Recipes
As a kid i always loved to get in the kitchen when my mom was baking cookies or making banana bread etc. Our own kids love to get in the kitchen and help as well. I think cooking is an important life skill, and i'm excited that all of the kids seem to take an interest. Here are some of the Recipes we've done, or are planning on working on in the future.
Come find Me on All Recipes, this is one of my favorite recipe sites/Apps
Green Bean Casserole
Green Bean Casserole is definitely a Thanksgiving Staple, i make it every year out of habit and tradition i suppose. This year it was really good, i'm not sure what was done differently, but it turned out great. Original recipe came off of All Recipes, their app has really been great!
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-2lbs Fresh Green Beans
-1 Can Cream Mushroom Soup (don't dilute)
-1 6oz can of French Fried Onions
-1 Cup Shredded Cheddar
-3 Slices Bacon Cooked Crisp and crumbled
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*Preheat oven to 325 (the original recipe called for 350 but we cooked it with our turkey still in the oven and so ours was cooked at 325)
*Boil Green Beans for 15 min.
*mix cream of mushroom soup, bacon crumbles, and half of the French Fried Onions with the green beans, pour into casserole dish.
*Top Green Beans with Cheddar Cheese, and then the rest of the French Friend Onions.
*Bake (covered with foil) for 35 min.
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Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
I've never really been a fan of sweet carrots, i remember always seeing these at big meals, and other family enjoyed them but i could never get on board. I tried this recipe because it had more honey vs. brown sugar than the other recipes i had seen and thought i'd give it a shot. For sweet carrots i actually really enjoyed them!
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-1lb of Baby Carrots
-1/2 Cup of Butter
-3 TBSP Honey (I personally doubled this)
-1/2 cup of brown sugar
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*Boil Carrots approx 10-15 min. or until tender, set aside and allow to steam dry
*Melt Butter in large saucepan over medium heat, add brown sugar/Honey, cook stirring constantly for about 5 min. until all the sauce is mixed
*Add Carrots to pot, make sure carrots are coated and allow them to cook for another 5 min. (ours simmered for about another 30 min. on the lowest heat while the rest of dinner finished and it was fine)
Baked Mac & Cheese
Mac & Cheese is a side dish we have at all of our families big holiday meals, it's Brandon's favorite side so i'm always looking for better recipes. This year it turned out pretty good, it was a new recipe and overall was very creamy. If i did it again i would probably double my cayenne pepper.
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-1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar
-1 Cup Shredded Colby Jack
-2 cups cooked Elbow Mac
-2 TBSP Butter
-2 TBSP Flour
-1/4 Cup Whole Milk
-1 Cup Half and half
-1/4 TSP Cayenne Pepper
-1/2 TSP Black Pepper
-Salt to taste
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*Preheat Oven to 325, Spray casserole dish with n on stick cooking spray. Separate out 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar and set aside for later.
*Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Gradually whisk in milk and half & half. Stir constantly, until mixture boils and thickens (about 2 to 3 minutes). Remove from heat and add cayenne and black peppers, and 2 cups of the reserved cheese mixture; stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.
*Stir cooked macaroni into the sauce and season to taste. Place in the prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and dot with additional butter, if desired. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned.
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Blue Cranberry Sauce
I know it's silly but i'm one of those people that feels the need to put out Cranberry Sauce, even if i suspect nobody will touch it, because it's a traditional side to a turkey dinner. That doesn't mean i won't try to improve upon it and maybe get some of it eaten! This year i did Blue Cranberry sauce and it was a hit with the kids, this year it actually got eaten! No surprise my kids love blueberries. Though honestly as a person that actually likes cranberry sauce, the blueberries really did add something extra to the overall flavor, it was really good. There is a full recipe you can search for online, but my cheat was to simply mix canned cranberry sauce, with a half a pound of fresh blueberries that had been lightly smashed and burst, with a little bit of white sugar (very little maybe a TBSP or two) Thats all it took and it was yummy! will definitely be doing again.
Basic Apple Pie (Filling)
I was a bit surprised, and proud last week when i picked Donovan up from his class to take him to Garden Club and he handed me a bag of apples. His teacher told me they were left overs from snack time, and that he had asked if he could take them home because he wanted to make Apple Pie! I immediately agreed and told him we could make Apple pie on Friday, without even considering how much time we actually had free. So not wanting to disappoint I told him we would start with a very basic apple pie, using a store bought crust. I wish i had snapped a picture before we cut into it, but it was yummy for a first run, and Donovan was super excited that we turned his Apples into pie!
