Overnight French Toast

I made this for Sunday and everyone devoured it!  I made it with regular bread and served it with maple syrup though she has several other suggestions on her blog.
Overnight French Toast Recipe

Sweet Cornbread

Jordan's Favorite Cornbread recipe!  It doesn't need any extra toppings.

1/2 c Corn Flour
1 1/2 c Flour
2/3 c Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/4 c Milk
1/3  c Oil
2 Eggs
3 T Butter, Melted
1 T Honey

Mix dry ingredients together then add in the rest. Mix well. Pour into greased 8" or 9" square pan.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Bacon Wrapped Orange Chicken

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/4 tsp Dried Sage
1/4 tsp Thyme
Salt and Pepper
4 strips Bacon, partially cooked
1/4 c Butter, melted
1/2 c Orange Marmalade

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking dish with foil.

Sprinkle each chicken breast with sage, thyme, salt, and pepper.  Wrap each chicken breast with 1 slice of bacon and arrange tin the pan with the bacon ends tucked under.

Melt together the butter and marmalade in a sauce pan over medium heat and stir until combined.  Pour over bacon wrapped chicken breasts.  Bake, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes. or until bacon is crisp and chicken is done.  Makes 4 servings.

*When I made this for our Bacon Night, I used chicken tenderloins and had equivalent strips of bacon. Then it will only cook for about 30 minutes instead.

From 101 Things To Do With Bacon by Eliza Cross

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

This is an excellent recipe to satisfy a need for a bacon cheeseburger but it's not grilling season.

8 Strips Bacon

1 small Onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef

1 Egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c Evaporated Milk

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

8 oz Colby Cheese, grated and divided

1/2 c Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350

In a frying pan, cook bacon over medium heat until browned; remove and drain on paper towels, when cool enough, crumble the bacon.  Discard all but 1 T of bacon drippings.  Stir in the onions and cook until soft; remove from heat.

In a bowl, stir together the beef, egg, milk, salt, and pepper.  Stir in the onion, 2/3 of the cheese, and all but 1 T of bacon.  Stir in bread crumbs and mix until well blended.  Shape into a loaf and transfer to a loaf pan.  Bake 1 hour.  Drain fat and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.  Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.  Makes 6-8 servings.

From 101 Things To Do With Bacon by Eliza Cross

Four Bean Bake

Here is the Baked Bean recipe I made for our Memorial weekend family gathering.  The original recipe calls for 12 cans of beans so I'll cut it down for you!

1 lb Bacon Ends (or just bacon)

1 large Onion

1 c Brown Sugar

1/2 c Vinegar

1 tsp Garlic Salt

1 (15oz) can Great Northern Beans

1 (15oz) can Kidney Beans

1 (15oz) can Lima Beans

1 (15oz) can Pork & Beans

Cut up bacon and onions in little pieces and fry in a large pot. Drain off grease.  Add seasoning, sugar and vinegar to the bacon and onions.  Simmer 20 minutes.  Drain beans and add to sauce.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 OR cook on Low in a crock pot 4-5 hours.

Angel Food Cake

I LOVE angel food cake!  I got this recipe from Jason Blomstedt's mom when she made it for a picnic.  So yummy!  People think angel food cake is hard, but it's really not.  You just need to know a few tricks.  I serve my angel food cake with strawberries (where you slice them and add sugar to make a "sauce") and homemade whipped cream...never cool whip! 

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Whip the following until foamy:

1 1/2 c egg whites (about 12)

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

Keep whipping/beating and add:

3/4 cup sugar (2 T at a time) until stiff

SLOWLY add (scrape bowl around sides and over the top; I've done on low with beaters):

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

in a separate bowl, sift 3x together:

1 c flour

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

add flour/sugar slowly to egg whites 1/4 cup at a time; scrape sides to mix in

bake in ungreased pan--cut w/ a knife to get out bubbles

bake at 375 for 30 to 35 min until tan

cool upside down

Pointers:

• To make sure your egg whites will beat to a stiff peak your bowls and beaters have to be spotless or they'll never firm up.  Also, not a DROP of egg yolks can be in your whites.  If you get any in them, they won't stiffen.
• If you're unsure what a stiff peak is, consult the internet or a basic cookbook (I started making angel food cake from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, which has lots of pictures and pointers).
• I think it works better to use an aluminum pan to bake with, I have a dark, non-stick pan, too, but it doesn't work as well. You can find the aluminum ones easily on amazon or at Williams Sonoma, etc.  I never see them at Walmart or Target, but I could be wrong.  I haven't looked in a while.  I found mine at a garage sale, and it's been awesome!

