May 15, 2011 · 10:06 pm

French Toast Bake

I picked up this recipe recently at our grocery store knowing that eventually I would need it. This weekend both sets of grandparents were in town for our oldest child’s First Communion, so before church we had a Mother’s Day/First Communion brunch and this recipe was a huge hit.

Ingredients:
12 (1 inch) slices of day old French bread
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup brown sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup-2 cups blueberries, frozen or fresh

Instructions:
Arrange bread in a greased pan (about 13×9).

In a bowl mix eggs and milk. Then add 3/4 cup brown sugar, vanilla and nutmeg. Pour mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove bread from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Combine melted butter and remaining sugar and drizzle over top. Sprinkle with blueberries.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until set.

Did I change anything? The recipe called for 1 cup chopped pecans which I left out.

What did the family think? It was so tasty and the blueberries on it made it look pretty too. It was a great addition to our special feast.

Photo by Me

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Filed under Bread, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Everybody Ate It, Lent, Make Ahead of Time, Vegetarian

May 14, 2011 · 10:06 pm

Hershey’s No Bake Cookies

I was in a pinch one time and had to make some cookies for a meeting I was going to, but I had two napping kids who I didn’t want to wake up and take to the store and really, I didn’t want to take them to the store when they woke up either. So I rummaged around in the pantry. I had some Hershey’s cocoa powder and this recipe was on the back and-bonus-it turned out I had everything I needed to make these cookies. This recipe has been around forever and if you haven’t made them yourself, you have probably had some at a picnic or some other such gathering. Either way, they are yummy and easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick oats

Instructions:
Combine the sugar, milk, cocoa and butter in saucepan. Cook over medium to high heat until mixture boils 1 1/2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, peanut butter, salt and stir quickly. Add oats and stir together. Will be stiff.

Drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper. Let dry. Makes about 2 dozen.

What did the family think? I don’t think anyone in this house has ever turned down a cookie. 🙂

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

May 12, 2011 · 1:47 pm

Horseradish Mayo (for Hamburgers)

I found a recipe over at Ezra Pound Cake for some really yummy hamburgers. It is a really wordy recipe, so I am going to shorten it up for you and concentrate on the star of the show, the sauce. Your goal is to make a bacon burger and to make enough sauce to not only put on it, but to also dip your hamburger into. If horseradish scares you, don’t be afraid. You can start out with a little and add more if you’d like.

Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger or ground turkey or ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 slices bacon
Hamburger buns
Lettuce
Salt and Pepper

For sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
Cook bacon as you normally do…in the oven, in a skillet, in the microwave…whatever you prefer.

Combine hamburger, garlic, salt, pepper. Form into patties and grill/cook in a skillet until cooked through.

While those are grilling combine all ingredients for the sauce in a medium bowl.

Also, if you are grilling your hamburgers on the grill you can wrap the buns in aluminum foil and stick them on the coolest part of the grill or stick them in the oven on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes.

When hamburgers and bacon are done assemble burgers with hamburger buns, lettuce, bacon and hamburger and a dollop of sauce. Serve with sauce on the side for dipping, too.

We had this with cole slaw and strawberries.

Did I change anything? The original recipe called for chopped onions in the hamburgers, but I left those out. Also, next time I make these I will make more sauce. Can you tell I liked the sauce? I might also add a teeny tiny bit more horseradish.

What did the family think? My hubby groaned when he took his first bite. As in, holy cow I love these. The boys had just regular hamburgers.

photo from Ezra Pound Cake

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again

May 11, 2011 · 10:54 am

Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

It has come to my attention that there are some folks out there who would like for me to really make it super duper clear as to where I am getting all of these recipes from. Some of them are mine, some of them are not and I have always, from the beginning, noted where the recipe came from if it was not my own. However, I will begin, starting today, making it even more obvious where the recipes come from and adding a link if appropriate. MommaCooks has grown to be something more than I ever thought it would be, so I will just chalk this up to growing pains and get back in the kitchen. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped Italian plum tomatoes (2 medium)
1 cup julienne-cut zucchini
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 (10-oz.) can enchilada sauce
1 (8-oz.) container nonfat sour cream
1 teaspoon Taco Seasoning Mix
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, halved
6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray 13×9-inch glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Brown ground beef in medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain.

