Kid Friendly Wheat Bread

                                     

Kid Friendly Wheat Bread
Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups warm water
• 1 Tbs brown sugar
• 1.5 Tbs yeast
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 4-5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup room temperature milk

Directions:
1. Measure the water into a large bowl and stir in 1Tbs brown sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over top and set aside about 10 minutes.


2. Add 1 cup of the all-purpose flour and 3 cups whole wheat flour along with the brown sugar, salt vegetable oil and milk. Mix on low speed to blend ingredients. Continue to mix on medium speed, adding the rest of the four 1/2 cup at a time. If you can't do this than dump the flour onto counter. Dump the dough on top and gradually work it into the dough by pulling it from underneath. Continue to do this until dough is not sticky. You may not need all the flour. Knead for 5-8min. Oil the dough (I rub oil on my hands and then on the dough.) Cover loosely with warm wet tea towel and set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.


3. Punch down the dough and place on a floured surface. Divide into two equal portions and use a rolling pin to roll each one into a rectangle that is about 16x8 inches. Be sure to press out all air bubbles. Roll the rectangles into loaves in pinch the seam together.


4. Place loaves seam side down into greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cut a few slits across the top of each loaf using a sharp serrated knife. Set aside to rise 10 more minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then decrease heat to 350 degrees for another 30 minutes, or until deep brown.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

                                     
                                                       Recipe inspired by taste of home


I was feeling very adventerous in the kitchen the day I made this. Something about chicken cordon bleu intimidated me but now I know I can do it! I'm not afraid to try and make or bake anything in the kitchen. It's all trial and error and learning from your mistakes! (and I've made plenty in the kitchen. You should ask my hubby about the time I made white chicken chili!! YUCK!)
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients:

• 8 boneless skinless checken breast halves
• 1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• 8 slices (about 1oz each) lean deli ham
• 8 slices (about 1oz each) part skim mozzerella
• 2/3 cup fat free milk
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Flatten chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. (important!! I learned the hard way it will be super hard to roll if you don't!) Sprinkle with pepper; place a ham slice and slice of cheese on the center of each piece. Roll up and tuck in ends. This is the idea but my ends wouldn't tuck. Pour milk into a shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine the cornflakes, paprika, garlic powder and salt. Dip chicken in milk, then roll in bread crumbs.

2. Place in a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until juices run clear.

Banana Cream Pie

                                  
                                                      Recipe courtesy of taste of home
Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk
• 1 package (1oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/3 cup fat free sour cream
• 1.5 cartons (8oz ea) frozen reduced-fat  whipped topping, thawed, divided
• 3 medium firm bananas, sliced
• 1 reduced-fat graham cracker crust (9 inches) or make your own like I did.

Directions:
1. In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 min. or until slightly thickened. Add sour cream; mix well. Fold in half container whipped topping.

2. Place half of the banana slices in the crust; top with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers. Spread with the remaining whipped topping. (I used one whole container) Refirgerate for 4-6 hours before serving. (pie will be soft set) Refrigerate left overs.

Chicken with mushroom sauce and green bean casserole

                                     

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup fat free milk
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced and sparated into rings
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a cmall bowl, combine cornstarch and milk until smooth; set aside. Flatten chicken to 1/4 in thickness. In a large skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, or until juices run clear. (I am super picky about my chicken so I actually boil it first until it is cooked and then brown on each side). Remove and keep warm.

2. In the same skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in butter until tender. Stir in the broth, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken and serve.

                                        
                                                              recipe courtesy taste of home

Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients:

• 1 can (10-3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom or celery soup
• 1 cup (8oz) reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 package (16 oz) fozen green beans
• 1/4 cup crushed ritz crackers or those dried onion things (Ha!Ha! I forget what they're called)

Directions:
1. in a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, cheese and onion. Stir in the beans. Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 min.

2. Uncover; sprinkle cracker cumbs or dried onions around the edges. Spritz several times with spray. Bake 10-15min. longer or until heated through and edges are lightly browned.
                                         
                                                       recipe inspired by taste of home: guilt free cooking

Stuffed Pork Chops with Corn Bake

                                   

Stuffed Pork Chops
Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
• 1/2 cup stuffing croutons
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 (1-inch thick) boneless pork loin chops (I used 4 smaller and had plenty of stuffing with some left over)
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Directions

1. In a skillet, saute celery and onion in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. Transfer to a bowl. Add croutons, milk, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Cut a pocket in each pork chop; fill with stuffing.
2. In a skillet, brown chops in remaining butter. Transfer to a greased 9-in. square baking dish. pour broth into dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minute or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Remove chops and keep warm.
3. Pour the pan drippings into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into drippings. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with the pork chops.

