Cornmeal Muffins

Cornmeal Muffins

These are sweet yellow cornmeal muffins ala "Jiffy" muffins. We LOVE them!

2 1/2 cup Cornmeal Mix (recipe here)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1 table spoon honey (my addition to original recipe)

Preheat oven to 425'. Butter muffin pans, or place baking cups. Put Cornmeal Mix in a medium bowl. Combine egg and milk in a small bowl.  Add all at once to Cornmeal Mix. Blend Fill prepared muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

Granola Mix

I have only made this once. It is good, we are eating it. But I have been thinking of ways I am going to tweak it. I will put the main recipe here, from the book Make-a-Mix Cookery, and then I will post my exact recipe later when I finalize it.

Granola Mix

10 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 lb. shredded coconut
2 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 cups sesame seeds
3 cups chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, or combination)
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons vanilla

Dried fruit as desired

Preheat oven to 300'. In a large bowl combine oats, wheat germ, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and nuts. Blend well. In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, oil, honey, molasses, salt, cinnamon and vanilla. Heat until sugar is dissolved, but do not boil. Pour syrup over dry ingredients and stir until well-coated. Spread into five 13"x9" baking pans, or cookie sheets with sides. Bake 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bake 15 minutes longer for crunchier texture. Cool. Add dried fruit. Put in airtight container. Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Use with in 6 months. Makes 20 cups of Granola Mix.

Muffin Mix

Muffin Mix
This is a base that you can use for many different types of muffins! It is like having those little packets of Martha White in your cupboard, but instead they taste like Homemade from scratch, cause they are!!

8 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup vegetable shortening

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix Well. With a pastry blender, cut shortening into dry ingredients until evenly distributed. Putin a large air tight container. Label. Store in a  cool, dry place. Use with in 10-12 weeks. Makes about 10 cups of Muffin Mix. note: I did all the mixing in my electric mixer, it worked great.

To use this mix to make basic muffins:

2 1/3 muffin mix
1 egg
1 cup milk

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes

Corn Meal Mix

Cornmeal Mix

Not2: southern friends these are sweet yellow corn meal, just keep that in mind if you try this!  You could try white cornmeal in a mix, but I have not yet.

4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 baking powder
1 cup vegetable shortening (I recommend the Crisco brand)
4 1/2 cups corn meal

     In a large bowl, combine flour, salt , sugar and baking powder. Stir to blend well. With a pastry blender, cutin shortening until evenly distributed.  Add corn meal and mix well. Put in a large airt tight container. Label. Stor in a cool, dry place.  Use with in 10-12 weeks. Makes about 10 1/2 cups of Corn Meal Mix. note: I did all of the mixing in my electric mixer, I used the cake attatchment. It worked well.

Mixes

So, a few months ago my mom sent me a cook book, one of hers from back in the day. I looked at it, thought it was a good idea, and then did not use it.... Until now! Two weeks ago at a Relief Society class in my Ward one of the ladies showed us some mixes she had made using what turned out to be a current printing of this book! It inspired me!  It is called the Make-a-Mix Cookery. It tells you how to make basic mixes and then gives you recipe examples to use the mix for. I have made three of the 58 mixes so far, and so far I have loved them all! For easy of finding these recipes later I am going to post them each in individual posts.  I will create a Label for Mixes and then put the various recipes under Bread, and possibly Breakfast, because that is when we use them most! :) I encourage you to try them, they rock! I have not put the numbers on them yet, but the idea is that it saves you money!

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

This is a super easy great for mid week craziness meal. Many you may have already been using this, it just occurred to me a few weeks ago, I feel obliged to share.  It is ingredients I almost always just have on hand so it is a good go to meal.

Ingredients:

1 can re fried beans (what ever style you prefer, I use traditional)
1 can red enchilada sauce (I use mild but try the hot if you like some kick)
1 bag Mexican blend shredded cheese (maybe 1/4 cup per enchilada)
6-8 soft tortillas (we use the whole what soft taco mission brand, use what you like)


Directions:
Put one large spoon of beans in a strip down the center of a tortilla put one spoon of enchilada sauce on top of the beans spread cheese on top of the beans and sauce. Roll the tortilla and place in a lightly greased casserole dish.  Be sure to keep enough sauce and cheese for the tops.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Super Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

I just made this tonight for the family.  It was a huge hit - even my picky eater was asking for more!  I admit, it is the only Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe I have ever made, so I can't say if it is as good as the hard way, but we sure liked it!

INGREDIENTS:
For the Cordon Bleu:
3 large chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half length-wise (to form two thinner chicken breast cutlets)
12 slices deli ham
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 to 1/2 pound thinly sliced swiss cheese

For the Parmesan-Dijon Cream Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and melted butter. Set aside.

Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the 9X13-inch dish. Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham and top with 2 slices of swiss cheese, shingling across the chicken breast to make sure the entire chicken breast is covered with ham and cheese. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the chicken.

Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through completely, the cheese is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden.

While the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly, while cooking the flour/butter mixture for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking quickly. Stir in the chicken bouillon granules and salt. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the sauce has bubbled and thickened, remove from heat and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Keep the sauce warm until the chicken is finished baking.

Serve each chicken cordon bleu portion with warm sauce.

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe