Baked Beans from scratch

This is an easy recipe for the best ever baked beans. It does take time but most of it you aren't really doing anything. If you have an instant pot the time is cut in 1/4 :-) those directions will be at the end.


Ingredients:
navy beans - I usually use a pound of dry beans at a time and this recipe reflects that. Adjust as necessary
1/2 lb beef (ground, leftover steak, brisket, etc) cooked
1/2 pound bacon cooked and diced
1 cup onion diced
1/4 cup peppers (if you want and you can use any type of peppers based on your taste)
2 cups beef broth (I prefer natural home made but you can use low sodium store bought)
1 cup brown sugar
1 8oz can tomato paste or 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp liquid smoke
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Soak beans overnight. Rinse and place in a baking pan. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350 for 45 mins to an hour (test doneness at 45 min and cook up to 1 hour 30 mins until beans are soft).
Serve and enjoy

Instant pot directions:
Sort and rinse beans. Add all ingredients to instant pot and set for 30 minutes. Test beans when done venting. If more time is needed set for 15 mins at a time. Make sure pot is sealed at beginning and vents naturally.
If beans too soupy simmer til liquid absorbed.

NOTES: I use BBQ sauce in stead of ketchup and sometimes in place of half the tomato sauce.

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with prailene drizzle

This is a recipe I found and modified to make this amazing cake. Mt first try at a made from scratch cake and it turned out great. 

A few notes: dark brown sugar works well also and barely alters the taste (although the frosting will be darker). It is important that all ingredients are mixed smooth to ensure the cake and frosting texture is smooth and not gritty. And lastly, you can add pecans to the batter. I didn't but the original recipe calls for them.

It is a time consuming cake prep wise but worth every minute.

Total time is about 2 hours prep and cook time.

Step one:

• CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare Filling: Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla; beat just until blended. Set aside

Step two:

• APPLE CAKE BATTER:
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cups peeled and finely chopped Gala apples (or canned apple pie filling-I used the canned the first time and fresh apples the second time)

Prepare Batter: Preheat oven to 350º.  Stir together 3 cups flour and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 3 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in apples and pecans (if used).

Step three:

Spoon two-thirds of apple mixture into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan. Spoon Cream Cheese Filling over apple mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around edges of pan. Swirl filling through apple mixture using a paring knife. Spoon remaining apple mixture over Cream Cheese Filling.

Step four:

Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan by placing a plate on top of the pan and inverting (if doesn't come out easily tap the pan a tad) and cool completely.

Step five:

• PRALINE FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare Frosting: Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 Tbsp. milk to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth (very important); stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour immediately over cooled cake.

Not your expected Meatloaf

Meatloaf can be a quick, easy, no fuss meal. It's great to assemble the night before then pop in the oven after work for an easy dinner (while getting kids settled after a long day :-) ) This is the meatloaf I've been serving my kids for years and they love it. I recently found out my grandkids like it too. There is no tomatoey taste or that ketchup taste some don't like and it always turns out moist :-)

Ingredients:
1 to 1.5 lbs ground beef (I prefer 90/10 but 80/20 works too, just remember there will be more grease)
1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs (or crackers, panko, etc.) I use seasoned bread crumbs from Kroger brand or progresso brand (depends on price for me)
1 egg
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
garlic powder- a dash to a tablespoon depends on your taste
onion powder- same as above
1/4 cop minced onions (delete if don't like)
1 cup or so of favorite BBQ sauce
1 teaspoon natures seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 pepper)
1 packet lipton beefy onion soup mix (or beefy mushroom or onion or onion mushroom or just beef---depends on your taste)

blend all ingredients except beef and bread crumbs, mix well
using hands (or a fork if you don't want hands dirty :-)  ) mix in beef mixing well, add bread crumbs a little at a time until beef is moist but workable for a loaf

place beef mixture in a loaf pan or any lipped baking pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350.  Add a smidge of BBQ sauce on top and bake another 5 minutes (you can also add cheese on top but Ken doesn't like it so I don't)

Take out of over and let sit for 5 minutes then slice and serve. Resting the loaf makes it easier to slice.

Remember you can mix ahead and vacuum pack and freeze to make later. If you freeze add 10 minutes to cook time from frozen.

You can also make head, vacuum pack and freeze (when cool) for a quick toss in the microwave meal (5 minutes on high)


Options:
Sometime I use other ingredients depending on my mood. They are:
cayenne pepper or habanero pepper powder
cheese- shredded cheddar, shredded mozzarella, or your fav cheese (I love it with Gruyere)
diced jalapenos
bacon :-)

Crepes---Can be sweet or savory

Crepes are a great breakfast meal or a side to a savory meal. These are versatile and can be added to any meal or a meal in themselves. They take about 15-20 minutes from prep to eating(if your fillings are completed). I like using them to add to leftovers to make a special meal.



Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup milk or cream
1/2 cup sugar (I mix 1/4 cup white and 1/4 cup light brown)
1 cup flour (use a little more if batter is too thin)
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla


Mix all ingredients until smooth. I use a blender but have used a whisk too. As noted above if the batter is too thin add a little four. Your end result should be a very thin pancake like batter...about the consistency of tomato soup. Also the batter should be smooth and lump free.

Heat small crepe pan (small egg skillet) to medium high, spray with non stick spray. When pan is hot pour about 1/4 cup batter in pan and rotate to cover entire bottom. Cook about 1-2 minutes until entire crepe is set then flip and cook another minute.

