Oatmeal Crispies

Oatmeal Crispies
■1 cup Shortening (Crisco)


■1 cup Packed Brown Sugar

■1 cup Sugar

■2 whole Eggs

■1 teaspoon Vanilla

■1-½ cup All-purpose Flour

■1 teaspoon Salt

■1 teaspoon Baking Soda

■3 cups Quick Oats

■½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans

Preparation Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening with both sugars until well combined.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs together. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Add to the shortening/sugar mixture and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix carefully into the egg/shortening mixture until well combined. Now add the quick oats and mix well again. Finally add the finely chopped pecans and mix well to combine.

Divide the dough in half and place each half of the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a log and then wrap it tightly in the waxed paper. Now you can either chill or freeze the dough until later or you can go ahead and slice the dough evenly into cookie rounds.

When you are ready to bake them place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until they are golden brown.

Happy 17th Birthday to Audrey!

French Toast (My favorite thing for breakfast!)

Very simple and sooo good. I use french bread, eggs, milk, pure vanilla extract & oil. Simple. So simple you'll be able to figure it out just by looking at the pictures below!

Now add some butter, syrup and maybe some fresh fruit! mmmmmm

Race Day Taco Salad

This is a typical Sunday afternoon meal. Usually eaten while watching a Nascar race! It's pretty simple for me to fix and not miss too much of the action!

Race Day Taco Salad

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning (any brand)
lettuce (chopped fine)
tomato (diced)
grated cheese
sour cream
avacados
gaucamole seasoning mix
corn chips
salsa or picante sauce

Brown the ground beef and add the taco seasoning as per the package directions. Slice your avacados and place in bowl. I like to mash mine and get them nice and smooth then add the seasoning mix. Set aside.

Next layer a nice big plate with corn chips. Add your meat and other topping items you like. Spoon on sour cream, gauc & salsa. Enjoy and hope Kasey Kahne wins the race!

Recipe Source: me

Baking Tips:
Getting Ready/Equipment
Tips for great baking from the Kraft Recipes web site. These are all so true!



•Don't mess with the basic ingredients, the flour, liquid, salt, fat and leavening in your recipe. Unlike other types of cooking, you must measure your ingredients accurately and have the right tools to do so.


•Dry ingredients are measured in flat-topped measuring cups and are made to be filled to the top and leveled off.


•Liquid measures are usually glass, with more space at the top, and a pour spout. Add liquids to the cup, set it on the counter and look at it sideways, on its own level. Do not substitute liquid and dry measuring cups for one another -your ingredient measurements will be inaccurate if you do.


•Tableware spoons should not be used for measuring since they vary in size.


•For best results use shiny aluminum baking sheets without sides (baked products will brown more quickly on dark-colored baking sheet because they absorb more heat than the shiny type). You can also turn a jelly-roll pan (15 x 10 x 1-inch pan) upside down and use it in place of a baking sheet.


•Prepare baking pans according to the recipe. Cookies with a high fat content may not need to be baked on a greased surface. Remember some non-stick pans can be ruined if you apply non-stick sprays.


•Tip: allow baking sheet to cool completely before reusing.


•Tip: Line baking sheets with parchment paper. The paper will withstand high temperatures without scorching. This makes the baking sheet easier to clean, and you can slide the sheet of parchment with the baked cookies right onto your rack for cooling. However, as they cool you'll need to turn them over to complete the cooling and prevent the bottom of the cookies from getting soggy. **I don't ever leave my cookies on the parchment paper. They get soggy really quickly, even if you turn them.**

•Bake only one sheet of cookies at a time on the middle rack in the center of the oven.


•A wire cooling rack speeds the cooling of cookies, etc. It allows steam to escape from all sides of the baked product so the bottom doesn't get soggy.


•Tip: use a cooling rack with closely spaced wires so cookies have adequate support when cooling.

Something Easy

It's not all homemade around my house. I'm not to proud to support Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines! So this morning we are having some easy & quick muffins, from a mix!

Of course anything with the name 'Cinnabon' in it is bound to be good right?

See. 3 ingredients. Milk, eggs & oil.

Give it a good stir, put in your muffin pans. (makes 12)

Then you add the little topping packet. You can get 1 teaspoon per muffin. Doesn't seem like much but it's just right.

20 minutes later and you've got muffins!

Homemade Egg Rolls & Fried Rice

I've been making my own egg rolls for a year or two. They are easy to make and taste great! Serve with some fried rice and fortune cookies (store bought, I haven't tried making those yet!).

Egg Rolls
( T ) = Tablespoon ( t ) = Teaspoon ( C ) = Cup


1 pound ground pork (in the pork section @ Wal Mart)


1 Package Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps (the wraps @ IGA are NOT as good as the ones at Wal Mart) Sorry, I'm just bein' honest!

1 tsp fresh ginger root, minced (or powdered if you don't have fresh)1 C Cabbage, finely chopped


1/2 C Carrot, shredded (I use my cheese grater)


3 Green onions, finely chopped


2 T Soy Sauce


Vegetable oil for deep-frying


Sweet & sour sauce for dipping




Cook ground pork and ginger over high heat until lightly browned. Add cabbage,  carrot and green onions: cook til cabbage is soft. Stir in soy sauce.

Let mixture cool. Use 2 tablespoons filling for each egg roll. Follow folding directions on package.

Deep-fry: heat oil to 350 degrees, and deep-fry a few at a time, turning occasionally, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.  Serve with sweet & sour sauce if desired.

Recipe Source: egg roll wrapper package! I altered it quit a bit to our taste.

Fried Rice

This is totally my own creation. It's based on several different recipes I've found on the internet.

1 pouch instant white rice

1 pouch instant brown rice

3 - 4 green onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, chopped into small cubes

2 eggs, lightly beaten (I add a touch of milk)

1/2 cup frozen/canned peas (optional)

Soy Sauce

Cook the instant rice according to the package directions. Set aside. Boil or steam the carrots til soft. Scramble the eggs & onions at the same time. Chop the eggs into small pieces.

Now add all that stuff together in a large frying pan with a tiny bit of olive oil.  I mean TINY! Next add about 2 teaspoons of soy sauce. At this point everything has been cooked so your just getting up to a nice temperature. Stir often though, it will stick/burn. Serve with your egg rolls!
 
OH!! The little triangle things are just extra wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese & jalapenos, then deep fried! mmmmmm