Soft Dinner Rolls

This is one of the best roll recipes I have found.

Rolls

1/2 c sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons yeast

2 1/2 C flour

Combine in a bowl

2 c milk

1/2 c butter

Place in a microwave safe bowl and heat until melted and hot (about 2 minutes). Stir into the dry ingredients.

Add 2 beaten eggs and beat until smooth. Stir in about 4 more cups of flour, one at a time. Dough will be sticky.

Turn onto floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.

Cover loosely and let rise until doubled- about 1 hour.

Shape into balls (golf ball size) and drop onto a greased cookie sheet.

Let rise 1/2 to 1 hour.

Cook at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

*I used half whole wheat in this recipe and added an extra half teaspoon of salt and they turned out great.

Corn Chowder- Slow Cooker Recipe

Corn Chowder- Slow Cooker Style

Corn Chowder

5 medium potatoes, skin on and cubed

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pint half and half

1/2 c milk

1/2 pkg bacon, cooked & crumbled

1 onion, chopped and sauted

2 cloves minced garlic

1 can creamed corn

1 c grated cheddar cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Throw it all in a crockpot. Cook on low for about 4 hours or high for about 2 hours just until potatoes are tender.

*Instead of the half and half, I used 2 cups milk and 3 T butter. The soup was a bit lighter.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I never think to take a picture of these but the flavor is awesome- these are beyond restaurant quality!

Buttermilk Pancakes
1 egg
1 c buttermilk
2 T salad oil
1 C flour
1 T sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 t salt

Sift dry ingredients. Beat the egg and add to the dry. Add oil and buttermilk. Cook in a frying pan or on a greased 350 degree griddle. This makes 10-12 medium sized pancakes.

Buttermilk Biscuits (w/ Sausage Gravy)

This is my absolute favorite breakfast right now. Buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 C Flour

1 T baking powder

3/4 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

5 T solid shortening

1 c buttermilk

Sift together dry ingredients and cut shortening in. Add buttermilk and gently toss with a fork. Knead dough for 3 minutes. You can either drop by spoon fulls onto a pan or roll and cut out rounds. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

For my sausage gravy, I brown my sausage and remove it from the pan. Add 2 C milk w/ 3 teaspoons of flour whisked in. (Dissolve the flour into the milk before you heat it with a fork). Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Let it boil until it reaches the desired thickness you want. If you get it too thick, you can whisk in more milk. Add sausage back in and add salt and pepper to taste.

My little twists- I've found you can't use substitute buttermilk with the biscuits or the flavor/texture is really off. I have replaced half of the flour with whole wheat flour and they work really well. For the gravy you can use any type of sausage- we generally use the lower fat/sodium mix. Depending on the saltiness of your sausage the amount of salt you add to the gravy can be quite different from batch to batch. I've also found that you can make the gravy in the time it takes to cook the biscuits in the oven- viola! Hot breakfast ready all at once.

Spaghizza

This recipe was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I remember asking for it for my birthday dinner. It is kid-friendly and you can vary it depending on what you like on your pizza. In this picture we had ham and pineapple on it. Basically it's a spaghetti crust with pizza toppings.

16 oz uncooked spaghetti
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
16 oz. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
32 oz (1 quart) thick spaghetti sauce
1 to 2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
4 oz sliced pepperoni or whatever toppings you like

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Break spaghetti up into 2 inch pieces before cooking. Cook and drain.

Beat eggs in large bowl. Add milk, half of the cheese and salts. Mix together. Add drained spaghetti. Mix.

Grease jelly roll or 9X13 in dish, depending on how thick you want it. Put spaghetti mixture in pan, pat evenly. Bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Put sauce on spaghetti mixture and top with remaining cheese and pepperoni.

Bake 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

Rainbow Salad

Rachel on Signing Time tells a story about "Rainbow Salad, my favorite treat to eat," so we decided to give it a try. This isn't so much a recipe as a suggestion/idea. This is such a fresh and delicious treat. We love to make this fruit salad with whatever fruit we have on hand. What makes it fun is brainstorming what to use from every color of the rainbow. Here is the rundown of this particular salad (in case you can't see everything in the picture)

Red: raspberries, strawberries
Orange: cantaloupe
Yellow: bananas
Green: kiwi, apples
Blue: blueberries
Purple: "red" grapes, "black"berries

Emilie's Cheesecake

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe and it's so easy! It's the only cheesecake I make. It sets up so quickly. I've modified it a tiny bit, but I love it. My husband made it for Mother's Day and it turned out better than ever. Thanks for a winner Em!

No Bake Cheese Cake

2 (two) 8 oz packages of cream cheese

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup lemon juice

Whip cream cheese in medium bowl till fluffy, add sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat till smooth. (All of the above can also be done in a blender and you can make your own sw.cond.milk if you want). Pour into prepared graham cracker crust(s). Refrigerate. Top it with fresh berries! THATS IT!

Crust:

1 1/2 packages graham crackers (crushed)

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1/2 cup sugar

Combine crushed crackers, sugar and butter. Press into 1 springform pan,1 large pie pan, or 2 small 8" tins.