Tried something different today and it worked! You will remember that I added 1/2 lb of breakfast sausage the other day to my 1 lb of ground round for the meatloaf. Well, it was so good that I tried it today in spaghetti sauce and it gives it a little “kick”. It is really so good. I just used a pound of ground turkey and added the 1/2 lb of the Jimmy Dean Mild breakfast sausage and have it in the crock pot cooking all day. But had a sample for lunch and it is really very good. Wanted to share the idea!.
Month: October 2009
Banana-Cream Cheese Bread
3/4 cup softened butter
1 8 0z package softened cream cheese
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teas baking powder
1/2 teas aking soda
1/2 teas salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 teas vanilla
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addtion.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans and vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8×4 inch loaf pan or one 9×13 cake pan, (which you could then frost with cream cheese frosting and serve as a cake).
Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan. If bread begins to brown too quickly, use foil to shild the sides during the last 15 min of baking. Cool on a rack and then invert on a plate and slice as needed. *If you used the 9×13 pan, you will bake about 35 to 40 minutes, depending upon your oven. If it begins to look done, just test with a toothpick and as soon as the pick comes out clean, take out of oven……..you can also just dust the top with powdered sugar.
Thursday, Oct 22
The rain is gone and the sun is shinning and it is day to celebrate! My mom is coming into town for a few days and I know she will enjoy seeing the grandkids and the great-grandkids. I learned much of my “cooking for others” from her. We always had someone living with us, as I was an only child and she felt that it was up to her to entertain me with opening our home to anyone needing a place to live for a short time. As I look back and remember some of the “company” which stayed with us, I think I learned something from each one. Some negative things, but also some postive things. As I think back to some of the young ladies who stayed with us, it has taught me how to be a guest in someone’s home. We had some doozies sometimes! Some that thought they couldn’t go to sleep unless they were listening to Led Zepplin, others would insist that their days were not complete unless I played the piano while they sang (and trust me, they did not have the “gift of singing”). Others were short term missionaries who taught me that each day should begin with reading God’s Word just by watching them do so. They didn’t have to say a word. It was always fun at meal time, because we always had someone having dinner with us. I loved that. I was determined that when my children were born that we would make meal time a happy occassion. I pray that they have that memory as they are now raising children of their own. Of course there were nights when we ate Taco Bell in the car on the way to practices, but we had many nights when we did have dinner together. I did not want the television on during dinner. It was fun to hear about their day and to hear them harrass each other and to kid and tease each other.
It is a blessing that I have a husband who feels blessed to have a home, which we know is given to us by the Lord, opening it to young men or women who feel called to the ministry. We are housing our third intern at the present and it is a joy to not only see how God is using this young man and to hear what all he is learning, but to see him excited about his future and where God might take him. We have had dinners with him which have kept us around the table for an hour after dinner, laughing and talking about great memories he has had and us as well. We feel so blessed that the Lord has directed him into our lives. We pray that as he has been a blessing to us, that we will be a blessing to him. The scripture comes to mind, Romans 12:13, “Distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality.” That is my prayer, that God will use our home for His purpose!
Wednesday, October 21st
Do you not just love this weather? It is certainly a day for thinking about what you are going to fix for company during the holidays when families come “a-knockin”. I cut out a recipe from Southern Living a few years ago and it is a favorite. Wanted to share it with you. This is something that is a little different, but oh so good and very easy. Your guests will think you have gone to a cooking school for sure!
Lemon-Spinach Chicken
1 10 oz bag of fresh spinach
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teas garlic powder
3/4 teas salt
1/2 teas pepper
4 (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thawed
2 Tables butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine (optional, you can just add the 1/4 cup more broth)
1 teas lemon zest
2 tables fresh lemon juice
Garnish with grape tomatoes
Cook spinach in a lightly greased skillet over medium heat, stirring for 2 minutes.Transfer spinach to a bowl. Combine flour, salt and pepper and garlic powder in a shallow dish (I usually use waxed paper so I can just toss it when finished and gives me 1 less pan to wash). Coat chicken on both sides with flour mixture. Melt butter in skillet. (If you add about 1/4 cup of oil to the butter it will not burn while browning the chicken). Cook chicken breasts 4 to 5 min on each side until they appear golden. Remove chicken and reserve the drippings in skillet. Add chicken broth and next 4 ingredients to skillet (with the drippings). Bring to a boil, stirring to loosen the drippings from skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is cooked down to about half of what it was. Stir in spinach and heat for about 1 min. Pour spinach mixuture over mashed potatoes or rice and top with the chicken. Sprinkle a few grape tomatoes which have been cut in half over this. It makes a great presentation. Serve with hot Sister Schberts Rolls, and hot cobbler with ice cream for dessert. What a beautiful meal this makes……go to “desserts” for the recipe for the cobbler.
