January 2009 - Kitchen Scrapbook

Breads Biscuits and Rolls, Soups

Chili Soup and Fry Bread

January 27, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 27, 2009
Filed Under Breads Biscuits and Rolls, Soups

When it looks like this outside,

it oughta look like this inside:

“Huh?! Shouldn’t it be chili soup and cornbread?” you say.

Nope.

I do like chili soup with cornbread too. But not nearly as good as chili soup with fry bread!

I grew up with that combo. ‘Chili soup and fry bread’ was like ‘peanut butter and jelly’ or ‘cake and ice cream’ or ‘donuts and coffee’… where one was, it was a given that the other would probably be there too. I wonder if my mom grew up with the chili-soup-and-fry-bread combo too. The reason I wonder that is because my fry bread recipe comes from my aunt Dar. She gave me a little collection of recipes when I got married and this was one of them. Aunt Dar and my mom are twins, complete with rhyming names… Darlene Fay and Marlene Kay (just a little tidbit from my family tree).

Navajo Indian Fry Bread …I’ll bet you’ve got all the ingredients on hand for this.

Printable recipe coming soon

4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups warm water

Mix by hand. Set aside in a covered bowl for a few hours. Take out small bowl of soft dough and, with hands, stretch and flatten into shape of a pancake, round and flat. Melt 1 cup of shortening in frying pan. Deep fry at 375 degrees.

When it looks likes this,

flip it over, browning on both sides.

Makes 8 pieces, about 4″ in diameter. This, by the way, is a little saute pan. I only made a half batch of fry bread because they don’t make good leftovers, so I just used a little pan. Another really good thing to do with this fry bread is to coat it with cinnamon sugar as soon as you get it out of the frying pan. Would make a good breakfast side dish or an after school snack. Yum!

HOT Chili Soup …as in spicy. This recipe did not come from a cookbook. This is from my kitchen, exactly how I like chili soup…

Printable recipe coming soon

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 16 oz can hot chili beans, juice and all, do not drain
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup canned hot jalepenos, chopped
several shakes of Tabasco sauce

Brown beef with onion. Stir in rest of ingredients.

Simmer, covered, for 30 min. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and FRY BREAD. You could adjust the spiciness of this to your liking, maybe you don’t like your nose to run while you’re eating. This isn’t very juicy. Or brothy. Or whatever you call it when it’s chili soup. That’s how I like it. You could always add more diced tomatoes or tomato juice.

Comments

8 Responses to “Chili Soup and Fry Bread”

Monica on January 27th, 2009 10:19 am

Your chili recipe looks alot like mine…I had to come up with a new recipe after I got married because my husband likes his spicy, too!! I use chili-ready tomatoes instead of regular diced tomatoes and a pack of chili seasoning. I used to use spicy chili seasoning, but the kids won’t eat that!! He sometimes adds hot sauce for more zip!! Not sure how he would like the fry bread….he’s pretty stuck on cornbread in his chili. Puts me in the mood to make chili again, since they’re calling for a winter storm tonight!!
Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on January 27th, 2009 5:55 pm

Your fry bread reminds me of what we make here in New England….dough boys. We cover ours in cinnamon sugar…yum! Soup looks great!
Kay on January 27th, 2009 6:04 pm

Mmmm, Lisa! Mom used to make dough boys too! She baked her own bread and on bread-baking days, she’d save some extra dough and fry dough boys for us for after school snacks.

Monica, I never saw chili-ready tomatoes! Will have to look for that next time.
Sandra on January 27th, 2009 9:47 pm

Yah that Indian Bread is a hit at our house too!!The other nite I made chili w/out the bread that was a mistake!!I believe the recipe comes from Grandma Hershey.I haven’t found a recipe for chili soup that I can make off a recipe that turns out the same every time.So I will try yours!!Do your girls eat this if its spicy?
Kay on January 27th, 2009 9:56 pm

Nope. The girls don’t eat it if it’s spicy. I don’t blame them, so I make something else for them, or take some out before putting the spice in.
Sheila G. on February 19th, 2009 5:25 pm

I’m making this for supper tonight. It’s been a chilly day(for us southerners that is! ???? Hubby is always looking for something to try in his Fry Daddy so I’m going to give the Fry Bread a trial run too. BTW-Occasion is spelled w/ only one ‘”s”.–I’m not being picky I just figured you might like to know.
April on March 21st, 2009 6:02 am

