The Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make

BEER BREAD.

It has always been my favorite homemade bread I think. It's 3 ingredients ok. 3. THAT'S IT. This recipe is from a neighbor from when my mom was a child. I wish I could hug this woman!

Ok.

3 cups of self-rising flour
2T sugar
1 can of luke warm beer

Stir together until just moistened, don't overmix.
Put in a well-greased bread pan.
Then make an egg wash of 1 egg and 1T water, pour over top of the bread.
Bake at 350F for 1 hour.



This bread is AMAZING toasted! Or fried in a pan. Or even just cut right off the loaf with some butter! I hope you like it, cause I clearly do!

Oh, we let this cool on a wire rack out of the pan until it's completely cooled then store in a ziplock baggy in the fridge cause it can mold just like any other homemade bread.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

I used the recipe from HERE

I'm sorry I didn't take a picture, I was pretty busy freaking out to take a pic because Royce started eating dirt just after I took it out of the oven! lol.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, I had to use Oikos, Greek Yogurt
• 1  1/3 cups sugar, divided
• 3 extra-large eggs, I only had small eggs so I used 4
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons), I had 4 small lemons so I zested them all.
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the Glaze

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, I just eyeballed this with the larger amount of juice I had.
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, used all the juice from the lemons, so probably a 1/3c.*******

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour the standardized loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest and vanilla.  
4. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated.  
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes – until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
6. Cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear – set aside.*******

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in.  Cool the cake. I stabbed the cake a few times to make sure the glaze soaked in.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Ok a few notes, I seemed to misread the 6th step and I never did it. I just made the powdered sugar glaze with all the lemon juice. Ehheheh. Whoops. Still nice and lemony! This cake seemed very dense and not very crumby. I don't know if that's because of the thick yogurt or if I over mixed it. I'm not sure. But it did have great flavor!!

 

Royce's & My Cauliflower Cheese Soup

1 head cauliflower, cut up into bits, remove as much stem as possible
4c water (or can just use all chicken or vegetable broth but omit the bouillon cubes)
1 potato, peeled and cut up into a small dice
2 chicken bullion  cubes
A few dashes of:
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
Garlic powder
Onion powder
1/4t minced garlic
1/2 block cream cheese




Directions:
1. Put everything in a pot except for the cream cheese. Boil for 20min or until the cauliflower & potatoes are tender.
2. Once veggies are tender, put them thru a ricer, I just used a spider whisk and did it right over the pot until I got all the pieces  picked up. If you don't have a ricer or just don't want to do it this way, a blender would work great as well, just be sure to allow the steam somewhere to escape or you'll have soup everywhere.
3. Check seasonings.
4. Add in the cream cheese once everything is all riced/blended.
5. Cook for another 10 minutes to heat thru.


Serve.
I topped mine with croutons.


Notes: 
This would be also great with carrots in it too! Just cut those up into small pieces like the potatoes. OOO! 
Add a dollup of sour cream too!
My cream cheese was right out from the fridge and I had issues breaking it down so either get it to room temp or just nook it for a little bit to soften it. 
I also had too much water in the end (I have adjusted the recipe)
 so I made a slurry (broth & corn starch) but if you follow the recipe you should be alright. :)

Chicken Tikka Masala

	Sorry for the crap picture, I couldn't find my camera. I topped mine with sour cream and chopped scallions. Marinade ( the day before): 1lb chicken breast cut into chunks** 1/2c sour cream 1/4t each of ground: cinnamon, coriander,  turmeric,  cardamom, chili powder, chili flakes, nutmeg, pepper & salt. 1t fresh garlic, minced/paste/whatever 1/2t fresh grated ginger I mixed everything in a baggy and set in fridge in a dish (in case something happened so raw chicken juices didn't leak everywhere. ** My trick with chicken for slicing into chunks is to let it freeze completely then thaw in the fridge over night so it is just crystallized and MUCH easier to slice than the completely raw chicken. Next Day!: Marinated chicken Broccoli florets Cauliflower florets Snap peas Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger Sprinkle/dash of each: cinnamon, coriander,  turmeric,  cardamom, chili powder, chili flakes, nutmeg, One 35-ounce can peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, juices reserved, or could use crushed tomatoes or diced Pinch of sugar 1 cup heavy cream  1/2c sour cream OPTIONAL: RICE. Cook according to directions and serve with the chicken tikka masala once finished. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Add the spices , chile powder and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken and fully cook. Add the tomatoes with their juices and the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the cream and  cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes longer. Check seasonings. Steam the veggies in the microwave, like 5 min or so. Stir in the steamed veggies; simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, and serve.  I added more spices than what my recipe says because I wanted more of a kick so add your spices to your liking. I did not serve with rice because I can't have it but it would be delicious served with it. The nutrition facts I have tho do not include the rice and this is for about a cup and a half serving. Calories: 363 Carbs: 21 Fat: 22 Protein: 24

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

I did the exact same recipe as this lady.

