Day of Baking!

Today, I made homemade bagels, sweet bread, and chocolate pudding cake. I am planning on making banana oatmeal muffins sometime tomorrow, so I'll include those here too.

Bagels: The homemade bagel recipe comes from Tammy's Recipes, at tammysrecipes.com, and they are so delicious!
Ingredients:
1 1/2c warm water
2 tbsp yeast
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
4 1/4c bread flour

Put all of the above in a bread machine on the dough setting. I typically use half whole wheat flour and half bread flour. When dough is ready, divide and shape into 12 balls. Let rest 5 minutes. Make a hole in the dough to make a bagel shape, cover and let rest 10 minutes. While resting, boil about 8 cups of water. Drop 2 bagles at a time in the water for 45 seconds, flipping halfway through. Drain bagels on a wire rack and brush with egg white (1 egg white is enough for all the bagels). At this point, I topped a few with a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, turning the cookie sheet halfway through.

Sweet Bread: The sweet bread recipe I made completely in the bread machine. It tastes great, although I expected it to be a little sweeter.
Ingredients:
1c milk
1 egg
2 tbsp margarine
1/3c sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3c bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)

Put all of the above in a bread machine and set to the 'sweet bread' setting. You can also do the dough cycle and then bake at 350 for 20 minutes. The latter makes for a much better presentation, but is a little more work.

Chocolate Pudding Cake: This chocolate pudding cake is my default dessert to bring to anything, because it is so easy and delicious! I got the recipe from my old roommate Alison Babb a few years ago.
Ingredients:
1 box yellow moist cake mix
1 box Jello pudding - vanilla
1 box Jello pudding - chocolate
1/3c oil - I used smart balance brand
1 egg
1c water
1/2c chocolate chips - I used about 3/4c

Mix everything together, saving the chocolate chips until last. I typically make in a Bundt pan, which cooks for 35-40 minutes at 350. This time, I made an 8" round and an 8x8 square and baked for about 25 minutes.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins - This recipe is from my wonderful friend, Cate, who is one of the few readers of this blog :) I am actually making these muffins for her!
Ingredients:
1/2c butter/oil
2 eggs
1c bananas
1/2c warm honey
1/4c vanilla yogurt (or buttermilk)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1c quick oats

Mix first 4 ingredients with a wooden spoon. Add yogurt and baking soda, mix well. Combine flour, salt and oats separately and add to banana mixture. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes. I think this makes 12 muffins.

Our house is overflowing with baked goods!

Calzones

Tonight, I made calzones using Pillsbury crescent 'recipe creations'. These are sheets of crescent dough without the perforations so they are easier to use for things other than rolls. I couldn't find a recipe that I liked itself, so I combined a few and it turned out pretty well. I laid out one sheet of crescent dough, then spread out a layer of pepperoni, leaving about a one inch border on all sides. Then I added 3 slices of provolone cheese and about 1/2 c of shredded mozzarella cheese. I topped with another sheet of crescent dough, and fluted the edges with a fork. I baked at 375 for about 17-18 minutes.

Both Bart and I really liked these, although I will definitely add more filling next time. I think doubling up the layers would make a big difference, and potentially adding ground beef. We dipped the calzone pieces in warm spaghetti sauce.

I also baked quite a few other things today, since I was working from home and had no work to do, but I will post those separately.

Happy New Year!

Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits

I got this recipe from a girl at my parents' church in Austin, and it is delicious and so easy.

Ingredients:
2c. Bisquick
2/3c milk
1c shredded cheddar cheese (less if you want)
1/4c parmesan
1/4c butter, melted
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley flakes

1. Mix Bisquick, milk and cheddar until smooth, soft dough. Beat for 30 seconds. Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
2. Bake at 450 about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Mix butter, garlic powder & parsley together. Brush over warm bscuits before removing from cookie sheet.

Makes 12 biscuits

You might notice that the parmesan in the ingredients is not listed in the instructions...thats the way I received this recipe, and I'm not sure if it belongs with the dough or with the butter, but I usually but it in with the butter. I'm sure it would be good either way.

After Thanksgiving, we brought home some extra ham and used that to make ham biscuits with these...probably one of the best (and easiest) things I have ever cooked. I am hoping to have extra ham at Christmas to take home so we can have a repeat! Enjoy!

