Breakfast casserole

I hate serving the kids cereal for breakfast everyday, even the "healthy" stuff, isn't healthy. So even though hashbrowns might not be much better, this casserole is perfect for us in the morning. I prepare everything the night before, and my husband puts in the oven when he gets up for work and it's done once the rest of us have to get ready for school. Very easy!

The original recipe asks for bacon and normally I would make it with bacon but I had some honey ham that needed to be used so I went with that. This is also a great meal to take along when you go camping! Prepare it at home and bake it either on the bbq or in your stove, but you'll probably want to use the disposable baking pans.


Breakfast Casserole
1 bag frozen hash browns (1kg)
1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped ham or 1 pk cooked bacon, crumbled
salt & pepper to taste
7-8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a 9x13 cake pan. Whisk together the milk and eggs, pour evenly over the hash browns. At this point you cook bake it but I find it bakes better if you let this soak together for a while. I prepare this the night before and let it soak overnight in the fridge and then bake in the morning. Bake uncovered at 350F for about 45-60 minutes.

*Note: I have made this a few times and have had to adjust the amount of milk, sometimes the centre wants to stay a little too juicy. The original recipe would use 2 cups milk and 10 eggs, but the above seams to work well for me.

Have a great day!
Tina

Waffles & Pudding

We had such a great start to our Sunday morning with fresh waffles and homemade pudding. The pudding is not really a traditional pudding but it's what we grew up with and continue to make, the kids love this for breakfast, or lunch, or... well you get the idea!

Waffles
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Beat egg whites until peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat the yolks until creamy, add milk and vanilla. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients and add to the milk mixture, beat until smooth. Fold in the egg whites and margarine. Bake in a waffle maker for 3 minutes or until golden.

Pudding
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 tbsp cornstarch

Pour milk into a saucepan and add sugar and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, put the cornstarch in a small bowl or cup and add just enough milk to allow you to mix the cornstarch so that it is lump free. Right before the milk boils I slowly stir this into the saucepan of milk. Stir until thickened, you might have to adjust the amount of cornstarch that you use. Add vanilla. Now to eat this all you do is dip the waffles in the pudding and enjoy!

*Note: You might have to adjust the sugar in the pudding. This is usually just done by eye, just taste it and adjust to your family's liking.

Have a great day!
Tina

Kielki

This is one of those dishes that most Mennonites grow up with, it will vary depending on what region you're from but this is how we make ours. I made my own wide eggs noodles for this but you could also buy them, but I find making your own gives you a little more control and you could substitute whole wheat flour to make them healthier.

We normally eat this with cooked bacon, but I still had sausage in the freezer so I went with that. I like to cut the sausage into small but size pieces and than pan fry them in a cast iron pan until done. With bacon we just serve it on the side.

Pasta:
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp cream

Knead the dough until you have a nice smooth elastic dough and prepare according to your pasta machine instructions. Cook in boiling salted water for about 3-5 minutes.

Cream Gravy:
1 Tbsp oil, butter or drippings
1 small onion, chopped
Pan fry this until onion turns a nice brown colour.

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 tbsp Bisto traditional gravy powder (brown)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix together and stir into the fried onion. Bring to a boil, constantly stirring until thickened (the amount of Bisto specified is an estimate so you might have to adjust to get a thickened gravy). Spoon this over your cooked pasta. Serve with Mennonite sausage or cooked bacon.

Notes: Most people I know that serve this will serve the fried onions on the side, but I find doing it this way saves me a step and since you're topping your pasta with the fried onions anyway, why not just add it to the sauce and have less hassle. (And it's one less dish to clean!)

I started using the Bisto gravy powder to thicken my sauce and flavour it at the same time after a friend suggested it to me, this is always how I make my cream gravy now. The other method is to use Knorr gravy browner and cornstarch.

I also use half milk, half cream instead of the traditional 100% cream. I like to save calories where you can and just the thought of using so much cream makes my hips cringe, lol.

Have a great day!
Tina

Banana Pie

This is my family's favourite pie, it's barely out of the oven and the kids are already asking for their first piece. Half a pie disappears before it's even completely cool, lol. As you'll notice in the picture, it's not a very thick pie. We prefer our pie this way, and we actually both grew up with our pie being this thin and baked in a large cookie sheet rather than your typical pie plates. This is basically like an apple pie, only using bananas instead.

For this recipe you could use your favorite pie crust, but I will post mine. I've heard that you get a better pie crust when you use half butter, half shortening and I've always gotten a good crust with this one.

