BBQ rub

1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon garlic powder
 1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon mustard

I like adding this to beans and the flour mix for oven frying just to give it a little flavor. You could use for grocery style fresh roasted chicken..... but then most of the time we buy them in a hurry and really don't plan on baking a whole bird.... (they are cheaper too... try buying a whole bird for 5 dollars...

Apple Oatmeal Crisp

7 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 cup rolled oats 

1/4 cup butter, room temperature 

 Preheat oven to 375°F.

Layer sliced apples in a 9-inch (or approximately the same size) baking pan. 

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a bowl. Cut in the butter.

 Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples. 

Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender.

Honey Oat Quick Bread

So I have been doing manly gluten free meals lately and do quite well... But once in a while I crave pizza so something like that.  I have been to picnics and had a burger on a bun things like that.  So I was thinking after hearing the news about the fact that I might not have power after tonight and might be days before it gets turned on... I need things I can eat without power.  So I thought I break down and maybe make some bread. When I made the pizza crust without yeast I wasn't that bloated so maybe it's the yeast that is getting me all bloated. Ok the truth is my yeast went out of date and I threw it away a week ago... I already ran my errands for the day and really don't want to drive in the rain again (plus I think everyone is stocking up on stuff and bottled water) I found this recipe and thought I try it:

Honey Oat Quick Bread

ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats, or quick-cooking (not instant) oats, divided
2 1/3 cups white whole-wheat flour (or use half white, half whole-wheat flour)
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
8 ounces (scant 1 cup) plain yogurt
1 large egg
1/4 cup  oil
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup milk

directions:

Position rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°F. Generously coat a 9-by-5-inch (or similar size) loaf pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats in the pan. Tip the pan back and forth to coat the sides and bottom with oats.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat the remaining 1 cup oats, yogurt, egg, oil and honey in a medium bowl until well blended. Stir in milk. Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture just until thoroughly incorporated but don't overmix or the bread will be tough. Scrape the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon oats over the top.

Bake the loaf until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (It’s normal for the top to crack.) Let stand in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around and under the loaf to loosen it and turn it out onto the rack. Let cool until barely warm, about 45 minutes.

from Eating Well

It's so much like a biscuit I thought why not try it.  It's in the oven right now..... I did use Greek yogurt I hope that isn't going to mess it up...

Fried Provolone Cheese

Have you heard?

That fried provolone cheese can be used as a sub for bacon? Yea I thought right when my supervisor was telling me that too.... He's a vegetarian and his mom is also.  She used make her kids PLT. LOL you know like BLT but P instead of B for the vegetarians;  fried provolone cheese

He told me I should try it for my daughter. Of course kids they love to turn up their noses at different. Even at twenty something........

I tried and it wasn't bacon... but it was pretty good. I think I will eat that again.  It had the texture of lunch meat and tasted good.

One thing I learned was that it will shrink to half the size so use a whole piece.

I got my pan and got it hot.  Over middle high heat.  Put the piece of cheese down and watch it turns brown quick. I search it online and saw a site that said add herbs and Parmesan cheese.  Now they said that the Parmesan cheese helps absorb the liquid from the cheese. So I added some Parmesan cheese  then fliped over and browned on other side.
 Try it!!!

No Yeast Pizza Crust Recipe.

My new found trying things with out gluten had me wanting some pizza like crazy.  I thought after reading many sites that to start out at using half of the flour with a gluten free flour, I try that.  I have done really good at not eating much gluten.  I have gotten the it's a cook-out come on have a burger!! PS I found I still enjoy them without a bun... but here is the recipe I used for my pizza crust.... I decided to do a yeast free recipe:

 1 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of gluten free flour mix
1 tbsp baking powder
 1/4 tsp salt
 2/3 cup water
1 tbsp cooking oil

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease  pizza pan.
Combine dry ingredients.
 Add water and the oil and stir.
Knead dough by hand 6-8 times on a lightly floured surface.
 Pat  dough onto prepared pizza pan, add favorite sauce and toppings.
 Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, depending on crust thickness.

Healthy switch

Pinerest pin  took me to Better Homes and Garden Easy Healthy Recipe Substitutions .  Where I found some healthy switch for healthier eating.

Marshmallow Creme, Not butter.
Use in something sweet recipe cause the marshmallow cream will make it sweet. Marshmallow creme has no fat or cholesterol unlike butter.

But for dark colored foods like brown bread or brownies use baby prunes.

For sour cream sub equal parts low-fat yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese.  Or as I have done before I sub half of the sour cream with the cottage cheese.   Ok I was just a little short of the sour cream.. best for dips.  Blend the cottage cheese before using.  Or use low-fat yogurt for sauces or baked goods.  I use greek yogurt for sour cream on my potatoes!!

Evaporated skim milk instead of heavy cream. You lose fat and calories but keep the smoothness. Best for custards or desserts.  Wonder if it will work for soups??  Alfredo sauce... 

Dragon Seasoning

So this is a mix of the seasoning salt recipes I have found and a mix of the Dragon salt recipes.  I don't use dill so of course I will leave that out.

