Cake Mix Mug Cake - A Five Minute Mug Cake

I decided to Google the phrase, cake mix mug cake.
Yep, a few of you have tried this idea out too, BUT I don't think anyone else has had such excellent results as I have.

Why? Because I actually use ideas from more than one mug cake recipe. Yep, I did what I do best...take inspiration from more than one recipe and combine them into a new recipe.
Storing Cake Mix for Mug Cake Use

• Measure out 6 Tbsp. of cake mix into an individual, zip top sandwich bag. Repeat.
  
• Roll the bags tightly and zip the tops closed. 
• Place the rolled bags of cake mix back into the cake mix box to store for use at a later time. 

A 15.25 ounce package of cake mix will make about 7 mug cakes.
A 16.50 ounce package of cake mix will make about 8 mug cakes.

I hope you will try my cake mix hack - Cake Mix Mug Cake.

Recipe for a Five Minute Mug Cake

Yield: about 1 - 12 ounce serving, or about 2 - 6 ounce servings

Directions:

• Crack a large egg into a small bowl and beat with a fork until the yolk and egg white are blended fairly well. 
  
  One large egg will yield about 3 Tbsp. of beaten egg, just enough for 2 mug cakes!
• Set aside.

Measure the following ingredients into a 12 ounce mug:

• 6 Tbsp cake mix, any flavor
• 3 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp melted butter, oil, or melted shortening 
• about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the beaten egg 
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

• Stir ingredients in the mug together for about a minute, or until smooth and well blended.
• Place mug into microwave  and cook for 3 minutes. Cooking time is for a 900 - 1000 watt microwave. 
• The cake will rise to the top of the mug.
• Remove the mug from the microwave and allow to cool 2-3 minutes.
• At this point, you can turn the cake out onto a plate and slice it into two portions, or you can leave it in the mug for a 12 ounce serving. 
  
• Top with the topping of your choice and enjoy!

Yogurt as a Buttermilk Substitute in Baked Goods

Buttermilk is an ingredient in many of the Ozark/Southern baking recipes that I grew up with. Unfortunately, I do not normally buy buttermilk, but I do buy plain yogurt by the quart! Yogurt makes an excellent substitute for buttermilk. 

Many websites say to substitute 1 cup of yogurt for 1 cup of buttermilk, or to use 3/4 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of milk. In my experience, this is incorrect. The consistency of yogurt is much thicker than buttermilk and does not contain enough liquid for baked goods. 

My kitchen-tested substitution is :

1/4 cup - 1/3 cup yogurt blended with water to measure one cup. This mixture will give you the same liquid content as store bought buttermilk. 

Baked goods will have a tender crumb, not crumbly, and have a slight, tangy taste. Cornbread made with this substitute will not be crumbly, or dry when you reheat it the day after it is made. 

Packing Food to Travel in a Motorcycle Trailer

Summer time is motorcycle riding time! Bill and I spend one weekend a month camping beginning in May and ending in August. Normally, we eat at a restaurant,or food truck once during a three or four day camping trip. However, many times coffee is not available in the morning and I do not function without my coffee! Therefore, we travel with a two burner camp stove, a nine cup coffee pot, and a few groceries. 

Bill and I stopped at Grand Gulf State Park in Thayer, Missouri to admire the scenery and to stretch our legs See the cooler? . 

 Grocery List From Home

• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 pound of  bacon, put into a quart zip top bag and frozen.
• 2 pork cutlets, frozen or other frozen meat. 
• 4-5 large potatoes
• breakfast cereal
• ground coffee

Packing Food to Travel 

A motorcycle trailer doesn't have shocks. Everything in it, or on it must be cushioned. To get eggs from point A to point B, this is how I pack them:

1. I pack the eggs into an egg carrier. Next, it goes into the bottom of an insulated lunch cooler to further cushion the eggs. 
2. Then the frozen bacon, frozen cutlets, and stick of butter are loaded into the lunch cooler. 
3. The lunch cooler sits in the large cooler.

