Bread Rolls

I've been wanting to make these for a while but was too reluctant... I had never made bread rolls before; in fact, the first time I've ever made bread at all was when I made apple bread. I was motivated to finally carry out this recipe when we ran out of store-bought rolls and sliced bread.

It wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be (I guess I was a bit afraid of the "unknown"), and they came out really well! They were very soft and fluffy, even several hours later.
Here's the original recipe ("French Bread Rolls to Die For" from allrecipes.com):

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups bread flour

1. In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, a hybrid of two other recipes. I used a simple recipe and added an unexpected ingredient--instant vanilla pudding mix--from another recipe to make these spectacular cookies!
The unexpected ingredient came from the "Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe on allrecipes.com, but the main recipe below is from popularcookierecipes.com.

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs,beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix*
  
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• if desired, 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl by hand. Stir in flour, baking soda, pudding mix* and salt. The dough will be very stiff. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans if desired.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown.

Giant Meatballs with Gravy!

According to the recipe it's called "Simple Salisbury Steaks," but as I was making it, I realized it was just like my dad's meatballs but with breadcrumbs and cream of mushroom added to the mix. Nonetheless, these came out great! They kind of look like a mess, especially in this picture, but my husband and I both loved them and I can't wait to make them again.
Here's the original recipe (from allrecipes.com):

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or 25% Less Sodium)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1. Mix thoroughly 1/4 cup soup, beef, bread crumbs, onion and egg. Shape firmly into 4 patties, 1/2 inch thick.
2. Heat oil in skillet. Cook patties until browned. Pour off fat. Add remaining soup and mushrooms. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes or until done.

Apple Bread

This came out nicely; it just tasted like banana bread but with apple bits. The only alterations I made were to grate the apples and use 1/2 c. sugar and 1/2 brown sugar.
Here's the original recipe ("Apple Breakfast Bread" from allrecipes.com):

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix into the butter mixture until moistened. Fold in the apples. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Steak and Onions

Yummy! I made this for my family when they came to visit and they seemed to like it :) I seasoned the steaks with seasoning salt and garlic powder, coated them with flour and cooked them on low-medium heat in about 1/4 c. canola oil. I cooked them covered until the meat stopped bleeding--about 15 minutes--and turned them a few times. After the meat was cooked, I kept the oil and whatever little pieces were left in the pan and used it to saute a 1/4 of an onion, sliced. I peppered and poured a little soy sauce over the onions, and then scooped the onions out and onto the steaks. Delicious!

Fried Chops with Country-Style Gravy

The fried chops are fried chops, but I crushed 4 oz. of Ritz crackers and threw them in with 1 c. of flour. I seasoned them with garlic powder and seasoning salt, dipped them in a mixture of egg and canned milk (1/4 c.), then covered them with the cracker/flour mix.
The gravy is also a very simple gravy, but it's my favorite part of this dish. The recipe makes a LOT of gravy, but I only wanted about 1/2 that amount. After pouring in the first can of milk, I realized it was going to be too much; so, instead of using 4 cans of milk, which I didn't have anyway, I dumped out half of what I had made and then added 3/4 of another can of milk. I sprinkled about 1 tsp. salt, threw in a dash of onion salt and used as much black pepper as I thought would be good. It was delicious :)
So, in the future, I think I'll use...2 tbs. vegetable oil, 1/4 c. flour, and 1 c. of milk!
Here's the original recipe for the gravy ("Mom's Country Gravy" from allrecipes.com):

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 cups milk

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Gradually stir in milk so that no lumps form, and continue cooking and stirring until thickened. If the gravy becomes too thick, you may thin it with a little more milk.

Chicken with Parmesan Cheese

I love this recipe. It's so easy to make, and the potato buds and Parmesan cheese make the chicken crunchy. I followed the recipe closely except that, like always, I didn't measure the seasonings. I sprinkled the chicken liberally with garlic salt and seasoning salt. I baked it for 40 minutes, turned the oven off and let the chicken sit for another 5 minutes before taking it out. In the future, though, I'll have to remember to coat the baking dish with Pam spray beforehand.
Here's the original recipe ("Crispy Herb Baked Chicken" from allrecipes.com):

• 2/3 cup dry potato flakes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 (3 pound) chicken, skin removed, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease or line with foil a baking sheet or a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine potato flakes, Parmesan cheese, and garlic salt. Stir until well mixed.
3. Dip chicken pieces into melted butter or margarine, and roll in potato flake mixture to coat. Place in prepared pan.
4. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until chicken is tender and golden brown.

Pork Chops and Ritz Crackers!

I haven't had Ritz crackers in years but if I had known it would make such a great batter/bread crumb replacement/shake n' bake stuff--whatever you want to call it--I would've made sure to keep a box in the kitchen.
I used seven thin pork chops, seasoned them to my liking with seasoning salt, garlic powder and a little pepper, and then followed the recipe from there. Since I used seven chops instead of four thicker ones, I had to leave them in the oven for an extra five minutes...and probably because I let it bake uncovered for the first ten minutes. So, in trying to follow what some of the reviewers suggested (cover for 30 min, then cook uncovered the last 15 min), I covered it for the next 20 min and then left it uncovered the rest of the time. They came out nice and crunchy!
Here's the original recipe ("Famous Pork Chops" from allrecipes.com):

