Italian Turkey Meatballs:

So, since I've gotten married, my cooking style has changed a little.

You know, families tend to have their style and preferences of food. 

I don't know really what my family's food style is, because we have so many people in our family, we have so many different preferences! What one person loves, three other people hate!!

Bradley and I have very similar food styles and preferences, and that has been awesome! 

I don't necessarily know what our style is called, but we'll call it "our" style for now! 

Just like with pretty much every area in life, we have taken pieces of our lives as individuals in separate families, and brought them together and now we're making our own "family style"!

And it's been awesome!!!

So, one thing we have tried that is different for both of us, is Turkey Burger. 

Bradley is not the biggest fan of beef because, especially in hamburger, it tends to be really greasy and that can be really gross sometimes!

I had tried turkey burger once or twice before, and really liked it.

Now, I pretty much love it!!!

It's completely interchangeable with ground beef. 

But, it's so much lighter than ground beef, and you don't have that greasy feel or taste. 

Also, I feel like you can flavor turkey burger a lot better too. 

Ground beef is already very strong, and it takes a lot of seasoning to really get a good flavor.

Turkey burger is pretty much flavorless to begin with, so it really actually screams for any kind of flavor you want to give it! It can be subtle, it can be bold, it can be spicy, it can be sweet! 

The choice is yours!!

These meatballs are pretty much a happy-medium and a blank canvas, just waiting to be "personalized"! 

They are really, really good. Super soft and light, very flavorful and hold together nicely. 

We loved them!

I tossed them in some marinara sauce, and baked them until they were heated through.

Very yummy!

I hope you give them a try!!!!

2 lbs. ground turkey

4 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon black pepper

dash of salt

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup quick oats

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

3 tablespoons milk

Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl, until thoroughly combined - 

your hands are probably going to be your best tools here!

Use a cookie baller/scoop to keep all the meatballs the same size.

Roll the balls in your hands, to make a nice round shape.

Place on a greased cookie sheet, 1/2 to 1 inch apart (you don't want them to touch).

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown in color, and no longer pink in the center.

(Note:

-My turkey was very lean, so there was no need to drain them after they were baked. But if there is any amount of grease in the bottom of your pan, you will  want to place the cooked meatballs on a layer of paper towels for a few minutes, before you use them.)

Use immediately, or place on a clean baking sheet, and freeze for 3-4 hours. 

Remove from the baking sheet to a ziplock bag and store in the freezer until ready to use!

In most recipes, you can use the meatballs frozen...no need to thaw before adding them to a sauce to bake or simmer, or throwing them in the crockpot!

Quick and Easy Garlic Toast:

I love Garlic Bread....the smell, taste, everything about it just screams comfort food to me!

This recipe is awesome, because you can make it ahead of time, and pull it out of the freezer whenever you need it! You can make this entire batch, you can cut it in half to make a smaller amount...whatever you want!

But I hope you give it a try!!

2 sticks butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon garlic powder

dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, optional

Slices of bread

In a small bowl, mix together butter, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

I use roughly one teaspoon of the mixture per slice of bread.

Spread evenly, and place slices, butter side up, on a baking sheet.

To freeze:

Place baking sheet in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, or until butter is firm. 

Place bread in an airtight container or zip-lock bad and keep frozen until ready to use.

To Bake:

Lay frozen slices, butter side up on a baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes, or until light golden brown and edges of the bread are lightly toasted (if baking unfrozen slices, you may need bake 1-2 minutes less)

Serve!!

Chicken Spaghetti:

My boyfriend has given me some of the best cookbooks over the past few months!
This recipe comes from one of them, and it is awesome!
It did take a little while to put together, but it's not hard at all,
and you get two dinners out of your effort!!
The flavor is really good...if you are more of a "spicy" food loving type of person, you may want to add some chopped up jalapeno peppers, or amp up the cayenne pepper a few notches!
Otherwise, it's a perfect comfort food dish! Cheesy and Creamy!!
I hope you give it a try!

