Cornbread Stuffing

I am not blogging as much as I once did. I am amazed at how busy my life got with another baby. I am out of the habit of taking pictures of the food I am making. And what's the point of sharing a recipe if you can't see how good it looks? I need to be better at that for my own cookbook that I have almost completed! 

I got this recipe at a cooking show I went to a few weeks ago. I am a stuffing girl and have never really liked anything other than my Grandma's stuffing recipe. But oh boy, this was dang good! I finally had to give my leftovers away so I would stop picking at it. 

Cornbread Stuffing

2 1/2 lbs Marie Calendar Cornbread mix

1 quart buttermilk

1 box Sage Stuffing mix (I used just an herb stuffing mix)

2 sweet onions

1 bunch celery

2 (12 oz) packages of sage sausage

3-4 cups of turkey or chicken broth, flavored with 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 cup butter

3 tsp sage

Salt and pepper

Prepare cornbread mix according to package directions, but substitute buttermilk for water. Cool and keep covered to contain moister. Can be prepared the day before. 

Finely chop onions an 8-10 stalks of celery. Saute in 6 tbsp of melted butter. Cook until onions are soft and celery is a faded shade of green. Drain excess butter.

In a frying pan, cook sausage and season with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 3 tsp of crushed sage. Drain excess fat. 

In a very large bowl, add onions, celery, and sausage. To that, add the cornbread and mix to combine. Add the box of stuffing mix and stir. (Don't be afraid to mix with your hands.) Add the broth, slowly until the mixture is well moistened. You want to be able to squeeze it in your hand and have it hold it shape without being mushy.) Stuff it in a turkey, heat it on a stove top, or heat it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. 

Serves 6-10 depending on how much you like stuffing:)

Rebecca Cressman

Apple Muffins

I love this season and the yummy recipes that I get to make. Anything apple or pumpkin...bring it on!!

Last week I made these Apple Muffins. They were shockingly good! Will definitely be making these ones again!

Apple Muffins

1 1/2 cups sugar (or 2 cups if you want them sweeter)
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups peeled, cored, and diced apples (about 3 apples)
1/2 cup brown sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. and line muffin pan with paper liners. Cream together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be crazy thick-so make sure you are using a wooden spoon to mix! Add the diced apples.
Fill paper liners almost to the top with the thick dough. Sprinkle each muffing with some brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes.

Makes 18-24 muffins



thegirlwhoateeverything

Banana Bread

I have a four year old that won't eat fruits or vegetables. Never has and I am pretty convinced she never will. She is a strange child because who doesn't like strawberries? That would be my child! She's never even tasted one. She ate banana's when she was a baby, but hasn't had one for a very long time now. So imagine my shock when I asked her what she wanted to help me make for our Family Home Evening treat and she responded with, "banana bread". What?! Something with a fruit? We made a delicious loaf together and she actually ate it. Despite the sugar and chocolate chips in it, I felt a little victorious. 

Banana Bread
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, slightly beaten
juice of 1/2 an orange
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix together the vanilla, eggs and orange juice in a measuring cup or small bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl until pale yellow and fluffy. Add in the egg mixture and beat until creamy. Mix in the bananas until smooth. Pour the flour in 2 batches into the batter and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake 1 hour, covering lightly with foil if the top gets too brown. Cool, remove from pan and slice. Serve dusted with confectioners sugar if desired.

Serves 8


From: Melissa d'Arabian

Mini Fruit Pizza

I made these bites of yumminess last weekend for a bridal shower and had many requests for the recipe. So light and refreshing. Perfect for any summer party!

Mini Fruit Pizzas

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp lime juice

Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp butter flavoring
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 cups cool whip


Fruit:
16 oz strawberries
6 oz blueberries
6 oz raspberries
3 kiwi

For the glaze: Combine sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Whisk together to combine. Add apple juice, water, and lime juice. Stir and heat over medium heat. Let mixture come to a  boil, stirring constantly. When thick, remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

For the cookies: Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and flavorings. Beat until well mixed. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour dry ingredients into the butter mixture and combine. Roll dough into 2 inch balls and place on sprayed cookie sheets. Press each dough ball down slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes or until tops of cookies are cracked. Allow to sit for a couple of minutes on cookie sheets before removing to racks to cool completely.

