Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

I have been wanting a mini-muffin pan for a long time, I never actually buy myself one because it's pretty much a want not a need. Adam and I went to Target today, when Adam saw one today he threw it in the cart. Seriously he spoils me too much :) Once we got home I decided I need to make some muffins. But I wasn't sure what kind.

I ended up thinking lemon poppy seed, but all the recipes I found called for plain yogurt and we didn't have any. So I found a recipe for orange poppy seed muffins. I found these via google search, but was lead to a website called Mr.Breakfast, if all the recipes are anything like this I will be hooked, I am going to try another recipe from here soon!

These little muffins are like bites from heaven, they have just the perfect amount of orange and the poppy seeds, and are just bite size YUM!

Orange Poppyseed Muffins (From: Mr.Breakfast)

• 3 cups flour
• 2 and 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cup orange juice (with pulp preferred) (I squeezed 3 oranges which got me about 1 c. then added 1/4 c. water)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons orange extract (I omitted and used some orange zest)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and poppyseeds. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, orange juice and extract.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until moistened -- not overmixing.

Divide batter into 24 greased muffin cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Peach Cobbler

I was excited to participate in the WC Recipe exchange, I got this recipe. Although I was VERY excited to make it I realized that peaches are VERY out of season in Minnesota right now, so I ended up using frozen peaches. I also don't like peachs so I want to try this again but want to try with fresh fruit.

Thank you to whom ever submitted this recipe :)

Although I didn't try this, Adam really enjoyed it. I really like that it has a "cake" layer on the top.

Southern Peach Cobbler (From: Allrecipes)

• 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes. Tip on how to easily peel peaches: Place the peaches in boiling water for about 60 seconds, remove and plunge into cold water.

The skins should slip right off.

Carmel Apples

Ever since Adam and I went apple picking, I have wanted to make carmel apples. I bought the carmels weeks ago, but didn't have the time. I finally took the time tonight to make them.

Carmel Apples (From: Myself)

• 13 apples
• 13 sticks
• 2 bags of carmels (unwrapped)
• 4 T. water

Wash and dry apples. Poke the sticks through. You want them almost all the way through.

Melt carmels and water together in a large sauce.

Lay wax paper out on a large cookie sheet, coat with butter.

Dip apples in carmel and swirl around, lay on cookie sheet.

Refrigerate until set, then wrap in wax paper until ready to eat.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

After being at my job for a month now, I am getting bored with my breakfast ideas. I already get up around 5:15am every morning, so getting up earlier just to eat breakfast doesn't excite me. So normally I feel my mug with juice and grab something to eat in the car on my way to work. My drive and eat options are limited and I was bored with what I have been having. So I decide to make some apple cinnamon muffins and freeze them, so I can grab one each morning and go, and not worry about them going bad!

These have GREAT flavor and will work perfect for breakfast!

Cinnamon Apple Muffins (From: Penzeys)

• 4 Cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 Cup vegetable oil (I used cinnamon applesauce instead)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Cups granulated white sugar

Topping:

• 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 Cup granulated white sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 6 TB. butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two muffin pans and set aside (you may have enough batter for more than 24 muffins). Peel, core and slice the apples. Cut into good-sized chunks, about 1 inch in size.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the oil and beat until combined. Add the vanilla, almond, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Next, add the flour and sugar and mix on low just to blend. Then turn the mixer to high and beat until mixture is smooth. The batter will be very thick.

Fold in the chopped apples, mixing by hand so the apples do not get too broken up. Divide the mixture between the two muffin pans. Since the batter is so thick, it is easiest to spoon the batter into the pans.

To prepare the topping, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture with a fork until all ingredients are moist and crumbly. If you don't mind a little mess, it is faster to use your hands. Sprinkle equal amounts of topping on each muffin.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes on the center rack of the oven. The muffins should feel fairly firm when touched in the middle, or bake an extra 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans.

Prep. time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 20-25 minutes
Yield: 24-28 muffins

Baked Apples

After going apple picking I had lots of leftover apples, I found this blogging event at Sugar High Friday, and figure this would be a good way to spark my creativity and to use up some of my apples.

My WC Sis gave me this idea, I took it and created my own little masterpiece. I personally don't like baked apples very much so Adam enjoyed these. It made the house smell like apple cider :-)

Baked Apples (From: Stephany)

• 2 apples
• brown sugar
• maple syrup
• cinnamon
• sugar
• rum

Preheat oven to 350.

