Cuban Bread

Cuban Bread

We LOVE this bread recipe. We got it from a friend and it's so easy. It looks like it would take a long time to make this bread, but it doesn't. AND if you use the 'quick-rise' method, it goes even faster. The outside of the bread is crunchy and the inside is so soft.

5-6 cups flour
2 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
2 cups hot water (120-130*)
1 Tbsp. sesame or poppy seeds (optional)


Mix 4 cups of the flour with yeast, sugar & salt. Pour in hot water & beat 100 strokes or 3 minutes with a mixer. Stir in remaining four until dough is no longer sticky. Knead 8 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl & cover with a damp towel. Let rise for 15 minutes. Punch down. Divide into 2 pieces. Shape into 2 round loaves and place on baking sheet (1 greased sheet). Cut an X ½ inch deep on top with a sharp knife. Brush with water & sprinkle with seeds (if desired). Place on middle shelf of COLD oven. Place a cake pan of hot water on lowest shelf. Heat oven to 400* & bake ‘til golden brown, 40-50 minutes.

*Yes, it does say 1 TB of salt -- and that's correct. I thought it might be a typo when I got the recipe, but it's not!

*Quick Rise Method: Put a very damp kitchen towel into the microwave for 2 minutes. Then, drape the HOT, damp towel over the bowl with the dough and put back into the microwave to rise. This will cut the rise time in half. Usually, the dough for this recipe is ready after 10 minutes.

*We've done this where we've made 6 small rolls instead of the 2 big ones. It doesn't really matter.

ENJOY!

Lemon Bread

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law's collection. It's one of G's favorites. We haven't made it in a while, but it is sure sounding good right now! It's so easy and very moist. Enjoy!

Lemon Bread

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 TB lemon juice

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs & remaining ingredients. Bake in loaf pan @ 350 for 1 hour.

Glaze: Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar & 1 Tblsp. lemon juice. Drizzle over top of bread. Cool & remove from pan. Makes 1 loaf.

Ham & Cheese Quiche

I received this recipe from my dear friend, Lisa P. I made this for breakfast while our family was visiting and it was a hit. It's yummy and very filling!

Ham & Cheese Quiche

1 (30 oz.) pkg. frozen, loose pack, shredded hash browns, thawed
½ cup margarine, melted
1 ½ cup diced cooked ham (cooked sausage or crumbled bacon works well too)
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
1 c. milk
salt & pepper

1. Gently press the hash browns between paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Put on bottom of ungreased 9 X 13 baking pan. Drizzle with the melted margarine. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes.

2. Sprinkle the ham & cheese evenly over the hash browns.
3. Beat the eggs, milk and salt & pepper together, pour over the rest.
4. Bake at 425° for about 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove the quiche from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

You can also shred about 4 medium-sized baked potatoes (after they have cooled) instead of using the frozen hash browns.

You can do step 1 at night, cover & refrigerate and then finish in the morning.

Enjoy!

A Belated Father's Day Post

So, I realized that I didn't post anything special for G on Father's Day. I do have a couple of great reasons, but I would be remiss if I didn't remind G how special he is to our family. He is an amazing father to our boys, who absolutely adore him. He spends quality time with each of them and takes a genuine interest in each boy. He is a wonderful example and I couldn't ask for a better husband.



Now, the reason why I didn't get onto the blog was because I was busy baking! I made G's favorite Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins for breakfast. The boys gobble these up, too. They are a family favorite. (I've posted the recipe in a previous post)

Then, I found this recipe for Triple Chocolate Cake. It turned out so yummy!! We had this for our dessert (after enjoying steak, basil potatoes, and veggies for dinner)

Triple Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (18 ¼ oz.) white cake mix
4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
2 TB baking cocoa
½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate frosting
2 TB milk

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, sugar, eggs, sour cream & oil. Beat on low for 1 minute; beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour half of the batter into a large bowl. Stir in cocoa until blended. Fold chocolate chips into white cake batter. Spoon batters alternately into a greased & floured 10-inch fluted pan. Bake @ 350* for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, combine frosting & milk. Spoon frosting over top of cooled cake. Yield: 12 servings.

So, during the day, the boys all wanted to spend time with G. G played Uno, Chess & Checkers. T insisted on sitting on G's lap during church and drawing pictures. They knew it was Dad's special day and wanted to be near him. G appreciated it even though he felt a bit mauled by the end of the day! What a great sport! Another reason why he's so loved in our home.

