My most vocal critic

Hope you've enjoyed some of my recent recipes!  I might try to post some again soon....if I remember to keep my camera in the kitchen!

Even with all that yummy stuff that gets placed on our dining table each day, I still have a very vocal critic who never seems to approve of what's being served.

Maybe one day he'll grow to appreciate it?

Pretending to be healthy - Granola Bars

Many years ago, I stole my friend Rachel's granola recipe and my breakfast life was never the same.  All our kids love it and have yet to get tired of it.

But I was looking for something recently to serve to a large group; something with a breakfasty, granola feel to it but easy to handle.   Duh, I guess that's what a granola bar is!  

I found a super simple recipe and have made it several times now with fabulous results.

** Be warned.  If "Granola Bars" to you means "healthy", you should just stop reading now and check out wholefoods or something.  **

Here goes:

Get out your big bowl and put in:

- 5 cups of oats (This is flexible though; recently I only had 3c oats, so I used that plus 1 c crushed graham cracker crumbs and 1 c crushed oreos.  Yum! =)

-1 can sweetened condensed milk

- 1/2 c. honey

- 3 Tb butter, melted

-toppings of your choice.  I chose mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, but next I want to try white chocolate and cranberry, followed by dried apple bits and cinnamon.  You could do m&m's, fruit and nut, or whatever else floats your boat.

Mix well.

Line your baking pan with baking paper (of course) and make sure it goes over the edges.  If it does, you can just lift out the whole thing when your bars are done baking.  Makes for easy cutting, I tell ya.

I bake this at 160 (ok, I pretty much ALWAYS leave my oven on 160 unless I'm making pizza) for 15 minutes or so.  Once the edges start looking a little brown, I pull them out right away.  I want my granola bars chewy and soft, not competing with Nature Valley.  (BUT - if you like Nature Valley, bake them longer to achieve a crispy bar!)

I use my pizza cutter and cut them into bars.  I don't spend too long making them look beautiful, because once I set the plate out, they're gone.

When things are good, no one cares if they're pretty.

Elegant Breakfast or Brunch - the crescent ring

During Christmas last year, I was looking for a breakfasty recipe that was unusual but easy, could serve a crowd without a ton of hassle, and most importantly, was full of ingredients I could get here.  I know, it's hard to imagine such a recipe exists!

But right around that time, there was a recipe floating around pinterest for these Breakfast Crescent Rings:

These totally fit the bill!  Using typical breakfast ingredients - cheese, bacon, eggs - was perfect, and even the crescent rolls they recommend could be fixed using my friend Becky's crescent roll recipe.  

Here's the lowdown:

The recipe comes in three sizes - small, medium (M), and large [L].

In your breadmaker, put:

Milk - 1/2 cup (3/4c) [7/8c]

Eggs - 1 egg (1 egg) [2 eggs]

Oil - 1/4 c. (1/3c) [1/2 c.]

Salt - 1/2 tsp (1 tsp) [1 1/2 tsp]

Sugar - 1/4c (1/3c) [1/2c]

Flour- 2 c (3 c) [4c]

Yeast - 1 1/2tsp (1 1/2tsp) [2tsp]

Put in on whatever cycle will mix your dough and let it rise for a while.

When your dough comes out, separate it into how many rings you want to make and roll it flat.  (For the small size, I can make one big ring that will feed my family perfectly.)  Then, cut it into eight slices, just as if it were a pizza.  Invert the slices and put the long sides together to form a ring, like this:

I use baking paper, because baking paper is awesome.  

Now you can fill it to your hearts content!  Whatever you put in here needs to be cooked, but you could put in bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, cheese, etc.  Wrap the edges up and over your fillings.

Bake this at 350, and start checking on it around 15 minutes.  Keep baking until the tops start to brown.