I know this is a bit late commenting… But we call that bread Bannock! We grew up in Canada, NW Ontario and that’s the native bread. They also use a slightly different recipe and bake it in a cast iron pan or other pan. I like it batter the way you featured and I’ve got to make it and introduce my children to it!
I enjoyed reading your site… lots of new stuff and I like that. I tend to collect a lot of recipes and not got to use most of them! LOl.
Simple Bread Recipe on June 18th, 2009 8:44 am

I was pulled up short by the mention of your Aunt Dar, because I’m an Aunt Dar too and have never heard of another one. It’s good to know I’m not alone I was attracted by the bread recipe, but it was the soup that really appealed. That one’s going to be appearing on my table very soon – it looks scrummy!

Breakfasts

Caramel Pecan Cream Cheese Pancakes… and the bananas are optional ;)

January 22, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 22, 2009
Filed Under Breakfasts

Other than the desserts and cookies, THIS recipe would have to be one of the best dishes on this site. And it’s easy to make it a nice presentation too.

The last time I was at a Bob Evans restaurant for breakfast, I was looking at the menu and, as usual, everything was grabbing me. I always have that problem at restaurants. Sometimes it’s so bad that after we’ve ordered and are waiting for our food, I forget which one of the 5 things I couldn’t decide between that I actually ended up ordering. Anyway, when I saw these pancakes on the menu, the decision-making was OVER.

To make a long story short, I got hungry for these and decided to do a search to see if there was a recipe online. I found one at Meemo’s Kitchen …this cooking blog has alot of recipes from restaurants on it!

I didn’t do any short cuts, in fact there are 3 recipes within this recipe! So, this is REALLY from scratch! ????

Caramel Pecan Banana Cream Cheese Pancakes …I think Bob Evans’ and Meemo’s name for them was a little different, but mine aren’t EXACTLY the same, so I’ll name them this.

Printable recipe for now.

2 cups vanilla pudding
2 cups (or 2 8 oz pkgs) cream cheese

Pancake batter

2 Tbsp. honey-roasted pecans

1 banana, sliced (So far, in talking about this recipe to my friends, there’s been some opposition to the bananas… you know who you are! ???? They (the bananas) could easily be left out and it would not take away from the quality at all.)

Caramel sauce

Powdered sugar

Whipped topping

I very seldom use instant vanilla pudding. Instead, I use the filling recipe that I use in peanut butter pie. I grew up with homemade pudding like that and there is just no other pudding that compares to it. So, I made this pudding, measured out 1 cup, added an 8 oz block of softened cream cheese, and whisked the mixture till smooth.

For the pancake batter, I used my regular pancake recipe here.

For the honey-roasted pecans, I took regular pecans, tossed them with some honey (approx 1/2 cup pecans w 1 Tbsp. of honey) and baked them at 350 for about 15 min.

For the caramel sauce, I put 1 cup of sugar in a kettle (dry). Stir over medium heat and eventually it turns to a tan liquid! I should’ve timed it, I’d say it took maybe 7-10 minutes. After it’s all liquid, add 6 Tbsp. butter and stir.

Remove from the heat and slowly stir in 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. Whisk till smooth. Pour into a different container to cool. Note: That sugar is easy to burn! I made the caramel sauce twice because the first time, I stirred it intermittently while doing other stuff and burned it a little. I didn’t know it was burned till I tasted it, it wasn’t bad, it just had a tiny bit of a burnt flavor. The second time, it turned out perfect and was actually a shade lighter in color.

Now, the fun part… we’ve got it all ready to go here:

Pour batter into the frying pan like usual. I always do 3 pancakes in my frying pan because that’s what fits the best. So, instead of a stack of 2 big ones like Bob Evans does, I made a stack of 3 smaller ones. And yeah, sometimes they get too big and run together, so my pancakes don’t always turn out round. Put a few banana slices and some pecans on top.

Flip pancakes as usual (and sometimes a banana slice may go flying off).

When done, put a pancake, bottom side up, onto a plate.

Spread a couple spoonfuls of the pudding mixture on top.

Put another pancake on top.

Spread some more pudding mixture on and drizzle with caramel.

