Cornbread (Johnny Cake) Recipe

My kids love cornbread and since we're Canadian, they love it with maple syrup. It is a quick and easy breakfast or snack for them and is comfort food on a cold winter day.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar 
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter - melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 x 8 in baking pan.  Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix the egg, milk and butter.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together.  Pour into the baking dish and bake for 25 to 35 minutes.

Pioneer Pancakes - Easy Recipe

This is a very easy pancake recipe and requires very little ingredients. My son likes to make these.

Oatmeal Squares

My kids love these and I find them a great alternative to packaged granola bars. They are also simple to make.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1/8 tsp salt

Mix all of the ingredients together then place in an 8x8 baking pan and pat down until level and firm. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. While still hot, cut into squares and leave in pan to cool. This also makes a great crust for lemon bars.

Hot Crab Dip

This is a great crab dip which would be perfect for holiday entertaining.

Ingredients:

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 (8 oz) container of sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp garlic salt (or 1 clove crushed garlic)
2 cans of crabmeat, drained
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Crackers or toasted French bread rounds

Combine first 7 ingredients, stirring until blended. Fold in crabmeat.
Spoon mixture into an 11 X 7 inch baking dish; sprinkle evenly with Cheddar Cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately with crackers, toasted bread rounds, tortilla chips, etc.

If you really like garlic, you can add more to taste but just keep in mind, other people may not like a strong garic taste. You can also saute some shrimp and dice it up and put into the dip as well. Very delicious!

Apple Crisp Recipe

I love the smell of Apple Crisp. This is a delicious and easy recipe.

Ingredients:
4 cups of cooking apples (MacIntosh works great)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 F. Grease bottom and sides of a 8-inch square pan.
Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is gold brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a fork. This is great served with vanilla ice cream or cream. Yummy!

Seafood Fettuccine

This is one of my favourite dishes to make and it is very easy.

What you will need:

Fettuccine
small carton of Table Cream
Knorr Alfredo Sauce Powder Mix
1 can baby clams (drained and rinsed)
2 small cans of crabmeat
1 red pepper diced
8 mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup red onion diced
1 cup frozen shrimp (or as many as you like)(thawed)
1 tbsp garlic
parmesan cheese
butter

Directions:

Place butter in a medium pot and saute the red pepper, mushrooms, red onion, garlic and thawed shrimp until tender. Then add the table cream and Knorr Alfredo Sauce mix and simmer until the sauce thickens. You can adjust the thickness by adding more milk or cream or add some flour or cornstarch to thicken. Then drain and rinse the baby clams and add them to the sauce along with the canned crabmeat. Stir everything together and simmer for 15 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, boil your fettuccine according to package directions. Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

This dish is very yummy when served with garlic bread.

Healthy Lunchbox Ideas

It is always a challenge to come up with healthy ideas for the lunch box that actually get eaten by your kids and that are peanut free. I try to stay away from convenient packaged foods when packing my children's lunches. Here are some things that I pack that actually get eaten:

Hardboiled eggs - gives a great energy boost!

Sliced apples with cinnamon sprinkled on top - I like to add a squirt of lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown

Homemade oatmeal cookies (an alternative to granola bars)

Diced fresh peaches, pineapple, grapes, mandarin oranges. I like to buy the small Glad containers with a lid which is great for packing these in.

Cubed cheese, sliced pepperoni

Sliced cucumbers, carrot sticks, or celery sticks

Homemade rice krispie squares or cheerio squares, pretzels, mini muffins, popcorn

Leftover pizza, bagels with cream cheese, wraps, sub sandwiches

Soup, macaroni & cheese, chili, or pasta packed in a thermos.

Bistro Express

I am not great at cooking rice because it always comes out too mushy or not cooked enough. I find the Bistro Express Rice packets taste great and are so fast to prepare. They come in a variety of flavours. I like the Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Flavour which I use as a side dish to chicken breasts. It only takes 90 seconds to make this rice in the microwave and it comes out perfect everytime! I find that these packets are a bit pricey but they are often on sale for about $1.99 and that is when I stock up on them. They also make a quick lunch!

Unique Snack for the Kids

My son came home the other day with a great snack idea which he got from our neighbour. You take a mini ice cream cone and fill it with peanut butter. That's it! Such a quick and easy snack and the kids loved it. You could add jam or chocolate chips or anything else that you like to eat with peanut butter.

How To Bake The Perfect Cookie

Over the years I have had ups and downs in baking cookies. Sometimes they would turn out too crispy, too soft, or they would stick to the pan. In the past year, I have learned a few techniques on making the perfect cookie.

