A Couple of Links

I haven't been making too many new things lately, but here are a couple of recipes I have tried lately that were a hit. The guacamole bruschetta was SO delicious as an appetizer, and Jen tried the cream biscuits and liked them, so I had to try them too (we had biscuits and gravy with them.)

Guacamole Bruschetta, from Blog Chef

Cream Biscuits, by Smitten Kitchen

Toast and Asparagus Gravy

10-12 asparagus spears cut into 1 inch pieces

Milk

Flour

Bread

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute asparagus pieces in butter or oil until tender. Add enough milk to make desired amount of gravy, cook on medium heat until bubbling, stirring occasionally.

Make a roux out of 2-3 Tbs. flour and enough milk to make a 'Elmer's glue-like' consistency.

Add roux to milk/asparagus mixture slowly while stirring. Turn heat off.

Let gravy cool a bit and thicken, stir occasionally. (If you need gravy to be thicker just make another roux.)

Add salt and pepper to taste!

Eat gravy over buttered toast for breakfast. Mmmmmm.

This is one of my favorite breakfasts!

Delicious Breakfast Recipes

Shara, Tawnya, Amy (Jeanie's daughter-in-law), Grandma, and I (Marsha) got to eat a yummy breakfast for lunch at Aunt Jeanie's house a while ago. So of course we had to get the recipes. Thanks for the great food, Aunt Jeanie!
Amish Breakfast

Saute, drain, and then set aside:

1 lb. sliced and diced bacon
1 small purple onion - diced

In a mixing bowl:

6 eggs slightly beaten
4 C. frozen hash brown
2 C. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 C. swiss cheese
1/2 C. small curd cottage cheese - blend
1 green or red bell pepper - chopped
salt and pepper

Add bacon mix and pour into a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 min. just until set. Cool for 10 min. before serving.

Bobbi's Apple Pancakes

2 medium-size green apples
(Jonathan or Granny Smith),
peeled, cored, and chopped
2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 cups evaporated milk
2 cups Bisquick All-Purpose baking mix

Mix all the batter ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon onto a greased pancake grill or frying pan and cook over medium-high heat. Serves 4.

Cinnamon Syrup

2 cups light corn syrup
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 cups evaporated milk

Combine all ingredients except the milk and bring to a full boil in a medium-size pot. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Let cool a full 5 minutes. Add milk, and serve warm.

Fruit Salad Sauce
Boil for 2 min. and cool:
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 C. water

Add:
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 C. orange juice
1/2 tsp rum flavoring
2 tsp lemon juice

Chill in refrigerator. Serve over any variety of fruit.

Delicious Breakfast Recipes

Shara, Tawnya, Amy (Jeanie's daughter-in-law), Grandma, and I (Marsha) got to eat a yummy breakfast for lunch at Aunt Jeanie's house a while ago. So of course we had to get the recipes. Tawnya took pictures and will add them later. Thanks for the great food, Aunt Jeanie!

Amish Breakfast

Saute, drain, and then set aside:

1 lb. sliced and diced bacon
1 small purple onion - diced

In a mixing bowl:

6 eggs slightly beaten
4 C. frozen hash brown
2 C. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 C. swiss cheese
1/2 C. small curd cottage cheese - blend
1 green or red bell pepper - chopped
salt and pepper

Add bacon mix and pour into a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 min. just until set. Cool for 10 min. before serving.

Bobbi's Apple Pancakes

2 medium-size green apples
(Jonathan or Granny Smith),
peeled, cored, and chopped
2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 cups evaporated milk
2 cups Bisquick All-Purpose baking mix

Mix all the batter ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon onto a greased pancake grill or frying pan and cook over medium-high heat. Serves 4.

Cinnamon Syrup

2 cups light corn syrup
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 cups evaporated milk

Combine all ingredients except the milk and bring to a full boil in a medium-size pot. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Let cool a full 5 minutes. Add milk, and serve warm.

Fruit Salad Sauce

Boil for 2 min. and cool:
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 C. water

Add:
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 C. orange juice
1/2 tsp rum flavoring
2 tsp lemon juice

Chill in refrigerator. Serve over any variety of fruit.

