Sloppy Joe’s

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Sloppy Joe's

This is the version of Sloppy Joe’s that I grew up with. My dad would make this in a jiffy, and it was always amazing to have with either plain potato chips or my favorite, tater tots.

My husband great up with Manwich, so when we started living together, it was a bit of a shocker to him of making it from scratch. It’s not the same comfort that he grew up with, but he knows it is just as good. We usually will rotate so that the other can have their memories of childhood come flooding back.

Michigan Item

Michigan Ingredient: Hamburger and Meijer Brown Sugar

I prefer to get beef from a local butcher and also in bulk. It makes more sense to me to purchase your meat in bulk, separate it to the amounts you need, and freeze until you are ready to use. I know that some prefer not to freeze their meat, but for my family, that mainly only applies to steak.

Now I bet you are a bit shocked to see that brown sugar is even an ingredient for this recipe. How else are you suppose to get that sweetness?

Sloppy Joe's

Brown your meat ( I used beef for this time, but sometimes I use turkey or chicken. Both are just as good.)

Meanwhile, chop your onion and mince your garlic while your meat is browning. It’s all about multitasking in the kitchen. That’s how things can get done quickly. Once your meat is browned, drain the fat (rinse with hot water to remove excess fat). Leave in the colander. Sloppy Joe's

Saute your onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.  If you notice, I actually use a bit of salt and pepper when I saute my onion and garlic so that it will saute a smidgen faster.

What is it with the smell of onion and garlic sauteing that makes it smell like home? Every time I do it, I think of home with my parents or my grandparents. It’s amazing what a smell can do for you.

Sloppy Joe's

Add your meat. Add a little bit more salt and pepper if you like. NOW for the sauce. It’s very simple… ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. That’s it. Sloppy Joe's

Sloppy Joe's

It takes some adjusting, but I learned what the exact amounts of each are that I need in order to get the flavor of deliciousness.

You can adjust the flavor that will suite your family’s taste buds. Sometimes you may want a tangier taste, which means a little a bit more yellow mustard, or calm the tangy with more ketchup. Of course you don’t want to add too much brown sugar, because it is a bit harder to “mask” the sweetness.

Sloppy Joe's

Serve with chips (or tater tots) and a veggie. Enjoy!!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Sloppy Joe's
 
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Serves: 4
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A childhood comfort food that is perfect for a quick and east meal!
Ingredients
  • 1 pound of Beef, Chicken, or Turkey
  • 1 medium Onion - chopped
  • 1-2 cloves of Garlic - minced
  • Olive Oil
  • ¾ cup of Ketchup
  • ¼ cup of Yellow Mustard
  • 2 tablespoon of Brown Sugar
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Buns
Instructions
  1. Brown your meat. While your meat is browning, chop your onion and mince your onion.
  2. Drain the fat (and rinse any excess fat with hot water if you wish)
  3. Saute your onion and garlic in olive oil until your onions are translucent. (You can add salt and pepper at this stage if you wish.)
  4. Add your meat to the onions.
  5. Ad the ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar and stir until thoroughly combined. Adjust to suite your family's taste buds if need be. Spoon onto buns (or if need be, bread) and serve!

 

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Butter

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Main pic

I know this is more like a autumn/fall recipe; however, when it starts to get warmer out, sometimes people lose their appetite and/or are more rushed in the morning due to trying to work out in the morning before work. Trust me when I say I know what that is like. Now that it is getting warmer and the sunrise is getting earlier and earlier, I find myself doing more in the morning and not leaving myself enough time to create a “gourmet meal.” I mean come on, who creates a delicious breakfast every. single. morning? I’m lucky when I  even get cereal.

THIS is the answer to your toast prayers. It seems that the new fad for toast is avocado toast, which if that is your thing, that’s awesome; but for me, avocado is not something I crave first thing in the morning. This Cinnamon Honey Walnut Butter will give you a hint of sweet with the added bonus of protein power and Omega-3s.

Walnuts are delicious in their own right, but making them into a nut butter is even better. You can use it on toast, use it in place of boring peanut butter for your apples, take spoonfuls, etc. I could not leave this stuff alone, and everyone who came in contact with me this last weekend, had to deal with me asking them to try it.

Michigan Item

 

Michigan Ingredients: Honey and Cinnamon (not pictured as I am an airhead)

It seems that I have been using honey more and more lately.

To make this wonderful recipe, you do need to have a food processor. I can’t imagine not having one because I have used it to make ice cream, nut butters, baby food, etc. It is truly an appliance I don’t think I can live without (but don’t tell my KitchenAid this).

