One of my sisters sent me a baked pancake recipe the other day via Pinterest. What a brilliant idea!! As I mentioned before in my German Puff Pancake post I really dislike standing at the oven flipping pancakes FOREVER….while half of the family eats and the other half waits for a pancake. There are times though that you just need a good ol’ fluffy pancake and we’ve been loving my Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancake recipe. As I slowly bounced this idea of baked pancakes around in my brain…I thought, why can’t I bake my own pancake recipe? That would be the best of both worlds, a pancake that I already know we like and no flipping or waiting involved. 🙂
I’m a big fan of apple butter, so when I had a box of pears that needed to be used up quickly, pear butter kept coming to mind. I looked up some recipes and then mixed, matched, and tweaked until I had a recipe I was happy with. I have never made apple OR pear butter before and I was a bit skeptical at first. But when I smelled that pot of yummyness bubbling on my stove I knew I had a winner!!
First peel and cut up 8 pounds of pears. This was about 16 medium sized pears.
Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan to keep them from sticking. About 1/2 a cup. Cook on medium heat until they are soft, about 30 minutes.
Let the soft pears cool off a bit and then blend until you have a smooth consistency. You could use a stick blender or a regular blender.
When you have a nice smooth “pear sauce” add the sugar, orange zest, nutmeg, orange juice, and almond extract. Cook on medium heat until it reaches your desired thickness, stir often so it doesn’t stick to the pan. It will take about an hour. I let it cool then ladled it into clean pint size mason jars and put them in the freezer.
To can it: Ladle hot pear butter into sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal with lids and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes to seal. This made a little over 4 pints. The recipe could easily be doubled or cut in half.
NOTE: This recipe uses about half the amount of sugar that all the other recipes for pear butter call for. It was PLENTY sweet for us but you could add more if you like. The only thing I will do differently next time is cook it for longer, I would prefer it to be a bit thicker.
Green beans, green beans, green beans every where. I have planted green beans many, many times, but never have they tasted so good or been so abundant! (it must have been those heirloom seeds?) We pick them about every three days trying to keep up with them.
All these green beans have let me get acquainted with my brand new pressure cooker!
So far I have canned 20 pints and 14 quarts. I’m thinking that will get us through an entire year, especially since Digger isn’t fond of canned green beans. I have given some away to friends and family and the rest we have been enjoying with dinner.
Here are 2 super tasty ways to EASILY add fresh green beans to your dinner.
First find a REALLY cute niece to help you snap the beans. 🙂
She took her bean snappin job VERY seriously!
If you don’t have one of these (my sympathies) it CAN be done alone, BUT it is very boring.
After the beans are snapped and you have picked up all the beans off the floor and cut all the little teeth marks off of them, give them a good washing! (I told you, not boring with a cute helper)
Grease a cookie sheet and place as many snapped and washed beans as your family will eat for dinner on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground pepper on the top. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. This is soooo easy and so yummy!
The next recipe is my favorite because it involves BACON!
You will need fresh snapped and washed green beans, bacon, and a small onion.
Chop up the bacon (I used 6 slices) and fry it until crispy. Place the bacon on a paper towel to drain, leave the bacon fat in the pan and add the onion and green beans (about 4 cups). I used half of a LARGE onion I bought from our neighbors at the farmers market….wow! Let them saute in the bacon grease for a few minutes, stirring often. When they are done to your liking, drain excess liquid then add the bacon back in and stir. Add Salt and pepper to taste.
That’s it; deeeelicious! I ate this for lunch yesterday…well not ALL of it, I shared a little with the girls. 🙂 Digger who won’t touch a green bean out of a can will happily eat either of these easy fresh green bean recipes!
In the past I have tried to share only recipes that are on the healthier side…this is not one of those! I feel compelled to share it with you though, because they REALLY are award winning brownies (not to mention easy and delicious).
In 2009 when Little Chef was 6 years old I asked her if she wanted to make some cookies and enter them into the fair. She said “no, I want to make brownies”. So we found a brownie recipe that looked easy enough for a six year old and she went to work (with a little help from mom). That year she brought home the huge purple “Top Of Show” ribbon. Over the past four years that recipe has become our “go to” dessert. If I need a dessert quickly this is the recipe I grab. I usually grab my daughter too and have her make them! (lots of grabbing going on, sorry) She never says no to making “her” brownies. 😉 So when her 4-H leader told us about “Food Activity Day” the natural recipe of choice was………..you guessed it, Chocolate Chunk Brownies. On food activity day the kids pick a recipe and bring everything they need to prepare that recipe (or meal). They set to work while the judge watches. When they are done and the kitchen is clean they get to share their food with the judge and answer any questions they have. My daughter was so excited about this day, and she had soooo much fun! She was asking if she could do it again next year before they even handed out the awards. 😀 She received reserve champion in the Junior class for her brownies and brought home another purple ribbon and a blue ribbon!
They are soooo soft, gooey, and chocolaty rich, and they just melt in your mouth!
Author: Little Chef adapted this recipe from the Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
1 cup butter - melted
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs - slightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup simi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
In a large bowl add the sugar, vanilla, and eggs to the warm melted butter and blend well. Add flour, cocoa and salt; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a greased 13X9-inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until set. Let cool for at least 1 hour or until completely cooled before cutting into bars.
3.2.1230
As you can see this is not a healthy recipe but definitely worth sharing. 🙂 Well….maybe I just wanted to brag about my Little Chef, that’s not so little any more.