Put the 3rd pancake on top, drizzle with more caramel, sprinkle with powdered sugar,

…and add a dollop of whipped topping.

Mmmmm, I can’t tell you how good this is! And it’s very filling too! I didn’t even eat lunch.

You’ve gotta try this! If it looks too complicated, you could buy caramel sauce, use regular pecans, and use instant pudding. But, it’s so worth it to do it from scratch, especially the pudding!!!! (In my mind, I’m adding about 20 more exclamation marks about the pudding.)

Comments

27 Responses to “Caramel Pecan Cream Cheese Pancakes… and the bananas are optional ;)”

Shannon on January 22nd, 2009 4:09 pm

Oh my word, these look so good. I think yours look better then then the other ladys. I’m gonna try them sometime, I really am.
Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on January 22nd, 2009 4:53 pm

Wow, that could be a dessert!
Doris High on January 22nd, 2009 7:18 pm

I should not have showed this entry to my husband! That looks delicious.
Doris High on January 22nd, 2009 7:20 pm

shown! Where is edit when I need it.
Bobbi on January 22nd, 2009 7:27 pm

They look so good. I wish I had everything I needed for tomorrow morning.
Rosalyn on January 22nd, 2009 8:04 pm

I think I need to try these sometime! ???? Thanks for sharing!!
Monica on January 23rd, 2009 7:39 am

Those look soooo yummy!! I am going to try them!! Now, all I need is a recipe for Bob Evans Cinnamon Pancakes and I’m all set–those are my husbands favorite!!
Mary Faith on January 23rd, 2009 9:37 am

I want to print this recipe. Didn’t there used to be a “printable version” link? I can do a bunch of copy/paste… I don’t want to print all the pics.
This looks awesome by the way. I definitely want to try them!
Kay on January 23rd, 2009 9:43 am

Uh, yeah, Mary Faith. I’ve sorta fallen by the wayside in the printable recipe department. I’ll get one up there within an hour (if no emergencies come up). Gotta help my kids get their snow stuff on to go outside first. Thanks for the reminder!
Joanna on January 23rd, 2009 8:34 pm

Soooooooooo…….how many calories per serving? Do I want to know?
I am drooling over these but trying to forget about them at the same time. Maybe they can be my reward after the first 10 pounds come off…
Joanna on January 23rd, 2009 8:35 pm

And definitely NO bananas!
Jo on January 23rd, 2009 8:36 pm

Just now noticed that my full name is on those ^^^ two comments. So you know it’s me & not the other one, I changed it.
Kay on January 23rd, 2009 10:01 pm

Uh, no, Jo, you don’t want to know how many calories per serving! I was very surprised! BUT, it is SO worth it to splurge once in awhile on these. ????
Christy on January 23rd, 2009 10:06 pm

These look absolutely scrumptions, but sound like too much work. May I just come over for brunch on Monday?
Donna-FFW on January 23rd, 2009 10:33 pm

Amazing is the best word I can use to describe how these look. Sinfully delicious! Special occasion pancakes for sure.
Beth on January 24th, 2009 4:41 pm

OMW, Kay! I am printing this recipe! It looks like something excellent for supper at our house. So I’m definitely printing this! 15 exclamation marks.
Katrina on January 27th, 2009 2:31 pm

Those look divine!
janae on January 27th, 2009 2:34 pm

m-m-m—i think i’ll try some someday!!or do you serve breakfasts??
Charlene on January 27th, 2009 3:31 pm

I think you really need to post how many calories….
It looks simply delicious and also looks like it would be a NO NO for my diet
Rachel on January 29th, 2009 2:53 pm

Wow, those look WAY too good. And I think the bananas would go with it perfectly.

I think I’ll save trying this for a special occasion. It sure looks like a ‘special’ kind of breakfast!
Anne on February 28th, 2009 1:17 pm

I made these one snowy day when hubby didn’t go to work! What a fun treat! Thanks for all the great ideas….
Lorrie on March 29th, 2009 7:27 pm

Oh my word! This is so going to make me go off my diet! But it will be worth it.
Kimberly Bates on June 11th, 2009 4:28 pm

Hi,

I made these for dinner last night and everyone loved them. My husband who normally doesn’t like pancakes, loved them and had seconds. My kids liked them to, even my 4 year old had seconds. And she hardly ever finishes a plate let alone have seconds of anything:) I will be trying other recipes on your website sometime next week.

