Use up the Box to Make Some Donuts

Hey! I wanted to let my readers know about a recipe contest sponsored by Hungry Jack instant potatoes, buttermilk pancake mix and syrup. It's called Use up the Box, and that's literally all you have to do to enter. Create an original recipe that uses at least 1 cup of Hungry Jack's potatoes or pancake mix, or 1/4 cup of syrup. The lucky grand prize winner will receive a year's worth of groceries. I love that prize! Head over here and check it out. Then get out your whisks and start creating. Just a little food for thought: my favorite use for instant potatoes. Remember my maple glazed buttemilk donuts? Instant potato flakes are the secret to their tender texture. I guess the people over at HJ know it too, since I spotted this recipe for bacon-sugar donuts on their website that I can't wait to try. Count on bacon to show up everywhere, even on donuts. (Photo from Hungry Jack) Here's the recipe from Hungry Jack Chef Adam Gertler. If you try it before I do, let me know what you think.

Bacon Sugar Donuts

(My Estimated Cost: $4.00)

Ingredients:
DOUGHNUT BITES
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup Hungry Jack® Instant Mashed Potato Flakes
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil, plus additional for frying
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon Hungry Jack® Buttermilk Complete Pancake & Waffle Mix (Just Add Water)
BACON SUGAR COATING
1/2 cup sugar
4 fully cooked bacon slices, heated until crisp
Preparation Directions:
COMBINE water and instant potato flakes in large bowl. Stir until moistened. Add egg yolk, 1 tablespoon oil, sugar and vanilla; mix well. Gradually stir in 1 1/2 cups pancake mix.
SPRINKLE work surface with remaining 1 tablespoon pancake mix. Turn dough out onto work surface. Knead dough until well blended, about 1 minute. Shape into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour or overnight.
For Bacon Sugar Coating: MINCE cooked bacon in food processor until very fine. Add sugar; pulse 2 to 3 seconds just until blended.
POUR oil into large heavy saucepan to 1-inch depth. Heat oil to 350ºF.
ROLL out dough to a 1/2-inch thickness on floured surface. Cut out small rounds using a 1-inch round pastry cutter or cut into 1-inch squares using a sharp knife. Working in batches, fry dough 30 to 60 seconds or until puffed and golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper towels. Roll in Bacon Sugar Coating. Serve warm.

I'd love it if one of my readers could take home the Grand Prize. Get crackin', everybody.

Be back soon with those buttery crescent rolls.

Coming Mid October: Cookie Bookie Week

PS If you like this post, send your friends over. There's always room for more at my table.

Super Fast Pan Quiche

Eggs- sistuhs, you know I love 'um. I just got back from my whirlwind tour of an Egg Farm in Oregon. I'm thinking of buying an egg farm now. Not really, but ya never know. I'm going to post all about it on my daughter's blog (since the egg tour was not part of blogher paid advertising). It was a clucking good time, so head over and read about it. But then come back, and check out this super fast recipe for Pan Quiche. This was the brain child of celeb chef Jeff Saad. He wanted a quiche that was healthier and faster than a traditional French egg pie. I watched him make his Pan Quiche on a morning show in Oregon and I knew I had to come home and try it. I think I might have licked the TV screen. Here's the skinny: you toast some breadcrumbs in a skillet to form a "crust," and then cover it with eggs and add-ins of your choice. This one has spinach and cheddar, but the possibilities are as endless as my to-do list. Off I go-but don't forget to check out my egg farm tour here.

Money Saving Tips:

Did you know that eggs cost about 12 cents each? Pick up a dozen for dinner-you just saved yourself a bundle.
Super fast Pan Quiche for one

Estimated Cost: $1.00

1 teaspoon butter or olive oil

1/3 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk or cream

pinch of salt and pepper

2 tablespoons cheese

handful of spinach leaves

Heat a six inch skillet over medium heat. Add butter and crumbs and cook until just toasted. Flatten crumbs down to form crust. Sprinkle with cheese and spinach. Beat egg with milk and salt and pepper. Pour over crumbs. Reduce heat to low and cover pan with lid. Cook until eggs are set, about three minutes.

