Comfort Food Anyone?

As you know, we've been having some "oldies but goodies" this week, so I can put photos to their recipes! Well, with Beef and Beer Stew you gotta have some Cheese Bread!!! I found this recipe the other day on Teresa's site A Blog About Food. I think the only thing I changed was that I used regular Mozzarella Cheese instead of Part skim! I think I might like to try it with Cheddar next time. Also, keep in mind - it does have a biscuit like texture. This was very good! It really went perfect with our stew!!! yummm....

Round Cheese Bread

1 1/2 cups biscuit baking mix

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup milk

1 egg beaten

2 TB butter

additional Parmesan cheese

In a bowl, combine the biscuit mix, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, oregano, milk and egg (batter will be thick). Spoon into a greased 9-inch round baking pan. Drizzle with butter; sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges, serve warm.

And now for the stew recipe....

Beef and Beer Stew

My New Foodie Friend...

over at Tried-and-True Cooking with Heidi is celebrating her 100th post with a Giveaway!!! How exciting!!! You'll have to go over and check it out! I love checking out her blog every day. We have so much in common - both from small towns, both stay-at-home moms, both have a love of cooking, and both try to be frugal with our spending at the grocery store!!!

Just yesterday we used a recipe that I found over on Heidi's blog. No1here was about to start making his yummy yeast roll recipe, but realized he was out of buttermilk. So, I pulled up her recipe that I had previously bookmarked. She actually got it from the Duggar Family's site. If it's a favorite of 20 people - it has to be good!!!

But if you know my husband - he never sticks to a recipe!!!! The recipe originally calls for 1/2 cup shortening. Instead, he used 1/4 cup shortening with 1/4 cup butter. I asked him for his reasoning... he says that shortening and butter give different textures to dough. Shortening for more flakiness and butter for a bit more denseness and more "melt in your mouth" flavor. If you'd rather try the original recipe, you can check it out here! No1here's version has that old-fashioned quality to it, that reminds me of the rolls I used to eat when I was little. yummm...

No1here's Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls

1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 pkg. yeast

5 cups flour, divided

2 eggs

Combine shortening, butter, sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups flour in large bowl & cut with pastry cutter. In a 2 cup measuring cup beat 2 eggs and then fill cup to 2 cup mark with hot water. Pour over dry mixture. Slowly add: 3 c. flour. Cover. Let Rise 20 minutes in warm oven. Pour onto floured surface.Knead. Flatten with hands into large pizza shape. Cut with pizza cutter into16 slices. Roll up from wide end to point. Place in greased pans leaving space for rolls to double in size. (can shape like crescent or lay on side where swirl shows.) Cover. Let rise in warm oven at least 20 min. Remove from oven. Preheat oven. Preheat oven to 375. Bake 20-30 min. depending on how dark you prefer. Immediately brush with 1 stick (1/2 c.) melted butter. Makes: 16 Rolls in 2-9”x13” pans

Great with Chili...

Corn Cake Toppers

Jiffy Cornbread mix
sour cream
green onion, chopped
shredded cheese

Mix the Cornbread mix according to package, add a bit of sour cream, chopped green onions, and shredded cheese. Cook on buttered griddle like pancakes. Top your chili and enjoy!!! You can either add the cheese to the batter or put on top of your chili and top with the corn topper! Sometimes you might find that the cheese might make it a little bit stickier on your griddle. This goes great with my Chili recipe down below.

Fig's Cheese Muffins...

were sooo yummy!!! I saw these on Pioneer Woman as a finalist for her Dairy Contest and just knew that I had to find a meal to have these with. This photo is from Ree herself - I would have posted one of my own but they looked identical to this photo!!! Thanks Fig for a heavenly recipe!!! This is a "keeper" for sure!!!

Dinner with the family...

We had my husband's brother, his wife, and their kids over for dinner last night. We all had a great time - nothing like good food and great company! :o) We've enjoyed this meal a few times this summer, so I figured I should just go ahead and post it. Please give them try and let us know how you like them! Happy eating...