Banana Pie Filling
7-8 extra large bananas (slice them into small chunks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 heaping Tbsp flour
3 tsp lemon juice
Mix this together and set aside while you make the pie crust. Depending on the size of your bananas you might have to slice more, you want enough to have a nice layer in between pie crusts.

Pie Crust:
1 cup butter
1 cup shortening
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1- 1 1/2 cups ice cold water

Mix the dry ingredients together and add the butter and shortening. Blend this together until you have what looks like pebbles. Stir in the water and mix just until the dough forms. The more you knead a pie dough, the tougher it will be. Divide dough into two pieces. Roll out one piece to fit into a large cookie sheet with sides. Spread banana pie filing into the cookie sheet. Roll the second piece to the same size and place over the first pie shell with the filling. Using a fork to pinch the sides together, and you will also want to stab the fork over the top of your crust. Bake at 375F until light golden in colour.

Enjoy!
Tina

Apricot Glazed Chicken

This is such an easy recipe, also known as Russian Chicken. It's one of those perfect meals to put in the oven before you head out to church and all you have to prepare is the rice and vegetables when you get back. Now the ingredients might sound a little strange to you but don't let that stop you from trying it, it in no way tastes like jam, lol.

Apricot Glazed Chicken

12 Chicken drumsticks (or desired pieces)
1 8oz jar Apricot jam
250 ml Russian Dressing
1 envelope onion soup powder
1 cup boiling water

Place the chicken in a 10x13 cake pan. Mix the remaining ingredients together to blend and pour over the chicken. Bake uncovered at 350F for 1 hour, turning chicken over once in between. Serve with rice, using the sauce to spoon over your rice.

Note: Some stores don't carry Russian dressing so you might have to check a few, like Safeway, Walmart also carries it.

Enjoy!
Tina

Coconut Cupcakes

I had misplaced this recipe a while ago and today I went on the search for it again. These cupcakes are really nice to take to a baby or bridal shower, I love the coconut in the cupcake, it gives it different taste from the typical vanilla or chocolate cupcakes. I used creamy frosting for these but you could also make a fluffy frosting and sprinkle more coconut on top, I didn't want to have a coconut overload so I kept it simple. But I did find the frosting a little too high in calories so I think next time I would search for a lighter option.

Coconut Cupcakes
3 egg whites
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flaked coconut

Mix the egg whites, milk and vanilla, set aside. Beat together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Sift together the dry ingredients and and add alternately to the margarine with the milk mixture beginning and ending with the flour. Fold in the coconut. Fill medium cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350F for about 15-20 minutes or until done.

Creamy Frosting:

1 cup milk
2 Tbsp flour

Whisk milk into flour in a small saucepan until smooth. Heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Cool thoroughly.

1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl until light and fluffy, add thickened milk. Beat until mixture resembles whipped cream.

Have a great day!
Tina

Chicken Noodle Soup and Tortas

If you're a Mennonite, you're familiar with this noodle soup! One of my favorite meals even if it is a million calories, lol. A lot of women would tell you to use an organic free range chicken for the stock, it tastes better but I don't always have those in the freezer and I still enjoy the taste from other chickens.

You can make your own egg noodles but I have found that if I have to make the pasta too, I tend to not make it. So I go the easy route and buy a bag of egg noodles from a Mexican import store, way quicker.

Chicken Noodle Soup
1 chicken, cut into pieces

Generously cover with water and let this simmer for 2-3 hours. Remove the chicken and add the following herbs & spices to the broth in an "herb ball":

1/4 - 1/3 cup dried parsley or 1 small bunch fresh parsley
A 4 piece Star Anise
2-3 Whole Cloves
7-10 Whole Black Pepper
1/3 Cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2-3 Tbsp Chicken soup bouillon (I use the Knorr brand that gets imported from Mexico, the Knorr that you find in your regular grocery store is not the same)
salt to taste

Let this simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Use a strainer when adding the broth to your noodles, you want just a nice clear broth and the noodles. The herbs/spice amounts given are just a starting point, everyone has their own preferences and you can adjust accordingly.

As for the tortas that you see in the picture, they are a perfect match to the soup. All you do is make homemade hamburger buns, I shape them into oblong buns for this just because it looks nice. Fry up some taco meat and add only a small amount of seasonings, you want the flavor of the meat to be milder than normal. What makes these things taste so good is the avocado spread and mayo! I buy the avocado spread in the fresh dips and spreads section at Superstore but you could also use just a ripe avocado. Spread the Avocado spread on one piece of bread and mayo on the other piece. Add your beef, lettuce and tomato and you're ready to enjoy!

Have a great day!
Tina