What to Eat January 1st

This is going to be my new series/challenge... I am going to try very hard to stick to it, I may not get them posted every day, but I am going to cook SOMETHING every day. It may be small or a whole meal. I just know that I love to cook. It is relaxing and I enjoy it. It is my simple challenge to myself.

I started off my new year on Jan. 1st by cooking burrito's (nothing fancy, just simple burrito's).

I cooked ground beef and added taco seasoning, we had flour tortilla's, lettuce, refried beans, sour cream and montery jack cheese. They were delicious and simple.

Cream Cheese Bread...

This recipe is one that a friend of my mom's used to bring us every Christmas. This is a danish type pastry that is wonderful with coffee in the morning. I have never made it myself, but intend to sometime in the near future. As I remember it is a bit time consuming to make.. but worth it in the end.

Cream Cheese Bread

Courtesy of Susan Dillard

Bread Dough:

8 oz sour cream scalded
1 stick butter melted
1 tsp salt
1/2 C sugar
2 pkg quick rise yeast
1/2 C warm water
2 eggs beaten
4 C bread flour

Filling:
2-8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 egg beaten
3/4 C sugar
2 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt

Glaze:
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla
1/4 C milk.

Preheat oven to 250 then turn off. Combine sour cream, sugar, butter and salt. Mix well. Let cool until lukewarm. While cooling, dissolve yeast in water in bowl you will mix bread in. Stir in sour cream mix, eggs, and flour 1 C. at a time. Oil a glass or aluminum bowl. After mixing up the dough, knead with flour until it is no longer gummy. Now put dough in oiled bowl and flip it over. Put in oven and let rise until doubled 1.5 hours. After it has risen knead again. Now divide into 4 equal parts. Take each fourth of mixture and knead on heavily floured surface. Roll each fourth into a 12x8 rectangle. Mix filling ingredients with

A mixer. Take 1/4 of filling and spread over rectangle with 1/2 inch margin on edges. Roll up like jelly roll. Pinch edges and ends. Place rolls seam side down on greased 9x13 pan. Make an x shaped cuts on top of each loaf through the first layer of dough. Put in over and let rise until doubled again (1-2 hours). Bake at 375 for 15-20 min. While cooling combine glaze ingredients and mix well with spoon. Drizzle glaze on top while loaves are warm.

4 loaves.

Apple Dumplings...

These are so simple and are something that people ask me to always make for get togethers etc. They could be eaten with dinner as a side, as a dessert, or even for a sweet breakfast (I guess no sweeter than waffles with syrup) It is so simple and delicious...

Apple Dumplings

from the kitchen of Lou Barnes

3 golden delicious apples 3 cans hungry jack flake biscuits
1 cup sugar 1 stick of butter 1 1/2 C. water
Cinnamon and nutmeg

Peel and slice apples into thin slices. Peel each biscuit into 3 equal segments. Wrap each apple slice into the biscuits and place in a 9x13 pan. In a container with a lid mix sugar, butter, and water. Heat until butter is melted and shake well to combine. Pour over the apples. Liquid should just come to the top of the apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook according to biscuit temperature for 30 min or until golden brown.

A special occasion breakfast...

Sometimes foods bring memories. You smell something cooking and it takes you back to a specific moment in you life. This breakfast casserole does that exact thing for me. My mom only made this casserole on Christmas morning.(well the night before, but cooked it on Christmas morning) and there is only one other time I can remember her making it and that was for the morning of my wedding. I am sure she made it sometimes in between, but it is something I associate with the holidays.

Egg Souffle Casserole

*** make this the night before***

Remove crust from 8 slices of white bread
2 Cups grated sharp cheddar cheese 6 eggs beaten
2 cups milk 1/2 t. salt
1/2 stick melted butter

Beat eggs and add milk, salt, butter. Put 4 slices of bread in lightly greased 8x8 casserole and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Top with another layer of bread and other half of cheese. Pour egg and milk mixture over top and put in refrigerator over night. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Breakfast casserole...

Icame up with this recipe when I was helping host a baby shower brunch. We all needed to bring something and I was in charge of a breakfast casserol. This dish turned out so well and was the first one gone! I had a bunch of people ask for the recipe, so I think it is a winner.

If you don't like an ingredient leave it out, or if you want a different cheese, use something else. This makes a 9x13 pan. Let me know what you think.

Easy Make Ahead Breakfast...
From the Kitchen of Lauren Buczkowski
Make the night before

1 lb bacon cooked flat (could use turkey bacon)

1 roll mild sausage, cooked in bacon grease

5 eggs 1 C. sour cream
1/2 pint whipping cream salt/ pepper
2 packages swiss cheese slices 13 slices of white bread
1/2 C. milk 1/4 C. chopped chives

Layer 6 slices of bread in a 9x13 pan. Cover with swiss cheese, then layer
sausage. Place a second layer of bread, then layer with bacon. Cover with swiss cheese. Mix eggs, sour cream, whipping cream, chives, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour over the casserole. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 375 with foil over the top for 30 minutes. Uncover and back an additional 15-20 min.

London Broil with Curry Coconut and Peanut Sauce

This is a CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP and AMAZING meal with two sides for $8.95

This recipe uses a London Broil which is typically a tougher and cheaper piece of meat. I you would like you can use flank steak (but be careful because flank steak tends to be a thinner piece of meat and could get over cooked) You do need a grill for this recipe. I am not sure who this recipe was created by, I just happened to come across it in a recipe search.

London Broil with Curry Coconut and Peanut Sauce

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:



London Broil (I got a 1.85lb roast) cost $ 5.53

olive oil (on hand)

salt (on hand but got a 1 lb 10 oz thing of salt for $0.33)

pepper (on hand)

1 can coconut milk (I got a can at Publix for $0.99)

1/3 cup brown sugar (on hand)

1/4 cup peanut butter (on hand)

Juice from 1 lime ($0.25)

2 teaspoons curry powder (on hand)

scallions (green onions, on hand)

dried coconut (on hand) These last two are just toppings if you don't have it, it won't make or break your meal!

Season beef with salt, pepper, and olive oil on both sides. Heat grill to high heat and cook meat on each side for 5 minutes. NO MORE! I am going to do 4 minutes this time because we like our meat a little more pink~ I was skeptical of this at first, but it cooks perfectly! After cooking put tin foil over it on a plate and leave covered until ready to eat.



While meat is cooking put ingredients for the sauce in a pan and bring to low boil stirring often. Once it boils just let it simmer until ready to serve.



Once ready to serve slice beef in thin strips, top with curry sauce, toasted coconut and scallions. Serve over rice and with a side of roasted veggies. I am doing roasted leeks and mushrooms becuase I had them on hand.







Roasted Leeks with portobello mushrooms



2 leeks cut in half and then slice

1 portobello mushroom

olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

salt

pepper

garlic powder



Cut leeks and mushrooms (make sure you wash your leeks they get dirt in between the leaves.)

coat with olive oil and season with salt pepper and garlic powder

spread over baking sheet and pour butter over it. Cook at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

A cozy meal...

Today is one of those days I like to think of as cozy. It is cool/slightly chilly outside, the clouds are smokey gray and there is a constant tap tap of the rain hitting the roof. Inside the house is warmly lit with lamps and I am sitting at the computer while Caleb plays on the floor cooing and exploring his toys. One of my favorite movies "the Holiday" is playing in the background. It is one of those days that is perfect for one of those cozy meals that cooks in the crock pot all afternoon and the aroma wafts through the house filling you with warm memories of days like today. A huge bowl of homemade mushroom chili and a movie with my husband is the perfect end to a perfect rainy fall day.

Mushroom Chili

by: Lauren Buczkowski

Ingredients:

1 lb. of ground beef (browned)

1/2 large onion chopped into small chunks

1 Can dark red kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can tomato paste

1 can tomatoes with vidalia onions (this could be just plain diced tomatoes)

1 can diced tomatoes with oregano ( any diced tomatoes would do)

1 T. garlic powder or two pressed garlic cloves

1 t. each of onion powder, cumin, and dried mustard

2 T. Chili powder

1T paprika

1 cup finely chopped or sliced baby portobello mushrooms

1 Cups of water

salt and pepper to taste

Top with sour cream, cilantro and monetery jack cheese (or whatever you prefer to use)

Combine all ingredients into a crock pot, stir well and cook on high 5 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. If you want to thicken it some, combine 2 T. cornstarch with water and mix well until cornstarch is dissolved, add to crock pot and let it cook at leats 20 minutes more. This should thicken the liquid.

ENJOY!~

Verdict: we loved it! This is a recipe I will absolutely make again! Benjamin even ate it! The mushrooms gave the chili an added earth flavor that was so tasty.