Banana Nut Butterscotch cookies aka None Ya Bidness cookies

In stand mixer or with hand beaters cream together: 

• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar

Then add:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp toffee flavoring

In separate bowl mix together:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

Blend dry mixture slowly into wet mixture

Fold in:

• 1 cup smashed banana (approx. 3 bananas)
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Bake 375 12-14 minutes

Resulting cookie will be puffy and soft. 

Alisa's Guacamole

My sister Alisa has shared the secrets to an amazing guacamole!  After tasting her recipe, all other homemade guacamoles do not compare and are much too bland for me.  Here are the ingredients, it is up to you as the chef to add to taste.  Now I want a mortar and pestle so I can make guacamole in a super authentic style.

avocados
sour cream
salsa
garlic powder
lime juice
all purpose seasoning salt

Pizza Quesadillas

A coworker and I made this up when I worked at a custom sandwich shop a million years ago.  It is tasty and easy to make when you don't feel like cooking.

To make it authentic place the following on a panini grill:

Pepperoni

Havarti cheese

tortillas

To make it less authentic add veggies of your choice and place tortilla in a frying pan, flipping half way.  Grill until cheese is melty delicious and the tortilla is perfectly browned.

Crockpot burrito bowl

This recipe was inspired by this one but I tweaked it a little bit to make it easy to throw together at work. If you're doing the same, pre-mix your spices so you don't have to bring them all separate. It turned out so delicious that I crave it at least once a week now!  I made this in my 7 quart crockpot.

Add to crockpot:
1 lb pre-cooked/leftover chicken
1 box Zataran's Cilantro Lime rice-> tried this on a fluke and it was amazing!
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 15 oz can black beans (drained)
1 15 oz can corn (drained)
2 T olive oil
3 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 1/2 cup chicken broth->add more if you just want to make this a soup.

Mix all together and make sure the rice is completely covered with liquid.  Cook on high approx 4 hours.  No peeking so the rice will cook!

Add to tortillas.  Top with grated cheese, sour cream, chopped green onions, and guacamole.

Chicken Rolls

These make great use of leftover cooked chicken.  Canned chicken also makes it very convenient and easy.

2 cups cubed pre-cooked chicken->canned works great
1 pkg cream cheese
2 Tablespoon softened butter
1 Tablespoon finely diced onion
1 can crescent rolls
melted butter
bread crumbs


Cream together cream cheese and butter
Fold in chicken and onion and salt and pepper to taste
Unroll crescent rolls and place a scoop of mixture near center, roll up and seal
Dip tops in melted butter and then bread crumbs

Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Classic tater tot casserole

This recipe is great for leftover mashed potatoes or the rehydrated kind if you roll like that.

1 lb ground Beef
1 medium diced onion
1 can green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2-3 cups of mashed potatoes-enough to make a thick layer on the bottom of baking dish

Brown ground beef with diced onion
Add green beans and cream of mushroom soup to meat and mix together
Smooth a layer of mashed potatoes at the bottom of a baking dish
Add grated cheese then the meat/veggie mix
Cover the casserole with tater tots

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the tots are crisp

Nancy's scalloped potatoes

A simple recipe that many probably already have a variation of in their rotation.  This goes nicely as a side dish to baked ham.

8-10 peeled and sliced potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1 can cream soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup diced onion
1/2 cup milk

Melt butter and mix all ingredients. Spread in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees or until potatoes are tender

Phill's lasagna

My brother Phill made the most delicious lasagna yesterday.  It seriously had to be recorded it was so epic.

Brown together: 1 med chopped onion, 2-3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb italian sausage

Add: 1 can tomato paste, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 bottle of pasta sauce (he specifically used sauce made with plum tomatoes and it was amazing!)  Leave this simmering until ready to layer the lasagna

While that is simmering make the cheese sauce in a separate bowl: ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, mozzerella and 2 eggs.

Phill uses oven ready noodles but if you purchased the plain dry kind, boil them now until al dente.

Once your toppings are ready to go layer an 8 X 13 casserole dish starting with the meat sauce, then noodles and cheese sauce.  Keep layering ending with the cheese sauces and sprinkle parmesan on top.

Cover with foil and try to avoid it touching the top of the lasagna.  Bake 375 for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is perfectly melty.

Chili

Chili is such an easy recipe to use leftover taco or stew meat.  I like to add the seasonings to taste so the amounts below are approximate.   If you don't want to bother with it, you can always add the pre-mixed seasonings.  Chopped onions and peppers can also be found pre-chopped in the freezer section.

