Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

This recipe is too good not to share! I made it for dessert for my family's Christmas dinner. It was delicious and so easy to make! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Sauce:
* 1/2 cup whipping cream
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup amaretto liqueur (or if you don't cook with alcohol, you can substitute 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for 2 tablespoons amaretto)
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bread Pudding:
* 1 (1-pound) loaf panettone bread, crusts trimmed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
* 8 large eggs
* 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
* 2 1/2 cups whole milk
* 1 1/4 cups sugar

Directions

To make the sauce: Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto (or almond extract) and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, and serve.

Panera Macaroni and Cheese

I tried Panera's Mac and Cheese and fell in love with it. I researched online to find a similar recipe and found this one from here. It turned out soo yummy!

Ingredients:
•11 oz medium pasta shells
•5 TB butter
•4 TB flour
•1 cup milk
•1 cup heavy cream
•4oz grated sharp Vermont white cheddar cheese (use more cheddar and less American if it’s mild cheddar)
•4oz white American cheese, crumbled ( I couldn't find crumbled so just sliced mine)
•pinch of salt
•pinch of white pepper

Directions:
1.Boil pasta shells until just cooked and tender. Drain.

2.In a microwave safe cup or bowl, microwave on high 5 TB butter with 4 TB flour for 2 minutes, stopping halfway to whisk. Whisk again when the roux is done after the second minute.

3.Mix 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream together. Pour mixture into the roux very slowly, whisking all the time.

4.Microwave mixture 1 minute at a time, stirring between minutes until the sauce becomes thick and creamy. (should take between 4 and 6 minutes)

5.While sauce is hot, add grated cheddar and American cheese in small handfuls while stirring to melt all cheese into the sauce. If all of the cheese does not melt completely, you can heat the whole mixture up a little bit and keep stirring.

6.The sauce should be liquid-y (is that a word?) and creamy, and have a taste that is not too sharp. You want to taste the cheddar but not have it be overpowering.

7.Season sauce with a pinch of white pepper and a pinch of salt. Mix pasta shells and sauce together in serving dish.


Recipe by Jon Van Dalen

Meijer sale this week

Hey ladies, FYI, Meijer is having their "Meijer Brand" sale this week. If you're new here, be aware that Meijer puts many of its house brand food items on serious sale a couple of times a year, and now is one of the times. It's a great way to stock up and build food storage. Check them out at http://www.meijer.com/. (And there's probably more stuff on sale than is listed in their ads.)

Easy Lemon Cookies -Marianne Firth

Hi Everyone- Haven't been on here in a lifetime. Anyhow, I got a lot of requests for this "recipe". Embarrassingly it is a total cheat recipe that I just tweaked a bit. Enjoy!

1 Lemon Cake Mix
1/3 cup Oil
2 Eggs
1-2 Teaspoons Lemon Extract (totally optional, I just like my stuff very lemony)
White Chocolate Chips- however many you want
Powdered Sugar

Mix the first 4 ingredients together. This will make a firm cookie dough. Mix in the chips. Form into little balls and coat in powdered sugar. I like to rub the powdered sugar in a bit- it makes for a slightly crunchy exterior. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes. Tell people they were really hard to make. Oh yeah, and bring me some.

Sweet & Cap'n Crunchy Chicken

We LOVE these tasty chicken strips. They are great with or without sauce. The Cap'n Crunch adds a great unique flavor to an all-time favorite chicken strip dinner.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original)

1/2 cup Cap'n Crunch cereal (original)

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Dash salt

Dash black pepper

8 ounces raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast, cut into 4 strips

3 Tbls fat-free liquid egg substitute

2 Tbls Dijonnaise

2 Tbls honey mustard

Directions:

Grind both cereals into a bread crumb-like consistency, place in a large bowl with all seasonings. Mix well and set aside.

Place chicken strips in a separate bowl. Pour egg substitute over the chicken strips, and flip to coat. then coast chicken strips in the cereal mixture.

Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Place chicken strips into the skillet, spacing them out. Cook 5 minutes, and then flip pieces over. Cook for about 4 more minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked.

Combine the Dijonnaise and honey mustard in a small bowl, and mix well for a tasty dipping sauce.

