Foody Friday - Crockpot French Toast ..and Coffee.

School is here which means some rushed mornings at our house. Most days I have no problem at least fixing them hot oatmeal or fried eggs but on days when I go to substitute teach a hot breakfast is a luxury. My boys often get their own cereal, orange juice and apples in the mornings but cold cereal gets old pretty quick. It would be great if I the boys could make their own warm breakfast...without burning down my kitchen.

I've tried overnight crockpot oatmeal recipes before but honestly I wasn't impressed.

I did happen to find a crockpot french toast recipe that, with a little tweaking, works perfectly for our family on busy mornings.

First I start off by making some beer bread. My beer bread recipe is mixed up and in the oven in less than 5 minutes and takes just about an hour to bake. I can easily bake some in the evening while I'm fixing dinner.

Beer Bread

Mix together 3 cups of flour (I use mix of whole wheat and bread flour), 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 can of beer. Mix thoroughly and pour into a greased bread pan. Put in a COLD oven, turn oven onto 350 degrees. Bake for one hour. Makes one loaf. This bread is very dense.

Crockpot French Toast

I found the original recipe here.

I whisk up about 3 eggs, a cup of milk or so, some cinnamon and some vanilla. I slice up a  my beer bread and soak it in the egg mixture for a minute or so. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray and layer the egg soaked bread into the crockpot. After all the slices are in the crockpot I pour in any remaining egg mixture. Right before I go to bed I turn the crockpot onto low.

The next morning it's done to perfection and best of all the boys can help themselves to a nice hot breakfast.

I don't know about you but my morning is just not complete without a cup of coffee. Seriously, I just can't function until I get a shot of caffeine. Last week the unthinkable happened! I was washing my glass coffeepot and I dropped it in the sink and it smashed!! It was too late in the day to head to town, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to town for the next couple days to find a replacement. I was desperate...a morning without coffee. Unthinkable!!!

Did you know you can brew a pot of coffee in your crockpot? Yes you can...I did for two days in a row. I measured out the coffee grounds and water in the crockpot at bedtime, turned it on low and had a POT of coffee in the morning. Granted I had to watch for coffee grounds but I got my caffeine fix!

 Ah...the wonders of a crockpot. What can't you make in a crockpot?

Foody Friday - Dakota Bread and a star rating from DR.

I found this recipe on an app on my phone. I've made egg bread before but I was intrigued at using cottage cheese in bread. It's sweet like egg bread but a bit more substantial than other egg bread recipes I've tried. I just love the golden color too! 

After last week's Cabbage Casserole that DR sneered at, he suggested that any more recipes I post should be rated by all members of our family, out of a possible 5 stars. He thinks that I find all these "wonderful" recipes that I find on the Internet are all posted by mothers who just "love them" but have family members who can't possibly choke them down. 

Whatever...men and their theories. 

Anyway, to the bread!! 

Dakota Bread

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 T of canola oil

1 egg

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup honey

1 t. salt

2 to 2 1/2 cups bread flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup rye flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

cornmeal

1 egg white

Sprinkle yeast in warm water. Stir to dissolve. 

IN a large bowl, mix oil, egg, cottage cheese, honey and salt. Add dissolved yeast and 2 cups bread flour, beating until flour is moistened. Gradually stir in whole wheat flour, rye flour and oats, plus enough bread flour to make a soft dough. 

On a floured surface, knead dough about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl, cover loosly with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Punch down dough. Shape into one round loaf. Place in a greased glass pie pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Brush with egg white an sprinkle with wheat flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If loaf is becoming too dark, cover loosely with foil that last 10-15 minutes of baking. Remove from pie pan and cool on a wire rack. 

So, to the rating of the Dakota Bread I made this week. 

I give it a 4. It was sweet and a nice treat but not a bread I'd want to eat everyday. Yip and Yap both gave this 5 stars! Drumroll please......DR gave it 3 stars; he couldn't get past the sweet taste. Granted he also considers store bought white bread a 4 1/2 star food. I'd give plain white bread 1 star for  taste and 5 stars as a coaster for my coffee cup. I'm thinking DR doesn't have taste buds anymore. 

