A Change in Mindset

When our five kids were younger, we would often limit their sweets. We were outnumbered and didn’t want them hyped up on sugar.

Telling them they could have 2 cookies was usually met with groans and whining, so we changed our strategy. Instead of ‘just 2 cookies’ they were told they could have ‘up to two cookies’. So they could have two or one or none, it was their decision. It worked surprisingly well.

And now we use this same strategy with our grandchildren, but the limit is often higher, because grandchildren.

A Humble Loaf of Bread- Part 4

As we begin the final part of this series, you may be wondering what recipes have to do with the focus of this blog. You see, if you have easy meals then you have more time to devote to your personal goals. In the past dinner was a huge stressor for me.I’ll get more into that in another post.Now I’d like to introduce you to French Toast Casserole. This dish combines all the goodness of french toast with the addition of a cream cheese cinnamon filling. This is a family fave! It reheats well and the liquid can be frozen for later use(like when you find bread on the clearance rack).

French Toast Casserole

An easy way to feed your family or use up french bread.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

  • 1 loaf french bread cubed
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar, divided recipe at the end
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped optional
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups milk

Instructions
 

  • Place 2/3 of bread cubes in a greased 9×13 pan.
    Place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and cook at 30 second intervals until cheese is melted. Mix in half of cinnamon sugar and all of vanilla extract. Spoon evenly over bread cubes, it will not cover completely.
    Sprinkle nuts over cream cheese mixture, if using. I often put nuts on only half.
    Spread remaining bread cubes on top.
    In a mixing bowl, combine remaining cinnamon sugar, eggs and milk. Pour carefully over bread cubes, covering as much as possible.
    Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until bread is browned and eggs are set. Let rest 5 minutes before cutting.
    Serve with syrup or powdered sugar.
    Cinnamon sugar:
    Mix together 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
    or 1 cup sugar with 1/4 cup cinnamon

A Humble Loaf of Bread- Part 3

Our next meal idea is a slow cooked, flavorful roast served on toasted french bread with sauce for dipping.

French Dip Sandwiches

Turn a loaf of french bread and a roast into a delicious meal.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours

Equipment

  • 1 slow cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 4lb rump roast
  • 1 10.5oz can beef broth
  • 1 10.5oz can condensed french onion soup
  • 1 12 oz bottle beer
  • 1 loaf french bread or hogie rolls
  • 2 TBSP butter

Instructions
 

  • 1 Trim excess fat from roast and place in slow cooker. Add beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on low 7 hours.
    2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bread, or rolls, with butter. Bake 10 minutes or until warm.
    3 Slice the meat and place on bread. Serve with the juices for dipping.

A Humble Loaf of Bread Part 2

You might be wondering what bread has to do with the mission of this blog. Well, everybody eats, right? By simplifying meals, you can simplify that part of the day and minimize stress and the chaos of last minute “what are we going to eat?”. I lived that way fro many years and i hate the thought of others struggling when I can possibly help out.

So up next in our short series, another meal idea.

For part two we get to explore some of my favorite foods.
French Toast! You will need sliced french bread(or any bread). Heat a skillet to medium high.
Mix in a shallow bowl:
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
and a splash of vanilla
Dip each slice of bread in the mixture on both sides and place in the skillet . Let cook for 45 seconds or so then flip and let the other side cook. If you are making a whole loaf, keep them warm in a 300 degree oven on a baking sheet.
Serve with syrup, powdered sugar or fruit.

We love having breakfast for dinner!

A Humble Loaf of Bread

A loaf of store-bought French, or Italian, bread can become so many things. It can be a main dish, as with French bread pizza;or a yummy side like garlic bread or even an appetizer, cubed and dipped in a dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Whatever you need, this bread can help you get a nice meal on the table for your hungry family. We will begin with a few recipes and add others soon.

French bread pizza is a great meal for first time visitors to our home. Everyone gets to pick their topping so there is no awkwardness surrounding personal likes and dislikes. We slice the loves in half lengthwise and vertically. The sauce and toppings are set out and everyone builds their pizza as desired. You can also do mini pizzas the same way but use slices instead of halves. After the pizzas are assembled, they get put on a parchment lined baking sheet then popped in a 350 oven for 15-20 minutes at 350, or until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted.

Big Sandwiches is another family favorite around here. The original recipe comes from my sweet friend Gabrielle. This is a great way to use up leftover meats, like Thanksgiving turkey. We have this fairly often so I keep a good stock of lunch meat and sliced cheeses. Start by cutting your loaf in half lengthwise. Spread ranch dressing on one side and spicy or brown mustard on the other. Top one side with cheese and the other with meat. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet at 350 and toast in the oven until the cheese is melted. Take it out of the oven and cut into individual slices.

Garlic bread! Garlic bread can be done several ways, but we prefer the straightforward method. Cut the bread lengthwise and spread it with soft butter and sprinkle with garlic powder (not garlic salt!) and cheese. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Mozzarella, Parmesan and Muenster are all good choices but are not the only options, do what works for you.

