Buttermilk syrup

Sorry I've been bad with pictures lately.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

In saucepan bring butter, sugar, and buttermilk to a boil. Take off heat and add soda and vanilla, stir. That's it! It will be foamy, that's what my A loves about it!

Peanut butter cookies

1/2 cup butter or Margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix peanut butter, butter, and sugars, beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix. Add dry ingredients, mix until combine. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, 12 was perfect for me but every oven is different. Cool 1 minute before removing to wire rack.

Super super yummy!

Alfredo mix

1 cup instant nonfat dry milk
2 tsp Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup dried minced onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all together in a zip-loc bag, I use a canning jar, and shake to combine. When ready to use, melt 2 TBS butter in pan, add 1/4 cup of milk, and 1/4 cup of mix. Toss with your pasta. Really easy.

Blueberry banana muffins

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used milk)
1 tsp vanilla
3 mashed bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour (divided)
1 cup frozen blueberries

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and bananas. Stir until combined. Add 1 3/4 cup flour, soda, salt, and powder. Mix until combined. Fill small bowl with blueberries (do not thaw) coat with reserved 1/4 cup flour. Fold in to batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Super yummy! We made these as a distraction after A got her finger shut in a door. But as we were making them B dropped a pitcher of Kool-aide out of the fridge and got it everywhere! And broke my only pitcher. What a night! But A ate about 5 of these that night!

Saucy little meatloaves

 This is a big favorite with the hubby. :)
Meatloaves
1 lb lean ground beef
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup milk
Topping
3/4 cup ketchup
1 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS mustard

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and form in to small loaves. Place on to cookie sheet, word of caution, I would not use the dark non-stick pans, they don't work well with this recipe. And I would spray the pan first. Mix topping ingredients and top loaves with it. Bake for 40 minutes.

I served these with dill carrots, mashed potatoes, and quick rolls.

Dill carrots

1 lb carrots (baby or regular chopped in to bite sized pieces.)
1 TBS butter
1/4 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper

Bring 3/4 cup water to boil. Add carrots, cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain water off of carrots and return to the pan. Add remaining ingredients, stir until butter melts.

Sour cream enchilada's

This is a super easy dinner! I didn't even add cheese this time, and they turned out great. The hubby LOVED them!
1 lb cooked shredded chicken
1 batch cream of chicken soup (or a can)
1 16oz container sour cream
1 cup frozen corn (you don't have to add this, but I like to sneak veggies in when I can.)
6-8 flour tortillas depending on how full you want them.
Shredded cheddar cheese (if you want)

Make you soup, then add the sour cream. Put chicken and corn in a bowl and add about 1-2 cups of your sauce, mix. Fill tortilla's with chicken mixture, fill as full or thin as you'd like. Put a little of your reserved sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Place rolled up tortilla's in pan. Pour the rest of your sauce on top. Top with cheese if you'd like. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Cream of chicken soup

This recipe works great for anything that calls for cream of chicken soup. I wouldn't eat it as soup itself but it's great for baking!
1 cup dry milk
1 TBS dry onion
2 TBS cornstarch
1 chicken bullion cube
2 cups cold water
Combine dry ingredients in a pan. Add the water and stir until comes to a boil. Cook until you reach your desired thickness.
Yup that's it! Easy peasy!

Cheesy, creamy, veggie soup

 This is another favorite of ours! You can lessen the amount of veggies if you'd like, we I like tons of veggies in my soups and stews!
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped or grated carrots
3 stalks celery finely chopped
2 TBS butter
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 cups chicken broth (I use 4 cups boiling water and add 4 cubes chicken boullions.)
4 potatoes chopped into bite size pieces (peel if you like, I like the skins:))
1 cup milk
3 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Saute onions, carrots, and celery in butter until onions are almost clear. Add garlic, saute for a few more minutes. Add chicken broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil and boil until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. Mix 1 TBS flour with 1/2 cup water add to soup. Simmer soup until it starts to thicken, 5-10 min. Add milk and broccoli. Boil until broccoli is tender, 10-15 minutes. Stir in cheese and heat until cheese melts.

We served these in bread bowls. I just made this bread recipe but took one of the 2 loaves and seperated it into 4 "rolls" allow to rise and bake for 20 minutes. Hollow out the middle and serve the soup inside!

Honey wheat bread

I make all of our breads in our house, and this is the best wheat bread recipe I have found. We all love it! It's not 100% whole wheat so it's not as "healthy" as some others but I think it tastes better!
1/3 cup honey
2 packets (4 1/2 tsp) yeast
3 cups warm water
5 cups bread flour
1 TBS salt
3 TBS melted butter
1/3 cup honey
3-4 cups whole wheat flour
Mix 1/3 cup honey, yeast, and water together. Then mix in bread flour. Let sit and rise until big and bubbly (about 20-30 minutes). Add salt, butter, and 1/3 cup honey, mix until combined. Add in wheat flour a cup at a time, I start kneading after 3 cups and add more as needed to make it not sticky. You want it to just start pulling away from the counter, so still a bit sticky. The less flour you use the lighter and fluffier the bread will be. Spray bowl with non-stick spray and cover. Let rise until double, about and hour. Punch dough down and form in to 3 loaves, place in sprayed loaf pans. Cover and let rise another 40-60 minutes, or until bread is about an inch above the pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Spread tops with butter when they come out to keep them from getting crusty. This bread is so yummy right out of the oven!