Chop and saute until just tender in 1 T olive oil:

1/2 green pepper

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic (or 2 tsps garlic powder)

While the above is cooking add to your crockpot or stock pot:

1 lb cooked beef->leftover stew beef or taco meat (if using taco meat-go easy on extra seasonings) works great!

1 small can tomato paste

1 large 28 oz can diced tomatoes + (opt) 1 small can rotel (chose your own spicy level preference) 

1 15 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 15 oz can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

2 T chili powder

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Add the veggies and simmer away!  2-3 hours should be good in the crockpot for a nice delicious marriage of flavors.  If you're cooking it on the stove top 30-45 minutes or until thickened should be good.  Always remember to taste it!

Optional add ins when serving: 

• sliced avocado
• tomato
• sour cream
• shredded cheese
• tortilla chips

Wheat, White and French Bread

I need to share more bread recipes!  These are from my friend Andy's blog.

Lydia’s Favorite Bread Recipes

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Makes 5-6 loaves

Blend or mix for 2 minutes.  (Speed 2 if using a Bosch)

·      6 cups Warm Water

·      2/3 cup Oil  (Canola)

·      2/3 cup Honey

·      2 TBsp. Salt

Add:

·      2 TBsp. SAF Instant Yeast

·      2 cups Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Flour

Blend and Knead:

·      Add slowly 8-12 cups whole-wheat flour until sides of bowl are clean, mix on speed 1-2 for 8 minutes.

Shape and Bake:

·      Shape into loaf pans and let rise until double.

·      Bake at 350° F for approximately 26-33 minutes.  Should be light golden brown.  I have glass loaf pans and bake for 26 min.

I have made this bread by hand and it turned out amazing.  I cut the recipe in half because it was too much dough to handle by hand.  Make sure you knead on a floured counter or table top for at least 8 minutes with your hands.

White Bread

Makes 4-5 loaves

·      5 cups warm water

·      1 cup sugar

·      2 TBsp.  Salt

Stir

Add and let Rise 15 minutes

·      3 TBsp. Yeast

Mix in

·      1 cup oil

·      Slowly add 10-13 cups flour (I prefer unbleached flour)

Knead 7-8 minutes

Shape into loaves and let rise until double.

Bake at 350° F for 25-30 minutes.

French Bread

In a large mixing bowl combine:

3 cups warm water

2 TBsp.  Yeast

2 TBsp.  Sugar

1 TBsp. Salt

2 TBsp. Oil

When yeast is softened add 6 c. flour and mix thoroughly with wooden spoon.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead 100 times.  Place in greased bowl, cove tightly, and let rest 10 minutes.  Punch down.  Repeat 4 more times.  (Takes 50 minutes in all.)  Divided in half and roll out on oiled surface to 12”x 14”.  Roll up tightly and place diagonally on greased cookie sheet with seam side down.  With sharp knife score four or five times on top.  Let rise 1 ½ hours (until doubled).  Bake at 400° F. for 20 minutes. 

To make soup bowls:  follow above directions but divide dough into 12 pieces.  Shape and place on Well Greased jar lids and arrange six on a cookie sheet.  Let rise for 1 ½ hours.  Bake at 400° F. for 20 minutes.

Artisan (aka "Man" Bread) Bread

I found a very delightful bread recipe thanks to my former roommate.  It only takes 6 ingredients and is very delicious and very easy to prepare.  This is the original recipe.  I have copied it below so you don't have to scroll for 20 minutes to the recipe at the bottom.  Someone from the comments in the original post suggested doing the final raise on parchment paper.  This makes transferring the dough to the pizza stone (which needs to be pre-heated in the oven) so easy.  Brilliant!  As another added note, I used regular flour and it turned out fine.  If you want a crispy crust, place the broiler pan in the bottom of the oven with 2-3 cups water.  Remember not to burn yourself with the hot steam when you open the oven!

90 MINUTE MAN BREAD

PRINT

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups of warm water (105-115 degrees)
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2¼ tsp active-dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1½ tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If your kitchen is not warm, turn your oven to low. This is simply to warm your kitchen up a little bit (since it’s cool where we live).
2. In your mixer bowl add warm water, honey and yeast. Stir a few times until honey dissolves. Once yeast starts foaming (5 minutes or so), add flour, melted coconut oil, and salt. Using dough hook, knead for 10 minutes on low/medium low. Leave your dough ball in the bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 30 minutes.
3. After the first rise, lightly flour a surface and scoop your dough ball on it. Knead your lump of dough by hand a few times, until it forms a firm ball. Cover this ball of dough with a towel.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, make sure this is in the oven to warm up. Alternatively, you can use a cast iron skillet while the oven is preheating - as one reader had great luck with! (Note: We have only tested this recipe with a pizza stone.)
5. Let rise for 30 minutes.
6. After the second rise, place dough ball directly on pizza stone, cut two slits on the top of the dough ball and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. If you are using a loaf or cast iron skillet, the cook time may need to be increased an additional 10-15 minutes. (bread is done when the internal temp is 220 degrees).
7. Let cool and enjoy.