Over the next few posts we will be looking at more ways to use a basic loaf of bread. What are your favorite recipes?

Mom’s M&M Cookies

When I was very young, my Mom would make M&M cookies. I had completely forgotten about them until I was in the bakery one day with my girls and saw them in the case. I bought one and at the first bite memories came flooding back. I had never seen a recipe for them, I thought maybe Mom had found it on the back of the package and was lost forever. The bakery version would be good enough I told myself. Imagine my surprise when I was cleaning out Mom’s recipe stash and found this recipe file:

I opened it, not expecting much, but there it was, right under the forgotten cookie recipe(we’ll save that for another time), in Mom’s handwriting. I stood, alone in the house and cried a little bit. I had found a small piece of my childhood that I thought was lost forever.

Enough of the sad stuff, lets make some cookies!

I gathered up everything I needed. I followed the recipe exactly, this time.

Blended the shortening and sugars in the handy, dandy KitchenAid.

Add the eggs and vanilla, then mix them up well.

Pour in the dry ingredients.

Add in half of the M&M’s.

Stir them in by hand, mixing well.

Put them on a cookie sheet by teaspoonfuls, I covered with parchment paper for easy cleanup.

Decorate them with the other half of the M&Ms. Yeah these are the bigger size that i made for my kids, forgot to take a pic of the smaller ones after they were decorated. Oops!

Mmmmm! Looking good.

Ready for the taste test.

These are easy to make and so very yummy! Next time I will probably add a little extra vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Hope you enjoy them.

A Word about Tornado Season

We live in tornado alley, therefore we have learned to stay prepared during what has been termed our ‘fifth season’. While tornados form quickly, the storms themselves are easier to forecast. The National Weather Service has come a long way since I was I child, they can now begin notifying the areas that are most likely to have severe weather several days in advance. This gives folks ample opportunity to make the arrangements they need to make.

Now the way we do things is a combination of our past experiences and our living situation. We don’t have a cellar on our property, the cellar we use is next door at my in-laws. It sounds scary but really it’s only 250 feet or so from our house. When our children were younger we developed a buddy system to load into our vehicle in the fastest and most efficient manner, starting with turning it around to face the road eliminating the need to back up. We do still turn the vehicle around, but the teens don’t need the buddy system anymore.

We have a family tornado protocol. As soon as a severe thunderstorm watch is issued, one of us backs the vehicle into the driveway, then all of the phones and tablets are put on the chargers. Life just goes on as normal, except we keep a closer eye on the weather. When a tornado watch is issued everyone puts their shoes on and moves their Go Bag next to the front door or into the vehicle, more on that later. It’s not a frantic, running around time, it’s a very calm matter of fact process. We also take some time and tidy up the house, just in case some on needs to stay with us after the storm. Since we have a generator our friends and family know that if the power goes out they are welcome here. I will also grab a shopping bag and throw in some extra food; bread, peanut butter, jelly, cookies and the like. Severe weather can sometimes derail dinner and no one wants to be stuck in a cellar with a bunch of hangry people.

Each member of our family has a Go Bag. The purpose of the bag is to help provide for each of us in the event our area is struck by damaging weather.. This bag contains a change of clothes( plus a few extra pairs of socks and extra underwear), work gloves, snacks and a comfort item stuffed animal, blanket, sketchbook). We add in a few other things when severe weather is anticipated; chargers(after the phones are completely charged) being the most important. My bag is a little more in depth, I’ll go into detail about that in another post. I begin purchasing snacks,and other items that need to be replaced, in January. A few items here and there. Each person makes a list of what needs to be replaced and what they would like in their bag. This is also when we make sure the clothing in the bag still fits, very important!

Early in the spring, if we can, we pick a nice day and clean the cellar. The floor gets swept, then everything gets wiped down and we check for bugs or other critters. The supplies are checked for expiration dates and a list is made as to what needs to be replaced. We replenish the water supply as well, after a hot summer and a cold winter it’s just the best idea. The towels and blankets are washed and put back in place. Our camping supplies are stored there as well so they are checked and cleaned if needed.

In the event the weather starts looking questionable I don’t wait for a tornado warning to be issued, we will go on to the cellar. I’d rather wait down there for a while and have nothing happen than get caught in our house during something serious. We once missed our opportunity to go to the cellar during some of the most severe weather we have ever had. We were stuck in our house while 75mph winds blew tons of rain at us. The house was shaking and you couldn’t hear anything the wind was so loud. I have never been so scared in my life! I honestly thought the house was about to come apart. We don’t wait that long anymore!

Our overall goal is to be safe and cared for in the event of an emergency without having to use government resources. Make no mistake, our city does a great job during severe weather, I’d just rather leave those resources for people who really need them.i don’t mind the planning or the prep work and we have been blessed with enough resources to provide for our needs. Planning ahead makes it easier to purchase what we may need a few things at a time.

If you do not have an underground storm cellar or basement, the Red Cross recommends going into a small, windowless, interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building.