Guacamole

I got this yummy recipe from here. It was so good!
2 ripe Avocados, peeled and pitted
juice of 1 Lime
1/4 Cup minced Red Onion
2 Tablespoons minced Cilantro
1 small clove Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt or 1/2 teaspoon Table Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon minced Jalapeño
Directions:
Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Remove the avocado from the skin by scooping it out with a spoon. Place the avocado in a bowl and mash it gently with a fork.  I stuck the rest of the ingredients in my ninja and chopped them up small and then mixed it in the avacado.
This was a big hit at the birthday party I took it to. I doubled it and it was gone very quickly!

Chicken bites with apricot sauce

Friday nights we have night "in" to eat. We pick something that we would normally get if we went out to eat and make it at home i.e. hamburgers, pizza, chicken "nuggets". This last week we had these yummy chicken bites. And the sauce is wonderful! We don't really like apricot jam but when you add some mustard it's wonderful!
1 cup buttermilk divided (I used milk because I didn't have buttermilk)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in to 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup flour
1 cup crushed corn flakes
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons mustard
Pour 1/2 cup buttermilk into a large resealable bag; add the chicken. Seal and turn to coat. Place flour in another bag. In a third bag, combine the cornflakes, onion powder, garlic salt, salt, oregano, and pepper. In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs and remaining buttermilk. Drain the chicken; add to the flour bag and shake to coat. Coat with egg mixture, then add the cornflake mixture and shake to coat. Arrange chicken in a greased cookie sheet or 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. In a small bowl mix preserves and mustard, serve with chicken.

Corn chip

 I have a big bag of corn tortillas that I bought at Sam's club awhile ago, so when we had taco's the other night I decided to make some chips to go along with it. I just cut the tortilla's in 6 triangles each. Heat oil to 375 degrees F. Add tortilla's a few at a time and cook for about 1 minute. They were nice and crunchy.

Garlic basil pasta

 I love making homemade pasta, especially with my Ninja and my new pasta press! I love to try out new spices and things in it.
Basic pasta recipe
2 1/2 cups flour (white or wheat)
3 eggs
Put flour in a bowl and make a "well" in the center. Add eggs and mix with fork until all incorporated. Add cold water 1 TBLS at a time if needed to make a non-sticky dough. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Let dough rest for 10 minutes covered in a damp cloth. Cut dough ball in to fourths, this is where my pasta press comes in handy. :) Roll each dough out to however thick you like your noodles. Let dry for at least 15 minutes. Cut in to desired width and length. When ready to use boil noddles for 3-4 minutes.
For my garlic basil pasta I used my Ninja, to chop up 3 garlic cloves and 7-8 leaves fresh basil (you can use dried, use as much as you think you want). I just added them in with about 1 cup of my flour, and chop them up very fine. You can use a knife for this just get them chopped really fine so you don't bite in to a big chunk of garlic! Then I added my flour mixture to the rest of the flour and continued as directed.

 These noodles turned out really nice. We all really liked them! They weren't too strong, and had just the right amount of seasoning.

Whole wheat blueberry muffins

 This recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens cook book. It calls for white flour but I decided to try it with wheat, and they turned out great.

 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or wheat)
1/3 cup white sugar (I use brown sugar when using wheat flour)
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease or line 12 muffin cups. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, powder, and salt. IN a seperate bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix just until moist. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Top with Streusel topping if desired. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Streusel topping
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter
Combine first 2 then cut in butter.

Beef Nacho Casserole

 This is a nice quick easy dinner idea. My kiddos helped me out tonight, it's a nice easy one for them to get their hands in. They even ate a bunch tonight! A had 2 helpings! That NEVER happens!
1 lb ground beef
1 cup sweet corn(frozen or canned)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
12 oz salsa
3/4 cup miracle whip
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown beef, drain. Stir in salsa, corn, miracle whip, and chili powder. Layer 1/2 of meat mixture in 9x13 pan. Cover with 1/2 of the crushed chips, then 1/2 of the cheese. Add rest of meat, then top with chips and cheese again. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with lettuce and tomatoes.

Super Brownies

This is my all-time favorite brownie recipe! I grew up on it. The top is crunchy while the inside is nice and chewy.
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs 1 at a time and beat until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan at 350 degrees F for 30 min.