Chilequilas

When I was young, my dad used to make chilequilas for us when my mom wasn't home or was too busy to cook. I know at least 3 of my sisters have good memories of these as well - I'm not sure if he ever made them when I got older, so my youngest sister and my brother might not remember them.

I decided to try and make them for dinner tonight. They turned out great - I wasn't sure if my dad could tell me exactly how to make them, and I like specific recipes, so I found one that looked like what I remember at All Recipes. The picture of them when they are done is NOT pretty! But they were very good.

CHANGES I MADE OR WOULD MAKE NEXT TIME:

I am thinking you could just buy tortilla chips and use them instead of frying corn tortilla strips. That would save a lot of time and oil!

Also, the recipes calls for 30 corn tortillas and 6 eggs - I didn't quite use 30 tortillas and I used 10 eggs. It would have been not so good with less eggs. So, I say either half the tortillas, or double the eggs!

Another thing I did was use Salsa in place of the El Pato sauce and water because the store I went to was out of El Pato. I think either would be fine.

Here are the corn tortillas frying away - I had
to fry them in 3 batches.

And here is the not so pretty picture of when it was almost done.
Don't let the picture scare you - they were good!

Chilequilas

• 2 cups oil for frying
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 30 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn into strips (I used less tortillas and 10 eggs)
  
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 (7.75 ounce) can Mexican style hot tomato sauce (El Pato sauce)
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Carefully stir in the onion and tortilla strips. Fry until tortilla strips are crisp and golden brown. Remove from heat, and drain on paper towels. Drain the skillet, leaving only a thin residue of oil.
2. Over medium heat, return tortillas to the skillet, and stir in the eggs. Season with salt. Cook and stir until eggs are firm.
3. Mix Mexican style hot tomato sauce and water into the skillet. Reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Top with cheese. Continue cooking until cheese has melted.

Swedish Pancakes

A few weeks ago Alex and Amber (bro-in-law and his fiancee) made these delicious Swedish Pancakes for us. My whole family loved them, so I made them this morning. They are very similar to a crepe, but they are more "eggy" and sweeter as well. We ate ours with whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries. When Alex and Amber made them for us we had blueberry syrup on them as well and that was yummy!

They would be good with anything you normally eat in crepes. Here are some ideas Shara posted a while ago.

Swedish Pancakes

6 eggs
3 C. milk
3/4 C. sugar
2 C. flour

(The blender works well for making the batter) Beat eggs well, then add milk and sugar. Add flour slowly to mixture. Pour onto hot griddle until golden brown. Then turn. They should be runny and big.

Blueberry Pancakes and Maple Syrup

Here's some yummy pancakes. I got the recipe from my friend Maranda Whittle.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg
1/2 cup blueberries

Directions
Mix together flour,sugar,baking powder and salt.
Beat egg well.
Add milk, oil and blend together.
Add wet ingredients to dry.
Mix together until all dry ingredients, wet do not over mix.
Add blueberries and fold into batter.
Use lightly oiled frying pan and heat.
Fry each pancake until cooked.

-Maranda Whittle

And for those of you that don't know our family favorite syrup-2 C. sugar, 1 C. water, boil til clear and add one capful of mapeline! Serve hot. Yummy-storebought syrup never tasted so bad after this stuff!

Love Cake

Jason (Cam's hubby) grew up with Love Cake. It was a Nelson family tradition. Now, he makes it for his family and we've all been the lucky ones to sample his cake for breakfast while visiting. We insisted Cam put his recipe in the Payne family cookbook. So here it is:

Love Cake
Jason Nelson

3 C. flour

½ C. margarine
½ tsp. salt

¾ - 1 C. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs
1 1/3 C. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Topping: (I like to double the topping! It's our favorite part)

1/2 C. margarine

1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. oats

1/2 C. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375˚. Cream margarine and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients, then add to the creamed mixture. It should be very thick. Grease a 9x13 pan. Pour the mixture into the pan. For the topping: cut margarine into dry ingredients until crumbly then sprinkle over the cake mixture. (Do not melt margarine, but it can be slightly softened) Sprinkle over the top of the cake mixture.
Bake for 35 minutes. This is also great with a can of peaches, crushed pineapple, or other fruit dumped into the pan before the cake mix. (This time I put in a can of peach pie filling! We like cool whip and butter on top!)

