Banana Brownie Waffles

Banana Brownie Waffles

Makes Eight 4 ½ x 4 ½-inch Waffles

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups 1% milk
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 2 large eggs, beaten (we like to use Eggland’s Best eggs)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, bananas, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla extract until well combined.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

4. Coat the hot waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (about 2 cups or according to your waffle iron) and cook on medium-high setting.  Repeat with the remaining batter.

5. Serve with sliced bananas or strawberries on top and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 waffle):  310 calories, 12g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.8g omega-3), 300mg sodium, 43g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 10g protein, 20% calcium, 15% iron

CHOCOLATE RICE PUDDING

1 quart soy milk

2/3 cup white rice, uncooked

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1 tsp vanilla

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 - 35 minutes

Place milk, rice, and sugar in large sauce pan. Simmer over medium heat;

stir continuously. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered until rice is tender,

about 25 minutes. Check to make sure rice doesn’t scorch. Add chocolate and stir

until melted. Beat eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, flour, and vanilla in medium bowl

until smooth. Gradually beat egg mixture into rice mixture. Stir continuously;

cook over medium heat until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Do not allow

pudding to boil. Pour pudding into medium bowl. Cover and chill.

English Muffin Bread

This is done in the bread machine. It makes a medium sized loaf. But this type of bread sinks down on the top, and it is dense.

1 1/4 C tepid water
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 C bread flour
3 T nonfat dry milk
2 tsp. yeast
Following your bread machine's directions, place ingredients in pan in order machine requests.
Enjoy!

Buttermilk Syrup

Original Recipe Yield 2 cups
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

Homemade Bagel Recipe

by John D Lee

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbls sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1 Tbls vegetable oil

2 tsps instant yeast

1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Pre heat your oven to 425.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done! Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready, and feast on what's got to be one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!
You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup dried minced onion
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

Directions

1. Combine the ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 1 year. To prepare tacos: In a skillet, brown ground meat; drain. Add 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix and 1/3 cup water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Recipe from here.

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

--5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced in 1 to 2-inch chunks
--1 teeny onion, diced
--4 cloves garlic, minced
--1 teaspoon seasoned salt
--1/2 teaspoon black pepper
--1/2 teaspoon red pepper
--2 quarts chicken broth
--2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, to add at the end
--crumbled bacon and green onion or chives as garnish (optional)

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Peel and dice the potatoes, and put them into the stoneware. Add onion and garlic. Sprinkle in the seasonings, and pour in the broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. The potatoes should be fork-tender. You can use a potato masher to mash the potatoes in the soup, or a hand-held immersible blender. I suppose you can also leave the potatoes in chunks, if you really wanted, but I wanted a smooth soup.

After smashing the potatoes, crumble in both packages of cream cheese, and put the lid back on. Cook on high for about 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is completely dissolved. Stir a few times during the 30 minutes.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, green onion or chives, and I'd assume cheddar cheese would be just delightful.

Parmesan Crackers (Homemade)

I think I've finally found the cracker recipe I've been looking for:

This is taken directly from the website smittenkitchen.com

Rolling the dough 1/4-inch thick, I yielded 30 1 1/2-inch square cookies that shrank slightly and puffed to 3/8-inch thick

1 cup all-purpose flour, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese (alternate: I think Romano could also work well here)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup cream or half-and-half, more as needed
Coarse salt, pepper, sesame or poppy seeds or whatever you like for sprinkling (optional).

Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly dust with flour. Put flour, salt, cheese and butter in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until flour and butter are combined. Add about 1/4 cup cream or half-and-half and let machine run for a bit until a dough forms. If it does not come together, add more liquid a teaspoon at a time, until mixture holds together but is not sticky. (I only needed the ingredient levels as listed to pull the dough together.)

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/4-inch thick or even thinner, adding flour as needed. From here, you can either form them into individual crackers (I went for 1 1/2-inch squares cut with a fluted pastry wheel) and bake them an inch apart on your baking sheet (the method I used) or transfer the entire rolled-out sheet to your baking sheet (draping it over the rolling pin will make it easier) and score them lightly with a knife, pizza or pastry wheel to break into crackers after they are baked. For either method, dock all over with a fork and sprinkle with salt or any other toppings you are using.

Bake until moderately browned, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack; serve warm or at room temperature or store in a tin for a few days.

Caesar Salad Dressing

1/4 c. olive oil
3 tbsp. lemon juice
3 or 4 cloves garlic
Few drops hot sauce
Few drops Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients. Let stand one hour. Add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on top of a bunch of Romaine lettuce. Add some homemade croutons and enjoy.

Tomato-Basil Soup

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh tomatoes, cored, peeled, and chopped (8-10) or canned whole tomatoes, crushed
• 4 cups tomato juice (or part vegetable or part chicken stock)
• 12-14 basil leaves, washed fresh
• 1 cup heavy cream (or substitute with Evaporated Milk)
• 1/4 lb sweet unsalted butter
• salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. 
   

   Combine tomatoes, juice/and or stock in saucepan.

2. 
   

   Simmer 30 minutes.

3. 
   

   Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan). Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring, over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.