Double Chocolate Waffles with Berry Sauce

I found a link to this recipe on my friend's blog. My boys love waffles (when you ask my 4 year old what he wants for dinner, he always says "waffles"), so I thought it would be fun to mix things up a little and try these. (note: I edited the recipe some, so if you want to see the original one, click here.)

Picture courtesy of Our Best Bites

Double Chocolate Waffles with Berry Sauce
from Our Best Bites

Waffles
2/3 C flour
1/3 C corn starch
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/8 t cinnamon
6 T granulated sugar
1 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Berry Sauce and Topping
3 C berries*
1/4 C raspberry jam (you could use strawberry if you prefer)
2 T hot tap water
optional: powdered sugar to taste

whipped cream
cocoa powder for dusting

*You'll need about 3 cups of berries and you can use any combo you like.

Start by making the berry sauce since it can sit while you make the waffle batter. Combine jam and warm water and whisk until combined. Add in the berries and gently stir until combined. Depending on the sweetness of the berries, you can add a little powdered sugar if you'd like.

Set berry sauce aside and make waffle batter.

Waffles:
Preheat a waffle iron.

Combine flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Use a whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Whisk for a minute so it gets a little frothy.

Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry a little at a time, whisking to combine. Just stir until they're combined and don't overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips. This is a pretty thin batter, so don't be expecting something that looks like a pancake batter. It's supposed to be thin.

You shouldn't need to grease your waffle iron. Place batter in and cook according to your iron. Be careful to not overfill. This batter has plenty of levening so it will expand.

****I doubled the batch and got about 10 waffles (in a round Belgian waffle iron). For the berry sauce I used frozen blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries and added some fresh strawberries. It turned out really yummy. I only did one batch of the berry sauce and it was enough for nearly all of the doubled batch of waffles. I ended up making way more waffles than I needed, so I froze the extras. They froze well and thawed great. My family loves these waffles, so I'm sure I will be making them a lot more in the future.

Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry
By Jenny Lynn Furr

2-3 Chicken Breasts
3-4 Potatoes
1 Onion
1/2 bag carrots
1 can Coconut milk
1 can Water Chestnuts
1 portion fresh Ginger
1 cube/tbls Golden Curry
Olive Oil
Salt/pepper/Garlic Powder to taste
White/Jasmine/Brown Rice

Start the rice. Dice potatoes, carrots, and onions. Cook potatoes and carrots on medium heat for 20-30 mins. Set aside. Cook chicken, then slice into small bite size pieces. Saute onions, ginger, and water chestnuts. Mix everything together then add the coconut milk, curry, and other spices. Basil gives it a unique flavor if you wish. Let spices set into the food for 1-3 mins. Serve over rice and enjoy!
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*I love this curry recipe! I got it from my friend Jenny, who made it for an enrichment cooking activity for our ward. A few things I have found for this recipe: I LOVE jasmine rice! If you have never cooked with it, try it! Even the smell is wonderful while it is cooking! When cooking the potatoes, carrots, and onions, I just put them in a large skillet and add water for the 20-30 mins. If you want a thicker curry and softer potatoes, cook them a little longer. I usually drain out some of the water after the allotted time, which helps to minimize how runny it gets. Keep some of the onions aside to add to the ginger and water chestnuts later. When adding the curry, add to taste- a tablespoon is usually not enough. (I just got the yellow curry powder, in a spice bottle, from the store, and that's what I use.) You will have to add more salt than you may initially realize, but don't worry, if you add too much, like I did the first time I made this, just add more coconut milk, and that will even it right out! Flavor it to your own taste. I have never added the garlic powder or basil, but they may give it a more unique flavor. You can add as little or as much ginger as you would like, the more ginger you put in, the spicier it will be. I love ginger, but I have never used an entire root, just a small portion of it. If you have never cooked with fresh ginger, just cut off the outside and then chop the inside into really fine pieces, as small as you can get them. Fresh ginger is wonderful!
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Zesty Chicken Pot Pie

(from Kraftfoods.com. Click here to see their version of the recipe.)

Picture from Kraftfoods.com

12 oz. (1 1/2 pkg [8 oz. each]) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 pkg. (10 oz. each) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 env. Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
1 refrigerated ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg)

PREHEAT oven to 425 F. Place cream cheese in large saucepan. Add broth; cook on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently with wire whisk. Stir in chicken, vegetables and dressing mix.

SPOON into 9-inch pie plate. Cover with pie crust; seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in crust to allow steam to escape. Place pie plate on baking sheet.

BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until golden brown.