Vacation is almost over :(

DR commented just the other day that I must be happy that Christmas vacation is almost over since the boys go back to school on Tuesday and I'll get back to my own schedule and getting things done around the house I've neglected. I admit, during the last two weeks the house has been louder and messier. I've had a tougher time getting stuff like laundry or dishes done without being interrupted or being any way organized (not that that's such a difference than normal though). But really, I am not looking forward to the boys going back to school because I have really enjoyed this extra time I've gotten to spend with all my kids.

We've tied a blanket for Project Linus...

...built forts...

...constructed gingerbread houses...

....played in the snow (a lot!)....

...baked Santa bread and....

....used the same recipe to make Snowman bread. (Yeah, I'm not sure what that thing on the right is either but Yap enjoyed eating his creation.)

Yeah, the house has been loud and busy and there's been nights I'm just too dang tired to move but I've just really, really enjoyed my kids this Christmas vacation. They surprise me more and more everyday with what they think and do and say. Watching my children grow and learn and explore and create has been one of the very greatest gifts that I've ever received in this life. 

 I remember the time before I got married thinking that I may never get married or have kids...then BAM, husband and twins before I knew it a daughter...what a handful she's become.  My kids have gotten so big so fast. Yeah, I should probably clean my house or do laundry but I'd much rather spend time with my kids. They sure won't be this little forever; in the blink of an eye they are almost as tall as me. Time goes by so quickly the older I get...there will be time enough to clean my house.

The older my boys get the more they talk about their memories. They don't talk about how well I folded laundry or cleaned the house. They remember the walks we took to the old barn or splashing in the flooded ditches of Illinois. They remind me of the time they spent with their cousins at a Pirate Party or rope making. A dirty house isn't that big of a deal when the mess is just a part of making memories. 

Golden Santa Bread..yum, yum.

I saw this on Pinterest yesterday and thought it would be so much fun to make! The kids agreed to help and really, even with three kids swarming around it, Santa wasn't hard to make at all. The kids did most of the work and in fact we started it at 3:30 and were eating it for dinner. (Here's the recipe for the bread and here is the step by step picture instructions on how to put Santa together.)

I tried to teach Yip and Yap how to braid in hopes they would braid all of Santa's beard together. I was hoping to have a Captain Jack Sparrow look to the whole thing. 

They all had to take turns "painting". 

The boys were just sure that Yahoo wasn't doing it right and would mess it up. 

Can't little sisters do anything right? 

Hmmm, ours wasn't perfect but it was fun and tasted great! 

The bread was super easy to make and it was kind of a sweet bread, fabulous when warm and smothered in butter. Isn't everything? 

It was so easy and fun to make I'm trying to figure out how to change it up for other holidays. A big red bread heart, a giant painted Easter Egg,  leprachaun's pot of gold....hmmm, I'm going to have to look into some of these ideas!  

Foody Friday - 19th century Gingerbread

During our Christmas party at Fort Larned last weekend our family indulged in LOTS of goodies baked from 19th century recipes. Yap ended up falling in love with traditional gingerbread. I think he must have eaten at least 6 or 7 slices! 

We decided on the way home that we needed to find a similar recipe to make the wonderful gingerbread at home. I happen to have the cookbook A Prairie Kitchen which is a compilation of recipes from the Prairie Farmer magazine between 1841-1900. 

The Gingerbread recipe in The Prairie Kitchen was approved by Yap. 

Soft Gingerbread

published in Prairie Farmer - May 5, 1877

1 c. dark molasses (I only had 3/4 c. light)

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. butter

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 cup sour milk (or buttermilk)

2 1/2 c. flour 

2 t. baking soda

1/3 c. hot tap water 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a medium saucepan combine the molasses, brown sugar and butter. Heat until just boiling, remove from heat and it cool. Add the ginger, cinnamon, egg, milk and flour and mix well. Carefully add the baking soda to the hot water. It will bubble up. Then add the dissolved soda to the batter. Bake in five mini loaf pans for 45 minutes or until the center is firm. 

I used a regular loaf pan and it took close to an hour and half before the bread was done. I might kick up the heat to 350 next time.   

Wouldn't this make great toast on Christmas morning? 

