Homemade Bread

I grabbed this recipe from I Heart Naptime :)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 Tablespoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
5-7 cups of bread flour, white or wheat will work too (can use more if needed)
1 Tablespoon shortening (or butter)
1 Tablespoon butter, melted (to top bread)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Pour the warm water (not too hot) over the yeast mixture and let it sit for about 10 minutes, or until nice and bubbly.

2. Combine melted butter, sugar, evaporated milk and salt into a large mixing bowl. When your yeast mixture is ready add them together and mix.

3. If you are using a stand mixer put on your bread hook and then pour in 3 cups of flour. If not you can stir/kneed it as well. Then add in 1 cup of flour at a time and mix. When you get to 5 cups of flour in the bowl, add in 1/2 cup more of flour at a time until the dough is no longer sticking to the sides. You'll know it's ready when your fingers no longer stick to the dough.

4. Then cover the ball of dough and sides of the bowl with shortening and cover the bowl with a warm towel. Set by the window and allow it it rise (about 1.5 hours). When it has risen over the bowl punch it down and place on a floured surface.

5. Kneed the dough for 2-3 minutes.

6. Cut dough into two pieces and roll them out into a rectangle. Roll the dough up and tuck the ends under. Then place into 2 greased bread pans.

7. Let the bread rise again, and when it looks like a good loaf of bread place them in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. When the bread is done, coat the top with butter and remove onto a cooling rack.

Pudding/Cool Whip Frosting

I know I posted this recipe with my Eclair Cake but I think it deserves its own post! I'm so happy to have stumbled across this recipe! I feel like it's the perfect custard/filling and it's so versatile. I might just top all brownies and cakes with it from here on out :)

15 Minute Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken & Vegetables

Oh my gosh, you guys! I have found the easiest meal ever and I'm so excited to share it with you. No grill or chef skills are really required. It's fast, easy, and absolutely delicious. I hope you try it and love it!

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped (any colors you like)*
½ onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
½ cup tomatoes, chopped or plum/grape
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon paprika (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chop all the veggies into large pieces. On another cutting board, chop the chicken into cubes.

Place the chicken and veggies in a medium roasting dish or sheet pan. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, and paprika. Toss to combine.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the veggies are charred and chicken is cooked. Enjoy with rice, pasta, or a salad.

Love this! Mine isn't exactly like the recipe above because I like to change it up but you get the gist!

*The fabulous thing about this recipe is that you can pretty much replace the meat and veggies with whatever you like! I love to use chicken, sweet potatoes, and purple onions and I should note that sometimes the veggies will cook faster than the meat (and vice versa) so you might have to do some research on how long certain things take to cook but for the most part these recipes are all fairly similar and generally yield tasty results :) I make this often so here are a few more pics:

These pics are all ENLARGED TO SHOW TEXTURE lol

Buttermilk Waffles & Nauvoo Syrup

So I'm friends with a celebrity blogger  :) No biggie :) She posted this syrup recipe awhile back and she isn't kidding: it's AMAZING. We ran out of syrup for our Sunday morning breakfast so I kind of tried this out of necessity but I'm so glad I did! I ended up looking for another waffle recipe so we could have another vehicle for this syrup and I happened to stumble upon the original recipe for both the syrup and the waffles (I think). Anyway, here are those recipes!

Buttermilk Waffles
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 T melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of cinnamon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients only until just combined.
Pour batter onto hot waffle iron and cook until golden.

Nauvoo Syrup
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS: 
Combine butter, sugar, and buttermilk and bring to boil in a large pot (it foams up a lot).
Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and baking soda.

Boston Cream/Eclair/No Bake Cake

Remember in The Curse of the Black Pearl when Elizabeth tries to invoke the Pirates Code and Barbossa replies, "The Code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules"? I guess that is kind of my approach to life but also kind of how I handled the recipes I saw for this dish. I had a tub of Cool Whip, 3 boxes of graham crackers, a small box of  Cheesecake pudding mix, and two large boxes of chocolate and vanilla pudding mixes. I didn't follow the recipe exactly but I loved how this tasted! Pudding Frosting is simply the bomb! Wish someone had told me about it a long time ago. Anyway, I give you . . . Eclair Cake!

