Homemade Waffles

I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning out Anna and David’s room, sorting toys and filling 5 trash bags with stuffed animals, toys, and books to give away, and 3 bags of trash and broken toys to throw away! I was glad that I had planned a simple dinner to follow all that effort!

My experience with homemade waffles actually started very recently. We traveled to Austin last December for our nephew’s wedding, and the hotel that we stayed in over the weekend served a wonderful full and free breakfast for its guests. Now I never make it downstairs for these breakfasts, partly because I sleep as late as I can, and partly because I move slowly in the mornings, taking my time showering and dressing for the day. Jeff, on the other hand, is quite the early bird, and got up and organized the troops to head down to retrieve breakfast, which they brought back to the room to eat, bringing me assorted samplings of what was available.

Tommy had discovered a waffle iron and batter all set up for cooking, and he managed to figure out how to cook them himself – impressive for a 14 year old boy with no experience. I must interject here the sad fact that I had never bought or eaten anything but frozen waffles in my entire life – not once had I experienced a homemade waffle, in any restaurant, growing up at home, or since being married. So, anyway, Tommy made one for himself, and he made one for me that morning. I was an instant convert! This waffle was huge, and fluffy, and warm, and delicious. Tommy loved his too, and announced that weekend that he was going to buy me a waffle iron for Christmas, with no complaint from me!

Christmas came around and not only did I get a nice waffle iron from my boys, but I also came home with a smaller one from the white elephant gift exchange that my family does each year (something we all look forward to, with plenty of jokes and laughing, which is worthy of a separate post sometime). Anyway, I was all equipped and ready to start churning out waffles for my family.

So the week after Christmas, I tried out my new waffle irons. I used a box mix and proceeded to learn the fine art of waffle making. It was truly a learning experience! It took me a few batches to figure out the best amount of batter to put on the iron, and how long to let them cook, but they turned out quite edible, and we enjoyed the meal.

This week I added them to the menu again for last night’s dinner, and decided to make them from scratch rather than a mix. I went online (of course!) and found a simple recipe rather quickly. The recipe I used was from Granny’s Kitchen, which I followed exactly except that I doubled it and added some vanilla, which I think adds a wonderful flavor (I use vanilla in my pancakes, too!). The recipe at the site is for pancakes and waffles, so if you’re wanting pancakes instead, you might pop over to Granny’s blog and read the original recipe. She basically used a pancake recipe, and tweaked it a bit for waffles. I am sharing only the waffle recipe here.

Anyway, these waffles turned out beautifully, and were so delicious! Everyone loved the flavor and we were all completely stuffed when we finished dinner. The recipe was very simple, using ingredients that I (and you too!) always have in my pantry. I took the above picture while I was cooking them, but forgot to take a picture of the full plate of cooked waffles! (well, my brain was a bit weary by then!) So I almost put this post off until the next time I baked waffles. When I just happened to mention that to Sarah, who was sitting nearby when I pulled out the laptop, she said “I took pictures of them.” Really??? So, I uploaded them from her camera, and now you can at least see how they turned out! Well, Sarah’s plate anyway -

Golden, buttery, sweet and delicious. I ate two of these fluffy delights and was totally stuffed for the evening. So, without further ado, the recipe ~

Homemade Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
4 tablespoons cooking oil
(2 tablespoons vanilla, if desired)

In a large bowl whisk together the egg, oil and milk. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until well moistened. (If overmixed, finished product will be tough.)

Follow manufacturer’s directions for heating your waffle iron. Spray grids with cooking spray and then fill with a little more than 1/3 cup but less than 1/2 cup of batter (experiment to see what amount works best in your waffle iron). Lift lid of waffle iron and check brownness after about 3 minutes; let waffles continue to cook until desired brownness. Yields 6 waffle squares.

Leftover waffles (we didn’t have any!) can be frozen when cool, by popping them in a freezer bag. Toast them as you would a store-bought frozen waffle…but they will taste so much better!

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Pork Chops on Orange Rice

A few years back I mentioned in my Daybook that we were having these pork chops for dinner, and ended up sharing the recipe in the comments section. Last week, while making this for our dinner I decided to take some pictures and write up a full post on it. The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (you know the one – red and white plaid!) that I bought when we were first married. It is a simple recipe and very delicious. We love the flavor of the orange rice in this dish and how well it complements the pork chops. The ingredients listed below are for a single recipe which should serve 4-6 people. I usually double the recipe for our family, so you will notice more food in the pictures than the recipe calls for. Here we go ~

Ingredients:

6 pork chops, 3/4 inch thick
1 1/3 cups Minute Rice (uncooked)
1 cup orange juice
1 can Chicken with Rice soup
Salt and pepper to season

In skillet, brown pork chops on both sides; season with salt and pepper -

Place rice in 13 x 9 baking dish -

Pour orange juice over rice -

Arrange pork chops on rice -

Pour chicken with rice soup over all -

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 more minutes -

Delicious!

