Braided Spaghetti Bread

A friend told me about this wonderful recipe and I just had to make it for my family... it is basically spaghetti wrapped in garlic bread!!! Doesn't that just sound delicious!?!? And if you have a child like one of mine who doesn't really like spaghetti with meat sauce... they still might like it!!! Mine did!!!

1 roll of Pillsbury French Loaf
6 oz spaghetti, cooked
1 cup thick spaghetti sauce (I added meat to ours)
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg white
Parmesan cheese
Parsley flakes
Garlic Powder

~Place loaf on parchment paper and roll it out into rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
~Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and let cool slightly. Mix sauce together with spaghetti.
~Remove wrap from dough. Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down the center of dough. Top with cheese.
~Make cuts 1 ½-inches apart on long sides of dough to within ½-inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.
~Transfer parchment paper to baking sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley and a little garlic powder.
~Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve. Enjoy!!!

Carmel Apple Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest (it is a Paula Dean recipe that has been modified) and it is absolutely delicious!!! I have made it twice in the last two weeks (once for a church get together and another for when we had family in town... just so you didn't get to thinking that our family was sitting around doing nothing but eating these;)

Ingredients for the Cake:
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (you can add these but I didn't)
2 1/2 cups apples, canned or fresh (diced)

~Preheat oven 350 degrees. Cream together sugar, eggs, and oil. Add flour; mix together until well blended. Add vanilla, nuts, and diced apples. Spread into a lightly greased and floured 13 x 9-inch baking dish; bake for 45 to 60 minutes. 
~Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. When cake is done, punch holes in it with a knife and pour topping over.

 

Ingredients for the Caramel Topping:

1 1/2 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1/8 cup of milk

~Heat all ingredients together over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let boil for about 2 minutes. Pour over warm cake. Enjoy!!!

Apple Tea Ring

I found this recipe at Flour Me with Love... and it is so very good!!! I modified it a little bit so that I could use my bread machine but other than that I followed her recipe pretty closely. If you don't have a bread machine, you can follow her recipe:)

Dough... 1st layer:
3/4c milk
1/4c butter
1/4c water
1 egg

2nd layer:
3c flour
1/2c sugar
1/4tsp salt
1 pkg instant yeast

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A BREAD MACHINE:
~Mix together milk, melted butter, water and a beaten egg... and add this to the bottom of your bread machine pan.
~Mix together flour, sugar and salt... and add this to the top of the wet mixture. Sprinkle yeast on top.
~Run these layers on the dough cycle.

***Take dough out of bread machine and roll it out into a rectangle on a floured work space. Mix together filling and spread evenly over dough.
Filling:
8oz cream cheese
1/2c sugar

***Mix together apple mixture and spread over filling.
6 apples, peeled and diced
2T cinnamon
2T sugar

***Roll the dough up and form it into a circle... make sure the ends are all sealed. Placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet and make cuts 3/4 of the way through the ring every 2 inches... all the way around. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

***After it is done cooking, you can drizzle cream cheese icing on it to make it even more delicious:) Enjoy!!!

Fried Chicken

A yummy recipe for The Best Ever Chicken Nuggets...
vegetable oil

4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons garlic salt
3 tablespoons ground black pepper
4 eggs, beaten
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into small chunks

1.Heat 1 inch oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a large skillet or saucepan.
2.Stir together the flour, garlic salt, and pepper in a bowl. Dip the chicken pieces individually into the beaten eggs before pressing into the flour mixture to coat; shake off the excess flour. Place the coated chicken pieces onto a plate until all the chicken has been coated.
3.Cook the chicken in batches in the hot oil until golden brown and no longer pink in the center. Enjoy!!!

Cuban Ropa Vieja

For the main course of our Florida meal, Allie made Cuban Ropa Vieja which she served with rice and as tacos... it was delicious!!!

Cuban Ropa Vieja

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 pounds beef flank steak

1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1.Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.
2.Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve with tortillas or rice. Enjoy!!!

***A little tip... to shred meat quickly throw it into a mixer- in large chunks- you will end up with perfectly shredded meat:)

Mini Key Lime Pie

Allie made these delicious little Key Lime Pies after we finished studying Florida... aren't they cute!?!? And everyone gets their own!!!

No Bake Key Lime Mini Pies

•12 mini graham cracker crusts **see note

•6 oz reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature

•1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
•2/3 cup key lime juice
•1 1/4 tsp powdered gelatin
•1 tsp vanilla extract
•1 cup whipping cream
•2 heaping Tbsp powdered sugar
•key limes or limes for garnish

1.In the bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and 1/3 cup of the lime juice with a hand mixer. Beat until smooth.

2.In a small bowl, combine remaining lime juice, gelatin and vanilla extract. Heat in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, until juice is hot enough that the gelatin dissolves into it completely when you stir it.
3.Beat the gelatin mixture into the cream cheese mixture in very slowly stream.

4.Divide mixture in between pie crusts and refrigerate for 3-4 hours, until set.

5.Before serving, whip whipping cream and powdered sugar together until it forms firm peaks. Spoon or pipe the whipped cream onto the pie and garnish with a slice of key lime or wedge of lime. Serves 12

** Note: you can forgo the crusts if you want to and just serve them in custard dishes. Just sprinkle with some graham cracker crumbs instead. Enjoy!!!

How to make Sour Cream...

I know that I am not the only one out there that begins to make supper only to realize I am missing one of the ingredients... the sour cream.

First you need to make buttermilk (which is really quite simple- I don't think I will ever buy buttermilk again!!!).

Buttermilk:
•Milk (just under one cup)
•1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

1. Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.
3. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

Now you can make your sour cream...

To make Sour Cream for baking:
Mix 3/4 cup of buttermilk plus 1/3 cup butter (I usually don't add all the butter and it turns out fine:) together and use as you normally would store bought sour cream.