Danelle's Best Biscuits Ever

Danelle, I agree with you, these are the best ever. :) I've never been a fan of biscuits, but these are worth making and gobbling up. I found the picture at myrecipes.com, just click on the title and it will take you there. The recipe is from Danelle Grossnickle, thanks for letting me post this!

Danelle's Best Biscuits Ever

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup buttermilk

Directions:
In food processor incorporate all dry ingredients with butter. Transfer into a bowl, add buttermilk and mix by hand, gently fold out onto floured surgace. Cut into squares and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Danelle says, "I promise if you don't over mix these they are the BEST Biscuits", and I completely agree.

(Mild)Taco Seasoning Mix

 

Not only is it cheaper to make, there is no salt added. If your recipe needs some salt you can add it easily, or if you like it more spicy, you can add some red pepper flakes or some more cayenne pepper. I use this for chicken burritos, taco soup, and anywhere you would use the prepackaged Taco Seasoning.

Mild Taco Seasoning Mix

4 Tablespoons chili powder
3 Tablespoons paprika
3 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix and keep in a small jar or an airtight container to keep fresh.

Limeade

Summer is coming, and cold drinks are a huge part of our summer at home. I usually have a pitcher of water in the fridge, but occasionally, for a treat, we make this. The recipe I got from Paula's "Jamaican Cooking" book by Lucinda Scala Quinn. The picture is from Martha Stewart's site. Just click on the title. This is great for a BBQ or any meal really, just adjust the recipe to how many servings you need.

Limeade (Serves 6)

Ingredients:
5-7 medium sized limes
5 cups water(40 ounces)
1/2 cup honey or sugar

Directions:
For maximum juice, roll room-temperature limes over counter back and forth with palm of your hand. Cut limes in half and juice by hand or with a juicer. Reserve the rinds. You should have about 1/4 cup of juice. Place the rinds and juice in a large heat resistant pitcher.
Place 1 cup of the water in a saucepan over high heat. When it boils, add the honey and stir till dissolved.
Pour this mixture into the pitcher along with the remaining water. Blend well and taste for sweetness.
Refrigerate for one hour, remove rinds and discard them. Serves 6

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

I was on a search for a quick Family Home Evening Treat for last night, and came across these. They remind me of the Grandmother's Cookies, but way better. Homemade cookies are always BETTER, right? I pressed the cookies down like she mentioned, and they spread out beautifully, and I didn't use as much icing on them as she did, and I thought it was just perfect. These are so good, I'm glad that I only made 6 cookies and stuck the rest of the dough in the freezer. Too much temptation! The recipe and photos are from smitten kitchen. I've got one more recipe I'm dying to try from there, hopefully I can get to that soon. Just click on the title and it will take you there. I had to delete the original pictures I had up, since I browsed her blog and realized her photos were copyrighted. Bummer. But, you get the idea.

Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Good to the Grain

Unlike most cookies, where spreading is a cause for concern, here, it is encouraged as it leads to a thinner, lacier cookie.

Yield: 30 3-inch cookies (with a 2 tablespoon or #40 scoop), larger if your spread more

Ingredients:
Butter for baking sheets
2 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon old fashioned oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs

Icing:
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
5 to 6 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Rub two baking sheets with butter. In a food processor, grind 1/2 cup of oats to a fine powder, then add remaining oats and grind them all together until it resembles coarse meal, with only a few large flakes remaining.

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back any bits of grains or other ingredients that remain in the sifter. In a small bowl, whisk butter and eggs until combined. Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Scoop balls of dough about 2 to 3 tablespoons in size (I used a #40 cookie scoop, which scooped 2 tablespoon-sized balls) onto cookie sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. When tops are evenly brown, take them out and transfer them to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Let cookies cool completely before icing.

In a bowl, whisk icing ingredients together until smooth. It should have a honey-like consistency. Drizzle the frosting over the cookies. Let the frosting set for 30 minutes (or more; it took longer at my place but by the next day, was fully firmed up) before eating. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

* The original recipe replaced this volume with a multigrain flour mix that worked out to 1/2 cup barley flour + 1/4 cup millet flour + 1/4 cup rye flour. If you have any of these flours, swap them in and reduce the volume of all-purpose.

Beef (or Italian Sausage) and Cheese Manicotti

Here is a keeper for my family. Pasta dishes usually get served in my home, around once or twice a month since Brandon and Kaleb don't care much for it. But, since this isn't really much pasta for a single serving, it was just the perfect amount. I knew Manicotti would be messy, but I didn't realize how easy it was to make. The recipe is from foodnetwork.com by Giada De Laurentiis. It had some good ratings(466) so I thought I'd go ahead and give it a try. I used Hot Italian Sausage, but if you like Beef, go for it. The picture, as you can see, is from See Jane Cook, just click on the title and you can see. I was browsing through some of her recipes and they look delicious.

