Buttermilk Pancakes and a Couple of Syrups

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes

This makes a crazy amount of pancakes - so have some Ziplock bags handy to freeze the extra. My family will never settle for boxed pancake mix again - these are so yummy! I never used to buy buttermilk, but now it's always on my shopping list.

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

5 cups buttermilk

5 cups all-purpose flour

5 tsp. baking powder

5 tsp. baking soda

1 pinch salt

5 Tbsp. sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and the buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder , baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a preheated non-stick griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook until browned on the other side. Plan on a lot of time to make it through all this batter.

Okay, now for some syrup. Just a couple recipes I've found that my family loves. Super simple and so delicious, the Mrs. Butterworth's is just sitting in the back of the pantry.

Cinnamon Cream Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1-5 oz. can evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk. This would be delicious on vanilla ice cream too!

or...........

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (don't try a small - this really gets big!) stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup and baking soda. Bring to a boil and cook for seven minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. As the syrup cooks, it turns a warm, caramely brown - so good!!!

Creamy Chicken Torilla Soup

This is so quick and easy!

Ingredients:
1-2 cans Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles) depending on how spicy you like it.
2 cans (14.5 oz.) Chicken broth
1 can no fat refried beans
1/2 cup corn
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (to make this even quicker I just shred the meat off a rotisserie chicken I buy at the store)
tortilla chips
shredded cheese
sour cream

1. Combine tomatoes and broth in medium saucepan.
2. Stir in beans and corn and bring to a boil.
3. Then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add chicken and heat through.
5. Top with tortilla chips and serve with cheese and sour cream.

I also like to serve this soup with the torillas you cook at home. They are by the eggs in the refrigerated section at my store. Just cook 'em up, butter 'em, and eat and/or dip in soup.

Yummy!

Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Slices

2-3 sweet potatoes (orange flesh), sliced about 1/8" thick

1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder or cayenne

1 tsp. onion powder

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix olive oil and spices together and drizzle over sweet potatoes and toss together until all the slices are coated. Spread the slices on a large pan lined with aluminum foil (I also used some cooking spray), and bake for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally.

I found this recipe online after looking for a healthy way to prepare sweet potatoes.

Verdict: Delicious!

A few things to note:

• These did not become crispy. I used about about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the olive oil, but I don't think that more oil would have equaled more crispiness. I think you could go down to just 1 Tbsp. and be fine - might cut a few more calories, etc.
• I baked mine for the whole 30 minutes and they were perfect - firm enough to hold their shape in a serving dish and stirring around on the baking sheet.
• This spice level would be great for little kids...I wanted more. Next time I will probably double the cumin and chili powder. I think you can play around with it to suit individual tastes. Extra spice could also be added after baking.
• I peeled my sweet potatoes even though the recipe didn't say to. I think I'll leave the skins on when I make this again. More fiber.
• There were a few slices that got a little dark -not charred, but definitely a deep brown. They were just a little bit chewy and by far my favorite part. Yummy! I'll use the broiler for a minute or two next time.
• Sweet Potatoes are VERY good for you! Eat them!
• I seem to have a lot of "next time" thoughts about this recipe - sorry - I've only made it once. It was really really good, so don't think you have to play around around with it to get good results. If you make them and find any other tweaking type things, please put them in your comments!!
• I'm serious about that nutrition thing.
• Also, they said to eat them.

Quick Easy Dressed up Oreos

Sorry this is past the season for candy canes but they taste really good(to my mom and me)Enjoy when you try them. Kieran

Ingredients
Almond bark
Candy canes
Oreos

1. melt 2 squares of Almond bark in the microwave(or stove doesn't matter)
2. Unwrap your candy canes and crush them in a bowl till they are in small little chunks
3.place the bowl of chocolate,crushed candy canes. and Oreos side by side (for an assembly line type thing)
4.dip the Oreos one at a time in the chocolate. covering them half way
5.then dip the chocolate side of the Oreo into the candy canes
6. Set to dry on wax paper(or something of the sort)
7. wait till the chocolate is hard then enjoy

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

I'm not posting this because it is The Best Pizza Crust Ever. I've never even had any other homemade crust that I know of. I am posting this because it is quick and easy and tastes really good. Way better than Boboli, or whatever that stuff is called and you know exactly what's in it. You can top it with anything you'd like, obviously. The opportunities are endless. One of our faves is BBQ chicken pizza.

Just top with BBQ sauce, cheese, sauteed red onion (or any onion, really) and chicken (diced), and cilantro (if you like that). Mmmm!

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

1 (.25 oz) package of dry active yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt


1. Preheat oven to 450. In medium bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in flour salt, and oil. Beat until smooth, (I just use a spoon, not a mixer). Let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. (I just press it onto a greased cookie sheet). Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cake

Another tried and true for thirty years.
2 cups All Purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups dairy sour cream
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees or 325 for a glass pan. Grease 13 x 9-inch pan. In large bowl, combine first nine ingredients. Blend 1 minute at low speed; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour half of batter (about 2 1/2 cups) into greased pan. In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture and chocolate chips over batter. Repeat with remaining batter, sugar mixture and chocolate chips. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (High altitude over 3500 feet: Decrease baking powder to 1 teaspoon. Bake at 375 degrees (350 for glass pan) for 30 to 35 minutes. It really makes a difference.) This cake doesn't need frosting.

Oven Stew

I really do enjoy cooking most of the time. I like to fix a nice meal and have everyone ooh and ah and tell me how good it is. Of course, I have had my share of cooking failures. And I'm always looking for new recipes. About 10 years ago I cleaned out my file of recipes that I'd clipped from magazines or brought home from Relief Society. I knew I wouldn't live long enough to try all those recipes. Guess what, I've got a whole new file of recipes to try. I'm a compulsive recipe clipper. And I buy new cookbooks. The problem is that cooking is so daily. I wake up every morning asking myself what I will be fixing for dinner that night. I like things that I can start early in the day and are ready at 5 PM or meals that can be fixed in less than a half hour. I especially like meat that can be grilled. I've tried making monthly meal plans. Or even two weeks. Or one week. And for those of you who do that, I envy you. But I could never make it work. I used to think I was organizationally impaired. But that's too negative. Now I say that I like to be spontaneous and flexible. Anyway, I enjoy cooking, but I love Fridays when the cook (me) has the night off.
There are many variations of this oven stew, but I've been making this for thirty years. It is tried and true.

1 1/2 pounds stew beef
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced 1/4 inch
2 potatoes, cubed
2 ribs celery, sliced 1/2 inch
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca
2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce
3 cups water
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
Mix all ingredients in a Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 275-300 degrees for 4-5 hours.