Hot and Sweet Cornbread

We are going to a BBQ for the football games today and I wanted to bring something. Needless to say I have yet to go shopping, so my selection was rather slim. Hence, Hot and Sweet Cornbread to the rescue. This is slightly different from the cornbread I usually make, but I thought it basic cornbread just wouldn't do! Oh and the sweet thing about this cornbread is that you can make it using Jiffy mix if you don't want to go through the hassle of making truly homemade cornbread!


Cornbread
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 t baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
(OR, make Jiffy mix according to package and skip the above ingredients)
1/2 t salt
1 cup of sweet corn kernels (or about 1/2 a can)
1 jalapeno (sliced and chopped)

1. Mix everything together and pour into a baking dish. (You may want to grease). Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. (I made it in a loaf pan and it only needed about 12 minutes)

I also made an extra one for tonight to serve with my Pinto Bean Soup! Super yummy!

Bread Time!

With saving money comes baking, so, a quiet day at home with a sick, screaming 2.5 year old who is trying to out scream his 6wks brother definitely calls for day of bread. French bread that is! It blows my mind that to buy a loaf of bread at the store constitutes me forking over $2+. Thus, let the flour tossing and dough throwing commence while baby wearing!

French Bread

2 1/2 cups flour
1t salt
1T sugar
2 1/4t yeast
1 c warm water

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in your stand mixer, then slowing beat in warm water (water should be a bit warmer than baby's bath water...if it is too hot then you will kill your yeast). Beat in your mixer for 2-3 minutes.
       ***If you do not have a stand mixer, then follow these directions: Combine dry ingredients with 1 1/2 cup of water. Beat with a hand mixer until combined. Then, continue to stir in the remaining flour until it is too think to stir. Then, dig in with well floured hands (or pam sprayed hands) and mix until combined.

2. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes. If your arms get tired, then walk away, rest and then come back! You want to knead your bread to ensure it is chewy instead of crumbly. It is better to over knead then under.

3. Turn on your over to 350 degrees for 1 minute exactly...then turn off! Put your dough into a greased bowl and cover with a thin towel. Place your dough bowl in the oven to allow the dough to rise. (MAKE SURE YOUR OVEN IS OFF)

4. Allow dough to rise until it doubles (30min-1 hour). Punch down and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll flat until about the size of a small cookie sheet. Then roll up to form your french loaf. Return to your warm oven to allow to rise. (You can re-heat your oven if needed)

5. Once loaf size has doubled, then remove from oven and preheat to 400 degrees. While oven is heating, brush loaf with an egg white wash (1 egg white and 1T water). Then, using a sharp (this is key) knife carefully slash the top of your loaf diagonally 3-4 times a few inches apart.

6. Return to the oven and bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Meal Plan...on Tuesday

Well, things have been super busy in our household. Our 2nd son was born on October 25th and after a few complications, I was released from the hospital on Oct 30th. Luckily my mom flew in just in time to help my hubbie take care of our 30 mo old and newborn son. Unfortunately, my mom had to fly home and I am on my own again. Thus, the meal plans are starting back up! I also finally cleaned out my freezer. Now, I have a very clear picture of what I have to clean/use up! So, here is what I have planned for this week!

Monday: Spaghetti Dinner (delivering dinner to a sick friend)
Tuesday: Leftover spaghetti
Wednesday: Marinated Pork Chops with Pad Thai noodles
Thursday: Cube Steaks with Triple Corn Casserole and fresh sliced tomato
Friday: Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Spanish Rice and Salad
Saturday: LO
Sunday:Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken with Squash
Monday: Chicken and Rice

I also plan on using up my brown bananas this week. I will be making a Cranberry Banana Bread. This is a easy quick bread recipe. I merged 2 recipes to create this yummy creation. So, here you go...


Cranberry Banana Bread
2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
4 T butter, melted
1 c dried cranberries, or 12 oz fresh cranberries
4 brown bananas, mashed

Spray your loaf pan with PAM and lightly sprinkle with flour (or use a nonstick pan). Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In a seperate bowl, combine egg, milk, butter, and mashed banana.

Pour the banan mix into the flour mix and stir to combine. Add cranberries. Pour into pan and bake 1 hour 15 minutes if using fresh cranberries, or 45 minutes if using dried cranberries. Remove and allow to cool. Then smear warm bread with fresh butter and endulge!

