I may start out with good intentions – but quickly begin second guessing the recipe or  making substitutions.

I’ve creating some really amazing flops that way.

But I’ve also manged to pull off some pretty yummy dishes.

This is one of the yummy ones! Years ago I started playing with an oatmeal muffin recipe and in one of my creative moods – it morphed into a coffee cake.

Later I added the apples and – in a moment of brilliance – actually remembered to write down what I had down!

It’s remained a family favorite every since!

Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake

1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup oatmeal
4-1/2 tablespoon oil
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup milk
1 can apple pie filling

Crumb Topping:

2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons flour

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the oatmeal. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together the oil, eggs, and milk. Stir into the oatmeal mixture until just moistened.

Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.Carefully spread with the apple pie filling.

Mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter to make a crumb topping. Sprinkle over the apples.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Our recent visit was no exception. My amazing nephew put together a to-die-for breakfast bread that is still making me drool.

I won’t even tell you how many pieces I ate – but let’s just say it’s a good thing he made three loaves so that everybody else got some, too!

He made it with bacon (yum!) but I think he should definitely make some with ham or sausage, or even pepperoni!  I’d be happy to taste test them!

I also don’t think this bread should just be for breakfast – I would eat it any time. Like right now.

I was quite impressed with the fact that he made it ahead, froze it, and baked it up fresh for us in the morning – making it a perfect meal for overnight guests!

And – the best news of all – he shared his recipe!

Breakfast Bread

1 batch of White Bread Dough
1 [0.7 oz. or 19 grams] packet of dry Italian dressing mix
2 cups of cheddar cheese
2/3 cup of real bacon bits

Mix the envelope of Italian dressing mix into the bread dough, put it into a greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise till doubled.

On a floured surface, roll out into a large rectangle. Evenly spread the cheese and bacon bits over the surface.

Starting on the longest side, roll up the dough as you would cinnamon rolls. Place the roll on a greased jelly roll pan to rise.

Once risen, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Freezing directions:

Once the roll has been made, do not let it rise. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for one hour.

After one hour, remove the roll from the freezer ad completely wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze up to 1 month.

When you are ready to bake, remove from the freezer and unwrap it. Set it on a greased jelly roll sheet and cover with a clean dish towel. Let thaw and rise overnight.

Then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Note: This makes one loaf, but would be very easy to double or triple!  You could use frozen bread dough, but could not freeze the unbaked roll.

Enjoy!

Our Sunday activities included a church potluck at lunch and a 4H Soup Supper Fundraiser in the evening – with exactly one hour between the two.

That meant that we needed to be totally ready for both on Saturday – which made for a pretty crazy kitchen on Saturday afternoon!

I had Angel Girl, her friend Bethany and Dagmar all assisting. When we ran out of dishes we’ll call Buddy and Pedro to wash a few so we could keep moving.

In one afternoon we made barbecue venison, Grandma’s Cherry Dessert (but with blackberries) a chocolate oatmeal cake, lasagna, bread sticks, homemade caramel sauce, potato soup for 100, and a new creation – some yummy Caramel Apple Bars.

At one point – when I was mentally multiplying potato soup recipes in my head and praying that it would all turn out okay (it did!) – I handed Dagmar 2 different apple bar recipes and told her to make something work.

She did! The end result was an oatmeal crust with a gooey caramel apple filling.

We used homemade caramel sauce – since I forgot to buy caramels when I was shopping that morning – and it worked great!

Caramel Apple Bars

Crust:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional – we didn’t use)

Filling:

4-1/2 cups peeled and chopped baking apples (we used a fat quart of our frozen apples)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 – 14 ounce package caramels
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in pecans.

Set aside 2 cups.

Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan.

For filling, toss apples with flour and spoon over the crust.

In a saucepan melt the caramels and butter over low heat and drizzle over the apples.

Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool before cutting into bars.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

We bring home stray bananas.

You know the kind – the overripe ones found in the little bags at the grocery store that are all spotted.

There have even been a few times when we brought home entire banana boxes full of them.