Crepes and all the fixins

For Easter I had a big breakfast with crepes and lots of fillings. I planned for it to be outside, but rainy weather pushed us inside. It was so delicious and I think everyone got stuffed off of crepes, we were lucky enough to have leftovers the next morning. We had regular and chocolate crepes to choose from. The fillings included strawberries, Nutella, chocolate mousse, french vanilla cream cheese pudding, apple pecan filling, and lemon curd (AC's cousin Anne brought that), and whipped cream. Recipes will follow.

Chocolate Crepe
1 cup flour
2T cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
Mix together until smooth (I blend my crepes in a blender, I find it quicker and less clumpy, I doubled this for a crowd)

Chocolate Mousse
1 large pkg instant chocolate pudding mix - make as directed - you can substitute cream for the milk to make it richer, but that's a lot of cream folks!
1 quart whipping cream (whipped with some sugar and vanilla until stiff) - fold into chocolate pudding. Chill until ready to serve

French Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling
1- 8 oz pkg cream cheese brought the room temperature
1- 8 oz container cool whip (can use 1 quart whip cream instead of cool whip, I used a little of both)
2 small pkgs instant french vanilla pudding
3 cups milk.

Mix cream cheese in blender until smooth. Mix pudding as directed using only the 3 cups milk instead of what is called for on the boxes. Mix with cream cheese. Fold in cool whip/cream. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Apple Pecan Filling
1 - 21 oz can apple pie filling
1/2 c. pecans
1/2 tsp cinnamon
splash of lemon juice
Mix and serve with crepes, I thought it was best warmed up!

Here's the good part about it, we had oodle of leftover (I got my mom's mentality I think, I always double the recipes just to make sure we have enough), with the chocolate and vanilla fillings, I made cream puffs the next day and used them as the fillings. If you have any leftover apple filling, put it in a dish add a crumble topping and bake it for an apple crisp! Ta Da!

Easter Cream Puffs

One Easter tradition that we have at my house is making these cream puffs the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. They are then ready on Easter and are very Yummy! I love how the recipe ties in with Easter, and I can't wait to make them tomorrow night again! The direction's aren't really that long, it just explains the parallels with Easter. They are really easy and WONDERFUL for the kids to help make!

Here's the recipe:

Easter Cream Puffs
¼ tsp. vinegar
½ cup margarine
1 cup water
1 cup flour
¼ tsp. salt
4 eggs
Pastry filling

Let children smell vinegar. Explain that when Jesus was on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. Add ¼ tsp. to a 2-quart saucepan. Mix together water and salt. This represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Add to saucepan. Add the margarine and heat mixture until it boils. Remove from heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously. The color white represents the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed through the atonement of Christ. Preheat the oven to 375°. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until smooth. The eggs represent life. Jesus gave his life that we might live. Using a large spoon and rubber spatula, drop onto cookie sheets in 12 large mounds. Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus was laid. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and cut a slit in the side of each puff. After Jesus had died, the soldiers took a spear and pierced his side. Put the puffs back in the oven to dry, then turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Jesus' tomb was also sealed. Go to BED. They may feel sad to leave the cream puffs in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were also in despair when Jesus' was gone. The next morning,(possibly Easter morning) open the door and give everyone a cream puff. Slice the top open and notice that they are hollow inside. On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb empty! Fill with your favorite flavor of pudding or custard and enjoy!

sorry, no picture, I haven't made them yet!

Egg Casserole

This is a recipe I got from my friend, Melissa Welker. She served it at a Relief Society brunch. It is so good. I actually made it for dinner because I don't seem to have a whole lot of time on school mornings.

