This week's recipes! (Nov 13-21)

DH and I survived our trip back home. Unfortunately, Thursday morning our first day back to work, DH discovered that he is now going TDY this week. He left early this morning and will be back in a few days. So this means that my menu has gone out the window for a few days. So don't be surprised if you see some repeats on future menus - chances are we didn't eat it in the first place!

Last Thursday and Friday evenings we had frozen ravioli with jared sauce. Can't get much easier! We also had shrimp primavera. No great recipe for that one either. We buy the frozen product and just add extra veggies. Served with bread on the side. 

The weekend baking was supposed to be Amish bread, but since DH is gone I didn't bother. We had brownies instead that I didn't fix from before the trip. However, I will give you the Amish bread recipe. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this bread. If yeast scares you, take a free day to get over it. It used to scare me too, but once you taste how much better homemade bread is over store bread you'll never go back.

Amish White Bread        

Makes two loafs of plain, sweet white bread.

Ingredients

·      2 cups warm water (110*F)

·      2/3 cup white sugar (can use less sugar)

·      1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast

·      1 ½ teaspoons salt

·      ¼ cup oil

·      6 cups bread four

Directions

1.     In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.

2.   Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

3.    Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

4.   Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Store this yummy bread in an airtight container at room temperature. It keeps fresh longer than most homemade breads – almost 2 weeks!

Sausage wraps are an easy favorite around here. We cook up 1/2 lb of breakfast sausage and make a wrap with a tortilla shells filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and breakfast sausage. 1/2 lb of sausage will make 2 FULL wraps once you add the other ingredients. If I have onions and tomatoes around, I'll add those too. It's easy to change up to what you want for that day. And much better than buying the greasy mess from Sonic! 

I have no idea how to make DH's chili, so I can't share that recipe. I'm not sure if he knows either. lol. He just always makes it and somehow it always turns out great. It's the ONE THING he can cook without precise directions (that he usually screws up anyway). However, I make the corn bread muffins. Put away the Jiffy mix people and move on up to greatness. This is also a great cornbread to use for those who make cornbread dressing.  Personally I make muffins cause it's a lot easier to know how many servings you're eating this way. It's too easy to get carried away with this stuff!

Waffles - Please, please, please stop buying those awful mixes and frozen waffles. Make these waffles, which FREEZE WELL. That's right, spend a little bit of time making a wonderful breakfast staple and freeze them for future use. Cheaper too! Cause that's what matters most, right? :) Just make sure that you beat those egg whites like crazy and FOLD them in NOT STIR. Feel free to get fancy by adding a little vanilla or cinnamon to the batter!

Quiche - This is a basic recipe that you can easily change to make it your own. I'm lazy and I buy my pie crusts - so much easier. Go to Pillsbury's website and they have coupons for their refrigerated pie crusts too! Before DH was going to take off, I was going to make this with the other half of the breakfast sausage. Now not so much. Oh well. 

Quiche    

Ingredients

·      1 pie crust

·      4 eggs

·      1 cup milk

·      1 ½ to 2 cups fillings of your choice

·      2 cloves of garlic, minced

·      1 ½ cups shredded cheese

·      ground mustard

·      salt

·      pepper

·      dash of hot sauce 

Directions

      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll the pie crust onto the pie plate. Fold down the excess sides. Crimp the crust. Layer in fillings. Layer the cheese on top. Beat eggs and spices in a bowl. Pour into the pie plate. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Might need to place a pie shield on the crust half way through.

Filling suggestions: spinach (cooked with excess water squeezed out), onion (sautéed), cubed ham, crumbled sausage (cooked), various cheeses, bacon, broccoli,  and most vegetables.

Baked fish, frozen broccoli, and steamed rice - I buy frozen fish fillets and bake according to directions. DH loves tilapia with fresh lemon juice and some light seasoning. And at this point I'd like to go on a tangent about rice.  If you've never had steamed sushi rice, fix some! First, a rice maker makes all kinds of rices but if you're going to fix sushi rice you have to have a maker. I've seen some funky ways of making sushi rice without a maker, but they require watching it and all sorts of funky stuff. I just bought myself a rice maker that makes all kinds of rice without me having to do anything than add rice, water, close lid, and push button. lol. You can buy sushi rice in Asian markets/grocery stores and in some general American grocery stores. Amazingly I can buy the stuff at the base commissary! Now DH and I love love love sushi rice as a side item by itself, but to make it even better you can buy rice seasoning or furikake (Japanese). Amazingly (again), I can buy this at the base commissary. I've seen it online here and in some Asian markets. It's pure goodness to your taste buds. Just get over the fact that it's seaweed base. It doesn't taste like the sea at all.

One of my favorite casseroles ever is Campbell's Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. It's super easy and after making it once you learn how to vary the recipe to your liking and size.