Okay, confession time – we love the orange rice. . . we love the orange rice so much that instead of doubling, I now triple the rice ingredients in this recipe. This gives everyone a nice pile of rice with their pork chop. Feel free to do the same for your family. They’ll thank you for it – believe me, they will.

Oh, and it simply must be served every time with applesauce around here. On days when I am cooking this, my kids can be heard around the house quoting Peter Brady from the old 1970′s Brady Bunch show saying “Were having pork chops. . . and . . . applesauce” (spoken through their teeth). If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. If not, well just ignore this paragraph. Except for the part about serving this dish with applesauce – it really is good.

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Anna’s Snickerdoodles

Anna is working on the cookie baking badge for her Keepers of the Faith club. She needs to bake 6 different types of cookies to earn the badge. She has already made Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies for us and now has added Snickerdoodles to her list. We got the recipe from this book ~

This is a wonderful cookbook that I found at Half Price Books a few years back, and which Jeff bought me for a Christmas present. Many great recipes from everyday cooks around the country! This recipe is credited to Michelle Goddard of Memorial Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Anna almost didn’t get to make these the other night when I realized that I had no cream of tartar, called for in the recipe. I decided to just go ahead and let her try them without it and see how they turned out. I am happy to report that they were just fine, delicious in fact! And Anna was quite proud of herself as she served them to the family. Here is the recipe ~

Snickerdoodles

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Additional sugar and cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cream the shortening, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract. shape into balls the size of walnuts. Roll each ball in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes; watch carefully so they don’t burn. Makes 5 dozen cookies.

This was a good learning recipe for Anna, and she had a great time with it!

Blessings,
Nancy

Dirt Cups

Our desserts for Nature Day were these delicious Dirt Cups. I came across this cute dessert idea a number of years ago – not quite sure where – maybe another magazine ad, or maybe on a Jell-O pudding box, or maybe we had them at VBS one year. I do know that not too long ago you could actually buy a box with all of the ingredients included to make these dirt cups. I didn’t see any of these prepackaged at my store, so I just put them together myself. All you need to create these is 4 ingredients:

- 1 Package of Instant Chocolate Pudding
- Milk
- Oreo Cookies
- Gummy Worms

Here’s what you do ~

1. Mix the pudding mix and milk together according to package directions. Spoon into individual cups. This is your mud!

2. Stick one end of gummy worms into pudding, leaving the other end hanging out.

3. Crush Oreo cookies. We put them in a large Ziploc bag and crushed them with my heavy wooden rolling pin. Sprinkle cookies on top of pudding. This is your dirt!

And you’re done! I made mine about an hour ahead and stored them in the refrigerator until we were ready for them, but you can certainly eat them right away if you like. This is a fun dessert for the kiddos, and the adults, too – as long as you don’t get creeped out eating the worms!

Blessings,
Nancy

Pigs in a Blanket

Here is a great idea for a fun summer meal. I have been making these for years – I’m not sure where I got my original recipe, maybe an ad in a magazine, but I’ve noticed that they sometimes have a recipe for these “Pigs” on the Crescent Roll package these days. It’s basically a hot dog stuffed with mustard and cheese, wrapped in a crescent roll, and baked until yummy! You can leave the mustard and/or the cheese out if you like – I made mine minus the mustard for years, because a certain child wouldn’t touch them otherwise (you know who you are), but am back to adding the mustard now, as that child isn’t living and dining at home anymore and is free to make his pigs anyway he wants to.

Here are the ingredients I use ~

I usually have beef hot dogs on hand, so I’m wondering if maybe I should change the name to “Cows in a Blanket” around our house?? If you buy the normal size hot dogs, you will need one tube of crescent rolls per package, but if you buy the bun-length dogs like I have in the picture, you can cut them in half, use two tubes of crescents and have double the pigs for not double the money!