Three simple ingredients, Walnuts, Cinnamon, and Honey. The honey adds a bit of sweetness and the cinnamon is just because I am madly in love with cinnamon (ask any of my family and they can tell you that).

First, you put your walnuts in the food processor and turn it on “high.”

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Buitter

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Buitter

Once it looks like above….. Keep going. Depending on the strength of your food processor, it will take will take roughly 5-7 minutes.

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Buitter

When it looks like this, it is safe to add your cinnamon and honey. Once you add them, it will look/seem like it is not going to work, but it will. It just takes time; you can’t rush perfection.

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Buitter

The natural oils in the walnuts will release (and the honey helps as well) and it will look like the picture above when it is done. I would say for my food processor (which is almost 10 years old), from start to finish, it took roughly 15 minutes. Your food processor will be a bit warm; but it will be just fine.

***Update: Please note that after sitting for a while (i.e. the next day) the oils will separate, so just give the nut butter a stir and you are good to go! 🙂

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Buitter

Cinnamon Honey Walnut Butter
 
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Recipe type: Condiment
Serves: 1 cup
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This nut butter is delicious on toast, perfect for apples, and is amazing by the spoonful 🙂
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of Walnut Halves
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons of Honey
Instructions
  1. Place your walnuts in your food processor and set on high. You can scrape the sides if need be every now and then.
  2. Once the walnuts look kind of like a dough, add your cinnamon and honey. Turn food processor on high again until the nut butter looks like an applesauce/natural peanut butter. Makes 1 cup.
Notes
Please note that after sitting for a while (i.e. the next day) the oils will separate, so just give the nut butter a stir and you are good to go! 🙂

 

Colorful Vegetable Medley

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IMAG2866

Have you ever had that “I need to eat more veggies,” feeling; and all you can think about is if you can make a meal out of mostly vegetables that fill you up? This is that recipe. I love making this recipe when my husband is working crazy shifts because it makes a lot and the leftovers are AHHH-MAAAZZZING!

Michigan Item

Michigan Ingredient: Meijer Cheese

Surprisingly, this cheese has a “richer” flavor and is actually cheaper and goes on sale more. Ever since the little one starting eating solid foods (about 1.5 years ago), we started getting full fat dairy products. We are at the point where we can switch back to 2%; it’s just hard when cheese tastes as amazing as this.

Celery Carrots Onions

Of course there is a little bit of prep work when it comes to making this dish and if you have certain appliances and/or tools such as a food processor, mandolin, etc. it is real simple. I use to use the food processor to chop my carrots and celery… and one thing led to another and yada yada yada, I chop them by hand now.

Broccoli Caulflower

When I prep vegetables such as celery, carrots, onions, green peppers, tomatoes; I like using paper plates to help make clean up a snap. Unfortunately, for the broccoli and cauliflower, I have to use a bowl.

Colorful Vegetable Medley

Once your veggies are chopped (and ham too – or you can cheat like I did and buy pre-diced ham), melt your butter and add your oil to a dutch oven pan. There is a reason why the vegetables are separated the way that they are in the pics above (yes, a method to my madness); you add the broccoli and cauliflower first, then add the celery, carrots, onions, and ham. It’s like a little bit of a layer effect because you want the hearty more towards the bottom and the not so hearty toward the top. Now I know you are thinking that carrots could pass as a heartier vegetable; but when you have it sliced thin, it will soften quickly.

Give it a bit of a stir(not too much), cover, and cook for 25 minutes. This is usually when I prep my rice because I try to always multi-task in the kitchen. Bring your water to a quick boil and add your ¾ cups of rice (brown or white, whichever is your preference) and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Colorful Vegetable Medley

Once your veggies are soft, yet crisp; add your cooked rice. Now this is where your preference comes in- you can either add your cheese to the top of your veggies while they are in the pot or add it to each individual serving. It all depends on if you want to look fancy OR if you are trying to make your cheese stretch (I know that not everyone has almost an entire cheese aisle in their fridge).

Colorful Vegetable Medley

Now I know that you are thinking… there is no seasonings, no flavor… OH MY GOODNESS!!! The ham adds a great deal of flavor and you can salt and pepper to taste. This is truly a simple dish that my family eats as a meal, but you could easily bring it to a potluck as a side dish if you wanted.

