My Favorite Waffles

Make these waffles in any type of waffle maker. 

Thick Belgian-style or thinner shaped waffles, like

my heart shaped waffle maker...they are all good. 

Serve with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar

 or warmed maple syrup....or both.

 Mix up the batter and let rest.
(Warm the milk in the microwave for 1 min.
It helps to keep the  butter from congealing.? 

 Spray and preheat a waffle iron.

Pour 1/3 C batter into the center. 

(or use the amount recommended by your iron)

Close and bake until golden.

Keep waffles warm in the oven, along with your 

plates while you bake the rest.

One of the things I love about waffles is that 

unlike pancakes they freeze beautifully.

I always make the full recipe.

Then I can just pop them from the freezer

right into the toaster oven to reheat.  

My Favorite Waffles

2 C flour

2 T sugar

1 T baking powder

1/4 t salt

Whisk together in a large bowl. 

~~~~~~~~~~

2 egg yolks

1-3/4 C milk, warmed

6 T butter, melted

Whisk together in another bowl, 

then combine with the flour mixture.

~~~~~~~~~

2 beaten egg whites

Fold into the combined batter. 

Let stand up to 30 minutes.

Pour 1/3 C batter in the center of sprayed and 

preheated waffle iron. Close lid and bake until

 golden, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove and keep warm on a plate in the oven, 

along with your plates while you make the

 rest. Freeze any leftover waffles and use 

a toaster oven to reheat again.

(tip: If you are in a hurry and do not want

to separate the eggs, you can just beat 

the whole eggs until frothy and proceed) 

