Vanilla Wafer Parfait

Recipe off of Vanilla Wafer box.

Vanilla Pudding or Vanilla Yogurt
Strawberries, washed and cut
Bananas, sliced
Mini Vanilla Wafers

Alternate between vanilla pudding, fruit, and wafers. Enjoy! It's a yummy breakfast that is not only delicious but filling.

Minted Squash Orzo

Courtesy Foodnetwork.com

Mike is trying to loose weight. What kind of options do I have for dinner? Foodnetwork always has a good answer!

1 c uncooked orzo
1/2 c cooking water from orzo
4 TBSP garlic flavored olive oil*
1 large yellow squash, about 8 ounces, cut in quarters and then sliced
Kosher salt and cracked pepper
4 oz feta crumble cheese
1/2 c mint, chopped

In a large pot, boil over medium heat. Add pasta and a good amount of salt, cook for 8 minutes. Pasta won't be cooked all the way. Save 1/2 cup of cooking water and then drain in colander.

Heat 2 TBSP oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the squash, salt and pepper-add a good amount, more than you think. Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash becomes translucent and slightly brown, about 4 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low, add pasta and water. Bring to a simmer and add 3/4 of the feta cheese container and salt and pepper if needed. Cook until water is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add mint and remaining 2 TBSP oil. Garnish with mint leaves and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Serve.

Makes 4 servings.

*If you don't have garlic flavored oil it's easy to make!!! Put desired amount of oil in a frying pan. Heat over medium-high. Add 1-2 tsp of minced (cut) garlic. (I buy it in a jar from the store for such purposes.) Using a strainer and a bowl, pour oil through strainer over a bowl to catch oil, leaving no chuncks of garlic. Wa La! Instant garlic flavored oil.

Egg in the Hole

1 piece of toast

1 egg

butter

salt and pepper

Cut a hole in the bread with a cookie cutter (any fun shapes you want) or use a cup rim. Butter each side of remaining edges of bread. Place on a hot griddle or frying pan. Immediately crack egg into the hole. Salt and pepper to taste. Flip when egg whites start to turn opaque. Cook to how you like your egg.

I like to butter the cut of the bread and toast it on the frying pan and spread with jam. That way I'm not "wasting" anything.

French Toast Casserole

Courtesy Smith's Marketplace

2 tsp butter, softened

8 slices of white bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

7 eggs

2 c milk

1/4 c heavy cream

1/4 c maple syrup

4 TBSP sugar, divided

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamom

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter and evenly fill the dish with bread cubes.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, cream, maple syrup, 2 TBSP sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Pour this mixture over bread cubes and press down over the surface of the casserole with a spatula to help the bread soak up the liquid. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove foil and bake an additional 30-35 minutes or until it is puffy and brown. Let it set for 10 minutes before slicing into. Serve with maple syrup. Makes 10-12 servings.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Crust

2 1/2 to 3 c flour

1 TBSP yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 c warm water

2 TBSP olive oil

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Add water,oil, salt and yeast. Whisk together. Slowly whisk in flour until it becomes too thick to whisk and use a wooden spoon or fold with hands. Dough should be slightly sticky but not too sticky. Cover and set aside. Let it rise for 15-30 minutes.

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Flour counter or table and roll dough onto it in a circle shape. Sprinkle Pizza Stone with cornmeal (if you don't have it don't worry, it just makes it seem more original). Place dough on stone, form raised edge for crust, and use fork to poke holes through out the dough. Bake for 10 minutes. Crust should NOT be golden brown or baked all the way through. Remove from oven and leave oven on still.

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Toppings

alfredo sauce (store or homemade)

1 tomato, diced

1 1/2 green onions, chopped

4 chicken tenders (you could use chicken breast, I just had tenders on hand), cooked and diced

1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

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Spread a thin later of alfredo sauce on slightly cooked crust. Sprinkle remaining ingredients over. Bake in oven for 10-20 minutes until cheese is slightly browned (center of pizza could raise up during bake time, but it will go down when it is cooled).

Carmel Popcorn

1 cube butter
1 c dark Karo syrup
2 c sugar (if you are worried about the sugar amount I've made it with half the sugar and it was still pretty good.)
about 2 large bowl fulls of unseasoned popcorn (not filled to the top so you don't spill popcorn)

Melt all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Once boiling pour over unseasoned popcorn.

Waffles

Like most of my pictures-it doesn't do the waffles any justice.

Batter
4 eggs
1/2 c sour cream
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c oil
2 c milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c flour
1/4 c ground flax seed (optional)

Separate eggs. Whip egg whites and set aside. Combine all other ingredients in large bowl. Fold egg whites into batter. Use waffle iron to bake.

Syrup
2 c water
4 c sugar
1/2 tsp maple extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Boil water in a large sauce pan over high heat. Add sugar and turn to medium high. Stir occasionally until bubbles for on bottom of pan. Add extracts. Serve warm.