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.

Baked Onion Rings

 

These are quite simple to make, and I love that they are baked instead of fried. One large onion is the perfect amount for our family.

Low Fat Baked Onion Rings

1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
1 cup flour
2 cups low fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black peper
1 cup Italian Seasoned bread crumbs(Whole wheat bread crumbs work great here too)
1/2 cup crushed Crispy Rice cereal
olive oil baking spray


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with olive oil baking spray.

Place onion slices in a large Ziploc bag with the flour, shake to coat well.

In a shallow dish, add buttermilk, salt and pepper, and mix well.

In another shallow dish, add bread crumbs and Crispy Rice cereal.

Working with one onion ring at a time, shake off excess flour from one ring, and place in buttermilk, then into the crumb mixture and cover well, carefully pressing the mixture on with your hand. Gently place on prepared baking pan. Continue with the rest of the onion rings. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and bake for 15-20 minutes till golden and crispy. Serve immediately.
Dip each soaked onion ring into the crumb mixture; coat well. Place rings onto two cookie sheets. Lightly spray with oil. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Baked Seasoned Fries

Kaleb requested Chicken Nuggets for dinner tonight, so I decided to try these to go with it. I love home baked oven fries and these are super good. Mine were starting to get crispy, but since the chicken was already done, I didn't wait till they were totally crispy. No matter, they were still good, and probably even BETTER when they are totally crispy. I found this recipe and the picture at skinnytaste, just click on the title. She has the recipe for the dip in the picture, but since I forgot all about the dip, I decided it wouldn't be good for me to post. I will try it the next time I make these. Believe it or not, there is no salt on these. WOW! I didn't even miss it.

Skinny Baked Seasoned Fries with Garlic Aioli

2 medium potatoes, russet or yukon gold, washed and dried
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp herbs de provence (or use a combo of dried rosemary, thyme, marjoram)
1/4 tsp oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
fresh lime zest

Preheat oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Lightly coat with cooking spray.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices; cut each slice into 1/4 inch fries.
In a large bowl, combine cut potatoes and oil; toss well. Add rosemary, thyme, garlic and seasoning. Toss to coat.

Place in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes or until tender crisp, turning once half way through. Remove from oven. (I had mine in for 30 minutes and could have been in there longer if I had the patience.)

Hasselback Potatoes

These were really fun to make. I've seen these before and finally got around to trying them. When I was preparing these I thought they weren't going to turn out like the picture, but they did. It looks so fancy, and it's really easy to do. I hope you give this a try. Click on the title it will take you to sophistimom.com where I found the picture as well as the recipe.

For the last few minutes of baking, she sprinkled them with some of the Weight Watchers’ 4 Cheese Mexican Blend. When they were ready to serve, she topped them with sour cream, but you can add anything you’d like.


Hasselback Potatoes
4 large Yukon Gold potatoes
olive oil
melted butter (optional)
kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
4 ounces shredded Weight Watchers Cheese(whatever you like)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay a potato on its flattest side in the bowl of a large cooking spoon. Take a sharp knife, and very carefully cut thin slices all along the tops of the potatoes, about two thirds to three quarters of the way down—the edges of the spoon should prevent you from cutting all the way through. Repeat with remaining potatoes.

2. Brush the tops of the potatoes liberally with olive oil and melted butter, trying to work the oil in between the leaves of the potato. Slip slices of garlic in between a few of the slices, and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Roast for one hour, or until golden and tender.

3. Just as they come out of the oven, sprinkle with cheese, and place in the oven again for 5 minutes more. Serve with fat free sour cream, green onion or chives, and whatever you can imagine.

Cornbread-The best cornbread you've ever had!