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes(for heat)
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon ginger

Nutella and whipped cream

So did I tell you that it is getting so hot here.... I found another fudgesicle recipe I had to try!


1 cup whipped cream topping
1/2 cup almond milk
3 Tbsp. Nutella

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend well, then pour into popsicle molds. Freeze until set.







OMG these are so good..... BUT Miss Animals Rights doesn't like Nutella.... SO I used Jif Chocolate Silk.... and they didn't taste that good... Oh well more for me... She did say maybe if I used chocolate milk.  I don't think I will try that, wasn't that impressed with the peanut taste.

Corn on the cob

Tonight's dinner included some ears of corn.  I love corn on the cob and was using the oven so I thought it give the "baked cob on the cob" a try.

No need to husk! Just run some water over your ears and place in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I have to say that I hear this and thought I am not sure about this.  I like to microwave mine.
It's fast.  I microwave for 4 minutes and done!!

I have to warn you that the smell had me checking on the corn cause I thought something was burning. I think the silk was

Chocolate Cold Goodness

Another site calls these fudgsicles,

but I don't think they taste like fudgsicles.

 BUT they are good... I change a few things just cause I don't like a few things they used and this is what I got:

Chocolate Popsicles

 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond milk
 1 very-ripe bananas
 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract


 Combine all items in a blender. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze. Better for you too.  No artificial favors or colors. No preservatives.  And cocoa is good for you.....
My picky daughter enjoy this popsicle......

Still have to try (after we eat these) this recipe I found at daily waffle: 

Nutella Fudgesicles
Makes 6 pops with about 1/2 c. left over

1 1/2 c.  chocolate almond milk
1/2 c. Nutella

Whisk and freeze! 


 

Indian Fry Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

 1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.
Flour your hands. Mix the dough, trying to get it to form a ball. You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Like you would with biscuits. Over mixing make them tough tasting.
Divide into 4. Roll out until they are 5 to 7 inch in diameter .
Heat one inch or so of the vegetable oil in a heavy pan. When it reaches 350 degrees place one circle in the hot oil.  Fry for about 3 minutes or until brown.  You do want to try to push down on the dough to help it brown.  Careful of the hot oil splashing.. It will get bumpy and lumpy but that is ok.

Place on a paper towel to absorb hot oil.    They can be placed in a oven at 200 to keep warm if needed. You can refrigerate them and reheat in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on hot fry bread for sweet treat!!!

Tortillas

Feliz Cinco de mayo! 


I just love that picture. So colorful and beautiful.. I am making some soft tacos and noticed I only had  a couple tortillas left... could I make these??? I thought I look for a recipe....

Tortillas 

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup hot water

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry cutter or with two forks, cut in the shortening till the mixture is crumbly.
Add just enough hot water to the mixture to make the ingredients look moist.
Cover and let sit for a hour or so.
Roll into 10 or 12 balls.  roll this balls out to 1/8 inch thickness.
Cook in a medium hot skillet or griddle.  Cook for around one to two minutes until the tortilla is not longer wet looking.


 

Refrigerator Oatmeal

With Pinterest I found this pin that had a recipe for refrigerator oatmeal. I am not a big fan of yogurt. I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream! So I had to try this but first I tried it with less yogurt that called for, maybe I could do a little bit of yogurt if I use the vanilla favored...

 1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
1/3 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons vanilla favored yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds
2 teaspoons maple syrup
 1/4 cup blueberries

 Directions
 In a half pint jar, add oats, milk, yogurt, chia seeds, and maple syrup. Put lid on jar.
 Shake until well until combined.
 Add your blueberries and stir until mixed throughout. Refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. Eat chilled.

 Maybe try it with something else like applesauce or smashed bananas???

 1 cup low fat milk
 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup frozen blueberries or raspberries
 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

 Directions

 Mix milk, oats and applesauce in a jar. I used a old ice cream topping jar.
 Can add salt, if desired. Shake to mix. Stir in berries. Refrigerate overnight.


 I used almond milk mixed with regular milk. Both where really good! Shocking but true... LOL


 

Ahhh Spring!

   I got some great fresh vegetables at the store for good prices.   And being in the northeast we had a seventy degree day.  It was so nice and I had the day off!!! I had to get my grill out... Fresh vegetables and  warm weather.

I got some beautiful zucchini, asparagus, cucumber, tomatoes and a bag of onions.  So I cut the cucumber, a tomato and a onion for a salad. I drizzled some Italian dressing over them.  I eat that as my salad then began dinner..

I also made some more Italian dressing to marinate some beautiful zucchini and asparagus for a hour. or more...  I think I cooked them around 10 minutes on each side but maybe more.

For dessert I grill some fresh pineapple slices.  I forgot the brown sugar to sprinkle on the slices.  I remember after the slice hit the grill I thought no biggie I add it after.  I forgot that too... well it didn't need it. The pineapple slices where so good they didn't need any brown sugar...

It was one of those meals that after you say OMG that was so good....

Vanilla Vinaigrette

I got this email from my head hunter site that had Easter recipes in the bulk of the email. I saw this and thought oh that sound good.... I did remove the 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, knowing my family isn't big on pepper...But you can add it if you like.

