Big Breakfast Pancake Time Saver

Dry Pancake Mix

Ingredients for pancake dry mix:

6 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups flour bread flour 
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
1.  In a very large bowl, mix all the ingredients together very thoroughly.
2.  Pour into a large glass canister.
3.  Store until ready to use.

When making pancakes:

Ingredients:
2 cups of the dry pancake mix
1 medium egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons olive oil

1.  In a large bowl, add two cups of the pancake dry mix.
2.  In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk 1 egg.
3.  Add 1 1/2 cup milk to the bowl with egg.
4.  Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to milk and eggs.
5.  Whisk thoroughly.
6.  Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the pancake dry mix.
7.  Stir until just incorporated.
8.  Spoon batter into frying pan to make pancakes.

Mark's Story - 
Every Saturday morning, I wake up and make a big breakfast for the family.  It involves pancakes (sometimes I add blueberries to the pancake batter), turkey sausage, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs.  So, every Saturday morning, I would mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.  Then one day I realized, hey, why not mix all the dry ingredients together beforehand. I quadrupled the existing recipe that I had.  Made a few minor adjustments so that it would come out to two cups - extremely minor adjustments.  Now every Saturday morning, making the pancakes goes a little quicker.  The trick is to mix it thoroughly when putting it all together and then to shake the canister around just a little before each use.

Mark's Notes - 
I got the glass canister from Meijer.

This mix will hold 8 cups of dry pancake mix.  Every Saturday morning, I use 2 cups, and it makes 12 pancakes.  If you don't need that many pancakes for breakfast, then feel free to cut the recipe in half.  This batter basically lasts our family a month.  Maybe a little less if I ever do a breakfast for dinner.

Sand Dollar Fougasse Bread

Sand Dollar Fougasse Bread

Ingredients:
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 cups water
Cornmeal
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil


Instructions:
1.  Sift whole-wheat flour through fine-mesh strainer into bowl (bowl of stand mixer if you own one).
2.  Add all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and yeast.
3.  Add water.
4.  If you are using a stand mixer, fit stand with dough hook, knead on low speed until dough forms - 5-7 minutes.

If you do not have a stand mixer, use a regular mixer and beat on low speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
5.  Lightly oil a large bowl.
6.  Transfer dough to large oiled bowl.
7.  Cover with plastic wrap.
8.  Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
9.  Holding edge of dough with fingers, fold dough over itself.  Gently lift up from the edge and fold edge of dough towards center.
10.  Turn bowl 45 degrees and fold again.
11.  Turn bowl 45 degrees and fold again 6 more times.  Dough will be folded over itself for a total of eight times.  1st set of folding and turning.
12.  Cover with plastic wrap.
13.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
14.  Fold and turn dough 8x - 2nd set of fold and turn.
15.  Cover with plastic wrap.
16.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
17.  Fold and turn dough 8x - 3rd set of fold and turn
18.  Cover with plastic wrap.
19.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
20.  Fold and turn dough 8x - 4th set of fold and turn.
21.  Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
22.  Refrigerate for 16 to 48 hours.  
23.  Do not deflate dough.
24.  Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, stretch gently to 8-inch round  - do not deflate.
25.  Divide in half.
26.  Working with one half, form to 8 inch disk.
27.  Lightly flour a rimmed baking sheet.
28.  Place dough circle on lightly floured baking sheet.
29.  Do the same for the second half - form to 8 inch disk and place on the same rimmed baking sheet.
30.  Spray plastic wrap with oil, and cover the dough.
31.  Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
32.  Place baking stone on lower-middle rack and heat oven to 450 degrees.
33.  Take two rimmed baking sheets and turn them upside down.
34.  Line upside down rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
35.  Sprinkle cornmeal on each piece of parchment paper.
36.  Transfer one piece of dough to lightly floured counter.
37.  Using a rolling pin, gently shape into 8 inch round disk.
38.  Transfer dough to parchment paper on upside down rimmed baking sheet.
39.  Using a pizza cutter, cut a total of five 2-inch elongated ovals - about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches from edge.  Make sure the 5 cuts are evenly spaced to make a star shaped pattern.
40.  Gently stretch dough out to a 10-inch circle.
41.  While stretching dough out, also stretch out the cuts to emphasize and widen the cuts into elongated ovals..
42.  You should now have a 10-inch circle with 5 cuts that make a star shaped pattern.
43.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with oil.
44.  Let sit for 30 to 45 minutes or until double in size.
45.  After 20 minutes, begin working on the second loaf, following steps 36-44.
46.  After loaf has set for 30-45 minutes and doubled in size, brush top of loaf with 2 teaspoons olive oil.
47.  Transfer loaf with parchment paper onto baking stone.
48.  Bake until golden brown - 18 to 22 minutes.
49.  Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10-15 minutes.
50.  Enjoy!!
51.  This is really good bread, but don't forget that Jesus is the Bread of Life!!