Cooking from the Couch: Carnitas and Pork Tacos

Carnitas are really easy and husband friendly. We had a family sized pack of boneless pork ribs to use up this week, but you can really use just about any cut of pork...although I don't recommend thin pork chops! Once defrosted, I have my hubbie put all the pork in a big zip lock bag with about half a jar of Mojo sauce (found in Mexican food section at your local grocery store). We let this marinate over night, then, my hubbie dumped it in the crock pot in the morning (sauce and all) and cooked on low for 6 hours.

I had the luxury of smelling this delicious pork cooking all day...it was almost too much to handle. When my hubbie got home, we whipped up a batch cornbread and a salad.

Cornbread:
We have this mix made ready to use. It is 4 c flour, 1 T salt, 1 c sugar, 1/4 c baking powder, 1 c lard, 4 c cornmeal. It makes about 10 cups of total mix. I just throw everything into the stand up mixed with the whisk attachment and let it do the work of mixing. Then, put in and airtight container and in the fridge it goes.

To make tonight's, cornbread, I used 2 1/2 cups of the homemade cornbread mix with 1 beaten egg and 1-1/4 cups milk. Mix just until dry ingredients and then pour in a drained can of corn. Mix well. Pour everything into a greased  8" square pan and bake at 425 degrees for 15-25 minutes. Super easy and extra yummy!


Pork Tacos (with leftovers)

We turned the oven on to slowly heat up the leftover pork some pimentos (or cooked green and red peppers). We let this heat up slowly in a covered dish at abut 300 degrees for 20 minutes. (or,microwave it)

While it was heating I had my hubbie make a batch of brown rice and white beans. The rice cooked on its own. Then, for the beans he put a can of white northern beans in a small pot with a little olive oil, 1 t cumin and 1 t cayenne pepper. Just let this heat up on low.

Then, once everything was hot are ready to go we had soft flour tortillas, the pork with peppers, some sour cream and cheddar cheese with the white beans and brown rice on the side. Super simple and a great use for the left over pork.

Cooking with Kids: Banana Bread

Today I hosted my monthly Cooking with Kids playdate. It ended up being at the end of August due to the bed rest situation. I was nervous at first about if I was going to be able to handle having all the kids over, my son home all day and still accomplish our project. I definitely still did more than I am supposed too, but it all worked out...only a few contractions during the event.

With hubbies help, we made 1 loaf of banana bread and 1 chocolate zucchini bread to share with the group.

We have a small group of 4 kiddos cooking today...our 5th slept through the whole thing! lol! So, I set it up so that everyone had their own job.

The two oldest boys (almost 2.5 yos) had the job of mashing bananas.

The two younger ones (almost 2yos) each had a set of ingredients to mix. To help make this easy, I gave each a bowl to mix in, all the ingedients, a whick to mix and  plastic measuring cups and spoons. (Oh and a notecard with the measurements)

One mixed the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. I gave this little one a sifter to play with while the others mixed. She loved it!

The other little one had wet ingredients: oil, sugar and 1 egg. His mommy helped to get all the ingredients in the bowl and then he did his best to mix it all together.

Then, the two older boys dumped all the ingredients in the big bowl and each took turns mixing it. By this time, I was having contractions, so to the chair I went. Mrs. S was nice enough to pour the batter into each childs own mini loaf pan.

Then, we gave the mini loaves back to the kids to add their extras. We had chocolate chips and nuts. Then, into the oven the mini loaves went for about 30 minutes (convection oven at 350 degrees). As payment for all their hard work, the kids were then given some "cake" to eat! Both types were a total hit!

The kids went off and plyed while their bread baked! Then, each got to take home their own mini loaf of banana bread! Complete success...especially because while I engulfed banana bread the ladies helped clean up! The kids were great though, no real mess to speak of!

If you haven't tried cooking with your kids yet or hosting a cooking playdate...try making banana bread. It is quick, easy and bakes up fast!

Banana Bread Recipe

1 3/4c flour,

2 1/4t baking powder,

1/2t salt,

1/3c oil,

2/3c sugar,

1 egg,

4 bananas

Mix dry ingredients in 1 bowl and the wet in another, then fold in together. Pour into pan....Bake at 350 degrees. For a 1 loaf pan bake 50-60 minutes. If using mini loaf pans or muffins, bake for 25-30 minutes.

Muffins, Cakes and Bread...Oh My!

