Mixes:

I mix up our gluten-free flour mixture about once a month.

It takes about 30 minutes, and then it's done.

When I do this, I like to pre-measure mixes for things we use often or make on a regular basis. It saves a lot of time later and works great if your in a hurry - you can pull out your mix and get to work! And even if you're not gluten-free, you could still easily do this. There's tons of mixes you can buy, but they can add up in price - especially if you're gluten-free, if you can even find them and even if you can find them, chances are you can't choke them down!!

 

 

Some things we use regularly are:

-Pancakes

-Waffles

-Pizza

-Brownies

-Certain kinds of muffins

-Cakes and cookies

You can do just about anything you want!

 

I have used containers for this and I've used Zip-lock bags as well. I prefer the bags, just because they don't take up much space, but the containers work great too, and you can re-use them.

 

I just measure out the dry ingredient portion of the recipe and put it in the bag.

I mark on the bag what the mix is for and if it's for a double batch, I mark that as well.

Depending on the recipe, you could write the rest of the ingredients on the bag/container, if you wanted or staple the recipe to the bag or something. This is also good if someone else could end up making them, that way they know exactly what to do and don't have to go hunting for the recipe!

 

I hope you take a few minutes to make life a little easier, and go make some mixes!!

Marshmallow Brownies:

I love Mallow Cups and these tasted very similar to those! I think they were best the next day, after they had chilled. They are an awesome treat and I hope you try them out!

 

Brownies:

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

2/3 cup baking cocoa

4 eggs

1 & 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp. xanthan gum (omit if not making gluten-free)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (10 oz.) bag mini marshmallows

Chocolate Frosting:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 tblsp. cocoa

3 cups powder sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil and cocoa. Add eggs, one at a time mixing well after each. Add flour, xanthan gum, salt and baking powder and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Pour into a greased 10x15-inch baking pan and spread out evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Remove from the oven and top with marshmallows. Return to the oven for 3-5 minutes or until marshmallows are soft and puffy (make sure to watch closely or they will get huge and burn!). Allow to cool completely and then mix up the frosting: Mix all frosting ingredients with a hand mixer. Add more milk, if needed until you reach desired consistency. Spread evenly over marshmallows and chill until ready to serve!

Note:

-These are pretty rich, I suggest cutting them small!!!!

-You can use large marshmallows cut in quarters if you don't have any mini ones.

Eggs a la Goldenrod:

When I first saw this recipe, I thought it was interesting. I didn't think it sounded necessarily bad, but I didn't really expect to be trying it any time soon either (I have no clue where the name came from!)

 

Tonight, around 5:30 or so, I realized that we were missing a few key ingredients for what I had planned to make for dinner (it's a good thing I picked up on this early in the day, right?!)!! 

So, I needed to come up with something quick, and someone shouted out that waffles sounded good. They did sound good, but we had nothing to put with them that would make them a little more "dinner" worthy or healthy, if that's possible!! 

This recipe instantly came to mind (not necessarily for "health"), so I decided to give it a try.

When people started realizing what I was doing, they weren't impressed!

But after trying one bite, everyone loved it!! I was so shocked!!

It's so different, yet so yummy!!

I hope you take a few minutes and try it for yourself!

Let me know what you think!!

 

 

 

8 hard-boiled eggs

6 tblsp. butter

1/2 tsp. onion powder

4 tblsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

3 cups milk

 

Separate the yolk from the white of all the eggs. Lightly chop the whites and set aside. Place the yolks in a bowl, and using a fork, mash the yolks. They will just be basically crumbly. Set aside.

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Combine onion powder, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Whisk into melted butter and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk, and whisk until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Cook and stir until desired consistency is reached (we like it not too thin, not too thick, but you can make it however you prefer. The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets).

Stir the whites of the eggs into the sauce.

To serve, spoon the sauce over toast, biscuits or waffles. Sprinkle with some of the egg yolks!

 

Note:

-This would probably be good with some cooked, crumbled sausage in the sauce as well.

-As you can see from the picture, my dad sprinkled bacon-bits on his and said it was good.

-We served it over waffles (click here for the recipe), but the original recipe served it over toast.

-Recipe adapted from SixSistersStuff.com

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins:

These taste just like a peanut butter and banana sandwich!! I was afraid they would be dry and heavy, but they were surprisingly most and spongy! Definitely a great switch up from regular banana muffins!

2 cups flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tblsp. baking powder (yes, that's tablespoon!)

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth it's up to you

2 tblsp. vegetable oil

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3 ripe bananas

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, brown sugar

baking powder and salt. 

