Eggplant Parmesan

Before you say ewww and click on to the next blog you want to read, hear me out. This is one of those recipes that you shouldn't knock until you try it. Then, if you still hate it, by all means knock away!

How can you go wrong with something that is fried... and then smothered in spaghetti sauce and mozzarella?

The recipe that I used to cook the eggplant is here. I had never heard of putting salt on your eggplant and letting it "weep" to rid it of bitter juices.

I was the only one who ended up eating the eggplant. In his defense, Tim did try it. And stated that he did not like it. I definitely think it's worth a try. One decent sized eggplant could feed an entire family. If you grow it yourself or are given one, that's a pretty good deal. I have no idea what they go for in the store.

We'd like to thank our sponsors for this meal. Amanda- rice pasta. Tim's parents- eggplant. My uncle Randy- fresh green beans. We never turn down free food. Well, almost never. :)

Pancakes

Today there were 7 children in my care. The oldest was 14 and the youngest was 1. The 14 year old doesn't need a lot of supervision, so I put him to work making pancakes for lunch. I mixed up the batter (recipe x6) and then he filled the orders.

We made all kinds of pancakes. Plain, blueberry, chocolate chip, chocolate chip and blueberry, and chocolate/vanilla swirl.

We also made:

Salted caramel: Chocolate pancake with whipped cream, caramel syrup, and sea salt sprinkled on top.

Smore: Pancake with chocolate chips, graham cracker pieces, and micro marshmallows. These were really rich and yummy. I had whipped cream on mine. Unfortunately, the marshmallows and graham crackers blended into the pancake. May try graham flour next time or wait to add the graham cracker pieces and marshmallows until one side has cooked instead of just adding them to the batter.

Two that I wanted to try, but forgot...

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Chocolate pancake with strawberries and chocolate chips.

Pancake with coconut and chocolate chips and caramel syrup.

Do you have any unique pancake recipes or favorite toppings for pancakes or waffles?

New Recipe Tuesday

Since "New Recipe" doesn't rhyme with anything, I guess I can post them on any day of the week!

Yesterday I tried 3 new recipes. I have cut out so many recipes and bookmarked so many recipes that I could never live long enough to prepare all of them!

I had purchased a 5lb. "chub" of meat and needed to cook it up. I have also been wanting to do some freezer cooking to stock up for those nights when I really don't feel like cooking (which seems to be just about every night anymore). I really love to cook, but at the end of the day I feel uninspired and just want something easy and fast.

My first two pounds of ground beef went into making these meatballs. Tim and the boys declared them yummy, so I will be keeping this recipe. (This recipe is from the Kraft Food and Family magazine). They were very easy to make and have stuffing mix as an ingredient. To make the meatballs, mix 2 lbs. ground beef with one package of chicken stuffing mix. Add 1 -1/4 cup water and 2 eggs. Mix all together with your hands and form into balls. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min. or until browned and cooked through. See, told you it was easy! I flash froze mine on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bag to freeze for later use.

I then cooked the remaining 3 lbs of hamburger. One pound was set aside to make Bubble Pizza. Tim said it was a little bland. I liked it, but next time I would use pepperoni and some other pizza toppings in place of the ground beef. It was quick and easy!

The last two pounds of hamburger went into Brown Bag Burritos. I have had this recipe bookmarked for awhile and just got around to trying it. This is my freezer recipe and not only will I be able to pull them out quickly and nuke them, but Tim can also take them in his lunch. Tim and Isaiah both like the taste test although Tim said he would rather have them with more enchilada sauce on top and cheese served with sour cream.

If you want to see actual pictures of these, go to the recipe link.

All in all a productive day I'd say!

Tasty Tuesday

I have found the best bread recipe EVER! I'm not kidding. This stuff is good. The best part is that it's simple and foolproof. Really. No kneading, no punching and rising again. You can find the recipe and the details here. I'm too lazy to retype that or even copy and past it. At first, I thought I totally ruined the dough. I was on the phone while adding the flour and was sure I'd added too much. After all, my dough was supposed to conform to the bowl and it didn't look like it was going anywhere. But I decided to leave it alone and it did this...

Prepared pans in the oven, ready for the bread.

The loaf before...



The loaf after...