Take out the core out of your apple, and stuffed with brown sugar.

Place in a pan, and drizzle maple syrup over the top. Then sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top.

Pour some rum in the pan just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

French Apple Pie

I have wanted to try my hand at homemade apple pie since going apple picking. Ashley and Rick came for dinner, Rick LOVES apple pie, so I figured this was the perfect time to try it. It really good! I will be using this recipe in the future!!

French Apple Pie (From: Betty Crocker)

• Pastry Crust
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• Dash of salt
• 6 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (I used about 4 apples)

Heat oven to 425.

In large bowl, mix 1/2 c. sugar, the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in apples. Spoon into pastry-pined pie plate.

In small bowl, mix 1 c. all-purpose flour, 1/2 c. packed brown sugar, and 1/2 c. firm butter or margarine with fork until crumbly. Cover topping with foil during last 10 to 15 minutes of baking, if necessary to prevent it from becoming too brown. Bake pie 35 to 49 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Apple Crisp

Adam and I went apple picking on Saturday, it was a LOT of fun, we came home with 13 lbs of apples. I knew I wanted to bake with them. I tried my first recipe tonight, it was an apple crisp.

Apple Crisp (From: Betty Crocker)

• 4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Cream or Ice cream, if desired

Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.

Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.

Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

Sloppy Joes, Cucumbers and Lemon Bars

Last night we had both of our mothers and siblings over, we want to do something simple that didn't take a lot of time to prepare. This was definitely an easy meal. We made sloppy joe's, chips and dip, watermelon, and cucumbers.

While walking through the grocery store on Friday I remember I hadn't planned anything for dessert for our company. We happened to be in the baking aisle. I asked Adam what he wanted, he looked up and saw a box for Lemon Bars and pointed. I was about to make a box mix when I have time, so I came home and found a recipe. These turned out really good! I will admit, my pictures looked horrible, so I took the lemon bar picture from the website.

Ozzies Sloppy Joes (From: My Dad's Recipe )

• 2 lbs mid grade hamburger (you want some fat to hold in the flavor)
• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 1 1/2 c. ketchup
• 1 T. yellow mustard
• 1 t. french brown mustard
• 1/4 tsp. Dill
• 1/4 t. Tarragon
• 1/4 t. Basil
• 1/4 McCormick Cajun seasoning
• 2 T. Parsley

Fry hamburger and onion together. Place in slow cooker with seasoning, cook for 3-4 hrs at least, but for best taste cook for 6-8.

***Tips: I didn't have an cajun seasoning so used steak seasoning, I also added about a tablespoon more of the brown mustard. I mixed it up let it cook for 2 or so hours and tasted and adjusted. This is also not a really BBQ sauce recipe, more of a spice flavored one. My dad adds different seasonings, sometimes Worshershire sauce, etc.

Cucumbers and Onions (From: My Mom)

• 1 cucumber
• 1/4 large onion
• 1 c. mayo
• 1/4-1/2 c. milk
• pepper to taste
• fresh dill

Cut cucumbers and onions in thin pieces, but not paper thin.

Mix mayo, milk, pepper, and dill. You want a heavy cream like texture not a milky like texture, add dill to flavor as you want.

Mix in cucumbers and onions. Let sit for as long as possible so that the flavors will all mix.

***Dips: I mixed this and let it sit for about 8 hours, it is best to do it as long as possible.

Lemon Bars (From: Cooking Light)

Crust:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended.

Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

***I used a blender instead of a food processor. The crust was a little hard, I think next time I would cook them a little less. Also, we omitted the lemon rind, and added 1/2 T. of lemon juice.

Strawberry Bread

I also have lots of strawberries, this is a recipe I found on a nestie blog a while back and have been eying it since. I finally got to try it!

Strawberry Bread (From: Mrs.A's Blog, original recipe from recipezaar)

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups mashed strawberries
• 1 1/4 cups oil (I used 1/4 cup oil and 1 cup apple sauce)
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup strawberry juice, drained from mashed strawberries (I blended some more)
• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix first five ingredients together.

Make a well in centre of mixture.

Stir strawberries, oil and eggs in by hand.

Pour into two greased 9x5" loaf pans.

Bake at given temperature for 50 to 60 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.

For topping, blend reserved strawberry juice with cream cheese. Drizzle over cooled loaves. This made WAY too much, next time I would cut it down.