Makes 10 waffles.

~~~~~~~~~

Tips:

 1. Use warmed milk to keep the butter 

    emulsified in the batter.

2. Never stack the waffles. 

    The steam will make hem soggy.

3. Freeze in a single layer until solid, 

     then stack in a reused bread bag. 

4. Pop in the toaster straight from the

    freezer to reheat. 

Enjoy!

My other waffle recipes:

Oatmeal Cinnamon,

Apple Cider,  and Pumpkin.

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Quick Tomato Soup

You can have quick homemade tomato soup 

for lunch in 15 minutes.

 This recipe uses a 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes.

 Serve topped with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich and enjoy!

Quick Tomato Soup

1 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 C chicken broth

1 T lemon juice

1/2 t salt

1/2 t sugar

1/4 t pepper

2 T chopped fresh basil 

       or parsley

2 T butter

(optional 1/2 C cream for creamy tomato soup)

shredded Parmesan cheese for topping

Heat oil in medium saucepan and stir in the garlic. 

Heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the remaining 6 ingredients.
Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Stir in the butter and basil until melted. 

Add the optional cream if you want a creamy soup. 

Heat thoroughly. 

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

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Facebook, 

Cranberry Orange Muffins

This is a nice winter muffin. 

Good during Christmas thru Valentine's Day.

I had a bag of cranberries in the freezer.

 You'll need 1 cup. Cut them in half.

 Ingredients.

 I use a  microplane to get 1 T of orange zest. 

Use your 20% off coupon at BBB and get one. 

They are great. 

 Dry ingredients in one  bowl, wet in another.

 Combine the two but don't over mix.

Stir in the cranberries.

 I'm using heart shaped silicone cupcake molds.

Use your 40% coupon for these at the crafts store.

 Spray with Pam before filling. 

 Not too full (see the line) or they will lose their 

heart shape after baking. I sprinkled some of the

tops with cinnamon sugar. The pink ones.

After baking, let cool 5 minutes. 

They pop right out of the silicone hearts.

 Wash the cups in soapy water or the dishwasher

 and use over and over.

I piled mine into a milk glass bowl as

part of my Valentine kitchen decor.

Then I will stack them and store 

in a glass container.

 The heart shapes were small so I had batter left 

to make two jumbo muffins in glass custard cups.

Store some in the freezer.

But be sure to have one still warm from the oven!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2-1/2 C flour

1 C sugar

2 t baking soda

Combine in a medium bowl

___________

1/2 C butter (1 stick), melted

2 eggs

3/4 C orange juice

1 T grated orange zest

Whisk together.

Stir into dry ingredients and mix just until

combined. Do not over mix.

Stir in:

1 C cranberries, cut in half

Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tins

Sprinkle the tops of some with:

cinnamon sugar

Bake @350 for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12-15 muffins

Enjoy!

Go-To Steak Marinade

When I haven't had time to find the new recipe for

marinade that I wanted to try I  rely on this one.

It's a quick and easy marinade that doesn't require

 a lot of complicated measuring.
(I'm using a Tupperware bacon keeper here)

Go-To Steak Marinade

It's just equal parts:

 olive oil, 

balsamic vinegar, 

soy sauce, 

 Worcestershire sauce.

About 1 T each is enough. 

Sometimes I add a squirt of 

Dijon mustard 

and a little garlic powder.

Mix the ingredients and pour over the steak
in a food bag or covered container .

 Seal the container and marinade in the fridge

 for 2 to 24 hours.

This works well on less expensive cuts, like this sirloin.

Before grilling I season it with a little 

pepper, garlic salt or steak seasoning.
Use your favorite here.

Easy-Peasy!

Enjoy!

Bacon, Avocado,Tomato Pasta

What's for lunch?

Sometimes I just look in the refrigerator to see 

what I can pull together for lunch.

 Today I found 1/2 of a tomato, 1/2 of an avocado, 

a few pieces of bacon, and a little leftover grated cheese. 

 All I needed to do was cook a little pasta, and

 Chop those few ingredients.

The rest of the ingredients I usually have on hand

 are: fresh basil from my garden, garlic, lemon juice, 

olive oil and s&p. Toss it all together.

Lunch is being served on the patio!

You don't need to follow the recipe exactly. 

It's just a guide. Use what you have. 

Just add your ingredients and toss.

B-A-T Pasta

2 C uncooked pasta, bow ties

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp

1/2 avocado, cubed

1/2 tomato, cubed

1/2 C shredded Italian cheese,

(Parmesan, Romano, Asiago or a combo)

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4-1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 T lemon juice

Generous amount of salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain the pasta. Rinse under cold water.

Put into a medium bowl, add other ingredients.

Toss to combine. Two large servings.

Enjoy!

"Ask not what you can do for your country. 
Ask what's for lunch." ... Orson Welles

This is similar to my Spinach Pasta Salad with Asiago Cheese
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Walkabout Soup

This is a creamy onion soup that's like the

Walkabout soup served at the Outback.
Perfect soup for a winter day.

It's very easy to prepare. You'll need:

beef bouillon cubes, onions, flour, salt, pepper, 

cream, and shredded cheese. 

It's been in my recipe basket for over 15 years.

 If you can boil water

and slice an onion, you can make this soup.

Bring 8 cups of water and 8 bouillon cubes to a boil.

 Add the onions salt and pepper.
Simmer covered for 1 hour.

 Then gradually whisk in the flour.

The lumps will dissolve with an additional
 30 minutes of cooking.

Whisk until smooth.

Add the cream.

 Whisk to blend

 Stir in the cheese.

Let simmer another 5-10 minutes.

Serve!

My grandchildren loved this soup.
 Just remember to call it

Walkabout Soup and don't mention the onions.

Walkabout Soup

8 C water

8 beef bouillon cubes

3 onions, cut in half and thinly sliced

1 t salt

1 t pepper

3/4 C flour

1 C heavy cream

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

Bring the water and bouillon cubes to a boil.
Stir until dissolved. Add onions, salt and pepper. 

Cover and simmer for 1 hour. 

While stirring, slowly whisk in the flour.
Simmer covered for another 30 minutes,
whisking occasionally. Lumps will dissolve after
 additional  cooking Stir in the cream  then add
the cheese. Simmer another 5-10 minutes. 

Serve with a little cheese sprinkled on top, if desired.

8 servings/200calories

Enjoy!

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