Baked Lime French Toast

Source: Aldi Doxy

½ cup butter

¾ cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp light corn syrup

zest of 2 limes

4 Tbsp frozen lime concentrate, defrosted

5 eggs

1 ½ cups milk

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 loaf French Bread, cut into ¾ inch slices

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium saucepan, over a medium-low heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, zest, and limeade. Cook until sugar has dissolved. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Arrange bread slices in one layer over the lime mixture. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour over bread slices. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered for 30 min.

*When I need to feed a crowd, I sometimes cube up the bread, and pile it up in the dish instead of using slices. I then use 1 ½ batches of the rest of the recipe, and bake for 45 min.

Baked Cinnamon French Toast

Source: Pioneer Woman
1 loaf Sourdough or French Bread
8 eggs
2 cups milk
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp Vanilla

Topping
½ cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
½ cup cold butter, diced

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 9x13 baking dish. Cut bread into large cubes. Evenly place into baking dish. Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least for 2 hours.

For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter (I use a small food processor,) mix together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

When ready to bake, evenly distribute the topping over the bread. Bake uncovered for 55 minutes.

*Very fast and easy to make for company if you get it ready the night before, and bake it in the morning. I don’t always use cream, all milk is fine too.

Easy Parmesan Risotto

Source: Ina Garten

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

5 cups hot chicken broth

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp butter, diced

1 Tbsp white cooking wine (optional)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place rice and 4 cups of the chicken broth in large Dutch oven or oven proof pot. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Remove from the oven, add the remaining cup of chicken broth, Parmesan, wine, butter, salt, and pepper, and stir vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes, until the rice is thick and creamy.

*If you live near a WinCo, it is the best place to get Arborio rice. They have it in their bulk section for a great price. It is expensive at most stores. This recipe will not work with any other kind of rice.

Dad's Sunday Morning Pancakes

Source: Melvin Richardson

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 Tbsp oil

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Add beaten eggs, milk, and oil. Stir lightly until mostly mixed, but some lumps remain. Cook on heated griddle.

*We usually double this, unless we are all super hungry, then we triple.

Miracle Soup

Source: Zonya’s Healthbites

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 cups water

4 cups vegetable juice

1 large onion (I use pre-chopped, frozen)

2 bags Western Family Mediterranean Mixed Frozen Vegetables, or combo of cauliflower, carrots, green beans 

2 cans (14½ oz each) diced tomatoes

4 cups shredded cabbage (I use a bag of coleslaw mix)

½ cup salsa

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

1 envelope dry onion soup mix
Parmesan cheese for topping

Sauté onion in olive oil, add remaining ingredients. Simmer until vegetables are tender about 20 minutes.

*This is called Miracle Soup because it takes more calories to burn than it yields. It is surprisingly addicting! Substitute fresh veggies if desired. I save the rind from parmesan cheese and throw it in my soups to add tons of flavor.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Source: Rachel Ray

4 bananas, mashed very well(5 if bananas are very small)

2 cups old fashioned oats, coarsely blended in blender

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter, or chopped nuts

1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Scoop onto cookie sheet (they don't spread.) Flatten slightly. Bake for 15 minutes.

*The basic recipe for these cookies is just the bananas and oats, they are good, but I added the other ingredients to make them even better. We often have them for breakfast. I sometimes put 2 chocolate chips on each one, just because my kids get really excited.  

Russian Blinis

Source: vikalinka.com

(super delicious thin Russian Pancakes)

3 ½ cups buttermilk

½ cup water

2 eggs

3 cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Whisk buttermilk, water, and eggs. Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda, sugar, and salt. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in remaining flour, 1 cup at a time. Let batter sit for 20 minutes. Coat frying pan with a small amount of oil, over medium heat. Pour in about ½ cup batter, rotate pan around quickly so batter spreads evenly. Cook for about 1 min, flip and cook 1 more min. Oil pan before each blini.

*The first one is always a lump, but keep trying. So yummy served with sour cream (I prefer crème fraiche, hard to find and expensive though, so a mock creme fraiche recipe follows) and preserves-cherry is the best and most traditional, but raspberry, blackberry, etc. are good too.

Mock Crème Fraiche: Whip one cup heavy whipping cream to form stiff peaks, then fold in 1/3 cup sour cream.

Butter Chicken

Source: gooddinnermom.com

(My favorite dish at Indian restaurants. I was so excited to find a good recipe for it. The cook time is long, but the hands on time is short. Yes, it really calls for ½ cup butter, but is so worth it.)

1 yellow onion, diced(I use frozen, pre-chopped)

½ cup butter

8 cloves minced garlic (I use 8 tsp jarred garlic)

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 ½ tsp Garam Masala spice blend

juice from 2 limes

2 cans (15 Oz. each) tomato sauce

2 cans (15 Oz. each) diced tomatoes

½ cup whipping cream

½ cup chopped cilantro

In stock pot, sauté onion in the butter until soft. Add garlic, chicken, salt, pepper, Garham Masala, and lime juice. Cook about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Heat to boiling, then simmer on low, covered, for 30 min. Remove lid, increase heat to maintain a good simmer, cook for additional 1 hour to allow sauce to cook down and thicken. Add the cream and cilantro just before serving. Serve over Basmati rice.

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. each of cardamom, cumin, and coriander, which combined are expensive-over $20. The same spices are all in the spice mix of Garam Masala, for around $5. Available at most grocery stores.

Lasagna Soup

Source: Parade Magazine

1 lb mild Italian sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

3 oz tomato paste

8 oz tomato sauce

½ Tbsp dried Italian seasoning

6 cups chicken broth

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

8 oz dried pasta (campanelle or bowtie pasta)

½ cup ricotta cheese (I like Micell’s)

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

4 oz shredded mozarella cheese

In a large stock pot over high heat brown sausage. Add tomatoes, sauce, paste, Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil. Add pasta and boil, uncovered until pasta is al dente, 7-9 minutes. Turn off heat. Add ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses. Stir to combine.

*I usually end up cooking the pasta (al dente) separately and add it to the soup right before serving. I have a really hard time making sure the pasta is not mushy otherwise. Not pleasant! If you don't have ricotta cheese, just stir something creamy in- a little cream cheese, or a bit of homemade white sauce. When we were first married and had no money, I would make a simple white sauce to stir into anything to make it creamy. I have also used leftover spaghetti sauce to replace the tomato paste and sauce to make it simple. Mozzarella cheese can be substituted for whatever shredded cheese you have on hand also.