6-8 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 pound spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
1 (4 oz.) jar diced pimientos drained
1 small onion, finely diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
2 batches cream of mushroom soup mix (click here)
2 & 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a large skillet, cook the chicken until no longer pink in the center; set aside.
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions to al dente; drain and place in a large bowl.
Add the chicken, pimientos, finely diced vegetables, and 2 cups of cheese to the pasta; use two forks to combine.

Stir together the cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, season salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Add to the pasta mixture and stir until well combined.
Pour into 2, greased baking dishes.

To Freeze:
-place a piece of wax paper on top the casserole, pressing down to actually touch the pasta mixture.
Cover the dish with a lid or foil. Freeze for later use!
Thaw completely and move on to the baking step!

To Bake:
-Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese (honestly, I used more like 1 cup of cheese per pan at this point!).
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until hot through and bubbly.
Serve!

Quick and Easy Lemon Cookies:

Like I've said before, I love most anything lemon. 

Both of my grandma's used to make these awesome lemon cookies! 

They were by far my favorite! 

And remarkably, there was a recipe for them, but it was a risky one. 

For some reason, they would turn out sometimes, and other times would be a complete fail!

My sister ran across this recipe, and made them for a dinner at her work. She said they were amazing, so I definitely wanted to try them!

And they were SO amazing! Definitely my new, #1 favorite cookie!!!

I hope you try them out!!

1 Gluten-Free Yellow cake mix

1 box instant lemon pudding mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1/3 cup powdered sugar, for decoration

Place all ingredients, except powdered sugar, in a mixing bowl. 

Mix until well blended.

Using a cookie scoop, drop dough into powder sugar. Roll to coat. Place on greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 for 6-7 minutes, or until the edges are just barely golden brown, or firm to the touch. Remove from the oven, and let rest on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Note:

-These freeze very well.

{Taco Lasagna}

I love tacos and I love lasagna, so this recipe just pulled me right it in!
It was so good and couldn't be easier to make.
I was expecting a list of ingredients that I don't always have on hand, but I was pleasantly surprised!
The second time I made it, I had lots of "taco toppings" on the side, for anyone who wanted them. Shredded lettuce, mushrooms, black olives, black beans, onions, chopped bell peppers...it was great!
I hope you try it out!!

12 gluten-free lasagna noodles

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup taco seasoning

3/4 cup water

1 (24 oz.) jar Salsa

1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

2 eggs

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In a skillet, brown beef until no longer pink; drain. Add taco seasoning and water. Stir until well combined. Add salsa and mix well. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese and eggs until well combined.

Spread about 3 tablespoons of the salsa/meat mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Assemble lasagna by layering 4 lasagna sheets in the prepared pan. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Next, 1/3 of the meat mixture and 1/3 of each of the cheeses. Repeat layers 2 more times.

-Noodles

-Ricotta

-Meat mixture

-Cheeses

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until heated through and bubbly, and noodles are tender.

Enjoy!

Note:

-HERE are the lasagna sheets that I like to use.

-You can make this ahead of time of freeze. Allow to thaw before baking according to instructions. 

-It can also be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated overnight, and baked the next day. 

-Don't forget to check the label on your taco seasoning, to make make sure it's gluten-free.

Dirt Dessert:

My Grandma used to make this recipe all the time. I remember her bringing it to a lot of church events. She generally would layer it in a brand-new flower pot, and put fake flowers in the top to give it the full "dirt" affect!

It had been so long since I had eaten any, and I had never actually made it.

Someone requested it for the 4th of July, so I thought why not!!

I was really happy with how fast and easy it was to make! I always thought it was one of those things that took a while to put together, but I was so wrong!

As you can tell from the picture below, we got our gluten-free sandwich cookies at Walmart. We have also tried the "Glutino" brand, and they are good as well!

With all the picnics, family reunions and get-together's that happen around this time of year, this is an excellent dessert that can be made way ahead AND feeds a crowd!

I hope you give this recipe a try this summer! I don't think you'll be disappointed!

