Author Archives: Rebecca Baugh

Honey Cornbread

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Do you love cornbread as much as I do?

If you love a  sweet and moist cornbread, you are sure to love this recipe.

I don’t know if you have ever traveled to the Ozarks in Missouri. But you might have heard of a little town called Branson.

You know, Shepard of the Hills, Silver Dollar City (which they say now has the biggest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the United States), The Titanic Exhibit and we can’t forget Dixie Stampede (my grand girls  favorite place).

Well, in Branson there is this restaurant called McFarland’s. Every time I go to Branson, I have to eat there just to pig out on their cornbread and honey butter. They make the best cornbread and honey butter. With all the snow outside, I decided to make a pot of chili for my Super Hero, Oldest Daughter who does not cook and oldest grand girl. Oh and me too. I also made a big pan of McFarland’s Honey  Cornbread. When the Oldest Daughter came upstairs and saw I was making cornbread she immediately said, ” I love you Mom.”

If you love cornbread and want your kids to tell you how much they love you, try making this recipe.

Eat it with some chili, soup or all by itself (which is what the Super Hero did for dinner). It is that good.

Here are your step by step instructions:

This is what you will need to make the best corn bread….ever.

     

In a mixing bowl, add four eggs and a half a stick of margarine.

 

    

Next, add in the sugar and pour in the honey. If you spray your measuring cup with cooking spray it helps to keep the honey from sticking to the cup when pouring.

With a mixer, cream all the wet ingredients together.

In a separate bowl:

    

Measure out the flour, baking powder and salt.

Measure out the corn meal and add it to the flour mixture. Stir to combine.

    

Alternate mixing in the flour/corn meal mixture with the milk. Being careful not to over stir the batter. There might be some lumps and it is ok.

Pour the batter into a greased 9 by 13 baking dish.

Put the cornbread in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes or when ever a tooth pick comes out clean.

Easy Peasy! You can make this in no time!

Here is the recipe:

Honey Cornbread

Adapted from McFarland’s Restaurant

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

2 and 1/3 cups of flour

4 eggs

1/4 cup margarine

1 and1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup corn meal

1 and 1/4 cups milk (the original recipe calls for 1 and 1/3 cups of milk, but I find it makes the batter a little too runny)

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375. The original recipe says to heat the oven to 400 degrees but I find that it is too hot.

Cream sugar, margarine, eggs and honey together in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and corn meal.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the honey and sugar mixture. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into a greased 9 by 13 pan. The original recipe says a 11 by 14 pan, but I always use a 9 by 13 and it works just fine.

Slather some butter on a while it is warm and take a big bite.

Yum!

Enjoy your day!

Becky

If you like Honey Cornbread you may also like:

                    Baking Powder Biscuits

 

 

Watching it Snow….Again

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Here is a gander out my front door.

How does it look outside your front door?

Central Missouri got lucky again (not) and we are looking for totals of  6 to 9 inches of snow.

You can snow me over….

Doesn’t mother nature know it is the fifth day of spring.

Here is a little peek of spring flowers from my front yard.

I hope they like snow.

Anywho, I am watching movies, cleaning my kitchen, making chili, baking the best ever corn bread (I will share that recipe later on today) and trying to talk myself out of taking a nap.

How are you spending your Sunday?

Becky

 

Budget Update

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My Aldi’s shopping trip. If you do not have the time to cut coupons, or coupons are not your bag, BUT you still want to save money, Aldi’s is a great place to shop for all your  staples. I  buy my flour, sugar, cooking spray and assorted fruits and veggies there all the time. Just don’t forget your quarter for the cart and bring your reusable grocery bags.

I spent a total of $27.48 at Aldi’s.

 

I stocked up on some ground steak that was on sale, so when it does stop snowing I can get my grill out and make these out of this world steak burgers. I also bought my point cut and flat cut corn beef for Saint Patrick’s Day.

I spent a total of $37.76 at my local family owned grocery store.

BOGO (buy one get one free). I also bought two turkey breast for the freezer. The local Gerbes had these on sale last week. These are great in my crock pot. I put them in, in the morning, and when I come home I have tender juicy turkey to eat all week.

I spent $30.10 for two turkey breast.

I went to my local Gerbes store and was able to buy all this pizza dough free plus I made .25 cents for each one I bought. Gerbes also had a deal if you bought 4 breakfast items you would get a gallon of milk free. I was able to score two free gallons of milk. I also had a e-coupon for a free bottle of Ragu and a Gerbes coupon for a free dozen of eggs.

