Raisin Bran Muffins

We have had a horrible hockey season. Crappy coaching, losing record, no equity with ice time..it was all I could do to get through it. So, this Mom had to get out of town and have a little bit of "ME" time. Our season ended on Wednesday and I headed out of town on Thursday afternoon. Lucky for me, my BFF has a cabin in the middle of the woods, so nice and cozy and she let's me come whenever I want. Add 5 more of my favorite people and it was just what this girl needed to recharge her batteries. Thank you Krit!!

I volunteered to make lunch, two dinners and breakfast and I wanted a solid muffin recipe. I've got a few but my Mom sent a Raisin Bran muffin to me on Tuesday and declared them "the best muffin she has ever tasted". My Mom does not typically eat muffins because they aren't her thing. So, when she actually asked her friend for their recipe..well I had to taste them and I certainly had to taste them before I served them to my friends.

Well..my Mom was right. The muffins were really good. My kids not only ate them but asked that more be packed in their lunch. I shared with 6 people from work and a few wanted the recipe. My friends all loved them. And, the truly amazing thing about this recipe is that it will keep in your fridge for up to 6 weeks!! I didn't get to test that theory, the first batch of batter is gone but I'll be making them again really soon.

Easy Bran Refrigerated Muffins
Preheat oven to 400 F
Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on size

15 oz box of Raisin Bran Cereal
5 cups flour
3 cups sugar
5 tsp soda
2 tsp salt
5 eggs
1 cup salad oil
1 qt buttermilk
1 cup chopped nuts(optional)~I didn't use them because my kids don't really enjoy them.

Mix all dry ingredients together (including nuts if used) in a very large mixing bowl.

Beat eggs thoroughly then add oil and butter milk to eggs. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix only until all ingredients are moistened.

Store batter in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Batter will keep up to six weeks.

To Bake:

Fill muffin cups half full, bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes (depends on size).
Total recipe will make 6 dozen muffins.
Give the eggs a good whisk.
Add buttermilk and oil.
Mix your dry ingredients in another large bowl.
Dump the wet into the dry and mix until dry is moist.
Fill your muffin tins and tightly cover the rest and put in the fridge.
Done!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Here's another SUPER easy, no fail soup for you to enjoy after your cold day outside. You can make it in a crock pot or you can make it on the stove. Either way...YUMMY:)

1 can Black Beans rinsed
1 can Diced Tomatoes
10 oz Frozen Corn
1/2 small Onion chopped
1/2 Red Pepper diced
10 oz can Enchilada Sauce ~ I used Mild
1 C Salsa ~ I used Thick and Chunky Medium
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup ~ I used 98% fat free
1 1/2 C Milk ~ I use skim
2 Whole Boneless Breasts
1 C Pepper Jack Cheese shredded ~ optional for topping

Pour your Enchilada sauce, Chicken Soup and Milk in crock pot, give it a whisk. Add Chicken breasts and everything else. Give it a bit of a stir. Crock on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken, mix back in and serve. Top with cheese, sour cream, guacamole or chips if you want but it's good enough without.

If you want to make it on the stove. I typically have extra cooked chicken breast in the freezer. So, add the chicken and all your ingredients and cook on low for 1 hour.

I only took one photo of the finished product because to be honest, I was in a hurry and I don't think you need step by step to dump cans;)

Apple Turnovers

My daughter Claire (she's 9) wanted to make dessert. This is one that she can make by herself, although I did help with the peeling and coring of the apples because we had an incident at Thanksgiving with making an apple pie that she isn't quite over;)

At any rate..a friend of mine calls them Mountain Dew Apples. Pioneer Woman calls them Apple Dumplings. I just call them YUMMY and glad that Claire was in the mood for some baking.

Apple Dumplings
1 Granny Smith Apple ~ peeled, cored and cut into 8 pieces
1 8 oz can Crescent Rolls
1 Stick Butter
3/4 C Sugar
1 t Vanilla
6 oz Mountain Dew ~ 3/4 C
Cinnamon to taste

Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in sprayed 8 inch square pan. Melt butter, add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla and stir again. Pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream and extra pan sauce over the top.
Here's what you'll need.
Peeled, cored and cut into 8 pieces.
Break apart your crescent rolls so you can wrap them around the apples.
Wrap the crescent around the apple like this. Claire wanted to show you how to do this and she wanted to take the photo so I was her assistant;)
Put your apples in your sprayed pan.
Melt your butter.
Add your sugar and "just" mix together. Add vanilla and stir again quick.
Pour over the apples.
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Mountain Dew around the edges.
YUM...fresh out of the oven. Serve with ice cream.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Wanna impress your family and friends with a restaurant quality pasta dish?? This is your recipe to do that. My friend Alanna requests this pasta, she said it's the best one I make and I admit, I LOVE it too. It's so easy and Ohhh so good. I have to give Rachel Ray credit for this recipe because the base of it, is hers. I added the vegetables and make it with bacon but it's hers and I'm glad I found it.

