Cornmeal Waffles & Chili

I love Navajo tacos and so somehow this reminded me of those. Not sure if they are alike, but I enjoyed this. Liked having the chewiness of the waffle with the toppings. In our house, anything topped with lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes tends to get enjoyed!

waffle recipe: Author: A Sweet Pea Chef

Waffles w/ Chili recipe: The Country Cook

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• 1¼ cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cups 2% milk (can be almond milk, whole milk, etc. if you'd prefer but I prefer 2% for this recipe)
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1½ tsp. vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the waffle maker.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, baking powder, brown sugar, and kosher salt) and mix well.
3. In another medium mixing bowl, whisk the milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla (AKA the "wet ingredients").
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. There is no need to grease the waffle maker since there is already vegetable oil in the batter.
6. Pour ¾ cup - 1 cup (depending on the size of your waffle maker) into the center of the grid.
7. Cook the waffle according to your waffle maker directions. Bake until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes.

Fried Rice

We all enjoy this at our house and I wanted to save it as I feel it's kid friendly.

Ingredients:
3 C uncooked rice
3-4 carrots
5-6 eggs
ham/bacon, cooked
peas
1 section broccoli
onion/green onion
green beans
cabbage
any other vegetable needing to be used up
salt and pepper
ginger (ground or fresh)
garlic salt
soy sauce
vegetable oil

Directions:

Cook rice in rice cooker with 6 C of water with a dash of salt.

In the meantime start cooking carrots and onion if not using green onion in a bit of vegetable oil. Gradually add other vegetables depending on how long they'll take to cook and soften until you have a good amount. Add meat.

In a separate pan scramble eggs and break into small chunks.

Once rice is cooked you can add it to the vegetables and mix. Add the eggs and mix. Then upon preference mix in salt and pepper, garlic salt, ginger, soy sauce, etc. as desired to taste.

Serve.

Roasted Butternut Squash Mac' n Cheese

from Censational Girl

 

This was easy and great to make a day ahead and then bake and serve later. And as you can see I substituted a lot of things for ingredients I had on hand and didn't use exact measurements on everything. And it turned out great, which is one reason why this is awesome. I actually had an acorn squash on hand I needed to use so I used that and it tasted great. I may have had a little more macaroni and less squash because of this and using macaroni shells instead, but it didn't taste too "noodley".

Roasted Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
4 cups diced raw butternut squash (acorn works too)
3 cups (about 12 oz) uncooked elbow macaroni (used shells, usually just use a full 16 oz box)
sprig of fresh sage or ½ tsp dried sage
3 tbsp olive oil
7-8 oz. fontina cheese (used a mix of parmesan, mozzerella, and colby I had on hand)
½ tsp salt
¼ cup butter
⅔ cup half and half (used whole milk, have also used sour cream and might like it better?)
⅓ cup breadcrumbs (plain or seasoned)


Directions:

1. Coat the butternut squash in olive oil, top it with chopped sage and roast it in the oven at 350º for 40 minutes or until cooked through.
2. Cook macaroni in salted water according to box instructions. Remove roasted butternut squash from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Place squash in mixing bowl or blender. Add half and half and salt and puree with hand mixer or in blender until smooth.
3. Toss cooked macaroni with pureed squash mixture and layer in large baking dish. Sprinkle top with breadcrumbs, melted butter, and shredded fontina. (I did the cheese then breadcrumbs, then melted butter which was great as the breadcrumbs were a little crispy)
4. Bake a total of 35 minutes at 350º, uncovered for 15 minutes until topping is slightly browned, then cover with foil for remaining 20 minutes. 

Serve hot! Serves 6-8 people.

Quick & Easy Noodle Stir Fry

from Our Best Bites

 

Quick & Easy Noodle Stir-Fry

 This is great to use up all those odds and ends in your fridge (cabbage, peas, mushrooms, bacon, etc). Has a lighter flavor, limes and ginger are optional ( I like both ways). And Camilla enjoys it!

Ingredients:

1 12-oz. package linguine (whole wheat or regular)
1-2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Asian sweet red chili sauce (Thai Kitchen makes one that’s great and easy to find; this is not the chili sauce you find near the ketchup)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 small red onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced or pressed
1 large or 2 small orange, red, and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen green sugar snap peas, snow peas, edamame, or green beans
1 medium zucchini, julienned or chopped
Optional: Grilled chicken, shrimp, or steak, black sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When it is boiling, add the noodles and cook al dente. When the noodles are done, drain them and toss in 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil.
2. Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, sweet chili sauce, and dark sesame oil. Set aside.
3. While the noodles are cooking, heat a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onions, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, but the garlic isn’t burning. Add the peas (or beans or edamame) and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the zucchini and peppers and stir fry for another 30 seconds or until the veggies are crisp-tender. 
4. Add the noodles and stir fry until the noodles are well-combined with the vegetables.
5.  Give the sauce a quick whisk and then drizzle it evenly over the noodles and stir fry the entire mixture for about 30-60 seconds or until everything is well-coated in the sauce. 
6. Serve immediately–if you want, you can garnish individual servings with chopped cilantro, lime wedges, and black sesame seeds. 

Serves 6-8.

Hawaiian Haystacks Chicken Sauce

photo from Mels Kitchen Cafe:




Chicken Sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks

INGREDIENTS:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks (about 1/2 breast/person)
1 onion, quartered or coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cream of mushroom soup

DIRECTIONS:

Either in a crock pot or large pot simmer chicken covered in water with onion and celery until cooked through. When done, strain onion and celery out and throw away. Keep broth and set aside.

Shred chicken and add back to pot of broth. Add can of cream of mushroom soup. Stir until evenly mixed. Salt and pepper to taste. May add chicken bouillon if needed.

Serve the chicken sauce over rice with your toppings of choice, such as olives, tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges, pineapple tidbits and chow mein noodles.

Corn Dog Muffins

from Iowa Girl Eats


 These poppable bites consists of a sweet and crispy cornbread mini muffin, studded with a salty, all-beef hot dog. They taste exactly like a state fair corn dog, just in a teeny-tiny package!

Notes: I used a regular muffin pan and a mini pan. I baked them for about 20 min. at 375 degrees. Also, since I was using a regular muffin pan, I chunked/diced the hot dogs and then tossed them on top of the batter already divided up in the muffin pan.)

Ingredients (makes 12 regular and 10 mini muffins (Serves about 4)

• 1/2 cup melted butter (or 1/4 cup butter + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 7-8 all-beef hot dogs, cut into 1″ bites (I used chicken/turkey and was still good)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk to incorporate. Add buttermilk and whisk to incorporate.
• In a separate bowl, combine baking soda, cornmeal, flour, and salt, and stir to combine. Whisk into wet ingredients in two batches.
• Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray, and spoon 1 Tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin cup. Place one hot dog bite into the middle of each cup.
• Bake for 8-12 minutes (oven temperatures vary), or until cornbread is golden brown. Cool in mini muffin tin for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, and re-heat for 20-30 seconds before serving.