipping half way, until golden and cooked through. Serve with butter (opt) and homemade maple syrup! Eat up!

homemade vanilla ice cream

We love this ice cream. We also love our Cuisinart ice cream maker. And we love Kurt & Bonnie, with whom we used to always make and eat ice cream. ((Move back! We miss you!!)) If I remember right, this is the recipe we decided was best. It's simple and delicious.



RECIPE: Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 c milk (2% or whole)
2 c whipping cream
1 c sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl until sugar is dissolved. Pour into the (already assembled and running) ice cream maker. Once frozen (30ish min), eat. With sprinkles, if you're feelin' fancy. :)

Garlic Naan

Please disregard the crappy photo. I took it with my phone, and it's blurry to boot. Oh, well. Still makes my mouth water. Yum! :)

The original recipe is from Allrecipes.com; I only varied it slightly. I searched for a good while to find a highly-rated, easy naan recipe, and this was it! This was my first time making naan, and I think it turned out really well! I'm generally intimidated by breads (the rising and kneading scares me), but this recipe was fairly strait forward and not too bad! The naan turned out really well. When I did it, I brushed it with butter as per recipe instructions, but if I were to do it again, I would do EVOO instead. The butter flavor just didn't seem right; I think EVOO would do much better (and result in much fewer calories). Very tasty. Try it and let me know what you think!

RECIPE: Garlic Naan

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1 c warm water 1/4 c white sugar 3 tbsp milk 1 egg, beaten 2 tsp. salt

3-4 c bread flour 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/2 tsp baking soda garlic powder or fresh garlic cilantro EVOO Directions: In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, or until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, baking soda, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6-8 minutes, or until smooth. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hr, or until the dough has doubled in volume. Punch down dough, and pinch off pieces (about golf-ball sized) for individual naans. Roll into balls and place on a tray. Spray tops with Pam and cover with a damp towel. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Warm up outside grill or stove-top griddle (medium heat). Roll one ball of dough out into a thin oval. Brush top side with EVOO and add garlic (minced) or garlic powder as well as cilantro leaves. Press leaves and garlic into the dough. Then place dough (service side down) onto grill and cook for 1-2ish minutes (this happens fast; grill marks will be dark brown but bread will be white). Brush uncooked side with EVOO and flip over. Cook another minute, remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared. Serve warm with Indian food and enjoy! Mm..!

homemade vanilla ice cream topped with sugar-glazed strawberries... and sprinkles

I'm not a very festive person. I suppose I am with Christmas, but anything else seems not worth my while. Perhaps it's that I'm too lazy {we'll say "likely"}. Perhaps it's just that I get overwhelmed by the pomp of it all. Or perhaps it's the fact that I feel crafts, etc, must be practical to be worth their weight. Either way, we don't do much for holidays.

But this Independence Day we went all out.... and made the above treat. :) I know. Somebody contain the festivities. Homemade vanilla ice cream topped with sugar-glazed strawberries topped with {at my 4-yr-old's request and in attempt to be a bit more festive} pretty blue sprinkles. It was pretty tasty, although I think I prefer the dish sprinkle-less. Pretty, though, no?

A few pre-prep instructions:

1) This recipe uses an automatic ice cream maker {ours is Cuisinart, and we love it- thanks K&B!!}. You'll need one to do it our way.

2) Make sure your freezer bowl {part of the ice cream maker} is totally frozen; I believe the manufacturer suggests freezing it for 24 hrs ahead of time {just checked; it's 6-22hrs... how's that for vague?}. Your creamy mix won't freeze otherwise. Though ice cream soup doesn't sound entirely bad...

And 3) Prepare the strawberries before you start on the ice cream. They need the full time to sit in the sugar if they're to be syrupy and delicious. They'd be fine otherwise, but trust me; they're better this way.

Okay, that's it! Now get crackin! Your taste buds will thank you!

RECIPE: Sugar-glazed Strawberries

Ingredients:

strawberries

sugar

Directions:

Slice/dice the strawberries. Sprinkle liberally (some might say "dump") with sugar (maybe 1/4 c. sugar for a reg-sized carton of strawberries?). Mix well. Refrigerate for a while (20 min-ish minimum). The sugar draws out the juices, and together it makes for some fantastic, sweet, syrupy strawberries to go on top!

RECIPE: Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 c. milk (2% or whole)

2 c. whipping cream

3/4 c. granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract (the good stuff, if you've got it)

Directions:

Put all above ingredients in the blender. Blend well until sugar is dissolved. (This can also be done with a whisk and in a medium bowl, but the blender produces slightly better results.) Turn on the ice cream maker, making sure the stirring part is in already and the lid is on. Pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let the machine work its magic! You'll know it's done when the ice cream resembles ... well, ice cream ... and is nice and thick (about 25-30 min).