Our kids used to like bananas, but they have eaten so many really ripe ones that now they will only eat them when they are green. They won’t even touch a yellow banana, let alone one with black spots.

So I hide them in my cooking.  I’m always looking for a new banana recipe – like this one – the Banana Streusel Muffin.

Even though it took me four mixing bowls and a trip to the Amish store for eggs, it was worth it! The kids gave them a 2 thumbs-up! (Although that could be because they have almost enough sugar and butter to qualify as a cupcake?!)

At least a few more stray bananas have found a final resting place.

Banana Streusel Muffin

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream (I did lemon juice in milk)
1/4 butter or margarine (melted)
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium)

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, butter and bananas.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full.

To make the streusel, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until small crumbs are formed.

Sprinkle the streusel over the muffins and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Makes about 1 dozen.

Of course I had to double it since we had a lot of bananas!

Enjoy!

Come on – ‘fess up now.

I know I did! And every year when January comes around my body starts craving some real food.

Something simple after all those rich holiday meals.

And maybe something with whole grains to counteract all those truffles.

These waffles are the perfect choice! They are a whole grain waffle that I can make with things I almost always have in my pantry. And best of all – I mix the entire thing in my blender in minutes!

They are even gluten free.

Whole Grain Blender Waffles
Adapted from Sue Gregg’s Eating Better Cookbooks

1 egg
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
2 Tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2  cup of brown rice
1/2 cup popcorn (unpopped)
1/2 cup of oatmeal (rolled or quick)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat waffle iron at highest temperature.

Place the egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, rice, popcorn and oatmeal in the blender in the order listed and blend on high speed for 3 minutes.

Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder and blend briefly. It should start to bubble immediately.

Grease your waffle iron well (I douse it really good with cooking spray).  Pour the batter -which should be thin – on the waffle iron. DO NOT PEAK! I’m serious here. Do NOT open that waffle iron until the little light goes off. Trust me on this one – just step away from the iron.

This should yield about six 7-inch waffles. (Although the first waffle you attempt will not work – it never does. I think it’s part of Murphy’s Law or something!)

Make sure you give the batter a quick stir before you pour each new waffle – it has a tendency to settle.

These are wonderful with the super-lean “Amish Chwistmas Sausage” and hot apple sauce on top for an easy “breakfast for supper”.

If you prefer – just substitute 2 cups of flour for the rice, popcorn, and oatmeal and blend briefly.

Or if you want to get fancy – you can substitute kamut, millet, barley, kasha, or wheat berries for the grains listed. That is – if you know what they are and actually have them in your pantry.

These are best when hot and crisp from the waffle iron – but you can freeze them and pop them in the toaster for a quick meal.

Wow! Don’t we feel healthier already?!

I’ve linked these posts up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.

3. If a friend comes over while you’re making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend’s first cookie is calorie free, (rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five – one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!

7. Cookies eaten while watching “Miracle on 34th Street” have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

9. Any cookies consumed from someone else’s plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!

10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It’s a rule!

Now – go enjoy those goodies guilt -free!

Although they can all cook and had a stocked pantry, they lived on frozen pizza, canned soup, and ham sandwiches.

But then again – they probably didn’t have time to cook. They were much too busy cleaning the entire house, filling Matt’s room with balloons – each with a handwritten message or silly family memory -  and baking him these welcome home cookies.

While Matt was in Pagosa Springs he discovered a small coffee house that made the most wonderful chocolate chip gingersnaps.

He raved about these cookies so much – that Dagmar went to work to replicate them for him.

And you know what? They are really good!

So good – they have earned a place on our Christmas cookie plates this year!

Soft inside with a touch of chocolate – they are everything I’m looking for in a cookie!

Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps
(adapted from Two Peas in a Pod)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 – 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 – 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 – 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 – 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 cup granulated sugar-for coating cookie dough balls

Cream together butter and sugar. Add the molasses, canola oil, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix until well combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth. Slowly add in the flour.

Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Scoop the dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased baking sheets, about two inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, the cookies will still be soft.

Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at At the Well.

We desperately needed to find a recipe we could make at home, because – let’s face it – you never know when a craving will hit!