Combine:

12 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Then stir in:

30 oz. thawed frozen hash browns

2 cups shredded cheese

1 cup ham, cubed

Put in greased 9X13 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Banana Carrot Muffins

During Spring Break we went to visit my parents. The weather was beautiful, and the food was so good! Here are some super healthy muffins my mom made for breakfast one morning. She found this recipe in a magazine, and made it healthier by using whole-wheat flour and not using any sugar. Also, the recipe uses applesauce instead of oil. I was so happy - my kids liked these muffins even without the sugar! And they kept snacking on them during the next few days.

Banana Carrot Muffins

1 1/2 C. whole wheat flour

3/4 C. sugar (optional)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 eggs, separated

1 Tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. grated orange peel

2 med. ripe bananas, mashed

1 C. shredded carrots

1/2 C. unsweetened applesauce

1/2 C. chopped nuts (optional)

In a large bowl, combine, the dry ingredients (first seven ingredients) and the nuts. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until light and lemon colored. Beat in honey and orange peel. Fold in the bananas, carrots and applesauce. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

In another small mixing bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form; fold into batter a third at a time.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 13-15 regular sized muffins

Healthy Waffles

This is actually a recipe Jen just tried that her family really liked. She said: they taste like Amy's oatmeal pancakes a little bit, and they are super healthy, especially if you put fresh fruit and a drizzle of syrup on them. I tripled the recipe and used 2 C. of store bought buttermilk (that's all I had left) and made the rest of the buttermilk with lemon juice. I added 1/4 C. total oil since I was tripling it, which is a little more than it called for (it should have been 3 Tbsp., I used 4 Tbsp.). I was worried it would stick to my waffle iron since it had so little oil. It didn't stick. I used a little less brown sugar than it called for. My whole family liked them. Oh, and I didn't use the vanilla, either. I'm sure it would be good, though.

So here's the recipe:

2 C. low-fat buttermilk

1/2 C. old fashioned oats

1 1/3 C. whole wheat flour

1/4 C. wheat germ

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 C. packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp. canola oil

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix buttermilk with oats and let stand for 15 minutes.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir eggs, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla into the oat mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened. Spray a waffle iron and cook until crisp and golden brown (or for 3 hours like she did - ha ha! They went somewhere and accidentally left the last waffle cooking for 3 hours!)

Delicious and Easy Monkey Bread

I had to put two pictures of this on just to show how juicy and yummy this turned out.

This is a different Monkey Bread than the one previously posted. But this one is just as good. It is seriously yummy. We had it at a Ward Relief Society Brunch. It was so good, I had to get the recipe. I made it on Saturday for my kids and it was a hit. Cam and kids tried the leftovers on Sunday and loved it, too. They also served a breakfast casserole that was yummy and I will be getting that recipe soon too.

The good thing about this one is that you don't have to make it the night before. Sometimes that's good, but sometimes, I forget to do stuff like that. I will still make the old one, too, because it's just as yummy--they are just different!

3 or 4 tubes refrigerator biscuits-just the small regular biscuits (3 or 4 depends on the size of your pan-there's enough sauce for either-I only used 3 tubes for my bunt pan)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup additional sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1 cup butter

1.5 cups chopped pecans or other nuts

2 tsp. cinnamon (optional-depending on what fruit if any you use)

optional fruit and jam (strawberries, blueberries, apples, raspberries, etc. etc. etc. even chocolate chips would be good)

1. Cut biscuits into quarters. Combine 3/4 cup white sugar with the cinnamon. Roll each biscuit quarter in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. (or just sugar--I left the cinnamon out of mine)

2. In a cake pan or baking dish (bunt pan is best), layer the biscuits and the pecans (and fruit and jam if you are adding this--I added a few handfuls of blueberries and blackberry jam-about half of a small jar, just in spoonfuls here and there).

3. In a saucepan, slowly bring milk, remaining 3/4 cup white sugar, brown sugar, and butter to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour over biscuits in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is cooked to your liking. Flip pan over onto a serving dish and serve right away! Voila!

I also think cream cheese, cubed and layered in would be yummy with the blueberries!

Breakfast Burritos

This isn't anything new. Just a reminder that breakfast burritos are delicious and very filling! Jon made this one, that's why it has fresh potatoes that he peeled, cubed, and fried in some shortening. When I make breakfast burritos, I usually bake a bag of frozen tater tots to make it easier. His other ingredients are scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese (and of course we always put salsa on them).