For the frosting: Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and cool whip. Mix until combined.


For the fruit: Wash and slice strawberries and peel and slice kiwi. Wash berries. 


Frost one cookie at a time, then add the fruit. If you frost all the cookies and then add the fruit, the fruit may have a hard time sticking in place. Drizzle each cookie with some glaze and refrigerate until ready to serve. Don't make these too early before you serve them because the fruit will get juicy and runny.






jamie cooks it up

Favorite French Toast

I love, love, love this recipe and would eat it everyday if it was somewhat healthy for me. We usually save this for special family weekends, but it's too good not to share!

Favorite French Toast

3 eggs 

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 loaf french bread, cut in thick slices

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Preheat skillet or griddle and spray with cooking spray. In a shallow dish, beat together eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Dip the slices of bread in egg mixture and place on the skillet to cook about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown. 

In a small saucepan, cook the butter and the brown sugar until butter is melted. Add walnuts and toss to coat with mixture. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved and the walnuts are fragrant. Stir the mixture into the ricotta cheese.
Spread some ricotta mixture on each piece of cooked french toast and serve with either powdered sugar or maple syrup.

I love to serve this with magic syrup...I will make that my next post.

Serves 4

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

We are loving these snacks at our house. My kids like them, my husband likes having them for breakfast, and I like knowing that they are eating something fairly healthy. It's cheaper than buying granola bars every week too!

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup rice krispy cereal

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp mini chocolate chips

In a large bowl, stir oats and cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey, and sugar over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir till combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. (I just press mine into one side of a cookie sheet.) Press down firmly so mixture will stick together. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool on a counter top  at room temperature for 2 hours or until chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. Store in plastic wrap or baggies. 

Makes about 8 granola bars

Lemon Chex Mix

Obviously food blogging is not on the top of my "to do" list anymore. A time and a season for everything, right? I was warned not to make this recipe cause I wouldn't be able to stop eating it. This is my new favorite treat. So yummy!

Lemon Chex Mix

9 cups rice chex cereal
1 1/4 cup white baking chips
1/4 cup butter
4 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar

Place cereal in a large bowl. Combine baking chips, butter, zest and lemon juice in a microwave bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stirring after each time until melted and mixed together. Pour over cereal and stir gently to combine. In a large paper bag (like from the grocery store), dump cereal and powdered sugar. Close bag and shake until cereal is coated well with sugar. Spread out on wax paper to dry. Eat and then hit the gym:)

Cookie Cake

Some serious chocolatey goodness!!! This was my Mother's Day dessert:)

Cookie Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup chocolate chips

Ganache topping:
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs, mix until fluffy. Add all dry ingredients at once, mixing just until wet and dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in nuts. Don't over mix. Spoon into greased 10 inch springform pan. Bake about 25-30 minutes, just until set. Remove from oven and cool for about 30 minutes.
For ganache: In a saucepan, bring whipping cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate pieces. Whisk until smooth.
Remove cake from springform pan and place on serving platter. Pour ganache over the top and let it sit for about an hour until it hardens. You may set the dessert in the fridge to speed this up. Slice into wedges and serve!


my bountiful kitchen

Potato Salad

Well, little food blog, it's been a while! We have been busy, busy, busy, and I am tying to fully enjoy this baby before she grows up like the other kids did....even though we keep telling them to stop getting bigger. Time just goes by way too fast!

I have been working on a cookbook and finally got a place that I feel caught up. Finally!!

We are so excited for warmer weather and last weekend we fired up the girl and had our first bbq of the season. I made this yummy potato salad to go with our dinner. I love this recipe because it is slightly sweet. I also like it because you can add/omit things and it still tastes great. I like adding a bit of chopped celery to it and a bit of chopped sweet pickles. Use your imagination....that's the best part of cooking!

Potato Salad


3 to 3 1/2 lbs potatoes (about 10 medium)
6 hard boiled eggs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp mustard
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Additional hard boiled eggs
Paprika for garnish

In a large pot, cook potatoes until tender. Drain and cool. Peel potatoes. Cut into chunks. Separate egg yolks from whites. Set yolks aside. Chop whites and add to potatoes and onions in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mash the yolks. Stir in mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour over potatoes and toss well. Adjust any seasonings if necessary. Garnish with additional egg slices and paprika. Chill until serving.

