Shredded Wheat Bread

My mother got this recipe from someone when she and my father were newly married (I think it came from their pastor's wife). This has always been my favorite homemade bread-it has a sweetish taste too it and is soooo good toasted with peanut butter, for sandwiches, french toast-basically everything! It makes 3 loaves.

Shredded Wheat Bread

Ingredients/Directions:

2 C Boiling Water

3 T Shortening

3 Shredded Wheats, Crumbled

1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Molasses

1 T Salt

Mix until dissolved. Add 2 C lukewarm water. Mix 2 pkg. yeast & 2 T Sugar in a little warm water. Add to above mixture. Add 10-12 C Flour. Place in a bowl, cover, and let rise until double (approximately one hour). Divide into 3 and place in loaf pans-cover and let rise until doubled again (approximately one hour). Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes or until light brown. Butter tops and cover with a towel to cool for tender crusts.

Cheesy Biscuits!

Ifound this recipe on http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. Since I had some blue cheese that I needed to use up I thought this would be perfect. When they came out of the oven, the smell was a bit strong, so I wasn't sure if we would like them or not. Once I tried them, though, I fell in love.Unfortunately, I was the only one who loved them though :(

Cheesy Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 Can Grands Flaky Biscuits

1 Stick Butter

1 Small Package of Blue Cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter and blue cheese on a baking sheet and pop it into the oven. Cut the biscuits into bite-sized pieces. Once the butter & cheese melt, remove baking sheet from oven and spread them around. Toss the biscuit pieces in the mixture to coat. Place back in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Healthy (but Yucky) Muffins!

So, I had printed this recipe quite a while back, but once again I don't remember where I got it though. I had some cranberries and a couple of apples that I needed to use so I thought this would be the perfect recipe. Plus, I have had this outrageous sweet tooth lately and thought this would be a great healthy alternative. Boy, was I ever wrong. These muffins were horrible. Anand said he thought, overall, the muffins were good, but the cranberries were too bitter. Even our daughters spit them out! I was going to send some home with Mom & Dad but forgot (believe me, you'll thank me later!) so there will be 10 "Healthy Muffins" in our trash can tonight-unless I decide to bring them to work for more opinions! I'll take corn muffins (or chocolate chip) any day, thank you!

Healthy Muffins

Ingredients:

1 Egg

3/4 C Milk

3 T Oil

1/2 C Sugar

1 Medium Apple, peeled & chopped

1 C Cranberries

1 C Oats

1 C Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 T Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

2 tsp. Cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat egg, milk, oil and sugar. Stir in apples & cranberries. Combine dry ingredients and stir in with the wet mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Bread!

I was in a bread-making mood today, so I pulled out my Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer Cookbook (page 71) and found a basic white bread that looked good. It was very easy and tastes good!

Basic White Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Low-Fat Milk
3 T Sugar
2 tsp. Salt
3 T Butter
2 Packages Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 Cups Warm Water (105-115 Degrees)
5-6 Cups All-Purpose Flour

Directions:

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute. Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf, and place in 2 greased loaf pans. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free of drafts, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Black Bean & Salsa Soup With Cheddar & Garlic Biscuits

Tonight, I wanted something quick & easy (and meatless) for dinner. I came upon this soup recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and made a couple of adjustments. Then, I decided we needed something to go with it, so I went to my trusty old Betty Crocker cookbook and found a biscuit recipe that sounded fabulous. Unfortunately it called for a couple ingredients I didn't have on hand (Bisquick & shortening) so I found a different biscuit recipe and combined the two.

The soup was wonderful (and very budget-friendly)! It had just the right flavor combination. The biscuits were such a great compliment to the soup. These are recipes we will definitely have again!

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2-15 oz. Cans Black Beans, drained & rinsed

2 Cups Broth (either Vegetable or Chicken)

1 Cup Chunky Salsa

1 tsp. Ground Cumin (I used cumin seeds and ground it with a mortar & pestle)

Directions:

In a blender, combine beans, broth, salsa, and cumin. Blend until fairly smooth. Heat the mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream, green onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

Garlic & Cheddar Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 Cups Flour

1 T Sugar

3 tsp. Salt

1 Stick Butter

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Garlic Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix ingredients (except garlic salt) in KitchenAid Mixer (or by hand). Drop spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet (I used a parchment lined sheet for easy clean-up). Sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Banana Bread & Zucchini Bread

I LOVE to bake! I also love to eat, so that is why I don't bake as much as I would like to!
On my "Autumn preparation" day, I decided it was a perfect time to make banana bread and zucchini bread. Plus, I had some bananas that were getting really ripe and one of my employees, Debbie, found me some giant zucchini at a farmstand for 50 cents! Thanks Debbie!

Banana Bread (I've had this recipe in my recipe box forever and am not sure where it came from)

2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
3 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
3 T Vegetable Oil
3/4 Cup Milk
1 Egg
1 Cup Mashed Bananas

Preheat oven (350) and grease 2 bread pans. Mix all ingredients(thank you Mom & Dad for the awesome KitchenAid mixer-I love it!)and bake for 55-65 minutes. Serve warm with butter-doesn't get any better than that!

Zucchini Bread (Recipe from Mom)

3 Eggs
1 Cup Veg. Oil
2 Cups Sugar
3 Cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
2 Cups Ground Zucchini
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup Chopped Nuts (I used pecans)
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg


Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 bread pans. Mix all ingredients and bake for 50-60 minutes. Just like the banana bread, serve warm bread with butter-Yum!