Dish up the delicious ice cream immediately (it is super soft-serve and will melt quickly) and top with the pre-prepared strawberries! Then add some blue sprinkles if you're feeling particularly American that day. :) Enjoy. It's yum.

mom's award-winning country white potato bread

My mom always made excellent bread. (I call it "Award-Winning" because it won blue ribbon in the county fair!) She also made it often. Many a Sunday afternoon, we would be welcomed home from church with a savory bowl of beans and some delicious homemade bread. Mmm! I won't say we took this homemade bliss for granted, as I remember quite enjoying it every single time. But being a mother, I now realize just how much effort my mom put into feeding us, among other things. There's nothing quite as effective as parenting to make you appreciate your parents! :) Anyway, my mom recently moved up here, and I got her to teach me how to bake bread (the simplest thing, but among the most intimidating for me). Her recipe is pretty easy. Really. And the bread really is fantastic! It holds together really well, is the perfect density (you know what I mean), and tastes divine! I plan to make it again soon. And again. And again. And again...

RECIPE: Mom's Award-Winning Country White Potato Bread

*Note: This recipe times THREE made two large loaves and four mini-loaves. I believe once over it should just make one loaf. Not super sure. I'll ask. The above photo is of the mini-loaves. And yes, my photography skills are severely lacking...

Ingredients:

3 c. flour

2. Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. (or more) instant mashed potato flakes

1 egg

2 Tbsp. butter-flavored Crisco (eyeball it)

2 tsp. yeast

1 1/2 c. warm milk (can also use dry milk, just reconstitute it to make this much), less on a rainy day

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a large bowl, adding milk a little at a time (you may need more/less). Beat/knead (beat with bread hook) until well mixed and dough is slightly sticky but still pulls away from you. Put the dough in a pretty ball and place in a new, butter-greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and towel and let rise until doubled in size (1 hr ish). Then punch it down, re-knead, shape, and place in butter-greased bread pans. Cover again with towel. Let rise (again- until good lookin' - another hr?). Bake @ 350F for 30 min. or until desired color is reached.

biscuits and gravy

Biscuits and gravy are a staple breakfast in this household. I make them from scratch, which makes Derek think I'm amazing {don't tell him they're easy} and makes me feel pretty domestic. If we ever have a lazy Saturday morning or something, these are often on the menu. James will request them by name {While looking in the pantry like I often do when considering meals, he'll say, "hm... how about biscuits and grabey?"}... and when we have time, I'll honor his adorable little request. So try them out. They're fabulous. And watch your family devour!

RECIPE: Biscuits and Gravy

Tip: I seem to take forever to get the gravy to the right consistency {reduced down enough}, so I find that starting on the gravy first then doing the biscuits while the gravy reduces down is the best way to get the whole meal ready around the same time.

Recipe: Country-style Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:

1 lb. sausage {I prefer Jimmy Dean Mild sausage in the lil' tube.}

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 c. flour

milk (lots- like 1/2 gallon)

salt/ground pepper- lots, to taste

First brown the sausage in a large skillet, over med-high heat. Then (I don't drain the grease; I use it to flavor the gravy and add to the roux.) add the butter and let it melt. Sprinkle the flour on top and mix it in a bit. Let the flour bubble for a minute to cook the floury/glue taste out. Increase heat to high. Add milk, a cup or two at a time, whisking it in as you go. Let the milk get hot/boil before you add more. This hopefully will speed up your thickening. Add as much milk as you think you want; I add about 1/2 gallon... we like gravy around here. Season as you go with salt and freshly ground pepper. You'll want a good deal of both and probably more than you'd think {taste it to see what you like}, especially the pepper. Once the gravy's reached the consistency you like (it should at least coat the back of a spoon), you're done!

Recipe: Biscuits

{Note: The biscuits recipe is not in any way mine. I got it from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book -- p. 129 of my pink, breast-cancer edition. I do the "Drop Biscuits Supreme" version. Here it is.}

Ingredients:

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cream of tartar

3/4 c. butter (or 1/2 c. butter and 1/4 c. shortening)

1 1/4 c. milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender {pastry cutter?}, cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs {I do until they're about pea-sized}. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir until mixture is moistened. {Note: I do none of those last couple of things... just dump in the milk and mix it up with my wooden spoon or whatever. It works fine.}

Using a large spoon, drop dough into 12 mounds onto a greased baking sheet. {I often make about a dozen and a half or so, liking smaller biscuits. Derek likes 'em big, so he does the 12. Also, we cook them on our Pampered Chef stone... not greased. They turn out great!} Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve warm.

salmon chowder

Note: Picture AND recipe courtesy of Kurt & Bonnie Anderson. Kurt ice-fished and brought home some gorgeous, delicious salmon. Kurt de-scaled and de-boned (I know there are real words for these things, but I don't know them) the fish at his own apartment- which was especially kind (ick). And he and Bonnie came over and cooked up this amazing soup for us. They even took the picture. Absolutely none of this is mine, but it was a delicious recipe, and I wanted to share it. Thank you, Kurt and Bonnie! Try it. You will thank them too!

