#27 Vanilla Pudding

I love pudding...well, let me re-phase that...I love warm chocolate pudding. One of my favorite treats is that cook and serve chocolate pudding that you make from the box. I even like the skin:) But it must be warm...or forget it! So I was excited to see homemade pudding recipes in the book. I decided to start with vanilla to make good use of my awesome vanilla beans.

Vanilla Pudding

4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cornstarch

1. Combine 3 cups of the milk with the sugar and salt in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan and set over medium heat. If using, scrape seeds from the vanilla bean and put in milk...toss the whole bean in too. Heat until steaming, stirring frequently.

2. In a small bowl combine cornstarch and remaining cup of milk. Stir well until mixture is fairly lump free. Take out vanilla bean, rinse and add to your homemade vanilla extract.

3. Raise the heat to medium high and add cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture just starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low and stir continuously until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, 5-7 minutes.

4. If you are using vanilla extract instead of a bean, now is the time to add it. Pudding will thicken as it chills. Pour into individual dishes and chill before serving...unless you are like me and you like warm pudding:) If you do not like the skin, press plastic wrap against the surface while it chills.
You can store in the fridge, in individual covered containers, for 2-3 days.

Most of my kids liked it....my hubby and I liked it...but as I said before...chocolate is my fave! So I can't wait to try that! I definitely will try to make pudding homemade from now on....it is not really any more difficult, than the box stuff and I actually think it might be faster. The vanilla is for sure tastier, with a more authentic vanilla flavor!

#26 Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup..could there really be a better comfort food. Although it is not my favorite soup, it tastes the best when you have a cold and that is the exact reason why I made this soup on the particular day that I made it...well to blog it too, of course. Everyone should have a good chicken noodle soup recipe and this is mine!!! Simple with not too many seasonings.

Chicken Noodle Soup

72 oz. chicken broth (can or homemade)
3 carrots, peeled and sliced (or you can chop them too)
10 oz. dried home-style noodles (these are thick noodles usually found in cellophane bags)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and fork shredded
3 cloves garlic (minced)- or more:)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. dried parsley (or fresh if you have it)
1 tsp. dried dill

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile in a soup pot combine chicken broth, carrots and garlic. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until carrots are tender. Add cooked/shredded chicken, salt and pepper, parsley, dill and cooked noodles and continue over medium burner until heated through. About 5-10 minutes.

Someday I would like to make this soup with homemade broth and noodles...that will taste even better. But for now, this soup could not be any easier to make and it is sure to help you get through the long cold winter! Especially when you are not feeling the best:)

#25 Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup

Under the "Soups" chapter in "The Homemade Pantry" the author has the basics like chicken and beef stock, but also has a few soup recipes like lentil, pureed soups and beef stew. Well, again, it's funny to me that any soup would be in a homemade pantry cookbook because I almost always make soup homemade. Actually, I consider myself the queen of soup.....self-described.... of course:) The reason? I LOVE soup and I love making soup and really enjoy finding new soup recipes for my annual fall hayride party. But you might have noticed that I said almost always. In fact..once in a very great while I will crack open a can of soup to heat up and eat for lunch. If I do, it is almost always homestyle chicken noodle. So I will be sharing my easy chicken noodle soup recipe in my next post, but first....I'm going to share a recipe that is a little time consuming but falls under the pureed soup category that is in the book.

Smoked Sausage Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's recipe found here.

1 medium butternut squash
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt & Pepper
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 lb. smoked sausage-kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup half & half
1/2 Tbsp. parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half legnth -wise and scoop out seeds. Season the squash with 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet and roast for one hour.
If your wild rice is not cooked....do this while your squash is roasting.

 

Cool completely before scooping the squash from the peel. Add to squash to bowl with 2 cups of chicken stock. Puree with imersion blender or you can add squash and chicken stock to a blender and blend until smooth, set aside.

 

In a large soup pot, over medium heat add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil. When the oil is hot add the sausage and brown for 3 minutes. Then add the onion to the pot....season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Saute until onion is soft and translucent. Add the remaining 4 cups of chicken stock, squash puree and corn. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any fat that comes to the surface. Stir in rice and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in half & half, and season with more salt and pepper, to taste. Finally stir in parsley and serve.

I forgot the parsley when I prepared this, so my end result above it without it. I can't say that my kids like squash very much but most of them either liked the soup or tolerated it enough to eat their soup. My 2 year old was the only one that did not eat it:( I on the other hand, love butternut squash and love this soup so much! Yum, yum, yum! Totally worth the time...even if it's just for a lazy Saturday night meal instead of a crazy busy weeknight meal!

#24 Whipped Cream

Now, I know there are a lot of people out there that buy that whipped cream that comes in a plastic tub....that included me at one time! But in recent years I have tried to use fresh whipped cream whenever the other stuff is called for in a recipe or for topping a dessert. Why, you might ask.... all I can say is read the ingredients....I need not say more. Plus, it is sooo much better tasting. I know it might dirty an extra bowl, but otherwise it's so worth the extra effort.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. sugar (or more or less- to your taste)
1 tsp. vanilla

Place your metal bowl (from your stand mixer- if using) in the freezer for 15 minutes. I always put my beater in the freezer along with it. Remove the bowl and add the cream, sugar, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer or by hand with a whisk until the cream starts to thicken.