Breakfast for Dinner

Last night, I made breakfast for dinner. Breakfast foods are one of my favorite things to cook, right behind all desserts :) I had a can of Grands biscuits that I'm pretty sure were bought quite awhile ago, so I decided to form dinner around them. We had sausage biscuits (with Jennie-o turkey sausage), scrambled eggs, and bacon. When it came time for the eggs, I did not find them in my fridge, but knew I had bought them at the store this weekend...it turns out, I left them in car after the store! Ugh. I immediately threw them in the dumpster without even looking at (or smelling) them. So, I went over to Tom Thumb to get some eggs, and was thrilled when I found Jennie-o turkey sausage links marked down to 99 cents! (regular price was $4.75) I also got some turkey cutlets marked down to 99 cents, which is perfect because I just saw a Rachael Ray show where she used turkey cutlets, so be on the lookout for that maybe next week! Hope you are all having a great time preparing for Christmas...I hope to find some Christmas-y recipes to post here on the blog sometime soon!

Cake Mix cookies

In preparation for the cookie swap tomorrow, I made some cookies from a cake mix like Catherine always does. I used a reduced sugar yellow cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3c of oil, and about 2/3 bag of chocolate & caramel swirl chips. All you do is mix all the ingredients together and bake at 325 for about 10 minutes. These turned out pretty well, and I think I will make some more tonight with red and green M&Ms to swap at the party. Yum!

Queso

About two weeks ago, we met with our monthly 'dinner club' for a Mexican meal. I had the easy (and delicious) job of making queso, so I got a recipe from my friend Courtney and tweaked it a little. Here are the ingredients:
-large package of Velveeta, cubed (I used the 2% milk one)
-8 oz. of cream cheese (I used fat free)
-1 can rotel
-1 pound of ground turkey (brown with 1 package taco seasoning, drain, and mix with everything else)

I threw everything in the crockpot and cooked on low for about 3 hours, and it was all melted together and delicious!

Homemade Pizza

Sorry I have been MIA lately...its been a combination of too much work/training and not very much cooking, or at least not cooking things worth posting about! Last week I did make a pizza from scratch, and it turned out pretty well. I used the pizza crust from All Recipes called Jay's Signature Pizza Crust. See the link below.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jays-Signature-Pizza-Crust/Detail.aspx

I used half whole wheat flour, so at the very least it seemed a little bit healthy. I used my bread machine to make the crust so it wasn't quite as ambitious as the recipe looks. Its definitely worth trying!

Stuffed Shells

I made this pasta dish on Wednesday and it was awesome! Its similar to lasagna, but is quicker and doesn't call for meat. The recipe is again from my friend Jenn Chalmers.

Ingredients:
1 box Jumbo shells pasta
15 oz ricotta (I used skim)
2 c mozzarella cheese
1/3 c parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 jar tomato sauce

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Cook 18-20 shells using package directions. Stir frequently while cooking.
-In a medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1 1/2c mozzarella, parmesan and egg.
-Spread about 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
-Stuff shells and place them in baking dish, fairly close together.
-Cover shells with remaining sauce, using the entire jar.
-Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
-Add remaining mozzarella (1/2 cup) and return to over uncovered for 5 minutes.
serves 4

Bart was raving about this meal. We ate the leftovers for lunch the next day, and they reheated well!
To make it slightly more healthy, I chopped up about a cup of raw spinach leaves and added them to the cheese mixture. Also, quite a few of my shells stuck to the bottom of the pot they were boiled in, so be sure to stir those frequently.

I picked up a Cooking Light cookbook from the library this week, so all of next week's dinners are coming from there. I just made some chocolate chip cookies using their recipe, and they are good. I'll post that recipe later. We are headed to Houston tomorrow after work for Catherine's bridal shower in Katy. Have a great weekend!

Pot Roast

Yesterday, I made a roast in the crock pot. It turned out pretty well, very tender and delicious! I created a recipe based on a few different options, so it was a little random.

2 pounds chuck roast
salt, pepper, garlic, oregano
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can Dr Pepper
1 cup water
8 baby carrots
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

Take the chuck roast and season with above spices.
Brown on all sides in a large skillet over high heat.
Place in the slow cooker and add the soup mix, water and Dr Pepper.
Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. Add vegetables after about 5 hours.
Serves 4.