I always use real butter, regardless of what the recipe calls for. I also soften the butter in the microwave but I do not melt it. I use a good quality vanilla extract and I like to double the amount of vanilla the recipe calls for. This gives them a great flavour. It is also important to mix your dry ingredients well in a separate bowl from the wet mixture and then once your wet ingredients are mixed well, then you can add your dry ingredients. It also helps to have a good quality mixer. I have a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and it is awesome for mixing cookie dough.

Another great tip for perfectly browned cookies is to line your cookie pan with parchment paper. Your cookies will never sick to the pan and they will cook evenly and brown nicely on the bottom. If you like a soft cookies, bake them for about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven. If you like crispy cookies, bake them for 12 to 15 minutes, again depending on your oven.

I hope these tips will help you make a perfect cookie!

Brownies

This is my favourite recipe for making brownies from scratch. It is really easy.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Frosting:

3 tbsp. butter, softened
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. honey or corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup icing sugar
1 to 2 tbsp. milk

Heat Oven to 350 degrees
Grease square 9 x 9 x 2 in. pan
Mix together butter, sugar and vanilla
Add eggs, beaten
In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt
Blend flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture.
Stir in nuts and spread into pan. Bake for 20 to 25 min. or until brownies pull away from pan.
Cool, then frost.

Frosting: cream butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla. Add icing sugar and milk and beat to desired consistency.

Watch them quickly disappear!

Recipe for Homemade Fabric Refresher (Like Febreze)

I love the smell of Febreze but I find that it is very expensive. I recently learned from my mom that you can make your own fabric refresher with the following recipe:

1 cup of vinegar
1 cup of fabric softener like Downey or Snuggle
2 cups of water

Simply mix everything together into a spray bottle and enjoy the refreshing scent!

Chewy Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These are my favourite chocolate oatmeal cookies to make.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup softened butter

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp milk

1 cup chopped nuts

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla, beating well. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a smaller bowl. Add flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. I like to line my cookie sheets with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes for chewy cookie and 12 to 15 minutes for crispy cookie.

Pancake Recipe

This is a really easy pancake recipe.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 3/4 cups milk
2 tbsp oil

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, milk and oil. Add all at once to dry ingredients, mixing until almost smooth. Heat greased skillet over medium heat. Form pancakes. Cook about 1 min or until underside is browned and bubbles form on top. Flip and cook for about 30 seconds.

These are great for the kids for suppper too.

Frosted Flakes Cereal Bars

I make these as a variation of Rick Krispie bars. They are a nice change and super easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp peanut butter
40 large marshmallows
7 cups of Frosted Flakes (or similar generic brand)

In a large pot, melt butter and peanut butter. Then add all of the marshmallows and melt on medium heat stirring often so it does not burn. Once everything is melted, remove pan from heat and stir in Frosted Flakes. Mix well. Spoon into a greased rectangle glass or metal baking dish and spread evenly over pan. Let cool and cut into squares. Watch them disappear!

Cheerio Peanut Butter Squares

My kids love cheerios so I thought I would put make squares out of them for a change.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
6 cups of miniature marshmallows or 40 large marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
5 cups Cheerios
mini chocolate chips (optional)

Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in marshmallows and peanut butter. Stir until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in cereal and mix until well coated. Press into baking dish and cool. You can sprinkle with mini chocolate chips if you wish. Cut into squares.

Banana Bread - Another Favourite

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup margerine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3) the riper the better

Mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Cream margerine, sugar and eggs. Add bananas to cream mixture alternately with dry ingredients. Mix well, pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Yummy!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Brown Sugar/Pecan Filling

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp flour
1 cup chopped pecans

For the Cake:

Cooking Spray
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sour cream
Confectioner's sugar

Directions:

Prepare the filling; In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and pecans, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10 inch nonstick bundt panwith cooking spray.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs beating well. Add the flour mixture alternating with sour cream ending with flour mixture. Beat until well combined. Spoon half batter into pan. Sprinkle with filling. Pour rest of batter on top. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean about 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan about 10 minutes then take out and place onto rack to cool. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

Toffee Crunch Blondies

These bars are made with Skor Toffee Bits and Chocolate Chips. The kids loved them!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Beat 1/2 cup softened butter with 1 cup brown sugar and 2 eggs until well blended.

Stir in 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp salt.

Mix well. Stir in 1 cup of Skor Toffee Bits and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Spread in a greased square cake pan and bake for about 30 min or until golden and if you stick a knife in it, it comes out clean. Cool. Cut into bars. Enjoy!