Place bananas in a separate bowl, and beat with a hand mixer until thoroughly mashed. Add peanut butter, oil, eggs and milk and mix until well combined. Pour into dry ingredients, and mix just until combined. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in tins for 5 minutes. Serve or transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Note:

-You can use a whisk, fork or stand mixer to mash the bananas and combine with the remaining ingredients. I just used a hand mixer and that worked fine. It is a fairly thick consistency.

-Chocolate chips or peanut butter chips would probably be very good in these!!

Baked Corn on the Cob with Honey Butter:

Where I live, "knee-high by the 4th of July" does not represent our corn!!

Its late August, beginning of September till we are enjoying any corn on the cob around here!

There is really lots of ways to cook corn - we usually steam it, but we've also tried grilling it.

Corn roasts are also big around here, and to be honest, that's the best way to have corn!! Of course, it also involves the most work!!

I had been seeing recipes floating around the Internet for baking corn on the cob and decided to give it a try. Am I ever glad I did! Talk about easy and delicious!!! We made it twice in one week! It's a cross between steaming it and roasting it. Super yummy!!

 

And you can't have corn on the cob without butter! Make sure you try out the super easy recipe for Honey Butter! It's SO yummy on the corn (and would be good on lots of other things too!) 

I hope you give these two recipes a try!!

 

Honey butter

 

1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1/4 cup honey

 

In a small bowl, beat together butter and honey with a hand mixer until well combined and light and fluffy. Place in a serving dish. Refrigerate until ready to use.

 

Baked Corn on the Cob

 

 

 

There is no ingredient list for the corn, except as many ears of corn as you want!

 

Leaving the husks on, pull or cut off the brown, fuzzy, silky part at the top of the ear of corn. Make sure you don't cut farther down than just the brown part, because you don't want the corn to be exposed - it needs to be thoroughly wrapped in the husks.

 

Place the corn right on the racks in your oven. If you have a convection oven, you can place corn on all three racks and it should get done evenly. If you do not have a convection oven, placing corn on all three racks, may result in the top rack getting done, and the other two racks needing more time.

 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven to a serving plate with oven mitts, and/or tongs. To test for doneness, VERY carefully pull the husks down and if a fork goes into the kernels of corn easily, it's done.

 

Serve!!

 

Note:

-Be VERY cautious while pulling away the husks after baking. There is steam trapped inside, and it can burn you, if you don't open it carefully!   

NutriBullet:

You may have seen these advertised on TV, in magazines or seen them in stores.
You can click HERE to go directly to the NutriBullet web page and learn all about them.

Before I get into this too far, I just want to say that I'm not trying to sell them and I'm not getting any compensation for writing this post about them either!

I had not heard of them before my Aunt bought one for us a few months ago. It's like a juicer and a blender combined. You can use it for lots of things, but right now, we are using ours mainly for smoothies. Smoothies are a big thing right now, and they are a great, easy way to get in a lot of fruits and veggies that you might not other wise eat!
With the NutriBullet, you can totally customize your smoothie to your preference. You can use just about any fruit and any vegetable, seeds, nuts, protein powders, etc., and the ratio is again, up to you.

I prefer a pretty simple smoothie - 50% vegetable/50% fruit. I use spinach, strawberries, bananas and a small amount of water. I also prefer that my strawberries are frozen and that my bananas are not! The frozen fruit makes it cold and frothy without making it watery. The fresh bananas makes it creamy. According to the book, they say to add water to the max line, but that makes it pretty runny and I like it to be more milkshake consistency, so I usually only add about an inch of water. Again, my preference. Everyone in my family makes theirs a little different!

(normally, I like have more spinach and less fruit, but we were running out of spinach!)

My aunt adds in Greek yogurt, milk, chai seeds and fruit juices.
The list is really endless! You just put in everything you like, and blend it all together to a smooth, creamy texture! There is books with recipes and you can go to the website for recipes as well. You can also just use the recipes for ideas as to what kind of fruits and vegetable to do together, and adjust the amounts to your preference.

So, if you have one, I hope you use it!! And if you don't have one, I hope you check out the link at the top and start making some amazing, healthy smoothies!!!!

Leave me a comment with your favorite smoothie combo!

Baked Teriyaki BBQ Chicken:

I am SO excited to share this recipe with you! When you are in a big family, there's only a handful of recipes that every, single person likes, and even fewer that every, single person LOVES. This recipe is one of those very proud few that everyone LOVED!
My sister wanted to have chicken at her graduation party, but last year, my mom spent a whole day partially cooking chicken legs and my dad spent 3 hours in the middle of a hot, July day grilling them for a big family picnic, and neither of them wanted to do that again!! So I started looking around for baked chicken recipes and stumbled across this one. I gave it a try, not really expecting too much, but was totally, pleasantly surprised!! It's way different than any other BBQ type sauce you might have and is just so moist and easy to make and even tastes great as leftovers!
I hope you give it a try!!!

