Baked Donuts

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2  cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Cream Butter and sugar.  Once creamed add eggs and mix until incorporated.  Add milk and mix until incorporated.  In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients add to wet mixture.  Bake in donut pans that have been greased and floured at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.  Cool on a rack and glaze when cool.

For glaze I did a couple of them.  For the strawberry glaze I used 1 cup powdered sugar a couple tablespoons of strawberry juice that I had from leftover strawberry shortcake and about a teaspoon of caro syrup (this makes them shiny and hardens the glaze).  Add the wet ingredients slowly until you get the consistency you want.  I dipped my donuts in the glaze then set on a rack to drip.

For the Cherry glaze I did the same as above but used Marichino Cherry Juice instead of the strawberry juice.  You could do lemon, lime, really any flavor you want!  For the chocolate donuts I just used chocolate frosting from a can!  I put some in a bowl and microwaved it until it was liquid then just dipped the donuts in like I did for the other glazes.  Hope this all makes sense!

Syndy

Nobake Cheesecake from scratch!

This recipe made 12 little dessert cups.  I bet they would also fit in a pie pan, or maybe even half the recipe for a pie pan

Crust:

3 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tblspns butter (melted)

4 tblspns brown sugar

mix and press into whatever container you are going to use.

Filling:

12 ounces cream cheese softened

1/3-2/3 cup white sugar depending on how sweet you want it.

1 tsp vanilla

1 pint of Whipping Cream

I made sure my cream cheese was nice and soft.  Cream with sugar and vanilla.  While the mixer was going I added the whole pint of whipping cream and once it was incorporated well I turned my mixer on high and let it whip that cream!  Once it's thick dish into dishes.  I made mine caramel so I put caramel sauce on the crust before I put the filling in but you could top it with anything you like.  I just used Hershey's caramel sauce from a squeeze container.  

Enjoy...now I wish I had all the stuff to make it!

Syndy

Almost Famous Dave's Corn Muffins

I love me some corn muffins.  I also love me some corn muffins with honey butter! Well these need hardly any honey butter!!

2 boxes jiffy corn muffin mix

2 eggs

 one can of cream style corn.

 Bake at 350 for 17 minutes 

Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad

I got this recipe out of my Our Best Bites cookbook and changed a few things to accommodate my liking (of course).

Prepare some spaghetti noodles.  I do about 8oz of noodles for my large family
You will need about 3 cups or so of prepared chicken.  I grill mine on the cast iron with some sesame oil and garlic YUMMO!
I also use bagged salad like romaine mix instead of their mix they suggest, easier and tasty!

Here's the recipe for the dressing:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbl Lime juice (I use the concentrate)
2 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbl spn rice wine vinegar
2 tbl spn soy sauce
3 tbl spn honey (tonight I used 2 tbl of corn syrup because I was out of hone and it worked fine)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
2 teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2-4 tbl spns water

put all those ingredients except for the vegetable oil and water in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Add vegetable oil and process until combined.   Add water a little at a time if it is too thick.

Assemble salad, noodles, chicken and top with dressing.  Best thing ever!!

Rice Pudding

Arroz con Leche

Ingredients

1 cup Valencia rice ( I used regular rice)

4 pieces Chilean cinnamon ( I used a table spoon of regular cinnamon)

2 cloves (didn't use cloves at all)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk (I used 1%milk)

6 oz evaporated milk

7 oz sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 strips lemon peel

1/4 tsp salt

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, bean reserved ( I used 1 tlb spoon vanilla extract)

Ground cinnamon, for garnish

Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the rice, cinnamon sticks, cloves and 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the cream, three milks, sugar, lemon peel and salt. Raise heat to high and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat again and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 to 18 minutes, until the mixture thickens but remains a little loose and creamy. (The rice pudding will thicken once cooked and refrigerated so it’s important to leave it a little loose in this step.)

3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel. Serve warm in individual bowls or cups and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Or you can chill it and serve cold. Makes about 4 cups. 

Syndy's Commentary:

I made this and doubled the batch and it was great.  The best rice pudding I have EVER had!  YUM. 

Pan Rustico

3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Table spoon fresh yeast
1 table spoon salt
6  1/2 cup flour

In a large bowl with a lid, if you have one, sprinkle yeast on warm water and whisk till dissolved. Add salt, stir. I fork my flour before I measure (basically just fluff your flour with a fork before measuring), dump all flour in. Stir with wooden, trust me it's easier, till all flour is incorporate. Put on lid or tightly cover with plastic wrap. The key to this bread   Is keeping it moist. Let rise 1 hour or so . Punch down , place in frig till the next day or if you make it in the morning you can cook later in the day.( refrigeration is really important)

Pre heat oven 400-425 degrees, depending on your oven.. You will know the right temp after the first loaf. This will be sticky so don't be afraid of  flouring your hands. Take out a gob about the size of a grapefruit, this recipe makes four loaves the size you saw in the picture.  Make it into a nice round loaf.Put your gob on an inverted cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper on it. I divide  the rest of my batch in 3 plastic bags, just store in frig up to a week. Place a METAL pie pan on bottom shelf of oven Set timer for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes,Cut 3 slits on bread top, I use kitchen shears, way easier. Place in oven, pour 1 cup of water in pie pan. Close door quickly, cook 30 minutes. Sounds like a lot of steps but it's really easy and so good. You must wait till this bread is completely cool before eating , other wise it will be doughy! This makes it crunchy on the out side and moist and tender on the inside.  Make the best pizza dough ever, just cook 10 minutes then cover with topping and cook till golden and done.

Syndy's Commentary:

I made this a couple of times and there is a learning curve.  I had to heat my oven to 450 to get the crust brown enough, I also had to make 2 loaves out of the batch because making 4 was too small for our family.  All in all a great recipe I will be making this A LOT!!

I also have a picture of my 2nd batch they look a lot better I'll download as soon as I hook to my computer. 

Aloha Chicken Fajitas

I found this recipe HERE for Hawaiian Chicken Fajitas on Pinterest.  I was instantly excited to try this new recipe.  When I went to the store I realized that I was unable to find the enchilada seasoning packet that the recipe calls for so I instantly had to start revamping how I was going to make this recipe.  I made several changes and it was AWESOME.  Everyone in my family liked it...even the picky one.  He said, and I quote, "This is the best stuff ever mom!".  Good enough for me!

So click above for the original recipe and scroll down for my version:


3 Chicken breasts cut into strips
2 tbl oil (enough to coat skillet)
1 large red bell pepper cut into strips
1 onion also cut into strips
4 tbl taco seasoning (you know the packet!)
4 tbl honey
1 can pineapple chunks drained (reserve juice)

Ok let me first say that I marinated my raw chicken in a garlic and herb marinade for about an hour just to give it extra flavor, this step is optional you can just cook it in the oil like it is, or season to your liking, oooo or even grill it YUM.  So cook chicken in oil until done.  Add onions and bell pepper and cook until onions and pepper are tender (about another 4-5 minutes).  Mix together taco seasoning, honey and 1/2-1 cup of pineapple juice.  Once chicken and veggies are done pour sauce mixture over chicken and stir to coat.  Cook another couple minutes to warm and kind of caramelize sauce.

Serve fajita chicken over tortillas.  We topped ours with the pineapple chunks, cheese, tomato, and sour cream!

If you wanted to make this super fast and easy (it already is so easy!!!) you could use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or precooked chicken breasts.