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

1 quart buttermilk

1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pepper
6 chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lb. total)
6 chicken drumsticks (about 1 3/4 lb. total)

In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, shallots, garlic, salt, sugar, cumin, and pepper. Rinse chicken thighs and drumsticks and pat dry. Trim off excess fat. Submerge chicken pieces in buttermilk brine. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or up to 1 day (see notes). Lift chicken from brine; discard brine. Wipe excess from chicken with paper towels. Lay chicken pieces on a barbecue grill over medium coals or medium heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook, turning frequently, until browned on both sides and no longer pink at the bone (cut to test), 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold. Serves: 6

NOTES: Brine the chicken up to 1 day before grilling; grill up to 1 day before serving (chill airtight). Transport in brine when grilling on-site. Keep the meat well chilled in an ice chest until ready to serve or grill. *We used all drumsticks. **We also found that it's important to keep the skin on - you can always pull it off afterwards, if your chicken gets too dark.

Red Skinned Potato Salad

2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
6 eggs
1 pound bacon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cups mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, onion and celery. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.
Serves: 12



We also had a pot of pinto beans with homemade salsa on top, my cheddar beer bread, and even some mac-n-cheese for the kids who didn't like potato salad.

Hot Fudge Ice Cream Bar Dessert

16 oz. chocolate syrup
3/4 cup peanut butter
19 ice cream sandwiches
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup salted peanuts

Pour the chocolate syrup into a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave 2 minutes on high. Do not allow to boil. Stir peanut butter into hot chocolate until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature. Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish with a layer of ice cream sandwiches. Spread half the whipped topping over the sandwiches. Spoon half the chocolate mixture over that. Top with half the peanuts. Repeat layers. Freeze until firm, 1 hour. Cut into squares to serve.
yield: 18 servings

⊕⊕⊕

Leftover Ham...

Well, here's what I finally decided on...


Delicious Ham and Potato Soup - This was most excellent!!! We topped our soup with shredded Cheddar. Yummm.... This definitely made our "keeper" list!!

Breakfast Burritos

Savory Ham and Bean Soup - this isn't rated very high, but I think I can "doctor" it up a bit!

Ham and Swiss Bread Pudding - I'm really excited about this one!!!

Grilled Spicy Citrus Ribs...

No1here made these ribs this weekend and they were the BEST that I have ever tasted in my life!!! They had such a unique flavor! For the recipe, head on over to Simply Recipes. Thanks Elise! :o)


We also had Summer Potato Salad, Beans, and Cheddar Beer Bread .



Kathy's Cheddar Beer Bread


1 (12 oz.) can beer, I prefer lager or a similar light beer
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup of Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Butter, not margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Mix all ingredients well and place in pan. Bake for 1 hour. Every 10 minutes butter top of bread with small pieces of butter.

Yield: 1 loaf


** If you don't have self-rising flour - add 2 tsp. salt and 2 Tbs. baking powder to 4 cups flour. Mix well. Keep left over flour in freezer for next time.

Broccoli Cornbread Anyone???

Okay, this is another one of my Mom's faves that she use to always make and it's soooo delicious! A little different from some of the other broccoli cornbread recipes I've seen out there. Will go good with some soup and the cold weather coming our way the end of this week!!

Mom's Broccoli Cornbread

2 boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
10 oz. chopped broccoli
1 stick butter
4 eggs, beaten
12 oz. small curd cottage cheese

Mix all ingredients. Pour into 9 X 13 glass dish that's sprayed with Pam. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35 mins.

Happy Halloween :o)

This time of year brings a ton of requests from my kids (and my friend's kids too) for...

PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1/3 c. water
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 c. flour
1 c. pumpkin

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Then add spices, soda, flour and pumpkin. Grease mini-muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. This will make 4 dozen mini-muffins. They can be made ahead of time and frozen in Ziplock bags.

Pumpkin Bread

Made this last week, and it is soo good! It's from Allrecipes.com, a fav site of ours! Perfect for breakfast, snack, whatever. It does make 2 loaves, so make one for yourself and share the rest!!


INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a mixing bowl, dream butter and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Stir in pumpkin. Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until bread tests done.