Thanks for sharing!
sabrina on February 15th, 2010 7:49 am

ya these are delicouse my mom made these but when she made them i dont think she used puddin and she cooked the pecans in with the sauce and just poured them over top the pancakes alog with the sauce……..which were delicouse! and she only made a two stack but of course she was feedin all kids so yeah but they were delicouse even if yer not a big pancake fan .youll love this if your makin a big breakfast i also recommend these pancakes there delicouse
chilady0923 on March 23rd, 2010 9:19 pm

OMG! I tried these tonight for dinner. I had seen the Bob Evans version online and have been dreaming about them. I did use this reciipe but to make more calorie and sugar free diet friendly, I adapted the recipe. The kids loved them. Here are my changes:

1. Instead of vanilla pudding I used Sugar Free, Fat Free Banana Cream Pudding

2. I used Fat Free Cream Cheese (To get the smooth consistency I blended with vanilla pudding mix and milk in the blender)

3. I used glazed walnuts(my preference over pecans)

4. I used Smucker’s Sugar Free Caramel Topping

5. I made a Splenda/cornstarch version of the powered sugar (1/4 cup of splenda with 2 tbsp of cornstarch put in food processor and ground until the right consistency)

6. I made whole wheat pancakes using whole wheat pastry flour and added a tsp of vanilla for flavor

7. For the kids, there were some changes: daughter had bananas, chocolate chips and a chocolate sauce; son’s friend had bananas only; other daughter had sliced strawberries with strawberry topping

The total calories for 3-4inch or 2 5 1/2 inch pancakes is 584. As I said, the kids made me fix theirs and they loved it. I couldn’t finish mine.
subhie on April 10th, 2010 2:10 pm

wow..this look so…good..any had try this combo..wth pecan..a must give try one….thx for sharing!
Alicia on May 17th, 2014 12:25 pm

I have the pecans baking now. I’m so excited, I’m surprising my fiancé with these this morning. I used butterscotch instant pudding and pre-made Carmel topping, but I’m using my IHOP harvest grain pancake recipe. Thanks for the recipe!

Pies

ShooFly Pie – a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty

January 20, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 20, 2009
Filed Under Pies

Did you ever have it? I’m pretty sure I did before, but I’d never made it. Shannon grew up with it. He mentioned it awhile ago and I couldn’t think what it looked like or tasted like, so I decided to try it. It was good!

About the only thing I’ve ever made with molasses is Gingerbread cookies at Christmastime. If you like molasses, you’ll love this pie.
I got the recipe from my friend Charlene.

Wet Bottom Shoo-Fly pie

Crumbs
1 cup flour
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. butter

Combine all ingredients and mix until uniform Set aside 1 cup.

Liquid
1 egg beaten
3/4 -1 cup golden molasses ( Charlene said, “I always use 1 cup”, so I did too)
3/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda

Stir soda into water. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in remaining crumbs.

Pour into unbaked pie crust.

Top with 1 cup of crumbs.

Bake at 375 for 10 min and then 350 for 30 min.

Yum! Make one for yourself! This one didn’t last long around here.

Comments

10 Responses to “ShooFly Pie – a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty”

Marylou on January 20th, 2009 12:27 pm

I love shoo-fly pie! Especially served warm with ice cream! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
JoAnn on January 20th, 2009 9:03 pm

Ha! That’s my SIL’s comment up there, and I was going to write the exact same thing! I always bring home an extra pie when we visit Lancaster!
Cordy on January 21st, 2009 8:22 am

I’m so glad it turned out delicious for you! I live in the heart of Lancaster Co. so these are very available at every market you shop! I’ve found from our own church cookbook that this shoofly pie recipe varies as much as a potato salad recipe (well, maybe not quite!) Thanks for all your recipes! I just love coming to your “kitchen!”
Ann on January 21st, 2009 10:12 am

I was eager to see the sliced piece of pie to see how much of a “wet-bottom” this recipe has. I also live in the heart of Lanc. Co. and have enjoyed this pie many times esp. since it is my dads favorite. My mom makes a kind that everything is beaten together – no crumbs on top; which is also very delicious! I love the “wet” kind and think I will try this recipe – thanks for sharing!
Kay on January 21st, 2009 11:51 am

Thanks for your input!

