Cooking - for a new lifestyle (Our Test Kitchen)

Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted) 4 tsps baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbsps shortening 3 tbsps peanut butter 2/3 cup whole milk DIRECTIONS Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Combine shortening and peanut butter and cut then into flour mixture with a knife or pastry blender until thoroughly mixed. Add milk to make a soft dough (DO NOT OVER MIX). Turn dough on to a LIGHTLY floured board and knead slightly. Roll 1/2-3/4 inch thick and cut with a floured cookie cutter. Place biscuits on an UNGREASED baking sheet 1-1&1/2-inches apart if crusty biscuits are desired (if touching, then the biscuits will be "soft-sided"). Bake in a hot oven (425°F-450°F) for 10-15 minutes. Served these with homemade strawberry jam...... "Bon Appetit!"

French Toast Breakfast Muffins.  These are amazing!! Taste exactly like French toast!!! Made with skim milk and light butter was only 121 calories a muffin if you make 12!  1/3 c. butter  melted  1/2 c. sugar 1 egg (preferably room temperature)  1 1/2 c. all purpose flour  1 1/2 tsp. baking powder  1/2 tsp. salt  1/4 tsp. nutmeg  1/2 c. milk  Topping (option: cut topping in half*)  1/2 c. sugar  1/2 c. butter melted  1 tsp. cinnamon  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined,  but still a bit lumpy.  Do NOT overmix; overmixing will ruin the texture of the finished muffins.  Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray.  Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I thi...

I had this meal at Denny's in London recently.  It is part of their Hobbit themed menu.  Everything was great but the french-toasted honey cake was amazing. On a recent cookie run to Hollandia Bakery I spotted honey cake and bought one. Here is the recipe I came up with.  Dear hubby LOVED it.  It is very sweet obviously but sooooooo good. 1 cup milk 3 large eggs 2 tablespoons honey 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 honey cake, sliced into 8-10 slices 4 tablespoons butter In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, honey and salt.  Pour the egg mixture into a pie pan.  Preheat the oven to 375 F. Dip the cake slices into the egg mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side.  Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2-3 slices of cake at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with ...

So we tried this as it was written. I have altered the recipe (in red) so it is 100% better! Although our first attempt was all eaten. Grease one 13x9 baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350. 1 cup of bacon bits (real) 1 1/2 cups canadian bacon cubed 1 (large) slivered onion 1tbsp butter Melt butter in frying pan and sautee onions. Add bacon and cook for about 5 minutes. Set aside while doing the next step. 8-10 eggs beaten 1 cup skim milk (I used 2%) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper (2 tsp) 2 tbsp chives 1/2 green pepper diced or shredded (1 whole) 1 whole red pepper diced or sliced 2 cups shredded cheese (strong flavored like old cheddar) 3 cups of grated potato or thawed hash browns (uncooked) (stick to 3 cups) In a large bowl combine ingredients above, then add bacon mixture to bowl. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. You may choose to sprinkle more cheese on top at this point. Bake another 10 minutes or until the casserole is firm. Serv...

 I got this recipe when I took my Foods class in high school. You can always add in fruit, raisins or even chocolate chips. One great thing is that you can freeze them and pop them into a toaster at a later date. I've made them at home but also while I was down at school... It does require two bowls and when you don't have a second bucket, you go and use a corona bucket... use what you have. :) 1 1/2cups large flake oatmeal 2cups milk 1cup all purpose flour 2Tbsp brown sugar 2Tbsp baking powder 1/2tsp salt 3 eggs 1/4cup oil 1. Mix oats and milk in a small bowl. Set aside until milk is almost absorbed. (About 5-8mins) 2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir well to blend. 3. Add eggs and oil to oat mixture. Beat well. 4. Add oat mixture to flour mixture all at once, stirring until smooth. 5. Pour batter by 1/4cupfuls onto preheated, lightly greased griddle. (We found the heat is good at 300F) Cook until bubbles break on surface. Turn...

