Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Do you know what else a coffee pot is good for besides coffee? I have 3 coffee pots. A single serve one that I use for coffee, a 4 cup one that I use to heat water for oatmeal and hot chocolate, and a 12 cup coffee pot for making tea. Just thought you might like to know how I heat my water for this next recipe.

1/2 cup quick oats
1 cup hot water
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup maple syrup

Heat your water first than pour it over the oatmeal and mix. Than add the brown sugar and maple syrup.

Bacon Alfredo Sauce

I love chicken and I love alfredo sauce but I'm not real fond of chicken in my alfredo sauce. Instead, I like real bacon bits in my sauce. Here is an easy alfredo sauce recipe I found:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter (real butter is better)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese (or bagged shredded Italian cheese blend)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
pepper to taste
real bacon bits

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over low/med heat. Slowly pour in the heavy cream and continually mix with a whisk until it begins to simmer (do not let it boil). Add the cheese in a little at a time and whisk until it's smooth and creamy than add your seasonings. Top with the bacon pieces after it's been mixed with the pasta.
Note: If the sauce is to thin than add a couple tablespoons of flour to a very small amount of milk and than stir it until their are no lumps and than add it to the sauce.

Honey Mustard dressing

My son loves honey mustard dipping sauce (it's tragic when we run out). I forgot to buy some and had to search the fridge to throw something together for him. I didn't use a recipe or measure anything out thinking it would be the only time I would need to make it from scratch. Well, that was over a year ago and my son has asked me a dozen times since to make it again. So I searched several recipes on the web trying to find a recipe similar to the one I whipped up. This one is very close and it tastes really good.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip) 

2 Tbs yellow mustard

2 Tbs honey

1 Tbs lemon juice (or vinegar)

Mix it all together and enjoy. This can be used as a dip or dressing.

The first time I made this I only had Miracle Whip and that's what I used. It was way too sweet. So if that's all you have on hand than you may want to cut back on the honey. I have not tried it with vinegar yet but the recipe I found said you could use either lemon juice or vinegar. If you've tried this with Vinegar leave a comment and let me know how it tastes.

Baked Pork Chops

Did you know you could use instant mashed potatoes as breading? Well, I didn't know that...until today. Anyway, I did not use instant mashed potatoes in this recipe but I will make a recipe using it soon because I can't wait to try it.

Ingredients:
Thin cut boneless pork chops
flour (to coat)
eggs
bread crumbs (any flavor)

Notice I didn't add an amount to the ingredients? Well, it's because it will depend on how many pork chops your cooking. Rinse and pat dry the pork chops, coat with flour, dip in eggs and than coat with bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes.

Chocolate Pudding

I never knew chocolate pudding was so easy to make. I am was always buying those little pudding cups but they just aren't big enough to fulfill that hankrin you get for puddin'. Here is an easy recipe I found on Pinterest and it's do die for!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/8 cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups milk

Combine all of the dry ingredients into a sauce pan. Slowly mix in the milk and heat on med/high. Stir, stir, stir until it thickens. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract. Cool in the fridge. That's it...the hardest part is waiting for it to cool.

Strawberry Lemonade

I just love frozen strawberry lemonades from McDonald's. Before we moved we had a McD's in walking distance from our house. It was the perfect combination. I got my exercise walking to McD's and my strawberry lemonade fix everyday...it was my motivation. So just imagine my disappointment when we moved to a town that doesn't even have a McD's! I started having major withdraws, I had to do something so I went to the grocery store only to find out they don't carry strawberry syrup. So I Googled a recipe and this is what I found.

Strawberry syrup:
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix strawberries and sugar in a sauce pan. Stirring occasionally, cook on med/high heat until it begins to thicken (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and puree half of it (or mash it with a potato masher). Place it back in with the remainder and cool in the fridge.

Lemonade:
1 cup real lemon juice
1 cup sugar
add enough water to make 2 quarts
Mix in desired amount of strawberry syrup and enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

I make these with turkey bacon and turkey dogs but they can be made with regular bacon and hot dogs. There are several ways to cook them. They can be cooked on the grill or fried in a pan until the bacon is crispy or baked in an oven. I prefer to cook them in the oven but I can't wait to try them on the grill.

Ingredients:
hot dogs
bacon
BBQ sauce

Wrap a slice of bacon around each hot dog. Slather it in BBQ sauce than grill them, fry them or bake them. I bake them at 400 for 20 minutes.
Note: I have not tried to fry them in a pan but I would think that you would leave the BBQ sauce off while you cook them and add it later.

Leave me a message and tell me how you cooked your bacon wrapped hot dogs. Did you use turkey or pork?

Chocolate Chip Mousse

Recently I've been experimenting with coconut milk in my recipes after reading about it's health benefits. I came across this chocolate mousse recipe on Pinterest. That particular Pinterester (is that a word?) also uses this recipe as a cupcake frosting...mmmm. I haven't tried it on a cupcake yet but I will!

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Use a can of coconut milk that has been sitting (untouched) in your cabinet for a day or two ( you need the milk to separate from the water in the can). Open the can and place it in the fridge over night (this causes the milk to thicken at the top of the can). Scoop out the thick coconut milk into a bowl (save the coconut water for another recipe). Add the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and blend until it's the consistency of mousse. Top with chocolate chips and enjoy!

Note: It is very important not to shake the can. If the coconut milk did not separate and you decide to use it anyway than it will be more like pudding and less like mousse. And you will probably want to add more sugar.

The first time I made this it turned out wonderful and delicious but the second time I made it the milk did not separate. It could have been because I came strait from the grocery store and put the can in the fridge and it thickened before it had time to separate. Or because I used a different brand and some manufacturers use a thickening agent to keep the milk from separating in the can. I made the recipe anyway and to be honest I did not like it as much. The next time I get a can that does not separate I think I will skip the mousse and make a banana and coconut milk smoothie.

I bet you could use a can of coconut cream instead of the coconut milk (if you have tried it let me know). Did you try this recipe? Did your mousse turn out ok? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Ranch Chicken

This is a recipe I like to make from Betty Crocker. The only difference is I bake them instead of frying them in a pan. I try to avoid frying at all costs, not just because it's unhealthy but because I'm just not good at it. So it's safe to say that you will not find many (if any) fried foods on my blog. One of the things I like about this recipe is that you can use spicy mustard in place of the ranch dressing and it's just as good.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breasts (halves)

Ranch dressing (or spicy mustard)

bread crumbs (any flavor)

Parmesan cheese

Brush the dressing on all sides of the chicken and then coat with bread crumbs. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

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The taste will be mild so don't be afraid to slather it on. I used about a tablespoon of ranch dressing on each piece of chicken.

Coconut and Banana Smoothie

I recently started using coconut milk in my smoothies because of its health benefits and I like the rich and silky texture it gives the smoothie. One of my favorites is this simple coconut milk and banana smoothie:

Just blend together 1 cup coconut milk and 1 banana. It's that simple!
If you use canned coconut milk than you may need to add some regular milk to thin it out a bit.