Did you know?

(I am sure you do know... but I will share anyways!)

French Toast can be made in a Waffle Maker.

It cooks both sides at the same time.

Why should waffles get all the fun of having indents for your syrup and Elmo & Cookie Monster on them!! Or Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty,the state of Texas or (my personal favorite) a keyboard. (Apparently it isn't real, but incredibly awesome!)

While googling "waffle irons" I found something about making hashbrowns in a waffle iron. Genius. I am going to try it.

What have YOU made in a waffle iron?

Yummo... well sorta.

I tried my first Rachel Ray recipe. She said it was the perfect American meal- a combo of Cheeseburgers, Chili and Mac & Cheese. It was super easy. Not as amazing as I was hoping- but still yummy.

Cheeseburger Chili Mac and Cheese

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
Salt and ground black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 to 2 cups beef stock (depending on how liquid-y you want it)
1 pound whole wheat elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp yellow cheddar (the sharper the better!)



Preheat broiler. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat for the pasta.

Place a medium pot over medium-high heat with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the meat to the pan and cook until golden brown, 5-6 minutes.

Add the onion and chili powder to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is tender, 4-5 minutes. Add the ketchup, mustard and beef stock to the pot, bring up to a bubble and simmer until slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes.
While the chili is working, salt the boiling water and drop the pasta in. Cook to al dente according to package directions then drain thoroughly and return it to the pot.

Add the chili to the pot with the pasta and give everything a good toss. Transfer to a casserole dish and top with the shredded cheese. Place the casserole under the broiler to melt and brown the cheese. Serve with a simple salad alongside.



And that is what we did.


(we didn't have any macaroni so I used penne noodles. Wouldn't recommend it- they were a little too large.)

We had something else with our meal... which was truly the highlight of the meal.

A-maize-ing Cornbread

(From Looneyspoons)

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg- lightly beaten

1/2 cup cottage cheese

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons butter-melted

1 can (4 1/2 ounces) diced green chilies- drained (didn't have- so didn't use)

1 cup whole kernal corn (thaw first if frozen)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

In a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, egg, cottage cheese, honey, butter, chilies, and corn. Beat with a whisk until well blended.

Add corn mixture to flour mixture and stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into an 8x8 inch baking pan (I used a round pan) that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into 9 squares and serve warm.

The cottage cheese sounded a little strange. But it totally cooks out so you don't know it is there. It helps make the corn bread moist- because there isn't anything much worse than dry cornbread.

What was I thinking?

I turned these delicious cheesy biscuits into these monsters. My friend Jenica had a bacon, cheese & chocolate themed Birthday party. So I did my best to combine all three. I added bacon to my cheesy biscuits and drizzled them with chocolate. No one threw up after eating them. So I guess they were a success.

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

This was made pre- Kitchen Aid days. But I plan to make it again... real soon. It's delicious. My friend from school gives me all her Cooking Light magazines. I have found tons-o-recipes that I want to try and this had the privilege of being the first one. I am kind of a Banana bread snob. It can't have nuts, must have chocolate chips and pretty much needs to be MY recipe. But I decided to give this one a try. I wasn't totally sold on the lime glaze but after half the loaf I realized I really liked it. The lime glaze was made possible by this amazing product (sorry, the picture is REALLY big). I NEVER have lime juice when recipes call for it, so when I saw this I snatched it up. It is powdered lime... you just add it to your drink or recipes. LOVE IT! Enough yip yapping- here is the recipe!

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum (I used Orange juice... I couldn't think of anything else and I had it!!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over

warm bread. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

Yield

1 loaf, 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Sorry once again for taking so long to post. My sister came to visit and were busy hanging out in NYC, DC, Chicago and all the Targets, Kohl's and Chipotle's that we could find. More about that later ( I left my camera in Virginia so it is being mailed to me...) but until then- a little piece of heaven-
Cheesy Biscuits

I was first introduced to these in South Carolina. Kind of an interesting story but I will spare you the details. I actually didn't eat them because I was too full from the HUGE baked potato I ordered but my friend Ben ate them and raved about how delicious they were. So I googled them and found a recipe- tried them out... and have been in love ever since. I seriously have made them for every dinner party/ bbq I have gone to since the big discovery. And now I share them with you. They are sweet- which I didn't expect. The original recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar- but I tried putting a little less and they are just as good. I even made it with splenda and it is also good. I would recommend cheddar cheese rather than mozzarella- not as much flavor with the mozzarella- and I have yet to try it with sharp cheddar but I am sure that is even more flavor. Enough of my rambling... here is the recipe you MUST try... or invite me over for dinner and I will bring them! :)

Cheesy Biscuits (from Jim N’ Nicks)

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1 egg-beaten

4 Tablespoons margarine- softened

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix ingredients dry ingredients together. Mix liquid ingredients together. Mix together until just moist. Pour into greased muffin tin. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes.

(I have only used mini muffin tins- but I am sure the big ones will work just as well)

Try them and let me know what you think!!

Yummy in my tummy

A friend from school had a sleepover. Her husband is in Bagdad for 4 weeks and so she wanted to do something to keep her from going crazy- he works for the security of diplomats or something like that! So she invited a few teachers over for a girls night in. It was really fun to just eat and chat. I volunteered to make breakfast as I had a recipe I REALLY wanted to try. I had it at a visiting teaching brunch and have been dreaming of it since. It is called Creme Brulee French Toast. Yummy. Well I doubled the recipe as I didn't know how much would be needed. Well 2 of the girls didn't sleep over and everyone just had one piece- so I have a 9x13 pan left. Yikes. The problem is- it is delicious- not nutritious. There is supposed to be a storm coming again this week- Tuesday & Wednesday- so talk of 2 snow days. So perhaps I will have a snowday breakfast and invite some fellow teachers. If we can get out of our homes and parking lots. Ha ha! We did get a snow day last Wednesday. The news said we got 1.7 inches of snow. Interesting since Western NY has gotten like 5 feet of snow and are apparently still going to school. Virginians = pansies. Anyways- make the Creme Brulee frenchtoast. It is delightful. But have people to share it with otherwise you WILL eat it all.
p.s. I just didn't put in the Grand Marnier in as I am not sure what it is- but I assume it is some sort of alcohol. And the challah bread is a jewish bread that I only heard of when I came to Virginia. Other recipes I have seen said to use French Bread!! Let me know what you think!