Strawberry Shortcake Shells

Today was Easter Sunday! Easter is my very favorite holiday. For one thing, I was born on Easter. Second, I love the reason for Easter. What is more worthy of celebration than the Resurrection of the Savior? Third, it means the beginning of Spring and I love Spring. Fourth, I love the food of Easter. The ham, the chocolate, the potatoes. Mmmm. Just the best.

Well, I had the opportunity to make my very first Easter dinner this year! Everything went fairly well, except for the dessert. I had planned on serving pretzel jello salad, buuuuut I got impatient and added the jello to the pan too soon. Consequently, I ended up with soggy pretzel jello mush instead. I had to come up with a new dessert fast. I had strawberries. I had cool whip. Strawberry shortcakes!! The only thing I needed was the cake shell. I found and adapted this recipe and crossed my fingers. Luckily, it turned out great! The cakes were spongy, but sturdy. Sweet, but not too sweet. Just perfect for strawberry shortcakes.

Lazy Dazy Cake - AllRecipes

Ingredients:
- 2 Whole Eggs
- 2 Egg Whites
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1 TB Butter
- 1/2 Cup Milk

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your cupcake pan.*
2. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Whisk or sift to remove any lumps.
3. In a larger bowl, beat eggs for about 4 minutes with an electric mixer on high. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture and combine.
4. In a small sauce pan, bring the milk and butter to a boil. Add to the batter and beat until combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans. Fill each cupcake about 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 to 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
6. Allow cakes to cool and remove from the pans by running a knife around the edge of each cake and softly prying from the pan. 

*I used a pan that made 8 oversized cupcakes and they were perfect. I'm sure that you could also use a regular 12 cupcake pan, you may just want to reduce the cook time by a minute or two.

Cheater Turkey Tetrazzini

I usually make my turkey tetrazzini from scratch, but I happened to have an open jar of alfredo sauce in the fridge and decided to create a cheater version. Very quick, very easy, and very yummy. It's a great way to use turkey leftovers.

Ingredients:
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Jarred Alfredo Sauce (I used Ragu brand.)
3/4 lb Spaghetti
1 1/2 Cups Cooked, Cubed Turkey
Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Sleeve Ritz Crackers, crushed


Directions:
1. Cook Spaghetti according to directions on package.
2. Combine the soup, chicken broth, alfredo sauce, cubed turkey, and cooked spaghetti in a large bowl. Pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese and crushed Ritz Cracker crumbs.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

How easy is that?!

Quick Hamburger Buns

I have tried recipe after recipe to find a good roll for hamburger buns. I finally found one that is wonderful and happens to be a very fast dough! Bonus!! I adapted this recipe from Pioneering Today. (No Rise Dinner Rolls). Thanks to Melissa Norris!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cup Warm Water
1 1/2 TB White Sugar
1 1/2 TB Yeast
1 TB Olive Oil
3 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Instructions:
1. Combine water yeast and sugar. Let mixture sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes frothy.
2. Add remaining ingredients to the yeast mixture. Knead for 5-7 minutes on a lightly floured surface.
3. Divide the dough into 8 equal sections. Form each section into a ball and then flatten the ball to be about 4 inches in diameter. Place the flattened ball onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
4. Set the oven to 400 degrees. Let the buns rise while the oven is preheating. (They only need about 15 minutes.)
5. Bake buns for 12-15 minutes.

Light Wheat Bread

I have spoiled myself with this bread recipe. I now refuse to eat store bought bread. I make it once a week for my family and we almost always eat both loaves.

Ingredients:
- 4 Cups White Bread Flour*
- 2 1/2 Cups Wheat Flour
- 2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
- 1 1/2 TB Active Dry Yeast (2 Pkgs)
- 3 TB White Sugar
- 3 TB Vegetable Flavored Shortening
- 1 TB Salt

1. Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Stir in the sugar, shortening, salt, and 2 cups of the white flour. (Mixture will be very lumpy. Don't worry about it.) Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 15 minutes.
2. Stir in the remaining white flour and the wheat flour. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes. Once the dough has been kneaded, place it in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into two parts. Pat each part into a large rectangle and roll up to form your loaves. Place loaves in lightly oiled loaf pans. Recover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until they are about an inch above the pan, about 30 more minutes.
4. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
5.Turn loaves onto a cooling rack and brush the tops with melted butter.

*If you don't have bread flour, just use All-Purpose flour and add in 1 TB of Vital Wheat Gluten. You can find the Vital Wheat Gluten in the baking aisle or the bulk section at Winco. I usually go this route because it is quite a bit cheaper than using bread flour.

