February 29, 2020

Leap Day....hard to believe March arrives tomorrow.  My academic year is 2/3 of the way over - that is really tough to wrap my head around.  And Hannah comes home from college for spring break on Friday!  The year is rushing by!

It was a busy week here, full of therapy appointments, meetings, and lots of fun things nearly every evening.   I am glad it is the weekend and the pace is a bit lighter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Yes- Monday is included in this weekend! It's the icing on the cake - Monday off of school.  Although I don't have work, we still have a full day off planned - therapy, hair cuts, dentist, board meeting.  And Owen and I hoping to cook another batch (maybe 2) of the best enchiladas ever!

This week I tried a few new recipes and found 2 keepers!  One flop, chili mac, was fine and Owen really enjoyed it, but the rest of us couldn't vote it a keeper.  So, not everything I make earns keeper status and a home here on the blog.  We do try to be choosy! 

The first keeper is a pancake mix.  If you love pancakes but want the ease of a mix, this pancake recipe is for you!  We tried is last Sunday and are using it again this Sunday.  And even better - we will still have two batches left!  Nothing better then cooking once and making a mess in the kitchen when it produces multiple batches.

The second keeper is a new side dish.  My family loves potatoes of all varieties and in various preparations.  I tried a new twice baked potato recipe and it was fantastic!   They are a bit of work, of course, but all twice baked potatoes are!  It's in the name, after all; you cook the potatoes two times!  In my opinion they were well worth the effort and easily earned keeper status from all of us.

We are planning on grilling out tomorrow since the weather is forecasted to be beautiful!  Maybe we will find another keeper - fingers crossed!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Pancake Mix
Twice Baked Potatoes

Pancake Mix

Ingredients
* 10 oz AP flour (2 cups)
* 8 oz cake flour (2 cups)
* 2.5 ox nonfat dry milk powder (1 cup)
* 3.3 oz malted milk powder (3/4 cup)
* 12 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
* 2.3 oz sugar (1/3 cup)
* 2 tbsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tbsp salt

Directions to make the mix
Process all the ingredients in a food processor until no lumps remain and mixture is the texture of wet sand, about 2 minutes.

Directions to store the mix
Store in the fridge or freezer.  (I stored mine in 2 cup batches, since you need 2 cups per recipe)

Directions to use the mix
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 2 cups of pancake mix
* 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix the ingredients until smooth.  Cook your pancakes on a griddle or in a skillet!  Serve and enjoy!


Notes
We have a few pancake recipes we really love on the blog: Diner style pancakes, overnight pancake batter, apple pancakes, yogurt pancakes, banana pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, but I decided to try another recipe because it was a make ahead pancake mix.  And I am so glad I did!  They were delicious pancakes, and I have 3 more batches of it in the fridge!  I can just pull one container out and whip up a new batch so easily when pancakes are requested! 

And a quick tip - when baking, if your recipe has ingredients listed in cups or ounces, use the ounces if you have a scale!  Weighing your ingredients for baking is a really good idea.  Baking is a science and the more precise you can be, the better your results!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients
* 4 russet potatoes (7-9 oz each), washed and unpeeled.
* vegetable oil
* 4 slices bacon
* 1 onion, chopped fine
* 6 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 4 tbsp butter, softened
* salt & pepper, to taste
* 2 scallions, sliced thin (if desired)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Rub the potatoes lightly with vegetable oil and prick each with a fork in three places.
3. Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake until a fork or skewer easily pierces the flesh (approximately 1 hour total).  Flip the potatoes over after 30 minutes and then continue cooking for the additional 30 minutes. Let potatoes cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
4. While potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until crispy, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the skillet.  Once bacon has cooled, crumble.
5. Add the onion to the skillet that still has the bacon fat and cook over medium heat stirring often.  Cook until the onion is softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Set onion aside.
6. Cut each cooled potato in half lengthwise.  Scoop the flesh, leaving a thin layer left in the skin, into a bowl.  Place each potato skin shell into a baking dish.
7. Mash the potato flesh until smooth.  Add to the bowl 4 oz of cheddar, sour cream, butter, and onions. Stir to combine.  Taste and season with salt & pepper.  Scoop potato mix into the potato shells.  Sprinkle each potato with remaining cheddar and bacon.  Cook right away, or store in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze the potatoes for up to 1 month.
8. Heat the oven to 500 F. Place a wire rack on a foil lined baking sheet.  Place potato halves on the rack and bake until the shells are crisp and the filling is heated through, 15 minutes if from the fridge or 25 minutes if straight from the freezer.  Sprinkle with scallions before serving, if desired.

Notes
Yum!  I made them in the morning and cooked them at dinner time from the fridge.  We used 4 potatoes for dinner and the other 4 we had as leftover lunch for the next few days.  Next time I make them I will freeze 4 to be able to use as an easy side dish for a future dinner.  Each of us only needed 1 of the potato shells and we were all very satisfied.  Super delicious and we will make these again!