Homemade Bagels - So Quick and Easy

We have heard rave reviews lately about these bagels and had to give them a try.  So this weekend up at Lake Winnepesauki with the Golds I thought we would do it  A house full of hungry kids - even if they were marginally good someone would eat them.   Huge surprise - they were ridiculously easy and SO GOOD!   Add some cream cheese and pepper jelly - BAM!  Tastiness is served right up.

These bagels use self rising flour which you can buy pre-made or make yourself. I make my own self rising flour and have always had wonderful results.

You can make your own self rising flour by mixing:

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift together and use whenever a recipe calls for self rising flour. This will make 1 cup of self rising flour.

To make 4 bagels, combine 1 cup of self rising flour and 1 cup of Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt in a bowl until a dough starts to form. If you just want to make 2 bagels, just use 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of yogurt. The rest of the recipe remains the same

This dough will be pretty crumbly at this point. Turn on a lightly floured surface and brush your hands with a bit of flour.

Knead until dough forms and divide into 4 parts. I weigh my dough on this scale to make sure I have 4 equal pieces.

Roll out the dough balls to form a “rope” and pinch the ends together to make a circle.

Brush bagels with an egg wash and sprinkle with Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning. This stuff is amazing! I use it on bagels, eggs, avocado toast…everything!

You can also top these with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if you prefer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes and 500 degrees for 2 minutes so the tops can brown. 

Butter Tarts

I feel like this is a recipe that needs no introduction.  If you know us, you know.  If you have been around us between Thanksgiving to Christmas, you know.    If you don't like raisins, too bad for you - you are missing out.  If you are afraid to make homemade pastry for this --- fear not, you must do it.  Santa DEPENDS on one of these to be on his cookies and milk plate each and every year or Christmas just may not happen.  This right here is a Sandy Miller specialty.  Heston has been converted.  Our good friend Dave Vick requests them for his birthday ( now that he is in Utah we mail them to him.)

1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Seedless Raisins
2 eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/3 Cup butter
4 Tbsps. Cream
1/2 Cup Broken Walnuts ( I don't do the nuts)

Beat the eggs.
Combine with remaining ingredients except nuts, and boil at medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir and stir and stir.  * You don't want to scramble the eggs - we have done it before and had to strain it through a stainer. 
At this point you add the nuts if you are using them.
1/2 way fill the unbaked  tart shells and bake for 15 minutes at 375.


* Caution put a pan at bottom rack underneath because if you fill too full they boil over and will make a mess in your oven.



MUST MAKE WITH MOM AND KATHY DUNHAM'S PASTRY - RECIPE TO FOLLOW
YOU CAN CAN MAKE AHEAD AND HAVE IN THE FREEZER AT THE READY.

Best Ever Banana Bread

I know, I know, when you see the words best ever you question "is it really?".   At least I do.  Because how do you define BEST EVER?   Your best ever is going to be different than mine.  Best Ever can best be described as something that is outstanding and this is what this banana bread is.   This was made by my mom.   I thought all banana bread was just like this - not so, and I learned that in elementary school when I was over at Devri Hulbert's house. ( story for another day ) . This is the recipe I now always use.   The other day Reagan was so excited that we had browning bananas so we could make banana bread.   The day was busy and hectic and baking up a treat with  6 year old was not on my agenda but it is just what we did.  We made the Best - Ever Banana Bread.


Best - Ever Banana Bread

2 Cups sugar
1 Cup Butter
6 Ripe Bananas ( i dont always use 6 because we aren't huge banana lovers over here )
4 eggs - beaten
2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Chocolate Chips ( semisweet and milk mixed)


Preheat oven to 350
Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
Add bananas and eggs and beat until well mixed
Add in all the dry ingredients and don't over mix
Pour into greased loaf pans - should be 2 of them
Bake for 45 mins to 1 hour and test for doneness
* if the top is getting too dark for you but it is not cooked thru yet - make a loose foil layer over the top.
* cool on rack for about 10 minutes before  removing from pans
* bonus because these are so great to freeze
* for some odd reason this tastes better as bread and not as muffins

The very best part about this picture is that these
little bread pans were my moms 🍞🍞

Almond Joy Protein Bites

We tried these first over Christmas break and they are quick and easy tasty treats.