The first thing you want to do is slit the hot dogs lengthwise, so that your cheese will have a pocket to fit into. Don’t cut all the way to the bottom side of the dogs! Just make a nice pocket -

Squirt a small dollop of mustard into the middle of each pocket, then use a knife to spread it along the inside length of the dog. Cut or tear your cheese slices into fourths (4 long strips) and insert one or two into each hot dog ~

At this point, if you’re using the long hot dogs, go ahead and cut them in half ~

Wrap each piggie in a crescent roll blanket – one crescent triangle per dog…or pig…or cow (this is getting to be a regular zoo!) ~

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until rolls are cooked and golden. You can brush them with egg white before baking for a shiny surface, or brush them with melted butter after baking for buttery shine – or you can leave them alone and just enjoy them plain like we did! I’m thinking that one could get really creative with this recipe and add all kinds of items – relish, onions, or maybe try it with barbecue sauce instead of the mustard. I may have to try that one next time. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Nancy

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

Here is the recipe my daughter Sarah used to make the chicken fingers the night she cooked dinner for the family. It is straight off a box of Bisquick – well, straight except for the fact that we doubled the recipe on the box for our family. It is very simple to make and tastes amazingly wonderful! The recipe I am giving here is the original recipe – you can double it like we did if you need or want to.

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb.), cut crosswise into 1/2 inch strips (or you could use precut chicken tenders)
2/3 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt or garlic salt (we used garlic salt)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. In 1 gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix Bisquick mix, cheese, salt and paprika (we just mixed these together on a plate).

Dip half the chicken strips into egg; place in bag. Seal bag; shake to coat (or coat the egg dipped chicken with the Bisquick mixture on the plate). Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken. Drizzle butter over chicken.

Bake 12-14 minutes, turning halfway through bake time, until no longer pink in center.
Makes 4 servings.

So, there you have it – finally – at least I did tell you that you could find it on the Bisquick box if you just couldn’t wait, didn’t I? I waited so long to post this, that I think it may be time to make this again. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Nancy

Crunchy Onion Potato Bake

I got this recipe from the 2010 Betty Crocker “Let’s Bake a Moment” calendar. They are super easy to make and amazingly delicious. The recipe calls for adding a can of corn to the potatoes, which I left out – I thought these potatoes could stand on their own – and they did! I can see how the corn might add some texture, although the French-fried onions do this nicely too, so maybe I’ll try it with the corn added sometime. These potatoes would be especially good with steak or roast beef, and a tossed salad on the side. Here is the recipe ~

Crunchy Onion Potato Bake

2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup butter
1 box (7.2 oz.) Betty Crocker homestyle creamy butter or roasted garlic mashed potatoes
1 can (15.25 oz.) Green Giant whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz.)
1 can (2.8 oz.) French-fried onions

~ Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 x 9 inch (3 qt.) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 3 qt. saucepan, heat milk, water, and butter to boiling. Stir in contents of both pouches of potatoes (from potatoes box) just until moistened; let stand 1 minute. Stir with fork until smooth. Stir in corn.

~ Spoon half of potato mixture into dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 each of the cheese and onions. Top with remaining potatoes; sprinkle with remaining cheese and onions.

~ Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and onions are golden.

If you prefer, add sour cream and chives for even more flavor. Maybe even some bacon or different types of cheeses – oh, the possibilities . . .

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Chicken Tetrazzini

This is a delicious, warm, comfort casserole for those chilly winter nights. I make this year round, but it is especially good at this time of year. I have been making Chicken Tetrazzini for my entire married life, but a few years back my brother-in-law and sister-in-law brought this to us for dinner (I think after David was born) and it was so creamy and wonderful I asked them for the recipe. It turns out that the recipe came from Southern Living magazine, and it is the recipe that I have used for Chicken Tetrazzini ever since. It is simple, easy and did I mention delicious?

Chicken Tetrazzini

1 (16 oz.) package vermicelli (I just use regular spaghetti)
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of celery soup
1 (8 oz.) container sour cream
1 (6 oz.) jar sliced mushrooms, drained (I leave these out)
1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese (I think I usually use a bit more) – this is not the grated cheese in the jar, but the shredded found in bags in the cheese section of the grocery store.
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese

- Cook vermicelli according to package directions; drain. Return to pot and toss with chicken broth.

- Stir together chicken and next 8 ingredients, add vermicelli, and toss well. Spoon mixture into 2 lightly greased 11 x 7 inch baking dishes (I use one 13 x 9 dish). Sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese.

- Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Makes 12 servings.

This casserole is great with a tossed salad, rolls and something chocolatey for dessert. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Nancy

Warm Caramel Apple Cake

This is a recipe that is in the Betty Crocker 2010 calendar for the month of September. It looked so yummy I had to try it. It did turn out to be quite yummy, and a wondeful addition to my Fall dessert recipe file.