 

Colorful Vegetable Medley
 
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Recipe type: Main Dish
Serves: 4-5
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Light and Healthy Main Dish!
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 3 tablespoons of oil
  • 1 cup ham
  • 3 carrots sliced thin
  • 2 celery sliced thin
  • Small onion – diced small
  • Half head of cauliflower - chopped
  • 3 cups broccoli chopped
  • 1 cup Shredded Cheese of your choice
  • salt and pepper to taste
Rice
  • ¾ cup dry rice
  • 1 ½ cups of water
Instructions
  1. Slice your carrots and celery thin. Dice your onion small. Set these 3 vegetables aside.
  2. Chop your broccoli and half a head of cauliflower; combine in a bowl.
  3. Melt your butter in a dutch oven and add your oil over medium heat.
  4. Add your broccoli and cauliflower mix to the pot first; then add your celery, carrots, and onion. Add your diced ham.
  5. Cover your pot and cook for about 25 minutes until the veggies are soft and crisp. Stir semi-often to ensure even cooking/so your veggies do not stick to the bottom.
  6. Prep your rice while the vegetables are cooking. Bring the water to a boil, add the rice, and cook on low for 15-20 minutes.
  7. Once your vegetables and rice are cooked, combine and stir.
  8. Add your shredded cheese to either each individual serving or on top of the mixture in the pot until melted. Serve.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

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White Chocolate Chip

This is one of my husband’s favorite cookies. It is a “treat” when I make these as macadamia nuts are a bit on the pricier side of nuts. For almost $6, you can get a whopping 1 ½ cups of nuts. It’s worth it, by all means; but it is a far cry from the Snickerdoodle.

I remember when I stumbled upon this recipe like it was yesterday. I was in college, trying to find a “healthy” cookie (I know I know…) and somehow came across this gem. The recipe stated that it is 99 calories per cookie (and that the recipe makes 48 cookies…); which I don’t believe applies to when I make cookies because A) I make real-sized cookies and B) these taste simply divine.

 

Michigan Item

Michigan Ingredient: Big Chief Sugar and Meijer Brown Sugar.

Please keep in mind that I am in the process of getting fresh ingredients for recipes, as fruits and veggies are starting to become more in season. In Michigan, not many fresh ingredients are in season during this time of year BUUUUUUUTTTTTTT….. once more items are in season here, it will be glorious.  

First things first, cream your butter and your sugars. Add the vanilla and the egg. Combine your flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add your dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat.

Oats

Combine your oats, chips and nuts and add to creamed mixture. Make sure all yummy goodness of nuts, chips and oats are distributed all throughout.  You should now have heaven in a bowl.

Heaven in a Bowl

Preheat your oven and start getting your cookies prepped. I actually have one of those cookie scoop thingers (technical term) because I would get annoyed with using the two spoon (or let’s be honest, when no one is looking, spoon and finger) method. It works well with some cookies, and sometimes it does not as the dough will coat the inside and the cookies will get smaller and smaller as the scoop gets “clogged.” Luckily, with this recipe you shouldn’t have a problem; but if you do, my apologies.

Cookie Sheet

You can tell a lot about someone by the way their cookie sheet looks. If it looks brand spanking new they either just A) bought it, or B) do not really bake a lot…or C) have one of those slip-mat things. Now I’m not saying you should JUDGE someone just by their cookie sheet…. but….. you know… with baking comes love <3

Bake your cookies for 10-12 minutes. Now keep in mind what your oven temperature is like. Mine runs a little hot sometimes, so I always check in 9 minutes to be safe.

This recipe should make roughly 18 medium sized cookies. If you want to make more, simply double the recipe.

IMAG2847_edited

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies
 
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Recipe type: Cookies
Serves: 18 cookies
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Ingredients
  • ½ cup Butter, softened
  • ½ cup White Sugar
  • ½ cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1½ cups Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1½ cups Old Fashioned Oats
  • 1 cup Chopped Macadamia Nuts
  • 1 cup White Chocolate Chips
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, cream together your butter and sugars until smooth.
  2. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
  3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture.
  4. Combine the oats, nuts, and chips. Add to the mixture until evenly combined.
  5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drop cookies by whatever size you want onto a cookie sheet.
  6. Bake until the tops start to become slightly golden, roughly 10-12 minutes.
Notes
Recipe adapted from All Recipes

 

 

Spicy Potato Soup (Slow Cooker)

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Spicy Potato Soup

Soup season in Michigan usually is from September to May,  as Michigan weather never really knows what it wants to do. Sometimes we have a late April snowstorm; and luckily, this year, we had said snowstorm in early April as opposed to late April (#glassishalffull). Since Michigan hasn’t decided that it will be consistently warm, I thought I would slide this recipe in there for you before the “soup season” is over. Me personally, I can eat soups all year round, so long as I am in air conditioning during the summer months. Something about soups just give me comfort; especially homemade soups because usually they are made with love (*cheeseburgers* <– a.k.a. cheesy).

