Tag: recipe

Weekend Waffles and This Week’s Menu

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Most mornings in our house are a bit hectic–we’re all in a rush to get ready and get out of the house. But Saturdays are different. Saturday mornings are usually our one chance in the week to laze around (unfortunately, not to sleep in–we do have two children under the age of 3, after all) and enjoy each other’s company. And where I come from, that calls for a good meal.

We’ve started a bit of a tradition involving baked goods and, usually, lots of syrup: The Saturday Morning Breakfast. The meals are usually pretty simple–pancakes, waffles, or scrambled “cheesy eggs”–but they’re always delicious and they get our weekends off to a good start.

This weekend I made one of our all-time favorites: Great-Grandma Doreen’s light-and-fluffy as air waffles. They’re made with whipped egg whites so they puff up beautifully–and then they literally melt in your mouth with each bite. And, if you’re like me, you know that the only way to eat waffles (or, really, just about anything) is smothered in whipped cream and fresh berries. They are so delectable that our 29-pound 2-year old polished off two of them in one sitting. So, go ahead, make these waffles for your family next weekend–I bet you can’t stop at just one!

Weekend Waffles Recipe

2 eggs, separated
2 cups flour
2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil

Beat the 2 egg whites until stiff (forming soft peaks). In a separate bowl, combine the 2 egg yolks, milk, and oil. In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour , baking powder and salt. Add the egg/milk/oil mixture to the flour mixture and blend well. Fold in the stiffened egg whites. Spray a waffle iron with cooking spray, then spoon waffle batter into the iron and cook according to your iron’s instructions. Serve hot with mounds of whipped cream (or whatever other toppings you like!). Makes 6-8 waffles.

This Week’s Menu

Monday: Slow-Cooker Pot Roast with carrots and baby red potatoes

Tuesday: Bible study potluck–I’m bringing Caesar salad with homemade dressing (I may have to share my recipe for the dressing on here some time. It’s the best Caesar dressing ever because there are no gross little sardines involved.)

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Soup–This is already in my freezer from when I made it a few weeks ago

Thursday: Southwest Turkey Burgers with Avocado-Garlic Aioli–an amazing recipe that I got from a friend, and they’re actually better cooked inside on a griddle (I’m not quite ready to brave the wind and the rain for our outdoor grill yet!)

Friday: Dinner with friends

Saturday: Roasted Chicken and Rosemary Ravioli–Pre-made from Costco. They’re delicious.

Sunday: Chicken Broccoli Rice Bake–made with cheddar cheese and a bit of curry powder for some kick

This Week’s Menu and My Recipe for Guinness Beef Stew

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While we were in Ireland last week I spent the whole time trying to find some authentic Irish food. To my great disappointment, I discovered that you can’t find Irish food in Ireland. We found Thai, Indian, Mexican, Italian and American food–everything we ate was delicious, but it left me yearning for some hearty Irish fare. Although they disappointed me in the food department, the Irish spared nothing when it came to their beer. There was no shortage rich, dark beer in the homeland of Murphy’s and Guinness. So, this week I salute Guinness–and the Irish stew I never found. Find my recipe for Guinness Beef Stew at the bottom of this post–it may just transport you across the Atlantic!

This week’s menu:

Monday: Enchilada Casserole–using up leftover tortillas and beans from our fajitas last week

Tuesday: Potluck meal at Bible Study–I’m bringing potato soup

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken–a quick dinner for after soccer practice

Thursday: Greek Moussakas–this is a new recipe I’m trying from Rachael Ray

Friday: Dinner out

Saturday: Garlic Pasta Primavera

Sunday: Guinness Beef Stew (recipe below)–I’ll be making a double batch because we’re having people over for dinner tonight.