Place on plate and brush with butter and fold. I prefer the rolled crepes but you can fold in quarters. Keep warm (about 150 degrees)

Continue with all batter. When all crepes are done fill.

To fill crepes:
Gently unfold
scoop about 1/8 cup filling in the middle of a rolled crepe and re-roll. If doing a folded crepe spread one side of crepe with filling and re-fold.

TO MAKE SAVORY CREPES:
omit vanilla and reduce sugar to 1/4 cup. Follow above and fill.


SWEET CREPE FILLINGS:
Fill with fruit or mascarpone and top with whipped cream
Fill with nuts and fruit mixture and top with syrup
The possibilities are endless

SAVORY CREPES:
Fill with ham, cheese, sausage, brisket, vegetables, etc
Top with a chutney or salsa

Spicy Candied Bacon Wrapped Lil Smokies (no, not a misnomer you can have spicy and sweet)

Spicy Candied Bacon (wrapped lil smokies follow)

Spicy Candy mixture:
Mix 1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar with the following (to taste):
Chili powder (I use about 1 tbsp. but I like spicy)
Garlic Powder (use less than 1/2 of what you use for chili powder)
smidge onion powder
dash paprika  ( I like smoked paprika but have used regular)

mix well and place in bag. Drop bacon in bag and shake to coat. Place bacon flat on parchment or non-stick foil covered cookie sheet with lip. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or 450 for 20 minutes. This is also to desired crispness, less crispy less time. Remember bacon will crisp a bit while cooling. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool slightly.

Use bacon to top burgers, meatloaf, or any sandwich. Also good to just eat!

For wrapped Lil Smokies:
Prepare spicy candy mixture, set aside. Cut bacon into 3-4 small sections. Wrap bacon around lil smokies, secure with toothpick. Place spicy mixture in bag and add bacon wrapped lil smokies and shake to coat. Remove lil smokies and place on parchment or foil covers baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place on serving dish.

This makes a nice alternative to normal BBQ lil smokies for an appetizer.

*NOT A LOW CALORIE?LOW FAT DISH BUT DELICIOUS

Smothered Burgers w/cheesy corn

Although I am no longer in Hawaii, I am still experimenting with recipes. Tonight I wanted a burger but as I am reducing my bread (gluten) intake I tried to come up with a twist on the plain burger. This is the result. It is very good with the frozen beef patties but I prefer real beef patties or turkey patties.

Smothered Burger

Make your burger patty as normal or use a frozen one
heat pan to medium heat (do not add cold meet to cold pan and begin (rule 1 of cooking)
once pan is heated add Worcestershire to taste to warm pan then add chopped onion (about 1/4 cup for 2 patties) and chopped mushrooms (canned will work but I prefer fresh) and sauté until lightly brown.
Add burgers and lower heat. Cook until your desired temperature (I prefer medium rare) flipping just once.

When burgers are done remove from heat and top with some of the onion/mushroom mixture and top with a slice of cheese of your choice; cover until cheese melted.

Place smothered burger on plate and top with onion/mushroom mixture and cheesy corn (recipe below)

Cheesy corn

Place corn in dish (canned -drained or frozen) and top with minced onion (dried will work or about 1/8th cup fresh minced) add 1 tbsp butter or butter alternative and microwave until heated through. When completely heated top with cheese of your choice (1 slice should do) and let sit in microwave for 1 minute until melted. Stir and serve with burger.

Enjoy!

Home made Pizza

As I was tired of ordering pizza that just didn't have the toppings or the degree of doneness Ken likes, I decided to experiment and came up with the below. It turned out so good I am sharing. This is very easy and takes very little actual time (the oven does most the work). This pizza makes a 9 X 12 rectangle pizza (I have mini rectangle baking/cookie pans from when we had the mini oven) but if you like thinner crust this would also fit a normal size lipped cookie sheet or round medium pizza pan. If you want to thicker crust use smaller pan or double recipe.

To make the crust:

1 tablespoon fast acting yeast (one package if you buy the little 3 pack)
3/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil

Mix yeast, sugar, and hot water until yeast is dissolved. Add flour a cup at a time and mix well (dough will be crumbly at this point). Add oil and mix well with hands (you can use a spoon but your hands work best). the dough might be a little sticky so  just add a touch more flour and knead dough for about 10 minutes and form a ball. Place in a greased (I sprayed with cooking spray) bowl (or place on a pan) and place in warm area for 1 hour to rise. (you can use the oven as long as it's not on)

Once dough is double in size, punch down and knead with a little flour to make the dough workable.

Place on greased pizza plan and spread to the edges (you can use a rolling pin but I just use my hands). If using a pizza pan and not a lipped baking pan, create a little lip at the edges. TIP: sprinkle a little corn meal on the pan after greasing it and the crust will cook evenly, not stick, and add a little crunch.

Sauce:
4 ounces tomato sauce
garlic to taste
italian seasoning spice (to taste)

Mix well and spread on to crust- use as much or as little as you like. I prefer light sauce some prefer more. Then spread a little mozzarella cheese over sauce.

Add any toppings you like, but make sure the meat is cooked (i.e. do not use raw hamburger) and as much as you like. This crust will hold a lot of toppings.

After toppings, cover with mozzarella cheese or the shredded  cheese blend of your choice.

Place in preheated 425 degree over for 15-20 minutes depending on how well done you like your cheese :-)

When cheese is browned to your taste remove pizza from oven and place on cutting board or counter to 'rest' for 2-5 minutes before cutting. This lets everything sit and meld so when cutting you don't get the toppings and cheese spilling off the pizza.

Enjoy.