Does anyone have some other things they like to put in breakfast burritos? Leave a comment if you do! It would be fun to get some new ideas.

baby food carrot muffins (healthy!)

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

4 eggs

1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup oil

2 containers baby food carrots

1/4 cup splenda (can replace splenda with another dropperfull or so of the stevia)

2 dropperfulls liquid stevia (health food store)

1 cup raisins

Combine all ingredients and fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Check these out-- They are good for you AND they taste good. I'd say that's a win win. My two year old even loves them!

Overnight Apple French Toast

Overnight Apple French Toast

1 C. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. white corn syrup

½ C. margarine

Put ingredients into a 4 C. glass container and melt in microwave on full power for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir 2 to 3 times during cooking time. Use a hand mixer and beat until it thickens a little. Pour into a 9x13 inch pan. Cover with 4 c. peeled and sliced apples and 2 Tbsp. flour.

Mix together:

4 eggs Dash of salt

1 C. milk Dash of cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat together with hand mixer. Soak 1 inch thick slices of day old French bread in mixture and place on top of apples. Pour any remaining egg mixture over top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Next day, bake in 350° oven for 35-40 minutes until bread is a light golden brown.

Raisin Oatmeal

This may look like just your ordinary oatmeal. But it's not!!! My friend Marsha (a different Marsha than my sis) gave me this recipe. And if she can get all 7 of her kids to eat this, then I definitely needed this recipe. Warning: You may feel like you are eating an oatmeal cookie for breakfast! (But as Marsha says: "At least it's oatmeal, right?!")

Put in a microwave safe bowl:

1/4 C. softened butter

and 2 eggs, beaten

Add:

3 C. quick oats

1 tsp. salt

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 C. milk

and as many raisins as you want

Stir and cover with Saran Wrap. Cook in your microwave for 5 minutes. Stir. (It is hot, so be careful taking the saran wrap off). Cover again and cook for 4 more minutes. Serve in bowls with milk.

Even my one year old ate this. And he never eats his oatmeal.

And here's another variation for your oatmeal. This one's Camilee's. After you have cooked your oatmeal, like you normally do, and have your milk all stirred in, add small chopped fresh apples and chopped pecans. It is yummy. It gives it a sweet crispy, and crunchy nutty taste. I really like it.

Biscuits

I think these biscuits were the best biscuits I've ever had! And I didn't make them. Camilee's husband, Jason, made biscuits and gravy for us when we were visiting them a while back. I had them e-mail me the recipe:

Buttermilk Biscuits

1/2 C. cold butter
2 1/4 C. Self-rising soft-wheat flour (we used regular white flour plus added 3 1/2 tsp. baking powder, and 1 1/4 tsp. salt)
1 1/4 C. cold buttermilk (we used 1 1/4 c. milk plus 1 1/4 tbsp. vinegar mixed--let stand for 5 minutes before using)
2 Tbsp. melted butter

Cut butter into dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and resembles small peas. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding flour as needed. Press or pat dough into a 3/4 inch rectangle (about 9x5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over onto itself into 3 sections, starting with 1 short end (fold dough rectangle as if folding a paper into thirds to put into an envelope). Repeat this process 2 more times beginning with pressing the dough into a rectangle. Press dough into a 1/2 inch thickness and cut out biscuits. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.

Shredded Wheat - Fried in Butter!

Last weekend we were able to go visit my in-laws. My mother-in-law is a great cook and made us something new for breakfast that we really liked (something that her mom used to make when she was a kid) - and our kids ate it without hesitation (miracle!) It is not new to her - her mom made it for her when she was a kid.

You buy some shredded wheat - the big kind, not the bite size kind (which can be hard to find in some stores.) Warm some milk in a pan, and soak the shredded wheat in it just long enough to soak all the way to the middle. Then fry the shredded wheat in a pan with some melted butter until the outside of the shredded wheat is golden brown. The outside will be crispy, and the inside will still be wet with the milk.

To serve, put shredded wheat in your bowl, sprinkle with sugar, and top with warm milk and fresh fruit.