Eclair Cake
Adapted from My Baking Addiction

INGREDIENTS:
2 packages of graham crackers
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 small box of instant cheesecake pudding mix
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding mix
1 large box of instant chocolate pudding mix
3 cups of milk
1/4 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1) Grab a 9 x13 and add your first layer of graham crackers

2) In a mixing bowl, beat together the cheesecake, vanilla mixes, and milk

3) After you get a mixture resembling pudding, fold in about 1/2-3/4 of the Cool Whip tub

4) Spread half of the pudding mixture over the first layer of graham crackers in the 9 x 13.

5) Add another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding mixture in the 9 x 13.

6) Add the rest of the pudding mixture on top of the graham crackers.

7) Add another layer of graham crackers to the 9 x 13.

Pudding Frosting:
Adapted from Pinterest
8) In a mixing bowl (I used the same one I mixed the cheesecake and vanilla in) beat the chocolate pudding mix, powdered sugar, and remaining Cool Whip together. Pour over last layer of graham crackers.

9) The other recipe said to chill for four hours but honestly, it was ready after 90 minutes (maybe even less since we were kind of impatient haha).

DIY Soup Mixes

I like to think I'm frugal but honestly, I'm just lazy. It was once my dream to make all my own food so I could avoid nasty additives but in this day and age and at this point in my life that is pretty impossible unless I buy a farm lol Anyway, most of the store-bought soups kind of gross me out. I mean who knows what kind of meat is in there?! These mixes make me happy and honestly they are about 1,000 x's better and also easy because you generally have all of these ingredients in your pantry anyway. I make a new mix about once every 3 months and I like to think I'm saving us money and we are eating healthier lol (just let me have this one, guys). So here are my 3 soup mixes I like to have on hand :)

Onion Soup Mix
From Spend with Pennies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup onion flakes
7 tablespoons beef bullion granules
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients and seal in an airtight container.
Store in the cupboard up to 6 months.
5T = 1 packet of soup mix

Cream of Chicken Soup Mix
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups dry milk
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken bouillon (granules)
1/3 cup dried onions
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together in 1/2 gallon airtight container (I use a big sour cream container--save the earth, y'all). I typically don't consume this as a soup and mostly put it in casseroles and crock pot dishes where I'm mixing things together anyway but to make it you just mix 1/3 cup of the mix into 1 1/4 cups boiling water.

Cream of Mushroom Soup Mix
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups dry milk
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1-2 cups dried mushrooms*
1/2 cup beef bouillon (granules)
2 Tablespoons thyme
2 Tablespoons basil
1 Tablespoon pepper
1/2 Tablespoon parsley
1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together in airtight container. For Soup: stir 1/3 cup mix into 1 1/4 cups boiling water.

*I just want to note that I never could find dried mushrooms at Walmart. Maybe they might have them at yours. I was encouraged to try Winco so I might do that next time. I bought them off of Amazon and while they were amazing . . . they certainly expired quickly. Anyway, food for thought haha

Sheet Pan Ranch Pork Chops & Potatoes

This recipe comes from JoCooks. I don't know how I stumbled across it but it is a tasty sheet pan dinner we really love :)

INGREDIENTS:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 oz package of ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp oregano dry
1 tsp ground black pepper
6 pork chops either boneless or bone-in will work (I've also used chicken and it turned out AMAZING)
2 lbs baby potatoes
1 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Place potatoes and pork chops on the baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil over the pork chops and potatoes and toss well.

In a small bowl mix together the ranch seasoning, smoked paprika, oregano and black pepper. Rub the seasoning over the pork chops and the potatoes. I didn't find the need for additional salt, but feel free to season with salt, to taste.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the pork chops are cooked through and the potatoes are tender. The internal temperature of the chops should reach 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) when cooked. Also please note that all ovens are different, and some may take longer and some may require less time.

Garnish with chopped parsley then serve immediately.