Baking

I recently learned that I enjoy baking.  It really all started when my wife bought her a Kitchen aid stand mixer.  The interesting thing is we have had it for almost a year, and I think I have used it more than she has.

I have recently started making Bread, I love hot home made bread fresh out of the oven.  I took the opportunity today to make some bread because we are out of bread.  I noticed that we only have one loaf pan, so I made 1 loaf of bread, and 6 rolls.

It was nice because I was able to put my child down for a nap, and make the dough.  I let it rise for about an hour, and then I rolled it out, and put it in the loaf pan, and in the cake pan for the rolls.  I let it set for another hour, and then I cooked it.

I used the following recipe for my Bread.

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Ingredients

• 1 Lb Ground Beef
• 1 Can Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 LB Pasta
• 2/3 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 TBS Minced Onion
• 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
• 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Brown Ground Beef, and add Minced Onions
2. Boil Pasta
3. Drain Beef
4. Drain Pasta
5. Mix Sauce, Sour Cream, Beef, and Pasta
6. Add in Cheddar, and 1/2 the Parmesan Cheese
7. Put in Baking Dish
8. Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan Cheese on top
9. Bake 350 for 25 minutes

Notes

If you have a large family you can put in 9x13 inch pan. I have a small family, I put it in 2 separate casserole dishes. I cooked one, I'm going to freeze the second pan.

Grilled Vegetables

I'm excited about summer, because it is grilling season.  Today we were lucky enough to have some beautiful Ribeye steaks.  Which I was planning on throwing onto the grill.  During the day I had this wonderful idea to cook some vegetables with the steak.

1/2 Onion
1    Green Pepper
1    Bell Pepper
2    Cloves of Garlic

I put all the vegetables into a bag I made of Tin Foil  I drizzled some Olive Oil over the vegetables, and sealed it up and threw it on the grill.

Once I was done I put some Salt And Pepper over it, and it was good to go.

Please ignore the extra stuff in the photos, I'm going to start working on my presentation.

Alfredo

1/4 lb       Butter
1/2 tbsp    Minced Onion
3              Cloves Garlic
1/2           Pint Heavy Whipping Cream
4 oz         Cream Cheese
1/4 cup    Parmesan Cheese
                Salt
                Pepper

Melt Butter, and put in garlic, and Onions (I used Dried Onions). Mix in Heavy Whipping Cream, and Cream Cheese.  Let it "meld" together.  Then mix in the Parmesan Cheese, then Salt and Pepper to taste.

I used Angel Hair pasta because I like it better than Fettuccine, or even Spaghetti.  When I go to Olive Garden and get their pasta I get the Angel Hair.

This will make about 4 servings. 

Mixers

I recently got a stand mixer, and I have been able to use the dough hook, and make some Pita Bread, Rolls, and home made bread.  I'll tell you, there is nothing like hot home made bread, and butter.  The mixer that I got was the Kitchen Aid, Artisan.

The mixer comes with 3 attachments.  The Beater Blade, Dough Hook, and the Wire Whip attachment.

Chicken Wings.

You ever been to a restaurant and had some pretty amazing wings?  Ever wanted to know how to make them at home?   Well now you can, they are easier than baking a cake.

First all you need to do is get some Chicken Fingers from your local store.  You can buy them frozen in a bag.  You can either cook them in the oven, or cook them in a deep fryer, just follow the instructions on the bag.

For the wing sauce, there are two kinds.  You could make some with Brown Sugar, and Franks Red Hot sauce.

You mix:

1 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of Franks Red Hot Sauce

Mix in sauce pan on low heat. 

Mix until the sugar has dissolved.

Once it has dissolved and mixed together you can coat the wings with the sauce.  We put the wings in a rubbermaid dish, put the wings, and the sauce in, and shake it all about. 

My wife things the wings taste like Wingers Stick Fingers.

You can also mix:

1/2 cup of salted butter

1/2 cup of Franks Red Hot Sauce

Melt the butter, and mix in the Red Hot Sauce. coat the wings.  I think this sauce tastes like Hooters Wings. 

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 can of kidney beans 1 can of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 chopped onion
1 packet of taco seasoning

 Brown ground beef. put into crock pot. Mix all the ingredients in the crock pot, and let cook for several hours

 You can put it on a bed of Frito's or Tortilla chips. Top with sour cream, cheese, and olives. You can use any other taco ingredients you desire.

You can also add a can of green chilis if you want to add some kick.

For this recipe we ran out of taco seasoning, and I found a Fajita seasoning packet that I used that worked out really well.