Oatmeal Toasting Bread

Oatmeal Toasting Bread. Yeah, just the name sounds good. But the actual bread is SO incredible. I can't say enough about it. Slightly sweet, super moist, incredible texture. YUM! Try it.

There are a few ingredients I bet you don't have lying around (vital wheat gluten?!) but it's SOOO worth it. Try the bulk containers at your local health food store.  I doubled the recipe and made one 2-lb loaf and 2 1-lb loaves (9x5 and 8x4, respectively). Also, just in case you didn't know, "instant yeast" is also known as "Rapid Rise" yeast.. Finally, I'd recommend kneading by hand. It's stiff so it takes some elbow grease.  Happy Baking!

Oatmeal Bread

2 oz. (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter
2 oz. (1/4 c.) light brown sugar
5 oz. (1 1/2 c.) leftover oatmeal (see note), room temperature
1¼ tsp. salt
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 c. oat bran
10 oz. (2 c.) bread flour, plus more as needed
1/4 c. nonfat dry milk
2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
2 tsp. instant yeast (note: this is not a full pkg.)

Melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar and salt. Stir this into the leftover porridge. Put the rolled oats, oat bran, bread flour, dry milk, vital wheat gluten, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir the leftover oatmeal. Knead in KitchenAid for about 10 minutes. This is a very sticky dough. You may need to add more flour so that you can move from sticky towards tacky, which is desirable. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl. Cover with a cloth, and let the dough rise for 1 hour.

Flour a work surface. Gently flour the dough and fold over about four times. Dust with flour if the dough is sticking to your hands. (If making multiple loaves, divide the dough now into equal pieces.) Fold the dough in half, pinch the seam, and gently roll into a loaf shape the length of your pan. The dough will be stiff. If needed, pinch the seam with moistened fingers. Place in greased loaf pans. (Either one 2-lb. loaf or two 1-lb. loaves.) You want the ends of the loaf to touch the short ends of your pan (so it will rise evenly.) Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a towel. Let dough rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Dust the top with oat bran, if you like. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.

Note: To make fresh oatmeal, bring 1½ cups (12 oz.) water to a simmer. Add 1/2 cup (3 oz.) steel-cut oats (MUST use steel-cut oats!). Simmer on low, covered, for about 25 minutes. Stir in butter, brown sugar, and salt. Cool your oatmeal down to below 120°F (took about 45-60 minutes), before proceeding with the recipe.

Honey Wheat Rolls - Delicious AND Easy!

These are super super easy, come together quickly, don't required a lot of kneading, AND you don't have to roll them out! (You can if you want, but by the time I got to shaping the dough, it was a little too sticky to roll out so I just followed the directions.) Seriously, don't be afraid. Try this recipe. You will be so proud of yourself, and amazed at how little effort they require!

Honey Wheat Rolls

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (100° -110° F)
2 c. all purpose flour, divided (I used more like 3 c. flour)
1 c. whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. honey (I eyeballed it)
2½ Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
Cooking spray

Dissolve yeast in 1 c. warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 1½ c. flour, whole wheat flour, honey, butter and salt to yeast mixture, stir until well blended. Add 1/4 c. flour and stir until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough remaining flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time, to keep it from sticking to hands.

Place dough in large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover (with plastic wrap) and let rise in warm place free from drafts 1 hour, or until doubled.

Separate into golf ball size pieces and flatten slightly. (I got about 15 rolls.) Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and place in warm area free of drafts for about 45 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425° F. Bake rolls 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Baked Manicotti

This is one of my favorites. It is sooo easy, comes together in a snap, cleanup isn't bad, and it makes you feel like a pro. I always use a little bit more spaghetti sauce than the recipe calls for, especially since I don't cook the shells first.  Also, the basil pesto is SO worth it.  It's expensive and goes bad fast BUT... if you store it in the freezer, it will keep (up to 6 months after opening) and it thaws almost instantly when you need to use it. Don't leave that ingredient out! It makes a huge difference!

Also, you can get away with not cooking the shells. Just be sure you overdo the sauce, because the shells absorb a good bit of the moisture while cooking.