This potato soup recipe is a great “set it and forget it” kind of recipe. There isn’t a lot of prep work and there are minimal ingredients. I usually make this soup when I don’t use my potatoes up as quickly as I thought I would or my ambitious side gets the best of me thinking that I will use up two 10 pound bags of potatoes because they were ON SALE.

Right now, I am in the process of making this an even more “from scratch” recipe as to the canned soup aspect. I know, I know; how can it be “from scratch” when you are using canned soup? Well, when it comes to making recipes in the crock-pot, usually you add your dairy at the end as it can wreck havoc on the dish. Dairy products (usually milk) do not do well being heated for hours on end. I will be working on making a stove-top version of this recipe, so keep an eye out for that.

Michigan Item

Michigan Ingredient: Red skinned potatoes

I usually prefer to use red skinned potatoes, but whatever potatoes (except sweet potatoes) that you have on hand will work.

 

Spicy Potato Soup

First things first, chop up your potatoes and green onions; BOOM, hard work is done. The rest is just dropping the rest of the ingredients (minus the milk, sour cream, and cheese) into the crock-pot, giving it a stir and going about your day. Now you just need to make a decision as to if you want to use the high or low setting. Totally up to you, whatever your preference may be.

Spicy Potato Soup

Do not be alarmed if you see the potatoes brown a little toward the top, as that is normal. I promise that it will taste just as great. (Imagine said picture here as apparently I was too lax in taking pictures ha!)

After your cook time (whether it be 4 hours or 8 hours) add your milk, sour cream, cheese (shred same now if you need to) and stir.  Set the crock-pot on high for 10 minutes. If you are adding sausage, this is when I would start to brown my sausage. I would recommend that you drain (not rinse) your sausage onto a paper towel lined plate to get rid of the excess grease; blot as much as you can of the grease so as to not make your soup appear greasy.  After your 10 minutes is up, add your sausage and serve with homemade bread and butter.

 

Spicy Potato Soup

Spicy Potato Soup (Slow Cooker)
 
Author:
Recipe type: Soups
Cuisine: Soups
Serves: 6-7
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Potato soup is a classic soup that (in my opinion) is right up there with chicken noodle.
Ingredients
  • 2-2.5 pounds of Potatoes (your choice) - peeled, and chopped
  • 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup (reduced fat and sodium)
  • 1½ cups of Green Onion, finely diced - divided
  • ¼ teaspoon of Garlic Powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon of Red Pepper (Caynnne)
  • 1½ cups/block of Pepperjack Cheese - shredded
  • 1 cup of Sour Cream
  • 1 cup of Milk
  • black pepper to taste
  • ½ to 1 pound of Spicy Sausage (optional)
Instructions
  1. Combine your potatoes, soups, 1 cup of green onions, garlic powder, and red pepper in your slow cooker. Cover, cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
  2. Add cheese, sour cream, and milk; stir until cheese has completely melted. Cover, cook on HIGH for 10 minutes.If you are adding your sausage, brown same and add (be sure to blot the grease) to the soup. Season to taste with black pepper and garnish with remaining green onions.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Slow Cooker Bible

Spanish Rice

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Spanish Rice

It’s that time of year where everyone is starting to cook more Mexican/Spanish recipes for Cinco de Mayo. I am jumping on the bandwagon; however, I cook Mexican dishes all year long.

This is a rather simple recipe. Back in the day, my family would just make the Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco Treat ding ding) Spanish Rice and then call it a day. This recipe comes from a cookbook titled “Cooking Basics,”   in which it gives simple recipes that the novice cook can make. It is not overly complicated and the ingredients are simple.

Over the years, I have modified the recipe to suite my needs; and I would say that this recipe is the one that I continually make over and over without modifying same.

Sometimes you can even turn this recipe into a “meal” by added left over taco meat or chicken fajita meat. Mind you, that if you do this, do so after the rice cooks so that the seasonings of your taco meat or chicken fajita meat do not overpower/drown out the seasoning of the Spanish rice.