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We used the basic apple pie recipe off a box of Pillsbury pie crust. If we were to do this again using this very basic recipe, the two biggest things i would change, would be to first definitely egg wash the crust. I knew this already since i used to be a baker, but i figured i'd give the recipe on the box a shot. I would also double the amount of apples called for to make it more of a deep dish pie, and perhaps just another table spoon of flour to keep the filling together a little more. I wont lie i did at coarse sugar to the top of the crust before baking ( didn't even think to check the recipe this is just how we do pie crust at work!)
**Normally i would include the recipe, however since this was off a store bought pillsbury crust, if you chose to make this you'd have the recipe in hand/
Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry whipped cream frosting.
Athena's 4th Birthday is this coming Monday, and what i asked her what she wanted as far as cake, she responded strawberry cupcakes. Challenge excepted! I found the following recipe on tasteofhome.com . The recipe seems fairly easy, so we're going to give it a try. Pictures to be posted after we bake.
Ingredients
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1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam or preserves, warmed
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3/4 cup butter, softened
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1 cup sugar
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3 large egg whites, room temperature
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1 cup 2% milk
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1/2 cup sour cream
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1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1/4 teaspoon baking soda
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1/4 teaspoon salt
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Red food coloring, optional
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FROSTING:
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2 cups heavy whipping cream
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1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
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1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam or preserves
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Fresh strawberries, optional
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350°. Line 16 muffin cups with paper or foil liners. Press warm jam through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard pulp.
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In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in strained jam and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk milk and sour cream until smooth. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture, beating well after each addition. If desired, stir in food coloring.
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Fill prepared muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
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In a large bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar, jam and vanilla; beat until stiff peaks form. Spread or pipe over cupcakes. Refrigerate leftovers. If desired, garnish with fresh strawberries.
Spaghetti Sauce
On the kids last day of Garden Club we came home with a ton of vegetables, and at least 80 percent of them were different types of tomatoes. We didn't want to waste the fresh veggies, and with a newborn coming in about a month, I wanted to do something with them that would be saveable and useful next month. I found a fresh tomato recipe, and tweaked it a little bit so that we could freeze already prepaired fresh spaghetti sauce. My Tweaked recipe is below.
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion Chopped
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
4 Pounds Tomatoes Chopped (Peel if desired)
1 Tbsp White Sugar
1 Tbsp Basil
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Parsely
2 Peppers Chopped
1 Tsp Salt
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1. Heat oil/Onion/Garlic in a large skillet on medium high heat, for approx 5 min. untill the onion turns trasnlucent.
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2.Add all other ingredients into skillet, and bring to a boil.
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3.Reduce heat to a simmer and cook an additional 1-2 hours
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
We ended up with a lot of pumpkin left over after halloween this year, so i had a lot of requests from the kids on different things we could make using the pumpkins. The kids chose pumpkin Chocolate chip cookies first. I found this recipe in the all recipe app.
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-1/2 cup Shortening
-1 Cup White Sugar
-1 Cup Pumpkin puree
-1 tsp Vanilla
-2 cups flour
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets
2. Mix shotening and sugar together, add in pumpkin and vanilla.
3. Mix in try ingredients
4. add in chocolate chips
5. bake 8-10 min.
Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake
Cake Layers-
Vegetable Shortening for greasing pans
-1 Cup Butter Softened
-2 Cups Sugar
-4 Large Eggs
-2 tsp. Baking powder
- ½ tsp. Kosher Salt
-½ tsp. Baking Soda
-3 Cups + 1 tbsp Flour
-1 ¼ Cup Buttermilk
-1 tbsp grated lemon zest plus ¼ cup lemon juice (from two med. lemons)
-2 tsp Vanilla Extract
-12 oz fresh blueberries
Frosting-
-6 oz fresh blueberries
-1 tbsp grated lemon zest + 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
-1 Cup Butter softened
-32 oz Powdered Sugar
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flower three 8 inch cake pans.
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Beat Butter until creamy. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salad and baking soda.
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Mix flour mixture into butter mixture alternating back and forth adding buttermilk. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
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In a third bowl rinse blueberries then toss with a few table spoons of flour. Fold blueberries into the cake batter.
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Pour cake batter into three prepared 8 inch cake pans. Bake for 23-25 minutes until cooked through.
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Transfer cakes onto cooling racks until completely cooled.
