Tropical Coconut Bread

I was going to wait until over the weekend to post this one, but after tasting it, I cannot wait to share it with you. Coconut is one of my favorite things, ever. I have a recipe for coconut cake, that I will save for another time, but I was searching Recipezaar, trying to find a way to use up some buttermilk I had and I came across this recipe.
To me, it is more like a poundcake. I am in love with this bread. It is so moist and so much lighter than I thought it would be. The coconut is definately the star ingredient in this bread. It would be fabulous if you are attending a luau themed party or just if you are looking for something a little different than you usually make. The recipe is for 2 loaves. I halved it and am sorry I did. This is a definate keeper for me.


Tropical Coconut Bread


3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp coconut extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded coconut



1. Preheat oven to 325.


2. DO NOT USE A MIXER WITH THIS RECIPE, USE A SPOON OR SPATULA AND STIR BY HAND.


3. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well.


4. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs, and coconut extract; mix well.


5. Alternately add flour and buttermilkto sugar mixture and stir only until moist.


6. Stir in shredded coconut.


7. Pour batter into 2 prepared loaf pans , place on middle rack and bake for 1 hour.

I hope you will all give this a try. ALOHA!

Chicken Fingers

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I am actually on vacation this week, at home, trying to potty train my 3and 1/2 year old and I am failing miserably. Any advice or tips welcome. But back to the food. These crispy,crunchy, and delicious chicken fingers are from a great blog, one I really love and have bookmarked numerous recipes to try and this is the first, and that blog is Coleen's Recipes. Coleen lives in Allaska, how cool is that, no pun intended. So, if you haven't already, please visit her. These chicken fingers were moist and extra crunchy and my whole family inhaled them. They were just as good the next day. So, in my book, these are a "keeper".




Chicken Fingers


6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
vegetable oil


Combine buttermilk, eggs and garlic powder in a large ziploc bag. Cut the chicken into long half inch strips and put them in the same ziploc bag. Refrigerate until ready to cook(at least 2 hours).
In another ziploc bag combine flour,salt,pepper and onion powder. Shake up, to mix well.

When it is time to cook, follow these steps:



1. Drain chicken(saving liquid) and coat chicken in flour mixture.

2. Shake off excess flour and put back in liquid again.

3. Repeat step one, then discard buttermilk liquid.

4. Fry chicken until golden brown. Keep warm in the oven.






Trust me, this is a great recipe and not just for everyday dinner but make a bunch, for your next party and serve them with some ranch dipping sauce or your favorite hot sauce and watch them disappear. Thanks Coleen, for a great recipe that will become a regular in my house. And a special thanks to Donna over at My Tasty Treasures, for the two awards. I appreciate them.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hey All. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend. Me, I am home, with two kids, my husband is working a double today, and I have just about had enough for one day, but besides that everything is going swimmingly, even more so since I made these little cuties. These are my daughter, Emily's, absolute favorite muffin. She has been asking for them,(relentlessly) for 3 days now, so I whipped them up quick this morning and here they are. This recipe comes from Recipezaar, whenever I am stuck looking for something to make I fall back to them time and time again, the original recipe can be found here http://www.recipezaar.com/Chocolate-Chip-Muffins-9326. I do not make these regular muffin size, I use my favorite pampered chef, mini muffin tin. I find the kids like them mini size. I put them in their lunchbag for a snack for school, they eat them for breakfast and they are a great thing to bring to someone's house for a gathering. They make 12-18 regular size muffins and about 36 mini muffins.

Here they are, only fill them halfway, because they do rise.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter,cooled

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1-bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tin, whichever size you are using.

In a bowl, mix flour,both sugars,baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, mix eggs,milk, vanilla and cooled butter.

Make a well in center of dry ingredients.

Add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in Chocolate chips. TIP: I always mix chocolate chips with a little bit of flour befoe adding them to muffins,breads or cakes, it keeps them from sinking to the bottom.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 8-10 minutes for mini muffins and 15-20 minutes for regular size muffins.