Foody Friday - Popovers

I found this recipe in an old Country Living Magazine and it seemed just too easy to not try. 

Popovers

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 t. salt

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

4 T unsalted butter

In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt; make a well in center. In another bowl, beat together eggs and milk, then pour into well. Gradually stir egg mix into flour until batter is consistency of heavy cream yet slightly lumpy; do not overbeat. Allow batter to rest for at least 30 minutes to an hour.


Preheat oven to 425. Place 1 teaspoon butter in each cup of a 12 cup muffin tin. Heat in oven til butter melts, about 1 minute. Divide batter among cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until popovers are puffed and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn out popovers and serve warm.

When done the popovers are light, buttery and fluffy which results after the batter has rested 30 minutes to an hour. If the batter doesn't rest long enough the popovers turn out pretty dense. 

These are great right out of the oven or cold and smeared with jelly for breakfast. These were an instant hit in our house. 

Foody Friday - My new favorite bread

I never thought I'd like making homemade bread. I never thought I'd find a homemade bread that is very much like store bought bread. I never thought I'd get DR to eat much homemade bread. I never thought I'd rather make bread than buy bread.

That was all before my friend gave me this recipe. Now I'm making two loaves of bread every 2 or 3 days.

Healthy Homemade Bread by Tanna Richard, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Tanna says, "I developed this recipe because I needed a tasy bread that would be easy on the budget and easy to prepare at home. As a busy mom of three young children, I really wanted to make our own bread for helath and economic reasons. The problem was that many recipes I found really didn't replicate the taste and texture of the store bough breads that my family enjoyed. So, I developed this recipe, keeping an eye to the taste and texture and trying to add additional bits of packed nutritional value. The produced bread far surpassed any bread from teh store and with the time saving methods I incorporated, it is faster to make than loading the kids in the van to go buy the bread!"

Healthy Homemade Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

(when I don't have wheat germ I sub in whole wheat flour and it works just fine)

1/2 cup quick cooking oats, uncooked

1 T salt

1 T yeast

2 1/4 c. very warm water

1/3 c. honey

1/3 c. canola oil

4-4 1/2 cups bread flour

(I use all purpose flour, again, it works fine.)

In mixing bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, wheat germ, oats, salt and yeast. Stir in water, honey, and oil, beat 2 minutes. Gradually stir in 3 cups bread flour to make a slightly sticky dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead in enough remaining flour to make a smooth and elastic dough. Knead 8-10 minutes by hand or with dough hook. 

Divide dough in half. To shap; form dough to fit into 2 oiled bread pans; press down to fill pan. Smooth top. Cover loaves with damp towel; let rise in a warm place until double, about 1-1 1/2 hours. 

Bake in preheated 350 oven 35-40 minutes or til golden brown.  

Foody Friday - Avocado Dill Dip/Spread

Have you ever dug around the spices in your cabinet and come across an herb or spice and wondered,

"Hey, how'd that get in here?"

Just me huh? You are all such good organized chefs.

I have Dill Seed. I'm not sure why I have Dill Seed in my cabinet but I do. I couldn't even tell you how old it is.

Dill Seed....it's been on my mind enough that I wanted to use if for something.

With a bit of experimenting and tweaking I give you...

Avocado Dill Spread

Mash two avocados.

Add 1/4 t. minced garlic, 1/4 t. salt, 1/2 t. dill seed.

Spread on crackers or bread.

My favorite way to eat this is shmear it on toast and put a fried egg on top. Yum!

But I still have a bottle (minus 1/2 t.) of dill seed in my cabinet. What else can I do with it?

And don't say pickles...that's what those handy dandy pickle mixes at Big R were invented!

Foody Friday - Homemade Mac n' Cheese

Purse Gurl has come back to me! Although she's been carefully avoiding my camera she did allow me to photograph the Baked Mac n' Cheese she made us last night. So yummy!

Boil about 2 or 3 cups of macaroni or other small pasta; we used penne rigate. While the pasta is boiling make up the cheese sauce.

Start with 1/2 cup of milk and mix in 2 T. of cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat 2 cups of milk over medium heat.

Slowly add 2 cups of shredded cheese (room temperature! That makes a difference I've learned.) Add more if you like it extra cheesy. Wouldn't this be great with a bunch of fancy white cheeses? Mmmmm....

