Baked Oatmeal

My mother in law makes this all the time, and hubs loves it! So I decided to give it a go...it was a lot easier than I thought!

Ingredients...

...1 cup plain yogurt (can substitute butter, oil or applesauce as well)
...1 1/2 cups sugar (can lower to your tastes)
...4 eggs
...6 cups oats
...4 tsp. baking powder
...1 tsp. salt
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...2 cups milk

Directions...

Combine ingredients in order listed. Place into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375* for 35 minutes.

My Thoughts...

Just as yummy as I remember! I ate it warm from the oven, so I didn't add any toppings but when I reheat it tomorrow I'm eager to try it with some strawberries! I also think that this would be good in milk with some sugar!

Crockpot Bacon Wrapped BBQ Apple Chicken

Not even kidding you right now, I probably have at least 20 bottles of barbecue sauce in my pantry. Who really needs 20 bottles of barbecue sauce. Especially considering that in the past we've averaged, I'd say about 2 bottles per year. That means we'd be set on barbecue sauce for about the next 10. Unless we start using it on a lot of stuff. That's why I decided to finally give this recipe it's shot at glory after about 6 months of sitting in my "to try" file.

Ingredients...

...1 chicken breast (boneless is really the only way to go for this recipe.) per person
...1 slice of bacon per chicken breast
...2 apples for every 2-3 chicken breasts used
...1/2 cup bbq sauce for every 2-3 chicken breasts used

Directions...

Peel and chop apples. Stir into barbecue sauce and place in crock. Wrap bacon around each chicken breast and set in bbq/apple mixture. Spoon apple/bbq mixture ontop of chicken breasts. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

My Thoughts...

Excuse the half eaten chicken breast. I completely fogot to photograph until I was almost finished. This was good! I used a bbq sauce that had a lime flavor, and I doubt I'll do that again as it gave it a bit of a tang and covered up the apple flavor. I also felt that the bacon flavor was covered...so perhaps I'll try two slices of bacon per chicken breast next time? Well at any rate, this was really good! Hubs was slightly worried about it when he saw it, but even he enjoyed it. And the smell that wafted through my house as it cooked....downright sinful!

Simple Goulash

Hubs loves goulash, me...not so much. I just find it far to bland for my tastes, no matter how much I try to doctor it. But this recipe for goulash was not only simple but one that I actually kind of enjoyed. I even considered seconds for a few minutes...but opted not to for the sake of my waistline (not that this is an unhealthy meal. I'm just trying to keep my portions in check.)

Ingredients...

...1 lb. ground meat, browned
...2 1/2 cups egg noodles, cooked
...1/2 onion, chopped
...1/2 green pepper, chopped
...1 can tomato soup, undiluted
...handful of shredded cheese
...3/4 c. water
...1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
...3 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions...

Brown ground meat with onions and peppers. In a bowl, stir together meat, noodles, cheese and soup until well coated. Place in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Combine bread crumbs and butter until a course topping is created. Place on noodle mixture. Bake uncovered at 350* for 35-40 minutes.

My Thoughts...

This was tasty for a goulash (and for it's looks). Hubs gobbled it right up, and even asked for seconds...he's so cute :) I reheated this for lunch today, and added some leftover spaghetti sauce and a little more cheese to it, and that made this casserole much more to my liking. So perhaps the answer to my goulash dislike is spaghetti sauce. And garlic powder. I'm kind of a garlic fanatic.

*blushes sheepishly*

Hassleback Potatoes

Hubs and I have been grilling alot lately...between the heat (which apparently has been on vacation the past few weeks. I'm content with that!) and the great marked down meats I've been getting lately, it just makes sense! We like to have potatoes when we grill...but I'm getting sick of foil wrapped potatoes and onions...fast! I decided to give this a shot and was happy with the result!

Ingredients...

...1 potato per person (skins left on. more nutrients.)
...1 tbsp. butter per potato
...Italian Seasoning
...Garlic Powder

Directions...