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

There are a couple of things that are great about this recipe. First of all, it is very budget friendly. Instead of using Cream of Chicken soup, you make a simple sauce from scratch. Also, any casserole with rice as the base is going to lower the cost of the meal. Second, it's a great way to sneak broccoli into your family's diet!

Ingredients:
- 4 Cups Cooked white rice (I just popped some into my rice cooker.)
- 2 Cups Cooked chicken, cubed
- 2 Cups Fresh broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 1/2 Cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 Cup Butter
- 1/3 Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1 1/2 Cups Chicken broth
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/3 Cup Crumbled Ritz Crackers*
- 1 tsp Butter, melted


Instructions:
1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add in your fresh broccoli. Allow to cook until the broccoli turns bright green, about 3 minutes. Strain the broccoli and set aside.
2. Melt 1/4 butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Once it is completely melted, add in your flour and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Begin slowly adding your milk and chicken broth. Once all of the liquids are incorporated, allow the sauce to simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until it begins to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste. (Be generous. At least 1/2 tsp each.)
3. Put the rice, chicken, broccoli, and cheese in a large bowl. Pour the sauce over and stir well. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish or 9x13 pan.

4. Mix together the cracker crumbs and butter and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

5. Bake casserole at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*This is about half a sleeve of Ritz Crackers. I just put them in a ziplock and let my 18 month old go to town smushing them. :)

Creamy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

I have always loved Macaroni and Cheese, but sometimes the blue box just doesn't cut it. Consequently, I created this recipe for creamy, comforting stovetop Mac n' Cheese.

Ingredients:
- 2 Cups uncooked macaroni or shell noodles.
- 3 TB Butter
- 3 TB Flour
- 2 Cups Milk
- 1/4 tsp Mustard powder
- 2 Cups Cheddar cheese, shredded*
- 1/2 Cup Velveeta Cheese**
- Salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Cook noodles according to directions on package.
2. While the noodles are cooking, melt the butter in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour to form a roux and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.

3. Slowly begin incorporating the milk. Start with a tablespoon or two and make sure it's all absorbed into the roux before adding more. My general rule of thumb when making a white sauce is to about double the amount I add to it each time. (Start with 2 TB, then 1/4 cup, then 1/2 cup...) If you add in all of the milk at once, your sauce will never work. 
 4. Once all of the milk is incorporated, mix in the mustard powder and salt/pepper to taste.  Allow to simmer over medium heat for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently. The sauce should become noticeably thicker.

5. Once the sauce has thickened, add your cheddar and Velveeta and stir until melted.
6. Put warm noodles in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over them. Stir well and serve.
7. YUMM!

*If you are cooking on a tight budget or are watching your calories, you can definitely reduce the amount of cheese to 1 Cup. (I often do this.) It won't be as yummy, but it will still satisfy the craving. 
** Here's the deal with Velveeta. The more you add, the cheesier it will taste. However, it will also taste more processed. I don't like the processed/fake cheesy flavor, so I usually use a little less. If you change up the recipe, do note that you need to add at least 1/4 cup to get the pretty orange color that is associated with Mac N' Cheese. Cheddar alone won't give you that.

Sausage Calzones

Both my mom and my husband said these are the best calzones they've ever had. Very easy and very delicious!

Ingredients:
- 1 lbs Spicy breakfast sausage
- 1 Container Ricotta cheese
- 1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 (2 1/4 tsp) Package active dry yeast
- 1 Cup warm water (Think - how hot you'd want the water to be if you were taking a bath.)
- 1 TB Olive oil
- 1 tsp White sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour

Instructions:
1. Cook breakfast sausage in a fry pan. Combine it with the Ricotta and cheddar and place in the fridge until ready.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Mix in the olive oil, white sugar, salt and 1 cup of the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for about 15 minutes until the sponge begins to rise and look bubbly. Add in the remaining flour and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap again. Allow to rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 6 sections. Roll each section into a small circle on a floured surface. Place a 6th of the filling on the circle of dough. Lightly brush the edges with water, fold it over, and seal by pinching/rolling the edges..
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 28-30 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce (recipe below).

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/real-italian-calzones/

Perfect Simple Tomato Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 2 Small cans tomato sauce.
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Basil
- 1 tsp Parsley
- 2 TB Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Put over low heat and allow to simmer for about twenty minutes. It's as easy as that!!