Kitchen Bag

We have a very large duffel bag that is almost as long as our trailer is wide. All of the kitchen supplies/cooking gear fit into. This is where I carry cereal and raw potatoes, too. 

Last year I borrowed an idea from Pinterest and bought a shoe organizer to use as a camp kitchen organizer. Click here to see picture and article.

I keep dish soap, scrubber sponge, salt, pepper, meat tenderizer, sugar, creamer, coffee grounds, trash bags, wet wipes, sunscreen, medicine, tent patches, twine, nylon rope, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. in each pocket. Then, I roll the organizer and place it into one end of the duffel bag. The coffee pot, skillet, plates, hot pads, matches, long lighter, collapsible water container, etc. go into this duffel bag 

Packing Items for Motorcycle Trailer Travel

1. Coffee - 1/3 cup packed into a zip top snack bag = 1 nine cup pot of coffee.  This is my formula for figuring out how much coffee to take. Plus, I add a couple of extra bags because my perking coffee pot will attract campers who do not have any coffee at their camp. lol...lol Once the snack bags are packed, I pack three bags into a zip top sandwich bag, just in case a snack bag opens up, the coffee is still contained in a bag. Yes, I learned this by having it happen! Plus, the sandwich bag will fit into a pocket in the kitchen organizer. 
2. Potatoes - Pack into a gallon, zip top freezer bag
3. Cereal- I pack the cereal into a plastic storage bowl with a lid. This prevents the cereal from being crushed to small pieces. Instead of bowls, I use nesting, plastic storage containers to eat cereal out of. 
4. Kitchen utensils: potato peeler, paring knife, short spatula etc.  Pack into a gallon, zip top freezer bag, let the air out of the bag, and roll tightly. 

Packing the Cooler   

• Two days before leaving, I fill two gallon zip top bags 2/3rds full of water and place the bags into the freezer. Each bag will yield a block of ice that weighs about six and a half pounds. These blocks will last in the cooler for at least four days. 

• While traveling, we only keep the two gallon bags of block ice, three - one liter bottles of water, three -  20 oz. bottles of soda, 1 small bag of ice cubes from the store, and the insulated lunch cooler in the large cooler. This is necessary to prevent too much weight from being placed on the trailer tongue at the ball hitch. 

The Grand Gulf has turned into small lake due to the copious amounts of rain Missouri has received  this year, 2015. 

Arriving at Our Campsite
Bill and I set up our tent as soon as we get to our destination camp site. We unload the kitchen bag, set up the air bed, and unload the cooler, chairs, and two, resin folding tables. However, we still have a short trip to make with me still pulling the trailer. We go shopping! Yep, we buy the rest of our water, soda, a half gallon of milk, ice, cheese, meat, and snacks at the local grocery store. Then it is time to go back to camp, completely fill the cooler, and unhitch the motorcycle trailer that is now going to be my portable storage for a camp kitchen. 

Bill's HD Roadglide parked beside our tent. Bill carries the tent on the back seat of his bike. 

Cooking at Camp

• You may have noticed that I have never mentioned cooking oil in my list of groceries. I do not use it. I use butter and bacon grease. However, if you absolutely must have oil, only carry a small quantity and keep it bagged up in a zip top bag. A little oil goes a long ways if it spills. I do not care to take a chance on it spilling inside the motorcycle trailer.  
• I carry one medium size camp skillet and cook all of our meals in the one skillet.  
• For breakfast, I cook bacon first, and place the cooked bacon on our two plates. (Put a paper towel over the plates to keep flying critters off of your food!) Next, I  add butter,if necessary, and  fry the potatoes. When the potatoes are done, I remove them from the skillet and divide them between the two plates. Now it is time to scramble, or fry the eggs!
• For dinner, I use 2-3 Tbsp. of butter to cook the potatoes and fry the meat in the skillet. Nothing tastes better after a long day outdoors than food cooked on a camp stove. 

The first thing I do when we are camping - get the coffee ready to perk! 