PS If you like this post, send your buddies on over. There's always room for more at my table.

Next Up:

Homemade Buttery Crescent Rolls

Stay Tuned for Cookie Bookie Week in mid October

West's Very Academic Easy Cheese Pizza

Good marnin'. It's good to be home. I missed you, bloggie buddies. I've been in beautiful Oregon visiting an Egg Farm. I had the best time and I learned a ton. And you know me; I'm going to be sharing all of it with you, down to the nitty gritty details like how I learned to make the perfect omelet, and how I stood in a room with seven thousand clucking hens without losing my cool, and how I looked awesome in a sanitary blue mesh jump suit and white hair net. All those details are coming as soon as I get my info and pics together. For now, I'm just saying, if you ever get invited to an egg farm in Oregon-pack your bags, my friends.

Last week, my West-y boy was doing some bubble in test practice for school. You know the drill-you read the non-fiction passage and then answer twenty multiple choice questions. He'd read about round dances around the world, which he found thoroughly booooring. He read about volcanoes in the Ring of Fire, which he found thoroughly engaging. And then, he flipped the page and read a recipe with instructions: Easy Pizza. I knew, I just knew, that he would answer every question correctly. This is my child, doggone it; he better know how to make cheese pizza even without even reading that passage. Listen to these questions:

What happens after you put the dough into a bowl and cover it with a towel?

a. The dough shrinks.

b. The dough separates.

c. The dough rises.

d. The dough changes color.

and

The pizza pans are most likely greased in order to-

a. make sure the dough won't stick

b. add a spicy flavor

c. help the cheese melt

d. make the dough rise

and

What will probably happen after the pizza is placed in the oven?

a. The water will boil.

b. The dough will rise.

c. The cheese will melt.

d. The dough will divide in half.

All right, so it' s not rocket science, but I'm still proud. He got all of 25 of them correct, that little son of a baker. (Which is more than I can say about the round dance questions.) And then of course we had to make the pizza. And it was easy, just like they promised, but it was also delicious. And very, very academic. We felt smarter with every bite we took, and you will too. Especially because you'll be saving money, you scholar, you.

Money Saving Tips:

It's usually cheaper to buy cheese in block, so shred your own. (It tastes better that way, too.) Buy the big blocks for the most savings. Wrap the unused portion in waxed paper and refrigerate. If you don't have tomato sauce on hand, blend up some diced tomatoes or use jarred marinara sauce.
Easy Pizza

recipe stole shamelessly from the Test Ready program

Estimated Cost: $5.00

1 cup warm water

1 package yeast (2 and 1/2 tsps)

1 teaspoon each salt and sugar

1 tablespoon oil

3 cups flour

1 small can tomato sauce (we also added crushed red pepper flakes, dried basil, and a pinch of sugar and salt)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Pour the warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast onto the water. Let sit for five minutes and then stir. Add salt, sugar, and oil to this mixture. Then add 1 and 1/2 cups flour. Stir until smooth. Add the rest of flour and mix until smooth. You may use your hands if needed.

2. Divide dough in half. Shape dough into tow balls. Place dough into a bowl and cover with a towel. Let dough rise 30 minutes in a warm place.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

4. Flatten each ball of dough with a rolling pin. Stretch dough onto two greased pizza pans or a cookie sheet.

5. Spread a small amount of oil on the dough. Spread tomato sauce on the dough. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

6. Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Up Next:

Speedy Pan Quiche (Eggs, anyone?)

Fall Kick Off Breakfast: Apple Pancakes

I keep waiting to have a Fall kick-off dinner, but it's just too darn hot. If I walk outside at noon, it feels a lot more like July is coming and not October. I'm going to forget about sewing Halloween costumes and starting lighting fireworks instead if this keeps up. I've been checking the daily weather in Cairo, Egypt (getting ready for my trip in a few weeks), and it is cooler there than here. I mean it! I might have to host my Fall kick-off dinner in the Sahara desert since it is more pleasant than my corner of the southwest. Pumpkins and pyramids, anyone?