Recipe:

Crust:

1 & 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

5 T. butter, melted

2/3 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cookie Dough:

5 T. butter, room temp.

1/3 c. packed light brown sugar

3 T. sugar

1/4 t. coarse salt

1 ts. vanilla extract

3/4 c. flour

1 c. chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:

10 oz. cream cheese, room temp.

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla extract

As you can see I had a few issues spreading the stuff...

Topping:

1/3 c. chocolate chips

1 t. shortening

Preheat oven to 325°.

For the crust:

Line an 8 x 8 pan with foil and grease it well.

Crush graham crackers into crumbs to make 1 & 1/2 cups. Add to butter and stir until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.

Press crust mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

For cookie dough:

Using mixer and the paddle attachment, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Adjust mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

For cheesecake:

Using mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.

Pour batter into cooled, baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling. The dough is crumbly and you'll have to squeeze/roll it if you want balls. I put in as many dough balls as I could, then just crumbled the rest over the top. It seems like a ton of cookie dough, but it is just so good, so go ahead and use it!

Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Place in the refrigerator to chill several hours.

For the topping:

Combine the chocolate chips and shortening and melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals at 50% power. Stir after each interval; repeat until melted.

Drizzle over the bars before serving. Note: Bars will look better if you cut before drizzling - I found that if you drizzle over the whole thing, chill, then cut, the topping breaks and doesn't stay where it belongs very well. 

-----

I actually mixed all this stuff up in a ziplock baggy. Worked alright. I also didn't have an egg for the cheesecake part so I just added a little milk. My cookie dough batter was too dry (I didn't exactly measure) so I added a little milk, so now the top of the cookie dough looks like raw cookie dough BUT IT'S STILL DELICIOUS AND I'M SURE IT'LL HARDEN UP OVER NIGHT. :D

Savory Dill Pancakes & Potato Latkes

SAVORY DILL PANCAKES:

1 1/4c ap flour

1t cumin

2t baking powder

1c (or a little more depending on thickness) milk

1/2c cucumbers

Scallions- I used white onion cause it's what I had on hand.

Fresh dill

1t Salt 

pinch of pepper

Make 6hrs ahead before need & keep in fridge.

Little olive oil in the pan, 2" around. Fry until the little bubbles pop.
 Serve alone or with the Gravlax. I topped mine with sour cream.

POTATO LATKES:

4 large peeled baking potatoes

2 large eggs

1 large onion

3 tablespoons potato starch (I just used flour)

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

vegetable oil for frying

Shred the potatoes in a food processor. Squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible (I put portions of the shreds in a kitchen towel and squeeze until they are practically dry). Place the shreds in a bowl. Immediately mix the eggs in (this helps keep the potatoes from browning). Add the potato starch, salt, pepper and baking powder. Heat about 1/4” vegetable oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Shape latkes by hand, squeezing liquid out if there is any, and place them in the hot oil, leaving space between each one so that they brown well and become crispy (if they are too close they will “steam” and become soggy). Press down on the latkes to keep them evenly shaped. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side or until the pancakes are golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels. Makes 12-15

I had some dill leftover from the salmon so I used that in it too.  I forgot to squeeze out the liquid so they didn't fry quite properly but that was my issue. :P I served it with sour cream and applesauce. Delicious!

Chicken Pepper Soup

Introduction

I used up leftovers in the fridge. Turned out delicious and very flavorful!

Number of Servings: 10

Ingredients

2# boneless, skinless chicken breast
1c green bell pepper, chopped (about 1 large pepper)
1c red bell pepper, chopped
2 small white onions (or whichever onions you prefer), diced
1 can/box of chicken broth
3c water
1/2t Italian herb seasoning
1/2t basil flakes
1 "dash" of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2t garlic powder
1/2t onion powder
1t sea salt
1/4t black pepper

Tips

I did this in my crock pot and added the noodles half an hour before I was ready to eat.

Directions

Put raw chicken breast in pot with box of broth and enough extra water to cover chicken. And add all seasonings.
Boil until cooked thru.
Chop all of your vegetables.
Dice or shred chicken.
Since I boiled the chicken in the broth I used a mesh strainer to get out the boiled up fat and gross bits.
Put all veggies, chicken, strained broth into the pot. Check seasonings.
Cook until vegetables are tender, add the noodles Cook until they are tender.
Serve.

Serving Size: Makes 10 1-cup servings

Nutrition Info:

• Servings Per Recipe: 10
• Amount Per Servin: 1c
• Calories: 82.6

• Total Fat: 1.4 g
• Cholesterol: 29.8 mg
• Sodium: 376.1 mg
• Total Carbs: 5.6 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
• Protein: 11.7 g