Remove muffins to wire rack, cool for 5 minutes and ENJOY, like somebody I know.

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies

Ok, so here she is, my first born, my main helper in the kitchen and my sister, Donna's, goddaughter. She is 5 1/2 years old, getting ready to start kindergarten in September and whenever cookies are being made she is right there on her stool , ready to help and lick the spoon or eat the dough. She makes me laugh and cry, but she loves peanut butter so these are for her. I got this recipe from my sister, Donna, over at My Tasty Treasures . She got the recipe from the back of the Heath Bits bag. I do love back of the bag recipes. They are really good, and full of peanut butter and chocolate toffe, it doesn't get much better than that. These are a keeper.


Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies



1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 TBSP milk
1 TBSP vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/3 cup Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee bits,divided


Heat oven to 375.

Beat shortening,peanut butter,brown sugar,milk, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended. Combine flour,baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup of toffee bits; reserve the rest for topping.

Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto parchment lined cookie sheet(I love parchmant paper). Top each with reserved toffee bits. Bake 7-8 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes abot 3 dozen cookies.

My Justine loves them, maybe you will too.

Tuscan Shrimp withWhite Beans

If there was ever a recipe that should be considered a "keeper"this one is it. I found this at Dragon's Kitchen.

I absolutely love this blog and this recipe blew me away. Now, I know you all know my sister, Donna, at My Tasty Treasures.

If you haven't already, check her out. Her blog is fantastic. It is for a more mature audience, but it's all fun. She is the reason I am doing this. She inspires me to want to cook more. She is my best friend and the best sister ever and the whole reason behind this, is that even she can't wait to try this recipe. TIP: Make sure you have lots of fresh,crusty bread on hand to sop up the juices. Here is my version of the recipe, just a few minor tweaks to my tatse.

Tuscan Shrimp with White Beans

3 cups canned white kidney beans

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp olive oil

16 Large Shrimp,peeled, tail on ( I used way more than 16)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup peeled, seeded and diced tomato, canned or fresh

1 cup whoile basil leaves, I rolled mine up and sliced them

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Drain the beans over a bowl and reserve the liquid. Put the beans in a large skillet with just enough of their liquid to moisten them.

2. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and bring the beans to a low simmer. Keep them warm while preparing the shrimp

3.Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook for a minute, tossing frequently. ( I cooked mine longer, like my shrimp crunchy) Remove the shrimp to a bowl.

4. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until garlic browns. Add red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute. Add tomato and basil and stir breifly, then add lemon juice.

5. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, and then stir in the shrimp. Toss well and reheat the shrimp. When shrimp is heated through stir in the beans and everything you can scrape from the pan and toss gently together. Spinkle with parsely. Serve in a bowl with lots of bread.

I hope you will all give this a try, I think you will love it as much as I do and take a visit to Dragon's Kitchen.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Hey all, I know I have been absent for a few months,but we were doing work on our very first house. But things have now quieted down and I can concentrate way more time to this. It's exciting. I am not a professional cook. I am a working mom and wife and am always looking for easy and foolproof recipes for my family. Recipes that are considered "keeper worthy".

I am going to start simple until I get the hang of this blog thing, so bear with me and follow along for the ride.

I found this recipe on April's Blog, Abby Sweets. It has all the criteria I am looking for. Quick, easy and the use of a box mix. Now dont be a snob, there is nothing wrong with things made from box mixes, and this is proof. I made this at my sister's house yesterday and it smelled great and tasted even better. Try it and you will be amazed at how easy it is. Here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Roll Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

Mix by hand and pur into 9x13 greased baking pan.

Streusel topping

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix and pour over cake batter. swirl into batter with knife.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let cake cool 10-15 minutes before icing.

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tbsp milk

whisk together and pour over warm cake.

Yummy!!!!!! It's a KEEPER.