So Dagmar and I hit the kitchen with lots of enthusiasm and a recipe to try.

An hour later we had four dirty saucepans, major sugar buzzes – and some amazing salted caramel hot chocolate.

***At this point – those of you who need a quick fix – simply make an envelope of hot chocolate mix, squirt  some caramel ice cream topping in it and sprinkle it with salt and enjoy.

If – however – you want the real deal – so rich and creamy and wonderful that the Hallelujah chorus plays when you drink it – keep reading.***

Let’s start with the caramel sauce. The original recipe was a disaster. (That’s why we had so many dirty saucepans – what a mess!)

So I dug out a recipe for caramel sauce that I pinned on Pinterest. Hot diggety! That was some seriously good caramel! It was so good that you could eat it by the spoonful! (not that I would know from personal experience or anything ! But seriously – you should try it with a whole almond!)

Caramel Sauce

1/4 c. butter
1 c. corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine first four ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat stirring constantly. Keep cooking and stirring until the temperature reaches 235 -240 degrees (soft ball stage).

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

At this point – you could make a delectable caramel candy by pouring the caramel mixture into a foil-lined baking dish and refrigerating. Then cut into squares and enjoy. Or – you could add nuts or coat with chocolate…but I’m getting carried away.

We’re making caramel sauce here – so you need to add half – half to prevent the caramel from turning hard. (We didn’t add enough and ours turned into a semi-solid that makes it very difficult to sneak out of the fridge when the kids aren’t looking!)

Now for the hot chocolate part. You could use a packet if you wish, or my hot chocolate recipe, or even hot milk with chocolate syrup stirred in. But if you want to go over the top – try this one.

Uber Rich Hot Chocolate

12 oz. chocolate
1 c. heavy cream
milk

Melt together the chocolate and heavy cream in a double broiler.

When melted and mixed, add milk until you reach the desired consistency and chocolately goodness.

Now let’s assemble -

Coat the inside of a mug with the caramel sauce and fill with hot chocolate. Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on the very top and behold your masterpiece.

Now slowly inhale the chocolate aroma before taking your first sip.

Did you hear the music?

Yep – I thought so.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post with Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace.

It is a little embarrassing.

But at least it went into something really yummy – a chocolate peppermint poke cake.

You remember the original poke cakes made with colorful jello poked into a white cake? This holiday version features a chocolate cake poked with a yummy peppermint simple syrup.

It’s rich and minty and most of all – super easy!

Chocolate Peppermint Poke Cake

1 – 9 x 13 chocolate cake (you can use a mix – or make your own from scratch)
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 or 2 crushed candy canes

Bake cake as directed.

While the cake is baking, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils. Add the peppermint extract.

Reduce heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use a fork to poke the entire top and slowly pour the peppermint syrup over it all.

Let it cool completely.

Frost with the Cool Whip and garnish with the crushed peppermints.

Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

The cake just gets more minty as it sits!

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

But not me.

A turkey can be one of the best meat values around – if you watch for the low price and stock up.

From now till Christmas grocery stores will be having some great turkey prices, and I’ve been filling the freezer.

I found it works well to put them in a row at the very bottom of my chest freezer since I don’t use them often. They are out of the way there and help push everything else closer to the top.

I just have one of the kids hold my ankles when I go in for one!

Often during the winter months we will roast one for a meal, complete with potatoes and stuffing. Then we take the leftover meat off the bones and put them in bags in the freezer to use in a variety of casseroles in the weeks to come.

(Did you know that you can substitute cooked turkey for any casserole that calls for cooked chicken?)

The bones will be put in the crock pot on low with celery, carrots, onions, water, and sage leaves to cook into the most amazing broth.

Just thinking about that turkey broth in a turkey-noodle soup is making my mouth water!

Other turkeys we will smoke or do a “mock-smoke” and use for sandwiches. It’s a great, inexpensive way to feed a large group of people.

I know it won’t work for everybody – but stocking up on cheap turkey now sure works well for me!

I’ve linked this post up with Works for Me Wednesday at We are That Family.