Taste and adjust for sweetness. Continue beating until the cream holds soft peaks, 1-2 minutes.

Keeps in the refrigerator in a covered container for 4 hours.

So yummy as a topping over this hot chocolate souffle dessert that I made for Valentine's day! Cute little individual desserts made in ramekin dishes.

#23 Balsamic Vinaigrette

Now here is another one of my replacement recipes for the few in the book that I will not be making. I thought another dressing recipe would be good since dressing is definitely something that people tend to buy instead of making homemade. But the little extra effort is worth it...so fresh and yummy! Without all the extra fillers!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I used Strawberry Basil flavored balsamic vinegar)
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2-1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In my handy Pampered Chef dressing mixer, I added all the ingredients and plunged the mixer until the dressing was emulsified.

 

I served this dressing for our annual Valentine's day dinner, over a bed of baby spring greens and sliced strawberries!!! Yummy! Balsamic vinegar dressing is not always kid friendly...but a couple of mine like it....My sweet hubby and I- love it!

Variations: Basic Vinaigrette- Use 1/4 cup white wine vinegar instead of balsamic
Garlic- Add 1 tsp. minced garlic
Lemon Parmesan- Use fresh lemon juice as your acid instead of vinegar + 1/4 c. finely grated parmesan
Herb- Add 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh herb like thyme or parsley
Blue Cheese- Add 1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese

#22 Waffles

I did not have the time to make more homemade buttermilk, but I was making waffles the other day and I really wanted to try out this recipe, so I bought the buttermilk for the waffle recipe that is in the book "The Homemade Pantry."

Waffles
Makes enough for 8 medium waffles~4 cups of batter

2 large eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups ready mix (Here)
Cooking spray or oil for waffle iron

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl or large liquid measure, whisk together the egg yolks, melted butter, buttermilk, milk and vanilla.

3. Scoop 2 cups of ready mix into a medium bowl. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mix until combined.

Then stir in a big spoonful of the beaten egg white. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter.

4. Grease your waffle iron (I used cooking spray) and scoop 1/2 cup of batter into the hot iron. Or whatever is the right amount for your particular waffle iron. Cook per your machine's instructions and then remove waffles to a baking pan in the 200 degree oven to keep them warm until ready to eat.

 

Batter will keep in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Waffles will keep in covered container in refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer in a freezer bag for 4 months.

These waffles were really yummy and my family loved them...next time I will double the batch to make enough for my hungry, waffle loving family. It is definitely too time consuming to make on a school morning, but great for Saturday morning or for the occasional evening meal, cause in my family breakfast is eaten for ALL meals! In fact, these particular waffles were made for a Sunday evening supper! Yummy!

#21 Corn Bread

I'm back.....took a little break while our busy family life/routine was turned upside down by my daughter Grace's awesome theater and singing schedule...check out my other blog if you would like to see what she has been up to. Here!

Okay....back to my homemade pantry. Next up is cornbread. This recipe falls into the "I'm not sure why it's in the book," category, cause I have never made cornbread any other way (but homemade), but I know there are a few of you out there that use a box mix to make cornbread, so I think it's important to share my recipe. I've searched high and low and tried many recipes before I finally found my "keeper" cornbread recipe. Here in my house we like our cornbread sweet and moist and it's served with chili! Two of my daughter's (ages 5 and 7)  love this combo so much....it is there choice for their birthday dinners.....yes...it's that good!

Cornbread

2/3 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Combine the eggs and milk. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with egg/milk mixture.

Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for 22-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares and serve warm.

In a future post I just might share my chili recipe since some people might only eat chili out of a can....I can't imagine that is true, but then again, I can't imagine after you eat this cornbread you would ever want to go back to using the box mix! So easy and so worth the little bit of extra effort.

#20 Instant Oatmeal

This recipe is for those that might buy flavored instant oatmeal in the packets....the kind you just add hot water to. I am not in that camp and typically my hubby makes old fashioned oats on a Saturday morning. Although I thought if the kids liked this "quick" oatmeal, it might be a good option for us on a busy weekday school morning.

Instant Oatmeal
6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tb. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
dried or dehydrated fruit, optional

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread oats on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

 

2. In a bowl of a food processor, combine 4 cups of the roasted oats, the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pulse until the mixture is a rough powder.

 

3. Pour into a large mouth jar or container. Pour in the remaining 2 cups of roasted oats along with dried fruit, if using. Stir thoroughly and top with the lid.

4. To make the oatmeal, combine 1/2 cup mixture with 1-1 &1/2 cups boiling water. Cover with a plate and let sit for 5 minutes before stirring and serving.

So here is the verdict....my kids did not really dig it. I think it's that roasted oatmeal taste. In the future I will just buy quick oats....I can get them in bulk and just as cheap as old-fashioned oats.....and add the brown sugar and cinnamon.....hmmm and possibly some dehydrated apple, that would be good:) I think that option would be more friendly to my family's taste buds.