Daybreak on the Spring River at Griffin Park in Hardy, Arkansas.

Repurposing a Jello Mold as a Cake Pan

I love vintage jello molds. I do not know why, but the intricate details and shiny, molded metal just grabs my attention and begs me to buy the mold. What do you do with jello molds when you do not make jello salads? Bake small cakes to use as gifts or as a cake topper for a larger cake! The Mirro jello mold below is about 10 inches by 5.5 inches and about 3 inches deep.

A vintage, fruit basket gelatin mold by Mirro. The mold's capacity is three and a half cups.

The mold sits completely flat and level on a hard surface.

Grease with shortening and flour generously with about 1 rounded Tbsp. of flour

Place in a glass baking dish and fill about 2/3 full with batter

Because a jello mold pan is very thin, make sure you place the batter-filled mold into a cake pan, or casserole dish to bake. Also, bake in at about 325 degrees to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The cake will bake slower, but your final product will be more tender and moist. This cake took 55 minutes to bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cool for 10 minutes before unmolding, or follow the cooling directions for your cake recipe.

Unmolded cake cooling and waiting to be decorated.

Next time you see a vintage jello mold, buy it and make a cute, one layer cake to give as a gift, or to surprise your family.  Or, use your mold to make a cake topper for a larger cake. 

This spring flower basket cake topper was quite a hit with my coworkers. 

Baking Mix Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Thanks to the Krusteaz pumpkin spice quick bread baking mix I received from a coworker, we are eating pumpkin spice waffles this morning. The kitchen smells amazing! Cannot wait to dip in!
‪#‎bakingmix‬ ‪#‎waffles‬

P.S. The waffles taste (singing voice) ammmmaaazinnng!  I used the pancake directions and reduced the water from 1 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup. My waffle iron baked each waffle in about 4 minutes. I served them with butter and warm pancake syrup. OMG pantry style good! 

Buy the mix     Click Here

My camera is still packed up with my camping gear and I settled for my cellphone camera to take the waffle picture. A reminder of why I bought my digital camera! lol...lol

Sallee'sSix - Six Dish Summer Fun Menu!

Summer camping and traveling begins tomorrow! It is Memorial Day weekend, the official start of summer fun! I am sharing a list of six easy recipes for a wonderful summer weekend meal! Create your own summer fun menu from the choices below. 

Your Summer Fun Menu

• Non-alcoholic drink - pick your lemonade from your choice of 40 flavors. I think I would like to try the watermelon lemonade.
• Main dish - Strip steak seasoned with fresh garden herbs. Sallee's tip: Mix the herbs with 20 oz. of ground chuck for five, quarter pound garden burgers.
• Salad - original "like your grandma's" traditional potato salad, or a delicious blackberry salad that features a bed of salad greens, a scoop of cottage cheese surrounded with fresh blackberries and sprinkled with slivered almonds and tangy sweet dried cranberries. 
• Pick a veggie - How about grilled corn, grilled veggie skewers, or grilled romaine hearts?
• Dessert for Family Fun- How about chocolate covered strawberry s'mores for dessert? 

Recipes    Tip: Use your snipping tool to snip and save recipes to your laptop.

1. 40 Summer Lemonade Recipes at 365 Days of Baking     Click Here 
2. Garden Herb Strip Steak       Click Here
3. Hellman's "The Original Potato Salad"    Click Here
4. Blackberry Salad   Click Here
5. 18 Grilled Vegetable Recipes from Laurel Randolph    Click Here
6. Chocolate Covered Strawberry S'mores at almost Supermom    Click Here

MYO Creamy White Sauce aka Bechamel Sauce

Revised: 2/22/2015

My mouth waters when I think about mom's creamy white sauce that she uses as a base for cheese sauce and mustard sauce. She uses her versatile white sauce to blend with pasta, tuna, chicken, and best of all, a dish of new peas and potatoes. 

