Fluffy Pancakes

Contributor photo from allrecipes

One more for you today. I made these pancakes a few days ago and I think I finally got the recipe "right."  The original recipe is, once again, on allrecipes. I highly suggest making a double batch. Worst case scenario, you have some for the following morning.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of milk
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 cup flour
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg (I used egg substitute)
2 tbsp butter melted (or more)
Cooking Spray (optional)

Directions:

Mix milk and vinegar, set aside for 5 minutes
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Whisk egg and melted butter into soured milk
Pour flour mixture into liquid mixer and whisk until all lumps are gone
Heat large skillet on stove.
Pour 1/4 cup portions of batter into pan
Flip pancake once it starts to bubble on top

Tips:

1. My batter was REALLY thick so I spread it out with a spoon after I poured to make the pancake a little wider. They still came out thick and fluffy. Very similar to the photo above.
2. Andrew mentioned they could use a little more butter to draw out that flavor a little more.
3. KEY TIP - Add vanilla to the liquid mixture. I put a few drops twice (double batch). It gave the pancakes just a little more flavor.

Summary:

Recipe was well liked by all and probably the most by Austin who has been eating them for breakfast. I think with a slightly stronger buttery flavor with the vanilla they would be perfect.

Traditional Beef Burritos

Photo from AllRecipes

I had a pound of ground  beef the other night and a bunch of left over taco ingredients but not all of them so burritos were the answer. I found a recipe on allrecipes and it was a huge hit. So here we go...

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 cup chopped onion (I sprinkled a decent amount of minced onion)

2 large garlic cloves (I sprinkled garlic powder)

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 cup taco sauce (I ran out just shy of the amount)
       **edit: found a recipe to make my own, you can find it here**

1 can refried beans (I didn't use a whole can)

6 tortilla shells, 10" (give or take a couple depending on how big you make them)

3/4 cup sour cream (I think I used more)

1.5 cups shredded cheddar (probably used more of this too)

Directions:

Brown the ground beef, drain.

Add onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin and taco sauce.

Stir together and cook for 5 minutes. Or until heated thoroughly. If you used real veggies, cook until they are tender.

-- The following directions are how I did it, not necessarily what the original recipe said --

Warm tortillas if they are brittle.

Scoop approximately 1/3 cup refried beans onto the middle of the tortilla shell

Scoop approximately 1/3 cup ground beef mixture onto the middle of the tortilla

Dallop the sour cream over the top

Put handful of cheese on top of that

Folding the Burrito: Fold in 1/2, fold in the sides, roll. If that is as clear as mud, this is the website I used to show me how :) http://www.chefbenwa.com/2008/08/how-to-roll-a-burrito/ 

-- Back to Original Directions --

Heat oven to 375

Spray all sides of burrito with cooking spray (I omitted this step, seems unnecessary)

Place burritos on a baking sheet, seemed side down

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until thoroughly heated and starting to brown, flipping them once.

I don't think mine were browning nor did I flip them. I tend to like a slightly softer burrito.

Summary:

Overall we loved these. Definitely a 5 out of 5 from both Andrew and I. Austin also loved them, though we had to feed it to him to prevent a catastrophic mess! Andrew dipped his in some salsa we had as well.  These came out soft enough for me but still crunchy enough for Andrew. We will absolutely be making this again and I'm sure it will probably be within a months time frame. Maybe I'll even attempt to make them a wet burrito. :) 

Mexican Style Chicken Salad

Photo from source listed above

Ok, I came across this on pinterest today and just had to try it. I'm not sure if it has an official name or recipe as the pinterest source was just a blog picture on foodpicsgo.com (http://foodpicsgo.com/?p=1640), so I did my best measuring out and came up with this:

Ingredients:
1 can chicken
1/2 can black beans
1/2 can corn
2 service spoon scoops of pureed salsa (pureeing is optional but I don't like chunks)
*Avocado (I didn't use this so I have no idea how much to suggest)

Directions:
Drain chicken, add to bowl, shred with fork
Drain and rinse beans, add to bowl
Drain corn, add to bowl (I used frozen)
Add scoops of salsa
Mix well
Serve in tortilla shells



Tips: Andrew added cheese and thought lettuce would be nice as well but we didn't have anything. He felt that there were too many mushy textures. He also added crushed tortilla chips to his.

Overall:
I really liked it as described above and will definitly be making it again. Its a super quick and easy lunch idea. Andrew likes it as well, but says it requires something crunchy.

Taco Filled Pasta Shells (Freezer Meal)

Not quite a new recipe for me but a favorite and the first time I'm sharing it with you all. No personal pictures this time but the actual thing turns out VERY close to the picture on Taste of Homes site. That said, the recipe is from one of my taste of home cookbooks (not sure which) but you can find it HERE as well.