I bought all of this for $28.79.

I don’t have a picture of my grocery store shopping from last night, because I have not brought it up from down stairs yet. Plus I did not pick up my receipt..pooo. But I was able to buy 7 two liter bottles of soda, the new liquid crystal lights (5 of them), one can of Marie Callander soup (free with e-coupon) 1 box of Kashi cereal for just $1.00, one protein bar (free with coupon) and maybe a couple of more things that I can’t remember.

I spent a total of $14.04. Not too bad since those Crystal lights were $1.79 a piece and I bought 5 of them. (normally the price is $3.79)

As of March 11th I had $355.68 in my grocery fund.

I spent:

$27.79 at Aldi’s

$28.79 at Gerbes

$30.10 at Gerbes

$14.04 at Gerbes

$37.76 at Mosers

That is a total of $108.07

That leaves me a budget of $247.61

Today is Sunday so I get to add another $75.00

This gives me a total of $320.61 as of March 24.

Woohoo….not too bad.

I think I have this all updated now for the last two weeks…whew….

How is your budget going? Are you couponing or find it easier to use the sale adds? Which ever way works for you, you know it is a great feeling saving money at the grocery store. I love having the extra money for other things that I love to do.

What do you do with your extra money?

Becky

 

Sad Start to Spring Break

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I could not help myself.

It started about Wednesday.

Please forgive me.

But, I started counting the days until Spring Break!

I have the whole week off next week and I am ready.

I do not want you to think that I do not love teaching. I really do! But this last week has been a hard, long week.

We had a death in our school community.

Our fabulous custodian had a freak motorcycle accident and was killed last week.

We cried. The students cried. We asked, why? The students asked, why?

It was hard to walk past the cafeteria and not look for him, talking to the kids, laughing, working hard, and doing it all with a smile.

He was only 40 years old.

He would crank up the music in the cafeteria after lunch and move tables, sweep, mop and take out the mounds and mounds of trash left over by, around 800, constantly starving students.

He was excited about getting a new snow blower next year.

He was fabulous.

His funeral is today.

It will be held at school.

He loved our school.

We loved him.

Please think of our kiddos, while they struggle to say goodbye to a young vibrant man, that was more than just a custodian. He was a father, a grandfather, a man not afraid to break up a fight at school, play basketball in the gym with the kids, come to every teachers rescue when we had leaking pipes, freezing trailers, wet floors, cold water and broken chairs.

Now we have broken hearts.

Thank you for letting me share about a man that our school will not soon forget.

Becky

Irish Soda Bread

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Top of the Morning to You….well how about evening to you.

Are you wearing your green today?

Have you been pinched?

I hope everyone is doing great on this fine Irish Holiday!

I wanted to tell you more about my corn beef experiment today. It looks like it will have to wait a couple of days.

I guess I should back track and fill you in on what I am talking about.

When I went to buy a corn beef to roast for St. Pat’s day, I found you had two choices to choose from.  I guess I never paid attention before. So, I decided to buy one of each cut. I bought a point cut one and a flat cut ones. I roasted the point cut in an enamel cast iron dutch oven. I put the flat cut one in a crock pot.  We ate most of the point cut corn beef last night for dinner and the corn beef tasted so good and so tender. Bliss on a fork. I wanted to get the flat cut one out of the crock pot and show you it today. I also wanted to taste it to see if I could tell any difference.

Well…..blarney….it aint gonna happen.

I just ran out of time.

It is all safe and snug in the fridge for tomorrow night for dinner.

But…..

Today I did have time to make some Irish Soda Bread.

It is already baked, ready to heat up to go with the corn beef, potatoes and cabbage for tomorrow nights dinner.

It is missing a big slice out of it though.

Know why?

I ate it warm, right out of the oven, with honey…

Oh Baby….was it good too.

See that piece right in the middle with the honey dripping off of it?

I ate it, hehe……

Sometimes the cook needs to eat first.

Right?

If you have left over corn beef and want to make a very filling, quick bread, to go with it, this recipe does the trick.

I had it ready to go in the oven in about 10 minutes, and it was out of the oven in 50 minutes, and it was in my tum tum in about 5 minutes. (I would have been quicker but it took me 4 minutes to find the honey)

The oatmeal in this recipe, adds  rustic richness you and your loved ones are sure to love.

It does not have to an Irish holiday to bake it either. It will taste good on any day of the month, I promise.

Give it a try!

Becky

Here is your step by step instructions.

