Monkey Bread Anyone?

I am linking with Design by Gollum and Foodie Friday. Please visit this wonderful blog to see what everyone else is sharing with us. 

Hello! Remember me?  I hope everyone is doing great.  I don’t know about y’all but I’m so ready for spring!  

Yay!! I still remember how to post!  I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything on my blog.  Life gets in the way, kwim?  It seems that the more you are away from blogging the harder it is to get back.   Anyone else gone thru this?  Anyway, I’m sure most of you have heard of Monkey Bread but I hadn’t till recently. LOL  It is very easy to make and the kids devoured it. :D

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1/2 cup raisins, if desired

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large -storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.
• Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces.
• In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.
• Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

 

I lost a few friends and it makes me a little sad:(  To those that stuck around even if I hadn’t posted, Thank you!!   God Bless everyone of you!!! 

TA TA FOR NOW!

Sandra

 

Pumpkin Bread Anyone?

Hi y’all!   We are having some cool mornings finally! Actually, I’ve had my windows open all day today!   It is so nice to have some cool breeze coming in and not having to use the A.C.  This morning I was in the “baking” mood and made a pumpkin bread and a banana bread.  I made the banana bread for a neighbor.  I love baking goodies and sharing with my neighbors. :) 

Here is the recipe I used.  I also made a cream cheese frosting and used just a smidgen of it for the topping.  I don’t like too much frosting, do you? :)

Ingredients:

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin or fresh pumpkin if you’d like.  (I used canned)

Directions
Grease and flour pan.  Heat oven to 350*F.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, spices, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, and eggs; stir until well blended.  Stir pumpkin into the egg mixture.  Gradually add sifted dry ingredients to the pumpkin and egg mixture, stirring well after each addition.  Spoon batter into prepared tube pan.  Bake for 1 hour and around 15 to 20 minutes, or when cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)

• 6 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature
• About 2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar.  I didn’t use all three cups.  I used a little over 2 cups.  It was good.
• 1/3 cup of butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-2 tablespoons milk

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter in medium bowl.   Add vanilla and milk to reach a smooth texture and desired spreadability.

Well I hope you all are having a wonderful day!  Please take time to relax and enjoy yourselves. :)

TA TA FOR NOW!

Sandra

 

Yummy? Or not?

Ever have a day that you don’t feel like eating a big meal?  That was my case.  I didn’t want to eat anything but veggies.  What kind of veggie?  Cabbage is what I felt like eating.  Please don’t think I’m wierd, y’all! Ha ha!

I sauted chopped onions in olive oil.  I then added chopped cabbage and a can of diced tomatoes including the tomato juice.  I also added a dash of Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce with Roasted Garlic.  

I made way too much cause the kids won’t eat it. ha ha!  Hubby will eat it but has to have meat alongside.  I will make grilled chicken and place on top of my cabbage tomorrow.  I think it’s yummy!  What about you?

I’m linking with Foodie Friday.

TA TA FOR NOW!

Sandra 

A Weight Watcher Recipe

I am linking this post to Foodie Friday hosted by Michael of Designs by Gollum  Please visit this wonderful blog full of inspirational recipes that so many other bloggers share. :)

Today is my official day!  You ask “Official Day of What?” LOL  I  will officially start to eat healthier and much more controlled portions of meals.  Oh gosh, I know I had already talked about making vegetable smoothies before, but the beets sure did turn me off.  I know they’re good for you and all but I’ll skip them.  *blush*  I might try eating a much smaller portion of them.  So with trying to eat healthier in mind, guess what I found underneath my bed?  I bought this amazing cookbook  oh about a year or two ago?  Oh the things I buy and then forget!  So I started going thru the recipes and my boys had asked to eat taco salads today.  And guess what I found?!  A Taco Salad recipe!  I was soooo happy!  I went thru the recipe and went to the grocery store  to buy the ingredients I needed.  I have to tell you that I had my doubts  that the dressing it called for was going to be just as delicious as ranch dressing.  Omgosh! I give it a double thumbs up!  I loved it!    I’d like to share the recipe with you. :)

1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

4 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 pound lean ground beef (10% or less fat)

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 cup water

4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce (I also added spinach to it because it’s good for us) :)

1 carrot, shredded

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas, lightly toasted and cut into 4 triangles each

3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

1.  To prepare the dressing, in a small bowl combine the yogurt, cilantro, sour cream, crushed garlic, and salt, let stand 30 minutes.

2.  In a large non-stick skillet, heat the oil.  Saute about two-thirds of the onions and the minced garlic until the onion is translucent, 6-8 minutes.  Add the chopped carrot, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne; cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes.  Add the beef, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and water; bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the beef is cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates, about 15 minutes longer.

3.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the lettuce, shredded carrot, and one-fourth of the cilantro dressing; toss to coat.

4.  To serve, divide the lettuce mixture among 4 plates; top with the meat, then surround with the tortilla triangles.  Serve, sprinkled with the cheese and remaining onion and drizzled with the dressing. 

Per Serving (1 salad) 357 Cal, 12 g Fat, 5 g Sat Fat, 1 g Trans Fat, 395 mg Sodium, 33 mg Chol, 44 g Carb, 9 g Fib, 23 g Prot, 347 mg Calc. 

POINTS value: 7

I’m so happy to announce that next month will be my first year of blogging!  That means that I will be having a giveaway soon!

How about some banana bread?

Good morning to all my blogger friends!   I hope everyone is doing well.  I on the other hand, am coming down with a cold….more like a head cold?  I need to take my vitamin C and fight this cold. 

So with that said, I’ll have a piece of banana bread but not with milk.  Maybe coffee instead?  :)  Something warm for me.

How about you?

Banana Bread

1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
4 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon. baking powder
pinch of salt
3 ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix wet ingredients together then combine with the dry. Fold in bananas and walnuts. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday. 

With Love,

Sandra

Chili Recipe.

Hello my blogger friends!  I have a wonderful recipe for chili thanks to a friend!  

I made this today because it is quite chilly here in these parts of Texas. :) 

I am linking this to http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/2009/10/foodie-friday_30.html  Please visit this wonderful blog full of scrumptious recipes.

 

I hope you all enjoy the recipe and the visual.  I would have loved for y’all to have been able to smell my home when I was simmering it!  It not only smelled wonderful but it was very delish!  Perfect for cold type of weather. :)

Recipe for Chili:

2 pounds Ground Beef
1 roll Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
2 medium diced Onions
1 diced Green Pepper
2 jalapeno peppers - diced small
5-6 cans dark red Kidney Beans, drained but not rinsed (depends on how beany you
like your chili.  I added 6 cans)
2 large cans Crushed Tomatoes
2-3 TBSP Cumin
2 TBSP Chili Powder
3 TBSP Crushed Garlic
2 Bay Leaves
1 12-oz beer (I used Michelob Light) :)
A couple shakes each of:
Crushed Red Pepper, Tobasco/Hot Sauce and Kosher Salt & fresh ground Pepper
************************************************** *****
Brown ground beef and pork - add onions, garlic and peppers.
Add tomatoes, drained beans, spices and beer. Bring to near boiling, and then turn heat low, to simmer for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally. Remove Bay Leaves before serving.
Garnish with sour cream & diced scallions or shredded Jack cheese~

My friend Mary says….antacid optional(!)

Have a wonderful Thursday!  Stay warm my friends!

Sandra