I opted not to make the gravy because I didn't make mashed potatoes and decided I didn't want it over the pork chops today. Still turned out delicious! I also used toothpicks to hold my pork chops shut because mine were on the smaller side.

recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Corn bake
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 3 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (8oz) reduced fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 can (15-1/4  oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
• 1 can (14-3/4 oz) cream-style corn

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In a small bowl, whishk the egg, sour cream, applesauce and butter. Stir in corn. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Transfer to a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.


2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers. (I froze mine in individual servings).

recipe courtesy taste of home

Frugal Birthday Cakes!

Having five boys and my hubby makes six birthdays that I need to prepare for. My oldest doesn't like cake so I always make him a cookie cake. My other boys get to pick the kind of cake they want. Some of them have been easy and some complex. Some of what they have chosen have been soccer ball, football, pirate ship and a fish. Also if they want something they see in the store often times you can buy the kit at the store. I know walmart has them for sale for $6.50ea. And you may even be able to find simlar things that they use at a dollar store because often it's something plastic that they simply stick on the cake. And, let's face it, store bought cakes can be expensive running $15 or more! The cake I made was $18.  Up next is my 7yr olds birthday on Tuesday. He wanted a Steelers cake. I went to Walmart to get ideas and snapped a picture of the cake they had in their cake book and bought the kit. (I am no artist!)


So first N wanted chocolate cake so here is the recipe. I got this from Family Fun awhile back and have made some adjustments. Also if you are planning on decorating the whole thing and not just the top (like I did below) you can line your pan with foil and then spray and flour. It makes it so much easier to invert onto a tray.


Chocolate Cake

Ingredients :

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350º. Grease and flour 13x9inch pan and se aside. In a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup, measure 1 1/2 cups water. Add the unsweetened chocolate squares to the water. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring after 1 1/2 minutes or until the chocolate has melted. Stir in the cocoa and set the mixture aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter for 1 minute; add the granulated and brown sugars and cream for another 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs individually, beating well after each one. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beginning with about a third of the flour, add the flour mixture and chocolate mixture alternately to the butter and sugar, stirring well after each addition.
4. Pour the batter into the pan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Place the pans on the middle oven rack and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
5. Let the cakes cool in the pan. Then place a cooling rack atop each pan and, holding the edges to the pan, flip the cake onto the rack. Cool completely before frosting.

 Next up is the decorating. You can make your own frosting, and sometimes I do but there was a good sale on frosting so I used some betty crocker today. First I used food coloring to tint it green since I was doing a football field. The crumb coating helps get the crumbs under control so when you put on the top layer you don't have bits of crumbs on your finished product. And I just use a butterknife sprayed with cooking spray. I've tried frosting things but I prefer a knife. Here's the crumb coat:

Next up I mixed up another batch of green frosting for the top layer. I proceeded to frost the cake again and I then piped around the edges. I don't have any fancy equipment for this. I simply use Betty Crocker cupcake frosting. You could by some tips, put frosting in a ziploc bag, and do it that way. Some day I want too but this is easy and with the right coupons and sales, super cheap! I also washed a ruler and used it to make straight lines for the yardline markers:


Next I piped on the yardline markers and added the cake kit I bought which finished off the cake. You could add happy birthday as well if you wanted to.

The orginal cake at walmart looked like this: (forgive the picture of a picture on my phone!)


You can see it's not exactly the same but it doesn't need to be. I think it turned out pretty good! I made this for $10 which saved me $8.

Microwave homemade potato chips

A couple of weeks ago we were having some people over for dinner and at the last minute I decided I needed something to go with our meatball subs. Hubby suggested homemade potato chips and I came across a fabulous recipe on allrecipes.com. You use your microwave and these turned out so yummy!

Microwave homemade potato chips
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 potato, sliced paper thin (peel optional) I used my mandoline from Pampered Chef
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Directions
1.Pour the vegetable oil into a plastic bag. Add the potato slices, and shake to coat.
2.Coat a large dinner plate lightly with oil or cooking spray. Arrange potato slices in a single layer on the dish.
3.Cook in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, or until lightly browned (if not browned, they will not become crisp). Times will vary depending on the power of your microwave. Remove chips from plate, and toss with salt (or other seasonings). Let cool. Repeat process with the remaining potato slices. You will not need to keep oiling the plate.

My first round took about 7 minutes and after the plate got hot (CAUTION: mine got extremely hot!) it didn't take as long. They were delicious with homemade french onion dip!

Homemade French Onion Dip
Ingredients:
1 packet onion soup mix
1 cup mayonaise
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Refrigerate 1hr before serving.


I served mine with veggies: