Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts
It was Doughnut Day at my son’s preschool a few weeks back. Instead of buying doughnuts, we made them! The kids had a good time and the doughnuts turned out well! Eveyone loved them!
My boys loved them so much they insisted that we make them at home. So we did! Thanks B&B teachers for a great recipe!
Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts
Can of biscuits (I bought the pack of 4 cans – 10 biscuits per can)
Oil***
Cinnamon & Sugar
This is pretty simple! (You can make as many as you want.) First, get your oil hot…between medium and med/high heat. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and flatten them using the palm of your hand. Punch hole in middle of biscuit. I used an orange juicer. It was the perfect size! Look around your kitchen, I’m sure you can find something! (An apple corer would work nicely!)
See the holes in the background…save them! They make awesome doughnut holes!
Place biscuits into hot oil. They will only need to cook about 1 min. per side.
When finished, place doughnuts onto a paper towel. Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar! I cooked up my doughnut holes last and rolled them in the leftover cinnamon & sugar!
***I prefer to use a fry daddy but mine is too small. A fry daddy fries the doughnuts perfectly!
Super easy and they taste great!
Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cranberry bread
I was in the mood for something pumpkin-y so I found a recipe for Autumn Spice bread, tweaked it a little and now have a very tasty recipe!
The original recipe was in the Gooseberry Patch - Fall, Family & Friends cookbook p.118
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
3 1/2 C. Self-rising flour
2 1/2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin spice (you may want to add a little more, if you want it “spicey.”)
15 oz. Pumpkin, canned
1 C. Oil
2/3 C. Water
4 Eggs
~1/2 C. craisins
Preheat oven to 350. Stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, oil, water, eggs, and craisins. Mix well. Add pumpkin mixture to flour. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour into 2 greased 9″x5″ loaf pans. (I used my Pampered Chef Stone loaf pans sprayed with Pam.) Bake for 1 hour. I had to bake mine a little longer. All ovens are different so I would start checking the bread after about 45-50 min.
I suggest eating it while it’s still hot! Yum-O!
Enjoy!
Easy Apple Crisp
Apples, apples everywhere! I love Fall and with Fall comes pumpkins, cinnamon, and apples! 
The boys and I have been enjoying apples with our lunch the past few weeks but I decided I wanted something warm, something with brown sugar and cinnamon, and I came across this very easy recipe. The only thing missing was the vanilla ice cream!
Easy Apple Crisp (Gooseberry Patch, Flavors of Fall)
6 baking apples, cored, peeled, and sliced (I like Galas – baking or not!)
1/2 C. Butter, melted
3/4 C. Brown Sugar, packed
3/4 C. Quick-Cooking Oats, uncooked
1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Place apples into a 9×13 greased baking dish. (I used Pam, recipe calls for butter.) Combine melted butter, oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples. Bake at 350 degrees until apples are soft, about 35 min.
Enjoy!
Gettin’ into the swing of things
Slacker…my new name! haha! Not only have I been slack on here but in my kitchen. We stayed so busy this summer that I did very little cooking and I don’t know that I tried any new recipes. Our meals were quick so we could hit the ball field or VBS. Anyway, I’m trying to get back into the swing of things with school starting back.
I’m trying something new this month. It’s something I have never done before. I like to plan out our meals and typically do them a week at a time but I got brave and planned our meals for the WHOLE month of September! Sound impossible? Absolutely not! Wondering if you have that many recipes? I’m sure you do!
Here’s what I did…
(click calendar to enlarge)
First I printed off the month of September. I went through the month and marked out any days I knew we would be gone. Now the meals I planned are mostly dinner (or supper) and a few Saturday lunches. So on the days I knew I would need a meal I put an L for lunch and a D for dinner. Then I counted how many of each I needed. I needed 22 dinners (I didn’t start this until Sept 5) and 6 lunches.
Then I flipped my paper over and made out my list.
5 Hamburger – Tacos, Spaghetti, Mexican Salad, Hamburgers, Hamburger Things (mini-pizza)
4 Fish – Baked Rock, Fried Blue fish, Fried White Perch (2 meals)
6 Poultry – Buffalo Chicken Bites (I’m using Turkey), Grilled Italian Chicken Breast, Dove Kabobs, Chicken Parmesan, Italian doves, Chicken Fajitas
5 Pork – Ribs, Crockpot BBQ, Fried Porkchops, Apple-Cinnamon Porkloin, Breakfast Casserole
4 Wild Game* - Fried Deer & Onions, Grilled Sesame-Marinated Duck Breasts, Bacon-Wrapped Deer Bites, Roasted Rabbit
*Beef, Pork, or Poultry could easily be substituted for Wild Game
Our lunches consist of Deer Roast, Chili Beans, Grilled Sausages, Vegetable Beef soup, and of course, leftovers. These meals needed to be easy and something I could put in a crockpot while we’re at church or can make the day before.
See that wasn’t so bad! You have 28 meals!
Next, I went through each recipe to see what I needed to buy and made my grocery list. Most of the recipes are simple and I knew if I had the ingredients or not. Some I had to pull out the recipe card and search the cabinets. David and I hit up BJ’s (like Sam’s Club) and Walmart and spent $250 on one month’s groceries! I was very happy with this since I can easily go and drop $150-200 a week!
I’m pleased with how everything has gone so far! I’ve saved $, my refrigerator and freezers are full, and I have 28 meals already planned!
Don’t forget to sit down and fill in your calendar. I made notes of things we had going on, especially at night, so I would know to plan an easy meal for that night. My calendar is made and I’m much more relaxed when dinner time rolls around!
I hope this has been helpful and inspiring to some of you!
Good luck with your meal planning!
Grilled Sesame-Marinated Duck Breasts
I’m not usually a fan of duck. My husband loves to duck hunt but we have had a hard time finding good recipes…until now! This was so good! It’s easy to prepare and easy to cook!
Recipe found here: Grilled Sesame-Marinated Duck Breasts
Grilled Sesame-Marinated Duck
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/4 C. Sesame Oil
2 T. Soy Sauce
4 boneless duck breast (We used Mallard)
In a small bowl, combine garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Place breasts in a dish just large enough to hold them and cover with garlic mixture. Let sit overnight or at least 4 hrs.
Bring duck breasts to room temperature; preheat grill to medium-high.
Grill for 5-8 min per side for rare and 8-10 min per side for medium rare.
If you like hoisin sauce, you can baste the duck breasts halfway through cooking time. I completely forgot this step and they were still delicious! You can use Hoisin Sauce as a dipping sauce also.
Sauteed Onions
2 T. Butter
3-4 small sweet onions, sliced
Garlic salt
In a frying pan, melt butter. Add onions and sprinkle with garlic salt. Brown onions on medium-high, then turn temp down to medium and let onions caramelize. I let them cook for at least 15 min.
If you’ve never tried duck, I highly recommend this recipe! Excellent flavor!
Enjoy!
Tomato & Basil Bruschetta
Oh My Goodness!!! My friend, Laura, told me about this recipe so I decided to try it while my parents were in town. We all LOVED it!! It was some of the best I’ve ever had. The flavors are so bold and delicious. This is a super-easy recipe and a great way to use tomatoes and basil from your garden!
Original recipe found here: Tomato & Basil Bruschetta I tweaked it a little!
Tomato & Basil Bruschetta
6 Roma Tomatoes, diced (I used whatever we have growing in the garden!)
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 T. Olive Oil
2-1/4 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. Fresh Basil, chopped (Appox. 8 leaves)
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
8 sliced Italian Bread, cut about 1 inch thick (I could not find this so I used BBQ Bread)
2 T. Grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (Again, couldn’t find this so I used grated Parmesan)
Whisk together garlic, vinegar, salt, pepper and basil. Slowly drizzle in oil. Add tomatoes and let sit for 5-10 min. at room temperature.
While tomatoes are marinating, toast bread. I broiled mine on both sides for a couple min. on each side. Place bread on a cookie sheet and top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle on a little cheese and broil until cheese is melted.
Again, this was soooo good! The perfect appetizer or light lunch, whichever you prefer.
Enjoy!