Serves 8

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I love pot pie, so when I saw this recipe I decided I had to try it. I made everything as it is listed, except I used Neufchatel cheese and when it came time to add the seasoning packet I realized that I only had Ranch and not Italian, so I just went with the Ranch. It was really easy to make. My family actually ate it. My husband couldn't stop saying how good it was. My sons, who are very picky eaters and normally won't eat anything with vegetables in it, didn't complain about the veggies and seemed to liked it. I am excited to try it again with the Italian seasoning and see what the difference is in the taste.

Emilie's Whole Wheat Bread

I love homemade bread. I bought a KitchenAid mixer just over a year ago for that reason. I decided I was going to make homemade bread and not buy it from the store any more. That lasted for about 7 months until it got too hot to turn the oven on. I have been trying to get back into the groove since last fall, but the recipe I used (from the KitchenAid users guide) just wasn't what I really wanted. Sure, it was good for toast, but when it left a lot to be desired. Today I was reading a blog called "My Food Storage Deals" and found this recipe. The author of the blog got the recipe from her friend Emilie (thus the name) and posted it for all to enjoy. And I am spreading the joy. And a joy it is. It is the squishiest homemade bread I have ever eaten. I am hooked! Give it a try and see for yourself!


Emilie's Whole Wheat Bread
Makes 4 8x4 loaves

7 C. whole wheat flour (grind your own if you have a wheat grinder)
2/3 C. vital wheat gluten
2 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast

5 C. steaming hot water (120-130 F)

2 Tbsp. salt
2/3 C. oil
2/3 C. honey or 1 C. sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. bottled lemon juice

5 C. whole wheat flour

Mix together the first three ingredients in your mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes (this is called sponging). Add salt, oil, honey or sugar, and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves, place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks. This recipe can be halved to make 2 loaves.

*Emilie only uses Bakers Secret 8x4 inch non stick pans (which can be found at Smith's grocery store).

**Another tip--when the dough is put into the bread pans, squish the dough softly into the corners of your bread loaf pans. This will make your bread cook more evenly and not have the large lump in the middle of your loaf.

Angie's notes:
*I halved the recipe and it turned out fine. My mixer can't handle that much flour at once.
*I used Pyrex 8.5x4.5 inch bread pans and the bread came out of the pan without any problem.
*I tried to squish the dough into the corners of my pans, but I think I squished too hard and one of my loaves has big dents in the top of it.

Whole-Wheat Mac-n-Cheese for the Family

I got a new cookbook today called Yum-o! The Family Cookbook by Rachel Ray. This recipe is from that cookbook. We had it for dinner and it is pretty yum-o!



Whole-Wheat Mac-n-Cheese for the Family

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used honey mustard)
1 pound whole-wheat pasta, cooked al-dente and drained
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets and steamed until almost tender, 6 to 7 minutes

In a sauce pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat, add the flour, and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and milk. Thicken the sauce for 5 minutes, then stir in the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the secret ingredient (the mustard).

Toss the sauce with the whole-wheat pasta and cauliflower. Yum-o!

Serves 4 to 6 (at least - it made lots)

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

My mom found this recipe on the Betty Crocker Website. It's so easy to make and is my favorite Enchilada recipe! Next time I think I will try putting rice in it, just to see how it tastes! Sorry I don't have a picture, I didn't think about it before we started eating!

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 med onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg (11.5 oz) flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas), heated
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (8oz)
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce (green)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2oz)
Salsa, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 11x7-inch (2 qt) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cumin; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in beans.

2. Place about 3 tbls bean mixture in center of each warm tortilla. Top each with 1/4 cup monterey jack cheese. Roll up tightly; place, seam side down, in baking dish. Spoon enchilada sauce over tortillas. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; cover baking dish, sprayed side down.

3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Serve enchiladas with salsa.

(*Hint: I just bought a 2 cup bag of shredded Mexican cheese blend from the store and used that for the whole thing. I ended up with a little cheese left over. It was enough for the whole dish, without needing the shredded cheddar.)

Spicy Potato Tacos

I found this recipe on the Food Network website and it has become a family favorite. We call these our glorified tacos because you can add in anything you want. It's such an easy recipe and definitely worth the effort. 

Spicy Potato Tacos

Recipe courtesy of Sandra Lee, 2008

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 teaspoon fajita seasoning

1 (16 oz) bag pre-cooked diced red-skin potatoes

1/3 cup cheese

1 (16 oz) can refried beans

3/4 cup cilantro salsa, plus more for serving

large taco shells [we usually get the burrito size]

tomato, lettuce, sour cream, cheese, etc. for serving 

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet and set it aside.

-In a large mixing bowl, stir together oil and fajita seasoning. Add potatoes and toss until well coated. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 15 minutes. 

-Meanwhile, stir together beans and salsa and heat.

-Put tacos together to your liking and enjoy

Yield 6 servings

***I usually don't worry about using red potatoes. I will use whatever we have and it turns out great. Also, I microwave the potatoes on the baked potato setting to make them soft before cutting them to be seasoned***