Blueberry Muffins

I have a bunch of leftover blueberries and strawberries from my fruit pizza. I really didn't want to go bad, so I have been thinking of what to make with them. Adam loves his muffins, so I decided to try my hand at homemade muffins. This was a super easy recipe, and super tasty.

Blueberry Muffins (From: Betty Crocker Cookbook)

• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 lg. egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 c. blueberries
  

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups with shortening, spray with cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups.

In large bowl, beat milk, oil and egg with fork or wire whisk until well mixed. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. If baked in greased pan, let stand about 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm if desired.

Snickers Salad

This salad was at our 4th of July BBQ, I have made something similar but not using vanilla pudding. It really had some extra flavor and made it super creamy. I can't wait to have a reason to make it with the pudding.

Snickers Salad (From: My Dad's Girlfriend Kelly)

• 6 (2 1/4 ounce) Snickers candy bars, chill and chop
• 6 apples, cored and chopped into bite sized pieces (Granny Smith and/or Red Delicious)
• 1 (12 oz) container Cool Whip
• 1 (5 oz) box instant vanilla pudding (dry mix – do not prepare!)

Mix cool whip and dry pudding mix together.

Chop apples and chilled Snickers.

Mix together.

Drizzle caramel and chocolate over the top.

Chill for at least an hour-- Voila!

Fruit Pizza

We were invited to my Dad's for a 4th of July BBQ, I decided to bring a fruit pizza. I made one a few years ago, but have been in the mood to make it again. I used fruit to make it a little more festive. But you can use any fruit.

Fruit Pizza (From:Myself)

• 2 tubes of sugar cookie dough
• 2 pkg. cream cheese
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 lemon (you could use vanilla extract)
• strawberries
• blueberries

Spread the cookie dough in pan. I used 2 tubes because I used a large cookie sheet, but you could use a round pizza pan to do it. Bake as directed on package. Let cool

Mix cream cheese, sugar, a little lemon juice (I used almost the whole lemon) and some lemon zest.

Spread across the cookie then top with fresh fruit of your choice.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

I have been in the mood for a good smoothie lately. I don't like chunks of fruit so a smoothie is an excellent way for me to get my fruit. This was my first attempt and I kind of made my own recipe but it was AWESOME!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie (From: Myself)

• 2 bananas
• 5 strawberries
• 1 small yogurt, I used fat free vanilla
• 12 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Enjoy. This made 2 smoothies.

Banana Bread with Chocolate!

My grandparents are back in town from Arizona, my grandpa loves my baking, so I try to bake something for him everytime I see him. We are going down to my moms tomorrow, and they will be there. So I decided to make some banana bread. I had my bananas frozen and had an extra half of bag of mini-chocolate chips. I haven't tasted this yet, but I am assuming it will be as good as last time.

Here is the link to the last time I made it, I omitted the nuts, and added a half of bag of mini chocolate chips.

I think I can safely say my baking fever is doing better!!

Crepes

Yesterday while at the grocery store I was trying to think of something fun to have for breakfast this weekend, Adam and I don't eat breakfast together during the week, and rarely have a hot breakfast during the week. So I always like to make something a little special for the weekend. I decided on crepes. I fell in love with crepes, after graduating from H.S. my mom started making them and I love them. You can do so many different things with them, that they can accommodate to everyones tastes.

Crepes (Betty Crocker Cookbook)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 T. sugar
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 c. milk
• 2 T butter (melted)
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 2 large eggs

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter, vanilla and eggs. Beat with hand beater until smooth.

Lightly butter 6 to 8 inch skillet or crepe pan. Heat over medium heat until bubbly.

For each crepe, pour slightly less then 1/4 cup batter into skillet. Immediately rotate skilled until thin layer of better covers bottom. Cook until light brown. Run wide spatula around edges to loosen; turn and cook other side until light brown. Repeat with remaining batter, buttering skillet as needed.

***Tips: We have found these are best if eaten right off the burner, so we prefer to eat in shifts basically. You can use any toppings you want. Today we used Nutella and Cream cheese with strawberry jam mixed in.

Mothers Day Brunch

This morning we spent the day with My Mom and Brother. Adam and I prepped a bunch of the meal on Fri, and last night. And he did most of the cooking today as I went to church with her this A.M. overall the meal was great!!

