Italian Bread Bowls

These were super yummy, especially when paired with this soup.

Italian Bread Bowls

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (1 pkg yeast = 2 1/4 tsp. yeast)
2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons oil (I prefer Olive Oil but vegetable oil works as well)
7 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. (You can add a small amount of sugar to the yeast to aid in the activation process without changing the taste of the bread)
2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition.
3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
4. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes. (to remove the cloth if it has dried, spray it lightly with a spray bottle and it will come right off without ruining your bread loaves. You don't want to handle or tug on the loaves or they collapse.)
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water.
6. Bake for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.
7. To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4-inch-thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Bread

In the spirit of Halloween and fall I've been craving pumpkin anything. So I found a recipe and tweaked it to my liking. I meant to take a picture of it, but it disappeared before I remembered. It was good bread, very moist, and had a great flavor.

Pumpkin Bread

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup applesauce (plain or cinnamon)
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3 ½ - 4 ½ cups flour*
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup chocolate chips – optional
1 cup chopped nuts – optional
2/3 cup raisins – optional

¼ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 300. Mix ¼ cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon together. Grease 3 7x3 pans, and sprinkle with sugar mixture.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and pumpkin pie spice. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Add optional ingredients if wanted and mix. Pour into the prepared pans. (I made 2 loaves because I have larger pans and ended up with not quite enough to make a third loaf so I out the extra batter in muffin tins a baked them that way, they baked for about 25 minutes, but checked them regularly so as to not burn them. They were great muffins!)
3. Baking time will vary, but generally it should bake for an hour. Check at 50 minutes, loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Yields 3 loaves.

*Flour and baking time depends on elevation, lower elevation uses less flour as well as less baking time. I bake at the elevation of 4500 and used the full 4 ½ cups and baked for over an hour.

**For a lower calorie recipe, substitute remaining oil for all applesauce, and use 5 egg whites instead of 4 whole eggs.

St. Patricks Day Recipe Ideas

I found these on one of the blogs I read and thought I'd share in honor of St. Patricks Day. Find the original posts here, here and here (they have pictures).

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cans chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped (I'm not a big onion fan, so I just used about a tbsp. of dried onion flakes)
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups milk
3 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded
Broccoli florets, steamed & chopped (I used 4 broccoli crowns, steamed them until they were tender but not too soft, then cut them into bite sized piece)

Directions: Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15 minutes in a covered saucepan, until onions are soft. (Because I just used dehydrated onions, it didn't have to heat so long) Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. In a large stockpot, melt the butter. Add the flour and pepper, whisk and cook together for a couple of minutes - it will be thick but just keep stirring. Whisk in warmed milk. Continue to stir and cook until the soup starts to thicken. Next add the chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add the cheeses and steamed broccoli.

**This soup is SUPER good, and I'm not really a fan of soups. I served mine in bread bowls - so yummy! Also, I tend to be a salty person, but next time I make this I will probably add some salt to the soup before serving, maybe 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt.


Rainbow Cupcakes

Mix a white or Vanilla cake mix as directed (I used the egg white only version to save a couple calories). Divide the batter into separate bowls (I used 6 bowls for all the colors of the rainbow). I used food coloring to color the batter, it took about 10 drops each color. Then layer each of the colors into every cupcake liner. You can try to perfectly push each color to the edge of the liner, but bare in mind that you can only fill the cups 2/3 of the way full or they overflow when baked. Bake and frost.

**This was a really fun activity for my daughter, she enjoyed frosting them and decorating them and of course also eating them.

Key Lime Pie

Crust:
1 pkg. graham cracker crumbs
3 TBS sugar
1 stick melted butter
¼ tsp. sea salt

Filling:
4 egg yolks
1 can (14 oz.) Key Lime juice
1 lime, grated zest
*green food coloring if you want the pie to be actually green.

Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Crush graham cracker crumbs with pastry roller. Add the sugar and melted butter. Work together and then press in the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Bake for 10 min. Allow the crust to cool. While the crust is resting, use a mixer with whisk attachment to whip the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until fluffy, 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick, 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice until incorporated. Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling has set. Cool on a wire rack and then chill for 30 minutes, plus.

Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 TBS. brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups flour
2 cups water
2 TBS. baking soda
(Any toppings you want or dips)

Directions: Dissolve yeast in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve. Add the flours and knead the dough for a few minutes. Cover the dough and let it rise for at least a half hour. After it has risen, break of pieces and roll into thin ropes. Shape into pretzels (or any other shape). Dip it into a bath of 2 cups warm water and 2 TBS. baking soda. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover the dough pretzels and let rise another half hour or more. Bake at 450 degrees from 7 to 10 minutes until slightly golden on top. Brush with melted butter and add toppings (salt, parmesan, cinnamon & sugar, etc.)

**These were AWESOME!! My dough took longer to rise so I just let it keep rising until it doubled in size. I also let them rise on the cookie sheet longer as well. Needless to say they are a bit time consuming. I coated mine in cinnamon and sugar and they were so SO good, Bo ate most of them as soon as they were done.

