Dessert Two…Apple Bread

Christmas decorating puts me in a baking mood. I always want the house to smell as good as it looks. 🙂

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/apple-bread/detail.aspx

I used this recipe this afternoon. It was really good, but I agree with the commenter that said to add more oil and some milk. I ended up adding an extra 1/4 cup of oil and 1/3 cup of milk to get it to mix well. It turned out wonderfully; it tastes a bit like an applecake that my mom usually makes.

One other piece of advice: make sure you let it sit for the full ten minutes, if not longer, before removing the bread from the pan.  The first one I took out completely fell apart, and even though it tasted great, it didn’t look pretty.  I’d give it 20-30 minutes before removing them from the pans. 🙂

Night Twelve…Taco Pizza

Need an easy alternative to all the prep work involved in making tacos?  Here’s your answer!  I found this on pintrest awhile back.

http://realmomkitchen.com/5301/taco-pizza/

I made this tonight after all the Christmas decor was up.  It was a very simple meal, but wonderfully filling, and it tasted great!  This one is definitely a keeper.

The only thing I changed was to omit the olives.  We also drizzled taco sauce over it before eating. I think I’ve decided that when the time comes to make this again, I’ll add some shredded lettuce to the top, and maybe a dollop of sour cream. 🙂

If you like tacos, you need to try this pizza! 🙂

Morning Twelve…Christmas Decorating Brunch!

Christmas time is here! At least for me. 🙂  Today was decorating day in our household, so I tried to do something kinda special for food.  Breakfast is a special treat in our house, since none of us are morning people.  So when I got up with Riley this morning, I decided to make biscuits and sausage gravy and scrambled eggs.

Yum yum yum!  It tasted wonderful. 🙂  I used some more of that Jimmy Dean sausage I had stocked up on the other day, fried it, drained and rinsed it, and pulled out my secret weapon….

That’s right, I used a mix for our gravy.  And no, I do not feel guilty.  Do you know who actually introduced me to this mix? It was my mother and grandmother.  They both love it, too, and it’s so cheap (1.00 at Walmart).  I know how to make old fashioned, homemade gravy, but I love this mix.  It’s easy, and I don’t have to add anything to it with water, unless we want to add sausage. I made frozen Pillsbury Grands biscuits, too!

I guess this is my message for today:  home-cooked meals don’t have to always be from scratch.  I enjoy making things from scratch, but occasionally, it’s nice to have a break.  And when you find a mix that’s just about as good as homemade, USE it!

           

‘Tis the Season! And (that means) Happy Eating!

Night Eleven…Cheeseburger Soup

Like I said in my previous blog post, I got most of my prep work done this morning, so this was an easy meal for tonight.  It’s VERY filling.  I couldn’t have eaten a second bowl, even though it was really good!  It’s pretty full of veggies, so that’s great for the kiddos, even though the milk and cheese add some fat to it.  Here’s the link:

http://shewhomakes.blogspot.com/2011/08/first-day-favorite.html

Is it a keeper?- This stuff was seriously good.  Jake’s not a big soup fan, but he loved it.  It’s very hearty, and therefore, I imagine it stretches well, for bigger crowds.  I don’t see it sitting well for a long period of time, though, so this may not be great for a buffet party (just because it gets thicker and thicker as it sits).  For a dinner at home that sticks to your ribs, this is great!  We’ll do this one again, after the 6 months is up. 🙂

Happy Eating!

Dessert One…Easy Butterfinger Pie

This dessert really is exactly what the title says; it’s amazingly easy, but very yummy!  I made this to go with our meal last night, and it was very good.

Here’s the link to the original recipe:  http://www.food.com/recipe/butterfinger-pie-29478

Is it a keeper? – My father-in-law and I both loved this. Jake and his sweet mom decided to skip dessert last night, since they both felt too full.  However, Father Frank (that’s my nickname for my FIL :D) and I thought it was great.  It tasted like a Butterfinger Blizzard from Dairy Queen.  I think I might have messed it up a little…I had softened the cream cheese and thought it was soft enough to just mix by hand–bad idea!  When it chilled, the cream cheese clumped back together.  Next time, I’ll use an electric mixer. 🙂

My New Challenge

As most of my Facebook friends have seen on my wall in the past couple of weeks, I have set a goal for myself to use a new meal each night for two weeks.  Today, I decided to expand that.  I’m going to try this for the next SIX MONTHS!  My goal in this is to build up our recipe repertoire.  I absolutely HATE trying to sit down and plan out meals each pay period.  I always feel like I’m cooking the same ol’ same each time.

I’ve decided to get proactive.  I’m going to do some research and get some new ideas.   Hopefully, this will help someone else and make their lives easier!

So here is my personal set of rules:

• One post a day from now until April 27th

• I am not depriving myself of take-out, occasionally, but this is limited to once every two weeks
• Church Nights are eat out nights (so this means I probably won’t post Sunday Nights, and occasionally Wednesday nights)
• One tried and true “family recipe” per week, but no repeats! (My poor husband is going to die without tacos! Poor baby!)
• One dessert per week
• These are not all going to be my creations, but I will credit whoever created them by linking to their original site

So, by my calculations, this should equal around 150 different recipes by April.

To get an idea of how my menus may fit in with your schedule, here’s a little info about how MY schedule usually works.  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are usually my crockpot/easy/something my sweet husband can help me prepare day.  Those are the days I currently am not able to be at home all day, but my hubby usually is.  Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get a little more adventerous, since I have more time. 🙂

I hope you’re ready for this…I’m excited about it now, but let’s see how I feel after this month.

Here we go!