MIA and a New Announcement

OK, so I know that we have been missing in action for a little while now. You all know how it is with summer, everything just gets turned around and upside down. With school starting again we have a new resolve to update more frequently and make this a place you enjoy coming so that you can get new recipes and tips for your families to enjoy.

With that being said we wanted to announce that starting this Tuesday and continuing for the next few months we will be trying something new. We have quite a few recipes in the "to try someday" pile. So we decided that we would finally put these recipes to the test. Twice a week we will be trying something new with our meals. This month we will be trying out new salads. In the months to come we will be trying appetizers, main courses, desserts and so on. hopefully this will give all of you something new to try as well.

Also, we will be starting a new tips and tricks and useful hints section. A few times a week we will post tricks that we have found to be helpful in the kitchen. If any of you have any questions, leave us a comment and we will do our best to answer any of the questions that you may have. Keep in mind that we aren't professionals. We are just two people who love to cook and have been learning a lot along the way. So we are hoping that with your questions we will be able to learn along with you.

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

Oh man, Paula Deen has done it again! Heather and I were flipping through the channels the other night, and stopped dead in our tracks when we saw this cobbler flash up on the screen. It looked AWESOME! And so, we made it for dessert when we realized we had a bunch of blueberries in the fridge we needed to use. WOW. This turned out awesome! Hope you enjoy!!

Fruit Mixture:

2 (16 oz.) cans sliced peaches in heavy or light syrup or in juice (your choice)
1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries (optional)
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup sugar
Ground Cinnamon

Topping:

2-1/4 cups Bisquick
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
Cinnamon Sugar (1/4 cup sugar combined with 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; store in an empty spice shaker jar; shake well before each use).

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a dutch oven (we just used a large round baking dish) with cooking spray. Drain one can of the peaches. Combine both cans of peaches (including the juice from the undrained can), blueberries (if using), the Bisquick, sugar, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Place this mixture in prepared pan.

To make topping: Combine the Bisquick, sugar, butter, and milk in a resealable plastic bag (we just combined in a bowl). Drip bits of dough, using your fingers, on top of the peaches. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place pan into preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crusty.

Source: foodnetwork.com

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Banana Pancakes

One of our good friends posted this recipe on her Facebook wall and said we had try it. These were probably the best pancakes I (Aaron) have ever had. They were remarkably light and fluffy for being whole wheat, and tasted like banana bread. The secret is letting the batter rest for 5 minutes (enough time to whip up the syrup recipe below) before you put the batter on the griddle.

1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons dry milk powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 cups milk
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 banana, mashed

1. Place the rolled oats into the jar of a blender and blend until the texture resembles coarse flour. Whisk together the blended oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, dry mlk powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl; set aside.

*2. Whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Let the batter stand for 5 minutes.

3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip, and cook until brown on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

*TIP: (saves a few dirty dishes) After blending the oatmeal and adding it to the dry ingredients, I just dumped the whole banana, egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla into the blender, pulsed it a few times on low to mash the banana and blend the wet ingredients, then added it to the dry ingredients.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Absolute Best Pancake Syrup

Someone on allrecipes suggested that we try this syrup with the whole wheat, oatmeal and banana pancakes (above). Man, this syrup was sooooo delicious, and it comes together in like 5 minutes! I serously wonder if we will ever buy store bought syrup ever again! TIP: When you add the baking soda, the syrup tends to foam up quickly and may boil over. To prevent this, stir in the soda a tiny bit at a time, or just use a larger pot.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Bring butter, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract, corn syrup, and cinnmon to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Once simmering, whisk in baking soda, and cook for 10 seconds before removing from heat. Serve warm.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Tamale Pie

Ok, so I (Aaron) really like southwestern tex-mexy (is that a word?) type food. Tamale pie is one of my favorites. I have been looking for an easy and tasty tamale pie recipe for a long time, (i've tried a BUNCH, but they were always "missing" something) but never really found one. . . until now. I was flipping through this month's (August/September 2010 issue) Taste of Home, and there on the contest page this first-place award winning Tamale Pie in the SLOW COOKER jumped out and slap-a-lapped me in the face! Who would have thought you could make Tamale Pie in the slow cooker?? Those of you who know me know that the crock pot and I have a very special relationship. It's awesome. Throw all your ingredients in the pot in the morning, no dishes after dinner time, the house smells great all day, tasty food, no fuss (especially if you use those coolio slow cooker liners)! So we had this tamale pie tonight and it was DEE-LISH, and it wasn't missing anything! The best part is that it uses a ton of pantry staples so that most people have on hand! :-) Hope you all enjoy!

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained (we didn't have this, so we used one 14-1/2 ounce can of diced tomatoes and one small can of mild diced green chilies).
1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (10 oz.) enchilada sauce
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 pkg. (8-1/2 oz.) corn bread/muffin mix (we used "Jiffy" corn muffin mix)
2 eggs
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mexican cheese blend (we had cheddar jack on hand, worked great)
Sour Cream and additional minced fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)


In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the cumin, salt, chili powder and pepper. Transfer to a 4 quart slow cooker; stir in the beans, tomatoes, corn, enchilada sauce, onions and cilantro. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until heated through.
In a small bowl, combine muffin mix and eggs; spoon over meat mixture. Cover and cook 1 hour longer or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Sprinkle with cheese; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream and additional cilantro if desired.


Source: Taste of Home (August/September 2010)

Gretchen's Amazing Potato Salad

So, my sister-in-law, Gretchen Haws, has been making this potato salad for nearly every Haws gathering I can remember. It is slightly sweet, slightly tangy, and SO good. Usually, i'm not a huge fan of potato salad, but this one is a winner! Thanks, Nikki, for digging out Gretchen's recipe for us!! :-)

Salad:
10 red potatoes, cubed and boiled (if you don't have red potatoes, russets work fine too, just remember that russets are larger and you will need fewer potatoes.)
8 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 small can sliced olives, drained

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup sugar

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. In medium bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together, pour over salad and toss. Store covered in refrigerator until serving.

Source: Gretchen Haws

Easy Entertaining Idea: Trifle Bar!!!!!

This year for the fourth of July, Heather and I wanted to try something different and delicious for a dessert. A while ago, I read in Taste of Home about the idea of a trifle bar. I thought this would be fun. So we tried it, and it was a HUGE success for our barbecue, and very delicious! Plus, it was so little work, it made the day even better! For those non-triflers out there, according to google, a trifle is defined as: "a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or, more recently, gelatin, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top." We put out individual serving dishes for our guests, along with dishes of brownie cubes, angel food cake cubes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, vanilla pudding, and cool whip, and let them go to town. Since this was 4th of July, we went with the red-white-blue thing, but you can let your imagination go wild! Here are some suggestions:

Cakes:
Frozen (or homemade) pound cake cubes
Chocolate Cake cubes
Angel Food Cake cubes
Brownie Cubes
Yellow Cake Cubes
White Cake Cubes

Fruits:
Strawberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Banana Slices
Mandarin Orange Segments
Kiwi Slices

Sauces/Custards:
Vanilla Pudding
Chocolate Pudding
White Chocolate Pudding
Cheesecake Pudding
Banana Cream Pudding
Favorite jam or jelly
Chocolate or Caramel Sauce

Toppings:
Whipped Cream/Cool Whip
Yogurt
Raspberry Whipped cream (if you want to get extra fancy!) To make raspberry whipped cream: take one 10 oz. tub of frozen sweeetened raspberries in syrup, thawed, blend in blender for 30 seconds until pureed, strain and discard seeds, and stir in one 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip, and voila! Instant raspberry cream! :-)