Breads and Muffins – Page 5 – Fun Foodie Family

Baked Ziti and Garlic Butter Toast

I had a little bit of time today to make an extra special dinner. I have not cooked anything interesting for dinner in a while. A lot of pretty amazing people have been making my family some dinners, or we have gotten take out, or I have thrown together something random that was not really blog worthy. It has been a crazy few weeks.

When people find out or know you have a sick kid, it can be a bit awkward. They feel helpless and don’t know what to do. The problem solvers and leaders are the ones who want to take over and figure out a way to help. They rally the troops. They bring you food, money, toys, offer to carpool, take your dog for a walk (good luck with that- I am the only one who can get him on a leash), and pretty much give up their left kidney for you.

I appreciate it all. I am thankful. All these offers actually are amazing and do provide relief and a weight off my shoulders. As much as I love to cook, I do have a cooking blog after all, what I really want to do is sit on my couch and snuggle my girls. I want to play with them as much as possible and just relax together as a family. But lately I have been itching to get back in the kitchen for a bit.

I thought…I meandered in the kitchen; I opened the pantry;I looked in the fridge; I looked in the freezer. I had an idea. I pulled out some ground beef from the freezer, found some canned tomatoes in the pantry, borrowed an onion from my awesome neighbor, poured a glass of wine, and I started to get my groove back in the kitchen. I gave Lizzie the choice of lasagna or baked ziti based in the noodle selection from my pantry. Well, she picked this. And I gladly obliged.

I may be a bit scarce on the blog in the next couple of months. I cannot stop cooking. I won’t. It is my hobby; it is therapeutic. I may post a Sunday roast, an epic Thanksgiving dinner, a glamorous grilled cheese sammie, or a regular Wednesday chicken dish. Whatever I post, it tastes yummy and is made by my love of cooking and making my family and friends happy.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 cup diced tomatoes or 1 small can of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons worchestershire
2 tablespoons butter
3 sprigs thyme
1 container mozzarella- whole or shredded
1 box ziti or rigatoni noodles

Directions

Brown your beef. If there is any grease, drain it. Add your onions. Cook down for 5 minutes. Add in your garlic and tomato paste. Cook down for 3-5 minutes. You can actually smell the tomatoes when they are mixed well with the garlic. The aroma is amazing. The beef and onions should be really camariling now. Add just a splash of red wine down in the pot to loosen up all those brown bits. Then add in all your canned tomatoes. Mix well. Add in your sugar, worcestershire sauce, butter, and thyme. Mix and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better.

Make your pasta. Undercook by 3 minutes according to the package. It should still have a bit of a bite to it.

Spray your dish with Pam. Add some sauce on the bottom. Put in your noodles. Cover with sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese.

I made some quick garlic toast by melting butter with some 3 cloves sliced garlic. I dipped the bread in the garlic butter then put them in the oven on broil. Just check the oven to make sure they don’t burn. Delish!

Amish Friendship Bread

Breads and Muffins

A couple of weeks ago, my husband brought home this “mush” bag to make this bread in 10 days. Our starter bag sat on the counter for the 10 days until he remembered that it needed to be made. I was super tired after a long day, but I agreed to make it and am super glad I did. It makes 4 starter bags and 2 loafs of bread. I kept a starter for myself and gave the other 3 away. I have included the recipe for the starter as well.

Amish Friendship Bread

Do Not Refrigerate
Should Ferment
Do NOT use metal bowls or utensils for prep

Original starter:
1 package of active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Dissolve yeast in water, let stand 10 minutes.
Combine sifted flour and sugar together. Mix well so flour will not be lumpy.
Slowly stir in milk and yeast mixture. Mix well.
Put starter in a gallon Ziploc bag. (Do not refrigerate.) Watch the starter very closely at first and let the air out of the bag as needed. It will bubble and ferment a lot the first day. This is Day 1. Mark the date on your Ziploc bag and now you just follow the directions as you would if you received the starter from a friend.

Day 2-5 Mush Bag
Day 6- Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk to bag and mush
Day 7-9- Mush bag

Day 10- Follow instructions below

1. Pour entire contents of bag into a non-metal bowl and add:1 1/2 cups milk, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 1 1/2 cups flour. Mix. Get four 1-gallon Ziplock bags and add one cup of batter to each of these bags. This will create 4 new starter bags to give to friends.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease 2 loaf pans.

3. To the remaining batter add:
3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups flour, 1 large box vanilla instant pudding mix

4. Mix an additional 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a bowl. Using half of the mixture, dust both greased loaf pans.

5. Spread batter evenly into both loaf pans. Use remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture to sprinkle to the top of the batter.

6. Bake 45 min-1 hour. Check with toothpick.

Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna and Spaghetti Bolognese with Garlic Butter Rolls

Breads and Muffins, Pasta, Vegetarian

Dinner tonight was so fun to make. I love making different pasta sauces, and I adored this one. I decided at the last minute to add some sweet peppers to the mix; I love this addition to a marinara. It gives it an extra chunky and sweet component that added something different from the normal marinara.