Berries seem to be everywhere right now, and muffins are a weakness of mine so we’ve been eating lots of them lately. A couple weeks ago I shared a Fresh Raspberry Muffin recipe that used our homegrown raspberries. The girls and I made several batches, but now the bushes are pretty much picked clean. Sadly we don’t have any blueberry bushes (yet), but I did find some for a very good price the other day so I bought LOTS! I found this blueberry muffin recipe about a month ago and they looked sooooo delicious I couldn’t wait to try them! I made a few minor alterations to the recipe and oh yum, yum, yum!
In a big bowl stir together the milk (any kind will work), melted butter or coconut oil, egg, vanilla and sugar. Then mix in the flour, baking power, and salt.
Gently fold in the blueberries. We used fresh berries but frozen would work too. Fill greased muffin tins two thirds full (this makes about 10 muffins). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide adapted this recipe from Angela at Hickory Trails
Cuisine: For breakfast or a snack
Serves: 10
Ingredients
¾ cup milk - any kind of milk will work
¼ cup melted butter or coconut oil or olive oil if you prefer
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup organic sugar or sucanat
¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
Stir together the milk, butter, egg, vanilla, and sugar. When it's nice and smooth mix in the flours, baking powder, and salt. Then gently fold in the blueberries. Fill greased muffin tins about two thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. This will make about 10 muffins and can easily be doubled if you want more.
3.2.1230
I’m going to make a dairy free version of these for my mom and sister by using almond milk and coconut oil. I love recipes that you can easily substitute ingredients for people with allergies!
This recipe was adapted from Angela at Hickory Trails. She took some amazing pictures of her muffins; you should check out her blog!
Summer is finally here! We enjoy smoothies all year, but they seem to be especially good on hot days. So to celebrate the beginning of summer I’m sharing one of our favorite smoothies,(the girls have been making these daily!) The best part is I don’t mind them having one everyday, they are a pretty healthy snack, especially if you have organic ingredients. 🙂
This makes enough for one adult size smoothy or two kid size smoothies. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide
Recipe type: Smoothy
Ingredients
¾ of a cup of milk (any kind of milk)
1 frozen banana
1½ tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ice cubes
2 tablespoons peanut butter
5 to 7 drops of liquid stevia - we use the chocolate flavored (If you don't use stevia any sweetener will work, honey, maple syrup, sucanat ect....)
Instructions
Put all the ingredients in a blender and push the liquify button, blend until you have a nice smoothy consistency. It takes about 30 seconds in my blender.
3.2.1230
This is a very versatile recipe; if you can’t have peanuts just leave out the peanut butter, it’s still yummy. If you need dairy free, you can use a different milk. I have used almond milk and rice milk and both worked great.
An easy, healthy, summer treat with chocolate and peanut butter….how could you go wrong? Yummmm!!
Click here or on the picture to take you to the recipe!
There you have it, homemade seasoning salt! Be sure to shake well before each use. Use sparingly at first, you can always add more but you can’t take it out if you get to much.
This works great on EVERYTHING! Well…..maybe not chocolate cake or ice cream, no definitely not ice cream…but I’m sure it will be great on everything else! 😉
I found this recipe in one of my Taste Of Home cookbooks. I’ve been looking for recipes to use my homemade ranch packets in, so I thought I’d give it a try.
It was a hit!! The first time I made it I sliced it up and made BLT’s with fried eggs and avocado slices. I wish I had taken a picture. They were delicious!
This bread is very tender and has a wonderful ranchy flavor.
Step 1 – Start by mixing the yeast, warm water, and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Step 2 – Put the buttermilk, butter, sugar, eggs, ranch salad dressing mix, and salt in a mixer, blend well. Stir in the yeast and water mixture.
Step 3 – Add 2 cups of flour to the mixer and stir until smooth. While the mixer is still mixing add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough that pulls away from the bowl. That will be about 2.5 more cups.
Step 4 -Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic – about 6 to 8 minutes.
Step 5 – Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise until doubled – (about 1 hour).
Step 6 – Punch the dough down and divide into 2 pieces. Roll each piece into a 14″ x12″ rectangle.
Roll up each piece starting with the long side. Pinch the seam to seal and tuck the ends under. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet and let rise until doubled – about 30 minutes.
Step 7 – Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter.
I used this bread to make egg salad sandwiches last night for our Care Group meeting and they were yummy, yummy!
This recipe makes 2 loaves - about 14 slices per loaf
Author: Adapted from Taste of Home by The Queen Of The Red Doublewide
Ingredients
1 packet of active dry yeast - 1 packet equals 2¼ teaspoons
¼ cup warm water 110 - 115 degrees
1 cup buttermilk warmed to 110-115 degrees
¼ cup butter softened
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 packet ranch seasoning mix (try my homemade one it works great!)
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 4½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
Instructions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar and let it sit for ten minutes.
Put buttermilk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and ranch seasoning into a mixer and stir well. Add the yeast and water mixture and stir.
Add 2 cups of flour and mix until nice and smooth, add the next two cups of flour and then add a little at a time until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes.
Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled.
Punch down and divide into two pieces. Roll each piece into a 14"X12" rectangle, then roll up starting with the long side. Pinch the seams to seal and tuck the ends under. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet, cover and let rise until doubled.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter.
Poured the batter into a greased 13X9 inch pan.
Baked it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
This got a thumbs up from everyone around here, including Uncle Tom. 😀