2 ( 10.6 oz.) pkg. Gluten-Free chocolate sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1 cup powder sugar

3 & 1/2 cups milk

2 ( 3.4 oz.) boxes vanilla pudding mix

12 oz. container Whipped topping

Place cookies in a food processor, and pulse into crumbs; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, and powder sugar; set aside.

In another bowl, mix together milk and pudding mix. Fold in whipped topping.

Add cream cheese mixture to pudding mixture, and stir until well combined (I actually used a hand mixer for this).

Layer 1/3 of the cookie crumbs in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Press out evenly.

Pour half of the cream mixture over the cookies and gently spread out evenly.

Repeat, ending with cookies.

Allow to chill overnight before serving. 

Note:

-If you do not want this dish to be gluten-free, simply substitute a family-size package of regular Oreo's for the gluten-free cookies.

-This can also be frozen. Just allow to thaw for an hour or so before serving.

My Grandma's Sloppy Joe's:

So, I really like Sloppy Joe's. A lot. I always have. It used to be something we had a lot during the Fall (I'm sure we had them other times, too, it's just that time of year stands out to me!). Dad liked to go hunting, and where I live, that means it was cold! So mom would generally make Sloppy Joe's and have them in the crock-pot, ready for whenever Dad would pop in for something to eat. And as a side note, that was before we had cell phones, so it's not like he could call and say he was on his way. I just thought that was kind of an odd, funny, weird, random thing that I wanted to point out.

Anyways, I've been making this recipe for Sloppy Joe's for years now, but as it turns out, it's been the wrong recipe!! Not the one my mom used to make!

So I dug up the old recipe and decided to try it out!

They turned out fantastic, actually, and pretty much my entire family loved them way more than what I've been making! I still like the old version too, but this one definitely brings back more memories!!

I hope you try them out and enjoy them as much as we do!

3 pounds ground beef

3/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 tblsp. sugar

1 tblsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1 bottle Heinz Chili sauce

Brown beef in a large skillet until no longer pink; drain. Meanwhile, place celery and onion in a microwave safe dish and cover with water. Microwave on high until the water begins to boil - allow to boil for 30 seconds; drain. Add celery and onion mixture to ground beef and stir until well combined. In a small dish, whisk together tomato sauce, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add to beef mixture. Pour the chili sauce into the meat mixture. Fill the bottle 1/2 full of water and shake well; add to meat mixture. Cook and stir over low heat. Cover and simmer until ready to serve.

Note:

-How fine you chop your celery and onion is up to you, but please don't leave it out! It adds SO much flavor!

-Prepare this ahead of time and place it in the crockpot on warm or low until ready to serve!

-This freezes really, really well.

-We love this served on a slice of THIS BREAD.

-Some of us also like to add a slice of cheese, but that's purely optional!

-This amount would serve my family for two meals, so I like to make it once, and freeze half for another day.

Peanut Butter Balls:

We are pretty serious about our peanut butter around here!! There's only one or two who don't really care for it, and by that, I mean they don't eat it on everything they can think of! They still eat it, though!!
It had been a few years since I had last made peanut butter balls. My grandma used to always make them for Christmas, so Kaitlyn decided she was going to make some this year.
They turned out really good and everyone enjoyed them!
Hope you give them a try!!

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 & 1/3 cups powder sugar

1 cup rice crispy cereal

1/2 cup cream peanut butter

1/2 ts. vanilla

1 & 1/2 cups chocolate chips

2 tablespoons shortening

Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, rice cereal, peanut butter and vanilla; mix until well combined. Using a cookie scoop, shape the dough into balls; place on wax paper lined baking sheets. Chill for 30 minutes. Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for 30 seconds; stir. Continue to heat in 15 second intervels, until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring well after each intervel. Place a ball onto a dinner fork, and dip into the chocolate. Allow excess chocolate to drip off, and then, using a toothpick, push the ball off of the fork onto a wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls. Chill until set. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for fridge.