4 lbs. Chicken legs, thighs or wings (any bone-in cut)
1 & 1/2 tblsp. olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce (be sure to check the label for gluten)
2 tblsp. ketchup
3/4 cup honey
1 & 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
dash of pepper

Place chicken in a foil lined baking dish. In a small container, combine remaining ingredients with a whisk until well combined. Pour over chicken. Bake at 400 degrees for 80 minutes, flipping chicken every 20 minutes. Remove to a serving plate and serve!!

Note:
-Foil baking pans are fabulous for this! You can just bake the chicken and toss the pan when your done!
-I made 60 lbs of this for my sisters graduation party, and instead of hoping that it was all done on time, I made it earlier in the day, and put it in the crock-pot (juices and all) on low for the rest of the day. It worked great!!

Breaded Baked Fish:

I love just about any kind of fish, any way you fix it - except sushi, which I've honestly never tried and probably never will! I can't get passed the uncooked factor!!

Anyway, fish is SUPER good for you, so even if your not the biggest fan of fish, this is a great way to fix it. Even my mom will eat this, and fish is on the very top of her "do not eat" food list, right below pickles, which is probably number one on her list!!! 

So whether you love or hate fish, I hope you give this easy recipe a try!!! 

3 cups crushed cornflakes

1 & 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese

2 tblsp. dried basil

2 tblsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 eggs

12 talapia fish fillets

 In a large bowl, mix together cornflakes, cheese, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. In two shallow dishes, place some of the crumb mixture in one dish and beat the eggs in the other dish. Dip the fillet in the egg, flipping to coat both sides, and then dip in the crumb mixture, one side at a time, pressing the mixture gently into the fish, so that it sticks, add more of the crumb mixture as needed. Place on a greased jelly-roll pan or any baking sheet/dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork and breading is light, golden brown. Serve with my Homemade Tartar Sauce!

Note:
-You may not need all of the crumb mixture. You can store the unused portion in an airtight container in the freezer to use at another time.
-I also use this same mixture to make Chicken Nuggets.

Cheesy Zucchini Rice:

Well, it's zucchini time again, so I have been on my annual search to find as many recipes as I can that use as much zucchini as possible! If you grow zucchini, you know what I'm talking about! It's the only vegetable that just grows like crazy no matter what!  

This super fast and easy side dish is one I came across during my search, and it turned out really yummy!

It's pretty versatile as well. You can use as much or as little zucchini as you like, and feel free to experiment with a different kind of cheese!! 

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup long grain rice

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 tblsp. butter

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 cup of cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded zucchini

In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth, rice, chopped onion and butter to a boil. Stir lightly. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 20 minutes or until liquid is completely absorbed. Do not remove lid or stir rice during the 20 minutes. Once rice is done, remove from heat and stir in cheese and zucchini. Cover and let stand 1-2 minutes, just to make sure the cheese is melted and zucchini is hot through. Serve!

Peach Cobbler:

Sorry about the extreme lack of posting/recipes here! Between life and have trouble with blogger even working (which it isn't, so bare with me if something looks crazy!), its just been impossible to keep up with everything and blogging is just one of few things that has been pushed to the back burner!

But, even though I haven't been doing much with everything else going on, I have managed to cook a few times and even try one or two new recipes!!!

Someone gave us some fresh peaches, and although we enjoyed a lot of them just sliced, they started getting soft, and we knew had to make something with them or they would go bad. My sister found this recipe and it turned out amazing!!! We used to make peach dumplings, but they took a lot of work, so we didn't make them very much. This cobbler, however, tastes almost identical and is SO much easier!! 

Served as is fresh from the oven, or with vanilla ice cream, its good either way, so I hope you try it out!!

5 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2  cup water

8 tblsp. butter

1 & 1/2 cups self-rising flour***

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 & 1/2 cups milk

Cinnamon

Additional sugar for garnish

Place butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Put the pan in your oven while it preheats to 350 degrees.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup of sugar and water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Mix remaining 1 cup of sugar, flour, xanthan gum and milk together in a medium bowl. Whisk together slowly until no lumps remain.

Remove pan with melted butter from the oven. Pour that batter over the butter - DO NOT STIR!!!!

Pour peaches and syrup from peaches over the batter and again - DO NOT STIR!!!!! The batter will rise to the top, creating a crust.

Sprinkle with Cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and then serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired!

Note:

-It's extremely important to use self-rising flour, otherwise the batter will not rise to the top properly. It's super easy to do, and you can click here for my RECIPE.