Cheese Garlic Biscuits and Au Gratin Potatoes

For our Easter dinner this past weekend, I pulled out my Grandma’s recipes for ideas. I love looking through her recipes; seeing her handwriting and remembering all the great meals she prepared for us. I organized them a couple years ago in a big 3 ring binder – easier to look through and will keep them safe!

The winning recipes were Cheese Garlic Biscuits and Au Gratin Potatoes – they worked perfectly with our brown sugar ham and steamed asparagus.

Both recipes are super easy and delicious. Next time we have Italian food I will definitely whip up a batch of the biscuits. I think my sister would refer to the Au Gratin Potatoes as ‘church picnic potatoes’, ya know, one of those casseroles that is always at church potlucks? It’s usually next to 7 different varieties of Jello salad? Or maybe that is just a mid-west thing, I don’t know. But I won’t complain – I’ve never been to a potluck I haven’t enjoyed! I’m off track…back to the recipes.

Cheese Garlic Biscuits

2 cups buttermilk baking mix (pancake mix)

2/3 cup milk

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

¼ cup margarine, melted

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat over to 450 degrees. Mix baking mix, milk, and cheese until soft dough forms. Beat vigorously 30 seconds. Drop dough by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Mix melted butter and garlic powder in small bowl. Remove biscuits from oven and while warm use basting brush to cover each with the butter garlic mixture. Best served warm!

Au Gratin Potatoes

5 – 6 medium size potatoes, boiled with jackets on (or, bag of frozen hash browns may be substituted for boiled potatoes)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 TBSP butter, melted (or less if desired)
2 cups sour cream (can add milk if mixture seems too dry)
¼ cup chopped green onions
Paprika for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Pour into lightly greased 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 40 minutes, sprinkle with a little more cheese and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

Talk to you all again soon!

Butterfinger Cupcakes

Making these cupcakes was one of the best decisions I made all week! They are amazingly delicious. I found the recipe on Your Cup of Cake’s blog. It was REALLY hard to pick which recipe to make; she has soooo many cupcake and muffin recipes to pick from, and all look delightful. Butterfingers are one of my favorite candy bars so I knew this one was a winner.

I really like that this recipe uses a doctored up box cake mix but you would never know it from the finished product. And the homemade caramel makes it fancy. Then the frosting, wowzers.

My co-workers loved the Friday treat and all agreed of the deliciousness. You should definitely give it a try!

Here is a link to the full recipe.

Few Tips…

• I didn’t have a squeeze bottle for the caramel so I used a Turkey Baster and it worked PERFECT!
• I bought fun-size Butterfingers before I realized I had to scrape off the chocolate; I would buy normal size and it might be quicker.
• I used my blender to break down the Butterfinger insides.
• Use the chocolate pieces from the Butterfinger bars as toppings, and then eat the leftovers. :)
• You might be able to use Chic-O-Sticks instead of Butterfinger’s and then do shaved chocolate on the top; just a thought.
• These are pretty moist so I would serve with a napkin and maybe even a fork.

Ingredient Alternatives

My lovely sister gave me a fancy TasteofHome day planner this past weekend.  In the very back of the planner are about 10 pages of really cool chef cheat sheets and tips.

The Ingredient Alternatives caught my eye right away and knew I needed to share.  Some of these surprised me! 

When you need...		Use this...
Baking Powder	1 teaspoon	1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar + 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Buttermilk	1 cup	1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar + enough milk to measure 1 cup. Stir and let stand 5 minutes before using.
Cake Flour	1 cup	1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (7/8 cup) all-purpose flour
Chocolate, semisweet	1 square, 1 ounce	1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate + 1 tablespoon sugar OR 3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
Chocolate, unsweetened	1 square, 1 ounce	3 tablespoons baking cocoa + 1 tablespoon shortening or canola oil
Cornstarch, for thickening	1 tablespoon	2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Corn Syrup, dark	1 cup	¾ cup light corn syrup + ¼ cup molasses
Corn Syrup, light	1 cup	1 cup sugar + ¼ cup water
Cracker Crumbs	1 cup	1 cup dry bread crumbs
Cream, half-and-half	1 cup	1 tablespoon melted butter + enough whole milk to measure 1 cup
Garlic, fresh	1 clove, minced	1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Garlic Salt	1 teaspoon	1/8 teaspoon garlic powder + 7/8 teaspoon salt
Honey	1 cup	1 – ¼ cups sugar + ¼ cup water
Lemon Juice	1 teaspoon	1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Lemon Peel	1 teaspoon	½ teaspoon lemon extract
Milk, whole	1 cup	½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water. OR 1 cup water + 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
Molasses	1 cup	1 cup honey
Mustard, prepared	1 tablespoon	½ teaspoon ground mustard + 2 teaspoons vinegar
Onion	1 small, chopped (1/3 cup)	1 teaspoon onion powder OR 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
Sour Cream	1 cup	1 cup plain yogurt
Sugar	1 cup	1 cup packed brown sugar OR 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
Tapioca	2 tablespoons	1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Tomato Juice	1 cup	½ cup tomato sauce + ½ cup water
Tomato Sauce	2 cups	¾ cup tomato paste + 1 cup water

More cheat sheets to come! 
I have my eye on a couple cupakes recipes I need to try...post to come soon!