Note:

-Click HERE to watch the Pioneer Woman make truffles. We use the same dipping technique for these peanut butter balls as she does for her truffles. This way you can see what I'm talking about, since I'm not very good at explaining things!!

-White Chocolate Chips work good too!

Peanut Butter Blossoms:

I have made homemade bread, pumpkin roll, angel food cake and a few other things that some people would consider "hard" recipes to make.
I've made lots of "easy" things too...rice crispy treats, no-bake cookies, etc.
But would you believe I had never made these Peanut Butter cookies?
I don't know why, but I just never have. I've always loved them, though!
For some unknown reason, we had an abundance of Hershey Kisses the other day, and I was SO excited to finally try these cookies out! I know, it's dumb, but I was excited!
So, I got out my grandma's recipe, had my mom interpret all the words I couldn't read, because of her small, cursive writing, and because the recipe card was a little faded, and got to work!
Less than 30 minutes later, I was done!
They are definitely easy, but they're also just one of those things that are down right fun to make! I had a ball! (cookie ball, that is!)
Thank you for listening to me get so thrilled about a simple, peanut butter cookie!
Now, I hope you'll go make some for yourself or others!!

1 & 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

2 tblsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Sugar for rolling

Hershey chocolate candy kisses

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum, soda and salt; set aside.

Cream together sugars, shortening and peanut butter in a mixing bowl.

Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Roll doughs into balls, using a cookie scoop to keep them all the same size. Roll each ball in sugar and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until just barley golden brown.

Remove from the oven. Place a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie, pressing down firmly so that the cookie cracks slightly around the edge. 

Let cool for 1-2 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Note:

-These freeze really well.

-This makes approximately 35-40 cookies.

Pudding Sugar Cookies with Quick and Easy Frosting:

Sugar cookies are actually a hard thing to make gluten-free. Rolling them out, cutting them out...then when you bake them, they always spread WAY out, for some reason. But you just can't beat the taste of a good sugar cookie, with good sugar-cookie-frosting! For any holiday or special occasion!
So, I stumbled across this recipe, and my sister decided to give it a try. She found the frosting recipe, and we were SO excited about the final product! They tasted SO yummy!! No, they aren't in any cute shapes, but at least we still get the same great taste, and I thought they looked really pretty!
If you love sugar cookies, then you'll love this recipe!

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 c. confectioners' sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 package (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
4 c. all-purpose flour

3 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda

Frosting:

3 & 3/4 cup powder sugar

6 tablespoons milk

6 tablespoons light corn syrup

food coloring

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, oil, and sugars for 4-5 minutes. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and dry pudding mix. Combine the flour, xanthan gum, cream of tartar, and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Using a tablespoon size cookie scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Slightly flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until very, very lightly brown around the edges. Be careful to not over bake these. Immediately remove to wire racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting by whisking together the sugar and milk. Add the corn syrup and mix until well combined. Add whatever  food coloring you want, until desired color is reached. Gently spread onto cookies. Garnish with sprinkles or colored sugar, if desired. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container, between layers of wax paper.

Note:
-These freeze super-duper well!

Grandma's Pineapple Cookies:

When my older brother and sister were younger, they always got to go over to Grandma Wagner's house and help make Christmas cookies every year. They would spend the whole day and they always had a blast! Grandma told me that I could start coming when I turned 10 and I couldn't wait!! Sadly, Pappy passed away and Grandma started having some health problems, which resulted in her moving to South Carolina to live with her daughter, all the year I turned 9. The tradition ended and I never got to experience it, but thankfully Grandma at least had recipes for most of her best Christmas cookies, so at least we can still make them!
These cookies are just one of SO many that she used to make! I always loved them, because they are so moist and just sweet enough, but not overly sweet. Grandma always made yellow, green, red, and white frosting, so that's what we do when we make them - every year, always with Grandma on our minds!
I hope you try them out!

