Tag: Kitchen

Cooking, Easy Recipe, Home, Recipes, Supper Ideas

Heat Wavy Easy Meal

Heidi Benson

I have a super easy supper idea for those who are struggling with this ugly heat wave?

This idea is a great idea for an easy meal to prepare without heating up the house to do so.

Grab a meat of your choice, some shrimp and your grill. Then barbecue away. It does not take long for this to cook and you kept your house cooler as well. I call that a double win.

Well, actually a triple win because I was put on grill restriction a long time ago, so I personally did not even have to go outside to cook it either.

Now our house is still cool, supper is done, and the kitchen was an easy clean up.

Enjoy your easy grilled idea if you chose to make it too.

Cooking, Easy Recipe, Home, Meal, Supper Ideas

Summer Burger

Heidi Benson

Do you need a fresh supper idea?

Try this one. Grilled angus burger topped with cheese. Place it on a bed of lettuce and add a fresh tomato to the side.

Do not be afraid to add a few baked fries seasoned with garlic salt, onion powder, and basil.

Lastly, add a few slices of fresh watermelon.

It is a filling meal, but not as bad as a traditional hamburger and French fries.

Enjoy this lighter twist to a traditional summer meal.

Easy Recipe, Healthy, Home, Meal, Recipes, Supper Ideas

Homemade Steak Nachos

Heidi Benson

Healthy Steak Nachos.

I made with sautéed onion, peppers of every color, kale, and steak. Topped with diced tomatoes, queso cheese, sour cream. Serve on a bed of lettuce, tortilla chips, or on soft taco shells.

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Baking, Breakfast, Christmas, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Christmas Monkey Bread

Heidi Benson

25 Days Christmas Countdown

Day 19

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This is a great recipe to make Christmas Eve so you have an easy breakfast for the busy Christmas morning.

Ingredients

1 c water

2 Tbsp butter

2 tsp salt

3 c bread flour

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 c peeled /diced apples

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 c cinnamon sugar

Directions

Using your bread machine, combine all your ingredients from water down to yeast according to your owners manual.

Select dough cycle and press start.

When bread machine cycle is complete remove from machine and place on a gently floured surface.

Using a bundt cake pan, spray with cooking oil on it.

Roll dough into small balls, dip in butter, and roll into cinnamon sugar. Layer in a single layer on bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle diced apple pieces and layer an additional layer with dough balls, cinnamon and apples.

Let it rise covered in a warm place for about a half hour or until doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 35 minutes.

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Baking, Christmas, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Heidi Benson

25 Day Christmas Countdown

Day 18

Here is a super easy but yummy idea to make for a platter or give away desserts.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Ingredients

1 bag of Pretzels

Dark Chocolate Bark

White Chocolate Bark

Directions

Melt your dark chocolate, melt half of the white chocolate in a microwave oven, then mix together. Be sure to melt it  on low for 30 second intervals. Be careful as to not burn the chocolate.

Dip your pretzels into the chocolate and harden on a cooling rack.

This recipe is another great blend of salty and sweet.

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Baking, Comfort, Cookies, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Christmas Thumbprint Cookies

Heidi Benson

25 Days of Christmas 

Day 12

This is one of my go to recipes when I am pulling cookies together for Christmas cookie platters. It is also good if you need a cookie for a cookie I exchange program. They are simple and delicious.

Ingredients

1/2 c butter

1/2 c creamy peanut butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c packed down sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 bag Hershey’s Kisses

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together the first 5 ingredients; then add remaining flour and mix until you form a sticky dough. Roll into small balls and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until just golden brown. Place unwrapped Hershey Kiss in center of each cookie, while they are still hot. Makes approximately 48 cookies.

🍪

Happy Baking! 

Disclaimer, the attached picture is not a thumbprint cookie. I have not made mine yet, but when I do I will update my picture then.

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Baking, Christmas, Cookies, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Soft Sugar Cookies

Heidi Benson

25 Days of Christmas

Day 8

This is a recipe my mom used every Christmas as I was growing up and now I make them every year. I wouldn’t use any other sugar cookie recipe.

This recipe allows you to leave them plain, sugared, or frosted.

This is a recipe that will allow you to make the dough in advance and leave in a refrigerator until you are ready to bake. You also do not have to frost at the same time. You can bake and decorate on another day or time.

I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and friends have.

Happy Baking…

Ingredients

1 c sugar

1/2 c melted shortening

1/2 c sour milk (1/2 tsp vinegar to 1/2 c milk)

1 tsp baking soda (added to sour milk)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

dash salt

3 c flour (approximately, add more or less to mixture insuring the dough isn’t too sticky to work with)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar, shortening, and egg. Mix sour milk and baking soda together (should be foamy). Stir in salt, vanilla and flour (enough to make dough still but not sticky).

Roll on floured surface and cut with cutters. Add colored sugar if desired or leave plain. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 7-10 minutes. When baked, remove from cookie sheet on to a cooling wire rack. When cooled, if wish, happy decorating. I included an easy frosting recipe yesterday to this category.

(When I make I will attach my photos later.

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Baking, Christmas, Comfort Food, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Simple Pumpkin Pie Bars

Heidi Benson

25 Days of Christmas

Day 7

Are looking for a holiday dessert to share with your family?  This is a wonderful and light dessert to serve after a supper.

Ingredients

Crust Ingredients

1 1/3 c unbleached white flour

1/2 c brown sugar

8 tbsp butter (softened)

3/4 c chopped pecans (optional)

Filling Ingredients

8oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c pumpkin purée

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

In a food processor, combine crust ingredients and pulse 2 to 3 times until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 2/3 c of the mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture evenly into the bottom of an 8×11 baking dish. Bake at 350 degree F for 15 minutes. Cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, combine filling ingredients. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, blend until mixture is smooth. Pour mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle with remaining crust topping. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until firm.

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Baking, Cookies, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Gingerbread Men

Heidi Benson

25 Days of Christmas

Day 5

I used this recipe yesterday to make my little guys. This recipe is passed the taste test of my family and my husband’s coworkers.

They are soft and absolutely flavorful.

Here is the link to the online recipe I used,  Eileens Spicy Gingerbread Men

Happy Baking!

Ingredients

1/2 c margarine

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c molasses

1 egg yolk

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

  2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured  surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
  4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost and decorate when cool.

Side Note: This picture was taken last year as a tribute to my daughter who was days away from having foot surgery. She had been in a foot boot since July and so to have a Gingerbread Man with a foot injury seemed appropriate in our home. 

25 Day Christmas Treat Countdown, Appetizers, Baking, Breakfast, Christmas, Comfort Food, Holiday, Home, Recipes

Mini Apple Pie Bites

Heidi Benson

25 Days of Christmas 

Day 4

Ingredients

1 can crescent rolls

1 apple of your choice

1/2 c white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg yolk (egg wash)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375* degrees.
  • Mix sugar and cinnamon together.
  • Peel, core, and slice apple into tiny slices
  • On a lightly floured surface roll out crescent rolls, cutting them part, roll out and cut each piece into 1/3.
  • Brush each piece with egg wash, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, plate a slice of apple on each crescent roll, roll up and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Bake between 11-13 mins until golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and place directly on a cooling rack.