Mud Pie

Sorry for my absences.  Trying to sell a house and keep crafting/blogging is harder than I though.  I finally remembered to take photos of a recipe I made.  Hopefully you will all enjoy!  It's perfect for warm nights or cool nights wrapped up in a blanket.

Mud Pie

Crust:

2 rows of Oreo cookies

1/4 cup butter melted

Put the Oreos into a food processor and process until it is fine crumbs.  Stir in melted butter and then press into a lightly greased 13x9 inch pan.  Then I like to heat up some Hershey's Hot Fudge and pour over top of the crust.

Ice Cream:

We like Mint Chocolate Chip, but you can use whatever kind you like.  Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chip, Cookies and Cream, whatever.

Let the ice cream sit out for just a little bit so it will be easy to cut.  Cut the packaging off and then with a large knife cut the ice cream into 1/2 - 1 inch thick slices.  Place on top of the crust.

Then cover with foil or a lid if your pan has one.  Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.  To serve cut into squares and top with whip cream and carmel topping.  Yummy!  

I remember helping my mom make this when I was a little kid.  So many memories!  Hope you all like it.

A Birthday Dinner or Breakfast

 Yesterday was my baby's birthday, only he isn't a baby anymore, he turned 5! On my kids' birthday, they get to choose their favorite meal for me to fix. And Sammy chose breakfast. At first he wanted waffles, but then decided that he liked German Pancakes better. Well, this also happens to be my 7 year old's favorite meal as well, so I thought that maybe I should share since the 2 pickiest eaters in my house love these. I was thinking it was just the syrup, but who knows.

German Pancakes

¼ c. butter                                                        1/3 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. milk                                                         3 eggs

¾ c. flour (unsifted)                                          ¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put butter in 9 inch pie plate (or 8x8 square pan), and put in preheated oven until butter melts and is bubbling and golden (about 5 min).  Add the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Remove pan from oven and immediately pour in mixture all at once. Return to oven and bake for 20 min at 450. After 20 min, lower heat to 350, and bake for 8-10 minutes more until edges are puffed and browned. A well will form in the middle.

Enjoy with maple syrup and powdered sugar!

What's For Dinner Tonight?

So, the hub-ster is out of town and I wasn't in the mood to make a fancy dinner. But I wanted some good comfort food. So I think...I got plenty of pasta and plenty of cheese. Well, you guessed it...Homemade Mac & Cheese. SO YUMMY!

 Homemade Mac and Cheese

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

3 cups milk (about, you may need more or less depending on

 how thick you like your sauce)

2-3 cups grated, sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup grated, Swiss or Gruyere cheese

½ tsp. ground mustard powder

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. chives

½ tsp. tarragon

½ tsp. thyme

1 box elbow macaroni, cooked al dente in chicken broth

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Add mustard and nutmeg and let cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and milk; whisk until smooth and thickened. Then add salt, pepper, mustard powder, chives, tarragon, and thyme, let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then add cheeses, slowly. Make sure the sauce is NOT boiling when you add the cheese or it will lump up and not be good. (Make sure you taste everything together to be sure it has enough seasoning) Add in the cooked macaroni noodles and stir to coat. Then pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

*you can also add a breadcrumb topping to add a little extra flavor and crunch. I use about

 ¾ cup seasoned breadcrumbs, 3 TBSP. grated parmesan cheese and 3TBSP. olive oil. Stir together and sprinkle on top of Mac and cheese.

{I will totally admit that I didn’t have chicken broth and used water and chicken bouillon cubes. I also was totally out of breadcrumbs and I used a little extra cheese to top off the dish and baked it until the cheese has melted and the sides were bubbly.}

CHICKEN TAQUITOS

I made these last night for dinner, and they were a winner with my family!! I was totally shocked, because I have 2 really picky eaters. One of my boys can make himself throw up sick if he even thinks he is eating something weird (by his standards). The other morning, I teasingly told him I put raisins in his chocolate chip pancakes, and he wouldn't eat them and was gagging. GEEZ!! So, needless to say even Mr. Uber picky ate these. :)

Chicken Taquitos

1 ½-2 cups shredded chicken

1 8oz. package 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. salsa Verde

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

1 c. grated cheese, any

16 count package fajita sized tortillas

Olive oil spray or regular old Olive oil

Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a medium bowl, mix together the first 6 ingredients.  Take a tortilla and place 2 or 3 heaping tablespoonful of mixture                 and place off set on tortilla and roll tightly. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray with Olive oil spray or brush lightly with Olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt.  Bake for 15-25 minutes or until the edges are a golden brown.

*We used a ranch dipping sauce for these, but they are good by themselves or would even be good dipped in more Salsa Verde or just regular salsa.

Multi-Grain Bread

Ok, I know it is late, but as promised, here is the bread recipe. 

Multigrain Bread

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup 5-10 grain hot cereal mix

2 ½ cups boiling water

3 cups all-purpose flour (not bread flour)

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

¼ cup honey

4 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled

2 ½ tsp. rapid rise yeast

1 tbsp. salt

Directions:

Place cereal mix in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools and resembles porridge, about 1 hour. Whisk flours together in a separate bowl.

Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, butter, and yeast and mix on low speed until combined. Add salt and flour mixture ½ cup at a time until all is incorporated and dough comes away from the sides.  Knead dough for 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl and let raise for 45-60 minutes, or until nearly doubled.

Grease two 9x5 loaf pans. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and cut dough into 2 equal parts. Roll in to oblong loafs. Lightly sprinkle oats on surface and roll dough over them to cover.  Place loaves in pans and let raise again for 30-40 minutes.

While dough is raising, preheat oven to 375 degrees and place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Bake loaves for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes and then remove to let cool to room temp. {if you can wait that long!}

Extras:

*you can also add ¼ cup unsalted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to mixture, but add just before you knead the dough for 5 minutes.

Storage:

**You can store this bread for 3 days at room temp or for 1 month In the freezer. Just make sure you wrap in plastic wrap and then foil for the freezer; just plastic for room temp.

Are you impressed that I even got a picture up too?!? Me and S had some serious coloring to do today, so sorry this is posted way later than I had planned.