PRETZEL BITES

http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/chewy-pretzel-bites-recipe/

These were fun and easy to make.  We all liked. Took about 2 hours.  Used 1 T yeast. Did one cookie sheet with salt and one with cinnamon/sugar.  Next time I would do the cinnamon/sugar in the middle before cooking as well.

While looking for some Super Bowl appetizer ideas, I came across this recipe atMelsKitchenCafe. These little morsels look delightful to me! I’m thinking these would taste great by themselves or dipped in something like pizza sauce or cheese dip. I also love soft pretzels with cinnamon and sugar on them. So, I wonder if instead of sprinkling the salt on top, you could sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on them at the end for a slightly sweeter treat.

Chewy Pretzel Bites

Makes about 2 dozen pretzel bites.

*Note: if using active dry yeast, increase the yeast to 1 tablespoon. Proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar (let it bubble and foam – maybe about 5 minutes) before adding it to the flour and salt.

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup (8 ounces) very warm water

Topping:

• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• Coarse salt (optional)
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix to just combine. Add the water and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. The goal is to get a really soft dough that isn’t overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 500°F. This high heat is what will help those pretzels to brown up perfectly and stay soft on the inside. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or lightly greasing them.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into about four strips of equal length. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda in a liquid measuring cup (deep enough to dip the pretzel bites into). Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved. Sometimes I have a hard time getting the baking soda completely dissolved, so I just lightly stir up the mixture right before adding each pretzel.
Cut each strip of dough into about 6-8 pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in width. You don’t have to be completely exact, just eyeball it. Dip each pretzel bite in the baking soda solution (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Bake the pretzels for 7-8 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Bake one sheet at a time.
Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave on low heat.

HEARTY BRUNCH POTATOES

HEARTY BRUNCH POTATOES
I have made this several times for the family and to take to people.  It always goes over very well.  Takes a while to prepare.  Plan on 1.5 hours total.  Found in Taste of Home Family Collection Cookbook pg 41.  If there are any leftovers they heat up really well in the oven.  Goes really well with Coconut Toast (same cookbook pg 37), eggs or strata.

Ingredients

• 7 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper

• 1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/2 pound smoked turkey sausage links

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper Directions Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, just until tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a skillet coated with cooking spray, saute peppers, corn, onion and garlic until tender. Cut sausage into small chunks; add to vegetable mixture. Cook, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes or until heated through. Drain potatoes; add to vegetable mixture. Add oil and pepper; mix well. Transfer to an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 12 servings.

http://luluthebaker.com/2012/03/st-pattys-day-punch.html

ST. PATTY’S DAY PUNCH

Melissa Bahen (Lulu the baker) brought this to New Beginnings.  It was so yummy.  She used blue kool-aid instead of lemon-line because it was a nautical theme.  It was yummy!  She liked it with the green kool-aid better.  Can't wait to make this for St. Patricks Day or our next party.

6 cups cold water
1 packet lemon-lime Kool-Aid powder

1 cup sugar

1 12-oz can lemon-lime soda (I like Sierra Mist because it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup, cuz, you know, I try to buy only healthy soda for my junk punch.)

1 12-oz can citrus soda (ie, Squirt or Fresca)

2 cups pineapple juice

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Chill, and serve over ice.

CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS

CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS

Taste of Home Contest Winning 2010 pg. 67

These are super delicious and easy to make. Scott said they would be good with egg nog. Would be a perfect Christmas breakfast. We had them on General Conference weekend with fruit and a potato breakfast dish (Taste of Home Family Collection pg. 41) because I had potatoes I needed to use. Next time they would be perfect with a meat and fruit. I only got 6 croissants, but still made same amount of batter. Will save for french toast later in the week.

12 unsliced croissants

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup milk

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup 1/2 1/2

3 tsp vanilla

Cut a slit into the side of each croissant; fill with about 2 T choc. chips.

In a bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon; whisk in milk until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, cream and vanilla.

Dip croissants into egg mixture. Place in two greased 15x10x1 baking pans (since I only did 6 they fit into a 9x13). Bake at 400 for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

CROCK POT GREEN CHILE ENCHILADA SOUP

http://lilluna.com/crock-pot-green-chile-enchilada-soup

Scott and I really liked this recipe - the kids not as much, but they did eat it.  I liked that it didn't have to be in the crock pot all day.  Would be great in a soup bowl.