It's hard for me to believe, but the picture is actually of cornbread pudding, only this is exactly what this recipe looks like when made! It's so moist it's like a sweet cornbread cake instead of all the other recipes I've tried in the past. I like cornbread, but I've never LOVED it until NOW. It holds together so well, and doesn't crumble to pieces. The title will take you to sophistamom where I found the picture, but I found the recipe out of Crystal Godfrey's Cook book, called I Can't Believe It's Food Storage. This is her website, where she's got great videos and tips for using your foodstorage every day. http://everydayfoodstorage.net/

Cornbread
The best cornbread you've ever had!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk(3 Tablespoons dry milk powder + 1 cup water + 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice; mix and let stand for 5 minutes)
1 cup yellow cornmeal(I used white)
1 cup flour(any combination of whole-wheat and all-purpose) I just used white this time.
2/3 cup sugar
2 medium eggs(2 Tablespoons dry egg powder + 1/4 cup water)
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt butter; add to sugar and stir well. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk and soda and stir into egg mixture. Add cornmeal, flour and salt; stir until just blended. Pour into a greased 8-inch square pan. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until bread begins to pull away from sides of pan. Serve hot with butter and honey(or not, it's still good!). Note: For glass pan, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Recipe may be doubled; use 9x13-inch pan and increase baking time by 5 to 10 minutes.

Apple Stuffing

 

This stuffing is a hit here at my house. I paired this with some Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Cider Glaze, and a green salad.

Apple Stuffing

Ingredients
Serves 8
3 tablespoons butter, plus more to butter baking dish
1 loaf Italian or French bread, torn into bite-size pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, halved lengthwise then thinly sliced
salt and ground pepper
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut into 8 wedges then thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth(low-sodium works well to)
1/8 cup coarsely chopped fresh sage
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13" baking dish and set aside.
Spread the torn, bite-size bread across a rimmed baking sheet. Bake till dried, about 20 minutes. While bread is baking, in a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter then add onions, celery, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, till onions are opaque and celery is tender, about 6 minutes. Add apples, cook about 3 minutes more to soften. Pour into a large bowl.
In the same saucepan, bring broth to a boil, remove from heat and set aside. When bread is done, add to large bowl with the apple mixture, along with the sage, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add half the broth and mix. Add the rest of the broth and mix. Pour stuffing into the buttered baking dish and spread evenly. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40-45 minutes.

Baked Acorn Squash With Brown Sugar

Here's another fun easy side dish. Not quite the weather yet, but these are good. Click on the title for the picture and recipe.

Ingredients
Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter, plus more for surface
2 medium acorn squash, (about 1 1/2 pounds each)
2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Generously butter a rimmed baking sheet.
Halve squash crosswise. Scoop out seeds; discard. Slice a small piece off bottom of each squash half just enough to level.
Set squash halves, scooped sides down, on prepared sheet. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn squash; prick insides all over with a fork. Divide 2 tablespoons butter and sugar among halves; season with salt and pepper. Continue to bake until flesh is easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Roasted Pears and Sweet Potatoes

I'm always looking ofr sides to go with my main dishes. This is a fun one. Title takes you to the pic and recipe.

Ingredients
Serves 4

2 sweet potatoes, sliced 1 1/2 inches thick
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Coarse salt
2 Bartlett pears, cored, quartered, and halved
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub 2 sweet potatoes. Quarter lengthwise; slice diagonally 1 1/2 inches thick. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne; season with coarse salt. Roast, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Core and quarter 2 Bartlett pears; halve crosswise. Add to the potatoes; toss all with another tablespoon oil. Continue roasting until potatoes are fork-tender, about 10 minutes more.

Avacado Salsa

I had been waiting for a big gathering to bring this to, and we just celebrated my Grandma's 82nd birthday today, so it was a perfect time to make it. If you like Avacados, this is the recipe for you! If you don't like Olives, like Brandon, leave them out, like I do. Still yummy, either way! This is also great on burgers, and it's good for you too. Again, the title is the link to the recipe. It's a Taste of Home recipe that my Mother-in-Law, Paula made a while back ago, and both Brandon and I loved it! I really recommend this one! MMM, tortilla chips and salsa. I want some more!