Michigan item

Michigan Ingredient: Meijer Tomato Sauce and Meijer Diced Tomatoes

( Meijer was founded in Greenville, Michigan and the fact that the name brand is great and affordable is an added bonus 🙂 )

First things first, chop up your green peppers and onion and mince your garlic (if you are using real… if you don’t have real, it’s ok to substitute garlic powder).  Sometimes people feel it is necessary to wait to add the garlic when you saute your onion (and in this case green pepper), but I live on the wild side and never do that. Anytime there is a time where onion and garlic are to be sauted, I always combine them at once and have never had a problem.

Spanish Rice Veggies

Saute your veggies with your rice until the veggies are soft and the rice starts to brown. You can use either white rice or brown or a combination. The recipe works with either rice.

Spanish Rice Saute

Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium-low to low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. I know that the heat range seems a little odd, but I noticed that when cooking on a gas stove, low is perfect; however, cooking on an electric stove, you need a little bit more “juice” so that it doesn’t take forever to cook.

If you are making this into a meal, you would then add your left over meat (heated up of course) and serve.

 

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Spanish Rice
 
Author:
Recipe type: Side Dish/Main Meal
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 5-7 servings
Prep time:
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Ingredients
  • ⅛ teaspoon of Garlic Powder or Small Clove of Garlic
  • 1 Medium sized Onion
  • 1 Green Bell Pepper
  • 1 cup of Rice (Brown or White)
  • 2 tablespoons of oil
  • 2¼ cups Water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ teaspoon o f Chili Powder
  • 1 15 oz. can of Tomato Sauce
  • 1 14.5 oz can of diced Mexican Tomatoes/Tomatoes with Green Chilies (undrained)
Instructions
  1. Dice up your onion and green pepper. If you are using real garlic, mince up same.
  2. Pour your oil into a dutch oven or large covered skillet and add your veggies and rice. Saute.
  3. Once your veggies are softened and your rice starts to brown, add your water, seasonings, tomato sauce and diced Mexican tomatoes. Bring mixture to a boil.
  4. Cover and simmer over medium low to low for 30 to 40 minutes. Sauce will thicken upon standing.
Notes
Note: This can be made into a meal by adding left over taco or chicken fajita meat. Be sure to add the meat after the Spanish Rice has cooked so that seasonings of your meat do not overpower the rice.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Basics

Spanish Rice

Snickerdoodles

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Snickerdoodles

This is the type of cookie that you can eat all year round. Snickerdoodles are actually known as the poor man’s cookie, as there are minimal ingredients and you don’t have to have any form of chips to add. Usually that is the most expensive part of the cookie, the chip; as they are somewhere close to $3.50+ for the name brand and a little under $3.00 for the generic brand.

Every household (at least where I’m from) has their own version of the Snickerdoodle. This is the version my parents would make all the time because it is that good of a cookie. It’s light, fluffy, and puffy. One of the tricks to making the cookie so puffy is to chill the dough when  your oven is preheating before baking.

Michigan Ingredients

Michigan Ingredients: Big Chief Sugar, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg.

For some reason, whenever I buy sugar, I am always looking to see if it is sugar from Michigan. Big Chief and Pioneer are typically my go to brands when it comes to sugar since they are Michigan based. The Cinnamon and Nutmeg were an added bonus (because when I gathered my ingredients, I noticed that this company is a Michigan company :).  Not only do I love buying my spices in “bulk;” I will now be trying to use this brand more often).

First things first, grab your softened butter (which, if you are like me and not think ahead to soften your butter, please feel free to use the microwave… BUUUUUTTTTT…. don’t over do it  because you do not want to have melted butter and the cookie to fail. Use 10 second bursts) and cream the butter with either your stand-up mixer or hand mixer. Creaming the butter ahead of time helps aid in the fluffiness of the cookie.

Add your sugar and cream together until there is no graininess. I know it might be hard to wait that long; but trust me, it is worth it.

Snickerdoodle

Once your creamed mixture looks like the photo above, add your flour, baking powder, and nutmeg to the mixture. Beat until the cookie dough is fluffy and place the dough in the fridge to chill out while your oven preheats.

Now one would note that this recipe creates a dozen cookies. Trust me that this is a minimum amount as you can make your cookies however small or somewhat large you want. One thing that gets on my nerves is when you are making cookies and the recipes advises that you should “drop by tablespoonfuls.” Seriously? Adults will have self esteem issues as they will have to eat 3-4 cookie to satisfy that sweet tooth that encouraged them to even make the cookies to begin with. Keep in mind for future reference, that this site will make medium to large cookies so that one does not feel as guilty eating cookies. Now by all means, if you are dieting or making cookies for a crowd/your child’s class, then abide by the “tablespoonfuls” guideline to make your cookie dough stretch. OTHERWISE, realize that you are making an indulgent treat, and make it worth while (lol).