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 & 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 can crushed pineapple, well drained reserving the juice
4 cups flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder

Frosting:
1 & 1/3 cup powder sugar
1-2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
food coloring

Cream together the sugars, shortening and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
Add vanilla and pineapple. Mix for just a couple of seconds, and add in dry ingredients.Mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookies sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until just very light golden brown.
Let cool completely before icing them.
Mix together the icing ingredients. Start with 1 tablespoon of pineapple juice, and add additional amounts to reach desired consistency. You want it to be thin enough to spread, but not too thin that will run off the cookie. Add food coloring of your choice to reach desired color. You may need to mix up multiple batches of frosting to frost all the cookies, but only mix up one at a time. The icing hardens really fast, so it will dry up on you, if you don't use it quickly.
Let stand until frosting is set. Store in an airtight container, between layers of wax paper.
These can stand on the counter top for several days, or we like to freeze them, and pull out however many we want, when we need them!

Note:
-This makes several dozen cookies! I forgot to count, but I'd say 4-6 dozen, depending on how large you make them. We use a 1-inch cookie scoop.

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins:

I love muffins as it is, but when they are super quick and easy muffins? Well, that just makes me love them even more!! From start to finish, these can be done in under 20 minutes! And you'll never guess they don't have flour in them! I was skeptical at first, but wow! They are SO good! They have the texture of any normal muffin, except they are just really moist and absolutely delicious! 

1 medium banana

1 egg

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (a generous 1/2 cup)

1/3 cup baking cocoa

3 tblsp. honey

1 tblsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt, optional

1/2 cup chocolate chips, regular or mini

Prepare a mini muffin tin with paper baking cups or generously coat with cooking spray; set aside.

Place all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in a blender. 

Blend until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a small cookie scoop, fill mini muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips over the tops of the muffins, if desired. Gently press into the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.

Cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a clean dish towel or cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or up to 4 months in the freezer.

Note:
-I actually prefer NOT to use paper baking cups. They work okay, but these muffins have a tendency to stick to the paper. They come right out of the greased muffin tin, so that's the method I prefer. 

BEST gluten-free bread:

I don't know if I have ever been more excited about sharing a recipe! And that says a lot, because I am generally very excited to share most recipes!!!

My mom found a version of this recipe and wanted me to try it. I was a bit hesitant, because it's gluten-free bread and that just doesn't turn out all that great. We had a fairly good bread recipe - granted we never made it because it took all day, tons of ingredients and I mean, it was good, but was it really worth it all?

I read and read and read over the recipe AND the comments before I ever tried it out, and something about it just kind of pulled me in! I think I was just too curious not to try it out! For one reason basically - could a recipe this easy, taste as good as they claim? 

I am here to tell you that it absolutely does!! I have no clue why or how, but I have enough confidence in it to proudly scream "THIS IS THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE BREAD"!!!!!!

Over the past several weeks, me and my other gluten-free eating family members have been enjoying SANDWICHES like PB&J, meat and cheese, tomato, scrambled egg, etc. (with bread that doesn't have to be heated up before you eat it, by the way)!!!!! 

GRILLED CHEESE!!!!!!! 

FRENCH TOAST!!!!!!!! 

Hot dogs on BREAD!!! 

CINNAMON-SUGAR TOAST!!!!!

And just PLAIN!!!!

My brother has been thoroughly enjoying taking a sandwich to work!

I wish I could make a loaf for everyone of you, so you could see how good it really is!

But since I can't, I hope you will just trust me and try it out!

 

  

1 & 1/3 cups brown rice flour
1 & 1/3 cups tapioca flour
1 & 1/3 cups cornstarch
1 tblsp. potato starch
1 tbslp. xanthan gum
1 tblsp. Egg Replacer
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dry milk powder
1 package (2 & 1/4 tsp.) Active Dry yeast

3 large eggs
¼ cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
⅓ cup honey
2 cups very warm water (but not too hot)

In a large bowl, whisk together the first 9 ingredients; set aside.
In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, mix together the eggs, butter, vinegar, honey and water. There may be some small pieces of butter that don't get thoroughly mixed together, but that's fine.
Add half of the flour mixture, and mix just until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture, and mix just until combined. Scrape down the sides, and mix on medium-high speed for 4 minutes. Mixture should resemble very thick cake batter.



