Cheddar!

I love an easy side item when it comes to dinner. Some days I ::gasp:: leave out the sides and just serve the main course. I try not to leave out vegetables but some days it's just hard to even get dinner on the table. With the help of a crock pot I had a roast ready to go and with the help of the frozen veggie bags from Costco I had the vegetable but I really wanted something savory and bready to go with my meal

Enter the baking mix from Trader Joes. This stuff is great. It's my normal mix for pancakes (when I don't make my own mix) and has lots of potential for other things like coffee cake and these biscuits!



Cheddar Biscuits

• 3 3/4 cups Trader Joes Baking Mix
• 1/4 cup softened salted butter (I always use unsalted)
• 1 1/2 cups cold milk
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Add baking mix and butter to a large bowl. Using a pastry knife cut butter into the mix until lumps resemble coarse meal (butter can also be pinched in with fingers)

Add milk and optional ingredients (cheddar in my case) for flavor variations. Stir all ingredients together until moistened. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, drop dough onto a baking pan. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown Serve warm

Mmmm.. Ribs

I love good ribs. I love simple meals. So when my husband brought home some ribs from the clearance section of the marketplace (perfect place to find a last minute dinner idea, by the way!) I knew this would be perfect. We had been wanting to try more ways of using the Old Bay seasoning (other than on fish) and this seasoning tastes very good on pork.

Source: My Head



BBQ Ribs

1 pack of boneless ribs (6-8 ribs)
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
Salt and Pepper
Your Favorite BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season ribs with seasonings. Pan fry in a bit of olive oil until browned. Place ribs in oven safe dish and top with BBQ sauce. Bake until fully cooked (about 30-40 minutes).

What to do with ground beef?

This recipe was easy to make, made my tummy happy and satisfied my husband. It's the all around perfect meal to use up that extra ground beef in your freezer! And an added bonus is that it's ready in less than 30 minutes. No, seriously, it is. You gotta try this if you like a good salisbury steak or meatloaf!

Source: Sweet Tea in Texas



Salisbury Steak

• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I used panko)
  
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (I just used 1 tablespoon mustard)
  

In a large bowl, mix together 1/3 cup condensed French onion soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and black pepper. Shape into 6 oval patties.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown both sides of patties. Pour off excess fat.

In a small bowl, blend flour and remaining soup until smooth. Mix in ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder. Pour over meat in skillet. Cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I Scream, You Scream...

Why oh why do we buy ice cream when it's so much better homemade?? It doesn't take very long, you control the ingredients (i.e. all organic/good quality), and it tastes so much better! This recipe is no different. Dorie is wonderful!

I also have The Perfect Scoop and really want to try a few recipes in there. Isn't it funny how summer just ended and I'm finally jumping on the ice cream bandwagon? I'm sure my husband will be happy! But my waist line wont. I need to loose those extra 5 pounds of baby weight and this will not help :)

Source: Baking from my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan



Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar

Break up chocolate and place in a 2 quart measuring cup. Boil 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. Pour cream over chocolate and let sit for a minute. Stir slowly until the ganache is smooth.

Bring other 3/4 cup of cream and milk to a boil. While this is coming to a boil whisk sugar and egg yolks together until thickened and creamy. Add a bit of boiled milk/cream to egg mixture to temper the eggs. Than add egg mixture to milk/cream mixture and whisk continuously until a custard forms. The custard mixture should coat the back of a spoon and when you take your finger and run a line down the custard it should stay separated.

Add custard mixture to chocolate ganache and stir with a spatula until incorporated. Chill mixture. Once mixture is chilled add to ice cream machine. Place into a separate container and freeze until firm (I like to wait overnight).

When ready to serve allow ice cream to sit out for a bit to thaw. This will make it easier to scoop.

Pumpkin Perfection

This past Sunday Joseph, the baby and I went to the pumpkin patch. And I had one thing on my mind... bringing home some sugar pumpkins! No carving pumpkins for me. I want ones I can eat. So we went, took lots of pictures of the little one playing with the pumpkins and picked out all kinds of wonderful squash and pumpkins.

This was my first time baking and pureeing a pumpkin but I think I did pretty well. It was soo easy. I now wonder why I never tried this before. This will definitely be the way I do pumpkin in the future.

Source: Adapted from BakeSpace and My Head



Pumpkin Muffins with Maple Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups applesauce
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

Combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, applesauce, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Maple Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Whip all ingredients until soft peaks form. You can either use the frosting right away or refrigerate it a bit to let it stiffen.

* Once you frost the muffins you can top with a few chopped pumpkin seeds for a little extra something.