My mom cooks the way her Arkansas-born mom taught her to cook. Both of them made creamy white sauce with milk. Neither one  knew she was actually cooking a classic Bechamel sauce. I had no idea that Bechamel sauce and my mom's white sauce are the same thing until I started watching cooks like Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, and other television cooks, or chefs. 

White  sauce, or Bechamel sauce, can be used alone or transformed into a trifecta of sauces - mustard sauce, cheese sauce, or curry sauce. All three sauces are winners that will please your taste buds. Best of all, you only need four or five ingredients to produce cups of creamy, rich sauce.

Single serving amount, one cup, is given first. Two cup amount is given as an example. For a quart of white sauce, double the two cup amount that is given and follow the basic directions.

Thin White Sauce

Thin white sauce works well for creamed vegetables or scalloped potatoes and ham. My favorite creamed vegetables are peas with new potatoes, or peas and carrots combined.

• Ingredients For One Cup

one tablespoon butter         one tablespoon flour       1/4 teaspoon salt         one cup milk

These ingredients are for each cup of sauce that you want to make. 

For two cups double  the amount of ingredients
Example: I want two cups of sauce so I will use

two tablespoons butter    two tablespoons flour    1/2 tsp salt     two cups of milk

Directions for Basic Thin White Sauce

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat.
• Blend in the flour and salt. Let it cook until it is smooth and bubbly.
• Remove the pan from the heat.
• Add the milk and stir gently.
• Place pan back over low to medium heat
• Cook, stirring constantly (a whisk is the best tool for this) until the sauce is thick.
• Add herbs and spices as desired, optional

Note: I have never used margarine to make white sauce, so I cannot guarantee what the end product will be like if you use margarine. 

Scroll down for the three variations, or transformations; cheese sauce, curry sauce, and mustard sauce.

Medium White Sauce

This is the recipe I use the most. Medium white sauce is great for homemade chicken pot pie, creamed vegetables, or scalloped potatoes and ham. For a thinner sauce, just stir in little more milk until the consistency pleases you.

• Ingredients For One Cup

three tablespoons butter       three tablespoons  flour     1/4 teaspoon salt     one cup milk


These ingredients are for each cup that you want to make. 

For two cups double the ingredients.
Example: I want two cups of sauce, I will use

six  tablespoons butter   six tablespoons flour   1/2 tsp. salt      two - three cups of milk

Directions for Basic Medium White Sauce

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat.
• Blend in the flour and salt. Let it cook until it is smooth and bubbly.
• Remove the pan from the heat.
• Add the milk and stir gently.
• Place pan back over low to medium heat
• Cook, stirring constantly (a whisk is the best tool for this) until the sauce is thick.
• Add herbs and spices as desired, optional

Note: I have never used margarine to make white sauce, so I cannot guarantee what the end product will be like if you use margarine.

Transformation #1 

Cheese Sauce  = Add one half cup grated cheese to one cup hot white sauce. My favorite cheeses are American, Mild Cheddar, or Colby Jack. Great with broccoli or macaroni!

Transformation #2

Mustard Sauce = Add one level tablespoon prepared mustard to one cup hot white sauce. Use Dijon, Spicy Brown, Honey Mustard, or Regular. This is especially good with ham and fresh pork.

Transformation #3

Curry Sauce = Add one half teaspoon curry powder to the melted butter and salt.Then blend in the flour and salt. Follow the remaining directions.

Busy Night Yogurt Flatbread

Hectic days and busy evenings have me searching for quick and simple recipes. 

Yogurt flatbread is made with five basics from my pantry.

1. AP flour (all purpose)

2. baking soda

3. salt

4. plain yogurt

5. canola oil 

This recipe is an official, pantry style recipe that makes eight rounds of flatbread. The flatbread rounds are then divided into thirds. Three times eight is.... twenty-four! That's right, twenty-four pieces of golden brown, crisp edged, homemade happiness on a plate!

Serve with hummus dip, marinara sauce, butter, jam, or use a whole round for pizza!

Better yet, in my opinion, is brushing the dough with melted garlic butter, sprinkle with mozzarella,or provel cheese, and bake until the cheese is bubbly.