Make sure you always have a batch in the fridge or the freezer.  They’re great to eat before or after iou workout, as you are sitting in the car waiting for seminary to end, to send in kids lunches, or as a treat to fill your sweet tooth hankering. 

These protein balls are easily customizable. You can switch out the almond butter with any nut butter of your choice. You can also change the flavor by using different extracts or nuts/seeds in place of the mini chocolate chips.   If you don’t have the protein powder, no worries, don’t put it in.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp coconut or almond extract
• 1/4 cup milled flaxseed or protein powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

• Combine almond butter, honey, extract, flaxseed and 1/4 cup coconut into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix well.
• Add oats and chocolate chips.  I didn’t have mini chips so I just chopped up a bunch of regular chips.Mix to combine.
• Use a mini cookie scoop to form balls.  This scoop
  Still seems a bit big.   Eye ball to whatever size you want. Roll balls in 1/2 cup coconut.
• If stacking, use parchment paper between layers.  Store in the fridge or freezer.

NOTES

You can use any nut butter in place of almond butter.

For a smoother, more cookie-dough-like texture, use blended oats or Kodiak Cakes flour in place of the oats.

If you're using all-natural almond butter, you may need to add a little more honey or melted coconut oil to help bind the protein balls together better (if the mixture seems dry and crumbly).

Smoky Corn Chowder Soup

Another recipe straight from the Melskitchencafe site.   Nothing needs to be changed or altered, it is just that good.

INGREDIENTS

•  4-5 slices bacon, chopped 
•  1/2 cup diced onion or leeks 
•  2 cloves garlic, finely minced 
•  1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 
•  1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
•  2 (10-ounce) packages frozen corn 
•  3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth 
•  1 cup milk 
•  1/2 teaspoon salt 
•  1/2 teaspoon pepper 
•  4 green onions, white parts cut off and discarded and green parts thinly sliced 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a 4 or 5-quart saucepan, cook the chopped bacon over medium heat until golden and crisp. Scoop onto a paper-lined plate and discard all of the bacon grease except a very thin coating (about 1-2 teaspoons).
2. Add the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Stir in the garlic, paprika and red pepper and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in the corn, broth and milk. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Transfer half of the soup to a blender (very carefully - don't overfill the blender since hot liquids will expand while blending!) and puree until mostly smooth.
5. Return the blended soup to the pot and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Taste and add more if needed.
6. Serve warm topped with green onions and bacon.

NOTES

You can sub regular paprika for the smoked but you'll lose, well, the smoky flavor (and it's delicious, I'm telling you).

French Bread Pizza

this recipe and these directions from Melskitchencafe make it so you don’t end up with the traditionally soggy French bread pizza.   Make your own sauce with recipe at the end , or just use a jar- up to you.

INGREDIENTS

•  1 loaf (about 12-inches) french bread, storebought or homemade
•  1 tablespoon olive oil 
•  Garlic powder, for sprinkling 
•  1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, more or less 
•  1-2 cups pizza sauce (I use this super simple homemade recipe) 
•  Pizza toppings of choice 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Slice the french bread in half the long way, forming two long halves (like a hot dog bun but don't keep them attached). Lightly press on the bread with the palms of your hands or with the bottom of a flat baking sheet until the bread is compressed to about half of what it was (generally about 1/2-inch or so thick, but like I mentioned in my post, homemade french bread doesn't flatten quite as well in my experience).
3. Drizzle the olive oil on both halves, about 1/2 tablespoon for each half, and brush lightly into the dough. Sprinkle with just a touch of garlic powder.
4. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese across each loaf. Place the loaves of bread on an aluminum-foil lined baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes, until the Parmesan cheese is just barely starting to turn golden and has hardened a bit to the touch. Take care not to burn the Parmesan!
5. Spread pizza sauce on top of the Parmesan-crusted loaves and top with pizza toppings of your choice. I usually go with about 1 cup of mozzarella cheese for each half and throw on some pepperoni and olives but the sky is definitely the limit here!
6. Bake the pizzas for 8-10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the edges of the bread are starting to crisp up and turn golden.
7. Using a serrated knife, cut into pieces and serve immediately.