Doughnuts

 My family LOVES homemade donuts. So the other day when I was asked to bring a dessert for a family dinner my husband asked for these. As I started making them Sunday afternoon, I realized I was out of white flour! Oh no! So I just used wheat flour hopeing that they would taste alright. And they tasted fine. Everyone liked them. I don't have an actual donut shaped cutter so I just used a heart cookie cutter. They turned out great.

Weiner Beaner loaf

 This is a favorite in our family! This night I did store bought stuff...
1 loaf french bread
1 can baked beans
1 package hot dogs
Grated cheddar cheese
Hollow out french bread, fill with beans. Tops with hot dogs sliced length wise, top with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes in 400 degrees F.
Enjoy! It sounds gross, and doesn't look great, but it's a good one, kids especially like it. :)

Enchilada's

Tonight we had enchilada's from the freezer. :) When I make a meal like enchiladas, lasagna, or teriyaki chicken the recipe is usually too much for our little family of 4 so I split it in half and freeze half of it. It makes it nice to have a stock in the freezer for a busy week or a week when we don't have as much money for groceries.

Enchilada's
1 small can tomato paste (I haven't figured out how to make this yet....)
2 cups water
Enchilada sauce mix ( I use 2 heaping tsp for ours)
Tortillas (haven't found a good way to make these yet either....We buy a big pack of 30 from Sam's club)
Ground beef, pork, or turkey (I do about a pound and it makes enough for 2 meals for us.)
Beans (if you like, I didn't have any on hand this time but usually like them as a filler.)
Corn (also if you like, I enjoy it again as a filler, and extra veggies to sneak in to the hubs.)
Cheese of your choice (we usually use chedder because we always have it!)

Mix tomato paste, water and mix in pan and simmer for 10 min. This is enough sauce for 1 batch of enchilada's at our house. I do not freeze the sauce with my enchilada's, I find that it makes the tortilla's too soggy. While that simmers fill tortillas with meat, beans, corn, and cheese. You can add sauce in as well if you like, but my kids prefer just cheese and sometimes beans. Wrap up burrito style. Pour a little sauce into bottom of 9x13 pan. Place as many "burritos" as you need in pan, I usually get 10 or more from 1 pound of meat, if I add beans and corn then I can get more. Pour the rest of your sauce over the "burritos" and top with chesse. Bake in 350 degree F oven until cheese is melted, about 20 minutes or so. Enjoy! We ate ours with our home canned dilly beans.

Enchilada sauce mix

Taken from COOKS.com
Enchilada sauce mix
1 tsp salt
1tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp oregano
2 tsp minced onion
1 tsp dried chili pepper ( I leave this out)
1 tsp corn meal
1/2 tsp minced garlic (I use powdered)
1 tsp paprika

Mix all ingredients together. Store in air tight container, I use and empty canning jar. When a recipe calls for enchilada powder use as much as you like.

Quick rolls

This is the roll recipe I use when I've forgotten to start the rolls until later. They take about and hour and a half.

Quick Rolls
2 1/4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 cup sugar or honey
2 1/2 Tbsp. oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
6 cups flour

Mix water and sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top. Cover with cloth and let set 5 minutes. Add oil, salt, and 5 cups flour. Mix and knead 10 minutes. Use last cup of flour as needed. Let rise 1/2 and hour, keeping in a warm place. Punch down and make rolls they tend to be a bit sticky, I spray my hands with Pam frequently to keep them from sticking to my hands too much. Let rise another 1/2 an hour. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes.

Mashed potatoes

Mashed Potatoes
A potato for each person
2TBLS butter for each potato (less or more depending on preference)
Cream cheese
milk
Garlic (powdered or fresh depending on preference)
Salt and Pepper

Chop potatoes into smaller pieces, place in pan and add enough water to cover them. Can add salt if desired now. Boil 15 min, or until soft. Place butter, garlic, and cream cheese in bowl, add hot potatoes and mash. Add enough milk to desired consistency. Season with Salt and pepper.

Pork steaks

New years day I pulled some steaks out that I had thought were beef and seasoned them and started frying them and they turned white! PORK! Oops.... But they turned out fabulous! They were SO easy too! I just seasoned them with seasoning salt and fried them in a pan with a little oil. My whole family LOVED them, even my 2 picky eaters. The hubby couldn't stop saying how much he liked them and they were the best steaks I'd ever made. I paired them with mashed potatoes, homemade quick rolls, and mixed veggies. With a banana cake for dessert.

New year

I've been thinking on this for awhile now and decided to just start it. I am trying this year to do as many of our meals from scratch as I can. I am tired of all the "crap" in processed foods. They aren't good for us and end up making food taste different. My family prefers my homemade, as do I. I will try to post our meal from that night with recipes and hopefully pictures.... This is mostly for me to have so I can check myself and make sure I'm doing and so at the end of the year I can print it off into a cook book for our family with the meals that we liked. So here I go!