There is a saving grace to all this afternoon heat: the mornings are celestial. Breezy and cool, not a degree above seventy. Heaven must have the thermostat set at sixty-eight, don't you think? So this year, I've postponed my Fall kick-off dinner and we had an outdoor Fall kick-off breakfast instead. I served applesauce pancakes, with a hearty side of buttery cinnamon apples and some smoky bacon on the side. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven for breakfast. You might want to stay all day, since it's going to be a scorcher.

PS I'm going to the egg farm tomorrow morning. Really this time. I'll be back with lots of details.

Money Saving Tips:

Buy apples in bulk while they are cheap. Make your own applesauce by placing peeled apple slices in the slowcooker with some cinnamon and sugar. Bonus: Your house will smell amazing!

Apple Pancakes

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for 4-6 servings

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 and 1/2 taplespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 and 1/2 cups applesauce

For Sauteed Apples

2 tablespoons butter

3 apples, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, and butter. Pour wet ingredients over the dry and mix just until combined. Stir in applesauce. Cook pancakes on preheated gridle in melted butter. Serve with maple syrup. Meanwhile, prepare sauteed apples. Melt butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add apple sauces. Cook for three minutes. Turn and cook an additional three minutes, or until apples are golden and softened. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and cook until syruppy, about two minutes longer. Serve with pancakes.
Next Up:

West's Easy Cheese Pizza

Farewell to Summer with Easy Pasta Pommodoro

I'm frantically racing through the day with a kajillion things to do (what's new?), but I had to take a minute to post. Did you know that tonight is the Harvest Moon and also the Autumn Equinox? Don't miss it! The moon should be golden ball of butter tonight, melting away with the last of summer. Good-bye ice cream cone days. Hello pumpkin pie evenings. I've got a perfect recipe to share for this last night of summer: Easy Pasta Pommodoro. I found this little gem on the back of an Albertson's pasta box. It took me about 20 minutes to pull off the whole dish-perfect for busy nights. If you use the last of your garden tomatoes and basil, it'll cost you almost nothing. And it's marvelous. Just like tonight's sky. I'll be gazing at the moon in my little corner of the world. And it the moon is really made out of cheese, I hope it's parmesan because it'll go great with your pasta.

Money Saving Tips:

Use your bumpy, irregular tomatoes for this recipe. Just chop them up and throw them in; no one will ever know. Sub in 1 teaspoon of dried basil if you don't have fresh.

Easy Pasta Pommodoro

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for 6-8 servings

16 ounces angel hair pasta

1/4 cup olive oil (or use half oil, half butter)

4 cups chopped tomatoes (unpeeled)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 and 1/2 tablespoons garlic

1 and 1/2 cups tomato juice

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

parmesan cheese, for serving

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a separate skillet, heat olive oil. Add tomatoes, basil, and garlic; cook for five minutes. Add tomato juice and simmer for five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over hot pasta with parmesan cheese.

Up Next:

Fall Kick-Off Dinner

Stay Tuned for Cookie Bookie Week in early October

PS Hey Miguel, it's Friday! Where's my comment?

Dutch Oven Apple Crisp

I am here, right where you left me. I haven't moved an inch, other than to take Sailor to her voice lesson and run by the grocery store for a few eggs. Eggs. Remember on Sunday when I wrote that I was leaving in the morning to Oregon to tour an egg farm? It turns out I was a whole week early. Thankfully I discovered my error early enough to avoid a trip to the airport. But please excuse me while I wipe a little egg (ha!) off my face. Did you know that I make dozens, maybe even hundreds, of little mistakes every day? If you didn't know, then I'm telling you now. I hope you'll love me anyway, flawed as I am. If you want a good laugh and a hearty helping of self deprecating humor, then I'm your gal.