Makes 2 servings

Per Serving (1/2 of recipe): 234 calories, 2g fat, 617mg sodium, 23.5g carbs, 4g fiber, 10g sugars, 29g protein

Recipe from: Hungry Girl 1-2-3 (Planet hungrywood sweet & cap'n crunchy chicken)

Fudge Frosting

This frosting has become our family favorite. I have used it for 2 birthday cakes and a Relief Society activity. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter (at room temp)

4 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk (at room temp)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate,

melted and slightly cooled

Directions:

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Add remaining 3 cups sugar and the milk and beat on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate and beat until combined.

2. If the chocolate is too warm, the frosting might be too soft to hold peaks. Just keep beating until it is thick enough to spread. Assess texture. If it is too soft, add a portion or all of the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Frosting is ready to use. (Bring to room temperature and rebeat after storing.)

* Frosting may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Recipe from A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

Thanks Em for the picture I stole from your blog.

Some of you asked me for this recipe and since I love lemon at Easter time I thought now is a great time to share.

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes
Cake:
1 package lemon cake mix
1 C sour cream
3/4 C water
3/4 C oil
4 eggs
1 small package lemon instant pudding

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Use a strong mixer, this batter is thick. For cupcakes, bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (I was able to get 24 very full cupcakes from the recipe). For regular cake, pour into a greased 9×11 pan or two round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Don’t over bake or the cake will be too dry! The toothpick test works to check to see if they’re done.
The original recipe said that the cupcakes will fall after they come out of the oven, but this is normal and to just fill up the indentation with more frosting. I didn’t have this problem at all!

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft
6-8 C powdered sugar
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (I added 6 cups total). Use and store at room temperature. (Don’t refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

Garnish with berries, if desired right before serving.

fruit pizza - light version

I LOVE this recipe because there is no milk, eggs or sugar :) Still white flour but you could easily substitute it for whole wheat, although I'm not sure how that would taste (ick) :p

Sugar cookie recipe

1 package (8oz) light cream cheese softened
1 cup Smart Balance light butter spread softened
2/3 cup Splenda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour

BEAT cream cheese, butter, Splenda, and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. mix in flour. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Roll out dough on greased floured pizza pan. Poke with fork. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

Cream cheese frosting

1 package (8oz) light cream cheese softened
1/2 cup Splenda
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix cream cheese, Splenda and vanilla until creamy and spread on cooled cookie.

Gather your assorted sliced fruits of various colors. My favorites to use for this recipe are strawberries, kiwi, and mandarine oranges. Arrange sliced fruits on top as preferred. Refrigerate. Serve in triangular pizza slices. Enjoy!

Pulled Pork Salad with Cilantro Dressing

This isn't exactly the quickest meal but it is really yummy! I have three different recipes for it and I usually just pour in a bunch of stuff so here is what I do:

Ingredients:
1 Pork Roast
1 Coca Cola bottle
1 Cup Salsa
1 cup brown sugar
1 Cup Ketchup
To taste:
salt, pepper, garlic salt, cumin

Put the pork roast in a crock pot. Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic salt and cumin. Pour in 1 cup of the Coke, the salsa, and the brown sugar. Cook on low for 8 hours. One hour before it's done, put 1 more cup Coke and 1 Cup ketchup in a small sauce pan on the stove. Heat and stir. Shred the pork in the crock pot. Pour the coke and ketchup mix over the meat and let it cook the remaining hour.

Cilantro Dressing:
1 Jar Green Salsa Verde
Equal amount of prepared ranch dressing (we make our ranch or you can use Hidden Valley)
1 bunch cilantro

Place equal parts salsa verde and ranch dressing (I usually do a cup of each, can do more) in a blender or food processor with cilantro leaves and blend to smooth. Put it in the fridge til your ready to eat.

Other ingredients for salad:
Shredded lettuce (or I just buy the bagged lettuce)
Wheat, flour or corn tortillas
Black beans (I just warm up a can)
Cilantro lime rice (steamed rice with chopped cilantro leaves and fresh lime juice, to your liking)
Diced tomatoes (or I get really lazy and buy already made pico), onions etc
Shredded cheese (whatever kind you like)

After the meat is done, just layer a tortilla the way you like it and enjoy. It's so yummy!

Dinner Help For All!

Hi Ladies! Here is my problem, even though I've been feeding myself for nearly 16 years, and feeding Clayton for over three, I still get totally stumped when it is time to make dinner. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here. So I am asking a big favor. I want everyone to bring out their go-to recipe and share. Post it here or you can e-mail it to me and I will post it for you. mariannemarguerite @ yahoo dot com. (No spaces.) Make sure to add the label of Go-To Dinner.