I wonder what a ‘dry-bottom’ shoo fly pie would be like. More like cake?

Also, just since I made this one, I saw a recipe that said you could substitute some corn syrup for some of the molasses. I’d like to try that sometime… this was borderline too rich of a molasses flavor for me.
Judi on January 21st, 2009 3:34 pm

any pie sounds good to me. I’ll have to give this one a try. Every recipe I’ve gotten from you has been great.
stirling on February 2nd, 2009 9:16 pm

my mom RIP. used to love this but down south they called it molasses pie. you can well believe that I’ll try this one.
Debbie on February 10th, 2009 5:33 pm

Wow, now that looks like a wet bottom. I drive Amish in Lancaster and Chester County Pa so I see and eat lotsa shoo fly pies and this one sure looks great. My daughter makes ours at our house and does something a little different. Instead of using molasses she uses King Syrup which is lighter than molasses and is considered table syrup. Thats how my grandmother used to make them so we do too.
Debbie on February 10th, 2009 5:37 pm

Thought I’d share the link for King Syrup

http://www.carriagehousebrands.com/kingsyrup.html
sharan on May 4th, 2009 10:48 am

Hi There, I am looking for a recipe for shoofly cake. It has buttermilk in it. Makes for a wet bottom cake. Very good. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Cooks in Training, Side Dishes, Snacks

Ants on a Log – Cooks in Training #4

January 15, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 15, 2009
Filed Under Cooks in Training, Side dishes, Snacks

Well, our little cooks are back! Actually, they never went anywhere and have been quite busy in the kitchen, it’s just that they haven’t been making recipes on their own lately. One reason I know they’ve been in the kitchen is because I’m often tripping over their little chairs that they stand on.

It seems like a hassle, the way they have to move their little chairs around while working in the kitchen… put them in front of the sink, climb up and wash their hands, get down, move the chair over to the cupboard, climb back up, etc. I do wonder how it would be to be working in the kitchen and the counter is at eye level though, so I guess it’s worth all the moving around.

The food I’m featuring here barely merits calling it a recipe. But, we got it out of a cookbook and it was in recipe form, complete with amounts. We got a kid’s cookbook (a Betty Crocker cookbook named Kids Cook!) for Lexi for Christmas. She loves it. She often gets it off of the cookbook shelf and sits around looking at it and saying, “Mom, we should try this!” So, one time I told her she could pick something to make sometime soon because we’re going shopping and we should see first if we need any ingredients. And THIS is the recipe she picked. It is called:

Ants on a Log (Gag! Who ever named them that?!)

Celery
Peanut butter
Raisins

I’ll spare you the recipe details and let the pictures and video show you how it’s done. Or how it WAS done anyway, maybe not how it oughta be done (there was a bit of licking fingers by the 2-yr-old). One nice thing about the mini cooks making this is that it didn’t involve the oven or stovetop or mixer. It did, however, involve a sharp knife for a little bit, but that was closely supervised, and when we were done with that step, everyone still had all fingers intact.

And here it is in action:

Comments

7 Responses to “Ants on a Log – Cooks in Training #4”

Joanna on January 16th, 2009 6:50 am

I love Lexi’s comment,” I can’t believe we are having peanut butter for supper!”

I agree with the name???Ants on a log????
Monica on January 16th, 2009 8:06 am

I’m with you on the “tripping over chairs in the kitchen”!! Megan likes to be in on the action, too, and often wants to stand on a regular table chair and it’s so big that I can’t get to the counter!! I’m trying to teach her to use her “Dora” step stool, but it’s not quite as high and she can’t see as well!! Cute post with the videos!!
denise weaver on January 16th, 2009 9:10 am

Cute post! Loved the videos. Cody also loves to help me in the kitchen. But I’m not sure I would trust him too far with a jar of peanutbutter and a table knife. Who knows where the peanut butter would end up. His favorite part of helping me is when I’m finished mixing something up and I let him lick off the spoon or beaters before it goes in the sink or dishwasher. He’s always right there asking for a taste before I’m even done.
Liz on January 16th, 2009 10:00 am

Way to go with the videos!
Janice on January 16th, 2009 10:14 am

Cute videos!
Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on January 17th, 2009 7:51 am

How adorable! Your girls are too cute. I remember making ants on a log with my Mom when I was young.
What a great memory your making.
Judi on January 21st, 2009 3:39 pm

Too cute. I’m really looking forward to little Peanut helping me in the kitchen. She’s only 18 months old though and not quite old enough. Looking forward to it though cause I can see how much fun you’re having.