Divide the dough evenly between two, greased, 8-inch loaf pans.



Spread the dough evenly. Dip your fingers in warm water to smooth the top of the loaf.
Cover pans with a clean dish towel, and set in a warm place to rise for 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours or
until the dough has risen about an inch above the pans.

Once they have finished rising, bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reaches between 200 and 205 degrees.
To test for doneness, remove the bread from the oven. Insert an instant read thermometer from the side to the middle of the loaf, making sure not to touch the bottom of the pan. 
Once done, let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes.
Gently remove from the pans and place on a cooling rack. Cover with a clean dish towel, and allow to cool completely before cutting.
Store in an airtight container on the counter away from direct heat, such as by the stove or something like that.
It can be refrigerated as well, but doesn't have to be. It will keep on the counter for about 5 days. 
To freeze, wrap individual loaves in plastic wrap and place in a gallon bag.
You can also slice a loaf and freeze individual slices wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Place in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to thaw.



Note:
-I have used Active Dry yeast and Rapid Rise yeast, and I think they both work great.
-Here's a recipe for the Egg Replacer!

Caramel Banana Roll:

I love my grandma's Pumpkin Roll recipe!

We had a lot of banana's to use up the other week, and as I was looking down through as many recipes containing bananas as I could, I stumbled across this one. It looked interesting, and I actually I had all the ingredients (especially the bananas), so I gave it a try.

It didn't have a strong banana flavor, but it was really, really good!!! 

The little extra surprise in the filling, gave it just the right touch!!

I hope you give it a try!

Cake:

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup mashed banana

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powder sugar

6 tblsp. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup caramel sauce (just the ice cream topping in the squeeze bottle is fine)

Grease a 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray. Line with wax paper (or parchment paper) and then spray the wax paper with cooking spray.

Stir together the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar, with an electric mixer, until thick and smooth. Mix in the vanilla and banana. Add the flour mixture. Mix just until combined; be sure not to over-mix.

Pour into prepared pan and spread out evenly.

Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown and the top of the cake springs back when touched.

Meanwhile, mix together filling ingredients; set aside. 

Lay out a kitchen towel. Place a piece of wax paper on the towel. Sprinkle wax paper with powder sugar. 

Carefully, flip the cake out onto the wax paper - bottom of the cake up. Slowly, pull the wax paper off the cake. Let stand for about 2 minutes. Roll up the cake, wax paper, and towel together, starting at the short end. Let stand 5 minutes.

Unroll, and spread the filling over the cake to within 1-inch of the edges. Spread carefully, or else you might tear the cake. Roll the cake, starting at the short end, carefully pulling away the wax paper from the cake as you roll. When you reach the end of the cake, leave on the wax paper. Place in a 9x13 baking dish. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until chilled firm. Remove from the wax paper and gently wrap in foil. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve. Slice in 1/2-inch slices to serve.

Note:

-This freezes really, really well and is easier to cut while it's frozen.

Homemade Oreos:

When I first saw these, I thought they would be like any other chocolate sandwich cookie. It seems like everyone tends to call those "homemade oreos" but they are nothing short of an ordinary chocolate sandwich cookie. That doesn't make them Oreo's.

These, however, were definitely the exception.

The cookie part was more dense and maybe even a little drier than normal,

and the biggest surprise, is that the filling tastes just like real Oreo cookie filling! Seriously!

It was pretty incredible! And definitely tasty to someone who hasn't had Oreo's in 10 years or so!

I hope you try them out! 

2 & 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 & 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Filling:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

3 & 1/2 cups powder sugar

In a small bowl, combine the flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy. Add sugar and brown sugar, and mix until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a lid, if the bowl has one. Chill for 30 minutes.