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Prepare Frosting--------
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Process blueberries and lemon juice in blender until completely smooth.
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In a separate bowl beat butter and lemon zest with a mixer until creamy. Add blueberries mixture and powdered sugar back and forth and mix with mixer until light and fluffy.
9. When Cakes are completely cooled, frost and serve. Refrigerate Left over cake.
Blueberry Lavender Hand Pies
Dough-
-2 ½ Cups Flour
-2 tbsp Sugar
-1 tsp Kosher Salt
-¾ Cup cold butter, cubed
-4 tbsp cold vegetable shortening, Cubed
-½ Cup Ice Cold Water
Filling-
-¼ tsp dried culinary lavender
-4 tbsp sugar
-1 tbsp cornstarch
-â…› tsp Kosher Salt
-6 oz Blueberries
-1 tsp Vanilla
Glaze-
-1 Cup Powdered Sugar
-4 tsp Whole Milk
-¼ tsp Vanilla
Prepare Dough-
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Mix flour, Sugar and Salt in bowl.
Scatter Butter and Shortening over the flour mixture, mix until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add Ice water, mix until mixture begins to stick together.
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Turn Mix out onto heavily floured counter. Knead juts until it comes together. Divide into two clumps and shave into evenly shaped disks. Cover each disk in plastic wrap and chill 4 hours.
Prepare Filling-
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Process lavender and 2 tbsp of sugar in a spice grinder until finely ground.
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Whisk together lavender mixture, cornstarch, salt and remaining 2 tbsp of sugar in a small saucepan.
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Whisk in ¼ Cup of water and bring to a boil. Whisking often.
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Remove from heat and and stir in blueberries and vanilla. Lightly crushing about half of the blueberries.
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Let stand about 30 min. Until completely cool.
Making Hand Pies-
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Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
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Cut out 12, â…› inch circles.
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Spoon 1 tbsp of filling onto the middle of each circle.
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Lightly moisten edges of ½ of each circle. Fold crust over and seal by crimping edges.
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Cut 2-3 ½ inch slits in the to pof each hand pie.
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Bake until golden brown about 20-25 min. Then cool for about 30 min.
Preparing Glaze-
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Whisk together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.
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Drizzle glaze over hand pies.
Blueberry citrus rolls, with citrus glaze
Dough-
-1 (¼ oz) Envelop active dry yeast
-¼ Cup Warm Water
-½ Cup + 1 tsp Sugar
-½ Cup Butter Softened
-2 Large Eggs, lightly Beaten
-1 Cup Whole Milk
-1 tbsp fresh orange juice (from one orage)
-1 tsp Kosher Salt
-5 Cups Bread Flour
-½ Cup Very Soft Butter
Citrus Filling-
-1 Cup Sugar
-2 Tbsp grated orange zest (from one orange)
-6 oz blueberries
Citrus Glaze-
-2 Cups powdered Sugar
-2 tbsp butter softened
-2 tsp Grated Orange Zest + 3 tbsp fresh orange juice (from one orange)
Prepare the Dough-
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Mix yeast, warm water, and 1 tsp of sugar in a cup and set aside for 5 min.
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Beat ½ Cup softened butter with mixer until creamy then gradually add remaining ½ cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in Eggs, milk, and orange juice, until just blended. Then add in yeast mixture until combined.
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Stir together salt and 4 ½ cup flour, gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture beating on low speed until well blended.
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Heavy flour a work space. Turn dough out and knead until smooth and elastic. Add up to ½ cup of flour as needed to prevent sticking.
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Move dough into greased bowl, roll over once to coat dough in grease then cover and let rise for approx 1.5-2 hours.
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Punch dough down and roll out into 22x12 inch rectangle
Prepare Citrus Filling -
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Mix together orange zest and sugar.
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Coat dough with ½ cup of very soft butter brushing it on leaving a 1 inch boarder.
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Evenly coat with sugar mixture.
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Drop blueberries evenly across sugar mixture.
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Roll up dough long ways in a jelly roll style
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Cut rull approx 16 times, into 1.25 inch slices.
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Spray two 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray, add rolls to pans and cover. Allow to rise until doubled in size about 1 hour.
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Cook for 25-30 min. At 350 degrees
Prepare Citrus Glaze-
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Stir together powdered sugar, butter, orange zest and orange juice until well combined and smooth.
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After rolls have cooled on racks for approx 5 min. Glaze rolls and enjoy.