Recipes that you don't find terribly challenging, that your family likes and has often. I figure if we can get at least ten on here that would be a huge help for those days when we feel less than inspired. And it might get this blog back up and buzzing, it's such a good blog idea that I hate to see it just sit here. Thanks in advance for all of your input! -Marianne

P.S. I'll start! Mine is right below this post!

My Go-To Recipe: Chicken Enchiladas

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Sauce:
1 pint sour cream
3/4 soup can of water
2 cans cream of chicken soup

Mix all together

Filling:
2-4 chicken breasts, (depending on the size of your family, we use two) cubed & sauteed.
1 small can green chilies, diced.
3/4 green onion (we often use white or whatever is on hand)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. (Optional in the filling.)

12 corn tortillas
1&1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Soften tortillas by lightly wetting them with water, then warming in the microwave. This keeps them from splitting.

Fill tortillas, placing the fold side down in a cake pan. (or casserole, or whatever pan)
Pour the sauce over the tortillas.
Sprinkle cheese over the top.
Bake at 325 F. for 30-40 minutes

Crazy Awesome Caramel Brownies

Oh, and they are pretty easy too. Ingredients are in BLUE and directions are in GREEN.

For the Dough:
1 German Chocolate Cake Mix (I've tried other chocolate kinds, German really is best in this recipe.)
3/4 Cup melted Butter (that is 1 & 1/2 cubes)
1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk

Mix three ingredients together. It will be kind of like cookie dough consistency.

For the Caramel sauce:
1 Bag Caramels
1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk

Heat together the two ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat until melted, stirring well.

For the middle:
Chocolate chips, nuts, coconut or whatever strikes your fancy.

In a 9x13 pan (or a brownie pan, but no smaller.) spread out half of the dough.
Bake just that for 8 minutes at 350 F.
Take it out, drizzle caramel mixture over the top (it will make it puff up a bit) and then sprinkle the toppings over the caramel.
Then glop the rest of the dough on to the top of the caramel like dumplings or a cobbler. It won't cover it completely. That's ok.
Bake for another 15 minutes and then let cool completely. I keep them in the fridge. They are best when set, so be patient!

Fast & Easy Rolls

These are ready in just over an hour and are so good. I made a different recipe a few week ago that took twice as long and both Brian and I thought these ones were better.

Fast & Easy Rolls

Ingredients:

5 cups all-purpose flour
2 (.25 ounce) packages dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Mix together yeast and 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

2. In a separate bowl heat milk, water, oil, sugar and salt to lukewarm in microwave. I usually put mine in my pyrex two cup glass measurer and heat for 75 seconds. Add all at once to flour and yeast and mix well for about 3 minutes.
3. Mix in enough flour to make a soft dough, 2 to 3 more cups. Mix well. Dust a flat surface with flour, turn dough out and cover with bowl, let sit 10 minutes.
4. Shape dough into 12 - 16 balls, and place on greased baking sheet to rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes on top of a warm oven).
5. Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

These make great homemade hamburger buns, too (see pic below!)
When I make buns I usually make 12 balls, slightly flattened.

* Recipe from allrecipes.com

Buttermilk Syrup

Buttermilk Syrup

2 cubes butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup sugar

Bring these 3 ingredients to a boil in a large pot. It will bubble up a lot so make sure to use a big enough pot to allow for the bubblage :)

Then add:

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

Man, this stuff is gooood. Judging by the ingredients I am going to say probably not good for you, but it sure tastes good on french toast! TOTALLY worth the calories! You gotta give this one a try :)

Cheesy Zuchinni Soup

Sautee until tender:

-2 medium zucchini chopped (I use 1 green & 1 yellow zucchini)

-1 medium onion

-2 Tbls. Parsley

-1 tsp. dried basil

-1/3 cup butter

Stir in:

-1/3 cup flour

-1 tsp. salt

-¼ tsp. pepper

Stir in:

-3 cups water

-3 chicken bouillon cubes (or 3 cups chicken broth)

-1 tsp. lemon juice

Bring to boil 2 minutes

Add:

-1 can tomatoes

-1 can evaporated milk

-1 pkg. corn or 1 can drained

Reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes

Add:

-¼ cup parmesan cheese

-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

This recipe has been posted on my personal blog before but I thought it would be good to post it here as well. It is my very favorite soup recipe!!