ANYWHO….While you are waiting for the oven to preheat, create your cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar mixture. This is where you can make the cookies taste more unique to your family’s taste by playing with the ratios. Some people like a balance, some like it to have a more cinnamon-y or nutmeg-y taste.  Experiment!

Once the oven is preheated, grab your chilled cookie dough and drop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet by whatever sized cookies you are going to make (please see rant above) and then sprinkle the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar mixture over your cookies and bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops are golden.

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Snickerdoodles
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 1 dozen
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Also known as the poor man's cookie, every family should have a homemade snickerdoodle recipe. The secret to this recipe is the nutmeg
Ingredients
  • 6 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 cup of Michigan sugar (white)
  • 1 Egg
  • ½ cup of Milk
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • additional sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Cream the butter until fluffy; gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the egg and stir in the milk.
  2. Add your flour, baking powder, and nutmeg to the creamed butter mixture and beat until fluffy.
  3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and place your cookie dough in the fridge to chill. This will help create a fluffy/pillowy cookie.
  4. Meanwhile, create a cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg mixture for sprinkling. This is where you can experiment with family taste. I usually do ½ cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of nutmeg.
  5. Drop cookie dough onto a pan and sprinkle the cookies with the cinnamon/sugar/nutmeg mixture.
  6. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are slightly browned on top.

Snickerdoodles

Heavenly Honey Oat Bread

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Heavenly Honey Oat Bread

Something about making bread just relaxes me. I don’t know if it is the punch the dough down, kneading it by hand, or just the entire process. It’s one of those things that one typically doesn’t want to rush because you want it to come out perfectly.

This is the type of bread that has multiple a few steps in which take no time at all to prep, it’s just the waiting for cooling and proofing (rise time).

One thing that makes this bread so great is the sweetness the honey gives the bread. Of course, it’s not an overwhelming sweet, as this is not a sweet bread (however, if you have a sweet tooth late at night and do not want complete guilt, toast up a piece and drizzle with honey). This is a bread that is amazing as toast, is great for sandwiches and is amazing to dip in soups. This is the type of bread that I probably could survive on by eating just bread and butter all day for each meal (#polishgirlatheart).

Michigan Item

Michigan Ingredient: Honey

ANYWAYS… back to the honey. I use Michigan made honey as to me it tastes better, more fresh. It could just be the nostalgia of it, but I’ve bought honey that is not made in Michigan and it’s one of those things where you can taste the chemicals inhabiting your body. Not to over exaggerate or anything..

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Heavenly Honey Oat Bread
 
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Recipe type: Breads
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Such a hearty and delish bread that you can eat for breakfast or dip in your favorite soup.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of Old Fashioned Oats
  • 2 cups of Boiling Water
  • 1 Package of Active Yeast
  • ¼ cup of Warm Water
  • ⅓ cup of Michigan Honey (or whatever honey you have on hand)
  • 1 tablespoon of Butter (melted and cooled) or Oil
  • 2 teaspoons of Salt
  • 1 Egg Beaten (optional)
  • 5½ cups of All-Purpose Flour
  • Milk
  • Additional Oats
Instructions
  1. Place Old Fashioned Oats into a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over them. Let the Oats stand for 15 minutes or until luke warm. (Sometimes I will add cinnamon and a touch of sugar at this stage.)
  2. Sprinkle yeast over ¼ cup of warm water in a small bowl. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.
  3. Add honey, butter/oil, salt and yeast mixture to the oat mixture. For extra rich dough, add the beaten egg. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the flour (Make sure dough can be handled, but still a bit sticky).
  4. Knead for 2 minutes. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
  5. Knead 12 to 15 strokes till dough is elastic, but still sticky, adding flour as needed. Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour. **
  6. Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface (Don't let flour take away the sticky).
  7. Divide dough in half and shape into 2 loaves.
  8. You can use either two loaf pans or a large baking sheet. Let the dough rise again for 30 minutes.
  9. Brush with milk and sprinkle with additional oats.
  10. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
Notes
**Note: To help with the rise, take a coffee cup full of water and place it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with a paper towel that has been wrung out and place the bowl in the microwave. This helps create a nice little "proofing" station so you do not have to worry about your dough not rising.