Serves about 12

Churro Chex Mix

We had lots of yummy things to eat and snack on over Conference weekend, but this was a favorite. It takes a couple of minutes to make and is gone in no time, so make a double batch!

Churro Chex Mix

9 cups rice chex cereal
3 cups cinnamon chips
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pour chex into a large bowl. Pour sugars and cinnamon into a separate bowl. Melt the cinnamon chips in a microwave safe bowl-heating for 1 minute, then stirring and continue to heat at 30 second intervals, stirring after each one until chips are melted. Pour over cereal and stir until well mixed. Sprinkle with 1/2 the sugar mixture and toss to coat. Spread onto a baking sheet and continue to sprinkle the remaining sugar and toss to coat until everything is evenly coated. Serve and enjoy!!




Pinterest

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

For Mom.....

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets
Parmesan cheese
Dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet. Place oil and garlic in a bowl. Mix and add cauliflower. Put into prepared pan and season with salt and pepper. Bake 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Broil 3-5 minutes until golden brown.

Chicken Nuggets

I posted this recipe a couple of years ago, but thought it deserved another shout out. I have a very picky daughter.  She has never been a good eater! She literally almost starved herself when she was born cause she couldn't be bothered to wake up and eat. Thus began the food battle with her. She will not touch any vegetable or fruit. If there is even a speck of either on her plate, she will not eat the carbs or meat she has agreed to try. We can usually trick her into eating her meat by letting her pretend to be a dinosaur at the dinner table, otherwise,she is strictly a carbs and junk food girl! Tonight we are having a delicious veggie soup for dinner. My daughter will get these homemade chicken nuggets. My kids love chicken nuggets and I love these because I know how they were made. I'm not a huge fan of the processed stuff. So this post is for you, Tess. I hope someday you at least taste a strawberry:)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

1 cup or so of seasoned breadcrumbs
5 or so tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Splash of water
2-3 tbsp of butter, melted
1-2 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a shallow dish, whisk together egg and water. In a separate dish combine breadcrumbs and cheese. Place chicken in egg wash and coat chicken pieces, then coat in breadcrumbs, turning chicken to make sure it is covered. Place prepared chicken on greased baking sheet and drizzle each piece with some melted butter.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes depending on how large or small your chicken pieces are. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. (These freeze really well too!)

Spicy Peanut Noodles

It has been so nice to be back in the kitchen cooking, although doing it some evenings with a screaming newborn is less than fun. On Monday we had some fake out Chinese food to celebrate a belated Chinese New Year. I tried this new recipe and we loved it! It's more Thai foodish, but still delicious.

Spicy Peanut Noodles
another day in paradise

3 tbsp peanut butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp honey
3 cloves mined garlic
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
8 oz spaghetti noodles
shaved carrots
chopped cilantro
chopped peanuts

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles and put them in a serving bowl. In the meantime, in a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, hot sauce, and broth. Mix until peanut butter is melted and things are well combined. Add peanut sauce to drained noodled and mix well. Garnish with carrots, cilantro, and peanuts.

Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

Despite the 20 pounds of baby weight I have to lose, I made a cake this week. I just needed to bake something, and something good. I love this cake! It is gooey and rich. A perfect dessert to help me get back into the kitchen.

Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

Crust: 
1 box yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
Filling:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 box (16oz) confectioners sugar
plus more for dusting

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, egg, and melted butter. Mix well until dry ingredients are moistened. Pat lightly into prepared pan, covering bottom and sides.
In another large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. Beat in melted butter until well blended. On low speed, gradually add in sugar. Beat until smooth.
Spread cream cheese mixture over crust in pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until sides are set and center is still jiggly. Remove from oven and cool completely. Sprinkle more confectioners sugar over cake and cut into squares.

Serves up to 20

New Addition!

I am missing my little food blog, but I have had a good reason to neglect it. This sweet little girl joined our family January 3rd and life has been anything but routine since. She is doing really well and I am slowly recovering from the surgery. It is weird to be a mother of 3, but I wouldn't have it any other way!! I am hoping as I get life figured out with a newborn, I can at least get something blogged once a week. We'll see what happens though....

~Gwen~