Place a potato between the handles of two wooden spoons. With a serrated knife, make cuts in the potato (the short way) that are 1/8" - 1/4" inch wide, not going all the way down through the potato (this is why the wooden spoon handles are here, to keep the depth of the cuts from going through and to keep them even). Repeat with each potato. Melt butter and pour 1 tbsp. worth over each potato. Sprinkle on garlic powder and italian seasoning. Bake in a shallow baking dish in the oven at 425* for 35-45 minutes.

My Thoughts...

This had a really great presentation to it, with the slices and the way that the skins turned golden it was almost an elegant looking dish! It had a great roasted taste to it and each slice easily pulled off making a fun finger food to go with our grilled steaks. The only thing I would make sure to do differently is to make sure the butter and spices get in between each slice...my flavorings all stayed up top, which gave the outside of the potato great flavor but left the inside pretty plain. This was fabulous, and I will for certain be making this again and again to go with our grilled (and non grilled) main dishes!

The Best Banana Bread

I found this banana bread recipe in an old cookbook of my grandma's, and I first tried it out when I was 14. Since then I have tried several different recipes, but I just keep coming back to this one because it is so good!

Ingredients...

...3 bananas
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1 cup sugar
...2 eggs
...1/2 c. plain yogurt
...2 cups flour
...1 tsp. vanilla
...1 tsp. baking powder
...1 tsp. baking soda

Directions...

Combine bananas, salt and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, yogurt and vanilla. Graduall mix in flour and baking powder. In a seperate, small bowl, pour a little boiling water over the tsp. of baking soda (only add enough water to make the soda fizz and do not do this step until you are ready to add it to the batter). Add to batter. Place in a greased loaf pan and bake at 325* for 45-55 minutes.

My Thoughts...
There is a reason that I keep coming back to this recipe, and it's because it's sooo good! Perhaps it's because it's an older recipe from one of my grandma's cookbooks (one which she submitted a few of her own recipes to) and those older women just really know what they're doing in the kitchen! But at any rate, I love this recipe! The top of the loaf always comes out with a marbled look to it, which I think really dresses up the loaf! Sometimes I split the batter between two loaf pans and make two smaller loaves, but this time I just made one big loaf. So good! Great for a nutritious snack or tasty breakfast!

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

We are currently experiencing the lowest temps for mid July in over 100 years. Last night I went to the county fair to see a free concert (.38 Special!) and I actually had to BUNDLE UP (which was quite a feat, considering that most of my winter clothes are still packed away at my grandma's house from the move...). So, I decided to make up a big (crock)pot of soup. I hadn't attempted chicken noodle yet, so I decided to give it a whirl...

Ingredients...

...Chopped, cooked chicken meat (use how ever much or little you want to. I used 1 chicken hindquarter, and it worked out well)
...8 oz. egg noodles
...3 chopped carrots
...1/2 chopped onion
...1/4 cup butter
...12 cups water
...9 chicken boullion cubes
...1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
...1/2 tsp. black pepper
...1 bay leaf
...1 tbs. dried parsley

Directions...

Place everything in the crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.

My Thoughts...

This had a great flavor and came out perfectly! I found it a little strange that after refrigeration it kind of gelled up...not really sure what caused this, but it was still tasty. My noodles also look incredibly misformed, as hubs left the crockpot on warm for several hours after it was done cooking. So the noodles sort of took on a life of their own. Still, they were tasty! Perfect for the FIFTY DEGREE weather we've been having in MID JULY!!!

Apple Strudel Muffins

I had some apples leftover that I found on clearance for 20c/lb last week. I already have several pints of applesauce in my freezer, so I decided to switch it up and make some baked goods with the apples...

Ingredients...

...2 cups flour
...1 tsp. baking powder
...1/2 tsp. baking soda
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 cup butter
...1 cup white sugar
...2 eggs
...1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
...2 cups chopped apples

...1/3 cup brown sugar
...1 tbsp. butter
...1 tbsp. flour
...1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Directions...

Preheat oven to 375*. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and eggs. Add in vanilla and apples. Slowly stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fill muffin cups with mixture. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter until it comes coarsely together. Put topping on muffins. Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes or until golden.

My Thoughts...

This was a really great muffin! I loved the streusel topping, and the moist apple flavor offered by this muffin! What a great change from cold cereal at breakfast!