Wednesday, April 27, 2011

White bread recipe

We are usually wheat bread eaters here.  Not that I don't like white bread...I guess I feel that wheat bread is better for us so that's what we eat.  Honestly, I have rarely met a bread I didn't like. :)

Anyhow, this recipe makes for some yummy white bread...which is great plain, with butter or even better- as French Toast! (I will share that recipe tomorrow.) I hope you will give this recipe a try.  As with any bread, adjust the liquid and flour slightly to make sure the consistency is right...not too wet or dry. I make this in my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook, but you could do it by hand as well.  I have no idea if this will work well in a bread maker.  If you try it, let us know!

I doubled this recipe for two fluffy loaves to make lots of French Toast for the freezer (perfect camping food!)










White Bread

1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions: Combine the milk, sugar and yeast. Let sit a few minutes until foamy. Combine flour and salt in another bowl and whisk together. Add the butter (melted) to the milk and stir. Add flour and salt to the milk and knead for about 5 minutes.  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Punch down, place in a loaf pan, cover and let rise for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oven to 350. Bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Design team call and a great prize!

You can win an Echo Park "Be Mine" paper collection by becoming a fan and commenting on the Inspired to Scrap Facebook page! Here is the link to the page-
Scroll down to the photo of the prize and leave a comment! Be sure to share the fun by re-posting about it on your page.

Inspired to Scrap is having a design team call and time is running out to apply! Anyone can apply. Join the forum and get to know us...we have a great group of scrappers! See the call details here-

Class is ending this week and it has been so much fun scrapping our stash! I will share some layouts soon!

I have plans for more layouts and recipes here...stick around and don't give up on me since I have been such a bad blogger lately! :)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Menu Monday

Whatcha cooking this week?  We have easy meals...many from the pantry and freezer.  Trying to use up a few things that have been sitting around. :)

Here's a photo of Thursday's recipe! (from over a year ago!)















Monday- pasta and bean skillet
Tuesday -quick barley chicken chili (recipe on the back of the barley box)
Wednesday- shepherd's pie, fresh bread
Thursday-lean and green chili
Friday- ww chicken parmagiana , pasta
Saturday- hamburgers, oven fries
Sunday- tuna noodle casserole, peas


So what are you cooking? Have you broken out the grill yet? :) We grilled some really yummy chicken over the weekend.  Shoulda taken a photo...I will next time! It was a great recipe from one of my scrappy friends, Daiva. :)

Friday, March 4, 2011

A couple of layouts from class

We recently ended another sketch class at Inspired to Scrap and I had so much fun creating layouts, sharing techniques and being inspired by all of the other layouts and designer techniques! You should really join us in one of the classes...it's a great opportunity to get a lot accomplished! Here are some layouts I completed in class...one of each of the munchkins. :) In total, I completed more than 15 layouts!

The first two are based on sketches by me:



Based on a sketch by Shannon Morgan:

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Kit layout

Here's another layout I created using my Inspired to Scrap Jan. kit.  I added the pink cardstock and the flowers from my stash.  I used this for one of my challenges during the Whimsical Winter Crop.  Have you used your kit yet?



Pumpkin Biscuits

I have been out of the habit of sharing recipes so I am trying to get back into it.  I love browsing through other blogs to find new recipes so I want to share in the fun. :)

We've made these several times and they are soft and yummy. My oven never gets quite hot enough...it usually hovers just above 400.  Even so, these still turn out tasty. This photo is not the best...it was the last lonely biscuit...a little thin from being part of the third round of cut outs.  But I forgot to take a picture of the nicer ones. LOL Anyhow, we had these with Orange Honey Butter which was fun for a change but I think we prefer plain old butter.  These are not too sweet...just a little.  They are a great with almost any sort of meal!














Pumpkin Biscuits
2  cups  all-purpose flour (add more if sticky)
3  tablespoons  sugar
2  teaspoons  baking powder
1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
1/4  cup  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4  cup  fat-free buttermilk (Or combine 3/4 TBS white vinegar with 3/4 cup skim milk)
1/2  cup  canned pumpkin

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450ยบ.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (flour through nutmeg); cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Combine buttermilk and pumpkin; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. (I don't usually even knead that much...just enough to barely make the dough hold together...you don't want to over work dough for biscuits.)
4. Roll or gently pat dough to about 1/2-inch thickness (I make them more like 3/4-1 inch thick). Cut into 12 biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
5. Bake at 450° for about 11 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with 1/4 cup Orange-Honey Butter.

Orange Honey Butter
Mix 1/4 cup softened butter with 2 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp grated orange peel. Add more honey or orange to your taste.

Enjoy!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Menu Planning Monday

Another week of meal plan sharing...yay me! :)















We tried a new blueberry muffin recipe this morning-yummo. The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen- http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/ . We made them as mini muffins.  It made exactly 24 nice "big" fluffy mini's. It is always so cute when the kids are waiting for treats to bake (Ellie does this funny little trying-not-to-smile-smile. LOL)

 
Tried any new recipes lately? 

Here's our plan for the week.  Easy stuff...you know, since I have sooooooo much time to spend cooking in the kitchen. ;)
Monday- Stinky Chicken (don't let the name fool you...this is delicious! It's a recipe from the Scrapshare cookbook...but basically chicken, potatoes and green beans baked with butter and a packet of Italian dressing mix).
Tuesday- Garlic Shrimp, grilled veggies, rice
Wednesday- Tacos
Thursday- Chicken and lentil soup (been on the menu for a couple of weeks and it keeps getting pushed back!), cornbread muffins (I will try to remember to get a photo of these...it's an easy and tasty recipe I have been making for a few years!)
Friday- Kielbasa with beans and rice
Saturday-Fried rice with meat and veggies (whatever we have...I make it up as I go!), Egg Foo Young
Sunday-Crockpot italian cream cheese chicken over pasta, a veggie

Find more meal plans and recipes at http://www.orgjunkie.com/

What are you making this week?

My lovely blog visitors