The Dr Pepper made the meat slightly sweet, which was good. Next time I am going to use a recipe that calls for cream soup or something a little richer for a different type of flavor. Also, we are going to use the leftover meat for BBQ sandwiches tonight, so that should be delicious!

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to my Mom on Saturday and to our niece Anna Kate, who turned 1 yesterday! Jump on over to the Lair family blog on the right to see some pics of how cute she is!

Happy Monday!

Weekday Dinner

On Wednesday, I came home from work early so I was able to make scalloped potatoes to go with our salmon. The recipe is from my friend Jenn Chalmers. Here it is:

Ingredients:

4-6 medium potatoes, sliced
3 T. flour
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups milk
4 T. butter salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Make white sauce: melt 3 T. butter in saucepan; blend in flour, salt & pepper and cook till bubbly and smooth on low heat; remove, stir in milk, heat to a boil and stir constantly, boil for 1 minute. Set aside.
2. Grease baking dish and layer the following:
1/3 of the potatoes
1/2 of the onions
1/3 of the white sauce
*repeat layers 2 more times, ending with the white sauce on top
3. Dot top with remaining 1 T. butter; cover and cook at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for 30-60 more minutes until potatoes are tender.

I didn't have any onions, so I omitted that, and also added some shredded cheese to the white sauce at the end. It was pretty good, though I think more cheese would have made it delicious. I halved the recipe and baked it in an 8x8 pan, and it made about 4-5 servings.

I marinated the salmon while the potatoes were cooking. I tend to use variations of the same marinade, always found online. This one called for soy sauce, white wine, lemon juice and brown sugar. It was good, but a little too sweet. I think I will be on the lookout for a more flavorful marinade without the sugar for next time.

PS- Bart and I have finished off the entire apple pie ourselves! I think I will have to hold off on making another until Thanksgiving.

Apple Pie

The first Apple Pie I made was last Thanksgiving...and lets just say it did not turn out so well. It had way too many apples and not enough filling. So, in preparation for this Thanksgiving, I decided to practice. I used the Apple Pie recipe on www.tammysrecipes.com, a great website. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
6 to 8 tart apples, pared, cored, and thinly sliced (6 cups)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons butter, sliced thinly
one 9-inch unbaked pie pastry with top (I used Tom Thumb store brand)

Directions:
1. If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, and spices in large mixing bowl.
2. Add apples to sugar mixture and stir to coat.
3. Fill unbaked pie pastry with apple mixture, and lay slices of butter on top.
4. Adjust top crust, cutting slits for escape of steam; seal. Sprinkle top of crust with additional sugar if desired.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until apples test to doneness desired. (I baked about 47 minutes, and that was perfect)

This pie was awesome! I felt redeemed, since I attempted to make pepper steak for dinner and it was a failure (we had pizza instead!). More proof that I am by nature a baker and not a cook...but slowly learning! I would really like to make a pie with a lattice (criss cross) top, but I read that apple pies need a solid top to cook correctly. So I will be on the lookout for another type of pie I can make with a lattice top. Suggestions welcome! Have a great day!

Welcome!

I decided to create a blog to have a place to keep up with all my recipes, cooking successes and not-so-successes. :) Please feel free to share any of your favorite recipes with me, via email at roberson.lauren@gmail.com or by leaving a comment. I would love to try them out! Hope you enjoy reading here!

Perfect Pancakes

This is an awesome pancake recipe I found on another food blog. I usually add some chocolate chips to the very last batch to make a few chocolate chip pancakes, too.

Ingredients:
1 egg
About 1 1/2 cups of milk
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of whole-wheat flour
1 heaping tablespoon of fresh baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Instructions:
1. Beat together the egg and milk.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix (can add more milk if needed).
3. Pour 1/4 cup onto skillet heated at medium.
4. Cook for a couple of minutes on one side (until edges are brown and bubbles form in batter).
5. Flip and cook on other side a couple more minutes.
6. Serve immediately. This recipe makes about 12-15 pancakes, if you use a 1/4c size.

Enjoy!