Baked Manicotti

2 c. spaghetti sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 c. ricotta cheese
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 basil pesto sauce
12 manicotti shells, cooked, rinsed in cold water (or uncooked and add 1/2-1 c. sauce to recipe)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread 3/4 c. of the spaghetti sauce on bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Mix egg, ricotta, 1½ c. mozzarella, parmesan, and pesto sauce until well-blended. Spoon cheese mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Using scissors, cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Fill manicotti shells, one at a time, squeezing cheese mixture into both sides of each shell. Place in baking dish; pour remaining 1¼ c. spaghetti sauce over manicotti. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 40 minutes or until heated through. The last 5 minutes of cooking, sprinkle more mozzarella cheese over top and remove aluminum foil to allow to melt and brown slightly.

I serve this with a simple green salad and some form of bread.

Citrus Broiled Chicken

This is a great low-carb recipe if you don't serve it with rice, but I love the rice so I go for it. (Boil it in chicken stock rather than water - you'll be amazed at the difference in flavor.) It's seriously easy and delicious, and it's easy to adapt it to whatever veggies you have in your kitchen. The broiling creates an incredible crust and the marinade is out of this world (despite how easy it is!). Try it - I KNOW you'll love it!

Citrus Broiled Chicken

2/3 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. orange juice
2 Tbsp. lime juice
Zest of one orange
Zest of one lime
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine soy sauce, orange and lime juices, orange and lime zest, and garlic. Pour mixture over chicken in large plastic food storage bag. Press air out of bag; close top securely. Turn bag over several times to coat chicken. Marinate for one hour, turning bag over once. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Broil chicken 5 inches from heat source for 8 minutes; turn over and cook an additional 6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

A great side dish for this chicken is a vegetable mix of sliced red, yellow, and green bell peppers, red onions, carrots, snow peas, broccoli, and garlic, quickly sautéed in olive oil with extra marinade. Serve with hot cooked rice, if desired.

Nilla Wafer Apple Crisp

No words needed.  Simple, easy, delicious.

Nilla Wafer Apple Crisp

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, thinly sliced
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar, divided
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/3 c. old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/4 c. cold margarine
25 Nilla Wafers, crushed
Cool Whip or whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350° F. Toss apples with 1/4 c. of the brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Spoon into 8- or 9-inch baking dish. Combine oats, 1/4 c. brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add wafer crumbs; mix well. Spread evenly over apples. Bake 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip.

Pumpkin Bread

Delicious!

Pumpkin Bread

2 c. sugar
3½ c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. cinnamon
2½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2/3 c. oil
1 c. water
4 eggs, beaten
15-oz. can pure pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350° F and grease 2 loaf pans. Mix sugar, flour, baking soda, and spices together and make a well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill prepared pans half full of batter. Bake for 1 hour or until done. (At high altitude, bake 40-45 minutes.)

Variation: Mix in 1 cup nuts, chocolate chips or raisins with wet ingredients.

Chicken Pot Pie

Easy and delicious!

Chicken Pot Pie

3-4 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes
Salt and pepper
Poultry seasoning
3-4 carrots, peeled, sliced
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 smallish onion, chopped
1 small baking potato, peeled, chopped
1 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 c. frozen green peas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. chicken stock
1½ c. Bisquick
1 c. milk
2 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350° F and lightly grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning, to taste. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, brown chicken with carrot, mushrooms, onion, and potato (and S&P to taste) until chicken is browned, onion and carrot are tender, and mushrooms have released their liquid. In the last 2 minutes, add FRESH corn. (If corn is frozen, just add it with the peas.) Remove from heat and allow to cool a few minutes. In prepared 9x13 dish, layer chicken mixture with corn and peas. In a separate bowl, whisk together soup and chicken stock, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over casserole. Whisk together Bisquick and milk, and pour over casserole. Drizzle butter over casserole. Bake until the topping is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Note: to make this easier, you can substitute frozen for a lot of these vegetables, but I enjoyed the taste of fresh, and it didn't take a whole lot longer to prep and sauté the fresh vegetables. Also, you can substitute shredded rotisserie chicken for the raw then sautéed chicken. Just heat it in the sauté pan with the poultry seasoning. DON'T LEAVE OUT THE POULTRY SEASONING. It makes such a big difference!