Beef(or Italian Sausage) and Cheese Manicotti

Ingredients
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 pound ground beef
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
14 (8-ounce package) manicotti
1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups marinara sauce
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Directions
Heat a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, onion and ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and cool.

Brush 1 teaspoon of oil over a large baking sheet. Cook the manicotti in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly softened, but still very firm to the bite, about 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the manicotti from the pot to the oiled baking sheet and cool.

Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix. Stir the cooled meat mixture into the cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture. Arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer in the prepared dish and spoon the remaining sauce over.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, then the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan over the stuffed pasta. Dot entire dish with the butter pieces. Bake the manicotti uncovered until heated through and the sauce bubbles on the sides of the dish, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the manicotti stand 5 minutes and serve.

Banana Crunch Whole-Wheat Muffins

There's a new blog that I follow called Apronappeal.com. Gwen is a fabulous cook, and I love that she's blogging her finds. I'm wishing we lived closer, she's just a really amazing person and I just love her family. So glad she married my cousin Ryan! Click on the title and you'll see her new blog, it's where the picture and the recipe comes from. This recipe made almost 2 dozen muffins, so I had to stick most of them in the freezer, but they are so filling, we ate a muffin for breakfast and were filled till lunch time-Bonus!


Banana Crunch Whole-Wheat Muffins

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour (I used fresh milled red winter wheat)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
¾ cup whole milk (I used nonfat)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (4 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced bananas (1 banana)
1 ¾ cup granola (divided)
1 ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut (divided)(I used about 3/4 cup in mine, it was plenty)
½ cup banana chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the flat surface of the cupcake pan with oil to prevent muffin spillage from sticking to the pan. Line 30 regular muffin cups with paper liners.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and all into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend well but do not over mix or you’ll end up with tough muffins. Then add in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Scrape the bowl. If you are making the day before the muffins will be served, cover the batter and put it in the fridge. When you are ready to finish the recipe add the mashed bananas to the batter. Again be careful not to over mix.
Fold in the diced bananas, 1 ½ cups granola and 1 ½ cups coconut into the batter. Scoop the batter into the prepared baking tins, filling each to the very top. Top each muffin the remaining granola, coconut and dried bananas (if desired). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan and serve warm.
Gwen's Notes:
I used Back to Nature 100% Natural Chocolate Delight Granola. It is very crunchy and contains no refined sugar (other than what is included in the dark chocolate chunks).

My notes:
I used my homemade granola, and I think that next time I make these, I'll try replacing half the butter with applesauce, or with Canola oil. I love that there is about half whole wheat and half white wheat combination here. It gives the whole wheat goodness, with the light fluffiness of the white. :)

Pesto Bread

I've been wanting to try this bread now for quite some time, but whenever I make Pesto it gets devoured before I can even think about making it. But, this time I was quick enough, and I'm so glad I was! It has such a powerful flavor already, but when baked into this bread, it's just perfect. Click on the title and it will take you to thekneadforbread.com, where the picture and recipe come from. Below the pictures on that site, there is a tutorial link you can click on, which I recommend taking a look at, where it shows great step by step directions. It's a really simple bread to make. I hope y'all give this one a try.

Pesto Bread:

Ingredients
Dough
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup skim milk powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
5 -5 1/2 cups bread flour
Filling:
2/3 cup pesto
1 cup grated Parmesan

Method
In a large bowl combine the water, olive oil, sugar, skim milk powder, salt and instant yeast. Mix till well blended. Add in a cup of flour and beat with a wooden spoon till smooth. Add in another cup of flour and do the same. Now, sprinkle a half cup of flour onto a flat surface and pour out the dough on top. Begin to knead and slowly add in more flour till the dough no longer sticks to the table. Knead for about 8 - 10 minutes. Add a little olive oil into a large bowl ( about a tablespoon ). Place dough into the bowl and turn over a few times to lightly coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for an hour or till double in bulk. Pour out the dough onto a very lightly floured surface. Cut in half. Using your fingers flatten out one of the pieces. Roll out to a 9 x 14 rectangle. Spread half the pesto and 1/4 of a cup Parmesan on top. Bring in the side by a half inch and then roll the dough like a jelly roll. Pinch the seam closed. Take a sharp knife and cut down the center length wise. Open the jelly roll exposing the inside of the roll.Take the two cut pieces and braid them together with the cut side always facing up. Place the bread into a greased 4 1/2 X 8 inch loaf pan. Now, repeat this whole process with the second piece of dough. Then cover both loaves with plastic wrap and allow to rest for an hour or till double in bulk. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining Parmesan cheese and place into a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Check the bread about 10 minutes before they are finished to see if you need to cover with tin foil if they are getting to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.