You can leave out the vegetables and the Red Pepper Flakes but everything else is a MUST. And, no my kids would not eat this but we've established that my kids don't like things that are mixed together and honestly, if I wouldn't be selfish and left the vegetables and pepper flakes out, my daughter probably would eat a little bit but this is one night I don't accomodate...PB&J works;)

Spaghetti Carbonara

3/4 box Thin Spaghetti
1/2 lb of Bacon ~ chopped
3 cloves of garlic ~ minced
1/2 T Red Pepper Flakes
1 Pepper ~ chopped ~ I use a variation of colors to equal one just because I think it's prettier
1/2 lb fresh Asparagus ~ broken into pieces
2 Egg Yolks
1 C Chicken Broth
1 ladle pasta water
1/2 container Shredded Parmesan Cheese ~ I personally prefer Asiago but I had Parmesan handy and NO you canNOT use the grated green can stuff
Fresh Cracked Pepper

Fill a pasta pot with water and a LOT of salt. The water should taste salty, I'm guessing 3 T of salt~I've never measured, sorry.

In a pan, add your bacon, garlic and red pepper flakes. A few cranks of the pepper mill. Cook until bacon is good and crispy and nicely browned. Add peppers and stir around a couple of minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer a couple of minutes. You can turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to finish cooking at this point.

The water is boiling, add your pasta and give a stir. Throw your asparagus into the water and boil for about 2 minutes, should still have a little crunch left. Scoop the asparagus out and throw into pan with bacon and peppers, it stays floating on the top so it's not hard to get out with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat back on the bacon pan.

Your egg yolks are in a bowl, scoop out a ladle of water and pour into yolks. Quickly whisk because you don't want to the egg yolks to cook.

Your pasta should be done. Drain your pasta but don't rinse. Add pasta to the bacon, toss. Add egg yolks and toss again. Takes about 1/2-1 minute to thicken. Turn off the heat. Add the cheese. Toss again, taste to see if you need some more pepper and serve.
See all the salt in the bottom of the pan.
Here is your bacon, pepper flakes and garlic. I took this photo like this so you can see how much we're talking about. I also put a few cranks of fresh pepper on top of the bacon. It's about layering the flavors with this dish and I like the peppery taste.
Here's your vegetables ready to go.
The cheese, gotta have the cheese. Lots of cheese..yum!
See how crispy the bacon is, add the peppers and give it a stir.
Add your chicken broth and simmer for a minute or two. You don't want the peppers to get squishy. Remember you can turn off at this point and wait for the pasta to finish up.
See, told you the asparagus would float on top.
The egg yolks have been whisked with the pasta water and is waiting to finish the dish.
Throw your asparagus in.
Add the pasta, give it a toss. Add the egg yolks, give another toss and cook until thickened.
Add the cheese. Don't be cheap with the cheese. A couple more cranks of fresh cracked pepper.
Dig in!

Cheesecake

I wanted to do something nice for my BFF because her and her boyfriend came to my rescue and not only fixed my snowblower but cleared my driveway. I could have kissed their feet when I came home after a long day at work and finding that I didn't have to shovel. I figured they'd enjoy dinner and dessert instead of their feet kissed, so I made a roast with garlic mashed potatoes and a cheesecake.

I was SO bummed that the top of my cheesecake came out looking burnt!! I'm always worried about cracking but BURNT...no that is NOT something I expected. Truly, it wasn't..it just got darker than it should have and I have no idea why. I'll be calling to have my oven checked out! But, being that cheesecake isn't something you make everyday (and I didn't have another 5 packages of cream cheese around) and it typically looks a whole lot prettier and the recipient..my BFF, loves me...flaws and all so I sent it over. She said that is tasted great...so, I thought I'd share it anyway.

AND, if I had been serving this myself, I would have decorated the top with fresh berries or hot fudge and no one would have been the wiser. That type of topping doesn't transport well, so I couldn't take a photo with it all dolled up and fool ya. Plus, sometimes you just have to admit that you aren't perfect;). But, for my sake...we'll pretend I did. Ok, have I convinced you that this is not normally how it looks and you should give it a try, lol??

This cheesecake is easy and it is really light and creamy but not too fluffy. It's just the right amount of firm. Yummy!!