Guinness Beef Stew


guinness
1 1/2 pounds round steak
5-6 Tablespoons oil
1-2 onions, finely chopped
salt and pepper
2-3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1-2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
2 1/2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can/bottle Guinness beer (or any dark beer of your liking)
1 can beef stock
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons butter
Egg noodles, cooked according to package instructions

Cut meat into 2 inch pieces. Saute onions in hot oil until golden brown. Add meat. Season with salt and pepper and saute until well browned. Add brown sugar, red wine vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, and garlic. Pour in beer and cover with beef stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with lid and simmer for 60 minutes or until meat is barely tender, adding more beef stock if necessary. Thicken with a dark roux (2 Tablespoons melted butter and 2 Tablespoons flour). Simmer 20-30 minutes more or until meat is tender. Serve in bowls over egg noodles.

Our Family Recipe For The Best Darn Cinnamon Rolls You’ll Ever Eat!

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Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. Last week was one of those weeks. Jon and I were both sick with bronchitis and ear infections (not sure how we both got the same two unusual ailments). Between caring for our own illnesses and trying to take care of the boys, we were pretty wiped out. But, what’s that I hear?! Duh-duh-duh-duh! Grandma to the rescue!

Jon’s mom was kind enough to come over last week and help us out a bit. She helped take care of the boys while I took a shower (all by myself, no munchkins at my feet!) and attempted (but failed) to actually take a nap. She also made us dinner before she left–such a welcome treat to this tired mama. One of the things grandma made for us was while she was visiting was our family recipe for dinner rolls. They are one of my absolute favorite foods–there’s nothing better than the smell of warm bread baking in your oven. Well, there’s actually one thing that’s better. Turning those dinner rolls into cinnamon rolls.

A number of years ago my mother-in-law figured out how to use the dinner roll recipe to make cinnamon rolls, and they are the best cinnamon rolls you’ll ever taste. Better than Cinnabon. They’re ooey-gooey, melt-in-your-mouth, close-your-eyes-and-sigh delicious. They take a bit of time and effort but, trust me, they’re worth it. You may gain 10 pounds after making this recipe (because you’ll want to eat the whole batch) but, again, it’s worth it! So, with no further ado, our cinnamon roll recipe.

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Peterson Family Cinnamon Rolls (AKA The Best Darn Cinnamon Rolls You’ll Ever Eat)
Makes about 30 rolls

2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup butter, plus an additional 1-2 cups (2-4 sticks) of softened butter
3 cups flour, plus an additional 3-5 cups flour (can be white, wheat, or a combination of flours–this time I used half white and half whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages rapid rise yeast
2 eggs
2 pounds brown sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon
1 recipe for frosting or glaze (we like this one)

  • Heat the milk and butter to 120-130 degrees (use a thermometer to ensure accuracy–too hot and you’ll kill the yeast, too cool and the yeast won’t grow)
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine, 3 cups flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast.
  • Lightly mix the flour mixture (I use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, but you could do this by hand), then add the heated milk/butter
  • After slightly blended, add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each egg.
  • Slowly add 3-41/2 cups flour to form a dough that holds together well but does not stick to the mixer. This part you just have to go by feel–not too dry, not too sticky.
  • Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead the dough into a soft smooth ball.
  • Lightly grease a clean mixing bowl, put dough ball in the bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and let your dough rise (follow the instructions on your yeast packet for how long the first rising should be, usually about an hour if you’re using rapid rise).
  • During the first rising, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon (use a fork and/or your fingers and make sure there are no lumps in the mix)
  • After the first rising, divide the dough in half. Cover half of the dough. Roll out the other half of the dough to a thickness of about 1/2 inch (it should make about a 12″ x 18″ rectangle).
  • Spread with 1-2 sticks of softened butter
  • Sprinkle with about half of the cinnamon sugar mix; pat the mixture into the dough
  • Roll the dough tightly, then pinch tightly along the seam to keep it sealed
  • Slice into 1 1/2 inch thick rounds and place in a lightly greased pan
  • Repeat the roll out/butter/cinnamon sugar/slicing steps with the second half of the dough
  • Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.
  • After baking, flip rolls upside down onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and scrape all of the extra cinnamon goo on top. Then, flip the cinnamon rolls with the wax paper right-side up onto a cooling rack.
  • Let rolls cool, then top with icing. (I usually can’t wait for them to cool before I eat about half the batch, but if you have the self-control to wait, kudos to you)
  • Eat, eat, eat!