Okay, I have to stop writing now because I am about to have a cheesy bread craving.

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt Use a dry measuring cup
• warm water
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place 1/3 cup of plain yogurt into a one cup liquid measuring cup. 
• Add warm water to measure 3/4 of a cup. 
• Stir until well blended.
• Pour vegetable oil on top of the yogurt water until the cup level is at 1 cup. Set aside.
• Place all of the dry ingredients into a one quart bowl.
• Add the yogurt water and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients.
• Stir with large spoon until the ingredients begin to form a ball a dough.
• Knead the dough for about 30 to 60 seconds. 

• The dough should feel slightly elastic and smooth.
• Divide dough into eight equal balls and place back into bowl. 
• Cover the bowl with a towel.

• Place a ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface.
• Flatten by hand into a round or oval shape.
• Roll with a roller to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. 
• Place the round on an ungreased baking sheet.

Rolled flatbread ready to have lines traced into each round, dividing them into thirds

• 
  Continue this procedure with each ball of dough.
• Lightly mark each flatbread into thirds with a knife. Do not cut through the dough, just trace light lines so the bread can be easily divided after baking. 

Baked flatbread showing the lightly marked dividing lines.

• 
  Place baking sheet(s) into the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the flatbreads are golden brown. See picture. 

Yield: 8 flatbread rounds or 24 pieces of flatbread

Fall Spiced Blueberry Pancakes

Ripe, juicy blueberries.
Fragrant cinnamon.
What do you see or think of when you read these two phrases? I think of spicy, dark blue cobbler, cinnamon spiced blueberry pie, and quick breads combined with aromatic cinnamon.

Wake up your taste buds with the fall flavors of cinnamon and blueberries combined in a tender, golden brown pancake for breakfast. Plus, no one will be able to guess your secret ingredient---just a pinch of allspice. Just a pinch of warm, pungent spice that makes your taste buds say, " Wow! What is that?"


Ingredients

Note: Use a dry measuring cup to measure the liquid ingredients. Trust me. It works.

I like to use the wire whisk attachment for my mixer to fluff
flour with. It is lighter than a regular wire whisk.

• 2 cups of flour, fluffed in the bag with a wire whip, or sifted. 
• 2 Tbsp. of sugar
• 4 tsp. of baking powder
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 cup of canola oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of frozen blueberries

Directions

• Place all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. 
• Stir to blend
• Make a depression in the center of the dry ingredients.
• Place the egg, milk, and canola oil into the dry ingredients.
• Beat by hand with a whisk just until smooth. 
• Add 1 cup of frozen blueberries.

• Stir gently until the blue berries are evenly distributed in the batter.
• Put about 1 tsp. of canola oil on  a griddle or large skillet and heat over medium heat.  I use the high output burner on my gas stove and set the knob between 2.5-3. Regular burners about 4-5 (medium to medium low).
• Use about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake.
• Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around the edges.

Ready to turn - Full of bubbles and the pancake edges look dry.

• Turn and cook the other side until golden brown.

Do not flip your pancakes if they are any lighter than this.
Your pancakes will not be completely done and taste
doughy.

• Serve your favorite pancake syrup and butter, or whipped topping. Yum! 

Serving Tip: When Bill and I were first married, he thought I was amazing because I served pancakes with warm pancake syrup. Fill a one cup measuring cup with pancake syrup. Microwave for one minute. If you want it hotter, microwave for an additional 30 seconds, but hot syrup is much thinner than warm syrup.

Have a crowd for breakfast? Use a bigger measuring cup. 

Syrup ready to heat in the microwave.

Yield: 11-12 pancakes or 4-6 servings

I like to make this recipe on Sunday. Bill and I eat 3 each. Then, I  freeze five or six left over pancakes for breakfast during the week. 