Here is what you will need, except I forgot to put the butter in the picture…Sorry! Also I used my powdered buttermilk, that I add to water to, to make the buttermilk. You can use regular buttermilk or substitute buttermik, by taking one cup of milk and add 1 tablesoon of vinegar to it and letting it set for about 5 minutes before using.

         

Measure out the flour and the oatmeal and put them in a bowl. I was going to use my hand held mixer today for this recipe, but if you have a standing mixer that will work great too.

    

Add your sugar and your baking soda.

     

Add the salt and the butter.

    

Pour in the butter milk. (I used powdered buttermilk mixed with water) Add two eggs. Oldest Grand Girl is helping me with the eggs.

    

Mix the dough together, being careful not to over mix because it will make your dough tough. Turn out onto a counter or pastry board and knead the dough two or three time, forming a nice circle of dough.

Place the dough on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner. Cut an X in the dough and sprinkle with oatmeal. Put it in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. (Mine took 50)

You will want to take a cake tester or a toothpick to make sure it cooked in the middle. The bread will sound hollow when it is baked through.

Here it is right out of the oven.

Now, all you need is a knife and some honey…or butter….or soup….or corn beef….or just eat it by itself.

It is hearty and filling and delicious and the best part…EASY.

Enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

Irish Soda Bread

Adapted from One Hundred Dollars A Month website

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

1 cup of old fashion or steel cut oats

5 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt

1 and 1/2 cup of buttermilk (I used my powdered buttermilk)

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, soften

2 eggs

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl stir together the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk, soften butter and eggs. With an electric mixer, mix together. Be careful not to over mix or it will make the dough tough.

Place dough on a floured surface (pastry board or counter) and knead 2 to three time, making a nice circle of dough.

Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.

Cut an X on top of the dough. Sprinkle with oats.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until the dough is baked through.

Enjoy!

Point Cut Corn Beef

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It is almost St. Patty’s Day.

Have you bought your corn beef yet?

It is on sale every where right now.

Did you go and could not decide which cut to buy?

What was that again?

Yes, which cut of corn beef to buy?

What?!

Yes, there are two cuts of corn beef that you can buy. The point cut and the flat cut.

     

Here is the point cut.                                                               Here is the flat cut.

So whats the different? Basically it is a brisket cut into two pieces.

The point cut will have more fat on the top and will be cheaper in price. While the flat cut is higher in price and less fat on top.

Some cooks while swear that the point cut has more flavor. Other will say the flat cut has less fat.

I just ate a big slice of point cut corn beef and though it did have a little bit of fat left on top after cooking, it was tender and delicious and very rich in flavor.

I have a flat cut cooking off in the crock pot right now, that I will talk more about tomorrow.

Today, I am going to talk about cooking a point cut corn beef.

So, here we go.

This is what you will need to make corn beef.  Purchase  a point cut corn beef, 2 to 3 pounds of red potatoes, 1 large onion and 1 cup of beef broth or use 1 teaspoon beef base with 1 cup of water.

On the upper corner of the package it should say what cut the corn beef it. This one says point cut.

It will also come with a seasoning package.

The juice that comes in the package with the corn beef is seasoned too. The direction on my package said to cook the juice with the corn beef. I have read that some cooks will rinse off the corn beef and use beef broth instead. It really is a personal choice.

I decided to use the juice in the package and add a cup of beef broth I made from the beef soup base. Be careful to measure the soup base carefully and not add too much because it is salty. (Mine ended up a little salty cause I was in a hurry this morning and just scooped some in).

I added my one cup of beef stock (made from the soup base) in the pot. I am using a enamel cast iron Dutch oven with a lid, to roast it in.

I sprinkled the season package on top.

I put the  corn beef in a dutch oven, put the lid on it and put it in the oven at 275 degrees and roasted it slowly for 9 hours. It could take less or longer depending on the size of your corn beef. Mine was right at 3 pounds. The corn beef should be fork tender at this point.

    

Ater cooking until the corn beef in tender, I sliced up an onion and the red potatoes. I placed the onions on top of the corn beef.

    

I took a cabbage and cut the core out and cut it into wedges. I placed the potatoes down into broth and laid 4 cabbage wedges on top.

I put the lid back on the Dutch oven, increase the heat of the oven to 325 degrees and roasted for one hour or until the potatoes and the cabbage are both tender.

It is not too late to make one of these for St. Pat’s Day. You can cook it over night in the oven, or the crock pot. Or you can just put it on first thing in the morning and let it cook, slow, all day. Your whole house will smell amazing. It even brought the super hero out of his room asking me what was the great smell.

