Apple Fritters

Yum!! Apple fritters are one of my all time favorite donuts to get at bakeries. Who knew that I could make them at home, so easily!! I got this recipe from an Amish cookbook that I have, added the cinnamon and the glaze and had an awesome end result! With is being Fall right now, apples are cheap (or free if you can find them) so it's a great time to make these babies! Have fun!

Apple Fritters

1 cup flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
½ to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (depending on how much you want)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 ½ cups (about 3) apples, peeled and diced
oil for frying

Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl with a wire whisk. Add egg and milk to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add apples to the batter and blend well. Drop by spoonfuls into hot oil and fry until dark golden brown, about two minutes per side. Once done frying, let cool on paper towels. Dunk in glaze (recipe follows), covering fritters liberally. Place fritters on a wire wrack with parchment paper underneath it, for easy cleanup. Let glaze harden and enjoy! Makes 12 small fritters.

Fritter Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk (or more to desired consistency)

Mix all ingredients together until desired consistency is acquired, adding more powdered sugar or milk if need be.

After they were all made we were looking at them and saw some animal shapes!! My kids loved trying to find animals in the apple fritters.

New Pictures

I just wanted to let you know that I updated a couple of pictures.

I have a new picture of the Cookies & Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies, with the Oreos cut instead of crushed, which does make a big difference!

I also have a new picture for Vegetable Ham Alfredo Soup, which if you haven't already made it, you need to!! It's so yummy!!

Chicken Stuffed Shells

When I first saw this recipe I thought it was kind of a weird combination to combine stuffing and pasta, but I decided to give it a try since it sounded so easy. I'm glad I did, because my kids love these stuffed shells!! They have a comfort food, homey feel to them. Try them out and see how your family likes them!

Chicken Stuffed Shells

½ package giant pasta shells, cooked & drained
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
1 (6 ounce) box chicken flavored stuffing mix, prepared according to box
2 (10.5 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
½ soup can milk (use an empty cream of chicken can)
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Cook and drain pasta, set aside. Prepare the stuffing mix and place in a big bowl. Combine chicken, prepared stuffing, one can of cream of chicken soup, mix well. Stuff shells with chicken mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking pan that has been greased. Once all of the shells are filled, mix the remaining can of cream of chicken soup and ½ can of milk together along with the dried parsley. Pour the soup mixture over the shells, cover with foil and bake in a 350° F oven for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Sourdough Bread

A couple of months ago I was reading up on how to make sourdough bread, I was intrigued by the fact that sourdough bread uses absolutely no yeast!! So, I thought that sourdough would be the perfect option for having bread during a situation that you might be living off of food storage and might have run out of yeast. So, I made a starter and let it grow and ferment and sour and now, I have some awesome bread!! All from water and flour. Granted, when I actually make the bread I do add a little oil, sugar and salt, but no yeast at all. And it's so yummy! I encourage all of you to start a sourdough starter, this way you can always make bread, with or without yeast!

Now, I'm not an expert about sourdough, so I'm going to lead you to a website by S. John Ross, who is an expert. You will learn everything you need to know about sourdough, from the feeding and care of your "pet" to the hooch that forms on the top. You can check out his website here. This is the recipe that I used to start my starter and to ultimately make my bread. I have two starters, this way I can have an extra in case one dies, which is pretty unlikely. Plus, we've been enjoying bread weekly and even pizza from the dough!! As you can see from my pictures I shape my dough into baguettes, we like it this way the best, but you can shape it in a regular loaf pan or as a round, it's up to you. It does take a lot of time, but not a lot of hands on time. And when I want to make bread I have to think about it about a day in advance, but that's not that big of a deal. Just read up on how to make the sourdough here and mostly, have fun!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

What's better than a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk? Nothing! These pudding cookies are soft, moist, and all around yummy!! Add these to your holiday cookie plates and people will surely ask you for the recipe!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Combine the flour and baking soda. Set aside. Mix the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, pudding mix, and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add the eggs and mix well. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Soda Can Chicken

First things first, I need to announce the winner of Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites! Thank you to everyone that entered!! And if you didn't win, be sure to get yourself a copy of the book here. The winner of the book is.................

tjones330@... who said: oh WOW!! i SOOOO need this book. I'm a big fan on these authors, but have just started getting into OAMC. This sure would be a great guide!

Congrats tjones, I've emailed you, so be sure to check your email and get back with me. If I don't hear back from tjones by next week, I'll pick a new winner. Again, thanks to everyone that entered!


Now, onto the recipe for the day! I was on CafeMom, in one of my groups and someone mentioned using soda in "beer can" chicken. Since I don't drink alcohol, I thought this idea was awesome! So, I used root beer to make "soda can" chicken! It was really simple!! I know that in the original recipe it says to do this on the grill, but it's starting to get cold and windy out here (well, it's always windy out here) so I decided to make it inside in my oven! So, this recipe isn't really a recipe, but more of a technique. Either way, I hope you try it soon!! Oh, and I used root beer, but you could also use sprite or coke, maybe even dr. pepper or mt. dew! Try it out and see how your family likes it!

Soda Can Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 12 oz. can soda of your choice
seasonings of your choice, I used My Go To Seasonings

Preheat an oven to 375° F.
Season the chicken with the seasonings of your choice, be sure to season generously. Open the can of soda and pour out about half of the soda into a glass and save for another use or drink it! Place the soda can onto a baking pan or roasting pan that is large enough to collect any juices that might come out of the chicken. Carefully put the can of soda into the bottom of the chicken and sit it upright on the baking pan. Be sure that your oven racks are low enough that the chicken will fit into it while standing. Place the chicken into the oven and bake until the chicken is cooked through, about and hour to an hour and half, depending on how large your chicken is. Enjoy!

OAMC Family Favs Giveaway!!

I was asked by the creators of Once-A-Month Cooking, Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg, to do a review and giveaway of their newest book, Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites. I must admit, I've never been into the OAMC (once a month cooking) way of doing things in the kitchen. I like the hands on, being in the kitchen for a few hours a day kind of cooking. It keeps me busy, it's my hobby and I just generally like to cook (obviously that's why I have this blog!). But that might change as my kids get older and we have more activities going on, so I decided to go ahead and look through the book. I really enjoyed looking through it and got quite a few recipes that I'd like to try out. The Jerk Chicken sounds way yummy, not to mention the Poppy Seed Chicken.

The book features shopping lists, pantry lists, menu charts, and the general know how of OAMC. With seven different menu cycles, there are lots of different choices!! Something for everyone from the gluten-free family to the gourmet. Something that might appeal to busy moms on the go is the fact that a whole month's worth of meals is ready for the taking in the freezer. If you know your going to be super busy, you could just pull out a meal and have it ready in no time. The book also includes lots of tips, including tips on freezing and tips on thawing. And in each recipe, they tell you what to freeze the meal in, whether it be in a zip loc bag or container.

I'm thinking this would be the perfect book for a new mother to have. Just think, you are pregnant and due in about a month, so you start cooking now!! Then, when your baby is here, you already have a month's worth of meals in your freezer and you can spend more time sleeping or with your new baby! Something I could have used after my second son was born. :)

If you would like to have a copy of Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites for yourself, just leave me a comment here on this post, please be sure to include a way for me to contact you. I'll be giving away one copy. You have until Tuesday the 13th at midnight mountain time. Open to US only, because I've got to mail the book out to you. And please, only one entry per person. I'll announce the winner on Wednesday the 14th. And for now, go check out their website for a free one week cycle to see how you like freezer cooking.