Chocolate Chip Cake
1 Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
1 small pkg vanilla instant pudding (not sugar free)
1 small pkg chocolate instant pudding (not sugar free)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
Mix the above ingredients for about 2 mins with mixer on medium speed.
Add 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Mix in 1 small pkg chocolate chips (I like the mini chips) Pour into a greased and sugared bundt pan.
When making sweets, when the recipe calls for you to grease and flour the pans, I use sugar instead of the flour. It gives the cakes or breads a nice crisp little coating instead of a dry white floured one……
Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees
Tuesday, Oct 20
It is a most glorious day. The weather is so gorgeous, it just feels great to be outdoors. I have forgot to tell you about the fall trees in our entry. Randy is always kidding me about how much I love the lights of the holidays. A few years back, he had the suggestion to go ahead and get the group of 3 trees out of the attic and decorate them for fall, with the beautiful red, orange and yellow garland and pumpkins and white lights with giant leaves on them. We loved it so much, we have continued the tradition of putting them up the first of Oct. So from the street and porch, you see lite trees which makes a most warm inviting welcome. It just allows me to have “lit trees” a little longer than just the Christmas Season. Today, I am making a chocolate chip pound cake for dinner and it is delicious. A great cake to have with a little cinnamon or vanilla ice cream alongside. So that will be the recipe today.
Marvelous Monday
Yeah! have the first bake sale behind me. What a great Fri and Sat. Sold lots of cakes and casseroles. The casserole recipes I have put on this blog are the ones I sold at the bake sale. They are from the recipes we used to use when selling for Northwood Women’s Club. They are delicious and so easy and great for holiday company. Let me know when you make them how you like them. Would always be interested in your ideas of any changes to them you might use…….Let’s try to keep the upcoming holidays a little less stressful and use the time God gives us to spend making memories or serving others in ways He ordains…….that will make our holiday season glorifying to Him and memorable to us…how awesome will that be. Plus it is a great example for our children and grandchildren to see us using our time, not just for ourselves, but in serving others. “Faith without works is dead”. Let’s keep our faith alive and allow God to use us this holiday season in a way that we have not even thought before. Anyone up to that challenge?
Bistro Beef
2 /2 pounds ground beef (you can use ground turkey and it is great)
1 9 oz. package thin egg noodles,cooked and drained
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teas salt
4 teas sugar
2 16 0z cans of undrained tomatoes
2 cups sour cream
6 oz softened cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste
12 green onions, chopped
brown meat, drain. Add tomato sauce, garlic, salt pepper, sugar and tomatoes. Simme, covered voer love heat for about an hr.
Preheat oven to 350 dgrees.
Cook noodles according to package directions. Dain. Combine noodles with cubed cream cheese. Stir to melt cream cheese. Add sour cream and green onion.s
Spray a 9 x 13 casserole pan with Pam. Put half of the noodles on bottom. Spread 1/2 meat mixture over noodles. Repeat layers. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until mixture is bubbling hot.
If you want to make ahead. Use two 8×8 aluminun foil pans. Spray each pan with Pam. Layer the noodles and meat mixture, ending with meat. Wrap with foil and put in ziplock freezer bag. When needed, thaw completely and bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes until casserole is bubbling hot. Makes 2 8×8 casseroles……
Fabulous Fall Friday
Was this not a picture postcard awesome day? It just amazes me how we prayed for beautfiul weather for our sale, and it was. God is so very good!….We sold lots of cakes and casseroles and have been home making more cakes for tomorrow. The Paula Deen Pumpkin Gooey Butter cake was a hit, so am going to put it on my blog. You will love it. It is going to take the place of pumpkin pie for Turkey Day at the Cox household.
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Cake:
1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 teas vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16 oz ounce box of powdered sugar
1 teas cinnamon
1 teas nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
To make the cake, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Pat the mixture into a lightly greased 13,9 pan. (I used 3 8″ round pans)
Prepare filline:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla and butter and beat together.
Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and mix well.
Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 min. (this will vary if you use the different size pans. probably about 30 min is all it will take, maybe 35). Make sure not to over bak as the center should be a little gooey.
Serve with whipped cream.
Pre Mistletoe Market
Well, tomorrow is the big day. We open at 9 a.m. and it looks like the Lord has answered our prayers regarding beautiful weather. I have baked and packaged abou 30 cakes and am ready to sell………I will post the Pumpkin Gooey Butter cake tonight when I get home from setting up……we had a sample last night and it was just absolutely delicious. A winner and will be on our table all during Pumpkin Season……..add whipped cream and it is just so good…….please pray that we have good crowds and that we will sell. We want this next two days to be about more than selling. We want to make everyone feel welcome and maybe if they just need a smile or some encouragement, we want them to feel wanted and loved.
Chocolate Castles 