Baked Oatmeal

This is the beat oatmeal ever.
This recipe is especially great when you've got company - it is prepared the night before for an easy bake in the morning. I made this recipe last weekend and it received rave reviews from our guests. I served the oatmeal with an assortment of fresh fruit toppings and the caramel topping included below.

Oatmeal:
(serves 5)
2 cups oatmeal
4 cups milk
5 eggs

Blend eggs and milk, add oatmeal. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake in a pre-heated over at 350° for about 45 minute or until liquid is absorbed. This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 8x13 pan for about an hour. Serve in squares.

Caramel:
1 cup butter
1 cup cream
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until warm and liquid. Serve over oatmeal.

Grandma's Sloppy Joes

Whenever someone comes to visit, Grandma Rene makes a big batch of Sloppy Joes. For some reason, I thought that since they were so delicious, they must be very complicated to make. Wow I was so wrong. These are easy AND delicious. Thanks for the recipe, Grandma!

What you need:

1 pound hamburger
1/2 - 1 onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced (optional)
1 can tomato soup
salt/pepper to taste
splash of vinegar
about 1-2 T brown sugar

soft hamburger buns

cheese slices and pickles (optional)

What to do:
Brown hamburger with onion and green pepper. Drain off fat. Mix in tomato soup, salt/pepper, vinegar and brown sugar. Simmer over low/med heat for 30 minutes or ready to eat. Serve on soft hamburger buns with cheese and pickles. Makes 4-6 sandwiches, depending on how much you fill each. Our family tradition includes sides of potato salad or macaroni salad, and chips and salsa.

California chicken tortilla soup

One of my all-time favorite soups, this chicken tortilla recipe always tastes fresh and yummy. I got this recipe many years ago, from Mary Jo, my quilt teacher, from California.

What you need:

1 T Olive Oil
1 lb boned and skinned chicken breast cut into strips (or a rotisserie chicken)
1 cup diced onion
1 T minced garlic
1 cup diced red bell pepper (or green)
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 1/2 cup diced tomato (fresh or canned)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (fresh or canned)
2 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp crushed cumin seeds
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 cup drained white hominy
1 qt (4 cups) chicken broth
5 corn tortillas, misted on both sides with oil and toasted

What to do:

Heat oil in heavy 3-6 qt pot. Add chicken and saute until lightly browned. (if using rotisserie chicken, add later). Add the onion and saute until softened. Stir in garlic, pepper,cilantro, tomato, jalapenos, seasonings and hominy (and add rotisserie chicken). Cook for a couple of minutes to concentrate flavors. Add the broth and simmer 20 minutes.

Cut the tortilla strips and bake in a preheated 375 oven until crisp (10-12 min). Crush half of the tortillas and stir into soup. Simmer 15 min. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining strips.

Serves 4-6

Hot cross buns

This recipe is from Annunciation Monastery (the founders and sponsors of the University of Mary).

Did you know that hot cross buns have a history? 

The Story Behind Hot Cross Buns
Before England was a Christian country, people celebrated the coming of spring by eating little buns filled with dried fruits. When they became Christian, people kept the custom, but marked the buns with a cross made from melted sugar to remind them of Lent and Holy Week which comes in spring. It was a custom to distribute these buns to the poor, and they were considered a blessing against illness and house fires. Hot cross buns are still baked and sold only during Lent. The making and baking of hot cross buns is a vibrant symbol of the specialness of Good Friday. The cross on the buns reminds us that by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus we are redeemed.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup corn oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 beaten eggs
1 egg white
2/3 cups dry currants or golden raisins

What to do:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water; add beaten eggs and the other ingredients (except egg white) with 1/2 of the flour and beat well. Mix in rest of the flour.

Set dough to rise for 1 hour, punch down and let it rest for 15 minutes. Cut off small pieces of dough and roll into balls about the size of an egg. Let rise until double in size. Cut shallow cross in each bun with sharp knife.

Brush with slightly beaten egg white and bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. When cool, mark top with powder sugar frosting in the form of a cross.

Frosting recipe:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp water
1 1/2 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine frosting ingredients in a ziplock bag and "smush" to combine. Snip end of baggie and apply.

Pork Wontons

Combine:
1 lb ground pork
2 green onions (including fresh part of green stem), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. worscheshire sauce
2 tsp. grated ginger
Salt
Pepper

Beat one egg in separate bowl (to use to seal the wontons).

What to do:
Place one tsp (+/-) of pork mixture in center on wonton wrapper. Careful not to overfill. Fold diagonally, corner to corner and seal with egg. Bring large pot of water to boil. Boil wontons about 5 - 7 minutes. Optional - brown wontons, after boiling, in a saucepan, with a few drops of oil.
FYI - When the wontons are cool, they tend to stick together

Serve with soy sauce or peanut sauce (pictured).

Thanks for the recipe, mom!

Raspberry muffins

Perfect for Valentine's Day – they are pink!

What you need:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

2/3 cup oil

12 oz raspberries

What to do:

Mix dry ingredients. Mix raspberries, eggs and oil. Make a well in dry ingredients, pour in raspberry mix. Mix. Pour into muffin cups. Bake at 375°F for 15-20 mins. Makes 12.

Man quiche

I'm calling this "man quiche" because it is not a delicate as quiche but just as tasty. And the best part is it's completely open to personalizing with whatever ingredients you prefer. This recipe was inspired by this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's blog.

What you need:

5 eggs

1/2 cup milk, half and half or whipping cream

1 can potatoes

1/2 onion

1 can Rotel tomatoes and chiles

salt and pepper 

other spices - I used dried basil and Lawry's Seasoned Salt

cheese (you'll need about a cup - I used monterey jack)

1 tablespoon butter

What you do:

Dice onion. Cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Combine onion, potatoes and butter in frying pan (make sure it has a lid and is oven safe). Cook until onion is done. Add spices. Add Rotel tomatoes. Add cheese. Don't mix. Thoroughly beat the eggs and milk (or half and half or whipping cream). Pour egg mix over the rest of ingredients in pan. Cover and bake for 20 minutes at 300°. Serve and enjoy. Reheats very well (from the fridge) in the microwave.