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast (Maples Inn)
French Toast

• 12 slices of thick bread (Texas Toast)
• 2 8-oz pkgs of cream cheese
• 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
• 10 eggs
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups milk
  

Blueberry Sauce

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsps corn starch
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries(added to the recipe one cup at a time--see instructions)
• 1 Tbsp butter

Remove the crusts from the bread and cube. Spray the bottom of a 9"x13" glass baking dish with vegetable spray and place half the cubes of bread in the pan. Cube the cream cheese and put on top of the bread. Distribute one cup of fresh or frozen blueberries over the cream cheese.

Place remaining bread over the blueberries.

Beat the eggs, add the maple syrup and the milk. Pour mixture over bread and cheese. Place plastic wrap over dish and refrigerate overnight.

Bake the French toast, covered with foil, in the middle of a preheated 350° F oven for 30 minutes, remove the foil, and bake the French toast for 30 minutes more, or until it is puffed and golden.

While the French toast is baking, make the blueberry sauce:

Cook the water, cornstarch, sugar, and 1-cup blueberries until it thickens.

Then, add one more cup of blueberries and the butter. Pour over individual pieces, slice and twist a lemon slice over the top for garnish, and serve.

(Note, it is best if you let the Blueberry Stuffed French Toast sit for about 10 minutes before slicing). You can substitute raspberries for the blueberries or use a combination of both. Serve the French toast topped with the warm blueberry sauce.

***Tips: This took longer then an hour, I could say it could almost go for a good 1 1/2 or so. Also, next time, I might just cut the bread in half and lay it down that way. But this was was awesome too. The sauce tasted just like blueberry pie filling!

White Chocolate Blueberry Scone (Nesties)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup diced blueberries
• 2/3 vanilla fat-free yogurt
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 c. White Chocolate Chips
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Combine strawberries, yogurt, butter, rind, and egg white; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat into an 8-inch circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut into 12 wedges, cutting into but not through dough; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

***Tips: Make sure these are the only thing in the oven, or are on the top shelve. Also, they were more cake like, then dense like scones but they were VERY GOOD! We also omitted the whole wheat flour and used all-purpose.

Happy Mothers Day MOM!

40 loaves of bread... YES 40!!!

Saturday I spent the day with my mom at her Church, she had to make a bunch of bread for a breakfast they were doing this morning. We ended up making about 40 loaves of bread. I don't have all the recipes but will be posting them as I get them! All of it was delicious, and I guess all the church members had rave after rave!

Pumpkin Bread

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree


• 4 eggs


• 1 cup vegetable oil


• 2/3 cup water


• 3 cups white sugar


• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 2 teaspoons baking soda


• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves


• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

• 2 1/4 cup pastry flour (all-purpose flour may be substituted)


• 2/3 cup sugar


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 3 tablespoons poppy seeds


• 1 large egg


• 1/4 cup cooking oil


• 1 1/4 cold cup water


• 2 tablespoons lemon juice zest from one lemon

For the syrup:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar


• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Bakers’ note: The more sugar in the quick bread recipe, the browner the crust. If you substitute milk for the water, the lactose—which is a sugar—will cause a little more browning.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with a fork. Stir in the cooking oil, water, and lemon juice.

Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture. With a spatula, mix the two together until moistened. Do not over mix—over mixing will develop the gluten in the flour and make for a tougher bread.

Scrape the batter into a well-greased 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pan. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until done. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into a crack in the center of the loaf. The toothpick will come out clean when done.

While the bread is baking, mix the granulated sugar and the three tablespoons of lemon juice in a cup. Heat the syrup in the microwave until warm. Stir the syrup until the sugar is dissolved.

Use a skewer or a kitchen instrument about 3/16-inches in diameter to poke holes in the top of the loaf to the bottom of the loaf. Place the holes about one inch apart. Pour the syrup over the top of the loaf while it is still hot and in the pan. Let the loaf rest for 20 minutes and then remove it from the pan to cool on a wire rack.

***Tips: We double this recipe each time we made it, but only used the 3 tb. spoons of poppy seeds otherwise it seemed like too much. And neither of us cared for the glaze so I would suggest leaving it off.

Banana Bread (From: Nestie: Krashed24)

This is the same recipe I used the other week! It was just as good, I again added a splash of vanilla which I think makes it even more tasty! Here's the recipe.

Blueberry Bread

• 2 cups flour


• 2 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 cup blueberries


• 2 beaten eggs


• 1 cup milk


• 2 TBS vegetable oil


• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (can omit nuts)

Mix or sift the dry ingredients--flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. You want these mixed up really well.

