Katsu Chicken (or Pork)

I grew up with this one, and Jacob gobbled it up when I made it for him. Very easy and filling too. The sauce is a must, but I wouldn't bother with any other kind to drizzle or dip than the Kikkoman Katsu Sauce pictured at the end.

Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken tenderloins/breasts or pork- filleted (pound if necessary)
1/2 Cup of Flour
2 Eggs beaten
1 1/2 Cup of Panko (has to be Panko) Bread Crumbs
Oil

Sprinkle salt and pepper on raw meat. Put the four, eggs, and Panko in separate plates (I used bowls). Dip the chicken in the four, then eggs and then generously with Panko. Heat up about 2-4 cm of oil in a pan, then put the breaded chicken in and set to low. Flip over until both sides are brown. Serve with rice. I also like to eat it on top of shredded cabbage.

Peanut Butter Bars

I have found my new favorite cookie bar:

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Butter
3 Eggs
1 Cup Peanut Butter

2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Quick Oats
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

Cream first five ingredients with mixer until smooth. Mix the dry ingredients separately and then add to wet and mix. Press into your biggest cookie sheet. Bake for 12-18 minutes at 350 until lightly golden. Don't over bake. Let cool and then add the peanut butter layer, then the chocolate layer.

Peanut Butter Layer:
1 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup of Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons of Milk

Chocolate Layer:
1/4 Cup of Margarine
2 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
1/2 Bag of Powdered Sugar
2-3 Tablespoons of Milk

Or use your favorite chocolate frosting.

Turkey Taquitos

This is my family's tradition for after Thanksgiving. I know a lot of people make turkey soup, but I am not a huge fan of that. They are totally unhealthy, but SO good. So here you go.

Ingredients:
taco sized tortillas (how ever many will feed your family, and I usually use flour)
leftover turkey
leftover stuffing (or make more if it is gone)
leftover gravy

layer turkey, stuffing, and a little bit of gravy in a tortilla and roll up. Hold together with a toothpick. Fry in oil until tortillas are browned on all sides. Serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc. Oddly enough all of those flavors do go together.

Note- if you put too much gravy in it will make the oil spatter and burn you. So good luck.

Pumpkin Waffles

Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles

These are really good!

taken from this pumpkin waffle blog

1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm

*Grated and lightly packed into the spoon, use 1/2 tsp. Grated and loosely scooped, this is about 1 tsp. of nutmeg. If you have to use pre-grated, dried nutmeg, use 1/4 tsp.

DIRECTIONS

1. Lightly oil the waffle iron with vegetable oil, and set it to the desired temperature.

2. Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Whisk together to break apart the cornstarch. Add the remaining dry ingredients, and whisk to blend.

3. Separate eggs: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

4. Add pumpkin and milk to the egg yolks. Whisk to blend and set aside.

5. Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Set aside.

6. Pour melted butter into the yolk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, whisk to combine.

7. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix them together until just combined. A little lumpiness is fine. That will smooth out when the egg whites are added.

8. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white bits are obvious.

9. Once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter! In my Presto FlipSide waffle maker, cook time is exactly 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Maple Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

3 slightly beaten eggs

1 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup packed maple sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped pecans

(optional: whole pecans to layer on top of pie)

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

1. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, syrup, butter, flour, vanilla, salt. Beat the mix until smooth.
2. Stir chopped pecans into mix.
3. Fill pastry shell with combined mixture.
4. [Line up whole pecans on top layer of mixture for pretty presentation]
5. Bake @ 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
6. Enjoy a yummy slice :)

Donuts

Here are the donuts that we had at our Halloween party for those that want it.

Dough
2 T. yeast
1/4 cup water (105-115)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cups all-purpose flour
canola oil

*If I were going to make them again I would only add 4 1/2 c. flour then just let the flour from rolling it out and kneading it help with the rest.

CREAMY GLAZE
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4-6 tablespoons hot water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2 1/2-quart bowl. Add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups flour. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Cover and let rise until double, 45-90 minutes. (Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.) Turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour. Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin. Cut with floured doughnut cutter (Or a wide mouth canning ring and one of Macey's blocks for the center...) Cover and let rise until double, 20-30 minutes. Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer to 375°. Slide doughnuts into hot oil with wide spatula. Turn doughnuts as they rise to the surface. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Remove carefully from oil (do not prick surface); drain. Dip the doughnuts into creamy glaze set on rack.