Pure heaven I'm telling you. That crunchy chewy yummy crust. Wow. Just like being at Panera. The best part is that the dough makes enough for 4 loaves, and you can keep the extra dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. This is my kind of bread!!

Snickerdoodle Pie

After lunch yesterday (at Tim's parents house), I was browsing through the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens and saw this recipe.

I just took it out of the oven. I hope it tastes as good as it looks and smells!

Update: I just had a piece. It was good. I'd have to say it's like a piece of coffee cake in a crust. There is yummy brown sugary goo in the bottom though. The top almost has a little bit of a crunch.

Pumpkin Squares

4 eggs, beaten
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger or nutmeg
1 3 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar

Heat oven to 350. Beat together the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and the ginger or nutmeg. Mix until smooth, then spread the batter in an ungreased 10 x 15 baking pan (or for a fluffier version, a 9 x 13 inch pan). Bake for 25-35 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. Spread the frosting over the cake and then cut into 24 squares. Recipe from the November 2004 issue of Family Fun magazine.

(I think I will double the frosting next time. This was kind of thin for me. I also made one for Amanda and I did hers in the bigger pan. I'm not sure the frosting would have even covered it.)

Beer Bread

BEER BREAD

Ingredients :

3 c. self-rising flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 can or bottle (12 oz.) beer, room temp. (not light beer) (I used a can of Mt. Dew and it was not room temp)

Preparation :Mix (only 17-20 strokes) (may take a few more strokes, but don't over mix. It will be lumpy) all ingredients. Place in greased 9 x 5x 3 inch loaf pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until lightly browned and sides pull away from pan. Brush with butter halfway through baking time. ( I melted 1-2 T. butter and drizzled it over the top before baking. That is how the mixes call to do it and it is easier than remembering to add it half way through.)




I'm so excited. I have loved Beer Bread since I first tried it at a Tastefully Simple party several years ago. The only downside is that it is very expensive to order from one of those parties, usually $5-7 a mix. Pampered Chef has also started selling it. I think I recently paid $13 for two mixes. Well, I had seen online awhile ago that you could make your own. The recipe only has 3-4 ingredients and it is really simple. I decided last night that I would finally try it. It turned out wonderful. I will never buy one of those silly mixes again! There are all kinds of variations that I am excited to try out too. Check out the variations here. One of the other great things is that you don't have to use beer. You can use any carbonated beverage. I used Mt. Dew last night.

This bread is wonderful for dipping. Tastefully Simple sells some really great dips, a spinach one and a bacon one. They are basically sour cream/mayonnaise based dips, so I'm sure you could use a recipe you already have. You could dip it in spaghetti sauce or garlic butter too.

If you don't have self rising flour (I bought mine at the local bulk store), you can make your own. I would just make sure that it was mixed well and maybe sifted together before making this recipe.

Easy Cake Bread

This is a bread machine recipe that I've been using this week. It is good. Matthew and I decided that it was a heavy light bread. It's heavy like homemade bread, but is light and airy. Is that clear as mud? This is for the large size or 2 lb. loaf. It rises all the way to the top of my machine.

Easy Cake Bread (from this cookbook)

1 1/4 c. water
2 T. butter
1 c. yellow cake mix
2 1/2 c. bread flour
2 tsp. yeast

Select the white cycle/light color cycle. I tried to do it with a timer overnight and it did not rise. This may be a too much water issue. Both times I've made it, I've either added a little water or a little flour as it was mixing to get the right consistency. You can use different flavors of cake mix to make different kinds of bread. One box of cake mix can be used to make 4-5 loafs of bread.

New recipe

This is a new recipe that I tried this morning. We all loved them!

Cinnamon Puffins Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg, divided
1/3 c. shortening
1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. melted butter or margarine
1 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

PREPARATION:
Combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg; set aside. In another bowl, beat shortening, 1/2 cup sugar, egg and vanilla until well blended. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture; beat in the milk until smooth. Fill each cup of a lightly greased 12 cup muffin tin two-thirds full with the batter. Bake at 350° for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Melt butter in a small saucepan. In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar, the 1 teaspoon cinnamon and remaining 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. While puffins are warm, dip each one in butter, then in sugar mixture coating thoroughly. Store in airtight container.