Breakfast Casserole with Pillsbury Crust

I got this recipe from my SIL Heather.  We tried it out for General Conference weekend and it was perfect.  Super easy to put together and baked up quickly.  Even my kids liked it!  Also, with the crust on the bottom, it was able to be cut and it held together really well (as in, you could pick it up and eat it with your hands if you wanted to).  I bought the crescent roll in a package that came in one giant 9"x13" sheet so I didn't have to seal the seams, making it really fast and easy.  I also made this the night before, but kept everything separate (crust laid out in pan and covered in saran wrap, toppings/cheese chopped and in separate bags, all other ingredients mixed in a liquid measuring cup).  It was really easy to dump all ingredients into the pan and bake first thing.


1 can Pillsbury crescent roll 8 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1 tsp dry mustard Salt and Pepper to taste 2 cups of shredded cheese- usually use cheddar 1 cup chopped ham or crumbled breakfast sausage


Heather's instructions: Preheat oven to 425 (edit….original cooking temperature was 425 but the crust gets darker than I would like). Grease a 9 X13 GLASS pan (metal pans cook hotter and crust gets darker faster). Place crescent roll on the bottom of the pan and seal perforations with your fingers. Allow the dough to stretch up the sides of the pan. You want this to seal as well as possible. If not done right- the egg will seep through and cook on the bottom of the pan. This is not necessarily bad- just not as pretty. (ie it has happened to me more than once

Sprinkle chopped ham and shredded cheese over the top of this. Mix the remaining ingredients together to break up the eggs. Pour over the top of ingredients in the pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the eggs are set.


This is just a base- you can add whatever you would like. I like to use swiss cheese and mushrooms. You could add chopped broccoli, green peppers, onions, etc and omit the meat.

Recipe Source: My SIL Heather
Photo Source: Pillsbury

Banana Coconut Muffins

Love me some coconut!  And you really can't go wrong with delicious muffins like these.  My kids ate them up :)

Banana Coconut Muffins

(From Extra Lean Family by Mario Lopez)               Yield: 12 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 bananas)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup low fat milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners, In a large bowl combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add bananas, applesauce, canola oil, milk, egg, and vanilla;mix gently to combine. Fold in walnuts and coconut. Using a 1/3 cup measure, scoop batter into muffin pans and bake 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden.

Picture & Recipe Source: She's Cookin and Mario Lopez's "Extra Lean Family"

Sandwich Rolls

Each holiday, I have been experimenting with different roll recipes.  Here is one I tried out yesterday for Easter.  It was a "stiff" roll recipe.  The roll definitely kept its shape, I am thinking from the potato flakes in the ingredient list.  I was thinking this roll recipe would be great for sandwiches or sliders, but not if you want a super soft, delicate roll.  They sliced up beautifully.


12 C bread flour (I didn't use this much I don't think....I lost count)
3 1/2 TBS yeast
1 1/2 TBSP salt
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C oil
4 C hot water
1 C powdered milk
1 C potato flakes

In a measuring cup, mix yeast and 1 TBSP of the sugar.  Let sit until the mixture becomes foamy, about 5 minutes.  In a mixing bowl, add 4 C flour, salt, powdered milk, potato flakes and sugar.  Mix well.  While the mixer is on, slowly add the foamy yeast water.  Add oil, mix well.  Gradually add 7-9 C more flour while kneading with bread hook till dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and isn't sticky.  After adding last cup of flour, knead for about 7 minutes.  Shape into desired shapes or loaves, rise until almost double.  Large loaves bake 350 about 32 minutes.  Don't preheat oven.  If you want to preheat oven, bake at 325 for 30 minutes.  When I was baking the rolls, I believe they baked at 325 for 25 minutes.

Recipe Source:  An old recipe I found in a stack ;)
Photo Source: Karla Akins

Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

One thing I am learning in the cooking world is that making your own sauces is not as hard as I originally thought it was AND its also tastes WAYYY better than anything you can find in a bottle (from my experience).  You also cut out all of the extra unnecessary preservatives.  Yes, it does take more time to stir together 3 ingredients than it does to open a bottle, but the money AND taste savings are well worth it.  I hope to be able to find more stir fry sauce recipes and will post them here.  For now, this is one that my kids love (because its sweet) and oh so easy.



Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar


Mix all ingredients and cook with stir fry veggies.  This sauce is thin and sweet.  You can double, triple, etc the amounts as needed.


