Whole Wheat Bread Sticks

Source: Peggy Elwood (with some advice from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3+ cups flour (I used half white, half whole-wheat)
3 Tablespoons butter (you can definitely do more, if you wish, but this was plenty to coat all the sticks)
Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, or seasonings of your choice (for topping)

Directions:
Soften yeast in water and sugar.  Add salt.  Add flour and mix.  Knead for 3 minutes, adding flour (but not too much!), if needed, till your dough forms a soft ball.  Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.  Melt butter and pour on a rimmed jelly roll pan (or just melt the butter directly on the pan in the oven for a few minutes - watch it so it doesn't brown!).  Roll out dough into a rectangle about the size of your cookie sheet.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle in half long ways ("hotdog style" if you remember that from elementary school).  Then cut each half of dough into one inch strips.  Place each strip of dough on the cookie sheet and flip over to coat both sides with melted butter.  Sprinkle all the bread stick dough with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese (or other seasonings/spices that you come up with).  Let bread raise for about 20-30 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm.

Notes:
We ate these bread sticks a lot growing up - they're especially good with soup and chili!  And they're really quite quick and easy.  I decided I wanted to try a whole-wheat twist on them, and they turned out fabulous!  It was interesting, too, to see the same basic recipe showing up all over the place - I found this not only from my files from my mom, but also a version from my grandma and my mother-in-law, as well as from Mel of Mel's Kitchen Cafe, who I don't even know!  Must be a good one, eh?  But you don't have to take my word for it.  ;)

Updated 11/26/18 to add: these also freeze great - I just let them cool and then place them in a ziplock baggie in the freezer.  When I want to reheat them, I just spread them on a cookie sheet (as many as I want to eat) and pop them in a cold oven.  They're usually warm and toasty by the time the oven preheats to 375, but if they're not ready then, just leave them a few minutes longer.  ;)

Pizza Muffins

Source: this blog, via pinterest

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour (I did part whole wheat)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch of salt (optional)
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional) (I left them out, only because I didn't have any)
3/4 cup whole milk (we just have 1% and it was fine)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed pepperoni
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce (I just opened a can of tomato sauce and dumped in some pizza seasoning, stirred, and bam - "store bought" pizza sauce!"

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. (Some mini muffin tins are bigger than others, it seems, so if you have extra batter, just use a regular sized muffin with the left over.)  Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Notes:
So it would seem that I am on a muffin kick as of late - in the last week I've made three different batches of muffins, two of which were definitely less than traditional.  But traditional or not, these little muffin puffs are delish!  How could they not be, though?  Cheese, pepperoni, mini muffins?  Perfect!  We ate them as a meal, with a nice green salad on the side, but they are definitely appetizer-able, perfect for football watching or New Years Eve-ing or whenever it is that you chow down on appetizers.

Southern Baked Yellow Squash

Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds yellow summer squash, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
2. Place the squash in a large saucepan, cover with water, and boil until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain the squash well, place in a large mixing bowl, and mash until slightly chunky. Stir in 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, onion, eggs, 1/4 cup of butter, sugar, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined, and spread mixture into the prepared baking dish. Drizzle the top of the casserole with 1/4 cup melted butter, and sprinkle 1/4 cup bread crumbs over the butter.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the casserole is cooked through and the top is golden brown, about 1 hour.

Kielbasa and Tortellini Soup

Source: Based on this, adapted by Laurel


Ingredients:
1 large onion, sliced or diced
1 package kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 24-oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3 cups beef broth or stock
2 cups green beans
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1 package cheese-filled tortellini
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a large pot, saute onion and kielbasa in butter or olive oil until onion is soft/transparent, and kielbasa is lightly browned.
2. Add tomatoes, seasoning, broth, and green beans. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 15-30 minutes.
3. Add cabbage and tortellini. Increase heat to medium, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until pasta and cabbage are tender. Serve immediately.

Corn Dog Muffins

Source: RecipeGirl.com

Ingredients:
2 (8.5 ounce) packages corn bread mix (or just use your favorite corn bread recipe and add the hotdogs and cheese - I used this one and it was delish.)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
9 whole hot dogs, diced
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
ketchup, mustard, sour cream, honey mustard (for dipping) 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease mini muffin tins.

In a large bowl, stir together cornbread mix and brown sugar. In a small bowl whisk together eggs and milk, and then stir into dry mixture until moistened. Mix in hot dogs and cheese.

Spoon a good Tablespoonful into muffin tins, making sure you get some hot dog in each spoonful.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes in the pan before removing. For easy removal, cut around outsides of the muffins, then tip upside down onto a large cutting board & urge the muffins out using a knife to tap the bottoms of the muffin tins. They should slide right out.

Serve warm with desired dipping sauces.

Notes:  Anyone who knows me (and Gregg) knows that we quite enjoy a good corn dog now and again, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it.  Of course, they're nothing gourmet or fancy, but they certainly were kinda fun.  And really, really good. 

White Pizza

Contributor: Victoria Blanchard
Source: Inspiration from various pizzas I've eaten and researched online

Ingredients
Pizza dough (preferably homemade)
A few tablespoons of pesto
About 1 cup of alfredo (preferably homemade)
About 2 cups mozzarella
1-2 fresh tomatoes, chopped or sliced (optional)

Spread a thin layer of pesto over pizza dough (most pesto is so salty and flavorful you really don't need much). Spread alfredo sauce over the pesto covered dough. Top with cheese. Add tomatoes if desired. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.

Notes: This pizza refrigerates well after cooking, but I like to nuke my leftovers rather than eat them cold. I make pizza for dinner every Friday and we always make one red, one white because we love both so much.

Buca di Beppo Marinara Sauce

Contributor: Victoria Blanchard
Source: Buca di Beppo Cookbook

Yields 6 cups

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red onion chopped
6 garlic cloves
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
Salt to taste
3 Tbs chopped fresh basil (dry works, too)

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomoatoes and salt. Bring to a boil, then cook over low heat for approximately 30 minutes, stirring often. Turn off the heat and add the fresh basil.

Comments: Ry used to make marinara all the time, but since I've been the household cook for more than the past year, we've been using Hunts canned spaghetti sauce for everything since I was so intimidated to try to make sauce as good as his. If you're the same way, let me assure you: this recipe is incredibly easy, pretty fast, and SO WORTH THE EFFORT! I made a half batch two weeks ago and for the first time we used fresh sauce on our homemade pizza dough and we were going out of our minds. The sauce has kept in the fridge for the two weeks since, and has been enough to make 3 large pizzas (each week I make one red sauce pizza and one white sauce pizza). I vowed on Facebook to never go back to canned sauce except under conditions of duress! I will say, the flavor of the sauce changes if you store it in the fridge versus using it fresh. The flavor just gets heavier with time. But still, so good!