DIY Oatmeal Packets

My kids love the instant oatmeal that comes in the little packages, but I was getting sick of buying them when I knew I had all of the ingredients in my own cupboard.  I also have been trying to cut back on the amount of prepackaged, processed foods my family eats.  This was a no-brainer for me.

So one saturday, I gathered up my children and told them to form a line at the counter.  

All you need is oatmeal,  brown sugar, cinammon and ziploc bags.

I gave myself and each child a "job". 
I was responsible for putting the sacks inside of a plastic cup.  I did this so that it would be easy to drop the ingredients in and keep them stable.  I was also in charge of putting 1/8 tsp of cinnamon in each sack.
Isaac (in the white shirt) was responsible for putting 1 Tbsp of brown sugar in each sack.
Jared (blue shirt) was responsible for putting a 1/2 cup of oatmeal in each sack.
Amelia (down on the end) was responsible for closing up the sacks and putting them into a black basket that will be in our pantry.

 Our finished product!  When you're ready to eat, just dump the contents into a bowl, add about 2/3 cup water and heat for 1.5 minutes in the microwave.  We are also saving the plastic bags in a bigger plastic bag to use again for next time.

I didn't think about this until after we were all done, but normally my boys will eat two of the packets for breakfast.  Right now we are just letting them still dump two packets into a bowl in the morning.  Next time we make our packets I will just have them double the ingredients in one bag and we will mark those bags as a double batch.

You can adjust the recipe to include whatever you want.  I am thinking about trying dried apple chunks and cinnamon next time.  What do you like in your oatmeal?

Rice Pudding

Rice Pudding

2 cups water
1 cup rice
1 can evaporated milk
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 to 1 cup sugar (depending on your taste)

Put water in a saucepan over high heat and add rice.  Cook according to rice package directions. 
Once rice is done cooking, add can of evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar.  Simmer on low for 15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Note: The original recipe that I adapted this from used a can of sweetened condensed milk instead of the sugar.  It is super delicious, but I can't always bring myself to use it.

Chicken Crescents

Another recipe I adapted from my friend, Malia.

Chicken Crescents

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp pepper
2/3 cup mushrooms, cooked and chopped
1 can green chilies
2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
2 can crescent rolls
6 tbsp butter, melted
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk

Combine cream cheese, pepper, chilies, mushrooms and chicken.  Divide dough into 16 pieces.  Put spoon size drops of chicken mixture onto wide end of dough and roll up towards skinny end.  Pinch dough to close up open spaces.  Roll in melted butter, then dressing mixture.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. 

Meanwhile, combine chicken soup and milk in saucepan and heat through.  Serve over top of crescents.

pancake mix and buttermilk pancakes

I got this recipe from a lady in my neighborhood.  She is a legendary cook around these parts and she makes some pretty awesome edibles.

 Dry Pancake Mix

4 cups flour (half white and half wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar

Sift all ingredients together and store in an air-tight container until ready for use.

Here is my container of pancake mix with the rest of the ingredients to make pancakes written on the front.

To make the actual pancakes you need the following:

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup of pancake mix
1 Tbsp softened butter
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk

Mix all ingredients together with an electric beater until incorporated.  It's okay if the butter is still a little chunky.  If the batter is a little too think, add a little more milk or buttermilk.

This recipe will yield about seven 4-inch pancakes.  To feed my family (6 of us) about two pancakes each, I double the recipe above, meaning I start with 2 cups of the dry pancake mix.

Heat a skillet and start baking.  Do not flip over the pancake until it is ready and bubbles start to form on the surface. 


Pancakes only need to be flipped once!  This will keep them light and fluffy.  VOILA!!

I really recommend making this syrup to go with them.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat butter, sugar, buttermilk & vanilla until the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Add baking soda last.  CAUTION: the mixture will froth up, so be ready.  I suggest making the syrup in a larger sauce pan than you think you will need.  Makes 2-3 cups.

This will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about one to two weeks.

Chicken and Biscuits (Revised)

I blogged about this recipe a while back but didn't have a picture of my own.  I made this meal again last  and finally got some pictures.  yummy!