Pour the blueberries and nuts in with the dry ingredients. This gives them a bit of coating and keeps them all from floating up to the top during cooking.

Mix the eggs, milk, and vegetable oil together. Again, mix these well.

Pour the wet mix in with the dry mix. Now, DON'T beat much at this point. If you use a mixer or go overboard beating the wet and dry together, then you'll have tough bread. With a light touch, just mix until barely mixed together.

Grease well 2 standard size bread loaf pans. To ensure that the bread does not stick, cut pieces of waxed paper to fit just the bottom. You can set the pan on the paper and draw around the bottom with a pencil and then cut to get the exact size. While you don't have to do this, it means perfect looking bread every time and is worth the little extra effort.

Also, if you don't have loaf pans, you can do the bread in other sized pans or casserole dishes. You'll just have to adjust the cooking time. If you go with a 9 x 13 inch pan, then you'll cook less than if you have the loaf pans which make thicker bread than the longer/wider pan.With the standard bread pans, you need to cook for around an hour at 350 degrees F.

Do check the bread around 50 minutes though. Some ovens cook faster than others. The toothpick test works well with breads. If you see gooey stuff stuck on the toothpick, then cook a bit longer.

Banana Bread French Toast

I made banana bread on Thursday for this recipe, but I tried a new banana bread recipe and it was a hit, so there is another loaf in the oven. So be careful this is a great recipe!

Banana Bread French Toast (Recipe Goldmine)

• 1 (1 pound) loaf banana bread, cut into half-inch slices
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups prepared strawberry sauce

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and add the half-and-half and cinnamon; mix well.

Gently dip the banana bread into the egg mixture and place on a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat. Cook on both sides until lightly brown and cooked through.

To serve, drizzle with strawberry sauce.

Variation: Use whipped butter flavored with maple in place of strawberry sauce.

***Tips: I used milk instead of half and half. I didn't have an strawberry sauce, so we used honey butter and syrup. I also used 5 pieces of bread and 1 egg, and about a 1/4 c. milk.

Pannekoeken's For Everyone

A few weeks ago, My mom sent me a recipe for Pannekoekens, This was one of my favorite breakfast restaurant here in the cities before most of them went out of business. I knew I had to try this. But I saved it to my computer and kind of forgot about it. I saw my mom on Friday and she had made them the night before. So I knew I now had to try it. She said she served hers plain and it needed more flavor so I made some vanilla pudding and cut up bananas. And tried to make a Banana Cream Pannekoeken. They were OK, but not the best, they lacked the flavor of a real Pannekoeken. I might experiment again.

For those of you who don't know Pannekoekens are Dutch Pancakes. Baked and served with basically anything you want!

Pannekoekens (From: My Mom, via Online)

• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

Place butter in oven pancake pan and heat in a 425 F. oven.

While butter melts mix batter in a large bowl or blender. Mix eggs, milk, and flour until blended.

Remove pan from oven and pour in batter. Return pan to oven and bake until oven pancake is puffy and brown (20 to 25minutes).

Makes 3 to 6 servings. Serve: Top with a dusting of powdered sugar, syrup, or honey. In season, serve topped with fresh fruit and a dusting of powdered sugar.When fresh fruit is not available serve topped with hot or cold pie filling.

***Tips: We halved the recipe and made one large one and split it. I made cook and serve vanilla pudding, and put sliced bananas and cool whip on top.

Kielbasa with Flair, and Brownies Al-mode

I grew up eating Kielbasa, and introduced Adam to it, he will eat it but never really loved it, one of those in a pinch quick kind of meals. He loved this new recipe. I was on one of my discussion boards when Kielbasa was brought up, a recipe similar to this was mentioned but wasn't taken into detail, so I kinda of made my own recipe up. It was wonderful! And Adam is ready for me to make it again.

Kielbasa

1 kielbasa
1 small can crushed pineapple
2 Tb. brown sugar

I cut the kielbasa into about 1 inch pieces and then fried it until it was a light golden brown. I then added the pineapple and brown sugar and simmer. I waited until it thickened about 5 minutes. I served it with rice.
This is definitely a new way to serve kielbasa! I will be making this more often and experimenting with it also.

For dessert I made No Pudge brownies, they are very easy to make, and 100% fat free. I bought this box at Trader Joes but have seen them at my local grocery store, and all you add is yogurt. Adam said it would be good with some cherry yogurt. I put some fat free ice cream, and whip cream on top. They are so good.