NOTES

If you use the following fabulous Pizza sauce recipe , you'll have some leftover which is perfect for dipping pizza slices if you or someone you know likes things a bit more saucy. Otherwise, a full batch of the sauce is perfect for a doubled recipe (2 loaves of french bread yielding 4 loaves of pizza). 

Also, I use freshly grated Parmesan cheese - shredded on the small holes of my box grater and not the stuff in a can. 

I was quite vague on the pizza toppings - that's up to you! This recipe is more about the method and besides, the options for toppings are endless.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS

•  1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained 
•  1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste 
•  1 teaspoon sugar 
•  1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 
•  1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 
•  1/2 teaspoon dried basil 
•  Pinch of crushed red pepper 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until desired consistency. I leave mine slightly chunky. You can adjust the seasonings to taste. This recipe is open to interpretation. Use what you like, taste it along the way and it is sure to be delicious!

NOTES

This recipe is very adaptable so feel free to play around with the different seasonings and amounts. I usually forego all measuring utensils and just sprinkle in until it feels right.

Satay Chicken Noodle Salad

This recipe comes straight from Melskitchencafe.   No changes or adjustments made, it’s just that good.

INGREDIENTS

SATAY SAUCE:

•  1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, natural or regular 
•  2 garlic cloves, finely minced 
•  1 tablespoon sesame oil 
•  1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce 
•  1 tablespoon brown sugar 
•  1 teaspoon sriracha or chili paste, more to taste if you want extra heat 
•  1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes) 
•  2/3 cup light coconut milk 
•  Salt, to taste 

CHICKEN:

•  1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced 
•  1/4 teaspoon salt 
•  1/4 teaspoon pepper 
•  2 teaspoons curry powder (see note) 
•  2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 
•  1 tablespoon sesame oil or other cooking oil, like vegetable, avocado, coconut 

SALAD:

•  10 to 12 ounces spaghetti noodles or fresh egg noodles (depending on how noodle-y you want the salad) 
•  2 cups shredded green or red cabbage (or a combo) 
•  2 cups chopped kale (see note) 
•  1 large carrot, grated on the large holes of a box grater (about 1/2 to 1 cup) 
•  Chopped peanuts, for garnish (optional) 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a blender and process until smooth. Set aside (this can be done several days in advance and refrigerated).
2. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. While the noodles cook, toss the chicken with the salt, pepper, curry powder, and soy sauce.
4. Heat the oil (sesame oil is my favorite for this recipe!) in a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet until rippling and hot.
5. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
6. In a large bowl, toss the prepared noodles with the cabbage, kale, and carrots. Add the chicken. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine.
7. Serve immediately (although this also makes great leftovers straight from the fridge).

NOTES

Natural peanut butter works great - the sauce will have more grit to it than if using creamy peanut butter, but it's still delicious.

The greens in the salad are very adaptable. It's best to have something sturdy - like cabbage or kale - so it doesn't wilt as the salad sits (because the leftovers are amazing) but you could probably even experiment using spinach or romaine, especially if you are eating it up right away. I like to use a shredded cabbage and kale mix from Trader Joe's.

I'm a broken record about this but my favorite curry powder is the sweet curry powder from Penzey's - just make sure to love the taste of whatever curry powder you use.

One key to this salad is to slice that chicken extra thin. It cooks quickly and absorbs a ton of yummy flavor!