A couple of weekends ago, we packed up a late afternoon picnic and headed up to the mountains with my parents, and my sisters Heidi and Mary Kate with their families, 11 charges total. Kids + dirt +rocks = everlasting happiness. We noshed on chips and dips, sandwiches, and s'mores, but the Quiet Man got it into his head that he wanted to make something in the Dutch Oven. I'll never ever ever tell you this since it would be bragging, but that husband of mine is pretty amazing with a Dutch Oven. (He inherited this outdoorsman skill from his Dad, the Quiet Grandpa.) Since fall is coming (three more days, officially) it had to be an apple crisp. Now, you can make this toothsome treat in your oven and it will be every bit as tasty, but there is something especially-special about making food out in nature. So go out and have a fall picnic, would you? Just tell me when to be there. You better write it down twice, because I've been know to confuse a date. Or two. But I hope you'll love me anyway.

Money Saving Tips:

Do you have a pick your own orchard? Head over and stock up. I buy apples in bulk for tuppins in the fall-they keep for at least a couple of months in a cool place.
Dutch Oven (or not) Apple Crisp

adapted from Joy of Cooking

Estimated Cost: $3.00 for 8 servings

8 apples, peeled (I like Golden Delicious and Granny Smith's for baking)

3 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a nine by thirteen dish. (If using a Dutch Oven, do not grease. Light 24 charcoal briquettes and wait until they are covered with ash, about 15 minutes.) Layer apples in pan and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and oats. Blend in 1/2 cup softened butter with fingertips, just to evenly distribute. (It's Ok to have some pea-sized clumps.) Cut remaining 2 tablespoons butter in pieces and dot the top of the apple crisp. Bake in oven for 50 minutes, or until apples are bubbly and topping is browned. (If using Dutch oven, bake for 20-25 minutes.) Serve with vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of cream. Delicious!

Next Up:

Easy Pasta Pommodoro

Break an Egg

Post Edit: This is a new one-even for me. I'm not going anywhere till NEXT Monday. I packed my bags and went to bed and then sat straight up and realized my mistake! KUH-RAY-ZEE!!! Um, does anyone have the number for a good therapist? It's not for me. No, sir. I just have a friend that's completely nuts...
It's Sunday night and I'm tossing things willy nilly into a suitcase again. When will I ever learn to be a better packer? Send help and extra underclothes and toothbrushes while you're at it. Even if I forget all the essentials, I'm super firecracker-excited. I wish you were coming too. I would buy you a bag of peanut butter M and Ms to eat on the airplane. That's what my little sister bought me when we went to NY and now I will never ever fly again without them. Remember that the next time you fly the friendly skies-peanut butter M and Ms. For this current adventure, I'm going to the beautiful Willamette Valley in Oregon where I'll be touring a model Egg Farm and learning all about using eggs in healthful, ecomonical cooking. I'm going alone but I'll betcha I'll come back with some new buddies. Maybe I'll buy them a bag of peanut butter M and Ms for the flight home. My mind is still racing with the last minute things to do. I left my little charges pages and pages of homework plus two novels that they must read before I return. (Old Yeller for Sailor and Henry Huggins for Westy boy.) They have strict instructions to continue to practice the violin (Bach's Gavotte for Sailor and Vivaldi's Concerto in A minor, 1st movement for West) and piano (New Orleans jazz for Sailor and Arkansas Travelor for West). To the Quiet Man-there are some individual tamale pies in the freezer. Remember how you loved them? You don't have any homework, except to make sure that the charges happy and fed and practiced and educated. Oh, and if my flight gets delayed you will have to substitute my college Humanities class. I left my Locke and Hobbes lecture notes on the clipboard. And if you can manage to clean out the fridge you would have my eternal, undying affection.
Well, that should just about do it. I'm off on my egg adventure! Wish me luck, dear readers. I'm sure to come back with lots of clucky details and yolkful recipes.