Mark's Story - 
Captiva, Florida was a favorite place for our family to vacation when I was a kid.  I had never seen a sand dollar before.  I thought the sand dollars were super cool.  On Sanibel and Captiva, they are fairly easy to find.  So, when I saw this recipe, at first, I was thinking that I didn't want to try to make a Fougasse bread.  It's quite complicated and involved and takes several days.  There are other simpler bread recipes that I can make.  Then I turned the page and saw the fougasse bread shaped into a sand dollar.  I had a Ratatouille moment - you know that moment in the movie Ratatouille when the food critic is served Ratatouille for his dinner, he has a flashback as a kid and eating Ratatouille.  Yeah, I had one of those moments when I saw the Sand Dollar Fougasse Bread and I decided that I had to try to make this.  So, just recently, my parents were vacationing down there and I practiced making this bread while they were there, so that I could make a second batch when they got back.

Mark's Notes - 
The original recipe also calls for 2 tablespoons of fresh cut rosemary and an additional 1 teapsoon sea salt.  These two extra items would be added in step 46 after brushing with olive oil.  

I watched several youtube videos on how to make Fougasse Bread just to hear the correct pronunciation.  From what I could tell, it is pronounced Foo-guess.

Double Chocolate Cookies - from 21 Day Fix

Double Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup canned lite coconut milk
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or 1/3 cup brown rice flour for gluten free recipe)
1/2 cup all-natural cocoa powder
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (or slivered raw almonds, chopped pecans, dried cherries, or raisins)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  Lightly coat baking sheet with spray - set aside
3.  Combine coconut milk, applesauce, maple syrup, and coconut milk in a medium bowl; mix well.
4.  Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture; mix until well blended.
5.  Add morsels; mix until blended.
7.  Drop by heaping a tablespoon scoop from batter onto prepared baking sheet.
8.  Bake for 12 minutes or until firm.
9.  Enjoy!!

Trish is doing the 21 day Fix.  She got a recipe book.  She got all the ingredients at the store for this recipe.  She asked me if I could make this.  So, I made it.

Breaded Cod

Breaded Cod

Ingredients:

4 slices of hearty white sandwich bread - torn into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup all purpose flour (step 7) plus 5 tablespoons all purpose flour (step 9)
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons mayo
1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (optional)
1 small shallot, minced (optional)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
1 1/4 pounds cod - cut into four pieces

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  In food processor, add bread, butter, salt, and pepper.
3.  Pulse bread and butter mix until bread is coarsely ground
4.  Transfer crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet
5.  Bake about 15 minutes - stir occasionally
6.  Let crumbs cool.  (Crumbs can be stored at room temperature up to three days)
7.  In a shallow dish, spread 1/4 cup flour.
8.  In a second shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, mayo, along with the optional paprika and horseradish.
9.  Whisk in the 5 tablespoons flour in with the egg and mayo mix.
10.  In a third shallow dish, mix together the bread crumbs, the parsley, and the optional shallot.

At this point, you should have three bowls.
Bowl 1 - the flour mix
Bowl 2 - the egg mix
Bowl 3 - the bread mix

Putting it all together
11.  Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
12.  Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet.
13.  Pat the cod dry with paper towels.
14.  Take 1 fillet of fish at a time
15.  Dredge the fillet in the flour mix (cover it completely with flour).
16.  Dip the flour-covered fillet in the egg mix.
17.  Coat with the fillet with the bread crumbs - pressing gently to adhere.
18.  Place the fillet on the wire rack.
19.  Repeat steps 13-18 for each piece of cod.
20.  Bake for 18-25 minutes or until fish reaches a temperature of 140 degrees.
21.  Transfer fillets to plates and enjoy!!
22.  Remember to give thanks to God before you eat as well!!  =).

Mark's Notes
The original recipe only lists horseradish as optional.  I didn't have horseradish, paprika, or shallot so I made it without those.  I'm quite certain it would have more flavor with those added.

The only mistake I made was I added the parsley to the egg mix rather than to the bread crumbs.  Didn't make a huge difference.

The original recipe says to use 1/4 cup flour for coating the cod.  When I got done, I was adding a bit more flour to thoroughly coat the cod with flour.  That is why I added the note in the ingredients that it can be 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup flour.