Soups

Hearty Hamburger Soup

January 12, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 12, 2009
Filed Under Soups

Mmmmm, soup. Perfect for winter. That reminds me, last Spring I got a taco soup craving and was going to spend this winter perfecting a taco soup recipe because I love taco soup… and now the winter is already half over!

One problem with soup is that you don’t get as much meat as you would in a meal with the meat separate. So, when I made this soup, I doubled the meat because it was going to be the main dish (served with biscuits and mozzarella cheese sticks). I wasn’t planning to feature it at the time I was making it because I put in double meat and added an extra spice (as in, I didn’t follow the recipe perfectly), so after the first step, I stopped taking progress pictures. Then, at mealtime I was regretting it because it was SO good and I thought you oughta have the recipe after all. ???? So, the ‘done’ picture was taken at lunch today when I warmed up the leftover soup and served it with fresh Red Lobster biscuits, salad, and sliced cheese.

Hearty Hamburger Soup …from the Treasured Recipes for our Mothers (compiled by the 3rd &4th grades 1990-1991 at Lebanon Valley Christian School, but I’ll bet the moms did more work at the compiling than the students did, altho’ the students names are written beside the recipes ???? )

2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1 lb. hamburger (I used 2 lbs)
1 cup diced or shredded potatoes
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 cups milk
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
2 cups tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup flour
and I added about 1/2 tsp. of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning

Melt butter in pan. Add onion, carrot, and green peppers. Cook until onion is tender, not brown.

Add hamburger and cook until meat is crumbly (I assumed this meant how it gets after it’s browned). Stir in tomato juice, potatoes, and seasonings. Cover and cook over low heat until tender. Combine flour with 1 cup milk and beat until free of lumps. Stir into soup mixture. Add remaining milk and heat, stirring frequently. Do not allow to boil.

Soooo… what do YOU usually serve with soup? It’s often a got-all-the-food-groups-in-it dish (assuming you add crackers or croutons), so what food groups do you double up on?

Comments

9 Responses to “Hearty Hamburger Soup”

Mrs.kw on January 12th, 2009 4:57 pm

That soup looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it. I have been wanting a hamburger soup recipe to replace the one I have that calls for Dry Onion Soup mix.

We usually have toast made with homemade whole wheat bread or cornbread with soup.
Chris on January 12th, 2009 10:13 pm

Is this Lebanon Valley as in Pennsylvania? That’s where I grew up. I now live in Arkansas, enjoy your web site.
Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on January 13th, 2009 5:20 am

That looks just scrumptious! Great for the record cold temps we will get here in RI. High of 1 on Friday!
Kay on January 13th, 2009 7:22 am

Chris, yeah, same Lebanon Valley. My husband grew up around there too (till he was 14 yrs old).
Joanna on January 13th, 2009 2:24 pm

It’s a blustery, snowy, COLD day here — perfect for a bowl of hot soup! You just may have inspired me to make a decent supper for the boys & I tonight. I use a Hamburger Soup recipe from Esther Shank’s cookbook.
Mom M on January 14th, 2009 9:38 pm

I make this soup a lot and love it, but I just cook the onion and peppers with the meat when I brown it and add the carrots when I add the potatoes. Cutting corners, I guess…wonder if I’m also cutting flavor! And my recipe has a bit of brown sugar added. Could we make a diet version? Maybe ground turkey and skim milk and none of those delicious looking croutons. =(
ahhh…January!
Sharon on January 14th, 2009 9:38 pm