It made a great dinner.

Luck of Irish to Yea!

Becky

Here is the recipe

Point Cut Corn Beef

Ingredients:

1-Point Cut Corn Beef (one one I used was three pounds, this includes the juice)

I package of Point Cut Corn Beef. I used Colorado brand (hey it was on sale for : D )

2 or 3 pounds of red potatoes

1 large onion

1/2 of a cabbage

1 to 2 cups of beef stock.

Direction:

Place entire contents of the point cut corn beef into a cast iron dutch oven (you can use a crock pot also). Add one cup of beef stock. Sprinkle the contents of the seasoning package on top of the corn beef.  Roast in a preheated 275 degree oven. Roast in the  oven for approximately 8 to 9 hours, or until the corn beef is fork tender.

Slice one onion and lay it over the corn beef. Slice red potatoes in half and put them down into the broth. You may need to add another cup of beef broth or water, if it has cooked out. Place 3 to 4 wedges of cabbage on top of the corn beef.

Place it back into the oven. Turn the heat up on the oven to 325, and roast for another hour or until the potatoes and cabbage is tender.

I did not add anymore salt to this recipe. The juice from the seasoning package, the juice from teh package and the beef broth added plenty of salt.

It comes out tender and juicy.

Enjoy!

Becky

Budget Update

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I have been a total slacker when it came to going to the grocery store this week.

It is great that I have not spent a lot of money on groceries.

BUT, what it meant was, I ate out way too much last week.

Let’s see if I can remember everything.

Wed…Pizza Place, Thursday at home…Friday…Mexican Place….Sat breakfast at home…Sat lunch pizza delivery….Sat night Chili’s….Sun morning at home…Sun after church a Japenese Grill place…sun night TGIF…..

How embrassing!!!!

Mama said I would have days like that……….

n the bright side, I do have a bunch of yummy left overs in the fridge though…..

Anywho….here is what I did manage to buy.

Toilet Paper, 6 boxes of Mac and Cheese and 3 bags of the new flavored Lays Potato Chips.

 

I spent $4.70 at Gerbes for the chips. They were on sale for 2 for $5.00 and I had $1.00 off coupons for each one.

I spent $2.98 at Schnucks for the mac and cheese.

I spent $5.00 for the Cottonell toilet paper, but I had a credit of $7 and something from a previous mistake and I used the credit, so I did not spend anything out of pocket.

Total for the last 8 days, I have spent $7.12 UOP

I had a balance of $288.80

Now I have a balance of $281.68.

I can add another $75.00 for my Sunday update.

This gives me a grand total of $356.68 in my grocery budget.

The new sales add start tomorrow, which means this total might not stay this high for long.

How is your budget going? Have you ever blowned your budget by eating out? Did it make you feel guilty?

Here’s to a better week for me eating at home.

Do I have to count the Subway sandwich I had for dinner?????

I am not off to a very good start.

Blame it on Monday and the time change.

Becky

 

Monday….Already?

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Whew….where did the weekend go?

How was your weekend?

Did the time change put you in a bad mood?

I am still recovering from the time change.

It usually takes me a few weeks for it to sink in that I really do have to get up an hour earlier each day.

Photo credit

Anywho, it is Monday! Yippee….

I left for work when it was dark and I came home from work when it was dark.

So where did the Daylight Savings go?

Photo Credit

Did any of you have this problem : D.

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Becky

Grilled Steak Burgers

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Am I the only one out there missing the smell of smoke, waifing up from the barbecue grill?

The delectable aroma of barbecue smoke that makes you want to guess what is grilling on the grill.

If you are like me, you love the taste of food cooked on the grill.

I love the charred parts, the grill marks and the distinctive smell that grilled food produces.

I am always jealous when I come home from work and my neighbors are grilling and making the air smell so delectable while  my grill sits cold and empty.

I just want to follow the smell of the smoke and invite myself to dinner.

I use this strategy to meet my neighbors.

I know this has happened to you.

Or do you have a better strategy?

If you do, please let me know.

Anywho, as I sit here watching the snow melt, I am day dreaming about a eating a grilled steak burger.

A few months ago, before central Missouri was blanketed with snow along with blowing cold air freezing our ear lobes, at went to my brother Robert and PIC’s house for a visit.

I love to go there for a visit.

We usually go to the outlet mall to shop, buy sweet goodies to eat and my brother barbecues for us.

That weekend, I brought with me a recipe for steak burgers that I found from America’s Test Kitchen.