Creamy Glaze: Heat butter until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Cinnamon Swirl French Toast with buttermilk syrup

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1 pkg yeast (1 Tbsp)
2 c. milk, scalded
2 tsp salt
5-3/4 to 6-1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. warm water
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. shortening

Soften yeast in warm water (110). Combine hot milk, sugar, salt, and shortening. Cool to lukewarm and combine with yeast mixture. Stir in 2 c. flour, beat well. Add enough flour to make a nice soft dough. Knead 8-10 min or until dough is smooth and elastic. Let rise in bowl in warm place for 1-1/4 hours. Punch down and cut dough into 2 portions. Shape into balls and cover. Let rest for 10 min (this really helps the bread not separate when it bakes in the roll). Roll out into 2 15x7 rectangles. Combine 1/2 c. sugar with 1 Tbsp cinnamon; spread half over each rectangle. Sprinkle with 1-1/2 tsp water over each. Roll up and place in greased loaf pans. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 30 min. When you tap the top of the bread it should sound hollow.

Then make your finished bread, once it is cooled (I usually make the bread the day before) into french toast.

Buttermilk Syrup


1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon, optional


Heat butter, milk, and sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and wisk in soda, vanilla, and cinnamon. (Start with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and see what you like. If you would rather it have more add up to 1 tsp) Mixture will get foamy, stir until foam goes down. Foam does not go away completely and syrup will thicken as it cools.

Happy Fall! Awesome Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

1/3 C pumpkin, canned
1/4 - 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/16 t cloves (just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a pinch)
1/16 t nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C.

Sprinkle with crushed graham cracker crumbs before serving. It reminds me of DQ's Pumpkin Pie Blizzard!

Today is the 1st day that it actually feels like fall here in CO so I was thinking of this recipe! We made it almost everyday last year. I originally got the recipe from Sarah Taylor who got the recipe from Our Best Bites.

YUM! I could seriously have this for every meal.

This makes one big shake, so double or triple the recipe as needed.

Sausage Risotto with spinach and tomatoes

This was amazingly good. A little longer and involved in the preparation than I would normally like but it was definitely worth it. Porter even ate the spinach out of it.


3 1/2 c. chicken broth
1- 1lb pkg regular sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
2 c. chopped leek (white portion only, but I only did 1 c with a little green)
1 c. chopped fennel bulb (I think that I used 2 c. to make up for the missing leek)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. uncooked arborio rice
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 pkg (6oz) fresh baby spinach (I only used half)
2 c. grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp. minced fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c. grated parmesan


In a small saucepan, heat broth and keep warm. In a large skillet, cook the sausage, leeks and fennel over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Stir in rice; and cook 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat; stir in broth. Cook and stir until all the liquid is absorbed.


Add heated broth, 1/2 c. at a time, stirring constantly. Allow liquid to absorb between additions. Cook just until risotto is creamy and rice is almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add the spinach, tomatoes, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.


For those of you who don't know....on the left is what a fennel bulb looks like (just cut up the actual bulb. And even though it looks like an onion, it smells like licorice but doesn't taste like either), and on the right is a leek (used in a lot of asian recipes, kind of like an asian green onion).

Grandma's Rolls

You can make dinner rolls, crescent rolls, orange rolls, or cinnamon rolls with this recipe. Sorry this took me almost a week Denyse.

1 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. margarine
1/2 c. warm water
2 pkg. yeast
2 eggs, beaten
5 1/4 c. flour

Scald milk and stir in sugar, salt, and margaring. Cool to lukewarm. Measure warm water into large warm bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Add milk mixture, eggs, and 2 c. flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough. (dough will be slightly sticky) Knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise 30 min.

dinner rolls- divide dough into 3 pieces, then 9 pieces from each one. Place in greased pans and brush with melted butter. Let rise 30 min then bake at 350 for 15-20 min. or until golden.

crescent rolls- divide dough into 3 pieces. Roll on floured surface into a 12 inch circle. Brush with melted butter and cut like a pie into 12 pieces. Roll each piece from the big end and place on greased pan about 2 inches apart. Let rise 30 min. then bake at 400 for 12 min or until golden.

orange rolls- divide dough into 2 pieces and roll each piece into a rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Grate orange peel on top. Roll up and slice. Place in greased pan and let rise for 30 min. Bake at 400 for 10 min. or until golden.

cinnamon rolls- same as orange, just use cinnamon sugar and no orange peel.