Another Recipe We Like

I've been pulling double-duty these past several days because G had been gone to a National Conference in Florida. My hat's off to those women who do this all of the time! One of the things that saved me for a couple of days was the use of my slow-cooker. It was SO nice to come home from church on Sunday and have dinner ready. I walked in the door, put rice in the rice cooker, changed clothes, set the table and we were ready to eat. I got this recipe from my dear friend, Raimi, who got it from one of her good friends. I'm sharing it because my boys INHALED it! It had nothing to do with Fast Sunday because ... we forgot it was Fast Sunday until it was too late ... I'm telling you, with G gone, lots of our routines were challenged. One night, we forgot to do our family prayer together. It was T who reminded us. Very humbling. We're glad G's home safe. We sure missed him.

Here's the recipe:

Crock Pot Chicken

1 brick (8 oz.) of cream cheese
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. of Good Seasonings Dry Italian Dressing
4-5 boneless chicken breasts

Mix cream cheese (I soften mine in the microwave for @ 25-30 seconds), cream of chicken soup & Good Seasonings dry Italian dressing. (I spray the inside of my crock pot with PAM). Place chicken in crock pot & pour soup mixture over the top. Cook on LOW heat for 10-12 hours or on HIGH for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.

We had the leftovers the next day too w/o complaints. We just served it with some fresh veggies on the side. My boys love baby carrots, peppers, and cucumbers.

Enjoy!!

Some Random Stuff

My blog has been a little neglected lately. It's just been really busy around our house!! I know I'm not alone on this. Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of pictures I took right after church a few weeks ago. The boys got new Primary teachers. T just LOVES his teacher (wink, Holly!) and has now been excited to go to church. The last few months have been challenging for him because he hasn't had a consistent teacher. He would cry when he figured out it was Sunday and time for church. Not the case anymore and I couldn't be more grateful.

*Other highlights:

*The other day, as we were driving as a family down the Scout Store (where we spent $170!!! -- Uggh), B shared his thoughts with us ... a very common occurrence. He said he wondered how even more amazing much piano music would be if we had 8 fingers on each hand! We could easily play an octave.

* J has been so excited for Cub Scouts. He has almost finished his Bobcat Trail. His room has been a little messy, however, his uniform has been lovingly hung up in his closet.

*One thing I've been enjoying the past couple of months is Facebook. I've been pleasantly surprised at how great it is. I've been able to reconnect with many, many friends, past and present. Lots of cousins and family, too. If you aren't already signed up, you should really consider it.

*I've decided to share another family favorite recipe. I surprised the family last Sunday and made a couple of batches. I made both regular and mini-muffin sized ones, and they didn't last long at all.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking powder
½ cup butter

½ tsp baking soda
½ cup dark brown sugar pinch of salt
1 egg

¼ cup raisins
1 cup flour

*If buttermilk is not available, add 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let the mixture stand a few minutes to curdle before adding to it to the oats.

In a bowl, combine the oats & buttermilk and allow to soak for 1 hour. Grease 12 muffin pans, or use paper lines. Preheat oven to 400*. With mixer, cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Stir into butter mixture, alternating with the oat mixture. Fold in the raisins. Fill the muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 12.

*It seems to be fine when we don’t soak the oats. Also, wheat flour is a great substitute in this recipe. Also, my family likes this recipe w/o the raisins.

*I'm looking forward to our Friday Family Movie Night. Don't know what we're watching yet, but it's great family time.

Have a great weekend =)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I found this recipe on another blog. I tried it last night because I needed something super easy. Not only was it easy, it tasted great. I didn't get a picture of any of them because they were gone so fast. That's a good sign! I just added some vegetables and some cheddar cheese for quick sides and they were very happy. I plan on making double next time so that I can toss some into the freezer for a quick meal later. I used 3 chicken breasts. I also added seasoned salt to my mixture.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

chicken breast cut into "nugget sizes"
melted butter
Italian bread crumbs (plain works fine, too)
Parmsean cheese
any extra seasoning you like
gallon ziploc bag

Put bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning in a ziploc bag. I don't measure, I just throw it all together. Dip nuggets in the melted butter then throw into the Ziploc bag, shake around and get it nicely covered. Bake at 400* for 20 minutes (every oven is different, but cook until nicely browned and cooked through the center)

If you want to freeze some for later, put the uncooked nuggets on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place nuggets in the freezer for 1 hour to flash freeze. After they are frozen, you can split them up into quart or gallon sized bags.