Slowly whisk the cheese into the milk until it melts. Then whisk in the cornstarch/milk mixture.

Whisk and heat until desired consistency is reached. It should be thick but pourable. Adjust cheese or cornstarch as needed.

Pour over cooked pasta and stir well. Transfer to lightly sprayed baking dish and bake at 350 until golden brown on top.

Sorry, bad picture...but I had to snap it quick before my kids dived in.

* A fabulous twist on this is to sprinkle 1" pieces of bacon on top before you bake it.

Foody Friday - Easiest Ever Yeast Bread

I found this bread recipe on Country Girls' blog a few weeks ago. I tell ya, she always has the best and easiest recipes.

Now I've been making bread for a long time now. Quick breads, bread machine breads, old fashioned knead it and rise breads. Even though the breads always get eaten in our house I can't say that anyone, especially my husband, was ever hog wild over any of my homemade breads. Except Yap....he loves when we use banana bread for french toast. But that's about it.

But this bread? This big round loaf was almost entirely devoured by DR the very first day. He loves it! He cuts off a big chunk in the morning for breakfast. In his words it's like a French bread crust, thin and crispy but soft and airy on the inside.

I love it because there is no kneading....none! I barely have to do anything to make this bread....just a little time managment.


Here's the original recipe; check it out because I'm not including all the details here.

In a bowl mix 3 cups flour, 1 1/4 t. salt, 1/4 t. yeast and 1 5/8 c. water. Cover with Saran Wrap and let rise in a warm place for 12-18 hours. (I usually mix this up between noon and 2pm)

After rising (I do this as soon as I get up in the morning, about 6 am) lightly flour a work surface, turn the dough two or three times and cover with Saran Wrap for 15 minutes.

Then add more flour to work surface, enough to prevent dough from sticking, work the dough into a ball. Generously coat towel (not terrycloth) with cornmeal, flour, or bran and place dough seam side down. Cover with another towel and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. (This is about 8:30 am.) Place a 6-8 qt. heavy covered pot (I use a cast iron pot and a glass dish) in oven as it heats. When pot is hot remove carefully from oven and place dough, seam side up, in pot. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for 15-30 minutes until bread is golden brown. (My breads never take more than 3o minutes total baking time.)

Carefully cut hot bread, slather with butter, don't burn your tongue and enjoy!!

I may never make another type of bread again. Why mess with perfection?

Annette's Amish Oatmeal Bread on Foody Friday

My cousin Annette sent me this wonderful yeast bread recipe that makes three loaves of bread! One problem...it doesn't last more than a couple of days.

This is YUMMY bread and you need to make it today!

I mean, what's better on a cold autumn day than a warm, cozy house filled with the aroma of fresh baked bread.

Mix together 1 c. oats, 3-4 T. butter, 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 1/2 c. brown sugar, and 1 tsp. salt.

Pour 2 cups boiling water over mixture and cool for 15-20 minutes.

In another bowl mix 5 tsp. of dry yeast in 1/2 c. warm water.

When both are cool, mix together

Add 5 cups of bread or unbleached flour, 1 cup at a time. Knead in the last cup.

Place dough in a HUGE well oiled bowl, oil the top of the dough.

Let it rise 90 minutes, punch down and rise again for another 90 minutes.

Divide dough into thirds. Shape into loaves, place them into greased loaf pans. Let rise 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 27-35 minutes. Butter tops and cool on a wire rack. Loaves keep for 1 week...if they last that long!

Mmmmm....all I need know is some fresh butter!

Thanks Annette for passing on this wonderful recipe.

Foody Friday - Chocolate Banana Bread

One of my favorite blogs to read is Souffle Bombay, she has some of the best recipes and always a good story to go along with them too.

Recently she posted about Chocolate Banana Bread that she would make for her granmother....YUUMMM!!! What a hit this has been in our house!

I doubled the recipe to make two loaves but totally forgot to double the chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips) and it was still out of this world.