Best Berry (or apple) Muffins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the following:

1 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

In a separate bowl, or liquid measuring cup mix well:

1/4 C. oil
1 egg
1/2 C. milk

Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture into the dry mixture. Mix just until moistened, DO NOT OVER STIR. Add 1 Cup berries of choice. Blueberries, blackberries or raspberries are especially good. Stir them into the mixture. Spoon into prepared muffin cups or greased muffin pan, about 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden on tops.

For Apple variations:

I like to add apple for moisture and to make them go a little further. Pick a sweet apple, Golden delicious or Jonnygold apples are my favorites, and chop or grate one apple and add to the dry ingredients as well as 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (opt.) and proceed as normal. This muffin recipe also makes wonderful apple muffins (no berries) if you add 1 Cup of chopped or grated apples in place of the berries, approx. equivalent to 2 apples. You can also substitute brown sugar for white and can add a crumble topping of brown sugar, cinnamon, oats and butter.

Pizza Crust

Pizza Crust

2 pkg active dry yeast
7-8 cups flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. sugar
2 ½ cups very warm water (110° – 115°)

Combine yeast, 2 ½ cups flour, salt, sugar and warm water in a large bowl. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds, scrape sides of bowl. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Stir in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and turn over to grease top. Cover and let rise about 45 minutes until double. Punch down dough and divide in half for thick crust or into quarters for thin crusts. Roll ½ to ¼ inch thick, place on baking sheet and form edges.

Sour Cream Dinner Rolls

Sour Cream Dinner Rolls

2 tbsp. yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups sour cream
1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 eggs
7 to 8 cups Better for Bread flour

Mix yeast and warm water. In a glass bowl warm sour cream and butter in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Combine the sour cream and butter with the yeast in water in a large and stir in sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs and flour. This is a soft sticky dough, let it rise until double or put in the fridge covered overnight. Divide into fourths and roll out in a circle on a greased surface cut crosswise into 8 wedges, roll up from wide end to narrow point and form into crescents. Place crescents on baking sheets and let rise. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden.

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup Cooking Oil
4 Eggs
3 1/3 Cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

In a very large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well; set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternately add flour mixture and water to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 55 to 65 minutes. Makes: 2 Loaves (32 servings)

Baking-Powder Biscuits

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening or soft butter
2/3-3/4 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Cut in shortening or butter until it forms coarse crumb-like mixture. Add milk all at once and stir until dough forms. Add enough milk that the dough holds together but isn't too sticky. Knead on floured surface about 10-12 strokes. Roll out to be about 1/2 inch thick and cut with cookie cutter, biscuit cutter or just use the lip of a cup.

Bake on ungreased baking sheet

Dinner Rolls

Lion House Dinner Rolls

2 tbsp yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening or butter – soft
2/3 cup non-fat dry milk
5 – 6 cups flour

In a large bowl mix yeast and water and let stand for 5 minutes. Then add sugar, shortening, salt, dry milk, egg and 2 cups flour. Beat together until smooth. Gradually add remaining flour until soft dough is formed. Place on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and let it rise until dough doubles in bulk. Then punch it down and divide into thirds. Roll out on third into a circle; cut into 12 pie-shaped pieces. Starting at the wide end, roll up each piece into a crescent. Place on a greased cookie sheet with the point on the bottom. Garnish the tops with butter (melted). Let the rise again. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 3 dozen.

Chili and Corn Bread

Chili

½ - 1 lb. ground beef, browned
3 cans kidney beans
1 large can tomato sauce
2 Tb. chili powder
1 Tb. taco seasoning
1 tsp. cumin
2 garlic cloves
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. basil
onion
bell peppers

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 7-8 hours.

Top with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Serve with corn bread.


Corn Bread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup melted butter

Sift together: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Stir in cornmeal.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs slightly, add milk and melted butter.
Combine with dry ingredients, stirring only until moist.

Pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

Optional: drizzle with honey before baking.

Cheese Muffins

We made these last night and they were OH so good! probably not so good FOR you but the best tasting things always aren't. :)

also as a side note, i just noticed that every recipe that i have posted involves BREAD. Lets just face it, im addicted. so to add to my addiction, here is another bread recipe! :)


Cheese Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)

1st. Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.

2nd. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.

3rd. Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12.

Ranch Chicken Bake

ok this one sounded a little plain, but boy was i wrong! it was so good! and really easy! this would be a great appetizer or for a meal.

Ranch Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

1/2 large loaf French bread (cut the whole loaf in half lengthwise and use one half) or 1 small/medium loaf cut in half lengthwise.