I think that recipe is about the same as the one in Esther Shank’s. It IS yummy! We love soup, it’s our regular Wednesday night meal, at least in the winter. It’s fast, you can make it ahead and let it simmer while everyone is getting their baths, and it’s ‘one-dish’, so it makes less to clean up before church. I usually serve it with some sort of bread, sliced cheese, maybe pickles, and fruit.
Just a health tip: more meat really isn’t necessary–we Americans think it’s a main food, where we’d do better to think of it as a side. (okay, that was all quoting from a certain doc I know…) If I want to stretch soup, I usually add more veggies. Sometimes I’ll even skimp on the meat, and even it out with veggies. But hey, I’m not sayin’ you gotta do that, ya know.
BTW, I love your food photography. You’re getting good at this!
Linda on January 14th, 2009 9:40 pm

I enjoy dill cheese biscuits with soup.
Barbara Miller on January 31st, 2009 2:22 pm

I made this for our family (5 children and their spouses plus 11 grandchildren) over our ice storm and it was a winner!!! Served it with homemade bread. I also love your photography….. Not good for my diet though :(.

Side Dishes, Snacks

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

January 8, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 8, 2009
Filed Under Side dishes, Snacks

Ok, so I get an F on making mozzarella sticks! About half of them had melted cheese running out. The taste, though, gets an A+!

I’ve had an eye on this recipe for awhile and I’d buy string cheese and before I got them made, the string cheese got eaten, so I’d buy another pack of string cheese, and it would get eaten again, and so on. String cheese is a great snack, especially if you need a snack on the run… the pieces are individually wrapped, so you don’t have to waste time putting it in a snack bag or anything.

Just to clear the air a bit, in case you’re wondering why I’m posting non-diet things, I did figure out how many calories these little things have… it’s 80. 80 calories each and they’re only about 2″ long! And you can eat one in 2 bites. But it is a really yummy 2 bites!

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

2 packages (5 oz each) string cheese
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large egg whites
2 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I used cracker crumbs)
1 tsp. dried oregano (I think next time I might try Italian seasoning instead)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter

Marinara sauce

This is the cheese I used…

Remove cheese from packages; cut each cheese stick in half crosswise.

Combine flour and cornstarch in a shallow dish. Beat egg whites and water in another shallow dish until well mixed. Combine bread crumbs, oregano, and salt in a third shallow dish. Coat cheese with flour mixture. Dip into egg white mixture, being sure to coat thoroughly, including ends. Coat with bread crumb mixture.

Dip into egg whites and bread crumbs a second time, being sure ends are coated. I ran out of the egg white mixture AND the crumb mixture and had to make more. The flour mixture looked like it barely had a dent in it! Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Freeze at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400. Drizzle cheesesticks with melted butter. Bake until crumbs just begin to brown, 5-7 minutes.
Oh, no!!! Cheese all over the place!

Here is what happened: I totally forgot the ‘drizzle melted butter over them’ part and took them out of the freezer and put them in the oven. When they were in for about 5 min, I suddenly remembered the butter! So, I got them out and drizzled butter over them. At that point, no cheese was showing. I put them back in for another 5 min so they could brown and this is what they looked like when I got them out again. I thought of waiting and making them again before featuring them, but decided you might as well know that I make plenty of mistakes (some of which I can hide though ???? ).
Serve warm with marinara sauce.

This recipe came from an Easy to Bake Easy to Make recipe card. A tip on there is: “Since these must be frozen before baking anyway, keep several batches in the freezer and bake them whenever you need a quick snack.” Sounds like a great idea for spur-of-the-moment company! Or if you need a quick side dish to go with a meal. Last night, I served them with Hearty Hamburger Soup (to be featured later) and biscuits.

Comments

12 Responses to “Baked Mozzarella Sticks”

Mama Bear on January 8th, 2009 11:29 am

Oh I don’t even care if cheese leaked…I LOVE mozzarella sticks, great recipe, I’m bookmarking!!!
Rosalyn on January 8th, 2009 1:12 pm

Yummy! Mozzarella sticks are one of my favorite appetizers! ???? In the past I’ve just taken the easy way out and bought them in the box (TGI Friday brand is delicious)

But…now I can make them w/o spending alot of extra money on them!
Freida on January 8th, 2009 1:53 pm

Oh wow, these look fabulous!! You may make these sometime when we come. ???? hehe.
Shannon on January 8th, 2009 2:24 pm

ummmm, I love mozerella sticks. I never have cheese sticks on hand but I think I’ll get some and make these, esp if you can just bake them instead of deep fry them!!
Monica on January 8th, 2009 7:21 pm

