Menu 3/26 - 3/30/2012

Well, it's just a short week list for us this time. We were gone over the weekend and since I only plan to Friday, I am getting off kind of easy!
Monday-- Poached Salmon and noodles
Tuesday-- Steaks, twice baked potatoes, salad and this for dessert
Wednesday-- Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday-- Sloppy Joes
Friday-- Hopefully order pizza and hit the drive-in to see The Hunger Games!

Amish Friendship Bread--Butter Pecan

The Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 cups Amish bread starter
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp butter flavoring
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Mix wet ingredients together in a large bowl. I used about 1 3/4 cups of starter. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet. Pour into two well greased bread pans. I like to sprinkle sugar in the pans after spraying with cooking spray. It gives a nice little crunch to the edges. I ended up using a mini loaf pan and a regular pan. Unfortunately the mini loaves stuck! They didn't turn out very pretty but they sure are tasty!!

Amish Friendship Bread--New York Cheesecake

The Ingredients:

1 cup Amish bread starter
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 small boxes instant cheesecake pudding mix

For the filling:

8 oz cream cheese**
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Spoon mixture over the top of the bread batter and swirl a knife through. Pour into two well greased bread pans. I like to sprinkle sugar in the pans after spraying. This gives the bread a wonderful little crunch on the outside. Bake bread at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

**I find that 12 ounces of whipped cream cheese does wonderfully as a substitute for 8 ounces of softened cream cheese or if you are going to need to combine it with other ingredients.

***UPDATE***
If you really want a treat, try the addition I made this 4th of July. To me, summer is all about peaches. I was looking for something "peachy" to take for dessert to our 4th of July picnic with my parents and grandparents. I checked the webiste above for peach recipes and I didn't have the ingredients I would have needed for any of them. I decided that just putting some chopped up fresh peaches in the cheesecake bread I was making would be a good gamble. And I was right!! It was fantastic. I highly recommend it. I used one cup and made just one loaf with the peaches in it. Everyone swooned :)

French Toast

When I was in second grade, our teacher taught us how to make French Toast just before Mother's Day. It was a very simple recipe and I have been making it ever since. French Toast is one of those dishes that you can dress up or dress down and really do almost anything to it and it will turn out amazing. I am a simple girl and I like to keep it simple. So here is the recipe, let your tastebuds be the judge!
The Ingredients:

eggs
milk
cinnamon
bread (I like to use Texas Toast but have also used regular bread, cinnamon bread, French bread and even banana bread and pumpkin bread)
You also need some highly specialized equipment:

So this is one of those recipes without quantities. But don't let that scare you. Start out by cracking a few eggs out into a shallow dish. Add a couple splashes of milk, not too much!

Now whisk it all up like you are going to scramble the eggs. Then sprinkle in some cinnamon. As much or as little as you like.

Give that a stir to mix it in and then start dredging the bread slices.

Make sure you get the egg on all the surfaces. The first couple slices will have a lot of cinnamon!

Put the bread on a hot skillet or griddle.

After a few minutes, flip the slices over. See what I mean about the first pieces having more cinnamon. This works out great for us because my husband "loves" cinnamon and I am more on the "like" side with it. He gets the cinnamony pieces.

When both sides are done, place them on a warm plate until all the slices get finished. For some reason, one side is always prettier than the other too.

I had a half loaf of French bread from dinner the night before so I sliced it up too.

Breakfast is served!

Don't forget the syrup and powdered sugar. Bon appetit!

Menu 3/2 - 3/8/2012

Well, I 'm a couple days late but I do have a menu and here it is!
Friday-- I made Chicken Spaghetti since Jayme was coming home for the weekend
Saturday-- We had a late, late lunch at Joe's Crab Shack so we weren't very hungry for dinner
Sunday-- We ate leftover Chicken Spaghetti!
Monday-- Pork Roast with rice and black eyed peas (Clay requested)
Tuesday-- Sloppy Joe Casserole
Wednesday-- Chicken Alfredo
Thursday-- Salmon and mac & cheese