Using a cookie scoop to keep the cookies all the same size, roll dough into balls. Place on greased cookie sheets - 12 cookies to a sheet. With the bottom of a cup or flat spatula, lightly flatten each cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. The cookies will look like they aren't totally done, but that's how you want them. Don't over-bake. Allow to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

For the filling: beat together butter, shortening and vanilla until smooth. Add powder sugar, and mix until combined. The filling is very stiff, but that's how it's supposed to be. Using the same size cookie scoop that you used for the dough, place one scoop of filling onto half of the cookies. Lightly spread out the filling, and top with the other half of the cookies.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Note:
-The original recipe said that these cookies freeze really well. I didn't have any leftover to try it out, but if anyone else does, please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out!

Freezing Cookie Dough:

There are few things that are better than a fresh, chocolate chip cookie!!

But sometimes, you just don't have time or energy to mix up a batch, bake them AND clean up the mess!

When we go on vacation, we always cook in our condo, rather than eating out every meal. We generally make cookies to take with us, but after a few days, they just don't taste as good as fresh ones!

I had seen this idea with other cookies before, and running low on time I decided to give it a try. It was so easy to do, and they turned out SO good! We had fresh cookies whenever we wanted, not to mention cookie dough (I think this was the main reason everyone liked the idea!!). 

It's so easy to make a bunch to have in the freezer, and then bake as many was you want, whenever you want!!

I hope you give them a try!!

Prepare your cookie dough according to the directions.

You can use any recipe you want/have or click HERE for my recipe.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and place the balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Freeze for at least 2 hours, or until completely frozen. 

Remove from the cookie sheet and place in a gallon, zip-lock bag. 

Return to the freezer until ready to use!

To Bake:

Place desired number of cookies on a cookie sheet(s).

Let them sit at room temperature while your oven pre-heats to 375 degrees.

Bake for 8-12 minutes or until light golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Note:

-Because the cookie dough is frozen, it might take a little longer to bake than usual.

-I use silver, air-bake cookie sheets. I tried them on a darker cookie sheet, and the cookies had a tendency to get really dark on the bottom before they were actually baked. The silver cookie sheets worked fine.

If your cookies are dark on the bottom, either let the cookie dough thaw completely before baking, or lower your baking temperature (between 325 degrees and 350 degrees). It really just depends on your cookie sheets and your oven.

Mini Freezer Omelets:

These are so easy to make and fabulous for a fast and easy breakfast!

I like to make some with just meat and cheese, and then some with other mix-ins. That way everyone can find something they like! I hope you give them a try!

8 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Mix-ins of your choice:

Shredded cheddar cheese

Sauted peppers, onions and/or mushrooms

black olives

chopped tomatoes

crumbled, cooked bacon

crumbled, cooked sausage

chopped ham

Place eggs and milk in a large bowl. Mix with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Divide evenly between 12 paper-lined muffin cups (with foil and paper liners). Add small amounts of any mix-ins you like! Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until eggs are set. Allow to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until completely frozen. Place in a gallon zip-lock bag and return to the freezer. 

To Re-heat:

Remove foil muffin cup, and place omelet on a plate. Microwave for 45-60 seconds or until heated through!

Note:

-I actually love to eat these with grits over the top!

-If you don't use the muffin-liners with paper and foil, the regular ones will stick to the omelet really bad!

Pancake Poppers:

I love pancakes! When I was younger, we had pancakes just about every Saturday morning, and well, we still do that I guess! Not every week, but probably at least twice a month!

During the week, things are too busy to make pancakes in the mornings, but some of us aren't huge cold cereal fans. I came across this idea, and decided to try it out. It worked great and makes for a quick and yummy breakfast! I babysit some kids that really like pancakes, and they love these!!

I let the little kids eat them warm as they are, and tear them up in pieces for the toddlers. It works great! I hope you'll give them a try too!!

4 eggs

4 cups milk

2/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

8 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Optional: Blueberries, strawberries, crumbled cooked sausage, crumbled cooked bacon pieces, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, whatever you can think of!