Here are a collection of muffin recipes that I love to make. I do a lot of baking for my mother-in-law. My MIL has a whole host of very serious medical problems that keep her bed ridden. So, she loves to watch baking shows and often calls me begging for something she saw on TV that made her mouth water. How can I resist the challenge of a new recipe or the delight when I show up with her grandson and some delicious homemade goodie. One of the things she loves are fruit breads/muffins/cakes...so here are some of Baka's (Gramma in croatian) favorites.


Lemony Lemon Muffins
For the muffins:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the streusel:

1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cold butter

For the glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, butter, lemon peel and lemon juice. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix, just until moistened. Grease or paper line muffin cups and fill the batter 3/4 full.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter.
3. Bake muffins at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and remove onto a wire rack.
4. Mix together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over muffins.

(I have a huge lemon tree in my yard that produces HUGE juicy lemons. So, I am always looking for new recipes to try to use up as many as I can...by the way lemons are in season right now! Let m eknow if you would like any!)



Strawberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup strawberries, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces

1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

Pecan crumble
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peal
1 tablespoon melted butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12- cup muffin tin with muffin papers (or butter and flour the cups, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.)


1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth - no lumps. Whisk in the heavy cream and milk until combined.
3. Add the zest to the flour mixture and with you hands, gently rub the mixture together, releasing the oils and breaking up the bits. Add the fresh fruit and gently toss with you fingers to combine. Make a well in the center of the bowl. Pour the butter mixture into the center of the well and, using a rubber spatula, gently pull the flour mixture into the center of the well until just combined.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup until full. Sprinkle pecan crumble (if using) evenly among muffin tops and gently press. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and sprinkle with sugar (if not using pecan crumble.) Let cool to warm.

(Strawberries are my absolute favorite fruit...Ante's also! I never understood why you would want to cook a perfectly good strawberry, but what Baka wants...Baka gets! :) BTW, I would use frozen stawberries. Save your money!)



Pineapple Carrot Bread
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup vegetable oil
1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Preheat the oven for 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs; add carrots, oil, pineapple, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. The batter will be very thick. Fold in nuts, if desired.

2. Spoon into two greased 8-in. by 4-in. loaf pans. Bake for 50-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove loaves from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

(Note: This bread was great the day-of, but it wasn’t until after I wrapped it up and let it sit over night, that I fell in love with it.)


Orange Spice Cake
For the cake:

2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk

For the glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a fluted tube (bundt) pan. Stir cake flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl to blend. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, orange peel, and spices until light and creamy. Mix in vanilla extract. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients alternately with milk in 3 additions.


2. Spoon batter into pan. Smooth top. Bake until tester inserted near center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack. Turn out onto platter (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; let stand at room temperature).

3. For glaze: Mix powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Drizzle or brush glaze over cake. Let stand until glaze sets, about 30 minutes.


(I also have a nice orange tree in my backyard that produces awesome Honeybells. They are so sweet, juicy and delicious. Needless to say, you can only make so much marmalade and OJ...so, here is a nice alternative)


Zucchini Pineapple Loaf
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup crushed pineapple
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional...or chocolate chips)

1. Whisk eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in zucchini and pineapple.
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts and raisins.
3. Mix dry ingredients together with wet ingredients...and stir until moistened.
4. Pour into two large, greased loaf pans. Bake at 350° F for 1 hour.

 

 
Peaches and Cream Muffins

2 eggs
3/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 1 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped peaches, canned or fresh

Streusel Topping..(optional)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp soft butter

1. Beat eggs, add sugar gradually. Continue beating while adding oil. Stir in vanilla.In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with the sour cream only until dry ingredients are moistened.Fold in chopped peaches.Spoon into greased muffin tins.
3. Topping: Mix till crumbly and sprinkle on muffins before baking.Bake at 400º for 20 min.



Chocolate Zucchini Bread
1 1/2 cup shredded raw zucchini
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a loaf pan (9×5x3) with nonstick cooking oil.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then setaside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer beat the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla extract and coffee granules for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the shredded zucchini to the dry ingredients and then in batches add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; use a spatula to incorporate everything until just mixed. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for 55 – 65 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in the bread and then be removed clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

(This is a bread, but is so delicious it should be a dessert cake. Hey, atleast you can say it is healthy...it has zucchini...right! Work with me here!)