Classic Waffles

Review by Rachael:

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 large eggs, separated

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 ¾ cups milk

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted

NOTE: if you like a crispier waffle use 1 ½ cups of flour & add ½ cup of cornstarch. You can also add 2 tbsp of cornmeal (optional).

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together flour, baking powder & salt (cornstarch & cornmeal if using) to blend thoroughly; set aside. In mixer bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar; continue beating just until stiff peaks form; set aside. Which together egg yolks, milk & vanilla. Using rubber spatula, stir milk mixture into flour mixture, blending just until dry ingredients are moistened. (there should still be small lumps; do not over mix.) Stir in melted butter. Fold in beaten egg whites until combined. Pour batter onto hot, greased waffle maker and bake.  Makes about 5 ½ cups batter.

This recipe is easy to make but takes a little more time with separating the eggs and making peaks. But it was worth it very soft and tasty waffles. I was hoping to have some waffles to freeze for weekday meals but this batch wasn’t very big. Two adults and one child ate breakfast from this batch and we only had 2 ½ waffles left to freeze. I thought I would give it a shot anyway. We froze them & a few days later I had a breakfast request for waffles. I pulled them out & put them in the toaster…this didn’t work well since they are larger waffles and they fell into the four pieces when trying to pry them apart. I put the toaster on warm and they ended up a little mushy. They were still edible but not great.

All in all I would recommend this recipe if making them fresh but wouldn’t freeze them. 

Roasted chex

Review by Lyndee:

It was nothing but a chex mix party up in my house Thursday night.  I had opened a box to try the lemon bar muddybuddies and I knew this was not a cereal that would get eaten in our house.  So I made the snickerdoodle and these roasted chex as well.  The inspiration came from a snack a babysitter used to make us with cheerios.  It’s quite simple and if you are looking for a salty, crunchy, delicious snack, you’re in luck. 

Ingredients:

Butter

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

A few dashes cayenne

2.5 cups rice chex

Melt 2-3 tbsp butter in a pan.  Add the seasonings.  Stir.  Once melted, add the rice chex.  Continue to stir until the chex is coated in the butter and gets golden brown and crisp.  Store in a ziplock bag for easy snacking.  This will last 5-7 days without getting soggy but I don’t think it would last that long in any one’s house because it’s so good! 

You could probably do this with chex mix as well, throw in some nuts, pretzels, cheerios, etc.  Make it your own and enjoy! 

Snickerdoodle muddy buddies

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

5 cups rice chex cereal

12 oz white chocolate chips

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Measure out chex cereal and put aside in a large bowl.  Mix together cinnamon and powdered sugar in a a large ziplock baggy.  Melt white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.  Pour the melted chocolate over the cereal and fold in until well coated.  Add cereal to the bag of sugar and shake until well covered. 

This was possibly the simplest recipe I’ve ever made and it’s so dang good!! it really does taste like snickerdoodle.  Even the hubby liked it and he’s generally not a big fan of finger foods!!  It took less than 5 minutes and is totally delicious.  Can’t wait to share this one with the family tonight.  

Lemon bar muddy buddies (puppy chow)

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

6 cups rice chex cereal

1 cup white chocolate chips

¼ cup butter

½ cup lemon curd

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Melt white chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave (stirring every 30 seconds).  Once melted, add the lemon curd and stir until smooth.  Pour rice chex into a large paper bag (or bowl if you don’t have a bag).  Pour lemon mixture over cereal.  Shake to mix and coat cereal.  Add powdered sugar and shake more to coat.  Spread out on cookie sheet to cool.  Once cool, store at room temperature in an airtight container. 

Oddly, this really does taste like lemon bars! I had never used lemon curd before but hey, it totally worked so hooray for that.  This is a very simple snack to make and a fun summer flavor. 

Parsley potatoes

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

Potatoes peeled

Olive oil

Butter

Parsley

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Peel potatoes and makes slices ¾ of the way through.  Place on cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and melted butter.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Top with parsley.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Insides will be soft and the outsides will get crispy.  Remove from oven and brush with butter and add some more parsley.  Delicious! 

Beer cheese dip

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

2 blocks cream cheese (I used reduced fat)

1 pkg dry ranch dressing

1/3 cup of beer (I used Bud Light)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix ingredients until blended. Put in fridge 3 hours before serving.

Once I got this mixed up it seemed a little salty from the ranch packet.  I added a small container of plain greek yogurt and a little more beer. The creaminess was much better and it definitely helped reduced the salty taste.  You can serve this cold or heat it in a small crockpot.  We used club crackers and have also had it with pita chips.  Delicious and super easy to make! 

Leftover Totally Taters

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

4 baked potatoes (sliced into pieces)

2 tbsp chopped onions (I used green)

2 tbsp minced garlic

6 strips cooked bacon pieces

Pepper

Salt

Optional:

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

We had leftover baked potatoes from the day before so I decided to make them into something fun for dinner the next night.  Heat a little olive oil in a pan on the stove.  Add the onions and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add the diced potatoes and bacon.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Once cooked through serve warm.  Garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream if you want.  They have such great flavor you don’t need anything but we had fun making potato “nachos” supreme.  This was simple to make and the kids loved them.