Cream Cheese Chicken soup in homemade Bread Bowls

I made this last night for our NYE dinner. It is SO GOOD. Hope you all try it and enjoy!

Bread Bowls 

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups).

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Chicken Soup 

2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots (about 2 regular carrots or a handful of baby carrots)
3 cups chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz. package) regular or light cream cheese
2-3 (about 1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent. Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir often to ensure the soup doesn’t burn. Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty, or let it set at room temperature for until soft. Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces. Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through then whisk or stir the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well. Add the cooked chicken and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. 

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1 hour homemade bread

I found this wonderful recipe for my beehives to make for the sacrament bread and I must say it turned out quite delicious! Here's the website with a step by step video.

http://www.lafujimama.com/2009/09/simple-one-hour-homemade-bread/

And here are the instructions

Makes 2 loafs

5 1/4 cup white bread flour

2-4 TBS sugar

1 1/2 TSP salt

1 1/2 TBS (rounded) saf-instant yeast

1 1/2 TBS oil

2 cups hot water

1. Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Mix for one minute then check the consistancy of the dough. The dough should be very sticky, if it is too dry add more water (but not too much)

2. Mix for 5 minutes. Do not add any more flour after the dough has finished mixing

3. Spray kneading surface with cooking spray and lay dough out onto surface. Knead dough briefly until it has a smooth even consistency (This will only take several turns of the dough to accomplish)

4. Divide the dough into 2 pieces (or more if you want smaller loafs) and shape loafs into desired shape and place on greased baking sheets. Cover with a large dish towel and let raise for 25 minutes.

5. While loafs are raising, set oven to 350. When loafs are ready to go in the oven, use a sharp knife (you can lightly spray it with cooking oil to prevent dragging) to make several slashes in the top. Make each cut about 1/4 inch deep at a 30 degree angle. Bake loafs for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTES:

Why bread flour? In short, bread flour helps make the bread loftier and chewier

Why saf-instant yeast? It is a high potency fast acting yeast that can be added directly to your dry ingredients without it having to be put in a starter first

Why slash the loafs? First, for a beautiful visual appearance, and second the scoring allows the dough to expand quickly during baking so it reaches it's maximum volume. It also prevents a 'blow out' if bubbles appear under the crust and then burst.

This was SOO easy, and SOO good, and you don't even have to have a breadmaker!

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Banana Bread

I was going to post this forever ago when all the banana bread recipes were coming out, but I forgot. And since I made this bread the other day I took pictures so I could post it now :)

Banana bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I tried coconut oil instead this time and it gave it a totally different flavor! It was good, but I'm partial to the original taste :))
2 eggs
1 cup (2-4) mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix first 3 ingredients. Then add mashed bananas, vanilla, and sour cream and mix well. Lastly add the dry ingredients and mix well, but not so long that it gets too fine. Grease and flour a bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

This is my favorite bread recipe! The sour cream makes it so moist and yummy. Sometimes I'll sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top before I bake it. It gives the crust a little crisp :)

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Cornmeal Buns

We are in the planning stages of my daughter's upcoming COWGIRL birthday party. We have decided to do hot dogs and s'mores. Of course, we can't do anything the regular way. We are always trying to find a way to make the run-of-the-mill food taste awesome. (We have a reputation to uphold, after all.) So I thought instead of making hot dogs with buns AND cornbread, there should be a way to make cornmeal buns. One quick Google search took me right over to Martha Stewart, who never disappoints. So we made a trial batch over the weekend, and like I said, Martha never disappoints! These buns will be making their official debut at the cowgirl party in September.

A few notes:

• The buns came out a little dense, but I think that is from over-mixing. I tried to get the dough to be "smooth, soft, and (...) not stick to your fingers when squeezed, about 5 minutes," but it wound up being more like 10, and it was still sticky. Lesson learned: stick to 5 minutes, and let it be sticky.
  
• I used regular cornmeal this time, but I think next time I will make it with stone-ground. It will have more corn flavor since less of the kernel is taken out in this process. I think it might also help the bun to be less dense.
• Since the recipe is written for slider buns, it is supposed to yield 12. But shaping them oblong for hot dog buns instead, produced only 9 (3-oz each).

ENJOY!

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Birthday Pot Roast, Asparagus, and Garlic Bread

My husband requested this meal for his birthday two days ago, so this is why "Birthday" is in the title :) I was just going to post the recipe to the pot roast, but the side dishes were very easy and tasty too! So there are three recipes with two pictures below.

Crock Pot Chuck Roast

1 chuck roast

1 package of lipton beefy onion soup mix (make sure it's beefy! I used two paskages because we had a huge roast)

1/2 cup water

Salt to taste

Poke holes in the roast with a knife. Place in a crock pot. Pour in water, soup packet, and salt. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Enjoy!

Oven Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus

1-2 Tbsp. Olive oil

Garlic Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse asparagus and snap off ends. Place in small baking dish and drizzle oil over them. Sprinkle garlic salt (sometimes I will do fresh minced garlic, thyme, and salt. This is much easier though). Lightly stir so each asparagus has oil and garlic salt. Bake in oven for 30-40 min, testing with a fork for tenderness.