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Spray a mini-muffin tin with cooking spray. Using a cookie scoop, fill muffin cups 3/4 full. If you want to add any optional ingredients, now is the time to add them. Sprinkle over the muffin cups and press gently into the batter. Bake at 435 degrees for 12-18 minutes or until very light golden brown. Let set in the pan for 3-5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen from the pan. Flip them out on a wire rack or even just the counter top and let them cool. Place on a baking sheet (preferably so they aren't touching too much) and freeze for 2-3 hours. Remove from the cookie sheet and place in a ziplock bag. Freeze until ready to use!!

To Re-Heat:

For about 6 poppers, microwave for 1 minute to re-heat! Dip in syrup!

Note:
-We prefer to use Rice Milk in our pancakes, but you can use whatever you like.
-You can, of course, use any pancake mix you want!

Crispie Caramel Ice Cream Dessert:

It's really nice to have a fabulous and even impressive dessert that takes little to no time to make and even better if it has very few ingredients! Well, believe it or not, this dessert is all that and more!!

It's so easy, takes 5 ingredients and is SO good!!! It's going to be fabulous for the summer, but I first tried it in the winter and it was fabulous then too, so don't limit yourself to just the summer!

I hope you give it a try!!!

 

3/4 cup (12 tblsp.) Butter, softened

1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 & 3/4 cups Rice Crispie cereal

1/2 gallon (8 cups) vanilla ice cream, softened enough to spread easily

Caramel Ice Cream Topping

Directions for a 9x13 baking dish:

In a medium bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar and cereal. I used a spatula for this, and my butter was just about melted, so it worked fine. Mix until well combined. You don't want any big chunks of butter or sugar. Press 2/3 of this mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Place in the freezer and let it stand until your ice cream is really soft. When it's soft enough, spread it gently and evenly over the crust. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 of the cereal mixture. Cover and freeze until firm (preferably over night). Allow to stand for about 10 minutes and then cut it to serve. Drizzle with caramel ice-cream topping before serving!

Enjoy!!

Directions for cupcakes:
The same as above, except line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners. Divide 2/3 of the rice crispy mixture evenly between 20 cupcake liners. Using the back of a spoon, firmly press the mixture down in each cup. Allow to freeze while your ice cream softens. Divide the ice cream evenly between all the cupcakes (you might have a little leftover). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup rice crispy mixture. Freeze until firm. Remove from muffin tins and place in an airtight container. Store in the freezer! Drizzle with caramel ice-cream topping before serving!

 

Note:
-I've made both the pan version and the cupcake version. Both are equally delicious!

-You can do the crust after your ice cream is already softened, but I found that the crust won't break up, if it's really good and cold, so I like to let it freeze for the entire time it takes the ice cream to soften.

-You can actually use any ice cream topping you want. I'm not a huge caramel fan, but I LOVED it on this! I think it just blends really well with the brown sugar flavor in the crust.

-This is a great make-ahead dessert! As long as it's sealed really tight, it lasts really well in the freezer!
 

 

 

Peanut Butter Cups:

 

I had been seeing a recipe for these peanut butter cups all over the place, and if you don't already know, some of us are HUGE chocolate and peanut butter fans! They were a big hit and although they are a little time consuming, they are really pretty easy to put together. I hope you give them a try!

2 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tblsp. butter, softened

1/4 cup + 2 tblsp. powder sugar

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners. Place 1 cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir well and microwave additional 15 second intervals, stirring well after each, until chocolate is melted. Equally pour the chocolate into the 12 muffin cups. Bang the pan on the counter a few times, until the chocolate is flattened in all the cups. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, butter and powder sugar. Mix until well combined and light in color. Divided the peanut butter mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups dropping it over the chocolate layer. Again, bang the pan on the counter to flatten the peanut butter layer. Freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Melt the remaining 1 cup of chocolate and pour it over the peanut butter layer, dividing it evenly between all 12 cups. Bang the pan on the counter if needed. Freezer for 2-3 hours. Store in airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator. If you leave them out, they will get VERY soft and messy to eat! Enjoy!