Country Bob Chicken Thighs for Two

Bill and I had never used Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce until May of this year. We were at a restaurant in southern Missoui tht had bottles of the sauce on the tables. Bill tried it and promptly asked me to find out where to buy it. Now I buy a family size bottle every other month for the two of us.

This five ingredient, oven roasted, chicken thigh recipe will provide you with some golden brown, homemade happiness on a plate! AND it is husband tested and approved.

My busy day recipe will yield two or three servings; eat one thigh tonight and eat one thigh for tomorrow's lunch.


Ingredients

• 4 bone in chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup Country Bob's Sauce
• 4 Tbsp salted butter
• 3 tsp. lemon juice
• Rainbow medley ground peppercorns (pink, white, green, and black peppercorn mix)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Grease a one quart casserole dish with shortening
• Place 1/4 cup of Country Bob's Sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl.
• Mix well with a whisk. Set aside.
• Place butter in a shallow bowl.
• Microwave 15-30 sec. to melt the butter.
• Dip chicken thighs into the melted butter.
• Place chicken thighs into the one quart casserole dish.
• Grind peppercorn blend onto both sides of the chicken thighs.
• Have chicken thighs skin side down.
• Spoon lemon juice mixture over the four thighs.
• Place into a 350 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes
• Turn chicken thighs over, skin side up.
• Spoon sauce over tops occasionally until the chicken is done.
• Bake for another 30 minutes,or until the skin is golden brown.

No meat thermometer? Try this test:  Use a dinner fork and pierce the thigh close to the bone. If the chicken thigh slides easily off the fork , it is done. 

Yield: 2-3 servings

Cinnamon Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cake

My sister, Nan has been downsizing her cookbook collection. In a conversation on Facebook, she asked me if I wanted some of her cookbooks. Now I am never going to turn down an offer of free cookbooks!

Two weeks later, Nan stopped in for a quick visit with Mom and Dad. I had forgotten our conversation. When Bill and I went to Mom's birthday party, I found two large bags of cookbooks waiting for me.

For a week and a half, I have been reading cookbooks from the Hawkeye state, Iowa. Yellow tabs now mark interesting regional recipes that I want to cook and share with you.

Today's recipe is adapted from the Favorite Recipes Tried and True cookbook from the Denmark Congregational United Church of Christ.


Ingredients for Cake

• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened I just set the stick of butter on the counter until it is room temp.
• 2 eggs, at room temperature Eggs will give you more volume if you let them warm to room temp.
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. baking cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups applesauce, unsweetened

Ingredients for Cake Topping

• 2 Tbsp. white sugar
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream 1/12 cup sugar and butter in a deep bowl. My serving bowl wasn't deep enough. The mixer kept trying to send bits of sugary butter out of the bowl. 
• Add eggs and blend until light colored and fluffy.
  
• Sift together flour, cocoa, soda, cinnamon, and salt.

If you do not own a sifter:  Use a small wire whisk and stir the flour in the bag with an upward motion to "fluff" the flour. Next, scoop the fluffy flour into the measuring cup and level the top of the full measuring cup with the flat edge of a butter knife. Do not shake the flour in the measuring cup to level it. 

• Blend the dry ingredients together with a wire whisk

• Add a small amount of blended dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture and stir in.
• Then add part of the applesauce and stir in
• Repeat the two preceeding steps until all of the dry ingredients and applesauce have been mixed into the butter mixture.
• Pour the batter into a greased 9" x 9" square pan. I use a nonstick pan and do not grease it.
• Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the cake batter.

• Place the pan in the 350 degree F oven. 
• Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. I baked my cake for 30 minutes. The four center pieces had a custard layer between the crunchy sugar chocolate chip topping and cake that I loved. 

• Cool completely before cutting. 
• Vanilla ice cream would be a perfect accompaniment for this cake. 

I did not add any additional frosting. The hubby and I loved the soft, dark chocolate flavor and golden brown crunchy top. 

NOTE: The cake will collect moisture if it is wrapped too tightly with plastic wrap and the baked sugar will not be crunchy.

Yield: 12-16 squares of amazing homemade happiness! 