Chicken n Biscuits

Ingredients:
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup

3/4 cup sour cream, divided

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas), thawed

1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

1 cup all-purpose baking mix

3 Tbsp. milk

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375.  In a 8-inch square dish, combine soup and half of sour cream. Then add chicken, vegetables and cheese.

In a separate bowl, mix baking mix, the rest of the sour cream and milk.  Combine until you have formed a soft dough.

Spoon 6 mounds directly on top of your soup-chicken mixture.  Bake 35 minutes until biscuits are golden brown and soup-chicken mixture is bubbly.

Ok, so a few notes from me.

I use boneless skinless chicken breasts and just boil them right before I start the rest of the ingredients.  Just chop them before you put them in the pot to boil and they will cook super fast!

I double my biscuit recipe because they are seriously my family's favorite part of this meal.  Don't be tempted to make your biscuits too big, because they will not cook all the way through during the 35 minutes.  You have been warned!

The picture below is pre-baking and the big biscuit up front was not cooked all the way through.

This recipe will feed about 4 adults.  If you are feeding a crowd or a larger family, double the recipe for sure.

Taco Bake

I grew up with my mom making this recipe.  I've modified it a little over the years, I'll give you the low down on the changes.

Taco Bake (printable recipe here)

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1/2 package taco seasoning
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ cups water
1 can corn
1(8 oz) can tomato sauce
½ cup grated cheese
2 cups corn chips
1 can diced green chilies (optional)
1 (15 oz) can black beans (optional) 

Directions

Cook beef, drain fat.  Stir in taco seasoning and cornstarch.  Add un-drained corn, tomato sauce, rinsed beans, green chilies and water.  Cook to boiling, simmer uncovered 15 minutes.  Add ½ corn chips; pour into ungreased casserole dish.  Top with rest of corn chips and cheese.   

Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

  

My modifications to the recipe include adding the green chilies and the black beans.  I added the green chilies as a way to add a twist on the taste and the black beans to make it more filling and feed more.

My kids love this dish and it tastes great served with a little sour cream and a green salad.  My favorite part?  the crispy chips and cheese on the top!

Coffee Cake

Today's recipe comes from my friend Malia.  I have gotten a lot of great recipes from her and this one is no exception.

Totally forgot to take a picture of it before I started eating it.... oops!

Coffee Cake
Printable recipe here.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
cinnamon and sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.  Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add all at once.  Mix well.

Pour half of mixture into a greased coffee cake pan.  Add mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Top with remaining batter.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top and bake for 50-55 minutes.

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Ok, so I have tasted Malia's coffee cake a half dozen times and it is wonderful so I definitely wanted to try it on my own.  Here is my attempt in the oven ready to be baked.

Next time, I will add more cinnamon sugar to the middle.  Here is a side shot of my cake and you can barely see the little swirl of cinnamon sugar in there.  I probably used 3 Tbsp of cinnamon sugar in the middle.

Also, my edges were a little darker than I would have liked them.  I baked for 55 minutes.  Next time I will try 50 minutes or I will move the rack up.  It tasted delicious regardless.

Crusty Bread

I found this recipe via Pinterest, on this blog called Simply So Good.

Note that i added garlic and cheddar to this dough.

Crusty Bread (printable recipe here)

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a sticky mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours.  

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot (or crockpot) with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  

Remove hot pot from the oven and carefully place it in the pot.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.  

A few notes from me.  This is what my dough looked like right after I added all of the ingredients and just before I covered it to sit overnight.  It is supposed to look like a sticky mess!

Make sure when you turn your dough out to form it into a ball that your surface is heavily floured!  I've learned that the hard way!  When you leave the dough on your surface to rest for 30 minutes, (you know, while the pan is heating up in the oven) this is to allow the dough to raise a little.  Please, make sure that there is quite a bit of flour on your surface.  If your dough sticks, then the time that you have allowed it to rise will be all for naught and you'll have to let it rise again.

Ok, so I do not have a nice cast iron pot to bake my bread in, so I use my crockpot insert and lid.  It works out wonderfully.

 

You can pretty much add anything you want to this recipe to make all sorts of wonderful bread creations.  In my pictures, I had added about 1 cup of cheddar cheese and 1 Tbsp of fresh chopped garlic.

If you head over to Simply So Good, she has a couple of other wonderful creations she has put together that I can't wait to try.