DIY “Cloud Dough” For Kids

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I found a recipe for “cloud dough” on Pinterest a few weeks ago and had been wanting to make it for David. Since we’ve been hanging out at home all weekend potty training, I thought it would be the perfect novel activity to help pass the time.

This afternoon while David was napping I whipped up a batch of the cloud dough. Basically, you just mix together 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of baby oil (I actually ended up using about 1 1/4 cup baby oil to get the consistency I was looking for, which was about 3/4 of the bottle). I just used the cheapest flour I could find in bulk and a generic brand of baby oil, for a grand total of $2.00 for all “ingredients”. I mixed my cloud dough with my hands in this old Lego Duplos bin that I’d been hanging on to for such a use as this (it’s nice and sturdy and has a good lid that snaps into place so I can use it to store my cloud dough after playing).

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When David woke up from his nap I told him that I’d made him a special surprise–and he loved it! We laid out a quilt on the floor and put some large baking sheets on top for our play surface. Then we used plastic cups to make towers (kind of like sand castles) and our hands to form balls. The cloud dough feels really neat–soft and moldable. It also smells really great because of the baby oil. It does not, however, taste very good (just ask David). David played for a good 45 minutes before he was ready to move on to a new activity–pretty good for a 2 year old who usually gives things about 2 minutes before his attention wears out!

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This worked alright as an indoor activity, but we did get pretty “dusty” and everyone ended up needing to change their clothes after play time. Since it’s just made of flour and baby oil, though, I’m sure it will clean up pretty easily. It would be great to make this stuff in the summer and just go wild outside in the yard. You could probably even have “cloud dough” fights instead of snow ball fights!

How To Make Your Own Baby Rice Cereal

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We’re hanging out at home all weekend potty training our “big boy” so I thought I’d use the opportunity to make a bunch of baby food for our “little boy”. I like to make and freeze a few batches of baby food at a time so I’m not having to make small batches every day.

As I’ve mentioned before, I like making my own baby food. It’s cheaper than buying it in the store, it’s healthy (I only make exactly what I want my baby eating–not preservatives or extra additives), and it’s really is pretty easy to do.

Today I made brown rice cereal. This is a good first food for babies who are new to solids, and it can be mixed with any other baby food to give it more texture and a thicker consistency. If you’re so inclined, you can follow my little tutorial on how to make your own baby rice cereal!

1. Start with a milling blade (basically a flat blade) for your blender. I have a Baby Bullet with different types of blades that you can attach to the blender, but you could really use any blender that has a similar blade.

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2. Add 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice to the blender (or, apparently, the smiley face cup)

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3. Blend the rice until it is a fine powder (about 30 seconds)

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4. Add the milled brown rice and 4 cups of water to a pot.

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5. Cover the pot until it boils. Once it hits a boil, turn down the heat to low and cook with the lid on for 20 minutes.

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6. Test the consistency of your rice cereal. If you want it thinner, you can add more water or breast milk. Be careful, though. On my last batch I added too much extra liquid and it made the rice cereal so runny that it wouldn’t stay on a spoon.

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6. Once the ideal consistency is achieved, pour the rice cereal into storage cups. I like transferring the cereal to a large Pyrex with a pour spout for this part–it makes it a lot easier to pour the cereal into the small containers.

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7. Feed the baby his yummy rice cereal!

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8. Freeze or refrigerate the leftover cereal. Frozen baby food can last up to 6 months in your freezer. When you’re ready to eat the frozen rice cereal, just take out 1 or 2 portions the day before and defrost them in your fridge. The rice cereal will keep for about 3 days in your fridge.

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I was able to make about 20 portions of brown rice cereal today. Since Jacob is just starting on solids, this will last us 2-3 weeks if he has 1 portion per day. At a cost of about 50 cents to make this whole batch of rice cereal, that makes for some cheap eats!