Mark's Story
We were at a restaurant (don't remember which one), and Abby places her order and says she wants the cod.  I looked at her and asked her if she liked cod.  She told me she liked the breaded cod.  She discovered she liked breaded cod at a Chinese buffet.  She liked it.  (she actually thought she was getting chicken but she learned it was cod and decided she liked it).  So, I decided to make breaded cod for her.  I went diving into my cookbooks and found a recipe.  This recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen  - The New Family Cookbook.

I've never breaded any food before.  So, while making the cod, I learned how to bread just about anything now.  Cover it in flour, dip it in an egg mix, then coat with the breading.

Trish says it was awesome.  Abby really liked it and it is now one of her favorite dinners.  Miriam said she liked it but she only took 2 or 3 bites and only ate the breading.  We'll be having this for dinner again.

No, I don't have a picture.  By the time I'm done preparing the food, we are hungry and ready to eat and I forget to take so much as a few seconds and take a picture.  I'll have to remember to get a picture next time I make this.

from America's Test Kitchen - The New Family Cookbook. Crunchy Oven-Fried Fish, pp. 252-253.

Lasagna Made Easy

Lasagna

Ingredients - 

1 pound turkey meat (or 1 pound lean ground beef)

1 24 ounce jar of your favorite lasagna/spaghetti sauce

32 ounces cottage cheese

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup in step 3 and 2 cups in step 4)

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup in step 3 and 1/4 cup in step 4)

12 lasagna noodles

salt and pepper to flavor

2 teaspoons dried parsley (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Basil (optional)

For cheese, 1 cup cheese equals a net weight of 4 ounces.
1 cup cheese is n. wt. 4 ounces
1/2 cup cheese is n. wt. 2 ounces
1/4 cup cheese is n. wt. 1 ounce

Instructions - 

1.  Cook meat in skillet

2.  Boil lasagna noodles for 10-15 minutes.  Drain water, and let noodles cool.

3.  In a small bowl, mix together the 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sauce.  This is the Topping Mix used in Step 13.  

4.  In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups mozzarella cheese, all the cottage cheese, eggs, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, along with the optional salt, pepper, basil, and parsley as desired.  This is the Cheese Mix.

5.  In a 13x9 casserole dish, cover the bottom with 1/2 cup sauce.

6.  Pour all the remaining sauce, 2 cups, in with the cooked meat and stir it all together and let simmer for 5 minutes.

7.  Place 3 noodles side by side in the casserole dish over the 1/2 cup sauce.

8.  Cover the noodles with 1/3 of the cheese mix.
Note - 1/3 of the cheese-mix is about 2 cups.

9.  Cover this with 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix 

10.  Add another layer of 3 noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mix (about 2 cups), and 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix.  

11.  Add 3 more noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mix (about 2 cups), and 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix.

12.  Add 3 more noodles on the top.

13.  Cover the top noodles with the topping mix from Step 4.

14.  Cover casserole dish with foil and cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

15.  Take foil off and cook another 10 minutes

16.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

17.  Enjoy.

Mark's Story - 

Everyone in our family loves lasagna.  We've normally just gotten a Stouffer's family lasagna and tossed that in the oven.  Lasagna has always eluded me because I cannot find a simple basic lasagna dish.  All the lasagna recipes are super complicated adding lots and lots of this and that.  I don't want that.  I was actually frustrated that in all my cookbooks, there were no basic simple recipes.  I wanted an easy lasagna recipe.  I found this one on at allrecipes.com.  I made a few changes to it.

Mark's Notes - 

The original instructions said to layer the bottom of the casserole dish with the sauce mix.  I actually layered it with some of the cheese mix - this was not on purpose.  

If you want more meat in the lasagna, I think it would be safe to add another pound of turkey meat to it.  I'll try that in one of my future batches.

The first batch was a little watery as I didn't cover it with foil at first for the first 45 minutes of baking.

The next batch I made turned out really well.  Everyone liked it.  Abby asked me to make it again.  That's always a win.