Broccoli Salad

Toss together:

3 heads of broccoli, washed and cut into small pieces (I used about 1/2 of a Sam's Club bag)
1/2 cup chopped sweet red onion
4 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled (I use real bacon bits from Sam's, about 1/3-1/2 cup)
3/4 cup raisins (I like to use Craisins instead)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing:

1 cup Miracle Whip or Mayo (I used low fat)
2 Tbs sugar (I used Splenda)
2 Tbs vinegar (I like apple cider vinegar for this)

Mix all ingredients together well and toss with salad. This makes a coated but not too wet salad; if you like it more moist increase the dressing ingredients by half. You can add extra broccoli, bacon, raisins, and sunflower seeds to your personal preference. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

As you can tell from my posts, we're still having winter weather up here in Wisconsin, so we're still eating heavier meals for dinner.  This week is supposed to be springy, so I've got lighter meals planned.  Until then, I'll catch up on the recipes we've been eating lately--and that includes Chicken Pot Pie.

This recipe is from the same food blog Marisa introduced me to.  It's pretty easy.  I don't bother making my own crust, although I have before.  I just buy crust from the store.  Sometimes I've used rotisserie chicken, too.  Depending on my mood, I tend to double the amount of potatoes and veggies and then double the sauce ingredients.  It still fits in my pie plate, albeit a big "pie," and then it's nice and moist for reheats.

Chicken Pot Pie

Sesame Chicken (that I call Orange Chicken)

This is a recipe that Caitlin made for me and mom last summer when we visited her and Ryan in NC.  It's a quick and easy meal.  And, like most Lukes, Caitlin edited the recipe from its original form, and I make it like she did for us.  This recipe originally comes from the Food Network: Sesame Chicken.

I call it orange chicken because of the orange marmelade, and with the changes, there are actually no sesame seeds used. :)  The recipe below is how I (and Caitlin, I think) make it.  If you want to see the original recipe, see the link.

Sesame Chicken (Orange Chicken)

3 chicken breasts, nearly thawed
2 T soy sauce
2 T orange marmelade
1 T rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs and coconut  (I just dump half and half of each, without measuring)
Rice, for serving

• Preheat oven to 375.  Line a baking sheet with foil
• Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes
• In medium bowl (ziploc bag) mix together soy sauce, marmelade, vinegar and red pepper flakes.  Marinate chicken at least 10 minutes and up to 8 hrs in fridge.  (I usually do this early in the day--then it's super fast to put together at dinnertime).
• In other bowl (bag) mix together panko and coconut.  Drain chicken and toss in flour.
• Spread chicken on baking sheet (I spray with pam)
• Bake til chicken is crispy but not dry, about 20 minutes turning halfway through.  Serve with rice
• I mix up extra sauce (ingredients 2-5) and drizzle over the the chicken and rice when eating.  When I make the extra sauce, I usually triple all the ingredients, except for the soy sauce, which I usually double.

Porcupine Meatballs

This recipe is one of mom's that we ate growing up.  I remember having either these or her Swedish meatballs when I was younger.  I'm not sure if we ate them very often once we moved to Nebraska, so the little kids may not remember them.  I serve the meatballs over mashed potatoes and make extra sauce.  I've found that if you follow the recipe as written the meatballs tend to fall apart, so I've made a few adjustments that work for me.  I'll put my changes in parentheses, so you can decide for yourself how you like it better.

This is another one of those recipes for which I tend to have everything on hand.  That's probably because I always have a lot of tomato soup in my cupboard, thanks to our Sunday lunches of grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Porcupine Meatballs

1 can tomato soup (2 cans)
1 lb ground beef (1.5-2 lbs)
1 c minute rice
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (I use the equivalent of dried, minced onions--I think they stick better)
1 tsp salt (I might add more, but don't remember)
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 soup can water (1 can)
1 tsp prepared mustard (2-3 tsp)

Take 1/4 cup of soup, mix with beef, rice, egg, onion and salt.  Brown meatballs in garlic and pam.   Pour off fat, blend in remaining soup, water and mustard.  Cover meatballs, simmer 20 minutes until cooked.

**I add the garlic to the meatballs, not in the pan.
**I take the meatballs out once they're browned and set them aside to mix up the sauce, then add them back in the skillet to simmer with the lid on
**I might add 1/2 cup of the soup to the meatball mix, I can't remember now.  I start with 1/4, and add a little more if necessary so that I have a moist, but not wet meatball.  If it's too dry (especially because of the rice), the meatballs fall apart as you brown and turn them.  Then you end up with browned ground beef in sauce to put over potatoes.