Jesus Take The Meal

  My boys love any sort of bread for breakfast. I came across this one in a cookbook called Sunday Dinners at Grandma's.  The boys loved it, and although it isn't the healthiest thing on Earth it also isn't meant to be eaten in its entirety.  I was out of buttermilk, so I combined 1T white vinegar with 1 c milk Ingredients: 1/2 c shortening 1 c sugar 2 eggs 2 c all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 c buttermilk 3 T sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Blend shortening and 1 c sugar in large bowl with mixer. Beat in eggs. Set aside. In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to shortening mixture, a little at a time alternating with buttermilk. In another small bowl, mix cinnamon and 1 T sugar. Grease a loaf pan (I use Baker's Joy spray) and add 1/4 of batter. Top with cinnamon sugar. Continue for 4 layers total. Bake for an hour and cool on wire rack.

There is nothing like a bowl of chicken and dumplings. And that's just how I like mine. Chicken. Dumplings. Please don't try to sneak in veggies. It's called Chicken and Dumplings for a reason. I found this recipe years ago, and it just a good ole bowl of comfort food. Ingredients: Whole Chicken 2 32 oz containers of chicken stock 2 tsp salt  Pepper to taste For the dumplings:  2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3 T shortening 3/4 c buttermilk Directions: Cook chicken in a large pot over medium heat with stock, salt, and pepper until falling off the bone. Usually this takes about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how high you have your heat. I usually do it slower and longer because I don't want to have to keep a close eye. Once the chicken is done, remove the chicken from pot and skim any solid pieces from the stock. Pick off chicken from bones and chop into small pieces. Set aside. To make the dumplings, combine flour, baking soda, salt...

This is not a pretty dish. There's no good way to make it pretty. So, I will just tell you it's good and stick with that. I did divide this one up before baking into a pan for the oven and a pan for the freezer.  Ingredients: 1 bag frozen shredded hashbrowns 1 bag of shredded cheese (2 c) 2 16 oz containers of sour cream 2 bags bacon pieces 1 package of Ranch seasoning Directions: Mix sour cream, Ranch, most of the cheese (save a little for top of dish), and bacon pieces. Stir in hashbrowns. Pour into casserole dish (I used an 8x8 square one, but the entire amount will fit into 9x11 dish). Top with a little shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  *If freezing, prepare up to baking and cover with foil. When ready to bake, leave foil on top and bake for an hour. Remove foil and bake for another 15 min until cheese is melted and center of dish is hot. 

This week my youngest asked for ribs. These are easy and pretty quick if you have an instant pot. I added some baked beans (Bush's canned) and made a side of "Crack Hashbrown Casserole" (recipe coming soon). This time I bought the preseasoned ribs from Kroger, but I usually either make a rub or use one for ribs from the store. Ingredients:   Rib Rack(I usually buy baby back ribs) Rib Rub BBQ sauce of choice 1 c water 1/2 c cider vinegar 1 tsp liquid smoke Directions: Take ribs from packaging and rub if not preseasoned. Pour water, cider vinegar, and liquid smoke in instant pot. Place rack in instant pot and curl rib rack on its side. Seal top and set on Meat Setting for 25 min. Allow to natural release for 10 min and then release pressure. Place rib rack on sheet pan and brush with BBQ sauce of choice. Broil until the sauce is carmelized and bubbling. Enjoy!

This is another meal that helps "Tomorrow Me". I made a batch of sheet pan pancakes on Sunday evening. I actually made 2 pans - one chocolate chip and one batch with apples that had been cooked in butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. I halved each pan and divided half of each sheet pan into one container for this week and one pan for the freezer. So I'm helping "Tomorrow Me" and "In a Few Weeks Me" by being able to pull an already prepared meal out of the freezer.  This recipe is from Kate Strickler of Naptime Kitchen. Ingredients:  *Note: this is for one sheet pan worth of pancakes 3 c. Pancake Mix (If you make your own mix use that. I often do, but this was easier) 2 c. Milk 2 eggs 1-2 tsp vanilla flavoring Mix in Options: For this batch I did chocolate chips for one batch. For the other batch I had apples that needed to be eaten, so I diced them then sauteed them in about 1 T butter, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon until they were soft and brow...

I heard someone say that they like to do things to help their "tomorrow self". It makes me think of the Luke Combs song "Tomorrow Me." One way I help "tomorrow me" is to prepare breakfast ahead or at least prep it to the point of almost being able to serve. Mornings are hectic once school starts, so anything I can do to save time helps us as a whole. Several times a week I try to prepare breakfast ahead, and it's a huge perk if it will last several days. Enter in these egg muffins or omelet cups - whatever you want to call them they are easy, yummy, can be adapted to fit anyone's tastes, and can last for multiple mornings. Ingredients (for this specific batch): 10 eggs Mediterranean flavored feta crumbles 1/2 green pepper, chopped 1/4 onion 1 package diced ham Salt and Pepper, to taste Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Saute onions and green pepper until softened. I only sprayed my pan with cooking spray, but you...

When we have any sort of Mexican dish, guacamole is a MUST. I keep it pretty simple with my guac.  Not pictured, jalapeno (I forgot I had it until after I snapped this) Ingredients: Avocados Lime, juiced Red Onion, finely diced Cilantro. minced Jalapeno (optional, and I don't always use), seeded and diced Salt to taste Directions: Use ripe avocados and mash with fork or potato masher to the consistency you like. I prefer a little chunky, so whatever you like. Add lime juice, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno (if using), and salt. There is no exact measures on this one. You just have to add to your liking. I used 6 avocados last night, the juice from 2 limes, a handful of chopped cilantro, about 1/4 c minced red onion, and about 1/2 diced jalapeno, seeds removed. I know there are some cilantro haters, so leave that out if that's you. Make ahead by a few hours if possible. Store by smoothing out guacamole in bowl and added plastic cling wrap to the top. This will help prevent brownin...

  I bought these conversation cards on Amazon last week to keep at the table when we are all together for dinner (which is most nights unless my husband's schedule doesn't allow it). One of the questions was "If you could only eat 3 foods for the rest of your life what would they be?" Two of my three boys answered "crema tacos" if that tells you how much they love this recipe. This is a Half Baked Harvest recipe, and the actual name is Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch. All I can say is that we love these. I always use ground chicken and will usually double the recipe to have for two nights + some lunches/snacks after school, etc. I didn't do that last night and we had about 5 tacos left after everyone ate. Don't be afraid to add the jalapenos to the ranch dressing/crema. This is not a spicy dish. Everyone who has ever had them has loved them, and I have served them to a LOT of people. Time savers and helpful hints: Make your cre...

We had this pasta for dinner last night, and it was a "new to us" recipe. It makes a large dish, so if you don't have a huge family to feed I would suggest dividing into two servings and freezing one. We could have done that to feed our crew of 5. Our youngest doesn't really enjoy most pasta dishes, so I did know  going in that he wasn't going to eat this. The other boys ate it and liked it. I served it with a bagged Caesar salad and garlic bread. Kate from Naptime Kitchen talks often about doubling a recipe and making one for dinner and one for the freezer. That's my goal with recipes like this that I know we will like. I will do that next time, or I will make an 8x8 dish for dinner and freeze one about the same size.  Ingredients: 2 tsp olive oil (I actually didn't use this) 1 lb ground beef (90% lean) 1 lb ground Italian sausage 1/2 c chopped onion 2 tsp minced garlic 24 oz jar marinara (Carbone's Tomato Basil is excellent) 8 oz can tomato sauce (I ...