 1/3 cup olive oil
 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar


 Use on a salad with mandarin oranges or strawberry added to a spring lettuce mix. Heck you could use both fruits if you feel adventurous! I love spring mix lettuce. I have to mix it with regular lettuce because that is the way my family likes it.

It is a smooth sweeter dressing that why it works well with the fruit and salad.

Berry Oatmeal to GO

I found this on pinterest! Well kinda... someone pin another to go cup and I found this after reading the first pin.... But Green Lite Bites is where you can find the original recipe I changed her recipe a little. I didn't have milk so I thought I try the apple cider I had. Plus I don't do artificial sugars so I added a little brown sugar (afraid to add to much for the apple cider is sweetened!!) Plus I only had 2 brown bananas, I thought I hoped that the applesauce will help...

 2 mashed bananas
 2 tablespoons apple sauce
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbps Baking powder
3 cups quick oats
2 cups frozen blue berries or mixed berries [still frozen]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

 Mix all ingredients except the berries together, and let sit for 5 minutes.
Stir in the berries.
 Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray.
Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled.
 Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown.
 The muffins may stick when hot. Just cool for a minute.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal to GO

Back in a day before I tried to make most things from scratch; I liked the apple and cinnamon  instant flavored oatmeal packages... so after trying the Berry Oatmeal to go I was talking and said that they are ok and then I thought wow I wonder if I could make a apple cinnamon cup..... just like my favorite oatmeal.....

1 cup of applesauce
2 apples grated or finely chopped
1 cup milk
1/4 cup brown sugar (divided)
2 eggs
1 tbps Baking powder
3 cups quick oats

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees

 Mix all ingredients  except about 1 tablespoon or more of the brown sugar and  the grated/chopped apples together, and let sit for 5 minutes.
Stir in the grated/chopped apples.
 Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray.
 Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled.  Sprinkle the saved brown sugar over your cups.

 Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown.
 The muffins may stick when hot. Just cool for a minute.


When I make oatmeal I sprinkle the brown sugar on top and eat it with the oatmeal.  I don't like to stir it in, I think it tastes sweeter that way! So I did my cups like that just because that is the way I eat my oatmeal.  You can skip this step if you like......

Very yummy... both hot or cold...

Oven Fried Yummy Meal

Being in the mood for fried chicken  I decided to go with my oven fried chicken.  I also thought I try to make some oven fried vegetables.... hummmm  After eating some of the pot luck fried chicken I thought ewww greasy so I haven't really wanted fried anything.  I did miss onion rings.... So I tried this recipe... that I always used for chicken.... It kinda like the shake and bake I grew up on.... But now I make my own.  I know what the ingredients are.

1/3 cup of baking mix *
1/3 cup panko **
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning 
1 tablespoon of butter
1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Mix the dry ingredients together.  Drudge your chicken and vegetables threw flour.  Then threw  a liquid. Milk or butter milk can be used and is best the vegetables. Sometimes I like to use hot wing sauce or bbq sauce  for my chicken. Or some people told me to use mayo.  Not a fan like Paula Dean is for mayo but if you like it try it... I have made jo jo's (potatoes), onion rings and "fried" zucchini.  I cut my veggies quite large so they don't burn to easily.   Next drip into the baking mix dry ingredients.  Let sit for around 10 minutes.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Drizzle  oil in your  pan.  Melt the butter in the oven for a few minutes, watch it will burn easily.  Place chicken and or vegetables on pan.


 Now vegetables will not take as long as chicken that has the bone in so you can make them later, but if using boneless chicken I would make at the same time.

                                 Baking Tines

Boneless and vegetables                     30-45 minutes
White meat                                         40-45 minutes
dark meat                                           45-50 minutes


I turn the meal at half of the baking time...

I made this for my dad and he doesn't really like onion rings.  But tried my oven onion rings and loved them... I told everyone that they don't taste like deep fried onion rings but they are good... same with the zucchini.  Which my vegetarian daughter loved said they tasted like the pan fried zucchini without a ton of butter .... so it was  hit!! Family loved the oven fried dinner....


* I store  my baking mix stored in my refrigerator just because I don't use it quickly enough.  I also make half the batch!!

** Panko is a Japanese toasted bread crumb.  I got it at the outlet store for a good price, you can replace this with potato flakes, crushed corn chips or crushed crackers. It will add a extra crunch to the coating... But you can add more baking mix if you don't have any of these items.  I have a friend that likes to add a little corn meal to hers for that crunch (she told me that was a southern thing)

  

Lemon Flax seed wacky cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbs. flax seeds
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix flour, sugar,
flax seeds, baking soda, and salt with a fork in an
ungreased 9"x9"x2" baking pan.

Add:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 tbs. vanilla

You can make three wells in the flour mixture and stir together...

Bake 35-40
minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake
comes out clean, and the top is golden brown. Remove
from oven and cool.

powdered sugar

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 8 servings.

Easy NO Bake Cheesecake

Graham cracker pie crust:

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted


Filling:
11 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed



Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.