Crockpot BBQ
This is a super easy recipe and so tasty!!! I fixed this for supper the other night and put the BBQ on King’s Hawaiian Dinner Rolls! Yummy! I wanted a fresh pineapple to go with it but couldn’t fine one. I’ll try that next time! Thanks Jackie for a great recipe!!!
Crockpot BBQ
~ 3lb. Porkloin (the size can vary some.)
1 can Whole berry cranberry sauce
1 packet of Onion soup mix
(I used the Great Value cranberry sauce and onion soup mix!)
Place porkloin in crockpot, spoon cranberry sauce over pork and sprinkle dry mix on top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs!
*I started mine at 12:00pm on high, then at 3:00pm turned it back to low. We ate around 7:00pm and it shredded nicely!
Enjoy!
Pot Roast
Seriously, who doesn’t love a good ole’ pot roast?! I always think of my granny when fixing one. She made the BEST post roast and to this day I have yet to figure out how she did it!
This isn’t Granny’s recipe but it was so good and very tender! A perfect lunch on a Sunday afternoon!
Pot Roast
2-3 lb. beef pot roast
2 beef bouillon cubes
3 C. water
Carrots
Onions
Oil
Rosemary
Thyme
Salt & Pepper
1 pkg. Brown Gravy Mix
In a skillet, heat 2-3 T. olive oil. Place roast in pan when oil is hot, searing both sides of roast. Half or quarter onions and lay them in the skillet to brown. Cut carrots into bite size pieces and put them in the pan as well. Once everything has browned, place roast, onions & carrots into a crockpot. In a separate bowl, add 2 beef bouillon and 3 C. hot water, stir until the bouillon has dissolved. Pour over roast in crockpot. Add fresh or dried Thyme and Rosemary. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. (You could easily put this on before work and let it cook on low all day.) About 15-30 min before you are ready to eat, add a packet of brown gravy mix. I like to take some of the liquid on the roast and mix with the brown gray mix, then add it back to the roast.
Serve with a side of mashed potatoes!
Enjoy!
Oriental Salad
This is one of my favorite sides! It has such a wonderful flavor and will go with most anything. Thanks Carol for a great recipe!
Oriental Salad (The quick & easy recipe)
12 oz. bag broccoli slaw
2 green onions, chopped
6 oz. slivered almonds
2 pkgs beef Ramen noodles, crushed
Dressing
3/4 C. oil
3/4 C. sugar
1/3 C. white vinegar
seasoning packs from Ramen noodles
Toast almonds on baking sheet at 350 for about 7 min., let cool. Put Ramen noodles in a ziplock bag and crush, then add almonds once they have cooled. In a separate bowl, mix slaw and onions. Whisk together oil, sugar, white vinegar and both seasoning packs. Toss all together when ready to serve!
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Oriental Cole Slaw (The more advanced recipe! haha!) Thanks Janie!
Step 1
1/2 C. slivered almonds
1/2 C. crushed pecans
4 T. sunflower seeds, shell removed
1 pkg. Ramen noodles
3/4 stick butter
Crush noodles (throw away flavor packet) and brown with all ingredients listed above. Set aside to cool completely.
Step 2
1 pkg cole slaw mix
Pour cole slaw into bowl and toss with browned nut mixture.
Step 3
1/2 C. olive oil
1/4 vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 C. sugar (or Splenda)
Bring ingredients to a boil and set aside to cool (may refrigerate.) When sauce is completely cool, use as dressing for slaw and nut mixture.
Both of these recipes are so good and will make a great side for any meal! :)
Enjoy!
Strawberry Soup
Here’s another great strawberry recipe! My boys love it! They actually consume it from a cup and not a bowl but that doesn’t matter. It taste the same either way!
Super easy and so tasty!
Strawberry Soup
2 C. Strawberries
1 C. Milk
1 C. Half & Half
1/4 C. sugar
1 C. Vanilla Yogurt
Cinnamon (optional)
In a blender combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate overnight before serving. Serve as an appetizer, dessert, or our favorite, with a cheese biscuit for breakfast!
(I have also used 1/2 C. sugar and 1 C. Plain yogurt.)
Enjoy!