*blog source "Hey, Mom, What's for dinner?" http://twomomsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/homemade-chicken-nuggets.html

Chewy Chocolate Mint Cookies

Chewy Chocolate Mint Cookies



2 ¼ cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup butter
¾ cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
Andes Mints



Combine: flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt in small bowl. Beat: butter, sugar, brown sugar & vanilla. Add eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by well-rounded TB onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake @ 350* for 9-11 min. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, place mint pieces on tops of cookies, and let stand for 2 minutes until melted. Use the back of a spoon to spread the mint. Makes 3 dozen. (I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine for this recipe) These are really chewy!

One of my boys does not like mint, so I dropped a little bit of peanut butter on top of a few cookies for him. It melted well, and I just spread it around like frosting.

This recipe also works well for adding white chocolate, peanut butter, or butterscotch chips instead of melting mints on top.

Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Time to share another family-favorite recipe. If you love peanut butter & chocolate, you'll LOVE these cookies!!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. baking soda

Cream together butter, sugars & peanut butter. Beat in egg & vanilla. Add salt, baking soda & flour. Roll into 1 inch balls into small, greased muffin tins. [A melon-baller scoop works great for this.] Cook @ 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Press Reese’s in the center of cookie as soon as it is removed from oven. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 48.

Another Recipe -- Sweet Pork

Okay, so I've seen a few of these sweet pork recipes floating around on the Internet. I really like the sweet pork from the restaurant Costa Vida. I made this recipe the other day and it turned out awesome! It was VERY easy, too. A bonus in my book.

Sweet Pork
4 lb. pork roast (I used a rump)
2 cups brown sugar
1 (12-14 oz.) jar salsa
2 cans Coke (24 oz. or 2 1/2 cups)

Place roast in crock pot, fill half way with water and cook on high for 6-8 hours. Discard water. Shred meat and return to the Crock pot. Combine sugar, salsa, & coke in a separate bowl. Add mixture to the meat in the Crock pot. Cook an additional 3 hours. Stir occasionally. (Similar to Costa Vida’s recipe) [*I actually just mixed the sugar, salsa & coke right into the crock pot and THEN added the shredded meat instead of using another bowl. Less to wash!]

We built our own burritos using the sweet pork. I made up some white rice too. The juices from the sweet pork flavored the rice right inside the burrito. Everyone (yes, we still have company here) then added what trimmings they wanted. Everything was a hit.

A Couple of GREAT Recipes

With the hot summer days, I rarely turn my oven on. It's too dang hot! But yesterday, I wanted a hearty dinner. So, I busted out one of our favorite Slow Cooker recipes. It turned out great and it hit the spot. Plus, it didn't heat up my kitchen ... definitely a bonus in my book. The chicken was so tender. Here's the recipe:

Slow Cooker Chicken & Stuffing

1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp. seasoned salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

4 -6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup butter/margarine

2 cans (10 3/4 oz.) condensed Cream of Chicken soup, undiluted (can use cream of mushroom or celery)

1 package (12 oz.) seasoned stuffing mix, plus ingredients to prepare

1. Combine flour, seasoned salt & pepper in large resealable plastic food storage bag; add chicken. Seal bag; shake to coat with flour mixture.

2. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Brown chicken on both sides. Place in slow cooker; pour soup over chicken.

3. Prepare stuffing according to package directions, decreasing liquid by half. Arrange stuffing over chicken. Cover; cook on HIGH for 3 -4 hours or until chicken is tender. Makes 4-6 servings.

(from The Slow Cooker Bible)

We decided to watch a movie together last night. I surprised the boys with a VERY easy and delicious carmel popcorn dessert. B has been asking forever for what he calls "sticky popcorn". I got this from my friend, Raimi, who has shared it on her blog, so I know it's okay to pass it along to ya'll, too. Doesn't that look yummy?! It's delicious! It's super easy because you use microwave popcorn.

Carmel Popcorn

2 bags of microwave popcorn

1 cube butter

14 large marshmallows

1 cup brown sugar

Pop popcorn in the microwave. Try to remove as many of the unpopped kernels as you can.

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter & marshmallows. Cook on low heat. Should take about 7-8 minutes for everything to melt on low heat. Once melted, add popcorn & use wooden spoon to coat popcorn. You can make popcorn balls with this recipe. Just spray your hands with Pam cooking spray. Line bowl with wax or parchment paper for easier clean-up.