Here is the original recipe.  Like I said, I made some modifications to it.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/12011/easy-lasagna-ii/

Turkey Taco Burritos

Turkey Taco Burritos

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound turkey meat

1 cup chopped onions

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

4 whole-wheat tortilla shells

1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

Instructions:

1.  Thoroughly coat non-stick frying pan with olive oil

2.  Add turkey meat and cook

3.  Add onions, chili powder, cumin, salt, and oregano to frying pan

4.  Cook for 2 minutes while occasionally stirring

5.  Stir in chicken stock and the lime juice

6.  Bring to a boil

7.  Simmer for 3 minutes

8.  Heat tortilla shells according to package directions

9.  Place tortilla shells on individual plates

10.  Spread 1 tablespoon sour cream on tortilla shells

11.  Divide turkey meat evenly onto tortilla shells

12.  Sprinkle with cheese and tomatoes

13.  Roll burritos tightly to close

14.  Enjoy!!

Mark's Story - 

I found this recipe in the March 2016 Cooking Light magazine that I now have a subscription to thanks to my daughter's fund raising efforts at her school.  It's a fairly quick meal to put together. Although it only serves four, depending on how hungry everyone is in our family, I just may double everything.

The one thing that we all like about this recipe is that it isn't a traditional taco in that you make your own taco seasoning with the chili powder, cumin, and oregano.  Most store bought pre-made taco seasonings have got a lot of salt and way too much chili powder and just too spicy for our family.

I did make some minor modifications to the original recipe; however, if you'd like the original, it is in Cooking Light, March 2016 issue.  

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-taco-burritos

by - 

Robin Bashinsky, 

Cooking Light

MARCH 2016

Mac 'n Chili or Chili Mac

Mac 'n Chili (or Chili Mac)

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds ground turkey

2-3 tablespoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 16 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

1 16 ounce can red kidney beans, drained

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Turkey Chili:

1.  In a large saucepan, heat the oil to medium heat

2.  In saucepan, add onions, green peppers, and garlic

3.  Cook onions, green peppers and garlic for 5 minutes

4.  Stir frequently

5.  Add the turkey meat

6.  Cook the turkey meat all the way through

7.  Stir frequently

8.  Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and oregano

9.  Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, kidney beans, and salt

10.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Macaroni Noodles:

11.  In a separate large pot, bring water to boil.

12.  Add elbow macaroni

13.  Let boil for 10 minutes

14.  Drain water from noodles

Putting it all together:

15.  Add the macaroni noodles to the Turkey Chili

16.  Add 2 cups cheddar cheese

17.  Stir the noodles and cheese in and mix thoroughly

Mark's Story - 

A few weeks ago, I was at the library, and I checked out a cookbook.  I looked through it, and I found a recipe for a Turkey Chili.  I made that for dinner one night.  It was good.  But it turned out a little watery.  Trish suggested I add macaroni noodles.  So, the next week, our workplace was having a Chili Day.  I brought in a Mac 'n Chili.  Trish told me that it is called a Chili Mac.  I like Mac 'n Chili better.  Everyone liked it.  It's really good.  I'll be making this one again.

Oh, one more thing, Jesus loves you!!  

Mac n Cheese with Butternut Squash

Mac n Cheese with Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni
2 10 ounce packages of frozen squash
2 cups lowfat milk
4 ounces extra sharp Cheddar, grated (1 1/3 cup)
2 ounces Monterey Jack, grated (2/3 cup)
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese (or 1/2 cup Mozzarella)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil

Instructions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
2.  Bring a large pot of water to boil.
3.  Add the macaroni
4.  Let boil 10 minutes
5.  Drain water and remove from heat
6.  Place frozen squash in a large saucepan
7.  Add 2 cups lowfat milk to squash
8.  Cook squash/milk over low heat for 5 minutes - stir occasionally
9.  Turn the heat up to medium-high heat and cook until it is at a simmer - continue stirring.
10.  Remove pan from heat
11.  Stir the Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and the Ricotta (or Mozzarella) into the Squash/Milk mix.
12.  Add and stir in the salt, mustard, and cayenne (red) pepper to the squash/milk/cheese mix
13.  Pour the squash/cheese mix over the macaroni noodles.
14.  Stir the cheese mix and macaroni together very thoroughly
15.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish
16.  Pour the macaroni noodle/cheese mix into casserole dish
17.  In a small bowl, combine and stir the Parmesan, bread crumbs, and olive oil
18.  Sprinkle the bread crumb/parmesan mix over the top of the casserole
19.  Bake for 20 minutes
20.  Then after 20 minutes, broil for 2-3 minutes for a brown and crisp top.
21.  Enjoy!!

Mark's Notes - 
For the Ricotta Cheese, I had to substitute Mozzarella cheese as Trish is allergic to the Ricotta.

Mark's Story - 
I came across this recipe on the Food Network Facebook feed.  I liked the idea that it had squash in it.  Sneaky way to feed the kids vegetables.  Everyone liked it.  Trish works at the high school cafeteria, and they were interested in it, and so I made them a batch.

Here is the original link to the Food Network Recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/macaroni-and-4-cheeses-recipe.html