1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1-3/4 cups nonfat or low-fat buttermilk 2 egg whites, lightly beaten 2 cups sliced bananas (about 2 medium) 1/2 cup nonfat or low-fat granola Combine the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a medium-sized bowl, and stir to mix well.  Stir in the buttermilk and egg whites.  Fold in the bananas and granola. Coat a griddle or large skillet with nonstick cooking spray and preheat over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles when it hits the heated surface. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle and spread into a 4-inch circle.  Cook for 1-1/2 minutes or until the tops are bubbly and the edges are dry.  Turn and cook for an additional minute, or until the second side is golden brown.  As the pancakes are done, transfer them to a serving plate and keep warm in a preheated oven. Serve hot, topped with honey or maple syrup. Makes 16 pancakes.

2 cup pumpkin (I used the meat from a halloween pumpkin gutting) 4 eggs 2 1/2 cups sugar or sweetener replacement 1/2 tsp. cloves 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg or allspice 1/2 tsp. salt Blend well then add to: 3 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 cups chocolate chips or pecans 2 tbsp cointreau liqueur or 2 tsp orange peel 1 cup vegetable oil Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake in a greased pan Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Brush top of loaf with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar, maple sugar, turbinado sugar or white sugar. Can be eaten plain, buttered, or with cream cheese "Bon Appetit!"

2 large eggs 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup salted butter, melted 1/2 cup applesauce 1 small apple, grated 1-1/4 cups milk 3 cups old-fashioned oats Butter a 2 quart baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except the oats. Fold in oats and combine well Transfer mixture into the buttered baking dish and spread evenly around.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly on top of the oat mixture.  Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 375F.  Unwrap oatmeal and place in the oven.  Bake for about 30 minutes until oatmeal is set and browned on top. Serve hot with milk or cream. Deb, Taylor and I taste tested this recipe and feel it needs extra sweetness and perhaps a little more cinnamon so either add some brown sugar into the recipe or have it on the table to add with your milk . . . Hmmmmmmm . . . I wonder how it would taste with vanilla yogur...

I wanted to make something different and still easy for my family for breakfast this Sunday.  It doesn't get much easier than this.  It's a great idea for when you are having a bunch of people coming for breakfast and you want to serve pancakes, but don't want to stand at the stove all day.  I hope you enjoy it.  We did! Yields:  6 servings Ingredients : 2 cups pancake mix (don't use the just-add-water kind) 1 1/2 cups milk 1 egg 1tbsp vegetable oil 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon Generous 1 cup fresh or frozen berries (or 1/2 sliced bananas and 1/2 chocolate chips) butter, maple syrup and/or powdered sugar Directions: In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, milk, egg, oil and cinnamon just until blended.  It's OK if the batter is still lumpy! Fold in berries.  Pour into a generously greased 9 x 13" pan.  Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes or until golden.  Serve with deserved toppings.

Banana Nut Bread Recipe For A Bread Machine (found online and altered) Although this is called bread, it is more of a cake. 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup milk 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2-3 mashed over-ripe bananas 2/3 cups sugar 2 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup walnuts chopped 1. Into baking pan of breadmaker add first 5 items in order. 2. Select"basic dough" setting; press"Start" 3. Allow to mix and then press "stop." 4. Add dry ingredients. 5. Press "start" again. 6. When beep sounds after 5 minutes, add nuts. ***NOTE: I never wait.... 7. The"Complete" light will flash or beep when batter is ready. 8. Place mixture in greased loaf pan or 2 small greased loaf pans. 9. Bake at 350 for 55+ minutes. **note when the knife was inserted into the bread and came out slightly gummy, I turned the oven off but left it in the oven until it was partly cooled. 10. Turn bread out ...

Hello, fellow foodlovers! I realize this post doesn't exactly fit the mandate of the blog, but I had to share. Thanks for letting me slip it in here :) I have a confession to make: Today, I resorted to child labour in the kitchen. That's right, I used my just shy of two-year-old daughter to help me make muffins today. OK, so it wasn't quite like that. My goal was to get her involved in the kitchen young, to teach her motor skills, life skills, to be proud of what she has made and, most of all, to spend quality time with me. The verdict: It worked. She put the paper liners in the muffin tin, she dumped all of the (pre-measured by me) ingredients, and she did the (preliminary, at least) stirring. I then dumped the whole tasty mess into their expertly lined tins, and we waited. An excruciating 20 minutes later, our noses (and the timer) lead us back to the oven to retrieve the warm little babies from the oven. We done good. The muffins turned out just lovely. My daughter ate 2...