Here is my version.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
2 envelopes of taco seasoning
1.5 cups water (roughly)
8 oz (1 package) of cream cheese, cubed
1 box uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1/4 cup butter, melted

Additional ingredients for each casserole: (3 total)

1/2 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce to drizzle (more or less to your taste)
2 cups of taco blend shredded cheese
Sour cream on side

Directions:

The Meat - 
Brown the meat until no longer pink; drain.
Stir in taco seasoning and the amount of water called for on the package.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Stir in cream cheese until melted
Transfer to a bowl to cool. Original recipe indicated about an hour. I didn't wait that long. :P

The Shells - 
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
Gently toss with butter.
Fill each shell with about 3 tbsp of meat. I used a service spoon instead of measuring spoons.

Here is where results will vary. When I did it last night, I came out with 34 total but think I could have easily come out with 36 if I was paying more attention. I divided the batch in thirds and had 3 meals.
At this point you can freeze as many as you wish. You can fit 12 in an 8x8 pan nicely with 3 rows of 4 shells. You could also combine 2 portions into a 9x13 pan I would think. If any of this is as confusing to you as it is for me to write, feel free to shoot me a question!

Assembling the Meal- 
Spoon salsa into  an 8 or 9" square baking dish
Top stuffed shells with taco sauce. I just drizzled my desired amount over top. It was a little less than a cup.
Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I forgot to cover but they turned out just fine.
Uncover; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake another 15 minutes or until heated all the way through and cheese is melted.
Service with sour cream

Synopsis:

These are absolutely amazing and well worth the 1.5 hours of making them so having the extra freezer meals of them is awesome. These will definitely be made over and over again too.

Corn Chowder Meal

So, I'm finally getting around to adding a new post again. Life has been a bit chaotic through the holidays. Tonight we had our small group over so I wanted something that I could make mostly ahead of time so I wasn't scrambling at the last minute.

Since I didn't change anything, I copied each of the recipes directly from their source sites.

The Menu

Nicole's Corn Chowder (http://crockingirls.com/recipes/nicoles-corn-chowder/)
Feather Rolls (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/rolls/feather-rolls/)
Cotton Candy Salad (http://www.budget101.com/easter-ostara/108425-cotton-candy-salad.html)
Brownies (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/brookes-best-bombshell-brownies/detail.aspx)

Corn Chowder Recipe

Ingredients

• 6-8 potatoes (peeled and diced)

• 1 Can cream corn

• 1 Can whole kernel corn

• 2 Cups chicken broth

• 8 Ounces diced ham

• 1 Cups diced onions

• 1/4 Cups butter

• 2 Cups half and half

Directions
Place potatoes, both cans of corn, chicken broth, ham, and onions into the slow cooker.Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

1. Mash the mixture to your desired consistency [I didn't mash anything] and then add the butter and half and half.
   Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high, and you are set!
   
   Synopsis: From what I could tell, everyone enjoyed the soup. I don't think mine had as much meat as the picture shows so you might want to add 16 oz of ham instead of 8 oz. 
   
   
   

Feather Rolls

Ingredients
4 1/4 - 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
1/2 cup mashed cooked potato
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the warm water, mashed potato, the 1/3 cup melted butter, the sugar, and salt. Add potato mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface. Cover; chill for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
3. Punch down dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into 15 rolls. Arrange rolls in prepared pan. Cover; let rise in warm place until nearly double in size (about 40 minutes).
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake about 25 minutes or until rolls are golden and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove from pan. Invert so tops are up. Brush tops with the 2 tablespoons melted butter. Serve warm.


Synopsis: I wouldn't necessarily refer to these as feather rolls. Mine came out a little dense but did taste really good. They were very easy to make too. I think I will let the dough sit (Step 2) longer next time but I didn't have a ton of extra time. Nevertheless, they tasted really good.

Cotton Candy Salad

Ingredients:
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 cups drained crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can strawberry pie filling
12 ounces cool whip, thawed
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Fold all ingredients together and blend well. Chill until ready to serve.


Synopsis: I haven't tried much of this myself but I liked it and saw lots of people taking seconds of it.  I definitely plan on making this (and the other recipes above) again.

Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. Gradually stir flour mixture into the egg mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
4. Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.


Synopsis: Mine took way longer to bake than 35-40 minutes. I probably had  closer to 50. By the time I took them out the last time, the outer edges were hard and the middle was still soft. The brownies were dense and chewy but also hard. The taste was good though. I haven't decided if I will try these again to see if there was something I did wrong or not. We'll have to see.