Crock Pot Green Chile Enchilada Soup

 

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
• 2 - 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
• 2 - 15 oz. cans mild green enchilada sauce
• 2 - 4 oz. cans diced green chiles
• ⅔ cup water
• 1½ TB cumin
• 1 TB chili powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• ⅔ cup corn (if frozen, thaw out)
• ⅔ cup instant rice (got in the bulk section at WinCo)
• 1 - 8 oz. bar cream cheese (cubed)
• salt and pepper
• Monterrey Jack Cheese

Instructions

1. Place chicken broth, enchilada sauce, green chiles, water, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic podwer and shredded chicken in crock pot on HIGH. Cook for 3.5 hours.
2. After cooking for 3.5 hours add corn, rice and cubed cream cheese. Stir and cook for half hour.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste and top with Monterrey Jack Cheese. Serves 4-6.

FRUIT SALAD WITH A GLAZED DRESSING

Tasted good.  It was runnier than I thought it would be - next time I need to start making earlier.  Took longer and needed to cool longer than I thought it would.  Start at least one hour before eating.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/fruit-salad-with-creamy-glazed-dressing-my-favorite-fruit-salad/

Fruit Salad with Glazed Dressing

YIELD: SERVES 6

Many different variations of fruit will work here - if you want to use all fresh fruit, consider making the glaze with no-sugar added white grape juice or experimenting with other fruit juices (pomegranate, maybe?). For the salad pictured in this post, I used strawberries, pears, peaches, and canned mandarin oranges. Pineapple (fresh or canned) would be lovely, as well as kiwi, blueberries, and on and on.

Also, I've made this with both honey and agave nectar; both delicious. You could experiment using sugar or pure maple syrup. One last note, this fruit salad is best served right after stirring in the dressing so it doesn't get too soupy. You can assemble the bowl of fruit and make the dressing in advance - storing each separately, and then combine the fruit and dressing right before serving, if needed.

INGREDIENTS

• 15-ounce canned mandarin oranges or pineapple chunks or tidbits, drained (reserve the fruit and fruit juice)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 4 cups fresh fruit + the canned fruit (see note above)

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the drained fruit juice (from the canned fruit) into a liquid measuring cup. You need about 3/4 cup fruit juice. If you have more than that, pour a little off. If you don't have quite that much, add another type of fruit juice (white grape juice, orange juice, etc.) or supplement with water as long as it isn't more than a couple tablespoons that you need.
2. In a small saucepan, whisk together the fruit juice, cornstarch, and honey (or other sweetener of choice). Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl to cool (you can let it cool in the pan but it will take longer). Stir every so often so it doesn't form a skin over the top while cooling. Once cooled to room temperature, stir in the yogurt until smooth. Refrigerate until cool. It will thicken a bit more while cooling.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the fresh and canned fruit. Pour the dressing over the top and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

OVERNIGHT PUMPKIN-PECAN WAFFLES

OVERNIGHT PUMPKIN-PECAN WAFFLES
We liked this - especially being able to get it ready the night before.  We put batter in fridge overnight instead of keeping it at room temperature like recipe says.  They got better the longer the batter was out.  Next time I would take out of fridge about 30 min-1 hour before we need to cook.  Scott thought they would be good with chocolate chips sprinkled in batter before cooking.

This came from the parade magazine - December 2014
http://www.food.com/recipe/overnight-pumpkin-pecan-waffles-519965

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 1/4 ounces active dry yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1
  Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowel. Let stand until slightly foamy, about 15 minutes.
• 2
  In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, pumpkin pie spce, salt and pumpkin puree.
• 3
  Add pumpkin mixture to bowel with yeast, then whisk in the flour until combined. Cover and let stand overnight at room temperature.
• 4
  Preheat waffle iron. Whisk eggs into risen batter, then fold in pecans. Make waffles according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve with syrup.

HOMEMADE CREAMED CORN

Homemade Creamed Corn

We really liked this.  Very easy to make.  Would freeze really well.  Perfect as a side dish or a light lunch or dinner on a piece a toast.  Yum!

Rating: 5

Yield: 8 servings

Calories per serving: many

Fat per serving: lots

Ingredients

• 20 ounces frozen corn thawed (I love to get the bag of corn from Costco)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 T sugar
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 TBS flour
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

1. Heat first 6 ingredients together in a large pot.
2. In a separate small bowl, wisk separately the 1/2 cup milk and 2 TBS of flour (this is what will help thicken the cream).
3. Stir into corn mixture and cook over medium heat (stir often so the cream doesn't burn) until mixture is thickened and corn cooked through.
4. If you don't cook it until it's thickened, it will be runny (although it will still taste wonderful)
5. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
6. Enjoy!!

Notes

This is amazingly delicious! Just make sure to get your cream nice and thick before you put it in a slow cooker to stay warm if you are taking it to a gathering. Can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd! It will be consumed at a rapid rate, so I'd make a little extra if I were you. Enjoy!