I am the only one who likes eggplant in this family, but that never stops me from making what I want! When I saw a beautiful eggplant at the store, I just had to get it. I made a small pan of eggplant parmesan lasagna- no noodles. I used the eggplant disks as the pasta; this recipe can serve 4. I had one, saved one for lunch tomorrow, and gave the rest to my awesome neighbor along with a bunch of leftover pasta. Oh, and those garlic butter rolls? So good!!!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef (could use sausage, turkey, chicken)
1 onion, chopped or sliced
1 container of sliced mushrooms
1/4 each yellow and orange pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
A few good squirts of tomato paste
A few good glugs of your favorite red wine- I used Cabernet Sauvignon tonight
2 tablespoons of worcestershire
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 small can of diced tomatoes
Any fresh herbs, chopped- I added basil, sage, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and parsley. Use dried herbs if you don’t have fresh. I would even combine them if you need to.
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Take your ground beef. Add in a screaming hot pan. Cook until meat is browned. I used a cast iron skillet. Once done, drain any excess fat/grease. Place to the side.
In a large dutch oven, cook your onion in a bit of oil/butter combo (about 1 tablespoon each). Add the rest of the veggies. Add your tomato paste and stir. Add the wine and worcestershire. Cook down for about 10 minutes. Add the canned tomato ingredients, sugar, and fresh (or dried) herbs. After it cooks for about 25 minutes, separate half in another pan (this is to have one without meat for your veggie eggplant parmesan). Add your ground meat in one of the sauce pans. Cook all together for AT LEAST 30-45 minutes— The longer you cook it, the better. Add to your favorite pasta. I used whole wheat spaghetti. There are some really great whole wheat pastas out there now. Give them a try!

Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna (vegetarian)

Ingredients-
1 large eggplant, sliced in medium slices
Salt and pepper
canola oil
flour

Directions

Cut your eggplant in medium slices. Salt and pepper both sides well and let sit for 15 minutes or more. This draws out the water a bit in the eggplant. Add a bit of oil or cooking spray on each side of the eggplant. Dip each side in flour. I did not go with the traditional dip with eggs and breadcrumbs; trying to make it semi healthy. Brown each side in a bit of canola oil.
Put a bit of your marinara sauce on the bottom of a small corningware dish. Layer the eggplant (like noodles in lasagna), marinara, and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 300 for 30 minute. I turned it on broil the last 5 minutes or so to get my cheese to brown. SO GOOD!!!

Garlic Butter Rolls

Melt a stick of butter with 4 cloves of crushed and chopped garlic. Take ordinary yeast rolls (or whatever bread you have). Poke some holes in them with a fork. Brush the rolls with the garlic butter. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then baste them in the garlic butter again. Put back in on broil with your eggplant. Take out and baste again. Heaven!

Balsamic Tomato Bruschetta

Appetizers and snacks, Breads and Muffins, Sandwiches, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains, Vegetarian

Stuck in a lunchtime rut? This week I have had cheese and Triscuits almost everyday for lunch. So today I came up with this easy beauty. Bruschetta- pronounced bro͝oˈsketə/- or sometimes by Americans- bro͝oˈshetta is a toasted Italian bread drenched in olive oil and served typically with garlic or tomatoes. You can really top it with anything you like, but this garlic and tomatoes are the norm. We also make this sometimes with mozzarella, tomato, and basil. No matter how you say it or prepare it, these yummy toasts are quite satisfying for a snack, lunch, appetizer, or side dish for dinner. I served with mine with a side salad.

Balsamic Tomato Bruschetta

Turn oven on broil. Take some sliced baguettes, rub on some garlic. Drizzle on some olive oil. Top with sliced or chopped tomatoes that have been lightly dressed with some Balsamic Vinegar. Cook for just a few minutes. Keep your eye on these guys so they don’t burn. Add to a side of pasta, salad, or just enjoy as a snack!

Cheesy Bacon Cornbread

Breads and Muffins, Kids

Happy New Year! I live in Georgia, and I am cursing the cold weather here. If you are reading my blog in colder parts of the country, Canada, or other colder areas, I am sorry to complain. It is 20ish degrees and windy and probably won’t snow anytime soon. I hate JAN. and FEB. in GA. It is cold, windy, cloudy, and rainy. There is not much sun and everyone is grumpy. To combat this, I tend to stay inside for about 2 months eating soup and drinking coffee, red wine, and hot tea. I have to go to work; sometimes I make it to the gym; mostly I stay under a blanket catching up on reading and drinking the above drinks.

I made this soup yesterday and have already had 3 servings. Basically, I cleaned out my fridge and freezer and combined them in my dutch oven with chicken stock…

Tonight, I made Cheesy Bacon Cornbread. It was easy. I just followed the directions for cornbread on the package of yellow corn meal and added 4 pieces of chopped bacon and a cup of Montery Jack cheese. Then I sprinkled a bit more cheese on the top. There was no carrot juice used…Rebecca and I shared a shot while we mixed the cornbread. =) Let the kids help you mix this yummy concoction!
The last picture is all that was left after dinner.