Lemon Almond Bread

I would love to add a picture of this lovely bread sliced up to eat, but we delivered it to the neighbor who just gave us his old playset for the kids! 

LEMON ALMOND BREAD

1-3/4 cups flour

3/4 cups sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 c. cooking oil

2 t. finely zested lemon peel

2 T. lemon juice

1/2 c. chopped almonds (I use sliced, cuz that is what I keep handy!)

Topping:

2 T. lemon juice

1 T. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine egg, milk oil and lemon juice in another bowl.  Make a well in the center of dry ingredients  and add went ingredients, stirring until just moist. Fold in almonds and lemon peel. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes or till wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Meanwhile stir together 2 tablespooons lemon juice and 1 tablespoon sugar. While bread is still in pan, brush lemon-sugar mixture over bread. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from loaf pan and cool on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before serving.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

 

I did not have Motzarella to shred, so I diced up four string cheeses.

PEPPERONI PIZZA PUFFS

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 3/4 t. baking powder
• 1 scant t. garlic salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 oz. Mozzarella, grated, or 4 string cheeses, diced
• 4 oz. pepperoni, diced

Combine flour, parmesan, baking powder and garlic salt.  Add milk and beaten egg. Stir in Mozzarella and pepperoni.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Prepare a 24 cup mini-muffin pan with nonstick spray.  Fill cups a little over 1/2 full and sprinkle a little more parmesan cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

After dropping the brownie/cookie dough on the cookie sheet, gently press a ball of heaven...peanut butter and powdered sugar into the center.

This recipe said it would make 24 cookies...so said baker could only make 24 cookies.  As a result there was a little batter left over which she dolloped on top of the peanut butter.

Here is how it looked out the oven with the chocolate hat.

AMAZING!!

PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIE COOKIES

1 (19.5 oz.) Pillsbury Classic Fudge Brownie Mix
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

Combine brownie mix, melted butter, softened cream cheese and egg, mixing by hand 50 strokes.  Batter will be thick and sticky.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Combine powdered sugar and peanut butter.  Roll into balls and gently push down in the center of the chocolate cookie.  If you have a little cookie batter left, like we did, you can put a little on top of each peanut butter ball.  Bake at 350 for 10 to 14 minutes, until edges are set.  Let cool on cookie sheet for 30 minutes.

Nacho Casserole

Delicious!  Pinterest is the best thing since sliced bread.  At first glace of the ingredients I wondered what Ranch Style Beans were...then I went to the store and there they were in the bean asile...Ranch Style Beans.  They are kinda like a chili bean...pinto beans in a chili-ish sauce. I did change the name of the recipe at the prompting of my #2 chick.  She said, "This should be called Nacho Casserole."  Now it is.

Let me say a few words about the above picture.  Look at that can of Ranch Style Beans...it looks straight out of the 50's.  I was wondering if it had been on the shelf since the 50's?  I would also like to say if you have seen the movie Food Inc. and are a strict Food Inc'er this recipe is probably not for you...I saw that movie and followed a strict Food Inc'er way for about a day...then I came to my senses.  I love fake cheese.

Nacho Casserole
The original recipe, originally called Mexican Casserole, can be found at Plain Chicken.

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 can Ranch Style beans
• 1 10-12 ounce bag tortilla chips, crushed 
• 1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (I throw mine in the blender...then there are no tomato chunks for the people to complain about!)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup water
• Sour cream and salsa for serving

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat with onion and drain off fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and salsa.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

Who isn't hooked on Pinterest?  Now if there was only time to try every recipe that I have pinned to my board...that would be AMAZING.  (Maybe I should spine less time pinning and more time cooking.)  But life gets busy, I serve spaghetti. 

I made this cake today in honor of Valentine's Day, which is not a holiday we really fall over ourselves to celebrate...but we did enjoy some crafts and treats with our dear friends. 

Then we enjoyed some heart shaped pizzas from Me and Ed's.  We finished off the evening with Sour Cream Pound Cake and homemade whipped cream.

SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE
This recipe comes from the The Cutting Edge of Ordinary where you will find many other delightful looking recipes!

• 2 stick butter at room temperature (do not substitute)
• 6 eggs at room temperature
• 8 ounces sour cream at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1-1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/2 t. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan or a bundt pan. Use the second rack from the bottom in your oven.

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold the baking soda into the sour cream. Add half of the flour and half of the sour cream into the mixer. Beat well. Add in the remaining flour, remaining sour cream and the vanilla and almond extracts. Mix well. Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center tests done. Cool in pan 10 minutes, invert onto rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.  Serve plain, with whipped cream or whipped cream and fresh fruit.

This post is linked up with Raising Homemakers and Works For Me Wednesday.