Italian Bread

I love making homemade bread. I always make my dough in my bread maker first, then bake it in the oven. The  recipe  I found on Food.com was so easy! It is now my go to Italian bread recipe. The only thing I might do differently next time, is add a bit more salt.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup water, warmed
2. 2 tablespoons olive oil
3. 2 teaspoons sugar
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
5. 3 cups all-purpose flour
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt
7. 1 whole egg whites
8. 2 tablespoons cornmeal  (I didn't use)

Directions:

1. Add into bread machine container, warmed water, olive oil, sugar, yeast. Let yeast foam a bit.
2. Dump in flour (start with 2 1/2 cups); add salt on top of flour.
3. Turn on bread machine to dough setting. Watch for the first bit and add flour as needed to get a good dough. (elastic and not sticky).
4. Get cookie sheet ready by lightly oiling with olive oil and sprinkle on cornmeal.
5. Form dough into loaf and set on cookie sheet with tea towel to cover until doubled in size.
6. Preheat oven to 375*F.
7. Cut slits diagonally in loaf with sharp knife. Brush with egg white.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and when you knock the bottom of bread it sounds hollow.

Original recipe found over at Food.com. 

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Edited to add-"Confession...I hate taking food pictures in the fall/winter. It gets dark as early as 4pm, and I have a hard time getting a decent pic in unnatural lighting. Also, I like to eat my dinner when it's HOT! If I'm trying to capture a dinner pic, I usually snap it real fast, ,then EAT! Solution to crummy pics? Play with fun editing tools. Result? Antique taquitos...." Now back to my original post!:

These were amazing! I found the recipe on Pinterest which let me to the Pennies on a Platter blog(Check it out!). I love that these taquitos are baked and not fried! They are easy to make. We all loved them! Give them a try and enjoy!

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (juice from half a lime)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro(I did not use cilantro)
2 Tbsp sliced green onions
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican flavored cheese
small flour or corn tortillas(I used flour)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 425˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, ground cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic. Once combined, stir in the cilantro and green onions. Add the chicken and cheese; mix thoroughly.
(If you decided to prep this in advance, refrigerate the mixture at this point until ready to continue.)

Working with a few tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave between two paper towels until they are soft enough to roll (about 20 – 30 seconds).

Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the lower third of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can.

Place the rolled tortilla seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas until the mixture is gone.  Make sure the taquitos are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt.(I didn't sprinkle with salt)

 Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.
Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

Thank you Pennies on a Platter!

Ice Cream Cake

My daughter loves ice cream cake, so for her birthday this year, I decided to make her one. I found a really easy recipe, that ANYONE can make. It doesn't involve melting any ice cream first, because you use ice cream sandwiches. The cake was so good and my daughter LOVED it! Thank you Jamielyn from I (Heart) Naptime!
Ice cream sandwiches(about 10ish)
Tub of whipped topping(Cool Whip)
1/2 jar of chocolate fudge
1/2 jar if caramel sauce
Your favorite candies chopped up. We used Twix and Milky Way

Lay  the sandwiches in a 9X13 pan. Then spread a layer of caramel and fudge. Sprinkle candy for the next layer. Cover with whipped topping and drizzle with more fudge, caramel and candy. Put cake in freezer for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate!

 Are you on Pinterest yet? Well you should be! There are so many amazing things on there like this recipe I am going to share with you. The recipe is the "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n' Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar" by Amanda over at KevinAndAmanda.com. This bar cookie is packed with as much yumminess as the title would lead you to believe. 

Edited to add-I just typed out this whole blog post and realized I never got a picture of these yummy bars! Ugh! Well, check out Amanda's site to see her pics. They are amazing!

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips(I used semi-sweet)
1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos(I used regular Oreos)
1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix
1/4 cup hot fudge topping(I didn't add this, but it would be awesome!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a layer of Oreos. Mix together brownie mix, adding an optional 1/4 cup of hot fudge topping to the mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Usually I prefer blueberry muffins without any sugary topping. Some of the muffins I've had from the bakery are waaay too sweet for me! Not sure why, because I LOVE sweets! Well I decided to try a blueberry muffin recipe I found at allrecipes.com. Oh my! These were amazing! The perfect amount of sweetness for me. The topping was incredible! The kids loved them too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Whole Grain Waffles

In an effort to provide my kids with more healthy breakfast choices, I decided to make up a batch of waffles to freeze. I found a recipe for whole grain waffles over at allrecipes.com that were amazing! The kids loved them! Surprisingly, they do not have a very strong grain taste. Give them a try!

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cups skim milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat in whole wheat pastry flour, flax seed meal, wheat germ, all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until batter is smooth. Preheat a waffle iron, and coat with cooking spray. Pour batter into waffle iron in batches, and cook until crisp and golden brown.

To freeze, I just stacked, cooled waffles into a freezer bag.

Is Making It From Scratch Any Cheaper?

Lately I've been wondering if it is cheaper to make everyday items from scratch, or to just buy them. Now of course some things just taste better when they are made from scratch, but sometimes it may not be worth the extra time in the kitchen if the cost equals the cost to just buy it. Here's an interesting article I stumbled across, written by Jennifer Resse. It highlights a few everyday pantry items and shows us if it is more cost effective to buy them or to make them. You can check it out here.