Coconut Banana Pancakes

These are fantastic. If you don’t love the texture of shredded coconut, you can omit that and the coconut oil gives it a nice, mild coconut flavor.

• 1 1/2 cups Dry multi-grain pancake mix
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/2 to 1 cup mashed ripe banana (one large or two small)
• 2 tablespoons shredded coconut, unsweetened
• Maple Syrup

Mix together all ingredients. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Smear pan with butter and pour batter on skillet. Flip when browned on bottom and bubbles start to form on pancake. Serve topped with maple syrup.

Makes about 30 small pancakes, 20 medium sized.

Ham and Cheese Pockets

We served ham for Easter, and so we have lots of it left over! I had to come up with some way to use it, and thought these sounded pretty good. They are very similar to the Hamburger and Onion Stuffed Bread recipe I already have on here. Really, there are lots of variations on this same theme. What’s your favorite?

This recipe makes a large amount. I usually use two or three pans, cook one and freeze the rest. That way you get two or three dinners out of your work!

• French Bread Dough (I used this recipe and substituted a bit of whole wheat flour for the white. Any of your favorite pizza dough would work equally as well.)
• 3-5 cups diced ham (Leftover ham is great, but deli ham would work, too.)
• 6-8 cups cheese, shredded (Swiss, sharp cheddar, mozarella, parmesean, etc.)

Prepare the French Bread dough through the first rising step.

Spray a clean surface with cooking spray, or coat with flour. Roll out your dough (about 1/4 inch thick) and it cut into 2-3 inch squares with a pizza cutter. Coat two 8×8 pans (or a 9×13) with cooking spray. Place about 1-2 tablespoons ham in the middle of each square and top with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Pull the four corners together. Seal the seams by pressing them together, and place the bread seam side down in the pan.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Check the rolls after 18-20 minutes and then continue cooking until they are browned on the top. Spread a little butter on the top of the baked bread, if desired.

Serve with some homemade ranch dressing.

No Rise Pizza Dough

I am a bit lazy, so I’ll take any shortcuts that I can find. Case in point: it was 4:30pm before I decieded what to make for dinner, so there’s no time for waiting for pizza dough to rise. I found this recipe, and my family really liked it. We prefer thinner crusts, so this was perfect for us.

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (About 100 degrees. Stick your finger in, and if it feels about like a hot tub, you’re good to go.)
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 cup flour (Add 1 1/2 cups first, and then more if the dough is too sticky.)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix together warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir well and let stand for 2-3 minutes.

In a food processor or stand mixer, combine flour, salt and olive oil. While the machine is running, slowly add yeast mixture. mix until the dough starts to form a ball. Check the consistency, if it is too sticky add some flour (the dough should feel soft, but not overly sticky).  Once the texture is accurate, knead the dough with the machine for another 30 seconds or so.

Roll out the dough on a pizza pan and brush with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove from oven and add your favorite toppings (mine are crushed red pepper, carmelized onions, pepperoni, fresh mozarella cheese, parmesean cheese, oregano and basil. Yum!).

Bake another 10-15 minutes, or until browned.

Hamburger and Onion Stuffed Bread

We have lots of onions around here since my mom has connections in her small farming town where onions are profuse! She was able to glean some onion fields last summer (go pick up the leftovers after the farmers get what they want to sell), and she passed on at least three big boxes of onions. So between the free onions and the  1/4 cow in this freezer, this recipe is perfect for my challenge!! It turned out pretty well and we ate them dipped in ranch. Yum! What isn’t delicious dipped in ranch?! This would be a great freezer meal. You can prepare is all the way through to the end, and then cover it with plastic wrap and foil. When you are ready to bake it, you can let it defrost in the refrigerator over night and then bake it just as you would from the fresh state.

• 1 pizza dough (refrigerated or this recipe that I use. If you use the homemade recipe, you’ll only use half the dough for this recipe–you can either freeze the extra dough for pizza later or double your ground beef to make two pans of stuffed bread.)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
• 1 tsp thyme, dried

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a skillet, over medium high heat, combine olive oil, ground beef, onion, and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I put in about 1-2 tsp salt and about 1/2 tsp pepper). Brown the meat. Stir in the worchestshire sauce and thyme. Taste to see if you need to add more salt.

Roll out your dough on a clean surface and cut into 2-3 inch squares. Coat a 8×8 pan with cooking spray. Place about 2 tablespoons meat mixture in the middle of each square and pull the four corners together. Seal the seams by pressing them together, and place the bread seam side down in the pan.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Check the rolls after 18-20 minutes and then continue cooking until they are browned on the top. Spread a little butter on the top of the baked bread, if desired.

Carrot Bread

I have a lot of carrots at my house. I bought a giant bag of carrots at Costco, and I am finding creative uses for them. I cooked a whole bunch of them, pureed them and stuck them in the freezer. So now I have lots of carrot puree. What do you do with carrot puree?! I’ve been adding it to baked pasta dishes, stirring it into sauces, and tonight I baked some carrot bread. This bread was really tasty and pretty good for you.

Ingredients

• 1  cup  all-purpose flour
• 3/4  cup  whole wheat flour
• 3/4  cup  quick-cooking oats
• 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 3/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  butter, softened
• 1/4  cup  water
• 1  large egg
• 1  cup  milk
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  cup  pureed carrot

Preheat over to 350°.

To prepare bread, lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Place brown sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add water and egg; beat well. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Fold in carrot. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 min or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light