No Fuss Brown Butter Blueberry Pancakes

A bowl of your favorite pancake batter and frozen blueberries are all you need to make No Fuss Blueberry Pancakes. The blueberries thaw as the pancake batter cooks on the buttered griddle. Bill loves the way the juicy, warm blueberries burst when he bites into them!

1. Heat a griddle or skillet.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp. of butter in the griddle or skillet and allow it to brown.
3. Pour pancake batter onto the hot buttered griddle.
4. Sprinkle frozen blueberries on top of the pancake batter.
5. Flip pancakes when tops are bubbly and edges look dry.
6. Cook until pancakes are golden brown.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 until your pancake batter is done. 

Yield: about eight 5" pancakes

Cooking tip: 
   Problem - Pancakes are not done in the center, but golden brown on both sides
Solution - Microwave for 15 seconds. Check centers. microwave for another 
15 seconds if necessary.

My Favorite Pancake Recipe 

My tried and true pancake recipe is from my vintage 1985 Betty Crocker Cookbook. I adjusted the recipe slightly.

Ingredients

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup milk, or water

2 Tbsp. canola oil

1 Tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1-2 Tbsp. of salted butter

Directions

• Place all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. 
• Stir to blend
• Make a depression in the center of the dry ingredients.
• Place the egg, milk, and canola oil into the dry ingredients.
• Beat by hand with a whisk just until smooth. 
• Grease heated griddle with 1 Tbsp. of butter.
• Use 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake.
• Sprinkle frozen blueberrie on top of batter
• Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around the edges.
• Turn and cook the other side until golden brown.

Makes about eight 5" pancakes.

To double this recipe use:

2 eggs

2 cups of flour

1 1/4 cup of milk, or water

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 Tbsp. of sugar

4 tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of salt

2-3 Tbsp. of salted butter.

Follow the same directions.

#blueberries #foodieforlife

Sallee'sSix - The Brownie-Blondie Edition

Brownies. One word that makes me think: crinkled, chewy, chocolate squares of fudgy deliciousness.

Blondies. Buttery, tender squares of sweet richness. Okay, I have to stop or start pulling blondie ingredients off of the pantry shelves.

Non-chocoholics rejoice because this recipe list includes blondies for you.





1. Zucchini Brownies   Gardeners, your zucchini plants are producing like crazy. You are tired of making zucchini bread, zucchini relish, etc... How about some zucchini brownies? Trish, over at "Mom on Time Out", has a wonderful zucchini brownie recipe just for you!

2. Dulce de Leche Brownies  Special occasion coming up and your short on time? Try these brownies that start with a Ghiradelli Brownie Mix and are topped with Dulce de Leche Milk Caramel Spread.

3. White Chocolate Decadence Brownies  I promised non-chocoholics that I would include some brownies for them. Here is my first offering, a platinum blondie from Leigh Anne over at "Your Homebased Mom".  Six ingredients for the blondie and five ingredients for the frosting. Decadent and easy. 

4. Caramel Crunch Blondies  Dorothy Kern, from "Crazy for Crust",  made these blondies to send to an Armed Forces member in a care package. Dorothy has more blondie recipes that you may like, Lemon Coconut Blondies and Nutter Butter Butterscotch Blondies. Three blondie recipes from one link. Woohoo! Now you know why she is one of my favorite six for the brownie edition. 

Tip: This recipe uses caramels and mini-chocolate crunch bars. Bookmark this recipe or post,  and bake blondies using those left over Halloween candy bars that your children received.

5. Brown Butter Caramel Toffee Chip Blondies  My mouth is watering just from typing the name! Luscious, buttery, and richness (singing voice) are playing a melody to my taste buds. Stephanie, over at "Back for Seconds" is a sweet genius! 45 minutes to sweet satisfaction! PLUS she has a yum-a-liscious Snickers Brownie .

Tip: The Snickers brownie recipe uses mini-candy bars. Use those extra Halloween candy bars that the kids received. 