Yes, More Water!

Notice the smoky, gray sky? We haven't seen a blue sky in days!
"Rett" and T -- Best buddies!!

By 9 am yesterday morning, I realized that I didn't want to be stuck in the house all day. So, I called one of my dearest friends, Raimi, and asked if she was up for an outing at this great little water park ... and she was! Her hubby came, too. We spent about an hour and a half there and just let the boys run wild. T had a hard time with this concept: if I pour water on you, then you'll pour water on me. Nope, he liked pouring water on someone else, but would scream and cry if someone poured water on him. Yes, it was a little annoying, but he's also got to learn, right? Also, it was almost as if we didn't feed our boys before we came (which we DID) because they all just seemed to be starving! They just wanted to snack the entire time. Well ... anyway, the boys got to play with their friends AND water at the same time, I got to visit with Raimi & John, and we got out of the house for part of the day. The park was not crowded, thankfully. I think the smoky skies are still keeping a lot of people indoors. I felt really stir-crazy yesterday morning and knew I wouldn't last the day with my sanity intact if I didn't venture out for a bit.
Then the bonus of the afternoon: T fell asleep after we read some books, so I took a nice afternoon nap, too. The other two boys were very content to have a little alone time, too. B working on a Lego creation, and J played the Wii by himself.

We topped the evening off with our weekly movie night. We watched the first episode of Star Wars, and had no-bake cookies. This is absolutely one of our favorite desserts and it's so easy to make. I love how I don't have to turn on my oven to make these. I'll share the recipe, even though I think most of my friends already have it. I got this recipe from a college roommate back @ BYU.

No Bake Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup milk

½ cup margarine

Bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add:

3/4 cup chocolate chips

½ cup peanut butter
2 ½ cups oatmeal

1 tsp vanilla

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Let cool.
(I use one of my large melon-scoops to do this. It works great!)


Okay: one more thing! N comes home from Scout Camp this afternoon. Yeah!! We've really missed him. T has continually asked, "Where's Fanul?" That's what he calls N. I'm sure he's going to be exhausted and dirty when he comes home. I've got the washing machine ready!!

The Rest of B's Birthday Celebrations ...

B wanted to take oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to share with his class for his birthday Monday
B helping with the cookie pizza for his special dessert. He's dropping on the candy bar bits.

B requested deep fried corn tacos for his birthday dinner. He was excited to use the birthday plate, too.

Here, B is blowing out all of the miss-matched candles on the cookie pizza. We only had 7 regular candles. We used a broken number candle (still have no idea what # it was originally) and 2 tea light candles. No complaints from B. He was just happy to get his favorite dessert. It's a really easy recipe.

B with his birthday loot. Can't go wrong with LEGO's with him. He said his birthday was great even though he had to go to school.

Our birthday marathon is over for now. The boys have birthdays in March, April, May & June. Fhew!! We can take a breather. I do admit that it is very nice for each of us to have a special day to ourselves to shine, where we are shown love and appreciation. B went to bed with a huge smile on his face. Love that!

Here's my recipe:

Candy Shop Pizza

Chocolate chip cookie dough
Chocolate chips
Peanut butter
2 –4 assorted candy bars

Press or spread cookie dough evenly onto greased 12 to 15 inch pizza pan. Bake according to dough recipe. Bake until edges are set and center is still slightly soft. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over hot crust; drop peanut butter by spoonfuls onto crust. Let stand for 5 minutes or until morsels become shiny and soft. Gently spread chocolate and peanut butter evenly over crust. Sprinkle chopped-up candy bar pieces in single layer over cookie pizza. Cut into wedges. Serve.

Making Cookies for FHE

We made some DELICIOUS Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for FHE last night. The best part for the boys was that they all got to help. We likened the recipe to our family. We are all necessary ingredients in our family, just like the ingredients in the cookie recipe. You leave out one thing and it just isn't the same. We talked about our similarities and differences and how that makes our family special and unique. The boys then tried to figure out who was the baking soda and who was the sugar!! At least they got the concept we were trying to teach!

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp. hot water
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter until fluffy (with mixer). Add sugars; cream well. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla & hot water. Add remaining ingredients. Spoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake @ 375 for 10-12 minutes. (We put some bar chocolate in the blender and used that instead of chocolate chips and it was SO good!)