Cheesecake
Crust
1 1/4 C Graham Crackers crushed ~ that's one pack of crackers to save you measuring
1/4 C melted Butter
1/4 C Sugar

Cheesecake
5 8 oz packages soft Cream Cheese~I use 1/3 fat
1 3/4 C Sugar
3 T Flour
1/2 t grated Orange Peel
1 t grated Lemon Peel
2 Egg Yolks
5 Eggs
1/4 C Heavy Cream ~ I used 1/2 and 1/2

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Blend crumbs, butter and sugar. Spread crumb mixture over bottom and up the sides of a sprayed springform pan. Combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, orange and lemon peel in large mixing bowl. It's best to add one cream cheese at a time. Add eggs and yolks..mixing well after each egg is added (I add one egg after each package of cream cheese). Add cream and beat at medium speed until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 and bake another hour. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. ONCE YOU PUT THAT CAKE INSIDE, YOU WILL NOT OPEN THE OVEN UNTIL IT'S TIME TO COME OUT. Turn the oven off and let the cake sit for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool at room temp. Top as desired.
Yep, this package of crackers will make 1 1/4 C of crushed graham cracker crumbs. Throw these babies in a ziploc and let's get the party started.
Roll a rolling pin over the crackers or pound out the days aggressions..you just need them crushed, doesn't matter how you do it.
Here is what a springform pan looks like. It has an outer ring that has a clamp. The clamp releases and the ring comes off leaving just the base. I have never made this cheesecake in anything but a springform pan so I can't tell you if it works in a cake pan. Sometimes, you just have to buy or borrow a piece of equipment to see if the recipe is worth it..I can tell you..this recipe is worth the cost of a springform pan.
Here's your crust evenly spread out and pressed into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Zest your orange and lemon with a cheese grater, the small side works great for zesting.
When you zest...you don't want to go to "deep" into the peel. Once you get the top layer off, turn your fruit and keep going.
I had my big mixer out so I decided to use it but you know what, I like my hand mixer better for this recipe. It just seems to mix up the cream cheese better and yes, I tried both attachments and the hand mixer wins. At any rate, this is the sugar, flour, peel, yolks and first package of cream cheese. Mix it up. Add another cream cheese and egg, keep going until it's all mixed in. Add the cream last and mix until just blended.
Pour batter into pan and this baby is ready for the oven. I rarely preheat and for this recipe it is a MUST. The oven needs to be 500 degrees, open quick, put your cake in and close until it's ready to come out. NO PEEKING!
Run a sharp knife around the top before you unlatch the ring or you could crack your cake.
In my disgust of the looks of it, I forgot to take a photo without the ring but you get the idea.

I know, I'll call this my creme brulee cheesecake..now I feel better...it's supposed to look like this;)

Sugar Cookies

Instead of giving cards to our family members, we give Sugar Cookies. This is my aunt's recipe and I've been making them for years. I will try to show you how to avoid the mistakes that make sugar cookies tough or dry. The two big tricks are to handle the dough as little as possible and watch the flour.

I always double the recipe because if you are going to take the time to make cut out cookies, you might as well make a bunch. These freeze very well. This is the "single" batch recipe.

2 1/2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1 t Baking Powder
2 Eggs
2 t Vanilla
1/2 t Salt
12 T Butter ~ soft

Combine butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar at medium speed. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined and dough forms. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to 4 days. Roll dough and bake at 375 for about 8 minutes.
I did use my trusty KitchenAid Mixer but up until a year ago when I got it, a regular hand mixer and bowl did the trick. Here's your butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar ready to mix.
Make sure your wet ingredients are well mixed. Now it's time to add the dry.
The dough will form and look like this. Put in the fridge to chill. Make sure you chill at LEAST 4 hours, if you don't...the dough absorbs more flour when you are rolling it out and your cookies will NOT be good.
Sprinkle your counter with flour and divide the dough in half.
Push your dough down so you don't have to do so much work with the rolling pin.
Sprinkle the top with flour. You don't want your rolling pin to stick.
Start rolling out your dough, applying even and steady pressure with the rolling pin. Try to keep the dough a consistent thickness as you roll.
Cut your cookies as close together as you can. The less you have to re-roll the dough, the better the cookies.
This is a good thickness for your cookies. If they are thinner, watch them closely when baking because they will cook fast and be more crispy. If they are thicker, they are going to have a more doughy consistency even when fully cooked.
They don't spread much so this is how close you can put them. Bake for about 8 minutes at 375
In my opinion, a good sugar cookie should NOT be browned on the top at all. If you've rolled the dough so the thickness is consistent, they shouldn't be brown even on the edges. The bottom should look like this...lightly browned.
After you've rolled out the first batch, these are your leftovers, set aside. Roll the fresh batch same as the first.
This is your second time around. Mold dough ever so slightly into new ball. Use less flour on your counter because the dough is less sticky the second time around and re-roll the dough.
Save the sprinkle cookies until the end because your pan is going to have some sprinkles left over on the pan. Don't OVER sprinkle because the cookies don't cook evenly. This amount is perfect.
Here's the frosted ones drying and ready to bag.

To make butter cream frosting
1 stick soft Butter
4-5 C Powdered Sugar
2 t Vanilla
4-7 T Milk

Start out with 1 stick butter, 4 C powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 T milk. Mix it with your mixer. Keep adding milk by the T until it's the consistency you want. IF you add too much milk, add more powdered sugar. I've never used a true recipe for frosting, it was an add and adjust philosophy. When it's done, separate into different bowls and add food coloring. If you are using liquid food coloring remember it will thin the frosting a bit more.