Monday, August 30, 2010

Frozen Lemonade Pie

Frozen Lemonade Pie
Tested by DH and YCGP

**Note:  This needs to freeze overnight! **

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust:
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup of sugar
7 Tablespoons butter melted

Lemonade Filling:
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 (12 oz) container whip topping, thawed
1 (6 fluid oz) can of frozen lemonade concentrate, still frozen
1 teaspoon candied lemon peel


Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350*.
2.  In medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter.  Press firmly on bottom and up sides of pie plate.  Bake for 7 minutes.
3.  In a different medium bowl, add chilled sweetened condensed milk and whip topping.  Fold gently.  Add frozen lemonade and continue to fold gently.  DO NOT let mixture to become soupy.  Pour mixture into the pie crust and freeze overnight.  Garnish with lemon peel.

Guinea Pig rating:  **** (4/5)

What I did:  I used a store-bought graham cracker crust instead of making my own.  Cheaper and easier!  I left off the candied lemon peel and it still tasted WONDERFUL!
What will I do next time:  Do what I did last time!  It was delicious!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Cinnamon Muffins

This is a good favorite of ours.  So easy to make and wonderful to eat.  Almost too good!!

Cinnamon Muffins
Tested DH, DC, and YCGP

Ingredients:

2 eggs
3 cups of flour
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
5 Tablespoons of butter
5 Tablespoons of shortening
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Topping:
1 cup of melted butter
1 cup of sugar blended with 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon


Directions:

1.  Grease 12 muffin cups and preheat oven to 350*.
2.  Cream together the butter, shortening, and the sugar. 
3.  Beat in the eggs, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder.
4.  Stir in the flour and milk alternately until mixture is just combined.
5.  Fill muffin cups to the top.
6.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
7.  Allow to cool for a few minutes.  With each muffin, dip in the melted butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar blend.

Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)

What I did:  I follow the recipe and it is DELICIOUS!
What will I do next time:  I will change NOTHING!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole
Taken from MOMYS Cookbook
Tasted by dc, dh, and YCGP

Ingredients:

1 2-lb bag frozen hash browns
1 lb breakfast sausage
1 lg onion
1 lb cheddar cheese
10 eggs
2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to 400*.  Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Cook the sausage with the onion.  Place the hash browns into prepared pan, then top with the cooded meat & onions.  Sprinkle cheese on top of the meat.  Whisk eggs with pepper and pour over the cheese.  Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes.

Guinea Pig rating:  **** (4/5) - and this rating is without the onion or cheddar cheese!  My girls didn't go for it at breakfast, but loved it at lunch.  Toddlers...picky eaters!

What I did:  No onion in my house, so I skipped it.  Cheddar cheese was replaced with a mixture of the following cheeses - Mozzerella, fresh parmesan, and Monterey Jack.

What will I do next time:  Have cheddar cheese and onion in my house so that I can make the casserole correctly!

**Overall, breakfast was WONDERFUL, but I don't even want to think how many calories is in this meal.  And we had leftovers for lunch when we got back from church.  Even so, we still have leftovers in the fridge.**

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Starting the Day!

So we are running low on cereal and have no goat milk for dd2.  So why not make muffins with the girls?  Dd1 wanted chocolate chip muffins...so here is a new recipe we tried!


Chocolate Chip Muffins
Taken from the MOMYS Cookbook
Tested on August 21, 2010 by DC and YCGP.

Ingredients:

2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
2 c. White Flour
1 c. Sugar
2 T. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 Egg
1 1/2 c. Milk
2/3 c. Vegetable Oil
1 c. Chocolate Chips

 Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients.  In a small bowl, beat the egg, milk, and oil together.  Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4's full.  Bake at 400* for 18-20 minutes for muffins, or 45 minutes for quick bread, in two greased bread pans.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack.  Yields 24 muffins.

Guinea Pig rating:  ****  (4/5)

What I did:  I skipped the salt, used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and my flour is already combined 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat already.
What will I do next time:  Switch the muffin pans half-way through the cooking time so that one pan's bottoms won't be dark and the tops of the other pan won't be darker than the bottom pan.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Cake Mix Cookies IV

Cake Mix Cookies IV
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by DH, DC, and YCGP.

Ingredients:


2 eggs
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
The following is a modification:
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 1/3 cup of quick cooking oatmeal

Directions:

1. Mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, vanilla, and oatmeal in a large bowl.
2. Make little balls with the dough and set on ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten the tops.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 4 - 10 minutes (The tops will still look gooey, but they will harden as they cool).

Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)

What I did: I added the vanilla and oatmeal.  They taste like snickerdoodles now!
What will I do next time:  Either add chocolate or butterscotch chips.  OR use a chocolate cake mix and add chocolate chips to it (my mother did this and she RAVED about it).

Lively Lemon Bars

Lively Lemon Bars
Taken from Pampered Chef "It's Good for You"
Tested many times by the whole family & friends

Total Prep & Cook Time: 52 minutes

Ingredients:

Crust -
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of margerine

Filling -
3 lemons (or 1/2 cup of lemon juice)
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
2 Tablespoons of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of powdered sugar

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease 9x9 square pan.  For crust, combine flour and powdered sugar.  Add margerine; blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Press crumb mixture into bottom of pan.  Bake 17 minutes; remove from oven.
2.  Meanwhile, for filling, zest two of the lemmons to measure 2 teaspoons of zest.  Finely snip zest and juice lemons to measure 1/2 cup of juice (or just skip that and use lemon juice out of a bottle).  In seperate bowl, whisk lemon juice (zest included, if you have it) and granulated sugar together.  Add eggs, egg whites, flour and salt.  Whisk until well blended.
3.  Pour filling over crust, spreading evenly.  Bake 20 minutes or until filling is set.  Remove from oven to cooling rack.  Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Guinea Pig rating:  **** (4/5)

What I did:  I always use lemon juice instead of zesting and then juicing the lemons.  I have even done this recipe with whole wheat flour and it still tastes wonderful.
What will I do differently next time:  Nothing!  The recipe is wonderful!

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested on DH, DC, and YCGP.

Total Cook and Prep Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 cups milk
6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

FYI- Makes a lot, so I freeze my leftover.

Guinea Pig Rating: ***** (5/5)


What I did: I added chicken and broccoli to my sauce.  Had over angel hair pasta.

What I will do differently next time:  Nothing!

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested on August 19th, 2010 by DH, BILs, YCGP, and DC

Total Cook Time:  5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1/8 cup margarine
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

Directions:
1. Put chicken, margarine and dressing mix in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Add cream cheese and soup, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm.

Guinea Pig Rating:  ***** (5/5)

What I did:  I followed the recipe and had it over Minute brown rice.
What I will do differently next time:  Either add in mushrooms or use cream of mushroom soup instead.