Good For You Cornbread

Jeff and I have both been given strict instruction to lower our cholesterol. UGH! We went out Wednesday night and bought this little ditty.

This book is great and has some pretty good recipes. Maybe lowering my cholesterol won't be so bland.

Now on to the cornbread I made today:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup 1% fat free buttermilk

1 egg

1/4 cup tub margarine (trans-fat free)

1 tsp vegetable oil (to grease the pan)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar and baking powder. In another bowl, combine buttermilk and egg. Beat lightly. Slowly add buttermilk and egg mixture to dry ingredients. Add margarine and mix for 1 minute. Bake for 20-25 minutes in an 8x8 greased baking dish. Cool.

We had this with chili in the crock pot. I might post that recipe after dinner, if it is any good.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt Cake

I made 3 of these this past weekend, one for the school carnival, one for home and one for work. It was so good. The 3rd one I made I left off the icing and just sprinkled powdered sugar and it was just as good. Also, left out the streusel step, we liked it better without it. Let's just say....all the cakes are gone already. And.....it makes your house smell wonderful.

A surprise filling of brown sugar streusel makes this pumpkin-flavored cake a special treat. Save a bit of icing for drizzling over each serving of this wonderful cake!

STREUSEL:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground allspice2 teaspoons butter

COMBINE brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice in small bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly.

CAKE:
3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

4 large eggs

1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin

1 container (8 oz.) sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan.

COMBINE flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

TO ASSEMBLE: SPOON half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle Streusel over batter, not allowing Streusel to touch sides of pan. Top with remaining batter. Make sure batter layer touches edges of pan.

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with Glaze.

GLAZE:
COMBINE 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice or milk in small bowl; stir until smooth.

Estimated Times: Preparation - 12 minutes; Cooking - 55 minutes.
Yields 12 to 16 servings.

Twix Squares

Crust:

2 cup flour
3/8 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter +3 tsp butter


Crumble ingredients well. Pack into ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.


Caramel:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 cup sweetened condensed milk


Combine ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 5 minutes stirring constantly to prevent burning. Take off heat. Stir slowly until it shows signs of thickening. Pour over bottom layer. Cool.


Chocolate:


2 cups milk chocolate chips


Melt chocolate according to package instructions. Pour over caramel layer. Let set for bit.

Meat Loaf

2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup medium saltine cracker crumbs
2 beaten eggs
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped onions (optional)
1 1/2 tsp salt
brown sugar to taste

Combine ingredients (only one can tomato sauce) and shape into loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours (line pan or spray it). While cooking, mix together 2nd can tomato sauce & brown sugar to taste. Pour over loaf and cook the last 15 minutes.

Easy Monkey Bread

Remember making these all the time when we were younger? :)

Ingredients

3 cans Hungry Jack biscuits (any brand)
1/2 cup brown sugar
11/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

*people can add some kind of nut, not me though:)

Directions

Cut biscuits into fourths.
Place sugars, cinnamon and cut biscuits in a zip-lock bag and shake until biscuits are well coated.
Place coated biscuits into a well greased bundt pan. Sprinkle the remaining sugar from the zip-lock bag onto the biscuits.
Pour melted butter over biscuits.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Turn onto platter and serve hot.

Creamy French Toast

I LOVE FRENCH TOAST!!!!!!

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. corn syrup
1 loaf country bread(I just used a thicker bread)
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

*In a small heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth and pour into a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking dish. Cut six 1-inch thick slices from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use, and trim crusts. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit.

*In a bowl whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread; chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bring bread to room temperature.

*Bake bread mixture, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

*Serve hot French toast immediately

Lemon Jello

I got this recipe from Kerri. I made it for a family picnic and it was a hit!

1 (3 oz) box lemon jello
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Mix together in a bowl and add:

1 cup boiling water
1 (6 oz) can frozen lemonade, thawed

Stir until Jello is dissolved. Refrigerate until syrupy, about 30-45 minutes (stir every ten minutes to make sure it is not setting.

Beat 1/2 pint whipping cream

Then, fold whipping cream into Jello mixture. Pour into an 8x8 square glass dish and set in fridge for several hours or overnight. Double the recipe for a 9x13 dish.

You can use any flavor jello, just use the same flavor concentrate. I have had lemon and lime. It is so good.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more, room temperature, for pan

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/4 cup each orange, yellow, and brown candy-coated chocolates (from a 12.6-ounce bag) or 8 Reese's peanut butter cups, removed from their wrappers and corasely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter; line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; stir just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top. Arrange candies or chopped peanut butter cups in 12 rows (2 rows per color, repeating once) on top of dough.
Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 squares.

Dad's Waffles

This is the 1/2 recipe. It made 7 waffles for two of us.

1 3/4 cup flour
1/3 tsp salt (Dad says he doesn't use this)
1 T baking powder
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, separated

Mix together all ingredients except egg whites. In a separate bowl, beat eggs whites until still (stiff peaks). Fold into batter. Bake on a waffle iron.

Chicken Gravy

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
milk

Heat soup and sour cream. If it is too thick, add milk to desired consistency.

We served this over our chicken cordon bleu.

Homemade Whipped Cream

3 Tbs sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix whipping cream and sugar on high until it forms soft peaks. Serve over favorite dessert, like Costco pumpkin pie!