PS. I don't like fish as a general rule. At all. And I LOVED this. It's not really "fishy" and tastes great. So if you're leery of fish like I am, still try it. It really is that good!

RECIPE: Salmon Chowder

Ingredients:

2 lbs. red potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large onion, chopped

1 (49.5 fl. oz.) can chicken broth

1 lb. salmon steaks, bones removed, cut into 1" cubes

1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 c. milk

1 c. half-and-half cream

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1/2 tsp. salt

pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, bring potatoes, onion and broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook until potatoes are tender. Add salmon and bacon; cook over medium heat until fish flakes easily with a fork. Reduce heat; stir in milk, cream, butter, salt and pepper; heat through (do not boil). Thicken if desired.

{Note: He did have to thicken it and used probably 3-4 Tbsp. corn starch (mixed first with cold water) to do so. Also- don't be afraid to bring it to a boil (it needs it to thicken with the corn starch); just don't leave it there.}

Mmm... try it. It's wonderful.

banana nut muffins

Having just moved into a new house, I really needed to bake something {make a floury mess, fill the house with a sweet smell, eat something wonderful} to mark my territory a bit. These muffins were just the thing I needed. Somehow family and food combine to make a house feel like a home like none other.

Tip: I always thought you could only make muffins with old, brown bananas. Turns out fresh ones work just as well; they're just harder to mash {though honestly how "hard" can mashing bananas be?}. Who knew??

Anyway, I got this recipe from my Pretty Pink Bible {okay, so it's really called the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book... but it's the pink, breast cancer version of the classic red plaid... and it's fabulous}. It's on page 126, if any of you have the same, and it's actually the Muffins recipe with the Banana Muffins variation. I altered it a little {ie. dumped all ingredients together instead of separating dry and wet}, but it's pretty much theirs.
The muffins are yummy. Enjoy!



RECIPE: Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. cooking oil {vegetable}
3/4 c. mashed banana {2 bananas, I think}
1/2 c. chopped nuts {did 1/4 c. pecans}

Directions:Preheat oven to 400F. Grease {spray, whatever} a regular-sized muffin tin... all 12 cups. Combine all ingredients in a medium-large bowl. Stir until just moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. A wooden toothpick inserted in centers should come out clean at this point. Let cool a bit, then remove from muffin cups and serve warm.

chocolate mug cake

This recipe came from Aubrey via our mommy blog, Young Wives' Tales. I have no idea if it is hers alone or if she got the idea elsewhere, but it's so. darned. good. Really. You nuke the stuff right in the mug... I know! It takes less than two minutes and comes out all sorts of chocolatey and gooey and devine. No more worrying about having tons of leftover cake to devour and/or waste... we're talkin' single portions, people! Try it. It really is that good.



RECIPE: Chocolate Mug Cake

Ingredients:
5 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
4 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients together in your mug of choice. Then add the milk, oil and vanilla. Stir well, making sure to get all the flour mixed in from the bottom corners.

Set your microwave to 2 minutes. Microwave for about 1 minute, 45 seconds. Stop around 50 seconds to let deflate; then continue cooking. Check to make sure the cake is cooked through {by sticking a toothpick into the center; it won't be clean but should have some residual goo, like when checking brownies}.

Top with chocolate chips. Mix it all together if you want {this is best, imo}. Have milk on handy, as it's wonderfully rich. And mmm.... enjoy.

Serves: 1*

Calories: 444

*(unless you share, and you may want to)

homemade mac-n-cheese

I was blog-stalking this morning and came across a blog called The Black Apple and a post wherein she mentions that she love, love, loves mac-n-cheese but with one staple ingredient: nutmeg! I thought that was the most interesting {aka: weird} combo, but it also called to me. So when searching my cupboards and freezer for anything edible to eat for lunch, I thought I would try making my own mac-n-cheese. I'd never made a cheese sauce from scratch, but I figured it couldn't be that hard. Luckily, my "wingin' it" worked out to my advantage... because it was really good! Give this recipe a try. You'll be glad you did.



RECIPE: Homemade Mac-N-Cheese

Yield: 10 servings
Calories: 395 per

Ingredients:
16 oz. tube-ish pasta {I used 1 box ziti.}
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (grated)
salt/pepper, to taste
nutmeg {about 4 shakes it to taste}
10 oz. ham (apx 4 thick slices, cubed)

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over high heat, melt butter. Once butter is melted and starting to boil, add flour, a little at a time. Whisk quickly to combine. Let the roux boil for about a minute, to cook out the "floury" taste. Add milk. Whisk to combine. Then add cheese and nutmeg, and again whisk to combine. Reduce heat and continue whisking until the sauce reaches desired consistency.

Drain pasta. Add sauce (a little at a time; you may not want all of it). Then add ham. Toss gently, and serve warm. Top with salt, pepper and/or nutmeg to taste.