Garlic Toast

1 loaf of French Bread

Butter

Garlic powder

Parmesan cheese (grated or powdered)

Preheat oven to 350. Slice bread to desired width and place in cookie tray. Spread butter onto bread. Sprinkle with garlic powder, then Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

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Welsh Breakfast Cakes

No picture- I was not paying much attention, and they were a little burned. Tasted great, just didn't look so good. So I spared you that. If you're looking for a fun alternative to pancakes- these are yummy! And you could use ANY cookie cutter you want! (I used hearts- perhaps a Father's Day idea?)

3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 eggs beaten with enough milk to yield 3/4 cup liquid

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture is a coarse, even consistency. Add the egg and milk. Stir to form a soft dough. Divide the dough in half and working with one half at a time (keep the other refrigerated, especially if your kitchen is warm), roll the dough into a circle 1/4-inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or other small round cutter, cut circles of dough. Heat an ungreased skillet or griddle over medium heat (or an electric griddle, preheated to 300 degrees). Fry the cakes for about 2 minutes on the first side and an additional 1 1/2 minutes on the second, or until both sides are golden brown. As with pancakes, you’ll have to adjust the heat if you find the cakes are browned on the outside before they are thoroughly cooked in the middle. Repeat with the remaining dough. Keep the cakes warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve. Sprinkle with granulated sugar or cinnamon-sugar before serving, if desired. (but still use syrup- tastes so yummy!) 

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Buttermilk Cloverleaf Rolls

I am in love with these! I'm thinking about making it a "thing,"  make bread dough on Sunday, and have homemade yummy rolls almost every night with dinner! (what could be better?!) I just portion them out around 2pm, let them rise until dinnertime, then slap them in the oven! And they are so cute- they look like clovers when baked! 


3 c. buttermilk at room temp.
3 c. flour (whole wheat?)
1 tbl. yeast dissolved into 1/4 c. warm water (let proof for 2-3 mins.)
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tea. salt
1/2 oil
1 tea. baking soda
5 c. flour, more or less (Try 3 c. whole wheat, and 2 c. white so it's not too heavy)

Mix the buttermilk. flour, and yeast/water mixture in a large mixing bowl. Let stand at room temp until it has doubled in size- about two hours.

Add sugar, eggs, salt, flour, oil, and baking soda. mix well and knead for 7-10 mins. Grease as many muffins as you want, then roll small dough balls (about 3/4 in.) and place three balls into each tin.

Place the rest of the dough into a covered container and place it in the fridge. It will keep for up to seven days (a whole week's worth of rolls for dinner!)

Let rolls rise until double in size- about 1-2 hrs. (dough from fridge will take longer because it's cold) Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins.

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Grandmama's Banana Bread

I feel like I have to throw my grandma's banana bread recipe out here- because everyone else has one too! This one has applesauce to keep it moist- and amazingly, it is the same amount as one of those snack cups I have for the kids. Bonus!

4 tbl. margarine (or butter- I'm trying to fatten up my girls)
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
2 tbl. milk
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 c. mashed bananas
1 3/4 c. flour (try whole grain!)
2 tea. baking powder
1/2 tea. baking soda
1/4 tea. salt
1/4 c. coarsely chopped walnuts/pecans (optional)

Beat margarine, applesauce, eggs, milk, and brown sugar together. Add bananas. Combine flour, baking powder & soda, and salt. Then mix into the banana mix. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 55 mins.

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Banana Bread (healthy.. I think)

I modified the recipe a little and I also doubled it to make 2 loaves. One to eat and one to freeze. Here's your list of ingredients.

1 1/2 C Flour (I did half white and half whole wheat, healthy!)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda (I forgot this in mine today, oops.. still turned out though, it just probably would have risen more)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

2 slightly beaten egg whites (healthy!)

1 C mashed banana (black, or almost there.... sorry it's missing from the picture)

3/4 C sugar

1/4 C vegetable oil (I substituted this for the same amount of the coconut oil and it turned out just fine and tasted just the same... HEALTHY!)

Stir together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, salt, sugar).

Mash up the banana (excuse the measuring. Again, I doubled it)

Beat those egg whites a bit.

Then toss everything in the bowl along with whatever oil you use.

Mix it all together until just moistened, then spread in well greased loaf pan. For the extra calories and sugar jolt, I sprinkle a generous helping of sugar on the top. It gets all crystallized and crunchy.... oh so good. Try it, you'll like it :)

Bake at 350* for 45-50 mins.

Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan. I cooked mine a little too long. Being a mom will do that to your baked goods, dangit ;) After it's cooled completely wrap in plastic wrap. If freezing, wrap in plastic wrap then stick it in a gallon sized freezer Ziploc bag.

ENJOY!

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BANANA BREAD/MUFFINS

This is Ryan's grandma's recipe and by far the best banana bread recipe I have come across!I make it into muffins! easier for 'serving' or in our case, eating 'on the go'
Preheat oven to 325
1 cup (3) VERY ripe bananas- mine are basically black!
1/2 cup of oil
2 eggs
(put in a large bowl and whip them REALLY well)

In a seperate smaller bowl:
2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of nuts (OPTIONAL)
1 cup sugar

Take the contents of the smaller bowl and dump into large bowl then mix. Grease either loaf pan or muffin tin really well (or use paper cup liners) and fill til about 1/2-2/3 the way full. Bake 1 hour for loaf or 22-23 minutes for muffins until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

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