In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, zucchini, onions and beans; mix well. Stir in cooked ground beef. Reserve 1/3 cup enchilada sauce; set aside. In another medium bowl, combine remaining enchilada sauce, sour cream and taco seasoning mix.

Spoon 2 tablespoons enchilada sauce mixture in bottom of sprayed baking dish. Arrange 8 tortilla halves over sauce, overlapping as necessary. Spoon half of vegetable-bean mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Spoon half of remaining sauce mixture over cheese. Repeat layers, reserving 1/2 cup cheese for top. Top with reserved 1/3 cup enchilada sauce.

Cover with foil; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 375°F. Bake casserole for 30 to 35 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Uncover; sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Did I change anything? I didn’t let it sit as long as the recipes says. I only put it in the frig for about 5 hours.

What did the family think? Sadly, I was the only one who liked it. Normally, I wouldn’t put a recipe on MommaCooks that was “a bomb”, but this one wasn’t. Honestly, I wasn’t home last night and had eaten before everyone else and I think someone thought it might be a wee bit easier to take the kids out rather than trying to get them to eat something that has zucchini in it. 🙂

Where did the recipe come from? I found this recipe at bettycrocker.com.

from Betty Crocker

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Filed under Make Ahead of Time, Mexican

May 9, 2011 · 9:45 am

Egg “Muffins”

We are going to be celebrating Mother’s Day next weekend since both grandmas will be in town, so I thought I would give this recipe a trial run before making it for our Mother’s Day brunch.

Ingredients:
10-12 eggs
2 T fat free half and half
1 1/2- 2 cups diced meat: canadian bacon, ham, cooked turkey sausage or cooked veggie sausage
1 1/2- 2 cups grated low fat cheese (I like sharp cheddar or feta)
Optional, but highly recommended, 3 green onions diced small.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Use regular or silicone muffin pan, 12 muffin size. If using silicone pan, spray with nonstick spray. If using regular muffin pan, put two paper liners into each slot, then spray liner with nonstick spray.

In the bottom of the muffin cups layer diced meat, cheese and green onions. You want the muffin cups to be 3/4 full, with just enough room to pour a little egg around the other ingredients. Beat eggs well with the half and half (you could use milk). Pour egg into each muffin cup until it is full to the brim, nearly overflowing.

Bake 25-30 minutes until muffins have risen above the rim of the muffin cups and are slightly browned and set.

Did I change anything? I made these with bacon and green onions for the adults and just cheese and eggs for the kids. They were very tasty and I found some fun polka-dotted muffin cup liners to use, so they were fun, too.

What did the family think? Everyone liked them. Be careful though, they take a while to cool off.

from Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Filed under After School Snacks, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Six Ingredients or Less

May 6, 2011 · 12:09 pm

Mexican Beef and Bean Casserole

This was our Cinco de Mayo dish…we didn’t actually get too festive though because I completely messed up our dinner schedule by thinking our 6:30 baseball game was at 5:00. Oh well…it was still a tasty dish.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef, chicken or turkey
2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) pinto beans
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup mild chunky-style salsa
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
Sour cream and salsa, garnish
Rice or tortillas

Instructions:
Heat the oven to 375°.

Cook the beef in the skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain.

Rinse and drain the beans in a strainer. Mix the beef, beans, tomato sauce, salsa and chili powder in the ungreased baking pan.

Cover with lid or aluminum foil and bake 40 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice, until hot and bubbly. Carefully remove the lid, and sprinkle cheese over the top. Continue baking uncovered about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

The boys had this on tortillas. I melted a little cheese on the tortilla like a quesadilla and then added the beans and meat. You could also serve this over rice with a little salsa and sour cream and that would be good, too.

Did I change anything? I baked it just as the recipe says to, but I think you could totally skip that part and save yourself about 40 minutes. Just put everything in the skillet and heat it up that way. Just put the cheese on at the end in the skillet…it will still melt, but you don’t have to wait for it to bake in the oven.

What did the family think? Well, we didn’t get to all eat together (which is VERY rare in our house) because I messed up the baseball game time. 3/4 of us still ate what I made for dinner and everybody ate it…even our youngest. He picked out the beans, but he still ate it without any fuss.

from Betty Crocker

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Filed under Everybody Ate It, Mexican

May 4, 2011 · 2:39 pm

Beer Bread

I love homemade bread, but I don’t like baking anything that has yeast in it…all the waiting and kneading…I don’t have time for all that. I haven’t had beer bread in years, but it is so good and you don’t need any yeast…the yeast’s in the beer. 🙂 When I came across this recipe I just had to make it.