• 1 cup crushed butter crackers
• garlic salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 4 pork chops
• 1/2 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a shallow bowl combine crushed crackers, garlic salt and pepper; mix well. In a separate bowl beat eggs.
3. Dip your pork chops in the egg batter and then in the cracker mixture. Place the pork chops in a casserole dish. Place chunks of the butter around the pork chops. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Fried Chicken Breasts

I used three small boneless chicken breasts, seasoned them to my liking with salt, pepper and garlic powder (instead of measuring each and distributing them according to the recipe), and cooked them in a skillet on medium-low heat. As the recipe says, I cooked them for 5 minutes on each side (uncovered); but then for another 5 minutes on each side--covered. The recipe says to cook them for 15 minutes, but the chicken breasts needed an extra 5 to get them thoroughly done. They were delicious!
Here's the original recipe ("Tanya's Louisiana Southern Fried Chicken" from allrecipes.com):

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into 6 pieces
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium size bowl mix together the eggs and milk. Add ALMOST all of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (reserve a dash of each for seasoning the chicken pieces). Set aside.
2. Sprinkle a dash of the remaining salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder onto both sides of the chicken pieces.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Put the flour in a plastic bag. One piece at a time, dip the chicken into the egg/milk mixture then add to the plastic bag. Shake the bag so that the flour is covering each piece of chicken.
4. You can check to see if the oil is hot enough by sprinkling a little flour in the skillet. If it fries, it's hot enough! Place the chicken pieces in the skillet. After about 5 minutes, turn the chicken over. Let chicken fry for about 15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and the juices run clear. Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

I've tweaked the original recipe in a couple of ways using ideas from "allrecipe" reviewers and other cookie recipes. Instead of butter, I used margarine...which didn't make it any softer but did give it a nicer taste; instead of 1 tsp. vanilla, I used 1-1/2 tsp. for added flavor; and the key to making them soft, as I've discovered with all cookie recipes, is 3/4 package instant vanilla pudding mix. Just throw it in with the flour/baking soda/baking powder mix and voila! Soft sugar cookies :) I also threw in some chopped walnuts in half of my batch, just for some variety ;)
Here's the original recipe ("Easy Sugar Cookies" from allrecipes.com):

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
   

Pork Chops in Gravy

The first time I made this, I cooked three center cut pork chops for about 35 minutes and topped it off with chopped green onions. This time I cooked seven thin pork chops but was too lazy to go out and buy green onions. So I stuck with the recipe except that I seasoned the chops with garlic and onion powder along with salt, and also peppered the gravy. Both times it came out great but I think next time, if I cook as many chops again, I'll use 1 cup of water instead of 1/4 cup. With only 1/4 cup water, the chops took longer to cook and they sucked up most of the gravy.
Here's the original recipe ("Gravy Baked Pork Chops" from allrecipes.com):

• 4 (1 1/4 inch thick) pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Season pork chops with salt and pepper to taste. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the pork chops in the butter for about 5 minutes per side.
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, water and soup. Place the pork chops in a 9x13 inch baking dish and pour the soup mixture over the chops.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.
   

Slow Cooked Ribs in Maple Syrup and Soy Sauce!

I've tried this recipe two ways: the recipe's way and my way, as inspired by the recipe. It came out just fine when I followed the recipe but the maple syrup affected my blood sugar, so I had to alter it a bit.
I placed 6 boneless country-style ribs in the slow cooker, seasoned them with Johnny's Seasoning Salt, garlic powder and onion salt. I then poured about 1-1/2 tbs. of soy sauce and 1- 1/2 tbs. of dark corn syrup over the meat, mixed everything together by hand, and then poured about 1/2 to 3/4 cup water (or until water covers 2/3 of the meat) into the cooker. I cooked it for 10 hours, not lifting the lid even once to check on it or stir it. While it was on warm, I threw in some onions and let it sit for about 15 min, or until the onions were soft.
It was a lot of meat for just my husband, me and our baby (she got to try a little), but it was so good we were more than happy to have so much left over!

Here's the original recipe ("Slow Cooker Maple Country Style Ribs" from allrecipes.com):

• 1 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 dash ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine ribs, maple syrup, soy sauce, minced onion, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, garlic powder and pepper in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 9 hours.

Chocolate Chip-Cream Cheese Muffins

It's the cream and, of course, the cream cheese that make them so soft and fluffy! I love 'em. When I started stirring the cream in with the butter and cream cheese, I got worried that it wouldn't work without a mixer; but it came out perfectly after 17 minutes in the oven. I didn't make any alterations to the recipe, either, although I don't think adding a little brown sugar next time would hurt at all :D
Here's the recipe ("Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins" from allrecipes.com):

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or use paper liners.
2. Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in egg, cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into cream cheese mixture until flour is moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling them 3/4 full.
3. Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden, about 20 minutes.

The Good, the Bad and the Eh...

Since Allrecipes.com doesn't let its members blog for free, I've decided to start my own food blog where I can record all of my cooking victories as well as my disasters. I thought about making a family cookbook to list all of the recipes we would use again, but seeing as how our printer isn't cool enough for our computer anymore, this blog will have to do!

Disaster #1 wasn't worth taking a picture of, but it was a simple fried pork chop recipe. I thought it would be so easy! Season chops, dip in egg, coat with flour, lay in large skillet on medium heat...all produced this one result: the realization that I am more of an oven-girl. Forget stove-top cooking! From now on, it's either the slow cooker or the oven.

Speaking of disastrous fried pork chops...we still have two in the fridge left to finish :(