 6. My Kid's Favorite Brownies  From Shelly over at "Cookies and Cups",  a simple brownie recipe that will transport you back into childhood. 

Steak! Steak! We Love Steak!

Craving a steak?

Bill and I love steak! However, we have been satisfying our need for red meat with hand-formed (by me), 80/20 ground chuck patties. But finally, the urge for juicy, hot, rare to medium rare steak overcame my resolve to stretch our food bucks.

This is how it happened: 

1. I was pushing the shopping cart through the beef section of the local market.
2.  Almost simultaneously, a packaged pair of beautiful, rib eye steaks caught my attention; AND I saw a SALE sign fastened to the shelf edge under the packaged steak pairs. 
3. My self-talk went like this,"$13.36 for two 16 oz. rib eyes is cheap. That is less than a steak dinner at  C's Steakhouse. Why, that is only about $6.50 each for supper. What a bargain!" 
4. The red, marbled perfection of each steak smashed the weakened wall of my budgeting resolve into splinters. Swiftly, I grabbed and put a packaged pair of glorious, rib eye steaks into the shopping cart.
5. My traitorous brain was chanting, "Steak for dinner! Rib eye steak for dinner!"  I could hardly wait to get home and start preparing those gorgeous rib eyes.

I know you have done this too, so don't try to act innocent. All of us talk ourselves into buying things because the sign says,"SALE."

Grilling and broiling are popular ways to cook steak, but I pan fry my steaks. Okay, get the look of horror off of your face! 

Steaks taste marvelous when you prep them correctly and pan fry them in butter. 

The advantages of pan frying steaks in butter are:

• No grill of any kind is needed.
• No messy charcoal. 
• No charcoal lighter is required
• No flames burning your steak.
• No hot oven. 
• No unwieldy broiler pan. 
• AND a rare to medium rare steak is done in three to four minutes . Steak is the perfect fast food. 

Have I convinced you to try pan frying your steaks in butter?

Good. Now, it is time to cook a pair of juicy, tender steaks to rare or medium rare perfection.

Equipment

• a meat mallet
• a large nonstick skillet

Ingredients

• 2  cold rib eye, porterhouse, or New York strip steaks; sliced 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick
• meat tenderizer
• garlic powder (optional)
• chili powder (optional)
• rainbow peppercorn blend in a pepper mill
• fine sea salt
• 2-3 Tbsp. salted butter

Directions

Have your side dishes prepared. Your cold steaks will only need to cook for three to four minutes each.

First, set the cold steaks on top of a piece of wax paper, or aluminum foil.
Then, apply meat tenderizer following the directions on the container.
Next, apply desired amount of seasoning to top side of the steaks.

Using the course side of a meat mallet, the side shown in picture,
gently beat the seasoning into the steak, or steaks.
Repeat seasoning on the other side of the steak. Gently beat the
seasoning into the steak.
I try not to thin the steaks more than 1/3 - 1/2 of the original thickness

A perfectly seasoned and tenderized rib eye ready to go
into a hot, nonstick skillet.

Place 2 Tbsp. of butter into a large, nonstick skillet that is
over medium high heat. On my gas range, I use the
high output burner and set the flame on 7. When the butter is melted
and browning put a steak in the pan.

Bill likes rare steak, so I always cook his first. Immediately after
placing the steak into the hot skillet, set a timer for two minutes.
Check at one minute and if the steak is nicely browned like the one below
turn to the other side. If the skillet is getting too hot, turn the
heat to 6, but no lower or your steak will not cook correctly.

When the 2 minute timer goes off, reset timer for 1 more minute.
Check bottom of steak and if it looks like the picture above,
turn it over and continue cooking.
Immediately remove steak to a plate when the 1 minute timer goes off.
  

• Let the rare steak rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

• If you are cooking a second steak, add 1 Tbsp. butter to the skillet and allow it to melt and begin browning. Then add your second steak.
• For a medium rare steak, cook for 4 minutes. 2 minutes per side. Allow the steak to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.