Ingredients:
3 c. self-rising flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1 (12 oz.) bottle beer (or can)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together until blended. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Did I change anything? Just make sure your beer isn’t too “hoppy” unless you want your bread to taste like hops.

What did the family think? They haven’t made it home yet to eat any, but I ate some and it was deeelish. I slathered some butter and honey on it while it was still warm. Yum!

from cooks.com

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Filed under After School Snacks, Bread, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Side Dish, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

May 3, 2011 · 10:27 am

Nachos

This is not a new recipe for MommaCooks, just a previous one with a tiny twist. Our oldest isn’t a big fan of tacos and will usually just eat the filling and not the tortilla, but he does love tortilla chips, so I decided to make nachos using the taco filling (from Jessica Seinfeld) that I normally make.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 14-oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes, with their juice
2 T cup sweet potato, carrot, or butternut squash puree (use baby food)
2 T wheat germ
1 packet taco seasoning
Tortilla chips

Garnish: cheese, sour cream, avocado, salsa…whatever you like on your tacos

Instructions:
Cook meat in large nonstick skillet. Drain fat.

Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, vegetable puree, wheat germ and seasoning mix.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the meat is no longer pink and the mixture begins to thicken, 8-10 minutes.

Make nachos by putting tortilla chips on a plate and topping with meat mixture. Add your favorite toppings.

Did I change anything? I added the wheat germ and reduced the amount of puree.

What did the family think? It was a hit!

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Mexican, Super Easy to Make

April 30, 2011 · 7:10 am

Layered Meatball Casserole

I know my kids will eat anything that has meatballs, spaghetti sauce, egg noodles and cheese. 🙂

Ingredients:
2-1/2 c prepared spaghetti sauce,divided
1 (16 oz) pkg. frozen bite-size meatballs,thawed
1 (.75 oz.) pkg. fresh basil leaves
1 (7 oz.) can sliced mushrooms,drained
2 tomatoes,sliced 1/4″ thick
1 c whole milk ricotta cheese
1 c sour cream
2 large eggs
3 tsp minced roasted garlic
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 (12 oz) pkg. egg noodles,cooked according to directions and kept warm
1-1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 2-1/2 qt. baking dish with on-stick cooking spray.

Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce over bottom of prepared dish. Place meatballs on top of sauce. Top with basil,mushrooms and tomatoes.

In medium bowl,whisk together ricotta,sour cream,eggs and remaining 1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce. Stir in garlic,salt,oregano and prepared noodles.

Pour over layered ingredients in baking dish.

Top with mozzarella. Bake 45 minutes or till bubbly.

Did I change anything? We left out the mushrooms, tomatoes and I didn’t have any oregano so I used Italian seasoning instead. For the roasted garlic, I just roughly chopped up two cloves of garlic and put them in the oven while the oven was heating up and I was getting everything else ready. By the time everything else was done, the garlic was done and was ready to be added to the recipe.

What did the family think? Yum! I think just about all of us went back for seconds, too.

from grouprecipes.com

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Italian

April 29, 2011 · 4:21 pm

Apple Pan Dowdy

Apple pan dowdy…it’s just fun to say….and EAT! 🙂

FILLING
4 lg apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

DOUGH
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
pinch salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp cold water

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prep the apples and put them in the bottom of a 9 x 9 baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup of sugar and spices and pour the mixture onto the apples, tossing until they are coated.

To make the dough, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Then blend the butter into the flour mixture using a hand pastry blender (or two forks) until the mixture is coarse like oatmeal.

Stir dough with a fork to bring it together. Form the dough into a ball and roll it out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. With a knife, cut long strips, then triangles out of the strips, and place the dough pieces over the apples. The pan dowdy baked for 45 minutes until the top was browned.

Did I change anything? I think next time I will sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on top. Also, you REALLY need some vanilla ice cream to go with this. It was missed as we were eating ours without it.

What did the family think? This will make your house smell terrific and your family’s tummy very happy.

from Family Feedbag

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Vegetarian