It is a steak experience on a bun.

Since fat is one of the things that make a burger taste so great, and since ground steak is really lean,  you  add melted butter right in with the ground meat. You get the great taste of steak, the juicyness from the butter and the added bonus flavor of sauteed garlic.

Spring is right around the corner. You will want to save this recipe to bring your grill out of winter hibernation.

Your grill will thank you and so will your taste buds.

Here is your step by step instructions:

First off you will need some steak burger. I just happen to luck out and find some on sale. You will also need some fresh garlic, unsalted butter, onion powder, peper, salt and soy sauce.

    

You will need to peel 2 cloves of garlic and mince them up. I had more ground steak so I had to use three.

Measure out the onion powder, pepper and salt.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the garlic, seasonings and soy sauce. Saute for one minute. Cool for about 5 minutes.

    

Add the cool butter mixture to the ground steak and gently knead in.

Form into 3/4 inch thick patties. Looks like some pork steak wanted to sneak in on the grill action.

Now, it is time to go find a smokin hot grill.

 Place burgers on a hot grill.

Grill on both sides until you get to the done-ness you prefer. I like mine medium to slightly pink so that would be approximately 8 to 10 minutes on the grill. Flipping the burgers half way through the cooking time.

Here is your plate of perfectly grilled steak burgers. Can you see the speck of garlic peeking out. Sorry….that is my bite : D

While Robert was grilling PIC and I sliced up some tomatoes, sweet red onions and tore some lettuce leaves.

We used onion buns to top on our buns. See that little drip of sauce. That is Robert’s secret sauce.

 I would give you the recipe, but it is secret.

Hence the name, “Secret Sauce.”

He won’t even tell me how to make it. He reminds me of a mad scientist when he makes his secret sauce. I know it has brown sugar in it and that is good enough for me.

I keep telling myself spring is almost here. You can put money on it that as soon as I get my grill ready,  I will be grilling these steaks burgers first thing.

Or, maybe I will just make another visit to my brothers house and have him grill them for me.

Get your grill ready and invite your friends over for grilled steak burgers.

It will be a steak experience they will not forget.

Enjoy!

Becky

Here is the recipe:

Grilled Steak Burgers

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 and 1/2 pound ground steak or 90 percent lean ground sirloin

4 onion buns or regular hamburger buns if you prefer.

Directions:

In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add in the minced garlic, pepper, salt, soy sauce and onion powder. Saute for about one minute. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl put in the ground steak. Add the cooled butter mixture. Gently knead the butter and ground steak together.

Make into four 3/4 inch thick steak patties.

Place on a hot grill. Heat grill for five minutes  before placing the patties on the grill.

Carefully grill the patties. They will be tender and they start to cook and firming up.

Grill for around 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until desired done-ness.

Serve with fresh lettuce, sliced onions and tomatoes.

If you have some secret sauce that is great too.

If not, you can use your favorite barbecue or steak sauce.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tornado Drill Waffles

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It has been hard planning my lessons for schools because we have only had school 2 to 3 days a week the last 3 weeks.

Because of the snow days I was unable to have the students make their waffles until I knew for sure we would have school 2 days in a row. My classes only last 47 minutes. By the time the students come in, I take attendance then give directions to the kiddos, I have lost 10 minutes. We are not able to make batter and cook all the batter off in the waffle irons with the amount of time left in class.

So, we make the waffle batter one day, wrap it up tight in the refrigerator and then cook them all up the next day.

It is a win win. The students have more time in the kitchen to make their batter and clean up. The students also have more time to cook their waffles and enjoying eating them while still having plenty of time to clean up.

This system works really good unless there is a tornado drill in the middle of class.

Yep! We had a tornado drill about 10 minutes into class.

It is weather awareness preparedness week, or something like that this week. Which means that we need to have a tornado drill.

I knew it was coming. I was warned the day before.

But, I had promised the kiddos that we would make waffles, tornado drill or not.

When the alarm sounded (actually the alarm did not go off so they used the intercom) my munchins went down stairs to the correct classrooms and as soon as we got the all clear, we headed back up stairs to make waffles.

Whew!

I was afraid I would need red shoes and wish I was Dorthy and want to go home. But, the kids did great, albeit some dirty dishes I had them wash up today.

We did have one little misshapen. One kitchen left a waffle cooking in the waffle iron. By the time we found it, it had turned into a very brown waffle Frisbee.

Cooking with kids…..you gotta love it!

Becky

 

 

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