Recipe Source:  Recipezaar.com
Picture Source: Stir Fry Sauces

Shoyu Chicken

Since I live in Hawaii, I figure I better learn how to make a little local food every once in awhile.  This chicken is a staple here.  Its great because this chicken recipe does not need to be marinated ahead of time from what I hear, but I did, just to be on the safe side.  :)  Many people boil the chicken in the sauce for 30-45 minutes, turning every once in awhile.  I baked the chicken in the oven with the directions below:

Ingredients:

1 5lb box chicken thighs, thawed

1 C shoyu (soy sauce)

1 C sugar

5 cloves garlic

3 half inch chunks ginger (I used dried)

Mix the shoyu and sugar. Add the garlic and chunks of ginger together in a bowl.  Stir it until the sugar dissolves. Mush the ginger and the garlic cloves with the back of a table knife so that the flavor can comes out of them, before you add them to the sauce. 

Put the chicken thighs (defrosted) in a pan that is deep enough that the juices won't boil over the side, and bake the chicken at 350 degrees, covered, for about 1 hour. Check the chicken to see if it is done - it should be just done. Do not over cook the chicken or it will be tough. If the chicken needs a little more time put it back in the oven and check it again in 15 minutes. The chicken should have turned white and there should be no blood near the bone (if you are using thighs that have bones in them). 

Some people use boneless - skinless thighs, some people like thighs with the skin and bone on. It doesn't matter which type you use, but I think thighs are the best thing to use for shoyu chicken. I also think it is good to cook the chicken a little ahead of time so that it can reabsorb the flavor of the sauce after it has cooked. So if I wanted chicken to be ready to eat at 5pm, I'd stick it in the oven at 3pm so that I would have time to cook it a little longer if needed and also so it could cool in the sauce for a while before serving it.

If you like the taste of a thicker sauce you can take the sauce out of the pan, after the chicken has cooked, and thicken it in a sauce pan with some corn starch and then pour the sauce back on the chicken.

Recipe Source: Benita C, my friend

Picture Source: Kuki's Kookbook

Brown Butter Banana Bars

I got this recipe from my friend Rachelle over at To Die For Recipes.  Oh man, they are good.  Not healthy, but wow, this frosting is incredible.  The browned butter gives it a delicious flavor.  My kids said they liked them as much as my Peanut Butter Bars.  Say what?!  They would be great for any occasion as well.  Rachelle says you can halve the recipe, no problem.

Ingredients:

BANANA BARS:

1 1/2 C sugar
1 C sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 C butter, softened
1 3/4 C mashed, ripe bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
2 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)


BROWN BUTTER FROSTING:

1/2  C butter
4 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBSP milk
1/4-1/2 tsp salt


1. Heat oven to 330F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan. For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts. 

2. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.

4. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt and milk. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

Side note:  My frosting needed extra milk.  It was pretty thick without it.  I will keep experimenting, as I was letting my daughter help stir in the powdered sugar and it was taking her awhile.  I wonder if this made a difference?

Recipe Source:  To Die For Recipes
Picture Source: Many Makings

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies-Updated!

I just replaced a previous "Best Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe with this one.  I didn't compare the two recipes, but I know they were similar.  This recipe turns out PERFECT.....so perfect they looked like something you would buy at Mrs. Fields Cookies, plus they are delicious.  My husband's only complaint was that there were a bit too many chocolate chips....say what?!  They are perfect!  So, this is my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Hooray!  As a side note, the previous recipe can be found here from The On Call Cook.  I lived in a very dry climate and The On Call Cook's recipe baked up great!  Now I live in a very humid climate, that particular recipe hasn't turned out as well for me.  Thanks to Mel's Kitchen Cafe, I have a new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe that turns out perfect.  

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar (7 ounces)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet or milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure an oven rack is in the center of the oven.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until well mixed. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla. Mix well until the batter has lightened slightly in color, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips at the same time. Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
4. Form dough into tablespoonful-sized balls and place on parchment or silpat-lined cookie sheets. Frozen cookie dough can be stored for up to 2 months in the freezer.
5. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the edges are set and just lightly browned (keeping in mind that ovens can vary in temperature so use your best judgment). Don't overbake or else the cookies will be tough and hard. If baking frozen cookie dough, add 1 to 2 minutes onto the baking time. Store the baked cookies in an airtight container (or baked cookies can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 months).

Mel's baking tips:  I've had great success baking these cookies at 325 degrees for 13-ish minutes or 350 degrees for about 11 minutes (each oven will vary in time). Basically, do what you have the time and patience for. I usually stick with 350 because it is easier to remember and two minutes faster. Time is money, right??

For me, baking at 350 for 13 minutes was perfect.  

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Photo Source: here