Chocolate and Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 brown bananas
3/4 to a cup of chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour and baking soda in a medium bowl, set aside. In a small bowl or mug, combine the milk and the lemon juice, set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Add the bananas and using a potato masher, mash them into the butter and sugar mixture. If you don't have a potato masher you can use a big fork or your clean hands - it is quite fun squishing bananas! Add in the milk mixture, stir well. Add in the flour mixture and the chocolate chips, stir well, until fully mixed. Spray or butter a loaf pan, then pour your batter in. (You can add extra chocolate chips on top if you like or some raw sugar) Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Variation: Instead of a loaf, make banana bread muffins, just pour your batter into a sprayed or buttered muffin pans or cupcake liners in your muffin pans and bake for 10-15 minutes for mini's or 20-25 minutes for regular sized.

Enjoy!!

Foody Saturday - Avocado Bread

Finally, the recipe you've all been waiting for! Well, okay...you probably haven't been waiting for this one but you'll sure be happy I gave it to you!

Avocado Bread! No, it isn't green but it is by far the moistest quick bread I've ever made. A perfect treat by itself, no condiments needed!



Avocado Bread

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
2 eggs
1 c. mashed avocado (about 2 avocados will do)
1 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/3 c. buttermilk (substitute 1/3 c. milk add 1 t. vinegar. Let sit 5 minutes before using)
Optional (I left these out)
1/4 c. nuts
1/2 c. raisins

Blend sugar, margarine, eggs and avocado well. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to mix alternately with buttermilk. Add nuts and raisins if desired. Batter will be stiff. Place into gresed loaf. (Leave some batter in the bowl to lick...trust me!) Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Enjoy!!

1886 Graham Bread on Foody Friday

A couple years ago I received this cookbook for Christmas from my wonderful brother in law.

The author had compiled and refined recipes from Prairie Farmer magazines from 1841 to 1900. This cookbook is so fun to read because it also includes poems and stories from Prairie Farmer magazine as well as a bit of history of cooking and day to day living during the time period. The first chapter, of course, is bread since bread was the mainstay of the frontier diet.

I was intrigued to find the recipe for Graham Bread dated January 10, 1886 with the editor's note;

"This bread tastes very much like a yeast whole wheat loaf, but is made in a fraction of the time. We are used to having quick breads be sweet; this is heartier. The light nutty flavor of this bread makes it perfect for toasting, or serving with a cheese spread."

I love to bake bread! I just don't have the time so I just had to try out this recipe. Here it is:

GRAHAM BREAD 1886
2 c light cream
2 t. vinegar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 c. graham (whole wheat) flour
1 c. regular flour (not bread flour)
1 t. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make sour cream by combining the cream and vinegar in a medium size mixing bowl. Let it stand about 5 minutes til curdled. Add the sugar, flours and soda. Mix well with a spoon. Pour batter into lightly greased bread pans. Bake until the loaves are lightly browned, pulling away from the side of the pan and firm in the center, about 45-55 minutes. Cool in pans about 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.


This was really quick and easy. I used whole milk instead because I didn't have cream. My only complaint was the batter was too much for one loaf pan but not enough for two. Plus it was much sweeter than I expected, 1/2 c. brown sugar is a lot! So I changed it just a bit to make larger loaves of bread.

Here is my revised recipe;

Revised Graham Bread Recipe 2010

3 c. whole milk
3 t. vinegar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda

Follow instructions as in above recipe.

And here is the results!

My boys really like this bread. We have been eating it all the time even with bratwurst sandwiches! Even cutting down the sugar it is sweeter than regular whole wheat bread but still very yummy.

My Multi-Grain Bread Machine Recipe

Last summer I bought myself a bread machine for my birthday. I wasn't too sure how I'd like it because I had a few friends that didn't like theirs at all. I've learned to love mine! In fact, I made all my siblings loaves of peanut butter bread for Christmas. Peanut Butter bread is very yummy toasted with jelly!

There are tons of websites with bread machine recipes but I never found too many 2 lb. multi grain recipes that I liked. With a bit of trial and error, of course, I came up with my own.



A great texture!



Multi-Grain Bread

Place following ingredients in bread machine in order. Use whole wheat or dark white setting. Makes a 2 lb. loaf.

1 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2 Tablespoons flax seed
1/4 cup honey
3 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Enjoy!