I only took a few pictures of this one, after it was already baked and ready to eat, so I’ll just give you the recipe and then tack the pictures on at the end.

Warm Caramel Apple Cake

Cake Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 large cooking apples – peeled, cored and thinly sliced (about 2 1/3 cups)
1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice

Topping Ingredients
2/3 cup Betty Crocker Whipped fluffy white frosting (from 12 oz. container)
1/2 cup frozen (thawed) whipped topping
Caramel topping, if desired

Baking Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In 1 qt. heavy saucepan, cook butter, whipping cream and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 13 x 9 inch pan. Sprinkle with pecans; top with sliced apples.

2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and apple pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Carefully spoon batter over apple mixture.

3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan. Place heatproof serving platter upside down on pan; carefully turn platter and pan over. Let pan remain over cake about 1 minute so caramel can drizzle over cake. Remove pan.

4. In small bowl, mix frosting and whipped topping. Serve warm cake topped with frosting mixture and drizzled with caramel topping.

I did not use the white frosting in my topping, but rather I used the remaining whipping cream in the carton and whipped up some homemade whipped cream to serve on top. We also did not drizzle caramel topping on ours, but it would be extra delicious with it, I’m sure.

Blessings,
Nancy

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

Back in May we purchased an electric grain mill and a Bosch mixer and I started making homemade whole wheat bread for my family. I did a bit of research and was amazed to find that wheat flour goes rancid quickly after it is milled and therefore, the wheat flour on the shelf at the grocery store is already rancid when you buy it. Milling my own grain at home when I am ready to use it gives me fresh, healthy flour, full of the nutrients that our bodies need. I also researched grain mills and mixers and felt confident that the Nutrimill and Bosch mixers were the best choice for my needs.

The recipe that I have been using to make our bread comes from the Joyful Living website. We purchased our appliances from them, as well as our grain and a number of the ingredients for making the bread. It is a simple recipe that has turned out well for me. I set everything out on the counter before I start so it is handy when I need it. Wait a minute! What’s that chocolate frosting doing there? I must have been baking a cake the day I took these pictures – just pretend you don’t see that! -

I start with grain – this is Prairie Gold Hard White Spring Wheat (which you don’t see in the above picture because it is in a huge tub on the floor!) -

I grind about 8-10 cups of wheat berries in the Nutrimill -

It turns out soft and fine – about 12-15 cups of fresh whole wheat flour -

Here are the rest of the ingredients in the recipe (minus the chocolate frosting) -

Into the mixer (with kneading arm installed) I put -

5 1/2 cups warm water (140 degrees)
2/3 cup oil (I use Safflower oil)
2/3 cup honey (we get ours straight from the beekeeper)
2 Tablespoons sea salt

I mix these together very briefly (a few seconds) -

I then add 5 cups of fresh flour and mix again briefly -

I then add -

2 Tablespoons Instant yeast
2 Tablespoons Dough Enhancer (optional)
About 5 more cups of flour

I turn on the Bosch at a low speed and while it’s running, I continue adding flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl -

I then knead the dough in the mixer on low for about 6 minutes – that’s all it takes to get it thoroughly kneaded. I oil my hands and form 5-6 loaves, placing them in oiled loaf pans as I finish each one -

I let the dough rise once in the pans until doubled in size -

Then I bake the bread at 350 degrees until a hollow sound is heard when thumped (at least 30 minutes) -

I like to brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter right when it comes out of the oven -

I am still in the learning process of bread making, and am not an expert by any means. My first try using this system resulted in flat topped loaves – I think that I let it rise too long and it fell. I hope to improve my skills as I go along. Kristy Bell has some wonderful variations for this recipe on her Joyful Living site – pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, herb bread, sticky rolls. I fully intend to make use of these in the near future.

Another great website to learn about bread-making that I like is The Urban Homemaker. Marilyn has a great recipe there for homemade bread, and she also has the instructions for kneading it by hand if you don’t have the big mixer.

I used to make our bread using a bread machine, and I did like how it turned out, but I could only make one loaf at a time with it, and my family could (and would) eat that loaf up in one meal. Now I can make 5-6 loaves at a time and freeze some to pull out as we need it. I don’t need to bake it as often this way.

There’s not much to rival the smell of homemade bread baking in the oven – except maybe eating the homemade bread, spread with butter, fresh out of the oven!

Blessings,
Nancy