Wheat Berry Waffles or Pancakes

Tricia's friend Matt made these for us when I went to KC. They were so good.


1 c. Wheat berries - rinsed and drained
1 1/2 c. Milk
1/3 c. Oil - applesauce may be used for half the oil.
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Pure maple syrup or honey

Put milk in blender. Add wheat berries and blend for 5 mins. Add oil, egg, salt, and maple syrup. Blend for 15 seconds. Add baking powder and blend just to mix in. The batter will start to rise. Bake as waffles or pancakes.

As an alternate to butter and syrup, you can serve the waffles with the following - applesauce and whipped cream and pecans
Or rasperry jam and sour cream
Or diced fruit and whipped cream.

Fun Variation of Lasagna

Lasagna Rolls

by: Giada De Laurentiis

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:

• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese because it was cheaper)
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped ( I didn't use this but I bet it would be tasty)
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Directions

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamelsauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

1-Hour Dinner Rolls

I found this recipe here and with a few minor adaptations, made some scrumptious and EASY dinner rolls that actually turned out (yay!). Pair with homemade jam and butter...YUMMY!

Perfect Dinner Rolls
Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup, then leveled off

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand about 5 minutes.

Add the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture, then mix on low speed with the paddle attachment incorporate the flour to create a wet, sticky mixture. Still on low speed, add 1 cup of the remaining flour and incorporate. Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining 1 cup flour. On low speed, mix the dough to incorporate the final addition of flour until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to medium and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl - turn to coat. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 -30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate into a rectangle. Cut width-wise into 6 equal strips of dough. Then cut each strip of dough into fourths by cutting length-wise to make 24 little squares of dough. Take each piece of dough and ball it (I fold the insides into the bottom over and over so that it's smooth on the top and in a perfect little ball--I like to call it "mom" style, that's how she taught us!)

Place each ball of into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan in rows of 4 (I used a cookie sheet). Cover the rolls in the pan and let rise to double while your oven is preheating to 400 degrees F - about 20 minutes. If you want an even more golden color to the rolls, brush them with a little melted butter before baking. Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!

Janey's German Pancakes

In the past few weeks, I've been craving breakfast food....a lot! German Pancakes have the least dishes and easiest cleanup, so I've had the chance to perfect my recipe!!!

2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Flour
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tsp. Cinnamon (or more...)

Put everything in the bowl and mix just enough to break up the eggs. Heat the Oven to 425 with a 9" cake pan in it--when the oven is hot, melt 1 notch (is it a tsp or a tbsp?...just the notch on the butter...) in the pan, and swirl it around so that butter covers the entire bottom of the pan. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 15 minutes.

My favorite toppings are fresh peach jam (if you want some i have a freezer full!) a little bit of powdered sugar, and buttermilk syrup. MMMMMm I might go make another one!

Frog-Eye Salad

Hi! I have tried many of your amazing recipes and love them! I saw Heather's request for Frog-Eye salad so thought I'd share one. I love the recipe on the back of the Acini de Pepe pasta box although it's a little more time consuming and has to chill overnight. I came across this faster, easier version a year ago from Janeal at Cookin' Mamas and have made it quite a few times since. Hope this helps you Heath! and any others out there needing a relatively quick frog-eye-salad fix!

1 1/3 cup Acini de pepe pasta - uncooked
20 oz can pineapple tidbits (drained - reserve 1/4 cup juice)
8 oz can crushed pineapple
2 (12 oz) cans mandarin oranges
3 cups marshmallows
1/2 cup coconut
8 oz cool whip
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 3/4 cup milk
3 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding

Cook pasta in boiling water for 11 minutes. Drain well, rinsing with cold water to cool pasta. In large bowl, beat reserved pineapple juice, milk, sugar and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Gently stir in pasta and remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Five-Minute Jell-o

I saw this recipe today on Hil's Blog and thought I'd make it to go along with supper. It was fun and really only took 5 minutes to make and 5 minutes to set up. I had some cool whip that needed to be used so I stirred that in at the end. We made strawberry-banana jell-o.

See her blog for more details and photos.

Five Minute Jell-O by Hil

Ingredients:
1 small package Jell-o
2/3 c. boiling water
8-9 ice cubes
and Cool-whip.

Put Jell-o and water into a blender. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes. Add ice cubes one at a time.

If desired, add some Cool Whip or yogurt.

Mix then pour into a bowl. Add fruit, if desired. Cool in refrigerator for 5 minutes.

*For a bigger portion, use 1 large package Jell-o, 1 1/3 cup boiling water, and 16-18 ice cubes.