NOTES

*We move this dough from the counter to the pizza stone, but if you don't feel confident in that transition, flour a piece of parchment paper and shape the dough on that for the second rise. Then move the entire paper with the dough to the oven for baking.

ADDITIONAL RECIPE TIPS

If you don’t have bread flour, you can make your own. Add 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten to 1 cup of all-purpose flour.

If you don’t have or want to use coconut oil, you can use melted butter or olive oil, although the flavor will be slightly different.

If you’re on the hunt for a great pizza stone, we use this super-thick one. It’s over 5 years old, been through hundreds of pizza nights and is still going strong.  Plus it makes your pizza and bread taste pro-artisan (a.k.a. makes you look like you know what you’re doing).

Chicken Parmesan

I never liked chicken parmesan.  Turns out, I never had a good chicken parmesan.  I was watching this when I decided to try to make it.  It was amazing!  

Make your marinara.

Take flattened chicken breast and dip in beaten eggs then coat with bread crumb/parmesan cheese mixture.  

Heat butter in pan and saute chicken breasts until golden brown.

Place in foil lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle mozzarella/provolone/parmesan cheese mixture on top of each breast.  Bake at 400 until no longer pink in center about 30-40 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.  Plate over marinara and fettuccine.  

Marinara Sauce

Forget about the Ragu, homemade is so much better!

Start by sauteing onion and roasted garlic in olive oil.

In large pot, pour 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes (fresh chopped tomatoes are even better if you have the time) and 12 oz can of tomato paste.  Add onion and garlic to sauce along with: fresh basil, parsley, sugar, salt and pepper.

Simmer for as long as you can stand (I put mine all in a crockpot so I didn't have to babysit it as much) 1-2 hrs at least.  Then, using an immersion blender, puree the sauce until smooth.

You can use this for spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmesan or whatever your taste buds are craving!

Meatballs!

It is so fun to say.  I found the following recipe here.  The best thing about Italian food is how amazingly delicious it is with such a simple preparation.

First mix your dry ingredients. Measure to taste:

Parsley, red pepper flakes, oregano, kosher salt, basil, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.  

Hand mix together:

1 lb hamburger
1 lb italian sausage
1 egg

Add dry ingredients to meat, then add a few dashes of worcestershire sauce and about 1/4 cup water.

Mush it all together until well blended then roll out your balls.  I used an ice cream scoop to get large uniform meatballs.  They can be placed closely together on the cooking sheet as they will shrink during cooking.  

Bake 400 degrees 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your meatballs.  Just make sure they are no longer pink in the middle.

Coconut Cake

I have been looking for tasty low-carb recipes and I found the recipe for this cake here.  I haven't tried it yet so don't take my word for it but I think it sounds taste worthy enough to put on my blog for future reference.

COCONUT Cake
3/4 cup coconut flour, 2 3/4 ounces or 80 grams 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
6 eggs 
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, 4 ounces
2 tablespoons granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda, or to taste *

flavoring extract of choice

Sift the first 3 ingredients into a small bowl; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients well. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is smooth with no lumps. It will look a bit like cornbread batter. Spread in a greased 8x4" loaf pan and bake at 350º for 40 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack

Chicken Enchiladas

Everyone has their own recipe but this is the one I made yesterday.  I like to mix n match different recipes and usually just look up what ingredients people have in theirs and then add or subtract what ingredients I have or like.  I don't really measure everything so you will have to use your best judgement.  That is what is fun about cooking, it doesn't always have to be exact.  You can make it the way you like the taste best.

First I made the chicken a couple of days before. You can also use canned chicken but I like to use this method.  This time around I rubbed the bird in kosher salt and seasoned it with sage, dried onion and parsley with gloves of garlic shoved under the skin. I love cooking in the crock pot because you can forget about it and then have a delicious meal at the end of the day. In my case, I use it to cook meat so I can use it for a few different recipes.

Mix together:
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1/4-1/2 cup sour cream or 1 package cream cheese (I have yet to try this but it sounded good so I had to put it as a recommendation)
1 small can green chilies (I love these because they add so much flavor)
1-2 cups chopped cooked chicken (canned chicken also works well in this recipe)

I am lazy and hate wrapping the meat mixture in each tortilla so I layer it like a lasagna.  I find that it doesn't affect the flavor or texture at all and who has time for hand rolling if that is the case? This time around I didn't have enough tortillas so I only did one layer but I usually layer as follows:
tortillas-slightly overlapping but covering the bottom of 9x13 pan.  (I prefer the taste of corn but you can do flour)
1/2 of the meat/sauce mixture
shredded cheese of choice (I like the Mexican mix as well as cheddar)
tortillas
remaining meat mixture
cheese on top
diced green onions and fresh tomatoes-this is the first time I added these and it was fabulous!