2 lbs chicken, cooked and shredded (i used a large can of canned chicken)

8oz (1-2c) grated mozzarella cheese (or slices of provolone)

1 medium tomato, sliced

2 green onions, sliced

2 Tbsp light sour cream or mayo

ranch dressing (I use Hidden Valley Light)

Directions:

Preheat broiler, or bring oven to 400. In a small bowl, combine chicken, green onions, sour cream or mayo, and enough ranch dressing to make a chicken salad (some people like very little, others prefer more dressing). Scoop and spread onto French bread. Top with tomato slices and sprinkle with cheese (or layer slices, if using the provolone cheese). Bake just until cheese is bubbly and golden. Cut into slices and serve.

Chicken Broccoli Braid

I made this one yesterday for dinner, it turned out really good. the hardest part was braiding the dough, but it ended up looking nice and tasting good!

Chicken Broccoli Braid

ingredients:

1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded (I used one large can of canned chicken)

2c broccoli, blanched (I do this in boiling water for 1-2 minutes)

1/2c-3/4c mayo (I always use light)

1 tsp dill

pinch garlic salt

pinch onion powder

2 cans refrigerated crescent roll dough (I use the low fat kind)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, broccoli, mayo, and seasoning. Roll out crescent roll dough side by side (longer sides together) to form a double-wide layer of dough. Pinch together seams with your fingers. Pour chicken mixture down the center long-ways. With kitchen shears or a knife, make 1" slits down the sides toward the center. Fold each strand over to form a "braid" on the top.

REALLY good Pizza crust

This is a Really good, and Really easy Pizza crust. I made it today, that tells you how easy it was :) and it smells and tastes So good! Enjoy!

Pizza Crust

1 Tbsp yeast

1 1/3 c warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp oil

1/8 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp oregano

3 1/4 c flour

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 tsp sugar. When foamy, stir in oil, oregano, salt, and garlic. Stir in flour and knead until dough is elastic. Place into a bowl and allow the dough to rise till doubled (about 45 minutes). Roll out and pre-bake for about 15 minutes in a 450 degree oven. Take dough out. Spread with sauce and toppings.

Bake at 450 about 25 more minutes or till edges are browned.

Makes a huge cookie-sheet-sized pizza crust!

I made a Ham and Pineapple Pizza with Mozzarella cheese.. SO GOOD!

Flour Tortillas

Flour Tortillas
3 c. flour
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. baking powder
1 c. boiling water
1 tbs. oil

Mix all ingredients well, works best in a mixer. Once mixed knead a little and then let sit for at least ½ hour. Take small sections and roll flat with a rolling pin. Best if cooked on a flat cast iron pan. Cook until golden brown spots appear. Makes about a dozen tortillas.

Cream Puffs

I got this recipe from my friend Jenny, and Jenny is pretty reliable for recipes because she's actually a pastry chef. I haven't attempted to make them yet, but I did try them when she made them once and they were so good!

Cream Puffs

1 c. water
½ tsp. salt
½ c. butter
-Combine and bring to a boil

1 c. flour
-add to boiling mixture

5 eggs
-add one at a time


TURN ON THE OVEN TO 450*
In a medium pot or deep pan put: water, salt, and butter
Bring to a full boil then remove from heat
Add flour and mix until no lumps are present and a film appears on the bottom
Stir until cools to about body temperature
Add one egg at a time,
Mixture should look shiny and be soft, but not runny
Drop by spoonfuls or use a piping bag
Place on a greased pan 1 inch apart
Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 300*
Bake until a rich golden brown (even colored)
Remove and cool

When cool you can:
-Cut the top off and fill
-Poke a hole in the bottom and fill
Filling: pudding, whipped cream, chicken salad, tuna
Top: you can did the tops in chocolate or a Carmel sauce


*Use your imagination and have fun make something that taste good to you, remember that recipes are just a guide!

Banana Nut Bread

KYRA’S MOIST BANANA NUT CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

•1/4 c. sugar

•1 tsp. cinnamon

•3/4 c. butter

•3 c. sugar

•3 eggs

•6 medium, very ripe, bananas

•1/2 tsp. salt

•4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

•1 TB. Baking soda

•16 oz. sour cream

•2 tsp. vanilla

•2 c. chocolate chips - optional

•1 ½ c. chopped Nuts - optional

Preheat oven to 300º. Grease four 7x3-inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 c. sugar and cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture. (I spray my pans with non-stick spray before dusting, I find this helps them not to stick)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Add salt, baking soda, and flour to above mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Divide into prepared pans. Bake 50-60 minutes.

Esther's Cornbread

We love cornbread at our house. Bo can eat a whole pan by himself, I prefer to have it with chili beans. Yum! I was raised on Blue corn bread, which I haven't had in quite a few years. I suppose you could use blue corn meal in this recipe if you prefer it, but it's hard to find. This is a recipe we got from a close family friend, and now I'm passing it on to you.

Esther's Midway Cornbread
1 Cup corn meal
1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1 TBS. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Cup Milk
2 eggs
1/2 Cup Oil

Pour batter into a greased cake/casserole pan, or cupcakes if you prefer. Bake at º425 until golden brown. Enjoy!

**The common mistake I make in making this is using Baking Soda instead of Baking Powder. It makes a difference, so be careful!