Cadbury Egg Cookies

I've had my eye on this recipe for a few weeks and finally took the time to make it.  The recipe came from In Katrina's Kitchen.  I really love her blog; awesome recipes and the few I've made have been delicious!  Here is the recipe and more pictures.  Enjoy! 

Hawaiian Cookies (with Coconut, Pineapple, and Cherries)

I found this recipe in my grandma’s recipe box. I don’t ever remember her making these, but they sounded interesting so I figured what the heck!

They were super quick to put together and the finished product was a sweet chewy cookie. I might try to make them a little smaller next time so the cherry doesn’t look so small, or just go without the cherry.

Hawaiian Cookies

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup shortening (part butter)

1 ¼ cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond flavoring

¾ cup crushed pineapple (drained)
½ cup coconut
Maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift together the flour and baking powder in one bowl. (I use a whisk, quicker than sifter.)

Cream shortening and sugar then add egg, vanilla, and almond flavoring. Slowly add in flour mixture and combine well. Stir in pineapple and coconut.

Drop spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Garnish with cherry. Bake for 20 min, or until lightly brown around the edges.

Humm….I’m thinking it’s time to make some cupcakes! I better start combing through my recipes for a good one!

Sloppy Joes - 1 House, 2 Recipes

We have two sloppy joe recipes in our house. One is from my side of the family and the other from my husbands. Both are equally delicious and staples in our home but when we go to make them we do have to figure out whose ‘turn’ it is.

My recipe comes from my grandma and I’ve always called them Yum Yums. Not sure why but I’m guessing because they are yummy! Every summer I would spend a week with my grandma and we would make a batch while I stayed with her and another batch for me to take home. It wasn’t until I was in college that I started making Yum Yums on my own. I’ve held true to her recipe but do use ground turkey instead of beef every once in a while. Every time I make Yum Yums I think of my lovely grandma and how great of a person and cook she was.

Here is MY recipe:

Yum Yums

1 LB ground beef or ground turkey
½ packet of dry onion soup mix
1 can (10 ¾ ) Campbell’s Chicken Gumbo Soup
1 TBSP sweet pickle juice
1 TBSP sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup ketchup

Brown beef or turkey, drain grease. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Jacob’s recipe comes from his mother and, actually, I like this recipe a lot! And no, I’m not just saying that because she’s my mother-in-law! =) She has a ton of great recipes and this is just one of them. Jacob grew up with this recipe and refers to it as “My Mom’s Sloppy Joes”.

Here is HIS recipe:

My Mom’s Sloppy Joes

1 LB ground beef or turkey
1/3 cup chopped onion
1, 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup barbeque sauce
1 TBSP brown sugar
¼ tsp chili pepper

Brown beef or turkey with chopped onion, drain grease. Add all other ingredients and shimmer for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Bothh recipes are very simple but pack lots of flavor. I usually serve with fresh lettuce or fruit salad and chips.

Which recipe is your favorite?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (5 Ingredients)

Yesterday I looked through my grandma’s recipes to pick something new to make. I found this interesting recipe for Hawaiian Cookies and knew that was the winner. This morning, I made the mistake of not grabbing the recipe, but figured I would remember what I needed to stop at the store and grab. As I stood at the checkout lane I was confident I had everything I needed, but not so much…forgot the coconut and cherries. That recipe will have to wait till later this week but I think it will be a good one! Stay tuned!!

I was still in the mood to bake so I went to the pantry. I had all the essentials so I knew something could be done. I decided to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with only 5 ingredients. Yep! Only 5! Cake mix, butter, eggs, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. I like cake mix cookies – quick to make and yummy!

 

I had never made this recipe so I wasn’t too sure how they would bake. I softly rolled the dough into balls and placed on the cookie sheet. For the first dozen I left as balls. The cookies didn’t spread very much so on the last 2 dozen I lightly flattened the dough. Either way works.

The finished product was yummy! They are soft and chewy and just the right mix of peanut butter and chocolate. Givem’ a try!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 eggs

1/3 cup Butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup Creamy or Chunky Peanut Butter
1 boxed cake mix (yellow or white)
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together eggs, butter, and peanut butter. Stir in cake mix and then add chocolate chips. Drop dough balls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown. Remove cookies and place on cooling rack.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.