Yummy!! I could eat some right now. I love the idea of keeping them in the freezer for a spur of the moment snack. I’ll have to try that!!
Berneice on January 8th, 2009 9:29 pm

Another cheese stick lover here. You know that day you are planning to come here… you could bring these! I also like the baking instead of deep frying! Healthier ????
Marilyn on January 9th, 2009 5:20 am

oh those look so good, am defintely going to make some! :-)I also like the idea of baking the cheesesticks instead of frying ’em.
Melissa K on January 9th, 2009 6:11 am

Kay,
These look yummy! I make cheesesticks here too, but my recipe actually uses Bisquick and ends up being more like a breadstick with cheese inside. We all love them!! If you’re interested in that recipe, I’ll be happy to pass it on. It’s also not low calorie so I’m thinking maybe you want to wait on this one and, like me, try to avoid those types of foods for a while!!
My First Kitchen on January 10th, 2009 7:38 am

Hi, Kay! Thanks so much for stopping by! I love mozzarella sticks and have always heard that freezing them is the key. Looks like you have it all covered! I wanted to answer your question about flax seed. I’d definitely grind it before you sprinkle it on things; it’s tough to chew, at least for me. Enjoy the PBJ, and I hope to see you again!
Katrina on January 11th, 2009 9:17 pm

Yum. Great idea!
Judi on January 21st, 2009 3:41 pm

Gotta love the oozing cheese. mmmm
Terra on April 16th, 2009 6:42 pm

If you put the string cheese in the freezer until you’re ready to make them, the cheese doesn’t melt so fast, so it won’t leak out like that. I’m gonna try your recipe. Sounds great.

Tidbits

It Feels Like Whiplash

January 6, 2009 December 12, 2019

Posted on January 6, 2009
Filed Under Tidbits

December = cookie baking, candy making, chocolate eating, a big Christmas dinner, using butter in obscene amounts, never actually getting hungry…

Then BAM! January hits!

January = calorie limits, dusting off the treadmill (*ahem* and using it), having chocolate only in your dreams, drinking water water water, finding yourself frequently wandering out to the kitchen to look around for something ‘legal’ to eat…

Sigh! Anyone else suffering from ‘whiplash’?

Comments

7 Responses to “It Feels Like Whiplash”

Mama Bear on January 6th, 2009 11:09 pm

YES!!!

And, I am even hungrier than before Christmas…darn turkey/mashed potatoes/stuffing/pies.

*sigh*

It was back to the gym for me tonight. Am hoping to rev up my metabolism.
Traci on January 7th, 2009 5:44 am

Having my oldest move away to Hawaii has done wonders for my eating…..I’ve actually had to tell myself to go eat and drink. There is a silver lining behind every cloud! I haven’t weighed, I can just tell in my clothing…..afraid if I weigh it will do something to my psyche and I’ll start eating everything in sight…lol. I hope you are having a Happy New Year!!!
Rene on January 7th, 2009 12:23 pm

I’m definitely there with you! My husband goes in at the end of the month (hopefully) for his bone marrow transplant and there is a workout room in the hospital that I can use. My goal is to workout each morning since I won’t have work, cleaning the house, cooking, laundry, sewing basket, or any of the other convenient excuses I’m always able to find.
Katrina on January 7th, 2009 1:47 pm

Ditto All! Sigh!
Ruthie on January 7th, 2009 3:34 pm

Me too… boo hoo… Going from freedom to limits is never fun. Oh well, when you see me next, your mouth will drop open, you’ll go bug-eyed, and you will not believe how slim and youthful I am… then I’ll wake up.
Treva on January 8th, 2009 8:52 pm

Yes, indeed – “whiplash” – all out of shape. Will Power and I are not good friends. He requires too much from me. We don’t get along, are constantly arguing, and I keep trying to resist his advances – Go away, Will, go away.
Kay, I don’t know how you do it, working w/ all this food, constantly reading recipes, trying ’em out, taking n posting pictures. I gain 5# just reading through your posts. eeek Always makes me so hungry. Then’s when Will and i have to get along.
Judi on January 21st, 2009 3:45 pm

and to top it off I’m just getting over a sinus infection so I haven’t felt like working out for the last 2 weeks. But it’s definitely time. Start posting a few low calorie recipes. Save me the time of looking for them lol.