Bake @ 350 for approx 30-35 minutes-until the cheese is nice and bubbly!

I have also used this method to make beef enchiladas.  I made a pot roast and used the leftover meat layered with homemade red sauce (so much better than from the can or packet!)  Very delicious as well!

Granny's Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Bread pudding is my favorite comfort food dessert.  I fell in love with it when I went on my first Holland America cruise.  They serve it every day on the Lido Deck.  Yum!  The following recipe I found posted on Redneck Recipes Facebook page.


Granny's Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce 

• 8 slices cubed white bread
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Sauce Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions for Pudding:
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine bread and raisins in large bowl. Combine milk and 1/4 cup butter in 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted (4 to 7 minutes). Pour milk mixture over bread; let stand 10 minutes.
Stir in all remaining pudding ingredients. Pour into greased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until set in center.
Directions for Sauce:
Combine all sauce ingredients except vanilla in 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and comes to a full boil (5 to 8 minutes). Stir in vanilla.
To serve, spoon warm pudding into individual dessert dishes; serve with sauce. Store refrigerated -Fashioned Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

After reading some of the comments I altered the recipe:

Before baking

Stale bread works best for bread pudding.  If you don't have any or just can't wait, toast the bread in the oven until slightly browned before cubing it.  This makes it acquire the same properties as being stale and absorbs the "pudding" much better without making the bread too soggy.

After baking

Only use half the vanilla called for and add rum or imitation rum to make up the difference.  I promise you won't regret it!

Add unsweetened whipped cream on top to even out the sweetness. Also, I mixed in 1 cup of cream rather than 1/2 cup to make more sauce and it thickened really well. It should be notated that the sauce is not a vanilla sauce but a caramel sauce which in my opinion is much tastier.

Zucchini Brownies with Buttermilk frosting

Last year I discovered that not all zucchini brownie recipes are created equal.  When I went home recently, I found the zucchini brownie recipe that my mom used to make.  This is a delicious way to use up the giant zucchini that was left on your doorstep.

Mix together:
2 c flour
1 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 c cocoa

Add to:
2 c grated zucchini
1/2 c oil
1 beaten egg (best at room temperature)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c chopped nuts

Bake in 9x13 pan 350 degrees 18-20 mins.  You can also bake in a jelly roll pan aka cookie sheet for a more flat brownie (baking time will probably need to be adjusted)

Frosting
Melt together in saucepan until boiling:
1/4 c butter
3 Tablespoons baking cocoa
3 Tablespoons buttermilk

Remove from heat and add:
2 1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c chopped nuts
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cool slightly and add to baked brownies  YUMMY!.

Fresh Apple Cake

My mother passed away 14 years ago and recently I went home to visit the family.  A lot of her stuff is no longer in the house but there still remains a recipe box full of recipes she had collected over the years, many of which are in her own handwriting.  I was shuffling through it looking for something yummy to make and found the recipe for Fresh Apple Cake.  I don't remember ever having it growing up but had some apples I wanted to use so decided to make it.  It was delicious and I can tell will soon become a fan favorite.

Mix: 

4 cups of peeled and diced apples

2 cups of sugar

Then add:

1/2 c oil

1 c chopped nuts

1 cup raisins, plumped (to plump: soak in boiling water approx 10 mins)

Sift separately:

2 c flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Gradually add dry mixture to apple mixture.  Bake 350 degrees for approx 40 minutes. 

It looks more like a cobbler than a cake.  Also, it tastes like a bar cookie but is much more moist and crumbly.  It paired perfectly with the vanilla ice cream we put on top.  Next time I make this I'm going to try it with white and brown sugar for a more caramelized taste.  Also, this would probably still be good with half the sugar as it was quite sweet.

Beth's amazing potato soup

This is the quickest, easiest and most delicious potato soup I have ever consumed!  It is easily adapted to any group size, just add 1 potato per person served.  You can add more or less sausage depending on what you like.

Boil until tender:
6-8 medium potatoes chopped into bite sized pieces
1 large onion diced

Without draining add:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 pkg of cream cheese

After it melts down add 1 pkg cooked sausage.  I like to cut up slices of kielbasa or you can add other types of sausage or bacon.  Ready to serve when barely starts to bubble.